Maggie Pill Mysteries

Once the Sleuth Sisters series ended, I thought about what I'd like to write next. I came up with a precocious child (actually two of them) and a private detective who isn't quite sure what to do with them. This one took a lot more research than I expected, which is my own fault. I wanted the kids to have grown up in South America, which I knew nothing about. My interest stemmed from meeting a well-known archaeologist, Napoleon Chagnon, who hailed from my hometown. My daughter was thrilled when her class at Columbia was assigned to read his book, since she'd simply known him as her friend's "Uncle Nap" at their family reunions.   From there I went off on a tangent, with Lucy the child of a couple who'd lived among the tribal people of the Amazon jungle but died, leaving her and her brother stuck with an evil guardian. I toyed with making it a series, but while the reviews were good, there weren't many. It isn't worth a year of my life to write a se...

 I have some theories about why I've stressed over the cover for CUTEST LITTLE KILLER so much. First, it's the start of what I hope will be at least three books, so a cover that establishes a theme is good. I had to ask myself, what thematic items will work for a BUNCH of books? Second, the character in the title is unique, which at first made me want to picture her on the cover. I started by choosing a photo of a little girl who looks slightly dangerous. But several fans said they'd rather create their own image in their minds, and once I thought about it, I had to agree. Who hasn't been disappointed with a movie that turned a favorite character into someone you didn't recognize? I love Matthew McConaughey, but he didn't fit my image of Dirk Pitt at all. And of course there's Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher... So here's the pic I thought would work. It didn't. Cover artists say it's a mistake authors often make, and authors can't blame them if th...