Buried Bones follows a 75-year-old retired prosecutor who stumbles into a murder case in a small Utah town, forcing her to face the ghosts of her past. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

As I started putting the story together, I had two strong desires. I wanted a woman investigator, and I wanted to emphasize the importance of due process and the rule of law.

I wanted a woman investigator who could reflected on the reality of working on a very difficult and emotionally draining investigation. She would naturally gravitate toward those nuances and tiny details that women seem to find. I also wanted to write about people who are wrongly accused, because it does happen and due process is incredibly important.

I retired to Utah a couple of years before I started writing in order to be near family. It’s a great place with a wholesome and practical approach to most issues, and great scenery, including pioneer cabins. I invented a small town in the mountains with a very traditional and typical approach that would challenge Maggie’s more eclectic lifestyle and create the conflict that is always found in a criminal investigation.

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

I enjoyed creating Maggie Anderson the most! She became a lot like many of the strong career women I knew and admired who came of age during the wave of feminism in the 1970s -1990s. I also knew that many of “us” had secret pains and self- doubts, and I wanted her to be as real as possible. It was gratifying to watch her move from her self-doubt to a deep understanding of the motives behind the crime and control over the investigation. I’m planning a series where Maggie’s life will continue to unfold in what may be surprising ways.

Logan Harris, the DA, didn’t know what to do with a case that implicated the most prominent family in a small town and his uncertainty made him challenging. He didn’t want to arrest the wrong person, meaning a member of this very extensive family. He was near retirement and ready to hang up his gloves and call it a cold case, but Maggie kept digging up “the wrong” evidence. Logan stayed on the right side of the law, but barely.

Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life-changing?

I’ve lived long enough to be able to count multiple life-changing moments in the same way that Maggie’s life unfolded in unexpected ways. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but some of these major events, and major decisions, changed the course of my life. Sometimes I’ve wished I could call it a first draft, and do some editing, but life doesn’t work the same as a manuscript. As Maggie’s creator, I think I’ll give her more of these events as the series unfolds.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

Buried Bones is the first in a series I’m planning which will take Maggie Anderson and her friends into many situations. She will run into legal quagmires that overwhelm ordinary people. In the first book, we had someone who was wrongly accused. In the second book, an adolescent boy kills someone who is about to rape a child. Maggie maneuvers through an archaic legal system that has a hard time addressing children who have legitimate and sensitive issues. It’s a challenge which I hope to have ready for a publisher within a year.

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