Interview with Mystery Writer Daniella Bernett – S. 5, Ep. 9

Debbi Mack interviews mystery writer Daniella Burnett on the Crime Cafe podcast. Read along with the podcast or, if you’re in a rush, download a copy of the show notes here. eDebbi: [00:00:13] Hi, everyone. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense, and thriller writing. I’m your host, Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two ebooks for sale: the nine-book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website DebbiMack.com, under the “Crime Cafe” link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Debbi: [00:01:02] Hi, everyone. Before we get started, I'd like to express my thanks to S Koran for becoming our latest Patreon supporter. Every little bit helps, you guys. So thank you so much. Having said that, our guest is making a return visit today. A poet as well as a mystery writer, she's the author of The Emmeline Kirby/Gregory Longdon mystery series. And her name is Daniella Burnett. [00:01:31] Hi, Daniella. It's good to see you again. Daniella: [00:01:34] Hi. It's nice to be back. Debbi: [00:01:36] Awesome. So tell us a little bit about your latest book in the series. Daniella: [00:01:42] Well, my latest book is called When Blood Runs Cold. And my series is the Emmeline Kirby/Gregory Longdon series. It's about a journalist and a jewel thief. And, in this book, we deal with a diamond, spies, and poisonous lies. Debbi: [00:02:04] Well, that's interesting. Daniella: [00:02:07] A lot of elements there. Debbi: [00:02:09] It seems to me that each book brings Emmeline and Gregory a bit closer together. At the same time, all these secrets from the past crawl out of the woodwork and seem to conspire to keep them apart or at the very least, threaten them. Do you come up with these complications as you write each book? Or were they planned from Book One? Daniella: [00:02:33] They were actually planned from Book One because it is a series. I leave a little something in one book and develop it a little bit more. Give you a little hint for the next book. So it was planned from the beginning. And in this in this particular book, Emmeline and Gregory are engaged. But as you noted, there is a lie. Like everything Emmeline thought about her life, all of a sudden she discovers it's been a lie. And that does have an impact on the dynamic of their relationship and to the rest of the story. And a number of the characters that they do meet. And it also has another element, something from Gregory's past. This ruthless entrepreneur named Alastair Swanbeck has come back for revenge against Gregory for things that should have been left alone. "I leave a little something in one book and develop it a little bit more. Give you a little hint for the next book. So it was planned from the beginning. And in this in this particular book, Emmeline and Gregory are engaged. But as you noted, there is a lie." Debbi: [00:03:29] Uh-huh. Yes. Yes, I noticed Swanbeck is introduced right there at the beginning, along with the fact that Emmeline's parents were murdered. Daniella: [00:03:44] Yes. She discovered that at the end of the previous book, A Checkered Past, because her parents were journalists like she was, and she had been told that they had been killed while on assignment when she was five years old. So that's what she had believed up until this point. But at the end of A Checkered Past, we discover that her parents were really murdered. So that's the way When Blood Runs Cold starts out. She's determined to follow their killer, even though it has been 25 years since her parents died. Debbi: [00:04:22] So that's a very cold case. So I take it you're one of those writers who likes to create big biographies for your characters before you get started...