READ CHAPTERS 10-12 IN THE BOOK, THEN ENJOY THIS

When I decided that Cam’s father, Ike, was going to be a musician, I was thinking about Springsteen and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes—music that sprang from the Jersey Shore scene back when I was a kid.

Then my husband pointed out that the Doo Wop scene was also launched down the shore and in Philly back in the late forties early fifties, when Ike would have been coming of age as a musician. Wow, you learn something new every day. You’d think--having seen (and loved!) Jersey Boys on Broadway--I’d have had that on my radar. I had never known much about Doo Wop music, but did some research into the era for the book and decided it’s something I may want to revisit in a future book. In any case, that angle fit the story really well, and I really liked the way Ike’s character evolved.

One of my favorite—and most important--elements in this book is the shark’s tooth necklace. I wanted my killer to have a calling card, and that was certainly a fitting one. On a southern beach vacation a few years ago, my children and I became experts at scouring the sand for sharks’ teeth at low tide, and found quite a few. I had a jeweler make one into a necklace for my husband, and have been meaning to do the same thing for my sons. There is definitely something ominous about holding in your hand—much less wearing around your neck—a predator’s tooth.


You'll note that I have mentioned—quite often—the horrendous traffic heading down the shore, particularly on the fourth-of-July holiday. Those of you who live here on the eastern seaboard were probably nodding with recognition. I can’t tell you how many holiday weekends we have spent trying to get to Jersey, Long Island, or Upstate, trapped for hours on the clogged highways radiating out of New York City and up and down the Atlantic coast. You can’t write realistically about the Jersey Shore in the summer without noting the traffic situation, so you’ll have noticed that I mention it a lot.

And then there’s Washington, DC...talk about traffic! We have been on the DC beltway on holiday weekends, too (maybe we really need to learn to stay home when the rest of the northeast is on the move!), and it’s incredibly congested. I really wanted to play up Mike’s stress during his solo weekend with Tess, and again, the traffic is an every day element that turns up the heat.

Speaking of heat, you will also note that as the plot thickens, the air does as well, with the sticky weather casting an oppressive mood. If you have ever been in Jersey, New York City, or DC in July, you know that steamy weather is guaranteed.

And so are the crowds! I have never visited Washington on Independence Day, but have visited most of the city’s museums at one point or other—even during cherry blossom week—and waited on endless lines. For this book, I had originally written more scenes set in the Smithsonian, but wound up cutting them to streamline the plot.

One thing I really, really wanted to keep was Tess having been called “Steggy”—as in Stegosaurus—when she was little. Mark’s goddaughter Gabrielle went through the same dinosaur craze as a toddler, and insisted on everyone calling her Steggy for a solid few months of her life. I really thought it might stick. (And I’m glad it didn’t!) So the “Steggy” here is a little homage to Gabrielle, who has—like Tess—turned into a lovely teenager who no longer requires that we call her Steggy.

Here’s a good exercise for those of you who are aspiring writers: try to write a scene from third person viewpoint without using a gender-specific pronoun.

I have had to do this repeatedly with nearly every thriller I have written, to avoid giving away the killer’s gender. Believe me, it becomes more and more challenging to not only keep the killer’s identity masked until the very end, but to keep the reader guessing whether it’s a man or woman. How do you propel the plot without using “he,” “she,” “his” and “her”? Let me tell you, it ain’t easy. As you read, note the complete absence of pronouns whenever we enter the killer’s viewpoint.

Because Lucinda Sloan is a secondary character in this novel—yet will star in the next—I had to use fairly broad strokes to capture her here. She happens to be one of those characters who commandeers the writer’s initial vision of who she’s going to be, and becomes somebody else altogether.

In the beginning, I didn’t really see Lucinda as a junk food, beer-from-the-bottle, “Sweet Home Alabama” kind of girl...but as her character took shape, there was just no denying it. She’s a spitfire.

I had to go back and rewrite her background, because I had initially seen her as a modern-day Grace Kelly. I kept the Main Line background—but had her stuffy blue blood family disown her. What fun!

It was quite accidental that I introduced a forbidden attraction between Lucinda and Randy. Again, never saw that one coming—he is, after all, a married man! But once they were together and sparks started flying, I went with it. I’m sure Randy will be making another appearance in DYING LIGHT...and that he’ll be a significant source of tension...with a twist. And for now, that’s all I’m going to say about that!

Another character who came to life on her own is Rebecca, the kidnapped girl. I had envisioned her as a sort of teenaged counterpart to Lucinda, quite the opposite of sweet Leah Roby. Rebecca emerged as a real spitfire, and it was my editor John’s idea to take it even further. He came up with the hair-brushing scene, and I loved it. It’s another segment that I added while doing revisions on that cross-country train ride.

You will notice a re-occurring theme in DYING BREATH, mentioned in narrative from both Cam’s and Lucinda’s viewpoints. They repeatedly remind themselves that there are no accidents, no coincidences. This is something I picked up during my research into mediums and psychics, and I now subscribe to the theory myself. Many psychics believe that everything happens for a reason, and that we should look more closely at apparent coincidences to search for greater meaning. I’ve done that—and always manage to find it. !

Okay, today’s contest question: what does Ike’s tattoo say? The first person to reply with the correct answer below will win a Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes CD! (Remember only members can enter this contest. So if you're a member make sure you're signed in. If you're not a member, click here to join the Wendy Corsi Staub Community and take part in this and other great contests and experiences!)

Leave a comment below, or Meet and comment with other members at the DYING BREATH forum

For tomorrow, we’ll read chapters 13-16. See you then!