Veronica Lynch Archives

Oct 9th Interview – Annunciata Doyle of Caper Magic, by Veronica Lynch

Give a warm welcome to Veronica Lynch, author of Caper Magic a Halloween tale. Veronica, I see you’ve brought someone with you.

Yes, Tena I have, this is Annunciata Doyle from Caper Magic!

Fantastic! I love a Halloween story. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron, a Bat Wing Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate. I see you have a small Halloween cosmetics bag for one lucky person who leaves a comment. Wonderful. I love those!

Lets start with Annunciata.

Who are you really? I am a simple woman trying to survive as best I can. In the summers, I live in Cape Brendan, a pretty tourist town in the 1,000 Islands Region of New York. When it turns cold as Mother Superior’s heart, I travel to warmer climes on modeling gigs for my employer at La Vrai Beaute.

Who were the biggest role models in your life? I suppose it was the nuns who raised me in one of the Magdelene Laundries in Tuam Ireland. I was sent there at age 13 after my grandparents could no longer control me. I was what we called in those days, incorrigible.

What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with? Me? The one they call the Black Mamba and a man? I should say not–and fer good reason. After all, I’ve buried four husbands or about to be husbands in me lifetime. What man not completely off his nutter want with the likes of me? I wouldn’t mind a bit of romance, mind ye. But word always gets around and the ones with half a functioning brain run like the devil was on their tails.

What kind of man would you never choose? A simpering git like Nicholas Forrester, that’s who. Listens to no one but himself. Thinks he knows it all; when he really knows nothing about the scheme of things, I’m tellin’ ye.

What is most important to you in life? Ensuring the women and children who are entrusted to me care get to the next station on their journeys, safe and sound.

What is your biggest fear? That loose lips will sink ships and the station will be shut down. Worse, the coppers will find the woman and her children, then return them to the abuser. That terrifies me.

Thanks so much Annunciate! Now Veronica, I have a few questions for you!

Tell us a little about writing this story. The hubs and I had been vacationing each August in what is called “The Islands”, meaning the Thousand Islands chain in the Saint Lawrence River which stretches from the far east end of Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. One of my favorite places is a small town called Cape Vincent which is known for ship building and its involvement with 3 wars: French and Indian, Revolutionary and the War of 1812. A ferry, which makes a hideous noise when it arrives and departs, transports tourists back and forth to Canada maybe six to eight times a day. As I stood on the pier one day, I envisioned a woman and her children standing on the back of the ferry, waving goodbye to someone. My mind took the next logical step. What if the ‘someone’ had just helped them escape an abusive husband and father? Bingo bango, Caper Magic was born.

Was it fun? Tons. The ‘real’ town has a huge celebration each July, called the French Fest. People dress in period costumes; there is a parade and a two day arts and crafts faire that covers the town square. Later in the summer there is something called Pirates Week. Legend has it Napoleon’s brother bought land to build a house for the deposed Emperor to live in after he left Saint Elba. I decided to give my town an Irish name with Irish sailors as its founders and keep ship building as the background. The part about celebrating Halloween all thirty-one days of October, and calling it Caper Madness, kind of fell in place. The precision drill team dressed as witches carrying brooms instead of rifles and the ghouls playing music in the park every day was a stroke of brilliance if I do say so. And, Mel’s Diner really does exist–sort of. hat part was the most fun–creating all the activities and attractions for the tourists.

Do your characters always act as you expect? For the most part, yes. I’m the one who has control of the Delete key after all.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? A bit of both but I always have a plot basis and character profiles down on paper before I begin. It’s those secondary intruders who stick their sticky fingers in things and try to screw things up. Again, I’m not afraid to hit Delete. Or kill one off. I like killing people. I once had a critique partner tell me she’d never speak to me again if I killed off one of the secondary characters in my first book. I let the SOB live. And she’s still my critique partner.

Speed Round- I love to give an author a topic and require a one word answer. Though sometimes they cheat. LOL

Favorite movie: Spotlight

Favorite book: Nora Roberts’ Come Sundown

Last book read: Sandra Brown’s Seeing Red

Favorite color: Purple

Stilettos or flip flops: Barefoot

Coffee or tea: Coffee, iced

Ebook or audiobook or paperback: audiobook

Pencil or pen: pen

Favorite song: You Should Be Dancin’

Streak or not: Not

Favorite dessert: Cannoli

Favorite junk food: pudding

Favorite thing to do to relax: sew

Champagne or gin: Neither

Paranormal or Historical: Neither

Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman

Favorite TV show: Manhunter: Unibomber

Hot or cold: cold

POV: third person

I’d die if I don’t have: Iced coffee, preferably IV. Two creams, 3 splendas

Review or Not: Not

Tell us a little about Caper Magic.

P.I. Nick Forrester arrives in Cape Brendan ostensibly to assist with Caper Madness, a month long celebration of everything Halloween. In reality he is tracking a woman on the run with her children. Within days he is confronted by Annunciata Doyle, a vivid reminder of a painful past.

After retreating to Cape Brendan in defeat and humiliation, Nunie Doyle’s only hope was to make the best of forced retirement. There, in this quaint tourist town on the shores Lake Ontario, she has earned the love and respect of new friends and neighbors—and now puts her talent for helping women children to good use.

With the mutual goal of making Caper Madness the best ever, Nick and Nunie fight tooth and nail on the personal level, while each discovers a new side to the other.

Sides that force both into making drastic changes for the rest of their lives.

This attraction: complete madness—or sheer magic?

How about a peek between the pages of Caper Magic?

Hank let out a holler just before a huge toothy grin spanned the borders of his gaunt cheeks. “Top o’ the marnin’ to ye, Missus!” he cackled to someone exiting the front door of the stone cottage next door.

Taking the concrete steps to the sidewalk in two lithe moves, a woman wearing a slinky dress the color of ripe tomatoes glanced their way and responded in a distinct Irish brogue. “And the ass end of the day to ye, Mistur Pierpont.”

Intrigued by richness of her voice, Nick craned his neck and found one of the witches from yesterday’s parade—minus the droopy velvet hat—passing within steps of Hank’s porch. A bulging garment bag hung over one arm; she looked headed in the direction of the pier at the end of Vincentian Lane. Damned if right then a wind didn’t jump up off the lake and mold the filmy length of scarlet against each curve of her body. Long black hair—and there seemed to be a good ten pounds of it—flowed over both shoulders, caressing her body like a lover as she marched toward Dingle Pier. While his heart bumped into a trip hammer beat, Nick reminded himself to breathe.

“Ferget yer broom, Missus?” Hank called out to her retreating back.

“In the repair shop,” she replied, winging that glorious mass of onyx colored hair away from lips that had been painted to match her dress. “Gettin’ fitted with a couple of those fancy turbo boosters, it is.”

“Turbo boosters,” Hank chuckled, then took another slurp of coffee. “That Nunie Doyle sure is a pistol.”

An invisible fist reached down to grab Nick’s gut in a vise. As recognition flared, long buried rage took a slow crawling path up his spine.

Five years had evoked more than a few changes in Annunciata Doyle. Much thinner, he noted. Back then, her weight was something she’d thrown around with ease—or when the mood suited. When it came to cops, it suited her often. The hair was another matter. Who knew when she freed the ruthlessly tight bun she’d always sported, her hair would fall past her waist in a curtain of black velvet?

In the costume of a Witchy Poo—and wasn’t that appropriate considering what she’d done to several of his fellow officers—her current manner of dress was a complete one-eighty and certainly more feminine than the severe straight-jacket type suits she wore back when reporters hung on her every word and judges clamored for her expert testimony during the sentencing portion of criminal trials. Counselors and advocates proclaimed her the patron saint of victims and survivors.

Which, in his opinion, was complete bullshit.

“You hear me, boy?”

“What? Sorry, Uncle Hank. I got—distracted.”

“Easy to do with that one. Be careful though.”

She took the first step leading into the gazebo. As she moved, the thigh high split on the dress opened to expose a slender silk covered leg. “Why is that?”

“Folks around here call her the Black Mamba. Dangerous for any man who shows much of an interest.”

No big secret there, Nick mused sourly.

The Crone his brother officers had called the Director of Crime Victim Services back then. A woman who proved herself fully capable of destroying a man’s career with one carefully placed phone call to the police brass—or worse—the local media. Or, as she accomplished with one blow, dropping a name during during a notorious child sex abuse trial.

The ensuing scandal ended badly for all concerned, including the loss of several careers and, in the case of Nick’s best friend and best friend, suicide.

You can find Caper Magic at Amazon, The Wild Rose Press and other online retailers.

About the Author:

Forced into the role of caretaker for her siblings and chronically ill parents at an early age, Veronica Lynch turned the things she learned into caring for her patients as a nurse in the OR and delivery room. Somewhere along the way, she fit survivors of sexual assault into the mix, then turned that history of care-taking into her writing. She now explores the world of the less-thans and the heroes who stand for them, then puts them into her books.

Blog: www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WildWomenAuthors

Twitter: @VLynchAuthor

Amazon Author Page

It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Caper Magic! Happy Halloween!