On Family History by Christine Falcone

 LUCY BURDETTE: Today’s guest has been one of my writers group friends for years (many!) I know you’ll enjoy the fourth book in her Melanie Bass mystery series, Ruff’d Up. Take it away Chris!

CHRISTINE FALCONE: Thank you Lucy and Reds for inviting me back.

Some writers do elaborate biographies for each of their characters where they know what kind of childhood they had, where they went to college, if they went to college, who their first boyfriend or girlfriend was, and what they eat for breakfast each morning. I am not one of those writers. This came into play in book four in the series when one of my long- time writing group partners (thank you Lucy!) asked “What about Melanie’s family? We don’t really know anything about them.” She was right. I had briefly mentioned a cousin in book two, but nothing about her nuclear family. I decided Melanie’s parents were no longer alive, but she has an older sister, Meridith who became a large part of Melanie’s story in RUFF’D UP.

Meridith is a bit overbearing at times, and the dynamic between her and Melanie shed light on parts of Melanie’s character I had never explored before. Those of us who have siblings know that they know exactly how to press our buttons (and we, theirs!) Your sibs know all about your childhood, your less perfect moments as well as your shining achievements. And they don’t let you forget them, especially the ones you would most like to. Meridith is the older sister; I was the eldest of eight, so I used that experience in developing some of the hurt and long-buried resentments both Melanie and Meridith felt toward each other. 

Another thing I thought about as I wrote the interactions between the sisters was how differently they remembered aspects of their childhood. I know in talking to my own siblings I sometimes wonder if we are talking about the same events and occurrences.

I found I really enjoyed writing the scenes between the sisters, and in spite of being the eldest in growing up I had feelings both sisters felt.

If you have siblings, do you find that you have different memories of childhood occurrences than they do? Do you agree with those birth order profiles that you find in magazines and online?

RUFF’D Up is the fourth book in Christine Falcone’s Melanie Bass Mystery series. Her short stories have appeared in the past in Imagine, Lancom Review, and Deadfall: Crime stories by New England Writers. Prior to her retirement she worked for nearly forty years as an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She lives on the Connecticut Shoreline with her family and her dog Toby who is not nearly as well behaved as Bruno, the beloved canine in her mystery series.

About the book: As she looks forward to the return of warm summer days in her native Connecticut, visiting nurse Melanie Bass has more than difficult patients to contend with. She is haunted by guilt over a home invasion she feels she could have prevented, struggles to reconnect with her difficult -and until now distant- older sister, and faces complications in her personal life when an attractive new veterinarian seems to have designs on Melanie’s boyfriend. Just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, there is another brutal attack – this time on someone close to her. As the stakes mount Melanie struggles to deal with her complicated personal life and find and stop those threatening the ones she loves before she is the next victim.

Jessica Everett: Last Summer at Maine Chance

LUCY BURDETTE: You may know today's guest as Jessie Crockett or Jessica Ellicott and also as a former member of the Wicked Author blog. She's also a brilliant brainstormer and I can't wait to read this newest book!

 JESSICA EVERETT: I’ve adored reading mysteries ever since I cracked open The Bobbsey Twins at the Seaside when I was six. I’ve also loved writing them, nineteen so far. The architecture of crime novels, the requirement to simultaneously reveal and conceal information from readers, the examination of societal values all intrigue me as both a consumer and a creator. 

And although all of that is true, at some point in the last few years an idea for a novel that inexplicably did not include a dead body began to prod me. I simply could not get the thought of a story set during the summer at Elizabeth Arden’s Maine Chance resort out of my mind. Plot points suggested themselves while I walked my dog. Setting descriptions whispered me to sleep at night. Lines of dialogue slipped into my brain as I prepared dinner or ran errands. Before I knew it, the novel had gotten its way, and I threw myself headlong into the research portion of the project. 

I read every newspaper article at Newspapers.com covering Elizabeth Arden or the Maine Chance Farm in Mount Vernon from 1929 until 1970. I scoured the internet for images of the spa, of Maine in the 1950s, and of Red Door Salon advertisements from years gone by. I spent countless hours in Maine soaking up the atmosphere. In time, I had a draft written, and then another, and another. The words stacked up, the characters fleshed out, and the story came into its own. 

I was delighted to discover that although Last Summer at Maine Chance does not center around a crime to be solved, like all my others it revolves around friendships between women. It is as much about what society values and celebrates as all my previous novels. It is once again filled with characters I would like to know as well as those I definitely would not. It still explores finding one’s way in the world when traditional paths don’t lead to the right destination.  And, like my other works, and my own life, it is also about being open to trying new things. 

Readers, is there something new you have always wanted to try? Do you read novels that aren’t mysteries? Have you ever been to Maine? 

ABOUT Jessica Everett

Jessica is the author of twenty novels. Last Summer at Maine Chance is her historical fiction debut. She lives with her exuberant family and preposterously privileged poodle, Sam. She splits her time between a tiny New Hampshire village, and the coast of Maine, a place her family has called home for generations. When not dreaming up her next novel she can usually be found walking barefoot on her favorite Maine beach, even in the dead of winter. 

Jessica's website: https://jessicaeverett.com/ 

A House. Three Sisters. A Lot of Secrets. By Ivy Cassidy (aka Melissa Bourbon)

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm delighted to welcome Ivy aka Melissa Bourbon to the blog today! Aside from writing cozy mysteries, she teaches many wonderful online classes and is a whiz at explaining Pinterest to writers. Welcome Ivy!

IVY CASSIDY: First, let me just say how happy I am to be here with the Jungle Red Writers. Truly. If you’d told me years ago that I’d be talking about magical houses and ancestral secrets on this blog, I would have said, “Heck yeah! Sign me up!”

When I started writing House of Spells and Secrets, I thought I was writing a story about three sisters coming home after their mother’s death. And I was. But I also knew I wanted a house that had almost equal billing and opinions of its own because I love an old house with history. 

Swallow Hall sits on the Chesapeake Bay on fictional Bird Island. It's crumbling a bit, it’s moody, and it's watchful. As I was writing it, I kind of envisioned the Winchester Mystery House in Santa Clara, California, a place where doorways lead to nowhere, windows are upside down, and everything is topsy-turvy. Swallow Hall is the kind of place that holds drafts in its hallways and secrets in its walls. It’s not haunted in a “boo!” kind of way. It’s haunted in the way families are haunted…by what was never said, by what was buried for protection, and by love that inevitably led to loss.

The novel follows triplets—Rowan, Caraline, and Saoirse—who return to their mother’s childhood home…a home they never even knew about, complete with a grandmother they'd never met. 

There they discover inherited magic.

This isn't a cauldron-stirring, sparkly wand kind of magic. It's the kind of magic that exists deep inside. It's inherited magic that comes from Biddy Early, who was a real person and the last woman tried for witchcraft in Ireland in the 1850s. It's the kind of magic that shows up as intuition…as knowing. It's like that tightening in your chest when something is wrong.

Rowan (my point-of-view sister) hasn't discovered her magic yet. She tastes things,… but what kind of magic is that? Caraline is a kitchen witch. She processes life through flour and fire. And Saoirse, a green witch, is most at home in her apothecary and with her plants.

Together, the three sisters are stronger. Apart, they’re…complicated. 

At its heart, this book is about inheritance, not just of a mysterious house, but of expectation, of legacy, and of power you didn’t ask for but can’t turn your back on.

I didn’t grow up in a magical manor on the Bay (sadly), but I do understand what it feels like to come back to a place and see it differently. To realize that the stories you were told as a child were edited versions. To recognize that the women who came before you were carrying more than they let on.

That’s the space I love to write in.

My Ivy Cassidy books lean into magical realism, which for me means the magic never overwhelms the emotion. Rather, it supports it. Maybe grief feels bigger or love feels more layered. And in the case of House of Spells and Secrets, the past doesn’t stay politely tucked away. It breathes and pulses with life. 

And then there's the Chesapeake Bay setting! I think that water keeps secrets. Tides pull things out and drag other things under. There's a real island on the Chesapeake Bay that's sinking (Tangier Island in Virginia) and that was a great inspiration for Bird Island and Swallow Hall. It felt like the perfect backdrop for a story about these sisters discovering their truth, whether they're ready for it or not.

Ultimately, House of Spells and Secrets is about three sisters coming home and discovering  family, history, magic, and themselves. 

I’m curious. Do you love a house with a little personality? Do you believe places remember us? Or are we the ones doing the remembering?

I can’t wait to hear what you think and for you to dig into House of Spells and Secrets!

About Ivy Cassidy: 

Ivy Cassidy writes stories steeped in whispered legends, ancestral secrets, and the quiet magic, all woven into the threads of everyday life. Her novels explore generational bonds, intuitive women, and the unseen forces that shape who we become.

Also known as Melissa Bourbon, Ivy leans more deeply into magical realism and emotional resonance, crafting stories where the past meets the present and long-buried secrets rise, steady and inevitable.

When she’s not writing, she’s walking her dogs, sipping something warm, and dreaming up stories with a soft shimmer around the edges.