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.