When visiting Washington, DC as a tourist recently, I took time to scope out places to hide bodies, places that captured the essence of intrigue. Ghoulish, I know, but that's what writer's do.
My protagonist, Yvonne Suarez is a travel agent, so occasionally she will need to take familiarization trips, known in the industry as "fam trips." It makes for a better agent when he/she can give honest recommendations to clients. In a former life, I owned a travel agency and was myself a travel agent, so I know how important it is to build relationships that bring clients back every time they travel. One way to do that is by giving the client a realistic picture of where they are going.
They say you write what you know, but the main reason I chose to make my protagonist a travel agent was to allow her limitless places and opportunities to become embroiled in murder mysteries. I've enjoyed reading other mysteries where the protagonist just happens to travel, but having a travel agent as the lead character allows me to legitimately weave in some of the history, legends and lore of the area, making the destination a character in the story. No worries, you won't find long descriptions of place in my mysteries. I know it's a fine line to draw, but each place has a purpose and moves the story along or gives credence to a character. It's challenging yes, but I do my best to make each scene relevant.
Stay tuned for my next blog when I describe some of the places, I've thought about using for murder in Washington, DC. Perhaps you can guess which place I will choose to use in my next Yvonne Suarez Travel Mystery. Or give me a suggestion of where you'd like to see it happen.
By the way, Yvonne has her own website, she will lead you on a tour of the places she's traveled. She even hosts information about me. Check it out: http://www.yvonnesuareztravelmysteries.com/
