Guest Post

Guest Chick: Patricia Sargeant (aka/Olivia Mathews)

Hi, Ellen here, and I’m so happy to be hosting one of my favorite people. Cozy mystery fans know Patricia as “Olivia Mathews,” but she also writes romantic suspense for Harlequin. She almost wound in Hawaii with five fellow Harlequin authors as research for a new series. What happened? Read on…

“Pack your bags, baby! We’re going to Hawaii!”

Last year, my wonderful editor at Harlequin Publishing invited me to participate in a six-book romantic suspense continuity series with five other Harlequin authors. My story, the second novel in the series, is Colton’s Deadly Trap. The series was originally tagged The Coltons of Hawaii. Each story was to be set on the big island. Oh, I was so excited!

I’ve never been to Hawaii but it’s one of those places I’ve always wanted to visit. My husband was out of town for business when I got the invitation. I spent the day thinking of ways to persuade him to take a few days off from work and go with me to Hawaii. For research.

Usually when I set a story in a location I’m unfamiliar with, I do my research long distance: friends and family who either live there or have lived there, the internet, books, magazines, newspapers. That sort of thing. But for Hawaii…  Oh, Hawaii… I thought I should roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. For research.

Just as I had my husband right where I wanted him in terms of escaping to Hawaii with me, my editor emailed me the sad news. One of their major distributors Who Shall Not Be Named—looking at you, Walmart—wanted the romantic suspense continuity series set in the Western United States. I gave up the dream of my vacation plans—I mean research trip—to Hawaii. Our series was now—drumroll, please—The Coltons of Arizona. My characters packed their suitcases and moved to the area outside of Sedona near Red Rock State Park.

I was disappointed, but philosophical. I understood what drove the decision: location, location, location. And money.

I’ve been to Arizona a couple of times. Neither trip felt long enough for me, but the state’s vistas left strong impressions. Striking, soaring, breathtaking. I drew on those memories to help situate my characters in their fictious world. I still had to do some research, though:

  • What’s the weather like in March?
  • When does the sun usually rise and set in that month?
  • What local foliage would I like to include in the story?

For Harlequin continuity series, authors receive a summary that provides a brief sketch of their characters, including their names, professions, appearance and brief backgrounds. The summary also provides each story’s plot and how it fits into the overarching series. Finally, it includes a fairly detailed description of the setting. The series is set at the Mariposa Resort & Spa, a fictitious exclusive resort. Among its features are pools, horses, hiking trails, a five-star restaurant and private bungalows that sound bigger than some condos. In this fictional resort, the cost of a bungalow for two is $5K per night.

Yep. $5K. My typical vacation budget stretches to a sofa bed in a friend’s or relative’s house.

But it was fun, expanding my imagination into this exclusive world that I would not have thought to visit on my own. I’m proud of my story and early reviews are lovely. Thank goodness. Here are Five Fun Facts about Colton’s Deadly Trap:

  • Celebrity chef hero
  • Concierge heroine
  • Stalker villain
  • Vacation romance
  • Exclusive resort setting

Readers, what’s your favorite mystery setting?

  • Small town
  • Big city
  • Mountains
  • Beaches
  • Other
  • No preference at all

I’d love to know. Thank you in advance. And as always, happy sleuthing!

About the Book:

A stalker is threatening their lives…

But who is the real target?

Celebrity chef Maxwell Powell III is on a working vacation at the Colton’s exclusive Arizona resort to write a cookbook. Although Alexis Reed’s assignment as his assistant could help her career, she cannot ignore the powerful attraction sizzling between them. Just as Max is drawn to both Alexis’s candor and her beauty. But when they become targets in a series of attacks, it’s Max’s protective instincts that kick into high gear. And the terrifying realization that it’s not clear who the perpetrator is really after—Max or the woman he’d defend with his life.

BUY LINK

About the Author: Patricia Sargeant is a national best-selling author. She writes romantic suspense as Patricia Sargeant and cozy mysteries as Olivia Matthews. Her romantic suspense and cozy mysteries put ordinary people in extraordinary situations to have them find the Hero Inside. Her work has been featured in national publications such as Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Kirkus Reviews, Suspense Magazine, Mystery Scene Magazine and Library Journal. For more information about Patricia and her work, visit PatriciaSargeant.com.

 

33 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Patricia Sargeant (aka/Olivia Mathews)”

  2. You are much more easygoing than me. I would have been ranting and raving about Walmart ruining my research trip to Hawaii. I haven’t ever been either. Clearly, the clients at the resort and I don’t run in the same circle. $5,000 a night is way out of my price range. I don’t think the clientele would appreciate my shorts and t-shirt lifestyle and I would feel uncomfortable around people with that much money to burn through. Give me a cute small town populated with friendly folks running their own small businesses any day. Just don’t let Jessica Fletcher visit. I just know she’ll stumble across a body and ruin my peaceful existence!

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    2. Sue Leis, you had me screaming with laughter! Oh, my word! It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking my coffee. I would have spewed it all over my computer. Ha! I agree with you a thousand percent. I’m much more comfortable in shorts and a sweater, eating fries on a park bench in a small town. Still, I’m grateful for the experience to step out of my writing comfort zone. LOL! Thank you again for the laughs. Great fun!

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  3. Patricia, thanks so much for guesting with us. To answer your question, I have no preference. I’ll take any vacay I can get! But we have a family semi-tradition of going up to Cambria, CA for a few days during the holidays and I never get tired of walking along the ocean bluffs, drinking in the gorgeous views.

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    1. Ellen!!! I think I did something wrong with my last reply. Mercury in retrograde! LOL! Anyway, I think you have a point. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so picky about my travel plans. That may be the reason I haven’t been on a vacation for a while. Ha!

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    3. Road trip!!!!!!!!!! And you would be so super fun to travel with. OMG! Girls who just want to go to the Islands!!! I’m screaming! Thank you so very much also for your kind words about my story. Fingers crossed I get sales outside of immediate family and friends. Ha!

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      1. Maybe we need a writers/research trip, Patricia. First stop, Hawaii! (We happen to know a Chick who lives there, ahem.)

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    4. Road trip!!!!!!!!!! And you would be so super fun to travel with. OMG! Girls who just want to go to the Islands!!! I’m screaming! Thank you so very much also for your kind words about my story. Fingers crossed I get sales outside of immediate family and friends. Ha!

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  5. I had the same issue with my previous publisher, Patricia–I wanted to set a book in Hawai’i, but they refused. Luckily my new publisher, Severn House, loved the idea, which made possible my Orchid Isle Mysteries. I’m so sorry you didn’t get to visit the Big Island–it’s a marvelous place!

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, and good luck with the new book set in Arizona–also a marvelous location!

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    1. Leslie, you’re so kind! Thank you for sharing your experience with me. It’s encouraging and gave me an idea for another series I’m working on.

      Thank you so much for allowing me to visit with your community. Huge hugs!!!

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      1. Ha, Patricia, I answered above also, but I say we hit up our Island Resident Chick for that “research” trip. And don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s WordPress. We have a ghost in our machine.

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  7. what a cool concept to be involved with, Patricia! Good on ya. Though, I’m with you, $5K a night? Oh to be able to afford something like that. We can dream, right?

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  8. Hi Patricia: Oh my gosh–what a whirlwind change of direction. You are such a professional to take it in stride. I hope your publisher sends you to Hawaii anyway in the future! 🙂

    Re: the question… for a real vacation, I love a beach setting; for a book setting, I’m open to anything.

    Thanks so much for visiting us and congratulations on your book!

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  9. Well that was a mean tease!! But I do love Sedona, too.

    Funny you mentioned the $5,000/night resort. I was just looking at a resort in Florida I had wanted to go to yeeeaaarrs ago but it was too expensive. Well, it is *still* too expensive, starting at $2500/night. I guess if I shared a room with 10 friends (all of the Chicks on the Case + you) we could manage it for $250/night each.

    Thanks for sharing. I am seriously daydreaming about travel right now, so I am going to just pretend we are all going to Hawaii to write our own anthology!

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    3. I am totally warming (literally) to this whole idea. I don’t care if I have to sleep on a float in the middle of the luxury pool. (Hmmm…)

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