Another Writer Hits Silver Pen: Elizabeth Davis

Check it out, team, the Silver Pen roster is growing with an amazing addition! Meet Elizabeth Davis, of Minnesota. She’s written more than 15,000 words, donchaknow. She’s also offered her time to administration of the campaign, and seriously, we could not me more grateful.

Please reach out to congratulate Elizabeth on twitter, her website, Amazon, leave a comment on her Malala fundraising page. Read on to find out more about Elizabeth and her NaNoWriMo project.

Looking forward to seeing you as a Gold Pen soon, Elizabeth!

What is your favorite book and/or author, and what draws you to them?

Like all writers, it’s almost impossible to narrow down to one singular favorite. I grew up reading my mom’s old Nancy Drew mysteries and graduated to Agatha Christie, and just this summer I discovered Kate Morton’s The Lake House. Have you ever read a book and wondered if it was written specifically for you? That’s how I felt about 15 pages into The Lake House. I love the slow process of uncovering clues, and I especially love plucky detective heroines, whether they’re 16 like Nancy or 70 like Jane Marple.

But overall favorite in any genre has to go to Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery, because the camaraderie of Anne and her friends at college—and the swoony romance with Gilbert—made a deep impression on me as a kid. I still re-read it at least once a year.

Is this your first book? If not, what was the first book you ever finished writing? Tell us a little about it.

It’s not! I have two romance novellas and a short story available on Amazon (the novellas are about modern witches with useless powers; the short story is about a prince and a Hollywood starlet who accidentally get married in Vegas) and an unpublished manuscript of a historical romance I wrote with a friend. That is actually the first book I ever wrote, but technically, I only wrote half of it. (We wrote that one after a few too many glasses of wine at Happy Hour led us to decide we were the perfect pairing to write a romance novel. I maintain that we were correct, and just have to do some editing passes to clean it up before releasing it to the wild).

What’s the working title of your NaNoWriMo17 project?

My Scrivener file is titled Red Cedar One, since I’m envisioning it as a mystery series set in the fictional town of Red Cedar, Minnesota. I’ve been playing around with the idea of Black Moon as the official title, but that’s mostly just because I think it sounds mysterious and badass. We’ll see if it sticks.

Give us an elevator pitch of your project.

It’s like the movie Fargo, but a romance novel.

(But seriously, Bailey Wilson is a police officer in Northern Minnesota facing the first murder case of her career. Max Long is the hot-shot journalist from her past who recently moved back to town, creating stumbling blocks in her professional life while being inconveniently attractive. Bailey soon discovers Max is looking into the long-ago murder of their classmate—a case she’s been secretly working herself– and a reluctant partnership is formed.)

Share your favorite line/short paragraph from your book so far.

Max frowned at her. “If it wasn’t Ketter, that means the real murderer is out there. Or, hell, Danny could still be—“
“Don’t,” she cut him off. “Don’t— don’t you dare say he could still be alive.” A slight quaver crept into her voice on alive, because nothing hurt more than false hope. Even after all this time, it slid in under her ribcage and lodged there like a knife.
Max’s eyes softened and he nodded. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. He was your boyfriend, right?”
It had been years since anyone asked that, but she felt the familiar jerk of annoyance. “Danny was like a brother to me. It wasn’t like that.”
“You sure?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “I remember you two. The word inseparable comes to mind.”
“He was my best friend,” she replied. “And anyway, Lindsey Fischer was his girlfriend. Or was, until about two months before. Which you really should already know if you’re looking into his death.”
“Why do you think I’m talking to you about it?” he said, a slow grin spreading across his face.
“I’m sorry, is this an interview? What sort of asshole reporter are you?”
“No, this isn’t for the piece. I’m just saying, if we’re both going to look into Danny’s death, we should do it together. Share leads, swap interviews, that sort of thing.”
“You forget, I’m not investigating it. It’s a closed case.”
Max sighed and watched her finish the last bite of her burger. “You’re sticking with that story?”
“It’s the truth,” she lied, and set down a $20 to cover her meal and tip. “See you around,” she added, and hurried out of the diner, his eyes burning into her the whole time.

How did you hear about the Mighty Pens?

I follow Sooz on twitter!

What inspired you to join the Mighty Pens?

I’m someone who does her best work when I have some sort of accountability to another person or group, so I knew writing with a bunch of other motivated authors, with a good cause on the line to boot, would be the perfect way to kick me into gear.

I (Kat) am right there with you regarding accountability! I’m glad I’m not the only one, and I’m so glad to see you hitting your NaNoWriMo goals with The Mighty Pens.