Special Guest – Daryl Wood Gerber – Author of A Twinkle of Trouble (A Fairy Garden Mystery) #AuthorInterview / #Giveaway @darylwoodgerber

A Twinkle of Trouble (A Fairy Garden Mystery)
by Daryl Wood Gerber

I am delighted to welcome Daryl Wood Gerber
back to Escape With Dollycas today!

Hi Daryl,

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m Daryl Wood Gerber, author of mysteries and suspense and, yes, even a Christmas romance. I love my goldendoodle Sparky. I enjoy gardening, cooking, and golfing. I’ve been writing for a number of years. Before I became a writer, I was an actress and performed in  TV shows as well as on stage and in commercials. I love to read mysteries and thrillers, gentle romance, and some paranormal stories.

What is the first book you remember reading?

I read lots of Dick and Jane books, but I wasn’t much of a reader.  Then, when I got the measles, my mother gave me her set of Nancy Drew. I read all of them in one week.  Yes, a week! I couldn’t put them down. That’s when I fell in love with reading. But when I was given A Wrinkle in Time, I knew I was hooked forever on books. The story blew me away.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading a little bit of everything. I just finished Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase Mystery #2, The Raven Thief. It’s a closed-room mystery series. Gigi is masterful at that.  I also just finished the first by Marjorie McCown, Final Cut, set in Hollywood with a costumer as the protagonist. Marjorie was a costumer, so there’s some wonderful insider knowledge.  Next up is Ginger Bolton’s Double Grudge Donuts. This is the 8^th in the Deputy Donuts series, and they are a tasty treat if you love cozy mysteries.

What books have most inspired you?

As I said above, I adored A Wrinkle in Time. I really enjoyed The Three Musketeers with all its action. I loved Hawaii by Michener. I devoured the James Bond spy novels.  And I read The Bourne Identity in one sitting. What a character! I love reading any books by Krista Davis. She is the queen of cozies in my humble opinion. I adore her Domestic Diva mysteries, and her Wagtail Mysteries (aka Paws and Claws Mysteries) are a must for anyone who loves animals.

What made you decide you wanted to write mysteries?

My first foray into writing was as a screenwriter, and I wanted to write thrillers, but when my husband and I moved across country for his career, I couldn’t pursue that dream from so far away, so I decided to write a thriller novel. I didn’t sell that and wrote another and another. Then a good friend suggested I try my hand at writing cozy mysteries. I boned up on current ones, having read most of Agatha Christie growing up, and realized I might have a voice for them. It turned out I did. An agent put me in touch with a publisher that wanted a cozy set in a cheese shop in Ohio. I got the first crack at submitting chapters for it, which secured me a deal. I wrote The Cheese Shop Mysteries under the pseudonym Avery Aames.

Do you have a special place where you like to write?

I write most often in my office.  It’s arranged nicely. I have a lot of space. But sometimes I’ll write in my backyard, sometimes at my dining table (when doing page edits by hand) and often at a coffee shop just because I have errands and can squeeze in an hour or two over a cup of coffee while tootling around town. I believe that writing is a “butt in the chair” activity. Sit and write. At some point you’ll have a complete book and that’s when the fun begins. I love to edit!

Where do the ideas for your books come from?

I watch people. I study them. I listen to conversations. Sometimes I just think “what if?”  There are so many what ifs going on around me at all times. What if someone killed that person who just cut in line at the grocery store? What if you walked into a house for sale and there was a dead body at the foot of the stairs?  You can see where this is going. I let my mind tap into the What If universe all the time.

Is there anything about writing you find most challenging?

The muddy middle can be daunting. It’s where you have to get all the clues and action to move the story forward but not allow it to be obvious or trite. I always start a story knowing where it begins and where it ends, but I’m not always sure what the middle scenes will be. I outline and that helps, but that is often quite fluid.

What do you think makes a good story?

The clues and suspects and secrets are the most important things that must be woven into a mystery. And pace. Each chapter should end on a page turner. It can be a question, a knock on the door, a body dropping. Something has to happen so the reader will press on.

Which, of all your characters, do you think is the most like you?

I think Jenna in the Cookbook Nook Mysteries is most like me. She came from the world of advertising. She suffered some sorrow in her twenties. She’s very sane and methodical. She’s caring. However, all of my protagonists are sane, caring people. So maybe they’re all me to some extent? On the other hand, I like to think none of them are like me. That makes me focus on their total character arc.

What makes your books different from others out there in this genre?

My Fairy Garden Mysteries are considered “paranormal” or magical.  There’s  no other sleuth fairy in mysteries that helps a human that I know of. I love the bond between Fiona and Courtney. My Cookbook Nook Mysteries are the only ones I know that are set in a culinary bookshop. My standalone thrillers, The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and Day of Secrets are each unique as to the story. I would like to think that my pacing and voice are what make them solid reads. The Aspen Adams novels of suspense are set in the serene resort of Lake Tahoe, not your typical place to find murder and mayhem.

What’s next on the horizon for you?

I have a new series coming out in October called the Literary Dining Mysteries. I’ll be sharing more about this series as we draw nearer to the release. They are set in a charming fictional town outside Asheville, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains and features twin hooks that I hope cozy readers can’t get enough of—classic books and delicious food

Thank you, Daryl, for visiting today.

Keep reading for more info about Daryl and her new book!

About A Twinkle of Trouble

A Twinkle of Trouble (A Fairy Garden Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – California
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies (April 23, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496744934
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496744937
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CFGF36NM

Carmel-by-the-Sea garden shop owner Courtney Kelly sees things others can’t—like fairies, and hidden motives for murder . . .

Courtney is delighted when her tiny friend Fiona returns from the fairy realm, appearing at the base of a Cypress tree. When her Ragdoll cat, Pixie, emerges from her own portal—aka the cat door—the three set off for a busy day. Busier than usual, since Courtney has rented a small plot of land at the Flower Farm, where she hopes to grow her own supplies for her fairy-garden business. Plus, the annual Summer Blooms Festival is coming up, and Courtney has booked a booth . . .

But the murder of Courtney’s friend, Genevieve, casts a pall over the festival. Ever since Genevieve sold her floral business, she’d been building a career as an influencer. She was perennially opinionated—but in her new role she’d become surprisingly vicious, dissing local entrepreneurs with nasty posts and unwarranted bad reviews. That’s landed a couple of Courtney’s other friends on the suspect list—including Flower Farm owner Daphne Flores. And when a second victim is discovered, seeds of doubt about Daphne’s innocence sprout in Courtney’s mind. With only a germ of a clue, Courtney will have to overturn every rock to get the dirt on the real killer . . .

More About Daryl Wood Gerber

Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber is best known for her nationally bestselling mysteries, including the Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense including the well received The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams series. Recently Daryl, who loves a challenge, published a Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also, she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: https://darylwoodgerber.com

Author Links

WEBSITE    FACEBOOK       BOOKBUB      YOUTUBE    INSTAGRAM     PINTEREST     GOODREADS     TIKTOK    AMAZON    NEWSLETTER

Purchase Links –
Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop –

The Rest of the Series

Also by Daryl Wood Gerber
The Cookbook Nook Cozy Mysteries

Find more books by Daryl Wood Gerber here.

TOUR PARTICIPANTS – Please visit all the stops. 
April 15 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
April 15 – Teatime and Books – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 16 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 17 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 17 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – Celticlady’s Reviews – RECIPE
April 18 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
April 18 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
April 19 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 20 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW
April 20 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
April 20 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 21 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
April 21 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

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