Author Interview of Deadly Keepsakes

INTERVIEW WITH ANITA DICKASON

What are your favorite quotes from Deadly Keepsakes?

The dead had no fears, worries, or timetables. Yet, the dead had triggered the cold, spiderlike fingers of anxiety racing up and down Tori Winters’ spine.

“You’re a dead woman.” It was the beginning of her descent into a living hell of fear.

 After all, a person didn’t dress up to entertain a suspect.

How has being a Texan (or Texas) influenced your writing?

For an author, Texas offers such a wide variety of locations. Every book I have written is either based in Texas or is linked to Texas. Beaumont, East Texas, Austin, Dallas, Sulphur Springs, Meridian, Laredo, El Paso, and Fort Hood are just some of the locations I’ve used in my plots. My latest novel, Deadly Keepsakes, is based in Granbury. Located near the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, Granbury is the perfect quaint town for the setting I needed for my Tori Winters mystery series.

Any odd habits or rituals that help you write?

Coffee, lots of coffee. Even though I am retired, I haven’t kicked the habit of drinking coffee I acquired as a cop. My daughter recently sent me a cup as a gift. On it was an old-fashioned typewriter with the words, “I turn coffee into books.” How true, how true! And my coffee habits don’t stop with my indulgence. It’s been noted my characters also have an addiction to coffee.

Who is your favorite author?

Without a doubt, it is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have read every Sherlock Holmes mystery he wrote, not once but many times. My favorite is The Hound of the Baskervilles. “Watson, the game is afoot.” As soon as you read those words, you knew. The plot was headed into the depths of an improbable investigation with twists and turns designed to boggle the mind. Doyle was a master at the understated, subliminal hints and clues that Holmes always understood, leaving Watson in a muddle.

When in day/night do you write? How long per day?

Retirement has been an enlightening adventure. My day is my own. I have no alarm clock to push me to get up and get ready for another day at work. My days run together as a weekday is often not much different from a day on the weekend. I now spend more hours working than I ever did when I worked for the police department. I start on the computer as early as I want and stay as late as I want. The advantage is that when my creativity kicks in, I can spend hours at any time of the day or night.

Award-winning author Anita Dickason is a twenty-two-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department. She served as a patrol officer, undercover narcotics detective, advanced accident investigator, SWAT tactical officer, and the team’s first female sniper.

Anita’s extensive law enforcement experience and knowledge provide the inspiration for her plots, and characters. She writes about what she knows, cops and crime.

Her works have received multiple awards from Book Viral Millennium Book Awards, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, Literary Titan Book Awards, Independent Author Network Book Awards, and Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Award.