welcome to between the covers summer series where we put the spotlight on South Florida authors I'm Anne bocock and my guest is author Alyssa Maxwell her latest book is the 10th in her acclaimed series The Gilded Newport Mysteries and the title is murder at Beacon Rock I'm so glad to finally meet you let's talk about the book Let's Talk About Emma cross now she is an amateur sleuth she's related to the Vanderbilts not I mean the Vanderbilts are up here and Emma's like here she still has a place in society but she's not of the Uber Rich Vanderbilts correct that's correct her father traces his ancestry back to one of the Commodores the first Cornelius Vanderbilt's daughters the daughters did not inherit very much compared to the sons so there was very little Fortune to be had so Emma likes to say that she dangles from the nether regions of the Vanderbilt family tree she does have her place in society Emma is smart she's independent she is single is she inspired somehow by any historical figure well she is as a matter of fact Nelly Bly was a Gilded Age journalist who really put herself out there to cover hard news and and took all kinds of risks and uh she she had herself committed to an insane asylum for 10 days on Blackwell Island in New York City in order to report on the horrendous conditions so Nelly didn't hesitate to just put herself in whatever situations to get the story so here we have Emma the series is so cleverly set in Newport Mansions I mean what what kind of a a better setting than that and you have a connection I know you are a Floridian but you have a Newport connection I do my husband's family have been new Porters for generations and they're really very much a part of the fabric of Newport we have have historical ties to the Mansions I say we really them they had a moving company and later a demolition company so we know that they helped move the wealthy families the members of the 400 into their Mansions every summer and later in the 1920s when some of those houses became white elephants this company demolished some of them reclaimed some of that gorgeous Woodwork and built new houses with them and we're talking about the Gilded Age and you've talked about moving in in the summer these were only summer homes summer cottages they called them they were there for maybe eight to 12 weeks out of the year and that's it not like what I would think of as a cottage why do you think we gravitate to the Gilded Age there are several reasons I think for one the the conspicuous consumption is just so over the top I think most people find that fascinating but because they were willing to spend so much money on their clothing and on their homes the workmanship and the craftsmanship that went into their world is still something that's just amazing to behold it is historical fiction and it's a historical mystery you do need to have some basis in fact so you had to have known have researched the Vanderbilt history for one and not just the the robber baron part of Vanderbilt history there is a family story as as well so when you are creating the detail when you're using actual people in in your stories what's the balance between the history and and making it entertaining I I do take a lot of creative license with their actions you know what they do from day to day but I base it all on what I learn about them as individuals like you said they were families they had the same kind of angst and you know rebellion in their children they had health issues just like anybody else and I work all of that into their story you know from book to book I don't like to portray somebody in a way that that just doesn't ring true to their life as it was Alyssa did you always want to write Mysteries no actually I started in another incarnation in my career as a romance writer always historical so his history has always been the driving force but I think I was always a mystery writer in that my romance is also held a strong suspense or mystery spread I have to ask about the process because you've written I believe it's 10 in my correct 10 books in in this well number 11 comes out okay we've already done number 11. because you use the same character Emma does it become easier because she's more familiar to readers or does it become more challenging because we know her better and perhaps are expecting her to grow yeah a little bit of both for me I I consider her what my friend so it's comfortable for me to write about Emma but I do have to keep it fresh and part of that is the nature of each house and each family brings new elements into my stories about Emma so that she can react in different ways and yes she does grow she started off as a society journalist I don't know if I mentioned that and now she's doing hard news so yeah she's become more confident she's become you know an older more independent woman as time goes by for someone visiting Newport for the first time what are your top three places we need to see well absolutely the breakers if you have time for one mansion that's the one to see it's the biggest it's the most ornate and the most famous I would also suggest a walk along the point neighborhood on the Harbor because this is one of the biggest collections of colonial houses probably in one place in the country so that's absolutely fascinating and Fort Adams is fascinating what is your favorite place to write I write it home I have my computer in my office set up and that's where I'm most comfortable my books are there as a child what kind of books did you gravitate to a lot of historical stories I loved biographies about girls you know or historical fiction about girls my age at the time but living in olden times and if I could take a peek at your bookshelf at home what would it say about you it says I love history Alyssa what is one thing that you would tell your younger self don't give up on your dreams well said yeah Alyssa Maxwell is the author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries the latest in the series is murder at Beacon Rock and Another to come out soon I want to thank you for sharing your time with me today thank you so much and this has been such a pleasure I'm Ann bocock please join me on the next between the covers hello [Music]