When I started writing Wisteria Wyverns, I'd never seen a blue jay in real life. They are woven in throughout the books, but I had to watch videos online and read about them to get a sense of how they behaved. Fast forward to now, four months later, and it's a different story. If I want to see a blue jay now, all I do is look out a window. There's usually one or two sitting on my deck railing or on a tree branch, staring back at me.
How did I become so popular? Peanuts, my friends. I saw a flash of something blue in a tree outside the house, and I went outside with the only nuts we had on hand, raw almonds, and lined them up on the railing. The bird flew in and helped itself to the snacks. What a lovely creature! The blue jays we have around here are called Stellar's Jays, or mountain jays, or pine jays. And they love to get food from humans. My husband has had them take peanuts from his hand. Mostly, we toss out a handful of peanuts in the shell. We have this neat wire hanging contraption we use. When filled with peanuts, the wire thing provides a solid hour of entertainment for us, and the whole band of jays. We started with only one or two, but word has gotten around. Our highest count so far has been nine.
The birds all look the same. Males and females have the same coloring, but the females are smaller. I've noticed they are more vocal. I'd like to report that they have lovely voices, but when you feed them, they yell SKREEEEE! And when one gets too close to another, they yell CHIRK CHIRK CHIRK! They are such scoldy birds. Not so coincidentally, a group of them is called a scold, or party, or band. Fun fact: their feathers contain no blue pigment. It's a crystal structure that reflects light in a way so it appears blue. If you pick up a dropped blue feather and crush it between your fingers, the blue will turn gray. The blue and green colors on butterfly wings do the same thing, but not the yellow or orange. Weird, huh? Almost like magic.
There's so much magic around us, all the time. The magic of blue feathers. Of a great cup of coffee paired with a perfect beam of sunshine. Of a hug to someone who needs it.
Other than the magic and the fun creatures (like Ribbons!), my favorite part of writing Wisteria Witches is getting to be Zara. Sure, she's funny and smart and brave, and that's all great, but another perk is her indestructibility. She's strong, and she heals quickly.
Me, I stepped on some pebbles at the beach during the summer, and now, four months later, I have to do special stretches with my toes so that the fascia on the bottom of my foot doesn't hurt when I walk. Yes, if this is the worst of my problems, I'm very lucky, but seriously! I just stepped on some pebbles! I have to keep believing in my body's ability to heal itself and do its body magic. Writing about someone who heals quickly helps, I think. I actually feel sorry for authors who write entire books where the main character gets injured repeatedly throughout the story and has to go about their adventures nursing a bullet wound or two. Every day, that author has to imagine pain radiating from their shoulder or leg or whatever. Wouldn't that be exhausting? I get sore just reading about it. I don't enjoy reading detailed descriptions of constant physical pain, because my imagination makes me feel it, so I don't write that way. Everyone has their calling, and mine is to write feel-good books. I imagine that the people who read books to escape pain appreciate that. Case in point: My sweet mother-in-law recently broke her ankle, so she's been doing more reading than usual during her recovery. (She's doing well and healing nicely.) She will be reading this soon, so... HELLO, MA! XOXO
Since I've started talking about my pet peeves in books, I'll hit on the other major one that has shaped my plans for this series. I don't enjoy reading books with multiple POV characters. There. I've said it. It drives me nuts when I'm reading about one character, and things are getting good, and then the chapter ends, but the next chapter isn't a continuation of what happens next. It's some other person, doing something I've forgotten all about. I'm always tempted to skip forward to the next chapter, but that's not going to help much. I can't skip stuff. When I was a kid and those Choose Your Own Adventure books were popular, I always had to backtrack and read the other possibilities.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with multiple POV books. (Put the pitchforks down, folks!) Some stories can't be told any other way. Plus authors like George RR Martin have a zillion more fans than I do, so if one of us is wrong about this matter, clearly it is me. Hahah. But they say that authors should write what they would like to read, so that's what I do. Most of what you come across in my books are genuinely things I'm interested in. There are also a few things I put in for my husband, since he's the first to read my books when they're finished. He will sit in the same room as me when he reads, so that I get the pleasure of hearing him laugh out loud at the funny bits.
Are there personal jokes between us that I put into the books? A few, but, surprisingly, it usually goes the other way around. After writing about the “microwave thingie” we bought one for ourselves. We pretend that we can't say the word vampire. I mean va—. When we see a flamingo, we say “Frank!” When we make tea in the owl mug (that we bought from a thrift store because of Kathy the head librarian), we say, “Whooo doesn't love a cuppatea?! Whooo?” Our friends probably think we're nuts based on how much we yell “doorbell!” when someone's at the front door. We didn't do any of these things before Wisteria, nor did we have blue jays hanging around the house watching us during all daylight hours, so I guess you could say the series has changed our lives for the better.
I sincerely hope it has brought you just as much joy. And yes, I am working on more.
Love, Angela
Series Reading Order
Current Series:
Wisteria Witches Mysteries - Angela Pepper
#1 - Wisteria Witches
#2 - Wicked Wisteria
#3 - Wisteria Wonders
#4 - Watchful Wisteria
#5 - Wisteria Wyverns
#6 - TITLE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Stormy Day Mysteries - Angela Pepper
#1 - Death of a Dapper Snowman
#2 - Death of a Crafty Knitter
#3 - Death of a Batty Genius
#4 - Death of a Modern King
#5 - Death of a Double Dipper
Completed Series:
Restless Spirits of the Southwest - Angela Pepper
#1 - Date with a Ghost
#2 - Interview with a Ghost
#3 - Dancing with a Ghost
Eli Carter & the Ghost Hackers - Angela Pepper
#1 - The Cat Who Went Bump in the Night
#2 - The Ghost Who Wasn't There
#3 - The Dog Who Barked Fire
For links and Angela's news, visit www.angelapepper.com
Wisteria Wyverns Page 33
