jd daniels holds a Doctor of
Arts degree from Drake University with a dissertation of her poetry. Her
award-winning fiction, non-fiction and poetry have appeared in various
publications, including: The
Broad River Review, The Sylvan Echo, The Elkhorn Review, Doorknobs &
Bodypaint: An Anthology, The National PEN Woman’s OnlineMagazine and riverbabble. “Nancy’s Woodcut” won a prize in a
contest sponsored by Emerson College, Cambridge University.
Say Yes, a book of poetry, 2013 topped the local
bestseller list in Iowa City. The
Old Wolf Lady: Wawewa Mepemoa, was awarded a publication grant from
The Iowa Arts Council and three research grants from the college where she
still teaches writing. Minute
of Darkness and Eighteen Flash Fiction Stories debuted January, 2015. Through Pelican Eyes, 2014 is the first of the Jessie Murphy
Mystery Series.
The Iowa Arts and
Poets & Writers Directories invited her inclusion. She is also a co-founder
and an editor for Prairie
Wolf Press Review, a literary online journal featuring new and emerging
writers and visual artists. jd maintains a blog, is a member of two critique
groups, Mystery Writers of America, and South West Florida PEN Women. Quick Walk to Murder, the
Second Jessie Murphy Mystery, was recently released. Visit her website to find where you can get her
book.
Mayra
Calvani: Please tell us about Quick Walk to Murder, and
what compelled you to write it.
j.d.
daniels: Quick Walk to Murder—the second in a
planned series—is a who-dun-it, so of course there’s a sleuth trying to nail a
murderer. In this case, she’s property manager/artist, Jessie
Murphy.
I love my amateur
sleuth, Jessie Murphy. She’s my alter ego and has bits and pieces of my
creative mother in her as well. The protagonist’s first name is my
mother’s middle name. Her last was my mother’s maiden name. Thus, each
time I write a book with Jessie Murphy in it, I’m also exploring and visiting
my mother’s life who passed away at the age of eight-six. I get great
satisfaction when I get into her skin and brain to solve these murders.
As soon as I finished the first book with her as a protagonist, I started
writing the second. Plus, Matlacha, Florida, an island I fell in love
with, is the perfect setting for this mystery. It’s funky and colorful. A
pleasure to describe. So, I guess I would say, both wanting to spend more
time with the main character and being surrounded by the sea are big factors in
compelling and inspiring me to write these mysteries.
M.C.: What is your book about?
j.d.
daniels: In Quick
Walk to Murder the victim is
the son of a Florida crab fisherman. A couple of years before starting to
write this book, I did some leg work with the idea of compiling the personal
histories of crab fisher folk in Matlacha and Pine Island. The crab fishing
lifestyle in the area was greatly affected by a net ban and is in danger of
disappearing. I thought the story should be told from their point of
view. Unfortunately, after only a few interviews, the project fell
through. After I wrote my first Jessie Murphy mystery, I realized
that I wanted to give the crab fishermen’s stories a voice. So, although
the book is about solving a murder, it’s also about the life of crab fisher
folk in Pine Island and Matlacha.
The book also
explores the issues involved in getting over the mourning of a loved one and
moving on.
M.C.: What themes do you explore in Quick
Walk to Murder?
j.d.
daniels: 1. Corruption 2. Manipulation 3. Beating
the odds 4. Perseverance 5. Friendship
M.C.: Why do you write?
j.d.
daniels: I’m compelled to by my muse. It’s my
passion. For years, I lived the life of Super Mom and Super Wife. When my
kids were in junior high, I went back to complete my college degree. I
completed my undergraduate degree, then my masters. When I was offered a
fellowship to pay for doctoral work, I grabbed it. I began teaching
writing. While doing this, I free wrote with my students at the beginning
of each class to loosen up their imaginations. That practice changed my
life. My muse or demon, whichever you want to call her, broke free and I
mean FREE! It was a physical, emotional and mentally painful experience.
I’ve been writing ever since. I guess she was in some kind of coma
all those early adult years—now she won’t be denied.
M.C.: When do you feel the most creative?
j.d.
daniels: Probably in the morning. But if I
take my notebook or journal to a café or sit near the sea, I usually can spill
out a paragraph or two or a poem. There is something about being near
water that tickles my muse.
M.C.: How picky are you with language?
j.d.
daniels: Very. I’ve taught writing for years
at the college level. I also write poetry and flash fiction where every
word counts. Words and writing strategies should be chosen with
consideration to its sound and to how or what the word might trigger in the
mind of a reader. I hope this is evident in my writing.
M.C.: When you write, do you sometimes
feel as though you were being manipulated from afar?
j.d.
daniels: Interesting question: When I write well, I
am in a zone that no one but me and my muse can enter. As I said before,
I’m very aware that I have an inner muse that either helps me write or even
writes for me. Is that being manipulated from afar? Not really—from
within.
M.C.: What is your worst time as a writer?
j.d.
daniels: When I’m not writing because others or
circumstance are demanding my writing time. There are, of course, plenty of
times I give my writing a break—that’s more than fine. It’s when I lose
control of when that happens that makes me unhappy. Does that make me a
control freak?
M.C.: Your best?
j.d.
daniels: When I’m in my zone. Love that
place. Crave that place.
M.C.: Is there anything that would stop
you from writing?
j.d.
daniels: I hope not. If I went blind?
No, I could use voice recognition. If I lost my hands? Voice
recognition again.
M.C.: What’s the happiest moment you’ve lived as
an author?
j.d.
daniels: I think it was when my first piece was
published. When I saw my words on the page of the college literary
journal and my name at the end, it was, well, it was a stunning feeling.
Realizing that day that someone who didn’t know me personally, but only my
words had chosen them to be worthy of publishing was a moment I will never
forget.
M.C.: Is writing an obsession to you?
j.d.
daniels: Oh, yeah. Big time. Had to
learn to curb the time I spend doing it. I was becoming way too weird.
M.C.: Are the stories you create connected
with you in some way?
j.d.
daniels: Always. In some way. Maybe the
setting. Maybe the experience. Maybe just the theme, but
connected. Definitely connected.
M.C.: Ray Bradbury once said, “You must
stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
j.d.
daniels: Absolutely. If you are a writer like
me who is driven to write, to not stay drunk on it would make for a reality
that would destroy me. Sure. Not a pleasant thought, but sure.