THE EXTRA and me.

OK, the cool fog is back and the Sound was like glass as the ferry plowed across from Bainbridge Island this morning. I always go out on deck to look for orcas, because I'm the only person in the Puget Sound area who hasn't seen one from a ferry yet. Even people who have lived here for six weeks have seen orcas from a ferry. (Am currently in my 6th year near Port Angeles.) While on deck, I was thinking that when you've written a couple of books developing a main character, you start to see the world from their perspective. This happens unbidden, at odd times. Rita Farmer, the heroine in my current series, uses her acting skills to solve crimes, and I find myself listening to conversations around me, thinking, "I wonder if I could impersonate a school principal / ER nurse / coal miner / French chef well enough to break into that conversation convincingly." In the book I signed today at SMB, THE EXTRA, Rita's a film extra dressed in police costume who gets pulled away from the set and into a real crime scene--and beyond. Now JB's asking me if I'm up to third grade yet, so I better sign off. Thank you, Seattle Mystery Bookshop!

Elizabeth Sims