Seffi Wardell is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about A Coastal Corpse, the ifrst novel in the Seffi Wardell mystery series.

Welcome, Seffi. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Hi, I’m Seffi Wardwell, and ever since Rebecca moved me from California to the Maine coast, things have been happening around me. I seem to have become the go-to mystery solver for my new home at Smelt Point, after I first solved a murder no one seemed to care about—the death of a local bum, who turned out to be something more than any of us thought. My fondness for long walks in the woods or on the beach seems to be behind my involvement in matters that should be left to the police. Recently, I found a man tangled in a fishing net, washed up on the shore near my cottage. That looked like an unfortunate accident, but things are seldom what they seem, are they? I have to say, it gives me something to do now that I’m retired from teaching!

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

Oh, I dare say Rebecca thinks she’s in charge, but I have my own way of doing things, and she’s learning she can’t control everything.

How did you evolve as the main character?

What a strange question. I mean, I’ve always been myself, you know. But I admit that after living on the west coast for seventy years, I’ve been finding myself learning a lot of new things since coming to Maine. One thing hasn’t changed: I love being by the ocean. And I admit I was kind of a mess when I got to Smelt Point, between the death of my wife and a nasty case of Covid. But I’m finding that broken hearts and ill health both can heal with plenty of nature around me, a few good friends, clean salt air, and an amazing bakery. I thought I was ready to be done, but am finding that there’s a lot of life in me still! Life’s always worth living with good pasty close at hand.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

I’m very happy to share my story with my wonderful friend Nikka—that’s Nakala Tyler, the librarian. I’m usually attracted to book people, and she’s a joy. She’s also about twenty years younger than I am, so I have to watch out when she starts getting great ideas, because she can wear me out! But she’s great fun and keeps me from getting old.

My old friend Miah—police officer Jeremiah Cox—convinced me to come to Smelt Point, and he’s great to have around. He does tend to get mad when I start researching an unexplained death, but I’m a scientist. He knows I can’t help myself. I owe him a lot for bringing me to Smelt Point.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Smelt Point, despite the name, is really a rather nice village on the Maine Coast. It’s pretty tiny, though, and that’s a bit awkward, since it’s also 30 miles from the nearest town of any size. With our little harbor and the fish processing plant, we’ve got more life than a lot of the old towns on the coast, so it’s just lively enough. We’re pretty far north, so I think the winter is going to be kind of interesting. I’m looking forward to the new experiences, but hope I don’t have trouble with snow and ice. I’m too old to go slipping and sliding around. Oh, and I haven’t been able to drive for the last year or two thanks to my health, so I’ll be out in that snow and ice on foot.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

I think everyone should read about me! My story is fun, clean, and though it does get a bit tense at times, there’s no blood and gore. And I have never permitted cursing in my classrooms and certainly don’t allow it in my books!

Thank you for answering my questions, Seffi, and good luck to you and your author, Rebecca M Douglass, with A Coastal Corpse, the first book in the Seffi Wardell mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Seffi and her author, Rebecca M Douglass by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Goodreads pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

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About Rebecca M. Douglass: Rebecca has lived and worked around the American West for more years than she’ll admit, while raising two children to adulthood and dreaming up interesting ways to bump people off. Thanks to good friends in Maine, she has also spent time on the other side of the country and has fallen in love with that coast. Since retiring from work at the library, the author of the Ninja Librarian series for younger readers and the Pismawallops PTA mystery series now lives in Seattle, where she is writing the Seffi Wardwell mysteries. She has also had short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. When she isn’t writing, Ms. Douglass likes to go hiking and backpacking or to travel to discover new places or revisit old favorites, including the Grand Canyon and of course Maine, where so many of the best cozy mysteries are found.