Gerri Lewis, author of Grave Words, a Deadly Deadlines mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to share with us the challenges of blurring the lines between fact and fiction in her series.

Welcome, Gerri. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Not too long ago I was in our local bookstore when a woman with a Grand Canyon-sized crevasse between her brows asked if I was the author who wrote the mystery that took place in Ridgefield.  “Guilty,” I said, tensing for whatever gripe she apparently had with my book.  She then went on to tell me how she had moved to town several years earlier and had prided herself in learning everything about our small-town.  She put my townie knowledge to shame.

And then, clearly distressed she finally blurted out, “I have no idea where Pop’s Place is.”

And that’s where the line between fact and fiction gets blurred.  I’d be run out of town if I killed  someone in a local establishment. One of the trickiest parts of writing fiction is deciding where to add fact and where to make something up.   If I only used factual information, I might offend people or hurt businesses.  Add too much make believe and my writing could lose authenticity.  The secret is blending the two.

At a recent book club, I Zoomed in halfway across the country because they chose my novel to discuss.  One of the first questions they asked was about the town where my book is set—they thought it sounded too good to be true.  Was it real?

Yes, and sometimes no.  I try to weave a lot of historical fact and local color into my books because I think of Ridgefield as one of my characters.  I’ve always loved reading books that are set in the places I visit.  When in Paris, I sought out the sewers introduced to me in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.  In Hilton Head I loved eating at the Main Street Café where writer Kathryn Wall’s characters often dined.  On our anniversary, my husband took me to the Cotswolds to relive the scenes in the Dick Francis mysteries I love.

So, setting my books in the very real town of Ridgefield was a no-brainer.  The town is charming enough to jump right out of a Hallmark movie. The fact that it is so rich with history makes it easy to create a place readers might want to visit.  Skeletons found in a Main Street basement during a renovation that quickly turned the property into an excavation site are real.  They turned out to be remains from the Revolutionary War and are being tested for identification.   And yes, there really is a cannon ball lodged into the side of the Keeler Tavern Museum.  Once home to architect Cass Gilbert who designed the Woolworth Building among other landmarks, the antique bears a souvenir from the Battle of Ridgefield. 

Ridgefield was once a summer retreat for well-to-do New Yorkers who built grand homes and estates. These generous philanthropists also built the library, the fire department and town hall.   But I couldn’t kill someone in one of those mansions or burn down a historically significant structure.  So, even though people tell me all the time they know exactly which estate belonged to Mrs. Roth Arlington in The Last Word, they couldn’t possibly.  While I located it in an area that has several large estates, it doesn’t exist. 

Village Square is entirely imaginary.  It is my idealistic vision of a 55 and older community—one with appealing bungalows, a clubhouse and an entire section dedicated to assisted living and health care. In my third book, there is a brand-new transitional facility added to the complex. It has one-floor town homes, private patios, a doorman and offers some aid to those who need more than independent living but aren’t ready for assisted care.  And because this is all a figment of my imagination, I can write stories that won’t upset the residents.

The same can be said about characters.  Despite the fact that one woman told me she knew exactly who the Nosy Parkers were because she lived next door to them, the town gossips in my books are fiction.  They might have similar traits to people readers have met and some are compilations of people we might know.   But trust me, you do not live next door to the Nosy Parkers.  By the way, regardless of one reviewer’s scoff, the hermit Sarah Bishop, who lived in a cave just a stone’s throw from Ridgefield really did exist.

So back to Pop’s Place.  I braced myself for the disappointment or maybe even anger when I informed the woman that the local bar found in my books doesn’t exist.  I was relieved to see that she suddenly looked very happy.   “Thank goodness,” she said.  “I thought maybe I had missed something!”

Thank you for sharing this with us, Gerri, and good luck with Grave Words, the latest book in the Deadly Deadlines mystery series. Readers can learn more about Gerri Lewis by visiting the author’s website and. her Facebook and Instagram pages.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

 Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse – Kobo – Apple

About Gerri Lewis: Gerri is the author of The Last Word (2024) and Grave Words (June 10, 2025), the first two books in her Deadly Deadlines Mystery series published by Crooked Lane Books.  Set in her Hallmark-worthy hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut, this cozy mystery is about obituary writer Winter Snow, who solves murders along with a cast of lovable characters.  During her career as an award-winning reporter, columnist, and feature writer, Gerri has become a go-to person in her community for obituaries. When she is not helping her protagonist solve mysteries, she writes magazine features and is the Public Information Officer for the Ridgefield Office of Emergency Management.  She lives with her husband in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the picture-perfect setting for her books.