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I plunked my empty coffee mug down on the side table between our chairs. “So what’s the scoop?”
Vince cast me an amused glance. “I see what you did there. Anyway, the story is that Samuel and Bridget Airley, having risen from nothing to the pinnacle of, at least, local society, were pretty keen to have their only child marry well. They sent him to the best private schools, then hosted parties at Aircroft to introduce Calvin to well-connected, and wealthy, debutantes.”
“But Calvin had other ideas?”
“Exactly. The rumors were that he’d met someone his parents would consider unsuitable. A girl with limited prospects. According to the gossip, they met in secret and fell in love.”
“Of course,” I said absently, my attention diverted by the movers returning to their truck.
My lack of interest didn’t slow Vince’s torrent of words. “Unfortunately, the girl ended up ‘in the family way,’ as they would’ve said then. Now, to his credit, various sources claimed that Calvin wanted to marry her, and even told his parents as much. Naturally, his mom and dad were opposed to this idea. They forbade the marriage, threatening to cut Calvin off if he carried through with it.”
I turned to Vince with a frown. “And he backed down?”
“Supposedly. Some fanciful tales I’ve heard romanticized this a bit, claiming Calvin just wanted to find a way to get hold of some of his inheritance before running off with the girl, but who knows?” Vince shrugged. “Anyway, the upshot was that the girl disappeared.”
More intrigued than I wanted to be, I leaned into the arm of my chair. “She was presumed dead?”
Vince shook his head. “No one telling the tale knew for sure what happened to her. To be honest, no one seemed to know exactly who she was. The couple of names bandied about have been proven to be wrong, so even that is a mystery. But when Calvin died not long after . . .”
“Some people thought he might’ve committed suicide?”
“A few. But there were others who believed it was the girl’s family, or a friend, who shoved Calvin off that cliff—an act of revenge for him deserting her.” Vince sat back in his chair with a flourish of his hands. “Straight up murder.”
I studied his profile for a moment. It was clear that Vince was obsessed with this tale, however apocryphal it might be. “You truly believe that?”
“I think there’s a good possibility it could be true.” Vince turned his head to meet my incredulous gaze. “I know it sounds far-fetched, especially since it’s only based on oral history. Or gossip, if you will. There’s no real documentation, or at least none that I’ve discovered yet.” Vince’s eyes glittered with excitement. “But that’s thrill of it—chasing down all the leads and digging through the dreck to find any diamonds of truth.”
“In other words, once a newshound, always a newshound,” I said, offering him a slight smile. “But I do understand, in a way. I always felt the same way about library research.”
“See, you get it.” Vince crossed his arms over his chest. “My former boss thought it was a waste of time, because there was no guarantee I could ever prove anything. I mean, it’s all based on stories told by one person to another. Which can certainly jumble things up.”
“Hard to get to the actual truth,” I agreed, giving a nod to the foreman as the movers resumed hauling my household goods up the unforgiving stairs.
“I know, and it’s not like I may be able to absolutely prove anything, one way or the other. I may have to simply take the facts I can gather and extrapolate from there.” Vince shot me a quick glance. “Not that I’d make up anything, but I could theorize.”
I met his gaze with a lift of my chin. “It is an intriguing premise for a book. I just have one question—do you plan to ask me for help? Getting information from the files and documents that might still be stored at Aircroft, I mean.”
To his credit, Vince didn’t even blink. “The idea has crossed my mind.”
“I thought so,” I said, rising to my feet. “I’ll have to think about that. And ask my employer if it is okay for me to dig through any papers or other things connected to the Airley family. Deal?”
“Deal,” Vince said, standing to face me. “There is one more thing . . .”
“What’s that?” I asked, distracted by one of the movers motioning for me to join him at the truck. Assuming he wanted some instructions on whether to separate the two halves of a bookcase before trying to haul them up to the apartment, I’d taken a few steps toward the porch steps when Vince’s words stopped me in my tracks.
“Let me know if you encounter any ghosts,” he said.
Guest Post – It’s Never Too Late!
I’m sharing my story about achieving an important ambition later in life because I know there are many people who’ve had to give up dreams due to circumstances beyond their control. Life often requires a sacrifice of personal goals in order to provide for a family, to be able to make our own way (and not be a burden on others), or to support those we love.
But sometimes, deferring the dream goes on for so long that it’s easy to convince yourself it’s impossible. I’m here to tell you it is not.
I’m definitely a late-bloomer when it comes to my professional writing career. I always created stories, plays, and poetry, but didn’t actually complete a full-length book until about eleven years ago. I always swore I was going to write a novel, but somehow life, and perhaps my own insecurities, intervened. Instead, I earned a degree in theatre and worked as costumer for a few years. Then, needing a steadier career due to family circumstances, I went back to college to earn my Masters in Library Science. This launched my library career, which lasted for over 30 years.
It wasn’t until late 2012, when I was 56, that I decided I was going to finish writing one book, just to accomplish that life goal. Initially, I didn’t even consider publication, which is good, since my first two books weren’t “ready for prime time” (at least at that point). It was only after writing my third book, a YA Fantasy called CROWN OF ICE, that I seriously queried and landed an agent and publisher. I was 57 years old.
CROWN OF ICE, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” was first published in September 2014, the same month I turned 58. I then wrote a YA scifi, FACSIMILE, which was released in the spring of 2016. (This book is now out of print).
But in the summer of 2016, after my new agent and I decided to pull my rights from my first publisher, I was at a point where I wanted to make a change. With the support of my wonderful agent, I finally decided to try out a new genre. So there I was, already 60, taking another big chance! But by this point I’d learned the value of leaping into the unknown, and wrote my first cozy mystery, book one in my Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. The submission process for that book started in early 2017, and I obtained a 3-book deal from Crooked Lane Books soon thereafter.
In the meantime, in the spring of 2017, I reissued CROWN OF ICE with my author co-op, Snowy Wings Publishing, along with its companion book, SCEPTER OF FIRE – a mash-up retelling of “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” and “The Ugly Duckling.”
Then, in December 2017 (when I was 61) my first mystery, A MURDER FOR THE BOOKS, was published. Today, at 66, I have seven books published in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, with an eighth book releasing in November, and a ninth book under contract. I also have three books published in my second cozy mystery series, the Booklover’s B&B series. Two additional books in that series are under contract. Of course, A CRYPTIC CLUE, the first book in my Hunter and Clewe traditional mystery series, is out now. Book two, A KILLER CLUE, will be released in 2024.
My point is – if you’d asked me eleven years ago whether I would have written 17 books by the time I was 66, and would’ve had 15 of them published (or soon to be published), I would’ve sworn that was an impossible dream. But it wasn’t. It took a lot of work, and required help from others – like my agent, critique partners, editors, and publishers – but I was able to make it happen. Not without some stress and tears and disappointment, of course, but still – the books exist and people can read them. That’s all that really matters.
So if you have a dream deferred, here’s my challenge – give it another try. Don’t worry about how old you are, or if it seems improbable. Forget the odds and reach for that dream. If I could do it, so can you.
I’ll be cheering you on!
Raised
in a historic small town at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains,
Victoria Gilbert turned her early obsession with books into a dual
career as an author and librarian. Now retired, she’s worked as a
reference librarian, research librarian, and university library
director.
Victoria
writes the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, the Booklover’s B&B
Mystery series, and the Hunter and Clewe traditional mystery series
for Crooked Lane Books. When not writing or reading, she likes to
spend her time watching TV and films, gardening, or traveling. A
member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and
International Thriller Writers, Victoria lives in North Carolina with
her husband, son, and two very spoiled cats.
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ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great mystery novel.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the excerpt and guest post. Sounds like a good story.
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