Today’s
author interview is with guest and fellow SinC/Hawaii member, Vicki White.
Vicki and her husband Don make up the writing team of D.V. Whytes.
SISTERS IN CRIME/HAWAII: Thank you for taking time
out of your busy schedule to participate in a Sisters in Crime/Hawaii
interview, Vicki. You and your husband Don
write mysteries under the nom de plume of D.V. Whytes. The setting of your
mystery novel Prism Poison is an African Cruise. How did you come
up with the title for this novel?
VICKI WHITE: The
book had several titles ... The Fever
Tree, On the Limpopo, and others.
None seemed to fit. There is a murder by poisoning and there is diamond
smuggling, so we decided Prism Poison
was the name.
SISTERS IN CRIME/HAWAII: When
did you decide to write the novel Prism Poison?
VICKI WHITE: I
had just been laid off from my job, the department I was working for closed. So
Don and I went on a trip. We flew from Honolulu to Nairobi in about 40 hours. I
can't sleep on planes. Don slept through the trip.
When
we arrived in Nairobi, they took us to the Karen Blixen home at the foot of the
Angola Mts. Then we went to our hotel to clean up and go to a dinner at the
Magnificent 5, where they serve rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, lion and elephant. I
tried to settle down with a diet coke and piece of toast, but couldn't do it
because I was so tired. We missed the dinner.
We
did 2 safaris, one in Amboeseli and one in Tsavo. We arrived in Mombassa the
day of the bombing to catch a cruise ship to travel the east coast of Africa to
Capt Town. The trip was terrific and we decided to write the trip into a
Novel/murder mystery.
SISTERS IN CRIME/HAWAII: What
was it like for you, Vicki and Don, to be in Mombasa the day of the bombing in
November 2002, and how did you incorporate your experiences into the novel?
VICKI WHITE:
The city was in mayhem, but we thought it was somewhat normal, as Africa is
always in some type of turmoil. They have no organizing skills there that we
have ever seen. The security to board the ship was heightened, but no one told
us about the bombing.
When
we got to the ship's restaurant for dinner, there was a great crowd. One woman
was sitting on the floor. I spoke with her. She was on the El Al plane that
diverted from the land to air missile.
During
dinner the Captain gave the announcement and also told us we would not be going
to Zanzibar as it was an Al-Qaeda hideout. This was a direct order from Great
Britain Prime Minister and the President of the US.
I
had made a daily diary of our trip and used it with our pictures that we took
on the trip. There was a hotel that was bombed and we just imagined what it
might have been like to have been there.
SISTERS IN CRIME/HAWAII: Do
you have plans for another novel based on your travels?
VICKI WHITE:
Most definitely. We have one coming out very soon titled Cookie Crumbs, Green Eyes and Murder. This is taken from our trip,
when we caught a cruiseliner from Thailand and sailed to Venice. A most
wonderful 30 days. This book is great. It is our hope to continue the Greystone
Murder Mysteries into a series of several exotic travels.
Vicki and Don White's novels are
available at Amazon.com under the nom de
plume of D.V. Whytes.
