Danita Minnis

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. M. Jayne LaDow will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Author Interview – M. Jayne LaDow

1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?

I’ve always been drawn to mysteries—both as a reader and as someone who loves puzzles. The cozy mystery genre appealed to me because it allows for that satisfying intellectual challenge while also exploring relationships and community, but I also love a good romance and a little spice. A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths came from my fascination with Chaucer’s “The Pardoner’s Tale” and its theme “Radix malorum est cupiditas”—greed is the root of all evil. I wanted to explore how that timeless theme plays out in a modern (well, 1997) setting, and the cozy mystery format was perfect for that.

2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a first born, middle or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?

I’m the baby by a long shot—my siblings are 10 and 13 years older than me. In many ways, I got the only-child experience since they were grown and gone before I was even ten. This meant I spent my weekends with my mom and dad visiting historical houses, cemeteries, and historical societies. At the time, I thought it was the world’s most boring childhood, but now I appreciate it immensely. Those experiences gave me a deep appreciation for the layers of history in everyday places and an understanding of how the past shapes the present. That sensibility runs through my writing—it’s why I can set a book in 1997 and treat it as historical fiction, why I notice the details that ground a story in a specific time and place.

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

My contested recliner! It’s a source of household comedy because my cats think it’s theirs, I know it’s mine. I do my best work there, surrounded by the comfortable chaos of my home. My husband’s at the at school and my kids are working, and I’m in my chair with my laptop, often with at least one cat attempting a hostile takeover.

4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?

As a ridiculous planner who uses spreadsheets and murder boards, I’m surprisingly ruthless about killing darlings when they don’t serve the story. But I never truly delete them, they go into a “Darlings Cemetery” file. Sometimes a beautiful sentence or clever scene just doesn’t fit this book, but it might be perfect for another project. I’m a teacher at heart; I believe everything can be repurposed with the right context.

5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?

Jane Austen, without question. I’d ask her how she managed to write such devastatingly accurate social commentary while making it so entertaining that people didn’t even realize they were being skewered. Her ability to balance humor, romance, and biting social observation is something I aspire to in my own work.

6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.

When I was five, my family took a cross-country trailer trip from New Jersey to California. My brother—a surly fifteen-year-old who can’t be blamed for his mood, given he was trapped in a trailer with his annoying little sister—told me there were trolls living under the bridges in this beautiful park we were visiting. I’m talking about a lovely park with winding streams and the cutest arched bridges. We were in the CENTER of the park when he dropped this information, and I completely fell apart. I wouldn’t cross the bridges to get out. This incident scarred me for life—I still think about those imaginary trolls, and I’m convinced this is why I write mysteries. If there might be trolls under bridges, what else is lurking beneath the surface of everyday life? My brother inadvertently turned me into a writer who sees danger and intrigue everywhere. Thanks, big brother.

7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a back pack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?

A sturdy notebook and pen (I’d go mad without writing), a complete works of Shakespeare (infinite re-reading potential no matter your mood and the ability to put on plays for the wildlife), and a good knife (because I’m practical enough to know I need to actually survive).

8. If you could have one super power in your existence, what would it be?

The ability to pause time. As a writer, I’m always thinking “if I just had a few more hours…” Imagine being able to freeze the world and finish that chapter, polish that scene, or simply read uninterrupted!

9. Favorite snack?

After 33 years of teaching, I can eat anything in 4 minutes flat during a lunch period. But given actual time? I love savoring a peach or mango Boba green tea.

10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?

I’m definitely a speed-limit driver with a detailed map. Remember, I’m the ridiculous planner with spreadsheets and murder boards? I outline extensively before I write, I know where every scene is going. But here’s the thing about careful planning—it actually gives you freedom to enjoy the journey because you’re not worried about getting lost.

She set out to solve a mystery, not to fall in love.

In 1997 Virginia Beach, some truths refuse to stay buried…

Dani Jones is used to lesson plans and late-night grading, not murder. But when a student’s uncle confronts her after class and then disappears, her world tilts. Days later, during a Chesapeake Bay cleanup, she is there when his body is found, hidden in the marsh. As the last person to see him alive, Dani is suddenly at the center of a mystery that rattles the quiet coastal town.

Enter Gavin Larkhurst, a sharp-tongued radio newsman with a protective streak. His feelings for Dani make him desperate to keep her safe—even when she refuses to stop digging. But trust is fragile when danger lurks around every corner, and someone will do anything to keep the past buried.

Equal parts mystery and romance, A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths is a spicy whodunit about uncovering secrets, risking your heart, and the lessons that change everything.

Read an Excerpt

The ocean had always been her refuge. Even now, with storm clouds bruising the horizon, Dani walked the shoreline barefoot, the wind tugging strands of hair across her face. The water hissed over the sand like something whispering secrets it could no longer keep.

She tried to quiet her mind—to let the rhythm of the waves wash away the questions still circling like gulls. But the past few days wouldn’t let her rest: Carl Rendell’s fury, the burned church, Brian’s haunted silence. Each memory rose and fell with the tide, reshaping itself into something sharper.

A flash of color caught her eye—a shard of glass half-buried near her foot. She bent to pick it up. Red, warped by heat. A fragment of stained glass.

Her breath hitched.

She turned it over in her palm, the edges cutting faintly into her skin, and for a moment she imagined the flames reflected there, licking at the sky. The wind howled, cold and certain.

Whatever she’d stumbled into, it wasn’t finished with her yet.

She slipped the shard into her pocket, the salt wind stinging her eyes, and kept walking toward the dark line of the pier, where the sea met the secrets she could no longer ignore.

About the Author:

M. Jayne LaDow is a playwright and author who leapt into writing romance after thirty-three years wrangling middle school English students. Her rom-coms and spicy cozy mysteries are inspired by her years in education, where she was regularly pied in the face, sang classroom karaoke, and dressed up like characters from novels.

She’s the author of The Marchfield Series — One Night Stands and Lesson Plans, Learning Goals and Dancing Poles, Pop Quizzes and Stolen Kisses, Tardy Pass, No Questions Asked, and the upcoming Budget Cuts and Midnight Lust — and the Tides of Truth Series, beginning with A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truth: A Steamy Cozy Mystery set in 1997 Virginia Beach.

She firmly believes every great story starts with a dash of trouble and a happily ever after.

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