A revived segment of my blog is The Author Takeover, where an invited guest is asked to contribute a blog to my site. This allows my readers to connect with more authors and celebrate the world of literary in a different way. Today, welcome Phyllis Entis as she talks about her love of Carmel-by-Sea, Pen to Paper and, of course, her book series. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for a special monthly question and answer with her, too!
It all began with a green pearl.
I have been asked on many occasions how the Dickens Detective Agency came into being.
I could say that it was the result of long, careful planning, but that would be a lie.
I could say that the entire plot came to me in a dream, but that, too, would be a lie.
In fact, the genesis of The Green Pearl Caper, the entire Damien Dickens series, and my new Millie Dickens spin-off series took place during a drop-in writing workshop in La Jolla, California.
The premise of the hour-long weekly workshop, Pen to Paper, was simple. The moderator began each session by giving us a writing prompt, usually consisting of an opening line, a scenario, or a photograph. Our job was to write furiously for approximately twenty minutes, disregarding grammar, syntax, and punctuation. The purpose was to encourage ideas to flow freely, unfiltered by the urge to edit. After the twenty minutes had expired, we read our stories aloud to the other members of the group.
On the day Damien Dickens was conceived, the prompt we were given was an object. A rope of green plastic beads. Somehow, the beads opened a faucet in my brain, and the following passage is part of what flowed out.
My name is Damien Dickens, and I am a P.I. You know – a Shamus, a Private Investigator. I hate waiting for a client at one a.m. on a foggy night. But who could refuse Sylvia Sutherland – THE Sylvia Sutherland. You know who I mean – the heiress to Sutherland’s Smokes.
And, let me tell you. Sylvia smokes!
I was in my office, looking through the foot-high stack of overdue bills that Millie had left on my desk, when I heard the sound of clicking pearls swooshing back and forth, back and forth across an amply endowed female chest. The sound hesitated at my office door. And when I looked up, there was Sylvia.
She was dressed for success, completely decked out in poinsettia red, except for her emerald-green, 4-inch high heels, her emerald-studded evening bag, and the longest rope of shiny, one-inch diameter matched pearls I had ever seen – dyed green to match her shoes and bag. Who but Sylvia would think to dye a rope of pearls green? Who but Sylvia could afford to?
The next month, my husband and I indulged in a beach vacation in French Polynesia. We had no internet access. The only piece of electronics that accompanied us was my Kindle, the only writing material a notebook and pen. The characters of Damien Dickens and Sylvia Sutherland were eating at me. Demanding to be fleshed out. By the time we returned, I had written the first couple of chapters of what would become The Green Pearl Caper.
When I published my debut novel in 2015, I never thought that it would evolve into a series. Yet here I am, ten years later, having just released Millie Dickens, Private Investigator, the seventh Dickens Detective Agency book, and the first one to feature Damien’s wife, Millie, in a solo role.
Damien and Millie Dickens are a husband-and-wife team of private investigators, living in the picturesque California town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. As Millie Dickens, Private Investigator opens, we learn that Damien has met an untimely and heroic death, and Millie is trying to put her life back together.
Reluctantly, she agrees to take on the investigation of a double murder that occurred prior to her husband’s death. In doing so, she discovers that Damien had been working undercover to expose a web of corruption within the Carmel police department, and that his death was no accident.
The character of Millie has evolved over the course of my seven Dickens Detective Agency novels. In The Green Pearl Caper, she was a secondary character—Damien’s secretary and love interest. With each new book, Millie has evolved into a mature, independent woman. One who can take whatever life throws at her and come out stronger for it in the end.
Follow Phyllis at:
Facebook
Amazon author page
Website
Bluesky
Please be sure to sign up for my newsletter for the special Q&A with Phyllis Entis!
Thank you, Phyllis, and thank YOU reader, for joining us today. If you’re an author who wants to be featured, please reach out and we’ll schedule your Author Takeover soon!
Happy reading!
Sarah Butland
Thank you so very much for allowing me to take over your blog for today.
Have had the pleasure of reading all of Phyllis Entis’ Damien Dickens books and enjoyed each one. They seemed to get more and more enthralling as the series progressed. Have also read the 1st book of the Millie Dickens series and can’t wait for the second one to be published.