If you've found your way here, I suspect we have something in common: a love of curling up with a good mystery, memorable characters you wish lived next door, and a setting so vivid you can practically smell the coffee — or in my case, the wine.

For years, my family insisted that anyone who read as much as I did should ‘just write a book already’. I politely ignored them. After all, I'd spent my professional life as a nurse, professor, and researcher, writing academic papers that occasionally won awards but were unlikely to keep anyone up past their bedtime. I was convinced that my imagination had been permanently replaced by APA formatting.

Turns out, I was wrong.

It took a few years of false starts and one humbling realization: writing a novel is nothing like writing a journal article—for one thing, your characters are allowed to have feelings. So, I joined a writing organization, studied the craft, consulted with experts, and revised. Then revised again. And again. You get the idea.

What I discovered along the way is that I love this — the research, the puzzle-solving, the weaving of fact with fiction, the hunt for exactly the right word. It's how I want to spend my time, preferably with a cup of coffee in my ‘work’ mug under a canopy of tropical plants that have been in the family so long they have names, occasionally interrupted by the cat lunging at the window to catch a taunting squirrel.

I'll admit, a cozy mystery set in the wine country Prince Edward County, Ontario may not land on Canada Reads anytime soon. But my hope is simpler and, I think, better: that Trouble in the Terroir gives you a few delicious hours of relaxed enjoyment and leaves you curious about what comes next.

I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to the vineyard.

Deb