Author Judy Alter invited me to introduce my Show Me mystery series to readers on her blog, Judy’s Stew, on Wednesday, January 8.

After acknowledging that I became addicted to travel while a Peace Corps Volunteer, I explained the origins of my characters, three women who grew up together in a small town, led wildly different lives for thirty-five years, and come together again as each faces a major crisis.

“I select the main characters for my books as carefully as I choose companions for a long trip. They must share some of my interests but differ enough to surprise, challenge, and entertain me day after day for months.

“The protagonist for my Show Me series began to form ten years ago while I was working in Washington, D.C. I was horrified when the Bush administration revealed the name of a CIA covert operative, exposing her and acquaintances abroad to danger, ruining her career, and surely ending some friendships. I empathized because I’d feared that I wouldn’t be the only one to discover a friend in Vienna led a daring double life. Leading such a life required tremendous energy, brainpower, self-confidence bordering on arrogance, and—fascinating to me—idealism mixed with deception.”

To read the rest, go to http://judys-stew.blogspot.com/2014/01/wednesday-guest-with-some-great.html.

—Carolyn Mulford