Diane
Vallere is a textbook Capricorn who writes mysteries and loves clothes. Her first
publication credit was “Identity Crisis” in FISH
TALES: The Guppy Anthology. She launched her own detective agency at ten years
old and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since. Her debut novel, Designer Dirty Laundry, is now available.
The
book…
Samantha
Kidd, ex-buyer turned Trend Specialist, designed her future with couture
precision, but finding the Fashion Director's corpse on Day One leaves her
hanging by a thread. When the killer fabricates evidence that puts the cops on
her hemline, her new life begins to unravel. She trades high fashion for dirty
laundry and reveals a cast of designers out for blood. Now this flatfoot in
heels must keep pace with a diabolical designer before she gets marked down for
murder.
What
they’re saying…
"...the
book is enriched by the author's cleverly phrased prose and convincing
characterization. The surprise ending will satisfy and delight many mystery
fans.” – Kirkus Reviews
“DESIGNER DIRTY LAUNDRY” is a sleek and
stylish read." – Ellen Byerrum, author of the Crime of Fashion mysteries
"A
captivating new mystery voice, Vallere has stitched together haute couture and
murder in a stylish mystery.” – Krista Davis, author of the Bestselling
Domestic Diva Mysteries
An
excerpt…
"When you wear
fishnet stockings to the grocery store, people tend to stare. Women look at you
like you’re affiliated with the sex trade. Men pretend they’re not staring,
doing so all the while. It’s probably because they’re thinking the same thing.
The last time
I wore fishnets to the grocery store was weeks ago. It was then I met the man
who changed the course of my life. Because of him I’d traded in the title
Senior Buyer of Ladies Designer Shoes at Bentley’s New York to become the Trend
Specialist at Tradava, the family-owned retailer in Ribbon, Pennsylvania. I’d
given up an apartment in Manhattan to buy the house where I grew up. And now,
because of him, I sat in a police station, explaining my actions to a homicide
detective.
I still
couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it all started to go wrong."
Get your copy…
Let's chat with Diane!
Susan: So, you launched your own detective
agency at age ten, right? What was your first case?
Diane: The case of the missing pencils. One
of my classmates continually found himself without a pencil. He hired me (and
my partner, because all great 10-year-old detectives have partners) to find out
who was taking them. While he suspected the people who sat near him, turns out
the real villain was gravity. They were rolling off his desk to the floor.
Susan: What caused you to switch from
detective work to the fashion industry?
Diane: I have always loved solving problems, but I’ve
also always loved clothes. When I graduated college with an Art History degree,
my mom (who I think was concerned that I’d move home and stay forever)
suggested I go to the mall and fill out an application. Thus, the start of a
career in retail fashion.
Susan: You are certainly well-travelled.
What is your favorite place you’ve visited so far?
Diane: I was lucky enough to get to go to
Milan, Paris, and London for my job, but I really loved Lyon, France, where the
lingerie fair is held each year. I travelled with a fabulous boss who gave me
complete autonomy and a coworker who was also a mentor. I’d become friends with
a few of my vendors, too, and for us to all be in France and call it work was
an embarrassment of riches.
Susan: What’s your favorite kind of story to
get lost in?
Diane: I love to read but often can’t find blocks of
time because I’m trying to stay focused on the story in my head, so a book that
I can read—devour!—in an afternoon, or over only a few days, is the best.
Susan: The protagonist in Designer Dirty Laundry, Samantha Kidd, is a trend
specialist. Can you tell us a little about what she does?
Diane: Samantha’s job is to assist the
Fashion Director in recognizing trends from the runway, to communicate between
the buyers and advertisers about the trends that are important to Tradava (the
store where she works), and to promote the trends through fashion shows at the
store.
Susan: Is it true that you make cupcakes
that looked like crime scene tape for a Sisters in Crime meeting? Can you get
us some of those?
Diane: Yes, I did! Truthfully, I asked the
bakery department of my local grocery store if they could make them for me.
They said they could, but their body language said otherwise, so I ordered
cupcakes with bright yellow icing and shook black sugar through a stencil to
spell out the words. I’m sure the cake decorating staff is quite talented, but
I did not trust them to embrace my vision.
Susan: What was the first story you remember
writing?
Diane: I was an avid reader of Sweet Dreams
Romances when I was growing up and I tried my hand at writing one myself. I
still have it. It was the story of Abby and Vinnie, two very competitive math
students vying for the top grade in Geometry, and the new boy, Chris, who comes
between them before helping them see they are destined for each other. I
recently typed it up (yes, it was written long-hand) and titled it “The Square
Root of the Problem.” It lives a nice existence on my hard drive now.
Susan: How much is Samantha like you?
Diane: Oh boy. I think Samantha is the
person I might have become if I had made different choices after college. She
represents the idea that a person can be smart but not very bright at the same
time, and I often feel that way (though I don’t think I’ve admitted that until
just now!). She is more fearless than I am, for sure, has a better figure. She
wears what I want to wear and somehow has the money to buy it. Oh, and she’s an
Aries, which I am not.
Susan: When reading and/or writing, do you
put yourself in the heroine’s role?
Diane: I do, and I think that’s natural,
though I think my writing clicked when I first started thinking, “what is he
thinking right now?” about the male lead, or “how does the detective react to
how Samantha is reacting?” It was a big lesson learned from my editor (Ramona
deFelice Long), and now when I’m writing I find myself thinking from all sorts
of different POVs. Makes me feel slightly crazy to have so many voices in my
head, but it definitely leads to a better first draft!
Susan: What drew you to write mysteries?
Diane: I started reading mysteries when I was around
9 (note direct impact on the soon-to-be-founded detective agency), and I found
something inspiring about kids solving crimes that adults couldn’t. Trixie
Belden wasn’t just a character to me, she was the person I wanted to be (but
was a little afraid to be, because of her frequent interaction with
counterfeiters and gun smugglers and danger).
Susan: I wanted to be Trixie, too! (sigh)
What three things are, at this
moment, in Samantha Kidd’s purse?
Diane: Duct Tape, lipstick, and a punch card (with 10
punches) for a free hoagie at the local sandwich store.
Susan: What is Samantha’s biggest vice?
Diane: Shoes. Or junk food. It’s a tough call.
Susan: A girl after my own heart! But really, shoes can't be considered a vice, can they? What are
the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?
Diane: In no particular order: Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano, Artifact by Gigi Pandian, Nazareth Child by Darryl James, Ghost in a Polka Dot Bikini by Sue Ann
Jaffarian, and Flawless: Inside the
Largest Diamond Heist in History. (*disclaimer: I often scramble my TBR
list and there are hundreds of books I’m eager to read!)
Susan’s GOTTA ASK: What is your favorite scene in Designer Dirty Laundry?
Diane’s GOTTA ANSWER:
This is tough because two sprung to mind. There is a scene in the second
half of the book where Samantha gets interrogated. I loved the scene until I
took a course on interrogation taught by a homicide detective and realized how
far away from reality I was. (Another disclaimer: this book is intentionally
funny and is not to be used to train anyone planning on enrolling in the police
academy. I took liberties.) I had to rewrite the scene, letting Samantha be
Samantha within the general constraints of an interrogation, and I think it
ended up better than it was originally.
But I also
love the tree scene at the museum.
Susan: What’s up next for you?
Diane: PILLOW STALK, due in October 2012
Catch up with
Diane on the web:
Diane has a
question for you:
What’s the
craziest thing that’s happened to you while you were shopping?
Diane is
giving away a signed copy of Designer
Dirty Laundry and an ARC of PILLOW STALK to one person who leaves a comment
today—please be sure to leave your email address in the body of the comment to
enter the drawing.
Note: Offer void where prohibited.
Prizes will be mailed to North America
addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary
due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking
this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the
author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be
responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not
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publicly posts their email address.
