FRIDAY FICTION is very exited to welcome Jen Turano to the blog. Jen has generously offered to give a copy of To Write a Wrong away, so leave a comment telling me your favorite time period to read about, or about something you’ve found interesting in Jen’s interview and be in to win a copy of this brilliant book.

To Write a Wrong is the second book in the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency. The agency is run by women, which was highly unusual in this era. How did you research what they might get up to?

The idea for this book came to me when I was watching The Alienist, a murder mystery set in the Gilded Age. There was a female character who worked at the police department, and she gets involved with solving the case. That’s when I thought…hmmm…wouldn’t a lady detective agency be fun to write? And then I wrote it. I took some research from some of the few lady Pinkerton detectives. Then, because it’s a Jen Turano story, it just went from there with all sorts of crazy shenanigans. 

This book features a well known writer (Hermann) and another successful author in Daphne, who writes under a man’s name. Was it a lot of fun to write a writer?

It was an amusing storyline to write, mostly because I’ve experienced a lot of the same writerly things that happen between Daphne and Herman. Daphne’s dramatic attitude while she writes is definitely inspired by my own drama when I’m writing a first draft. And that they’re both rather neurotic, well, I haven’t met a writer yet who isn’t somewhat neurotic.  

You strike me as someone who doesn’t know many dull days. How many of Herman and Daphne’s scrapes are base on real life events?

I do seem to enjoy an odd life, so yes, some of their escapades were inspired by real life – such as the croquet match, the archery incident, and wobbling around on heels that I should know better than to wear. 

There’s lots of laughter in your books, is there a more serious message you’d like readers to take away? 

In “To Write a Wrong” I touch upon sexual assault, done so because I had a young reader contact me because she wasn’t comfortable talking to her parents about one of their friends crowding her and touching her when no one was watching. This reader was worried her parents would think she was doing something to attract this man’s attention. It really bothered me that in this day and age, women and girls still feel as if they’re to blame instead of being victims. That’s why I decided to add that angle to the story in the hopes that, if another reader is experiencing something similar, they’ll know they’re not to blame and that they should speak up. 

And what’s next for you? More from Bleecker Street or a new project?

The third and final book, “To Disguise the Truth,” will release in January, 2022. It’s Eunice Holbrooke’s story. She’s never seen in anything other than widow’s weeds and weeping veils, but there might be something going on besides the fact she’s a widow. You’ll have to stay tuned for more tidbits. I’m now in the process of writing the first book in a new series – “The Matchmakers.” I’m not that far along into it yet, but I think the characters are finally cool with their names. You can look forward to meeting Gwendolyn and Walter soon. 

Thanks so much for having me. Have a great week everyone! 

About Jen Turano…