Hello everyone in the blogosphere:
Since I’ve done some research for Shadow of Truth, I felt that it was important to ask my victim named Diana Peabody to tell us a little about how she was really killed. I know that in real life this wouldn’t be possible, but she is a character in my book, so let’s pretend we’re talking to her before her fatal climb on the stepping stones and that she knows what will happen in the near future. Without further ado, here’s the character interview.
Ann: Thanks for returning to my blog for a story update. Let me start by asking you a very important question. How old were you when you fell off the stepping stones?
Diana: I was 29. My birthday was August 14. I couldn’t celebrate it that weekend.
Ann: How did you celebrate your birthday?
Diana: Becca and I went up to Sweet Water Park for Labor Day to celebrate the official end of Summer. We had planned a big party after climbing our favorite paths, but someone waxed the stones, causing me to go blind and fall to my death.
Ann: Tell me what actually happened out on the stepping stones?
Diana: You know what the stepping stones look like right? It’s an old spiral staircase made of limestone at the base of the stairs and the steps are actually carved out of sandstone. There are a couple of places where the stones turn at a right angle. Ted Morris planned to put rails around the steps to keep people from falling off the sides or the top, but he hadn’t put them up at that time.
Anyway, as I made my way up the stepping stones, I noticed the steps getting slippery the higher I climbed. One time I tripped, but I was able to catch myself. When I climbed up the step above me, my feet slipped out from under me and I face planted, hitting my left eye. When I got up, I couldn’t see out of that eye, but like the adventurer I am, I kept going. I used the vision in my right eye and my memory of the staircase design to navigate up the steps. I fell again on the step below the turnoff near the top of the staircase. When I fell the second time, I hit my right eye. My world went totally dark, but I was too afraid to turn around, so as you might suspect, I trudged ahead. I felt my way up the top step and I stepped off the side, because I didn’t see the turn. The last thing I remember was feeling as though I was floating through the air. I heard Becca call my name, but I couldn’t answer. All I could think was “God help me! God, help me!” My world went totally dark when I landed on the rockface behind the stones. The next thing I knew, my soul was winging its way to heaven. The Lord had taken me home after I fell, so I wouldn’t suffer and die a slow death.
Ann: What was your relationship to Becca Martin?
Diana: She was my best friend.
Ann: How did you and Becca meet?
Diana: We grew up and went to school together.
Ann: I thought you lived in Taderville Arkansas.
Diana: My parents did, but we lost the farm when I was about five years old. After Mom and my older brother found us a new place to live, Daddy ran off after my death, because losing me and the farm was too much for him to handle. You need to ask him about what happened there, because I don’t know all the details.
Ann: Did you go mountain climbing with Becca when you were younger?
Diana: No, this was my first attempt, but my parents took me on hiking trips every summer, so I thought I was brave enough to take the stepping stones.
Ann: Do you have any regrets?
Diana: Yes and no. I regret not heeding Ted Morris’s warnings about the stepping stones, but I don’t regret taking the dare, because it was fun, until I fell the first time and injured my eye.
Ann: What would you say to your younger self?
Diana: Don’t go up those stepping stones, because there not safe. Ted hasn’t put the rails up yet, but even if he does, they can still be slicked down with oil and ski wax.
Thanks to Diana Peabody for joining me for an eye-opening conversation. If you like interviewing your characters, why not share them on your own blog and tag me so I can read them and share them in my social circles as well. Until tomorrow, when I’ll have a special podcast guest to introduce you to, happy reading and writing.
Blessings,
Ann
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