I have an innate curiosity, a thirst to find out more about someone or something or somewhere. My husband tends to find that “nosey” side of me somewhat exasperating, so it was nice to learn that Susan Jane Wright, author of ‘Madeline in the Moonlight,’ thinks the same way as me. ‘Madeline’ appears in Moonlight & Misadventure, and I’m delighted to say it’s her first publication credit, though I’m confident it won’t be her last. Take it away, Susan:

I’m the kind of person who peeks into windows when I’m driving in the dark. I see the blue light of televisions flickering in living rooms and wonder who lives in these houses and what their lives are like.

Some people call it nosiness. I call it curiosity. It got me bitten by a groundhog when I was a child and led me to a MacDonald’s in Beijing to see whether a Chinese Big Mac tastes the better than a Canadian Big Mac (they’re equally awful). Even after decades of working as a lawyer and executive in large corporations I was always more interested in the people doing the deals than the deals themselves.

I’m curious because I find life intriguing. Whether you’re an executive trying to stay out of harm’s way while your colleagues are empire building or an artist with a remarkable secret, like my victim in Madeline in the Moonlight, the machinations of those who want to take advantage of a situation are worth examining.

Intrigue is offset by karma. The conniving executive will get fired (yes, he leaves with a lucrative severance package, but at least he’s gone) and the underhanded family member will get caught.

All this intrigue and karma can be exhausting. That’s why my protagonists, like me, are sustained by their family and friends, and the occasional cat and dog.

When I was finally able to give up my day job I started writing mysteries to explore these ideas by focusing on strong independent women who are clever enough to outsmart those who try to take advantage of them.

I like to explore different worlds in my writing. The lives of an artist and a concert violinist form the backdrop to my Madeline story. Their worlds are far removed from that of a lawyer working in business, and I hope the opportunity to explore other people’s lives in a short story brings as much pleasure to the reader as it did to me.

I am just embarking on my writing career and intend to peek into as many windows as possible before it’s time to pull down the shades.

Susan Jane Wright was a lawyer and an executive in the energy sector before she became a writer. Her legal career took her from the board rooms of Calgary to the streets of Beijing. Her nonfiction has been published in Alberta Views and other newspapers. She is a regular guest on TV and radio talk shows and podcasts. She’s received the PIA Public Interest Award for Southern Alberta and the Canadian Law Blog Award for her legal blog Susan on the Soapbox. Madeline in the Moonlight is her first publication of fiction.

And now, here’s the opening to ‘Madeline in the Moonlight’

Something hit the floor and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. I stepped out of the shower, slipped into Mom’s cotton bathrobe and flung the bathroom door wide open. “Dammit Moriarty,” I yelled at the cat, “I knew it was a mistake bringing you here.”

A man was standing in the kitchen, his face turned away from me. Moriarty meowed loudly and rubbed his head on the man’s shoe. The man wiggled his foot to shake him off.

“What do you think you’re doing?” For some reason I decided the circumstances—half-naked thirty something woman confronting an intruder in her recently deceased mother’s house—called for bravado. I squared my shoulders and thrust out my elbows, trying to look as big as possible. He turned his head and I recognized him.

Moonlight & Misadventure is available in e-book and trade paperback at all the usual suspects.