Dee Dee Darkly is a children’s book writer who no longer wants to write children’s books. She wants to write travel books, specifically spontaneous travel books. She closes her eyes and opens an atlas and lets fate take her to her next destination. The problem is, people seem to be dropping dead wherever she goes. And she is learning more about the inside of interrogation rooms than about the towns where she’s traveling. Dee Dee’s first three adventures involve a phantom in a bishop’s palace in Northern England, a missing medieval saint in Ireland, and a giant lake lizard in Scotland. More importantly, they involve the people Dee Dee meets and some rollicking adventure, with a splash of death… and whiskey.

Available on Amazon here.

Dee Dee Darkly is my alter ego. One day when my son and I were browsing in a bookstore (a favorite activity we have always enjoyed together), we were snickering over the murder mystery series on the shelves. These were books that offered up a murder mystery but also included some sort of helpful hint. For example one series was a murder mystery and gardening hints. Another was murder and chocolate. Murder and recipes… It went on and on. These were “small” books I’m sure the authors completely enjoyed writing and were obviously successful enough to be published and not in the bargain bin. So we were snickering. Because we’re book snobs. And unpublished writers. Shame on us. Something good came out of that day, however. We made a bet, my son and I. We bet each other that we could write a murder mystery. The rules:

• We had to have a pseudonym that was an adverb
• We had to write it in 3 months
• It had to be serializable
• It had to include some sort of helpful tips and tricks

And thus Dee Dee Darkly was born. Obviously, the pseudonym is brilliant. I love adverbs. I didn’t get the first episode written in three months. It took longer, but not too long. It is most definitely serializable – Dee Dee has been traveling in my head since the first word hit the page. And I love to travel, so I decided I would focus on travel. I love cultures and societies and architecture and everything about travel, as well as the physical movement. I won the bet. I’m still waiting for my son’s murder mystery. It’s the only bet I have ever won with my son because he’s much more intelligent and talented than I am, so I’m allowed to gloat.

No this is not a book you’ll see in a bookstore or advertised by a publisher. I self-published it because I wanted to see it on my shelf. I wanted to give it to people I love. It’s been about a year since I’ve taken the plunge (KDP is amazing for these vanity projects). And I thought what the heck, I’ll try to publicize myself. If you want to read something light and fluffy – a “small” book – give Dee Dee a try.

Susan Bisco’s books on Goodreads
Dee Dee Darkly: Spontaneous Traveler and Erstwhile Sleuth