Margaret Fenton is here today answering our burning questions. Margaret’s debut book is Little Lamb Lost about a social worker who becomes involved in a murder investigation.

Now, on to the Q & A:

Dream vacation destination? London, England.

Best vacation destination you’ve actually visited? London, England. I went with my husband in 2006 and basically dragged him around to all these crazy mystery-novel-related destinations. He thought I’d gone nuts. We went to the Tower of London and saw Traitor’s Gate, and at the sight of it I exclaimed, “That’s an Anne Perry book!” As if no other history has happened there. Also, if you get the chance, the Sherlock Holmes museum (on Baker Street, of course) is a blast, in a weird way.

Least favorite thing to do? I hate to vacuum. I don’t know why.

Favorite season? Fall. We are Halloween freaks at my house, and my neighbors and I throw a HUGE party every year. There’s also a giant spider, named Charlotte, who lives on our roof during the month of October.

First car? A 1982 Honda Civic hatchback. Blue.

Older/younger/middle/only child? Older. I have one younger brother, also a social worker, who lives in Orlando. He works at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Godiva or M&M’s? Sigh. Neither. Diabetes is a bummer!

Early bird or night owl? Night owl, definitely.

Now that we’ve gotten to know you a little better, tell us about your book. What event or idea inspired the book? I was lucky to get to know Anne George before she passed away in 2001. She was an amazing lady. We were on our way to a Sisters in Crime meeting one night and I was babbling on about Laura Lippman’s first book and how much I liked it when she said, “Margaret, I don’t know why someone who loves mysteries as much as you do doesn’t try to write one.” I didn’t have a good answer for that. So the next day I started thinking about it. I am an LCSW and worked with child welfare for many years, so that seemed a good place to start. What if my main character was a child protective services social worker? It just grew from there. The first book is about what happens to Claire when she loses a client. Her worst nightmare comes true, and she has to deal with it.

What kind of research did you have to do? Since I was housed in DHR building here in Birmingham, Alabama, for 8 years (as a child therapist), I really didn’t have to do much research. I got to see the struggles that social workers go through every day. LITTLE LAMB LOST is not based on any real case or scenario, but the realism comes from the characters’ reactions to the situations that occur.

What’s your writing style? Outline or no outline? No outline. I sit down and type “Chapter One.” I do write little reminders to myself, on sticky notes, to remind me of different directions to go with the plot or characters or whatever. My monitor is always covered in yellow squares of paper!

What do you wish you’d known about either the craft of writing or the business of publishing when you first started writing? I wish I’d taken a marketing course in college or someplace. I know so little about promotion. Not that there is a magic formula for selling a book, but it sure helps to know something about sales.

What’s up next for you? What are you working on now? I’m finishing the sequel to LITTLE LAMB LOST. Hopefully I’ll get it done soon. It’s called LITTLE GIRL GONE, and there’s a woman’s body found in woods on the same day that Claire takes a thirteen year old girl into custody. The two events are related, and that’s all I’m going to say, so stay tuned!