You can probably tell I’ve got the beach on my mind this week, can’t you? Here’s another excuse to think about sand and surf. An author who writes mystery books set on islands! And … she’s an award-winning playwright and a grandmother. Everybody say hello to Vonda Skinner Skelton!

Best of all, Mrs. Skelton is a woman of faith who loves connecting with people through writing — AND I’ve met her in person in Nashville. She’s a beautiful woman with a kind heart, who gave me a big ol’ hug. So, I had to invite her to come visit us here.

Welcome to Mom 2 Mom Connection!

Thanks for inviting me, Heather.

I have to tell you, I’ve read your mystery books, and they’re set in places I’m familiar with, on Tybee and Amelia Islands, off the coast of Georgia. Can you tell us how you got started writing mysteries for children?

I’m always asked what gave me the great idea to start an island mystery series. Well, I hate to admit it, but I didn’t have the idea at all. The truth is, it just happened! The first book was set on Tybee Island because we had visited there when I was a child, and the second one was on Amelia Island because that’s where my oldest grandchildren live.

You’re a grandmother! Can you tell us a little about your family?

I’d love to! My sweet husband, Gary, and I were high school sweethearts and have now been married for 36 years. Our oldest daughter, Christina is married to Todd and they live on Amelia Island, Florida. They are the parents of our oldest grandchildren, Garrett (10) and Ellie (7). They are the stars along with Bitsy in the Amelia Island book. Our youngest daughter, Nicole, is married to Steve, and they have Cole (5) and Mallory (2), who will be in the third book, set on Hilton Head Island.

What do your grandchildren think about you writing mystery books?

I’m blessed to have an extremely supportive family, and the grandkids think it’s really cool that I write books, especially when I go to their schools. And Garrett and Ellie enjoyed their own moment in the spotlight when they, too, were asked to sign books because they were characters in the Amelia Island mystery!

Oh, that sounds like fun! Your grandkids get to help you sign books. I bet they give you a lot of ideas for writing.

Yes, they’ve given me a few ideas for the books, but I find I use their stories most often when I speak at Christian women’s events. The hilarious things they say often fit well with a point I’m trying to make as I speak. There’s nothing like the innocent words of a child to get a point across!

Oh, I know all about those cute things kids say. And if I don’t write them down, I’ll forget! So, do you think a person can write books for children even if their children are grown?

Definitely! I didn’t write until my kids were grown. I also think that some of us are better able to recognize the humor in life as we get older. When I was a young wife and mother, I was so focused on trying to do things right and raise responsible kids, that I often missed the laughter in situations.

And now, as I look back on my childhood, I see so much more than I did back then. The passing of years has helped me see the love my parents had for us and the sacrifices they made; for the struggles they had as a young couple with no money and four kids. I didn’t see the beauty of the experience back then. I do now, and I cherish it.

Now, can you tell us about your mysteries?

I’d love to. My first book, Bitsy and the Mystery at Tybee Island, introduces Bitsy, a 12-year-old tomboy from a poor family who always manages to get into trouble. She’s the oldest of three girls and her mother is expecting the fourth child at any time—and Bitsy’s not happy about it. The family travels to Tybee Island to test her father’s newest invention, suntan lotion. Bitsy and her cousin, Matt, decide to search for buried treasure, but instead discover more than they bargained for.

I remember that in the book. I thought it was so funny that Bitsy’s dad was trying to get them to test out his invention by using homemade suntan lotion on half their body and the leading brand on the other half! Did any of these things happen to you in real life?

Yes, believe it or not, my daddy was one of those great characters who was always going to invent something or come up with a great business deal that would make our family rich. Did we ever get rich? No! But he left a great collection of true stories for me to write about!

I’ve used lots of things that really did happen to me or someone I know and put them in my fictional books. Remember the bully getting his head caught in the porch rail on Amelia Island? That really happened to my brother when we were kids. (And I have to admit, I DID enjoy smearing him with mayonnaise and butter to get him out!)

Remember Bitsy’s Bangles? Well, believe it or not, I really had a jewelry business when I was 12-years-old, thanks to my dad. That’s the joy of fiction—you can do anything you want! You simply use the facts that would drive the story. But then take other scenes from your life, or other peoples’ lives, and use them any way you want—within reason, of course.

Wow! You’re getting me interested in writing some children’s fiction someday! Now, what about your second book?

In Bitsy and the Mystery at Amelia Island, Bitsy heads to Amelia Island, Florida to visit her friends, Garrett and Ellie. Although she has just turned over a new leaf—to live at peace with everyone, her resolution quickly dissolves when she has a run-in with the neighborhood bully, Ernie Van Tache. In this book, the kids search for a “ghost,” run from a “witch,” and attempt to discover what’s so important about a mysterious family portrait, all of which teaches Bitsy the true meaning of “the best things in life.”

How in the world did you come up with ideas for your books?

When I decided to write my first book, I knew several things before I started. I knew I wanted my book to be a mystery because I love to read mysteries; I knew I wanted it to be a book for kids because I love kids and enjoy interacting with them.

I also knew I wanted it to be based on my own family; and I knew I wanted the story to be set at Tybee Island, Georgia because it held special memories for me. (Of course, it didn’t hurt that Tybee had a lighthouse and abandoned forts, which are both great for mysteries.) But I had one little problem—I didn’t have a mystery! So I grabbed my mother and we headed down to Tybee Island to do some research.

That sounds like a fun place to do some research. But how did you find the mystery angle?

I guess you want me to be honest here, so I’ll admit my ignorance: I never realized Blackbeard the Pirate was a real person. I know, I know. I’m probably the only adult in America who didn’t know that little tidbit of information, but I didn’t.

Well, while doing my research, I discovered that not only was Blackbeard the Pirate real, but he really had spent time on Tybee Island. But not only was he a real person who had been on Tybee Island, I also found out there is speculation that perhaps, just maybe, there is still undiscovered buried treasure on Tybee Island! So voila! I had my mystery!

And what about researching on Amelia Island?

It was just as easy to decide to put my second book on Amelia Island, Florida, because, as I said, that’s where my two oldest grandchildren live. Again, I never even thought about the fact that it would make two books set on islands. All I was thinking about was that I could make trips down there for research, spend time with my grandchildren, and have a legitimate tax deduction! Of course, once the book came out, I had to do book signings there, too. (Oh, the struggles of writing!)

Again, I didn’t have any idea what the mystery was going to be until I went down there for research. That’s when I discovered that Amelia Island is very old, dating back to the 1500’s. And, as is often true of old towns, Amelia Island has an active ghost tour industry. So of course, I had to take a ghost tour.

A ghost tour! What did you discover?

That’s when I heard the true story of a nun who died in 1877 while caring for the sick during an outbreak of yellow fever. But the legend says that her ghost rises up out of the cemetery and walks into the church. Suddenly I had my mystery! And although the book does not involve “real” ghosts, the kids have to recognize that the bad guy is the one behind the mysterious occurrences.

By the time the second book was done, I realized it would be fun to continue the island theme. And now kids ask me what island Bitsy is going to next! In case you want to know, it’s set on Hilton Head Island, SC, and involves loggerhead turtles. It’s scheduled to be released in the spring of 2007.

We went to Hilton Head Island last summer and loved it. We’ll have to read your third book when it comes out. And I see you’ll be forced to do another author tour at the beach. With your grandkids of course! Do you have any advice for us if we’d like to write something about a trip we take?

I’d definitely say do your research. Find out the history of the area. But don’t just go to official places like museums and such. Talk to people who live in the area; get a flavor for the culture, for their way of doing things; find out about events that aren’t common knowledge.

For Bitsy at Tybee Island, I talked to a lady who had had a beach house there for years. I didn’t know her, but just knocked on her door and told her I was writing a children’s mystery. I told her I wanted to talk to someone who had lived on the island for a while. She invited me in and we talked for hours. She told me story after story of things that had happened to them and others on the island—many of which ended up in the book.

Remember the rat? True story. Remember the broken bridge and someone trying to get to the hospital? True story (although in real life, they got off safely). And the kids digging up the skeleton? Yep, you guessed it—true story.

For Amelia Island, I talked with a couple of women who had grown up there. They told me about their own experiences of hunting for ghosts and the teenage dares to tempt the “Pogy Witch Woman” out of hiding. I went to the cemetery where the nuns were buried and took a tour of the house that once was the convent. All those details make the location come alive and help you develop your story.

How do you remember all these details? Does it help to take pictures?

Yes! Take lots of pictures. You’ll be surprised at how much you forget the landscape or the color of the house or the layout of the building. But don’t just take pictures of things you plan to include. Snap photos of anything that looks unusual or out of place. The scene in which the bad guy is captured at Amelia was developed simply because I took a picture of a crane beside the river. I never intended to use a crane in the book, but the story invented itself through the pictures.

Well, Vonda, this has just been too much fun hearing all these behind-the-scene details about your writing! Now, I can’t wait for you to come back tomorrow and tell us how you became a four-time award-winning playwright because I know there are some moms out there who have a flair for drama!

You can learn more about Vonda Skinner Skelton on her website. If you’d like more details on how she got started writing, here’s an interview with her at this site.