And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Deanna Raybourn is sure to be a name you will hear more of. Her first novel, SILENT IN THE GRAVE, hit the shelves in January and is sure to catch the attention of readers.

Read on as Deanna tells us about herself, her move from Texas to Virginia and her writing. And then pop into her website to enjoy the first chapter of SILENT IN THE GRAVE.

http://www.deannaraybourn.com/

1. First, since this is a pet peeve of mine, how do you pronounce your name? Dee-anna? Deen-a?

It's Dee-anna. And thank you for asking—I've been mispronounced a LOT. (And for the record, my last name is pronounced Ray-burn.)

2. How long have you lived in Virginia? It must have been quite a change having grown up in Texas. Obviously, the terrain is different but what other differences did you find you had to adjust to?

I've lived in Virginia for almost four years. It was a much bigger adjustment than I had expected. The culture here is very different. I'm from South Texas, and that area was colonized by the Spanish. Virginia was an English colony, and it's amazing how many of those influences are still felt today in both places. The architecture, the food, the language—all of it still carries traces of the people who settled here. The hardest part has been the food—no good Tex-Mex! And it's hard to find really hot salsa. But the people are lovely and everybody says 'y'all', so I don't feel out of place.

3. Ok, tell us about the registered cattle brand your family has. What does it look like? Did you ever use it at all?

The cattle brand is the rocking nine. An ancestor of mine accepted the brand as part of a settlement from a debtor who also gave him all of his horses. Cattle brands have to be re-registered every ten years, so someone else may be running cattle with that brand for all I know. I would LOVE to have a brand made up with the rocking nine on it—not to use of course! Just to have lying around in the living room as a conversation piece.

4. Tell us about your family. I see you have one child and have been married for 16 yrs. How old is your child? Old enough to read your novel? What do they think about your writing?

My daughter is twelve, and hasn't read my novel. She has her own copy, but she's afraid to read it because she thinks if she doesn't like it, my feelings will be hurt. I actually don't expect her to like it because we have very different tastes in reading, although I do swipe her Harry Potter books when the new ones come out.

5. "I am an only child, which most people figure out within two minutes of meeting me." LoL Are you saying you are spoiled? What are the pros and cons of being the sole child?

Oh, terribly spoiled! But in the best ways, I think. My parents tried very hard to treat me like a little grown-up. They started talking issues through with me instead of just handing down punishments when I was really young. We're still very close because of that. And I had such a good experience being an only that my husband and I decided just to have one child. If nothing else, it really teaches you to develop your imagination!

6. What can you tell us about "SILENT IN THE GRAVE" about? I just read the first chapter at your website. Let me just say I'm ready to get my hands on a copy.

Good! The first chapter is meant to pull you in and keep you there. I love books that begin with a hook instead of endless narrative to set everything up. I want to start in the middle of the action, and in this case, the action is the death of Sir Edward Grey in the middle of a party he and his wife are throwing. His wife, Lady Julia Grey, eventually realizes he was murdered, and embarks on an investigation to find his killer.

7. You mention that you've always wanted to be a writer and wrote your first novel at twenty-three, which had some interest but was never published. Have you ever thought about dragging that, or the others you've put away, out for a make over?

Actually, the very first novel I wrote has some very strong elements that I think could easily be reworked into a new book. I haven't read it in years, but the core of the story is intriguing, and I'm pretty sure I'm not done with it. The others are horrid, and we won't speak of them.

8. What do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors?

I like to read books that make me feel like I've just made good use of my time because I've either been entertained or educated. I refuse to read things that are depressing or terribly gloomy. (I make an exception for the Brontes. Gloomy, but magnificently so). For classics, I love Jane Austen, Daphne du Maurier. I like novels with a strongly English voice, so E.M. Delafield, Stella Gibbons, Monica Dickens are favorites. For contemporary authors, I adore Elizabeth Peters and Lily Prior, and I greatly enjoy armchair travel with Marlena de Blasi and Lisa St. Aubin de Teran.

9. What was it like for you the first winter in Virginia?

The first winter in Virginia was magical. There were two or three snowfalls, with big, soft, fat snowflakes piling up like icing sugar. My study is upstairs, so I can watch the snow swirling around outside and it feels like I'm sitting inside a snow globe that some giant hand has shaken. The snow here almost always melts off by the next day, so there are all the pleasures of snowfall without the shoveling.

The other big surprise has been having proper seasons. Spring and fall are very subtle in south Texas where I grew up. You really have to pay attention or you'll miss them. In Virginia, there is a slower, more gradual turning of the seasons, and there is a definite rhythm to watching them change. Just when I am getting tired of winter, I see the daffodils peeking out and I know I don't have long until the sweaters are packed away. Virginia is very temperate—nothing too hot, nothing too cold. Goldilocks would have loved it here.

The only things I miss are the Texas bluebonnets blanketing the fields in spring and the ferocious thunderstorms rolling down off the plains in summer. You haven't really been rained on until you experience a proper Texas thunderstorm. You can smell them coming hours before they actually arrive. Then the sky turns black and raindrops the size of silver dollars start to fall and the riverbeds, cracked and gasping from months of drought, begin to run. It's not as pretty as a Virginia snowfall, but it has a magic of its own.