Because of your background of fixing up homes, did you know the details of the home repairs outlined in this book?
 
I've renovated my share of bathrooms over the years, yeah. (That's the project in this book. In Fatal fixer-upper, all the projects were kitchen related; in Spackled and Spooked, they deal with bathrooms. In the next book, which comes in May 2010, we're talking romantic bedroom.)
 
I tend not to do my own plumbing or electrical work--there's too much scope for disaster there, and good reasons why plumbers and electricians are supposed to be licensed--but as far as the cosmetics go, I've been there and done that. We've got directions for a few different paint techniques, brown-paper-bagging walls, installing a vessel sink--or, Avery being Avery, a salad bowl--and turning a piece of furniture, in this case a chest of drawers, into a sink base.

Since you've been writing the series, what have been some of the varying comments you've received about this DYI/Home Renovation mystery genre?
 
Most people I hear from write to t ell me they enjoyed the book. Since I don't really hear from the people who don't, it's all been good.
 
Home renovation is such a big thing right now, that the books seem to resonate with a lot of people. One of the comments that stuck with me, was someone who told me that while she's addicted to HGTV--just the target audience my publisher was looking for!--she appreciates the way the projects in my books relate to real people. Most folks don't have several square miles of granite in their kitchen, or an extra $20,000 to drop into a bathroom renovation, and the fact that the tips in my books are designed for real people, and that Avery and Derek do their fixing up on a normal, and if possible frugal, budget, gives the books broad appeal.
 
Oh yes, and then someone e-mailed me to say that my book reminded them of the early writings of Elizabeth Peters, my all-time favorite author, which just totally made my day!   

How long did it take you to write Spackled and Spooked?
 
Spackled and Spooked wrote itself, pretty much. Seriously, it was a very easy book to write. I guess the first draft took 2-3 months, and then another couple o f months to revise, get feedback, and revise again. And then I had to do another round of revisions six months later, after my editor had a chance to read the manuscript and send me her thoughts. That's the usual time it takes me to write a book. Start to finish in under six months, and then another year after that for the publisher to get the cover art and type setting and various incarnations of proof editing done.

Visit Jennie Bentley's website at www.jenniebentley.com.