What captured Shirley's attention about this time period is the fact the first two female attorneys in California were finally admitted to the Bar in 1878 and 1879. Add the fact the 1880s were an exciting time in California history. Plus Shirley wanted to make a "statement about the courage and legal savvy it would take for such a woman to fight the state and the country's race and gender discrimination going on during this time period." She was hooked - enter Sarah Woodson, the "third" female attorney in California.

One other element that led to using a lawyer was a search for an occupation that would give Shirley's lead character a legitimate reason to poke into other people's lives. "What better reason to dig around in suspects' pasts trying to unearth all their nasty secrets than if you're trying to save your client from the hangman's noose?"

Sarah Woodson will solve mysteries for as long as readers want and Shirley is looking forward to thinking up more murders to be solved. She already has the next murder in mind as she is working on the fifth book in the series now.

Along with murders come characters. Shirley notes she sometimes bases a fictional character on a real person, but usually doesn't notice she's done it until it is down on paper. Fortunately it's just a characteristic or two as Shirley says, "I hope I don't have too many friends going around with guns or knives in their pockets!" Her main concern is making sure the character fits into the murders taking place in the book.

This goes along with her philosophy of being honest with the reader, but it is tricky to execute. Clues need to lead to the killer without giving too much away, especially too early in the story. Shirley wants her readers to stay with her until the end of the book and be able to say, "Okay, that makes sense. I remember when ...."

Scandal on Rincon Hill is Shirley's fourth novel in six years, marking her success in her favorite genre - mystery. She had fun writing contemporary romances but it didn't "get rid of the itch to write a mystery, a real whodunit with lots of clues and dead bodies." After a stint co-writing movies, she decided to try writing a mystery in her spare time, the result was the first book in the Sarah Woodson series. And as Shirley says, "Here I am today, still killing people off and enjoying every minute of it."

Voracious readers might be familiar with her alter ego, Erin Ross, a success in romance novels. Readers of movie credits might have seen her name (along with partner Nancy Hersage) and if you have seen The Babysitter's Seduction (with Keri Russell and Steve Collins), you have watched her work. The movie script work has its basis in her undergraduate degree in broadcast media.

Accomplishing this along with her roles as wife and mother finds Shirley usually following a daily routine. Over time she has found her productivity peaks in the afternoon and late evening. The self-professed night owl says, "I love typing away when everyone else is asleep and the house is quiet. Of course, that means getting myself out of bed before nine o'clock in the morning isn't easy. I've spent years moaning about my sleep habits, but if it works why fight it?

With Scandal on Rincon Hill joining Murder on Nob Hill (2004), The Russian Hill Murders (2005), and The Cliff House Strangler (2007) with more on the way - one would have to say, "Oh yes, it definitely works."

Terry DiDomenico has spent most of her professional career editing and writing for university publications with a little freelancing on the side. She lives with her husband and two cats on four acres in south central Pennsylvania. She is working on her first novel - a thriller of course.