Historical mystery and romance author Decca Price distracts herself from writing mysteries and historical fiction by fiddling with this website. Come here expecting sporadic blog posts on the challenges of writing historical fiction, understanding the events and people of the past and recapturing her own history by way of genealogical research and sleuthing through the meager clues her rather silent family left behind. She tweets about those things sometimes, too.
Among her passions are Victorian England, travel and cats — especially her two Siamese rascals — and mysteries of all kinds, especially the mysteries that lurk inside every human heart. Oh, and she likes roses.
Where it all started
The Nancy Drew novel her Great-Aunt Ada sent all the way from California one Christmas (“The Mystery of the Old Clock”) put her on the path of other classic mystery writers–Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Daphne DuMaurier, Victoria Holt , Mary Stewart and Pennsylvania’s own Margaret Sutton among others. Modern favorites include P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Minette Walters, Anne Perry and Kate AtkinsonHer interests in literature, history and romance led to college degrees in education and English literature and a lasting love for the Victorian novel — particularly Dickens, Trollope and Collins, all of whom knew that mystery lies at the heart of every great romance.
Her interests in literature, history and romance led to college degrees in education and English literature and that lasting love for the Victorian novel.
Always a writer
An award-winning journalist, Price lives in Central Pennsylvania with two cats and too many books to count. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and Pennwriters.
She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Kiss of Death, Sisters in Crime and Pennwriters..
‘Memory’s Bride’
About her first soon-to-be-published novel she says: “To have my first completed novel, “Daughter of Eve,’” honored as a Daphne finalist in the unpublished historical category in 2015 was both encouraging and humbling. It showed me I hadn’t wasted my time researching and writing it — and how much reworking needed to be done. I received valuable feedback from the judges for the Kiss of Death chapter, which runs the contest, as well as editors and agents at RWA 2015 in New York; as a consequence, the book has received a significant overhaul and a new title, “Memory’s Bride.”
Next up
She is hard at work on the second book of the Burton Brides series and is developing a mystery series set in 1870s Chelsea. There’s also a Victorian ghost story on the drawing board that may or may not have elements of crime. (But who is she kidding? Of course it does.)
Workshops
Decca is available for in-person or online workshops on craft, productivity and the Victorian era. See her workshop page for current offerings or contact her about customizing these topics or developing a new one for your programming.
Check out Decca’s cats
Mischief
The two cats, by the way, take a back seat to no one and blog as the mood takes them, as Trouble and Mischief.