My sister has logged hours in the air toward a pilot's license. My wife once took the controls of a small aircraft as we flew from Catalina Island back over the Pacific to Los Angeles.
Women flyers intrigue me, so it's no wonder I wanted to write a historical mystery based around the 75th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's disappearance. It would be my 15th book.
Unfortunately, a year before the anniversary, no publishers seemed to share my vision for this idea's potential audience.
Refusing to accept their apathy as an answer, I settled on writing a novella instead and released it as a paperback and e-book on Amazon.
A popular e-zine caught wind of the story and featured it front and center, for just one day, near that 75th anniversary date.
The sales took off!
Amelia's Last Secret became one of my fastest selling stories, and I still have a soft spot for this one, told by three different narrators, including a Navajo code talker--whom I would love to use in a future novel.
Believe it or not, almost every part of Amelia's narrative in the book is accurate, combining recent discoveries, hidden mysteries, and a few conspiracy theories.
Where do I believe she ended up?
Let's just say, a few years later, the man who discovered the resting place of the Titanic went to investigate the same area with a topnotch team.
We may never know the full truth of Amelia's disappearance, but through Amelia's Last Secret you'll learn a whole heck of a lot in the midst of a fun, short, and fast-paced story.
Hint: The stamps are real. And they have yet to be found.
--Eric Wilson
