Today, I’m offering up a brief interview with Trudy. (Those of you who have read my book Cobwebs: A Suspense Novel will know who Trudy is. Early in the book, the main character, Jamie, meets Trudy. The woman describes herself as Great Aunt Elizabeth’s housekeeper – but she is so much more than that!)

INTERVIEWER: Trudy, you made quite an impression on me in the book, Cobwebs. You are an interesting person.

TRUDY:Thank you. I don’t try to be interesting. I don’t try to be anything. (Her eyes rove around the room, her splayed vision makes it look as if she is looking in two different directions. Truth is – she is. She has monocular vision – the ability to see and process what is seen by both eyes.)

INTERVIEWER:Oh? You are interesting because you are different. I get the feeling you don’t want people to think you are smart. That’s the opposite of what most people want.

TRUDY:If people think I’m smart, they will stop talking around me because they don’t want me to understand things. If I keep quiet, and look like my head is somewhere else, they spill the beans and don’t worry about it. (Trudy laughs, and slaps her leg.)

INTERVIEWER (grinning): So what kind of things do people say?

TRUDY: Mostly stuff they think I won’t get. Little jokes, big words, innuendos.

INTERVIEWER: Innuendos?

TRUDY: Sure, like when they say one thing, but because of the way they say it, and the way they look when they say it, I know they mean something different.

INTERVIEWER: Are there a lot of people who act as if you don’t get what they are saying?

TRUDY: Mayor Martin Wells is one. He doesn’t think I know who he is, or what he is. But I do. (She grins and nods her head.)

INTERVIEWER: But he’s only one person. You have close friends and others who understand how smart you are, don’t you?

TRUDY: Sure do. Like my friend Vera, and my newest very best friend, Jamie. Chief Toby Green knows me real well, and Sam Mazie, the lawyer. But My Liz knows me best of all. I’m her special girl.

INTERVIEWER: By ‘My Liz’ you mean Elizabeth Graham?

TRUDY: Yep. My Liz. I help her around the house, you know. Have my own key and everything. And I live real close, so I can get over there any time she needs me.

INTERVIEWER: Any final thoughts today, Trudy?

TRUDY: Just one. Watch your back. And don’t let ’em know you are watching it. Gets ’em every time. (Her face erupts in a grin and she slaps her leg again.)

INTERVIEWER: Does any one else have any questions for Trudy? 

(Please ask in the comment section if you do. But no Spoilers, please!)