I'd stopped by Dani Smith's apartment in Westgate, Florida to talk about a sequel to "Murder in the Rainy Season" and was surprised when Dana Redwing opened the door.
The reason for my surprise: Dana is a character in my Steampunk novel "The Ashtabula Irregulars."
"Don't just stand there with your mouth open," Dana said. "Come in."
I entered the apartment and was surprised yet again to find Dani and four other female characters from my novels scattered around the living room. They were watching a movie on a wall-mounted, large-screen television set.
"Ladies," I said. "What's the occasion?"
"We're watching Hallmark Mystery movies this whole weekend," Dani said as she made room for me on the couch. "Take off your jacket and stay awhile. We've got sandwiches, a big pot of chili, and plenty of wine and beer."
I shrugged off my jacket and, after settling onto the couch, I asked what, to me, seemed like a couple of obvious questions.
"Hallmark Mysteries? Really?"
Six pairs of eyes swiveled to stare at me.
"What's so unusual about that?" asked Marcy Pantano, the main character in my novel "Corpus Delectable."
"Well, I, uh... well, I mean, you are some of the strongest, most independent women in fiction and I, well I just didn't think Hallmark Mysteries would be, you know, your cup of tea."
Dani, a former MP who is now a police officer, shook her head.
"Have you ever watched any of these mysteries?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"Well, then, you should," said Melanie Palazzo, a reporter and one of the main characters in my mystery novel "Jacks or Better."
I shook my head.
"I don't get it," I said. "Aren't these movies a little, well, fluffy for women like you? I kind of pictured you all as fans of more action-oriented films."
Beverly Gray, who plays a major role in "The Ashtabula Irregulars," sighed.
"Spoken like a true man," she said and smiled. "You just assume that because we're strong females that we'd be more interested in James Bond than Hallmark Mysteries."
There were nods of agreement around the room.
"Let me explain," said Marlene Thomas.
"Please do," I said.
"Okay, it's like this," she said. "First of all, we're watching mysteries that feature strong, independent, smart, and very capable women. They just happen to be Hallmark movies.
"Second, most of these movies are based on books that were written by women and most of the screenplays were written by women."
"Okay," I said, "but..."
"But nothing," said Marlene, a state legislator in my novel "The Session."
She looked around the room and then continued.
"Let's take Hannah Swensen, the main character in the 'Murder, She Baked' mysteries. She runs her own successful business. She's not just a great baker, she's a great person who's even willing to help a rival succeed. She gets involved in a murder case and solves it when the police are stumped. She's a women who has some doubts about herself when it comes to her love life but she doesn't let that slow her down. She's attractive and blonde but no airhead. What's not to like?"
"But the cases these women get involved in... aren't they, well, a little on the light side?" I asked.
"Well," Beverly said, "if you think murder is 'on the light side' then we really need to discuss just why you'd think that."
I leaned back.
"Okay," I said. "What's this one about?"
On the screen a blonde woman was on the roof of an old house. She was peeking through a small window.
"One of my favorites," Dana said. "A family disappeared a few years earlier and no trace of them was ever found. The heroine, an assistant librarian, and her boyfriend are looking for some evidence about the disappearance. The reason: They discovered some bloodstained towels in a walled-off closet in the house she just bought and is renovating. The police closed the case years ago because they never found any bodies or any indication of foul play."
"So what happens?" I asked.
Dana grinned.
"You'll just have to watch and see," she said.
I did.
In fact, I wound up spending the entire weekend with them watching more than a dozen movies.
And in doing so I discovered that what the ladies told me was true. The mysteries were engaging, the female characters were smart, determined, and believable. The dialogue was intelligently written, the plots were logical, and the productions were well done. The stories relied more on characterization than on violence and the settings were realistic.
Frankly, I found myself wishing that more writers would take a cue from Hallmark and start creating female characters with those attributes. I read too many books where the women are - to be blunt - little more than window dressing.
I also learned a valuable lesson: Don't discount books and movies because of what you THINK you know about the genre.
Judge them on their merits, something you can only do if you take a chance and read or watch them.

To learn more about these characters of mine, visit: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KCABGK