Dear Readers,
How about a sneak peek at two of Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets’ four, thirteen-year-old detectives?
Meet Lanyon “Lanny” Wyatt and Alexia “Lexi” Wyatt, brother and sister twins.
Lexi thinks that Lanny is a “brainiac,” which he is. His ability to reason through situations, staying cool and on task, and having loads of confidence have made him the head of the Botanic Hill Detectives Agency. It’s no wonder. Lanny’s favorite fictional character is the great British detective, Sherlock Holmes. He tries to imitate his hero by seeking strong evidence in most instances. What the other detectives see as Lanny’s flaw is that he is forever defining words, assuming that he’s the only one in the know. As a result, he often gets eye roles and called various nicknames like “Lanny the Lexicon” and “Lanny the Linguist” from the other detectives.
Lanny has his mother’s artistic sensibilities, curly, sandy-blond hair, and blue-violet “Liz Taylor” eyes. He hopes to be a writer of detective fiction when he grows up. Lanny and Moki, the other boy detective, are best friends.
The twins’ parents are Dr. Rebecca Marlton, an art historian specializing in classical antiquities; and, Dr. Ian Wyatt, an archaeologist. Both work at the Antiquities Research Collective, aka, the ARC. The twins have earned their parents’ respect and trust since they are polite, responsible, and always tell the truth. The close-knit family travels the world together and values open communication to solve problems.
Lexi is five minutes younger than Lanny and leads with her emotions. She often frowns at her brother’s insistence on hard evidence, though in her heart, she knows he’s right. Lexi is the first person to notice when another character is in need of a hug and is there to deliver it. The other detectives are often victims of Lexi’s admittedly bad habit–hands on flesh. When excited, Lexi will grab a person’s forearm and squeeze until their cries alert her to what she’s doing. To prevent this, she will often put her hands behind her back. The other detectives have learned the hard way to keep their arms away from Lexi. Despite this, she’s a vital and respected member of the squad and accentuates the positive.
Lexi has her father’s love of archaeology and science, straight, dark brown hair, and piercing green eyes. She wants to be an Egyptologist someday. Lexi and Rani, the other girl detective, are best friends.
Did I create Lanny and Lexi to be twins since I’m one? Actually, I was more inspired by my teenage, girl-boy twin cousins, whose actions and personalities I’ve had fun observing over the years. I must admit, though, some things my fraternal twin sister and I did growing up have found and will continue to find their way into my stories!
You may wonder where I got the twins’ names. Well, Lanyon is my paternal grandmother’s maiden name. Many of my Lanyon ancestors were from Cornwall, a county on England’s rugged southwestern tip. And I saw the name Alexia on a bag of frozen waffle-cut fries in the grocery store one day and liked it. The name, but not the fries, followed me home.
So get a clue, Readers. It takes a team to solve a mystery! Next time, you’ll meet Moki Kalani, the third detective in the squad. Get ready to learn some Hawaiian. Until then, Aloha!
