Linda Rainwater loves mysteries, travel, and Court TV. Add these together and you've got some of the inspiration for her first novel, The Second Milagro.

It's the fictional tale of Patricia Morelos and her adventurous son, who leaves Washington, D.C., and heads to Mexico. The 17-year-old runs off without his mother's permission to assist in rescue efforts at a disastrous silver mine cave-in. When Morelos' son is kidnapped, she soon realizes she will have to rescue him herself -- with no help from the authorities.

In this 2-minute video from the 2006 Virginia Festival of the Book, Rainwater talks about how she uses personal experience to build credibile scenes in the novel.