"Death of a Perfect Man" by M.M. Gornell

 

Glad to be visiting your blog today, Patricia. You’ve asked me to write about one of my characters. I usually feel the closest to my latest protagonist and fictional “friends” (all my books are standalones), but Mitch Malone, Wendy Gager’s protagonist already grilled my dear Margot Madison-Cross from Lies of Convenience on her blog. And Marilyn Meredith asked me to interview one of my characters, and I chose Neil Knight, a supporting character from Reticence of Ravens that I’ve become quite fond of.

        

In thinking further about my characters, I realized I often slight intrepid Jada Beaudine, the heroine in Death of a Perfect Man, my second novel. So, I’m putting Jada in the spotlight for this blog. Here’s a short synopsis of her adventure:

Jada Beaudine has lost her husband Terry in a tragic and mysterious boating accident--and she badly needs a change. She leaves her home in Puget Sound to get away from the horror, the memories, and the relentless glare of publicity that surrounded her husband’s death.

Alone, she drives south and by the second evening finds herself taking a wrong turn in the stark Mojave high desert of interior Southern California. While mesmerized by the bigger-than-life beauty of a desert sunset, she nearly runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Amid mounting apprehension, she manages to find the odd “Red Rock Inn & Café,” a lost, creepy old resort from some other place and time--where, Irina, a strange emerald-eyed woman materializes and convinces her to stay the night.

She’ll check out early in the morning and be on her way, right?

But by morning, events unravel quickly and Jada finds herself pulled straight into the scene of a bizarre murder. As she reluctantly tries to make sense of this murder, it’s soon followed by yet another. And all the while, Jada is being followed by people with varied, surprising, and even sinister agendas of their own.

Yes, she may have a knack for solving murders—as psychic Irina seems to know—but in this off-kilter scenario, Jada has her own powerful hunch that the next victim will be her. And every time she tries to leave this otherworldly place, she finds that somehow she can’t…

A side note—Jada is a potter, the first victim is a potter, and I also dabble. I wrote this novel while moving from Washington State and house-hunting in Southern California. We (husband and two dogs) were on the road a lot, and a particular collection of structures on a particular stretch of Highway 395/I-14 kept catching my eye—actually called out quite strongly to me—and Death of a Perfect Man and Jada Beaudine were born.

To your question, is my character a composite of people I know? Gosh, I sure hope not. If feels to me like people-reality does go into my brain, but what comes out in my stories—I think and hope—is unconnected bits-and-pieces of reality melded into “something” unique. For better or worse, the characters that appear are the result of some kind of “fictional chemistry experiment.” I can’t point to one character that I can identify as a particular person I’ve met or known—including myself.

Thanks so much, Patricia, it’s been great visiting with you today. Especially since this is the last day of our tour, and I’m sort of melancholy about that; so I’m glad I’m saying goodbye with you, a past tour-friend!

Madeline (M.M.) Gornell has four published mystery novels—PSWA awarding winning Uncle Si’s Secret (2008); Death of a Perfect Man (2009); Eric Hoffer Fiction finalist and Honorary Mention winner, the da Vinci Eye finalist, and Montaigne Medalist finalist Reticence of Ravens (2011); and PSWA award winner and Hollywood Book Festival Honorary Mention Lies of Convenience (2012). Both Reticence of Ravens and Lies of Convenience are Route 66 mysteries. 

Madeline is also a potter with a fondness for stoneware and reduction firing. She lives with her husband and assorted canines in the Mojave Desert in a town on internationally revered Route 66.

Madeline’s books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Smashwords, in paper and e-book formats. You can visit her online at her website http://www.mmgornell.com , or her BLOG http://www.mmgornell.wordpress.com or email her directly at mmgornell@earthlink.net

Buster, Dobie, and Mugs (the latest) are each drawing a name from comments for free copies of Lies of Convenience (or a M.M. Gornell title of your choosing) 

Buy link for Lies of Convenience:

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Convenience-M-Gornell/dp/0985500808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349831772&sr=8-1&keywords=lies+of+convenience

 

 

 

I'm Important Too

Madison Johns

 

I’m Eleanor Mason and while I do help out Agnes Barton with a little investigating, I’m important. I mean who else would keep the old girl on track. If not for me we would be knitting blankets for the residents at the nursing home, not that it would be a bad thing, but Agnes hid all my knitting needles.

If not for me Agnes would never have hooked up with her former boss and secret crush Andrew Hart. You might call me a bit of a matchmaker. I’m also the muscles of the operation, sort of like her bodyguard. I have been known as quite the scrapper, but what with Agnes getting into trouble, she needs me.

If you asked me how I changed during our case I’d have to say that I did what any friend would do... I guess you’ll have to read Armed and Outrageous to find out what happens.

Bio:

As a child, Madison Johns preferred to distance herself from other children her age, and had been described as a dreamer. Even as a small child, she remembers staying awake many a night fighting dragons, whisked away to foreign lands, or meeting the man of her dreams.

She was a voracious reader of historical romance in her teen years and has always wished to one day journey to England, France, Ireland, and Scotland.

The writing bug bit her at the age of 44 and she pounded out three books since that time. As the publishing climate changed she took a risk and decided to self publish, first a collection of two horror short stories geared for YA, Coffin Tales Season of Death.

Madison's caring nature had led her to work in the healthcare field, where she was employed as a nursing care assistant at a nursing home, and it was there that she was inspired to write her first mystery, Armed and Outrageous, introducing amateur detective Agnes Barton. The book depicts two elderly ladies digging up clues with enough laugh out loud antics to make James Bond blush. During a free run on Amazon, Armed and Outrageous went to the coveted position of number one and afterward, had ranked on the top ten paid books for humor list.

For more information about Madison Johns:

Website http://madisonjohns.com

Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/AuthorMadisonJohns

Facebook author page http://www.facebook.com/MadisonJohnsAuthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/madisonjohns11

Armed and Outrageous

Senior sleuth — Grandma Mazur meets Murder She Wrote — cozy mystery.

Agnes Barton is not your typical senior citizen living in Tadium, MI, on the shores of Lake Huron. She drives a red hot Mustang, shops at Victoria's Secret, rankles local police officials, and has a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

What does a murder that happened forty-three years ago have to do with missing tourist Jennifer Martin? Agnes makes it her personal mission to find out, and she's not letting the fact she's seventy-two get in the way. Butting heads with Sheriff Clem Peterson is something she's accustomed to, but lately Clem seems to be acting even more strange, making Agnes wonder what he may be hiding ala the Martin disappearance.

Agnes’ partner in crime, Eleanor Mason tags along, Watson to her Holmes.

Together, they unearth clues. If only Eleanor would behave, as although lovable, she has a knack for getting into trouble by tangling with her rival, Dorothy Alton, or flirting with anyone—male or female—and gossiping! She's incorrigible, but she does carry a Pink Lady revolver in her purse, one that has proved useful at times.

Life for Agnes and Eleanor is shaken up when Agnes' former boss and secret crush comes to Tadium. Before long, the lady sleuths have more on their hands to contend with as goons roll into town and bullets begin to fly.

Adult content.

Buy link

http://www.amazon.com/Armed-Outrageous-Barton-Mystery-ebook/dp/B007Z5Y30Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1353701402&sr=1-1&keywords=senior+sleuth
  
I'm giving away a free ebook for comments on all my blog stops.

Finding Irène Laureux

Collin Kelley

Without German director Wim Wenders' classic film, Until the End of the World, the character of Irène Laureux in my novels Conquering Venus and Remain in Light would not exist. When I came home from my first trip to London and Paris back in the summer of 1995, I saw UTEOTW and the legendary Jeanne Moreau's performance inspired the creation of Irène, a Parisian widow searching for the man who killed her husband in the chaotic May ’68 riots.

In the movie, Moreau plays a blind woman whose scientist husband has invented a video camera that captures images and feeds them into the visual cortex of the brain allowing her to see once again. William Hurt and Solveig Dommartin race around the world to collect images while a rogue nuclear satellite is falling out of the atmosphere and threatening to contaminate the planet. It's a complex, audacious thriller and Moreau is the heart of the story.

When I checked into the Bel Air Hotel on Rue Rampon in June of 1995, my room was across the street from an apartment building. On the third floor, there was a long balcony full of flowers and the French doors were always open revealing a desk and shelves lined with books, but I never saw who lived there. So, I created Irène to fill in that blank and UTEOTW and Jeanne Moreau were the catalyst.

UTEOTW also lead me to Moreau’s other incredible films, including Francois Truffaut’s Elevator to the Gallows and The Bride Wore Black and Louis Malle’s The Lovers. Many writers take their inspiration for characters from other books, but I’ve found that my best characters begin on the screen. Merci, Madame Moreau, for helping me find Irène.

 

Collin Kelley is the author of the novels Conquering Venus and Remain In Light, which was a 2012 finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction. His poetry collections include Better To Travel, Slow To Burn and After the Poison and the forthcoming Render. Kelley is also the author of the eBook short story collection, Kiss Shot. A recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year Award, Deep South Festival of Writers Award and Goodreads Poetry Award, Kelley’s poetry, essays and interviews have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies around the world. He lives in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit www.collinkelley.com, find him on Facebook at CollinKelleyWriter or follow him on Twitter @collinkelley.

Conquering Venus and Remain In Light are available in ebook and trade paperback formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Smashwords and through your favourite local bookstore.

Collin will giveaway an eBook edition of each of his novels, Conquering Venus and Remain In Light, via Smashwords to a lucky winner. The eBooks will be available for download in multi-formats including versions for the Kindle, Nook and other devices. Make sure to leave a comment and Collin will randomly draw a winner, which will be announced at his Modern Confessional blog (www.collinkelley.com) on Dec. 11.

 

Welcome Jean Lauzier

 

Jean Lauzier   

Cande Hernadez is the product of a chat room discussion of character names and the stereotypical things attributed to them.  She started out as Candy; kind of sweet, being teased by her male co-workers and not very memorable. I put her aside and continued with other characters until challenged to write a short piece for Halloween.

Having Halloween in mind, I thought Candy would be the perfect name to use. I even planned to have someone comment how much he’d like to find her in his trick-or-treat bag. But then I realized, she wouldn’t put up with that kind of remark. She may be a nice person but she demands respect, especially from her co-workers. It was about this time I realized she was Hispanic and her name really was Candelaria, Cande for short.

The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. Raised in the small East Texas town of DryLake, she often had to stand up for herself as a bi-racial (American/Mexican) child. Not only did this contribute to who she is today, it gave her a special affinity for those who are weaker and a dislike for those who bully them.

While not drawn from anyone I know, she is the type of person I’d like to have as a friend. Compassionate, fiercely loyal, strong-willed but always up for some fun.  Plus, she gets to say things I’d like to but can’t.

Links:

Blog – http://underthetrollsbridge.blogspot.com

Website – www.jeanlauzier.com

Twitter - @JeanLauzier

Facebook – jeanlauzier2319

Email – jeanlauzier@gmail.com

Bio:  Jean Lauzier has always been a writer though life just recently settled enough so she can spend the time needed at the keyboard with her characters.  Jean writes mystery and fantasy for the most part but enjoys playing with romance and western genres ever so often.  When not writing, Jean spends her time trying to keep her Bonsai alive, learning Spanish and training the cat.

Her short story collection, Six Pack of Murder is available on Amazon.  She is president of the East Texas Writer’s Association.

During the tour, Jean will be giving away at least three copies of Six Pack of Murder and three copies of the soon to be released Dark Descent. Be sure to leave a comment along with your email address to be entered in the drawing.