Mystery We Write Tour ~ W.S. Gager

My Mitch Malone Mysteries are typically set in Grand River, Michigan, which is just a parody of words and really is Grand Rapids, Michigan. This was my first mystery series and they say you need to write what you know so I used the city I patrolled as a teenager looking for trouble. However in book three, A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES, Mitch leaves his beloved city and returns to the small town where he grew up.

For this setting, I melded a couple of small towns. I took the physical layout from a small city I worked at when I was first out of college. I needed a city with a New England Village Square and this fit the bill. All the government buildings like the city hall, police station and jail were placed around one side of the square. For the layout of the downtown, I took the city I had lived in for more than fifteen years.

It was ironic that HOMETOWN BLUES was about going back home again and while I was writing it, I was moving away from a small town I’d lived in for twenty years. I used some of the angst I felt leaving the small town security and moving to a larger city with more crime and less character. It was the exact opposite of what happens to Mitch Malone in the book.

In another twist, all the things I was going to miss about the town were all the things Mitch hated. He didn’t want to be called by name when he entered a store or restaurant. He didn’t want people to know where he was because they recognized his vehicle. He didn’t want to face the only family he had left. He liked being a loaner. In a small town, you can’t be alone. Everyone knows your name, especially if you are a regional celebrity who has come home.

As the town of Flatville starts to become more of a setting and turns into a character –a demon he has to either turn and fight or follow his previous method and running back to the anonymity of the big city. To find out what choices Mitch makes, read A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES.

Have you ever left a small town or lived in the anonymity of a big city? Which to you prefer and why?

W.S. Gager

Author of Humorous Whodunits

A Case of Infatuation, A Case of Accidental Intersection, A Case of Hometown Blues-Now Available

A Case of Volatile Deeds - Coming Fall 2012 

http://wsgager.blogspot.com/

A Case of Hometown Blues buylink: http://www.amazon.com/Case-Hometown-Blues-W-Gager/dp/1610090179/ref=la_B003U5OADU_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1351125657&sr=1-3

Website: http://wsgager.com

Blog: http://wsgager.blogspot.com

A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS Book Blurb:

Mitch finally scores a weekend dinner with a cute receptionist, but true to his reporter instincts an explosion in a high rise office building makes him stand up his date as he runs for an exclusive.  When he investigates, he learns his date is the only casualty in a botched robbery at a real estate office. When femme fatale Patrenka Petersen returns, Mitch learns that much of what he knows about his date and her work aren’t what they seem. His world continues to twist when the police captain asks for his help and a city hall informant is found floating in the river. Mitch must keep his head down or a cute dog with a knack for finding dead bodies will be sniffing out his corpse.  

Author Bio

Award winning mystery author W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-paced life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realized babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline. Since then she honed her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted with her life and that was to write mystery novels. Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter always on the hunt for the next Pulitzer and won't let anyone stop him. Her third book, A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES, was a finalist in the 2012 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS, her fourth in the Mitch series will be out this February.

W.S. Gager

Author of Humorous Whodunits

A Case of Infatuation, A Case of Accidental Intersection, A Case of Hometown Blues-Now Available

A Case of Volatile Deeds - Coming February 2013 

http://wsgager.blogspot.com/

Mystery We Write Tour ~ Patricia Gligor

What makes my main character unique?

People are like snowflakes; no two of us are exactly alike. Each of us is unique. What makes the main character in my Malone mystery series, Ann Malone (her maiden name) Kern, the person she is? Like all of us, it’s a combination of genetics and environment.

At the beginning of the series, Ann is a housewife, which is rare in today’s world. She’s married to David, an alcoholic, and they have two children, eight-year-old, Danielle, and six-year-old, Davey. Ann is a wonderful mother and a very talented seamstress and decorator. With very little money, she’s made their apartment on the first floor of an old Victorian a warm and comforting place for her family to live.

As you probably guessed from her name, Ann is of Irish descent. Nana, Ann’s grandmother, now deceased, raised Ann and her older sister, Marnie, from the time Ann was nine years old and she played a prominent role in who Ann became as an adult. Nana was a strong but nurturing woman who taught Ann how to sew, cook, bake and how to make a house a home. She also taught her that family is the most important thing in life, which, coupled by the fact that Ann’s parents were killed in an automobile accident when she was a child, is why Ann is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve her family.

Even though David is now working hard to maintain his sobriety, they’ve been through a lot. Ann has always been rather shy and unassuming and she’s put the needs of everyone else before her own needs. Here’s an excerpt from Unfinished Business, which shows how she’s changed and grown in the first two books of the series.

“Alanon is really helping you, isn’t it?” Marnie asked. “I see a major change in you. You used to be so timid and shy but now you say what’s on your mind.” She smiled. “I think that’s a good thing. I’ve always believed in speaking my mind and, if I disagree with someone, I’ll voice my opinion.

“I don’t think it helps anyone if you pretend to agree with them when you really don’t. After all, we’re people, not sheep. We’re going to have our differences from time to time and I think that’s healthy. So many people are afraid of rocking the boat; they’ll do or say anything just to keep peace. I think that’s wrong.”

“I’ve always admired you for that,” Ann said, “and I totally agree with you. I think it is best to be honest. You always seemed so self-confident, so strong. I, on the other hand . . . . I always wished I could be more like you.”

“Well, be careful what you wish for,” Marnie cautioned her, “and watch out that you don’t become so outspoken that people take offense at what you say. It seems like most people don’t really want total honesty; they want someone to agree with them and confirm their belief that they’re right. Believe me, I’ve learned that the hard way. I’m trying really hard to temper what I want to say with what I do say.”

Bio:

Patricia Gligor is a Cincinnati native. She enjoys reading mystery/suspense novels, touring and photographing old houses and traveling, especially to the ocean. Mixed Messages, the first novel in her Malone Mystery Series, was published in April 2012 by Post Mortem Press. Unfinished Business is the second novel in the series.

Blurb:

The Westwood Strangler is dead. Or so everyone believes.

Ann Kern is busy preparing for her favorite holiday. She’s especially looking forward to her sister’s annual Christmas visit. But, several things threaten to ruin her festive mood.

The National Weather Service issues a severe winter storm warning for the Cincinnati area, predicting blizzard conditions, and Ann worries that her sister and her new boyfriend won’t be able to make the drive from South Carolina.

Then, a woman is found strangled in Ann’s neighborhood and everyone, including the police, assumes it’s the work of a copycat killer. However, when two more women are murdered in their homes, the police announce their conviction that the Westwood Strangler is responsible.

When Ann hears the news, the sense of safety and security she’s worked so hard to recapture since her attack on Halloween night, shatters. If the intruder who died in her apartment wasn’t the Westwood Strangler, who is? And, who will be the next victim?

Links:

Blog: http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/

Patricia Gligor’s Amazon page:

http://tinyurl.com/8sd2cz4

Giveaway:

At the end of the blog tour, I will be giving away one copy of Unfinished Business, the second novel in my Malone mystery series. Leave a comment and you’re automatically entered to win. Please include your email address with your comment so that, if your name is selected, I may contact you to get your mailing address. The winner will be announced on my blog: http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ on December 11. Best of luck!