Happy birthday to this dear lady who is not just a friend but my mentor, too. When I first met Marni, she was hosting the Writer’s Read at a bakery in Washington. Her open heart and gentle manner made trusting her with my rough, less than eloquent prose, easier. I have often described sharing my writing as being like standing in a Walmart parking lot, naked, yelling look at me, look at me. Marni took some of the fear out of exposing myself to scrutiny.
Marni is an award winning cozy mystery author with two series. Her first series, the Nora Tierney British Cozy Mystery series set in England was her dream. She always wanted to write a series set in England and worked hard to make her dream come true.
Marni’s first novel
Marni is now finishing the fifth in her Nora Tierney series and has recently published the second of her Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries.
The second Trudy Genovia Manhattan Mystery Series
Marni has helped many people on the path to getting published. She isn’t just an award-winning author, she is an award-winning person.
So on this special day I’d like to take a moment to say thank you and happy birthday to this very special lady.
Today I am so excited to have my writing mentor and friend,
Marni Graff, visiting at the Creekside Café.
Marni:
It’s great to be here.
Sherri: You’re not originally from North Carolina?
Marni: I’m a Yankee from Long Island, but this is
my 23rd year in eastern NC. My husband and I live in Hyde County
along the Pungo River, with our two Aussie Doodles, Seamus and Fiona. Our rural
life took getting used to, but it was a deliberate choice and we’ve never
looked back. There’s a friendliness to southern people we quite enjoy, bless
their little hearts!
The Briary Riverfront
Sherri: You and your husband are very friendly too,
y’all fit right in except for the accent. I’m a big fan of your books but I
have to admit I love your Trudy Genova series, perhaps because I see you in
Trudy.
Marni: The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries grew out
of my job as a medical consultant for a New York movie studio, and that’s the
job Trudy does. I like to say Trudy’s a prettier, younger version of me, as
she’s 27 or so and I did that job in my 40s. In that series, I’m pulling
directly from my experience on set.
Sherri: You were a nurse before becoming a writer?
Marni: I was a nurse for 30 years who always wrote
on the side as I studied writing, everything from screenplays to poetry. I
still write poetry from time to time. I wrote feature articles for a NY nursing
journal, and that journalism experience led to a job doing interviews for
Mystery Review magazine for 7 years, great background once I’d decided crime
was where I’d focus my writing.
It was extremely helpful being able to interview and pick the
brains of many writers I admired in the crime realm, including meeting and
having a friendship with my heroine, PD James, the Queen of British Mystery,
from 2000 until her death. Over our 15-year friendship, I would visit when I
went to England doing setting research for my Nora Tierney English Mysteries,
and in between, exchange emails and letters. She, and her assistant, Joyce
McLennan, became dear friends, and I still see Joyce when I go across the pond
about every other year. Both were always supportive of my writing, but it was
the Baroness who insisted that I use my nursing background and the unusual job
I had before retiring to start a second series.
In the Nora Tierney English Mysteries, Nora is an American
writer living in England. Hers was the first mysteries I wrote, The Blue Virgin, and I’d say the
organizational skills I learned in nursing have helped me plot and keep track
of ideas. I start off knowing the ending and work backwards, with the opening
outlined a bit and then go from there. I call the “muddled middle” the part I
leave to happenstance, but knowing where I need to end up is extremely helpful
to me.
Ancient Cornwall Church featured in Nora Tierney English Mystery with real wedding in progress.
Sherri: You write full-time now, but you have a busy
life and you’re always willing to help other writers.
Marni: I have the luxury of writing full time now,
and also write a crime review blog, Auntie M Writes, where I review about 150
books a year (www.auntiemwrites.com). I’m also the Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press, a curated
author’s cooperative out of Baltimore, MD. At any one time, I may be
shepherding another author’s book through its final stages of production while
I’m proofreading my own next book. It all keeps me busy.
I’ve been presenting with
Pamlico Writers since its inception and love watching how it’s grown! From the germ of an idea, the group has moved
to the Turnage Theatre and with it, expanded under your careful guidance to
encompass so many genres and types of writing that I feel it’s the most
inclusive conference in our area.
I enjoy talking to
writers at any level, and last year I talked about Beginnings and this year
Getting Started, how to get your story idea rattling around in your head to the
page. Perhaps the best part for me is the question and answer part, where
anything goes! It often forces me to take a look at my own motivations and
writing that I hadn’t bothered to have to formulate an answer to before. That
helps me continue to grow, too.
Marni and Sherri at the 2019 Pamlico Writer’s Conference
Sherri: I
think that is one of the things I’ve learned from you. No matter where we are
in our own writing, there is still more to learn if we are open to it. I have
been blessed to be a part of your Writers’ Read in Belhaven and the Pamlico
Writers’ Group. Since becoming the chairperson, I’ve tried to emulate your
style, but no one does it like you. I love talking to you about writing, well,
truthfully, I love talking to you about anything.
You talked of writing even while working as a nurse. How long
have you been writing seriously? Have you always been a writer?
Marni: I was a reader first and believe any writer
must be one. I could read when I started kindergarten and books have been my
solace and my pleasure. I started writing bad poetry in junior high and wrote
for the school paper in high school. There was always something going on that
required me to write but I didn’t call myself a writer until I published in the
nursing journal.
I wrote my first mystery on LI between 1994-5 when working at
the movie studio but lost the entire manuscript when our house burned down.
That one had a British male detective temporarily working at the Frick Museum
in NY as security for an exhibit of artifacts connected to a famous painting,
Ingres’ portrait of Comtesse de Haussonville. It’s a mirror painting, showing
the rather plain young woman facing the viewer but leaning against a dresser
and the mirror shows the back of her head and elaborate hairstyle. I was in the
Frick one day when this painting was on exhibit, along with the many artifacts
that are strewn across the dresser’s top. That was my inspiration for the
story. There’s a theft, a hint of romance, a bit of action.
Once the manuscript was gone, as were my backups, I let it go
and haven’t tried to resurrect it again. When I was given the opportunity a few
years later to study in Oxford, I had already started the first Nora Tierney
and being there had me start the series in Oxford so I could return Nora there
over time. What is now the second book in the series, set in the Lake District,
was originally the first until I’d been to Oxford.
Minack Theater, Cornwall, carved in the side of a cliff overlooking the sea.
Sherri: As a fan, I am familiar with your work but
how would you describe the kind of books you write? What genre do they fall
into? Do you plan to write any other genre in the future?
Marni: I write traditional mysteries,
character-driven where the plot or puzzle is solved in each volume but there
are continuing characters. Since most of mine take place in smaller town or
environments and focus more on the victim than the gory details of his or her
murder, they’re often called cozies. To me, they are a mixture of the cozy
amateur sleuth and police procedurals, as there is always the viewpoint of the
detective on the case. This holds true for both series.
I didn’t see myself writing anything different until I started
the most recent Nora book, The Golden
Hour. In that one, I moved from a straight “whodunit” to a
“cantheystophim?” The reader knows how the bad guy is up front; it’s more a
case if he can be stopped from bringing his psychopathic ideas to
fruition. I am trying to let my readers
feel they are not going to read the same book over and over. This one surprised
me as it was first time I’d developed and written a psychopathic character and
I had great fun doing it!
You can relate to that as you have a gift for romantic suspense.
So, while that may take different forms, you are drawn to that kind of story
when you write that has high human emotional stakes with a bit of mystery and
tensions thrown in.
So, while I’m comfortable in my niche, drawn to mystery because
that’s what I like to read, I won’t say I won’t every dabble in something else.
At Malice Domestic Mystery Convention with VERA actress, Brenda Blethyn.
Sherri: I’m so excited about your latest book but I
won’t spill the beans. Tell our audience about your latest projects?
Marni: I’m just wrapping the second Trudy Genova
Manhattan Mystery, Death at the Dakota.
Trudy is watching over the star, newly pregnant actress Monica Kiley, when she
goes missing. At the same time, her boyfriend, NYPD detective Ned O’Malley, has
been given a murder case where the victim is unable to be identified, after
being thrown in a dumpster and set on fire. Then an actor on Trudy’s set is
murdered. So, we have two killers and two cases running alongside each other.
Again, an attempt to keep readers’ interest. The Dakota is a famous NY landmark
apartment building, home to many famous people over the years, and probably
most known to modern readers as the place where John Lennon lived and was
killed just outside it. In reality, they don’t allow filming interiors at all,
but in Trudy’s world they do! The TV movie is being shot in what used to be the
Leonard Bernstein apartment, as I managed to get a floor plan layout and we are
thinking of including that in the book. I hope to have it in print between May
1st and June 1st.
Meanwhile, I’ve been gathering my usual research in a folder and
am not starting to plot out the opening of the next Nora Tierney Mystery. This
one will take place mostly in Oxford with scenes in Cambridge. Its working
title is An Amethyst’s Remembrance, a
line from an Emily Dickinson poem. As that series all have a color in their
title and a color wash over the cover images, I bet you can tell what that
color will be!
Latest novel, second in the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries
Sherri: It is obvious, you love writing, what do you
enjoy most about the process?
Marni: I enjoy the discovery; the plotting and
devising the characters, playing with their fictional lives. I love when two characters
I’ve come to know well will be having a conversation and it almost writes
itself. I love when I start to write something, and it feels terribly wrong and
I realize Nora or Trudy or Ned or Declan would never say that! It’s like having
these little people running around inside your head all the time, giving you
directions!
Sherri: Like anything we love, there is often a
flipside, what do you dislike about being a writer?
Marni: Promotion. NOT meeting readers or speaking to
them. That part I love, that connection. But spending time on social media
promoting myself when I’d rather be writing gets to me at times. It’s why I
limit myself to two: FB and Twitter, or I don’t think I’d get any writing done!
But that’s a quibble, a necessary evil. Almost all of writing and its process I
adore, having waited so long to be able to do it.
Jim Lupton, Marni and Sherri at Riverwalk Gallery book signing in Washington.
Sherri: Interviewing is thirsty work, can I interest
you in a drink? I think I’ll have a strawberry lemonade with vodka. You?
Marni: A vodka gimlet always goes down nicely,
heavy on the lime juice please!
Sherri: I’ve visited your house a few times and we’ve
had several covered dish events, I know you are an excellent cook. Do you have
a favorite dish or recipe?
Marni: I’m fond of making cassoulet, a French
peasant stew that has great northern beans, other beans you want to add, pork
sausage, bacon and whatever other meat you have on hand. The original recipe
calls for duck but how many of us have that around? Since it simmers for hours
in the oven, it’s a nice thing to start early on a rainy day and forget for a
while, and if you have the sausage and who in a southern kitchen doesn’t have
bacon, you’re set.
Sherri: I don’t know when you would have time for hobbies
or other interests with your busy writing schedule and family, but do have any
other interests or pursuits besides writing? Do these show up in your stories?
Marni: I enjoy music, from classical to jazz,
especially the American Songbook years and singers: Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney,
Chet Baker, etc. So, you’ll see that music pop up here and there, along with
more modern musicians like Diana Krall and Michael Buble` who sing it. I used
to like to hike, and years ago did parts of the Appalachian Trail, but those
days are behind me with three back surgeries. If I’m not reading, which I do
voraciously, about three novels a week, I like a good movie, especially old
ones…
Nicola Upson, Marni and Mandy Morton having tea at The Orchard, Grantchester, UK
Sherri: What do you feel are your writing strengths
and weaknesses?
Marni: I think I’m a decent plotter and since I do
bibles for my recurring characters, feel I have a handle on them. I’d say my
weakness is procrastination. I am easily distracted by anything going on, especially
my family. That being said, I have learned to write with the TV on when my
husband is watching it!
Sherri: Family can be a big distraction. I have a
large one and I love them, but I have found I have to set boundaries and let
them know I’m writing. Most of the time they are pretty good. I also try to
have the work done before they are expected, it is the unexpected that is more
difficult to juggle. My biggest setback now is my obligations with the Pamlico
Writers’ Group. I’m sure you know, an active group requires a lot of leadership
and it can’t grow if we’re not active. I’m still hoping others will take a more
active role in programming. I lean heavily on our core group, many of who have
other groups and their own busy writing and family lives. It’s a struggle but,
I love it.
Marni’s handsome husband, Doc and their lapdog, Seamus.
Marni: That’s true, and one reason I stopped the Writers Read group
after eight years. The Pamlico Writers Group really filled in that space and it
wasn’t needed while I need to devote that time to my writing. You need to find
a balance. My advice to you: delegate more!
Sherri: Who are your favorite authors or who has most
influenced your own writing?
Marni: That’s a loaded question! If we are talking
classics, I love Dickens, Austen, the Brontes and Wilkie Collins. Daphne Du
Maurier was a big influence on my writing, as were the Golden Agers, esp.
Christie, Sayers and Ngaio Marsh and of course, Morse’s Colin Dexter. If you ask about modern reading and authors,
non-crime it would be Ian McEwan, William Kuhn, Alan Bennett and Kate Atkinson,
but for crime, there are so many I could list, in no particular order:
Dead but more modern authors would be PD James, Ruth Rendell,
Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill. I defy any writer to read a book by one of
these and not enjoy it. Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe embodies humor, highly
original characters, elevated writing, all wrapped up in a complex plot. His Dialogues of the Dead is perfect for any
wordsmith.
If you like historicals, read Alan Bradley’s Flavia deLuce
series.
If you like different cultures and to learn something while in
the midst of a good mystery, read Ausma Zehant Khan.
If you like mystery light with humor, you’ll love Judith
Flanders
For contemporary authors: Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, Susan
Hill, Jane Casey, Val McDermid, Anthony Horowitz, Tana French, Elizabeth
George, Sophie Hannah, Frances Fyfield, Stuart MacBride, James Oswald, Peter
Robinson, Michael Robotham, Mark Billingham, Nicola Upson, Sarah Ward, Ian
Rankin, Tracee deHahn and Louise Penny
head the list of those whose books I gobble up when they come out.
So many books, so little time
. . .
Little sister, Fiona
Sherri: f you could change anything about your
writing/publishing past, what would it be?
Marni: Nothing.
I’m blessed to be here doing what I love. But I do think if I’d been able to
start writing at a younger age, I’d have a wider audience. I have had a lovely
NY agent at the oldest literary agency, Curtis Brown, for 19 years and he’s
never sold one of my books . . .
Sherri: What words of wisdom would you offer to
aspiring writers?
Marni: READ:
everything you can get your hands on and more in the genre you feel you want to
write in. PERSIST– There are so many avenues to publishing these days.
REVISE: Never put out a
first draft of anything. That’s a lump of clay you must hone and polish and
make beautiful.
KEEP good reference books
on your desk: a good dictionary, a good thesaurus and one good usage book. I am
partial to DREYER’s ENGLISH by Benjamin Dreyer, which is as humorous as it is
useful. You can Google all you want, but
it’s quicker sometimes and gives your typing hands a break to look things up in
a real book.
Sherri: You have a way with words. I love the little
notes you send me, stationary is always unique and pretty.
Marni: I’ve always loved books and words. Words
matter to me. Names, too. I spend time choosing just the right ones for
characters, but their sound, meaning, or heritage. I can get lost in a paper
store and come out with stationery and pens and things I don’t really need.
Ditto bookstores, of course.
Sherri: I love finding unusual items in bookstores
and little shops, like the one at Fearington Village.
So much is available online now from research to shopping but it
doesn’t quite match the feeling of walking into a store or museum and seeing
things for yourself.
Marni: I love doing research, too, and often get
sidetracked on an obtuse alleyway from my original purpose. There’s just so
much fascinating stuff out there!
It’s why I love museums. All of that good stuff from eons ago
just waiting to be discovered.
Sherri: I often wish I could go back in time and
experience what it was like in history. I think the turn of the century, early
1900s would be a fascinating time with all the new inventions and discoveries.
So much was happening so quickly.
Marni: That’s one of my favorite periods, the
Edwardians, except for the corsets of course, and the fact women were
considered the property of men. But it heralded that the world was changing,
from the Suffragettes movement to the music of Scott Joplin and early Jazz.
Sherri: I could sit and talk to you for hours and
hours, but our time is running out. Is there anything you’d like to say before
we say good bye?
Marni: I think good manners go a long way in any
situation. It costs nothing to be nice to someone. I complimented a woman I
don’t know on her purse yesterday because it was loud and colorful, and she had
sad face on her when we crossed paths outside Food Lion. Her face lit up. You
can’t put a price on making someone’s day a little bit better when it costs you
nothing.
I think we need to treat our elders better than we do. They are
not outdated or outmoded. In their time, they were the cat’s pajamas and did
all sorts of things we can’t even imagine. Well, most of them. They have years
of experience in human nature we could learn from it we’d bother to sit and
listen.
That’s it~off my soapbox.
Sherri: I agree and feel kindness is something we should all strive for. Treat others the way we wish to be treated. Thank you, Marni for visiting me at Creekside and I hope to see you in person very soon.
Death at the Dakota https://amzn.to/2DfQfZ5 Death at the Dakota Book 2Death Unscripted Book 1 Finalist: IAN Mystery Award; Shortlisted: Mystery and Mayhem, Chanticleer Book Reviews
The Golden Hour http://amzn.to/2vabUMJThe Nora Tierney English Mysteries:The Golden Hour Book 4:Shortlisted: Mystery and Mayhem Award, Chanticleer Book ReviewsThe Blue Virgin: Book 1 WINNER: Classic British Cozy, Chanticleer Book Reviews The Green Remains: Book 2WINNER: Classic British Cozy, Chanticleer Book ReviewsThe Scarlet Wench: Book 3 Shortlisted: Best Mystery, Chanticleer Book Reviews
A vodka gimlet: 1 part sweetened lime juice, 4 parts vodka, over ice or straight up, garnish with a slice of lime
1 shot of strawberry vodka 1 shot citrus vodka your favorite lemonade frozen strawberries and lemon slices
As chairperson of the Pamlico Writers’ Group, and more recently of our conference steering committee, I have been forced to do things that are uncomfortable, like public speaking. I know y’all think because I’m a big mouth broad I shouldn’t be sweating and fearing I’ll pass out just because my audience is ten times what I am comfortable with. I still get knock-kneed and tongue-tied whenever I have to stand up on stage and speak into a microphone, but I have learned to power through it. Practice and prayer helps!
This year I volunteered to teach a workshop. Why did I do that? Yeah, I asked myself the same question. It goes back to high school and Ms. Glenoria Jennette, basically she said, embrace your dreams even if it scares you, especially if it scares you. As I have gotten older, her advice has continued to guide me. I can cower in fear or spread my wings and take a chance. Yes, I might fail, I might fall but I will never know unless I try and keep trying. Thanks Ms. Glen, I’m still trying.
I shared my workshop with an awesome group of friends and strangers who each had something to contribute. I believe interaction makes a program more interesting and the presenter can learn from the attendees.
In my program “Be Prepared,” I talked of mistakes I’d made, programs and classes I’d taken, and how I’d adapted what I learned. I was a little terrified to have our keynote speaker, Katharine Ashe join my class. I’m a huge fan of hers and a bit awestruck, but she was a wonderful asset. I actually used her work to help make a few of my points.
Recently, I was a contributor to an international romance anthology, Love in Bloom. As part of this fabulous group I have learned so many new things that I was able to add to my program. Each experience I’ve had, each person who shares their journey adds another bit of information that helps me be a better writer or bookseller.
In today’s publishing world, whether traditional or indie, authors find they must wear several hats: promoter, publisher, and bookseller, marketer and designer. Authors are business people who must learn every aspect of their craft, as well as the business of writing in order to succeed. I am thankful for the workshops I have attended that have given me the tools to help me succeed. I hope my workshop gave someone else a little piece of that puzzle.
This year’s Pamlico Writers’ Conference had a few newbies, besides myself, Adrienne Dunning, Paloma Capanna and Tammera Cooper gave their first writers’ presentations. Paloma and Tammera were familiar with giving presentations due to their careers, Adrienne gave a 15- minute talk to a small group during our Carnival of Books, but for me, this was truly a first.
Thanks to everyone who helped me and encouraged me. I am blessed to have you as part of my tribe.
I just had my second book signing and my first experience co-signing with my friend and mentor, Marni Graff. I was surprised at the ease in which we were able to blend our thoughts and ideas, and talk about our books. It felt natural, sharing the stage with Marni. We’ve discussed books so often that in many ways, it just felt like a discussion among friends. Of course, the lack of nerves on my part may have been from the amount of cold medicine I’ve been taking.
I first met Marni Graff when she was hosting open mic events at a bakery in Washington, North Carolina. She called it Writers’ Read and several writers and poets would come and share their work. I was attracted by her unflappable style and grace. I followed Marni to Belhaven, when she moved the Writers’ Read to the public library after the bakery closed. When she became a presenter at the first Pamlico Writers’ conference, I knew I had to attend. I’ve attended every writers’ conference since.
Over the past few years Marni and I have become close, first as student and mentor, and later as friends, and writer-sisters. I have learned so much from Marni, she is a patient teacher, mentor and friend. She has pushed me to stretch my talent to judge a competition, review others’ works and even submit my own work to agents and contests. It because of her faith that my story was ready that I leaped into the publishing fire and self-published Chrome Pink.
I resisted self-publishing for years because I wanted the dream, to have an agent or editor believe in me and take on my project. After having the experience of an agent, I learned that by going the traditional route, you give up a lot of control. When my agent broke up with me, I began to embrace the idea of having complete control. It’s frightening and a little intimidating but with the push from Marni, friends and family, I finally did it.
Sitting at the table, discussing our books and fielding questions from the audience is a dream I never allowed myself to have. Having the book signing with my friend and mentor, is a priceless gift I will treasure for a life time. I appreciate my library manager Robina Norman for setting this up with her colleague, Sallie, and to Sallie for making this book signing a lovely event, thank you.
Book signing at Robersonville Public Library, March 7th, 2018.
A suspense-thriller with strong romantic elements, Chrome Pink is a story of survival, second chances and giving yourself permission to have your own happy ending. Rae Lynne is a survivor, a fighter but what she wants most is to have someone to love and trust.
$14.95
Some of the best compliments I’ve received have been funny, surprising and kind.
One of the biggest compliments was when my cousin went to her local library and asked about me doing a book signing there. Her enthusiasm was a boon to my ego.
I have been blessed to have a lot of support from my family, friends and community. “Chrome Pink” isn’t everyone’s style of story. I’m okay with that. I appreciate those who bought my book and even more, those who read it and let me know they liked it.
My mom’s friend told her my book was the best book she’d ever read except for the cussing and the sex. “Darn, I thought the sex was good.”
Another dear lady told my mom she liked the book but she wasn’t raised with all that cussing. “I wasn’t either. My mom smacked me for saying ‘pissed’.”
My mother-in-law hasn’t read a book in ten years but she read mine. When she’d finished, she said, “The sex was so good it almost made me want some.” I asked, “Did you tell Pa.” Laughing, she said, “No, I didn’t want to scare him.”
My best friend and local librarian informed me she needed a copy of my book for the library. “Wow, my book is in the library!”
The father of my high school boyfriend has bought five books, four the night of my book signing and another one recently. One of the books he gave away resulted in another sale. When his sister-in-law read the book, she thought her son would also like to read it. So, she asked me to let her know when I got another shipment of books.
My librarian friend, bragged on my book signing and that has resulted in an invitation for a book signing at a library in a town I’ve never visited.
My mentor and friend convinced me to submit my book to a very prestigious competition. Win or lose, the fact that she believed it good enough is a great compliment.
I’ve only sold a little over a hundred books, that may not seem like much but to me, it’s amazing.
The assistant to my former agent took the time to tell me how much she liked “Chrome Pink” and she loved the cover.
Those who have taken the time to write a review on Amazon, those who’ve liked it on Goodreads. All of these are encouraging to a new author and greatly appreciated.
My character, Rae Lynne does have a bit of a potty mouth. She’s a survivor and keeps people at a manageable distance with her cursing and appearance. She doesn’t want anyone to get too close. She doesn’t want to care about anyone. She doesn’t want to hurt them and she doesn’t plan to allow them to hurt her.
Life is messy. Love isn’t always pretty. But the right person can see past your weaknesses and flaws to the jewel underneath.
My mentor, M K Graff writes a crime/mystery blog called Auntie Em Writes and she will be promoting my novel, “Chrome Pink” tomorrow. Please, check out her blog and check out “Chrome Pink.”
Rae Lynne Grimes is a survivor. She returns to her hometown along the inner banks of the North Carolina coast to care for her dying grandfather. A pink motorcycle, a handsome construction worker and the threat of death or prison has her searching for the strength and courage she was unaware she possessed.
What is more frightening: allowing yourself to be vulnerable and fall in love, or facing a murdering psychopath?
I just finished The Golden Hour, the fourth in the Nora Tierney series by M.K. Graff. I have enjoyed the progression of the main characters: Nora Tierney and Detective Inspector Declan Barnes, from antagonists to partners. The Golden Hour is a little darker than the first books in this series. It deals with the very real threat of biological terrorism but the true theme of this story is creating your own family from the people who love you. Nora’s British family, the good friends who have been there for her during her darkest days and sweetest memories, her dear friends Kate, Simon and Val, as well as the newest additions to her circle, Paul’s parents, make up the people she has chosen to care about and call family. Their loyalty to each other is tested and proved. When Declan’s case and Nora’s stalker bleed over into each other, Declan is faced with the very real possibility of losing Nora and Sean forever. When he realizes how much they both mean to him, it is a beautiful and heart rending moment of clarity and self-doubt. It is in that moment the reader can truly feel who the man Declan is, not just the detective, but the vulnerable person who loves Nora and her child. As he rushes to save his family he is torn between duty to his country and the well-being of his family. A true hero does what is right even at the risk of losing it all. Adversity changes a person. When faced with the threat of losing everything that makes life worth living, Declan and Nora show their true characters. Like all of us, they are weak but their innate goodness, strength and love pull them through the abyss and they will be better because of it. This story made me angry, made me laugh and it made me cry but in the end, the tears were those of joy. This was one of the best books I’ve read, it captured the heart and gave a little squeeze. I can hardly wait to read the next book and see what new adventures await Nora, Declan and Sean.
As we put the last dashes and dots on the 2015 Pamlico Writers Conference I explore my role within the group. I read several books written by the writers presenting at the conference, taking time to write reviews and give words of encouragement. On Twitter, Facebook and Amazon I cheered for my fellow authors, taking great joy from being a member of the team. This passion sluiced over to other groups, reading the work of other writers whose programs I attended in person or on-line. I came to the conclusion that I enjoy being a cheerleader, I feel valued for offering encouragement to others.
I have been blessed to be a part of several writers’ groups where I have been encouraged and strengthen, educated and inspired. If I can give back to others, if I can make one minutia of difference with my words then I am part of the team and I am doing my part.
Do I want to be the quarterback? Yes, my greatest desire is to run with the ball or in this case have my own work published and reviewed but until then I will continue to learn, work hard and cheer the others from the sidelines.
sherrilhollister.com/Suspense She Writes Bookstore Dismiss
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