Where We Began: A Look Back at Whiskey #1

In my most recent post, I promised readers a brief look back at the first five Whiskey Mattimoe mysteries and then a sneak-peek at the brand new book, Whiskey and Soda, due out next month.

So, for those of you who haven't read the series in a while, or who haven't read it yet, here's a quick recap of the very first Whiskey Mattimoe mystery, Whiskey on the Rocks:



Still reeling from her husband's sudden death, 33-year-old Whiskey Mattimoe has her hands full managing her real estate business and keeping track of Chester, the 8-year-old son of a touring pop music star. And then there's Abra, an Afghan hound with a diva attitude and a penchant for stealing designer purses. 


When someone turns up dead at one of Whiskey's rental properties, the Magnet Springs part-time police force needs all the help it can get. This quiet Lake Michigan resort town is known for its mysterious magnetic fields, not murder, and the locals would like to keep it that way. At her own peril, Whiskey uncovers art theft, forgery, and some nasty dark secrets.


Bold and street smart, Whiskey can take care of herself--with the aid of an exceptionally well-trained "rott hound" who happens to have a crush on Abra. But to survive, she's got to untangle a web of deceit before it kills her business, and just possibly Whiskey, as well.

My publisher and I were delighted by critical responses to Whiskey on the Rocks:

A cozy series as satisfying as a fine single malt. --Publishers Weekly

Sprightly humor, delightful characters (including the animals), and a nicely mixed-up plot make this an entertaining debut. --Library Journal starred review

Getting the critics on your side is important, but it's what readers say or post online that matters most. I'm thrilled to answer questions about the series. Most often readers want to know what inspires me to write about (a) a woman who can't control her dog, and (b) a dog like Abra, specifically, a felonious Afghan hound with an unbridled libido.

Is Whiskey like me? Is Abra like any dog I've ever shared my life with? The answers, as you might expect, are a combination of yes and no--which is why they call what I make fiction.

I once shared a house with a woman who thought she "owned" an Afghan hound, the most glorious, graceful, gravity-defying breed of dog I've ever met. Many years later, while living in rural Michigan, I rescued a pregnant scent hound; she reserved her slavish affection for my ex, who never cared for her. That hound also had a predilection for running away and getting into mounds of trouble, which I single-handedly sorted out time and again. Combining those canine experiences with a healthy dash of narrative imagination yielded Whiskey Mattimoe and Abra the Afghan hound. 

My abiding love for the west coast of Michigan is also a feature of this series. Many of my happiest days so far have been spent on the beaches and in the quaint towns that line the greatest of Great Lakes. So imagine my delight in realizing that the newest Whiskey Mattimoe book will be available in print and digital formats just in time for beach season! I highly recommend Michigan's dunes and resort towns. If you can't get there in reality, I hope you'll visit via my fiction.

Coming up: Where Whiskey has been, and where she's going. . . . .

FREE Links for Apps to Download Ebooks!

With Ampichellis Ebooks, I'm working to make my books available digitally to as many readers as possible. Don't have a Kindle or Nook? Not a problem! Here are links for free application software so that you can read all the Whiskey Mattimoe (as well as my paranormal Homefree series) books on your computer or smart phone:

Kindle app for PC

http://tinyurl.com/6l9fpg4

Kindle app for mac

http://tinyurl.com/yk4vcw7

Barnes and Noble Nook for PC

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-for-pc/379002322

Barnes and Novel Nook for mac

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/free-nook-apps/379002321/

Free Kobo ap for PC or mac

http://kobobooks.com/desktop

Want to read novels on your smart phone?

Android Phone

http://tinyurl.com/2bwt7j8

Iphone

http://tinyurl.com/2d342hv

Midwest Humble

If you, like Whiskey Mattimoe and me, come from the nation's heartland, you may be Midwest humble.

If you’re from the North, South, East or West, or from another country altogether, you may still know what I’m talking about.

Obvious But Essential Disclaimer: Everyone from the heartland is not humble; nor is humility peculiar to Midwesterners. But the vast majority of my peers and I grew up believing we’re just regular folk who need to work hard, get along, and try not to attract too much attention to ourselves.

What makes “Midwest humble” distinct from qualities instilled elsewhere in the U.S.? I gave this a lot of thought during my two years in Dallas, Texas, one of America’s Great Cities and about as cosmically removed from Midwest humble as it’s possible to be. Although I met and worked with hundreds of people in Dallas, the ones who instantly put me at ease were fellow transplants from the part of the world where I grew up. Yup. I got nothin’ against native Texans, Oklahomans, Arkansans or Louisianans; in fact I love to listen to them. But I was irresistibly drawn to folks from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We embraced each other, not only because we talked alike and were outnumbered. We were also outshone. A few reasons why:

1) Some Midwest humble folks of the female persuasion, including me, occasionally go out in public sans make-up and carefully coiffed hair. We may even wear a hat on a cold night, which is guaranteed to give you hat-head when you remove it. Horror of horrors.

2) Our vocabulary lacks a vital word: “y’all.” I am totally serious on this point. “Y’all” means so much more than Midwesterners can immediately grasp. It is an economical yet precise and emphatic way of expressing inclusion, as in “All y’all need to move y’all’s cars.” This word is so useful that I tried to adopt it; unfortunately, I never became fluent.

3) We humble Midwesterners may demonstrate insufficient devotion to a Texas team and find ourselves unable to defend our position. An airport shuttle driver demanded to know what kind of emergency could possibly take me out of Dallas on the eve of the Texas-Oklahoma football game. He was serious; I was speechless. He scorned me.

Whiskey Mattimoe kicks herself now and then for being too Midwest humble. This usually happens in the presence of a character more confident and eloquent. It always happens in the presence of a well-tended woman oozing sex appeal. Although Whiskey knows her way around the boudoir, her author is aware that this protagonist could use a few lessons in seduction. Maybe she needs to spend a couple years in Texas. I could hook her up. . . .

See Whiskey fall in lust for the first time since her husband died: Whiskey on the Rocks, now available on Nook and Kindle.