ISBN: 1413777082

The following interview was conducted by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW  Norm Goldman's Reviews

To read Norm's Review of the book   CLICK HERE

Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as out guest, Patricia Harrington, author of Death Comes Too Soon: A Bridget O’Hern Mystery.

Good day Patricia and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.

Norm:

When did you passion for writing begin and what keeps you going?

Patricia:

I can pinpoint the time to the fourth grade. One of my favorite activities with my super busy dad was to have him give me a word from the dictionary. I’d try to spell it and learn what it meant. One of my favorite big words was troglodyte. Later, I used the word in a report, and my fourth grade teacher read it and said. “You should stick to simpler words!”

When I was 12, I submitted my first story to The Horseman—and received my first rejection from the same. My writing continued over the years, but it wasn’t until I was a mother with four children that I made my first sale. I wrote a feature about a local drive-in restaurant to a trade magazine. I received a big ten bucks for that feature. When I held the check in my hand, I distinctly remember thinking, “I am a writer!” So through hard and good times, children and grandchildren, I continue to write because I love telling a story, of wanting to get it down on paper—yes, paper—of what I see and feel happening in the world around me.

Norm:

How do you come up with ideas for what you write?

Patricia:

I love to write mysteries and the traditional form of mysteries sits on a three-legged stool: character, plot and setting. Settings particularly nudge and suggest a story line. As I mentioned above, I love words, and so they trigger associations and ideas. I wear two writing hats: one as a grant writer for nonprofits and the other, as a mystery writer. My sleuth Bridget O’Hern does what I do for a living, consult with nonprofits, and so often the settings I’ve been in suggest a plot. I’ve been fortunate to work with a variety of communities and ethnic groups. As a result, I all ready have working titles and ideas for the next three books in the Bridget O’Hern series.

Norm:

What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing Death Comes Too Soon: A Bridget O’Hern Mystery? How did you overcome these challenges?

Patricia:

One challenge, which is somewhat amusing in retrospect, is that I did a complete rewrite of DCTS after I’d finished. It turned out I had a small, but loyal readership of Norwegian Elkhound dog owners. They had read my debut novel with Bridget, titled Death Stalks the Khmer. In that book, Bridget had an Elkhound by the name of Narvik. Well in the first version of DCTS, I left Narvik home in Chapter 1 with Bridget’s sidekick C.J. Book two takes place on the Oregon coast. Upon reflection, when Elkhound owners were asking when the next mystery with Bridget AND Narvik would be out—I made the prudent decision to have Narvik go along with Bridget. That meant through 26 chapters that Narvik had to be fed, watered, brought in and out, and have more than just a walk-on role. Actually, in retrospect, I’m glad I did it. (So is Narvik!)

Norm:

How much real-life do you put into your fiction? Is there much “you” in there?

Patricia:

There is some of me in Bridget. In one sense, there would have to be since she does the same kind of work. I chose my profession for Bridget because I think readers like to learn about offbeat or interesting places and people. So, some of my sympathies and observations about life are in Bridget. But not all! I deliberately chose the name Bridget O’Hern for a reason, too. It’s a family name—my great-grandmother’s. That Bridget left Ireland during the Famine years and immigrated to the States in the mid 1800’s. Family lore had it that she was a great storyteller. So, I chose her name, hoping some of the storytelling ability would rub off on me.

Norm:

Have you ever attended writer’s conferences or workshops? If so, how important is it for aspiring writers to go to conferences and/or workshops? How do you know that a conference and/or workshop are worth your time and money?

Patricia:

The short answer is that, I do believe in attending writer’s conferences or workshops. It’s wise to check out the credentials or writing background of the instructors. I’ve found as I’ve been published in a variety of venues that attending writer’s conferences or workshops tend to be of value for networking with other authors, hearing about agents that might be looking for specific kinds of material, and to meet an editor or two. As to whether the conference or workshop is worth your time and how to know, I believe again that it is important to find out what the instructor has published or taught the subject in other, valued conferences. It’s also important to ascertain what it is that you want to learn or improve. If the workshops are more on promotion or the mystery genre, and your interest is in creative non-fiction, there certainly won’t be the value for you in the latter.

Norm:

You include some very detailed dialogues in the book among the various characters, where did that dialogue come from?

Patricia;

Well, that is flattering to have you say that. I love to eavesdrop on conversations while standing in line at the supermarket or waiting for a bus. One of the hardest kinds of dialogue to use is that which has a dialect or distinct speech pattern to it. In the case of the Cambodian (Khmer) speakers in my first novel, I was able to capture their style. I also have worked for many years and with many men, so I can hear some of them talking for my characters. That does make me sound a bit dingy—but it does help!

Norm:

You write with a very vivid and descriptive style. Do you use any particular techniques to help with your writing or to help flesh out descriptive imagery? Are there any writers you admire or look to for inspiration?

Patricia:

As I mentioned before, I would love to be a good oral storyteller—but I’m not. However, I do try to get my nouns and verbs to cozy up together, which makes for more forceful and powerful sentences. Working with native and refugee populations, I’ve become very aware that when someone describes something, it’s not a simple black and white object. A noun describe by only an adjective. There is a surround feeling and ambience that has to be captured so that the essence of the sentence or the message is distilled and, hopefully, more powerful. The author I admire in the mystery/crime fiction genre is Ross Macdonald. He had the Lew Archer, PI series. Macdonald was a professor, very erudite, and wove wonderful metaphors throughout his novels and stories. With my first novel, I liberally sprinkled similes and metaphors like the proverbial rose petals and the story was lost, covered over.

Norm:

What has your experience been like with self publishing? Do you recommend it over traditional publishers?
 

Patricia:

PublishAmerica is not a traditional self-publisher, which may be an oxymoron. They do pick and choose whom they accept, but they accept many, many manuscripts. However, I did not pay to be published, and PA is considered an independent POD publisher. I would do it again, but this route isn’t for all. I knew I would have to do most of my own marketing and promotion. However, I considered the experience and the cost like tuition for Book Marketing 101. I believe that with two novels, several anthologies and multiple stories published, I now have a track record, a list of folks who like my books, and so am more marketable. The publishing game is going through a horrendous upheaval in New York and elsewhere. I think persistence and improving on craft is about seventy percent of the game. And, you know, I’d write, even if I wasn’t published. I will show you a pix of my kids beginning reader’s e-book series. I’m shopping for a print publisher, and I love my characters and their small dilemmas.

Norm:

How did you approach writing the character of Bridget O’Hern? Did you plan her out or did she evolve as you wrote the book?

Patricia:

Bridget evolved as I wrote her. After a while, I could picture how she looked, but not at first. I had the hardest time figuring out how old she was. I finally settled on 47. She is getting a bit of a romance going, or at least her hormones are perking (she’s single now after her husband divorced her, remarried and then died of a heart attack). Well, the story behind this anecdote is that I had a writer friend, a guy, critique my manuscript. One of his comments was that he thought Bridg was “too old” to be getting flutters and stirrings. “Humph,” I said.

Norm:

Where do you see yourself as an author five years down the road?

Patricia:

I believe I’ll have a well- known and followed whodunit series with Bridget O’Hern. She will have sleuthed her way to Ireland in Death Tours in Ireland, onto an Indian Reservation in Death of a Dream Catcher, and attended a Crone (older women) conference in Death of a Wise Woman (all working titles). My children’s books will have found a good publisher, and they will be a legacy that I can leave for my grandchildren. I know, too, that I will be traveling and writing about my new sleuth Aunt Amelia. She is an Agatha Christie type and I have her as the protagonist in a Golden Age mystery series that I’m just beginning. In fact, I will be traveling to Antigua in the Caribbean to write about Aunt Amelia in Murder Visits Antigua. Research, research, don’t you know!

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Patricia:

No. But thank you for giving me this opportunity to share with your readers. When I do book signings or give presentations, I like to close with this thought:

Life is a mystery, live it one day—one page—at a time!

Thanks once again and good luck with your book.