BOOKCLUB FRIDAY ON A MONDAY--MYSTERY AUTHOR E.J. COPPERMAN'S NEW SERIES

E.J. Copperman is the author of thirty mystery novels. He advises you can count them if you like, but you’d have to count the first six under another name. Among them have been the Haunted Guesthouse, Agent to the Paws, Mysterious Detective and Asperger’s Mysteries, a collaboration between both those names. Learn more about E.J. and his books at his website. Today he joins us to talk about his newest series, the Fran and Ken Stein Mysteries.

Creating Characters from Scratch

Some years ago – and by “some” I mean a lot – the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series was going strong and my publisher was interested in perhaps branching out a bit. (No, there aren’t going to be any more Guesthouse books and no, that wasn’t my idea.) Could I come up with something else that sort of touched on the paranormal without being, you know, scary?

 

Well, I wasn’t interested in frightening people so I started to think of things other than ghosts that could play into a mystery novel series. (My editor had been clear on one point: “NO ZOMBIES!” and I was more than okay with that.) Vampire detectives? It had been done. Werewolf detectives? Done. Invisible detectives? More than done. 

But one area of the Universal Pictures monster pantheon had not yet been written as a mystery series, in particular a traditional one without the horror theme, before. The idea struck me as perfect: Frankenstein, P.I.

 

Before you tune up and tell me Frankenstein was the scientist and not the creature, trust me, I know. But in this case, if the creation could be a person living in present times and in a familiar setting, there could be some fun to have with it. Suppose this was a descendant of the original creature, living generations later in New Jersey (I set everything in New Jersey in those days) and trying to solve crimes because his (the creature was male until Elsa Lanchester came along) ancestor had been so badly treated by the criminal justice system of his time. Suppose he had some mystery about his creation that he needed to solve over a series of books. Suppose I had a better idea than that.

 

I decided against the descendant thing. It was too complicated to figure out who the mother was, for one thing, because Elsa had been adamantly against such things. And I felt that over all that time, what made the creature special would have been diluted by genetics. Thawing him out from being frozen (which is closer to Mary Shelley) was a possibility but didn’t especially interest me.

 

But what if this creature was a woman? What if she was created outside the Frankenstein universe? What if…

 

Wait a minute. Frankenstein. Fran. Ken. Stein.

 

Suddenly I had a pair of siblings and that’s where it took off. Fran and Ken were (when the book opens) an adult brother-and-sister pair of investigators who had questions about how they were created, who the people were who created them (and to whom they refer as “our parents”) and why those people had abandoned them at an early age, reportedly due to concerns about the children’s security?

 

It took a while, but UKULELE OF DEATH, the first Fran and Ken Stein Mystery, was published on May 2, and it answers some, but not all, of the questions. The Steins have opened a detective agency that specializes in helping adopted people find their birth parents because Fran and Ken have some experience with growing up knowing very little of their lineage. When they stumble (or walk, more accurately) into a murder plot that seems to have something to do with their own situation, things get complicated in a hurry.

 

Years have gone by, but Fran and Ken are finally seeing the light of day. Their origin story is, let’s say, unique and their attitudes (not to mention their physical abilities) might be a little unusual as well. They know they’re different and they know why. But does that mean they’re not people?

 

It’s up to you to decide, but I’m glad you’re finally getting the chance. 

Ukulele of Death

A Fran and Ken Stein Mystery, Book 1

 

After losing their parents when they were just babies, private investigators Fran and Ken Stein now specialize in helping adoptees find their birth parents. So when a client asks them for help finding her father, with her only clue a rare ukulele, the case is a little weird, sure, but it’s nothing they can’t handle.

 

But soon Fran and her brother are plunged into a world where nothing makes sense – and not just the fact that a very short (but very cute) NYPD detective keeps trying to take eternal singleton Fran out on dates. 

 

All Fran wants to do is find the ukulele and collect their fee, but it’s hard to keep your focus when you’re stumbling over corpses and receiving messages that suggest your (dead) parents are very much alive.

 

Ukuleles aside, it’s becoming clear that someone knows something they shouldn’t – that Fran and Ken Stein weren’t so much born, as built . . .

 

Buy Links

hardcover 

ebook 

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR BETH BARANY

Today we sit down for a chat with author Beth Barany. Beth writes science fiction mystery, young adult adventure fantasy, and paranormal romance. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I was aware I wanted to write novels at eighteen years old, but I had no idea how to do it. 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I was forty-two years old when I published my first novel, though I had been published as a journalist since the age of twenty-two. 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

I am mostly an indie published novelist, with a few traditionally published deals. So I guess you could call me a hybrid author. 

Where do you write?

I most often write first drafts at cafes. I mostly do my editing at home -- either in my office, at the kitchen table, on the couch, or on the patio.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I love listening to pop music when I write my first drafts. I often listen to baroque music when I edit. Lately though, when I edit my science fiction mystery series, I'm listening to a huge playlist of Star Trek soundtracks, from the TV shows and movies over the last fifty years. 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

I think all fiction stems from the author's life in one way or another, but because I write science fiction and fantasy, it's harder to spot. I think my relationships show up in my fiction, but it's hard to point to a specific event or person that inspires my fiction. My interest in science and fairy tales and folklore show up in my fiction, for sure. 

Describe your process for naming your character?

Sometimes character names come to me out of the blue and I stick with them. Sometimes what I choose gets some pushback from my critique partners, so then I reach out into the ether and find another name. I often do research on name origins and create family trees for my characters. 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Many of my fantastical settings are a mashup of different places. For my science fiction, since my settings are space stations, I'm using real science and speculation about what they could look like and how they work. In my paranormal romance I use real locations that I have visited or lived in. 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

My character, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, the main character of that series, can read bird sign. 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Depends on who you talk to! I have so many.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

I've never thought of that. I honestly can't think of one. Everybody's books are so unique and stem from who they are. 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

Maybe being a bird? That could be fun. I always daydreamed about that. As for something on a more realistic level, I would have liked to have been born into a family that traveled around the world a lot. 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I don't like black pepper in my food.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Lots of paper, writing utensils, and a companion. 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Shelving books in the library was pretty hard, until I learned to love it. 

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Do I have to pick? If I have to pick, it's Once A Hero by Elizabeth Moon. 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl 

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have three more books in the Janey McCallister Mystery series to release over the next 12 months. After that I might write more books in that series or go back to a new series within the Henrietta The Dragon Slayer universe. I also have some paranormal romantic suspense in the works that expand upon the five I’ve already published.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Thanks so much for having me on your blog! 

Into the Black

A Janey McCallister Sci-Fi Mystery, Book 1

She wanted to make her mark. How hard could it be?

In 2130, at Bijoux de L’Étoile, a high-end casino orbiting Earth, you can get anything you desire.

Newly-hired as an investigator, Janey McCallister wants to solve her first big case—the theft of a priceless gem.

When her case of theft escalates to murder and points to the seedy underbelly of world affairs, Janey has to rely on her new team and trust the mysterious insurance investigator, Orlando Valdez—before a killer escapes into the black.

Buy Links

paperback 

ebook 

GUEST AUTHOR JOHN EDWARD MULLEN & YARD WORK IN YOSEMITE

John Edward Mullen has been employed as a wild-lands firefighter, economist, financial analyst, university lecturer, and for twelve years he worked as a programmer/analyst. To learn more about John and his books visit his website. 

Doing “Yard Work” in Yosemite

If home is where the heart is, I am fortunate in that I have several homes, one of which is Yosemite National Park. Each year for the last fifteen years, I have spent a week as a volunteer in Yosemite helping to maintain and restore the Park.

Most of the work I have done in Yosemite is what my wife would call “yard work.” And she can’t understand my willingness to drive 500 miles to pull weeds and invasive plants like bull thistle and mullein (no relation) when I run from the mere suggestion of doing such work at home. Somehow, work, even physically demanding work such as digging holes for fence posts, becomes enjoyable when I can look around and marvel at the natural beauty that surrounds me: giant trees, massive granite structures, waterfalls, deer.

An important side benefit of volunteering is that I’ve developed friendships with other volunteers, some of whom I’ve worked with almost every year since 2000. They and some of the Park Service supervisors have become family, and each annual work week becomes a family reunion.

My favorite project was the restoration of The Fen at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. Back in the 1920s, half of this boggy area was paved to make a parking lot. A few years ago, I helped restore the area to its natural state. Removing asphalt, rock and fill could not be done by heavy equipment right next to the trees. So volunteers, including me, used picks, shovels and pry bars to loosen up large rocks snuggling against the trees and moved them to a pile that could be scooped up by a small skip loader.

After we had removed all the rock and fill, we transplanted willows, reeds and other plants we had dug up elsewhere in the Valley. Each year I return to The Fen and am amazed. Over the years, The Fen has transformed into an Eden, and I take pride in knowing that I helped accomplish that.

Yosemite also played a role in my writing. I began my novel, Digital Dick, shortly before the 2008 work week. On my Wednesday day off, I sat at a picnic table in our group camp wrestling with how to make my protagonist—a sentient artificial intelligence—a well-rounded character. While sitting under the tall pine trees, I received an inspiration—I’ll have my robot character, Dick, hate cats. Now I had a robot with personality! (Note that we have a cat at home who loves me. Also, Dick has a perfectly “logical” reason for his dislike of cats.)

I return to Yosemite in about ten days. This year I’ll be collecting seed in Tuolumne Meadow which will later be used to revegetate other areas in the Park. If doing “yard work” in Yosemite sounds interesting, consider joining the Yosemite Conservancy and signing up for a work week. Maybe I’ll see you there next year.

Digital Dick

As a computer with a human personality, Dick Young struggles to understand people. Some would deny personhood to Dick, others who fear him would take him apart chip by chip.

After he witnesses a bloody murder, Dick offers to assist the San Diego Police Department catch the killer. But when the search for the murderer turns up a second body, Dick’s Satisfaction Index plummets. He breaks company with the police and begins investigating the case on his own. As he follows the clues, Dick learns more and more about humans: how they live, how they love and how they murder. He will need that knowledge to overcome the killer who threatens to destroy Dick and everyone that Dick holds dear.

Buy Links

paperback 

ebook