Day 12: Mystery We Write Tour with Pat Browning

It’s day 12 of the second 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour. We’re fifteen mystery authors on a virtual two-week tour of interviews, excerpts and of course, giveaways. (Rules may vary author to author. Details posted on our blogs.) About those giveaways - sixty (yes, 60!) free books are up for grabs, so let’s get started and talk writing!

My guest today is Pat Browning.

Pat was born and raised in Oklahoma. A longtime resident of California's San Joaquin Valley before moving back to Oklahoma in 2005, her professional writing credits go back to the 1960s, when she was a stringer for The Fresno Bee while working full time in a Hanford law office.

Her globetrotting in the 1970s led her into the travel business, first as a travel agent, then as a correspondent for TravelAge West, a trade journal published in San Francisco. In the 1990s, she signed on fulltime as a newspaper reporter and columnist, first at The Selma Enterprise and then at The Hanford Sentinel.

Her first mystery, FULL CIRCLE, was set in a fictional version of Hanford, and published through iUniverse in 2001. It was revised and reissued as ABSINTHE 0FMALICE by Krill Press in 2008. An extensive excerpt can be read at Google Books.

Pat is also an original member of the first 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour. You can read my interview with her HERE.

Anne – It’s wonderful to have you back for a visit, Pat. Tell us about Absinthe of Malice.

Pat - Old crimes come back to haunt a small California town. Absinthe of Malice introduces reporter Penny Mackenzie and a supporting cast of colorful characters whose lives turn upside down when chance discovery of a skeleton in a cotton field leads to murder--and romance.

Absinthe of Malice can be ordered through any bookstore or online from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Anne - Would you share an excerpt with us? Let’s just flip open the book and read page 69.

Pat – Here you go:

At the bottom of the page, a footnote in small print: Several others went to The Klondike but, unlike Simeon Swann and Rumour Collins, they found only fool's gold. One of those was William Franklin ‘Big Digger’ Demple, who died at Ittsy Creek on the Klondike River, leaving behind a widow and baby daughter.

Digger tapped the photo again. “Unidentified, my foot. That little guy's me, and the lady's my Grandma Demple. I used to play in that dumbwaiter when I was just a little squirt. Sometimes Grandma Demple let me ride with the shirts and underwear she was sending upstairs.”

His fingers moved swiftly across the footnote: Several others went to the Klondike, but unlike Simeon Swann and Rumour Collins, they found only fool's gold. His fingers skimmed a list of names and stopped on the last one—William Franklin 'Big Digger' Demple, who died at Ittsy Creek on the Klondike River.

“Big Digger Demple was my grandfather. Big Digger and Rumour Collins were equal partners with Simeon Swann, but to hear the Swanns tell it, Simeon had the Klondike all to himself.” Digger slammed the book to the floor, then snatched it back up and laid it on the table again, checking it for damage.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “What are you saying?”

“Maybe Simeon Swann did build Pearl, but this book tells it all wrong. It's a promotion for the hotel and I understand that. And the fact that Simeon stole that gold—ah, it was too long ago. What happened in the Klondike was between Simeon and Big Digger, and they're dead, so what do they care? But …” 

He turned red, tried to smile, looked miserable. “I was just so bloomin’ mad.” He stared out the window for a long moment. “Not about the gold and the town so much, but because Layton and Merrily turned Grandma Demple into a nobody and blew off Big Digger in a footnote.” Pride. He was mad enough to slug someone because his pride was hurt.

Anne – Thank you! For those who want to read more of Absinthe of Malice, visit my Muriel Reeves blog for another excerpt HERE.

One of the fun things about this tour is delving deeper now that I’ve interrogated, um, I mean interviewed you! Would you share a photo of your home office and show us where Absinthe of Malice began?

Pat – Okay!

Anne – Looks far too organized to me, but I love the size of the screen. It would be easier on the eyes, especially as we're in front of it for hours on end. 

Where can readers reach you online?

Pat – At my blog. My website at http://patbrowning.weebly.com is under construction, but guests are always welcome.

Anne – Before we close how do readers qualify for your Mystery We Write Blog Tour giveaway?

Pat - I’ll be picking a winner for a copy of one of my books from everyone who comments on my posts during this blog tour.

Anne – Thank you, Pat. As always, it’s been a pleasure, and I hope you'll take part in the 2012 Mystery We Write Blog Tour!

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AKA Update: I’m visiting Mike Orenduff today. Please drop by his blog, and leave a comment to win one of three e-copies of Frank, Incense andMuriel, book one of the Muriel Reeves Mysteries. The winners will be announced December 9.

Tomorrow on Day 13 of the Mystery We Write Blog Tour my guest will be Ron Benrey.

Comments are always appreciated and welcome, have a super day, and happy reading!

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