 Welcome to Matter of Inquiry! This week’s guest author interviewee is mystery author Michele Drier (who also writes paranormal romance), and the featured book is TAPESTRY OF TEARS, A Stained Glass Mystery. Welcome, Michele. I am so pleased to have you visit the blog. Thank you for coming. Shall we get started? INTERVIEW: JLB: Why did you choose writing as a career? Is it your only career, or do you have a “day” job? MD: I don’t know if I “chose” writing as a career, it kind of chose me. Years ago as a reporter with the San Jose Mercury-News, there were several of us who had a partially written book in a desk drawer (and even a cops reporter who had a bottle tucked away as well). I know a couple of my co-workers actually wrote a book, but no one I know ever made a best-sellers list. At the back of my mind I always told myself stories with the idea that one day I’d write some of them down and, when I finally retired from my day job, looked in the mirror and said, “OK, you’ve fooled yourself for years. Now it’s time to get real.” That was in 2011 and I’m now working on my 18th novel. JLB: Do you use critique groups or beta readers? Do you find them valuable? MD: Yes and yes. In the past, I was involved in three different critique groups, including one which had several poets. They may not have read deeply in my genre, but it was always interesting to hear their critiques…poets use language differently and their comments were eye-opening. I’m now in only one critique group, but a couple of us have been together for about eight years. I won’t send anything out the door (even this blog) without running it by them first. I also have beta readers, usually five or so for each book. There are people who may or may not be in my writing community (one person I went to high school with) but they give me valuable feedback on plot holes, character disassociations, pacing and time line problems…those things and pull you out of the story and make you say “Huh?” JLB: What three books in your genre (other than your own) would you recommend to readers? MD: Rather than books, I’d recommend authors. Kate Atkinson for her Jackson Brodie series or her stand-alones, Tara French for any of her Dublin police books and Martin Cruz Smith for his Arkady Renko novels (Gorky Park, Polar Star). Like eating popcorn, I also devour any Martha Grimes or Elizabeth George book as well. JLB: Where do you go to find a new book to read? A friend, google search, browsing a brick-and-mortar bookstore? MD: All of the above. I always rely on recommendations from friends and fellow writers. I also subscribe to several daily news sources (Reuters, al Jezzera, CNN, Washington Post, Axios, New York Times) and they often have ads from major publishers. I can’t be trusted browsing in brick-and-mortar book stores (both budgetary and space limitations) but buy and read most books on my Kindle so occasionally I’ll search Amazon or B&N for new listings. JLB: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date? MD: I’m working on the third in the Stained Glass Mysteries, Resurrection of the Roses. I’m looking at a late summer release date. Stained glass artist Roz Duke and her friend Liam Karshner are in France, where Roz has been invited to keynote a symposium at the Sorbonne on Medieval stained glass. When she comes across a man impaled on a large shard of ruby red glass, the Surete is called and, in the form of a sexy Frenchwoman, puts Roz in the “person of interest” category. This is a follow up on the second book, Tapestry of Tears, with Roz in England. JLB: Let's finish today's interview with a look at your featured book.  TAPESTRY OF TEARS (A Stained Glass Mystery) Genre: Traditional Mystery History had always been a strong magnet for Rosalind Duke. She took up the medieval craft of making stained glass and was building a solid international reputation, taking on larger and larger commissions. Her idyllic life with her husband, Winston Duke, an art historian at UCLA, was cut short when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. After moving to a small town on the Oregon coast, she’s offered a commission to translate the medieval embroidery, The Bayeux Tapestry, into stained glass for a museum at a small Wisconsin university. Roz jumps at the chance. Not only to try to transfer the Tapestry into a new medium, but to spend time in Southern England and Northern France, tracing the path taken by the invading Normans under William the Conqueror. But the 21st century drags her back when she finds a body crumpled against a wall in an ancient stone church in the small town of Lympne, on the southern coast of England. Has she walked into a contemporary murder? Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P5Q8JMT For more about this book, jump over to the Book Spotlight, including an excerpt, on my Ally Shields blog: |
AuthorJ L Buck writes in the mystery genre, currenty enthralled with Regency-era England. She is multi-published in paranormal 
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