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| Early version of Deborah Garner, Author THE MOONGLOW CAFE ABOVE THE BRIDGE |
Mystery author Deborah Garner recently released her second Paige MacKenzie “Cozy
No-One-Dies Mystery,” THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ, reviewed as a “terrific blend of
mystery, adventure, romance, and humor.” In this mystery, the NYC reporter
travels to a small town in Montana to research the area’s sapphire mines,
although she is also looking for her “handsome cowboy.” But “stolen sapphires”
and “shady characters” soon interrupt her efforts.
When Garner’s not writing, she enjoys photography and hiking with her two
dogs. She loves to travel and
divides her time between Wyoming and California. There is definitely another
Paige MacKenzie mystery underway, and a few other books as well.
Q: Would you characterize THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ and ABOVE THE BRIDGE
as typical mysteries? Cozy mysteries? Who-done-its? What makes them good
mysteries?—for those of us who love a good mystery!
Deborah Garner: That's a
question I had to think over when I wrote ABOVE THE BRIDGE. It didn't fall squarely into one single
genre, since it mixes history, adventure, mystery and light romance. But as THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ developed, it
became apparent that it most accurately fit as a "Cozy Mystery." Or, as I tend to joke with cozy
diehards who want a murder, it's a "Cozy No-One-Dies Mystery." The Paige MacKenzie mysteries are clean
reads, without any violence or explicit details, involving an amateur sleuth in
a small-town setting - all hallmarks of cozies.
Q: Your reviewers appreciated your back story in THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ: “I was so interested in the mines and sapphires I had to look them up
online to find out more.” Why? How did you integrate the back story of mines
and sapphires into a mystery to intrigue your readers?
Deborah Garner: I think it’s
important for readers to identify with a main character. When that happens, the reader begins to
walk in that character’s shoes. So
when Paige's curiosity sends her exploring, the reader follows. Of course, it needs to be interesting
subject matter, so that is tricky.
But that’s all part of how a plot evolves, choosing material that will
intrigue the reader.
Q: Both THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ and ABOVE THE BRIDGE are set in
small-town areas in the West. How helpful are your chosen settings to telling
your stories and creating your characters?
Deborah Garner: I’ve always
been fascinated by small towns, which often have unique histories that haven’t
made it into the mainstream media. They are perfect settings for mysteries
because their isolation sets up opportunities for secrets to be exposed. This
type of location lends itself easily to creating characters because rural areas
tend to have interesting mannerisms and speech, unlike large cities with more
of a melting pot population.
Q: Your reviewers like your characters and say they are
“interesting, fleshed-out.” Why do readers engage with Paige MacKenzie? How do
you make us care about her and those around her?
Deborah Garner: Paige is
very real. She has good
qualities. She has faults. She pushes the limits, but still tries to
use common sense, usually succeeding in balancing the two. So I think readers can relate to
her. Surrounding characters are
often more eccentric and remind us of people we know or have known in the past.
Q: “The author mixes suspense with a sweet romance” How do you
balance romance, humor, mystery, suspense, background information to tell a
compelling story? How important is dialogue in this mix?
Deborah Garner: I think
dialogue is extremely important.
It provides a means of conveying individual character traits and
dropping tidbits of plot information without revealing too much at once. It’s
also a great vehicle for balancing different elements of a story. One character
might be funny and open in conversation, whereas another is reserved and
secretive. Town locals and visitors might have varying accents and speech
patterns. Dialogue is a perfect way to give clues to readers, or to create
uncertainty, which helps build toward twists as the story unfolds.
Q: How relevant is the concept of “heroes” vs “villains” to your
books?
Deborah Garner: It’s funny,
I don’t think of any of the characters as villains, though I suppose they
are. I always like them, in spite
of their shortcomings. I see them
as people who might have been heroes, but took a wrong turn somewhere along the
way in life. As far as plot
development goes, they form a necessary barrier, something that must be
overcome in order to solve a mystery.
Q: Do you write your stories to deliver a message, to educate, or
for pure entertainment?
Deborah Garner: My intention
is entertainment, but I have a fascination with history and make a point of
researching carefully, making sure details are accurate. Often the plot works itself out during
the research, rather than the other way around. So THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ developed around the Yogo sapphire
mining history (until Paige found that pesky diary and sent me off in a second direction!)
and ABOVE THE BRIDGE was formed around research on gold prospecting. The travel writer in me also hopes to
take readers “to” different areas, providing a bit of armchair travel.
Q: Why did you write a second book with the same character, i.e.,
the beginning of a series?
Deborah Garner: I didn’t
think ABOVE THE BRIDGE would become a series when I wrote it, but Paige wouldn’t
leave me alone. She wanted to go to Montana, so I had to follow. She’s bossy
that way. It’s not easy to say no to her.
Q: What’s next? Will you continue to write more Paige MacKenzie
mysteries?
Deborah Garner: There’s
definitely another Paige MacKenzie adventure in the works, which should be out
next spring. She’ll be up to her
neck in hot water in that one, literally and figuratively. I also have a fall release coming up
that I haven’t announced yet (Shhh…don’t tell!) that is not a Paige MacKenzie
mystery. It’s a standalone that forms a springboard for another series. But
Paige will still be around. Like I said, she’s bossy.
Q: Tell us something about Deborah Garner. What do you like to do
when you’re not writing?
Deborah Garner: I love photography. When I’m not writing, I often head out
with my camera equipment to track down wildlife or nature shots. I also love languages and can spend
hours studying Italian vocabulary or conjugating German verbs. Aside from that, you’ll find me being
pulled along mountain hiking trails by two canine companions.
About Deborah Garner
Deborah Garner is an accomplished travel
writer and photographer with a passion for back roads and secret hideaways. She
splits her time between California and Wyoming, dragging one human and two
canines with her whenever possible.
About THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ
New York reporter Paige MacKenzie has a
hidden motive when she heads to the small town of Timberton, Montana. Assigned
to research the area's unique Yogo sapphires for the Manhattan Post, she hopes
to reconnect romantically with handsome cowboy Jake Norris. The local gem
gallery offers the material needed for the article, but the discovery of an old
diary, hidden inside the wall of a historic hotel, soon sends her on a detour
into the underworld of art and deception.
Each of the town's residents holds a key to
untangling more than one long-buried secret, from the hippie chick owner of a
new age café to the mute homeless man in the town park. As the worlds of
western art and sapphire mining collide, Paige finds herself juggling research,
romance and danger. With stolen sapphires and shady characters thrown into the
mix, will Paige escape the consequences of her own curiosity?
About ABOVE THE BRIDGE
When Paige MacKenzie
arrives in Jackson Hole, her only goal is to complete a simple newspaper
assignment about the Old West. However, it's not long before her instincts tell
her there's more than a basic story to be found in the popular, northwestern
Wyoming mountain area. A chance encounter with attractive cowboy Jake Norris
soon has Paige chasing a legend of buried treasure, passed down through
generations.
From the torn edge of
a water-damaged map to the mysterious glow of an antler arch, Paige will follow
clues high into the mountainous terrain and deep into Jackson's history. Side-stepping
a few shady characters who are also searching for the same hidden reward, she
will have to decide who is trustworthy and who is not.
Links
Book Purchase
Links for THE MOONGLOW CAFÉ
You can find
Deborah Garner at:
Twitter @paigeandjake
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