Author: Frankie Bow

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How To Read Personality From Online Profile Pictures

Social media profile pictures can reveal clues about personality, according to new research.

 Thousands of Twitter user’s pictures were included in the study, along with an analysis of their personality.

Here is how to spot each of the five aspects of personality:
1. Conscientiousness
More conscientious people used pictures that were more natural, colourful and bright.
They expressed the most emotions of all the different personality types.
This probably reflects the fact that conscientious people like to do what is expected of them.
2. Openness to experience
People high in openness to experience often had the best pictures: these tended to be sharper, at higher contrast.
Their photos tended to be more artistic or unusual and their faces were often larger in the frame.
3. Extraverts
Extraverts used more colourful images and were more likely to show a group of people rather than just themselves.
Unsurprisingly, they were usually beaming at the camera.
4. Neuroticism
People higher in neuroticism tended to use simpler photos with less colour.

 They were more likely to show a blank expression or even to be hiding their face.

5. Agreeableness
Highly agreeable people post relatively poor pictures of themselves…
…but they are probably smiling and the pictures are bright and lively.
The study’s authors sum up their findings:

“Users that are either high in openness or neuroticism post less photos of people and when these are present, they tend not to express positive emotions.
The difference between the groups is in the aesthetic quality of the photos, higher for openness and lower for neuroticism.
Users high in conscientiousness, agreeableness or extraversion prefer pictures with at least one face and prefer presenting positive emotions through their facial expressions.
Conscientious users post more what is expected of a profile picture: pictures of one face that expresses the most positive emotion out of all traits.
Extraverts and agreeable people regularly post colorful pictures that convey emotion, although they are not the most aesthetically pleasing, especially for the latter trait.”

The study was published in the journal AAAI DIGITAL LIBRARY (Liu et al., 2016).
from PsyBlog http://bit.ly/1XutQe0

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Interview: Amanda Flower, author of The Final Tap

>>>Enter to win a print copy of The Final Tap on Rafflecopter<<<

March on Barton Farm can only mean one thing: maple sugar season.
 

To combat the winter slump, resilient director Kelsey Cambridge organizes a Maple Sugar Festival, complete with school visits, pancake breakfasts, and tree tapping classes. Kelsey hires curmudgeonly maple sugar expert Dr. Conrad Beeson to teach the classes, despite misgivings over his unpleasant demeanor. It’s a decision she ends up regretting when, before the first tree can be tapped for sap, Dr. Beeson turns up dead.The maple sugar expert’s death threatens to shut down not only the Maple Sugar Festival, but also Barton Farm itself. Kelsey must solve Dr. Beeson’s murder to escape the increasingly sticky situation.

 Q: Amanda, welcome back to Island Confidential! Re-introduce us to your protagonist, Kelsey Cambridge.
A: Kelsey Cambridge is a historian and the director of Barton Farm, a living history museum located in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley. The Farm is struggling to stay afloat, and Kelsey will do whatever it takes to keep it open even hosting big events, like the Maple Sugar Festival, that get her into a lot of hot water. She is also divorced and a single mom of a precocious five-year-old boy named Hayden.
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Q: How much of you is in Kelsey? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: There is always a little bit of me in all my protagonists. In the case of Kelsey, I love history like she does, and I worked a living history museum when I was in college. I knew then that it would make a great setting for a mystery novel. If I met Kelsey, I know that we would be friends. We have the same sense of humor. However in a lot of ways, I’m more like her best friend Laura Fellow than I’m like Kelsey herself.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: My characters definitely change as a series goes on. In the case of Kelsey, she’s healing from a messy divorce and is wondering if she will ever be able to trust another man again.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Yes, I’m not saying who.
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: The setting is based on a real living history museum in Ohio, so the setting is close to fact. I took liberties in the way Barton Farm is owned and operated and how much freedom Kelsey as the director has. She needs freedom to sleuth. I don’t think the director of an actual living history museum could get away with as much as she does.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: Kelsey Cambridge—Olivia Wilde; Chase Wyatt—Chris Pratt; Detective Brandon—Christina Hendricks; Gavin Elliot—Andrew Garfield.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: The best advice was from the very talented Heather Webber who also writes as Heather Blake. She told me once many years ago. “Always be writing something new.” She said this because the publishing industry changes so rapidly you need to have something ready in order to adapt to those changes.
The worst advice was from a well-meaning high school English teacher who told me not major in English in college because I would never find a job. I changed my major three times my freshman year because of that one comment, but in the end, I majored in English because I wanted to write and knew that degree was going to help me achieve my dream. I’m so glad I didn’t listen to him.
Q: Where can readers follow you? 
A: My main website is amandaflower.com, and you can follow me on Facebook,Twitter , Goodreads,  Pinterest, or  Instagram.

 
 
About The Author  
Amanda Flower  is an academic librarian and the Agatha Award-nominated author of Maid of Murder, the Appleseed Creek Mysteries, and the India Hayes Mysteries. She also writes the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries under the name Isabella Alan.

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Character Interview: Carol Sabala from Murder, Honey

>>>Enter to win one of five e-copies of Sleuthing Women!<<<

Sleuthing Women is a collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem by 10 critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors. Each novel in this set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth, caper, and cozy mysteries. Only $2.99!

Today we have a character interview with Carol Sabala, the protagonist of MURDER, HONEY,  by Vinnie Hansen.
When the head chef collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.

 
Q. Carol, thanks for coming by! Tell us a little bit about yourself–both something we learn from Murder, Honey and something that readers might not guess? 
A. My name is Carol Sabala. Readers know that I’m Mexican-American, but other characters often fail to recognize this. Apparently, I received all my mother’s Anglo genes! My surname, a corruption of the common Mexican name Zavala, doesn’t help.
Since my father disappeared when I was a baby, my desire to claim my full-identity underpins my decisions and arcs through the Carol Sabala Mystery Series.
Readers don’t know that for a sleuth I have a lot of phobias, including arachnophobia. Fortunately, I don’t encounter spiders in the series, although I do have a brush with a couple of scorpions in Black Beans & Venom.
Q. Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?
A. My best friend is Suzanne, the garde manger at Archibald’s, the fancy restaurant in Santa Cruz, California, where I have my part-time job as a baker. Suzanne is a cream puff of a woman, sweet and easy-going, a balance to my personality. In Rotten Dates, Suzanne is the first person officially to hire me to investigate a murder. My buddy, though, meets the love of her life, and by book four, Squeezed & Juiced, she’s moved to Kuwait.
Q.  Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why? 
A. Hoo boy, I have conflicts with just about everybody. I love my mother, but I was a late-in-life baby. Sometimes Mom seems more like a grandmother. My head feels like it will explode from her maxims. We’re both independent and blunt, our similarity making it hard for us to connect.
Eldon, the kitchen manager at Archibald’s, is basically a good guy, but he drives me crazy. He runs the kitchen efficiently, but he’s a born bureaucrat who never shuts up. When I finally become a part-time private investigator, my other boss, J.J. Sloan, is an overbearing, arrogant alcoholic. And don’t even get me started on my love interests or the actual bad guys.
Q. Just between you and me: What do you really think of author Vinnie Hansen?
A. Hansen, the author, gets on my nerves, always reining me in. Frankly, if it weren’t for her, I’d swear even more than I do, and I’d kick some serious ass. But she keeps buffing my raw edges, so cozy readers might accept me. She should embrace that I have more in common with Kinsey Milhone and Stephanie Plum than with Miss Marple. Maybe she could use that energy to create me a mate. Think young Johnny Depp.
Q. What’s next for you? 
A. Cough up my secrets? You gotta be kidding! Did you bring a gun, because I’m armed with my Colt.

Carol Sabala is the creation of author Vinnie Hansen. You can read all about Carol’s adventures in Murder, Honey, one of the books in Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries, a collection of full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem by ten critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors. Each novel in the set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth, caper, and cozy mysteries, with a combined total of over 1700 reviews on Amazon, averaging 4 stars. Titles include:
Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery by Lois Winston—Working mom Anastasia is clueless about her husband’s gambling addiction until he permanently cashes in his chips and her comfortable middle-class life craps out. He leaves her with staggering debt, his communist mother, and a loan shark demanding $50,000. Then she’s accused of murder…
Murder Among Neighbors, a Kate Austen Suburban Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs — When Kate Austen’s socialite neighbor, Pepper Livingston, is murdered, Kate becomes involved in a sea of steamy secrets that bring her face to face with shocking truths—and handsome detective Michael Stone.
Skeleton in a Dead Space, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery by Judy Alter—Real estate isn’t a dangerous profession until Kelly O’Connell stumbles over a skeleton and runs into serial killers and cold-blooded murderers in a home being renovated in Fort Worth. Kelly barges through life trying to keep from angering her policeman boyfriend Mike and protect her two young daughters.
In for a Penny, a Cleopatra Jones Mystery by Maggie Toussaint—Accountant Cleo faces an unwanted hazard when her golf ball lands on a dead banker. The cops think her BFF shot him, so Cleo sets out to prove them wrong. She ventures into the dating world, wrangles her teens, adopts the victim’s dog, and tries to rein in her mom…until the killer puts a target on Cleo’s back.
The Hydrogen Murder, a Periodic Table Mystery by Camille Minichino—A retired physicist returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts and moves into an apartment above her friends’ funeral home. When she signs on to help the Police Department with a science-related homicide, she doesn’t realize she may have hundreds of cases ahead of her.
Retirement Can Be Murder, A Baby Boomer Mystery by Susan Santangelo—Carol Andrews dreads her husband Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than having an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it—until Jim is suspected of murdering his retirement coach.
Dead Air, A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy—Psychologist Maggie Walsh moves from NY to Florida to become the host of WYME’s On the Couch with Maggie Walsh. When her guest, New Age prophet Guru Sanjay Gingii, turns up dead, her new roommate Lark becomes the prime suspect. Maggie must prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than just therapy.
A Dead Red Cadillac, A Dead Red Mystery by RP Dahlke—When her vintage Cadillac is found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask aero-ag pilot Lalla Bains why an elderly widowed piano teacher is found strapped in the driver’s seat. Lalla confronts suspects, informants, cross-dressers, drug-running crop dusters, and a crazy Chihuahua on her quest to find the killer.
Murder is a Family Business, an Alvarez Family Murder Mystery by Heather Haven—Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve.
Murder, Honey, a Carol Sabala Mystery by Vinnie Hansen—When the head chef collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.
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About the Author: Vinnie Hansen fled the South Dakota prairie for the California coast the day after high school graduation.
Vinnie Hansen - Copy
A reading addict since childhood, Vinnie is now the author of the Carol Sabala mysteries. The seventh installment in the series, Black Beans & Venom, was a finalist for the Claymore Award. She’s also written many published short stories including Novel Solution in the anthology, Fish or Cut Bait, and Bad Connection, the 2015 winner of the Golden Donut Award. Still sane after 27 years of teaching high school English, Vinnie has retired and lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband and the requisite cat.
 

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Were you taught these brain myths?

Here’s a quick quiz. Rate the following statements on a scale from one to five, with one meaning you totally disagree and five meaning you wholeheartedly agree:

  • Beginners and experts essentially think in the same way.
  • Most people are either left-brained or right-brained
  • Students learn more when information is tailored to their unique learning styles.

Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists would resoundingly give all three of those claims a rating of one.
Did you bomb that test? Here’s a small piece of solace—many professional educators wouldn’t pass either. The Hechinger Report http://bit.ly/1TSPXIj
Read the rest

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Adventures in Crowdsourcing: Boaty McBoatface

The Boaty McBoatface brouhaha has crystallized the dilemma of social media marketing: To what extent should you put your brand in the hands of the public? James Heskett wants to know if you would pick the Boaty name or scuttle the whole idea. Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

by James Heskett
The Internet is a wonderfully democratic device that brings large numbers of people together around ideas practically in an instant. In one sense, it is a marketer’s dream as a way of building brand recognition. But unless its users are willing to cede some control over their brands, it can create dilemmas. A story by Dina Gerdeman that appeared on this site last year featured advice by Harvard Business School Professor John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld for anyone thinking about “playing with their brand.”
Deighton and Kornfeld suggested that the benefits of lightening up the marketing effort might range from increased sales to lower-cost recruiting (as prospective employees get a different picture of an organization with a staid image). In addition to “lightening up a little,” they proposed two more “rules.” One was to “throw out the rules” (of conventional marketing). Another was perhaps most important for us here: “no risk, no return … the public enjoys playing with brands … the risk is that the play may take some unexpected turns.” It turned unexpectedly for Britain’s Science Minister Jo Johnson.

An artist’s illustration of the research vessel
possibly to be known as Boaty McBoatface.Source: The National Environment
Research Council

A staff member of the United Kingdon’s National Environment Research Council suggested that NERC create a citizen poll to suggest a name for a $287 million polar research ship. Johnson, the U.K. Government’s Science Minister responsible for, among other things, NERC, sought to get the effort off on the right inspirational foot by saying: “Can you imagine one of the world’s biggest research labs traveling to the Antarctic with your suggested name proudly emblazoned on the side?” (One might add, proudly flying the British flag.) There were apparently employees of NERC pulling for names like Shackleton or Endeavor. Instead, they got something else.
James Hand, a journalist, apparently thought he would have a bit of fun with the contest. He proposed a name, Boaty McBoatface. The name immediately zoomed into the lead on the Internet, perhaps supported by adolescents (and their parents) who had grown up playing with toys like Thomas, the friendly locomotive. (Hand later apologized for “scuppering the contest,” saying he actually preferred Clifford, the Big Red Boat.)
The final result was that Boaty McBoatface, aided by the Internet, polled 120,000 votes, four times more than the second place finisher. It was likely much more attention than had ever been drawn to a relatively quiet corner of the U.K. Government’s science establishment.
Now Minister Johnson has a decision to make. He apparently has delayed it, perhaps waiting for interest to wane. But he did issue a statement saying that: “We want something that fits the mission and captures the spirit of scientific endeavor.”
This is perhaps a learning opportunity for all of us in marketing. What do you do when a brand goes out of control? Is it even possible to bring it back under control? What are the costs and benefits of trying to do it? Specifically, should British Science Minister Jo Johnson think about Boaty as an opportunity or salvage project? What do you think?
References:Dina Gerdeman, Advertisers Get Serious About Playing With Their Brands,Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, hbswk.hbs.edu, May 18, 2015 (accessed April 19, 2016)
Emma Henderson, “Boaty McBoatface ‘unlikely’ to be the name of new multi- million pound research vessel, www.independent.co.uk, April 19, 2016 (accessed April 19, 2016)
Katie Rogers, “Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide, www.nytimes.com, March 21, 2016 (accessed April 19, 2016)

from HBS Working Knowledge http://hbs.me/1rU9DCR

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#Giveaway and New Campus Murder Mystery: Failure is Fatal by Lesley A. Diehl

>>>Enter to win an e-copy of Failure is Fatal<<<

Someone at Professor Laura Murphy’s college appears to be playing a joke on her by planting sexually explicit stories in her research results…Failure is Fatal Cover

but the joke turns deadly when one story details the recent stabbing murder of a coed. Eager to search out clues, Laura ignores warning signs that playing amateur sleuth may jeopardize her newly developing romance with Guy. And of course her usual intrusive manner puts her at odds with everyone on campus—colleagues, the college administration, the head of campus security and fraternity members. Is there no one Laura can’t offend in her eagerness to find the truth?

Setting Inspires my Work
Guest Post by Lesley Diehl

Failure Is Fatal is the second book in the Laura Murphy mystery series. In this book, Laura is, as we have come to know her: an impulsive, smart, chocolate-addicted advocate for taking down the bad guys especially those threatening the values she holds to be important—education, protection of the environment and justice for the victims of crimes. And she accomplishes all this while trying to hold together a long-distance love relationship. Of course, she has friends to help her as well as her sense of humor.
My novel length work and my short stories all have a strong sense of setting. I like to think of it as another character, one I can use in various ways. The setting can become the backdrop for the mystery. In the case of Failure Is Fatal the book is set in a small community in Upstate New York. The town houses a public university where my protagonist, Dr. Laura Murphy is a professor of psychology. The size of the community and the college allows me a limited area for the events in the story to unfold and affords me the opportunity to explore the geographical as well as the social setting where my characters live and work. And kill. I like my readers to be able to develop a mental map of the vicinity so that the reader moves around with as much familiarity as do the characters. I think this familiarity sets the stage for all of the changes made in the story, e.g., the murder, the search for clues, changes in relationships and the catastrophes I introduce into the setting. I want my reader to say, “Oh, yes. I know where she’s going. I’d do that too,” as the reader forms a sleuthing partnership with Laura.
Another way I like to use setting is to turn it on its ear, i.e., introduce some form of friction into the setting. For example, many of the scenes in the book take place in Laura’s house on a small lake outside of the college town. The conversations among Laura, her love interest, Guy, and the detective who enlists her aid in the case bristle with the tension of the killing but are set against the beauty of woods turning their autumn colors. As much as the setting might lull us into a feeling of normalcy, the threat of the coming winter and the tragedy of the murder work together to propel Laura forward in her search for the killer, forecasting the possibility of disaster yet to come.
As the promise of snow is realized, the story leads the reader into the blizzard of conflicting clues that toss Laura backward into events in her past that she must unravel and forward toward confrontation with the killer. Laura fights oncoming winter in terms of what it means for her long distance relationship with Guy as well as its impact on her ability to dig out clues to the murder in a community buried under ice and snow. The final resolution of the crime takes place during a deadly snowstorm. Laura could find her way through the snow to the killer or lose her way in the whiteout.
As I did with the first book in the series, Murder Is Academic, in Failure Is Fatal, I use the building tension of worsening weather as the culmination of a final meeting between Laura and the killer. Depending upon the season, Upstate New York can be subject to weather disasters such as floods, tornados, thunderstorms, blizzards and ice storms. The threat of bad weather can make for a great tension building device especially if it is used in parallel with the protagonist’s difficult path to finding the identity of a killer. A murder mystery is always better during a storm, especially if the writer pairs bad weather with a devious killer bent taking out the protagonist. Will the weather do her in? Will the killer? And if she defeats the killer, will the weather take her out? What fun for creating ultimate tension and anxiety, and, finally, as the reader expects in a good cozy mystery, a satisfying solution to the mystery.

About the Author
Lesley Diehl
Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York.  In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport.  Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse.  When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.
She is the author of a number of mystery series (Microbrewing Series, Big Lake Mystery Series, Eve Appel Mystery Series and the Laura Murphy Mysteries), a standalone mystery (Angel Sleuth) and numerous short stories.   
Visit her on her website:  www.lesleyadiehl.com
Webpage: www.lesleyadiehl.com
Blog: www.lesleyadiehl.com/blog
Twitter: @lesleydiehl
Facebook: [email protected]

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Spotlight: Decanting a Murder

>>>Win one of two print copies of Decanting a Murder on Rafflecopter!<<<

Katie Stillwell focuses on two things in her life: work and practicing for her Sommelier Certification with her blind tasting group.

Decanting a Murder
 
The exam was supposed to be the hardest part of her week, but that was before a body was found at an exclusive Napa Valley winery party. 
When all the evidence points to Katie’s best friend, the outspoken and independent Tessa, Katie drops everything to clear Tessa’s name. Using her deductive wine skills, she tries to track down the real killer. But when repeated attempts are made on her life, Katie discovers that everyone’s secrets must be uncorked―including her own.
 

About The Author  
Nadine Nettmann, a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, is always on the lookout for great wines and the stories behind them. She has traveled to wine regions around the world including Chile, South Africa, Spain, Germany, and every region in France. When she’s not visiting wine regions or dreaming up new mysteries, her travel articles have appeared in AAA Hawaii, New Mexico Journey, Modern Luxury Hawaii, and Inspirato. Nadine is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She lives in California with her husband.

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Jim Lavene has passed


Jim Lavene has passed away; his wife and writing partner Joyce Lavene passed away Tuesday, October 20, 2015, at her home. Joyce and Jim were married 44 years, and since 1999, they’ve written award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. Their collaboration resulted in more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications.Their Christmas mystery A Dickens of a Murder was featured on this blog.

In memory of Joyce Lavene: Author interview and giveaway, A Dickens of a Murder | Island Confidential
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Interview: Radine Nehring, A Portrait to Die For

Carrie discovers two versions of a supposedly original portrait in a loan exhibition at Crystal Bridges of American Art, where she does volunteer work. When the reporter who interviewed Carrie at the museum is abducted, Carrie must choose between honoring her promise to stop crime-solving–or work to find the woman who was her son’s college friend.

Q: Tell us about your protagonist Carrie. Who is she, what motivates her?
A: Carrie’s parents were both school teachers, and she–an only child–was born when they were in their 30’s and their marriage was well established. This established life extended to household work and meal preparation. While Carrie was encouraged in all intellectual pursuits, she did not learn housekeeping skills, and, when she married at age 30 she had never cooked a meal. Her husband, Amos McCrite, was a highly regarded criminal lawyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had been seeking a suitable wife when he met Carrie in the Tulsa City-County Library after she, a research librarian, was assigned to help him find needed information. He observed her on several returns to the library and eventually proposed, explaining his need for an educated, presentable companion to share his life and accompany him to business-related social events. Carrie wanted a home of her own and children, so, though he promised friendship but no love affair, she accepted, moving into Amos’s luxurious home and enjoying the services of his long-time cook and other household staff. Throughout the mystery series featuring Carrie, the fact she can’t cook becomes a source of ongoing humor, and some of her excessively simple recipes are featured in the back of each book.
The McCrite’s son Rob was born a couple of years after their marriage and following that, Amos’s interest in sharing any physical relationship with Carrie disappeared, though friendly companionship blossomed.
After Amos’s death, Carrie’s friends and family urged her to sell her home and move to an apartment or retirement community in Tulsa. She balked, and, showing the beginnings of a streak of independence, said she was going to move to Arkansas and build a home on land in the Ozarks she and Amos had purchased for future retirement.
That’s when her adventures begin.
Q: How much of you is in Carrie? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: People have asked me if Carrie is at all like me. At first I said a firm “No,” but now I would waver. There are a lot of my own life observations that are mirrored in her. Of course she is more daring, smarter, and opinionated than I am (!) but, since I have spent many, many hours inside her thoughts and speech over the years I understand her, and suspect that there is more of me in Carrie than even I am aware of now. Her “busy-body” interest in seeing if she can help people in trouble is familiar to me, though, in my case, it’s never led me into danger from anyone on the wrong side of the law.
Meet her in real life? Ooh, I’d love to. I think her surface self-assurance would awe me–though once we got past formalities, I believe we could be good friends.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Well, of course they do, they’re human after all. What? Oh, well naturally I mean, though they only exist in fiction, I try to make them as real as possible. Henry is coming to terms with trauma experienced during his long career as a homicide detective in Kansas City. He’s also learning (after a disastrous first marriage) what love really means. Carrie is learning to not be so self-focused. She’s more open, and her religious faith is increasing.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: No, and it shocked me the first time I heard a mystery writer say they had done so. Now I realize that some authors do think of a specific antagonist when they commit murder (in a story) but I never have. For one thing, I’ve never met anyone I’d like to kill. (S’truth.)
 

Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Settings in my novels are real down to the last doorknob and wildflower, and that means I need to pick story locations I consider worthy of this attention. Yes, it makes extensive research necessary, but I feel honor-bound to do my chosen locations justice. Anyone visiting one of these places could follow my story on site with book in hand.
Settings are always one of Arkansas’s special locations. For example, I have set two novels and several short stories in various state and national parks here.
I spend quite a bit of time choosing a setting, and it’s only after ascertaining that the setting says “story” to me that I begin to write. The plot and crime in each of my novels arise from what is plausible in the chosen setting.
Angela_Lansbury
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A. Ho, ho. . . what a delicious dream. But, you know, I can’t think of how I’d cast my people, especially Carrie and Henry. I am not a movie-goer today, and my favorite TV characters have moved beyond a plausible age range for my people. Angela Lansbury as I knew her in the “Murder She Wrote” series would have made a perfect Carrie, though Carrie is shorter and rounder than Ms. Lansbury.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: Best: “Don’t be afraid to be yourself–write what only you can write.” Worst: “Never write dialect.”
 

About The Author
For more than twenty years, Radine Trees Nehring’s magazine features, essays, newspaper articles, and radio broadcasts have shared colorful stories about the people, places, events, and natural world near her Arkansas home.
 

 
In 2002, Radine’s first mystery novel, A VALLEY TO DIE FOR, was published and, in 2003 became a Macavity Award Nominee. Since that time she has continued to earn writing awards as she enthralls her original fans and attracts new ones with her signature blend of down-home Arkansas sightseeing and cozy amateur sleuthing by active retirees Henry King and Carrie McCrite King.

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