Good Morning, Booklovers!
It’s Coffee Chat time, and this week’s guest is mystery writer, Michele Drier, bringing us her latest release, Tapestry of Tears.
Welcome, Michele. How do you take your coffee?
MD: Black, usually two cups of French Roast before noon.
Ally: Excellent. While I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
I was born in Santa Cruz and am a fifth generation Californian. During my career in journalism—as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury-News—I won awards for producing investigative series. I’m the past president of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime; Guppies, the on-line chapter of SinC, and co-chaired Bouchercon 2020 the world’s oldest and largest convention for mystery writers and fans.
My Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries are Edited for Death, (called “Riveting and much recommended” by the Midwest Book Review), Labeled for Death, and Delta for Death and a stand-alone, Ashes of Memories.
My paranormal romance series, SNAP: The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, was named the best paranormal vampire series of 2014 by PRG. The series is SNAP: The World Unfolds, SNAP: New Talent, Plague: A Love Story, Danube: A Tale of Murder, SNAP: Love for Blood, SNAP: Happily Ever After?, SNAP: White Nights, SNAP: All That Jazz, SNAP: I, Vampire and SNAP: Red Bear Rising.
The first book in the Stained Glass Mysteries, Stain on the Soul, was published in 2019 and the second one, Tapestry of Tears, in 2020.
Find me at:
Website: www.micheledrier.me
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michele.drier/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MicheleDrier
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5034919.Michele_Drier
I was born in Santa Cruz and am a fifth generation Californian. During my career in journalism—as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury-News—I won awards for producing investigative series. I’m the past president of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime; Guppies, the on-line chapter of SinC, and co-chaired Bouchercon 2020 the world’s oldest and largest convention for mystery writers and fans.
My Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries are Edited for Death, (called “Riveting and much recommended” by the Midwest Book Review), Labeled for Death, and Delta for Death and a stand-alone, Ashes of Memories.
My paranormal romance series, SNAP: The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, was named the best paranormal vampire series of 2014 by PRG. The series is SNAP: The World Unfolds, SNAP: New Talent, Plague: A Love Story, Danube: A Tale of Murder, SNAP: Love for Blood, SNAP: Happily Ever After?, SNAP: White Nights, SNAP: All That Jazz, SNAP: I, Vampire and SNAP: Red Bear Rising.
The first book in the Stained Glass Mysteries, Stain on the Soul, was published in 2019 and the second one, Tapestry of Tears, in 2020.
Find me at:
Website: www.micheledrier.me
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michele.drier/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MicheleDrier
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5034919.Michele_Drier
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What was the inspiration for your featured book, Tapestry of Tears?
MD: I wanted to write a mystery with a protagonist who had an off-beat career and as I wandered through my book collection, I ran across one on the art of stained glass. In the 1970s I made a small piece of stained glass for a college art project, got intrigued and now thought, “Aha! That’s an off-beat career.” And Rosalind Duke, “Roz” was born.
Ally: Do you consider your writing style to be more pantser or plotter?
MD: Pantser, all the way! When I start a book I know some of the basics—who are the characters, what happens to them. And I know how it ends, always at least a Happily For Now because I love solving puzzles. But I don’t know how I’ll get from A to B. I liken it to talking a trip. You start out on the freeway, but along the way smaller roads and detours beckon. Who will you meet down that one-lane road?
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Any current favorite authors or books to share?
MD: I read. I read. I read. I read mysteries, some romance, literature, non-fiction, history, biographies. I’m currently on my third reread of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich because I see so many parallels to our current political climate. I love Tana French and Daniel Silva. And will read anything by John Stanford. Lady Antonia Fraser’s biographies are wonderful. Mary, Queen of Scots, The Sun King, Oliver Cromwell and a study of women in The Weaker Vessel. And Doris Lessing, her African Stories and Matty Quest series. Even though I believe we speak the same language, her facility with it is stunning,
Ally: Do you read reviews of your books?
MD: Yes, because I’m always looking to improve my story-telling and writing, and many reviews offer an insight to what works (or doesn’t work) in my books. By the time a book is published, it’s gone through at least two critique groups, one or two editors and up to five or six beta readers but I’m still looking for feedback. On the other hand, I’ve gotten one-star reviews that aren’t the least bit helpful, including one that said, “I hated this book.” Well, OK, I don’t think that person will ever be a fan, but I have no idea what he or she didn’t like.
Ally: What project is next on your To Do list?
MD: I’m working on two books currently, the 11th in the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, SNAP: Pandemic Games and the third in the Stained Glass Mysteries, Resurrection of the Roses. Pandemic Games is scheduled for late spring, 2021 and Roses in the fall. After that, the fourth book in the Amy Hobbes series and a stand-alone on mistaken identity.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
MD:
Ally: What was the inspiration for your featured book, Tapestry of Tears?
MD: I wanted to write a mystery with a protagonist who had an off-beat career and as I wandered through my book collection, I ran across one on the art of stained glass. In the 1970s I made a small piece of stained glass for a college art project, got intrigued and now thought, “Aha! That’s an off-beat career.” And Rosalind Duke, “Roz” was born.
Ally: Do you consider your writing style to be more pantser or plotter?
MD: Pantser, all the way! When I start a book I know some of the basics—who are the characters, what happens to them. And I know how it ends, always at least a Happily For Now because I love solving puzzles. But I don’t know how I’ll get from A to B. I liken it to talking a trip. You start out on the freeway, but along the way smaller roads and detours beckon. Who will you meet down that one-lane road?
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Any current favorite authors or books to share?
MD: I read. I read. I read. I read mysteries, some romance, literature, non-fiction, history, biographies. I’m currently on my third reread of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich because I see so many parallels to our current political climate. I love Tana French and Daniel Silva. And will read anything by John Stanford. Lady Antonia Fraser’s biographies are wonderful. Mary, Queen of Scots, The Sun King, Oliver Cromwell and a study of women in The Weaker Vessel. And Doris Lessing, her African Stories and Matty Quest series. Even though I believe we speak the same language, her facility with it is stunning,
Ally: Do you read reviews of your books?
MD: Yes, because I’m always looking to improve my story-telling and writing, and many reviews offer an insight to what works (or doesn’t work) in my books. By the time a book is published, it’s gone through at least two critique groups, one or two editors and up to five or six beta readers but I’m still looking for feedback. On the other hand, I’ve gotten one-star reviews that aren’t the least bit helpful, including one that said, “I hated this book.” Well, OK, I don’t think that person will ever be a fan, but I have no idea what he or she didn’t like.
Ally: What project is next on your To Do list?
MD: I’m working on two books currently, the 11th in the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, SNAP: Pandemic Games and the third in the Stained Glass Mysteries, Resurrection of the Roses. Pandemic Games is scheduled for late spring, 2021 and Roses in the fall. After that, the fourth book in the Amy Hobbes series and a stand-alone on mistaken identity.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
MD:
- a) a book you’re currently reading: Because of the PBS series, All Creatures… I’m rereading the James Herriot English vet books. A kinder, simpler life.
- b) nail polish you’re wearing: French manicure (worse for wear because of the pandemic)
- c) Ebook or print? I still really love print but read mostly on a device. Love the fact that when I can’t sleep at night, I can turn on my Kindle and just read by its light.
- d) favorite kind of music: Baroque
- e) best place you’ve visited: Paris
Tapestry of Tears (A Stained Glass Mystery)
Genre: traditional mystery
Rating: PG
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 Links:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P41FKJY
B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tapestry-of-tears-michele-drier/1138556280?ean=2940162911357
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tapestry-of-tears-2
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