Good Morning, Booklovers!
Signs of Spring have finally arrived in the Midwest. On this fine day, I’d like to welcome author Missye K. Clarke to the Coffee Chat. How do you take your coffee, Missye?
MkC: I adore Melitta extra dark European Roast regular (that's milk w/ 2 sugars for those of you in #RioLinda and what we from NYC call a coffee regular), or a fantastic Turkish espresso shot in a super-hot cappuccino. When not in the mood for a smooth joe, my Mrs. Tea go-to is Harney & Sons (at your local Barnes & Noble or harneyandsons.com) Earl Grey Imperial with bergamot.
Ally: While my magic pot is brewing that Melitta, please introduce yourself to readers.
Signs of Spring have finally arrived in the Midwest. On this fine day, I’d like to welcome author Missye K. Clarke to the Coffee Chat. How do you take your coffee, Missye?
MkC: I adore Melitta extra dark European Roast regular (that's milk w/ 2 sugars for those of you in #RioLinda and what we from NYC call a coffee regular), or a fantastic Turkish espresso shot in a super-hot cappuccino. When not in the mood for a smooth joe, my Mrs. Tea go-to is Harney & Sons (at your local Barnes & Noble or harneyandsons.com) Earl Grey Imperial with bergamot.
Ally: While my magic pot is brewing that Melitta, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
An imagination too vast for conventional media and fueled by her father’s cold case homicide, Missye K. Clarke loves mapping her Casebooks and Threesome of Magic Mysteries, drafting haikus, and finding rare, original plots and storylines to craft flash fiction. The transplanted New Yorker, and creator of Maroon The Sleuth Books LLC imprint, resides in central Pennsylvania with her husband and son, a senior-but-still-rumbustious Australian cattle dog, a “Jackson 5” clutch of cats, and an occasional groundhog drop-in.
Something unique about you that isn’t in your regular bio: “This is a sweet memory I’d forgotten about. During summer camp in the late 1970s, a darling girlfriend was going through a nasty break-up. Every night before the camp powered down, the director or counselor-in-chief gave the closing address followed by “Taps.” After “Taps” I asked and got permission if I could sing something for my friend—the choice was poetry from E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web a book narrator sung a cappella and I’d memorized. Trust: when you’re singing something that hits you emotionally, it took a lot then to not break. In the shower of applause I got from every camp and staff attendee--which sounded like distant applause, to my big surprise--I went back to my cabin, and she cried a good five minutes on my shoulder that I cared as I did. She was awesome, and I wanted to do it. Unintended consequences: her ex was pretty much treated like an outcast for the rest of camp.”
Author contacts:
Keep up with Ms. Clarke’s (Mis)adventures at @MaroonTheSleuth on gab.com or email her at maroonsclues@gmail.com.
An imagination too vast for conventional media and fueled by her father’s cold case homicide, Missye K. Clarke loves mapping her Casebooks and Threesome of Magic Mysteries, drafting haikus, and finding rare, original plots and storylines to craft flash fiction. The transplanted New Yorker, and creator of Maroon The Sleuth Books LLC imprint, resides in central Pennsylvania with her husband and son, a senior-but-still-rumbustious Australian cattle dog, a “Jackson 5” clutch of cats, and an occasional groundhog drop-in.
Something unique about you that isn’t in your regular bio: “This is a sweet memory I’d forgotten about. During summer camp in the late 1970s, a darling girlfriend was going through a nasty break-up. Every night before the camp powered down, the director or counselor-in-chief gave the closing address followed by “Taps.” After “Taps” I asked and got permission if I could sing something for my friend—the choice was poetry from E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web a book narrator sung a cappella and I’d memorized. Trust: when you’re singing something that hits you emotionally, it took a lot then to not break. In the shower of applause I got from every camp and staff attendee--which sounded like distant applause, to my big surprise--I went back to my cabin, and she cried a good five minutes on my shoulder that I cared as I did. She was awesome, and I wanted to do it. Unintended consequences: her ex was pretty much treated like an outcast for the rest of camp.”
Author contacts:
Keep up with Ms. Clarke’s (Mis)adventures at @MaroonTheSleuth on gab.com or email her at maroonsclues@gmail.com.
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Tell us what kind of books you write.
MKC: My featured book, Jersey Dogs: McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook, is an edgy YA mystery/suspense novel—a bit more so than the average bears out now, and definitely not suited for the younger readers. I wouldn’t call this book of the commercial variety—more like indie/renegade/rebel-ish, if this makes sense.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve been given?
MKC: Just because something’s worked for somebody else, doesn’t mean it will for me. Don’t be afraid to strike out on your own—and be willing not only to make mistakes, but think outside of the marketing box with your books. You write un-formulaically, so market them much the same way. No two books are/should be alike, so no two marketing ways should be, or can be, either.
Ally: What is your favorite social media? Why?
MKC: Generally I don't like social media--you can't be perceived as your true self behind a computer and cyberspace. But GAB (www.gab.com, an ad-free social network dedicated to preserving individual liberty, the freedom of speech, and the free flow of information on the internet) is my platform of choice, as is. When I get decent video equipment, www.brighteon.com. I don’t like injecting my views/stances into my fiction—my characters do hold most of my beliefs and stances, but none of us are preachy about it—but in the skein of the late Nat Hentoff, he made it work with his columns and his The Day They Came To Arrest the Book and Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee books. As an author, I have to allow room for myself and my characters to offer social commentary a bit in the stories when warranted. Kids have opinions, but they don’t always have to share those stances with their parents, society, their friends, family members, or even whom they’re in love with. If they see me as an author, and in my characters holding to their beliefs they share, they can relate to somebody else feeling in solidarity as they do, whichever side they’re on.
I don’t like Twitter or the other known social media platforms; in wake of Hentoff’s Free Speech for Me read, those platforms banned speech/tried to de-person news organizations and individuals posting links and their thoughts disagreeing with the mainstream. That’s wrong. The First Amendment protects ALL speech, even that which that bothers you.
Ally: What’s the most meaningful thing a fan could say about your book?
MKC: That Casper and Logan being sons of a hooker/john union are as an important part of life and society as in say, a child having been conceived violently, or one on drugs, or a child in the gears of the foster care system. Their births are always important—and if someone ever came to me to tell me thank you for giving validation of this being a part of culture not ever addressed—boys of these unions more so than girls of these unions being lifted up—I’d say thank you. I’d turn away and cry. Most important to me: I did my job. And I couldn’t be more proud of the McGuinness cousins for being so courageous to share their story, and trusting me enough to be that vessel to make it a novel.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
MKC: Other than my other mysteries strictly For 21 & Over Only, following up with Casebook #1, of course. Kingz of Caspian County, due in 2019, brings the reader into the middle of a hazy, hot, and humid—and deep blackout—New York City. But this doesn’t matter when The Big Apple’s San Gennero Festival carnival-like atmosphere helps New Yorkers forget their blackout-related stresses for a while. And like a NYPD chaplain’s death and a dunk tank pitch, on the surface means nothing in the slightest . . . but when Casper, Logan, Jay Vincent, and a motley crüe cast are pulled into a citywide mystery having more twists in it than a warm New York pretzel they could lose their lives in, if the why behind the chaplain’s murder come to light.
Ally: Let’s see your responses to these quick answer question:
Ally: Tell us what kind of books you write.
MKC: My featured book, Jersey Dogs: McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook, is an edgy YA mystery/suspense novel—a bit more so than the average bears out now, and definitely not suited for the younger readers. I wouldn’t call this book of the commercial variety—more like indie/renegade/rebel-ish, if this makes sense.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve been given?
MKC: Just because something’s worked for somebody else, doesn’t mean it will for me. Don’t be afraid to strike out on your own—and be willing not only to make mistakes, but think outside of the marketing box with your books. You write un-formulaically, so market them much the same way. No two books are/should be alike, so no two marketing ways should be, or can be, either.
Ally: What is your favorite social media? Why?
MKC: Generally I don't like social media--you can't be perceived as your true self behind a computer and cyberspace. But GAB (www.gab.com, an ad-free social network dedicated to preserving individual liberty, the freedom of speech, and the free flow of information on the internet) is my platform of choice, as is. When I get decent video equipment, www.brighteon.com. I don’t like injecting my views/stances into my fiction—my characters do hold most of my beliefs and stances, but none of us are preachy about it—but in the skein of the late Nat Hentoff, he made it work with his columns and his The Day They Came To Arrest the Book and Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee books. As an author, I have to allow room for myself and my characters to offer social commentary a bit in the stories when warranted. Kids have opinions, but they don’t always have to share those stances with their parents, society, their friends, family members, or even whom they’re in love with. If they see me as an author, and in my characters holding to their beliefs they share, they can relate to somebody else feeling in solidarity as they do, whichever side they’re on.
I don’t like Twitter or the other known social media platforms; in wake of Hentoff’s Free Speech for Me read, those platforms banned speech/tried to de-person news organizations and individuals posting links and their thoughts disagreeing with the mainstream. That’s wrong. The First Amendment protects ALL speech, even that which that bothers you.
Ally: What’s the most meaningful thing a fan could say about your book?
MKC: That Casper and Logan being sons of a hooker/john union are as an important part of life and society as in say, a child having been conceived violently, or one on drugs, or a child in the gears of the foster care system. Their births are always important—and if someone ever came to me to tell me thank you for giving validation of this being a part of culture not ever addressed—boys of these unions more so than girls of these unions being lifted up—I’d say thank you. I’d turn away and cry. Most important to me: I did my job. And I couldn’t be more proud of the McGuinness cousins for being so courageous to share their story, and trusting me enough to be that vessel to make it a novel.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
MKC: Other than my other mysteries strictly For 21 & Over Only, following up with Casebook #1, of course. Kingz of Caspian County, due in 2019, brings the reader into the middle of a hazy, hot, and humid—and deep blackout—New York City. But this doesn’t matter when The Big Apple’s San Gennero Festival carnival-like atmosphere helps New Yorkers forget their blackout-related stresses for a while. And like a NYPD chaplain’s death and a dunk tank pitch, on the surface means nothing in the slightest . . . but when Casper, Logan, Jay Vincent, and a motley crüe cast are pulled into a citywide mystery having more twists in it than a warm New York pretzel they could lose their lives in, if the why behind the chaplain’s murder come to light.
Ally: Let’s see your responses to these quick answer question:
- a. an author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch: Impossible to pick just one, sorry :)! Mark Twain, George Dawson, Jackie Collins, Sue Grafton, Gary K. Wolf, D.J. MacHale, C.S. Lewis, and Judy Blume.
- b. favorite tv show: Long Island Medium and anything Leah Remini’s in.
- c. favorite accessoryz: Watches and backpack purses.
- d. favorite book boyfriend(s): Three: Casper and Logan McGuinness, and Cooper Foley of the Morpheus Road trilogy.
- e. What are your hobbies? Anything affording me more learning—I LOVE it! I’m teaching myself acoustic, looking forward to hopefully taking classes in this, and when I can find the space/time, revisit playing the piano. But right now, I’m singing, have been since I was 4, and cannot believe I’ll be singing for a half damn century!!!
Jersey Dogs, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #1
Genre: YA/mystery/suspense
Rating: Edgy, not for younger readers
Two adopted cousins. Two mysterious prostitutes. And a biologic father wants both sons dead.
Casper's and Logan McGuinness's junior year opens with a bloodstained, unexpected contact and an eerie text coming to pass. While Enzo and Angela de Francisci's stubbornly refuse to explain the boys' biologic parents' backstories, the cousins dig into their pasts in stealth, only to unravel a sordid history meant to stay unknown and bigger than they realized. The first of several attempts on the boys' lives reveals a desk clerk's true identity, and conversations with a former john, lands Casper and Logan on the streets of New York and respite from a former madam. Through an intricate tale of loyalty, humor, first love, and discovering trust and sacrifice, Jersey Dogs Casper and Logan venture into the personal and collective unknown to stop a brutal killer and a network of thugs from fulfilling a murderous to-do list—and learning to trust one another so they'll stay two steps ahead of alive.
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jersey-Dogs-McGuinness-Pedregon-Casebook-ebook/dp/B07G3GN2G8/
JERSEY DOGS is available on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, and most fine e-retailers near you.
Coming in the series:
Kingz of Caspian County, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #2, Mid 2019.
Astoria Foxe One, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #3, Mid 2020.
Owl Rocka the Rockaways, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #4, Mid 2021.
Genre: YA/mystery/suspense
Rating: Edgy, not for younger readers
Two adopted cousins. Two mysterious prostitutes. And a biologic father wants both sons dead.
Casper's and Logan McGuinness's junior year opens with a bloodstained, unexpected contact and an eerie text coming to pass. While Enzo and Angela de Francisci's stubbornly refuse to explain the boys' biologic parents' backstories, the cousins dig into their pasts in stealth, only to unravel a sordid history meant to stay unknown and bigger than they realized. The first of several attempts on the boys' lives reveals a desk clerk's true identity, and conversations with a former john, lands Casper and Logan on the streets of New York and respite from a former madam. Through an intricate tale of loyalty, humor, first love, and discovering trust and sacrifice, Jersey Dogs Casper and Logan venture into the personal and collective unknown to stop a brutal killer and a network of thugs from fulfilling a murderous to-do list—and learning to trust one another so they'll stay two steps ahead of alive.
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jersey-Dogs-McGuinness-Pedregon-Casebook-ebook/dp/B07G3GN2G8/
JERSEY DOGS is available on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, and most fine e-retailers near you.
Coming in the series:
Kingz of Caspian County, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #2, Mid 2019.
Astoria Foxe One, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #3, Mid 2020.
Owl Rocka the Rockaways, McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #4, Mid 2021.
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