I'm getting ready to head to Hawaii again. This time with a daughter and her family. She called and asked me if I'd like to go to Maui and help wrangle kids. I mean, who would pass that up! So I'm headed to a different island.
I enjoyed my trip to Kauai this past October with my husband, but I think going with 6 grandkids it will be a bit more exciting. LOL They want to hike and swim. Hubby only wanted to hike and stay away from people. And he's the extrovert in the family.
With the book I set in Kauai releasing the end of March, it will be fun to see how the two islands differ. I had fun looking into the art community in Kauai so I could find a reason to have my character, a Native American potter, go to the island. I discovered an art show that is held every year in October. It worked perfectly to have my character be asked to juror the show.
I visited with an artist who was manning the gallery during the show and learned the process and what days my character would need to be at the event and participate. Then, of course, the friend who invited her to juror ends up a suspect when one of the artists is found dead.
Figuring out who to murder and how it was done is one of my favorite parts about writing murder mystery. But it's the interwoven lives that are used as red herrings that make the story more convoluted and harder for the reader to pick who is the killer. That is also extremely fun! LOL
All the time I'm messing with my character's lives and revealing bits and pieces that either make them sympathetic or unappealing, I'm also using my main characters' thoughts and opinions of sway the reader.
If only life was so easy to manipulate. ;)
Here is the blurb, cover, and pre-order link for Abstract Casualty.
Hawaiian adventure, Deceit, Murder
Shandra Higheagle is asked to juror an art exhibition on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.
After an altercation at the exhibition, the chairwoman of the event, Shandra’s friend, arrives home with torn clothes, scratches, and stating she tried to save an angry artist who fell over a cliff. Shandra and Ryan begin piecing together information to figure out if the friend did try to save the artist or helped him over the edge.
During the investigation, Shandra comes across a person who reminds her of an unhealthy time in her past. Knowing this man and the one from her past, she is determined to find his connection to the dead artist. When her grandmother doesn’t come to her in dreams, Shandra wonders if her past is blinding her from the truth.
https://books2read.com/u/4XXLke
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 43 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
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