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Author Meeting Place Interviews Author W.S. Gager of Jackson/Michigan/USA
Bio: W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-past life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realizing babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline. Since then she has been honing her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted with her life and that was to write mystery novels. Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter always on the hunt for the next Pulitzer and won't let anyone stop him, supposedly.
How many book/s have you written?: I have written several books but only the first two in the Mitch Malone Mysteries have been published.
Please share with us your book titles: A Case of Infatuation was first to be published in 2009 and won the Dark Oak Mystery Contest in 2008. A Case of Accidental Intersection was published in 2010 and garnered the Public Safety Writer's Association top award for unpublished novel. A Case of Hometown Blues is slated for this summer.
What genre/s would you like to write in?: I love writing mysteries and pitting myself against the readers to see if I can keep them guessing until the end.
Please share with us who or what encourages you to write and why?: My inner demons not only encourage me to write but they demand it. I'm not a happy camper if I'm not able to spend time at the computer and pound out the next Mitch Malone adventure. When the writing gets tough, I have a great critique group that is pretty adament about seeing pages every week and surprisingly just the art of putting words to the paper, even badly at first, eventually turns into usable prose.
How long did it take for you to write your book/s?: My first book took a year to write the rough draft and another six months to edit it. I had someone critique it and learned it couldn't be fixed and started on A Case of Infatuation.
How long did it take for you to publish your book/s?: It took about three years. After spending nearly a year on A Case of Accidental Intersection I submitted it to a contest for feedback and it won a publishing contract.
Who did you publish with and why?: My publisher is Oak Tree Press, a small publishing company based in Illinois. I chose them because they wanted to publish A Case of Infatuation after it won the Dark Oak Contest. I also like the fact it was small giving personal attention to authors and it was run by a female.
Please share with us how you prefer to market your book/s?: I would prefer to market my books by going on a 20-city book tour. I love meeting new people, talking about writing and sharing my publishing story. However, with a small publisher, that isn't possible so I have a blog where Mitch Malone takes over my duties on Mondays and interviews authors. I try to find internet chat groups and blogs to comment on and get the word out about the Mitch Malone Mysteries but it isn't easy.
Please share with us any event/s that you have planned in marketing your book/s: I will be at Love is Murder in Chicago in February 2011 and at Bouchercon in St. Louis in the fall. I also will have a book launch for A Case of Hometown Blues in June and be at the National Baby Food Festival in July. I also will have a blog tour this summer.
Do you wish to share any additional information with our readers?: I love to hear from readers about what they think about my books. I feel as an author I am constantly growing and improving my craft. With each book, Mitch's depth and emotion improve as he discovers why he is the way he is and how to pull himself out of his loner existence.
Backcover Description: Mitch Malone hates hospitals, but when a suspicious traffic accident lands a comatose victim in the ICU, he must put that aside to find the truth. The surface looks smooth but the more the crime beat reporter looks the more bodies pop up including a private detectives. Can he get to the truth before the surviving victim is murdered in her hospital bed and an elderly witness has a heart attack? Will he get his exclusive printed before he's the next victim?
Book Review/s to share: “W.S. Gager has a winner with the second in the Mitch Malone Series. Full of well-written twists and turns, and a double shot of suspense, Gager’s experience as a reporter shines through every page as she weaves a compelling murder mystery. A smart and entertaining jewel of a novel.” Holli Castillo, author of “Gumbo Justice”
Good job! I liked the first Mitch Malone book, "A Case of Infatuation". It was very good especially for a first novel. This one was much better! Loved the characters and the plot. Can't wait to see what Mitch gets into next time! Keep writing them, please! Grams via Amazon.con
Crime Beat Reporter Mitch Malone’s rules are simple: He never lets the blood and guts he covers bother him. He always works alone. And he hates kids.
Mitch breaks all three rules when he unwittingly agrees to smuggle a potential witness out of a suburban Michigan home while police investigate a mob-style-hit that’s left two dead bodies. Mitch sends his intern (a real hottie, but nonetheless an interloper) to interview neighbors, hoping to throw her off, but when he finds the pint-sized survivor the killer overlooked, he decides she might be helpful.
When the FBI accuses him of the murder, Mitch goes into hiding with the bombshell intern who doesn’t talk and the precocious preschooler. Mitch works his contacts to regain his freedom from his roommates only to find they each hold keys to a bizarre story of disappearances, terrorists and the perfect hamburger recipe.
Book Review/s to share: Great combination of gritty prose and sparkling dialogue along with a most intriguing and unusual plot makes W. S. Gager's debut crime novel a true page-turner. Highly recommended! --F. M. Meredith, author of No Sanctuary.
Email to share: wsgager@yahoo.com
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