Lorena McCourtney and Free Books!

Ivy and Mac had planned a honeymoon. Instead, they’re up to their ears in mystery and mayhem as they search a desert ghost town for a missing dead body.

Before we meet today's author, I want to announce that the winner of the free copy of Donna Schlachter's historical mystery novel, Double Jeopardy, is:

jarning67@...

Congratulations! I'll be in touch with you via email, and we'll get your book right out to you. I encourage readers to keep commenting and/or subscribe at right (above my list of books) in order to learn about new releases! U.S. subscribers are entered in the drawings a second time when they comment.

And now let's meet novelist Lorena McCourtney, author of the cozy mystery, Desert Dead (Rogue Ridge Press, October 2019).

Lorena McCourtney has been writing for almost as long as she can remember. She started out using a degree in agriculture to work for a magazine published by a national meat-packing company, but she quickly realized a career writing about raising hogs and making sausage was not for her. She left that for marriage and motherhood, and when she returned, she knew she wanted to write fiction.

She started with short stories for children and teenagers, went on to romance short stories, then romance books. She has finally settled into what she thinks is her real calling: writing mysteries with a foundation of faith – and a dash of fun.

Lorena is married and has one son, Bill, and one granddaughter, Sabrina. Now she also has a great-grandson, Aiden. (Which always brings her the surprise realization that her son is now a grandfather.)

Lorena has lived in southern Oregon for some sixty years now, with occasional travel into the southwest and Baja.

Please tell us one random thing we might not know about you.

I’ve been married to Jim for 46 years – working on 50!

Congratulations. Enduring marriages are certainly something to admire. 

Please tell us a bit more about the plot of Desert Dead.

Seniors Ivy and Mac are in their motorhome, headed for their delayed honeymoon. Baja! Beaches and romance, sunshine and shrimp tacos! But a phone call from an old friend changes their plans. Magnolia has found a dead body. Magnolia has lost a dead body. Magnolia is in a panic.

Ivy and Mac decide a side-trip to a desert ghost town to help their friend won’t take long.

Wrong!

Because in addition to a missing dead body, there’s an old cowboy trying to revive a faded movie career. An ex-model writing the Great American Novel. Her artist boyfriend, disgruntled that his great art doesn’t sell, but his roadrunner paintings do. There’s also a two-million-dollar insurance policy, possible blackmail, and a hungry roadrunner named Harry. Plus a killer determined to put Ivy and Mac into the category of the missing dead.

That sounds like a lot of fun in one novel! 

What is it about Ivy that will make your readers care about her?

LOL (Little Old Lady) Ivy was dismayed when she first realized she seemed to have aged into invisibility, but she’s decided “invisibility” can be a handy asset when a killer is after you.

Novelist Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) once said, “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” How does that quote affect you as a writer?

I see ideas everywhere; the problem is turning an idea into a full-blown story.

You're so right. The idea is just the seed, and a lot of work is required to get that seed to blossom fully!

What is the last novel you read that you would recommend?

Elizabeth Goddard’s Always Look Twice. A great mystery and suspense story from an exceptional author.

What are you working on now?

Book #4 of the Mac ‘n’ Ivy Mysteries series, tentatively titled That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles.

Where else can readers find you online?

My website www.lorenamccourtney.info
Facebook

The book can be purchased online via the following button:



If you would like to read a sample of Desert Dead, you can find it by clicking "Look Inside" HERE

Finally, what question would you like to ask my readers?

If you’re reading romantic suspense, which is more important to you, the romance or the mystery/suspense?

Thank you, Lorena, for visiting and telling us about yourself and your book. Readers, Lorena has offered to give away a free copy of her book. To enter, leave a comment and your email below in answer to her question, above. "Please enter me" won't get you entered. Remember that U.S. subscribers are entered an additional time in each drawing. The drawing is done by email, so leave your email address, like so: trish[at]trishperry[dot]com.

Only United States residents are eligible for the drawing, but anyone can subscribe to the blog posts via the GDPA-compliant Feedblitz box above my list of books, at right.

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Annoying legal disclaimer: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases; drawings void where prohibited; open only to U.S. residents; the odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. See full disclaimer, GDPA notice, and my Disclosure of Material Connection HERE