Ask the Author: M. Ruth Myers
Answered Questions (12)
M. Ruth Myers
Rats. That's why I hire a proofreader. Thanks for letting me know.
M. Ruth Myers
Book #10, A Dame Worth Killing, is scheduled for late February publication. Thanks for asking! ~~ Unlike many authors, I do not have a series order in mind for the short stories. They're simply short adventures for Maggie. "The Deadly Redheads" occurs sometime after the US entered WWII since tires are rationed. ~~ At some point I hope to get another couple of short stories out of my head and into print. At that point there will be a short story collection.
M. Ruth Myers
I'm so glad that you're enjoying the series, Elaine. Special thanks for recommending them to your friends. Book 9, Victory Garter, is with the proofreader and, hopefully, will be available late this month. One more book is planned after that, and maybe a few more short stories.
M. Ruth Myers
It's a fine term for the creative process, Charles! I'm currently torn between two other series, each of which would feature a different character from the Maggie Sullivan Mysteries. One would be set in the 1920s. The other would be set in the mid-1950s. So many ideas, so little time...
M. Ruth Myers
Funny you should ask that, Karla. As a matter of fact, I intend to start issuing some of those beginning this year. If all goes well, Costly Pleasures will be out in February. You'll find those (written as Mary Ruth Myers) under the A.K.A. tab on my website as they become available.
If you'd like an advance copy to review on Amazon, use the contact form on my website (mruthmyers.com) to send me your email address.
Thanks for your interest!
If you'd like an advance copy to review on Amazon, use the contact form on my website (mruthmyers.com) to send me your email address.
Thanks for your interest!
M. Ruth Myers
I finished the final draft of my novel and looked around. My once tidy study had morphed into a chamber of horrors where cobwebs reached to grab me and stacks of papers teetered with the breath of unseen monsters crouching behind them.
M. Ruth Myers
This summer I plan to wallow in great mysteries from the past. They’ll include works by Dorothy Sayers and Raymond Chandler as well as Anna Katharine Green and the Miss Silver mysteries by Patricia Wentworth.
I also plan to read more by two contemporary mystery writers whose works I’ve recently discovered. K. B. Owen does delightful historical mysteries, and Patricia McLinn gives me a double-dip treat with her contemporary Caught Dead in Wyoming series. It satisfies my hunger for well-plotted mysteries with a smart, resilient heroine AND takes me back to my years in Cheyenne.
I also plan to read more by two contemporary mystery writers whose works I’ve recently discovered. K. B. Owen does delightful historical mysteries, and Patricia McLinn gives me a double-dip treat with her contemporary Caught Dead in Wyoming series. It satisfies my hunger for well-plotted mysteries with a smart, resilient heroine AND takes me back to my years in Cheyenne.
M. Ruth Myers
Thanks for asking, Judy. Yes, I keep on researching, in part because the 1940s are so dense with events and change, at the local, national and of course world level. The other reason is that it's simply fascinating. I come across a tidbit that makes me want to know more, which leads to something else.
I can't fit it all into the books without slowing the pace. That's why I'm starting to share some of it on my blog, which I've reconfigured as a sort of salute to the era and particularly the women. There's a section for readers to post photos and info on ordinary women of that era, so if you'd like to share anything about your mother there, I'd be delighted.
I'm glad you enjoy the series. I love writing it.
I can't fit it all into the books without slowing the pace. That's why I'm starting to share some of it on my blog, which I've reconfigured as a sort of salute to the era and particularly the women. There's a section for readers to post photos and info on ordinary women of that era, so if you'd like to share anything about your mother there, I'd be delighted.
I'm glad you enjoy the series. I love writing it.
M. Ruth Myers
Thanks for your interest and your positive comments, Michael. I'd be lost without outlines. Mine are actually flow charts since I like to make sure I have the right rising and falling action to maintain pace. It also helps me keep track of what happens on what day in the story. Many bits that don't appear on the chart make it into the story. A core of organization allows for lots of spontaneity.
Yes, I'll be writing more Maggie Sullivan mysteries. I'm just starting #5 and plan on 10 in all. It will take the series into and through WW2 with attendant changes in characters and society -- always secondary to the mystery. It will end in 1947. The rest of the series, with character and story arcs, is already roughed out.
Yes, I'll be writing more Maggie Sullivan mysteries. I'm just starting #5 and plan on 10 in all. It will take the series into and through WW2 with attendant changes in characters and society -- always secondary to the mystery. It will end in 1947. The rest of the series, with character and story arcs, is already roughed out.
M. Ruth Myers
Oh, that's a tough one, Wyshona. In fact you've kind of inspired me to do a blog post about this so I can answer more thoroughly. In the years covered by the first four books of this series, middle-class women such as Maggie still couldn't afford that many clothes. The fact Maggie is a businesswoman means she has to spend on a couple of good (though by no means top-of-the-line) items she can mix and match, so she can't really indulge in favorites.
If she could, I'd say she probably would choose blue, to match her eyes. Her one foray into fancy undies -- which ended badly -- was blue. But she also likes dark green, and the brighter pinks. And you know when it comes to hats, she'd love just about anything.
Thanks for writing, and excuse the tardy reply. I've been finishing the fourth book in the series.
If she could, I'd say she probably would choose blue, to match her eyes. Her one foray into fancy undies -- which ended badly -- was blue. But she also likes dark green, and the brighter pinks. And you know when it comes to hats, she'd love just about anything.
Thanks for writing, and excuse the tardy reply. I've been finishing the fourth book in the series.
M. Ruth Myers
First, a caution -- The first story in Grey Fedora is VERY explicit, as are some of the others. Mine, Paretsky's and others are not. And thanks for being such a devoted Maggie Sullivan fan that you bought it!
As to what's next for Maggie, Book #4, which hopefully will be out by fall if not earlier, goes something like this:
Maggie wonders if the flamboyant client determined to have her unravel "funny business" in his hotel safe is imagining things. Trading blows with a nighttime intruder in her office, followed by discovery of a young woman's body in a garbage can and a murdered jeweler soon change her mind.
Does a hotel guest who vanished without a trace, leaving behind an envelope, hold a piece of the puzzle? Or does it have to do with the Polish count and his family fleeing the start of WW2 in Europe?
Oh... and Mick Connelly leaves for Chicago....
As to what's next for Maggie, Book #4, which hopefully will be out by fall if not earlier, goes something like this:
Maggie wonders if the flamboyant client determined to have her unravel "funny business" in his hotel safe is imagining things. Trading blows with a nighttime intruder in her office, followed by discovery of a young woman's body in a garbage can and a murdered jeweler soon change her mind.
Does a hotel guest who vanished without a trace, leaving behind an envelope, hold a piece of the puzzle? Or does it have to do with the Polish count and his family fleeing the start of WW2 in Europe?
Oh... and Mick Connelly leaves for Chicago....
M. Ruth Myers
Hi, Aaron. I'm so glad you're enjoying the Maggie Sullivan series. Those characters appear in three books. A new short story featuring Maggie appears in the new anthology from Private Eye Writers of America which just came out. The title is Fifty Shades of Grey Fedora, and the 15 other writers include some of the biggest names in the genre.
As to A Touch of Magic, back when it was originally published by Dell, I intended it as a series. In fact the British publisher contracted for two books, but when a multinational group bought Dell, the editor who'd signed me for ATOM got axed and her replacement wasn't remotely interested in the first book, let alone a series. Ah, the joys of writing!
Thanks for writing.
As to A Touch of Magic, back when it was originally published by Dell, I intended it as a series. In fact the British publisher contracted for two books, but when a multinational group bought Dell, the editor who'd signed me for ATOM got axed and her replacement wasn't remotely interested in the first book, let alone a series. Ah, the joys of writing!
Thanks for writing.
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