Hello, my name is MaryAnn Kempher. I’m originally from Milwaukee Wisconsin, but moved to Reno NV, where my book is set, when I was 15. I thought I was moving to Rio. Guess I should have paid better attention in geography. My first job was at the Circus Circus casino. Their second floor is devoted to carnival-like games. The floor is oval shaped and in the middle is a large stage where various circus acts were performed. Among many other acts, they had trapeze artists and even set up a boxing ring where they had a little woman pretend to fight with a kangaroo. Her name was Carol and she was super cool. I always wonder what she’s up to now.
When I was 21, I joined the Air Force. My first base was in California. But, before you think I was spoiled, think again. The base was in the middle of the Mojave desert and I didn’t have a car. I’m sure it’s a much nicer base now, and the surrounding cities (which were small) are much bigger and built up, but when I was there—there wasn’t much to do. I was fortunate to get to travel to a lot of different places; California, Korea, South Carolina, Italy, Florida, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. It wasn’t always easy being in the military, sometimes it was really hard. Well into my career I’d married and had children. I had to leave for nearly 5 months once, over the holidays. That was hard, but we got through it. I retired, after 20 years, in 2007. I was lucky to get to stay home, to not have to go back to work.
This is when I discovered my passion for writing. I’d always liked to write, I didn’t mind the term papers and essays associated with college. But, it wasn’t until I’d retired that I tried to write for pleasure. This began in 2008. It’s funny how much this story changed over the course of the last four years. It started as such a different story. After a lot of revisions, my first book MOCHA, MOONLIGHT, AND MURDER was complete and published, just last April.
If you’re a new writer, I do have some advice. Before you start writing, go out and buy some good self-help books in the genre you want to write. Needing a little guidance does not mean you don’t have talent. I’ve listed some really good ones at my website/blog. The books listed there really helped me. One more piece of advice. If you’re self-publishing, spend the money to get your book professionally edited and proofread. It’s worth it. I tell people that if they like Jane Austen and/or Agatha Christie, they’ll love this book. It’s a very nice combination of romance and mystery. I’m working on book two now and hope to have the first draft complete by the end of this summer.
MOCHA, MOONLIGHT, AND MURDER will be available for FREE 11-15 June.
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About the Book:
Instead of feeding her late-night appetite, a midnight food run nearly gets 28-year-old Katherine O’Brian killed. She’s the only person to see the man who brutally murdered a local woman, and the killer is hell-bent on making sure she doesn’t talk.Buy it at Amazon!
Scott Mitchell left a broken engagement behind when he moved to Reno, and the last thing he needs is more melodrama. But when he and Katherine are paired for a college project, that’s what he gets. It can be very distracting when someone is out to kill your lab partner. Together, they try to figure out what the police haven’t been able to—the identity of the murderer. Passion flares, but with Katherine’s life in danger, romance seems like more than a bad idea.
Scott and Katherine will face jealousy, misunderstandings, lust, and rivals, not to mention attempted murder—and all before their first real date.
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