Bio: Anne K. Albert’s award winning stories chill the spine, warm the heart and soothe the soul…all with a delightful touch of humor. A member of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and married to her high school sweetheart for more than a quarter of a century, it's a given she'd write mystery and romantic suspense. When not writing she loves to travel, visit friends and family, and of course, read using ‘Threegio’ her cherished and much beloved Kindle 3G!
Thanks for featuring me today, Alice. It’s Day 5 of the second 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour and I’m so happy to be here. Let’s talk writing!
Alice - When and why did you begin writing? What inspired you to write your first book?
Anne – In the late 1980s I worked as a display advertising sales representative for a small weekly newspaper. That was the very first time I came face-to-face with a computer. I fell in love with the sound of fingertips flying across the keyboard. It may sound silly, but that’s what inspired me to write my first book! I still love the sound. It’s music to my ears.
Alice - When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Anne – That happened less than a year ago, actually! I mentioned to my editor that I planned to enter Frank, Incense and Muriel in a contest for published authors. I gushed that doing so would make me feel like a real writer. “You are a writer,” she replied. Honestly, until she said it, I didn’t believe it! (I do now, especially as Frank, Incense and Muriel received the prestigious 2011 Holt Medallion Award of Merit. J)
Alice - What books have most influenced you the most?
Anne – That would be the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden books. I read them all as a child, and always imagined myself as the sleuth. They began my love affair with the mystery genre. Later I stumbled across Agatha Christie, and she had me at ‘hello’!
Alice – Tell us about Frank, Incense and Muriel.
Anne - Frank, Incense and Muriel is the first book of my Muriel Reeves Mysteries. It’s the week before Christmas when the stress of the holidays is enough to frazzle anyone’s nerves. Tensions increase when a friend begs Muriel to team up with her sexy high school nemesis, now an even sexier private investigator to find a missing woman. Forced to deal with an embezzler, kidnapper, and femme fatale is bad enough, but add Muriel’s zany yet loveable family to the mix and their desire to win the coveted D-DAY (Death Defying Act of the Year) Award, and the situation can only get worse.
To read an excerpt, click here: http://amzn.to/pg67sx.
Readers can visit me online at my website http://www.AnneKAlbert.com/ and blogs http://anne-k-albert.blogspot.com/ and http://muriel-reeves-mysteries.blogspot.com. I’m also on Facebook www.facebook.com/annekalbert and Twitter www.twitter.com/AnneKAlbert.
I’d like to encourage readers to enter my comment-to-win contest.
CONTEST DETAILS: Three names will be selected at random from comments on all 14 of Anne’s Mystery We Write Blog Tour guest appearances. Winners will receive an e-copy of FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL, book one of the Muriel Reeves Mysteries. Visit http://tinyurl.com/3hzpqvv for her schedule and contest details. Good luck!
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Here's a link to buy Frank, Incense and Muriel: http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Incense-and-Muriel-ebook/dp/B004CLYDRO/
23 comments:
Happy Birthday, Alice! And thanks so much for featuring me today. In honor of you special day I'm offering cyber cake and ice cream to everyone who drops by. And the best part? Both are your favorites. That's the joy of cyber cake and ice cream. :)
Happy Birthday Alice! And no calories in the cake Anne offered. Honest! Great post today Anne. I'm a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys fan. Not sure why I missed Trixie Beldon.
Hope you both have a grand day!
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing
I add my happy birthday to the others, Alice, have a most spectacular day! I am intrigued that the sound of keyboarding inspired you to be a writer. I liked the sound of a typewriter years ago, but I was certainly glad to exchange it for a computer. Fun post.
I'm enjoying reading FRANK ICENSE AND MURIEL and look forward to the next novel, Anne.
And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Alice!
Happy Birthday, Alice! And I'm happy to be in a prestigious line to wish you a great day.
Enjoyed the interview, Anne, altho I have to say your inspiration to be a writer is quite different from anything I've heard yet. But I'm still glad you're a writer. Your title, Frank, Incense, and Muriel, is truly unique.
Best wishes to you both on the tour.
See whatcha started, Anne? For all that I looked forward to it with some dread, it's turned out to be a wonderful experience.
And that's due in part to blogs like this one. Love the tone and the clarity, and also your influences -- I'd imagine ALL of us were influenced by the Hardy Boys and/or Nancy Drew, but how many of us 'fess up?
And happy b'day, Alice!
Anne, I too, was a Nancy Drew lover, and before that The Bobbsey Twins. The tiny libraries in the small towns I grew up in, must not have had Trixie Beldon.
Happy Birthday, Alice.
Hi Wendy, I'm sure there were other stories that felt similar to Nancy and Trixie and the boys, but their names escape me. All I know is the genre worked because the kids were in charge and the adults were always off somewhere else. A perfect environment for a young reader!
Calories? Not in cybercake! That's why it's the yummiest.
At least the sound of a computer keyboard is quieter than the typewriter, Marilyn. Plus there's the texture of fingertips on computer keyboards. They were (and are) softer to the touch.
For whatever reason, it just felt, sounded and perhaps even smelled like a great way to write!
Thank you, Jean. And please, help yourself to more cake!
LOL, Brenda. I guess that means I'm just a little odder/weirder/insaner (is that even a word) than the rest, huh?! ;-)
So glad to have your drop by and chat.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everybody, but this is Anne's day! Your book sounds wonderful, Anne, and I can't wait to read it.
Thank you, Tim.
Blog tours are a ton of work. No question, but I receive so much more in return than I could ever put in.
Meeting new people, reading what makes them tick, and discovering so much joy and pleasure in their words. That's what keeps me chained to this computer!
The Bobbsey Twins! Thank you, Jackie, I knew I'd forgotten someone - or two!
If you want to know what the writing gurus mean when they talk about the hook, just read the first chapter of Frank, Incense and Muriel. But make sure you have some free time because you won't stop with the first chapter.
Thank you, Alice, and how about we share today? Hope yours is a super, wonderful, fantastic day...just like mine! :)
Mike, gulp, I mean Mr. Orenduff. What a wonderful thing to say. Thank you!
First, Happy Birthday, Alice!
Next, Anne, I love your attitude about your writing and the blurb about FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL is most enticing. Heck, the title alone draws me to it.
Now where's my cake and ice cream.
It's Alice's birthday?? Happy birthday, Alice!! I love the title, Anne. And I loved hearing how your editor gave you such a jolt of confidence.
I love the title, and will check out your sample. The little blurb you wrote already has me hooked.
And a loud cheer for Alice's birthday!
Thanks, Lil!
Happy Birthday, Alice!
Anne, Your comments in this blog touched me. Your boss should win an award for her comments, and I'd say you should win an award, too, but you already did. :) I truly enjoyed Frank, Incense and Muriel and I've recommended it several others. Good job!
Thanks, Marja!
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