A Journey into Another World

One of the best parts of reading or being a writer is that books can take us into so many different worlds. They can take us back in time or they can take us into a world totally created by the author. Today's guest in My Writing Corner is one of those authors whose works can whisk us into a land we can only visit through the author's creativity.

Author Stephen M. T. Greene joins us today to tell us about his latest book, Those Fantastic Heroes, which is the first book of a series titled The Saga of the Enforcers.

 Stephen hails from Lowell, Massachusetts. He received his B. A. degree in Liberal Arts/Writing from Vermont College of Norwich University and his M. S. Degree in Creative Writing from Columbus University. His publications include poems in three poetry anthologies and four stories in a fiction anthology, which he also edited, Tales of the Unknown. In addition to his books and poems,  he also writes plays, teleplays, and screenplays. He enjoys movies, music, sports, martial arts, video games, and reading. Currently he lives in Pennsylvania.  Let's find out more about Stephen.

What do you enjoy about being an author and what do you find is its most challenging part?

 What I enjoy most about being an author is having written something that others can read.  The challenging thing about being an author is planning an entire book.  

Tell us about your road to publication.

My road to publication started with six minor publications before I got my Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree. After I got my degrees, I became published--three poems in three poetry anthologies and four stories in a fiction anthology, which I also edited.

What is your latest book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to

write it?

My latest book is a fantasy, THOSE FANTASTIC HEROES. I came up with the idea in the summer of 1980 walking to my grandmother's house. I thought about superheroes and it led to creating the first book of a four book series.

Let's get a blurb:

For over a thousand years, the Enforcers, the Universal Marshals, have waged war against evil, putting away Criminals, Villains, and Archvillains in the Universal Prisonplex on Tellus. No inmate has ever escaped.

High Enforcer Delveran learns that an Archvillain organization exists on Earth. He sends an Enforcer Squad

to the planet to find its hidden stronghold and apprehend the Archvillains there.

The Archvillain organization sends a space fleet to Tellus. Objective: bust out the Archvillains imprisoned in the Universal Prisonplex. Delveran sets the planet's defenses against the oncoming invasion. Will the enemy succeed in achieving the jailbreak?

Sounds out of this world. How about giving us a short excerpt to introduce us to your book:

 Delveran saw what the rookie was doing. "Stop! Do not remove them!

 

        Accidentally freed of the nondynamis binders, Old Man Winter had his special powers of winter back. The Archvillain blew all the prison guards surrounding him with icy blasts from his aged hands, which had long fingers a bit crooked. All the men and women flew through the air in different directions. They landed on the floor hard, some of them crashing against force bars of holding cells first. 

          Stepping toward the automatic doors of the holding area, the Incarnation of Winter exploded a blizzard from his lean, ice-cold body. Icy winds and gusting snow roared through the area. Prison guards tried to draw their blasters from their holsters and fire at the foul being trying to destroy them, but the winter storm violently radiating from Wodinnol's form caused them great difficulty in aiming and shooting their weapons. Vast numbers of snowflakes blanketed the holding area in white stuff; it was getting colder and colder in the holding area. Inches of snow accumulated rapidly as Wodinnol began burying them all in it. 

    

      "If we don't stop him," Delveran said, "Old Man Winter turn Tellus into an ice planet!"

What’s your next project?

Right now I am working on two projects. The second novel in the four book series and a screenplay adapted from the first book in the series.

How do you develop characters and come up with your plots?
 
I develop my characters by writing bios about them. I come up with plots by planning scenes for an entire book.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

My advice for beginning writers is never give up. It took me 41 years to complete my novel before being accepted for publication.

Here are buy links for Stephen's new novel, Those Fantastic Heroes, available in paperback or ebook:

Amazon.com

Barnesandnoble.com

booksamillion.com

Stephen's social contact info:

smtgliterary@yahoo.com

smtgwriter on Facebook.

Smtgbook on Twitter.

Thank you Stephen, for being my guest today. Any questions or comments for Stephen?

Back to School With a Touch of Danger

As parents, teachers and students get ready to head back to school, it's time to feature a book in that setting, and that's just what we're doing today in My Writing Corner. My guest is author, Diane Weiner, whose latest book features a school house setting.

Diane is the award-winning mystery author of The Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mysteries, Thee Sugarbury Falls Mysteries, and The Sara Baron Tuned-In Mysteries. An animal lover and mother of four grown children, she shares her Florida home with her husband and 3 precious cats. She says in her free time, she enjoys running, spending time with her family, and watching scenic British and Scandinavian mysteries under a cozy blanket with the air conditioner cranked down.

Her newest book is Goodnight, Murder and will be released by The Wild Rose Press on August 28, 2023. Here's the blurb:

Professor Jenna Blake is back. She survived a school shooting. She survived her husband’s suicide. With the help of supportive parents, a therapy dog, and Oreos, she’s regained her grip on life. Or has she? On her first day back from an extended sabbatical, she finds a cryptic note on her desk requesting a meeting.
When the anonymous note writer is a no-show and later turns up dead, it ignites a volatile chain of events. If she can’t explain why her scarf, address, and DNA are found on the dead stranger, she’ll lose her job and be thrown in jail. When Jenna discovers a second victim murdered in the woods and one of her students goes missing, she rises to the top of the suspect list. Enlisting the help of a hot private investigator, her humorous teaching assistant, and the original victim’s fiancé, she fights to uncover the twisted truth.

Want more? Let's get an excerpt as College professor Jenna is speaking to a detective after a body has been found on campus:

        A man held his badge up to the peephole.

        “Ms. Blake? I’m Detective Russo. I’m working the Isabel Hernandez homicide. May I come in?”

        She unlatched the door. Detective Russo was muscular with thick, dark hair and a Brooklyn-Italian accent. She put his age at around fifty, maybe a decade older than she was.

        “Who is Isabel Hernandez?”
        “The victim was found just off campus this afternoon.”
        “You mean the body in the woods? It was murder?”
        “Correct. I have a few questions.”
        “Come in.” She felt completely puzzled as to why he’d be questioning her about a murder case. Maybe not completely puzzled. The thought this victim was the person she was set to meet had been nagging her all afternoon. “I don’t know how I can help you.”
 

       “Did you know the victim?”
        “Me? No. I just resumed teaching a couple of weeks ago. I don’t have any students named Isabel.”

        The detective pulled a business card from his pocket. “We found this on the body. That’s you, isn’t it?”
        “Yes, that’s my business card. I just got them in the mail a few days ago.”
        “This is your home address scribbled on the back. And your phone number, correct? Did you write this? Have you given away many cards?”
        She grabbed her reading glasses. “Yes, it’s my address and phone number. No, I didn’t write it, nor have I given away any cards yet. I have no idea who this girl is. Do you have a photo?”
        The detective opened his iPad. “Her fiancé sent this to us.”
        Jenna stared at a beautiful young woman in a party gown, with huge brown eyes. “I’ve never seen her before.”
        “Are you sure?”
        “I’m sure.” She considered whether to mention her concern. “Wait. I don’t know her, but I received a strange note when I went into work today. It said to meet behind the student union building after my class. Isn’t that near where the body was found? It was…”
        “It was what?”
        “The note said it was a matter of life and death.” Her heart sank.
        “Do you have the note?”
        “Yes, it’s in my purse. Hold on.” She dug through the purse. “Here.”
        The detective compared it to the writing on the back of the business card. “I will get the lab to analyze it, but it looks like the victim’s writing. What did she say when you met with her?”
        “I didn’t. I mean, I went to the back of the student union building after class and waited, but she never showed.”
        “She wasn’t one of your students? You’re certain?”
        “I can check my roster.” She opened the laptop and drummed her fingers on the coffee table waiting for it to load. She scrolled through her two classes. “Nope. No Isabel Hernandez.” She scrolled through previous class lists. “Not a former student either.”
        “Don’t you find it strange? Someone you never met before died with your card in her pocket. And now you tell me you received a note. If you know something you aren’t sharing…”
        “I told you I’ve never met her and I have no idea why she had my information.”
        “Well then, here’s my card. If you think of anything, any possible connection to this girl, call us immediately.”
        “I will.” She resented the detective’s tone. Does he think I had something to do with this? I won’t be blamed for another death—not in this lifetime.

Thank you, Diane, for being my guest today. Following is the pre-order buy link for Goodnight, Murder and Diane's social contact information.

Preorder Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Goodnight-Murder-Diane-Weiner-ebook/dp/B0C8VHVVPM

Social Contact information:

Download a free ebook when you visit Diane's website and join her mailing list!

Click: http://www.dianeweinerauthor.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dianeweinerauthor/

Are there any comments or questions for Diane?

Making A Connection

Don't we all want to get away from our regular world and travel into a fantasy world every time we pick up a new book. Stories can take us anywhere and introduce us to characters we either want to emulate or to avoid. Hearing directly from authors about their personal stories has always been enjoyable to me and it's why I enjoy doing this blog. Today's guest in My Writing Corner, Carol Henry,  brings us romantic tales, and she also has a fascinating story of her own. 

Carol is a #1 best-selling author who writes award-winning, 5-STAR reviewed Light Romantic suspense Adventures (she says they're like Indiana Jones meets Romancing the Stone), as well as American historical, holiday, and contemporary light romance novels.  A world traveler, Carol has written for several major cruise lines’ deluxe in-cabin books, and porthole Cruise Magazine, but she says she also takes great pleasure in weaving her own adventures with her ‘characters’ in her ‘Connection’ series novels.  She says even her contemporary novels, such as her Lobster Cove series, have a few snippets from her travels.  As a New York State Historian for the Town and Village of Candor, she has written several history books on Candor, NY, as well as a Historic Novel (Ribbons of Steel) with Candor history weaved into the story line.  Carol teaches creative writing workshops, has been a speaker at various venues, is a member of Romance Writers of America, and is a member of Published Authors Network.  She is also a member and past president of RWA’s local chapter, STAR–Southern Tier Authors of Romance; a member of Sisters in Crime; and is the Director of the local Write Now Writers’ Group. Let's find out more about Carol.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

The hardest part of being an author is promoting ‘me’. From an early age I was taught not to brag about myself. So, ‘I’m not an in-your-face’ person which makes it hard for me to feel comfortable in selling my writing persona. Unless of course someone actually comes forward and starts asking me about my writing, in which case I don’t hold back.

How do you develop characters?

I’ve given workshops on character development and found myself following my own advice—go beyond the basics, find out what motivates them, their background, their pet peeves, their goals, to name a few. I find when I don’t do this before I start plotting, my characters become stubborn and don’t cooperate. This goes for all my characters, including a few secondary characters—why are they there, what part do they play in the novel? How are they connected with each other?

Tell us about your road to publication.

Even though I had a full-time job, I had always dabbled in writing stories for my kids, typed them myself, and had them bound in hard cover. I also wrote several small volumes, in verse, of my husband’s and my chapters of our lives together: High School Sweethearts, Europe, and You and Me. They were also bound and are still on my shelf. From there, I noticed a local newspaper printed short children’s stories, so I made an appointment with them, and ended up leaving with an assignment to interview someone local who had had breakfast with Barbara Mandrel. Thus began my photo/journalism career. Which lead to me writing about my international travels for major cruise lines in-cabin books, and travel magazines.

I’ve always been an avid reader, and finally one day, I decided I could write a romance novel, too. I had joined a writer’s group, a critique group, and attended workshops, conferences, and kept writing. And my love of writing, and many travels, lead me to write my first published novel: Amazon Connection, and thus my light romantic suspense adventure Connection Series, to include Shanghai Connection, Rio Connection and Cairo Connection. Although my first novel I wrote wasn’t the first one sold, it was eventually published and ranked #1 on Amazon for 21 days.  To date, I have written 13 novels, many of which have ranked #1, or Top 10, on Readers’ polls, with my latest Connection Novel just contracted.

How about a blurb from one of your publish Connection novels, Cairo Connection:

Megan Holloway is startled when Professor Jordan Kaine informs her she must travel with him to Cairo to collaborate on a proposed contract for the Egyptian Agricultural Ministry. Sole provider for her ill mother, Megan can’t leave her side. But Megan’s probationary period at Wild and Wonderful Corp is up in two weeks. She can't afford to refuse the attractive Professor’s request and risk her job.

Jordan Kaine, up for tenure, MUST win the Cairo contract. He doesn’t want his growing affections for Megan to jeopardize his career. But when a student who filed bogus sexual harassment charges against him shows up at the Cairo conference vying for the contract and him, chances of obtaining tenure becomes tenuous.

With unexplained mishaps, smuggling rumors, and a dead body linked to his father’s dig in Luxor, will Jordan and Megan make their own Cairo connection?

What is your latest book and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

So, my latest book, Arctic Connection, is currently in edits. The only hard part of coming up with the idea to write this book, other than the location which we visited, was to find a current affair in the area, in regards to nature, as my Connection novels center around the Wild and Wonderful Corporation that has ties around the world. When I discovered that Norway was having an issue with the sudden lower count in take of fish up along the Norwegian Coast and the Barents Sea, I wrapped my characters around a possible lead to climate change, ocean problems, and/or a smuggling ring that is illegally fishing off the coast and selling by way of Italy to the Asian ports. Of course, a major event takes place at the North Cape—by heroine’s major bucket list destination! 

What do you have coming in the future? 

I’ve started plotting my next Connection Series novel, which will take place in France—most likely a connection to the vineyards and wine production, and issues that Wild and Wonderful, and my main characters, will connect. Of course, I love writing Christmas stories, and have published several contemporary family-oriented novels, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one suddenly crops up and I’ll have to run with it, as well.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

The best advice I can offer is to join a writer’s group that fits you, attend conferences, workshops, or attend other writer’s events to see what advice they can share with you. Then, relax, write what you are comfortable writing, let it flow onto the page, and don’t agonize over the ‘first draft’. You can always edit and whip it into shape before submitting. You might be surprised at what your characters suddenly decide to do—or not do. Enjoy the process.

Excellent advice! Thank you, Carol, for being my guest today. Following are the links to find out more about Carol and to buy her books.

http://www.carolhenry.org

 

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carol-henry

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001KDYKQ6/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=d2adf433-738c-42bd-a071-747ea48bf009

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6582676.Carol_Henry

Any questions or comments for Carol?

California Scheming

One of the fun things about doing this blog is getting to see new books that are coming out and learning more about the authors who write them. As a long time reader of a number of mystery series, I am always looking forward to the next book in the series to read. Today's guest in My Writing Corner, Susie Black, brings us the fourth book of her Holly Swimsuit Mystery series. We have had the good fortune to feature two of her previous books (Death By Sample Size and Death By Pin and Needles) in this series and now she is back to present her latest mystery!

First let's learn about Susie Black.  She was named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. She says she began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. 

Susie says she reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since she says life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she says she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and she tells us she has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 

Her latest book is Death by Cutting Table. Now that title is an immediate attention grabber. Let's get a blurb:

Butch Oldham didn’t have an honest bone in his body. So, the question wasn’t who wanted him dead. The question was, who didn’t. Mermaid Swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik finds colleague Queenie Levine standing over Mermaid CEO Butch Oldham’s bloody corpse nailed to a fabric cutting table with a big honkin’ pair of cutting shears plunged deep into his chest. When the cops discover Queenie’s blood-soaked sweater, learn about her stormy relationship with the victim, and her public threats to make Butch pay for destroying Mermaid Swimwear by stealing it blind, Holly’s colleague shoots to the top of the suspect list. When Queenie is arrested, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a slinky, and nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent for revenge.

Let's chat with Holly to learn about her life and the latest mystery in which she is involved.

Welcome Holly, tell us a little about your town and its people.

Hello. I am Holly Schlivnik. I am the President of the private label division of Mermaid Swimwear. I also seem to have a knack for solving murders.  I live and work in two different places, so I’ll tell you a little about both:

I work at the California Apparel Mart in downtown Los Angeles, California, in the heart of the garment industry. Los Angeles is a big city, but because it is spread out, it has the feel of a smaller town. LA is a melting pot of many nationalities with thriving ethnic area such as Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and Koreatown. All those neighborhoods offer an opportunity to experience exotic foods and interesting cultural customs. But the culture that permeates every aspect of LA and the rest of California is the Hispanic culture. While we have small neighborhoods with people from virtually every Central and South American country who have brought their food and cultures with them, by far, the most influential one of all is the Mexican one. From Olvera Street---the original Los Angeles founded in 1781, to every aspect of life in LA-from apparel, architecture, food, language, street names, and music-- there is no part of LA that is not impacted or influenced by the Mexican culture. LA’s cultural diversity is its greatest asset. Speaking Spanish is not exactly a necessity, but it sure helps if you do…even if you sound like you’re Mildred from Michigan who went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the natives.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, a series of small towns strung together by a series of 7-11 stores and freeways. The valley is about thirty miles northwest of downtown LA and is nestled between two mountain ranges. Now I live with my standard poodle, Sigmund Freud Schlivnik, on a houseboat moored in Marina del Rey. Located between Santa Monica to the north and LAX to the south, Marina del Rey is a typical beach community with a variety of quirky, but overall friendly people who look out for one another. Among my dock neighbors are a feisty octogenarian sailor extraordinaire and an ex-Navy Seal…both of whom have my back and saved my bacon numerous times. Marina del Rey is a compact, upscale neighborhood with a wide range of excellent restaurants and specialty stores with a population of 10,000 people and a boat population of 5,000 in all sizes and price ranges. 

Who was Butch and what are some of the reasons people might have wanted him dead?

Smooth talker Butch Oldham could charm a snake and was deadly as a cobra. Butch was a sneaky, unscrupulous SOB who fast-talked his way into several companies and left them all under a cloud of suspicion. When the last company fired Butch, my boss David Workman, who went way back with Butch, hired him as our COO at Mermaid. But it didn’t take long for Butch to go behind David’s back and sweet talk our board of directors to demote David and give Butch David’s job. Once Butch and his dishonest CFO wrapped their tentacles around the company, they stole it and our suppliers blind. Butch and Dick ultimately drove our forty-year-old iconic swimwear company into bankruptcy and ruined the lives of hundreds of employees and destroyed a number of suppliers. So, it was no surprise somebody knocked Butch off. A cast of thousands would have gladly done the honors…the only surprise was what took someone so long?

Tell us about your relationship with Queenie--why do you want to help her?

Queenie Levine and I have been professional colleagues and personal friends for a number of years. We first met at a swimwear industry organization meeting where we were the only two women representing their companies. Queenie is irreverent, wise-cracking, never shy to speak her mind, loyal to a fault, and honest as the day is long. Why do I want to help her? Simple. She didn’t do it. Oh, Queenie might have fantasized about killing Butch, but really…who didn’t? But she’d never actually do the deed. Why? Well, for one thing, she’s no killer…but more importantly…Queenie Levine do ANYTHING that might break a fingernail or chip her nail polish? Ha! Fat chance.  

What was Queenie's connection to Butch? 

Years ago, as Royal Swimwear CEO, Butch hired relative newbie Queenie Levine and ex-swimwear buyer David Workman to run sales and design, so the three of them have a long history together. Queenie recently admitted that she and Butch had a torrid affair that didn’t last long while they worked together at Royal. According to Queenie, the affair was over in a flash and before Queenie could say kiss me, she was replaced by the next flavor of the month in the blink of an eye. Coupled with the fact that Queenie rightly blamed Butch for the demise of Mermaid and said publicly that he should get his…so, there was no love lost between the two of them. 

Holly, are there other suspects you think might be involved and what would their motives be?

Well, like I’ve said, honestly, there are a legion of viable candidates both inside and outside of Mermaid Swimwear. The list of suppliers alone that Butch screwed is as long as your arm. But if I just go by who were the ones with the most to lose and hurt the most by Butch, I’ve culled the list down to four prime suspects:

Kelly Oldham: The spouse is always the primary suspect. Blond and hot as a pistol, Kelly is Butch’s much younger second “trophy wife.” Kelly and Butch were headed to divorce court and Kelly was in the Mermaid factory the day of Butch’s murder. In fact, I ran into Kelly wandering around the offices looking for Butch so they could finalize their divorce settlement that day as I was on my way to the warehouse. Kelly and Butch had signed a pre-nup. So, she was screwed if he tried to worm his way out of the divorce settlement. Maybe he refused to sign on the deal and in a fit of rage, she killed him? Could be her story that he never showed up to finalize the deal was a big fat lie and she saw me as an alibi witness. 

David Workman: I hate to put my boss on the list of suspects, but I’ve got no choice. Design and sales mogul CEO David Workman brought his friend and mentor Butch Oldham to Mermaid for self-serving reasons-to protect him from the board of directors who were displeased with David’s lack of business and production acumen. Without any warning, Butch stole David’s job and kept him in the dark about what he and the CFO were doing to the company. David was betrayed by someone he trusted and had to be furious with Butch for what he did. 

Diane Gentry: Production guru Diane and Butch were actually friends and co-workers long before either of them knew Kelly. Butch brought Diane into Mermaid as a production expert. She pissed off everyone from Bernice, our head patternmaker to all the designers with the drastic changes to our fit that she tried to implement. Then suddenly, Diane mysteriously quit, but no one knew why. The scuttlebutt around the office water cooler is that Diane and Kelly were secretly lovers and that the reason Kelly filed for divorce is that she’d left Butch for Kelly. My theory is that the rumor was true and that Diane was furious when Butch reneged on his divorce settlement with Kelly and Diane killed Butch in a rage. 

Mariana Green: Mariana is the wife of Dick Green, the disgraced CFO Butch brought with him to Mermaid. Dick and Mariana were caught trying to leave the country with several suitcases stuffed with cash. They were arrested but Marianna was let go. Dick made a deal with the Feds and is going to serve some serious time. Marianna blames Butch for throwing Dick under the bus, destroying the Green’s lives, and not being punished for what he did. The FBI was closing in on Butch, but he was murdered before they could arrest him. Marianna was at the Mermaid factory the afternoon of the murder to collect Dick’s things from his office. She could have gone into Queenie’s open office that is across from Dick’s and stolen Queenie’s sweater that was found blood-soaked in the warehouse and used to frame Queenie for the murder. 

 

Thank you Holly. It seems like you are already well on your way to resolve this mystery! Good Luck!

Now, how about an excerpt from Death By Cutting Table:

        The psychedelic light shows off the emergency vehicles flashing strobe bubbles created an eerie specter as they bounced off the walls of the apartment buildings across from the marina. While the firemen examined the breaker box, two LA County Deputy Sheriffs kept my dock neighbors at a distance from my houseboat now swathed with yellow crime scene tape. 

        After the Deputy Sheriffs arrived, Antonio, the security guard, called the Dockmaster to bring her up to speed. Twenty minutes later, Dock Mistress Audrey Camarillo showed up at my slip to consult with me and the first responders. 

        A fireman squatted in front of the breaker box and electric outlet. “See this?” Siggie sidled over next to the fireman and the nosy parker hound rested his head on the guy’s shoulder for a closer look. The fireman laughed and gave my curious canine a howdy-do scratch behind the ears. 

        The fireman pointed to the marine power cable connected from the outlet to my boat. The interior guts of the marine cable are covered by a protective rubber encasement. The cable was slit open, exposing the wiring inside mid-cable to the prongs of the tampered plug. Several strips of aluminum foil anchored in place by a fistful of pennies laid on the dock adjacent to the breaker box. 

        The fireman said, “Whoever did this is no amateur. They knew exactly what they were doing. If they hadn’t been interrupted, they would’ve jammed the pennies in the breakers and wrapped the breakers with the aluminum foil. The breaker would’ve blown and ignited a fire. With the rubber-coated power cable serving as a connector, the fiberglass boat would’ve burned to a crisp in a matter of minutes.” He stroked his gloved hand across Siggie’s head. “It’s a darned good thing Ms. Schlivnik’s dog scared them off.” He turned a one-eighty around the basin. “With all the gasoline-powered motors, they came within a hair of blowing up the dock and burning this entire basin to ashes.” The fireman shoved his helmet to the crown of his head and whistled through a gap in his front teeth. “Somebody wanted Ms. Schlivnik dead. They came mighty close to succeeding.”

        The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department detective turned to me and asked, “Any idea who is responsible?”

        I motioned to the gate above the gangplank. “That’s a security gate. You need a key to get into the basins. Every tenant has a key to the gate and their key works on every gate in the marina. I’m not saying boaters don’t let outsiders in, because we all do. But this time of night, I doubt if a boater is still out, and if someone was, they certainly wouldn’t let a stranger in.”

        Audrey shrank back in horror. “You’re saying one of our tenants is responsible?”

        I nodded. “Yeah, and I’ve got a pretty good idea which one. She was aboard her boat last night.”

Sounds like there's plenty of mystery in the garment business. Want to read more? You'll have to get the book. Here are the buy links:

Amazon:      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C62HRJXM

Barnes & Noble:  Death by Cutting Table by Susie Black | eBook | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Looking for more? Contact Susie at:

        Website: www.authorsusieblack.com

        E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com

Thank you, Susie, for being my guest today.  Any questions or comments for Susie?