To pay the bills, I design, edit and produce forestry training manuals, a quarterly newsletter/journal for a professional college, and the occasional art book. When the wolves aren't howling at the door, I'm writing forensic urban fantasy.
My current project is Naked Bootleg, a novel set in my soon to be ex-home city of Edmonton, Alberta. All Mike ("Magic") Maziuk wants is his job back -- but first he has to convince the shrink on contract with Edmonton Police Service that he's fit to return to active duty on the forensics unit after his car accident and brain injury. Trouble is, he's not sure he is fit, what with this voice constantly nattering away in his head, not to mention the fact that he's remembering somebody else's stuff -- a dead guy's stuff. Worse, the dead guy, Kevin, seems to be taking over. And Kevin's killers are now after Magic.
My previous project, Devil in the Kitchen, is in the capable hands of my agent. In the novel, the two main characters -- Kate, a police officer from the forensics unit, and Domenic, a morally-challenged wendigo -- combine her logic and his instincts to solve a series of rape-murders. They have to hurry, though -- the killer, a Mr. Goodbar from Kate's past, is after her. Worse, Kate's lost her faith in herself, her missing son, and is in danger of losing her humanity as well.
To research this cheery subject matter, I've taken a number of courses in general investigation, crime scene investigation, arson investigation, forensics, and sudden death investigation. One of my instructors said I have more training in crime scene investigation and forensics than most police officers in Canada. He also said that his worst nightmare was to knock on the door of a crime scene and have one of his students answer.
(You know that saying "Friends help friends move; real friends help friends move bodies"? Yeah, that would be moi.)
I live and work in an 80-year-old cabin that's mostly powered by solar, overlooks my idea of paradise, and has a weasel living under the porch. Sharing the cabin with me is my husband, Colin, and my faithful hound, Willow.
I Am A:
Reader, Writer, Editor
Books And Authors I Like:
Blindsight (Peter Watts); Hardcase (Dan Simmons); The Enemy (Lee Childs); On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (Dave Grossman); Dead at Daybreak (Deon Meyer); The Blue Hour, Red Light, and Black Water by T. Jefferson Parker; pretty much anything by James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, William Shakespeare...
Movies And TV Shows I Like:
Movies: Memento, Dead Again, The Salton Sea, Thunderheart, Chocolat, Romeo and Juliet
TV: Heroes, Law & Order: SVU, Prison Break, CSI: NY, Accident Investigator, Hell's Kitchen
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Sorry, no. Lately, I've been reading mostly American authors when my day-job leaves me time to read. Lee Child and James Lee Burke are on my bookshelf right now.
Jena you were right on the mark with Rankin & Bruen enjoying them both.Would you know of an autor that uses London as a backdrop as Rankin does Edinbrugh in the Rebus books?
Thanks Mike
You're in luck then -- there are plenty of Rebus novels in the series, enough to keep a reader happy for years. Unlucky me, though -- we've moved to a rural area, and even the nearest town doesn't have a bookstore. (The book rack at the grocery store just doesn't cut it.) There's always the library, but their newest books are usually a couple of years old.
Guess that's a sign I'm supposed to be writing, not reading...! :)
Took your advise Jena I just finished "Killing of the Tinkers"fantastic read.I just started Ian Rankin's "Resurrection Men" I like this Rebus fellow already.
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Your novels sound unique and high energy. Good luck with both of them.
Thanks Mike
Guess that's a sign I'm supposed to be writing, not reading...! :)