Anne K. Albert's Val Gets Grilled

It’s Day 4 of the Murder We Write Blog Tour and I’m interviewing a friend of the grand Pooh-Bah of the Blog Tour. I’m talking about Anne K. Albert as the tour guide with the most-est, although I don’t know why W.S. Gager got her mug in the collage and slideshow. It should have been my mug. I’m the one doing these great interviews. But I’m getting off track and I am a professional. Today’s interview is Val, a flower child if I ever met one, but I haven’t met Val yet. I think she’s coming now. Val? Muriel’s aunt, right? You are the baking fiend in FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL?

 Val:  Fiend?! Show some respect for your elders! 

 But you do bake, right?

 Val: Of course, I bake. Doesn’t everyone?

 I don’t bake or cook. I’m too busy chasing down stories to spend time in the kitchen.

 Val: Maybe you should. 

 (Cough.) Right. Moving on. Now Val, Muriel’s the star of FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL. Can you give us some insight into Muriel? A little dirt if you will? I could use a good exclusive.

 Val: There’s one thing you need to understand, young man. I will never, ever give you or anyone else “a little dirt” on a member of my family, especially Muriel. Besides, there’s nothing to tell. She can’t help it.

Can’t help what? What’d she do?

 Val: Nothing! But she is a teeny, tiny different from the rest of us. 

 Care to explain? 

 Val - By nature we Reeves are fun-loving adventurers. We don’t know the meaning of danger. Nor do we care. We welcome it. Muriel, however, is more subdued. Cautious even. She’s been that way since she was a little girl. But she’s grown into an exceptional woman. She’s headmaster at an academy for gifted girls, and that has to count for something, right? 

Sure but is there a story in there? Maybe there is one in another more adventurous family member. Can you tell me about that brother of yours, Superman isn’t it?

 Val: His name is Christopher Reeves--like the actor. That’s why we call him Superman. He, um, well, he’s a tad suspicious of modern technology and for that reason lives in the backwoods of Oregon. He prefers to fly in the middle of the week rather than the weekend because he believes doing so somehow (she pauses to make air quotation marks with her hands) “alters the time space continuum and insures that he’ll be immune from the prying eyes of big brother.”

He sounds like someone I could get some interesting stories from. A little conspiracy theory usually turns out to be true. Speaking of true, I understand you have a soft spot for dogs. I’ve acquired one myself in A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS, but this interview isn’t about me. Tell me about your pound puppy.

 Val: Big Boy is my pride and joy, and he’s big! Muriel thinks he slobbers a little too much, and he has this insatiable need to sniff everyone’s private parts, but he’s really just being sociable. If you want to meet him I can go get him.

He’s here? He’s big and he likes to sniff…

 Val: In my car! 

 Well time is short Val. Maybe another time. 

 Val: You sure? It won’t take me a minute to get him.

I’m sure! Thanks for stopping by Val. For more information about you and your interesting family, just go to Anne K. Albert’s website.

Anne K. Albert 's award winning mystery and romantic suspense stories chill the spine, warm the heart and soothe the soul...all with a delightful touch of humor.  

When not at the keyboard she loves to travel, visit friends and family, walk on the beach, and of course, read using 'Threegio' her cherished and much beloved ereader!

MWW Day 6 - Anne K. Albert's Muriel

Today I’m interviewing Muriel of FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL. It’s appropriate because we are in the midst of the holidays and this book by Anne K. Albert is all about craziness during the holidays. I’m not much of a decking the hallway’s person or give a lot of presents. My list isn’t long unless they are a good source. But enough about me, let’s hear Muriel’s story. Tell me a bit about yourself. You were born and raised in New York state, right?

Muriel: Yes. I grew up in and around Niagara Falls.

We all have people from our growing up years that we just don’t like. I know I have a cousin who just couldn’t leave me alone. You have something similar don’t you? It is the season for forgiveness? Can you forgive and move forward?

Muriel: It’s not that I didn’t like Frankie, it’s just that he complicates things.

Got an example?

Muriel: It started in high school when he wrote me a note. I have no idea of its contents. Nor do I care. All I know is the teacher intercepted it, read it, raised an eyebrow, and zeroed in on me.

“I believe Frankie had you in mind when he wrote this,” she said, then began to read it aloud. She got as far as the salutation he’d printed on the outside of the folded sheet of three-ring notepaper. “To the Brian.”

The class erupted into hysterics. The teacher returned the note to Frankie and resumed her lesson. From that day forward, I was the girl named Brian, and Frankie became my sworn enemy.

Brian?

Muriel: He’s dyslexic.

I can see by the words you use that you have quite a bit of education. Some people might not find you too interesting. Oops, sorry, didn’t mean that the way it sounded. How does an intellectual type get involved in a missing person’s case?

Muriel: What is it with men who are intimidated by a few grey cells?

I’m not intimidated.
 Muriel: Right.

The missing woman?

Muriel:A very close friend asked for my help. I couldn’t say no.

My family, including that cousin, isn’t very close. I rarely return to my hometown. Your family is quite colorful. I can’t believe I heard this right, but they are going for some type of world record?
Muriel: I’d really rather not discuss it.


I would.

Muriel: (Long silence, and then Muriel sighs.) Okay. It’s a tradition that began with my parents. My father was a real live action figure. Always on the go. Always in search of that next adrenalin rush. My mother shared his sense of adventure, and in some ways was even more of a daredevil. My brothers went on their first adventure trip when they were still in diapers. Me? Riding the merry-go-round makes me nauseous. I’ve always held the conviction that if humans were meant to race down snow covered mountains, scuba dive on ocean floors, or jump out of airplanes, we’d have been born with skis for feet, gills for lungs and had wings attached to our backs.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the only time of year the family gets together is December. On Christmas Eve we vote for the family member who took the greatest risk during the past year and lived to tell the tale. The winner receives the D-DAY trophy. The letters stand for Death-Defying Act of the Year Award. Now, can we please talk about something else?


I’m not big on romance. Never have really dated. You find yourself in some sticky situations with this private investigator and it’s a bit cold? Any juicy parts?


Muriel: That is none of your business. Besides, there’s nothing going on between me and Frankie. We’re, um, just friends. Really.


Uh-huh. Thanks Muriel for the visit. If you ever leave New York, drop by Grand River, Michigan. Weather is about the same but maybe I could provide some warmth. (Muriel rolls her eyes.) FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL sounds like a great story. How can I find out more about it?


Muriel: Visit author Anne K. Albert online at her website http://www.AnneKAlbert.com/ She also blogs at http://anne-k-albert.blogspot.com/ and http://muriel-reeves-mysteries.blogspot.com. Anne is also on Facebook www.facebook.com/annekalbert and Twitter www.twitter.com/AnneKAlbert.

Hi, Anne here! On Muriel’s behalf I’d like to say thanks for featuring her today on Day 6 of the second 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour. Click here: http://amzn.to/pg67sx to read a sample of Frank, Incense and Muriel. I’d also like to encourage readers to enter my comment to win contest.

CONTEST DETAILS: Comment to WIN! 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!

Mitch here. Just to let you know that W.S. is collecting names for a drawing for my adventures so let me know what you think!  To visit her today chec out Mike Orenduff's blog:

http://thepotthief.blogspot.com/. I