Duffy Brown

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. She is a National Bestselling author and conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own for Berkley Prime Crime. She has two series the Consignment Shop Mysteries set in Savannah along with rescue pup Bruce Willis and the Cycle Path Mysteries set on Mackinac Island with judgmental cats Cleveland and Bambino.
I have 7 cozy mystery books out now. Braking for Bodies is out April 4.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Braking for Bodies is out April 4. Its set on Mackinac Island. I love Mackinac Island, an island where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron come together and there are no cars, people get around on horse and bikes. It’s lovely with huge houses called cottages and quaint town and a lovely old hotel called the Grand. In BFB there is a murder at the Gand Hotel that the town’s people pass off as a mystery weekend so as not to upset the tourist that they call fudges ‘cause they eat fudge while there. There are 18 fudge shops on the eight-mile island!

It’s murder and a mystery weekend on Mackinac Island for the rag reporter, his mistress and the wife who wants them both dead.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to be in my office and sitting at my desk with the fan running…just like I am now. It helps me to focus. I sort of get in a little world all my own. I know… I need therapy!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Janet Evanovich is my hero. I simply love her Stephanie Plum books. I think she’s up to 21 in her series now and all are good but the first three…One for the Money, Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly are magic. They are funny and exciting and the characters are a hoot and unusual with tons of personality that make them real. After reading a S. Plum book you will want to become a bounty hunter and live in Jersey just for the fun of it all.

What are you working on now?
Lethal in Old Lace, book 6 in my Consignment Shop series set in Savannah.
Blurb: There are two social functions in the South guaranteed to get people talking…weddings and funerals. Reagan Summerside has agreed to marry the hunky Walker Boone, and Annie Fritz and Elsie Abbot have stepped up their business as professional mourners to guarantee one and all a memorable send off…until they are accused of knocking people off to step up their business.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve met so many wonderful readers on Facebook and love keeping up with them, their families, and what they are up to. We are definitely online friends. This year we did a Cookie Exchange where the readers sent me their fav cookie recipes, I printed them out and sent them each a Christmas cookie recipe book. I had 80 contribute in 4 days and next year we will do it all again. That’s what friends do, we share.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Rules to getting published

Rule One…don’t give up ever.
Rule Two…put your butt in the chair and write.
Rule Three…no critique groups or you get book by committee
Rule Four…your voice is what sells you so tell the story your way
Rule Five…did I mention the part about putting your butt in the chair?

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up!
This is a tough business and it is not for the weak of spirit. If you cannot take the heat don’t get in the kitchen.

What are you reading now?
Armed and Dangerous…a writers guide to weapons. The strange places our research takes us. LOL

What’s next for you as a writer?
Tonya Kappes and I put on reader mystery train event every year in October where 60+ readers join us on a train for lunch where a mystery is put on. Last year we were in Toledo doing Murder on the Toledo Express and this year it’s the Mystery of the Screaming Cat in St. Louis. I’m really looking forward to seeing so many readers in October. Next year we will go to another part of the US for another mystery train ride.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Janet Evanovitch Two for the Dough
Techniques of a Selling Writer by Dwight Swain
Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction so I could bet off the (*&^ island!

Author Websites and Profiles
Duffy Brown Website
Duffy Brown Amazon Profile
Duffy Brown’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile