Featured Interview With Morgan St. James
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Chicago, IL and from the time I was a little kid I loved to read, and I loved mysteries. My little girlfriends and I formed what we called “The Mystery Club” and tried to investigate all of the neighbors until they called our parents with outraged complaints. We moved to California when I was 13, and I spent most of my life in Los Angeles, although I traveled extensively, domestically and out-of-the-country.
At various times I did business in Las Vegas NV, sometimes staying for several days, and knew I wanted to live there. This is the second time I’ve lived in Las Vegas. The first was during Desert Storm when all of my business deals fell apart due to the war and I moved back to L.A. I’ve owned a home in Las Vegas for 12 years and lived her full time for 2 years.
Now I live in a nice residential community in Las Vegas with my husband and rescue dog, Dylan. I think Dylan features himself as my muse and has claimed a spot under my desk as his favorite place.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was reading at an eighth grade level in the third grade, but never pictured myself producing books. As an adult I went through many professions, ranging from secretary to administrative assistant and office manager in everything from working for a theatrical business manager to attorneys and the aerospace business. I worked in the travel business as a VP of marketing, spent 20 years as an interior designer, co-owned a marketing and promotion company for 5 years, and acted as design liaison for the interiors of fast food chains and coffee shop chains throughout the eleven western states. My last job was as a manufacturer’s rep for furniture manufactured in federal prisons, which was the inspiration for my book “Ripoff.” It is almost an understatement to say my background is varied.
However, all of those experiences are a treasure trove to draw from for the books I write. My writing career began with writing articles for an interior design magazine back in the late 70s. From there I wrote other types of articles for various publications, both magazines and newspapers. In the mid 90s my sister Phyllice Bradner, also a published writer at the time, and I embarked on the path that eventually resulted in our funny Silver Sisters Mysteries series. I’ve written with other co-authors as well as on my own, and currently claim 12 books and over 600 articles about the business and craft of writing. I co-host the Writers Tricks of the Trade radio show on Blog Talk Radio on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 6pm PST/9pm EST, and also publish the Writers Tricks of the Trade eZine bi-monthly.
As the consummate workaholic, I’m always working on something. The current projection is for three to four new books to be released in 2015. Two Silver Sisters Mysteries, and two books written with true crime author Dennis N. Griffin.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am always inspired by authors whose style is “tight” — no tangents that go nowhere and divert you from the story that has captured your attention. My tastes are a bit eclectic and some of the choices generally appeal more to males, like action-adventure books. I also love funny mysteries, interesting biographies and humor. Some of my favorite authors are Robert Crais, Michael Connelley, Lee Childs, Nelson DeMille and Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and the list goes on. Inspiration for the Silver Sisters Mysteries came from reading books like those from Mary Daheim, the late Anne George (to whom our writing has been compared), Janet Evanovich, Mary Higgins Clark and authors of cozy or funny mysteries that were not silly, but funny and intriguing.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The latest book to be released is the Silver Sisters Mystery “Terror in a Teapot.” The Silver sisters, zany identical twins Goldie Silver–an over-the-hill flower child who owns an antique store in Juneau, Alaska and Godiva Olivia DuBois, a wealthy Beverly Hills widow who writes the syndicated “Ask G.O.D.” advice to the lovelorn column, are busy tracking the bumbling but dangerous Dumkovsky brothers. Goldie receives the wrong shipment of antique samovars (Russian tea dispensers) at her shop in Juneau. They are exquisite and sell quickly. By the end of the day, all but one are gone. Then, just as she is about to close, the Dumkovsky thugs, fresh from Vladivostok, Russia, appear at her shop threatening her and demanding the tainted teapots. They leave when the police are called, telling Goldie, “We be back.” People who bought the samovars begin to die.
Godiva is visiting Goldie so she can attend Goldie’s outlandish mother-in-law Belle Pepper’s 75th birthday bash. The scenes in Juneau are sprinkled with quirky characters and well-described locations drawn from co-author Phyllice Bradner’s 30 years spent living in Juneau. When the twins track the Dumkovskys to Seattle, they are joined in the hunt by their octogenarian mother and uncle, former vaudeville magicians who love to dress in disguise and go undercover. The oldsters are in Seattle to accept an award at the Icons of Illusion banquet. With the trail of dead bodies growing, the hunt moves to L.A. Everyone who bought one of the cursed samovars is in danger, and Godiva’s boyfriend, TV chef Caesar Romano of the “Flirting with Food” show, is no exception.
Get ready for a fast-paced, funny mystery with lots of twists and turns, the wacky names that have become a trademark in this series, and a surprise at the end.
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