Saturday, August 19, 2017

FEATURED AUTHOR: KAREN RANDAU



ABOUT THE BOOK

An engaging ex-con. An arrow in an elderly woman's chest. A slain investigative reporter. Karen Randau brings back Rita and Cliff Avery as innocent bystanders to a secret worth killing for in Deadly Choices: Book Three of the Rim Country Mystery series. An elderly woman stumbles into their campsite as Rita, Cliff, and Rita's long-lost mother enjoy s'mores and folk music around the campfire. Things get interesting when Rita's mother falls for the key suspect, Rita's old friend and mentor. Rita discovers her mother isn't the woman she thought she was, and her dear friend has forced her into hiding. Murder and decades of someone else's bad choices — this isn't your average motherly visit!






LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INTERVIEW WITH KAREN RANDAU


Things you need in order to write:
A cozy, quiet place and a computer.
Things that hamper your writing:
The television.

Things you love about writing:
I’ve always verbally told myself stories. When my older sister told me that made me sound crazy, I decided to keep it as part of my private life. I recently confided in a coworker because I was having some particularly disturbing thoughts, and I asked if she thought that meant I was crazy. She said, “No, I think that means you have a novel in you that is screaming to get out.” I started writing novels the next day. It has given me a huge release. I finally have something useful to do with all these thoughts that run into each other in my head.
Things you hate about writing:
Long hours of sitting are hard on my body. I already have a tendency to spend a lot of time alone, and writing makes that worse.

Things you love about where you live:
I live in the mountains above Phoenix, Arizona. The air is clean, the sky is blue, it doesn’t get as hot as Phoenix, it cools down at night, we have four mild seasons (including snow). There are numerous hiking trails and places to just be outside. It is a friendly community.
Things that make you want to move:
I’m really tired of buying my clothes at Walmart. I have to either shop online or go to Phoenix. The same is true about haircuts – get a bad one or go to Phoenix.

Favorite foods:
I love sweets, but of the things that are good for me, I like things with more vegetables than meat.
Things that make you want to throw up:
Lima beans.

Favorite beverage:
Water
.
Something that gives you a pickle face:
Beer.

People you consider as heroes:
Heroes are people who are humble, caring, and kind and who offer wisdom from experience rather than from their own opinions, and who would stick their neck out for another person because it’s the right thing to do rather than to get a reward.

People with a big L on their foreheads:
I can’t stand narcissistic people whose open mindedness dies the second you have a different opinion, then you’re evil.

Things you always put in your books:

Encouraging words to people in hardship.

Things you never put in your books:
Graphic sex, F bombs, cruelty to animals or children.

Favorite books:
I like books that are fast paced, have lots of twists, and make me feel something. I like a happy ending. Usually, I gravitate to mysteries and thrillers.

Books you would ban:
Erotica.

Favorite things to do:
Hike in the woods, go to a good movie, laugh with my kids
.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing:
Yard work.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

I jumped off a waterfall once (you didn’t specify if it had to be a smart thing)
.
Something you chickened out from doing:
I really wanted to go to Greece, but I chickened out because I was afraid of the long flight in an age of terrorism.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Randau started writing as a way of life as soon as an elementary school teacher taught her to print Run Spot Run. Most of her major life events got processed in prose. She put that way of life into a career by getting a degree in journalism/public relations from the University of Texas at Austin. The career that followed spanned the industries of high tech, mental health, and non-profit. For more than two decades, she has worked for Food for the Hungry, an international relief and development organization that partners with communities in developing countries to help them end extreme poverty. She feels privileged to have witnessed that life-saving work in Bolivia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. She brings these unique experiences to her writing.
Connect with Karen:
Facebook  |  Twitter

Buy the book:
Amazon