Thursday, January 9, 2020

An Interview with Miranda (Dean) James

           Jenn McKinlay: One of my most favorite mystery series is the Cat in the Stacks mysteries, penned by my friend Dean James (aka Miranda James)In case you don't know, one of the lead characters is a Maine Coon cat named Diesel. Seriously, what's not to love? 

          With his new book CARELESS WHISKERS, the 12th book in the hugely popular series, hitting the shelves on January 21st, I thought it was a good time to have Dean pop in for a visit. We did a little Q & A about his series and his writing life, and I love it so much because he really hits some elemental truths about the writing process. Enjoy!


Available for pre-order NOW!


Jenn: How did you come up with Charlie Harris and Diesel and the Cat in the Stacks mysteries?

Dean: After my Trailer Park Mysteries series was canceled, I was trying to come up with an idea for something new. My editor at Berkley, Michelle Vega, and her boss, Natalee Rosenstein (my editor before Michelle), suggested a series with a librarian and a cat, thanks to the popularity of the book Dewey the Library Cat. I sent them three chapters and a synopsis for the book, they liked it, and a three-book contract got me started.

Jenn: When did you decide to become a writer?

Dean: When I was old enough to figure out that people actually wrote books (and they didn't just magically appear on the shelves out of nowhere), I thought that would be a cool thing to do. Inspired at the age of eleven or twelve by my two favorite sleuths, Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, I wrote a novella (at the time I thought it was a book) featuring a girl sleuth who was half Nancy/half Trixie. My aunt typed it up for me, and I sent to the Whitman, who was publishing the Trixie Belden books at the time. I got a form rejection letter, and that rather daunted my enthusiasm. All the other volumes in the series I planned never got written. Skip ahead to grad school days, and I started writing murder mysteries (you should not assume a direct connection between my being in a Ph.D. program and wanting to kill fictional people).

Jenn:  How long does it take you to write the first draft of a mystery?

Dean: I never really have a "first draft" in the most technical sense. I have a "living draft" because I adjust and change as the story develops. I'm not one of those people who can come up with a minutely detailed outline; that would drive me nuts and I'd never write the book. I like to see what happens while I write. I always get good ideas this way for twists and for character bits. As for how long it takes, it varies. The actual time of fingers on computer keys is many hours, but the writing process also consists of letting the subconscious pull 
things together, and that usually takes a few months.

Jenn: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Dean: Schedule? Um, no. I have a full-time day job as an electronic resources librarian in a university medical center, and I spend five days a week at a computer. Mostly I write on the weekends, but as a deadline looms I will 
write before and after work as well.

Jenn: Late night writing when the house is quiet is still my favorite.

Jenn: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Dean: Sleep. Read. Travel. Watch TV and movies. Sleep some more and read some more.

Jenn: What’s the biggest challenge to writing a long running mystery series? 

Dean: Not repeating yourself. I try to keep the stories fresh with what's happening with Charlie and his family and friends, but also with the characters involved in the murder plots. There are only so many tropes you can use in a conventional cozy mystery, after all. I've read several thousand mysteries, 
many from them the Golden Age of detective fiction, and I think I've absorbed most of the variations you'll find in a traditional mystery. I like to play with the conventions. I had a lot of fun with this, in particular, with my
Simon Kirby-Jones mysteries. He is a gay American vampire who resides in an 
English village and comments acerbically on everything and everyone.

Jenn:  As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

Dean: I went through various stages of career enthusiasms. I babysat younger cousins frequently, so I thought being a pediatrician might be the thing. Then I became fascinated by foreign languages in the fifth grade and decided I wanted to be a translator at the UN. I even wrote to the UN for information. 
So my plan was to go to college and study several languages. Then I ended up getting a degree in history, with minors in English and Spanish. I thought being a college professor seemed like fun, so I went on to grad school and got a Ph.D. in history (specialty, medieval England), and eventually got my master's in 
library science. It was far easier to find a job in a library than a teaching position in history when I finished grad school, lo these many years ago.

Reading over this, I realize that what I wanted to do all along was concerned with languages, speaking them and writing them, and the writing of them came to predominate, I suppose. Where the urge to kill serially came from, I'm not quite sure...

Jenn: LOL, Dean. Thanks so much for joining us today!

What about you, Reds and Readers, any questions for Dean? Also, since I asked Dean I'll ask you, too. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?


Miranda James is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, including Twelve Angry LibrariansNo Cats Allowed, and Arsenic and Old Books, as well as the Southern Ladies Mysteries, including Fixing to DieDigging Up the Dirt, and Dead with the Wind. James lives in Mississippi. Visit the author at catinthestacks.com and facebook.com/mirandajamesauthor.

  






75 comments:

  1. I have to agree, Jenn, what’s not to love with a Maine Coon cat in the story?

    Congratulations, Dean, on your newest book . . . I’m looking forward to finding out what Diesel’s up to now . . . .

    What did I want to be when I grew up? A teacher [but the secret wish of my heart was to be an astronaut] . . . .

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  2. So nice to get to know you a little better, Dean. Hoping to start the new book over the weekend. Love this series. (And I do have a few of the trailer part books. At some point, I do intend to go back and read those.)

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    1. Thanks, Mark. I hope you'll enjoy the trailer park gang.

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  3. Congratulations on the newest Cat in the Stacks. I don't know how I missed this series, Diesel looks just like my Maine coon Zoe.

    I wanted to be a writer - always, or a Saint, but that was in 6th grade!

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  4. What did I want to be when I grew up? Well, after I grew out of the bath towel tied around the neck version of Superman phase, I wanted to be the starting center for the Boston Celtics.

    Height and talent conspired against that dream. But I did grow up to become a basketball coach and for a number of years, my team was called the Celtics and much like the real Celtics, we won a bunch of championships.

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  5. Congratulations, Dean! Was it your idea or your agent/editor's to write under a woman's name (I assume it was because people think "men don't write cozies" - tsk, tsk).

    I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. Thank goodness I got that out of my system. I'd have made a terrible lawyer.

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    1. The publisher's marketing people insist that the audience for my books is women who prefer to read books by women. Plus my own name gets lost on the internet, thanks to a dead movie star.

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  6. Dean, uh huh, sure, no link between being in grad school and writing stories to kill off people.... Jimmy Crackhead, our ginger boy, is sitting on my lap and giving me a look that says, "Seriously? Dean's got a series starring a CAT and you haven't started it yet??" "I will, I will, I promise! Now can you remove your claws from my leg? Please?"

    As a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Mission accomplished, now back to my first love--books, books, books!

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    1. Flora, when I discovered Elizabeth Peters in my teenage years, I did briefly flirt with the idea of archaeology, but there's all that dirt, you see...

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  7. Congratulations, Dean! I'm afraid I haven't gotten to any of your books yet, clearly an error on my part. I, too, had hoped to interpret for the UN, and got myself a doctorate in linguistics. I ended up writing software manuals after several other careers, but writing mystery fiction is by far my favorite career (and I've been full time at it for six years now).

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    1. Thanks, Dr. Edith! I wish I could go full time at writing. Hoping to one of these days. Congratulations on being able to do it!

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  8. Welcome Dean! I particularly love the title of this one, CARELESS WHISKERS. It's perfect! I have been a wanderer on the journey of life--I made up a newspaper in junior high (The Isleib Inkspot) and edited the yearbook in high school. then on to college and a very short stint as pre-med. Then studied art history and French literature and worked in a bookstore. And on and on...it's all material, right?

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    1. Hi, Lucy/Roberta! Yes, it's all grist to the mill. Your interests sound as eclectic as mine, and I think it all works to the good.

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  9. Hi, Dean! Welcome! What did I want to be when I grew up? A flight attendant for a while, then a geneticist, then, hilariously, a translator at the UN! My friend nancy and I went to visit the UN, and pretended we could only speak French so the guide would have to tell us the whole thing in French, too. We were maybe 13, and I, looking back, I have to think the guide did not believe for one minute we only spoke French. But she humored us.
    And I spoke at a book group last night, and told them about my writing process, which is the same as yours, and they just could not believe we don’t have an outline. But I agree, I could not possibly make an outline. So funny! Do you ever wish you could make an outline?

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    1. Hank, we UN wannabes need to form a club! Sometimes I do wish I could make an outline. The closest I come is putting plot point on index cards and shuffling them around.

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  10. I always wanted to be a writer...or an editor...loved books and libraries ever since I checked out my first Nancy Drew at age 7. Took the long route, accounting degree, MBA, business consulting, banking and accounting jobs. Then I took the plunge, self-employment in 2007 and started doing a mix of consulting and fiction writing.

    Congrats on your series! Cats and libraries...perfect.

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    1. Thanks, Liz. Sometimes we do take circuitous paths. Congrats on finally getting to where you wanted to be all along!

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  11. Dean, I enjoy Charlie and Diesel's adventures and have Careless Whiskers on pre-order. Once I discovered that there was a actual job that you could paid for to find the answers to questions, that was it -- a librarian was all I ever wanted to be. I ended up in the corporate world, not quite the public library reference desk my 12-year-old self envisioned, but that interest in answering questions was always there. I think that's why I love to read mysteries -- there's always a puzzle to solve.

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    1. Chris, always glad to meet a fellow librarian! A good friend of mine spent several years as a corporate librarian. It's never a dull job!

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  12. Welcome, Dean! The series sounds like fun, and I love the title Careless Whiskers! Clever.

    My ambition, from the time I was very small, was to be a fashion designer. I loved creating, and loved clothes, and my mother was also very stylish, even on a budget. She worked in an office with a lot of other women, and I loved seeing all the pretty dresses of her coworkers (this is in the '50s). I did, kind of, become a designer, although mostly for myself, my three daughters, mother, sister, and assorted close friends. But never to fame and fortune, alas.

    Secondary ambition was to become a writer, which I did, but almost entirely of nonfiction. So far.

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    1. Hi, Karen, and thanks. Nonfiction writing is important, too, and requires a lot of skill!

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  13. Congratulations on your new release! Any room for dogs in your life and writing or is it all cats all the time?
    After acquiring an MBA and working a variety of jobs, I finally settled down to write fiction after the youngest left for college.

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    1. I love dogs and would love to have one or three, but with my day job, I don't feel it's fair to a dog to be left in the house all day. My cats entertain one another, but I think a dog would be bored, and I don't like the idea of crating one all day.

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    2. Speaking as one who has multiple dogs and cats who stay in the house uncrated all day, they all entertain each other, but you'll need a shop vac to keep the post-party debris at bay.

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  14. Have read everything you've written, starting with Simon Kirby-Jones (still missed) and enjoy each and every one. Initially, thought of being a pharmacist but those hopes were dashed when guidance counselor refused to allow me to sign up for Latin - not sure why all these many years later. First foray in college was to teach HS English. Decided I didn't want to spend all day with teenagers. Ended up as an accountant. Worked part time for Borders and now as a circulation clerk in library.

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    1. Thanks for the mention of Simon. I miss him, too! Shame on the guidance counselor! No one should be denied the chance to learn something they're interested in.

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    2. It was the mention of the Simon Kirtby-Jones books that really captured my attention. I have not read them, and they look absolutely delightful! I am going to track them down and read them.

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    3. Actually, I must amend my answer. When I was about 8 or so I was reading The Secret Garden and announced to my mother that I wanted to be an invalid. Giving me the strangest look she asked why in the world would I want that? I said, because then like the character in the novel I could lay in bed all day reading and have people bring me food. After she explained what an invalid really was I rethought it.

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  15. Congratulations on the newest book, Dean. I'll put it in my TBR stack for sure.

    All I wanted to be, ever, was a nurse. And I am. Or was anyway, before I retired. However being a nurse is a bit like being a parent. You don't ever get to stop.

    I wish I were a writer, but I have neither the talent nor the discipline. So I am a voracious reader of everything from cereal boxes to Proust. (That's a lie. I've never read Proust, but I might. Someday. If I can ever find the lost time.)

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    1. Ann, I've had several nurses in my family. A tough, important, but not always rewarding job. I have the greatest respect for nurses. As for being a reader, well, without you, we writers would be lost.

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  16. So happy to have you on JRW, Dean! I'm a cat a mystery fancier who loves libraries... obviously a sweet spot for mroe than a few of us. When I was little I wanted to be an actress, and if not that then a torch song singer, and if not that, a teacher. NOT NOT NOT a writer.

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  17. Thanks, Hallie. I can understand, given your background, you wanted something different. :-) But we're all glad you became a writer.

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  18. Dean, off topic today but your book jacket is beautiful! Congratulations on your newest book. I'm kind of new to adult mysteries although I began with Nancy Drew, like so many others here. Your Cat in the Stacks mysteries are now on my TBR list.

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    1. Thanks, Judy. I love the cover artist who does my covers. Nice to be among so many Nancy fans!

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  19. Congratulations on the new book! When I was young I wanted to be a philosopher because I had the idea they just sat around reading and thinking about stuff all day, and that sounded perfect to me!

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    1. Thanks! Yes, sitting around thinking of stuff is fun, but at some point you have to write it down. :_)

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    2. Yes, the actual “doing something” always gets in the way!

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  20. Nice to meet you, Dean. Congratulations on the new book. One of my co-workers is a huge fan of yours, so I'll have to take the plunge and check this series out.

    I sent my first query off to a publisher when I was maybe ten, so being a writer was always in the mix, but also on the list was actress, archaeologist (oops! too many bugs), teacher, playwright, director, symphony musician and international jewel thief. I got the "writer" part right, and also ended up with a combination of the director and the symphony musician jobs, since my day gig is managing concerts for the Dallas Winds. See? Not as outlandish as it seemed.

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    1. Gigi, I wanted to be a symphony-level musician -- clarinet and bass clarinet. I was good in my youth, but alas, not at that level. No, not as outlandish... unless when the group goes on tour you're slipping into houses in the wee hours extracting jewels...

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    2. Ha! Not nearly skinny or coordinated enough to slip into houses to extract jewels. I gave that aspiration up when I realized I didn't get to keep the jewels. The band and I will be in San Antonio next month, but the jewels of the Alamo City are safe from me.

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  21. I wanted to be a shoe salesman at Shapiro's shoe store when I was very young. I was intrigued by those x-ray machines where you could look at your foot's skeleton, not to mention the little dolls they also sold at the shoe store! Later I wanted to be anything related to books--librarian, bookstore clerk? For some reason, I got a degree in French. So, of course, I had a career in HR management!

    Looking forward to the new book, Dean.

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    1. Margie, you certainly had varied interests! I don't remember x-ray machines in shoe stores in Mississippi where I grew up.

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    2. Margie, the Poll Parrot shoe store had an x-ray machine too. My brother and I spent a lot of time x-raying our feet on the sly. I'm surprised we still have feet.

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  22. Hi Dean! I thought it was about time for a new Charlie and Diesel!! Gorgeous cover, too. Can't wait to catch up with them.

    I wanted to be a horse trainer, an geologist, an archeologist, a historian, a biologist (college degree), and maybe an editor. Never occurred to me that I could actually WRITE a book. Call me late bloomer.

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    1. We're glad you bloomed, no matter when it was. :-)

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  23. I love Dean's books, and I'm so happy to see CARELESS WHISKERS (pause to groan at the terrible pun)is ready for pre-order.

    As for what I wanted to be? My earliest ambition was to be a stewardess (for you young folks, that was what people called flight attendants back when they were all young women. We flew a lot, and their lives seemed utterly glamorous to me, although obviously I never thought about having to clean up baby messes and was unaware of concepts like "sexual harassment."

    So glad I'm a writer instead. Flying a commercial jet every day sounds like being sentenced to one of Dante's circles of hell these days.

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    1. A stewardess job did sound glamorous back when the passengers dressed up to fly.

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    2. Also, in those days, women's career options were kind of limited to mom, teacher, or nurse, so being a stewardess looked extra glamorous.

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  24. Thanks, Julia. There was a brief time when I thought that I would use all the language skills I accumulate to be an international journalist. These days the thought of spending that much time on plans makes me want to retire to a dark room and a cup of tea.

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  25. Congratulations on your new book! In third grade we were assigned to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. My career? A private detective in outer space. It didn't happen.

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    1. That was certainly ambitious. You never know, still might happen!

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  26. Dean / Miranda - welcome to Jungle Reds! Congratulations on your new book! When I was a kid, I wanted to be the Wonder Woman when I grew up! Either that or a teacher or an actress or a lawyer.

    Lots of questions :-) .

    Is Miranda a family name or did your editor pick the name?

    Did you get the chance to learn foreign languages? If so, which languages did you learn? I wanted to learn foreign languages in the fifth grade too. The other day for my birthday we were at a Thai restaurant and I figured out that a word in Thai translated into fried in English because I saw that word several times. We asked the server if that word meant fried in Thai language.

    Do you have a cat in real life or are you allergic to cats? I know people who love cats even if they are allergic to cats.

    Always love the book covers of your Cat in the Stacks books. Who is the artist?

    Diana

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    1. Hi, Diana, and thanks. Miranda is my favorite heroine in Shakespeare, from The Tempest, and I've always loved the name. I picked the name myself. I did get to learn languages: Latin, Spanish, German, French, and Old English. Spanish was my best language; at one point I was fluent in it.

      I have four cats and am thankfully not allergic. I also love the covers, and at the moment I'm blanking on the artist's name. I'll have to check when I get home.

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  27. Congratulations. Looking forward to the new book, but I must admit I'd still love to see Simon reappear. Growing up in the Midwest I dreamed of becoming a marine biologist but that didn't fit well with my English degree. I thought I wanted to teach,but one semester of co-teaching convinced me to look elsewhere and I ended up in business management. Thank goodness I am now retired and have the 'career' of my dreams--full time reader.

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    1. Thanks on being a full-time reader! Sounds wonderful to me. I would love to return to Simon one of these days. Maybe when I can retire from the day job.

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    2. That was supposed to be "congratulations on being a full-time reader." With thanks for your kind words.

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  28. I just love Mr. Charlie and Diesel. Mr. Charlie always tries to hard to do the right thing in life. To me it's like what would Mr. Charlie do cause it would be the correct thing. Diesel is a wonderful side kick, sometimes star, of the series.

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm glad you like Charlie so much. He's my better self, I think. :-)

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  29. Nice to meet you here, Dean. You are one of those people I so admire, who seem to squeeze every moment out of the day doing something productive. And your dedication to your education is quite impressive, too. Congratulations on your new book.

    When growing up, I had an interest in archeology, mummies and all that. I even wrote a play, a mystery with the theme of Egyptian archeology in elementary school that our class put on for the school. I also wrote a couple of stories in second grade that my teacher took to the principal to show. And, I had a librarian in elementary school that I loved dearly and who inspired me much later in life to get my Masters in library science. Now, you would think with all of that I would either have become a writer or a librarian. I didn't, although I write book reviews and am the go-to person in the family for books and book recommendations. What I think was missing in my life was a free-spirit aunt who would have guided me to become an archeologist or writer. My mother did encourage my reading, which was huge in my life, but my dear mother leaned more towards playing it safe. Now, I recognize that ultimately, it was my choice and my path to make, and so anything I didn't do was on me. And, really, I've been happy being a teacher and wife and mother and grandmother who is a book advocate and encourager.

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    1. Kathy, thank you so much for your kind words. I don't spend as much time being productive as I'd like, because I'm a world-class procrastinator sometimes.

      My parents encouraged my reading too, but my father wasn't quite prepared for the fact that I wanted to buy so many of them. He took me to get my first library card when I was eight. He also leaned strongly toward playing it safe, but he let me follow my dreams because his parents had stopped him from following his.

      Thank you for all you do to encourage reading. It's more important than ever, because we need children who are willing to explore the world and learn about everything and everyone.

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  30. I'm going to have to read these books! And soon!
    When I was growing up there were all sorts of things I wanted to be but I think I have always preferred reading to writing, so I'm no competition for you guys.
    However I did write a book once and I almost forgot about it until just now. It was a mystery geared to middle grade students. I had such fun writing it but after 3 or was it 4 rejections I gave up. When I reread it recently it struck me how dated it was - kids simply would not get some of the cultural references of the time. I think it was 1982.

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  31. Thanks so much for visiting us today, Dean! I am such a huge fan of this series. And I noticed that the next book is already in the line up -- CAT ME IF YOU CAN! You have the best titles!
    When I was a kid, I wanted to be a jockey. Seriously! I was already too tall at the age of eight. My parents, bless them, never said a word. They just signed me up for riding lessons until the desire passed. LOL!

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    1. Thanks, Jenn, and right back at ya! My fellow librarian. :-) Bless supportive parents everywhere.

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  32. I just downloaded two Kindle books of Dean's from our wonderful local library. Started The Pawful Truth. Books, check. Cat, check. Academic gossip, check. And also: early British history! And a protagonist who is not a spring chicken - though not nearly as old as I. This is excellent for getting ready for (procrastinating) next semester. Happy to learn about this series.

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  33. I wanted to be a Spanish teacher but student teaching made me sick to my stomach so that ended that. After years of clerical work, I'm happily retired and can read all I want. Love Charlie and his family and Diesel and the Southern Sisters.

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    1. I look forward to retirement (from the day job) one of these days, so I can write and read more. Enjoy!

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  34. I enjoy this series so much!! I love the twist that Charlie is a MALE librarian! I didn’t know that you are a librarian. I also love the series because I had a Maine Coon cat many years ago. I wanted to be a lawyer, but the h.s. Teacher that I respected above all others told me it was difficult for a woman to get into law school. So I ended up being a librarian... right where I should have been!!

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    1. Thanks so much! Always great to hear from a fellow librarian. I'm glad I ended up a librarian, too.

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  35. I have four cats in the house. I volunteered in a library from 14-16 and at a hospital from 16-18. I really wanted to teach nursing but I studied teaching. I loved and still love Judy Bolton books since she grew up when Nancy Drew stayed the same age. I am volunteering in a hospital again and enjoy it, when not busy, I get to read. I still would love to learn more about scientific crime detection. When I went to college, I could not find anywhere where you could learn about that.

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    1. I read Judy Bolton, too. In fact I still have my collection of all my series books.

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