View from the Birdhouse: Apr 6, 2016

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Author Interview and Giveaway: A Daughter’s Doubt by Richard Audry

Book Synopsis

Mary MacDougall’s first case of 1902 seems simple enough.

Just before the 19-year-old heiress leaves for a summer holiday on Mackinac Island with her Aunt Christena, she’s hired to stop in a little town along the way and make inquiries. Did Agnes Olcott really die there of cholera? Or were there darker doings in Dillmont?

Mary’s mentor, Detective Sauer, thinks it’s merely a case of bad luck for the dead woman. But Mrs. Olcott’s daughter suspects her detested stepfather played a hand in her mother’s untimely death.
With the reluctant help of her aunt and her dear friend Edmond Roy, the young detective struggles to reveal the true fate of Agnes Olcott. As she digs ever deeper, the enemy Mary provokes could spell disaster for herself and the people she loves. But in the end, it’s the only way to banish a daughter’s doubt.

Birdhouse Books Interviews Richard Audry

Birdhouse: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Richard: Probably when I was a teenager. I loved reading, especially mysteries and science fiction. And I developed this view that creating stories that moved and entertained people was a lofty sort of vocation. It was always in the back of my mind that some day I would write novels. As it happened, I did make a living as a writer for many years—but as a journalist and copywriter. The novel-writing thing has come to dominate in just the past four or five years. And I hope that my stories do move and entertain readers the way my younger self hoped they would.

Birdhouse: What was your favorite book as a child?

Richard: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s still my favorite work of fiction, bar none. Its wonderful tales of friendship and adventure among the anthropomorphic critters of the countryside—Rat, Mole, Toad, Badger, and the rest—touch and delight me whenever I read them.

Birdhouse: What is your writing day like? Do you have any interesting writing quirks?

Richard: It depends where I am in the process. If I’m working on a first draft or outline, I’ll be at my standing desk on the computer five or six hours a day. I try to write at least a thousand words every day and I don’t like to start unless I have a very good idea of where I’m going with the story. If I’m in the editing stages of a book, I’m at my “sitting” desk in front of another computer. Or at the dining room table, reading the manuscript out loud. It’s amazing how hearing the words spoken can help improve the book.

Birdhouse: What was the most surprising thing you learned while creating this book?

Richard: I always thought my young sleuth, Mary MacDougall, would be very methodical and self-contained—as she was in the first two novellas. But as this book proceeded, Mary more or less told me that I could get that notion out of my head. In the end, she takes some big risks. How her audacious gambit ends up, I will leave to the reader to find out.

Birdhouse: Who are your favorite authors?

Richard: I’m very fond of classic crime-fiction writers like John D. MacDonald, Robert Parker, Robert Crais, and Michael Connelly. Among less-gritty mystery authors, I enjoy M. C. Beaton, Janet Evanovich, Josephine Tey, and Dorothy Sayers. For sci-fi and fantasy, it’s folks like Ursula LeGuin, Kristine Rusch, Clifford Simak, and Neil Gaiman.

Birdhouse: What is your next writing project?

Richard: I’m currently working on the outline for my third canine cozy, starring King Harald and his “boss” Andy Skyberg. This time they will be snowbound at a hotel/resort and, not surprisingly, mischief will ensue.

Author Bio

Richard Audry is the pen name of D. R. Martin. As Richard Audry, he is the author of the King Harald Canine Cozy mystery series and the Mary MacDougall historical mystery series. Under his own name he has written the Johnny Graphic middle-grade ghost adventure series, the Marta Hjelm mystery, Smoking Ruin, and two books of literary commentary: Travis McGee & Me; and Four Science Fiction Masters.