Cypress, Like the Tree - Yolanda Renée
Excerpt:
A detective entered the room. I
knew he was a detective before he even opened his mouth because his superior than thou aura wafted off him like cheap
aftershave. Tall, thin, and rumpled, he reminded me of an anorexic Clark Kent.
Was this Superman in disguise?
“Mrs. Allan,” he offered his hand.
“I’m Detective Cypress, like the tree.”
About Renée:
Looking for a new adventure, Renée recently moved to Myrtle
Beach South Carolina. A storyteller from a very early age, an avid reader, and
with an education and background in business and accounting, becoming a writer
only made sense. And writing mysteries pure logic.
At one-time adventure was my middle name, now I just write
it. In my early twenties, I traveled to Alaska on vacation, fell in love with
the state, and decided to stay awhile. I was privileged to hike the Brooks
Range, travel the state from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay, and sleep under the
midnight sun and the Aurora Borealis. Now my books all seem to start out in
Alaska, but a more exciting place, I haven't yet visited. Although, Paris is a
goal!
In another life, the one before writing became my curse
(something you have to do), I graduated with a Bachelor in Business
Administration specializing in accounting. As finance manager, I played with
numbers. I loved the logic.
Organization is my forte, so I graduated with a Masters in
Organizational Management, but the lessons learned there soured me on the
corporate world. No that's not true the classes gave me hope for the future.
But the real world still works from the notion that what's best for the bottom
line is best for the company. In graduate school, I was taught that what's best
for the worker is best for the company, but I've come to realize that it will
be a long, long while before the rules change. I've seen the changes with a few
companies like Starbucks, but it's few and far between.
My escape was always through reading, and I've been a
collector of books since I was old enough to purchase them. At one time, I had
a collection of Zane Grey (author who wrote novels set
in the old west) stories that would astound you. On the North Slope, it was all
they sold, but I loved them!
Writing was always something I dabbled in, but once the
corporate life was behind me, writing and publishing became a real goal.
Mysteries have always been a favorite genre; I've combined mystery, romance and
a touch of horror to my stories, whether it is novel length, a short story or
my favorite, flash fiction.
I just completed the fourth book in the Detective Quaid Mystery Series, set in Alaska, THE SNOWMAN, is the prequel to the first three books.
MEMORIES OF MURDER
MURDER & OBSESSION.
I’ve also won a place in the 2015 IWSG Anthologies Parallels: Felix Was Here I entered and won with Ever-Ton. So I am doubly thrilled to be here with the Tick-Tock: A Stitch In Crime, winners with Cypress, Like The Tree. Follow the links for purchase.
You can learn more about my books and writing via my many
websites/blog such as Defending the
Pen.
Defending the Pen is where I
discuss my books, my writing, and where I conduct interviews of other artists,
and where I participate in other blog hops such as the WEP and IWSG.
My advice to the new writer: Understand that to pursue
creativity, to make writing your passion is both a curse and a blessing - a
curse because rejection is soul-crushing - a blessing because rejection is
soul-crushing, but moving beyond it is what makes your writing even better.
That some of my stories mirror my life, only coincidence.
Honest!
Please check out my various sites, you can find me under the
name Yolanda Renée. The links are here Facebook – Twitter:
@YolandaRenee –
Defending
the Pen – Murderous Imaginings – Pinterest
-- Amazon – Tick
Tock Mysteries -- Parallels -- Goodreads – Instagram
All the very best! The site looks great.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nila!
DeleteThe work you and Denise and Olga did on the WEP, WOW, superb!