GUEST POST BY PAT DENNIS

Friend and writer Pat Dennis is visiting my blog today to talk about her 

new cozy just out from  Forty Press.  This is a really fun read, and I wrote the cover blurb!  

From Pat:

The words slipped out of my mouth yesterday morning before I could stop them. They landed directly in earshot of a mother and daughter team selling Thin Mints at my front door. I began, “It’s kind of funny you’re doing this. because I’m a novelist, and in my novel . . .”

I realized what I was about to admit and forced myself to stop talking. In Murder by Chance, a pivotal moment in the narrator’s life happens when a ten-year old appears on her step. When Betty Chance opens the door, the young girl’s eyes travel up and down Betty’s ample body and she states, “I bet you’ll buy a dozen boxes,” or something like that. Until that very moment, Betty had no idea either how heavy she was, or that she’d be capable of slamming a door on a Girl Scout.

I immediately realized I couldn’t tell the rest of the story to the beaming face on my doorstep. Instead I bought two boxes of cookies and sent the two females on their way, each of them probably wondering why I said I was a novelist and then stopped in mid-sentence. To be honest, I was a bit shocked at what I said as well.

It was the first time that I used the phrase, ”I am a novelist.” It almost felt like a lie.

I’ve always referred to myself as a writer, even when I didn’t write, most of us who are scribblers do. The sense of my being a writer was engraved in my DNA. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t define myself that way. I spent my high-school years collecting rejections slips. My first poem was published at seventeen years of age in the Hartford Courant Journal, and my first novel Murder by Chance (other than one I self-published) was published this month, forty-eight years later.

The reviews of Murder by Chance, so far, have been wonderful. The fact that it’s been called“ highly entertaining” and “an engaging romp” tickles my aging fancy. I’ve had nice reviews before for many of my published short stories, but this is the first novel. This is the book that family can display on their shelves. This is the book that I will mention when people ask skeptically, “Have you been published?”

“Why yes, I have a novel out. It’s called. . . . ”

I have been waiting to say for five decades. Know what? Even though it took a long, long time, it still feels pretty damn good to utter the words, “I’m a novelist.”

I might even have a Thin Mint or two to celebrate.

About Pat: 

Pat Dennis is the author of a collection of short stories titled Hotdish To Die For. She is the contributing editor for Who Died in Here? and Hotdish Haiku. She is the author of her self-published e-book, Stand Up and Die. Her short stories are included in Anne Frasier’s Deadly Treats, The Silence of! the Loons, Resort to Murder, Once Upon A Crime anthology, Writes of Spring, Minnesota Monthly, Woman’s World, and more. Her latest novel Murder by Chance is published by Forty Press. She is also working with Adventure Publications to discover new authors for their debut line of mystery fiction, set in the wilderness or aimed toward the outdoor sports enthusiast. 

Pat will be signing copies of Murder by Chance this Wednesday, March 20, 7:00 at Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis.

She'll also be signing at Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior, Minnesota, on April 13, 1:00.

Murder by Chance can also be purchased in ebook or print from most online stores or any indie bookseller.