Authors 18/Introducing Pamela Kopfler

As a debut author, I’m always looking for advice. It felt like I was writing my book forever and I pretty much had the writing part down. Once my book sold, I found myself in unknown territory–publishing. The one piece of advice I received more than any other was to join a debut author group. If I couldn’t find one, I should start one. Well, I couldn’t find one, so I started one. And it’s the best first step I ever took.

All of our members are in the same situation, but at different stages. We’ve learned from each other, shared tips, given and received support. Over the long months building up to our 2018 releases, we’ve become a writing family, and today one of our own is releasing her book! I couldn’t be more excited for Pamela Kopfler and BETTER DEAD.

Since I write historical mystery, one thing I thought I’d do with this blog is introduce some new Mystery and Historical fiction I’ve enjoyed. So with no further ado:

Here’s the book!

A feisty B & B owner believes her cheatin’ husband deserves to choke on his divorce papers and spend eternity roasting in hell after nearly bankrupting her Louisiana bed and breakfast. At least, she’s half-right when he turns up dead, but she’s dead wrong when she accidentally calls him back from the grave. Unfortunately, he has unfinished business. Unless she wants to be stuck with her ghostly ex forever, she has to wedge him through the pearly gates by cleaning up the mess he left behind—a smuggling ring he started behind her back at her B&B. Now she has thirty days to solve her not-so-dearly-departed’s murder or she’s stuck with him for life. Or worse, she may be doing life.

Amazon   B & N   BAM

Here’s a short interview with Pamela.

Tell us about yourself. 
PK: My husband and I have a blended family of five, which is sometimes a circus and sometimes wonderful, but always a blessing. I count my days on earth by the lives dogs adopted. My current fur baby is a solid black standard poodle who thinks he’s the sixth child. Between you and me, he is.

How did you get into writing?
PK: I took the scenic route, as I often do. I was hosting a home and garden show on a local TV station, telling Southern anecdotal stories on a local NPR affiliate when I met Mr. Deluxe, my current husband. After a year of our long distance relationship, he popped the big question, but someone had to move. That someone was me. The only marketable skill that survived the move was my ability to write, so write I did.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
PK: Read a good book. Walk my big black poodle. Try a new restaurant or an old favorite. Paint. Cook. Decorate. Garden. Watch the Tigers or the Saints play. Travel. I don’t get to do these things as much as I’d like, but each interest fills the well that spills out stories.

Where did you get the idea?
PK: The inspiration for BETTER DEAD came during a writers’ retreat at Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana. The organizer challenged the authors to write a ghost story in the spirit of Lord Byron’s challenge to Mary Shelly to write a supernatural story at a retreat in 1816. Shelly gave us the classic Frankenstein. Pamela twisted Frankenstein and added a funny bone when she remembered a lament of many women going through divorce. It would have been easier if he’d just died. But what if he did die and he came back as a ghost? That thought sparked the premise for BETTER DEAD.

If you want to connect with Pamela, you can visit her website, or find her on Facebook,  Twitter, or Instagram