Bar Yarns w/ Katherine Howell

It’s hard to pin a good woman down (especially the busy author kind) but I’ve managed to persuade Katherine Howell into the bar for a yarn!

Here’s a beer coaster, KH. How about you scribble down the blurb for your new release.

My latest book is the seventh in my crime series about Sydney homicide detective Ella Marconi, and it was released on 1st Feb.

Two female paramedics murdered in a month. Is it coincidence, or are they victims of a serial killer? Detective Ella Marconi isn’t sure, but goes hard after her key suspects, including police officer John Morris. But each turn of the case throws up more questions and entanglements, and Ella and her partner, Detective Murray Shakespeare, struggle to find the truth among the lies. Ella also attempts to balance work and her relationship with Dr Callum McLennan, which is both growing both stronger and more difficult as they face Callum’s mother’s disapproval and the anniversary of his cousin’s murder. Meanwhile, Carly Martens – paramedic and close friend of the second victim – conducts her own investigation. She’s certain that her fellow paramedic Tessa Kimball is hiding something, and her refusal to let it go puts her, Tessa, and even Ella into more danger than Carly could ever imagine.

Well done, now grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

A:   I’m on the hard stuff – Coke please  🙂

Hey, did you hear the one about … 

A:   There’s only one joke I can ever remember.

What’s brown and sticky?

A stick.

Classic, no?

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

A:  Salt and vinegar chips. Flavour like a punch in the mouth. Just like me  🙂

(Now I want some.)

Ahh, that beer hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us—on a scale of 1 to 10—as a writer are you a messy desker or tidy desker?

A:   Well, I’d like to claim a six but it’s probably more like eight. But I know where everything is!

(Awww, pup-pieeeeeeee – and a cat!)

Okay, KH, The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

• Dance to Gangnam Style
• Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
• Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

A:   dishes, dishes!!

(Chicken! Chicken!)

Time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner. You get to pick three songs.

1.  Africa by Toto.
2.  Stand Back by Stevie Nicks.
3.  What a fool believes by the Doobie Bros.

Speaking of chickens… An author, an agent and a chicken walk into the bar… how do you know which one crossed the road?

A:  They all crossed it together. As the old saying goes, wherever there’s an agent there’s an author, and wherever there’s an author there’s a chicken.

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there.

A:  For making coaster art during conversational lulls.

(I hope you don’t mean ours! No lull in ours – ever!)

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

1.  My partner
2.  My cat and dog – one of them is standing right now on my desk staring at me – yes, the dog! When the cats’s on the desk staring at me she prefers to sit.
3.  My family and in-laws.

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number? Your lucky number is:

3.  Just on a whim.

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books.

Website:  www.katherinehowell.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katherine-Howell-Author/145144028865590

Twitter: KHowell_author

[Tweet “@KHowell_author is at the bar having a yarn about her latest, Deserving Death.  @PanMacmillanAus”]

In the meantime, watch out … It’s on the way …

This storm season, in Calingarry Crossing, a perfect storm is heading Maggie Lindeman’s way.  

Find out more, right here. Simmering Season: April 1, 2014

For emergency alerts and warnings for Simmering Season, subscribe to Jenn J McLeod’s blog before you go, or LIKE her Facebook Page.