by Sandra Brannan
We are delighted to welcome back mystery author Sandra Brannan to Omnimystery News. Sandra last visited us on September 1st, 2010, when In the Belly of Jonah, the first book in her "Liv Bergen" series, was published.
Sandra's new mystery is Widow's Might (Greenleaf Book Group Press, August 2012 trade paperback and ebook formats), the third book in the series.
Today Sandra writes about how grains of sand can be worked into pearls …
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Have you ever had something you hear in the news or see in your daily lives bother you enough to stick with you for a few days? For me, it's like when I'm on a picnic and I take a bite of sandwich only to discover an annoying grain of sand that gets in your mouth tumbling around with all that good food as I struggle to isolate it before I swallow. Those little grains of sand that stick with me the longest are always the pearls that readers later tell me were the best parts of a book.
Photo provided courtesy of
Sandra Brannan
For example, when I worked for Boeing right out of school, I really did encounter and experience the carpet cutting room, a wickedly effective tool that I showcase in In The Belly Of Jonah. And the masterpiece known as Nutrition by the famous artist I reference and plays a key role in the book, really does exist. And that painting very much creeps me out. A grain of sand I most definitely worked into a pearl.
In Lot's Return To Sodom, the motorcycle gangs most certainly do exist and conduct their initiations as I depicted. Sick and disturbing, but the 1%ers (a term originally defined as the m.c. gangs compared to the 99% of bikers who weren't criminals) are moving amongst us up at the Sturgis Rally, so watch yourselves! I learned about the initiations back when I was a teenager, thanks to a wonderful FBI agent and a coach of mine who worked the rally. So I had a unique insight to the world of bad bikers.
And in Widow's Might, the obvious grain of sand for me that causes much irritation is the common belief that conservation groups only exist through 501(c)(3)'s and that they are at odds with multiuse on public lands or conserved lands. Not true. The longest surviving conservation groups are the folks in this country who have dedicated their lives and many generations to be stewards of our land — the farmers, the ranchers, the timber harvesters, and the miners — those who work night and day to preserve our land.
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Much like her character Liv Bergen, Sandra has spent her career in the mining industry. Working her way up from day laborer in the company her grandfather founded to a top executive in the family business wasn't easy, as Sandra often received threats from those opposed to mining. These life experiences gave her a first-person perspective into the high-stakes scenarios of which she writes.
After living in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington D.C. and Washington state, Sandra returned to her hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota, where she lives with her husband. Their budding family consists of four boys and three grandchildren.
For more information about the author, visit her website at SandraBrannan.com, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Widow's Might
Sandra Brannan
A Liv Bergen Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
This third Liv Bergen mystery picks up right where the second one left off. The murder of Liv's sister-in-law has been solved, but an older rancher has been bludgeoned to death in a style eerily reminiscent of a long-inactive killer known only as the Crooked Man.
FBI agent Streeter Pierce, still on assignment in Sturgis, South Dakota, must now turn his sights on tracking down the killer, who happens to be his nemesis from ten years earlier. Pierce doesn't complain, though; he's falling in love with Liv Bergen and sets in motion an unconventional way to recruit her for the FBI's training camp in Quantico, Virginia, as they work the case together. But is Liv falling for the brilliant, exotic-looking agent Jack Linwood instead?
Once again, Liv's vast knowledge of the Black Hills of South Dakota — the territory General Custer made famous — and the modern day ranchers and environmentalists who live there leads her to unearth critical clues about the Crooked Man. Aided by her elfin sister with rainbow-colored hair, a sad-eyed bloodhound, and a terminally ill Norwegian widow, Liv ultimately identifies the deranged killer. But will her barrage of questions be enough to fend off a fatal blow from the very cane he used to crush the skulls of thirteen other victims?
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