We are delighted to welcome author Patricia Curren to Omnimystery News today.
Patricia's young adult mystery is titled Clipped! (Infinity Publishing; October 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to catch up with her to talk a little more about the book.
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Omnimystery News: What is the background to the mystery of Clipped!? And give us an introduction to the central character. What is it about her that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Patricia Curren
Patricia Curren: The gruesome murder of middle school student Cloud Nicholson leaves the small town of Finchville, Nebraska in shock. With her friend's murderer unidentified and still on the loose, Kendra Morgan wants nothing more than to find the criminal.
My series character, in my murder mystery, Clipped!, is wise beyond her 14 years, largely because: she is a latchkey kid with little supervision from her single mom, and has been given a lot of responsibility to care for her little sister. In fact, in many ways, our budding sleuth is more mature than her mother, which provides an interesting dynamic to the story.
Because Kendra has so much freedom, she is able to pursue her friend, Cloud's, killer without arousing her mother's suspicion. Initially, she doesn't set out to investigate the murder, but when she spots Cloud's favorite hair clip in a stranger's pocket and is rebuffed by her favorite teacher and a security guard, she vows to get justice for her friend ─ even if she has to risk her own life in the process.
Enlisting her other friend, Audrey, to help in the investigation, the girls find themselves lying to friends and family, breaking into homes and even questioning the police department's prime suspect.
Early on, Kendra eliminates Billy Ray, a young man with mental disability. Her focus then shifts to Mr. Campbell, an older man living alone in the neighborhood, who turns out to be innocent and proves to be an immense help in finding more information related to Cloud's death.
The succeeding events take an even more dangerous turn when another girl goes missing and one more is nearly assaulted. Convinced that Cloud's killer is responsible, and he is someone living in her town, Kendra continues her search that will lead her to revealing the culprit's identity. But as she grows closer to her target, she discovers she is next on the killer's hit list.
I loved creating this character because it afforded me the opportunity to show how strong and smart young people can be, and how they can overcome adversity in their home life to contribute to our world. And all in an entertaining way.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
PC: Any fiction writer has to include their own experience in their writing. How else could we create believable characters? There is some of my own experience in Clipped!, especially in the main character and the setting. It afforded me a strong foundation for the story and allowed me to add the many fictional elements so that they were believable. After all, in real life, fourteen-year-olds don't go around solving homicides and yet readers have told me they've had their sleep affected by the story. Some said they couldn't read it right before bed because they were so invested in Kendra's safety. Others have said they stayed up until the wee hours to finish the book, because they had to know the outcome.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
PC: Beginning a mystery novel requires at the very least, knowing the main character, the victim(s) and the killer. So I let these things percolate in my brain for a while, as well as the elements needed for a good first scene.
I don't do an outline ahead of time, but I do keep one as I go along, and often jot down what I want to have happen in the next scene or chapter, or maybe even later on. My stories are character driven rather than plot driven, so it's important for me to create biographies for my characters. I usually concentrate first on the characters' traits and personalities, and then their physical attributes. For instance, in a short story I'm working on, the detective is a bit like a female Columbo, deceptive in her intelligence because of her seemingly lackadaisical attitude. So knowing that, it's easy for me to add her physical characteristics and habits. My cast of characters expands as I write, because I'm never sure where the story will take me. They meet new people along the way ─ part of what makes writing so much fun!
OMN: How important is the setting of the story?
PC: Clipped! is set against the backdrop of a bone-chilling Nebraska winter in the fictional town of Finchville. I wanted the severe climate to denote the barrenness and isolation Kendra feels in her life. Besides the harsh climate, I wanted to showcase the good and bad culture found in Midwestern towns. Fashioning a protagonist from a dysfunctional family whose dad suffers from alcoholism, allowed me to demonstrate the shame and humiliation town gossips can cause. On the other hand, Kendra and her family receive a lot of love and support from some of the citizens of Finchville.
OMN: How did you come up with the title for the book?
PC: I find titles one of the hardest things to create. They must give a potential reader an idea right away what the book is about. The same is true with the book cover. I think the one word title, Clipped!, along with the dark, suspenseful cover, showing the back of a girl's head with a jeweled hair clip, immediately accomplishes this task and encourages the reader to pick up the book and read the blurb on the back. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to tell my publisher my idea for the cover design and they did a great job of coming up with the "creepy" feel I wanted.
OMN: What kinds of books do you enjoy reading for pleasure?
PC: Of course, I love reading mysteries, but I also enjoy main stream fiction, as well as some non-fiction. I'm always on the lookout for new writers, because they are the ones who often have new and authentic voices. Not that I don't enjoy a good John Sandford, Karin Slaughter or Elizabeth Gunn book. A relatively new mystery writer who is absolutely fabulous is Michael Kardos. Also, Bill Konigsberg, Tom Leveen and M. Evonne Dobson are terrific writers. These last three are considered Young Adult writers, but they tackle very complex topics in a fresh and effective way.
OMN: What's next for you?
PC: I'm currently working on the sequel to Clipped!, which has a working title of Cornered!. Our young detective has vowed to herself not to get involved in any more cases, but she's pulled into one when a woman who lives in the farmhouse adjacent to Kendra's boyfriend, Johnny, is found dead. The murder victim is a hoarder so subsequently when Kendra and Johnny cross the crime scene tape into the house, the devastation is so great that clues seem non-existent. However, our sleuth finds a photo of the family on the floor and pockets it. This picture intrigues Kendra and becomes a symbol of the case for her, and once again she becomes obsessed with finding justice for the murder victim.
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Patricia Curren was born and raised in Nebraska and even though she hasn't resided there for many years, her heart still lives there. The people have an authenticity she has yet to discover anywhere else. That's why her young adult mystery is set in the land of the Cornhuskers. She spent many years living in the Pacific Northwest where she raised a family, worked in various jobs and finally landed a twenty-year-job in purchasing management at a construction firm. All the while, she stole time to write poems, short stories and articles. She plans to someday write a mystery set in Seattle, Washington. A recent transplant to Mesa, Arizona, she's learning to love the jaw-dropping beauty of the desert. Besides magazine and newspaper writing, Patricia works as a fitness center coach and loves volunteering at the local library. In her spare time, she hangs out with her two cats, Cassie and Cajun.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at PatriciaCurren.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Clipped! by Patricia Curren
A Young Adult Mystery
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Fourteen-year-old Kendra Morgan finds herself in the fight of her life when she sees her murdered friend's hair clip in a strangers pocket and becomes consumed with finding the killer.
— Clipped! by Patricia Curren
