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Friday, March 30, 2012

Introducing: KAT JORGENSEN

For my first blog, I feel it's only appropriate to feature a brand new author, Kat Jorgensen, author of Your Eight O'Clock is Dead.  Today's blog is by Becca Reynolds, the main character in Kat's funny, quirky murder mystery.  My review of the book can be found at the end of the blog. 

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Kat asked me to do the blog duty today.  I’m Becca Reynolds, and Kat has chosen to write about me and my friends and family in her River City Mystery series.  Kat calls me a lovable screw-up.  At first I was offended by this, but I realized that she was actually telling the truth.  Like Kat, my intentions are always good.  But sometimes things happen to us that don’t happen to other people. 

For years Kat’s friends have been telling her that she should write about her exploits, but instead she picked me out of thin air (or so it seems) and gave me a lot of those things as my experiences.  And then, like a writer, she expanded on what really happened to make it more humorous and interesting.  Suddenly, I was working in a job much like Kat had worked years ago.  Only thing is in my job, I discover a dead body in the waiting room. Gross.  That never happened to Kat - lucky dog that she is. 

Kat Jorgensen: Your Eight O'Clock is Dead
I live with my granddad and his cranky cat Higgins.  The cat resents the fact that I had to move in after a marriage went south on me.  It seems I took over his room in Granddad’s house.

Kat lives with a very nice man who loves her unconditionally and a not so lovable cat named Ben.  Kat will not admit it to me, but I think Ben was the basis for Higgins.  Just think - if Kat didn’t have Ben, I probably wouldn’t be living with Higgins. 

Granddad loves to lecture me.  Kat’s husband isn’t like that at all.  But her dad is.  I think he was the inspiration behind the granddad character, but again, Kat is sworn to some unwritten code that I don’t get.  I do know her dad loves her and is always creating some kind of chaos in her life without trying.  Granddad is a lot like that.  A lot.  But both Granddad and Kat’s dad have kind hearts and would die to protect us from harm.  They’re also both career military men.  So they do have a certain code by which they live. 

Unlike Kat’s dad who has NO interest in dating at his age, my granddad seems to have fallen for one of the ladies in the series.  Yowser!  Some days granddad’s love life seems a whole lot richer than mine.  Now that just isn’t right.

I do have an interest in a couple of the male characters.  But they run either hot or cold with me.  R.J. Ryder is a hunky (oh mama!) ex-cop turned CPA who works right across the hall from the psychiatric firm where I work.  The things that man does to me!  But he seems to have a secret life I don’t know about.  I’m working to unlock some of his secrets, but so far I haven’t cracked the code. 

Then there’s Max Chernov.  Max is a mystery that I’d definitely like to solve.  Hunk doesn’t even begin to describe him.  He’s dangerous.  I know that in my heart.  And yet I’m drawn to him.  He may be mixed up in things that are bad, really bad.  But I want to believe that Max is a good guy.  Time will tell.  Because I know Kat isn’t going to tell me anything.  She lets me discover things for myself.  I really don’t like that about her.  I mean, I know she knows what’s going to happen, but will she tell me?  No.  It’s the only issue we have between us. 

This past fall I heard her brainstorming with some other writers.  I caught little glimpses of things to come in upcoming books.  All I can say is I’m going to be busy, very busy. 

Let’s hope besides murders, Kat will stick in a few dates with either one, or both, of the guys that I want in my life.  I mean, all murder and no dating is going to make me a very dull character.  And I want to have fun.  Right?  Girls just want to have fun - and solve a few mysteries here and there - and date some hot guys.  Oh, and stay off of their granddad’s radar.  But then he seems very busy all on his own. 

You can read about my earliest exploits in Your Eight O’Clock Is Dead.  Kat is busy writing the second book in the series (she won’t even let me see it yet - something about artistic temperament if you ask me.)   It’s called Your Time Is Up and should be out in the spring or early summer. 

Thank you for hanging out with me today.  Stay out of trouble.  I know I’m going to try to.

Day's Take:  This book is one of my faves.  It's fast-paced, charming, has endearing characters, and I wanted more.  A lot more.  I adored the main characters, and laughed at the antics of the secondary ones.  There were elements that reminded me of Janet Evanovich, particularly her earliest Stephanie Plum books.  But I found a bit more emotional depth here, the promise of character growth in future books that is sometimes lacking in other series.  There is also a raw enthusiasm evident in the storytelling.  No, it's not perfect or perfectly polished.  First books rarely are.  But you can see the emergence of Kat's talent, as well as the possibilities when she hits her stride--which I anticipate will happen soon.  Very soon.  I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to the next installment of her River City Mysteries.  I hope Kat becomes one of your "must buys," too!

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