STRIPPED BARE CALLED “LONGMIRE MEETS GOOD WIFE”
Kate Fox is living the dream. She’s married to Grand County Sheriff Ted Conner, the heir to her beloved Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch, where they live with Kate’s orphaned teenage niece, Carly. With the support of the well-connected Fox Clan, which includes Kate’s eight boisterous and interfering siblings, Ted’s reelection as Grand County Sheriff is virtually assured. That leaves Kate to the solitude and satisfaction of Frog Creek, her own slice of heaven.
One night Kate answers a shattering phone call from Roxy at the Bar J. Carly’s granddad Eldon, owner of the ranch, is dead and Ted has been shot and may never walk again. Kate vows to find the killer. She soon discovers Ted responded so quickly to the scene because he was already at the Bar J . . . in Roxy’s bed. And to add to her woes, Carly has gone missing.
Kate finds out that Eldon was considering selling his ranch to an obscenely rich environmentalist. Some in town hate the idea of an outsider buying up land, others are desperate to sell . . . and some might kill to get their way. As she becomes the victim of several “accidents,” Kate knows she must find the killer before it’s too late. . . .
* from Goodreads
Hott Interview with Shannon Baker:
Kate Fox seems like an amazing character to befriend. How were you able to bring her to life while staying fictional?
Fictional? What? The funny thing about being a writer is that if you do your job well enough, the characters become real to the writer as well as the reader. It’s kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit. Kate seems like a good friend of mine. I can’t remember making her up, she sort of pushed her way into my head. I know her really well and have a pretty good idea how she’ll react in most situations. But she still can surprise me.
The fun part is when characters that live in your mind become real to others. I am lucky that the sheriff in the Nebraska town where I lived, is a good friend. Sheriff Shawn is on speed dial and he read an early draft. One day, while we talked about a situation, he said, “Kate wouldn’t do that. She’d do this.” He spoke about her like she was a real person. I got a thrill out of that.
In addition to Stripped Bare, what other novels have been published or are you planning to publish featuring Kate?
The second book in the series, Dark Signal, is in the chute and set to release in 2017. In this book, a murder happens on a Burlington Northern-Santa Fe freight train. My husband retired from the railroad last year and he came up with the method of the murder.
There’s also a Kate Fox short story available for free if you email a proof of pre-order purchase of Stripped Bare, to katefoxstrippedbare@gmail.com.
I’m wrapping up book 3, as yet untitled. This book features a missing young girl from the Lakota reservation on the South Dakota/Nebraska border.
You’ve written quite a number of books, which was your favorite to write and why?
This is a little Sophie’s Choice! I loved the first book I had published, which is out of print now. Mainly, because I loved the research and story it was based on. With the Nora Abbott series, I was so fascinated by the Hopi culture I loved learning and writing them. But with the Kate Fox books, I am returning to a place where I lived for 20 years and where I raised my kids. And Kate is so much fun to hang out with. It seems like I get so immersed with whatever book I’m writing at the time it’s all I can think about. So today, I’m having fun seeing how Kate manages to find the missing girl and handle her crazy family, as well as a burgeoning love life.
More…
| Author: | Shannon Baker | ||
| Source: | Roger Charlie | ||
| Publisher & Date: | September 6th 2016 by Forge Books | ||
| Genre: | Mystery | ||
| ISBN: | 0765385449 (ISBN13: 9780765385444) | ||
| Pages: | 288 | ||
| Setting: | Nebraska Sandhills | ||
Author Bio:
Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink. A fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder. Shannon is an itinerant writer, which is a nice way of saying she’s confused. She never knows what time zone she’s in, Timbuck-Three, Nebraska, Denver, or Tucson. Nora Abbott has picked up that location schizophrenia and travels from Flagstaff in Tainted Mountain, to Boulder in Broken Trust and then to Moab in Tattered Legacy. Shannon is proud to have been chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 Writer of the Year.
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