Greg Messel has spent most of his
adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business.
He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and has contributed
articles to various magazines. Greg lives in Edmonds, Washington on Puget Sound with his wife Jean DeFond.
Greg has written nine novels. His
latest is “Cable
Car Mystery" which is the sixth in a series of mysteries set in 1959 San Francisco. “Shadows In The Fog,” ”Fog City Strangler,"
"San Francisco Secrets," "Deadly Plunge" are sequels to the
first book in the series "Last of the Seals." His other three novels
are "Sunbreaks," "Expiation" and "The Illusion of
Certainty."
For
More Information
·
Visit Greg Messel’s website.
·
Find out more about Greg at Goodreads.
About the Book:
On the hottest day of the year in San
Francisco in 1959, Private Detectives Sam and Amelia
Slater are contemplating fleeing the city for their Stinson
Beach house. However, when Sam
decides to take a cable car ride to run some errands on the lazy summer day,
he’s suddenly thrust into the spotlight when he rescues a woman who fell onto
the busy street. Sam pulls the mysterious red haired woman
Meanwhile, Amelia is troubled by the sudden disappearance of
her elderly neighbor. Two thuggish younger men who now occupy the house next
door say he took a sudden trip. One night when she’s alone Amelia grabs a
flashlight and finds some disturbing clues in her neighbor’s garage. What
really happened to her neighbor? Amelia is determined to find out.
Award winning author Greg Messel spins a new tale of
intrigue in Cable Car Mystery, the sixth book in the Sam Slater Mystery
series set in at the 1950s in San Francisco.
For More Information
Thanks for this interview, Greg. Can we begin
by having you tell us about yourself from a writer’s standpoint?
When I was in high school and college, I was a stringer for
the local newspaper where I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I covered
sports and wrote movie reviews. The combination of that experience and being
one of the editors on my high school paper ignited a love for writing. I later
spent about ten years as a reporter, columnist and news editor on a daily
newspaper in Wyoming. I retired
from the corporate world about eight years ago and have devoted full-time to my
writing. “Cable Car Mystery” is my ninth novel and I am at work on my tenth and
eleventh which I plan to finish in the next year or so. My last six novels have
been mysteries and part of a series that is set in the 1950s in San
Francisco.
When not writing, what do you like to do for relaxation
and/or fun?
I enjoy gardening and love to run outside in Edmonds,
Washington, in the Seattle
area on the Puget Sound. I love movies and try to see
one or two a week.
Congratulations on your new book! Can you give us the very
first page of your book so that we can get a glimpse inside Greg?
CHAPTER 1
THE DARK APARTMENT
May 29,
1959
______________________________
It had been a beautiful
early summer day in San
Francisco but
the evening
fog was rolling in,
seemingly pulling a cozy blanket over the sparkling city as
28-year-old Debra Norton
returned from her Friday night date with John D’Angelo,
a tall, handsome,
dark-haired man she had met at work.
It was their first date. He
was so unlike the men who had been part of her life in
recent years. He
seemed kind and gentle. John seemed like just what she wanted in a
companion but she
reminded herself it was too early to make such an assessment. It
could be the beginning
of something good for Debra who, at the urging of her sister,
had fled Seattle to make a new start in San Francisco.
John was truly an artist and
Debra’s job had been the most unusual experience of
her life. She began working
at the wax museum on Fisherman’s Wharf at the beginning
of May, where she
performed a variety of tasks. Debra had secretarial and clerical duties
but at times she was a
ticket taker. Over the four weeks she had been at the museum, she
had learned enough about
various exhibits that she directed patrons and answered their
questions. That part
was really fun.
John, on the other hand, was
the creative talent behind many of the museum’s
famous wax figures. He
actually created the figures which attracted tourists who
visited Fisherman’s Wharf.
She’d met John on the first day at her new job, but
initially their paths didn’t
cross because he was always in the upstairs studio.
Nevertheless, recently, John
had been finding excuses to leave his work studio and
chat up Debra. A few times
she looked up and noticed him watching her.
Now on their first date,
John had taken Debra out to dinner. He was very
attentive. There were nice
little touches many women would probably take for
granted, such as pulling out
her chair to seat her at the table and opening the car
door for her.
After the dinner, they went
to the late show at the Embassy Theatre on Market
Street and saw “A Summer
Place” with Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It was just
the kind of romantic movie
Debra loved but had never seen.
She shared a popcorn with
her handsome co-worker. About halfway through the
movie, he took her hand. His
hands were manly but soft. He held her hand as if it
were some delicate object of
art which might break if treated carelessly.
They continued to hold hands
until he gave her a good night kiss on the steps
by the front door stoop near
the entrance of her San Francisco-style townhouse
apartment building. She
seemed euphoric as she began to descend the steps to
her second floor apartment.
Debra stopped halfway up the steps and turned to look
at the front door. She could
see John standing outside the glass door watching her
ascend the steps. She
smiled and waved before resuming her climb up the stairs.
She smiled to herself
knowing John was watching her.
Debra’s lighthearted
contentment was shattered when she slowly walked
towards the door of her
apartment. Her sixth sense kicked in. Something just didn’t
look right. A little
voice in her head told her to bolt and go retrieve John, but instead
she pushed ahead.
Would you say it’s been a rocky road for you in regards to
getting your book written and published or pretty much smooth sailing?
Can you tell us about your journey?
It hasn’t been a problem getting it
published but it was one of the most challenging for me to finish writing
because of what was occurring in my personal life. I began writing “Cable Car
Mystery” in the fall of 2014. Shortly after I began writing it my wife
died of early onset Alzheimers. During 2015 I began dating a longtime friend. We
were married in the fall of 2015. I didn’t write much of the summer because of
all the turmoil in my personal life. I finished it by the end of 2015. There
were a few distractions to say the very least.
If you had to summarize your book in one sentence, what
would that be?
Sam Slater saves a woman who falls off of a cable car but
nothing is as it seems.
What makes your book stand out from the rest?
I think
readers find the characters likable and interesting. Readers seems to agree.
The 1950s scenarios are unique.
If your book was put in the holiday section of the store,
what holiday would that be and why?
This story occurs during the summer of
1959. I’d say the 4th
of July—summer, barbecues and hot days in the brick buildings of
the 1950s which had no air conditioning. The only place to get to spend some
time in cool air was at the movie theatre.
Would you consider turning your book into a series or has
that already been done?
I looked for a chance to begin writing a series. I found one
with the characters and time period in the Sam Slater books.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on two books. One is the next one in the Sam
Slater Mystery series which will be called “San Francisco Nights.” I think it’s
going to be a better whodunit than any book I’ve written so far. I’m really
pleased with how it’s progressing. I’m also working on a book that I’m really
excited about. It’s the story of a young reporter who becomes caught up in the
anti-war movement in Berkeley in
1968. He is also assigned to cover the 1968 presidential campaign and much of
the story occurs against the backdrop of Robert Kennedy’s final days and
ultimately his assassination. The title will be “Dreams That Never Were.”
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