Guest Author Post - Clover Tate

Clover Tate (a.k.a. Angela Sanders) is the author of The Booster Club mysteries, the Vintage Clothing mysteries, and the new Kite Shop mysteries.  Please welcome Ms. Tate to our blog today.

A Day With Emmy

Last night as part of a mystery author panel, I was asked how I’d spend the day if I hung out with Blown Away’s protagonist, Emmy Adler. Even though I’ve spent months with Emmy on the page, I’d never thought about how she and I would pass time in real life. You know what? I realized we’d have a pretty good time.

I’d definitely want to walk on the beach with Emmy. She has an artist’s eye for blue sky reflecting on ocean-slicked sand or the row of fishermen’s cottages that stand in a tidy row above the surf. Blown Away takes place on Oregon’s wild and rocky coast in a small town called Rock Point. We might hike on the cliffs above the old bungalow Emmy shares with her best friend, Avery, and smell the pine needles that crunch under our feet, or walk Rock Point’s charming Main street.

I’d also like to stop by Avery’s café, the Brewhouse, to sip a latte and listen to Miles Davis on the café’s turntable. Emmy might point out to me some of Rock Point’s residents, like Jeanette, who lords over the post office and knows everyone’s business; Ace, the ex-Vietnam vet who takes care of the town’s plumbing and odd jobs when he isn’t hanging out in his boat with his cats Yin and Yang; or Stella, a retired school teacher turned artist who has become one of Stella’s best friends, despite their age difference.

I have a feeling conversation would turn to Emmy’s parents, from whom she escaped when she moved from Portland to Rock Point. She loves them, but their uninvited gifts of quinoa casseroles and herbal remedies and their constant drop-ins were beginning to smother her. Her father can’t stop talking about his composting club or his participation in the local Watergate reinactment group, while her mother has a steadfast devotion to astrological omens and her “croning circle.”

If you read Blown Away, you’ll spend time with Emmy, too, although under more dangerous circumstances than the day I just described. I hope you find her as good company as I do!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you Ms. Tate for this peek into the character of Emmy Adler.  I will be reviewing Blown Away shortly, so check back.