SUITE: Tell me a little about your books and what genre they are
BRENDA: My novels are mysteries that combine features of the amateur sleuth, using Alex Masters' viewpoint, and some police procedural, when the reader sees things through the eyes of homicide detective Cole Armstrong.
SUITE: When did you first start writing? First start publishing? (short stories, books,etc)
BRENDA: I wrote for my own personal pleasure in high school, took a course in college then stopped all together, until about seven years ago. Dead Birds... is the first thing I have had published since a poem in the school newspaper in second or third grade.
SUITE: Why do you write?
BRENDA: Because I have to. The stories are in my head and if they don't come out through my fingers onto the keyboard, I'm not a happy person.
SUITE: Do you have a day job?
BRENDA: Yes.
SUITE: Do you have something you wish to accomplish with the things you write? i.e. enjoyment, challenging, fear...what do you want people to take away with them when they read your writing? Do you ever have a message?
BRENDA: Sometimes I wish I had an important message to impart to my readers, but I don't. These are just books to be read for sheer enjoyment, to escape into another world for a time. That can be important sometimes, just to have an outlet.
SUITE: What time of day do you find you are most creative?
BRENDA: Whenever I'm alone and can have music playing.
SUITE: Your love of music comes through in your stories. What sort of things do you do for fun?
BRENDA: Read of course. Go to the beach. Just about anything with my family, except roughing it: camping, hiking, mountain climbing. I'm not a wilderness type.
SUITE: Do you have a favorite author/authors?
BRENDA: No, I have many. Alex Matthews, Arline Chase, Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, Dianne Mott Davidson, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout, Paul Bishop, Harlan Coben, Margaret Coel, Eleanor Taylor Bland,... and I'm probably leaving out someone very important.
SUITE: Many good choices. Is there a book or author that influenced you a lot? Personally or professionally.
BRENDA: Alex Matthews. She has an ability to write page-turning novels, a talent I wish I knew how to replicate.
SUITE: Favorite mystery movie?
BRENDA: These days I'm not sure what qualifies as a mystery movie. Recently, for me anyhow, I found The Sixth Sense quite good. I don't see a great many movies, so I can't say I have a favorite.
SUITE: Favorite mystery TV show? If you don't have a favorite mystery one,
