A Word Please

Do you like your mystery mixed with humor? Or is it humor mixed with mystery? Either way, Andy Peters has it covered. I’ve asked Andy to hang out with us here today to talk about his short story collection The Blues Detective.  Along with submitting to my incessant questions, Andy is offering 4 Kindle copies of his book in a giveaway! Before we get to the book and the giveaway, let’s meet the man behind the words:

***

Suddenly I’m a writer.

I hadn’t planned it this way. I’d written nothing since school days, nor had any wish to. I was a guitar player and singer. Enjoying some lazy time, out here in Spain.

Then, in the last week of June, I had an idea for a story about murdering my ex-wife (it’s the sort of thing all men fantasise about). It brewed in my head for a day or two, then I sat down and typed it out. It worked. People liked it.

A month later I had 20 stories, 10 of them about Otis King, Welsh Blues Detective in Memphis.

I have no idea where the stories came from, all I did was type them out. Maybe there’s a radio mast near my house, maybe aliens are beaming them into my head.

Who knows.

Try one or two with a glass of something cold, or a cup of something hot.

Hope they can make you smile.

*** Meet Otis King,…or that’s the name on his office door. Maybe his original name sounded a little more Welsh, but didn’t sit too well on a Blues guitarist in the city of Memphis. By day, Otis works as The Blues Detective. Pretty much every Blues related case in Memphis drifts his way sooner or later.

Enjoy Otis’ adventures in bite sized chunks with your coffee, or better yet, a beer with a bourbon chaser.

Otis is a fun guy, who does his best to avoid trouble and attract blondes. Some days he succeeds more than others.

Join him as he deals with Hijacked Harmonicas, Missing Musicians, Wayward Wives and Precious Packages.

 

Blog: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6454072.Andrew_Peters/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Andrewpetersstories
Twitter: www.twitter.com/andynpeters or @AndyNPeters
Andy’s Music: www.reverendluthor.com

 

***Otis King is a Welsh private detective who plays guitar and loves the blues. You’ve written the character in first person POV, so I have to ask: How much alike are you and Otis?

Well I have a pink hat, lots of guitars, hate modern jazz and am extremely cowardly. I don’t have Otis’ success rate with the ladies. I am hoping this might change once I become rich and famous!!

The Blues Detective is written as a series of short stories, with each being a different case and circumstance in Otis’s life. What made you decide to use this approach, rather than a full-length novel?

Well, there was originally only going to be the one story in a collection of unrelated stuff….but Otis sort of grew. I don’t think I’m a novelist…..I’d have to put back in all the things I can leave out….all those meals, coffees, conversations & descriptions. Maybe even sex (bleeeeeuuuuuarrrgh!) And, to be honest, I think the joke might wear thin after 300 pages.

While Otis lives and works in Memphis, his Welsh roots are a big part of his character and these stories. You make several references to food his family sends him. One is ‘larva bread’, which you say is made from Welsh seaweed. Most people here in the U.S. are groaning at the thought of eating that. Is larva bread a common food in Wales? What, aside from seaweed, is in this bread?

No idea. And since the USA gave the world peanut butter flavoured chocolate, its citizens aren’t entitled to groan about anything!

It was a traditional food many hundreds of years ago, and still exists, I think. Never tried it, and don’t know anyone who has. Sounds foul! My mother is furious with me for suggesting she’d send it to me…..I have tried to explain that Otis is fiction, but she sees his attitude to his mother as a slur on her parenting skills.

You’ll get no argument from me on the peanut butter flavored chocolate thing. I don’t like peanut butter.

You are from Wales and now live in Spain. Why did you choose to set these stories in Memphis? Have you spent time there?

Well you couldn’t have a Blues Detective in Llangollen….it had to be Memphis or Chicago, and Otis doesn’t like the cold. I’ve been to Memphis & loved it…Graceland, the Heartbreak Hotel, Beale Street, the Gibson factory. I’d love to go back, so tell everyone to buy the books so I can afford it.

Every now and then, you’d slip into what I assume is Welsh slang. One word you lost me on is ‘benyloned’. The sentence is ‘Few indeed are the blondes of improbable proportions who ooze into the office, audibly cross their benyloned legs, and offer huge retainers to investigate mysterious murders.’ Please help me out on this one. What are ‘benyloned’ legs?

Be-nylon-ed………covered in nylon……the girl’s wearing stockings….or “pantyhose” I think you call it. Nothing to do with Welsh, I just make stuff up. You can usually assume that anything in Welsh is a curse (and yes, Mother doesn’t like that either) All fairly mild….

Ah, nylon-clad! And I thought this was another of your naughty words.

Do you plan to write another Otis King collection of stories?

Already done…. “A Case For The Blues Detective” is now available for Kindle, or on genuine paper.

We can’t discuss your book without discussing The Blues. While I’m a rocker at heart, this music genre is my favorite. Who is your favorite blues artist?

BB King among the living…….Freddie King amongst those no longer with us. Sadly most of the greats are no longer about. Otis was originally going to be called “Buddy Rush”……..but I stole some better Blues names for him.

You have a guitar collection. Tell us about that. How many do you have? Is there a favorite?

I was a full-time musician for 5 years so they were tax deductible. I think it’s 16 now, but that includes basses. As they say, there’s a thin line between a collection & a mental illness. Haven’t played them since I took up writing in June. My favourite is probably my Gibson CS 336, which is featured on the book cover….thanks to genius boy Joe Lumley.

Is there a time of day or night when you are most creative?

Either the afternoon or from 9pm to 2am. Not that I couldn’t be in the mornings, but I generlly waste them on the internet in the local wifi bar. (Thanks Mariano)

Describe yourself in one word or phrase.

Special.

***Thank you, Andy, for entertaining us!

I’m listening to Andy’s guitar playing at this moment. Fabulous!

Find Andy’s books on Amazon in both print and Kindle format:

Also on Amazon UK

I hope you’ll take the time to connect with Andy and explore his fictional world. And definitely check out his music, as well! Now on to the giveaway:

Andy is offering Kindle copies of his book The Blues Detective to 4 lucky winners. This is a worldwide giveaway, open to everyone 16 and older. Enter between November 1 and midnight, EST on Thursday, November 15. Winners will be notified via email, so please keep an eye on your spam folder. There you have it. Now all you have to do is enter. I promise, it’s quick and painless.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!

Thanks for reading.

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