MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG TOUR

So I was tagged by Thomas Scott, a fellow Amazon friend who I met in the contest this year with a FABULOUS entry for an intriguing mystery. His entry for his blog hop is about his series detective and his post also introduces HIM—fascinating guy. I encourage you to head over and check him out.

Anyway, the purpose HERE is to introduce a character from our latest WiP. Specifically:


MEET MY CHARACTER BLOG TOUR

(the rules) This tour highlights a main character from one of your WIP/recently published or soon to be published work. The person who invites you will have a set day to post. You will post ONE WEEK after that. The authors you tag will post one week after you, and so on.

Mmmmm

I have decided to introduce you to Kenny, since I have been immersed in revisions for What Ales Me all month and so she is most of what I've been obsessing about.


1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

McKenzie MacIntyre (Kenny) is a divorced Microbrewery owner in Portland, Oregon, entirely of my own creation, though as my 10th book written, she probably has more in common with ME than any of my other MCs, before or since—I just have a history conducive to this story. Leanne (my superbeta) groaned at her name (Mac Mac? Really?) but she married into MacIntyre and GOES BY Kenny.

Isn't she gorgeous--I love this city

2) When and where is the story set?

Current day, Portland, Oregon—a city I lived in for a dozen years that is HOME for the microbrewery craze that is now nearly everywhere. It is the perfect city for a microbrewery based story, and it has the quirk to feed a not-quite cozy story as well.


3) What should we know about him/her?

She met her former husband while getting an MBA when she thought she wanted to work in marketing, then became disillusioned when the dot-coms went bust. She took a job (any job) at a McMenamin's and fell in love with good beer, small business potential, community based living... her husband wasn't so keen on her transformation (thus the EX). She is the non-custodial parent to a sixteen-year-old son and has built a successful new life for herself in Portland's Old Town.


4)What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Oooooooh. Ahhhhhhhh.

The arrival of her son for his first full summer with her since the divorce coincides with a series of local robberies and Rose Festival (meaning the busiest few weeks all year). Her son immediately fighting with a young man who works in the building behind the brewery increases tension... and then the dead body shows up—a message—but to whom and meaning what?

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Getting to know her son again—forming a relationship with what is effectively a stranger, learning to wear a mom-hat and walk the line of parenting a teen, and then sorting what she wants in a romantic relationship (there is a bit of a triangle here but I don't want to spoil it). Oh... and keeping said son out of jail for murder...


6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

What Ales Me has been my title from the start. I played with all sorts of beer-related titles, but there really have been no other contenders.


7) When can we expect the book to be published?

My agent, Ellen Pepus has seen the first chapters of an earlier draft and had some really great suggestions—the delay has been on me. I had a serial I just finished that has kept jumping in front of this in the revision line. I HOPE once Ellen is happy, that Berkley Prime Crime will want it—they are my Cozy series publisher and would be relatively quick to sell to if it is their thing, as there is already a relationship. If they were NOT to want it (or if Ellen thinks there is a better fit) it might take longer. My GOAL is to get it back to her mid-October. That said, the last time I sold a series, it was over a year from contract to publication...

So my TAGGEE will publish on September 19, which is Talk Like a Pirate Day, so I tried to think of writer friends with PIRATE characters, and I only came up with one... I am tagging Mel Chesley  as I KNOW she's got some pirates.

Mel and I have been blog friends for a few years now. I've always admired fantasy writers, but pirates, in particular just give me a happy, so I hope next week you will head over to meet Mel's character.