I ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE MYSTERY STORIES ~ Patrick Craig ~ Giveaway

I Always Wanted to Write Mystery Stories

Guest post by

Patrick E. Craig

WITH A Giveaway. 

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As an author, I am recognized for my Amish books—seven altogether and an anthology of Amish stories coming out in June. But Amish fiction is a kind of detour for me. I never intended to write Amish books—I wanted to write adventure stories and mysteries.

When I was about twelve, I discovered Betty Zane, by Zane Grey. I was enthralled with it and still have my original copy. Then I got my first Hardy Boys mystery, The Tower Treasure, written by the enigmatic Franklin W. Dixon. I remember going down to Dan Reeder’s, a great little fun store in my hometown of Walla Walla with my brother whenever a Hardy Boys book came in and adding it to our collection. I still have sixty-eight Hardy Boy books on my shelf, right next to my fifty Zane Grey books.

When I retired from ministry, I decided to write fiction. I knew I wanted to write mystery stories and adventure stories. One night I had a dream. In the dream my favorite Aunt, who had always been a fan of my writing and a great encourager, walked into my bedroom while I was in bed. She pointed her finger at me, looked at me with that oh-so-familiar knit brow and said two words—“You write!” The next morning, I was thinking about the dream and reading the paper. I turned to the want ads and an interesting ad caught my eye—“For Sale, Ghost Dancer Ranch.”

The whole idea for the story came to me in a flash, and in a moment I had the story and the title—The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch.

I sat down that day to write it, and Franklin W. Dixon and Zane Grey began pouring out onto the page—mystery and adventure. I wrote the book in about two weeks. And as I wrote I discovered that it had all the elements of The Hardy Boys and Riders of The Purple Sage, with some Frank Peretti thrown in. Not long after my wife and I were vacationing on the Mendocino coast and the second book came—The Lost Coast. I started writing it at the little ranch in the woods where we were renting a cabin.

I used my two oldest granddaughters as the heroines—Jacie and Hannah, fondly know to us as Punkin and Boo, and the series was born—The Adventures of Punkin and Boo. That was in 2007. I tried to sell them, but had no luck. Then six Amish novels diverted me. I published the two books through a vanity press but that was like not publishing them at all. The Adventures of Punkin and Boo stories languished in a folder inside my computer for the next eleven years.

Then in 2019 I met Deb Ogle Haggerty, the owner of Elk Lake Publishing, on LinkedIn, and told her about my YA series. I sent her The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch and The Lost Coast and by the end of the year The Adventures of Punkin and Boo had come back to life in the welcoming environs of Elk Lake. When ELP released Ghost Dancer Ranch, it hit #1 in Children’s Detective stories on Amazon, my first #1. Now the second book, The Lost Coast is ready to go and it will be out this month—then on to The Hidden Gate and the twenty-six other story ideas I have in The Adventures of Punkin and Boo series folder.

If you haven’t read The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch, start there. Then read The Lost Coast. Both are available on Amazon. Someone asked Deb Haggerty what the age range was for the stories. She said, “Middle Grade, but I enjoyed them and I’m seventy-one.” I hope you enjoy them, too.

Patrick E. Craig is a traditionally published/independent author. In 2013, Harvest House Publishers published his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and his own imprint, P&J Publishing, published the first book in the series, The Amish Heiress, in 2015. Heiress remained on the Amazon Top 100 best sellers list for seven months in two categories. The Amish Princess was released in 2016, enjoyed the same type of success, and will be followed by The Mennonite Queen in April, 2019. In 2017 Harlequin purchased the print rights for The Amish Heiress for their Walmart Amish series. It will be released under the Love Inspired imprint in April 2019. Recently Patrick obtained the rights to the Apple Creek Dreams series and re-released it through P&J Publishing. The series includes A Quilt For Jenna, The Road Home, and Jenny’s Choice. His latest romance release, The Journals of Jenny Hershberger, is a six book eBook anthology of all his Amish stories. All his books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major retailers.   Patrick and his wife, Judy, make their home in Idaho. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

  

Where can readers find Patrick online?

www.patrickecraig.com  Webpage
https://www.facebook.com/PatrickECraig  Facebook

https://twitter.com/PatrickECraig  Twitter
Where can readers purchase my books?

http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg Amazon

About the Giveaway:

Patrick is generously offering a signed, print copy of both The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch, and The Lost Coast to one of my readers of this post. Wow, huh? TWO books for one entry! Be sure to leave your name and contact information in the comment section below with the initials of your state or province.

Giveaway runs for one week from today, ending on Thursday, March 26 at Midnight Central time.

PS: Want an extra chance to win? Become a 'follower of Whispers in Purple (see left sidebar) and you'll get a DOUBLE entry.