Copy & Paste Intro

[Jennifer]

Hi group, I'm Jennifer. I'm 36 and married and I live in Ohio, USA. I have a BA in English and I'm a book nerd for life. I'll read almost anything but mystery is my favorite genre, and cosies (cozies) are my favorite sub-genre. I'm currently reading several series by authors John Sandford, Alan Bradley, Louise Penny, and Susan Wittig Albert. If I had to pick my favorite authors I would have to say Agatha Christie and John D. MacDonald.

[Michael]

Hi Jennifer, welcome. John D. MacDonald is an all time favorite of mine too.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Jennifer,
Welcome to the group.

[Bill]

Hi Jennifer. Welcome to the group. I got into MacDonald's Travis McGee series finally last year. Really enjoying it so far.

[Michael]

Bill wrote: "Hi Jennifer. Welcome to the group. I got into MacDonald's Travis McGee series finally last year. Really enjoying it so far."

Travis McGee is my all time favorite series character. Robert B Parker's Spencer a close second. A real man's man. A real adult, without the theatrical heroics or the cliched random bedding of every woman he happens to come across. I've read the entire series at least three times, and still enjoy MacDonald and Travis McGee every time.

[Jennifer]

Michael, I totally agree. I've read the series through a few times myself, starting at age 12 when I transitioned from Nancy Drew to authors like MacDonald, Stephen King, and Sue Grafton. I tend to appreciate a mature character as well. I read the first book in John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series recently and I really didn't like him - a flawed hero is one thing but Davenport's behavior crossed too many professional/legal/moral lines for my taste.

[Michael]

Jennifer wrote: "Michael, I totally agree. I've read the series through a few times myself, starting at age 12 when I transitioned from Nancy Drew to authors like MacDonald, Stephen King, and Sue Grafton. I tend t..."

Hi Jennifer, LOL. Something else we share in common. I too discovered MacDonald at the same age, graduating from the Hardy Boys. I cut my teeth on the hard boiled pioneers like Hammett, Chandler, Ross Macdonald and Spillane. They continue to inspire and influence my own writing and characters. I see a lot of my Bequia Mysteries character Gage in Travis.

[Jennifer]

I've read Hammet and Chandler but not Ross MacDonald. I've seen a lot of talk about his books among the group so I'll have to try him next. And I have to give you a thumbs up on your inspirations - it seems to me that a lot of the best selling authors are influenced more by movies and tv than by the written "classics" of the genre.

[Michael]

Jennifer wrote: "I've read Hammet and Chandler but not Ross MacDonald. I've seen a lot of talk about his books among the group so I'll have to try him next. And I have to give you a thumbs up on your inspirations -..."

Thanks. I appreciate that.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Welcome! Sorry for being so late to say hello, but I've been on vacation. I hope you will enjoy it here!