I still have no idea what possessed me to blog every day in March. But, it's been fun so far. I've talked about werewolves (again), discovered Eartha Kitty lives, and even got to review my very awesome friend, John Bayer's book.
This is him.
I'll actually be doing an interview with Bayer, not to be confused with my friend Dave Baer, tomorrow. Today, I wanted to remind you: BEWARE THE IDES OF MIMSEY!
Now, I'm sure you're asking "Who is this Mimsey and why should I beware his Ides?"
Because the party doesn't start till Mimsey walks in.
Now, if you're on this blog, you probably have seen some of my blog stuff. In which case, great! Welcome aboard! But, you may not know that I write as well! Let me give you the grand tour of the books:
Book 1: The Five Santas
This was the one that started it all. See, a long time ago, I created this smarmy, lovable and sarcastic private investigator named Dan Landis. And, while I liked the character, it had never occurred to me to write a book. Then one day, I was at the mall and wondered, what would happen if Dan had to work at a mall.
Well, the mall turned into a department store, and the funny idea became a very personal examination of what it means to go through Christmas without that special someone with you. Mix that with murder, mayhem and one of the most adorable couples I've ever seen, and you have the basis of the entire Dan Landis mystery series.
Hey, if it's good enough for Hammett, it's good enough for me.
Also, this is from The Thin Man. It also features an adorable detective couple.
Book 2: Cult of Koo Kway
For some reason, this is the most polarizing of the three books. People either love it or hate it. The biggest problem, if you can even call it a problem, is that the book is primarily told through a flashback. In The Five Santas our heroes, Dan Landis and his partner in crime Abbey, already know one another. With this book, I wanted to explore how they met. She was about to be mugged, he was wearing fluffy handcuffs.
It's complicated.
This story also tells how Abbey met everyone's favorite loquacious professor Leroy "Doc" Brown, Dan's traveling companion and close friend. The entire story centers around Dan and Abbey finding Doc poisoned, and their only clue is "Beware The Cult of Koo Kway". By the way, it's pronounced "Coo" like the bird sound, "K-with a hard k-Way" like if it rhymed with Que. There's a lot of action, comedy and of course budding romance between our two heroes. At the time, I thought it was my best work to date.
And then book 3 came along. Suddenly, I wasn't just writing wacky mysteries, I was writing wacky COZY mysteries! I was able to trap three of my favorite characters, Dan, Abbey and Doc, in a bed and breakfast. With a body in the library! And a house full of suspects! What was going to happen next? Well, a lot of flirting, mostly.
This story ties in threads from The Five Santas and Cult of Koo Kway, while at the same time introducing new characters, hinting at some major behind the scenes shenanigans, and also showing: when we lie to the ones we love, everyone gets hurt. I'm not ashamed to admit this, The Gray Ghost Inn is my best piece of writing yet.
I really appreciate you, Gentle Reader, sticking with me this long. I hope you will continue reading, and if you like the blog will check out my books.
Oh, and just what is the Ides of Mimsey? Funny story...
Jay Mims likes to keep people guessing Jay lives with a passive-aggressive Dalek named Steve, accidentally adopted his neighbor's cat Eartha Kitty, and married a wonderful woman he calls The Mimsus. There's a lizard somewhere in the house that Jay calls Bob. Jay writes books and is far funnier on Facebook then in real life. He is terrible at Twitter.
Oh, I'm bewaring. I'm totally bewaring.
ReplyDeleteAs well you should!
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