Coming
of Age / Mystery / Humor
Date
Published: June 8, 2019
Publisher:
Acorn Publishing
When
attorney Cullen Molloy attends his fortieth high school reunion, he doesn’t
expect to be defending childhood friends against charges of murder…
In
a small town on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, life and culture are
shaped by the farm roads defining the 640-acre sections of land homesteaders
claimed at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cullen and Shelby Blaine explore
first love along these section roads during the 1960’s, forging a life-long
emotional bond.
As junior high school band nerds, Cullen
and Shelby fall under the protection of football player and loner, Buddy Boyd.
During their sophomore year of high school, Buddy is charged with killing a
classmate and is confined to a youth correctional facility. When he returns to
town facing the prospect of imprisonment as an adult, Cullen becomes Buddy’s
protector.
The case haunts the three friends into
adulthood, and it isn’t until their fortieth reunion, that they’re forced to
revisit that horrible night. When a new killing takes place, Cullen, Shelby and
Buddy find themselves reliving the nightmare.
Murder is an easy thing to hide along
old country section roads.
Advance
Praise
“An
ambitious, evocative small-town tale located somewhere between Peyton Place and
The Last Picture Show.” –Kirkus Review
Read
the Full Review
Interview
with Mike Murphey
As a
writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal
Cats. Not
so much as a spirit animal, but just to have her hanging around. When took up
writing again about ten years ago, I probably wrote half my books with Hef the
cat on my lap. She lived to be twenty and after she passed, we acquired
LumpyCat. She is not a lap cat. (I think she’s self-conscious about her weight)
But she does like to lie on my notes, my keyboard, my mousepad, whatever I’m
most interested in using at the moment
How
many hours a day do you put into your writing?
The number
of hours can vary quite a bit. My rule is that write at least 500 words a day
on the current project. Sometimes squeezing out 500 words is an ordeal. Some
days, 2,500 or 3,000 words just flow.
Do
you leave hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find?
Not
really. I think readers find messages—or things they relate to in a very
personal way—each according to their own life experience. Because Section
Roads has some biographical elements, I’m sure some of my childhood friends
will recognize certain events and interpret them in certain ways that no one
else will.
Can
you tell us a bit about the characters in Section Roads?
When attorney Cullen Molloy attends his fortieth high school
reunion, he doesn’t expect to be defending childhood friends against charges of
murder.
In a small town on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, life and
culture are shaped by the farm roads defining the 640-acre sections of land
homesteaders claimed at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cullen and Shelby
Blaine explore first love along these section roads during the 1960’s, forging
a life-long emotional bond.
As junior high school band nerds, Cullen and Shelby fall under the
protection of football player and loner, Buddy Boyd. During their sophomore
year of high school, Buddy is charged with killing a classmate and is confined
to a youth correctional facility. When he returns to town facing the prospect
of imprisonment as an adult, Cullen becomes Buddy’s protector.
Can you tell us a little bit about your
next books or what you have planned in the future.
My next book is The ConMan, to be
published in December. The ConMan is a novel based on the true story of an
itinerate professional baseball pitcher. A friend named Keith Comstock played
professional baseball for sixteen years. He finally became a rookie in the
Major Leagues at the age of thirty-one. He is a remarkable man who has made a
remarkable journe.
My current project is a non-fiction
book on The Chad Mitchell Trio and the 1960’s folk music era.
Do you allow yourself a certain number
of hours to write or do you write as long as the words come?
When the gods give you the words,
you’ve got to get them on paper.
What
inspires you to write?
I’ve always loved both reading and
writing. Just doing the work has a lot more to do with my writing than
inspiration. I write because I enjoy it. I’m amazed and gratified when others
enjoy reading what I’ve written. My characters and stories reveal themselves as
I work. I wish I could do it the other way around, but so far, I haven’t been
able to.
Would
you rather:
Read
fiction or non-fiction?
I read more fiction than non-fiction,
but I love histories of fascinating events and individuals.
Read
series or stand-alone?
Doesn’t matter so long as the story is
compelling
Read
science fiction or horror?
Science Fiction
Read
Stephen Kin or Dean Koontz?
Although I don’t read a lot of Stephen
King, he has written two of the books on my top-ten list, The Stand and Rita
Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
Read
the book or watch the movie?
I love movies and go to a lot of them,
but I would always choose to read the book first.
Read
an ebook or paperback?
The convenience of my Kindle has
corrupted me.
Do
a cross-country book store tour or blog tour online?
I can only hope that someday somebody
wants me to do a book store tour.
About
the Author
Mike
Murphey is a native of eastern New Mexico and spent almost thirty years as an
award-winning newspaper journalist in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
Following his retirement from the newspaper business, he and his wife Nancy
entered in a seventeen-year partnership with the late Dave Henderson, all-star
centerfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.
Their company produces the A’s and Mariners adult baseball Fantasy Camps. They
also have a partnership with the Roy Hobbs adult baseball organization in Fort
Myers, Florida. They love baseball, fiction, cats and sailing. They split their
time between Spokane, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona. Mike enjoys life as a
writer and old-man baseball player.
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2 comments:
thanks for hosting
Honestly, I find the setting of the story interesting. It's described as a small and isolated place and community but still there is a mystery to be solved
Thank you for sharing your interview, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work.
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