May the Force Be with Me!

by Kay Kendall


Right now I need all the help I can get. So today I called down The Force to help amp up my super powers. In my case, The Force is Bob Dylan.

 Let me explain.

My second mystery published almost three years ago. Like the first one, it took its name from a Bob Dylan song title. I use Dylan to evoke the late 1960s when the stories take place. In 2013 came my first mystery in the Austin Starr series, DESOLATION ROW (see concert shirt at right). In 2015 came RAINY DAY WOMEN. And then came a lengthy hiatus.

 Now, at long, long last my marvelous editor and I are getting my third mystery ready for publication. Maybe you think I’ve been lazing around the house and doing nothing. Nope. Not exactly. Chez Kendall got hit by three major illnesses in a row. First my husband fought cancer. Then I did, and then I developed a rare bone disease from a botched dental procedure.

My third book got written along the way, but it took a super long time. As I contemplate the work still to be done, my supply of oomph feels drained. The revision I face on this continuation of the Austin Starr mystery saga seems taxing. That's why I call on Mr. Dylan to lend me some of his special sauce—just a pinch of his enormous creativity, pretty please—to prepare me for the arduous journey ahead.

Heck, I may need to wear this Dylan tee shirt every day for the next month. Well, if so, it will be worth it. I look forward to bringing my third mystery, AFTER YOU'VE GONE, to its publication date, later this year.

This third mystery is a prequel featuring Austin Starr's Texas grandmother. And wouldn't you know it, she too loves to solve puzzles. In 1923, inspired by her emersion in the Sherlock Holmes stories of her era, she chases down the murderer of a relative when everyone else believes a peculiarly awful death was merely an accident. She runs into rumrunners, bootleggers, gangsters, and genuine flappers—even floozies. Headquarters for this activity in Texas during Prohibition was the wild city of Galveston on the gulf coast. Al Capone even sent his goons down from Chicago to try to muscle in on the action. Suffice it to say, Austin’s grandmother has many eye-opening experiences.

Of course, Dylan wasn't writing songs 100 years ago so I use another song title instead, one that stands the test of time. Popular in the Roaring Twenties when this prequel is set, the song "After You've Gone" has been covered by many famous singers every decade since. I especially recommend the versions by Ella Fitzgerald and Fiona Apple. Find them on YouTube.   

And then, some months from now when Stairway Press publishes my new mystery, I hope you will read it—and then conclude that some things are worth waiting for. Just please do wish me luck in the meantime.

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Meet the author

Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and now writes mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. A reformed PR executive who won international awards for her projects, Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she's a Bob Dylan buff. In 2015 Rainy Day Women won two Silver Falchion Awards at Killer Nashville. Visit Kay at her website < http://www.austinstarr.com/>

or on Facebook < https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor>