#Read about Guest #Author Noelle Granger

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

emiliecarolNoelleGranger-9 (2)I see dead people. Lots of them. No, I’m not Haley Joel Osmet in the Sixth Sense, just a human anatomist who spent 40 years teaching medical students, residents, graduate students and paramedics. And yes, I’ve seen the insides of more bodies than I can count. It’s a rare privilege to be able to do so, and I am forever grateful to the body donors who have allowed me to learn and teach.

I also had an active career in bench research, studying hormonal mechanisms involved in growth and development at the biochemical and molecular level in an invertebrate model system. Grant writing, paper writing, chapter writing, book writing. Lots of writing, and I was good at it, but all somewhat formulaic, nothing creative or imaginative. Well, I did raise the insects for Silence of the Lambs – a story for another time.

I had a list of things I wanted to do once I’d retired, but the first thing I had to do was get my right knee joint replaced. That put a damper on the sky diving, bungee jumping, flying a small plane and traveling the world with a just a backpack I had planned (wink, wink), at least for a while. I did want to write a book though, so I just sat down and wrote one in about six months. Little did I know that it would be another three years before it became a hold-it-in-your hand reality. Based on something I’d learned as a scientist – you need mentors to improve your craft – I joined two critique groups, and between them I learned how shape a story. I had the basics but there was so much more!

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I have just finished my second book in the Rhe Brewster mystery series and am working on the third. I love my main character – she’s a little bit of me but also a little bit of the person I’d like to be. But the most fun I’ve had writing these books is doing the research to make my books as authentic as possible. I’ve interviewed a lobsterman, sail maker and MicMac elder, all of them real characters who have allowed me to enrich my stories. More recently I’ve talked to a mammoth pumpkin grower, an arson investigator and a pilot. I’m learning about firearms and am contemplating getting a conceal and carry license. Did I mention I obtained an EMT license? It was hard being on the student side of the desk after so many years and I hyperventilated during the practical exam, but what I learned has proven very helpful for my books!

10428132_931001796914727_8676765060186943832_oI highly recommend the Writers Police Academy, which was in Greensboro, NC, last year and will be in Wisconsin next. There was so much practical information from police, FBI, ATF, firemen, and EMTs packed into three days that my head spun for weeks afterward. Where else could you learn how to collect evidence underwater, breach (blow up) outside and inside doors, or go undercover as a hooker?

My learning curve continues, now into marketing and advertising. These are not things I like to do, but every author must, if they want to sell their books. I blog at sailingaway.wordpress.com and hope to have some posts on my experience using a marketing firm later this spring.

I haven’t given up on my bucket list. I’ve been to Egypt and Jordan and recently went up in a small plane for a couple of hours. I love small planes, having grown up flying with my uncle. Not sure if I want to get my pilot’s license, but I’m trying yoga and have a date to play with a crane (not the bird!) in a week or two.

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Death in a Red Canvas Chair is available on Kindle and Amazon. Death in a Dacron Sail will be released in early February. Death by Pumpkin is coming along. Check out the covers; my daughter is the model.

Many thanks to my favorite Story Reading Ape for allowing me to chat on his blog!

Find me online at:

Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads

Find Death in a Red Canvas Chair at:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon:

UK – USA – Canada – Australia

60 thoughts on “#Read about Guest #Author Noelle Granger”

  4. Grant writing is a pain the behind. And anyone who has done as much as you have, Noelle, will no doubt accomplish everything on her bucket list! I wish you every success in your creative writing. Shared on FB, LI, G+, Twitter 🙂

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    • Thanks so much, Tina. I take it you’ve had experience with grant writing. There is nothing so devastating as spending three month writing one, not to mention the research results to put in it, and then getting a flat rejection. I must say my last grant from the DOE was the most interesting grant I ever wrote – they actually coached me on how to write a successful one, after the first one page review. Looking forward to chatting with you more!

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  5. Wow. I am envious of your professional life and your retired life. I have a degree in biochemistry but my favorite classes were forensic anthropology and anatomy and physiology. I think it is great how much research you have put into your books, as a reader I feel it really makes a difference when I read if I feel the information is accurate.

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    • And I envy you your knowledge of biochemistry! I loved the course I took and I advise every pre-med to take biochem because they need it! I love doing research for a book – better than lab research because I can get out and meet interesting people. Should have done this a long time ago!

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  9. I really like that phrase — she’s a little bit of me, and little bit who I want to be. It’s so fulfilling to create a character similar to yourself, put them through trials and tribulation, and see how they get through it, because you kind of feel like you made it through too. Wish fulfillment a bit as well, I guess, but the best kind 🙂

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