Mabel and the Little Green Men: Q&A with Susan Kimmel Wright + Giveaway

 

 

About the Book

Book: Mabel and the Little Green Men

Author: Susan Kimmel Wright

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Release date: October 5, 2023

The last thing Mabel needed was a flying saucer, not to mention a rash of similar sightings all over town. Her life’s already been upended by getting fired and moving to Grandma’s old house in Medicine Spring. So far, the deceptively sleepy village has delivered several murders—and romance with a handsome private investigator. Are little green men next?

While Mabel tries to get to the bottom of the apparent space invasion, she also gets herself caught between competing candidates for township supervisor. Small-town politics call for more diplomacy than she has—not to mention the ability to duck, run, and hide.

And unfortunately, her UFO investigation only raises more questions. Long-buried secrets surface, all tied to one night in 1958 and another seeming alien attack. But something more troublesome than any Martian invasion is on its way. A film crew descends, bent on producing a documentary on the historic UFO crash. Hordes of tourists follow, all infected with flying saucer fever. When an all-too-human body turns up at the alleged alien gravesite in a local cemetery, Mabel realizes murder is bound to follow her, whether of this world or not.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Susan Kimmel Wright began her life of mystery as a child, with reading. That led to writing kids’ mysteries and eventually to Medicine Spring with Mabel. A longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Susan’s also a prolific writer of personal experience stories, many for Chicken Soup for the Soul. She shares an 1875 farmhouse in southwestern PA with her husband, several dogs and cats, and an allegedly excessive stockpile of coffee and tea mugs.

 

 

 

More from Susan

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a…UFO?

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and seen something you couldn’t explain? What did you—or would you—do? Call a friend? The police department? Post a picture on social media? Or maybe you’d keep it quiet, trying to convince yourself it was a figment of your imagination.

In Mabel & the Little Green Men, I had so much fun giving Mabel a UFO encounter and then seeing where it led her, while more sightings and the arrival of a TV documentary crew turned the small town of Medicine Spring topsy-turvy. Wacky characters and situations kept surprising me too!

My best friend has had UFO encounters—twice. Once, while sitting at her desk studying, she looked out to see a strange light hovering beyond her window. Another time, she spotted a large object in the sky ahead of her while driving home alone from a movie. Alas, though I’ve scanned the skies for years, this has never happened to me!

My friend is far from the only sane person to report seeing a UFO. Every year, hundreds of sightings are reported in the US, including many from police, ministers, military pilots, and others not known for fabrication or flights of fantasy. The term UFO (unidentified flying object), as well as the now-preferred term UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), both simply refer to an airborne object that can’t be readily identified. Neither term has anything whatsoever to do with flying saucers or “little green men.”

Most UFOs are eventually explained—some as atmospheric events, deflated balloons, or experimental aircraft. But the mystery fascinates me—especially for the handful that have never been satisfactorily explained.

While I’ve never personally seen a UFO, many people in my area reported the 1965 crash of the Kecksburg “space acorn,” an event now celebrated with an annual festival benefiting the fire department. Do you have a UFO story in your town?

Author Interview

What are five random facts about you that we will not find in your bio? 
 

I was born and raised within walking distance of the Flight 93 crash that occurred during the 9-11 terrorist attack, and graduated (in a class of 38!) in Shanksville, PA.  
I rescue Australian cattle dogs (also known as heelers or blue/red heelers). 
I speak Spanish. 
I love cheesy 1950s B-movie horror films, like Teenagers from Outer Space. 
I can milk a cow. 
 

When did you first discover you had a passion for writing? 
 
I started in childhood, making up and illustrating stories I’d dictate to my dear mom, to write down for me before I’d mastered writing. In fourth grade, my teacher told me I’d write a book someday, and asked me to dedicate it to her. (I did!)  
 
 

Are you a planner or a pantser? 
 
A “plan-tser!” I started out as an extreme outliner, but soon realized this really inhibited my creativity. Ten years ago, I first participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a challenge in which you commit to writing a 50,000-word novel, beginning to end, during the month of November. The first rule of NaNoWriMo is to evict your inner editor and just let ‘er rip! I found writing this way so freeing that, even though I still do some basic planning, I’ve since adopted a much looser approach in writing my first drafts, and then go back for revisions. In fact, all of the first three books in my series started as “NaNo books,” though they’ve all been through extensive revisions since I first launched them in a series of 50,000-word November blitzes. 
 

What was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life? 
 
Probably unsurprisingly, I found it really challenging to incorporate something unexplained like UFOs into a book that was not science fiction. My books, being humorous cozy mysteries, are already pretty far from hardheaded realism. (After all, how many murders are likely to land at one’s village doorstep in a few months’ time?) And so much of humor is based on exaggeration and slapstick. UFOs added one more surreal element to the mix. I chose to handle this aspect of the book by staying close to the known facts about UFOs—that they do exist, though most are eventually explained scientifically. (Although local speculation runs wild, alas, no little green men make their appearance!) 
 

Where can readers follow along to see what’s coming next? 
 
Please visit me at https://susankimmelwright.com/ where you’ll also find my Facebook and Instagram links, plus a subscription link to my newsletter, which includes the free prequel novella e-book. 
 
 

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, May 17

Stories By Gina, May 18 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, May 18

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 19

Texas Book-aholic, May 20

Tell Tale Book Reviews, May 21 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 22

Blogging With Carol, May 23

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, May 24

Vicky Sluiter, May 25 (Author Interview)

Pause for Tales, May 25

Locks, Hooks and Books, May 26

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 27

Lily’s Corner, May 28

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, May 29 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, May 30

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize package of $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2b7cd/mabel-and-the-little-green-men-celebration-tour-giveaway