#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Kelly Brakenhoff

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I’d like to welcome author Kelly Brakenhoff to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

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Things you need for your writing sessions: Irish Breakfast Tea in my large writer mug that says, “Please do not annoy the writer. She may put you in a book & kill you.”

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Things that hamper your writing: Music with words! I listen to instrumental movie scores or groups like the Piano Guys while I write.

Hardest thing about being a writer: First drafts, especially the murky middle.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with character names.

Things you never want to run out of: Irish Breakfast Tea, wine.

Things you wish you’d never bought: High heeled sandals to match a dress I wore once.

Favorite music or song: U2, Classic rock, I change favorite songs every year or two.

Music that drives you crazy: Pop music that repeats the lyrics too many times.

Favorite smell: Freshly bathed baby.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Teenaged boy’s gym duffel bag.

Last best thing you ate: Coronavirus takeout: Gourmet Hamburger with Apples, Gouda cheese, pickled onions & Awesome sauce with Parmesan Truffle Fries from Honest Abe’s (a local restaurant)

Last thing you regret eating: All the little snacks during self-quarantine that led to my COVID +10 pounds.

The last thing you ordered online: Twinkly solar lights for our patio.

The last thing you regret buying: A brown leather recliner I thought was cool but my husband hates.

Things you always put in your books: Characters who are Deaf and use ASL. Funny things my friends say.

Things you never put in your books: Serial killers and psychopaths.

Things to say to an author: “I told all my friends I loved your books!”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “You’ve been on self-quarantine for 13 weeks. Aren’t you done with a couple of books yet?”

Favorite places you’ve been: Italy, especially Rome, Florence and Tuscany.

Places you never want to go to again: Branson, MO or places I’ve already visited a couple of times. There are so many new places I haven’t seen that I want to try.

Favorite books (or genre): Mysteries and thrillers!

Books you wouldn’t buy: Space opera, dry business non-fiction, celebrity tell-alls.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Janet Evanovich, David Baldacci, Pope Francis

People you’d cancel dinner on: Most politicians.

Favorite things to do: Reading, cooking, running, hiking.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cleaning bathrooms and showers.

Things that make you happy: My family.

Things that drive you crazy: My family.

About Kelly:

KELLY BRAKENHOFF writes the Cassandra Sato Mystery series including DEATH BY DISSERTATION, a 2020 RONE Award Mystery Finalist, and DEAD WEEK, "a diverting whodunit," (Publishers Weekly). Kelly is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her Deaf friends.  NEVER MIND, her first children’s picture book introducing Duke the Deaf Dog has enchanted children and parents alike. The mother of four young adults and a hunting dog, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.

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