THEY MEAN WELL, BUT . . .

Mattie's Mysteries by
Mary A. Berger

Pssst... Mattie here. I've been eavesdropping. (No. Really?) I thought I'd share with you a few, ahem, "observations" of well-meaning non-writers whose remarks I just happened to overhear along the way while my creator, Mary A. Berger, has been out promoting her books. Here goes:

"Well, if you enjoy writing stories about a nosy amateur sleuth, that's all that matters. It does give you something to do."

"How could someone like you write about those awful people? Ugh."

"Why is this 'Mattie' person always poking her nose in where it doesn't belong? Shouldn't she sit back and let others run things?"

"Why not write ten books and have them all published at once? It can't cost that much."

"You should use a smaller print style."

"You should use a larger print style."

"You should use wingdings print style. That would add a humorous touch for publishers to decipher, and they'd pick up on your sense of humor."

"Where do you get your ideas for stories—from supermarket tabloids?"

And the most notorious comment of all:  "You actually sell these books?"

Mattia again, slumping. These are actual comments I've heard while sitting in the back row at Mary's book promos or hanging around book shows. I might be back another day to share more gems with you.

Meanwhile, (whispering) someone has discovered a body in Holy Redeemer's baptizing tub. Think anyone would mind if I sneaked in an took a few notes? Oh, wait. That's the new story Mary's working on (Head slap) Of course I'll be there. See you then.