Mystery We Write Tour: Patricia Gligor

It is my pleasure to introduce you to fellow mystery writer, Patricia Gligor.

Patricia Gligor is a Cincinnati native. She enjoys reading mystery/suspense novels, touring and photographing old houses and traveling, especially to the ocean. Mixed Messages, the first novel in her Malone Mystery Series, was published in April 2012 by Post Mortem Press. Unfinished Business is the second novel in the series.

Let’s get to know Patricia a little better.  When you were little, what did you want to become when you grew up?

When I was a little girl, I read Judy Bolton and Nancy Drew mysteries constantly. I had an active imagination to begin with and the authors of those books “fueled the fire.” I saw mystery everywhere. We lived in an old house with a woods behind it stretching as far as the eye could see. There was a small cemetery at the top of the hill in those woods. How eerie and mysterious! I concocted all sorts of scenarios and convinced my best friend, her brother and my brother to act out the stories with me. They were all younger than me and I know I often frightened them with my tales of murder and intrigue.

When I was ten, I wrote a poem called “The Night” and submitted it to my Sunday school magazine. To my amazement, it was published. When I saw my name (byline) printed under that title, I was hooked for life! I didn’t know how and I didn’t know when but I knew that someday I would be a published author. Deciding which genre I would write in was a “no brainer” for me.

Throughout my teens and twenties, I wrote poetry. Then, in my thirties, I began to write short stories and short shorts and three of my shorts were published in a local magazine. Through the years, I continued to write and submit my stories to magazines. At one point, I came “within an inch” of having a short mystery published in a national magazine but the editor I was working with left the magazine for another job just before it happened and the new editor wasn’t interested in my story. I was so disappointed! But I kept writing.

My dream had always been to write a novel that would be published. In 1995, after attempting two other novels that didn’t hold my interest long enough for me to finish them, I came up with the idea for my first Malone mystery, Mixed Messages. I was working full time then and had other pressing obligations so the time I was able to devote to my writing was extremely limited. From 1995 until 2002, I compiled bits and pieces of characters and plot and finally created an outline.

Then, in April 2002, I met Mary Higgins Clark at a book signing, told her about my plans to write a novel and she encouraged me to get to it. I started the actual writing that year and worked on it as much as possible for the next ten years. In 2009, my position as an administrative assistant for a large corporation was eliminated company wide. I finally had the time to focus on my writing and my writing career. I jumped in with both feet! In April 2012, Mixed Messages was published by Post Mortem Press and the sequel, Unfinished Business, was published last month, on November 20th.

Sometimes, when I stop to think about it, I remember myself as that little girl who wanted to write mysteries and who would go off to be alone to daydream. That little girl is still inside me and she still sees mystery everywhere!

 

Tell us a little bit about your novel, Unfinished Business: 

The Westwood Strangler is dead. Or so everyone believes.

Ann Kern is busy preparing for her favorite holiday. She’s especially looking forward to her sister’s annual Christmas visit. But, several things threaten to ruin her festive mood.

The National Weather Service issues a severe winter storm warning for the Cincinnati area, predicting blizzard conditions, and Ann worries that her sister and her new boyfriend won’t be able to make the drive from South Carolina.

Then, a woman is found strangled in Ann’s neighborhood and everyone, including the police, assumes it’s the work of a copycat killer. However, when two more women are murdered in their homes, the police announce their conviction that the Westwood Strangler is responsible.

 

When Ann hears the news, the sense of safety and security she’s worked so hard to recapture since her attack on Halloween night, shatters. If the intruder who died in her apartment wasn’t the Westwood Strangler, who is? And, who will be the next victim?

 

Where can we read more about you and your books?

Blog: http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/

Patricia Gligor’s Amazon page:

http://tinyurl.com/8sd2cz4

PATRICIA GLIGOR'S GIVEAWAY

At the end of the blog tour, I will be giving away one copy of Unfinished Business, the second novel in my Malone mystery series. Leave a comment and you’re automatically entered to win. Please include your email address with your comment so that, if your name is selected, I may contact you to get your mailing address. The winner will be announced on my blog: http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ on December 11. Best of luck!