Wow!! I received an awesome review for "The Space Station Murders" from Rochelle's Reviews:

http://rochellesreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/space-station-murders-by-m-roelke.html

She compared me to Heinlein, if you can believe that!! :O

Missing, Assumed Dead, by Marva Dasef

Missing, Assumed Dead

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.

by Marva Dasef

I'm Kameron McBride. Call me Kam. When I earned my degree in Computer Science, and got my first job as a systems analyst at a major software company in Seattle, I figured all I had to do is keep my eyes peeled for Mr. Right. Not that I was in any rush to get married, but I didn't want to miss something good while I was busy building my career.

Just one minor little detail. Well, make that two. Dad died. That just about killed me. He was always my best bud. Mom and I soldiered on, though. Then Mom started feeling bad, really weak. The doctor diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis. She got treatments, but MS doesn't have a cure. So she got weaker and weaker until she couldn't walk around anymore. She went from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair. But she kept herself busy with genealogy. I don't see the appeal myself, but it makes her happy.

Any thoughts of even getting a date went out the door. Don't get me wrong. I love my mom and don't resent a single second of the time I spend taking care of her. After all, she took care of me and sacrificed a lot to get me through college.

Then I got the letter. Talk about weird. Some guy I'd never heard of disappeared seven years ago, and he was declared dead. Strange enough, but even stranger, I was named as the executor of his estate.

I wanted to shuck it off, but Mom told me the man was related to my father. Seventh cousin, twice removed or something like that. She said I had to go. She wanted anything having to do with the family, you know, photos, birth records, stuff like that.

So there I was, driving through the gawdawful foresaken wilds of eastern Oregon, trying to find some bump in the road town called Rosewood. Of course, I got lost. Who wouldn't? Every chunk of scraggly sagebrush looks like the next, and they don't seem big on road signs.

Lucky for me, a Deputy Sheriff found me sitting out in the middle of nowhere. We had a minor little disagreement at first. He wanted to shoot me. But I forgave him for that when I looked into those baby blues. Ahem. Right. Anyway, here's a brief description and excerpt.

Back Cover:

When Kameron McBride receives notice she’s the last living relative of a missing man she’s never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. But since she’s the only one available, she grudgingly agrees.

En route, she runs afoul of a couple of hillbillies and their pickup in an accident that doesn’t seem...accidental. Especially when they keep showing up wherever she goes. Lucky for her, gorgeous Deputy Mitch Caldwell lends her a hand, among other things. Her suspicions increase when the probate Judge tries a little too hard to buy the dead man’s worthless property.

Working on a hunch and trying to avoid the Judge’s henchmen, Kam probes deeper into the town’s secrets and finds almost no one she can trust. With Mitch’s help, she peels away the layers of prejudice, suicide, murder, and insanity. But someone in town doesn’t like her poking around, and when they show their intentions by shooting her through the police chief’s office window, the stakes are raised. Kam must find out what really happened to her dead relative before someone in this backward little town sends her to join him.

And she thought Oregon was going to be boring.

Excerpt:

The sky had turned a deeper blue as the sun continued its trip behind the mountain ridge. The shadows lengthened on the east side of the scraggly shrubs. The faint hum of a car engine drew her eyes southward. “Good, I could use some directions.” But she was alone on an otherwise empty road. Maybe the approaching vehicle held a friendly soul, but it could just as well carry a serial killer.

Using her shirttail as a hot pad, she gingerly took hold of the door handle again and climbed back into the car. Goose bumps rose on her arms when the still blasting air conditioning hit them. She turned on the emergency flashers then opened the glove box, looking for something to use as a weapon. “Ah ha!” Kam pulled out a two-inch canister. “Pepper spray? Crap, just hair spray, but that shit burns eyes. Better than nothing.” She tucked it between her right thigh and the console to hide it from view, her finger ready on the button.

The vehicle grew larger and revealed itself to be a Ford Expedition SUV painted Oregon green. The lights on its roof flashed blue and red for a moment then went off. “A cop. Excellent.” On the other hand, she’d heard of guys who decked out their rides to look like cop cars.

The SUV pulled up behind her and stopped. After a long pause, the door opened. A man in khaki climbed out and walked forward. He stopped behind the car and wrote something, probably the plate number, on a pad. Aviator glasses hid his eyes, but the rest of him looked pretty good. Tall. Well, maybe not too tall. Slim and dark, just how Kam liked them. Watching him approach, she wondered idly how he managed to keep the razor-sharp creases in his uniform in this heat.

When he reached her side window, he gestured for her to roll it down. Kam cracked the window a couple of inches. She noted the badge and the Smokey Bear hat. “I don’t think I was speeding, Officer.”

The man chuckled, showing fine smile lines at the corners of his full mouth. He had great teeth. “No, you weren’t, but I wondered if you might be lost. A lot of people get themselves turned around out here.”

Kam gave him a rueful grin. “Yeah, lost isn’t the half of it. I’m looking for Cork Hill Road.” She hoped he was the real deal, but she sure as hell wasn’t opening her door. Tin badges were easy to buy on eBay.

“License and rental agreement?”

“Sure.” She opened the center console and pulled out the papers with her left hand, then shoved the rental agreement through the two-inch opening. She couldn’t figure out how to extract her license out of her purse without letting go of the spray.

“Your license?”

“Why don’t you just direct me to Cork Hill, or if that’s too hard, how about Rosewood.”

“I’d be happy to, miss, but I really do need to see your license. Paperwork, you understand.”

Kam released a deep breath breath. She stretched her arm across her body trying to reach her purse on the other seat. She grabbed the strap and pulled it toward her. It slipped out of her left hand. She automatically lifted her right to grab it. “Shit!”

Instantly, the officer’s manner changed. The smile disappeared, and he took a step back, pulling his gun from his left-handed holster. “Drop the canister out the window,” he ordered. “Do it now.”

Kam squeaked and threw her hands up. The canister flipped out of her hand and flew at the windshield. It bounced back and landed in her lap. “Now what?”

“Pick it up and push it out the window. Slowly.”

“You already said that.” She picked up the spray with two fingers and dropped it out the window. “Hey, I don’t know if you’re a real policeman. Anyone can play cops and robbers.”

“Please step out of the car. Use only your left hand to unlatch the door and keep your right hand where I can see it.” The barrel of his pistol never wavered from her torso.

“Take it easy. I’m opening the door.” He stood outside the reach of the door’s swing. Kam decided she’d rather fight outside the car, than be shot inside it. She got out with her hands still raised.

“Now move to the rear of the vehicle,” he ordered. When Kam obeyed, he took a step forward, never taking his eyes off her, knelt, and picked up the canister. Straightening, he glanced down at the canister then back to her. The corner of his mouth twitched as he re-holstered his pistol. “Sorry, but…hairspray?” He took off the aviators and smiled.

http://marvadasef.com

Blog: http://mgddasef.blogspot.com

Twitter Handle: @Gurina

MuseItUp Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/Missing-Dasef

MuseItUp Author page: http://tinyurl.com/MIU-MarvaDasef

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI_8LgOIb4

Interview of A. M. Roelke, author of "The Space Station Murders"

Today we are interviewing...that's right: me. A. M. Roelke, author of "The Space Station Murders."

Yes, I'm interviewing...myself...!!

*pauses for gasps of shock and horror*

Who do you think would like your book? (Or alternately: Please tell prospective readers why they’d like your book.)

You might like my book if you’d enjoy a quick read that combines mystery in a SF setting with humor, drama, and buddy elements.

What is your favorite thing about your story?

I like that it’s a buddy story. I also like that it deals with the inner things the main character is dealing with, even though the story is pretty fast paced. (Well, it’s only 20,000 words. It has to move quickly to get the whole story in.)

Do you remember how long it took you to write? How about to edit and find a publisher?

I think it was about a month or less. It took much longer to edit, as I went over it a number of times. Eventually I sent it to the new publisher, MuseItUp Publications, which had accepted Terri Main’s mystery/SF book, Dark Side of the Moon, and they accepted it!

What is your favorite type of book to read? Do you have any favorite books or authors?

I like mysteries a lot. Obviously I also like science fiction—and more rarely, fantasy. I like lots of different sorts of books, including YA and some nonfiction, but somehow it trips me up trying to pick favorites—because there’s so much I seem to leave out if I have to pick favorites.

In mystery I love hardboiled works like those by Raymond Chandler, as well as cozy mysteries. I’m always finding new authors I like, but I still like most of my old favorites, too—such as the book I loved as a child, The Runaway Robot, by Lester del Rey. And I love Diana Wynne Jones’ children’s fantasy books. I’m really sad that she’s gone now and will never publish more.

Anything interesting in your past you’d care to share? Like have you ever worked as a rodeo clown, for instance? :)

I’m really rather dull. But once I sang karaoke to a song that I’d never heard the whole way through. It happened at an amusement park, and there was almost no one watching. I picked “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and only realized partway through that I’d never heard the song all the way through before, and so didn’t know which ways to sing the later notes.

My brother and I also sang a duet, and that worked much better, as we knew the whole song. I’m not sure I’d have been brave enough to attempt either song, if it had been more crowded or I’d been in a less silly mood.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

Right now I’m into CI-5: The Professionals. I also like Starsky and Hutch, and Life on Mars (the American version—haven’t seen the British one), and enjoyed the short-lived Raines a few years ago. My favorite currently airing shows are Psych and White Collar. I’m also looking forward to the return of Rizzoli and Isles. All of these favorites mystery shows, you may notice!

My favorite movies are Frequency, Casablanca, and It’s A Wonderful Life. :D I also like The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, and Arsenic and Old Lace.

Can readers contact you?

Yes. :)

EMAIL: AliceRoelke *AT* gmail.com

On Facebook: http://on.fb.me/avHvJ0

If you were alive in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc., did you have any hairstyles that now make you cringe?

Not really. I used to wear a really long ponytail, but I didn’t like it. Everyone used to say to me, “No! You can’t cut your hair!!” But I finally put my foot down and got my hair cut, and I found myself much more confident and comfortable once I did.

Please share a synopsis or blurb, and a brief excerpt from your book.

tag:

“A grieving ex-cop. A crowded space station. A killer on the loose.”

blurb:

Herb Molloy went so far downhill after his partner died that he’s now an ex-cop living under one of the space station’s artificial beautification bridges.

Into his barely getting by life comes trouble and friendship. Trouble in the form of murders on the space station—his fellow homeless people targeted, picked off one by one. Friendship in the form of station newbie Zack Ives, who doesn’t know enough to look after himself yet... and who wants to investigate the murders.

Herb reluctantly agrees to help him, and the two step into danger’s path to solve... The Space Station Murders.

Mini Excerpt:

“You seen any papers since you got here?”

The kid shook his head, a blank look on his face. “Too busy and didn’t have the money.”

“Well, let me give you a clue, then. Somebody’s been offing homeless people, and if you’re not careful, you could be next.” He watched the kid’s eyes widen. “Don’t hang around alone. Stay in travelled areas, avoid dark alleys. That’s usually where the bodies are found.”

“Bodies?! How many has he killed?”

“Five.”

“Five!”

“The cops are working on it. But it’s always a dark spot, usually near a trash heap and a busted light, so the victims won’t be found till morning.” He cocked a finger at the kid. “Do your job-hunting in the open and get back here before dark. This is a safe spot.”

“Yeah, I know. They told me—that lady, Dolores?—she says there’s an ex-cop here. Says he keeps them safe. I bet it’s that old guy with the harmonica.”

Herb smiled to himself. “Look after yourself, kid.” He got up and started towards town.

You can read a longer excerpt on the publisher’s page, here: http://bit.ly/dmHnj0

Or download a sample for the Kindle, here: http://amzn.to/ixmMMu

Anything else you’d care to share?

Yeah. My dad teasingly said my story is “Mickey Spillane in space,” but I think he’s wrong! Sure, the main character is tough (sometimes too tough for his own good), but I don’t really think he’s really Mickey Spillane-like.

Thank you for your time, and best of luck with your book! :)

You are SO welcome!! :P

~A. M. Roelke~ "The Space Station Murders" http://amzn.to/ixmMMu

SF / Mystery novella ~NOW AVAILABLE! ~ http://bit.ly/dmHnj0

Writing credits: http://sites.google.com/site/aliceroelke/

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/avHvJ0

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