Mar Preston writes the Dave Mason Santa Monica Mysteries; the latest is Rip-Off. The genre in which she writes is mystery, specifically “police procedural.”
The latest book in the series is based around the question: How does the body of a lowlife found in the Santa Monica beach condo of a playboy movie exec link up with Chechens that Detective Dave Mason of the SMPD keeps hearing about? The investigation leads him into the dark world of embezzlement, to an explosion that almost kills him, and a bungled FBI take down. Mason must redeem himself and the department, and keep the woman he loves, but the odds are against him and he knows it.
Preston is inspired by “A contemporary event or issue...and I want to involve Detective Mason, his activist girlfriend, and Santa Monica. It's a small city that fires up a lot of heat and passion.”
Her inspiration to create comes from “a gift of imagination and I want to take it out to play.”
Preston’s covers are created by the very talented Milan Polak. http://www.pmcds.ca“I cannot sing his praises highly enough.”
Most authors have a process for getting their thoughts on paper. Preston describes what comes to her with the least effort and what is more challenging. “Portraying the characters is easy because I hear them talking in my head. No, I am not schizophrenic. Getting the point of view and time sequence right is the hardest.” Preston’s work is influenced by Peter Robinson, Ed McBain, Kent Kreuger, Michael Connelly, and Margaret Atwood.
She has her favorite authors as well. “Currently, J.A. Jance, because she conveys Seattle and small town Arizona so well. I like to go places in a book that I don't know.” A new author also makes her list, “A native Canadian author, Wayne Arthurson, is soooooo good.”
Many authors are somewhat quirky; fans may want to know that Preston feels that “Mystery writers walk the dark side and my enthusiasms are not exactly conventional.” That is a mysterious statement that may make readers want to explore the work of Mar Preston. Browse and buy her work at:
In order to promote, Preston has many excellent methods, including, “Hiring a publicist to help me. Commenting on interesting blogs, searching for opportunities to guest blog, publishing short stories, supporting Sisters-in-Crime, and limited involvement in Facebook and Twitter. I wish I had a clone.”
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