Lifelong Learner by Mary Seifert

From Lord Byron’s Don Juan (1823)

“Tis strange—but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction.”

In our quest to ‘get it right,’ authors are natural researchers and lifelong learners with a penchant for discovery, and as we satisfy our curiosity, the quest for truth builds and enhances our tales. 

When I began writing my Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries, I walked, drove, and biked paths my characters might take because the contemporary town I use once existed in Minnesota. Checking out tomes of information on forensics, pathology, and poisons baffled my local librarians. I learned about weapons from the educator/teacher at our local gun club, visited hospitals and police stations, and even scoured the internet. Unfortunately, I discovered not everything in cyberspace comes from a reputable source, so I sought out professionals in the fields I needed for accuracy: pharmacy, medicine, law, music, art, cryptology, and mathematics.

My amateur sleuth, Katie Wilk, attended the Royal Holloway for cryptanalysis, a career decrypting and encrypting codes. Life took a wrong turn and though her path changed, I still felt the need to share stories of her unsung heroes—the female cryptographers of WWW I and WWW II—who are only now being heralded for their keen intelligence and profound contributions to the war efforts. Instead, Katie accepted a job teaching high school mathematics, and numbers turn up in strange places. The varied enigmas in my stories aren’t just for show; the calculated conundrums lead Katie in and out of trouble and exist for the reader to work out as well. If you want to hone your skills, there are similar puzzles in my newsletters. 

Katie teaches her students the art of problem solving—mathematical and personal. As teachers in the real world often do, she supervises students in extra-curricular activities. Fortunately, in my distant past, I taught high school and college math, guiding participants in similar undertakings. Many incidents are based on real events.

Advising science club, Katie provides opportunities for investigation. To validate the electronic experiment for Maverick, Movies & Murder, I built the requisite telegraph with a switch, wires, batteries, and a light bulb. Rescue, Rogues & Renegade used DNA so I administered a blood typing kit. I created my own periodic table with bits of elements I could locate. When my knowledge base needed a lift, I learned how to use a blow torch, fly a drone, and tune a piano. The patient instructors gave practical advice I could use for my stories. My latest, untitled Book 9 references the Kentucky Derby. I’ve not yet attended, but my mother-in-law gave a detailed first-hand account of her dream-come-true. The closest I could get was attending the races at Canterbury Downs in Minnesota where I could see, hear, taste, smell, and feel the excitement. 

The mock trial Katie’s students study is a civil case—the wife of a victim of the Titanic sinking is suing the White Star Line for loss of life. With museums full of material, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the information existing on the tragedy.

And then there is the dog. Maverick embodies all the astonishing traits of our local hospice therapy dogs: canines who bring joy to their patients, dogs who can rouse the lethargic, relax the nervous, gently touch someone repeatedly prodded and painfully poked, or just provide an opportunity to make a choice because sometimes that possibility has been taken out of their hands. I’ve met search-and-rescue dogs with other special gifts and have been able to share similar extraordinary stories of the work those animals undertake. 

Never knowing exactly what a dog may decide, I have vignettes from the flip-side—the mischievous, fun, loud, slobbery moments, reflecting actions of my own pooch.

The fount of knowledge is bottomless. We can learn something new every day. I write fiction, but there is an abundance of wonder and mystery in real life—some of it, I just can’t make up. 

Did you know, as of August 31, 2024, the grandson of John Tyler, the tenth POTUS, is still alive?

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Mary Seifert’s Impact Award winning Katie and Maverick cozy mystery series delineates Katie’s first year teaching. The mysteries include the 2023 American Fiction Award finalist Maverick, Movies & Murder, the 2024 Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem finalist Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine, and a Top Pick for the 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award with Fishing, Festivities & Fatalities. In the eighth book, Pranks, Payback & Poison, Katie balances care for the ones she loves with a murder investigation she shouldn’t be part of.

Mary is a member of Sisters in Crime and loves talking about books in libraries, bookstores, book clubs, coffee shops, anywhere someone will converse. With her terrifichusband and canine companion, she calls Minnesota home, but loves to travel to far-flung places around the United States and beyond. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America, American Cryptogram Association, and PEO.

This link will take you to Mary’s website with connections to many online retailers where you can find out more about Mary.

https://maryseifertauthor.com 

Amazon buy link to Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2N876FZ 

Social Media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mary.seifert.144 

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