Fixing Freddie: A True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle. She was inspired to write A Borrowing of Bones, the first Mercy and Elvis mystery, by the hero working dogs she met through MissionK9Rescue, her own Newfoundland retriever mix rescue Bear, and a lifelong passion for crime fiction.Munier lives in New England with her family, Bear, and a torbie tabby named Ursula.
Her new Mercy and Elvis mystery is Blind Search.
Recently I asked Munier about what she was reading. Her reply:
As an agent and an author, I read for a living, so when I read for fun, I read whatever strikes my fancy. Here are just some of theVisit Paula Munier's website.books cluttering my bedside table at the moment.
The novel I’m reading now
The Far Empty, by J. Todd Scott. I had just started what Craig Johnson calls “a powerful new voice in contemporary western crime fiction” when I found out that the author would be my tablemate at the Speed Dating at Bouchercon. Serendipity! And, happily, I can tell everyone participating what a great writer he is. He knows his bleak Texas borderlands, and it shows. This book is one of those gritty stories that will haunt me….
The nonfiction book I’m reading now
Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression, by Mark Nepo. This is a wonderful book on the spiritual path of the artist, by the New York Times bestselling poet and philosopher. I have all of his beautifully written books, which are mostly about mindfulness and living an authentic life, but this one is about living an authentic life of expression. I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life for Mark Nepo to write a book on the creative process. And here it is.
The novel I just finished reading
The Cutting Season, by Attica Locke. My bad for taking so long to read Locke’s work. I loved everything about this book: thecharacters, the plot, the setting, the bitter ironies of life in the South. I’ll have to read everything she ever wrote now.
The nonfiction book I just finished reading
Educated, by Tara Westover. I thought I was over memoirs about people’s terrible childhoods and then I read this astonishing real-life story and wow. Just wow. This is the book I’ve recommended most this year. If you haven’t read it yet, just read it already.
The novel I just finished rereading
The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman. I’ve read most of her work at least once; I’ve read Practical Magic a dozen times. The Rules of Magicis a prequel to Practical Magic, and it does not disappoint.
The nonfiction book I just finished rereading
The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons, edited by Bob Eckstein. Whenever the vagaries of the publishing business make me feel like tearing my hair out—I am an agent and an author, remember—I open this book to any page. And laugh out loud.
Coffee with a Canine: Paula Munier & Bear.
--Marshal Zeringue
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