Scene of the Crime with Author Radine Trees Nehring!

This week you and I have an opportunity to become better acquainted with yet another of the fine authors at Oak Tree Press. Radine Trees Nehring lives in the Arkansas Ozarks and-- among many other things-- has written seven books in the Something to Die For mystery series which feature Carrie McCrite, a woman who just so happens to live in the very same area. Stop by tomorrow for my review of the latest in her series, A Fair to Die For.

Radine Trees Nehring

By the time you're finished reading this interview, I know you'll want to learn more about this talented writer and her books, so I've rustled up a few links:

Radine's website

Radine's blog

Radine on Facebook

Radine on Goodreads

More on Radine's books

Save these links for later because it's time for the good stuff-- the interview!

What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

There were many books in my early life. . . and I still own and treasure a couple my mom read to me.  Among the first books I remember reading (and re-reading) to myself is Inez Irwin's Maida series. Motherless Maida is the daughter of a very wealthy Wall Street tycoon. In the first novel she is recovering from surgery that has enabled her to walk for the first time, but is listless and seems bored. On a trip to Boston she shows interest in a small shop, and her father buys it for her so she can be a shop keeper!  Maida's Little Shop was published in (I learn online now) 1910, but of course I didn't read it until many years later.  I think what fascinated me about this series was reading about a girl whose father could buy her anything she wanted (and often did), but she remained unspoiled and had many adventures throughout the series, which included friends who also benefited from her father's wealth.  Perhaps the series would seem silly now, and Maida saccharin, but I sure loved it.  It offered a dream world I could spend time in during a sometimes difficult childhood.

Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

Gosh, that's easy. READ!  Second choice, hike in the natural world.

If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.)   

Whitaker Point

My husband and I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for many years and, then and now, the city parks would be my first places to recommend for pleasure. However, for the past 25 years we have lived on 23 acres in the Arkansas Ozarks we named "Spring Hollow." Our love for this place is what inspired my early writing as a mature adult. Eventually many of my magazine features and essays about people and the natural world of the Ozarks became my first book, the non-fiction Dear Earth: A Love Letter from Spring Hollow. So, today, this week, I would recommend a visit to our place at Spring Hollow where you could enjoy peaceful contemplation on my thinking bench overlooking our spring and the valley creek, and hike through woods and open areas to view the wildflowers and (in winter) Frost Flowers.

You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you? 

Doris Day

OOOO, may I have Doris Day? Sorry, not that familiar with today's stars and, truth be told, in the past and now, Doris Day would probably be more like me than most.

Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

Dare I say the female star in my "To Die For" series, Carrie McCrite? Maybe I need to explain. I know her so very well, know her foibles and strengths, and find her a great companion and friend. Yes, I am in touch with reality enough to know she isn't real, but then, I'd have to like her, wouldn't I since I spend more time with her than any other female human in fiction or reality? Second choice? Deborah Knott in Margaret Maron's series.

If you could have in your possession one signed first edition of any book in the world, which book would that be? Why that particular book?  

Gutenberg Bible

A Gutenberg Bible. I do read the Bible daily, and this beginning star in the crown of book publishing would sure be a treasure, though I suspect I wouldn't dare turn the pages because of its obvious age and probable fragility!  Doubt there would be any author autographs, so I'd be most grateful to have an unsigned first edition.

How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published? What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore?

Oh, golly. More an inner bubbling joy and exultation than any loud outburst. And always the feeling: "Is this Radine Trees Nehring really ME?"  My mother didn't live long enough to see any of my published books, but another joy for me was her pride when my first essay "Where Hummingbirds Matter" was published. That gave her such pleasure.

You've just received a $100 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Which bookstore are you making a bee-line for?

Reading at Trolley Line Books © Kay Mathews

Trolley Line Books, an independent bookstore on historic Walnut Avenue in Rogers, Arkansas. For the owners, Myra and Pat Moran,  books are a passion, and they are delightful and admired friends. They feature Arkansas authors and also antiquarian books.

Available Now!

Thank you so much, Radine. It was a pleasure to be able to get to know you a little better.

May your book sales do nothing but increase!