Featured Interview With Author Jan D Payne
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in the Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation, and my mystery/thriller series with Marin Sinclair and Sgt. Justin Blue Eyes is based on the Dineh reservation–a large area that includes parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
Currently I live in northern MN with my husband, Jon, and our three big dogs: Kai, Rudi, and Orrin.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don't remember not reading! Beginning with comic books (Archie and Batman were favorites) before starting first grade and then on to books in the school library–mostly about famous people in history–and then to the classics in high school. Books opened my world! I wrote stories for myself and for my classmates from about age ten…back then I charged one dollar per story and the classmate could pick any characters they wanted (usually from television series) to be in their 'personalized' story!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read most everything! I took every lit class I could in high school and college, and I read everyone from Shakespeare to Steinbeck to Stephen King and in-between. Mysteries and suspense are probably my favorite genres, but there isn't a genre I don't like if the story is well-written.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is Book Two of the Marin Sinclair series, and like the first, the story takes place on the Navajo (Dineh) reservation. In this book, Marin and Sgt. Justin Blue Eyes of the Navajo Nation Police must find a killer targeting teen-age boys–including Marin's new ward, Garret Washburn–while Cullen MacPherson of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency is looking for a bomber set on causing fear and panic on the rez. The book is called 'Changing Woman's Hair', a title that refers to Changing Woman, one of the important Holy People in the Navajo creation story. (On the reservation, the dark streaks of black 'varnish' on the mesas and canyon walls are called 'Changing Woman's Hair'.) As much of the story takes place during a danger-filled horseback trip between the deep walls of Canyon de Chelly, I thought the title fitting. It's an exciting addition to Marin's story, one where she and Sgt. Blue Eyes AND she and MacPherson add a chapter or two to Marin's on-going romance with both men while Marin grapples with the on-again-off-again appearances of Lewis George and his uncanny similarity to the mythological Raven. Oh, and did I mention the skin-walkers?!
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