The Prairie Grass
Murders may be
ordered from your local
bookstore or at online
booksellers such as:

amazon.com
barnes & noble.com

More About The Prairie Grass Murders


Setting:  The story begins in farm country near the fictitious Sangamon
City in central Illinois, very close to the area where I grew up.  And the
farm where the bodies are found?  Yes, there's a remarkable similarity to
the farm where my younger brother and I were raised.  Authors'
memories do have a way of sneaking into their fiction, sometimes before
they even realize what's happening.

Natural areas where native plants and wildlife can survive exist in many
areas of the country.  I was thinking of Middlefork in Illinois when I wrote
this book.  

Forest Preserves of Champaign County
The North American Prairies

South Florida was also familiar territory for me, especially Boca Raton
and Delray Beach.  And when Sylvia talks about her favorite hangout
where she can relax over a crabmeat salad sandwich and a Corona,
she's talking about a very real place. Check out the live beach cam:   

Boston's On the Beach

Characters:  None of the characters in this mystery are based on real
people, although I borrowed my mother's first name for my  protagonist
Sylvia Thorn.   

There are some mean, low-down rascals in the book, as you would
expect.  I don't personally know anyone like them, thank goodness.

Plot:  I picked a place and a couple of characters, sat down at the
computer, and started typing.  Unfortunately, that may be the hardest way
to write a mystery.  For the second book in the Sylvia Thorn series, I'm
working from a scene outline.

There are many references to the Kickapoo Indian tribe in this story.  
Although their reservation is now located in northeastern Kansas, the
Kickapoo were present in several other Midwestern states including
Wisconsin and Illinois.

Grand Village of the Kickapoo Park
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PATRICIA STOLTEY
On Writing

Photo by Patricia Stoltey
This turkey vulture lives
under the protection of the
raptor program and can be
seen at the Environmental
Learning Center near Fort
Collins, Colorado.
NOTES FROM PATRICIA  April 12, 2008

Last fall I took the Concord grapes from our very own grapevine to a wine
maker in our town. Yesterday I finally made it in to the shop to bottle, cork,
cap and label the product.  We have now have twenty-four bottles of a clear
dry rose-colored red wine with personalized labels, wine almost too pretty
to drink. The best part of the whole process was yesterday when I was able
to sip my sample of wine and enjoy cheese and crackers, thoughtfully
provided by the management, while I worked. I always wondered how those
corks were inserted into the bottles. Now I know.

Spring is trying so hard to come to Northern Colorado. As usual, however,
my hyacinths and miniature pansies were squashed by snow twice last
week. Determined to fight for their lives,the blooms popped back up as
soon as the snow melted. Today they're braced against the wind instead.

I plan to attend fewer conferences this year and travel less in general. I'll
focus my promotional efforts on regional book events, especially those
sponsored by libraries, as well as mail promotions or building an online
presence.

This year needs to be a writing year. My goal for the next eighteen months is
to rewrite one older manuscript and to write at least the first draft of a new
Sylvia and Willie mystery. I guess it's time to give up my favorite computer
game which is a huge time waster. I could cut down on the time I spend
watching television. Would love to give up cooking and cleaning. Just don't
ask me to stop reading........

Have a wonderful day,
Patricia