Character Guest Post ~ Miranda Trent by Cheryl Hollon
Hi there, I’m Miranda Trent, brand-spankin’ new owner of a small business, Paint & Shine. It’s a cultural tourist business in the back-hill countryside of Eastern Kentucky in a tiny hamlet called Pine Ridge.
My clients get this package: I guide them up a mountain trail, usually a pretty easy hike because we’re carrying art supplies. Then I instruct them in a group painting class capturing one of the historical views of a sandstone arch formation. Did you know that the eastern Kentucky area has the most sandstone arches on this side of the Mississippi River? It’s true, so finding a beautiful vista is as easy as pie.
On days when his schedule allows, the local Forest Ranger, Austin Morgan, entertains my group with a talk about local legends and the unique geology of the sandstone formations. He was born and raised right down the road from my farmhouse. Being ruggedly handsome doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.
Afterward, I take the group to my ancestral farmhouse for a traditionally cooked southern meal paired with samples of my home-distilled moonshine. That’s why I call it Paint & Shine. Good name, right?
I’ve got every penny I own wrapped up in this business. I need to bring in some cash money real quick to pay the back taxes on the farm my uncle left me. The biggest complication in his will is that I need to convert the old tobacco barn into a distillery. I’m a little nervous about this tourist adventure. There are so many things that could go wrong. Please wish me a big ol’ pile of good luck.
About Death a Sketch
In eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent runs a unique tour company called Paint & Shine, but sometimes the peaceful mountains play host to murder . . .
Miranda’s business—combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine—is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It’ll be a challenge, but the money they’re paying will definitely help with building her new distillery.
Miranda has lots of teamwork-fostering activities planned, from sketching classes to Southern cooking, but the executive running things prefers a more competitive spirit. In fact, after the workers are split into teams, they’re told that only the winners will keep their jobs, and tensions begin to spike. Even after a participant is found dead, the contest continues—while Miranda starts drawing her own conclusions about the ambitious attendees. Now she just has to find the proof . . .
About Cheryl Hollon
Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for oil painting and creating glass art. Cheryl and her husband live in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.
I am excited that you have a new book coming out. I can't wait to read and review on a few sites. Congrats peggy clayton
ReplyDeleteI love your book- thanks -How do you keep coming up with such good book ideas
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