Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) (32 page)

I remember the first long story I ever wrote.  I was in the third grade and my teacher, Miss Steere, asked us each to write a story about something in history.

I chose to write about the Donner party and the tragedies that befell them as they tried to make it to the Wild West.

I went on and on.  I was having so much fun and making up stories about the people and conversations between them.  It was like a game to me.  It didn't occur to me that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.  I wasn't even old enough to understand what it meant to be grown up.

Throughout school, whenever I had to write something, I always had a lot of fun with assignments.  I remember writing about the Salem Witches when I was in high school and how exciting it was to make up "real" people who lived then and, unfortunately, also died.

So what did I do when I was finally an adult?  I worked as an accountant, secretary, draftsman of pre-fab metal buildings, I studied Criminal Justice and worked at the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department for a time.  I ended up with a career as a paralegal.

Well, that wasn't too bad.  It encompassed a lot of research and writing and, in the meantime, I had actually written short stories, poetry, and two unpublished novels.  I did have one non-fiction piece published in a magazine in the 80s.  Yippee!

When I lived in Hawaii, I even helped a famous Chef publish to cook books. 

Finally, I said "enough", quit everything, took early retirement, and moved to Morocco. 

Now, I am a writer.  I love my life, and I hope you enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them.  I have a lot of fun with my characters and stories.  To me, they are real people and my joy is sharing them with you and the rest of the world.

Help make the next book in this police procedurals series even better.  Have you found typos?  Formatting problems?  Did something not make sense?

If so, let me know and we can talk about it. 

You can email me at email at:[email protected].

Thank you for joining Detectives Annie Avants and Tom Weston and the members of the Kern County Sheriff's Office!

Did you enjoy reading CAUSE OF DEATH?

Here's what you can do next:

If you liked this book and have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a short review on the page where you bought this book.  Your help in spreading the word is gratefully appreciated.  Reviews make a huge difference to help new readers find the series.

If you would like to be notified when the next Annie Avants book is available, follow this link: 
http://ReneeBenzaim.com

If you've read Caise of Death on a Kindle, when you turn the last page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to rate the book and tell your friends about it on Facebook and Twitter.  They'll automatically post the cover of this book along with your thoughts on it.  How cool is that?  Be the first one of your friends to use this innovative technology.  Your friends get to know what you're reading and I, for one, will be forever grateful to you.

All the best,

Renee Benzaim