Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, where you can learn more about what makes them tick.
Let’s see what Brie has to say today.
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What is your name?
– – Hi, I’m Brie Hooker.
How old are you?
– – I’m 32.
What is your profession?
– – At the moment, I work full-time helping my Aunt Eva manage a 400-goat dairy. But in my spare time I’m restoring Summer Place, an old Southern mansion that will someday be a B&B and restaurant that caters to vegans and vegetarians. After earning an MBA and working several years in banking, I decided to pursue my passion and trained as a chef.
Do you have a significant other?
– – That’s complicated. I decided to take a sabbatical from relationships after I discovered my ex-fiancé had been cheating on me during the whole time we were engaged. Then I moved to Udderly Kidding Dairy and met not one but two men who made me want to re-up for love.
What are their names?
– – David “Paint” Paynter and Andy Green.
What are their professions?
– – Paint is a legal moonshiner and Andy is a veterinarian.
Any children?
– – No. Though I now have ample experience helping our goat nannies have kids.
Do you have any sibling(s)?
– – No, I’m an only child.
Cats, dogs or other pets?
– – Cashew is my dog. I named her that because I’m nuts about her.
What town do you live in?
– – I live in Ardon County, South Carolina. Clemson is just over the border in Pickens County and Greenville is a hop, skip and jump away. Of course, our goat farm isn’t in a town.
House or building complex?
– – Aunt Eva and I live in a cabin. It’s cozy but doesn’t have a lot of what many people would consider essentials. We have indoor plumbing and electricity but that’s about as far as it goes. No dishwasher and our washer and dryer are on the screened back porch.
Do you rent or own?
– – I work for my lodging. Aunt Eva owns the farm. She inherited it from her husband. He disappeared when he went off on a fishing trip and never returned. He was eventually declared dead.
What is your favorite spot in your house?
– – The kitchen, of course! Love to try to tempt my meat-eating, cheese-addicted aunt with vegan delicacies. Since my friends and family members drop in so often for meals, sometimes it feels like I already run a B&B. I really enjoy sitting around the kitchen table with the folks I love.
Who is your best friend?
– – Mollye. She’s been a friend since childhood. Though I grew up in Iowa, I spent lots of time each summer with my twin aunts at Udderly Kidding Dairy. Mollye boarded ponies at Udderly, and we became fast friends. Now that I live at Udderly we have lots of opportunities to get into mischief together.
Amateur sleuth or professional?
– – I’m definitely an amateur though my banking background makes me a pro as far as ferreting out financial information on the Internet.
Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
– – Mollye is often my partner in unmasking crime. But I’m lucky that I can also call on Andy and Paint, my would-be boyfriends, and my family.
Favorite meal?
– – Vegetarian paella.
Favorite dessert?
– – Vegan fruit pie.
Favorite hobby?
– – I love cooking, but I can’t call that a hobby because I hope to be a full-time chef soon. I enjoy gardening and a variety of sports—especially swimming, running, and bicycling. I used to compete in triathlons but haven’t had much time to train since coming to Udderly.
Favorite vacation spot?
– – Fripp Island, South Carolina.
Favorite color?
– – Red.
Favorite author?
– – Susan Isaacs.
Favorite sports team?
– – Sin City Aces—a professional football team from Las Vegas. In Picked Off, the Aces’ star quarterback (with his fine booty) comes to visit Udderly Kidding Dairy.
Movies or Broadway?
– – Love movies.
Are you a morning or a night person?
– – I thought I fell into the early bird category before living at Udderly revised my definition of early. Have to get up before dawn to handle chores.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
– – I get up before dawn to help with farm chores. There’s a pretty long list of things that need to be done, including making sure all our animals have clean water and food, gathering eggs, and mucking out stables. In addition to 400 goats, we have guard and herding dogs, a horse, a mule, a variety of feathered friends, and a pot-bellied pig. I handle Udderly’s banking and accounting and process orders from across the country for our specialty goat cheeses. I also maintain our dairy’s website. Any free time is spent experimenting with new vegan recipes, renovating Summer Place, and enjoying friends and family. And believe me, Andy and Paint both know how to show a girl a good time.
Giveaway: Tell us, have you ever worked a farm? Would you? Leave a comment below for your chance to win a Kindle/Nook copy of BONES TO PICK and a $10 Amazon gift card. The giveaway ends June 8, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read about Brie in Picked Off, the second book in the “Brie Hooker” mystery series. The first book in the series is Bones To Pick.
It’s been seven months since Brie Hooker, a vegan, moved to Udderly Kidding Dairy to live with her feisty Aunt Eva, a confirmed carnivore.
But tonight there’ll be no family feud over dinner entrees.
Udderly’s hosting a campaign fundraiser for Eva’s best friend, who hopes to be South Carolina’s next governor. The candidate’s son, a pro quarterback, is flying home for the wingding. And Brie’s eager to get a close-up view of the cute tush she’s admired on TV, even though she’s reluctantly sworn off even more tempting local beefcake.
The campaign fundraiser promises to be a huge success until a pitchfork attack turns the goat farm into a crime scene—again.
To protect her friends, Brie puts her sleuthing skills to work. Will she live long enough to find out who’s behind a vicious assault, a kidnapping, blackmail, and murder?
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About the author
Over the past five years, hundreds of mystery/thriller writers have met Linda Lovely at check-in for the annual Writers’ Police Academy, which she helps organize. Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent penning PR and ad copy. She writes a blend of mystery and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of characters who most annoy her. Quite satisfying plus there’s no need to pester relatives for bail. Picked Off is the second humorous installment in her new Brie Hooker Mystery series. Set on a goat farm in Upstate South Carolina, the series offers good-natured salutes to both her vegan family doctor and her cheese-addicted kin. Lovely, an active member of Sisters in Crime, served as her local chapter’s president for five years. She also belongs to International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America.
All comments are welcomed.
I’ve never worked on a farm but I visited one when I was in elementary school. Our sixth-grade class stayed there for a week.
Although I love animals, I wouldn’t want to live/work on a farm as I’d feel tied down. I love to travel too much.
Hi, Sharon. My childhood stay was a little longer. My cousins who lived in Hamilton, IL, just across the Mississippi River from Keokuk, IA, had a family emergency one summer, and Mom, my sister, and I spent a lot of time on the farm. Funny, the only farm animal I was afraid of back then was a billy goat!
I just love Linda’s Books. I would love to read this one!
Thanks, Becky. I figure if you have fun writing them, people will have fun reading them.
I grew up on a farm. We had a dairy on it for a while, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys. We also did custom haying…..we would cut, bale and stack the hay for others. All that while going to school. Makes for long days.
That’s one of the things I remember about my cousins’ farm. Long days.
I have never worked on a farm but have been curious.
In South Carolina, you can get a “passport” that lists farm enterprises around the state that you can visit. A lot more seem to invite the public and offer tours. When I sat in on a tour/lecture for vet assistants at Split Creek Dairy, I learned so much about goats and their care.
I’ve never worked on a farm but have visited a few that offer CSA shares.
Consumer supported agriculture (CSA) is a great way to support family farms and an area’s cultural heritage.
Grandma and Grandpa had a farm (or ranch) when I was a kid. I got to gather eggs with Grandma. Never alone though because of snakes. Feed oats to the horses. Pick cherry tomatoes in the garden. Go out in the pickup to drop off feed for the goats. I loved it. Mom was happy to be away from it. I think she had a spell or two of picking cotton when she was a kid.
Snakes–not my favorites even though most of the ones in our neck of the woods are harmless. Last year I reached up to pick some blueberries (we have six bushes in our backyard) and almost grabbed a black snake. Surprised the heck out of me.
My dad was raised on property in California that was a big nursery…and they raised animals only for their own food. The area is now densely populated. We always had vegetable gardens and fruit trees whether living in Los Angeles County or out near Palm Springs. I’ve almost always had vegetables growing…even if I had to resort to growbags or pots. For about three years, we and our four youngest children lived on an Amish farm in a rental house…my boys have helped “make hay”…let’s just say, they enjoy fresh veg and fruit from farmers markets…but none are farmers! Personally, I’d never make it these days as a farmer but when younger, I would have enjoyed selling my produce!
You experience renting on an Amish farm sounds fascinating. A good experience for your sons even though none turned out to be farmers.
I have worked on a farm. My parents bought a small farm just after I finished high school and I helped them getting it cleaned up and stocked for about a year before I went to college. Not only their place but I also helped out on the neighbors farms as well, like you do. It was a great experience, I got in excellent physical condition and did a lot of things I didn’t know I could do. Thanks for the generous prize.
Yes, working on a farm does a lot more for toning muscles than sitting at a keyboard!
We would visit my Oma in Germany every summer. I loved cutting hay, feeding the chickens, helping to move the manure (not as much as the other things, lol), watch Oma milk the cows. Well just everything. I did not really “work” on the farm. More like enjoyed every single minute
I loved seeing the German countryside when I visited. Never saw a farm or farmhouse that didn’t make me think “what a wonderful place to spend time.”
Yes, I have farmed as a teenager with my Grandparents.
I feel like I’m stalking you, Linda. Can’t wait to read this book. You know I’m after the QB! Although given your comments on the Wickeds…..food for thought.
Oh, the farm thing. Great Granddad’s. No electricity, running water, plumbing, heat. I loved it. It was located in upstate New York.
Kait, I welcome stalkers who love to read!My husband is from Upstate New York and his folks had an orchard and raised lots of veggies. I was in heaven when I discovered they had black raspberry bushes.
I’ve never worked on a farm, but we always visited my uncle’s farm when I was a kid. He had all the big farm machines and he would take us out into the fields in them. My Dad had lots of stories of growing up on a farm and we always enjoyed visiting mt uncle.
I have not worked on a farm, but have had dogs and fish here at home!
I haven’t ever worked on a farm, but wouldn’t rule it out. I would probably steer clear of growing things as my brown thumb wouldn’t be a good thing for that. ..but I love animals.
I have a lot more success with outdoor plants (and veggies) than I do with the indoor variety. I should be picking green beans next week.
The closest I’ve come to working a farm is visiting the pick your own produce farms.
**** WINNER ****
Bones To Pick and $10 Amazon gift card is Sharon Marchisello
Congratulations!
Congrats to Sharon! Your gift will be on its way pronto.