Welcome, and no, you didn’t land here by mistake.  Kate Damon is the pen name I’m using on my new book, Jury Duty is Murder.  Why use a pen name?  Good question.  I’m known as a western historical romance writer and my new book is a contemporary cozy mystery.  A person picking up a Margaret Brownley book might be disappointed to find a mystery instead of a romance.  So a pen name is designed to avoid reader confusion.

To tell you the truth, I was hesitant to write under a different name, The last time I wrote under a pseudonym I almost got arrested. A new writer at the time, I was thrilled to walk into a store and spot my books on a shelf. 

I remembered being told that readers liked autographed books.  So I pulled out a pen and set to work.  All was going well until someone saw me. Thinking I was defacing books, the person called the police.  I explained to the officer what I was doing, and he seemed nice enough. But then he asked for my I.D.  Without thinking I whipped out my driver’s license, which of course didn’t match the name on the book.  Boy did I have a lot of explaining to do.

Anyway, Jury Duty is Murder is a book I’ve had on the back of my mind for a long time.   Other than the mystery I wrote in sixth grade and the puzzle of the missing socks, this is my first real mystery (although there are mystery elements in my westerns).  Hope you enjoy.  And if by chance you spot me signing books somewhere, please don’t call the police. Come up and say “hi” instead.