If you are a mystery reader, and are tired of
novels filled with gratuitous accounts of sex and violence (I skim
read these and dump them), and are looking for books that explore characters and
situations, try the Molly series. Molly is a
musician/teacher in Edmonton, Alberta,
with family in Peace River, Alberta. Her world of music and schools is the
backdrop for many of the stories, as well as many of her travels. I enjoyed
writing about her, even when she and the characters took over the story, sometimes
surprising even me, their creator, with what they did. I hope you enjoy her as
much as I do. Molly's seventh adventure is in the works.
Writing about Asperger's
Syndrome, high-functioning autism, is something my son and I began in order to
understand each other better. The first book evolved from emails he wrote to me as
he tried to explain how his brain worked since even after living with him for 22
years I still didn't understand. This brilliant son of mine had a university
degree and yet didn't know which was the right way to put on his socks. The
writing of this book helped me to be more tolerant of his social blindness. It
made me aware that maybe I could help teach him how to cope with some of these
problems. We both hope that the two books we have
written help readers to understand these "eccentric" people and why they
aren't "quite like us," to accept them and know they are doing their
best.
I was diagnosed with Multiple
Sclerosis when I was in my early forties when very little was written about
it. I didn't even know what it was. Every symptom I had was a surprise and a
puzzle. Writing this book about my own journey with MS (which is now in glorious
remission) and interviewing others to find out how they had dealt with the
difficulties while maintaining a positive outlook on the world was very uplifting
to me. I hope it will help others who know someone with MS, or have been diagnosed
with MS and want to know more about it without becoming depressed. Professional
musicians still working, amateur musicians still playing and singing, mothers
raising children and still managing their world, are among the many people you may
not even know have MS but who don't let it take over their lives. Meet them in
these pages.
~ Patricia Brine
My Biography:
Patricia Brine has written a series of six
mysteries: Agitato Allegro, Baffling
Bagatelles, Cadenza Castle, Deadly
Dissonance, Enigmatic Ensemble and Fatal
Fugue, all featuring Molly O'Connor.
Patricia has also written and co-written four nonfiction books: MS
Is Not the End of the World, and with her son, Two-Stepping
in a Waltz World: Asperger's Syndrome, and it's sequel It's
the Only Dance I Know. She has also shared the compelling story of Brenda Laboucane in "He Has Given Me a New Song to Sing" . Brenda's story begins with the truth of what can
happen when people are not dealt the cards that
lead them to a happy and fulfilling life... (and) concludes here with her redemption and
her knowledge that a new life is indeed possible.
Patricia was born and raised in Peace River,
Alberta. She received her B.Ed. and M.Ed. from the University of Alberta and lives
in Edmonton. She has read and collected mystery books most of her life and
particularly enjoys those from which she learns something about a place or a
different way of life from her own. The mysteries Patricia writes reflect her
experiences and interest in schools and music and often include things she has
learned from her frequent travels.
Patricia
played string bass with the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra for eight years and was their librarian for three years.
She taught bass at the University of Alberta as a sessional instructor. During her
thirty-five-year teaching career with Edmonton Public
Schools, she set up the string instrument classes, directed orchestras, bands
and choirs, taught music to students from kindergarten to Grade 12 and for seven
years was a librarian in an inner city school.
When she was fifty-six, Patricia's multiple
sclerosis went into an active, debilitating phase, so she took early
retirement. The MS may have been frightened off when she began writing her mystery
novels as it went into remission while she was concentrating her energies on
developing her writing.
As an amateur musician, Patricia now plays
mostly viola with two orchestras and sings with a choir that performs large-scale
works with orchestral accompaniment. When not at rehearsals or practicing,
Patricia spends her time reading, writing, going to concerts, entertaining,
swimming, traveling, and occasionally babysitting her grandchildren.
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