To get a better understanding of Marty’s world, here’s a recent interview I did with Mrs. Quarles, school secretary for Marty’s nieces’ school.
Marc (author): Thank you for your time today, Mrs. Quarles—
Mrs. Quarles: I only have five minutes for you today so enough fooling around, young man. Let’s get to it.
Marc (author): Okay, okay. Do you mind if I call you Irene?
Mrs. Quarles: Yes I do. Call me Mrs. Quarles. Only four and half minutes left so hurry it up!
Marc (author): Sorry. To start off with the obvious question, how have you been holding up with the death of your school principal, Chuck?
Mrs. Quarles: That’s Mr. Blakely to you. [Deep sigh]. His death was a tragedy. We miss him every day. Me, perhaps most of all, since I’m now working as the acting principal and we haven’t backfilled my previous position as school secretary, so I’m doing both jobs. It’s exhausting, let me tell you.
Marc (author): Wow, congrats on your promotion. Although, I’d think that hiring a replacement secretary wouldn’t be so difficult—
Mrs. Quarles: Why? Because you think anyone can do the job? Well, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong, Mr. Know-Nothing-At-All. A good school secretary is essential to the proper operations of a school. They keep the main office running efficiently and that is key for the entire school to function smoothly. It’s an absolutely essential position and there aren’t many who can live up to my demanding standards.
Marc (author): Yes, of course.
Mrs. Quarles: Now you sound like you’re being rude. Are you trying to be difficult?
Marc (author) [swallows]: No, ma’am.
Mrs. Quarles: [gives me a hard look before continuing] Well, okay then. You should know we teach our children to be polite to everyone. That’s in our RULES for the school. Everyone has to follow them. Even visitors. Oh my goodness, look at the time. It’s almost time for school to end and I’ve got to get out to the front entrance to manage the traffic. Walk with me.
Marc (author): Sure. Thanks for talking to me today. How are you feeling about all the attention from my latest novel?
Mrs. Quarles: Look at those cars. Some parents simply don’t understand how to queue up in line. Hey! [yelling at a woman who was standing outside her car] Back into your car. We don’t want any delays when the students are dismissed. [Turning back to me with a sigh]. Some people just don’t understand the RULES.
Marc (author): Terrible, just terrible. Any thoughts about my novel?
Mrs. Quarles: What novel? I really don’t have time to read these days. Keeping this school running in tiptop shape takes all of my attention. I prefer nonfiction anyway. One of my recent favorites is Best Practices in School Administration. Have you read that? I’m not a big fan of fiction. Too much made-up flim-flam. Your book isn’t full of flim-flam, is it?
Marc (author): Nope. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before. But Pride and Principal, my latest novel, is a fun, humorous murder mystery.
Mrs. Quarles: Murder is not funny. Which principal do you mean? You didn’t write about Principal Blakely, did you?
Marc (author): [Clears throat]. Well thank you for your time—
Mrs. Quarles: Hey, come back here. I still have some questions for you.
Marc (author): My novel, Pride and Principal, is on sale during this tour. It’s available at: https://mybook.to/PrideandPrincipal. You can find all my cozy mysteries at: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jedel/e/B07H7MVKJL. They’re available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback editions, plus my novels are all free for Kindle Unlimited members.
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