I've been a fan of the US Postal Service since I was a kid. It could have been the
uniforms that got my attention. In my working class neighborhood, uniforms were a
rarity. The men, most of them laborers like my father, wore nondescript "work
clothes," usually in olive drab or khaki; the women wore housedresses and aprons.
The mailman, however, wore a snazzy blue-grey outfit with an Eisenhower-style
jacketโbanded waist, two pleated-patch breast pockets, and buttoned cuffs. The
round patch on the sleeve, of a pony express delivery, couldn't have been cooler.
A matching safari-style hat topped it off. What was not to like?
My sixth-grade teacher also contributed to my interest when he assigned a special
project: we were to write a "business letter" and ask for information through the
mail. The who and the what were wide open, leaving us to our own imaginations.
(Thanks for that, Mr. D.)
I'd certainly never been on an airplane, but for some reason I chose to send a
request to an airline for information about becoming a stewardess. Pre-Google, who
knows where I got the address of an airline? The important thing is that it was my
first foray into research and it worked! I still remember the package that arrived
a couple of weeks laterโthe requisite application forms, with my name and address
on the large envelope! Colorful pamphlets toppled out also, all showing the
glamorous life of a waitress at thirty-thousand feet. I took the package to school
and impressed all my friends.
After that, I couldn't be stopped. I sent away for all kinds of things, just to
receive letters or packages with my name on them. "Send for more information" was
an invitation I never refused. As a result, I acquired such items as brochures
from the army, kits for home improvement, pamphlets on family health, and
brochures for colleges and universities all over the world. When the pen pal craze
hit, I was there!
Since that time, I've had many jobs, from research physicist to novelist, but one
of my proudest tenures was with the USPS as a temporary sorter during my holiday
vacations from college. My only regret was that I didn't get to wear the uniform.
My latest tribute to the men and women in whom we put our trust to take care of
our communications is my new series: the Postmistress Mysteries.
Meet Cassie Miller, Postmistress in a small town in western Massachusetts. She
wears the now red-white-and-blue uniform proudly. She has mail to deliver and
crimes to solve!
Camille received her Ph.D. in physics from Fordham University, New York City. She
is currently on the faculty of Golden Gate University, San Francisco and teaches
writing throughout the Bay Area. Camille is Past President and a member of NorCal
Mystery Writers of America, NorCal Sisters in Crime, and the California Writers
Club.
Camille has published over 20 novels and many short stories and nonfiction
articles.
As
Camille Minichino, she's published
Periodic Table Mysteries,
featuring retired physicist GLORIA LAMERINO.
As
Margaret Grace, she writes the
Miniature Mysteries, featuring
miniaturist GERALDINE PORTER and her 11-year-old granddaughter, Maddie. The 8th in
the series, MANHATTAN IN MINIATURE will be released in April 2015.
As
Ada Madison, she's published the
Professor Sophie Knowles
Mysteries, featuring college professor SOPHIE KNOWLES.
As
Jean Flowers, Camille is launching a new series,
The Postmistress
Mysteries. The first, DEATH TAKES PRIORITY, will debut in 2015.
A stand-alone, KILLER IN THE CLOISTER, is available on Kindle and CreateSpace.
The nonfiction book, HOW TO LIVE WITH AN ENGINEER, is available on Kindle and
Createspace.
Website
Introducing a murder mystery that really delivers!
After caring for her dying aunt and being dumped by her fiancรฉ, Cassie Miller
decides to return to her small hometown in the Berkshires to lick her wounds and
live in the house where she was raised. Leaving behind her managerial position in
the Boston main postal office, Cassie trades in her tailored suits and high heels
for the comfortable blue shirt and red, white, and blue striped scarf of the
Postmaster for North Ashcot, Massachusetts.
Everything is business as usual until Cassie arrives at work one day to find that
someone has broken into the post office building. The only items stolen: stacks of
telephone books. Who steals phone books? Two days later, the body of an
unidentified man is found in the woods. And when the handsome antiques dealer she
just had lunch with is taken into custody, Cassie is suddenly drawn into the case.
With a crime enveloped in mystery, she needs to track the killerโbefore another
victimโs fate is sealed in the dead letter officeโฆ
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