Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café

March 16, 2022

Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café

Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café
by Richard Dee

About Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café

Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
4Star Scifi (September 25, 2017)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0995458154
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0995458154
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075XSGVGQ

Andorra Pett has left her old life behind. But has she only swapped one set of problems for another?

Andorra’s on the rebound. Her only thought is to get a world away from her cheating ex. With her best friend Cy in tow, she invests her meagre savings in a run-down cafe. Never mind that it’s on a space station orbiting Saturn, or that Andorra is accident-prone and can’t make toast without a recipe and a video. Surely running a cafe can’t be that hard, right?

Unfortunately, her dreams of a quiet life are not to be, she’s bought into a mystery, trouble is just around the corner.

When the body of the previous owner is found in the freezer, Andorra’s plans hit some turbulence. She quickly finds that the dead man had enough information about the darker side of station life to embarrass a lot of people, they all want to know what he knew. And she’s in the way.

Andorra needs to find out where he’s hidden his book of secrets. Before anyone else does.

One of local residents must know more than they are letting on. As the body count begins to rise, can Andorra turn her luck around in time to catch the murderer before they strike again?

After all, she might be the next victim.

The answer to this cozy mystery is out of this world!

About Richard Dee

Richard Dee is from Brixham in Devon. Leaving school at 16 he briefly worked in a supermarket, then he went to sea and travelled the world in the Merchant Navy, qualifying as a Master Mariner in 1986.

He has also worked as an Insurance Surveyor, Lockmaster, Harbourmaster and Ships Pilot, taking over 3,500 vessels up and down the Thames, passing through the estuary, the Thames Barrier and Tower Bridge.

Since the publication of his first Science Fiction novel, Freefall, in 2013, Richard has written another twelve novels, a textbook and a selection of short stories. He has been featured in several anthologies, including 1066 Turned Upside Down, Connections and Tales from Deepest Darkest Devon.

He writes Science Fiction and Steampunk adventures and also chronicles the exploits of reluctant amateur detective Andorra Pett.

Richard is married with three adult children and five grandchildren.

Q&A With The Author

When did you first consider yourself to be a writer?

That’s a tricky question to begin with. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I always hated writing, whether it was at school, or at work. That all changed when I retired. I had a dream that kept repeating, night after night. It was so vivid and insistent that I knew I had to do something with it. I thought that if I wrote it down it might go away and leave me in peace. As soon as I did, it was replaced by another dream, which I realised could be joined to the first and made the basis of a story. The rest, as they say…, is history. Now, after 18 novels, I think that I’m beginning to become a writer.

What advice do you have for a new writer?

Just write, get some words down, the more you write, the more will flow, after all, you can’t edit a blank page.
Don’t think about whether you’re good enough or what the words mean to you, you are not your audience.
Get a good editor, one who likes your genre. If you don’t, you’ll regret it. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Not only that, you’ll forever be the target of every grammar policeman.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?

Writing the words down is the easiest part. All I do is watch a film in my head of the story unfolding. Like the dream I spoke about before, I now get them at any time of day, not just when I’m asleep. All I have to do is write down exactly what I see. I can pause and slow the action down or rewind a section and see it again. The only thing I can’t do is fast forward. It means I see the action at the same time as a reader does, hopefully with the same feelings that they will have. As I don’t touch type, when I look up from the keyboard it can be a surprise to see how I’ve described what I just saw.

What is your favorite part of this story?

The way the ending played out. While I was writing, I had no idea what would happen, as I watched the action unfold, the clues and suggestions that I had seen earlier all made perfect sense. Ideally, the plot will keep you guessing, or even point you in the wrong direction. So that when the reveal comes, you’ll look at it and say, oh yeah, of course!

Which Character was the most fun to write about? Why?

Andorra herself. As a male, I’m conscious of the pitfalls that can easily trip you up when male writers portray women. I wanted to avoid a stereotypical depiction of a female amateur detective. I’m lucky to have a wonderful wife and three strong, independent daughters whose lives I can draw on for inspiration. I simply made a character who has all of their strengths and weaknesses. Using their experiences and behavior to flesh her out as a character made Andorra feel more real and had the bonus of bringing back many happy memories.

Which Character was the hardest to write about? Why?

I’ve always considered the setting to be a character, just one without any dialogue. Despite that, it has a voice, it can influence the live characters actions, produce emotions, and drive the plot.

Getting the space station right was the hardest part of the story. It had to be technically correct, without being too “sciencey”. I wanted the environment, the whole space station orbiting Saturn thing, to feel like it was a real place, informal and natural. It needed to be comfortable to live in, the inhabitants needed to react as if it had always been there. It also had to provide the means to make the story come alive, so I had to think of a reason for its existence and how that would be achieved. Mining the rocks in Saturn’s rings for valuable materials is a possible future, so I went with that.

Author Links –

Website- richarddeescifi.co.uk.

Facebook at RichardDeeAuthor and Twitter at Richard Dee Sci-Fi

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15289756.Richard_Dee

Purchase Links – Amazon

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