Scott Graham’s National Park mysteries combine murder,br /

mayhem and mysticism in spectacular landscapes while embracing a keen awarenessbr /

of environmental and social justice issues - a heady brew that’s winning him abr /

growing audience. br /

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Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’sbr /

Binge Reading podcast Scott talks about why he chose to set his five bookbr /

series around an archaeologist sleuth Chuck and his Latina wife Janelle.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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An exciting new field of environmental fictionThe long road to publicationAn archaeologist sleuth leads the wayLiving in the tri-cultural South WestRocky Mountain writersBeing the 'luckiest writer on the planet'br /

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Where to find Scott Graham: br /

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Website: http://scottfranklingraham.com/br /

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Facebook: @scottgrahammysteryseriesbr /

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 Twitter: @sgrahamauthorbr /

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Whatbr /

follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word forbr /

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: But now here's Scott. Hello Scott, and welcome to the show. It'sbr /

great to have you with us. br /

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Scott Graham: Hi Jenny, I'm happy to be here. br /

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Scott Graham - Author Entertainment-focused environmental mysteriesbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: You made a reputation for yourself as a journalist and a nonfictionbr /

writer before you started on the fiction. I'm just interested on what made youbr /

switch to fiction and was there something that like a Once Upon A Time momentbr /

where you felt that urge to change to writing fiction?br /

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Long road to publicationbr /

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Scott Graham:  Well, the truth is, I was abr /

failed a fiction writer for a long time before I was finally a successful,br /

published fiction author.   I've had thebr /

dream of being a fictional storyteller pretty much my entire adult life.br /

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And I've also enjoyed the writing processbr /

my entire life as well. I could make a living as a journalist, as a business writer,br /

and I was able to then publish some nonfiction books. I was always getting upbr /

early in the morning and doing some fiction writing just for myself because Ibr /

loved that idea of being a storyteller so much.br /

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It took me, probably like many fictionbr /

authors, four or five manuscripts that didn't go anywhere. That came close,br /

came closer and closer before I got what I feel like I'm good enough to find abr /

true publisher and get rolling with my actual published fiction. br /

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Canyon Sacrifice #1 Scott Graham National Park seriesbr /

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The National Park seriesbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: That's fantastic. So you've now got five books in your National Parkbr /

series and these starring an archeologist called Chuck Bender and his Latinabr /

paramedic wife Janelle.  What made youbr /

decide on that theme and setting? br /

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Scott Graham: I'm from a small town that's named Durango in the far Southwestbr /

corner of Colorado in the Southwestern United States, and that area is a hotbedbr /

of archeological discovery and old civilizations that are around here. I wasbr /

raised here in Durango.br /

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I'm familiar with all the archeologicalbr /

discoveries that have been made here and throughout the Southwest of the Unitedbr /

States. And I'm fascinated by it, to be honest. I thought readers are probablybr /

going to be fascinated by that as well. I just built that in as one of thebr /

themes or the key aspects of the series; that there is ...