Burney, Claudia Mair 1964–

PERSONAL:

Mair rhymes with "fire"; born 1964; married; children: seven.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Inkster, MI. Agent—MacGregor Literary, 2373 N.W. 185th Ave., Ste. 165, Hillsboro, OR 97124-7076. E-mail—claudia.mair.burney@gmail.com.

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man (mystery novel; "Amanda Brown Bell" series), NavPress (Colorado Springs, CO), 2006.

Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz (mystery novel; "Amanda Brown Bell" series), NavPress (Colorado Springs, CO), 2006.

Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and White (romance novel), David C. Cook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2008.

Also author of the blog Ragamuffin Diva. Contributor to Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live, by Will and Lisa Samson, Baker Books (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007. Contributor to periodicals, including Discipleship Journal and the Handmaiden.

SIDELIGHTS:

Claudia Mair Burney first garnered notice with her blog Ragamuffin Diva, where she writes about life, faith, books, and anything else that comes to mind. The popularity of the blog led Burney to her first publishing contract, and the start of her "Amanda Brown Bell" series of mystery novels. Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man is the debut book in the series. It introduces Amanda Brown Bell, a nearly-forty forensic psychologist and amateur detective who finds herself solving mysteries instead of sitting home and watching her favorite crime show on television. This volume also introduces Amanda to Lieutenant Jazz Brown, her love interest, but Burney keeps the primary focus on the murder mystery. The story involves a victim killed by way of poisoned communion wine and the cult that might be responsible. Harriet Klausner, in a review for her own Web site, called the book "a good murder mystery wrapped like a moebius string in and out of a quirky relationship drama."

Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz, the next title in Burney's series, finds Jazz attempting to reconcile with Amanda. When Jazz is accused of murdering his ex-wife, however, the resulting investigation becomes the focus of the story. Michelle Sutton, in a review on the Novel Reviews Blog, called the book "masterful writing and highly entertaining," adding that "the storyline was complex and well-thought-out."

Burney told CA: "I started [writing] when I found a page of a play on the floor at school when I was in the sixth grade. It occurred to me that I could write a play. And I did, and kept going from there."

When asked what influences her work, she said: "Everything. Beauty. Terror. All of life that I can grasp or even see gets into the gumbo that is my writing, but the rue, so to speak, is my Christian worldview. But it's not narrow or preachy. It's a big, holy cosmology. Bigger than that, really. So big it gets me in trouble sometimes."

When asked to describe her writing process, she said: "I start. Keep asking myself what happens next until I'm done. In between there is a lot of eating, procrastinating, bemoaning my fate, and doubting my skill. And then I eat again.

"You never arrive, and publishing is not what you think it will be. It will both bless and profoundly disappoint you."

When asked which of her books is her favorite, she responded, "Impossible to say. They all taught me something. They all heal and wound me. It's quite a paradoxical life for me.

"I want people to close my books and feel like God loves them no matter what and hasn't given up on them. We really aren't alone. None of us."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

ONLINE

Harriet Klausner Review Archive,http://harrietklausner.wwwi.com/ (August 21, 2007), Harriet Klausner, review of Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man.

MacGregor Literary Agency Web site,http://macgregorliterary.com/ (August 21, 2007), author biography.

Novel Reviews Blog,http://novelreviews.blogspot.com/ (July 11, 2006), Gina Holmes, review of Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man; (December 28, 2006), Michelle Sutton, review of Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz.

Soul Scents,http://www.soulscents.com/ (August 21, 2007), review of Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man.