Update: Renee F was the winner of the randomly drawn giveaway – thanks to everyone for stopping by and commenting!

As my guests today, I am hosting two characters from Patricia Ann Preston’s story, “Laid to Rest,” Richie Underwood and Tommy Ray Petty. Patricia is also giving away a $10.00 Amazon gift card to one randomly selected Commenter, so be sure to leave us a comment to enter!

Here’s the story:

In “Laid to Rest,” set in 1957, Mayor Clifford Earl Stroud dies from a heart attack in Darlene Higginbottom’s bedroom, which is most unfortunate for everyone involved. Especially Darlene, who is only trying to make a little money on the side so she can get to Hollywood and become a movie star like her idol, Marilyn Monroe.

The mayor’s death is just the beginning of her troubles that night. How can she keep Mayor Stroud’s wife from finding out what happened? Regrettably, Darlene has to rely on the dumbest two guys in Clayburn, Richie and Tommy Ray, for help with the mayor’s corpse. Now, if she’d had two sensible men helping her, this story would never have been written. But, you take Darlene, Richie, Tommy Ray, add a dead body, and you’ve got…well, there’s not a single word that can describe what happened that night. It had to be a story and a funny one at that.

And now to find out more about these two…..

Tell us about your life:

Richie:  It ain’t been easy. The only thing I was ever good at was playing the fiddle, but most folks don’t know that because I’ve never played in public. I probably ain’t very good anyway. Never was much good at anything. My girlfriend ran off and married another guy. I got fired from my job at the service station because an old lady accused me of trying to look down her blouse when I was washing her car’s windshield. I’m desperate but I ain’t that desperate. Then I got mixed up with Darlene and now anything’s liable to happen to me.

Tommy Ray: I like going to the movies.

What is your biggest fear?

 Richie: I got a bunch of those. I sure don’t like messing around with dead bodies. It ain’t right, and regardless of what Darlene says, dead bodies bring bad luck.

Tommy Ray: I had a brown dog when I was a little boy.

Richie: Tommy, we ain’t on that question now. Okay. Sorry, you gotta to look over him.

What is your opinion of your co-character, Darlene Higginbottom?

 Richie:  I don’t think a bad girl should be so full of herself. She’s not as smart as she thinks. She’s not as good-looking as she thinks. And, all that talk of hers about thinking positive and dreaming big is nothing but a load of malarkey. It ain’t happening.

Tommy Ray: He won’t say that to her face.

Why?

 Richie: Well, she can kick like a mule. She almost broke my knee already, and she could put any man in his grave. I felt sorry for Mayor Stroud.

What do you hope happens to you in future stories?

 Tommy Ray: I hope we have a lot of fun. I hope we get to go to Hollywood and see movie stars in real life. And, I want to go to Florida and let the waves roll over me. That’s my dream. I know Darlene gonna become a movie star and someday, Richie will play the fiddle at the Grand Ole Opry.

Richie: That ain’t never gonna happen. Darlene’s filled his head with them silly notions. We’re going to end up broke and back on the farm, if not in the pen. The law don’t like us much.

Tommy Ray: The sheriff was pretty mad the last time he picked us up.

In parting, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

 Richie: We’ve got fans? Really?

Tommy Ray: A fan comes in real handy when it’s summertime.

Thanks so much for the interview, guys. We’ll be looking forward to seeing you again in future stories including “Haints in Hollywood,” coming soon.  

“Laid to Rest,” a Kindle Best Seller in Comedy, is 99 cents. http://amzn.to/LLHoPy

Also its sister story, “The Yard Sale” is available on Amazon.

You can visit Patricia at www.patriciaannpreston.com

If you are a fan of Richie and Tommy Ray, leave them a comment. They’ll be proud to hear from you and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card!