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Murder mysteries in Williams
Author brings Williams into the limelight

<br>Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN<br>
<i>Murder on Route 66</i> author Karen Colson.

<br>Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN<br> <i>Murder on Route 66</i> author Karen Colson.

WILLIAMS - Local author Karen Colson knows how to tell a story. She's been writing since she was a little girl in Wyoming, where she would often write screenplays and other stories. In Williams, Colson's friends have known for some time that she writes and have been wating with bated breath to read her work. Soon they will get that chance.

Colson's first book, Murder on Route 66: The Milky Way Murders, will be widely released in the coming months. The mystery is the first in a planned three or four book series. Williams and the downtown area, as well the people who live and work there, are featured heavily within the pages.

"As a kid, I always read and wrote and read. I wrote stories," Colson said. "When I got to be 18 or so I started writing screenplays. When I was about 24 my sister Colleen died and I just stopped. I didn't start again until I moved up here, so it's been about 23 years I haven't written. It's nice to write again."

The Milky Way Murders be available at a number of Williams locations, including the Red Garter Bed and Bakery, Twisters and the Route 66 Place, the Williams-Forest Service Visitor Center, White Horse Trading Post, the Quality Inn Mountain Ranch and Resort, the American Flyer coffee shop and JD's Espresso. It will also be available in Colson's hometown of Rawlins, Wyo., Albertson's in Flagstaff and online at Lulu.com. The book will also become available on Amazon.com in the coming months.

Colson said she plans to do a number of local book signings when the book is released. She added that The Milky Way Murders is not intended for young readers.

"Because the book is a mystery, and there's some comedy, but there is also sex. Sex is real. Sex happens, so it's out there. If you buy it, don't let your 10-year-old read the book," Colson warned.

Colson came up with the idea for the Murder on Route 66 series when she operated her own downtown store, Gracies Clothing and More, and would watch the comings and going of other merchants and locals.

"The main thing was, when I started writing again, that there are so many different personalities out there. The characters are based on different people I know, but some of it is way beyond anybody I know. It's just make believe," Colson said, adding that she has always wanted to make enough money to help the teens in the community have more to do around the city.

"What really got me writing again was that I said, 'Okay, I'm going to write. I'm going to become a New York Times bestseller and I'm going to make $1 million and I'm going to build a theater in town for the kids,'" Colson said. "Someday it will happen. I already have my corner picked out."

Colson has lived in Williams for five years since moving from the Phoenix area. She's originally from Wyoming. Colson has three kids who live with her; her daughters' Jamie Power and Gracie Schramm, and a son, Max Schramm. She's recently become a grandmother as well, to Jamie's son, Cole Power.

Besides being a huge mystery fan, Colson also has an affinity for the work of Stephen King.

"I wish I could write like Stephen King," she said. "I like to keep people thinking about what's going to happen at the end of the story, to see if they can figure out what's happening. Right now I have three different books in the Murder on Route 66 series. The first one, of course, is The Milky Way Murders. The second one is The Gopher Murders. The third one is The Ghost Murders. Hopefully there will be another based on the train in Williams."

She calls the series, "mini-novellas," due to their small size.

"I made them short because I don't have time to read anymore. I don't think a lot of people have time to read anymore," Colson said, adding that she has two other novels in the works as well: a children's super hero story, a love story and another set in Wyoming.

"It's called Can I Tell You a Whisper? It's based on a little five-year-old girl," Colson said of the latter project. "It's not really a mystery. It's just about different characters and their different lives. The characters are based on real people, but not the story. The love story is called My Ralph. That one is slowly coming along."

To stay up to date on Colson's projects, visit her blog at www.karencolsonbooks.blogspot.com.


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