For those of you who have read the first book in the Kevin Kirk Chronicles series, My Mom’s a Mortician, here are some niblets of trivia:

Q: Is Armadillo, Arkansas a real town?
A: Armadillo isn’t a real town, but it is patterned after one — Mountain View, Arkansas. I’ve visited there several times. It’s a lovely little one-stoplight town nestled in the Ozarks. Of course Armadillo isn’t in the Ozarks; it’s in what’s called the delta region of Arkansas, nearer the Mississippi river. I always thought Armadillo Arkansas would make a great book title just for the alliteration. And there are armadillos in Arkansas, in case you didn’t know.

Q: Where did you get the idea for the Cow Palace restaurant?
A: There was a real Cow Palace restaurant many years ago near where I live. I never ate there, but always wondered what it would be like and what kind of food they would serve. Who wouldn’t want to eat a double cow pattie with cheese and a large herd of fries?

Q: Where did you find the epitaph that’s written on Cletus McCulley’s tombstone?
A: I have this wonderful book I purchased at a state park gift shop. It’s a collection of epitaphs (short lines or poems) etched on tombstones in western Kentucky cemeteries. Someone actually traveled around and collected these! When I read the epitaph I knew it would be perfect for the old fisherman’s marker: “Death is the fisherman, and we the fishes be.”