A PG author's whodunit thriller illuminates the cut-throat world of media takeovers.

Photo by:Randy Tunnell: I Think You Need a Comma Here: Joyce Krieg is determined to write another novel, cat or no cat.

On her website, Pacific Grove author Joyce Krieg counsels other writers, "Don''t just write about what you know. Take what you know and then write about what you''re passionate about." This bit of advice comes by way of Krieg''s experience in writing her first novel, Murder Off Mike, a whodunit-style traditional mystery published by St. Martin''s Press that will be on the shelves later this month.

The heroine of Krieg''s book is Shauna J. Bogart, the host of a radio talk show in Sacramento. As presented by Krieg, Shauna J. is a feisty, independent sort of woman and "still the only employee pulling down a permanent, full-time air shift who uses the restroom with the Tampax machine."

Krieg happily acknowledges that she and Shauna J. are birds of a feather. After receiving her journalism degree from San Jose State University and later working as a reporter for the Woodland Daily Democrat, Krieg ventured forth into the male-dominated world of radio. It was the 1970s, when women in radio were almost entirely relegated to off-mike positions, the FCC required licenses-not today''s cereal-box-coupon-get-''em- for-nothing kind of licenses, but the kind a person had to study hard to earn-for anyone who went on-air, and FM radio was only just beginning to come alive.

It was against this backdrop that Krieg became the newscaster for Earth Radio 102, one of the first FM rock stations in California''s Central Valley. She went on to get her First Class Radiotelephone License and was hired by radio station KFBK in Sacramento as the station''s first female news anchor. Like so many smaller and independent radio stations, KFBK was gobbled up by increasingly larger conglomerates during the corporate feeding frenzy of the ''90s. In 1994, when Clear Channel Broadcasting bought KFBK, Krieg was out of a job.

Shauna J. also works in Sacramento. And she, too, gets storm-tossed by the corporate takeover of independent radio stations. But where Shauna J. is faced with solving the murder of a coworker that involves political and corporate intrigue, the newly-jobless Krieg was faced with the possibly more difficult (if less dangerous) task of realizing her dream to write a novel.

A frequent visitor to the Peninsula, Krieg moved to Pacific Grove in 1994, and began working on Murder Off Mike. It wasn''t always an easy path-she went off on several different tangents that lead to dead ends before completing her final draft. Stacks of rejection letters and re-writes littered the eight years between 1994 and 2002, the year her manuscript won the St. Martin''s Press/Malice Domestic award for Best First Traditional Mystery.

Although it hasn''t yet hit the street, the novel has received favorable notice from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and Krieg has inked a deal for two more novels starring Shauna J. It''s a situation that Krieg is enjoying-not only is she getting to say what she wants to say without really saying it, she''s getting to do something she loves.

Krieg says that Shauna J. is "definitely" her alter ego. "If I could do anything I wanted, could say anything I wanted, she would be my alter ego. It is kind of fun to make observations through her eyes and with her outlook on things."

Krieg attributes some of her success to simply paying attention to the realities of the marketplace. Although, as she points out, the "mystery" sections of bookstores and libraries may encompass everything from political intrigue to crime/action, publishers of mystery novels demand something much more specific.

"In the world of New York publishers, they have a much narrower definition," says Krieg. "A body is found very early in the manuscript, and you don''t find out who done it until the last chapter, and clues are scattered throughout."

In fact, it was paying strict attention to this format that lead to Krieg''s final re-write of Murder Off Mike. Krieg says she was gratified when a representative of St. Martin''s said that what they liked about the manuscript was its unique voice. "My manuscript was different," says Krieg, "but within the guidelines of what they expect."

Although Krieg tempers her excitement, knowing she still has a lot of work ahead of her in writing the next two novels, she says she can''t help feeling buoyed by her success. "I feel, ''Hot Damn! This legitimizes what I''ve been trying to do.'' It''s hard not to feel like Sally Field, you know, ''You like me! You really like me!''"

Joyce Krieg will sign copies of Murder Off Mike on April 12 from 2:30-4pm at Bookworks, 667 Lighthouse Ave. in Pacific Grove. More information is available at www.joycek.com.