‘Mercy Triumphs’

At a time when most seniors are slowing down, 71-year-old Patricia Pomeroy-Tanner is just getting started.

Born on a homestead in western Montana, Patricia has a number of stories to tell. Literally.

Her second mystery, “Mercy Triumphs,” is in stores now. And the retired registered nurse-turned-minister/author has six more manuscripts waiting in the wings.

After retiring from nursing in 1997, she and husband Robert Tanner sold their Montana home, bought an RV and set out to see America. The couple planned to travel, temporarily setting up house in whatever area captured their fancy.

But less than two years into their travels, Robert fell and hurt his foot. He developed a blood clot. To find the clot, doctors had to use iodine, a substance to which he is lethally allergic.

After negotiating his fate with God, Robert sailed through the treatment and, on the other side, made good on his promise to return to the pastoral field. As a heavy-duty mechanic with the Hanford Atomic Energy Plant in Montana, he had served as a lay pastor on the side. While lying in the hospital, Patricia said her husband promised to return to his ministerial work.

At a non-denominational church in El Paso, Texas, the couple found a friend in the resident minister. A professor in religion, the pastor proceeded to teach Robert via correspondence lessons. In 1999, Robert earned his minister’s license and the Tanner’s R.V. Ministry was born.

“We were looking for a place to minister,” Patricia said. “We knew we wanted to do R.V. ministering.”

With that in mind, the Tanners found Hideaway Ponds Recreational Resort in Gibson. After traveling Washington, Oregon, Arizona and their home state, the couple “hit it right off” in the heart of Cajun Country.

Today, the Tanners hold church services at the Gibson resort, leading fellow RVers in Godly pursuits.

All the while, Patricia has prolifically pursued her first love: Writing.

While she was nursing and raising her three children, finding time to write was a constant challenge.

“I worked 12 hour shifts, and we were always short-handed,” Patricia recalls. “Then there were nights I’d get home only to get called back.”

But every free minute, she was reading. Paying attention to a variety of genres and mentally refining her own tales.

In 1994, she even attended a writer’s conference. It gave a more in-depth look at the process n more so than the $20 creative writing adult education course she had taken years earlier in Montana.

Her first story, “Blazing the Grizzly Trail,” was published in The Good Old Days magazine in November of 1990. From a series of interviews with her brother-in-law n a former leader of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Glacier National Park, the story recounts his encounters with the bears in the park.

Patricia succinctly describes seeing her name in print the first time: “It was fabulous.”

Bitten by the writing buy, she followed the article up with a story about a mishap at school with a can of red spray paint. “It was called the ‘Red Paint Calamity,’” she said, and recounted a demonstration she did in a distributive education class in 1954.

“Spray paint was a new concept then,” Patricia said. But after a burly classmate fiddled with the can, she found herself standing in front of a class during her demonstration with a paint can that refused to spray.

When Patricia returned to her desk, she continued to work with the can until it worked. “Suddenly I’m sitting there with my hands and lap filled with red paint,” she said. She tossed the spray can into a nearby garbage can, but not before the paint left a telltale trail of red across the room.

The can was all but forgotten until a day later when the janitor emptied the trash into the incinerator. “It exploded, slammed into a wall and left red paint running down the basement wall. It was a wonder they didn’t expel me from school,” Patricia said.

The published work only confirmed Patricia’s desire to write.

After pitching publishing companies a number of proposals, only to be followed by a slew of rejections, Patricia found a publisher for her first mystery, “For the Love of Joy.” Publish America printed the books in 2001, but it was a bit of a mixed blessing.

“I’m appreciative to them because they helped me get started. But unfortunately it wasn’t edited very well and it was overpriced,” she admits.

The book is about Joy Blaine, a woman who overhears a conversation between two men of an impending scam, Patricia said. When Joy goes to the police with the news, she inadvertently tips off the con man.

“In the end, he is brought to justice,” she said.

The book provided valuable insight into the publishing world. “First, I learned that publishers fill a quota. If you want to get published, get your book in at the beginning of the year,” Patricia said.

And even once a proposal is approved, expect a long wait before you hear a final “yes,” she said.

“It was a thrill of a lifetime to think that it actually happened,” Patricia said of “For the Love of Joy.” Especially given the fact that nearly 99 percent of all book proposals never get printed, she added. “It takes patience, patience, patience.”

For the next year, Patricia was her own publicist, working the phones and lining up book signings.

With six books fully written, she also set out to find a publisher for her next work.

In November 2004, Air Leaf Publishing picked up Patricia’s second title, “Mercy Triumphs.” In addition to writing it, she also designed the cover.

The story follows the cold case of Harley Malone. His sister, Mercy, an investigative reporter, finds new evidence and sets about to bring the murderer to justice. Along the way, she teams up with a Texas Ranger, finds a little romance and, in the end, triumphs.

“There’s a little romance and mystery,” she said. “My stories are very pure. There’s nothing included that you wouldn’t want your 13-year-old to see.”

Critics have touted Patricia’s ability to capture her characters’ internal dialogues. “That’s what I hear the most. The characters become alive because there’s very little narrative,” she said. “I’m telling the story through the characters. I really love to get into their heads.”

And all of the profits from her book sales are going to support a great cause: the Tanners’ RV Ministry.

As the Bible Story Lady, Patricia leads a ministry for children. “There’s videos, puppets and music,” she said. And the couple has started a fund to build a chapel at the RV park.

“This has become my home. I love it here,” the Gibson author said. “I love the Cajun people; they’re so sweet and so friendly.”

At 71, Patricia continues to develop projects n children’s books, more mysteries and plans to expand the family ministry.

“Mercy Triumphs” can be found at B. Dalton Bookstore in Houma, the Coffee Table in Thibodaux and Gimie’s in Morgan City.

‘Mercy Triumphs’