ABOUT THE BOOK
Liv Montgomery knew that asking Celebration Bay’s newspaper owner-slash-ne’er-do-well Chaz Bristow to teach her how to fish meant angling for more than a lesson in sinkers and chum. But it’s not long before Liv reels in a huge catch—already quite dead. It’s the body of an unknown man, and it was no accidental drowning. This floater was murdered, and Chaz and Liv become live bait for a ruthless killer.
INTERVIEW WITH SHELLEY FREYDONT
Shelley, tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?Liv Montgomery was a high powered Manhattan event planner who takes a job as event planner for a small destination town in upstate New York, Celebration Bay. She and her intrepid Westie, Whiskey, are usually up to their eyeballs in planning holidays and catching killers. It’s a series, but they can be read in any order.
Where’s home for you?
I live at the New Jersey shore.
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
There will always be something interesting around the next bend.
What makes you bored?
People who are bored. I run as fast as I can in the opposite direction.
Do you have another job outside of writing?
No, I work solely as a writer. Before I began writing for a living, I was a professional dancer. I worked with great people, went to a lot of wonderful places, but even then I was writing when I got the chance.
What’s one of your favorite quotes?
One of my favorite quotes and sort of my philosophy of life is: “When you go through life make this your goal, watch the donut not the hole.” -Burl Ives
If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
In my dreams . . . The Cornwall coast.
What would you like people to say about you after you die?
That I did no harm, maybe even helped a little.
How did you create the plot for this book?
At the end of Independence Slay, Liv dares Chaz, her nemesis and sometimes flirt, to teach her how to fish, never expecting him to take her up on it. But he does. Now she’s stuck on a fishing boat with him. So what if? I threw in a big lake trout named Big Billy, and the rest is fish tale.
What book are you currently reading and in what format?
I read in a lot of genres and in all formats. I’m reading The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective, (a 1895 facsimile of a dime novel) on my phone and mini, Susannah Kearsley’s A Desperate Fortune in paper, and re-reading Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander in hardcover.
Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
I have an office in my apartment. It’s two walls of desk, all white. I sit so I can see the soft ball field across the way. I write in the morning, stop for lunch and a short read, or a walk on the beach for a break. Then it’s back to work. Usually when I’m writing one book, I have edits on another book at the same time, so it keeps me busy.
What would your dream office look like?
It would be my office but looking out over a deserted beach to the ocean.
You're published with Berkley and William Morrow. Are you happy with your decision to publish with them?
When I started writing there weren’t all the many publishing options we have today. I went with a traditional publisher because that was the best option. I’m still with several publishers and love working with them. I like being a part of a team without having to worry about the business end of it. I wouldn’t enjoy the small business aspect of self publishing, so I’m very happy to be where I am now.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on the second Gilded Age mystery titled, A Golden Cage, scheduled to be published next summer, and a women’s fiction, Leila, that will be available June 2016.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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