ABOUT THE BOOK
He's afraid of losing his girlfriend. But maybe he should be more concerned about the dead body she's crying over?
Marty Golden can barely string a voicemail message together, let alone keep up with his new love. This quirky uncle's hectic Silicon Valley lifestyle needs a reboot when a youth league soccer game becomes a murder scene. And nothing can stop him from donning his amateur sleuth uniform when he discovers his sweetheart used to have quite a thing for the dead guy . . .
With a not-so-helpful paw from Buddy the Labrador, he does his best to sniff out a long list of possible suspects. But between gossipy soccer moms and the costume-clad members of a Renaissance Faire, Marty's theories fall harder than a jousted knight.
Can Marty solve the case before the trail and his new flame grow cold?
Serf and Turf is the third book in the zany, Silicon Valley cozy mystery series. If you like laugh-out-loud comedy, dorky sleuths, and a festival of old-world fun, then you'll love Marc Jedel's humorous murder mystery.
Buy Serf and Turf to sign in to a great mystery today!
Book Details:
Title: Serf and Turf: A Silicon Valley Mystery
Author: Marc Jedel
Genre: cozy mystery
Series: A Silicon Valley Mystery, book 3
Publisher: BGM Press (October 9, 2019)
Print length: 213 pages
On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours
IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH MARC JEDEL
Ifs
Q: If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
A: Superhero, definitely a superhero. Who wouldn’t want to be one if they could be anything?
Q: If you were on the Amazon bestseller list, who would you choose to be near you on the list?
A: Recently I was fortunate enough to have my first novel, Uncle and Ants, hit #1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists in 3 categories. For a few hours, I was ranked #43 overall in Amazon’s Author Ranks. I found it quite amusing that I was ranked right below Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He, of course, was ranked #42 as is only appropriate for making that number famous as the answer to the “question of life, the universe, and everything.”
Q: If you could meet any author for coffee, who would you like to meet and what would you talk about?
A: I’d love to meet Janet Evanovich and talk to her about how she has managed to write so many books in her different series. Janet turned out to be an improbable inspiration for my writing.
On a vacation, I picked up my wife’s copy of a Janet Evanovich novel. She got mad when I didn’t return it until I’d finished. My wife that is, not Janet. Janet would be happy because I’ve purchased a number of her other books and even consulted her How I Write book when I started Uncle and Ants.
Q: If you had to do community service (or already do volunteer work), what would you choose?
A: I volunteer each week at two different community service organizations. At one, I help people in their job search by creating resumes and helping them apply for positions. At the other, I help blind people learn how to use technology so they can waste time using social media, listening to music, and deleting spam like all the sighted people.
Q: If you could choose a fictional town to live in what would it be?
A: I’d choose the town of Eureka, from that TV show of a few years ago. It was a perfect place for a cozy mystery writer with a protagonist who is a software engineer—humorous and strange stuff happened nearly every day, the authorities regularly turned to the engineers to save the world, and most of the time everyone lived happily ever after. If possible, I’d prefer to avoid the days with the potentially apocalyptic events, but I guess you can’t get everything you want.
Ands
5 things that drive you crazy:
• people who say they don’t have time to read but manage to spend hours per day watching videos or checking social media on their phones
• the smell of boiling bones (probably best not to ask how I know this)
• names of colors beyond those that came in the Crayola 8-pack—or possibly the 16-pack. All the rest were merely invented to punish the color-blind. And the fashion-challenged.
• software bugs
and
• coming up with lists of 5 things.
5 things you love about where you live:
• Winchester Mystery House
• The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz
• Mystery Dinner Theater
• San Jose Mystery Room
and
• are you getting the picture yet?
5 things you always put in your books:
• humor and wacky side characters,
• realistic situations and realistic decisions made by the characters. I hate books where the whole thing could be resolved with a thirty second phone call or quick text.
• Surprise twists (sometimes even I don’t see them coming)
• Buddy, the Labrador
and
• after bumbling around for a while, Marty coming through in the end—thanks to his attention to detail
5 words to describe you:
• Seriously
• Needs
• New
• Ideas
and
• Fast
5 things you’d need on a deserted island:
• my dog
• internet
• beer
• lounge chair
and
• a fully-fueled yacht.
Oh! And my wife. I didn’t mean to leave her off. She should totally rank higher than my dog and beer. Or at least higher than the lounge chair.
Whats
Q: What’s your all-time favorite memory?
A: My wedding. I have to do something to make up for my last answer. Besides, it’s got to be up there in the top 10 anyway so I’ll go with it.
Q: What’s your all-time favorite library?
A: Although it’s no longer a functioning library, I would recommend everyone check out Chicago’s Old Public Library building in downtown. It’s a beautiful building with tiled, mosaic ceilings and an incredible Tiffany glass dome.
Q: What’s your favorite quote?
A: Well, I guess I’d say I try to live by advice from my dad: “If the appetizers are good, eat them. You never know what’s for dinner.”
Q: What’s your favorite movie snack?
A: Milk Duds mixed together with popcorn. Really, it’s a thing. Don’t knock it until you try it.
Q: What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
A: I’ve got a picture that my nieces drew for my birthday a number of years ago. You can see this picture here. This picture was one of the inspirations for my series so I keep it on my computer to motivate me to keep writing.
Q: What’s the loveliest sight you’ve ever seen?
A: My wife. (Yeah, still trying to make up for forgetting her on the deserted island.)
What’s your latest recommendation for:
• Food: I’m all in favor of food. Looking at my scale, it’s clear I’ve been way too much in favor of food recently so perhaps it’s best to have fewer food recommendations.
• Music: When I’m writing, I can only listen to instrumental music. Spotify’s playlists for studying can be quite good. I’ve also actually found some of the soundtracks from videogames to be nice accompaniment to writing. When I’m not writing, I tend to listen to rock and hence why music lyrics often creep into dialogue in my books.
• Movie: I rarely see movies, but I enjoyed Yesterday, the movie featuring the music of the Beatles. I mean, even if you hate rom-coms/sci-fi/drama, at least you’d like the soundtrack.
• Book: In the cozy mystery genre, my two favorites are: Left Hanging by Patricia McLinn and Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon. Another series I’ve greatly enjoyed is David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series—very funny legal mysteries.
• Audiobook: I’ve been enjoying listening to the great job that B.J. Harrison, the narrator, is doing with the audiobook versions of my three books. The first comes out in December and the rest follow shortly.
• TV: Disappointed that Elementary’s seven season run ended. I like mysteries, especially when they take a classic like Sherlock Holmes and update it smartly.
Books in the Silicon Valley Mystery series:
Uncle and Ants (#1)Chutes and Ladder (#2)
Serf and Turf (#3)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For most of Marc’s life, he’s been inventing stories. Some, especially when he was young, involved his sister as the villain. As his sister’s brother for her entire life, he feels highly qualified to tell tales of the evolving, quirky sibling relationship in the Silicon Valley Mystery series.
The publication of Marc’s first novel, Uncle and Ants, gave him permission to claim “author” as his job. This leads to much more interesting conversations than answering, “marketing.” Recently becoming an Amazon best-selling author has inflated his ego way more than his family would have wished.
Family and friends would tell you that the protagonist in his stories, Marty Golden, isn't much of a stretch of the imagination for Marc, but he accepts that.
Like Marty, Marc lives in Silicon Valley where he still can’t understand Daylight Saving Time. Unlike Marty, Marc has a wonderful wife and a neurotic but sweet, small dog, who is often the first to weigh in on the humor in his writing.
Visit his website, marcjedel.com, for free chapters of upcoming novels, special offers, and more.
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