FEATURED AUTHOR: KELLY BRAKENHOFF

ABOUT THE BOOK

Will Dead Week kill Cassandra's career?

VP of Student Affairs Cassandra Sato has a desk full of problems and it's not even Thanksgiving break.

Cassandra's new boss talks to her dead husband. Cassandra's mentor thinks he's a superhero in a senior citizen's body. And Cassandra, recently moved from Hawai'i, can't crack the code of what to wear during November in Nebraska.

Cassandra faces end of semester pranks, stray dogs, winter storms, and viral news stories in her fight for justice for a group of student activists. But that's nothing compared to the wrath of a Helicopter Mom!

If you like academic cozy mysteries with funny BFFs, hilarious student shenanigans, and small town drama, you'll like this series.

Book Details:

Title: Dead Week   

Author: Kelly Brakenhoff

Genre: cozy mystery

Series: Cassandra Sato Mystery Series, book 2

Publisher: Emerald Prairie Press (December 11, 2019)

Print length: 322 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours





IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH KELLY BRAKENHOFF

Ifs
 

If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
I’ve waited my whole life to become an author and finally did it last year when I published three books I’d worked on forever. I still work at my day job as an American Sign Language Interpreter. I love working with deaf and hard of hearing people and helping people understand each other. If I were to quit my day job someday, I’d start a tour company because it would give me an excuse to travel with people and see more of the world.

If you were on the Amazon bestseller list, who would you choose to be one before and one below you?
Janet Evanovich and Michael Connelly.


If you could meet any author for coffee, who would you like to meet and what would you talk about?
Frankie Bow. My favorite series of hers is the Professor Molly Mysteries. She can make everyday scenes like arriving at work funny, so our lunch would be full of laughter. And of course, we’d have to eat lunch in Hawai’i. I’d order a yummy kalua pork plate lunch. Plus, she’s kind of secretive about her real name and her day job at a college in Hawai’i. I’m super curious how she juggles writing and being a real-life professor.

If you could choose a fictional town to live in what would it be and from what book?
Hogwarts. But I doubt they’d give me a job there since I’m a Muggle. So maybe Hogsmeade? I’d own a bar, drink lots of Butterbeer, and hang out with all the smart wizards who stopped by. 


If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?

Hawai’i. When my husband and I were first married, we lived on Oahu for five years, and two of our children were born there. Although it’s been great having our extended family near us while the kids all grew up, I miss sunshine. And the beach, and Portugese malasadas, and our friends, and the music, and—oh no! Can you tell winter is settling in here in Nebraska? It’s going to be a long few months!



ANDs

5 things you love about where you live: 
    •    Husker football
    •    the sunsets 
    •    friendly people
    •    local craft beer
and
    •    Runza sandwiches and Frings!

5 favorite places you’ve been:  
    •    Kauai 
    •    Vatican City 
    •    Florence, Italy
    •    Oxford, England
    and
    •    Ireland

5 favorite authors:  
    •    Janet Evanovich
    •    John Grisham
    •    David Baldacci
    •    JRR Tolkien
and 
    •    CS Lewis
(That’s too hard. I have too many to choose from!)

5 living people you’d like to invite to dinner:  
    •    Pope Francis
    •    Prince William and Kate
    •    Emma Watson
    •    Ron Howard
and
    •    Fr. Mike Schmitz
I’d serve steak and we would have a very lively discussion.

5 favorite things to do:  
    •    hiking
    •    camping
    •    traveling
    •    reading
and
    •    cooking

WHATs

What’s your all-time favorite library? 

Bodleian Library in Oxford, England.


What’s your favorite dessert?

Chocolate Mousse.


What’s your favorite beverage? 

Red wine (with my chocolate mousse).


What’s one of your favorite quotes?

Every year I choose at least one guiding quote that I post in a prominent place and think about. This year it’s: "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”  —Mother Teresa


What’s your all-time favorite quote?
My all-time favorite quote is this: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.” —Erma Bombeck


What author would you most like to review one of your books? 

Hank Phillippi Ryan.



What books are you currently working on?
Dead of Winter Break, next in the Cassandra Sato series, and Farts Make Noise, next in the Duke the Deaf Dog Series.

What’s your all-time favorite author?  

JRR Tolkien.

What’s your latest recommendation for:
Food: I’m on a New Year’s diet so pretty much anything with sugar or refined carbs sounds delicious. If I were to splurge, it would be on a big, sloppy Reuben Sandwich.
Music: "This is Me" by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman. I actually made a Spotify playlist while I was writing Dead Week.
Movie: Knives Out.
Book: Twisted Twenty-Six by Janet Evanovich.
Audiobook:Anna Castle’s Moriarty Meets His Match series. The narrator is awesome!!
TV: The Blacklist.
Amazon Prime: I’m switching between Mrs. Maisel and Jack Ryan.
Miscellaneous: My word of the year for 2020 is Build.

OTHER BOOKS BY KELLY BRAKENHOFF


Death by Dissertation

Dead Week

Never Mind


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her deaf friends. Her first novel, Death by Dissertation, kicked off the Cassandra Sato Mystery Series, followed by Dead Week. She also wrote Never Mind, first in a children’s picture book series featuring Duke the Deaf Dog. She serves on the Board of Editors for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf publication, VIEWs. The mother of four young adults and two dogs, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.



Connect with Kelly:
Website  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Instagram  |  Amazon  |  Bookbub

Buy the book:
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