Thursday, January 14, 2021

FEATURED AUTHOR: PAULA DARNELL



ABOUT THE BOOK

Artist Amanda Trent, accompanied by her beloved golden retriever Laddie and her persnickety calico cat Mona Lisa, is determined to start a new life after her husband divorces her to marry a younger woman, but it isn't easy.
   

After a disastrous interview at the prestigious Roadrunner Gallery in Lonesome Valley, Arizona, far away from her previous home in Kansas City, Amanda's afraid that she'll fail at her new career. But her prospects begin to improve when she's accepted as the newest member of the cooperative gallery. 
   

Then, on her very first day, she discovers Janice, the stern director, has been murdered right in the art gallery, and the Roadrunner's members, including Amanda herself, become suspects. Which gallery member murdered the unpopular director? Or was the killer an outsider with an ax to grind?

Book Details:

Title: Artistic License to Kill

Author: Paula Darnell

Genre: cozy mystery

Series: A Fine Art Mystery

Publisher: Campbell and Rogers Press
 (January 2021
)
Print length:  251 pages





LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH PAULA DARNELL


A few of your favorite things: chocolate, tea, roses, silk fabric, hats.
Things you need to throw out: old magazines, receipts, and paperwork.


Things you need in order to write: paper, pen, and concentration.
Things that hamper your writing: lack of time.


Things you love about writing: telling a story.
Things you hate about writing: proofreading.

Favorite music: opera.
Music that make your ears bleed: rap.

Favorite beverage: tea.

Something that gives you a pickle face: soy milk.



Last best thing you ate: coconut cake.

Last thing you regret eating: coconut cake.

Things you always put in your books: a lovable dog.

Things you never put in your books: author.

Things to say to an author: I loved your book!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: It's a wonderful book, but I didn't really like the way the sub-plot worked out, so three stars for this one.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR  

An instructor at five colleges over the years, Paula Darnell most often taught the dreaded first-year English composition classes, but she's also been happy to teach some fun classes, such as fashion design, sewing, and jewelry making. Paula has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and a Master's degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Like the main characters in her DIY Diva Mystery series and her Fine Art Mystery series, Paula enjoys all kinds of arts and crafts. Some of her memorable projects include making a hat and a cape to wear to Royal Ascot, sewing wedding gowns for both her daughters, exhibiting her textile and mixed-media artwork in juried art shows, and having one of her jewelry projects accepted for inclusion in Leather Jewelry, published by Lark Books. She sells some of her jewelry and hair accessories in her Etsy shop.



She is also the author of The Six-Week Solution, a historical mystery set in Reno, Nevada, in 1955. A former Reno resident, she was inspired by the local history and found the 1950s, when Reno was considered the Divorce Capital of the World, to be an interesting era in which to set a mystery.
 
Paula won two writing awards in 2020: one from the National Federation of Press Women for Death by Association and another from the Public Safety Writers Association for The Six-Week Solution. 
  


Paula lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband Gary and their 110-pound dog Rocky, whose favorite pastime is lurking in the kitchen, hoping for a handout.

Connect with Paula:
Website  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads Amazon

Buy the book:
Amazon