Showing posts with label Cassidy Salem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassidy Salem. Show all posts

Sunday, July 29, 2018

FEATURED AUTHOR: CASSIDY SALEM




ABOUT THE BOOK


Adina can’t resist snooping when someone she knows turns up dead. Again.

When a colleague at a prestigious think tank meets a violent death, Adina’s not convinced any of the obvious suspects disliked him enough to want him dead. Can the young research assistant and a lovable rescue pup help the police put together the pieces of the puzzle?

Killer Reputation is the third mystery in the Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Series by Cassidy Salem. The books are standalone reads and can be read in any order.


Book Details:


Title: Killer Reputation

Author’s name: Cassidy Salem

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Book 3

Publisher: C. Salem (June 15, 2018)

Print length: 182 pages
On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours





   

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH CASSIDY SALEM


Things you love about writing: The opportunity to create characters who can be anything and everything you want them to be and do anything, including things as an author I might never dare to do.
Things you hate about writing: Outlining. I know it’s a good practice, but it doesn’t seem to work for me. When I tried to write to an outline, I found myself lacking motivation to write. After all, I already knew what would happen in the end. Over time, I have become more of pantser – I let the characters decide where the story will go.

Easiest thing about being a writer: There is nothing easy about being a writer.  It is hard work, challenging and satisfying, but not easy.
Hardest thing about being a writer: The pressure to publish more books. I am not a fast writer. Sometimes, I feel like I might be the slowest writer on earth.

 
Words that describe you: Optimistic, energetic, driven.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Klutzy, clumsy, obstinate. 

Favorite foods: Chocolate and cheese cake. And don’t get me started about the delights of chocolate cheese cake.
Things that make you want to throw up: The smell of pickles. Any kind of pickles. When we have company, my husband always asks one of our friends to put them out for me. 

Favorite music: I am a great fan of folk music and 70s rock, however I enjoy most genres of music.
Music that make your ears bleed: Off-key karaoke. I find it painful to listen to.  

Favorite beverage: Diet Coke. (Yes, I know it’s not good for me but it’s a hard habit to break.)
Something that gives you a pickle face: The smell of pickles! Baked beans, broccoli, and most cooked vegetables. (Hint: I am a picky eater).

People you consider as heroes: People who volunteer and take time to help others, even when they don’t have to.

People with a big L on their foreheads: Anyone who thinks it is okay to abuse helpless animals.  



Last best thing you ate: A wonderfully seasoned vegetarian lasagna. 

Last thing you regret eating: The ridiculously large portion of Reese’s Cheesecake I ordered  at the Cheesecake Factory when I visited San Francisco last month. Not because it wasn’t good. It was divine – I simply shouldn’t have finished it.

Things you always put in your books: Dogs. I love dogs and they can add color to any storyline.  
Things you never put in your books: When I started writing fiction, I made a conscious decision not to include any graphic descriptions of violence or sexual encounters in my books. 

Favorite places you’ve been: Norway. So many fjords and waterfalls, and all that lush greenery. Absolutely gorgeous.  

Places you never want to go to again: Athens. No offense to any Greek readers in the audience. I actually loved other parts of Greece. It’s just Athens was hot and crowded, and very polluted. My sinuses were not happy.

People you’d like to invite to dinner:  My extended family – a reunion of sorts. I actually have first cousins whom I have never met. Invitations aside, it’s not likely to ever happen as we are dispersed throughout the United States and abroad. But it would be cool.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Any politician running for office. 

Favorite things to do: Traveling and seeing new places, especially out in nature. Recently went on road trip to Southwestern U.S. and hiked in several National Parks in Utah, Arizona and Colorado – it was totally amazing. We even celebrated my birthday at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. 

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Standing in front of a group of strangers naked, or undergoing any number of those unpleasant and/or invasive medical exams. 

Something you wish you could do: I always wanted to learn to speak five languages. This is probably why the main character in my books, Adina Donati, speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French, and Hebrew.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Play games on Facebook. I am too easily tempted by the likes of Candy Crush . . . 



OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassidy Salem has always been an avid reader. She is especially fond of mysteries (both cozy and traditional) and police procedurals. Over the years, her favorite mystery authors have included Agatha Christie, Kathy Reichs, Mary Higgins Clark, and John Grisham.

When she’s not reading, she enjoys music and spending time with family and friends, and travels with her husband and son whenever possible. Her travels have taken her to destinations throughout the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia.

Cassidy Salem is the author of the Adina Donati Mystery Series, which includes Think Murder, Dying for Data, and Killer Reputation. Cassidy co-authors, together with Christa Nardi, a YA mystery series, which includes The Mysterious Package, Mrs. Tedesco’s Missing Cookbook, The Misplaced Dog, and Malicious Mischief.


Connect with Cassidy:
Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon


Buy the book:

Amazon

Sunday, August 21, 2016

FEATURED AUTHOR: CASSIDY SALEM



ABOUT THE BOOK

Bad karma, a rival suitor, and a deadly attack are enough to put a damper on any date.
Just when Adina’s social life is looking up, her night out is interrupted by the scream of police sirens. Afraid her bartender boyfriend might be accused of murder, Adina’s neighbor enlists her assistance, and in the process exposes her to the seamier side of illegal immigration and crime in the city. Hard as she tries to limit her involvement, the more Adina learns, the more she needs to know—until a case of mistaken identity lands her in hot water. Will she uncover the truth before it’s too late? Dying for Data is the second book in the Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth mystery series.


INTERVIEW WITH CASSIDY SALEM

How did you get started writing?

Like most authors, I have been writing all my life in various forms. Starting from school and college, in the context of assignments (I always did better on term papers than exams). But my writing was always semi-academic or technical in nature. I have always been an avid reader and thought about writing a book one day. Around 16 years ago, I made a career move and landed in technical writing. When you write technical manuals, your sentences must be short and concise—and almost always in the present simple tense. No room for creativity at all. Writing a novel was a way of challenging myself to be creative.

What do you think is hardest aspect of writing a book?
Plot. No doubt about it. Coming up with an original storyline. My characters seem to take care of themselves as I write.

What books do you currently have published?
I have published two books in the Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth series. The first, Think Murder, was released in 2015. Dying for Data was released this week.

How often do you tweet? 

At least once a day. I also try to retweet my fellow authors whenever I have time to get on Twitter. (I don’t use any automated retweet programs.)

How do you feel about Facebook?
It’s great for keeping in touch with geographically-remote family members, and has been a great tool for networking with other indie offers. I love it, but I definitely see the need to exercise caution in what you put out there in cyberspace on any form of social media.

What’s your favorite fast food?
That’s easy. Pizza!


How do you like your pizza? Growing up, my favorite pizza was the homemade pizza my dad would make—thick crust, tomato sauce, and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. I’ll occasionally make it that way at home. Even when I eat pizza out, I don’t go for all the toppings, just extra cheese.

Do you give your characters any of your bad traits?

A few little ones—I will confess to having a Diet-Coke habit and a scary loud sneeze.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

I have embarrassed myself more often than I’d care to admit. I’ll share one with you. For a while when I was in junior high school, long skirts with elastic waistbands were in style. One day, I got to school and crouched down to get something out of my locker, inadvertently stepping on the hemline. When I got up, the skirt stayed down.

Yikes! What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?

As part of a final assignment in college for a course on adolescent development, we had to write a personal development paper—how events/people had played a part in becoming who we are. I put it off forever, until I had no choice but to hunker down and do the soul-searching the task entailed.

What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
This one might qualify as an embarrassing moment—when I was in 5th grade, I broke my pinky finger kicking a ball. (No, that’s not a typo.)

What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
A picture that I took on a trip to Norway—a field full of wild Norwegian fireweed.


What’s your favorite smell?
Vanilla.


What’s your favorite color?
Blue
.

What are your favorite foods?
Chocolate, cheesecake.


What do others say about your driving?
I am directionally-challenged. Distract me for a minute and expect to take an unscheduled detour.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassidy Salem has always been an avid reader. She is especially fond of mysteries (both cozy and traditional). Over the years, her favorite mystery authors have included Agatha Christie, Kathy Reichs, Mary Higgins Clark, and John Grisham. Cassidy also enjoys reading historical fiction focused on American and world history, as well as the classics.

Cassidy has never met a dog she didn't like—a fact that influenced her decision to have the protagonist in her mystery series volunteer at a dog rescue center.

When she's not reading, Cassidy enjoys spending time with family and friends, and travels with her husband and son whenever possible. Her travels have taken her to destinations throughout the United States and Europe.



Connect with Cassidy:
Blog  |  
Facebook  |   
Twitter  |   
Goodreads  

Buy the book:
Amazon