CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA SENNEFELDER'S HOPE EARLY

Food blogger Hope Early finds one item not on her scavenger hunt list—a dead husband . . .
 


Between developing her food blog, Hope at Home, and choosing low-cal recipes for a feature in Cooking Now! magazine, Hope has a full plate. Still, she’s never too busy to compete in a Jefferson, Connecticut, tradition—the town’s annual scavenger hunt.



But as she races with her team to check off the next item, Hope discovers a grisly surprise—the body of shady real estate developer Lionel Whitcomb, shot in a parking lot. His wife Elaine, who’s also in the hunt, gasps and nearly faints. But two other women on the scene cry out that their husband is dead.



It turns out this louse of a spouse was more than a little lax in legally divorcing his former wives. Did one of them put a bullet in the bigamist? Number one suspect and number three wife Elaine begs Hope to investigate. Now Hope is on a new kind of hunt—for a cold-hearted killer and triple widow-maker . . .



Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

Book Details:


Title: Three Widows and a Corpse   

Author: Debra Sennefelder

Genre: cozy mystery


Series: The Food Blogger Mystery Series, book 3


Publisher: Kensington Publishing (October 29,2019)


Print length: 352 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

Basic Character Questions

Name: Hope Early.
Age: mid-thirties.
Hair color: brunette.
Relationship status: dating.
Name of (romantic) partner: Ethan Cahill.
Personal style: (hippie, preppie, classic, sloppy, jeans/t-shirts . . . ) Since she spends her days recipe testing and photographing her recipes, she prefers yoga pants and hoodies.
Is this a main character or supporting character? Main character.

Personality

Is she optimistic or pessimistic? Optimistic.
Is she an introvert or extrovert? A little mix of both.
What is her strongest character trait? She’s tenacious.
What quality does she most value in a friend? Honesty.
What is her pet peeves? Not using coasters.
What is her ambitions? To grow her food blog and expand beyond to incorporate videos and cookbooks.
What past act is she most proud of? Turning her blog into a full-time job in such a crowded field.
What is her password? Ha! Like she could remember. Too many passwords.
What is her favorite food? Chocolate anything.
Is she a messy or a neat housekeeper? Neat. Borderline obsessive.
Describe her home. It’s a work in progress. When she saw first saw the house, she knew it was perfect for her. Though, the farmhouse needed a lot of work.
What does she do first thing on a weekday morning? She loves to go for a run now first thing. It helps clear her mind and she likes to listen to podcasts.
What does she do on a Sunday afternoon? She enjoys making an early supper and then curling up with Ethan and her pets, Bigelow and Princess, to watch a movie.
What does she do on a Friday night? Lately, she loves making homemade pizza and inviting her sister with her family and her friends over for dinner.

Friends and Family

Does she have a big or small family? Who does it consist of? Hope has a sister, Claire, who is married and has two children, Logan and Hannah.
Does she have any pets? Yes, two adoptive pets. Bigelow a dog she took in after his owners could no longer care for him. Princess is the fluffy white cat she rescued after a neighbor passed away.
Who are her enemies? She really doesn’t have enemies. Well, she has a childhood frenemy, Meg Griffin. Their relationship is complicated but they’re working on it.
Is she in a relationship? Yes, she’s dating Ethan Cahill.
Has she ever had her heart broken? Yes, when she divorced not too long ago.
Does she have a sidekick? Two. Her best friend, Drew Adams. He’s a reporter for a local newspaper. And Jane Merrifield, a retired author who loves a good mystery.

Work, Education and Hobbies

What is her current job? She’s a food blogger.
What does she think about her current job? Hope loves her job. From the first recipe she published, she knew she wanted to continued blogging and developing recipes. Now she’s able to it full-time and she loves the flexibility and the creativity.
What are her hobbies? She knits. She loves to garden. And thanks to her old farmhouse, she gets to indulge in numerous DIY projects.
What is her educational background? She graduated with a BA in English.
Does she have a natural talent for something? Cooking and baking.

Possessions

What is in her fridge? It’s way too packed with ingredients and results from her recipe testing to give a full accounting over everything.
What is on her bedside table? Her phone, her current read, a romance novel by Eve Kincaid, and a lamp she salvaged and had re-wired.
What is her most treasured possession? There’s a vase in her entry foyer that she loves. It was the first antique she ever purchased and she to save for months on her editorial assistant salary to buy it.

Miscellaneous

Is she comfortable with technology? Yes. As a blogger she has to keep updated on tech.
If she could call one person for help, who would it be? That depends on the kind of trouble and if she was in the mood for a lecture.
What is her greatest extravagance? Her bedding. Even though she’s on a budget, she indulged in luxurious bedding because she’s on her feet all day either working on recipes or on DIY projects around her house.
What would she do if she won the lottery? Not much would change in her day-to-day life. Though Hope would love to fund charities from animal rescue to food deliveries for seniors.
What would she ask a fortune teller? What’s the next big social media platform that will take off so she could promote her blog.
How does she respond to a threat? Hope doesn’t back down. In fact, she becomes more determined to find the truth.
Is she confrontational? Yes, when she must be. When she’s searching for the truth, for justice, she will be confrontational if it’s necessary.

Debra Sennefelder, the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series, is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in pre-hospital care, retail and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Romance Writers of America.

Connect with Debra:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  | Kobo  |  Google Play  |  IndieBound

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FEATURED CHARACTER: DEBRA SENNEFELDER’S KELLY QUINN

ABOUT THE BOOK

Every woman would kill for one . . . 
 
Manhattan fashionista Kelly Quinn thought she’d left her upstate New York town far behind . . . until the Seventh Avenue expat returns home to revamp her grandmother’s consignment shop into an upscale boutique—and unwittingly sets a trend for murder . . . 



After her rising career as a Manhattan buyer is derailed, Kelly has mixed feelings about relocating back to Lucky Cove, in spite of her big plans for the soon-to-be-renamed Curated by Kelly Resale Boutique. What’s left of her luck starts running out when a customer puts on a black lace dress that triggers visions of someone being murdered. As if the haunted “Murder Dress” isn’t enough to kill business, the psychic’s doppelganger cousin has just been found bludgeoned to death. 
 


Was Maxine LeMoyne the real target or was it a case of mistaken murder? With some creepy pre-Halloween bargain hunters walking the night and Kelly suddenly a person of interest, a second murder rocks the close-knit town. Now Kelly could be the one who ends up talking to dead people when she’s stalked by a killer determined to take her out in high style . . .

Book Details:


Title: Murder Wears a Little Black Dress

Author’s name: Debra Sennefelder

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: A Resale Boutique Mystery, book 1
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (January 22, 2019)

Print length: 200 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

ABOUT THE CHARACTER


Kelly Quinn was born and raised in Lucky Cove, New York. She has an older sister, Caroline. After graduating high school, Kelly moved to New York City to study fashion merchandising and began her retail career at Bishop’s Department store as a buyer’s clerical and worked her way up to assistant fashion buyer before losing her job. Her grandmother unexpectedly died and left Kelly her consignment shop in Lucky Cove. Now, Kelly has moved back home and taken over the shop.

INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA SENNEFELDER’S CHARACTER KELLY QUINN

Q: Kelly, how did you first meet Debra?

It was about three years ago at her place. She was sitting at her dining room table surrounded by a whole bunch of papers. I guess writers always have paper around them. Anyway, she was looking for an idea for a new series that revolved around fashion. She had an idea of a vintage shop, but I don’t know anything about vintage clothes, though I’m learning a lot about authenticating designer handbags these days. It’s amazing how good counterfeit bags are. But I’m getting sidetracked now. Back to meeting Deb. She understood that I didn’t know much about vintage clothes but I do know a lot about contemporary designers so we decided a consignment shop of contemporary clothing would be a great fit for me.

Q: Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
A: I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because my life is complicated. There was that unceremoniously firing from Serena Blake herself. Everyone on Fashion Avenue called her the Dragonista, and when she approached my desk I had no idea how angry she was with me thanks to her regular Botox injections. Then, there was inheriting my granny’s consignment shop, I guess Deb found that to be interesting. And, my ambivalent feelings toward psychics. I really don’t have an opinion about them either way so when Bernadette asked me to come over to her house, I went. I guess my natural curiosity also factored into Deb choosing me.

Q: Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
A: There are so many. But probably my most favorite one is…no, I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I will say, it’s the scene where I finally had enough of the hijinks going on in my shop. And there’s this scene when I meet Smokin’ McHottie, Esq., who knew legal eagles could be so good looking?

Q: What do you like to do when you're not being read somewhere?
A: These days my answer is sleeping. Running a retail business is hard work. The long hours, and the shop is open seven days a week. I’m sure someday soon I won’t be as sleep deprived as I am right now and when that time comes I’d love to enjoy window shopping, scouring tag sales and decorating my new apartment.

Q:  If you had a free day, what would you do?
A: Oh, how I long for those days again. When I was back in the city, Sundays were usually my free day. I’d sleep in, meetup with friends for brunch and then hit the stores. At the end of the day, I’d pick up take-out and then hunker down in my apartment until Monday morning. If I had any free days now, I’d do the same thing. Why mess with a good thing?




Q: What's the worst thing that's happened in your life?
A: Wow. The worst thing. My parent’s divorce wasn’t so great. But Ariel’s car accident was probably the worst thing I ever had to deal with. Not a day has gone by that I don’t think about it. Why did I leave her alone at the party? Why didn’t I make sure she got home safely? I learned there’s more to life than me having a good time. It was a hard lesson for a teenager to learn.



Q: Tell us about your best friend.
A: Olivia, Liv, Moretti is my best friend. We’ve been friends since childhood. She grew up in this big Italian family that owned a bakery. There was always good food, amazing desserts and a lot of loud voices in the Moretti household. Liv was a natural at baking so she went off the culinary school after high school and then returned to work alongside her mom, aunt and cousins. Liv is definitely a ride or die friend. She always has my back, even back in high school during that horrible period of time when Ariel had her accident. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have survived that experience without Liv.




Q: What’s Debra’s worst habit?
A: She has this habit of stopping right in the middle of a scene, leaving me hanging when it’s getting good. She’s said it’s a technique that helps her get right into her next writing session. But it’s really annoying.



Q: Describe an average day in your life.
A: To be honest, I don’t think I have average days anymore. Moving back to Lucky Cove has been a culture shock. I know it’s my hometown, but I lived in the city on my own since freshman year and to be back where everyone knows everyone’s business takes getting used to. While my day usually starts the same time it did when I worked at Bishop’s, my days are definitely longer. Not only do I put in time on the sales floor, I handle all of the administrative work for the shop and I also do some freelance writing for BudgetChic. It’s a website all about dressing fashionable on a budget. I’m also revamping the shop on a shoe-string budget, and I have a cat to take care of now. Yes, I inherited Howard from my granny. I’ve never had a pet before. The little guy is growing on me. And I think he’s warming up to me.

Q: Will you encourage Debra to write a sequel?
A: Absolutely! Luckily, Deb has a three-book contract with Kensington for my series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debra Sennefelder and is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she's not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she's that person.



Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She's worked in pre-hospital care, retail, and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.




Connect with Debra:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

FEATURED AUTHOR: DEBRA SENNEFELDER

ABOUT THE BOOK

Leaving behind a failed career as a magazine editor and an embarrassing stint on a reality baking show, newly divorced lifestyle entrepreneur Hope Early thought things were finally on the upswing—until she comes face-to-face with a murderer . . .
 


Hope’s schedule is already jam packed with recipe testing and shameless plugs for her food blog as she rushes off to attend a spring garden tour in the charming town of Jefferson, Connecticut. Unfortunately, it isn’t the perfectly arranged potted plants that grab her attention—it’s the bloody body of reviled real estate agent Peaches McCoy . . .
 


One of the tour guests committed murder, and all eyes are on Hope’s older sister, Claire Dixon—who, at best, saw Peaches as a professional rival. And suspicions really heat up when another murder occurs the following night. Now, with two messy murders shaking Jefferson and all evidence pointing to Claire, Hope must set aside her burgeoning brand to prove her sister’s innocence. But the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer intent on making sure her life goes permanently out of style . . .



Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

Book Details

Title: The Uninvited Corpse
Author’s name: Debra Sennefelder
Genre: Cozy mystery, 1st in series
Publisher: Kensington Publishers, March 27, 2018
Page count: 304 pages
On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA SENNEFELDER

A few of your favorite things: Coffee, my treadmill and chocolate cake.
Things you need to throw out: My scale, my old iPod and old phones.


Things you need in order to write: Silence, my computer and an outline.
Things that hamper your writing: Noise, my computer and noise.


Things you love about writing: I love creating stories and I love the freedom I have as an author to create those stories.
Things you hate about writing: Having to wear so many hats because the job involves more than just writing. Taking care of all the other tasks means less time writing. But writing is the most important thing a writer can do.

Favorite foods: Pizza, chocolate anything and mashed potatoes.
Things that make you want to throw up: Seafood.

Favorite beverage: Coffee
.
Something that gives you a pickle face: Red wine.

Favorite smell: Cookies baking in the oven. Heaven.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Seafood cooking.

Something you’re really good at: Writing (I hope).

Something you’re really bad at: Photography
.

Last best thing you ate: I made a grilled chicken salad with a creamy dressing. Delish.
Last thing you regret eating: Vanilla ice cream. I was sick, and I had a small container to use for a recipe to post on my blog, but I decided to dive into the container. It was a brand I never bought before, and it was awful. I have no idea how anyone could make bad ice cream but they did.

Things you’d walk a mile for: My dogs. I have two adorable and precocious Shih-Tzus, Susie & Billy.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: My dogs. There are days I’m definitely outnumbered by the Shih-Tzus.

Things to say to an author: I couldn’t put your book down.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: You should write a book like Fifty Shades.

Things that make you happy: My dogs. 

Things that drive you crazy: My dogs.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debra Sennefelder, author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series, is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in pre-hospital care, retail and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Womens Fiction Writers Association and Romance Writers of America.

Connect with Debra:

Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble