FEATURED AUTHOR: CAROLINE FARDIG

ABOUT THE BOOK

Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich and Diane Mott Davidson, Caroline Fardig’s captivating new mystery novel takes readers behind the counter of a seemingly run-of-the-mill coffeehouse . . . where murder is brewing.
 
After her music career crashes and burns spectacularly, Juliet Langley is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Unfortunately, bad luck strikes yet again when her two-timing fiancé robs her blind and runs off with her best waitress. Flushing what’s left of her beloved café down the toilet with her failed engagement, Juliet packs up and moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. At first glance, it seems as though nothing’s changed at Java Jive. What could possibly go wrong? Only that the place is hemorrhaging money, the staff is in open revolt, and Juliet finds one unlucky employee dead in the dumpster out back before her first day is even over.
 
The corpse just so happens to belong to the cook who’d locked horns with Juliet over the finer points of the health code. Unimpressed with her management style, the other disgruntled employees are only too eager to spill the beans about her fiery temper to the detective on the case. Add to the mix a hunky stranger who’s asking way too many questions, and suddenly Juliet finds herself in some very hot water. If she can’t simmer down and sleuth her way to the real killer, she’s going to get burned.

INTERVIEW WITH CAROLINE FARDIG

Caroline, what's your favorite thing about the writing process?
I enjoy doing the first read-through of my completed first draft. The hard part (researching and writing) is done, and it’s fun to go through and let the story come alive in my head.

How long is your to-be-read list?
Unending. I do a lot of beta reading for my author friends, and I have four in the queue at the moment.

How long have you been a writer?
It’s been five or six years since I sat down and started writing my very first book.  Since then, it’s been a wild, fun ride.

If you could only watch one television station for a year, what would it be?
Can I watch DVDs? Because right now I’m in the middle of binge-watching The Following, and I don’t know if I could give that up. To answer the question, I could probably make it through with TV Land, because they play Friends, Younger, and Impastor, although I wouldn’t be happy about it. I’m a TV junkie. I would have a hard time without Game of Thrones, You’re the Worst, and Killjoys, just to name a few.

How do you feel about Facebook?
I like Facebook. I’m a little tired of the memes, but I absolutely love getting to see photos of what my friends are doing. It makes me feel like we’re still close even though we might be separated by thousands of miles.

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?
Overflowing.

What's your relationship with your TV remote?
See above. I have a real problem.

Do you spend more on clothes or food?
Purses! But probably food. I HATE shopping, and I go as infrequently as I can — usually about two to three times a year.

What's your favorite treat for movie night?
Homemade pizza and homemade popcorn. When I was a kid, every Friday night we would make a homemade pizza (out of a Chef Boyardee box) and my mom would make real popcorn on the stovetop. We would sit down together and watch The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas. Good times. I’ve upgraded from Chef Boyardee to making dough in my breadmaker and developing my own sauce recipe, but I’m still making the real popcorn on the stovetop for my kids. We’ve traded the 80’s Friday night lineup for family-friendly movies.

What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
I wish I would have start writing earlier in my life!

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Do what you love; love what you do.”  And I do.


How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
Not nearly enough. As I said before, I have a TV problem, so I stay up late to watch my shows. I usually get a little over 6 hours.

What is your favorite movie?
Get Over It. It is the funniest movie ever. Great cast, and it’s full of horrendous (on purpose) music!

Do you have a favorite book?
There’s no way I could narrow it down to one.

How about a favorite book that was turned into a movie? Did the movie stink?
I really liked Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, and the movie was wonderful. I’ve seen it many, many times, and I still tear up at the end.

Do you sweat the small stuff?
Nope. I’m an “it’s close enough” type person. It drives my husband (and probably my editor) insane.

What are you working on now?
I’m making a rough outline and timeline for the third book in the Java Jive series!

Lightning round:
Cake or frosting? Cake
Laptop or desktop? Desktop
Chevy Chase or Bill Murray? Bill Murray
Emailing or texting? Yes. (I hate talking on the phone.)
Indoors or outdoors? Indoors
Tea: sweet or unsweet?  Unsweet
Plane, train, or automobile?  Automobile! (I’ve had bad experiences on planes and trains.)

The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series: It’s Just a Little Crush, That Old Black Magic, Bad Medicine

It’s Just a Little Crush
Meet Lizzie Hart.  Small town girl...big time problems.
Hindered only by her raging crush on the office hunk, wannabe sleuth Lizzie Hart spies, accuses, and gossips her way to the truth in this bestselling first book of The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series!

The sleepy town of Liberty hasn't seen murder in...well...ever.  Residents are stunned when the body of a young woman is found strangled, and reporters at the Liberty Chronicle are thrilled, rather disturbingly, over the biggest news story to hit town this century.

Lizzie Hart has even bigger problems.  Lately, she can't seem to concentrate on her job as copy editor at the Chronicle with the new hunky investigative reporter, Blake Morgan, swaggering around the office.  How can a girl work when she's using all of her energy combating Blake-induced hot flashes and struggling to repress the giggly inner schoolgirl that's constantly rearing her dorky head?  It's a good thing that Blake barely knows Lizzie exists. 

After an odd string of events, however, Lizzie begins to wonder if Blake is really as fabulous as she has fantasized.  When Lizzie and Blake find a co-worker dead, Blake's personality changes completely--and not in a good way.  Even though the police rule the death as an accident, Lizzie immediately suspects foul play and senses a connection to the recent murder.  She is determined to bring the killer to justice, but is having some trouble getting her Nancy Drew on thanks to the pesky stalker she's picked up--Blake Morgan.  Wait, didn't she want him to follow her around and pay attention to her?  Not like this.  Blake has turned from cool and smooth to cold and downright scary, making Lizzie wonder if he should be next on her suspect list.

That Old Black Magic
Lizzie Hart is back—snooping, lying, and chick-fighting to uncover the truth in this sequel to the bestselling first book of The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series, It's Just a Little Crush. 

Lizzie Hart hoped her first day back at work after nearly being killed would be uneventful. No such luck. Before she can finish her morning coffee, Lizzie and her co-workers find a dead body on the rooftop of their office. Media vultures that they are, the Liberty Chronicle employees are psyched to have first-hand news to report. Lizzie, however, is devastated when she realizes that the victim is her ex-boyfriend’s brother. 

When evidence begins piling up against one of Lizzie’s friends, she reluctantly dons her detective hat once again, determined to find the real killer. She’s not thrilled about chasing another psychopath around, but she’ll do anything for a friend. Lizzie’s love life is rapidly becoming a hot mess, too. Her latest attempt at sleuthing isn’t leaving much time for her budding romance with town hunk Blake Morgan. Add that to the fact she’s hiding a secret so big it could rock the very core of their relationship, it’s no wonder that Lizzie’s in a tizzy. 

Poor Lizzie ends up juggling a murder investigation, a wacky Wiccan coven, and two men vying for her attention—all while nursing injuries left over from the last time she decided to play Nancy Drew. It’s a good thing she always has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Bad Medicine
What do a smokin’ hot detective, an evil chiropractor, and a couple of blind dates from hell have in common? Lizzie has to wrangle them all in the third book of The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series! 

Lizzie Hart is overjoyed that six whole months have passed without a single murder in the sleepy town of Liberty. It’s also been six months since Blake Morgan heartlessly dumped her, but she’s determined to get over him. She’s slimmed down, ready to party, and injury-free, except for a little nagging pain in her ankle. She’s also very single, but her friends are doing everything in their power to fix that—including setting her up on one disastrous blind date after another. 

Lizzie’s reprieve is short-lived when an old friend of hers is found dead from an apparent drug overdose. She wants to write it off as bad behavior after having seen the guy cheating on his wife with the new chiropractor in town. However, when she sees that same chiropractor playing doctor with another man who ends up dead, she worries there could be murder afoot. 

Doing her best to stay on the right side of the law this time, Lizzie decides to go straight to the police with her suspicions. Unfortunately, the only cop available to speak with her is the stern yet hot new detective who has already given her a traffic ticket and a reprimand for public intoxication. Not surprisingly, he brushes her off, leaving her no choice but to begin snooping on her own. Lizzie soon learns she’s going to need help to get to the bottom of this mystery, but her best partner in crime solving, Blake, has turned into her worst enemy. 

Can Lizzie and Blake find a way to work together to catch the killer . . . or will they kill each other first?



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caroline Fardig is the author of Death Before Decaf and The Lizzie Hart Mysteries series. She worked as a schoolteacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in that same town with an understanding husband, two sweet kids, two energetic dogs, and one malevolent cat.

Connect with Caroline:

Website  |  
Blog  |  Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  Goodreads

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Featured Author: Katrina Jack

I'm happy to have Katrina Jack here today to talk about her novel, Land of Midnight Days, a YA urban fantasy.

About the book:

Your book blurb: What would you do if your life was filled with fear: hide, run away - or would you fight back? In a city at war with itself, Jeremiah Tully already knows how to survive, now he must learn how to live. Mute from birth, of mixed race heritage and his only possession a charmed flute, Jeremiah tries to discover where his remarkable talent as a musician will take him.

Interview with Katrina Jack:

Welcome, Kate. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I started way back when I was fourteen. Somebody gave me an old leather bound diary. I filled it with short stories and drawings. I stuck to writing short stories and magazine articles for a few years, before joining a writing group and from there expanding my writing ambitions into novels.

What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favorite thing?

I love the creative process of developing characters and building worlds. I hate having to “kill” off characters that simply don’t work, or have served their purpose.

How did you come up with the title of your book?

I wanted a title that depicted the world the characters inhabited and gave the prospective reader a hint of the darkness of the story. Originally it was simply called “Midnight Days,” until I discovered that Neil Gaiman, renowned fantasy writer, had already published a book under the same title.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

Yes, I work full time as an office clerk.

How would you describe your book in a tweet? (140 characters or less.)

YA dystopian fantasy, with a touch of faerie, a soupcon of horror, and a measure of romance thrown into the mix.

112 characters. I'm impressed! How did you create the plot for this book?

The inspiration came from a number of sources. The first strike came when I was at work. I was staring out of the window at the Littlewoods building on Edge Lane in Liverpool. It has a rather elegant art deco tower, and I thought what a wonderful location it would make for a story. That sewed the germ of an idea. The next came from St Luke’s bombed out church, in Liverpool City Centre. Over the next few months, more and more locations inspired me and then the final piece of the jigsaw slotted into place, when I was listening to a CD of 70’s rock band, Jethro Tull, whose lead singer plays the flute.  Ideas came thick and fast after that and so the plot of Land of Midnight Days was born.

Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?

I used to write by the seat of my pants, but found I was constantly had to backtrack and rectify inconsistencies. So now I plot from start to finish, but when I actually begin to write the story, I sometimes find the characters steer me in completely different directions.

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

I love Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, particularly those featuring my favourite, Sam Vimes. I’ve read Guards, guards!, Jingo, Snuff and many more, over and over. I also love Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series and have read it several times. 

What do you do to market your book?

Since I have a zero budget for advertising, I post on Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon and my blog. My publisher, Ecanus Publishing, is also going to be marketing the book in the near future.

Wow, that's great. How do you get to know your characters?

I hold “conversations” with them in my head. I know it sounds crazy, but it enables me to form their personalities, idiosyncrasies, likes and dislikes.

Do you have a favorite of your characters?

Yes, I’m afraid I do. It’s the main protagonist, Jeremiah Tully. Why? Because there’s quite a bit of me in him.

When you start a new book, do you know what the entire cast will be?

Not always. I usually have an idea of who the first four or five characters will be, but as the story progresses more can and do appear.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

Jeremiah.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

It’s in the opening chapter, where Jeremiah is fleeing for his life from a group of “wannabes,” my name for yobs or hooligans. I’ve tried to make it fast paced, breathless, almost, so that it sweeps the reader along in its wake.

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me? I mean, him. Or her.

Hah! Nice try. I think I’d invite Terry Pratchett, because he’d make me laugh. I’d try and find out first what he’d like to eat and then get someone who can cook to prepare it.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?
I’m currently reading in paperback, White Mountain, The Darkling Chronicles, by Sophie E Tallis. It’s a wonderful blend of high fantasy and contemporary fiction.

How do you handle criticism of your work?

I used to get quite upset by negative criticism, and it still stings. But once I’ve sorted the wheat from the chaff, and subdued my outraged ego, I’ve come to appreciate the genuinely helpful feedback. I’ve also forced myself to realize that not everyone is going to like my work, and I just have to accept that.

Do you have a routine for writing? Do you work better at night, in the afternoon, or in the morning?

Because I work full time, 5 days a week, I tend to get up early, 5:15 am, and write for about an hour, before going to work. Then again for a few hours in the evening.

Where’s home for you?

The great city of Liverpool.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

"Without hard work, talent is not enough." ~ Henri Matisse

About the author: 

My name is Katrina Jack, and I write YA urban fantasy. I began writing many years ago, but Land of Midnight Days is my first published work. A few years back I had a bit of a windfall and invested some of it in obtaining a degree in creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University.

Although I primarily write urban fantasy, I also enjoy other genres, such as murder mysteries, romance and biographies. My favourite authors, in the fantasy genre are: Robin Hobb, Jim Butcher, David Gemmell, Jack Vance and many more.

I was born in October 1956, in the wonderful city of Liverpool, at the now demolished hospital known as Sefton General, which was so ill-equipped in those days, that my poor mother's drip was hung from an old broom pole! Talk about the lap of luxury, eh?

I still live in Liverpool, in an area rich in public gardens and parks, plus a cemetery and a crematorium - great for inspiration, believe it or not. Included in some of the wonderful historical buildings in the area, is the mansion house known as Allerton Hall, former home of Richard Lathom, who fought as a Royalist during the civil war and is a grade II listed building. It makes a guest appearance in my novel, under a different guise of course.

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