FEATURED AUTHOR: SUZANNE TRAUTH

ABOUT THE BOOK

Restaurant manager Dodie O’Dell has found her niche in the cozy New Jersey town of Etonville, creating menus that make a delicious double-act with the community theater’s productions. Now she’s ready for a vacation at the Jersey Shore town she called home before a hurricane hit. Sun, salty air, and seagulls make for a nostalgic escape from regular life—until a contingent from Etonville arrives to compete in a Jersey Shore theater festival.



Roped into helping her former boss cater the event, Dodie also gets a visit from her old flame, Jackson, who’s hoping to revive his charter boat business and is looking for a place to crash. Before Dodie can tell him that ship has sailed, Jackson’s partner is found murdered on his boat. Dodie knows her ex is a mooch, but she’s sure he’s no killer. But as she follows a trail of evidence that leads into her own past, Dodie stumbles on a dangerous conspiracy theory that could bring the festival to a shocking finale…

Book Details:


Title: No More Time


Author: Suzanne Trauth


Genre: cozy mystery


Series: Dodie O’Dell Mystery Series


Published: Kensington Publishing (July 23, 2019)


Print length: 213 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours 







LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH SUZANNE TRAUTH


A few of your favorite things: comfortable clothes, Sketcher shoes, chewy brownies, walking in the park.
Things you need to throw out: old clothes, old birthday cards, drafts of already published books.


Things you need in order to write: a mug of tea, a clear mind, completed email, my favorite pen.
Things that hamper your writing: email, the Internet, my to do list.

Things you love about writing: self-expression, comic characters that make me laugh, completing a draft, proofing the galleys.
Things you hate about writing: starting, facing a blank page, getting stuck in the plot.

Easiest thing about being a writer: the second, third, and fourth hours writing; my characters.
Hardest thing about being a writer: discipline, clearing my mind, solving plot problems.


Things you love about where you live: close to NYC, close to the Jersey Shore, the cultural life—theatre, music, museums.
Things that make you want to move: traffic, construction, the tunnels into New York.


Things you never want to run out of: tea bags, bananas, my Pilot pens, energy.
Things you wish you’d never bought: shoes that are too small, leather pants.


Words that describe you: driven, sensitive, committed, good sense of humor.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: anxious, worrier, pleaser.

Favorite foods: brownies, fried halibut, Caesar salads, sweet potatoes.
Things that make you want to throw up: eggplant, liver.

Favorite music or song: 60s/70s music, Mamas and Papas.
Music that make your ears bleed: heavy metal.

Favorite beverage: tea.

Something that gives you a pickle face: beet juice.

Favorite smell: new mown grass.

Something that makes you hold your nose: garbage.

Something you’re really good at: juggling deadlines.

Something you’re really bad at: running.


Something you wish you could do: tennis.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: take on responsibility.

People you consider as heroes: my mother, Barack Obama, my sister.
People with a big L on their: people who are selfish and inconsiderate, narcissists.


Last best thing you ate: halibut sandwich.
Last thing you regret eating: corn.

Things you always put in your books: poker, theatre, food, comedy.

Things you never put in your books: overt violence, heavy swearing.

Things to say to an author: loved the book! Made me laugh (or cry).

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: made me yawn. It was too long.

Favorite places you’ve been: Barcelona, Paris, South of France, Tuscany, New Orleans.

Places you never want to go to again: Russia.

Favorite books: mysteries, thrillers, Louise Penny novels.

Books you would ban: classics with no dialogue.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Judy Dench, Louise Penny
People you’d cancel dinner on: certain work colleagues.

Favorite things to do: read, watch movies or favorite TV series, yoga.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: vacuuming and dusting.

Things that make you happy: sunny days, the ocean, reading favorite authors, family.

Things that drive you crazy: sitting in traffic, waiting in lines.

Best thing you’ve ever done: got married, walking 60 miles for charity.

Biggest mistake: offering to read a friend’s manuscript.

OTHER BOOKS BY SUZANNE TRAUTH

Just in Time

Running Out of Time

Time Out

Show Time

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  


Suzanne Trauth’s novels include Show Time, Time Out, Running Out of Time, Just in Time, and No More Time. Her plays include La Fonda, Françoise, Midwives, Rehearsing Desire, iDream, Katrina: the K Word, and Three Sisters Under the Hood. Her screenplays Solitaire and Boomer Broads have won awards at the Austin Film Festival, among other contests, and she wrote and directed the short film Jigsaw. She is currently a member of Writers Theatre of New Jersey Emerging Women Playwrights program. Ms. Trauth has co-authored Sonia Moore and American Acting Training and co-edited Katrina on Stage: Five Plays. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, League of Professional Theatre Women, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.


Connect with Suzanne:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |   Goodreads  


Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

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Featured Author: Joanne Lessner

Cozy Mystery Book Tours brings Joanne Lessner here today to talk about her novel, Bad Publicity. Hopefully, we'll give her some good publicity! And if you're lucky, she might give you something too. Cozy Mystery Book Tours is giving away three Kindle copies of the book to three random readers who leave a comment. So don't forget to comment!

About the book:

In the world of PR, there's only one crime worse than killing a deal--killing a client.

Aspiring actress and office temp Isobel Spice finds a warm welcome at Dove & Flight Public Relations, thanks to her old school friend Katrina Campbell. However, the atmosphere chills considerably when Isobel unwittingly serves an important client a deadly dose of poisoned coffee. Her stalwart temp agent, James Cooke, rushes to her aid, but balks when he learns that the victim was the fraternity brother who got him expelled from college. News that Dove & Flight is being acquired by an international conglomerate quickly supplants the murder as the hot topic of office gossip, but Isobel is convinced the two events are related. When all roads of inquiry lead back to Katrina, Isobel is forced to consider the possibility that her friend's killer instincts go beyond public relations.

Interview with Joanne Lessner:

Joanne, Bad Publicity is your third novel. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

It started when I had to type a term paper for English my junior year in high school. My dad brought home an electric typewriter (yeah, I’m dating myself), and I was having so much fun typing that I kept going—and a novel came out!

Do you have another job outside of writing?

I work in corporate and financial public relations, which is one reason Bad Publicity was so much fun to write. I also review recordings and performances for Opera News. See? There is something practical you can do with a B.A. in Music!

Good to know--my son plans to major in music! How would you describe your book in a tweet? (140 characters or less.)

Jason Whiteley never should have had that second cup of coffee. Isobel Spice never should have served it. http://tinyurl.com/a8v5nxz

Did you have any say in your cover art? What do you think of it?

Yes, I worked very closely with my designer, Linda Pierro. She’s one of the publishers at Flint Mine Press, the niche imprint that put out my first (non-mystery) novel, Pandora’s Bottle. I loved that cover so much that when I needed one for The Temporary Detective, I went directly to Linda. She always reads the entire book, which I think many designers don’t take the time to do. For The Temporary Detective, we talked a lot about creating a look we could carry through the series, and because there’s something just the tiniest bit retro about it, she wanted a hint of “girl detective.” My favorite thing is the Isobel icon. At first I wasn’t sure about going monochromatic, but as I add more books, I think it’s really going to pay off. I hope to have a whole rainbow of Isobel Spice novels!

That would be cool. What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

I re-read Elizabeth Jane Howard’s four Cazalet books every five years or so. I just love them. I’ve read the Harry Potter books multiple times, including out loud to my kids. Even after they were old enough to read for themselves, they still preferred the one-woman show. And except for a few that really stick in my mind, I’ve forgotten all the perpetrators in Agatha Christie, so I think I can safely revisit her.

Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.

I recently discovered Kate Ross. She was a Boston-based trial lawyer who wrote four mysteries before she died of cancer at a forty-one. Her books feature Regency dandy Julian Kestrel. They’re all wonderful, but the best one is the last, The Devil in Music. I think it’s an exceptionally well-crafted mystery and there’s such depth and detail that it really transcends the genre in the best way. I even made my husband read it, and he’s not really into either traditional mysteries or historical fiction. I was very smug when he sat up late several nights in a row, unable to put it down.

What do you do to market your book?

All the usual stuff: Facebook, Twitter. I don’t have my own blog, although I know it’s recommended. But I love contributing guest posts! With Pandora’s Bottle, I sold a lot of books at wine festivals, since it’s about what happens to a man who buys a half-million-dollar bottle of Bordeaux once owned by Thomas Jefferson. I suppose I could hang around the Equity building and try to sell my Isobel books to actors, but they tend not to have as much discretionary cash.

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?

Delphi is based on my friend Kate, who was, indeed, the first actor friend I made after moving to New York. She’s a very gifted actress and director who really shines in Shakespeare. Sunil was inspired by a friend’s ex-boyfriend who was an Indian Jew. I didn’t even know they existed! Physically, James is modeled on the temp agent who took a chance on me when I first moved to New York, but the similarity ends there. And, um, my victims were inspired by certain irritating people I was forced to work with over the years.

I love doing that! Are you like any of your characters?

Isobel is an idealized version of me at twenty-three. She’s a lot quicker on her feet and more resourceful than I was. But I’m letting her make the same rookie mistakes I did. Oh, and neither of us knows when to shut up.

With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck on a deserted island?

Oh, my God, I think they’d all drive me crazy.


What real people would you most like to be stuck on an island with?

My husband and kids. They would also drive me crazy, but somehow it’s different.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

I love the scene where Isobel and Hugh are on their way out to dinner and they run into James. It’s awkward enough, but then this annoying gym rat who’s been stalking James shows up, and suddenly it’s Isobel’s turn to be jealous. It’s wonderfully squirmy all around, especially since the girl from the gym is sort of Isobel times ten. It’s primarily a backstory scene, but I think it’s my favorite.

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix her?

J.K. Rowling. I am in awe of her. I like to think we have something in common since we share the same name and were born the same year, but she’s really in a class by herself. I’d make my husband cook. He’s the one with the entertaining gene. Besides, I’d probably be so nervous I’d burn everything.

Where’s home for you?

I’ve been proud to call myself a New Yorker for twenty-five years.

If you could only keep one book, what would it be?

The Complete Works of Shakespeare. They say there are only nine plots and Shakespeare invented them all, so I think I’d be pretty well covered.

Would you rather work in a library or a bookstore?

I worked in a bookstore when I was in graduate school, and I was allowed to use it as my own private library. I could borrow books and return them, provided they were still pristine, so that’s the best of both worlds.

You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?

Elizabeth Bennet.

She's my pick too! What’s one of your favorite quotes?

From James Thurber: “Don’t get it right, get it written.”

Love it. Thank you, Joanna!

About the author:

Joanne Sydney Lessner is the author of BloodWrites Award-Winner The Temporary Detective, which introduces Isobel Spice, aspiring actress and resourceful office temp turned amateur sleuth. Isobel’s adventures continue in Bad Publicity. Joanne’s debut novel Pandora’s Bottle (Flint Mine Press) was named one of the top five books of 2010 by Paperback Dolls, and all three books are Awesome Indies Selections. No stranger to the theatrical world, Joanne enjoys an active performing career, and with her husband, composer/conductor Joshua Rosenblum, has co-authored several musicals, including the cult hit Fermat’s Last Tango and Einstein’s Dreams, based on the celebrated novel by Alan Lightman. Her play, Critical Mass, received its Off Broadway premiere in October 2010 as the winner of the 2009 Heiress Productions Playwriting Competition.

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