FEATURED AUTHOR: LISA BECKER

ABOUT THE BOOK

Clutch is the laugh-out-loud, chick lit story that chronicles the dating misadventures of Caroline Johnson, a single purse designer, who goes through a series of unsuccessful romantic relationships she compares to various styles of handbags – the “Hobo” starving artist, the “Diaper Bag” single dad, the “Briefcase” intense businessman, etc.  With her best friend, bar owner Mike by her side, the overly-accommodating Caroline drinks Chardonnay, puts her heart on the line, endures her share of unworthy suitors and finds the courage to stand up for the handbag style that embodies what she ultimately wants – the “Clutch” or someone to hold onto.  




INTERVIEW WITH LISA BECKER

Welcome back to A Blue Million Books, Lisa. How did you come up with the idea for Clutch – comparing men to purses?
When I was writing the Click Trilogy, I was obsessed with NCIS reruns and would have the show on in the background as I wrote. There was an episode when one of the characters mentioned that men were like purses – something useless to hang on a woman’s arm. I started thinking about how men are like handbags and the idea grew from there.

What books do you currently have published?
Click: An Online Love Story - Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds entirely through emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical “B” celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee wades into the shallow end of the dating (cess)pool and endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will cheer, laugh, cry, and cringe following the email exploits of Renee and friends. And ultimately, they will root for Renee to "click" with the right man.


Double Click - Fans of the romantic hit Click: An Online Love Story will enjoy another voyeuristic dive into the lives of Renee, Shelley, Ashley, Mark and Ethan, as Double Click picks up with their lives six months later. Are Renee and Ethan soul mates? Does Mark ever go on a date? Has Shelley run out of sexual conquests in Los Angeles? Will Ashley's judgmental nature sabotage her budding relationship? Through a marriage proposal, wedding, new baby, and unexpected love twist, Double Click answers these questions and more. Readers will continue to cheer, laugh, cry and cringe following the email exploits of Renee and friends.


Right Click - Love. Marriage.  Infidelity. Parenthood. Crises of identity. Death. Cupcakes. The themes in Right Click, the third and final installment in the Click series, couldn't be more pressing for this group of friends as they navigate through their 30's. Another six months have passed since we last eavesdropped on the hilarious, poignant and often times inappropriate email adventures of Renee and friends. As the light-hearted, slice of life story continues to unfold, relationships are tested and some need to be set "right" before everyone can find their "happily ever after.

Can you share some of your marketing strategies with us?
My background is in public relations and marketing. In fact, before starting a career as a writer, I spent nearly 20 years working at public relations agencies, so I have a natural tendency to plan for this type of effort. Given the significant handbag theme in clutch: a novel, I reached out to handbag designers and am working with more than a dozen on 40+ giveaways of purses in every size and style to support the launch. 

How fun! Tell us . . . for what would you like to be remembered?
Aside being a great wife, mom, friend and citizen, I would like to be remembered for writing movies that people love to watch. The book actually started out as a screenplay that was optioned by a production company housed at one of the major movie studios.  Unfortunately, it fell out of development. I was eager to have this fun story with some of my favorite characters told, so I turned it into a short novel.

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?
It would be practically empty. Once I had kids – more than 10 years ago, I cleaned up my act.

What is the most daring thing you've done?
I went on a 10-course zip line in Costa Rica (and screamed the entire time!). I was so scared that I would only go in tandem with the guide.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
See above!

Those two often are connected! Have you ever been to a fortune teller? What did she tell you?
When I was a junior in high school, there was a fortune teller at a bowling party I attended. She read my palm and told me I would marry a man named Steve one day. My husband’s name is . . . Steve. Spooky!

What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing? How did you deal with it?
One of the Amazon reviewers for Click said it wasn’t worth the 99 cents she paid for the book. I reached out and offered her a refund. Then I sat down, cried, and ate some frosting from a can.  


What are you working on now?
In addition to promoting the new book, I’m looking into making connections within the motion picture industry to try and get a movie version made. As mentioned, the book started out as a screenplay that was under option at a major studio, but fell out of development. I’m eager to see if there’s interest from someone else on bringing this fun and quirky story to the big screen. So if you happen to be a well-to-do movie producer looking to make a new romantic comedy, please get in touch!


Lightning round:
Cake or frosting? Frosting . . . straight from the can (as noted above).  YUM!
Laptop or desktop? Desktop. I’m old school.
Chevy Chase or Bill Murray? Bill Murray all the way.
Emailing or texting?  Email. As mentioned above, I’m old school.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In addition to her new book, Clutch: a novel, Lisa Becker is the author of the Click Trilogy, a contemporary romance series comprised of Click: An Online Love Story, Double Click and Right Click. She’s written bylined articles about dating and relationships for “Cupid’s Pulse,” “The Perfect Soulmate,” “GalTime,” “Single Edition,” “Healthy B Daily,” and “Chick Lit Central” among others.  She lives in Manhattan Beach, California with her husband and two daughters.


Connect with Lisa:

Website  |  Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  Goodreads 

FEATURED AUTHOR: JOHN ENRIGHT

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dominick is always just passing through. He is a professional houseguest who follows the sun and the leisure class from resort to resort. But this winter he lingers on a quaint New England island and in spite of his best intentions becomes involved in the travails of his eccentric geriatric hosts. An environmental protest against a proposed liquid natural gas terminal turns ugly, and by accident and happenstance Dominick becomes a mistaken suspect in terroristic bombings.

But the book, of course, is really about its characters, and the plot is just to keep them busy as we get to know them. None of them are young — white-bearded men and blue-coiffed women — dealing with aging, dementia, and ungrateful children. Dominick strives to float above it all in a life of itinerant escape. A New England comedy of sorts, on another level the book is an extended meditation on history and identity.

INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ENRIGHT

John, how did you get started writing?
When I was 17 I was with a date in the backseat of my best friend Michael Joyce’s ’57 Chevy when he recited a poem he had written to his date in the front seat. We were on South Park Avenue in Buffalo, New York, headed out of town for some reason. I remember the line, “Run run run, children on a sugar cube road.” I was impressed. No one I knew had ever written a poem before. The next day I wrote my own poem, and I couldn’t stop. Up to that point I had figured I would be a painter like my mother. That was 53 years ago. I haven’t stopped writing.

What’s your relationship with your TV remote and your cell phone?
This is easy — out front — there is no relationship. Maybe it was my quarter century in the South Pacific bush whilst everyone else was getting addicted. I’ve never watched much TV, these days maybe a couple of innings of baseball in a sports bar where the sound is muted. I have a cromagnon fliptop phone thing, but I like it turned off. I don’t text or tweet. I miss getting letters in the mail. When was the last time you got a postcard?

I take your point. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m a mesovert.

I had to look that one up. The word isn't in the dictionary, but there are several blogs talking about it, so I found out that a mesovert is someone who needs solitude sometimes but also needs social interaction at times. This makes much more sense than when people say they're both an introvert and an extrovert. I think it's much more accurate to say you're a mesovert. Next question: YouTube is. . .
Someone else’s waste of time.

Do you spend more on clothes or food?
I find this an amazing question. Are there really people who would have to stop and ponder this one? The world is sicker than I thought.

Some people wear clothes only so they won't be naked. Others are fashion conscious. The question isn't one to ponder, but speaks more to your personality, which readers are often curious about. Moving on . . . Have you ever been to a fortune teller? What did she tell you?
That I played the piano. I don’t.

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

Do you have a favorite book that was turned into a movie?
Moby Dick — the original Gregory Peck version. I loved the real whale-hunting sequences.

What’s the hardest thing you ever had to write?
Funeral eulogies for bosom friends.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Be good and you will be lonesome.” -Mark Twain

What would your main character say about you?
Where’d he go?

Who would you invite to a dinner party if you could invite anybody?
Barack and Michelle, and then a few dead friends. We can only seat six at the kitchen table.

If you had to choose a cliché about life, what would it be?
The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty; it’s half-way to being refilled.

What are you working on now?
Books four and five of the Dominick Chronicles series — Port Athens and Unholy Grail.

Other books by John Enright

Pago Pago Tango (2012)
Fire Knife Dancing (2013)
The Dead Don’t Dance (2014)
Blood Jungle Ballet (2014)
14 Degrees South (2012)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Enright was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1945. After serving stints in semi-pro baseball, the Lackawanna steel mills, and the publishing industry in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, he left the United States to teach at the American Samoa Community College and spent the next twenty-six years living on the islands of the South Pacific. Over the past four decades, his essays, articles, short stories, and poems have appeared in more than seventy books, anthologies, journals, periodicals, and online magazines. Today, he and his wife, ceramicist Connie Payne, live in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

Connect with John:
Website  |   Blog  |   Facebook  |   Goodreads

FEATURED AUTHOR: D.E. HAGGERTY

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Love in the Time of Murder, the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives face their toughest case yet. Delilah, or Dee as she wishes everyone would just call her already, is the granddaughter of one of the knitting detectives and her life is in a bit of a shambles. She finally manages to pry herself away from her husband’s clutches, move out on her own, and start her own business. But then her estranged husband is murdered and she’s the number one suspect. The Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives aren’t about to let one of their own get sent to the slammer and jump at the chance to search for the true killer. As if Dee doesn’t have enough problems, the knitting detectives decide that Delilah being a widow is the perfect opportunity to find her a new man and decide to put their matchmaking skills to use. Will Dee end up in prison for a murder she didn’t commit or will she be taking another walk down the aisle?

INTERVIEW WITH D.E. HAGGERTY

How long is your to-be-read list?
I actually have two TBR lists. One is for books that I’m reading and reviewing for other authors. I’ve learned – the hard way – to try and keep that list down to one or two books a week and only agree to reviews for the next two months. I can’t even tell you how long my private TBR list is because it’s like ginormous. I have at least 5 pages of samples on my kindle at any one time. I should probably start a support group but who has time with a TBR list like that?

What other books do you currently have published?
Unforeseen Consequences -
Buried Appearances / Begraven in het Verleden
Life Discarded
Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem
Jack Gets His Man

How often do you tweet?
Too often for my own good! I belong to a group of writers that help each other by tweeting about each other’s books, etc. And then I try to tweet daily about my own reading blog, Readsalot. It can be a bit overwhelming.

How do you feel about Facebook?
I have mixed feelings. I am (or I guess was) a huge defender of Facebook. I even wrote a blog entitled In Defense of Facebook. But then I got angry with them. It’s just ridiculous that a blog post I tell my readers about on Facebook is delivered to less than 1% of my followers. Grrr . . .

3D movies are . . .
Should be illegal! I’m extremely far-sighted and wear bifocals, which means I have little to no depth perception. 3D movies are wasted on me, and I hate those plastic 3D glasses, which I have to place over my own glasses as I can’t wear contacts.

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?
Totally! My husband jokes that sailors run out of bars when my mouth gets started.

What's your relationship with your TV remote?
A bit scary. The remote doesn’t work very often (we have TV via the Internet and the Internet in Turkey can be notoriously slow so that those pesky government officials have enough to peek over our shoulders). I may or may not be famous for throwing the darn remote across the living room.

Do you spend more on clothes or food?
Food (and alcohol)! I don’t follow fashions at all and am perfectly happy to stay in my pjs all day, but I’m a complete foodie. The hubby and I go out to eat a few times a week. We’re a little limited on ethnic foods in Istanbul, but that doesn’t slow us down – much.

What's your favorite treat for movie night?
Popcorn! I LOVE popcorn, but when I make it at home I do the ‘healthy’ thing – air popper and just a bit of melted margarine. When I’m at the movies, I get the ‘real’ thing. Yummy!

What would your main character say about you?
Dee would probably think my mouth is way too big and I’m a bit too opinionated. That notwithstanding, I’m sure we’d be good friends. Well, until I drag her to the crowded bar for girls’ night out. That’d probably annoy her.

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
The library in Alexandria. It’s just completely and totally awesome. On the outside it has words engraved in all written languages of the world. It has great big windows looking out into the sea. It’s so big that there are nooks and crannies everywhere – a true library-lover’s paradise. Plus I’m a total history geek so the fact that it stands on or near the original library, which is one of the wonders of the ancient world, totally does it for me.

What are you working on now?
Now that the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series is over, I’m starting on a romantic comedy. I had a lot of fun and lots of great comments on the light-hearted series and thought I’d keep going with that. Here’s a bit of a teaser:

Molly’s life is in the crapper. Her husband left her for another woman and she had to leave her job to go back home and help her sick dad. She enters the dating world and discovers dating is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Lightning round:
Cake or frosting? Frosting! Yummy! I’ll just use my finger.
Laptop or desktop? Laptop. Does anyone – besides government employees – use a desktop anymore?
Chevy Chase or Bill Murray? Bill Murray. They both drive me crazy, but Chevy Chase drives me completely crazy.
Emailing or texting? Texting because I’m too lazy to write emails.
Indoors or outdoors? Indoors with a book, comfy chair, and huge cup of coffee.
Tea: sweet or unsweet? Sweet, hot, and biological. Surprised you there, didn’t I?
Plane, train, or automobile? Anything that's fast works for me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

D.E. Haggerty was born and raised in Wisconsin, but thinks she's a European (and has the EU passport to prove it!). After spending her senior year of high school in Germany, she developed a bad case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. Her flying Dutch husband and she have lived in Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany, and now Istanbul. They still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. She's leaning toward somewhere she can learn to surf even though the hubby thinks that’s a less than sound way to decide where to live. Although she's been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, she thinks with writing she may have finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. That’s assuming she ever grows up, of course. Between playing tennis, running much slower than she would like, trying to adopt every stray dog within a 5-mile radius, traveling to exotic new locales, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, addictively watching new movies, and reading books like they are going out of style, she writes articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, reviews other indie authors’ books, writes a blog about whatever comes to mind, and is working on her seventh book.

Connect with the author:

Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  
Goodreads 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: BILLIE THOMAS

ABOUT THE BOOK

A cheating wife in a classic car drives someone to murder.

Interior decorators turned amateur investigators, Chloe and Amanda Carstairs have spent the summer transforming their client’s creepy old castle into a luxury hotel. But before the first guest checks in, the owner’s wife checks out – with the help of a bullet to the head.

When Chloe’s dad is accused of the crime, there’s no time for the ladies to drown their sorrows in the hotel’s mini bar. Instead, they have to contend with a sneaky blackmailer, an unsolved murder from the past, and a cunning killer with nothing to lose.

The second Chloe Carstairs Mystery is filled with the same clever twists and hilarious mother-daughter relationship that made Murder on the First Day of Christmas such a fun, fast-paced read. The mystery will keep you guessing, but as any good decorator will tell you, even a beautiful setting can’t hide the ugly truth.

INTERVIEW WITH BILLIE THOMAS

Billie, how long have you been a writer?
I’ve been a writer since I first put a jumbo pencil to paper. In school, I would actually write the books I did book reports on. (Love that my teacher let me do that.) I learned to love the flow early and have been chasing that feeling ever since.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
The second Chloe Carstairs mystery. I wrote the first one with my mom and the mother-daughter relationship was very much like ours. After she passed away unexpectedly, I told everyone I was really glad I had the series to work on because it made me feel close to her. But the truth is, it made me pretty sad and I missed her feedback. Luckily, I have some great beta readers to pull me through my doldrums.

What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing? How did you deal with it?
Usually, bad reviews don’t bother me. (My favorite is: “I didn’t know if I could get through this book after the first chapter but I stuck with it and it turned out okay.”) Writing is subjective and humor is subjective, so not everyone is going to be a fan. But I once had a boss who said I had no talent. Hearing a huge overarching statement like that, from someone I thought was the arbiter of such things? I pretty much collapsed like a dying star. Luckily, I’m a little older and hopefully, a little wiser and know the difference between constructive and destructive criticism.

Who would you want to narrate a film about your life?
Tina Fey. And she’d need to write it too. I think she’d make me sound much smarter and funnier than I really am.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
An unapologetic introvert. My day job in advertising makes me interact with people and make presentations far more than I’d like, but as long as I can retreat to my house (a.k.a my fortress of solitude), I’m fine. I love having a calm, cozy place to close out the world and enjoy my own company for a while.

What is the most daring thing you've done?
After losing my job and getting divorced in the same year, I started freelancing so I could finally do the traveling I’d always wanted to do. Within just a couple of years, I’d visited Italy, Thailand, Cambodia, Guatemala, Peru, Ireland, and Vietnam. It was a total life reboot and my comfort zone was just a dot in the rear view, but I learned so much about myself and what I’m capable of.

You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?
Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Girl’s got some serious skills and isn’t afraid to use them!

If you had to choose a cliche about life, what would it be?
What’s for dinner?

What scares you the most?
Losing people close to me. After losing my mom, I know it can and does happen. I think my worry keeps people alive. Worry is my superpower.

How do you feel about Facebook?
I’m getting a little jaded about it. I want to see your kids’ first-day-of-school pictures and funny posts about your day. Rants and outrage and ugliness make me feel very weary. 

What's your favorite thing about the writing process?
Flow! When you get in the zone and actually lose time and the only thing that brings you back to the real world are reproachful dog eyes demanding dinner.

If you could only watch one television station for a year, what would it be?
I’m going to cheat and say Netflix. I love binge-watching shows, especially Masterpiece Mysteries.

Lightening Round:
Cake or frosting? Cake!
Laptop or desktop? Laptop.
Chevy Chase or Bill Murray? Bill Murray.
Emailing or texting? Emailing.
Indoors or outdoors? Outdoors.
Tea: sweet or unsweet? Unsweet. (Curse you, slowing metabolism.)
Plane, train, or automobile? Train.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Billie works at an advertising agency, which might explain why she's constantly thinking up ways to kill people without getting caught. She lives in Birmingham, has a really cute boyfriend and an even cuter dog. Murder on the First Day of Christmas, her award-winning first novel, and its follow up, Murder in a Two-Seater, are filled with mystery, romance, humor and decorating - because these are a few of her favorite things. Visit her blog at ChloeGetsAClue.com or connect on twitter at @chloegetsaclue.

Connect with Billie:
Blog  |  
Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  Goodreads  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: EMMA STEIN

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The country of Anglina is teeming with social upheaval, and its officials have found an unlikely national hero in a philosopher and social activist named Horace. The Anglinian government has appointed the effeminate, irreverent, and stubborn scholar to undertake a journey around the world to learn the secret of other countries’ success. Unfortunately for Horace, most of the societies he visits turn out to be drastically different from what he expected, and he repeatedly sends scathing but witty reports about his travels and the people he encounters.

INTERVIEW WITH EMMA STEIN

Emma, do you write every day?
I would like to, and in a way I do as a translator. I take terribly complicated German technical texts and make them more logical and easier to understand for English-speaking readers, but that is hardly the same as working on my books. At the end of the day, I don’t even want to look at the computer or my keyboard, so I often find myself making sketches or illustrations for comics instead of drawing. It is a frustrating situation, but very few can make ends meet as artists these days. I hope to be working as a web designer next year or the following year, which pays much better and which would be a creative outlet in and of itself so I have more time and energy for writing.

What would your main character say about you?
Gregor from Unspeakables wouldn’t say anything unless it’s to the flute player or to Sven, but I bet Horace from Into the Void would write a nasty letter to Addie about a most sarcastic artist who drew a rather unflattering, and therefore accurate, caricature of him.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
Job applications have always been challenging. Not only have I had to write them in foreign languages, I have actually had to sound competent and interested in more than my paycheck. I think the application for part-time barkeeper in Bremen topped it all.


You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?
Gregor Samsa, of course. He is the first literary character I have any memory of, except perhaps Oliver Twist, as I found out about him when I was three. I actually despise insects but hope that spending the day as an enormous one would help me treat all creatures with greater respect, corny as that may sound.


Have you ever been to a fortune teller?
No, but the beggars outside my office have offered to tell my fortune, which I assume means distracting me while an accomplice searches for my wallet and keys.


What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing? How did you deal with it?
“This sounds like poorly translated medieval dialect . . . I resent having to make these comments again.” These two remarks from my teacher addressed aspects of an essay I wrote when I was fourteen. I was dumbfounded that my teacher would phrase criticism in this manner and showed the comments to my mother. As a dedicated English teacher, she also could not understand how the comment was supposed to help me grow as a writer or thinker. Most importantly, my mother encouraged me not to be discouraged by such remarks.


What's your relationship with your cell phone?
The most recent casualty is probably still somewhere on the B76, a federal highway in Northern Germany.

If you could only watch one television station for a year, what would it be?
One station? We can narrow it down to one show: South Park!

How often do you tweet?
I fear I’m a mammal, not an avian, so the few tweets that I do emit are a bit wanting.

How do you feel about Facebook?
I would have left long ago had I not felt the need to create an author page. I think it has made quite a contribution to reducing friendship and acquaintances to typing a few characters and/or pushing a button.

What scares you the most?
Oddly enough, two of these things normally bring people great joy: dogs and having a family. Loud noises also head the list.

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?
Not only that, my bank account would be empty. I am a great fan of South Park and find myself, as something of a technical translator/troubleshooter during the day, making great use of Eric Cartman’s vocabulary when I don’t find the buttons and items our developers cite.


What do you love about where you live?
In many regards, Kiel is the place I always wanted to live as a child. It is green here, I live on the Baltic Sea, and I am not dependent on the car. We even get those eerie mists that I always imagined but had never experienced when I read fantasy books in my youth. Additionally, I get to speak German every day, I can go to the doctor without endangering my life savings, and there are lots of seagulls.

The trade-off? “Schietwetter.” Yes, it’s a cognate.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Introvert.

What's your relationship with your TV remote?
It’s still waiting for me in a package at the store.

What's your favorite treat for movie night?
Masala chai and Rapunzel’s Nirwana chocolate. The latter is organic dark-milk chocolate with a truffle filling and is the very definition of what Germans refer to as “Hüftengold” "– hip gold.”

What's the biggest lie you ever told?
“I’m happy to be here.” It has served me well in any number of situations for about 24 years and doesn’t show any sign of becoming any less useless as the days roll on.

What is the most daring thing you've done?
It’s a toss-up between packing my bags and setting off to study in Russia, packing the same bags and setting off to teach in France, packing some of the same bags and setting off for graduate school in Canada, or setting off to study in Germany with the intention of staying.

So instead of deciding from among those options, let’s say marching into Immigrations and telling them the inefficiency of that particular office (not representative of Germany’s system, I should add) was not going to cost me yet another job offer, so they had all better scrounge up somebody to address my case because I was sick of being treated like a farm animal. I then turned to the family beside me and said “Are you sick of this? Are we people or are we cattle?” I was asked to turn over my passport and feared the worst, but luckily it was only so they could have someone look at my case.

Good for you! What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
I keep doing it — I keep letting myself get swamped with fulfilling other people’s/institutions’ expectations and working side jobs so I can try to make ends overlap, as opposed to just meeting.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Can’t fix stupid.” That’s what my uncle says, and although it is not lofty, I find myself using it more than my old favorite quote from Dostoevsky (“Красота мир спасет”/“Beauty will save the earth.”)

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
One too few.



What are you working on now?
Probably too many projects, but the literary ones are Unspeakables and a series of comics in German and in English. Unspeakables, which is a bit further along than my social satire cartoons, is about a translator named Gregor who stutters terribly and can speak only to two people. One of these people first replaces Gregor as the marketing manager at his company and then as his lover, and the novel addresses Gregor’s struggle to come to grips with what he sees as a double betrayal. This all sounds very dark, but the conversations are laced with irony, and Gregor finally does figure out he is worth more than the sum of his translations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Emma was born near Chicago in 1986 and has lived abroad since 2008. Her experiences in France, Canada, Germany, and Russia influence her work considerably. Theories from Cultural Studies and Sociology form another cornerstone of Emma’s work, and she enlivens what many people would consider dry texts with interpretations that are full of wit and unexpected spins on the order of things. Her penchant for pinpointing the foibles and follies of both herself and her fellows is a fine source for her satires, be they written or illustrated.

Emma has lived in Germany since 2011. She currently resides in Kiel, where she continues to surprise the natives with the historically inspired clothing that she designs and wears.

Connect with Emma:

Website  |  
Blog  |  
Facebook  |  Twitter

FEATURED AUTHOR: D. BRYANT SIMMONS

ABOUT THE BOOK

With their turbulent past firmly behind them, Belinda and her daughters are ready to live happily ever after. But before long new threats emerge and things spiral out of control as Belinda fights like hell to keep her teenagers on the straight and narrow. The tighter she pulls the reins the harder they rebel until secrecy, addiction, and wounds from the past send the Morrow girls hurling down unexpected paths.

EXCERPT FROM BLUE SKY

With their turbulent past firmly behind them, Belinda and her daughters are ready to live happily ever after. But before long new threats emerge and things spiral out of control as Belinda fights like hell to keep her teenagers on the straight and narrow. The tighter she pulls the reins the harder they rebel until secrecy, addiction, and wounds from the past send the Morrow girls hurling down unexpected paths.



My sisters and I were never alone with the woman we knew as Aunt Paula until the day my mama disappeared.

Aunt Paula sat at the kitchen table with her arm around Jackie, trying to explain why Mama had left us. "She'll be back. Everything'll be okay." She wound the ends of my sister's braids around her finger. Paula only had boys, so spending time with us was how she got her fill of pretty dresses, dolls, and braids. "Your mama will be back before you know it."

It failed as an explanation, but my sisters didn’t bothered to question her any further. They heard what they needed. Mama was coming back, and everything would be fine. So, I kept quiet.

In the morning, we went downstairs, expecting to see Mama there in her robe flipping pancakes. We found Paula instead, lining up four paper-bag lunches and smiling. Mama only ever packed us two lunches. One for Nikki, who like most sixth graders, brought her lunch, plus another bag for me and Jackie because we always ate together, and Jackie tended to forget if Mama trusted her with her own lunch. I started to point out Nat didn't need a cold lunch since kindergarteners ate hot lunches, but I decided against it.

"Here you girls go. Now, go learn something."

"Mama be here when we get back?” Jackie asked.

Aunt Paula smiled and nodded.

We raced home, convinced we were due a celebration because Mama had never been gone from us for longer than a few hours. Folks said she was overprotective, never wanting us to go to sleepovers and things. She liked having us close. Up the porch steps we ran, and Nikki took out her key to unlock the door. Silence met us in the foyer. No Mama. No Paula. Jackie took off running, calling out for her like Mama hid in the back somewhere.

“Mama not here?” Nat looked up at me.

Stunned, Nikki couldn't move to even close the door. She peeked over her shoulder at the outside world like maybe we shouldn't be alone in the house, like we might get in trouble.

"Times like this is why you got the key," I reminded her and locked the door behind us. "When Mama's at work. She’s at work is all.”

When Daddy moved out, Mama started working a lot. At first she worked the afternoon shift, but she got moved to the morning shift, so she could be home around the time we got out of school.

“She’ll be here soon.” I said.

So, we waited.

We got hungry, so Nikki made us a snack, and we waited some more.

Once suppertime came, Nikki thought we should surprise Mama by making it ourselves. She did most of the work, arguing with Jackie about where Mama kept things and how much of each ingredient was supposed to go in it. I kept watch from the window seat. At the first sight of her, I was gonna yell out, so my sisters would stop fighting and relax. Only, Mama didn't come home.

The next day we got up and did it all again. Only this time when school let out, the principal called us down to her office. Stacks of files and papers covered every inch of the desk with a few on the floor reaching knee-high. The principal was a burly woman with a high-pitched voice. She directed us to the empty chairs and in one long breath, laid out the problem at hand. Nobody answered when the school called our home phone, and the folks at Mama's job claimed she disappeared during her shift three days ago. Then she asked if we knew where Mama was. Asked if we had supervision at home.

"Yes. We're fine," I said.

But she didn't believe me. She said Nat had mentioned it to her teacher who told the secretary who told her.

"Mama must've gone to see somebody about a bike for us."

"Heziah," Jackie piped. Heziah was her answer to every unknown. Just the thought of him made her smile. She loved Mama's boyfriend the way I loved our daddy. "She gone to see Heziah, but she be back soon."

The principal shooed us out of the overcrowded office as she began to make a telephone call.

An hour later, a fiftyish woman in a navy blue suit showed up to take us home. She had two other women with her, both younger and trained to follow orders. They marched us up the stairs and into our bedrooms, lording over us while we each packed one bag a piece. One of the subordinates packed Nat's bag, which didn't sit well with Nikki since she thought she was the one in charge.

I had other concerns. "Where we going? You taking us to our Mama?"

"No. You're going to stay somewhere else for now."

"Where?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I'm not going nowhere until my mama get home!" Jackie said, glaring at the woman in defiance. Only one person in our family was as stubborn as Jackie. When my sister put her foot down, she meant it.

"Me neither," Nat said, squeezing tight to her stuffed teddy bear.

"Young lady, I didn't give you a choice. Now...let's go."

"You can't make me! You not my mama."

The front door opened and the standoff ended. Daddy strolled into the foyer, twirling his key around his finger. I was so happy I was about ready to burst. Flew down the stairs and into his bulging arms. Folks said his strength was legendary, and I knew he'd throw down before letting them take us anywhere.

"I missed you, Daddy!"

"Missed you too, baby girl. Where's your Mama?"

The old woman and her sidekicks joined us downstairs. They were still holding on to our bags. I smiled thinking about what was in store for the DCFS woman and her friends. Nobody messed with my daddy.

"Mr. Morrow, hello. I'm Judith Gibson. I work for the Department of Children and Family Services."

"What you want?"

"Do you live in the home?"

"Not at the moment, I don't." His gaze traveled over to Jackie, who dragged the toe of her shoe along a crack in the floor boards. "But I will be soon. Why?"

"We're taking temporary custody of the girls. Now, we don't want to make this harder on them, so please..."

"N'all. They my kids. I'll take 'em until they Mama get home from work."

"She not at work! She gone to get Heziah!" Jackie said. "He’s our daddy now! You ain't nothing!"

Daddy's jaw twitched, his chest swelled, and his mouth spat, "You wanna take one of 'em? Take that one. The rest of 'em comin' with me."

"Daddy, where you live?" Nikki whispered.

But his address didn't matter. The social worker had made up her mind before he stepped over the threshold. She took out some fancy document from her purse and held out the sheet of paper, proving we didn't belong to him no more.

He read it over and said, "She lying! I ain't never did nothing like this here...this here letter say! She the one be neglecting them! Where she is? How she gonna say I ain't a fit parent?"

The woman gave a little nod, and one of the younger women disappeared into the kitchen. Daddy didn't mind. He kept right on yelling. Yelled until the police showed up. They tried to calm him down, but they were doing it all wrong. Daddy ain't calm down for anybody but me. They were ushering us toward the front door, but I was trying to stay in his field of vision. My calming powers ain't work otherwise.

"Mya," Jackie's hand clutched mine, and I read the plea in her eyes. Last thing she wanted was to be anywhere near Daddy. My sister's fingers tightened around mine.

Folks always thought we were twins on account of how close we were in age. I nodded and walked with her out to the porch. We were down the steps and almost to the gate before we realized what was happening. Two cars—one tan, the other black. One of the social workers was holding Nat's hand and standing in front of the tan car. Nikki was cowering in the shadows of the black car's rear seat.

Jackie said, "We go together."

"No. You're going to this car, and Mya here is going to the black car."

"We go together," I said.

"You girls need to say your goodbyes."

Jackie's grasp only tightened, and I thought my chest might cave in and crush what was left of my heart. First Daddy left, then Mama, now my sisters. I never hated anyone before, but I hated the smug DCFS woman with every fiber of my body.

"No!" My sister let out a blood curling scream, and I pulled her body to mine, clutching at her clothes.

"Please, if you relax..." The woman was saying as she tried to pry us apart.

"Get off me! You get off me! No! Myaaaa!"

"Jackie...," I said, mumbling, as she slipped out of my grasp. A stranger's hands were guiding me toward the black sedan. I stumbled over the grass, over the curb, failing to see through the curtain of tears. A car door closed, and a second later, we were moving. Nikki was crying next to me, but she didn't make a move to stop them. She didn't even try.

I pressed my fingertips against the rear window.

"Please turn around and sit down. We want you to be safe."

Jackie's cries rang in my ears, but I couldn't make her out. Couldn't distinguish her from the other bodies on our front lawn. Even that didn't last very long before we took a right at the corner and sped away from the only home I ever knew.

ABOUT  THE AUTHOR

D. Bryant Simmons is an award-winning author and pens realistic fiction that straddles the line between art and social commentary. She is currently hard at work on The Morrow Girls Series, a family saga that spans three generations of women. Simmons incorporates meaty topics, such as domestic violence, addiction, and mental illness into her fiction. She believes novels can act as agents of change and hopes that her writing will inspire and empower women.

Connect with the author:
Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook 

a Rafflecopter giveaway