FEATURED AUTHOR: KATHLEEN ERNST

ABOUT THE BOOK

Chloe Ellefson is excited to be learning about Wisconsin's Cornish immigrants and mining history while on temporary assignment at Pendarvis, a historic site in charming Mineral Point. But when her boyfriend, police officer Roelke McKenna, discovers long-buried human remains in the root cellar of an old Cornish cottage, Chloe reluctantly agrees to mine the historical record for answers.

She soon finds herself in the center of a heated and deadly controversy that threatens to close Pendarvis. While struggling to help the historic site, Chloe must unearth dark secrets, past and present . . . before a killer comes to bury her.

LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH KATHLEEN ERNST

A few of your favorite things: 
I have a lot of mementos from writing-related research trips, anything from a print of an old building to a rock picked up at an historic site. They’re fun to have on my desk when I’m writing, and when the relevant manuscript is completed they bring back happy memories.
Things you need to throw out: 
I’m always behind on filing. I need to go through stacks of paper on my desk, and bulging file folders in my cabinets, with a recycle bag at hand.


Things you need in order to write: 
Uninterrupted time to think, a notebook, index cards, laptop, feline companion, research materials.
Things that hamper your writing: 
Laundry that needs doing, feline companion demanding food, a ringing phone, the need to spend the majority of my time on the business end of things instead of the actual writing
.

Things you love about writing: 
I love shining a bit of light on people that might otherwise be largely forgotten.  I write about history, and usually focus on everyday people.  When I worked in the museum world it was frustrating to find, for example, a wonderful artifact—but not know who owned or made or used the object.  My fiction lets me explore the lives of people who left no written records behind.
Things you hate about writing:
I really don’t hate anything about actual writing! I have bad days like anyone else, but getting stuck is part of the creative process. What I do hate? Certain aspects of the writing business. The industry can be tough to navigate.

Hardest thing about being a writer: 
I spend more time on the business end of being a writer than I do actually writing.

Easiest thing about being a writer: 
Many of the things I love to do, like reading and exploring wonderful historic sites and museums, are part of my job.  How cool is that?


Things you love about where you live: 
I live just outside Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is a wonderful university town, with lots of good restaurants and arts organizations. I also love the fact that in ten minutes I can be out in the country, enjoying the state’s beautiful natural resources.
Things that make you want to move: 
Increasing traffic, urban sprawl.


Things you never want to run out of: 
Popcorn, peanut butter, fresh fruit (or bags of frozen fruit in the freezer); printer cartridges, notebooks, beguiling books piled on my nightstand. Oh, and cat food. Running out of cat food would be bad.
Things you wish you’d never bought: 
When I was younger I collected antiques.  I’ve reached an age when I’m trying to find a good home for many of them.


Favorite foods: 
For a few weeks a year, my local fruit market carries the most delicious peaches ever grown.  The market is closing, and I’m mourning its demise.
Things that make you want to throw up: 
I’m not a big fan of cooked peas. Peapods are great, and I like split pea soup as long as it’s vegetarian. Cooked peas—especially canned peas—not so much.

Favorite music or song: 
Unlike many authors, I like to listen to music while I write. If possible, I find music that reflects the time or place or cultural group that I’m writing about.
Music that make your ears bleed: 
I’m not sure anything strikes me quite that harshly! I’ll admit that much of the new pop music is not my thing. (Is “pop music” even a phrase anymore?)

Favorite beverage:
The first pumpkin spice latte of the fall. Autumn is my favorite season!

Something that gives you a pickle face:
Beer. Atypical for a Wisconsin resident.

Favorite smell: 
Wood smoke in the fall. Anything baking that includes cinnamon is a close second.

Something that makes you hold your nose: 
Driving past huge industrial farms.

Something you’re really good at:
I once won a blue ribbon in a cross-cut saw competition. I’m a pretty good baker, especially with historic recipes.

Something you’re really bad at: 
Oh, so many to choose from. I can’t parallel park in tight spaces. I also can’t balance a checkbook. Math and I do not get along.


People you consider as heroes: 
Anyone who stirs themselves to actively work for social justice.

People with a big L on their foreheads: 
Anyone who is unkind to other people or the planet.



Last best thing you ate: 
A fresh peach. It was luscious.

Last thing you regret eating: 
I’m actually pretty thoughtful about my diet, so nothing comes to mind.

Things you’d walk a mile for: 
A gorgeous view of the natural world.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: 
Dense crowds, too-loud music.

Things you always put in your books: 
Enough sensory details to provide readers with (I hope) a strong sense of place.

Things you never put in your books: 
Graphic sex or violence.

Things to say to an author: 
I love it when readers tell me they stayed up way too late reading one of my books. I’m humbled and grateful when someone says that a Chloe mystery helped them through chemo or grief or some other challenging time.  

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
“You just keep cranking them out, don’t you!”  It’s said with good intentions, but suggests some rote process, which does not well describe what goes into creating a novel! 

Favorite places you’ve been: 
Norway, Switzerland, Scotland, Alaska
.
Places you never want to go to again: 
I’m not keen on driving through big cities.

Things that make you happy: 
Spending time with family and friends, petting my cat, gardening, hiking, learning about heritage crafts or foodways. I love to dabble in new things, and if I’m working on a book that features ethnic/historic foodways or folk-art, I want to give them a try.

Things that drive you crazy: 
Unkindness—to people, to the planet.

Best thing you’ve ever done: 
Marry my husband.

Biggest mistake: 
Not speaking truth to power. 

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: 
The year I graduated from college, way back in 1981, a friend and I went backpacking on the Appalachian Trail for two months. It was an amazing experience.

Something you chickened out from doing:
In theory I want to jump out of a plane. However, so far I have not found the courage to do so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen Ernst is a former museum curator who remains passionate about history! In addition to the Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites series, she has written many books for American Girl, including nine about the historical character she created, Caroline Abbott. The Chloe series has earned a LOVEY Award for Best Traditional Mystery, and several of her mysteries for young readers have been finalists for Edgar or Agatha awards.

Connect with Kathleen:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook 

Buy the book:
Indiebound  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Books-A-Million  |  Amazon

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FEATURED AUTHOR: KARIN GILLESPIE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Skye Sebring is a hospitality greeter inside the pearly gates of an unorthodox Heaven, where carefree and lusty angels get tipsy in the Live A Little Lounge, practice cloud art, and are guided by a brassy female deity who sounds and looks like Bette Midler. During the course of her duties, Skye meets lawyer Ryan Blaine, who has a brush with death due to a motorcycle accident.

It’s not Ryan’s time to die yet, so he returns back to Earth, but Skye can’t get him out of her mind. Why does Ryan seem so familiar to her and why does she feel an unexplainable attraction to him? She begins spying on Ryan’s life from her perch in heaven and even manages to follow him down to Earth. There she finds a world very different than Heaven, where drinking too much champagne results in hangovers, roses can prick fingers, and hearts are capable of being broken. All seems lost until she remembers that most of life's lessons can be learned from the lyrics of five Beatles songs and one of the Fab Four’s songs might actually help win her the love of a lifetime.

Divinely Yours is a celestial romantic comedy about a love that crosses all dimensions.



LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH KARIN GILLESPIE

Things you love about writing:
I love that writing is a complete act of faith and that I’m creating something out of thin air. I love the way the muse parachutes down hints gradually so I can solve the all the puzzles that every novel poses.
Things you hate about writing:
Not crazy about the wrong turns. I keep an outtake file and it’s often longer than my novels.

Hardest thing about being a writer:
It’s so all-encompassing. When I’m writing a book I feel like I’ve joined some kind of cult that takes all my attention. All my energy is poured into and I have to remind myself that there is a life outside the book.
Easiest thing about being a writer:
You can do it anywhere. 


Things you love about where you live:
 I live in Georgia. Balmy winters, friendly folk, tree-lined streets, vegetables swimming in meat.
Things that make you want to move:
Humidity, heat, Southern stubbornness.


Words that describe you:
Passionate, humorous, driven, upbeat.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t:
Know-it-all attitude, occasional orneriness, sensitivity.

Favorite foods:

Anything Mediterranean. I adore hummus, Greek yogurt, olives etc.
Things that make you want to throw up: 
Liver and okra.

Favorite beverage:
Wine!!!!

Something that gives you a pickle face:
Milk.

People you consider as heroes:

Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Dalia Lama, MLK 

People with a big L on their foreheads:
People who divide others.



Last best thing you ate: 

Blue Apron meal of chicken and creamed eggplant.

Last thing you regret eating: 

A half bag of chips during the hurricane.

Things you’d walk a mile for:
A great insight for my latest novel. Walking informs my creativity.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room:
Flying palmetto bugs.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Charleston, New York City, Austria, Savannah, Austria.

Places you never want to go to again: 

Paris. It’s a little uppity and can be a little dark.

Things that make you happy:

Quiet time, libraries, book stores, el fresco dining, baths.

Things that drive you crazy: 

Traffic, home repairs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Karin Gillespie is the author of seven novels and lives in Augusta, Georgia.

Connect with Karin:

Facebook  

Buy the book:
Amazon  

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CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH ZANNA MACKENIZE'S AMBER READ

ABOUT THE BOOK

One desperate phone call is all it takes to turn Amber’s previously dull day into one speeding scarily out of control!



Amber Reed’s at work making up the horoscopes for the local newspaper and wishing for some excitement in her life, when she gets a phone call offering her just that.



Plunged into the middle of a celebrity murder investigation she’s desperately trying to convince the scarily handsome special agent assigned to solve the case that she can help him catch the killer.



Amber’s soon battling something far more dangerous than she could ever have imagined – and it has nothing to do with the equally scary chemistry fizzing between her and special agent Charlie.



Is it Amber’s wish for more excitement in her life which has landed her in big trouble – or is her fate written in the stars?

In The Stars is part of the fun, romantic Amber Reed Mystery series:

* In The Stars (book 1)
* On Trial ( book 1.5)
* Precious (book 2)
* Forever Mine (book 3)
* Past Perfect (book 4)
* Stop The Beat (book 5)
* Paradise Lost (book 6)

Go to the Zanna’s website and download a free book.

ABOUT AMBER READ

Amber Reed is a twenty-something from a small town in Derbyshire. She works part-time at the local newspaper as an admin assistant and she makes up the horoscopes for the weekly astrology column under the fake name of Madam Zamber. One day her life changes completely when she finds herself caught up in a celebrity murder investigation...

INTERVIEW WITH CHARACTER AMBER READ

Amber, why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
I was just your average female, trying to hold down two jobs to pay the rent, looking for The One and generally wishing for some more excitement in my life. I think all of that makes me pretty relatable which is maybe why people like to read about how my life turned around and I became involved in helping a gorgeous special agent called Charlie crack the case in a murder investigation.

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
Head to my home town of Palstone in gorgeous Derbyshire and catch up with friends and family. These days I travel all over the world working for the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency, so I really miss the folks back home.

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
Well, if I tell you, then it might spoil things for potential new readers just dipping into the series, but all I will say is that it’s a scene involving myself and Charlie, my rather handsome special agent co-worker.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
Ooh, can I? Really? Right. Here goes . . . I absolutely hate Martha. She’s another agency co-worker and basically a horrible person. I like Charlie. A lot. An awful lot! Dan is another special agent co-worker, and he’s big trouble but very cute with it.

Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?
Absolutely! But they will remain a secret – for now!



What impression do you make on people when they first meet you?
I try my best to make a good impression on people, especially in my line of work. It’s important when I’m sleuthing to get people chatting and feeling like they can trust me and tell me things. That always helps me get to the bottom of a case.





Tell us about your best friend.
Well, I’d love to! Her name is Debs. We’ve know each other since forever. She works in a tearoom in Palstone (our home town) and we love to sit and chat over coffee and cakes whenever we get chance.





What’s the best trait your author has given you?
Hmm . . . now, let me think. Best traits are probably that I’m determined and resourceful.
What’s the worst?
Worst traits are that I’m stubborn and also can be a little on the insecure side at times, especially when it comes to relationships.



What do you like best (and least) about Charlie, your special agent co-worker?
There are so many things about Charlie which is, I guess, part of what makes him so tempting and at the same time such a challenge.  First, the good things – he’s clever, funny, great company, and fun. Next, the least favorite things - he’s stubborn (like me, which causes us all sorts of issues!), and can be work-obsessed when he’s trying to crack an investigation. Also, I doubt there’s a romantic bone in the whole of his body, which unfortunately brings out my relationship insecurities from time to time. I mean, occasionally a girl just wants a bit of relationship reassurance, right?

Absolutely. What’s your author’s worst habit?
Making life difficult for me!



What aspect of your author’s writing style do you like best?
The sleuthing adventures zip along, which I love. Also, there’s lots of chat and dialogue along the way as well as plenty to think about. The books are fun, which I really enjoy.

If your story were a movie, who would play you?
Well, Zanna tells me that in terms of appearance, I was inspired by the actress Emily Rose so I’d have to choose Emily to play me!

Describe the town where you live.
It’s called Palstone and it’s a pretty little town nestled in the hills of Derbyshire in the UK. There’s all the usual amenities such as pubs, the tearoom, the local newspaper where I used to be the admin assistant and make up the weekly horoscope column under the fake name of Madam Zamber! Many of the buildings are made from the local stone and the moorland and hills.

Will you encourage Zanna to write a sequel?
There are already six books in the Amber Reed Mystery series (plus a novella you can get free via Zanna’s website). There are more sleuthing adventures planned for me in 2018 too. I’ll be hitting the dance floor with lots of celebrities to solve the crime in my next book which should be quite a sleuthing adventure!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zanna Mackenzie lives in the UK (Derbyshire/ Leicestershire border) with her husband, five dogs, a vegetable patch that's home to far too many weeds, and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.



Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her 'day job' but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she's working on. Zanna loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot. She enjoys walking the dogs, gardening and reading.

Connect with Zanna:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |   Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon USA  |   Amazon UK

FEATURED AUTHOR: CYNTHIA HICKEY

ABOUT THE BOOK:


New mystery from Amazon, ECPA, and New York Times best-selling author!



Ditched at the altar, Shelby Hart tosses down her bouquet, quits her job, and accepts a position as gardener and event coordinator at an upscale retirement community. Her first day on the job results with a dead body in the greenhouse under the orchids and with her as the prime suspect!






Toss in a handsome handyman, quirky characters, and a flirtatious grandma and the fun never stops.

LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA HICKEY:

Things you need in order to write:
I need quiet, a diet coke, and dark chocolate M&Ms. 😊
Things that hamper your writing:
Interruptions. Nothing worse than being pulled out of your story.


Things you love about writing:
Making up stories that people actually want to read.
Things you hate about writing:
Deadlines. Ugh. They’re the worst.

Things you love about where you live:
Right now I move back and forth between Arizona where I’ve lived the last 35 years and children and grandchildren live and Arkansas where I grew up. I do love the greenery of the Ozarks.
Things that make you want to move:
I’d like to pack up my entire family and move them all permanently to Arkansas.


Words that describe you:
Kind, persistent, A-personality, a list-maker, a go-getter.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t:
Stubborn.

Favorite song:
My favorite song is “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me.
Music that make your ears bleed:
Screamo. I don’t consider it music.

Favorite beverage:
Celtic Breeze (it’s an Irish vodka drink).

Something that gives you a pickle face:
Seltzer water with quinine (don’t ask).

Something you wish you could do:
Play a musical instrument and sing.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Keep my face expressionless when something goes on and on and on.

Things you’d walk a mile for:
My family.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room:
My family. 😊

Things you always put in your books:
Humor.

Things you never put in your books:
Too-Stupid-to-Live heroines.

Things to say to an author:
I LOVED your book
.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
I’ve always wanted to write a book, but I need to make a living (uh, so write the book).

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
Parasailing
.
Something you chickened out from doing:
Parasailing again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Multi-published and Amazon and ECPA Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey has sold over a million copies of her works since 2013. She has taught a Continuing Education class at the 2015 American Christian Fiction Writers conference, several small ACFW chapters and RWA chapters. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, and she is a contributor to Cozy Mystery Magazine blog and Suspense Sisters blog. She and her husband run the small press, Forget Me Not Romances, which includes some of the CBA’s best well-known authors. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs, one cat, and three box turtles. She has eight grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer.”



Connect with Cynthia:
Website  |  Facebook   |  Twitter 

Buy the book:

Amazon

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FEATURED AUTHOR: GAELLE LEHRER KENNEDY

ABOUT THE BOOK

A bewitching love story that is also an extraordinary portrait of Jerusalem, its faith, spirituality, identity, and kaleidoscope of clashing beliefs, Night in Jerusalem is a novel of mystery, beauty, historical insight, and sexual passion.

David Bennett is invited to Jerusalem in 1967 by his cousin who, to the alarm of his aristocratic British family, has embraced Judaism. He introduces David to his mentor, Reb Eli, a revered sage in the orthodox community. Despite his resistance to religious teaching, David becomes enthralled by the rabbi’s wisdom and compassionate presence. When David discloses a sexual problem, Reb Eli unwittingly sets off a chain of events that transforms his life and the life of the mysterious prostitute, Tamar, who, in a reprise of an ancient biblical story, leads both men to an astonishing realization. As passions rise, the Six Day War erupts, reshaping the lives of everyone caught up in it.

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INTERVIEW WITH GAELLE LEHRER KENNEDY

A few of your favorite things: 
I especially enjoy a painting of a beautiful woman by Zivanna Gojanovic which hangs in my bedroom. It’s painted on reverse glass and it resembles the paintings of Gustav Klimt, only with a luminous glow given by the glass. She has a Madonna quality about her, and a red ribbon flowing around her neck with  “Love Conquers All” written on it in Latin.
Things you need to throw out: 
I don’t really need to throw out anything just now as I don’t keep anything I don’t need - that would add cement to my wings. I’m definitely at the minimalist end of the spectrum. I’m very affected by the space I am in. When I discovered feng shui it was like finding a language I had been speaking my whole life, but didn’t know anyone else spoke.


Things you love about writing:
I love creating my characters and their world, and getting to know them as they reveal themselves. I love living with them, and understanding what makes them do the things they do and seeing how their lives unfold.
Things you hate about writing:
Worrying if what I’m writing is any good; feeling stuck, and not knowing what to do about it, and being alone with it.

Things you love about where you live:
I live in Ojai, a small town set in a valley with mountains on three sides, opening to the ocean. I love its serenity and natural beauty, and the people who have gathered here – ranchers, new agers, writers, artists, Hollywood refugees - and the amazing schools. It has all the amenity of a small town, plus a vibrant community.
Things that make you want to move:
I am drawn to water! I’d love to live by the sea, or a large body of water. I love John O’Donahue’s notion of “landscape as presence”  and there are places where I feel especially alive. For example, I’m strongly attracted to Devon and Cornwall in England.

Words that describe you: 
Dances to her own drum.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t:
Impatient,  opinionated, temperamental, and too forthright for her own good.

Favorite music:
I love Leonard Cohen,  I never tire of his songs,  like "I’m Your Man," "In My Secret Life," "Suzanne," "I’ll Take Berlin . . . "  I also love opera, especially Puccini, and Bizet. The Pearl Fishers is my favorite. It tugs at my heart.
Music that make your ears bleed:
I’ve never been a fan of hard rock and banging rhythms, and I’m pretty much allergic to country music.

Something you’re really good at:
I’m really good at creating beautiful  spaces to live in – homes for the soul.
Something you’re really bad at:
Ironing.


Something you wish you could do:
Paint beautiful landscapes.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Cook.

People you consider as heroes:
Mother Teresa, Anwar Sadat, Martin Luther King. 

People with a big L on their foreheads: 
Actually, not a L but a T. Blowhards and bullies.



Last best thing you ate:
Clam linguine.

Last thing you regret eating:
Too much Tiramisu.

Things to say to an author:
I loved your book!! Can’t wait for the next one.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
I didn’t understand what you were trying to say.

Favorite places you’ve been:
The English countryside, Luxor, Jerusalem, and Big Sur.

Places you never want to go to again:
Mumbai.

People you’d like to invite to dinner:
Barack and Michelle Obama
.
People you’d cancel dinner on:
Trump.

Best thing you’ve ever done:
Giving birth to my daughter.

Biggest mistake:
Not having her earlier in life, and not having another child.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
Buying my first house while on unemployment.

Something you chickened out from doing:
Riding on a BMW motorcycle through Paris.

The last thing you did for the first time:
Change my mind after I was sure I had done the right thing.

Something you’ll never do again:
Spend time with anyone I don’t like.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gaelle Lehrer Kennedy lived in Israel in the 1960s, a naive twenty-year-old, hoping to find herself and her place in the world. The possibility of war was remote to her. She imagined the tensions in the region would somehow be resolved peacefully. Then, the Six Day War erupted and she experienced it firsthand in Jerusalem.

She has drawn Night in Jerusalem from her experiences during that time. The historical events portrayed in the novel are accurate. The characters are based on people Gaelle knew in the city. Like her, they were struggling to make sense of their lives, responding to inherited challenges they could not escape that shaped their destiny in ways they and the entire Middle East could not have imagined.

Gaelle has always been intrigued by the miraculous. How and where the soul’s journey leads and how it reveals its destiny. How two people who are destined, even under the threat of war and extinction, can find one another.

Israel’s Six Day War is not a fiction; neither was the miracle of its victory. What better time to discover love through intrigue, passion, and the miraculous.

Writing this story was in part Gaelle's reliving her history in Israel, in part a mystical adventure. She is grateful that so many who have read Night In Jerusalem have experienced this as well.

Connect with Gaelle:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter 

Buy the book:
Amazon 

CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH ELLEN BYRON'S MAGGIE CROZAT

ABOUT THE BOOK

Christmas in Cajun Country is magical. Elaborate decorations adorn homes and businesses, and Pelican residents come together for a raucous Christmas Eve festival featuring giant bonfires on the levee that light the way up the river for Papa Noël. But this year, there’s coal in the stockings at Crozat Plantation B&B. Someone is flooding travel websites with vicious negative reviews of the B&B. The culprit may be one of the Crozats’ own holiday guests, among which is Don Baxter, a nasty businessman who’s an innkeeper’s worst nightmare. When Baxter is found stabbed to death at Doucet Plantation, where heroine Maggie Crozat works part-time, she and her entire family are considered suspects. They establish alibis, but her boyfriend, Detective Bo Durand, also a suspect, remains under suspicion. With Bo sidelined during the investigation, Maggie finds herself with an unlikely ally, longtime family enemy Rufus Durand. Her sleuthing uncovers a viper’s nests of dysfunctional family dynamics, and puts her in the crosshairs of a murderer. She and Rufus must track down Don Baxter’s killer, or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noël for those at Crozat Plantation Bed & Breakfast.

ABOUT MAGGIE

Maggie Crozat is a thirty-two-year-old artist who’s moved home to tiny Pelican, Louisiana, after attending art school and living in New York City. She helps out at her family’s plantation-turned-B&B and also works as a tour guide at a plantation that belong to her mother’s family but is now run by a non-profit foundation and open to visitors. Her artist’s eye gives her a visual acuity that the average person doesn’t possess. She can spot clue and suspicious body language that even the local law enforcement professionals might miss.

INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE CROZAT

Maggie, how did you first meet Ellen Byron?
I was enjoying a beer and some Cajun popcorn – that’s fried crawfish - at our favorite local hangout, Junie’s Oyster Bar and Dance Hall, when she appeared and said, hey, wanna be in a mystery series?

Cool! Want to dish about her?
She’s smart, but pushy. Sometimes we get into a tussle when she wants me to do something I don’t want to do. But guess what? I always win in the end.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Because I’ve discovered I have a unique talent for solving mysteries. I’m an artist, so I have a knack for spotting details other people don’t see. Plus, I have the great good fortune to live in a town my author likes to call “A Cajun Brigadoon,” so it’s a great setting for a mystery series. Our family B&B is a centuries old plantation that’s just beautiful. There’s a bayou in our backyard. And the food is amazing! That’s why the books I’m in include recipes – that my mother, Ninette, is famous for. I’m more of an expert microwaver.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
I love when I go to New Orleans and have to spend time with an incredibly snobby family in the Garden District in order to pick up clues to help solve a murder. The prodigal son of the family hits on me because of my fancy Louisiana lineage. He’s horrible, but in a funny way.

Did you have a hard time convincing Ellen to write any particular scenes for you?
Yes – my author has a really hard time writing romantic scenes! She’s very squeamish about them. But hey, I’m dating the hottest guy in town, so there has to be at least a little romance. Between us, my author is kind of a prude.

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
I love to draw and paint, particularly the magical scenery that surrounds our family’s plantation. I also love spending time with Xander, the seven-year-old son of my boyfriend, Detective Bo Durand. Xander has Asperger’s Syndrome and didn’t talk for three years. I started giving him art lessons and discovered he’s phenomenally talented. In fact, this almost puts him in danger in my new book, A Cajun Christmas Killing.

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
I’d force my author to stop being so squeamish and write some great love scenes. (See #5.)

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
I’m lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people. It’s what keeps me from moving back to New York. Except for Rufus Durand, my boyfriend’s cousin, who’s also the local police chief. He thinks that about a hundred and fifty years ago, my family put a curse on his family’s relationships. But guess what? Rufus has changed since he became a father to a baby girl with his ex-fiancé, Vanessa Fleer. (That’s a whole other story you can read about in my author’s last book, Body On The Bayou.)

Do have any secret aspirations that Ellen doesn’t know about?
My dream is have a major museum purchase one of my paintings for their collection.

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
Eat tons of my mother’s great Cajun cooking, paint or draw for a few hours, and spend the rest of the day – and night! – with my boyfriend, Bo.



Tell us about your best friend.
I have some wonderful friends, but I’d have to say my best friend is my grand-mere. She’s witty, sharp as a tack, and has a great sense of humor about herself. She’s also gracious and elegant in a way I can only dream of being, and so incredibly wise.



What’s the best trait Ellen has given you?
Passion.

What’s the worst?
Impatience.



What’s Ellen’s worst habit?
Spending too much time on Facebook!



If your story were a movie, who would play you?
Anne Hathaway.

Describe the town where you live.
Pelican is a small town nestled between the Mississippi River and Bayou Beurre. Its beautiful 19th century building are adorned with intricate wrought iron balconies and surround a grassy town square with a bandstand and giant, ancient oak trees.

Describe an average day in your life.
I help entertain our B&B guests at Crozat Plantation, then go off to put on an antebellum costume and give tours at Doucet Plantation. I come home, help out some more, paint or draw, then meet Bo at Junie’s Oyster Bar and Dance Hall to try and puzzle out a solution to the latest murder. For a tiny town, Pelican has a ridiculously high murder rate.

Will you encourage Ellen to write a sequel?
Absolutely! I know she’s already written a fourth book, Mardi Gras Murder. She and I both have our fingers crossed that her publisher will ask for more books in the Cajun Country Mystery series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Body on the Bayou, the second book in Ellen’s Cajun Country Mystery Series, recently won the Left Coast Crime Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery, and was nominated for an Agatha Award in the category of Best Contemporary Novel. Ellen's debut novel in the series, Plantation Shudders, was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards, and made the USA Today Bestseller list. Book three, A Cajun Christmas Killing, launches October 10th. TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, Fairly OddParents, and many pilots. She’s also an award-winning playwright and journalist. Ellen lives in Studio City with her husband, daughter, and two spoiled rescue dogs.



Connect with Ellen:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |   Barnes & Noble 

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FEATURED AUTHOR: R. FRANKLIN JAMES

ABOUT THE BOOK

In his will, blackmailer Matthias Bell let his victims off the hook, and probate attorney Hollis must track them down to return the damaging goods he had on them. But Bell was murdered, making these victims suspects. Hollis steps in, and finds out quickly that sins do follow after the grave. Meanwhile, all is not calm in the rest of her life. Her estranged mother needs her kidney, her fiancé is on a dangerous mission, and she’s hard-pressed to help a dying client find peace of mind. 

LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH R. FRANKLIN JAMES

A few of your favorite things: 
A good Malbec, Hydrangea, anything by Alicia Keyes, a river view, a painting by Monet.
Things you need to throw out:
Book research papers, back sales receipts, clothes I no longer wear, Christmas boxes
.

Things you need in order to write:
Computer, thesaurus, quiet, glass of water, daylight, blocks of time.
Things that hamper your writing:
Phone calls, household errands, family interruptions
.

Things you love about writing:
Spinning a story, finding the right words, “seeing” my characters.
Things you hate about writing: 
Publisher deadlines, marketing, promotional events.

Hardest thing about being a writer:
Publisher deadlines, marketing, promotional events
.
Easiest thing about being a writer: 
Using my imagination, generating plot ideas
.

Things you love about where you live:
No earthquakes, natural beauty, night sky, good neighbors.
Things that make you want to move:
Rural accommodations (wells, septic, propane, etc.); excessive crime, lack of cultural access.

Things you never want to run out of:
Books, food, curiosity, problem-solving, love, good health.
Things you wish you’d never bought: 
Purchases under time  pressure
.

Favorite foods: 
Gumbo, Lasagne, Shrimp or Crab Louie.
Things that make you want to throw up: 
Ignorant people, mean people, lima beans.

Favorite music or song:
Too many and too varied. From “Happy” by Pharell Williams to “Clair de Lune” by Debussy.
Music that make your ears bleed:
Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

Favorite beverage:
Wine
.
Something that gives you a pickle face:  
Aloe Juice.

Favorite smell:
Fresh mowed grass.

Something that makes you hold your nose:
Urine.

Something you’re really good at:
Organizing anything
.
Something you’re really bad at:
Selling anything
.

Something you like to do: 
Read and write, travel
.
Something you wish you’d never done: 
Worked for an employer I hated
.

Last best thing you ate:
Grilled lamb in the north of France.

Last thing you regret eating: 
A cheese omelet on an plane trip – I was sick for days.

Things you’d walk a mile for:
A good dinner with the best wine.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: 
An unsanitary kitchen/cook.

Things you always put in your books:
Character quirks.

Things you never put in your books:
Senseless cruelty.

Favorite places you’ve been:
Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Yosemite and Martinique.  
Places you never want to go to again:
Idaho.

Things that make you happy: 
Lazy fall days listening to good music near a river bed.

Things that drive you crazy:
People who whine over circumstances rather than fixing the circumstances.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: 
Took a river raft trip down the rapids.

Something you chickened out from doing:
Sky diving.

The last thing you did for the first time:
Chaired an international writers’ convention
.
Something you’ll never do again:
Sing out loud in public

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

R. Franklin James, a University of California Berkeley grad, followed a career of political advocacy with writing mysteries. In 2013 her debut novel, The Fallen Angels Book Club, was published by Camel Press. This was her first book in the Hollis Morgan Mystery Series followed by Sticks & Stones, The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club, and book four, The Trade List. Her fifth book, The Bell Tolls was released in June 2017. James resides in northern California.

Connect with the author:
Website  |    Facebook  |  Twitter  

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble