FEATURED AUTHOR: C.S. FARRELLY

ABOUT THE BOOK

When journalist Peter Merrick is asked to write a eulogy for his mentor, Jesuit priest James Ingram, his biggest concern is doing right by the man. But when his routine research reveals disturbing ties to sexual abuse and clues to a shadowy deal trading justice for power, everything he believed about his friend is called into question. With the US presidential election looming, incumbent Arthur Wyncott is quickly losing ground among religious voters. Meanwhile, Owen Feeney, head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, is facing nearly a billion dollars in payments to victims of sex abuse. When Feeney hits on a solution to both men’s problems, it seems the stars have aligned. That is until Ally Larkin—Wyncott’s brilliant campaign aide—starts to piece together the shocking details. As the election draws closer and the stakes get higher, each choice becomes a calculation: Your faith, or your church? Your principles, or your candidate? The person you most respect, or the truth that could destroy their legacy?

When the line between right and wrong is blurred, how do you act, and whom do you save?

Book Details:

Title: The Shepherd’s Calculus

Author’s name: C.S. Farrelly

Publisher: Cavan Bridge Press (October 2, 2017)

Genre: Mystery, political thriller

Paperback: 272 pages

Touring with: Partners in Crime Tours

INTERVIEW WITH C.S. FARRELLY

Cassie, what’s the story behind the title of your book?
At its core, the title is meant to capture the calculation each of us makes about when to do the right thing and why. In the novel, James Ingram and Owen Feeney, are lifelong friends who each grew up to become a priest. As more and more news emerges about the widespread sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church, both are embroiled in the fall out and find themselves having philosophical debates about what it means to be a good shepherd of the faith. I think we all face moral dilemmas in at some point in our lives and have to work through the math in our head to help come to a decision about what to do. 

Where’s home for you?
Pennsylvania – after about 20 years of bouncing among New York City, England, Washington, DC, and Ireland.

Where did you grow up?
Rock Springs, Wyoming and Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.

If you had an extra $100 a week to spend on yourself, what would you buy? 
Books, loads of books. And music as well. 


What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
Failure isn’t something be feared or avoided. It’s been extremely valuable in teaching me how to improve something so I can try it again, but most importantly, in helping me learn how to rally after a disappointment and keep going. 

What is the most daring thing you've done?
White water rafting on the Zambezi river in Zambia.  I’m a much more experienced white water rafter and kayaker now, but at the time I wasn’t and in retrospect, between the dangerous rapids and crocodiles, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. 


What is your most embarrassing moment?
There are too many to choose from. That said, I always try to find the humor in an embarrassing situation, so here’s goes. To set the stage: growing up, I was pretty nerdy, didn’t excel at sports, wasn’t a cheerleader, and wasn’t at all shy about speaking my mind. None of these qualities made you destined to be popular in rural PA in the 1990s. My dad was (and still is) big on doing volunteer work and every year, our church, St. Agnes Catholic, would have a fundraising fair. My dad would sign me up to help, and usually we’d get to man the funnel cake booth, which was great, because who doesn’t want to smell like french fries and eat their body weight in sweet, deep fried dough?  But in 8th grade, I got assigned to the dunking booth. Words can’t capture the experience of having to sit, in all my burgeoning pubescent glory, in a public forum wearing a matronly swimsuit (Catholic fair, remember!) while classmates who weren’t terribly fond of me paid money to throw things at me. To add insult to injury, the booth had this filthy, slimy water in it . . . along with the odd few goldfish leftover from the goldfish toss two booths over, one of which got trapped in my not-yet-very-existent cleavage . . . 

Oh, I feel for you! What makes you excited?
Travel. I love the feeling of anticipation that comes with getting on a plane. I also really enjoy the way you have to rely on instinct and body language to try to communicate effectively when you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language very well. I’ve had the good fortune to travel all over the world, and I’ve found many people to be incredibly kind and friendly to travelers. There are these beautiful human moments that come with connecting through body language and other ways to communicate instead of talking at someone.

What’s one of your favorite quotes? 
"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." – Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa

Beautiful. If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It’s just staggeringly beautiful, and there’s something about the landscape and animals, etc. that enable you to imagine how it all was before we came along in ways that you can’t on the congested East coast. The weather is sublime, the scenery is breathtaking, and for a writer who needs to hike or kayak to clear my head, it would be the perfect spot.

What would you like people to say about you after you die? 
That I made them feel valued and heard and that this helped them in some way.

What’s your favorite line from a book? 
"The true magic of this broken world lay in the ability of the things it contained to vanish, to become so thoroughly lost, that they might never have existed in the first place". – Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
What would your main character say about you? 
That I have an irreverent sense of humor, come through in a pinch, and have good gut instincts, all of which have gotten me pretty far.   

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
Fr. Ingram is based on a mixture of my father and a professor I had in college named Mark Massa, S.J., who was an absolutely phenomenal mentor and educator.

Is your book based on real events?
Yes and no. In terms of the election scandal and actions of the Vatican in the book, these have no basis in fact and are purely fiction. But there are certain elements of the book that were inspired by real events. For example, during the 2004 presidential election, the Vatican issued guidance urging Bishops to withhold Communion from Catholic candidates whose policy positions, such as being pro-choice, don’t follow Church teaching. That definitely inspired parts of the plot for me. Additionally, there are documented cases in which Catholic Church leaders have moved assets around to protect them in the event of civil litigation for sexual abuse. So a number of real-life incidents played into how I structured the plot and why.

With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore? 
Elizabeth I, Jane Austen, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and my husband, Matt. 


What book are you currently reading and in what format?
Grist Mill Road by Christopher Yates. Paperback.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing?
Many years ago when I was trying to figure out if I was going to really try this whole writing thing and working mostly on theater projects, I randomly emailed Gene Weingarten, the Washington Post’s Below the Beltway columnist. He’d recently written an article about New Yorkers claiming superiority over Washington, DC, and since I’d just moved back to NYC from D.C., I sent him a note to say how much I enjoyed the article. He was gracious enough to write back, and we shared some funny stories back and forth about our mutual familiarity with the Bronx and the White Castle restaurant on Fordham Road. At the end, he wrote “You know, you’re a pretty good writer.” I was positively thrilled because I love his humor and (still) read his column all the time. I actually printed the email out that day and took it home, and I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve pulled it out of my filing cabinet to look at it. It just goes to show how someone taking a few minutes out of their day to engage with someone else can have a huge impact.

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
The Long Room at Trinity College Dublin. I’ve always loved a library. Growing up, I spent enormous amounts of time at the Ross Library in my hometown and Stevenson Library at Lock Haven University. On one of my visits to Stevenson, I found a book about great libraries of the world that included that had all sorts of information: sketches of the lost Library at Alexandria, original floor plans for the Bodleian at Oxford, and photos of the Long Room at Trinity. My grandparents were from Ireland, and I have dual citizenship there so I was especially fascinated by Ireland and the Long Room. Years later I completed my master’s degree at Trinity College, and I’d go to the Long Room just to soak it in. The architecture is spectacular. The high ceilings, the wall to wall books, the light streaming through: it’s all so beautiful and perfect.

What are you working on now? 
Novel number two, which is more of a traditional mystery in that it centers on a murder. But, as with The Shepherd’s Calculus, it’s going to have overlapping story lines that converge and look at issues of collective responsibility as well as individual responsibility for a damaging act. For me, there’s always a much larger story to tell about a crime than just the moment the crime itself took place and the aftermath of it. I’m fascinated by all the events and factors that had to play out leading up to a crime being committed and what, if anything, might have changed the trajectory.  

READ AN EXCERPT

When Peter Merrick’s cell phone rang around ten on a Monday morning, his first instinct was to ignore it. Anyone who knew him well enough to call that number would know he had a deadline for the last of a three-part series he was working on for the Economist. It was his first foray into magazine writing in some time, and he’d made it clear to his wife, his editors, and even the family dog that he wasn’t to be disturbed until after the last piece was done and delivered.
Several months had passed since his return from an extended and harrowing assignment tracking UN peacekeeping operations on the Kashmiri border with Pakistan, where violent protests had erupted following the death of a local Hizbul Mujahideen military commander. The assignment had left him with what his wife, Emma, solemnly declared to be post-traumatic stress disorder. It was, in his opinion, a dubious diagnosis she’d made based on nothing more than an Internet search, and he felt those covering the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan deserved greater sympathy. He’d been a bystander to tragedy, he told anyone who asked, not a victim.
One morning as he’d stood drinking strong Turkish coffee on the terrace of his apartment in Jammu, he watched as a car bomb detonated in front of the school across the road. No children were killed. It was a Saturday, and teachers had gathered there to meet with members of a French NGO dedicated to training staff at schools in developing nations. The arm landed on his terrace with a loud thud before Peter realized what it was. Pinned to the shoulder of what remained of its shirt was a name tag identifying Sheeraza Akhtar, presumably one of the teachers. At the time, he marveled at his complete lack of reaction to the torn limb, at the way his response was to read the letters on the tag, grab a pen, and start writing down details of the event—a description of jewelry on the woman’s hand, the streak of half-cauterized flesh running from where it tore from the arm socket to the bottom of her palm, the way smoke curled from the remains of the school’s front entrance, and the pitiful two-ambulance response that limped its way to the scene nearly twenty minutes after the explosion.
Even now as he recalled the moment, he wouldn’t describe what he felt as horror or disgust, just a complete separation from everything around him, an encompassing numbness. His wife kept telling him he needed to talk to someone about what he was feeling. But that was just the point, he thought, even if he couldn’t say it to her. He couldn’t quite articulate what he was feeling, beyond paralysis. Making the most rudimentary decisions had been excruciating since his return. It required shaking off the dull fog he’d come to prefer, the one that rescued him from having to connect to anything. The pangs of anxiety constricting his chest as he glanced from the screen of the laptop to his jangling cell phone were the most palpable emotional response he’d had in recent memory. The  interruption required a decision of some kind. He wasn’t certain he could comply.
But in keeping with the career he had chosen, curiosity got the better of him. He looked at the incoming number. The area code matched that of his hometown in central Connecticut, less than an hour from where he and Emma now lived in Tarrytown, but his parents had long since retired to South Carolina. He made his decision to answer just as the call went to voice mail, which infuriated him even more than the interruption. For Peter, missing something by mere minutes or seconds was the sign of a journalist who didn’t do his job, who failed to act in time. Worse, he’d allowed a good number of calls to go to voice mail while under his deadline, and the thought of having to sift through them all made him weary. The phone buzzed to announce a new message. He looked again from his screen to the phone, paralyzed by the uncertainty and all-consuming indecision he’d begun exhibiting upon his return from Kashmir. After several minutes of failed progress on his article, the right words refusing to come to him, he committed to the message.
He grabbed the phone and dialed, browsing online news sites as inconsequential voices droned on. His editor. His sister. His roommate from college asking if he’d heard the news and to call him back. Finally, a message from Patricia Roedlin in the Office of Public Affairs at his alma mater, Ignatius University in Greenwich, Connecticut. Father Ingram, the president of the university, had passed away unexpectedly, and the university would be delighted if one of their most successful graduates would be willing to write a piece celebrating his life for the Hartford Courant.
The news failed to register. Again, a somewhat common experience since his return. He tapped his fingers on the desk and spotted the newspaper on the floor where Emma had slipped it under the door. In the course of their ten-year marriage, Peter had almost never closed his office door. “If I can write an article with mortar shells falling around me, I think I can handle the sound of a food processor,” he had joked. But lately that had changed, and Emma had responded without comment, politely leaving him alone when the door was shut and sliding pieces of the outside world in to him with silent cooperation. He picked up the newspaper, scanned the front page, and moved on to the local news. There it was, in a small blurb on page three. “Pedestrian Killed in Aftermath of Ice Storm.” The aging president of a local university was the victim of an accident after leaving a diner in Bronxville. His body was found near the car he’d parked on a side street. Wounds to the back of his head were consistent with a fall on the ice, and hypothermia was believed to be the cause of death.
To Peter’s eye the name of the victim, James Ingram, stuck out in bold print. An optical illusion, he knew, but it felt real. He reached for the second drawer on the right side of his desk and opened it. A pile of envelopes rested within. He rooted around and grasped one. The stamp was American but the destination was Peter’s address in Jammu. The script was at once shaky and assured, flourishes on the ending consonants with trembling hesitation in the middle. Folded linen paper fell from the opened envelope with little prompting. He scanned the contents of the letter, front and back, until his eyes landed on the closing lines.

"Well, Peter my boy, it’s time for me to close this missive. You may well be on your way to Kabul or Beirut by the time this reaches you, but I have no small belief that the comfort it is meant to bring will find its way to you regardless of borders.
You do God’s work, Peter. Remember, the point of faith isn’t to explain away all the evil in this world. It’s meant to help you live here in spite of it.
Benedictum Nomen Iesu,
Ingram, SJ

Peter dialed Patricia Roedlin’s number. She was so happy to hear from him it made him uncomfortable. “I’d be honored to write a piece,” he spoke into the phone. “He talked about you to anyone who would listen, you know,” she said. “I think he would be pleased. Really proud.” He heard her breath catch in her throat, the stifled sobs that had likely stricken her since she’d heard the news.
“It’s okay,” he found himself saying to this complete stranger, an effort to head off her tears. “I can’t imagine what I’d be doing now if it weren’t for him.” He hoped it would give her time to recover. “He was an extraordinary man and an outstanding teacher.”
Patricia’s breathing slowed as she regained control. “I hope to do him justice,” Peter finished. It was only when he hung up the phone that he noticed them, the drops of liquid that had accumulated on the desk where he’d been leaning forward as he talked. He lifted a hand to his face and felt the moisture line from his eye to his  chin. After several long months at home, the tears had finally come.
***
Excerpt from The Shepherd's Calculus by C.S. Farrelly.  Copyright © 2017 by C.S. Farrelly. Reproduced with permission from C.S. Farrelly. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C. S. Farrelly was raised in Wyoming and Pennsylvania. A graduate of Fordham University, her eclectic career has spanned a Manhattan investment bank, the NYC Department of Education and, most recently, the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She was a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar and obtained a master’s degree from Trinity College Dublin, where she was a Senator George J. Mitchell scholar. Her debut novel, The Shepherd’s Calculus, was released in October 2017.

Connect with the author:
Website  |   Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  

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CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH MADDIE DAY'S ROBBIE JORDAN

ABOUT THE BOOK

For country-store owner Robbie Jordan, the National Maple Syrup Festival is a sweet escape from late-winter in South Lick, Indiana—until murder saps the life out of the celebration . . .

As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans ‘N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes—and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur’s knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer?

Book details:

Title: Biscuits and Slashed Browns (A Country Store Mystery)

Author: Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell)
Genre: Cozy foodie mystery, 4th in series

Setting: Indiana

Publisher: Kensington (January 30, 2018)

Paperback: 292 pages

Touring with: Great Escapes Book Tours

ABOUT THE CHARACTER

Robbie (Roberta) Jordan is a twenty-eight year old chef and carpenter living in South Lick, Indiana. She was born in Santa Barbara, California, but has now lived in Indiana for nearly five years. She learned carpentry from her late mother, Jeanine, and used her skills to renovate an old country store into a breakfast and lunch restaurant. She was briefly married but it didn’t work out. Her father is an Italian professor, Roberto Fracasso, who lives in Pisa.

INTERVIEW WITH MADDIE DAY'S ROBBIE JORDAN

Robbie, how did you first meet Maddie? 
I met her back in 2014 when she started writing about me.

Want to dish about her?
She seems to like to complicate my life, which isn’t really fair. On the other hand, she’s a really disciplined writer, and she loves where I live.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
No idea! It’s crazy, isn’t it?

Did you have a hard time convincing Maddie to write any particular scenes for you?
At one point I really want to go search in the woods for a missing guy. She kept saying, you have to have someone with you! I tried everybody, and finally convinced my friend Phil to keep me company. But when he had car trouble and couldn’t make it, I told her I had to go anyway.

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
I love a good hilly bike ride almost as much as I like a really challenging crossword puzzle!

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
I adore my Aunt Adele, and have grown fond of Lieutenant Buck Bird, with his folksy speech and infinitely large appetite. My hunky boyfriend Abe O’Neill isn’t bad, either, and I don’t know what I’d do without my young co-chef Danna Beedle.

Do have any secret aspirations that Maddie doesn’t know about?
I love listening to opera – my dad is Italian, after all – and I’d love to take voice lessons some day so I could sing along better. Maddie has no idea!

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
I’d ride my bike to the lake (in the summer) with a cozy mystery and a beer in my saddlebag.



Tell us about your best friend.
Lou Perlman is my bff. We ride together, and can talk about anything. She’s super smart, about to get her PhD in sociology, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t also full of fun. 



What are you most afraid of?
I’m afraid of losing any more family. I already lost my mom, and only found my father recently. I don’t have any siblings – well, except for my Italian half-sister and half-brother – and I’m terrified that something bad will happen to Adele or to Roberto, my father.



What’s Maddie’s worst habit?
Frankly, she’s not the best housekeeper around. I guess because she writes three books a year she just doesn’t have time.



How do you feel about your life right now?
I love my life. I’m happy with Abe, my store and restaurant are doing well, and living in a small town like South Lick is the best. I’d rather not run across any other dead bodies or encounter any more murderers, though.

Describe the town where you live. 
South Lick is a small town nestled in the hills of southern Indiana. We have a lovely century-old Town Hall and library, and several Art Deco buildings. The town used to have a mineral springs spa – the “lick” in the name refers to the minerals in the water – and a casino back in the early 1900s. I can walk nearly everywhere and also get out onto country roads within minutes. It’s perfect.

Describe an average day in your life.
I get up and run the restaurant five or six days a week until we close at two-thirty. I play with my tuxedo cat Birdy, go for a bike ride, and do a puzzle if I don’t have a dinner date with Abe.

What makes you stand out from any other characters in your genre?
I’m a Californian transplanted to the Midwest, and I don’t know of any other cozy protagonists who love cooking, carpentry, and crosswords like I do.

Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?
You bet! She’s already written the fifth and sixth books in the series, and she’s hoping for a contract extension for more.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maddie Day is a talented amateur chef and holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-nominated author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and three cats in Massachusetts.

As Edith Maxwell, she writes the Local Foods Mysteries (Kensington Publishing) and the Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Midnight Ink).

You can find all Maddie’s/Edith’s identities at www.edithmaxwell.com. She blogs every weekday with the other Wicked Cozy Authors at wickedcozyauthors.com. Look for her as Edith M. Maxwell and Maddie Day on Facebook and @edithmaxwell and @maddiedayauthor on Twitter.

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FEATURED AUTHOR: EARL JAVORSKY

ABOUT THE BOOK

An edgy and intense thriller with a touch of the paranormal.

Private investigator Charlie Miner, freshly revived from his own murder, gets a call from Homicide Detective Dave Putnam. Self-styled “psychic to the stars” Tamara Gale has given crucial information about three murders, and the brass thinks it makes the Department look bad. Dave wants Charlie to help figure out the angle, since he has first-hand experience with the inexplicable. Trouble is, Charlie, just weeks after his full-death experience, once again has severe cognitive problems and may get them both killed.

At once a riveting mystery and a completely unique character study, Down to No Good will both captivate you and work its way into your heart.

Book Details:

Title: Down to No Good

Author’s name: Earl Javorsky

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: The Story Plant (October 31, 2017)


Paperback: 224 pages

Series: Sequel to Down Solo

Touring with: Partners in Crime Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH EARL JAVORSKY

Welcome back, Earl. Can you tell us the story behind the title of your book?
It’s a riff on the title of my first book, Down Solo and a play on the common phrase “up to no good.”

Is Down to No Good a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
I certainly hope it works as a standalone, but it is the second in a series. It was an interesting challenge to make it self-contained yet non-redundant in the sense that some backstory was necessary.

Where’s home for you?
Oceanside, California.

Where did you grow up?
Brentwood, California, by way of immigrating from Germany, stopping in Queens, then Vegas for my mom’s divorce, and, finally, LaLa Land.

What’s your favorite memory?
Holding my infant son. He had just fallen asleep, and the stillness was incredible.


If you had an extra $100 a week to spend on yourself, what would you buy?
I have an extra hundred to spend on myself, but there’s nothing I want.


What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
Be here now.

Who would you pick to write your biography?
Tim Hallinan.

What dumb things did you do during your college years?
Drop out a lot. Opt for the dope-dealer/aspiring-musician alternative.

What do you love about where you live?
A lot. Good people. Diversity. Coastal. Close to San Diego, a lovely small city.



Have you been in any natural disasters?
The LA earthquake of 1971. I was still awake that morning, capping LSD. It took a bit to register what was happening.

What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
Every mistake I’ve ever made has led me to this moment, which I wouldn’t change. That said, I would have been more careful about sun exposure.

If someone gave you $5,000 and said you must solve a problem, what would you do with the money?
I have no problems that require $5000. A million bucks would perhaps make me stop thinking about running out some day.


Do you have another job outside of writing?
I work as an editor and proofreader. I currently have a ghostwriting project—big responsibility for decent money. I enjoy making other people’s work the best it can be.

Who are you?
Always wondered. I keep finding out who I am not, though.

How did you meet your spouse? Was it love at first sight?
Oh boy. I was in line to thank a speaker. I’ll leave it at that. Love at first sight? Not quite, but instant attraction.

If you could only save one thing from your house, what would it be?
Besides our cat, probably my guitar, a nice Taylor my wife bought me.

What brings you sheer delight?
An uncrowded wave in a warm-water spot. Shooting a winning corner shot when the score is close. Laughing with my wife.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
Oceanside, California. Maybe with a second place in Hanalei, Kauai.

What would you like people to say about you after you die?
Decent guy, funny, helped other people.

Is your book based on real events?
Not this one, but Trust Me is based on a sex predator in the Los Angeles recovery community.

Are you like any of your characters?
Jeff in Trust Me is fairly autobiographical in that he has a drug and alcohol problem, is a fairly bright guy who has exhausted his resources and his relationships but gets a break.

Who are your favorite authors?
Oh boy, here we go: Kem Nunn, James Lee Burke, Michael Gruber, Graham Greene, John Le Carre, A.A. Attanasio—so many more.


What book are you currently reading and in what format?
A Simple Plan by Scott Smith, in paperback. I tend to want to skim more reading from a device, so I prefer paper.

What’s one pet peeve you have when you read?
One? Nope, can’t do that. I work as an editor, so here we go: Dialog that doesn’t ring true;  excessive description; POV jumps within a paragraph or section; pretentiousness, especially arcane literary references or use of ten-dollar words where a nickel word will do; must I go on?


Do you have a routine for writing?
I have a routine for avoiding writing; I’m really good at that.

I hear you. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing?
Just got it today from another writer: " . . . original, crisp, gritty. The story moved and kept me on my toes every second. Not only was I continually surprised but I never came close to guessing what came next. Conflict and human frailty combined with moral dilemmas that revealed character at every twist and turn. Charlie, hell, every character was multidimensional. Don’t even get me started on Z girl. What a trip. Had tremendous empathy for Charlie. Loved that his story was told on different planes of existence. And that he was there to fulfill his purpose. The settings and descriptions were fresh and vivid . . ."

If you could be a ghostwriter for any famous author, whom would you pick?
I wouldn’t presume to step into anyone’s shoes and mimic their voice. I’m 6’4, skinny with a big nose—anywhere I go, you know it’s me. Probably the same for my writing.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
Each book has been a thorough pain in the ass. I create these puzzles for myself, structurally, and get lost in middle, stuck without a solution. I modeled both Charlie Miner books after a film I really like—Christopher Nolan’s Memento—but in the first one, Down Solo, I finished the original story arc at page 100. It sat for almost a year, brewing in my subconscious until it became clear how to proceed.

You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?
James Bond? He was my hero as an early teen. Or Doctor Strange.

What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing?
Here’s my first Amazon review for Trust Me: “Gratuitous sex, gratuitous violence, and a plot line that would be an embarrassment in an eighth-grade writing class. Want my money back.” I can’t imagine why someone would pay full pop for a book by an unknown author and read the whole thing while hating it.
How did you deal with it?
I posted it on Facebook.

Are you happy with your publishing decisions?
I harrassed Lou at the Story Plant until he finally agreed to look at my first two books. First, he gave me other writers’ work to proofread. I originally found him because I was driving to the beach, and he was on NPR, giving an interview about his experience in publishing and his new project, a startup boutique publishing outfit.

What are you working on now?
I’m collaborating/ghostwriting a novel with a fascinating personality who was referred to me by a writer friend. I have two novels roughly sketched out that I need to get moving on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Howard was born Daniel Earl Javorsky in Berlin and immigrated to the US. He has been, among other things, a delivery boy, musician, product rep in the chemical entertainment industry, university music teacher, software salesman, copy editor, proofreader, and novelist. His novels include Down Solo, Trust Me, and Down to No Good.

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

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  IndieBound


Read Earl's Love it Or Leave it Interview on A Blue Million Books here.

FEATURED AUTHOR: RONALD S. BARAK

ABOUT THE BOOK

"WE HAVE YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO."

That's the text message Supreme Court Justice Arnold Hirschfeld receives as hearings commence in the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the fate of the 28th Amendment - enacted to criminalize abuse of power on the part of our political representatives.

In court to defend the amendment, retired U.S. District Court Judge Cyrus Brooks observes his old friend and law school classmate Hirschfeld acting strangely and dispatches veteran D.C. homicide detective Frank Lotello to find out why.

In the meantime, Hirschfeld's precocious and feisty 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter Cassie, brutally kidnapped to control her grandfather's swing vote upholding or invalidating the amendment, watches her insulin pump running dry and wonders which poses her greatest threat, the kidnappers or the clock. As Brooks is forced to choose between saving our nation or saving the girl.

Book Details:

Title: The Amendment Killer

Author: Ronald S. Barak

Genre: Political and Legal Thriller, Brooks/Lotello Thriller series, Volume 1

Publisher: Gander House Publishers (November 1st 2017)

Paperback: 570 pages

Touring with: Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH RONALD S. BARAK

Ron, what’s the story behind the title The Amendment Killer?
The antagonist kidnaps the 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter of a Supreme Court Justice to cause the Supreme Court to invalidate a Constitutional amendment criminalizing abuse of criminal power. The kidnapper is . . . The Amendment Killer. Alternatively, the entire story is about killing the amendment. Or not. I also considered The Killer Amendment, i.e., a great amendment killing off political misconduct, but The Amendment Killer won out because it is easier to explain and . . . well, it just sounds better. The Killer Amendment is a bit clicheish.

Tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
The Amendment Killer is the first published novel in The Brooks/Lotello Thriller series. It is the second chronologically (time frame) speaking. The second in the series will be published in late Spring 2018 and is titled The Puppet Master. It’s the first chronologically in the series and is a prequel to The Amendment Killer.

What’s your favorite memory?
I don’t . . . recall. 


If you had an extra $100 a week to spend on yourself, what would you buy?
Probably more gadgets than I already buy.


What’s the dumbest purchase you’ve ever made?
More gadgets than I need.


What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
Not to depend on gadgets.

Who would you pick to write your biography?
Me. That way I could save a lot of time having to tell my biographer all about . . . me. Second choice: Walter Isaacson.

What dumb things did you do during your college years?
I majored in physics even though I couldn’t change a light bulb and knew I never would.

Where’s home for you? Pacific Palisades, which is a city (or municipality) in the county of Los Angeles, State of California. We live on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean between Santa Monica and Malibu, just west of Brentwood first and Beverly Hills to the east.

What do you love about where you live?
It’s where my wife lives.



Where did you grow up? In Los Angeles.

Have you been in any natural disasters?
Except for a significant earthquake, all of my disasters tend to be unnatural.

What is the most daring thing you've done?
A triple somersault high above the ground when I was on my way to becoming an Olympic gymnast.


What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
A triple somersault high above the ground when I was on the way to becoming an Olympic gymnast.

What’s one thing that you wish you knew as a teenager that you know now?
Not to worry about what you can’t control or influence.


What makes you bored?
Playing board games.


What is your most embarrassing moment?
Explaining to people why I majored in physics in college when I can’t change a light bulb.


What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
Majoring in physics in college.

If someone gave you $5,000 and said you must solve a problem, what would you do with the money? I’d hire someone who knew how to solve the problem.



What makes you nervous?
Not coming up with an answer for this question.


What makes you happy?
My wife.

What makes you scared?
My wife.

What makes you excited?
My wife.

Do you have another job outside of writing?
Aside from practicing law? Yes, bringing up the groceries and feeding the fish in our Koi pond.

Who are you?
The guy not coming up with better answers for these questions.

How did you meet your spouse? Was it love at first sight?
In a Junior High School class, in the eighth grade. My wife says it was love at first sight for me, but probably not for her.

What are your most cherished mementoes?
The few gadgets I own that probably do what they’re supposed to do without my having to waste my time on getting the promised result. Come to think of it, I don’t have one of those. Could it be . . . me (not a memento, but the explanation of why none of my gadgets work).

If you could only save one thing from your house, what would it be?
The wife, of course. She’s going to read this.

What brings you sheer delight?
The wife. Have I overplayed the wife card yet?

Would you rather be a lonely genius, or a sociable idiot?
Clearly a lonely genius because I’m already a sociable idiot. Could I choose sociable genius?

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Lawyers, I suppose, where children once.” -Charles Lamb. I use it in the Epigraphs in The Amendment Killer.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
Pacific Palisades, where I live right now.

What would you like people to say about you after you die?
I’m debating between “Nice guy” and “Who?”

What’s your favorite line from a book?
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” It’s my favorite because I can remember it. Besides, how would you feel if I had “Where have you been all this time?”

What would your main character say about you?
Maybe “Nice guy,” but probably “Who?”

How did you create the plot for this book?
Well, just take a look at Washington, D.C. It was a natural. I made the 11-year-old kidnapped youngster diabetic because I’m diabetic.

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
Cyrus Brooks, the main character in the book was inspired by a real person. Who? Me. Because he had a nice wife. Oh yeah, and because he knew about the law and cared about people and dreamed of being a world class dancer, musician and athlete.

Is your book based on real events?
Well, just take a look at Washington, D.C. and you tell me.

Are you like any of your characters?
Sure. I’m like Cyrus Brooks. We’re both great at whatever we do and have a keen imagination and sense of humor.

Imagine Cyrus has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?
He’d take away my gadgets, especially my keyboard.

With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?
Lee Child, John Lescroart, Andrew Gross, Jon Land, and Anthony Franze.

Are these your favorite authors?
Lee Child, John Lescroart, Andrew Gross, Jon Land and Anthony Franze. Because they write well and they think well. Oh yeah, and because they took the time to read The Amendment Killer and say nice things about it.


What book are you currently reading and in what format? 
I only read in e-book. Why? Because my wife is a fast reader and makes me carry a bunch of books whenever we travel. I’m currently reading The Outsider by Anthony Franze because he writes great legal thrillers about the Supreme Court, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie because the English consider it perhaps the finest mystery novel of all time.

What’s one pet peeve you have when you read?
I’m not a fast reader and there’s not enough time in the day (or night) to read as much as I would like.


Do you have a routine for writing?
Not really. I just like to get other things I have to do out of the way so I can lock myself up for an extended period of writing time.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
Where? In front of my laptop, wherever it happens to be. When? Anytime I have the time. Or a deadline.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing?
That it was a proverbial page turner, but that it also kept people thinking.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
 Scenes where editors told me I was straying from credible reality but I wanted to make them credible nevertheless.

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
Years ago, I was visiting at Yale and had a chance to spend some time in its main library. It was incredible. It seemed to have everything and seemed like what a library should be. It went on and on forever and seemed to have everything a library could possibly have.

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

What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing?
That The Amendment Killer is written poorly, plotted childishly and incredibly boring. I dealt with that by recalling all of the wonderful five star reviews I have received on Amazon and Goodreads.

What would your dream office look like?
Like the one I have now, plenty of room for my desk and chair, my computer keyboard and monitor, my other gadgets and my workout equipment. And a nice view of the Pacific Ocean, where I imagine setting the person who said The Amendment Killer is written poorly, plotted childishly and incredibly boring afloat in a tiny dingy without paddle, engine, food or drink.

Sounds like the plot for a new book. What are you working on now?
The Puppet Master, prequel to The Amendment Killer.

READ AN EXCERPT

Chapter 1

Tuesday, May 6, 6:30 am

We have your granddaughter. Here’s what you need to do.
Thomas T. Thomas III reviewed the language. Again. He closed the phone without hitting send. Yet.
He stared through high-powered binoculars from atop the wooded knoll. As always, the girl hit one perfect shot after another.
Cassie Webber. Age 11. He’d been tailing her for three months. It seemed longer.
She was chaperoned everywhere she went. Two-a-day practices before and after school. Her dad drove her in the morning. He watched her empty bucket after bucket and then dropped her off at school. Her mom picked her up after school, ferried her back to the practice range, and brought her home after daughter and coach finished. Mom and daughter sometimes ran errands on the way, but always together. Even on the occasional weekend outing to the mall or the movies, the girl was constantly in the company of family or friends. Having someone hovering over me all day would have driven me batshit.
His childhood had been different. When Thomas was her age, he walked to school on his own. And he lived a lot farther away than the girl. His daddy had never let his driver chauffeur him around. Wasn’t about to spoil him. Spare the rod, spoil the child. Didn’t spoil me that way either.
He kept telling himself patience was the key. But his confidence was waning. And then, suddenly, he’d caught a break. The girl’s routine had changed.
She started walking the few blocks between school and practice on her own. Dad dropped her off at morning practice and Mom met her at afternoon practice instead of school. Only a ten minute walk each way, but that was all the opening he needed.
Everything was finally in place. He would be able to make amends. He would not let them down.
This time.
She completed her morning regimen, unaware of Thomas’s eyes trained on her from his tree-lined vantage point. No doubt about it, he thought to himself. She was incredibly good. Driven. Determined.
And pretty.
Very pretty.
He relieved himself, thinking about her. A long time . . . coming. Haha! As the girl disappeared into the locker room, he trekked back down the hill, and climbed into the passenger side of the van. He returned the binoculars to their case. He removed the cell from his pocket, and checked the pending text one more time.
Moments later, the girl emerged from the locker room, golf bag exchanged for the backpack over her shoulders. She ambled down the winding pathway, waved to the uniformed watchman standing next to the guardhouse, and crossed through the buzzing security gate. She headed off to school.
Without taking his eyes off her, Thomas barked at the man sitting next to him. “Go.”
Chapter 2

Tuesday, May 6, 7:00 am

Eloise Brooks stared at Cyrus and shook her head. After more than 50 years of marriage, she understood everything about him there was to understand. Still: “I take the time to make you a nice breakfast. The least you could do is eat it while it’s hot.”
She held the warm cup of tea in both hands. “And can’t you talk to me, Cyrus? Why do you treat me like I’m not here? Like I’m some kind of a potted plant.”
Cyrus moved the eggs around on his plate. Speared a bite of fruit, swallowed it, but showed no visible pleasure in it. “I’m eating. What do you want to talk about? You think the couple cut from Dancing With The Stars last night deserved to be sent packing?”
“Should have got the hook weeks ago. You dance better than he does. Even with your two left feet.”
He didn’t answer. She knew why. “What’re you thinking about? Esposito? Whether 50,000 is enough? Your two left feet?”
“All of the above.”
She gazed at him but said nothing. Notwithstanding his apparent disinterest in the plate of food in front of him, his appetite—and his imagination—were never-ending. He loved upbeat music and dancing. And sports. He couldn’t carry a tune or dance a lick. Except for an occasional round of golf, his sports these days were mostly played out in front of the television. But that didn’t stop him from daydreaming. He danced like Fred Astaire. He sang and played guitar and harmonica like Bob Dylan. He moved around a tennis court like Roger Federer.
However, Eloise knew his real passion in life was the law. He had enjoyed a distinguished legal career, first as a trial lawyer and then as a U.S. District Court judge. Now retired from the bench, writing and teaching, and occasionally trying a case that got his hackles up, when it came to the law, those who knew Cyrus Brooks knew he was second to none. Amazing how sometimes he exuded that—with confidence bordering on arrogance—but at other times did not. More so since Frank Lotello had been shot, and barely survived.
Brooks sat there fidgeting restlessly with the newspaper. Eloise reached over and put her hand on his. “You’ll be great, Cyrus. I need to walk Ryder and get dressed, so we can drive into Court together. Please make sure Maccabee’s dishes have enough water and dry cat snacks.”
Arguments in the case were scheduled to commence in barely two hours. The chance to appear before the United States Supreme Court was rare, even for Brooks, but to do it in a landmark case that could permanently change the U.S. political landscape was unparalleled.
When they were first married, Eloise often attended Cyrus’s court appearances, both to show her support and because the judicial process was new to her. Now long accustomed to Cyrus’s legal adventures, Eloise was a less frequent visitor to the courtroom. Given the importance of this case, she told Cyrus the night before that she planned to attend.
He looked up absently with a gentle, distant smile, still fixed in some far-off place, no doubt grateful for her efforts to distract him, and bolster his confidence. “Macc’s snacks? Sure.”
Chapter 3

Tuesday, May 6, 7:20 am

Cassie left the practice range, looking momentarily at the clock on her phone. School began at eight. She had plenty of time.
She strolled along the familiar middle-class neighborhood route to school, sticking to the tree-hugged, concrete sidewalk. Well-kept houses on modest-sized manicured lots, one after another, adorned both sides of the paved street that divided the opposing sidewalks.
Mouthing the words to the song streaming through her earbuds, she made a mental note of a few questions from her morning practice to ask Coach Bob that afternoon.
Using her ever present designer sunglasses—a gift from her grandparents—to block the sun’s glare, Cassie texted her best friend Madison:
Hey, BFF, meet u in cafeteria in 10. Out after 1st period to watch ur mom & my poppy in S Ct—how dope is that? 2 excited 4 words!
As she hit “Send,” she was startled by the sound of screeching tires. She looked up from her phone and saw a van skid to the curb a few houses ahead of her. A man in a hoodie jumped out and charged straight at her.
She froze for an instant, but then spun and raced back in the direction of the clubhouse. “Help! Help!! Someone help me!!!”
As she ran, she looked all around. No one. She saw no one. The guard kiosk was in sight, but still over a block away. Does he want to hurt me? Why? Why me?
Hearing the man gaining on her, she tried to speed up. If I can just get close enough to the gatehouse for someone to help me. She glanced back, shrieking at the top of her lungs, just as the man lunged. He knocked her to the ground, shattering her glasses in the process. “What do you want?! Leave me alone! Get off me!!!”
She saw him grappling with a large syringe. “No!” She screamed even louder, clawing and kicking him savagely—until she felt the sharp stab in the back of her neck. Then nothing.
***
Excerpt from The Amendment Killer by Ronald S. Barak. Copyright © 2017 by Ronald S. Barak. Reproduced with permission from Ronald S. Barak. All rights reserved.

 

The Amendment Killer Trailer:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Described by his readers as a cross between Agatha Christie, Lee Child, and John Lescroart, bestselling author Ron Barak keeps his readers flipping the pages into the wee hours of the night. While he mostly lets his characters tell his stories, he does manage to get his licks in too.

Barak derives great satisfaction in knowing that his books not only entertain but also stimulate others to think about how things might be, how people can actually resolve real-world problems. In particular, Barak tackles the country’s dysfunctional government representatives—not just back-seat driving criticism for the sake of being a back-seat driver, but truly framing practical remedies to the political abuse and corruption adversely affecting too many people’s lives today. Barak’s extensive legal background and insight allow him to cleverly cross-pollinatepollenate his fiction and today’s sad state of political reality.

In his latest novel, The Amendment Killer, Barak calls upon his real world legal ingenuity and skill to craft a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution criminalizingcriminalizng political abuse and corruption that Constitutional scholars across the country are heralding as a highly plausible answer to the political chaos destroying the very moral fiber of the country today. It’s difficult to read The Amendment Killer, and not imagine what could—and should—be expected and demanded of those political leaders who have forgotten they are there to serve and not be served.

Barak is also a committed and strident advocate of finding a cure for diabetes. One of the primary characters in The Amendment Killer is the feisty and precocious 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter of the Supreme Court justice holding the swing vote in a case in which Congress is challenging the validity of Barak’s hypothetical 28th Amendment. It is no small coincidence that Barak is himself a diabetic. Or that he has committed 50% of the net proceeds of The Amendment Killer to diabetes research and education.

Barak is singularly qualified to have authored The Amendment Killer, which will appeal to political and legal thriller aficionados alike. Barak is a law school honors graduate and a former Olympic athlete. While still in law school, he authored a bill introduced in Congress that overnight forced the settlement of a decades long dispute between the NCAA and the AAU to control amateur athletics in the United States.

Present-day politicians would do well to read The Amendment Killer and not underestimate the potential of Barak’s 28th Amendment. You can read his 28th Amendment at ronaldsbarak.com/28th-amendment-page-2. You can also read his occasional political blogs at ronaldsbarak.com/blog.

Ron and his wife, Barbie, and the four-legged members of their family reside in Pacific Palisades, California.

Connect with Ron:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

Don't miss your chance to grab a copy of The Amendment Killer during these two great sales!

The Nook audiobook will be $9.99 February 20-26, 2018

and

The Kindle eBook will be $1.99 February 22-28, 2018.

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INTERVIEW WITH TRACEE DE HAHN'S INSPECTOR AGNES LÜTHI

ABOUT THE BOOK

Swiss-American police officer Agnes Lüthi is on leave in Lausanne, Switzerland, recovering from injuries she sustained in her last case, when an old colleague invites her to the world’s premier watch and jewelry trade show at the grand Messe Basel Exhibition Hall. Little does Agnes know, another friend of hers, Julien Vallotton, is at the same trade show—and he’s looking for Agnes. Julien Vallotton was friends with Guy Chavanon, a master of one of Switzerland’s oldest arts: watchmaking. Chavanon died a week ago, and his daughter doesn’t believe his death was accidental. Shortly before he died, Chavanon boasted that he’d discovered a new technique that would revolutionize the watchmaking industry, and she believes he may have been killed for it. Reluctantly, Agnes agrees to investigate his death. But the world of Swiss watchmaking is guarded and secretive, and before she realizes it, Agnes may be walking straight into the path of a killer.

Tracee de Hahn’s next mystery, A Well-Timed Murder, is another magnetic mystery that will engross readers from the opening page to the stunning conclusion.

Book Details:

Title: A Well-Timed Murder

Author’s name: Tracee de Hahn   

Genre: International Mystery, 2nd in Series

Minotaur Books (February 6, 2018)

Hardcover: 352 pages

Touring with: Great Escapes Book Tours

ABOUT THE CHARACTER

Police inspector Agnes Lüthi is in her mid-thirties, recently widowed, with three young sons. She was born in Switzerland to American parents and has lived there her entire life. After her husband’s unexpected death several months ago, she moved divisions from financial crimes to violent crimes, hoping the change would help her recovery. 


CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH TRACEE DE HAHN'S INSPECTOR AGNES LÜTHI

Inspector, how did you first meet Tracee? 

When she was living in Switzerland. I attended a reception for students and alumni at her husband’s boarding school, and we struck up a conversation about our American backgrounds. We met again by chance on a ski lift in St. Moritz. That’s when we started talking about my story.

Want to dish about her?

She shouldn’t give up her day job for skiing. She fell off the lift in St. Moritz (one of the small ground-level wheel-between-the-legs ones), and for a minute I didn’t think she would get up. It took some maneuvering to convince her to swing her body around so her feet weren’t up the slope above her head. Good thing she enjoys the easy slopes, she will never make black diamond level. Of course, if we hadn’t spent that time together I wouldn’t have ended up in a book. Truthfully, she’s a good skier, just terrible on the lifts.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

My author won’t let me give away too much, she hates the ‘spoiler alert’ notice, but there is a scene in A Well-Timed Murder where, for a brief moment, I have the upper hand with Julien Vallotton. Although I’ve become friendly with his family, I am still unnerved by their self-assurance. Being in control that entire scene was amazing. (It involves a barn . . .)

Did you have a hard time convincing Tracee to write any particular scenes for you?

When my story was first written in Swiss Vendetta, I was reluctant about everything. I thought I wasn’t interesting enough. Then I admitted that I was worried about everyone knowing the interesting parts. Once I got over that hurdle, I knew that what happened with my husband had to be told as part of the book. It was a gut-wrenching experience for me and even harder for my author to tell. Harder for her because I lived it once, but putting it down on paper meant a few revisions to get the essence perfect. We both knew that the scene would reveal something extremely personal – something I’ve not told anyone else – to the readers. It had to be done.

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
Lots of people – including my mother-in-law – ask why I work. What they really mean is: Why don’t I spend all my time with my boys? When I’m not being read that is where I spend much of my time. What people forget is that the boys are old enough to not want their mother around. This means that I let them do homework and play and talk to their friends while I observe from a distance, hoping they’ll forget I’m in the room. I know that when people read me they are getting a peek inside my life. That’s what I like to do with my sons. Get that unfiltered peek into their world. That may be one of the reasons I agreed to have my life recorded on paper.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
I will tell the truth, but you can’t print it. I’m not even sure I can say it without sounding like a schoolgirl. Sometimes I want to grab my boys and run away with Julien Vallotton and live a glamorous jet set life. Other times – most of the time – I don’t know why he even wants to have dinner with me. I suspect it’s because I’m not part of the global jet setting lifestyle he says bores him. I wonder if I’m a passing fancy, someone far from his orbit and interesting like an exotic animal? I don’t think so. Mainly because I’m not at all exotic. However, I feel there is an attraction. I really don’t know what to think. Of course, we haven’t known each other long. Time will tell.

Do have any secret aspirations that Tracee doesn’t know about?

Yes, I want to shoot in the Olympics in the 50 meter rifle three position competition. I haven’t practiced in months, not since George died, but I have won medals, and think I could reach the next level. I don’t think a woman from Switzerland has placed in this event in the World Championships since before 1966 and it’s a lot to take on, but it might be the focus I need while I try to make sense of what happened with . . . well, you know.

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
I work full time and have three sons. If I had a day off I would probably do nothing, in silence with no one around. Actually, that is only what I dream about when I’m exhausted. What I’d probably do is go on a short trip. A grown-up trip with no kids. A real treat. 



I think I know, but have to ask anyway . . . What's the worst thing that's happened in your life? 
The worst thing was my husband’s suicide. From that I learned that we never really know anyone – including ourselves. I also learned that I could survive anything.


What are you most afraid of?

Letting my past prevent me from a great future. I struggle with self-doubt in my personal life. Self-doubt. That’s what I’m afraid of.

How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change?

I’m a little nervous about change, particularly after what happened to my family, so let’s avoid that word. Right now, my life is finding a new center. I like my new work in violent crimes, and the boys are doing well. I’m nervous about upsetting the balance. At the same time, and I know this sounds ungrateful, there are parts of my old job in financial crimes that I miss, and sometimes I think I moved over too quickly. There are a few cases in financial crimes that I want to see closed. Most people don’t think they are as exciting as the cases we face in violent crimes but to me they were. There was a cerebral aspect of tracking the money that I miss. Of course, now that I say it out loud, I’m afraid my author will overhear me and I’ll be out of violent crimes. That’s not exactly what I want. Maybe she does understand and that’s why she gave me a dose of both in A Well-Timed Murder?

What aspect of Tracee’s writing style do you like best?

I have enjoyed her descriptions of the places in my life. I felt like she really captured the experience of the ice storm in Swiss Vendetta. It was a powerful experience – at the mercy of the elements, cut off from anyone outside the Vallotton château, and, at the same time, hunting for Felicity Cowell’s murderer. When I read the manuscript for A Well-Timed Murder I felt like I was again at Baselworld – a fascinating glamorous expo that nearly conceals the high stakes business behind the scenes. What happened there is special to me because it was a chance to work in financial crimes and in violent crimes. I shouldn’t say this out loud, but I’d like to keep doing that.

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

My author says Jessica Chastain even though I know she doesn’t look like me. I suppose that’s where hair and make-up are important. Although I pretend to disagree with Ms. Chastain as a choice, I would be flattered. She is a talented actress who can convey strong characters. I suppose that’s a vote of confidence for how my author feels about me.

Describe the town where you live.

My town is a typical Swiss village. It’s livelier than you might imagine, mainly because so many people have small children and this brings spirit to the streets. We have our own bakery and butcher, plus a few other stores. There is a beautiful church with an impressive tower and bell. We are on a road that cuts across the slope of the base of higher mountains so we have nice views down the valley toward Lausanne. Higher up the hills the cows wander the pastures and you can hear their bells ring. My boys go to school in a new concrete and wood building, which is lovely and has large windows with views onto the landscape. The church cemetery anchors the central village and is the main view from the terrace in front of our café. We don’t think about it, but anyone visiting thinks it’s unique and interesting. What I like best is how remote our village feels. And how close we are to so many other places!

What makes you stand out from any other characters in your genre?

Most of the police investigators are still men. The women tend to be single or perhaps divorced, but almost none of them have children. Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, having children in your life changes the equation. Mainly, I believe, it makes people judge you differently. I have to defend my decision to work as well as my performance at work. I have to work harder at home and on the job. I also think that I stand out because I live and work in Switzerland. We aren’t the dark noir of the Scandinavian countries, or the cozy villages of the UK. Switzerland is a different kind of crossroads, with space for our own kind of mishaps.

Will you encourage Tracee to write a sequel?

Absolutely. I have my eye set on traveling to Paris soon. That sounds like a sequel to me!





ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Tracee de Hahn completed degrees in architecture and European history at the University of Kentucky and then lived in Europe, including several years in Switzerland. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She currently lives in Virginia with her husband, a Swiss architect, and their Jack Russell Terriers.

Connect with Tracee:
Website  |  Blog 1  |  Blog 2  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads   |  Pinterest   |  Instagram


Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  iTunes  |  Indie Bound  |  Books-A-Million

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INTERVIEW WITH R.L. SYME'S DEREK HOBSON

ABOUT THE BOOK

You could call it the straw that broke the camel’s back but it was more like a Montana forest timber.

Just when Vangie Vale’s life was getting back to normal after a murder that rocked her little Rocky Mountain tourist town, she found herself in the middle of another murder... as the chief suspect.

Vangie stood shocked on the side of the curb as the sheriff stretched yellow crime scene tape around the front of her new bakery. Wouldn’t this make a lovely headline in next week’s paper: Local Baker Kills Parishioner With Pudding. Vangie’s road back to good graces as a part-time pastor was bumpy enough already. This would be a road block. Can't have that.

Book Details:

Title: Vangie Vale & the Strangled Strudel (The Matchbaker Mysteries)


Author: R.L. Syme


Genre: Cozy Mystery, 3rd in Series


Setting – Montana


Publisher: Hummingbird Books (January 4, 2018)


Paperback: 330 pages

Touring with: Great Escapes Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH R.L. SYME'S DEREK HOBSON

ABOUT THE CHARACTER:
Derek Hobson is the biker boyfriend of the main character, Vangie Vale.


Derek, how did you first meet Becca?
I was in the very first book, The Murdered Macaron, where Vangie solved a murder with me.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Probably because my estranged wife was killed. Murder tends to play well in fiction.

Did you have a hard time convincing Becca to write any particular scenes for you?
Because she used to be a romance writer—or maybe still writes romance, I never really know—so she wants to write the kissy scenes. I keep trying to get her to cut those. I’d rather if those were for me and Vangie only. But . . . it’s her book.

True. What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
I like to work on cars. Bikes. Anything with an engine, really. And I like to be with Vangie, and she likes to watch Criminal Minds and stuff like that, which I’m learning not to hate.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
Most of them are all right. Emma is probably the one I’m the closest to, besides Vangie. She’s Vangie’s best friend and works in the shop next door, so I see her the most. But all my guy friends from the mechanic’s shop don’t really make the page much.

That's a shame. Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?
Probably that I want to be a dad. Someday. I don’t talk with Vangie about that. Yet.

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
Work on my bike. Work around the house. Or maybe take a nice long ride somewhere. The mountains around here are beautiful. Obviously, I’d rather take Vangie with me.



What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? 
Probably, they think I’m some kind of big jerk biker, but I kinda don’t care. The people I care about know who I am.



Tell us about your best friend. My best friend used to be my wife. Now, it’s probably Vangie. Kevin, from the shop is maybe a close second. But I’ve always been a guy with only a few friends. I like it that way.



What are you most afraid of?
Losing Vangie.



How do you feel about your life right now?
I feel good about my life. I bought a house in Saint Agnes. I feel like Vangie and I are doing well. I like my job. I’d rather work at Kevin’s shop more, but Vangie really isn’t ready to have me not be at the bakery most days. As soon as she can afford to hire more help, though, I’d like to be at the mechanic’s more.

If your story were a movie, who would play you?
Well, Becca thinks I look like Brock O’Hurn. I have no idea.

Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?
Oh yes. I assume we’ll be doing something in North Carolina, now, after Vangie finally told me about the business in Raleigh/Durham. I predict you’ll see me in many more Vangie Vale books in the future. Hopefully . . . all of them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

R.L. Syme is a USA Today best-selling author of small-town romance and cozy mystery. She writes small-town romance as Becca Boyd and cozy culinary mysteries as R.L. Syme. 

She is a writer of heroes and sleuths worth loving and villains worth hating. Lover of fancy cheese, binge-watching, strawberries, and hope. A foodie and baker of yummy delights, Becca grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries passed on by her grandmother. A Tweeter and Pinner of things. She loves to connect with readers via social media.

Connect with Becca:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon 

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