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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FEATURED AUTHOR: GINGER BOLTON

ABOUT THE BOOK


Emily Westhill runs the best donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby Deputy Donut. But after murder claims a favorite customer, Emily can’t rely on a sidekick to solve the crime—or stay alive.



If Emily has learned anything from her past as a 911 operator, it’s to stay calm during stressful situations. But that’s a tall order when one of her regulars, Georgia Treetor, goes missing. Georgia never skips morning cappuccinos with her knitting circle. Her pals fear the worst—especially Lois, a close friend who recently moved to town. As evening creeps in, Emily and the ladies search for Georgia at home. And they find her—murdered among a scattering of stale donuts . . .

Disturbingly, Georgia’s demise coincides with the five-year anniversary of her son’s murder, a case Emily’s late detective husband failed to solve before his own sudden death. With Lois hiding secrets and an innocent man’s life at stake, Emily’s forced to revisit painful memories on her quest for answers. Though someone’s alibi is full of holes, only a sprinkling of clues have been left behind. And if Emily can’t trace them back to a killer in time, her donut shop will end up permanently closed for business . . .

Book Details:

Title:  Survival of the Fritters (A Deputy Donut Mystery)
Author’s name: Ginger Bolton

Genre: cozy mystery, 1st in series

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp. (January 30, 2018)

Paperback: 256 pages

Touring with: Great Escapes Book Tours



INTERVIEW WITH GINGER BOLTON

Ginger, how did you get started writing?
I wrote a poem, "My Cat," in second grade and proudly showed it off at a gathering of aunts. They laughed. I thought they were laughing because I’d written the contraction “he’ll” and the word looked too embarrassingly like “Hell.” Years later, I re-read the poem. It included this line: “Then he’ll have kittens.”

What's your favorite thing about the writing process?
I feel exultant when I finish a first draft, and that’s partly because I love tweaking every sentence and word after that. It’s hard to let it go and say that it’s done.

I totally concur! What’s more important – characters or plot?
Characters, both as a writer and a reader. As a writer, my characters help with the plot, because they insist on deciding how they’ll behave. As a reader, I enjoy books most in which the characters seem real. And I’m more likely to stick with the story if I like at least the main character.

What books do you currently have published?
Survival of the Fritters is my first Deputy Donut book, but two more are in the works. Goodbye Cruller world comes out in September 2019. I have five books published in the Threadville Mystery Series, written as Janet Bolin. They are: Dire Threads, Threaded for Trouble, Thread and Buried, Night of the Living Thread, and Seven Threadly Sins.


Is writing your dream job?
It’s what I always wanted to do, and I love it.

What’s your favorite thing to do on date night?
Eat at a restaurant that serves delicious food. I’m especially fond of things I wouldn’t be likely to make at home, like Indian or Thai dishes.

What's your favorite treat for movie night?
Popcorn.

If you haven't already tried it, I highly recommend Indiana Popcorn's Black & White popcorn! What’s your favorite fast food?
Donuts.


Girl, you and I could get along. What’s your favorite beverage?
Coffee.

What do you wish you could do?I wish I could play the piano. I try, but . . .

Would you rather be a movie star, sports star, or rock star?
A movie star. I did some acting in community theater, and it was a hoot. Acting is a lot like writing—you’re developing characters and entering a new world. And maybe you’re making people laugh.


Do you give your characters any of your bad traits?
They probably develop them all by themselves, just like I do . . .

Do you procrastinate?
Yes, but when I’m playing Free Cell with my morning coffee, I’m actually thinking about the writing I’m going to do that day. Really! Yes, that’s what I’m doing…

What would your main character say about you?
“Why does she stay at home writing when she could be running around helping us at Deputy Donut?”

How do you like your pizza?
Double cheese, mushrooms, green peppers, hot peppers, black olives, and onions. The best pizza I ever ate was at San Remo, a restaurant in Vichy, France. I liked their pizza so much that I transported the restaurant to Fallingbrook, and now my characters get to eat San Remo pizza.


Do you have any hidden talents?
I hope so. And I also hope to find them someday…


Do you have a favorite book?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I read it for the first time when I was fourteen, and return to it about every ten years. I become completely immersed in the atmosphere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mystery series--cops, crime, coffee, donuts and one curious cat. When Ginger isn't writing or reading, she's crocheting, knitting, sewing, walking her two rescue dogs, and generally causing trouble. She’s also fond of donuts, coffee, and cafes where folks gather to enjoy those tasty treats and one another’s company.

Connect with Ginger:

Website  |   Blog  | 
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  
Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble |  Book Depository 

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AMY METZ: SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

The Goose Pimple Junction mystery series is on tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours from January 18 through February 18. A Blue Million Books had some open space, and so here we are. Find out about all four books in the series, read an interview with Dan O'Brien, and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. And for heaven's sake . . . get goose pimples!

ABOUT THE BOOKS

When Tess Tremaine starts a new life in the colorful town of Goose Pimple Junction, curiosity leads her to look into a seventy-five-year-old murder. Suddenly she’s learning the foreign language of southern speak, resisting her attraction to local celebrity Jackson Wright, and dealing with more mayhem than she can handle.

A bank robbery, murder, and family tragedy from the 1930s are pieces of the mystery that Tess attempts to solve. As she gets close to the truth, she encounters danger, mystery, a lot of southern charm, and a new temptation for which she’s not sure she’s ready.

A bank robbery, murder, and family tragedy from the 1930s are pieces of the mystery that Tess attempts to solve. As she gets close to the truth, she encounters danger, mystery, a lot of southern charm, and a new temptation for which she’s not sure she’s ready.

Goose Pimple Junction is just recovering from a kidnapping and a murder, its first major crimes in years, when trouble begins anew. Life is turned upside down in the quirky little southern town with the arrival of several shifty hooligans: A philandering husband intent on getting his wife back, another murderer loose in town, a stalker intent on frightening Martha Maye, and a thief who’s stealing the town blind of their pumpkins, pies, and peace. Together, they’re scaring the living daylights out of the residents and keeping the new police chief busier than a set of jumper cables at a redneck picnic. Suddenly, he has his hands full trying to apprehend a killer, stop a stalker, and fight his feelings for the damsel in distress.

This is not your average Southern town. With a hint of mystery and a lot of laughs, you'll catch a glimpse of everyday life in Goose Pimple Junction in this short story compilation. Five short stories, one novella, and three recipes will give you more of the unique charm of Goose Pimple Junction, make you laugh, and have your mouth watering. If you want a feel-good read, you've come to the right place. Grab some sweet tea and escape to Goose Pimple Junction.

Wynona Baxter is a master of disguise and often a ditzy airhead. A hit woman wannabe, when she's hired for her first job in Goose Pimple Junction and things don't go as planned, she's forced to resort to Plan B. She'll also need Plan C and D. Caledonia Culpepper is the quintessential Southern belle. Who would want her dead? Crooked lawyers, restless husbands, a teenaged hoodlum – it seems there are rogues and rascals everywhere you look in Goose Pimple Junction. When Caledonia and Wynona's paths cross, they prove there isn't a rogue or a rascal who can keep a good woman down. Mama always said there would be days like this . . .

Read first chapter excerpts from all four books!

Book Trailer

 

A MOMENT WITH AMY METZ, by DAN O'BRIEN

Tell us about your most recent release.
Murder & Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction was inspired by events in my family’s history. I remember hearing accounts when I was a little girl of the murders and thinking they were heartbreaking and intriguing. One of the murders is unsolved to this day, except for in my novel, where main character Tess Tremaine comes up against the killer’s relative who is intent on keeping the murder a cold case. But Tess is a little too stubborn to let a little mayhem get in the way of her solving the mystery and bringing a murderer to justice. 

What’s the most blatant lie you’ve ever told?
Four years ago I had to tell my mother that she was going to an assisted living facility for just a few weeks for rehab, when in fact her dementia had earned her a one-way ticket.

What is the most demeaning thing said about you as a writer?
Someone said my book was offensive and sadly idiotic. But I have a lot of 5 and 4-star reviews that counteract that comment.

How do you react to a bad review of one of your books?
I try to keep it in perspective, remembering that everyone is entitled to a different opinion. What really bothers me are the people who don’t say anything. When someone tells me they can’t wait to read my book but they never comment on it. Or they say, “I read your book,” followed by silence. I can deal with constructive criticism — I may not agree with it, but at least I know what they didn’t like — it’s silence that I find hard to deal with. It’s difficult, because we’re talking about people I know, and I thought they’d be more supportive, but also their silence doesn’t help me become a better writer or write a better book.

When are you going to write your autobiography?
Actually, I’ve already written it. It’s not an actual autobiography, because I wouldn’t make anyone read that drivel, but it’s a memoir about my mother, her dementia, and our contentious relationship. I’m currently collecting rejection letters from agents and publishers for it. If you know an agent or publisher, tell them about it — it’s fabulous!

Are the names of the characters in your novels important?
Yes, names are important. My book is set in the South, where oftentimes names are varied, interesting, and weird. I’m particularly fond of nicknames, like Pickle and Butterbean, and double names, like Henry Clay and Martha Maye.

What about the titles of your novels?
What about them? Oh, are they important? Well, yes. Many times a title can make or break a reader’s decision to buy the book. I named my town Goose Pimple Junction and put it in the title because, to me, the name reflects the quirkiness of the town and the book. It’s a fun town, and I hope the title reflects that. But I think people either love the title or hate it. 

Are there any occupational hazards to being a novelist?
Besides being a little mentally unbalanced? Yes, I’ve found extra poundage to be an occupational hazard. Sitting all day at a computer doesn’t burn many calories, and weight gain is inevitable. I’m trying to be more disciplined and get my big behind up for exercise periodically each day, but sometimes it’s hard to stop when I’m on a writing roll. 

What’s your favorite fruit?
Lemons. Does that count? A runner up would be peaches. Although it really depends on the season. In the summertime I love strawberries, honeydew, and peaches, in the fall I love crisp apples, early winter is those little Clementine oranges. And then there are pineapple and bananas, which are both good pretty much year-round. And lemons. I love lemon anything. Is that TMI?

How many people have you done away with over the course of your career?
Well let’s see … I think the total is only five. Maybe I should bump that up a bit for GPJ2 and 3.

Ever dispatched someone and then regretted it?
Yes. I can’t say who, because I don’t want to ruin it for someone who may not have read the book yet, but there’s one character in Murder & Mayhem who is maybe my all time favorite. It killed me to kill him off (sorry, that was lame — but true). I’m still in mourning. Maybe I can make him have an evil twin.

Have you ever been in trouble with the police?
Hahahahahahahaha. That’s funny. At least, people who know me will get a kick out of it. I did have to go to the county jail four years ago, but that was to deliver some evidence. That’s a whole nother story. The answer to your question is a big no.

So when were you last involved in a real-life punch-up?
Way back when I was a little girl, fighting with my sister. That’s as bad ass as I get.

If you were going to commit the perfect murder, how would you go about it?
I think it would involve poison. And that’s all I’m saying on that one.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Betty White.

What is your favorite bedtime drink?
Sweet tea or juice.

Do you ever wish that you had an entirely uncreative job, like data entry or working in a factory?
Absolutely not. Are you nuts?

Do you believe in a deity?
Yes. I am a Christian, and I believe in God.

Who would play you in a film of your life?
Maybe Oprah. Yes, I know I’m Caucasian, but who wouldn’t want Oprah to play them? Or if I'm going to dream big, how about Meryl Streep?

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
I think a sane writer is an oxymoron.

Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a book or a movie?
Maybe Eeyore. Or the Catwoman, played by Halle Berry. Oh wait, that was in my dreams. 

What is the single most powerful challenge when it comes to writing a novel?
For me, it’s coming up with a good plot. It seems like all the good ones have already been taken. I had a plot all planned out for GPJ3, and I hadn’t told a soul about it. One day, my son started telling me about a book he read — and it was my plot! Or mine was theirs. I swear I’d never heard of it. I changed my plotline pdq.

What do you consider your biggest failure?
Dropping out of college my sophomore year. I transferred to another college the following fall, but leaving school remains a big part of my checkered past.

Do you research your novels?
I researched the real murders that were the impetus for the plot in Murder & Mayhem. I read everything I could find so that I could get the facts right for that portion of the book. 

How much impact does your childhood have on your writing?
Well, considering I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t had a childhood, I’d say a lot. Is that too cheeky?

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?
When God sends us on hard paths, He provides strong shoes. That, and you should dress for every occasion. There’s no sense in looking like a wash-woman.

Do you laugh at your own jokes?
Sure, somebody has to. (LOL.)

Do you admire your own work?
Yes and no. I love the characters and the town I created, but I have a hard time reading the book. It’s kind of like actors who say they can’t watch themselves on screen. I find myself wanting to rewrite or edit it every time I pick the book up.

What are books for?
Different things for different people. For me, they’re for escape. Pure pleasure.

Are you fun to go on vacation with?
That would be a better question for my family. I think that my youngest son would say I spend too much time behind my camera. 

How do you feel about being interviewed?
It’s somewhere in between getting a root canal and a day at the beach.

What’s the loveliest thing you have ever seen? 
A full moon reflecting on the ocean.


Dan O'Brien, is the editor of Empirical and author of The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, Cerulean Dreams, and The Journey. His interview originally appeared in 2012 on his website, The Dan O'Brien Project, and he kindly agreed to let me repost it here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Metz is the author of Goose Pimple Junction mystery series. She is a former first grade teacher and the mother of two grown sons. When not actively engaged in writing, enjoying her family, or surfing Facebook or Pinterest, Amy can usually be found with a mixing spoon, camera, or book in one hand and a glass of sweet tea in the other. Amy lives in Louisville, Kentucky and would love to hear from you.

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

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Audible

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INTERVIEW WITH GILIAN BAKER'S JADE BLACKWELL

ABOUT THE BOOK

Former English professor turned blogger, Jade Blackwell, is enjoying her predictable routine when trouble comes knocking in the form of an old friend and colleague. Unbeknownst to Jade, Gwendolyn Hexby is no longer the successful academic she once knew and trusted—she is now following a new calling as a psychic medium, a contentious career that flies in the face of the logic and deductive reasoning Jade values.

At first, Jade welcomes the visit, but things soon turn bizarre as Gwendolyn brings only disorder, danger, and disruption. When a murder is prophesied, and a beloved pillar of the Aspen Falls’ community winds up dead, Gwendolyn becomes Sheriff Ross Lawson’s prime suspect.

To get Gwendolyn out of hot water, and more importantly, out of her house, Jade attempts to prove her friend’s innocence. Jade believes she’s finally discovered the truth, but is soon brought back to reality when she learns all is not as it seems in the realm of the metaphysical. Not even murder.
Return to the Jade Blackwell Cozy Mystery Series in Murder Over Medium, as Jade jumps into the fray of a territory not governed by logic or reason—in either this world or the next.

Book Details

Author: Gilian Baker

Title: Murder Over Medium

Genre: Cozy mystery, Jade Blackwell series, 3rd in series

Publisher: Misterio Press (December 31, 2017)

Paperback: 216 pages

On tour with Great Escape Book Tours

ABOUT THE CHARACTER

Jade Blackwell, the protagonist of the series, left the world of academia to pursue the life of an entrepreneur. Now she teaches writing informally on her successful blog and is CEO of a ghostwriting service. That is, when she’s not busy solving murders.

She’s happily married to her high school sweetheart, Christian, and they have a daughter, Penelope, who is away at college. She describes herself as a much younger and better-looking Miss Marple. She loves her auburn bob, though the color is now manufactured by Darlene at the Hair Hut. She hates her newly-required bifocals. She’s a smart, sassy homebody who lives in her head.

INTERVIEW WITH GILIAN BAKER'S JADE BLACKWELL

Jade, how did you first meet Gilian?
I knocked around in Gilian’s head, trying to get her attention for years. She always told me she was too busy to come out and play. But I kept after her. She finally gave in when she took her daughter’s advice to join NaNoWriMo in 2015. I’d like to think I saved her. Well, at least her sanity. She was a struggling blogger who spent way too much time working. I gave her a way to enjoy life while still producing something worthwhile. She gave up on blogging and now spends much more time with me.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Besides my charming personality and wit, I’d say because there aren’t many, if any, other professional bloggers who are also amateur sleuths. The work-at-home way of life has exploded over the last few years, and I believe people are fascinated by what an online entrepreneur does all day. Plus, Gilian and I like to think we provide a fun distraction from the endless to-do lists we all live by in our modern world.

Did you have a hard time convincing Gilian to write any particular scenes for you?
Well, just one. I took exception with the ending. I wanted to save myself this time, but Gilian didn’t write it that way. Actually, she didn’t even pay attention to my wish until after her editor had it in her hands. I couldn’t convince her to make the change, but we found a compromise. She wrote an alternate ending that she’s giving away to readers, so I guess that’s better than nothing. I’d love to be proven right—that my idea was better. So, it would be awesome if anyone reading this would finish the Murder Over Medium and then get the free download of my preferred ending. Then, email Gilian and let her know which you like better. The link is in the back of the book. Thanks, folks!

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
I’d sleep in for starters, because my husband Christian and I usually get up early. I’d luxuriate in the jacuzzi bath we have in our bathroom and then I’d meet up with my friends Gabby, Crystal, and Phyllis for lunch at Tea & Sympathy. Before we left, I’d buy one of Millie’s famous chocolate fudge nut cakes to enjoy for dessert after supper.

I’d go home and curl up on the couch with a good mystery, my cats, Tommy and Tuppence keeping me company. Since I hate to cook, I’d text Christian and have him bring home a pizza from the Pie Hole on his way home. In the evening, we’d enjoy our pizza and chocolate cake while we watched a rerun of Midsomer Murder, one of our favorite British mysteries. We’d have an early night, and I’ll leave the rest to your readers’ imaginations.



What’s the best trait Gilian has given you?
Besides my natural inquisitiveness, which all good sleuths need, I’d say my best trait is my strong B.S. meter. I became a good judge of character teaching college students for years.

What’s the worst?
Hmm. That’s a tough one. I’d have to go with that double-edged sword, my curiosity. I personally don’t mind it too much, but it has been known to get me into perilous situations from time to time. And it drives my husband crazy. 


What’s Gilian’s worst habit?
Doubting herself, and me, for that matter. She needs to just listen to me and her instincts more during that challenging first draft. She worries too much. But as I tell her, it always comes together in the end. 



How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change?
I’m bored with my work and am currently trying to find just the right new challenge for my online business structure. There’s a lot of things I could do, but none I’ve found so far curl my toes. When I was an English professor, there was always something new to research. Always a new semester with different students to engage. But after four years of entrepreneurship, I find myself in need of tackling something new. Gilian and I are working on a solution, and readers will be able to see what we come up with in the next book.

If your story were a movie, who would play you?
You know, I get asked this a lot. It’s a difficult one to answer, but I recently decided on an older Honeysuckle Weeks. She’d need to perfect an American accent, but I trust she could do that. She’s a talented actress who could get across my smart, saucy, yet loveable, personality.

Describe the town where you live.
Oh, Aspen Falls, Wyoming is a gorgeous place. It’s in the southeastern part of the state, about an hour from Laramie, where the University of Wyoming is. Aspen Falls is a small village filled mostly with people who, like me, were born and raised there. We get some tourists coming through on their way to other places, but mostly we are ranchers. We have a small market, a pizza place, a nicer Italian restaurant on the edge of town, and, of course, my favorite little tea shop, Tea & Sympathy.

We are home to the county sheriff’s station where my friend Ross Lawson is sheriff. There’s also a non-denomination church, as well as the Gee and Tee bar. Aspen Falls is in the foothills of the Bow Medicine Mountains and is a magical place to live or visit.

What makes you stand out from any other characters in the cozy msytery genre?
I already mentioned my occupation is unique to the genre. Besides that, I’m happily married and have a daughter. Most cozy protagonists have a tangled, messy love life they are trying to figure out. With me, readers get a chance of pace—they see a woman in a stable relationship and all the ups and downs that entails. And, well, motherhood brings its own complications into the stories.

If you could be “adopted” by another writer, who would you choose?
The biggest honor I can image is to be adopted by Sue Grafton. It was such a loss for the world when she passed. She’s been my favorite authors for 30 years. Although her books aren’t firmly in the cozy mystery genre, I know she’d do a dazzling job of bringing my adventures to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gilian Baker is a former English professor who has gone on to forge a life outside of academia by adding blogger, ghostwriter and cozy mystery author to her C.V. She currently uses her geeky superpowers only for good to entertain murder mystery readers the world over. When she’s not plotting murder for her Jade Blackwell cozy mystery series, you can find her puttering in her vegetable garden, knitting in front of the fire, snuggling with her husband watching British TV or discussing literary theory with her daughter.

Gilian lives in Flagstaff, Arizona with her family and their three pampered felines. In her next life, she fervently hopes to come back as a cat, though she understands that would be going down the karmic ladder.

Connect with Gilian:
Website  |   Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |   Goodreads
Buy the book:
Amazon 

FEATURED AUTHOR: RIANA EVERLY

ABOUT THE BOOK

A tale of love, manners, and the quest for perfect vowels.



From a new voice in historical romance comes this sparkling Regency tale, wherein the elegance of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and the wit of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion collide. The results are clever, funny, and often quite unexpected . . .

Professor Fitzwilliam Darcy, expert in phonetics and linguistics, wishes for nothing more than to spend some time in peace at his friend’s country estate, far from the parade of young ladies wishing for his hand, and further still from his aunt’s schemes to have him marry his cousin. How annoying it is when a young lady from the neighbourhood, with her atrocious Hertfordshire accent and country manners, comes seeking his help to learn how to behave and speak as do the finest ladies of high society.



Elizabeth Bennet has disliked the professor since overhearing his flippant comments about her provincial accent, but recognizes in him her one opportunity to survive a prospective season in London. Despite her ill feelings for the man, she asks him to take her on as a student, but is unprepared for the price he demands in exchange. 



“With her clever mash-up of two classics, Riana Everly has fashioned a fresh, creative storyline with an inventive take on our favorite characters, delightful dialogue and laugh out loud humor. Teaching Eliza is certain to become a reader favorite. It’s a must read!” – Sophia Meredith (author of the acclaimed On Oakham Mount and Miss Darcy’s Companion)



Teaching Eliza is a full-length JAFF novel of about 110 000 words. 

Book Details:

Title: Teaching Eliza

Author’s name: Riana Everly   

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency) / Jane Austen Fan Fiction

Paperback: 352 pages

INTERVIEW WITH RIANA EVERLY

Riana, what’s the story behind the title of your book?
Until about three weeks before publication, I had a different title for my novel. When the idea for combining Pride and Prejudice and Pygmalion first came to me, the title My Fair Lizzy popped into my head, and it seemed perfect! I had all the promo stuff ready, my cover art ready, a blog tour set up...

And then I discovered that another author, Barbara Silkstone, had the same idea, and the same title, and her publication date was before mine! I contacted her in a panic, and after an initial moment of “uh oh!” we started talking about what we should do.

The first thing I learned was that Barbara is a truly wonderful person. She had all sorts of ideas of how to deal with similar premises behind two books coming out so close together, and we did a little bit of joint publicity. While she never asked me to change my title, I decided that for both of us, it would be better to have different titles. Her novel was coming out in a few days and I still had three weeks, so I started scrambling.

The second thing I learned is that nothing is final until it's final. Mae, my cover artist, whipped together a new cover with the new title in record time. A quick email to the lovely people hosting my blog tour explained the situation, and since it was before publication, changing the information on my ISBNs was a simple matter. What at first seemed like a looming disaster turned out to be much ado about nothing, and I feel a bit like a winner in this because I got to know some terrific people in the process.



As for the new title itself, I played with a few ideas, but then I came upon an exchange in the text of Shaw's Pygmalion:

MRS. HIGGINS: You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll.
HIGGINS: Playing! The hardest job I ever tackled: make no mistake about that, mother. But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul.
PICKERING: [drawing his chair closer to Mrs. Higgins and bending over to her eagerly] Yes: it's enormously interesting. I assure you, Mrs. Higgins, we take Eliza very seriously. Every week—every day almost—there is some new change. [Closer again] We keep records of every stage—dozens of gramophone disks and photographs—
HIGGINS: [assailing her at the other ear] Yes, by George: it's the most absorbing experiment I ever tackled. She regularly fills our lives up; doesn't she, Pick?
PICKERING: We're always talking Eliza.
HIGGINS: Teaching Eliza.
PICKERING: Dressing Eliza.
MRS. HIGGINS: What!
HIGGINS: Inventing new Elizas.

Teaching Eliza seemed perfect! This is the essence of the play and the novel – but what my Professor Darcy does not quite realize with his Eliza is that while he is shaping her speech and manners to become those of a lady in high society, she is having her own influence upon him. Unlike the Greek myth, Darcy doesn't fall in love with his own creation, but rather he falls in love with what was already there, now that his eyes have been opened enough to see what was always in front of him.

Where’s home for you?
Home has been a lot of places. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but we left when I was a child, and I lived in the Middle East for a few months before coming to Canada. I grew up in the prairies, then lived in Montreal for a while, and finally settled in Toronto. It has taken a long time for Toronto to feel like home, but now – despite the weather and the awful traffic – I can't imagine living anywhere else.

What do you love about Toronto?
The thing I love most is how multicultural it is and how (for the most part) everyone gets along. There are parts of the city that are Chinese or Indian or Greek or Italian, and every community has its restaurants and shops, and everyone is welcome. When my sister-in-law married an Indian man, we all went down to Little India to buy clothing for the wedding. When we feel like vegan Chinese food, we have so many restaurants to choose from. I do much of my grocery shopping at a little Italian supermarket, where a lot of the products are European and where the old ladies talk to the kids putting out the produce in Italian, and where there is an entire aisle dedicated to olive oil.



Part of multicultural is CULTURE, and that's also something I love about this place. We have a terrific symphony, opera company and ballet, and we are home to, or within a short drive, of some of the best theatre in the world. From mega-musicals like Phantom of the Opera to tiny productions in basements under corner stores, this city is a dream for theatre-lovers, and in the summer we can often be found taking in three or four plays over a weekend at the Stratford Festival or the Shaw Festival, just a couple of hours out of town. This is something we've taken more and more advantage of over the last few years, and it's really wonderful.


What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
Be confident. Don't listen to that little voice inside that says you can't. It's wrong. You can.

What makes you bored?
People telling me what I already know . . . and what they know I already know!


What makes you nervous?
Putting myself out there in the world. I'm a musician, so I'm comfortable on stage, but I have the music to hide behind. When it's just me, with nothing between me and the world . . . that makes me nervous!


What makes you happy?
Watching my kids grow up and seeing the amazing people they're becoming.

What makes you scared?
Heights! I am terrified of heights.

What makes you excited?
Planning new adventures, whether they are physical (such as trips to new places) or more internal (such as plotting out a new story).

Who are you?
This is a hard question. I am a lot of different things, or have been over my life. To my kids, I'm Mom, the person who feeds them and commiserates over problems and gets angry when no one cleans up the mess in the kitchen. To some people I'm the chef, who is always coming up with something new and hopefully edible in the kitchen, or the artsy one who gets everyone involved in a sewing project or who crochets little creatures to give to friends. My different hats include academic, musician, writer, researcher, taxi-driver for my family . . . the list goes on.



What I really am, at heart, is someone who is happiest creating things, whether from sound or food or words. And if some of what I create makes other people smile, then I'm all the happier for it.

How did you meet your spouse? Was it love at first sight?
I joke that we met after a concert where I was in the backup band. I was studying music in Montreal and a friend was giving her graduation recital. For one of the pieces on the program, she had chosen a Mozart horn quintet and asked me to join the quartet of strings, which I was delighted to do. At the party after the recital, she introduced me to another friend of hers, who had come to Montreal for the recital. We started talking and kept talking. He walked me home – an insane distance across town – and asked me out on a date the next night. We talked all through the night again, and when he finally headed off to catch his train back to Toronto, he sent me roses from the train station. We were engaged six weeks later and married less than a year after that. So yes, I guess that counts as love at first sight!

Wow! That's incredible! How did you create the plot for this book?
A couple of years ago we went to see a performance of Pygmalion at the Shaw Festival. I've seen a few productions of this play over the years, but this one was fascinating because it was set in the present. Henry Higgins took his notes on an iPad, and Eliza Doolittle's speech exercises were read into a computer, which displayed the audio waveforms and spectrograms of her voice. It worked. It worked brilliantly, and it got me thinking about how art can transcend its original context. In other words, a good story can work in different settings. Well, this is a key part of Pride and Prejudice variations, and I began to wonder how these two classic tales would mesh. 

As it turned out, they meshed beautifully. The characters mapped one onto the other so nicely, with only slight tweaks here and there to get them to suit the combined story. The two tales also allowed me to rethink old favourite characters and introduce new ones, and the story really wrote itself.

One of your characters has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He/she decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?
Ask me this when I've got my mystery closer to publication! In Teaching Eliza, I suspect I'd do in nasty Mr. Wickham (even though he is so much fun to write about). He thrives on gossip and would surely hear the news of how I've maligned his character. He would lure me into some hidden part of Hyde Park with the incitement of some amazing plot twist and would have me pecked to death by wild pigeons.

Yikes! With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?
A.S. Byatt, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ludwig van Beethoven, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Eleanor’s court at Poitiers largely focused on courtly love and symbolic ritual and was reported to have attracted artists and poets, and to have contributed to a flowering of culture and the arts), and King David.



I would NOT want to be stuck anywhere with Agatha Christie because someone would not make it out alive!

What book are you currently reading and in what format?
I hope that by the time this is posted, I'll be reading Most Anything You Please by Trudy Morgan-Cole. She is a Newfoundland-based author and a friend, and I've ordered her latest paperback and hope to have it in my hands within a few days!

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
It's hard to choose a favourite, because so many places have their own unique charms. But there is a library in Toronto that specializes in children's books. The library itself is lovely, with open spaces and natural light, but what makes this building special is the entrance. The double doors are set into a deep arch, and are guarded by mythical creatures and woodland animals. One one side of the doorway is a griffin, and on the other is a winged lion, and smaller animals are tucked around each sculpture. It's just a lovely an whimsical entrance to the space, and it creates an aura of magic and wonder that kids should associate with books and reading.  

You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?
Hermione Granger. I'd love to be able to do magic and do it well!

Why did you decide to self-publish? 
I decided to self-publish because of the greater control I have over my work and my schedule. It involves more work at my end, such as finding my own editors and cover artist, and learning the technical ins and outs of formatting material for electronic and print publication, but there is a satisfaction in that as well, and I can do it my own way.



Are you happy with your decision to self-publish?
I am happy with my decision. I have been writing for a while, but until Teaching Eliza, had not published anything.  One of my author friends has been encouraging me for a while to publish, and when I showed her the manuscript, she almost shouted at me to pick a date and just do it. I had a similar response from another author whose work I respect a great deal, and so I did it. I chose a date, took a deep breath, and plunged in. Being in complete control of the novel and all the details around publishing allowed me to do this: to set a goal some two months down the road, to organize the publicity I needed, and to see it through to completion. Even the change in title, which I mentioned above, was easy to manage because everything was under my control.

What steps to publication did you personally do, and what did you hire someone to do? Is there anyone you’d recommend for a particular service?
I did a lot of the work for Teaching Eliza myself, but I know my limits! I did not hire an editor, but I enlisted a small army of ridiculously intelligent and over-educated friends and other authors to offer feedback and proofread through various incarnations of the manuscript. I'm lucky to have some amazing authors as my friends, whose grammar and whose opinions I trust, and we trade off proofreading for each other. 

Where I did go to a professional was for my cover art. I can find my way around a graphic design program and can produce something that's nice, but I wanted more than nice. At the recommendation of an author friend, I found Mae Phillips at Coverfresh Designs, and she came up with the cover for Teaching Eliza, as well as for my upcoming novel. Her work is lovely and she was able to take my general ramblings (“something like this, but different”) and give them shape. I have every intention on going back to her for all future covers.

What are you working on now?
I am polishing another Austen-inspired novel for publication within the next few months, titled The Assistant. This one is a prequel to Pride and Prejudice, and tells the story of Elizabeth's favourite aunt and uncle, the Gardiners. For such a sensible and established couple, their courtship involved all sorts of adventures, from hidden identities and scheming relatives to adventure across the ocean! I have also completed the first draft of a murder mystery set in Austen's fictional town of Meryton that was a ton of fun to write. It will be the first of a series of six mysteries with the same two sleuths: Mary Bennet and a professional investigator from London.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Riana Everly was born in South Africa, but has called Canada home since she was eight years old. She has a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies and is trained as a classical musician, specialising in Baroque and early Classical music. She first encountered Jane Austen when her father handed her a copy of Emma at age 11, and has never looked back. 

Riana now lives in Toronto with her family. When she is not writing, she can often be found playing string quartets with friends, biking around the beautiful province of Ontario with her husband, trying to improve her photography, thinking about what to make for dinner, and, of course, reading!

Riana's debut novel, Teaching Eliza, was recently listed on a list of 2017 Favourite Books on the blog Savvy Verse & Wit, for which she is honoured and delighted and very proud!

Connect with Riana:
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Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Universal Book Link