FEATURED AUTHOR: JODI RATH

ABOUT THE BOOK


Welcome to Leavensport, Ohio where DEATH takes a delicious turn!

Financial fraud of elderly villagers in Leavensport, an urban sprawl threat to the community, disastrous dates, cross-sell marketing gone wrong, and another murder? Jolie Tucker is ready to try dating again. Well, she has no choice—since her family auctioned her off to the highest bidder. Her best friend, Ava, has agreed to a double date, but both friends find out hidden secrets about their partners as well as deception by one of the village’s own, who will soon be found dead. This plot is sure to be spicy!


Book Details:

Title: Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Murder

Author: Jodi Rath

Genre: Culinary cozy mystery


Series: The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series, book 2


Publisher: MYS ED LLC (June 21, 2019)


Print length: 185 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours


IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH JODI RATH

IFs


If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
Teacher, own a purse boutique, own a bohemian jewelry boutique, own a cast iron skillet restaurant.


If you had to do community service (or already do volunteer work), what would you choose? Special Olympics—which I’ve done for many years! LOVE it!


If you could meet any author for coffee, who would you like to meet and what would you talk about?
Sara Paretsky, and I’d just sit and let her tell me EVERYTHING about her life. She does the most in depth research for her books, and I’m completely obsessed with her V.I. Warshawski novels!


If you could choose a fictional town to live in what would it be and from what book? Leavensport, Ohio—from my series—The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series.



If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
Florence, Italy


.

ANDs


5 favorite possessions: 
    •    books
    •    phone for music and e-books 
    •    kickboxing bag 
    •    purses
 and 
    •    beaded jewelry

5 things you need in order to write:
    •    cats 
    •    background noise like TV or music  
    •    staring at my woods out my window when deep in thought  
    •    books surrounding me
and 
    •    iced tea or hot tea  

5 things you love about writing:
    •    cats
    •    cast iron skillet recipes  
    •    love 
    •    tolerance
and
    •    a fun mystery to solve

5 things you never want to run out of: 
    •    chocolate
    •    tea
    •    pizza
    •    books
and
    •    great TV shows and movies to watch—not necessarily in that order! 

5 things about you or 5 words to describe you: 
    •    fierce
    •    moxy 
    •    risk-taker 
    •    lover of life  
and
    •     bad ass  

WHATs

What’s your all-time favorite place?
Home—wherever my husband and cats are.


What’s your all-time favorite memory?
Meeting my husband for the first time.


What’s your all-time favorite movie?
Pretty Woman.


What’s your all-time favorite author?
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Agatha Christie, Sara Paretsky, Emily Dickinson, Arthur Golden, Elaine Viets, Janet Evanovich, Donna Leon, Sue Grafton, I really like myself as an author too!


What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
I’m a kickboxer. I worked up to a brown belt (one lower than the black belt) but tore a ligament in both ankles sparring and now do it at home in my basement regularly.



What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Lack of open-mindedness and lack of tolerance in some people.


What’s the loveliest sight you’ve ever seen?
Looking out at my woods sitting on my deck or in my office.


What’s the most beautiful sound you’ve heard?
 My cats meowing or my husband’s voice. I also love to hear wind blowing and the sound of a bright rainbow.


What’s your favorite meal?
Fried hash browns made in a cast iron skillet with a little bit of onion and garlic in them.


What’s your favorite song?
Anything Tom Waits, Sia, or Aurora.


What’s your favorite thing to do?
Read, write, research, draw, acrylic/oil painting, kickboxing, hanging with my hubby and cats, watching TV or movies, listening to music.


What’s your favorite snack?
Queso, chocolate, chips.


What’s your favorite dessert?
Pineapple Upside-Down cake made in cast iron skillet.


What’s your favorite beverage?
Coke, Pepsi, hot or cold tea.


What’s your favorite ice cream?
Cherry cordial.


What’s your favorite thing to do when there’s nothing to do? 
Hang out with my hubby and cats.


What’s your favorite quote?
 “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson


What’s your favorite candy bar?
Milky Way.


What’s your favorite movie snack?
Popcorn and Sour Patch Kids.


What’s your favorite social media site? Would you rather tweet or post on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest?
 I like them all, but I use FB more than anything.


What’s your favorite color?
 Grass green and chocolate brown.



What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
HUGE purse with all my stuff!


What drives you crazy?
Lack of tolerance.



What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
The woods outside my home on my phone, and on my laptop a collage of all my cats, me, and my hubby.



What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
 Life’s a journey, not a race to be won.



What movie genre do you prefer: drama, comedy, action, adventure, thriller, or horror? 
Dramady.


What is your obsession?
Hubby, cats, writing, reading, art, music, good TV and movies, kickboxing

.

What is a pet peeve?
Nails on a chalkboard---OOOOHHHH OR when people move my things around—everything has a place for me.



What are your idiosyncrasies?
See above. LOL

What book are you currently working on?
 Thanksgiving holiday book coming out 11/18/19 called Turkey Basted to Death.



What’s your all-time favorite picture of yourself?
This picture of me in my new tee that my hubby got me for my 46th birthday on 5/25/19—we just got three new five week old kittens making it a total of nine in our home now and the tee reads “I was normal three cats ago” with the three little faces—all of our girls are black cats! LOL


What do you collect?
Purses, beaded, funky jewelry—nine cats—is that a collection?



What smells remind you of your childhood?
Homemade noodles

.

What author would you most like to review one of your books?
 Leslie Budewitz

.


What’s your all-time favorite place you’ve visited?
 Home.

What’s your latest recommendation for:
Food: cast iron jalapeño cheddar cornbread—Hey, there’s a delicious, spicy recipe in the back of the book Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Murder—she says tongue in cheek!
Music: Aurora—anything Aurora—or anything Sia—or anything Tom Waits.
Movie: Good Will Hunting.
Book: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden—the imagery in the book is out of this world!
Audiobook: I don’t listen to them. On another note though—for music—don’t just listen to Tom Waits—you HAVE to see him perform in person!
TV: Big Little Lies, True Detective, Homeland, Bachelor—the entire franchise, So You Think You Can Dance, World of Dance.
Netflix/Amazon Prime: Happy Valley, Sherlock, Absentia.
Miscellaneous: Huge purses—large totes to carry books, tablets, phones, make-up, highlighters, note cards, Dollar Tree squeezes for when I’m thinking, small leather journals to jot down notes anywhere, pens, phone, wireless headset for listening to tunes, big leather wallet filled with crumpled up receipts and papers with thoughts written on them and coupons that expired three years ago.

What books do you currently have published?
Pineapple Upside Down Murder
Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Murder 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR  


 Moving into her second decade working in education, Jodi Rath has decided to begin a life of crime in her The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series. Her passion for both mysteries and education led her to combine the two to create her business MYS ED, where she splits her time between working as an adjunct for Ohio teachers and creating mischief in her fictional writing. She currently resides in a small, cozy village in Ohio with her husband and her nine cats.


Connect with Jodi:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Bookbub  |  Newsletter

Buy the book: 

Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: HOLLY QUINN

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sure to delight fans of Betty Hechtman and Maggie Sefton, A Crafter Hooks a Killer is the second installment in Holly Quinn’s Handcrafted mysteries.



Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane suspects that a tantalizing thread links the deaths of her best friend and a bestselling author. But can she weave together the clues?



Samantha “Sammy” Kane is settling into her new life in idyllic Heartsford, Wisconsin, running her late friend Kate Allen’s craft shop, Community Craft when one early June day, bestselling crochet author Jane Johnson visits Heartsford. Captivated by Community Craft, Jane devotes a chapter in her new book, Behind the Seams, to the store. Sammy is honored, though satisfaction quickly turns to shock when she finds Jane strangled to death―her cold hands clutching a copy of her most recently published book, with the words “THE END” raggedly scratched into the cover.



Heavens to Etsy! Not only must Sammy contend with the author’s inauspicious demise, she has to untie some knotty details from her own past. It turns out Kate’s death was not what it seemed, and instead somehow hooked to Jane Johnson’s demise. Handsome Detective Liam Nash is on the “skein,” more than happy to see the shop owner again, if less than enamored by her sleuthing interventions. But this was Sammy’s best friend―she has to know.



Fortunately, Sammy has a “lace” in the hole. As a child, she formed the S.H.E. detective team with her cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie. Having already reconstituted their partnership, the S.H.E. team searches for a pattern behind the latest death. As the case starts to unravel, will Sammy and team be able to sidestep Liam quick enough to stitch together the clues?

Book Details:


Title: A Crafter Hooks a Killer 


Author: Holly Quinn


Genre: Cozy mystery


Series: Handcrafted Mystery series, book 2


Publisher: Crooked Lane (June 11, 2019)


Print length: 274 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours


   

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH HOLLY QUINN

Things you need in order to write: quiet, solitary space.
Things that hamper your writing: life, or interruptions in my writing schedule
.

Things you love about writing: creative outlet, surprises that show up in the text.
Things you hate about writing: working on multiple books at one time during series work.


Things you love about where you live: I live in a log cabin . . . it’s a dream.
Things that make you want to move: I’d love to be closer to the sea.


Things you never want to run out of: toilet paper.
Things you wish you’d never bought: clothes online that don’t fit and are a pain to return
.

Favorite foods: things I miss…REAL bread. I have celiac so I miss the old days when I could eat anything I wanted.
Things that make you want to throw up: Jell-O, or anything that moves funny in my mouth.

Favorite music: Pink. She is transparent and gets me on the treadmill.
Music that make your ears bleed: thrash music (is that a thing?).

Favorite smell: my husband wearing cologne.
Something that makes you hold your nose: vomit.

Something you’re really good at: I’m a jack of trades, master of none
.
Something you’re really bad at: mechanical issues
.

Something you wish you could do: travel more.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: clean toilets haha!

Things you’d walk a mile for: my husband or my children.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: politics or people arguing.

Things you always put in your books: flowers and nature
.
Things you never put in your books: atheists.

Things to say to an author: I loved your book.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I think I can write a book, but I don’t need to edit it. I’m that good. (someone actually said this to me!!) #clueless

Favorite books: mystery or intrigue
.
Books you would ban: graphic novels for kids.

Things that make you happy: writing, reading, gardening, painting, anything creative . . . 

Things that drive you crazy: people that aren’t honest.

Best thing you’ve ever done: publishing
.
Biggest mistake: going to school for something other than writing.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: publishing and speaking in public. Putting yourself out in the world for people to judge, critique, and harshly review can be daunting!

Something you chickened out from doing: speaking in public or singing in public

.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Holly Quinn has published two stand-alone fiction novels in another persona. She graduated from Carroll University in Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in business and a minor in marketing. This is her second Handcrafted mystery.



Connect with Holly:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads 


Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble |  Holly Quinn

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: JEREMY LEVEN

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Savior and the Singing Machine is the hilarious new novel by Jeremy Leven, known for his screenplays and/or directing such films as The Notebook (Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling), Don Juan DeMarco (Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway), and The Legend of Bagger Vance (Will Smith, Matt Damon, Robert Redford, director).

It’s the tale of a man who abandons all to search for Perfect Love.  The book follows Dr. Max Pincus across New England as he seeks a beautiful young woman, rumored to be the new Messiah – and, therefore, about as perfect as Perfect Love can get. 

Along the way, Pincus attracts a ragtag group of self-proclaimed apostles, among them Rosalie, who describes herself as “a” though not “the” Virgin Mother; Theo Wainwright, a demented antiques dealer seeking justification for his wife’s death; and Florence, the proprietor of an unpretentious Bed and Breakfast who yearns for absolutely anything else. There’s also Florence’s rather clueless husband, Sparky, and his literate brother, Elliott, the inventors of the gigantic and lethal Singing Machine, a device with a will of its own and a continually morphing and haunting song for which all of the above seek the true meaning.

Add to this mix Sister Gloria Gloria, a nun who keeps the group on a devout, if fiercely subjective, spiritual path, as well as several other irrepressible characters who have set sail for answers to the unanswerable, and you have the makings of a provocative tale – one that challenges many long-held beliefs about faith, religion, and the Scriptures. 

Book Details:

Title: The Savior and the Singing Machine

Author: Jeremy Leven

Genre: Comedy, Fiction

Publisher: iCreator Press (December 2018)

Print length: 448 pages


INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY LEVEN

Jeremy, what inspired you to write?
I set out many years ago to write three novels, each of which, while not related by story, were essentially about God, Satan and the Messiah. I pretty much knew the stories to begin with, and to some extent the characters, but, as one writes, the characters take on a life of themselves. Essentially, they take over and write the story.

The Savior is about a man in search of perfect love. In his pursuit, he leaves it all behind–including his wife and grown children. When he hears that the Messiah may have returned for the Second Coming, and that she is a beautiful young woman, he decides that this is about as perfect as you can get for love. Along the way, he encounters a number of people, each of whom has his or her own agenda for meeting this “Savior,” and soon he finds himself with what might be called “apostles.”  Each of them is not only seeking to be saved, but also to determine if this woman is, in fact, the Messiah. The complication on their journey is a very large, strange machine that sings its own haunting song every night. This song brings death to any who enter the machine while it sings. The group ultimately hopes to learn the meaning of this song, and of the Singing Machine, from the Savior.

Are any of the characters based on real people? 
I’ve made my living in film by inventing rich and engaging characters. The same is true for The Savior–I made up all the characters from whole cloth. I’ve never met anyone like Sparky, and definitely never met anyone like Sister Gloria Gloria. I get a great deal of pleasure from inventing individuals to people my stories. When I’m writing, I feel that I’m only a conduit. Ideas, characters, stories come somehow from up above, course through my fingers, and end up on the page. I have no idea how this happens. As proof, I often find myself laughing my head off when something funny comes, or have tears streaming down my cheeks when it’s moving, because it’s all new to me.

Which of your books are currently in print?
My first novel, Creator, was published in 1980 and released as a film of the same title in 1985. My second novel, Satan, His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S., was published in 1982 and filmed as Crazy as Hell in 2002. And The Savior and the Singing Machine was just released in 2018.

Will The Savior also be made into a movie?
Yes, I expect to start working on the screenplay early next year, and it will be a “major motion picture.”  At least, that’s the intention.

What do you think is the most difficult aspect of writing a novel?
I think anyone can write a novel. But I don’t think anyone can come up with a great story and rich and engaging characters. Unfortunately, this takes a gift, and that comes from above. Some are luckier than others. But, if you think you might have the gift, then you should listen to others who have experience at this –editors, other novelists, readers. Then go back at it. It requires great persistence and can’t be pushed. Each day, every writer faces the greatest horror he or she can face – the blank page.

Do you have a writing routine?
My routine really does vary.  I wrote Satan in one three-month non-stop sitting (in pencil and on yellow legal pads). It took over thirty years to write The Savior and The Singing Machine, largely because I was busy doing films, but then spent two years working four to eight hours a day finishing the novel. Having five children growing up and a wife working full-time also has a way of curtailing writing time. However, there are times when I will get a thought, or listen to a piece of music, or read something, and I find myself inspired and go immediately to the computer and start writing, not infrequently long into the night and early morning.

Do you write every day?
I try to write every day, but rarely do so. I write in bursts.

What’s more important — characters or plot? 
Plot comes from character. It’s an iron-clad rule in both film and fiction. Unless one is writing a comic book or effects film, or a non-fiction book, it’s all about people – rich, interesting, conflicted, identifiable people, people who you want to know and stay with. Plots come out of who they are and how they interact.

What’s your biggest pet peeve about writing?
Facing the blank page. It never ceases to be terrifying.

Do you have a favorite quote?
“Throughout all of history and the arts, nothing great has been accomplished without passion.”
– Hegel.

What are you working on now?
My wife died a year ago from pancreatic cancer. For three years, I did absolutely nothing but care for her in every way imaginable. I am writing now about what a caretaker for a person with terminal cancer goes through. Strangely, there are many books about caretaking for a dementia or Alzheimer’s spouse or parent, and many books written by patients fighting to stay alive, but not a single book about what a caretaker goes through. I am also writing a play about Francis I of France during the Renaissance for a theater in Paris. And, finally, I’m writing a screenplay for Tom Hanks about a well-off middle-class family in 2009 in New York city who find themselves homeless and get into -- and never out of -- the welfare system, of which the film is an indictment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeremy Leven, author of The Savior and the Singing Machine, is a highly-acclaimed screenwriter, novelist, and movie director. His novels, published in 17 languages, include Creator and Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S. He has written the screenplays for The Notebook, Creator, The Legend of Bagger Vance, My Sister's Keeper, and Real Steel, among others. In addition, he wrote and directed Don Juan DeMarco and Girl on a Bicycle. Leven was educated at St. John's College, Harvard University, University of Connecticut, and Yale Medical School where he was a fellow in the Department of Psychiatry's Child Study Center. He has also been a Harvard faculty member, a Professor of Psychopharmacology, Director of a Mental Health Center, and Director of Drug Treatment and Methadone Programs for Western Massachusetts. Leven divides his time between homes in Connecticut and Manhattan. He is currently working on a non-fiction book as well as a screenplay for Tom Hanks.


Connect with Jeremy:

Facebook  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

FEATURED AUTHOR: MICHAEL HOUTZ

ABOUT THE BOOK 



Cole Haufner has no equal as a professional MMA fighter. At the peak of his success, Cole suffers a horrible personal tragedy. His grief deepens when his brother, Butch, a Delta Force operator, goes missing. Desperate to find Butch, Cole travels back to his childhood home in southeastern China and the Shaolin Temple where he was raised. 

When Cole meets his brother's Delta teammate, code name Hammer, his fame and personal agenda collide with the Delta unit's mission to recover an invention that could transform the human race. It could also see its downfall, if the pursuing North Korean agents find it first. 

Cole's spiral downward approaches madness as a family secret is revealed, one that could force him to choose between his brother and one of the most important, and potentially deadliest, discoveries in modern human history.




Book Details:


Title: Dark Spiral Down

Author’s name:  Michael Houtz

Genre:  Thriller

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press (May 8, 2019)

Print length: 376 pages

On tour with: Pump Up Your Book




LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH MICHAEL HOUTZ

A few of your favorite things: puppies, children’s laughter, good friends.
Things you need to throw out: nearly my entire wardrobe, Internet troll responses
.

Things you need in order to write: Google, the book’s movie in my head, full stomach.
Things that hamper your writing: social media pings, my dog’s leash, doorbells
.

Things you love about writing: creativity, reader reactions, zero commute.
Things you hate about writing: editing while I write, computers freezing/lost files, the actual earnings per hour spent creating.

Easiest thing about being a writer: working whenever inspiration strikes
.
Hardest thing about being a writer: malicious criticism
.

Things you love about where you live: the great outdoors, the people, the sunshine.
Things that make you want to move: people migrating here from certain parts of the country who bring their poor choices with them; reduction in personal freedoms.


Things you never want to run out of: ideas, family time, Hot Tamale candy.
Things you wish you’d never bought: those damned golf clubs. The jeep I barely took offroad


Favorite foods: Crawfish ettoufe, crab legs, anything cow.
Things that make you want to throw up: coconut, green beans, gas station sushi.

Favorite beverage: DR Pepper
.
Something that gives you a pickle face: that Green juice my wife makes.

Favorite smell: home-baked bread.

Something that makes you hold your nose: changing a diaper pail.

Something you’re really good at: assessing a situation
.
Something you’re really bad at: ignoring bad behavior
.

Something you wish you could do: draw.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: bite my fingernails.

Something you like to do: fishing
.
Something you wish you’d never done: flaming shots of Jaegger.

People you consider as heroes: our women and men in uniform
.
People with a big L on their foreheads: hypocrits, bullies.



Last best thing you ate: Pop-Tarts.
Last thing you regret eating: Pop-Tarts.

Things you’d walk a mile for: good book, a kiss from my wife, a friend in need.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: politics, my dog’s GI disturbances.

Things you always put in your books: detailed fight scenes, good triumphing.

Things you never put in your books: cats.

Things to say to an author: I’m a huge fan.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Did they publish your rough draft?

Favorite places you’ve been: Vienna, London, Budapest.

Places you never want to go to again: Paris, Jamaica.

Favorite things to do: traveling, shooting, camping
..
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: the dentist, PTA meetings.

Things that make you happy: on-time flights, tacos, good customer service
.
Things that drive you crazy: being late, open-mouth chewers.

Most embarrassing moment: falling off stage in front of 25,000 people
.
Proudest moment: watching my 3-year-old son escort a crying toddler from entrapment on a McDonald’s playground.

Biggest lie you’ve ever told: “I’ll never become an author.”

A lie you wish you’d told: “Those pants totally fit.”

Best thing you’ve ever done: marry the girl of my dreams.

Biggest mistake: waiting 30 years to pursue writing full-time.

The last thing you did for the first time: publish a novel.

Something you’ll never do again: wait on a dream.

EXCERPT FROM DARK SPIRAL DOWN




One

Anger born of helplessness rose in his chest. In contrast to Master Li’s placating tone, Cole straightened to his full height and stared into the man’s face. “Let me guess, more 14K cowards?”

Another man stepped forward and cocked his pistol’s hammer. “I show you coward.”

As at the Crowne Plaza earlier, Cole refused to back off, even in the face of impending conflict. “The coward is the man who needs a gun.”

The other with the shotgun pointing at Cole’s chest stood only some seven or eight feet away. “You will come with us now!”

“Please. Violence is forbidden here,” Master Li spoke again. “The Temple is sacred. We cannot have this type of behavior.”

“Maybe you don’t hear so good,” the leader sneered. “He comes with us whether you approve or not.”

“He is a famous American! If you take him, the government will arrest anyone involved. They will have no choice but to hold immediate trials and executions.” Master Li cupped his hands together and held them against his chest.

“Famous American,” the man chuckled. “If you are so famous, what are you doing here then, huh?”

Cole stared straight into the man’s eyes. He took several steps toward the shotgun-wielding thug. “How about I show you?”

Excerpt from Dark Spiral Down. Copyright © 2019 by Michael Houtz. Reproduced with permission from Michael Houtz. All rights reserved.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


After a career in medicine, Mike succumbed to the call to hang up his stethoscope and pursue his other passion as a writer of fast-paced thrillers. A rabid fan of authors such as Clancy, Mark Greaney, Vince Flynn, and Brad Thor, Mike loves series writing with strong characters, fast pacing and international locations, all of which explode into action in his debut novel, a 2017 Zebulon Award winner. When not at the keyboard, he can be found on the firing range, traveling for research across the globe, or trying out the latest dry-fly pattern on a Gold Medal trout stream. He lives at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.


Connect with Mike:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads


Buy the book:

Amazon

FEATURED AUTHOR: ELLEN MANSOOR COLLIER

ABOUT THE BOOK



When young Galveston Gazette society reporter Jazz Cross hears rumors of grave robbers at the Broadway Cemetery, she and photographer Nathan Blaine investigate, hoping to land a scoop. The newshawks witness meetings held by clandestine gangs and enlist the help of her beau, Prohibition Agent James Burton, who attempts to catch the elusive culprits red-handed.

Meanwhile, the supernatural craze takes Galveston by storm, and Jazz is assigned to profile the society set’s favorite fortune teller, Madame Farushka. Sightings of a ghost bride haunting the Hotel Galvez intrigue Jazz, who sets up a Ouija board reading and séance with the spiritualist. Did the bride-to-be drown herself—or was she murdered?

Luckily, Sammy Cook, her black-sheep half-brother, has escaped the Downtown Gang and now acts as the maître d’ for the Hollywood Dinner Club, owned by rival Beach Gang leaders. During a booze bust, the Downtown Gang’s mob boss, Johnny Jack Nounes, is caught and Jazz worries: will Sammy be forced to testify against his former boss? Worse, when a mystery man turns up dead, Sammy is framed for murder and Jazz must solve both murders and help clear Sammy’s name.

As the turf war between rival gangs rages on, Jazz relies on her wits and moxie to rescue her brother and her friends before the Downtown Gang exacts its revenge.

Book Details:

Title: Deco Dames, Demon Rum and Death

Author: Ellen Mansoor Collier

Genre: Cozy mystery


Series: Jazz Age Mysteries, book 5

Publisher: Decodame Press (December 28, 2018)


Print length: 249 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours


IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH ELLEN MANSOOR COLLIER

Ifs


If you could talk to someone (living), who would it be and what would you ask them?
Hard to pick one: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Elon Musk, Tilman Fertitta (he was so nice when I met him recently), Oprah Winfrey, Essie Davis–they alI fascinate me! First I’d ask: What drives you?

If you could talk to someone (dead), who would it be and what would you ask them?
Nellie Bly: What motivated you to become a journalist?
Zelda Fitzgerald: Did you help pen Scott’s stories? 
Agatha Christie: Why did you become a writer and how do you come up with your ideas?
Dorothy Parker: Why do you have a death wish?
Shakespeare: Did you write all your own plays/sonnets or did you have help (as rumored)?
Coco Chanel: How do you handle your critics?
Erte’: What inspires you? How did you become so prolific?

If you could live in any time period which would it be? 1920s.

If you could step back into a moment or day in time, where would you go?
1919-1920  The day when women got the right to vote. Also V-day.

If you could time travel for an infinite period of time, where would you go?
1920s Paris and meet all the literary greats and artists of that time: Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Picasso, et al.

If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
I’m very visual and like to be active, but writing novels can be rather static and confining.
I worked as a magazine journalist (writer/editor) for 20+ years and got to meet lots of interesting people, some famous, most ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Besides a foreign correspondent, I’d like to be a screenwriter/director, a casting agent/talent scout, a literary agent or maybe a commercial interior designer, perhaps for restaurants and hotels.

If you had to do community service (or already do volunteer work), what would you choose?
I’d work with animals or children—better yet, both.

If you were on the Amazon bestseller list, who would you choose to be one before and one below you?
Rhys Bowen, Amy Metz and Kerry Greenwood
. Wow! Thank you!

If you could meet any author for coffee, who would you like to meet and what would you talk about? Kerry Greenwood, author of the Miss Fisher mysteries. Love the TV series!

If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
Europe, preferably Belgium, or South of France or Italy, but I’d need to learn the languages. My college French won’t cut it!




Ands  

5 things you need in order to write:  
    •    some ideas
    •    peace & quiet
    •    soft jazz
    •    comfy chair
and
    •    fruit tea or flavored ice coffee

5 things you love about writing: 
    •    dress code, hours
    •    making up stories and characters
    •    word play, putting your thoughts in characters’ dialogue
    •    researching interesting topics
and
    •    interacting with appreciative readers, seeing your novels on shelves!

5 favorite foods: 
    •    baked salmon
    •    pesto on fresh bread
    •    stuffed squash
    •    grape leaves with meat
and
    •    chicken and dumplings–I could go on and on!

5 things you always put in your books: 
    •    mystery
    •    history
    •    light romance
    •    animals
and
    •    food  

5 favorite places you’ve been: 
    •    Saint Chapelle and  Tuileries Jardins in Paris
    •    Kensington Gardens in London
    •    Capetown in S. Africa
    •    Florence and Sicily, Italy
and
    •    Austin, Texas (when I was in college)

5 people you'd like to be stuck in a bookstore with:
    •    Dorothy Parker
    •    F. Scott Fitzgerald
    •    Ernest Hemingway
    •    Agatha Christie
and
    •    James Lee Burke


5 favorite books:
    •    Mademoiselle Chanel
   
    •    Rebecca (by Daphne Du Maurier)
    •    Whiskey River (by Loren Estleman) His Detroit series is about a journalist (Amos Walker?) who covers historic Detroit, from the 1920-s 1950s.
    •    1939 (about Jack Kennedy)
and
    •    The Jealous Kind or most anything by James Lee Burke (his writing is so good, he makes violence almost seem palpable)

Whats

What’s your all-time favorite place?
Any sidewalk café in Paris.

What’s your all-time favorite memory?
Going fishing with my father.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?
Casablanca, easily. More recently, I loved the 1920s scenes in Midnight in Paris.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Jerks and bad drivers.

What’s the loveliest sight you’ve ever seen? 
 Sainte Chapelle in Paris, a church full of stained-glass windows.

What’s the most beautiful sound you’ve heard?
Notre Dame church bells, birds singing.

What’s your favorite time of day?
Midnight—I’m a night owl!

What’s your favorite thing to do? I love to travel, swim, take walks, go to museums and plays, antique shop, enjoy a nice meal. Dying to go on a cruise, but afraid I’d get seasick. 

What’s your favorite snack?
Popcorn or peanuts.

What’s your favorite dessert?
German chocolate cake with thick frosting.

What’s your favorite beverage?
Arnold Palmers and mango margaritas.

What’s your favorite ice cream?
Almond Joy, anything with coconut and chocolate.

What’s your favorite hobby or past-time?
Collecting Deco items, especially at big outdoor markets~ love the hunt and the history!

What’s your favorite thing to do when there’s nothing to do?
Nature walks, reading.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
Make-up and iced tea/water.

What drives you crazy?
Needless noise, people eating and talking at movies, rude clerks.


What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
George Barbier’s Eventails (My Gold Diggers cover)
.

What movie genre do you prefer: drama, comedy, action, adventure, thriller, or horror?
Absolutely no horror. I like a variety of movies, depends on the subject and acting.
On TV, I tend to prefer period pieces with some drama, action and comedy, no horror . . . really enjoyed series like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Downton Abbey, and Mad Men.  

What would you rather watch: MSNBC, CNN, or Fox? 
MSNBC, CNN.

What do you collect?
Deco flappers items, vintage purses, and compacts
.

What’s your latest recommendation for:
Movie: I loved watching The Greatest Entertainer with my mother, the last movie we saw together (she had a big crush on Hugh Jackman).  The Man Who Invented Christmas is my new favorite holiday movie, so fascinating: Imagine Dickens with writer’s block!
TV:  Big Texas Fix features a young couple who restores historic homes in Galveston (on the DIY/HGTV network on Saturday nights).
Also I caught the first episode of Songland, and the collaboration between songwriters and singers seems so interesting, from concept to creation, a bit like writing novels.
Netflix/Amazon Prime:  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (wonderful!) and The Highwaymen.

EXCERPT FROM DECO DAMES, DEMON RUM AND DEATH

Nathan and I arrived a few minutes early, to allow him time to set up his camera equipment. Madame Farushka, dressed like a Cleopatra clone with flowing scarves and arms of jangly bracelets and huge hoop earrings—probably real gold, with her fees—seemed to enjoy playing dress-up.  With a dramatic flourish, she flung open the double stained-glass doors and led us down the dark hall past a beaded curtain entrance into her parlor, filled with massive carved Victorian furniture and ugly gargoyle bronzes.

A new Ouija board sat in the middle of a round oak table, with four chairs evenly spaced apart, a candelabra in the center. Madame rose to untie the thick silk cords and closed the heavy burgundy velvet curtains trimmed with long fringe, blocking out any twilight in the already-dark room.

Nervously I eyed the flickering candles. Sure, they helped set the supernatural mood, but to me they represented a fire hazard.

The flames cast an eerie glow: shadows and misshapen faces and figures of statues and religious icons seemed to magnify and flash like images in a fun-house mirror.

I got the shakes, feeling as if I’d stepped onto the set of The Phantom of the Opera. All we needed was an enormous swaying crystal chandelier to complete the Gothic scene....

Lily briefly described her encounters with the ghost bride, Marilyn, but didn’t mention murder. She glanced at the Ouija board, exclaiming, “I’m so excited.  How exactly do these work?”

After Madame explained the rules—we must remain silent during the reading while she asked the questions—we solemnly took our seats, scooted our chairs closer and placed our fingers on the celluloid triangular-shaped planchette, or pointer.  Then she chanted in low tones: “Oh, dear spirit, why do you haunt the Hotel Galvez? What unfinished business must you resolve?”

The planchette was still.  No vibration, no movement. I stole a peek at Nathan, who tried not to laugh. The women seemed so intent on the Ouija board’s powers that I felt guilty, and obediently shut my eyes. Madame again attempted to summon the bride.  “Tell us, spirit, why did you seek out Lily?   Do you have a message for her, for all of us? Why is your soul so troubled?”....

Madame Farushka’s eyes were closed and she swayed back and forth to a silent rhythm. Tilting my head, I signaled Nathan to start taking photos. No one paid attention as he quietly moved around the dark room and took a few shots. His flash added to the atmosphere, the puffs of smoke creating a cloudy haze.

The planchette vibrated and kept sliding across the board. Wary, I watched Lily and Madame for any evidence of trickery or manipulation, but everything appeared above board, so to speak. Slowly the planchette picked up speed and floated across the Ouija’s surface, spelling out a familiar, frightening word:  M-U-R-D-E-R.

Excerpt from by Deco Dames, Demon Rum and Death.  Copyright © 2018 by Ellen Mansooer Collier. Reproduced with permission from Ellen Mansooer Collier. All rights reserved.


OTHER BOOKS BY ELLEN MANSOOR COLLIER

Flappers, Flasks and Foul Play
 

Bathing Beauties, Booze and Bullets

Gold Diggers, Gamblers and Guns

Vamps, Villains and Vaudeville

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellen Mansoor Collier is a Houston-based freelance magazine writer and editor whose articles and essays have been published in a variety of national magazines. Several of her short stories have appeared in Woman’s World. During college summers, she worked as a reporter for a Houston community newspaper and as a cocktail waitress, both jobs providing background experience for her Jazz Age mysteries.

A flapper at heart, she’s worked as a magazine editor/writer, and in advertising and public relations (plus endured a hectic semester as a substitute teacher). She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Magazine Journalism and served on UTmost, the college magazine and as president of WICI (Women in Communications).

She lives in Houston with her husband and Chow mutts and visits Galveston whenever possible.

“When you grow up in Houston, Galveston becomes like a second home. I had no idea this sleepy beach town had such a wild and colorful past until I began doing research, and became fascinated by the legends and stories of the 1920s. Finally, I had to stop researching and start writing, trying to imagine a flapper’s life in Galveston during Prohibition.”



Connect with Ellen:
Website  |  Goodreads  |  Pinterest 

Buy the book:
Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: RENEE LINNELL

ABOUT THE BOOK



After seven years of faithfully following her spiritual teacher, Renee Linnell finally realized she was in a cult and had been severely brainwashed. But how did that happen to someone like her? She had graduated magna cum laude with a double degree. She had traveled to nearly fifty countries alone before she turned thirty-five. She was a surf model and a professional Argentine tango dancer. She had started five different companies and had an MBA from NYU. How could someone like her end up brainwashed and in a cult? 



The Burn Zone is an exploration of how we give up our power―how what started out as a need to heal from the loss of her parents and to understand the big questions in life could leave a young woman fighting for her sanity and her sense of self. In the years following her departure from the cult, Linnell struggled to reclaim herself, to stand in her truth, and to rebuild her life. And eventually, after battling depression and isolation, she found a way to come out the other side stronger than ever. Part inspirational story, part cautionary tale, this is a memoir for spiritual seekers and those who feel lost in a world that makes them feel like they don’t belong.

Book Details:


Title: The Burn Zone: A Memoir


Author’s name: Renee Linnell


Genre: Memoir


Publisher: She Writes Press (October 9, 2018)


Print length: 299 pages






LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH RENEE LINNELL


A few of your favorite things: coffee, my surfboards, my car, my house, my friends, my health, my body (in no particular order).
Things you need to throw out: all the cat food I saved when my cat died (because I thought she was going to reincarnate soon), clothes I feel ugly in, anything I haven’t used in the last year.


Things you need in order to write: quiet, alignment, my computer, a sense of something wanting to be expressed.
Things that hamper your writing: noise, irritated or sluggish mood, a full schedule. 


Things you love about writing: the flow, the feeling of it moving through me as if I’m a channel, the contentment I feel when finished.
Things you hate about writing: self-doubt.


Easiest thing about being a writer: perfect excuse for an introvert to stay home. 

Hardest thing about being a writer: self-doubt, forgetting that I’m doing it because it feels right and accidentally getting swept up in the “I hope people like this” drama.

Things you love about where you live: it is SO quiet and so beautiful. The deer, elk, foxes, chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and occasional moose that visit me. And the seasons.
Things that make you want to move: Sometimes I feel landlocked. And sometimes the winter seems very long. And sometimes I miss the ocean and all of the opportunity in a city.


Things you never want to run out of: love, health, friends, happiness, joy, desire, passion, creative ideas.
Things you wish you’d never bought: The house I tried to turn into an ashram. 


Favorite foods: coffee, chocolate, tequila, cheeseburgers.
Things that make you want to throw up: mushrooms, sea urchin, wild game.

Favorite music: Dancehall reggae, calypso, soca, and devotional chanting.
Music that makes your ears bleed: anything with anyone whining or complaining (but, sometime I really do like very loud, very offensive gangster rap).

Favorite beverage: water no ice, coffee, tequila.

Something that gives you a pickle face: soda.

Something you’re really good at: dancing.

Something you’re really bad at: anything with a ball
.

People you consider as heroes: anyone who uses her/his strength, power, intellect, and opportunity to lift others up.

People with a big L on their foreheads: anyone who uses her/his strength, power, intellect, and opportunity to push others down.



Last best thing you ate: a kale/spinach/chard/berry/almond butter/flaxseed/nutritional yeast smoothie. 
Last thing you regret eating: the airplane chicken lunch.

Things you’d walk a mile for: love, friends, to help someone, to be in nature, to feel better.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: gossip, complaining, very loud talkers, anxious mean nervous energy.

Things to say to an author: “I love your book.”
“It was a page-turner.” 
“Your book helped me so much.”
“You are a great writer.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I just haven’t gotten around to reading it.”

Favorite places you’ve been: Fiji, Buenos Aires, Bhutan.

Places you never want to go to again: I can’t really think of one. South Florida comes to mind. Lol But, my twin lives there so I have to go once or twice a year.

Favorite books: I love Lee Child’s books!

Books you would ban: None. I think we all need to express ourselves how we want to and I think there is a market for everything.

Favorite things to do: surf, dance, snowboard, yoga, hike, bike, write, meditate.

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: gossiping, small-talk, ladies lunches.

Things that make you happy: quiet, serenity, live reggae music, being on a boat, being in nature, snowboarding down an empty mountain.

Things that drive you crazy: too many people swarming around.

The last thing you did for the first time: A new version of my book talk: instead of being “cult survivor” I decided I was ready to simply be “Renee with a wild story; Renee who went through exactly what she had to in order to bloom.” I realized I wanted to stop dragging the past with me and focus instead on all the wisdom gained; to simply be an example of thriving after tragedy.

Something you’ll never do again: Join a cult. 



ABOUT THE AUTHOR  



Renee Linnell graduated Magna Cum Laude with a double degree, traveled to nearly fifty countries before she turned thirty-five, was a surf/bikini model and a professional Argentine Tango dancer, started five different companies, and got an MBA from New York University. She also spent close to seven years in a Buddhist cult and ended up severely brainwashed. In her new memoir, The Burn Zone, Renee discusses her journey into "deranged and damaged" and her awakening on the other side. Her key message is: “Our difference is our destiny, and that when we stop trying to hide the parts of us that make us different, we will truly soar!”

Connect with Renee:

Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

FEATURED AUTHOR: CLIVE FLEURY

ABOUT THE BOOK

WHEN THE OCEANS RISE . . . THE TRUTH DROWNS

The year 2031. Our future. Their present. A world decimated by climate catastrophe, where the sun's heat is deadly and the oceans rise higher every day. A world ruled by the rich, powerful, and corrupt. A world where a good man can't survive for long.

Hogan Duran was a good man once: a good cop, forced to resign in disgrace when he couldn't save his partner from a bullet. Now Hogan lives on the fraying edges of society, serving cruel masters and scavenging trash dumps just to survive.

But after four years of living in poverty, Hogan finally gets the chance to get back on his feet. He's invited to join the National Security Council, the powerful paramilitary organization responsible for protecting the rich and powerful from the more unsavory elements of society. All he needs to do is pass their deadly entrance exam, and he'll be rewarded with wealth and opportunity beyond his wildest dreams.

But this ex-cop's path to redemption won't be easy. The NSC is hiding something, and as Hogan descends deeper and deeper into their world, he starts to uncover the terrible truth of how the powerful in this new society keep their power...and just how far they'll go to protect their secrets.

In a world gone wrong, can one good man actually make a difference? Or will he die trying?

Book Details:


Title: Kill Code 

Author: Clive Fleury


Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction


Series: First of a trilogy


Publisher: TCK Publishing (December 2018)


Print length: 148 pages

   


LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH CLIVE FLEURY

A few of your favorite things: sunrise, wine, kind people, energy, love.
Things you need to throw out:  Everything that I have hoarded for the past year


Things you need in order to write: quiet, a laptop.
Things that hamper your writing: not having the above
.

Things you love about writing: the feeling of achievement on completing a good day’s writing.
Things you hate about writing: that it’s hard.

Easiest thing about being a writer: making up excuses not to write
.
Hardest thing about being a writer: writing
.

Things you love about where you live: the beach, the sun.
Things that make you want to move: the drivers, rude people.


Things you never want to run out of: coffee.
Things you wish you’d never bought: A pair of bright canary yellow trousers. A fashion fopaur.


Words that describe you: funny, optimistic, tenacious.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: bad tempered, too talkative.

Favorite foods: scallops, oysters, beets, and potatoes.
Things that make you want to throw up: celery, prunes, bad smells.

Favorite music or song: independent rock and folk.
Music that make your ears bleed: heavy metal.

Favorite beverage: coffee
.
Something that gives you a pickle face: prune juice.

Favorite smell: the fresh morning air at sunrise
.
Something that makes you hold your nose: car exhausts.

Something you’re really good at: procrastinating
.
Something you’re really bad at: yoga
.

Something you wish you could do: play the guitar.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: I’ve never wished that.

Something you like to do: continue to travel.

Something you wish you’d never done: gone to Hull, England.

People you consider as heroes: anyone who looks after the poor, the lonely and the sick. 

People with a big L on their foreheads:  Arrogant a…holes.



Last best thing you ate: toast, this morning.

Last thing you regret eating: fish from a restaurant in France that made me violently sick.

Things you’d walk a mile for: friends and good company.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: arrogant a…holes (see above).

Things you always put in your books: a lot of time.

Things you never put in your books: nothing I can think of.

Things to say to an author: Hi
.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: are you writing about me, a…hole?

Favorite places you’ve been: the list is too long.

Places you never want to go to again: Hull, England.

Favorite books: Sci-Fi and thrillers.

Books you would ban: I wouldn’t.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): my friends.

People you’d cancel dinner on: I wouldn’t. I’d not invite them in the first place.

Favorite things to do: get up early to see the sunrise, walk on the beach, go out to dinner, go to the movies, write.

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: my taxes.

Things that make you happy: being alive
.
Things that drive you crazy: the fact that I’m going to die one day.

Most embarrassing moment: falling asleep when my wife was about to give birth.

Proudest moment: birth of my daughter.

Biggest lie you’ve ever told: that I never lie.

A lie you wish you’d told: that I never lie.

Best thing you’ve ever done: live
.
Biggest mistake: falling in love too easily.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: flying over the Andes in a glider
.
Something you chickened out from doing: going on the Kingda Ka rollercoaster .

The last thing you did for the first time: fly first class. 

Something you’ll never do again: fly over the Andes in a glider
.

OTHER BOOKS BY CLIVE FLEURY

Scary Lizzy
Art Pengriffin And The Curse of the Four
The Boy Next Door




ABOUT THE AUTHOR  


Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and a TV and film director and producer. He has worked for major broadcasters and studios on a wide variety of successful projects in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. Kill Code: A Dystopian Science Fiction Novel is his latest book. Clive lives in Miami with his wife, his teenage daughter, and a cat called Louis.



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


Buy the book:
Amazon   |  Barnes & Noble