Say Hello to Barbara Ross!

My Guest this week – Barbara Ross!

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Clammed Up, Boiled Over, and Musseled Out. Fogged Inn will be published on February 23, 2016. Barbara and her husband own the former Seafarer Inn at the head of the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. She blogs at Maine Crime Writers and Wicked Cozy Authors. Visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com.

• Welcome Barbara! Tell us a little about your background

Thanks, ROCCO! I’m a former COO of three technology startups, but I’ve always written. I was published first in short stories. My first mystery novel, The Death of an Ambitious Woman was published in 2010.

• Tell us a bit about your maine clambake mysteries. How did that idea come about?

My agent was throwing out ideas for cozy mysteries and he said one word, “Clambake.” We have a summer home with a big front porch at the head of the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and I’d always wanted to use coastal Maine as a setting for a book. My friend, Maine author Lea Wait, had told me her daughter had her wedding reception on a private island where a family ran a clambake—and I was off and running!

• How do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

Stephen King says that as you write, your characters get more depth and definition—like a photographic negative slowly forming an image. This is how I write. The character reveals him or herself in the first draft, and then I go back in the second draft and fill in the lean spots or fix the inconsistencies.

• How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

More “seat of the pants” than outlining. I use a method I call “scaffolding” which means I have a scene list that goes about ten scenes beyond the scene I am currently writing.

• Which do you consider more important, plot or character?

Character, definitely, especially for a series. It’s what keeps readers coming back.

• What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

First drafts are my bête noire. I don’t enjoy writing them and have to drag myself from beginning to end. However, I love, love doing revisions, and I know I don’t get to do that unless I have something to revise.

• Do you have an “How I got my agent” story you want to share?

My agent, John Talbot, wrote to author Sheila Connolly, who was then president of Sisters in Crime New England, to see if she knew of any members who wanted to write a spec proposal for a cozy series. Several of us did and several were sold. John was the one who said the word, “Clambake.”

• What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

I just finished a Christmas novella for Kensington that will be published in the fall of 2016 and now I’m writing the first draft of Iced Under, the fifth Maine Clambake Mystery.

• What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

I’m not a morning person, so in the morning I take care of what I call “the business of writing”—e-mails, blogs, social media, all that stuff. I write in the afternoon from after lunch until 5 p.m. or so. Then, when I’m in Key West, as I am now, I go for a swim.

• If you could take only three books with your for a year-long writing retreat in a gorgeous setting with no library, which three would you take?

Ruth Rendell’s Simisola, Elizabeth George’s Playing for the Ashes, Louise Penny’s A Trick of the Light.

• What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Two things. 1) Keep at it. It takes longer than you’d ever think possible, but it happens. (This is the same advice I would give an aspiring entrepreneur—since I’ve been both). 2) Writing is solitary, but getting published takes community. Get out and find your writing community.

• What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Worked in three startups and believed they would succeed. Wrote a first book and believed it would get published.

• What’s one thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you?

I’m not, er, crazy about lobster.

• What question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?)

Is the fish taco recipe in your latest book, Fogged Inn, as delicious as it sounds?

Yes.

•  Where can we learn more about you and your books?

Thanks so much for asking—at my website www.maineclambakemysteries.com

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  .Night

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Truthfully, dog, though I’ve had both and there’s a cat in the Maine Clambake Mysteries. We are petless now for the first time in decades, but I have a granddog and grandcat, named Monkey who is a certified maniac.

Beach or Pool?  Hard, but I’m more consistently in a pool.

Steak or salad?  Both, without hesitation.

Favorite Drink?  Coffee

Favorite Book?  Ruth Rendell’s Anna’s Book (Asta’s Book in the UK)

Favorite TV Series?  Mad Men

Favorite Movie?  About a Boy

Favorite Actor: Colin Firth

Favorite Actress: Emma Thompson

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Pina Colada (I’m not a gin drinker)

Hawaii or Alaska? Have been to neither, but I’m suspecting Hawaii

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be—one of the Founding Fathers—Adams, Jefferson, Franklin.

If I had just one wish, it would be—for family and friends, near and far, to be safe, well and happy.

If I could trade places with anyone in the world--it would be dangerous. You don’t know what private agonies public people suffer. Though it seems unimaginative, I’ll stay who I am, thanks.

Thank you, Barbara!

Folks, you can find her at:

www.maineclambakemysteries.com

www.wickedcozyauthors.com

www.mainecrimewriters.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6550635.Barbara_Ross

http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Ross/e/B003ZABYBG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

One lucky commenter below will win an autographed copy of Fogged Inn, the fourth Maine Clambake Mystery to be published Feb 23. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post with your name and email address (entries without email will be disqualified). For extra entries, you can do any or all of the below:

* Follow my blog (+ 1 point)
* Follow me on Twitter (+ 1 point) (Link: https://twitter.com/RoccoBlogger)
* Tweet about the contest (+ 1 point)
* Friend me on Facebook (+ 1 point) (Link: https://www.facebook.com/ToniLotempio)#!/

* Mention the contest on Facebook (+ 1 point)
* Mention the contest on your blog (+ 1 point)

Winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  Don’t forget to mention all you’ve done in your comment. Good luck! Contest ends midnight, Feb. 7.

ROCCO's favorite January cozy!

Meow!
As many of you know, I am also a reviewer for Night Owl digital magazine.  I review the cozies, and even though I love all of them, I usually have one or two favorites.

One of my Januaryfavorites is by our good friend Victoria Laurie:  A GHOUL'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER.

The plot:M.J., Heath, and Gilley, are back home in Boston, where their new film is sure to be a monster hit!  To promote the film, the studio is sponsoring a special exhibit of supernatural artifacts at a local museum. Unfortunately, Gilley—whose mind is engaged with wedding plans—gets talked into donating to the exhibit the very dagger that keeps the dangerous ghost Oruç and his pet demon locked down in the lower realms. Before M.J. can recover the bewitched blade, there’s a murder and a heist at the museum, and the dagger is stolen.

Now Oruç is coming for M.J. and her crew, and he's bringing with him some fiendish friends from M.J.’s haunted past. She, Gilley, and Heath are certain to be in for a devil of a time. M.J. may even need to recruit a certain skeptical Boston detective to help stop the paranormal party crashers from turning Gilley’s wedding bells to funeral knells. . . .

This is the last book in Laurie's Ghosthunter series, and we have to say, what a way to go!  This book has everything, and it is a fitting tribute to Laurie' characters.  We sincerely hope that Laurie has other cozies up her sleeve but if not, her Abby Cooper Psychic Eye series is still going strong!  and next week...I interview author Barbara Ross!

ROCCO welcomes Nina Mansfield!

Meow, my guest today is author Nina Mansfield!

• Welcome Nina! Tell us a little about your background

My background is in theater, and in my youth I spent six years in New York City acting. I mainly did a lot of off-off-Broadway, but if you look real close, you can spot me in a couple of films. While I was acting, I started writing plays. I’ve had a number of short plays, and a couple of full-length plays produced all around the world and published. I also have a degree in Educational Theater with Teaching English, and I spent nine years as a high school teacher in New York City and New York State.

• Tell us a bit about your latest book , SWIMMING ALONE

SWIMMING ALONE is my debut novel. It is a young adult mystery appropriate for ages 12 and up. It takes place in the fictional town of Beach Point, Rhode Island, where a serial killer known as “the Sea Side Strangler” is on the loose. My protagonist is a snarky fifteen-year-old named Cathy Banks, who has a slightly overactive imagination. But when her new friend Lauren disappears, she fears the worst, and works to figure out exactly what has happened.

• How do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

Mainly, I just keep writing and writing. Eventually, the characters and their voices begin to take shape on the page. My early drafts often serve as the “pre-writing” that helps me really find out who they are.

• How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I usually start out just writing. But at a certain point, I need to stop and outline. I often create many outlines as my characters start to take me in unexpected directions.

• Which do you consider more important, plot or character?

Ooo, that’s a tough one! It sort of depends on what I am writing. In some of my fiction, the plot takes precedence. But character is so important as well. I think there needs to be a good balance of both.

• What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

Finding the time to write is always difficult.  When I taught high school English and Drama, I was always either directing a play or grading papers. Now I care for my very acting toddler. So, it is always a struggle finding a quite time to delve into my writing. But my love of writing and telling stories keeps me motivated.

• Do you have an “How I got my agent” story you want to share?

At my first SCBWI conference, I took a workshop that discussed the importance of a narrator’s voice. That night, I went home, and started rewriting SWIMMING ALONE. I had a “good” novel, but I knew I could strengthen the voice. After that, I landed my agent right away.

• What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

Right now, I am revising my graphic novel FAKE ID: BEYOND RECOGNITION, which will be out in 2016 from Plume Snake. I am also revising a young adult paranormal thriller. After that, who knows? I have a number of ideas, and some partial outlines, but I just haven’t figured out what I am going to focus on yet.

• What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

Oh, I wish I could write every day! If I get to write for five hours in a week, then it is a very good week. Usually, I can get a little time in during the evening, or when my child naps.

• If you could take only three books with your for a year-long writing retreat in a gorgeous setting with no library, which three would you take?

THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES (because I have be reading, and re-reading all of the stories, and they are a great escape); my giant art history text book- because sometimes I don’t want to read when I am writing; and WAR AND PEACE, because it has been a while since I read a long Russian novel, and I imagine it would take all year.

• What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Don’t be afraid to write a “bad” fist draft. Just sit down and write!

• What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

I climbed the stairs to Machu Picchu at 4am during a thunderstorm.

• What’s one thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you?

My first language was Russian.

• What question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?)

What’s your favorite part about being a writer? Writing that first line!

•  Where can we learn more about you and your books?

·        List all the places readers can find you

·        My website: http://www.ninamansfield.com

·        My blog: http://www.ninamansfield.com/blog1

·        Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NinaMansfieldWriter

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/NinaJMansfield

·        Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/ninamwriter/

·         

·        BOOK LINKS:

·        Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013Y4WE48

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569442

·        Fire & Ice: http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/ninamansfield/swimmingalone.html

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Night

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cat. I have two. Coco and Cookie.

Beach or Pool?   Beach

Steak or salad?  Steak

Favorite Drink?  Coffee

Favorite Book?  Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Favorite TV Series?  Right now, I’d have to say THE AMERICANS

Favorite Movie?  SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

Favorite Actor: My husband, Joel Haberli

Favorite Actress:  Cate Blanchett

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Pina Colada

Hawaii or Alaska? Alaska—but only in the summer

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be Shakespeare.

If I had just one wish, it would be world peace

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be Lady Gaga. But just for a week or so.

Nina will give away to one lucky commenter a copy of SWIMMING ALONE. To enter, leave a comment below with your email address!  Contest closes midnight, Jan 24. Good luck!

ROCCO interviews Melodie Johnson Howe!

 

• Welcome Melodie! Tell us a little about your background

  Hi ROCCO!  I was Born in Los Angeles, I dreamed of becoming a great writer. Then Hollywood discovered me. At twenty-one I did a screen test for Universal Studios. Never having acted professionally, I somehow managed to land a seven-year contract. In that same month I married Bones Howe, record producer and bachelor father of three small children. At twenty-one you can do anything. I’m still married. The children have children. And I’m a writer!

• Tell us a bit about your Diane Poole series. Where did that idea come from ?

 I was asked to write a short story for the Sisters in Crime Anthology.   I knew that I wanted to write about Hollywood, which I hadn’t done to any  great extent in the Claire Conrad/Maggie Hill books, The Mother Shadow and Beauty Dies. I also knew I wanted an actress to be the narrator.   I thought it would be more interesting if she was older, alone, and had to go back to acting to earn a living. So I gave her a recently dead husband. And her age would give a very particular female perspective to the story.  Voila!  Diana Poole was created.   A character in a short story should be done with just few deft brushstrokes.  As I continued to write the short stories and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine continued to publish them, I realized that Diana would also make a great protagonist in a novel.  The Diana Poole I thought I knew in the short stories paled against the large canvas of a novel.  I had to create a more complex past for her. So I gave her not only a dead husband, but also a dead mother that she had never made peace with.  Even in Hollywood it all comes down to family.

 

• How do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

 

I get to know my characters while writing my book.  Characters need action to develop. My characters always surprise me.  My villain suddenly doesn’t want to be the villain.  A minor character decides she wants to be a major character.  The more I move ahead in the book the more I understand where my characters are going.  Writing is all forward motion. 

• How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I’ve always been a seat of my pants writer. Alas, I’m a slow writer, which drives my publisher and my readers crazy.  With the next book I’m going to try an outline and see if it speeds up the process.

 

·        Which do you consider more important, plot or character?

 

 Raymond Chandler once said that he hoped the reader would still enjoy his book if he didn't know how it ended.  I think what Chandler was saying is that even in our genre character is more important than “who did it”.  I just finished reading a book where the plot was more inventive and complicated than any of the characters.  I enjoyed the book, but I would have loved it if the protagonist had been just as inventive and complicated.  I have a confession to make.  Years ago when I first started reading the Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin books I would relish them right up to the point of Wolfe’s dénouement.  And then I’d get bored.  What I loved was the relationship between Nero and Archie.

• What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

 I love writing. Of course what you love never comes easy.  Fear of rejection is the biggest challenge I face.  Or maybe just plain fear.    My love for what I do also inspires me. It’s a gift to have talent. To be a writer.  It's important not to toss that gift away.

·        Do you have an “How I got my agent” story you want to share?

 

When I wrote The Mother Shadow I could not get an agent.  I was in New York with my husband. He was busy. I wasn’t. So I called up an agent who rejected the book but also seemed to really like it. I got her assistant.  I convinced the assistant to have lunch with me. She did. After a lot of talking she took the book!  It was nominated for an Edgar.

• What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

 My new Diana Poole novel, Hold A Scorpion is due out the fall of 2016.   So I’ll be working on the next one.  Trying that outline I was talking about.

 

What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing

 I try to write everyday.  How many hours I put in depends on how deeply I am into the novel.  The deeper the more hours.

• What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

 My advice to an aspiring writer is keep your head down. Don’t look up to see what other writers are doing.  You work is the only important thing.

·        What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

 The craziest thing I’ve ever done? You mean besides marrying a man with three children when I was twenty-one? Or talking an agent who rejected my novel into taking it back?   Or getting out of show biz?  I am crazy. Thank God.

 

What question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?)

I wish they would read my book before they interview me.

 

·        Where can we learn more about you and your books?

 

You can learn more about my books and my Hollywood life if you go to my web site www.MelodieJohnsonHowe.com 

Melodie Johnson Howe Author page on Facebook. 

 Or you can follow me on Twitter at @MelodieJHowe

 

 Just for Fun:

Night or Day?   Night

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Dog.

Beach or Pool?   Beach

Steak or salad?  Steak

Favorite Drink?  Pinot Noir

Favorite Book?   So many, so many

Favorite TV Series?  PBS Mystery

Favorite Movie?  So many, so many

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be Winston Churchill. When he was alive of course. In todays world?   I’m fine being me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ringing in 2016 with Molly MacRae!

Meow! My guest this week is author Molly MacRae!   

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” Molly is the author of the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries from NAL/Penguin. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she is a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. She spent twenty years in upper east Tennessee, the setting for her stories, short and long. She lives in Champaign, Illinois.

·        Welcome Molly! Tell us a little about your background.  Thanks ROCCO! I have degrees in anthropology and education. I’m a former museum director and also managed an independent bookstore. I love short stories, and have had seven published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. I work in the children’s department at the public library. I love everything about stories and books – reading them, sharing them, and writing them.

·        Tell us a bit about your Haunted Yarn Shop series! Where did that idea come from? The short answer is that it came about when an editor asked if I could write something with a ghost in it. I’d never thought of doing that before, but of course I said sure. The yarn shop part was easy. My grandmother had a yarn shop called The Little Wool Shop. I never saw it, but I loved the idea of it. She was a great knitter, and so was my mother, and so are my sisters. The yarn shop is a tribute to all of them. And the ghost – she showed up and stuck around and we’ve become good friends.

·        How do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books? I eavesdrop. They chatter away and listen in and take notes. If I don’t get enough from them that way, then I sit down and interview them.

·        How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”? There are plotters and there are pantsers. I’m a hybrid – a plantser. I outline, because I like to know where I’m going, but the outline is organic. It changes and takes unplanned twists and turns.

·        Which do you consider more important, plot or character? Character – if you do it right, if they’re real enough, plots will follow them through all their days.

·        What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?  Having a deadline is the biggest challenge, what inspires me and keeps me motivated is fear of not meeting that deadline. It’s amazing how much I can get done when I’m terrified.

·        Do you have a “How I got my agent” story you want to share? How did I get my agent? She fell into my lap. I had my lap in the right place at the right time, but there was an awful lot of luck involved. The agent was looking for a writer to work on a specific project. She asked an editor if she could recommend someone. The editor suggested me. The agent called and although it’s a cliché, you could have knocked me over with a feather. We’ve been working together ever since.

·        What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans? I’m working on something new, but I can’t say what it is just yet. I’m excited about it and terrified (see answer to question about biggest challenge, above). 

·        What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing? Up at 5 a.m. and write until breakfast time. Walk to work. Work until lunch. Gobble lunch and write until lunch hour is over. Return to work. Walk home, make and eat supper. Write until bedtime (anywhere between 10 and 11:30 p.m.) I probably write between three and five hours a day during the week. On weekends, when I don’t work at my day job, I might write between five and ten hours a day. 

·        If you could take only three books with you for a year-long writing retreat in a gorgeous setting with no library, which three would you take? Les Miserables (because it’s good and its really long) The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain, and The Most of P.G. Wodehouse.

·        What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author? Read, write, revise, and keep trying

·        What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Write five books in less than four years while working full time.

·        What’s one thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you? I love haggis.

·        What question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?) Why do you write cozy mysteries? Because planting bodies and clues in books is more socially acceptable than burying them in my backyard.

·         Where can we learn more about you and your books? On my website, www.mollymacrae.com

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Day

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cat  (Big grin from R)

Beach or Pool?  Beach

Steak or salad?  Salad

Favorite Drink?  Scottish breakfast tea with a bit of milk

Favorite Book?  Sorry, lots of favorites, no one favorite

Favorite TV Series?  See favorite book, above

Favorite Movie?  See favorite book, above

Favorite Actor? Not sure this is entirely true, but I’ll say Cary Grant

Favorite Actress? Same hedge as above, but I’ll say Katharine Hepburn

Dirty Martini or Piña Colada? Probably piña colada, but I’ve never had either.

Hawaii or Alaska? New Zealand

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be P.G. Wodehouse.

If I had just one wish, it would be for the strength to do what is good and right.

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be a twin I never knew I had who knows how to play piano, harp, guitar, and bagpipes and who also knows how to knit argyle socks.

You can find her at:

Website: www.mollymacrae.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/molly.macrae.9

Twitter: @MysteryMacRae

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/MollyMacRae/

Vintage Cookbooks and Crafts (on the 1^st Monday of each month): www.amyalessio.com

Killer Characters (on the 23^rd of each month): www.killercharacers.com

Molly will give one lucky commenter their choice of one of the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries!

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post with your name and email address (entries without email will be disqualified). For extra entries, you can do any or all of the below:

* Follow my blog (+ 1 point)
* Follow me on Twitter (+ 1 point) (Link: https://twitter.com/RoccoBlogger)
* Tweet about the contest (+ 1 point)
* Friend me on Facebook (+ 1 point) (Link: https://www.facebook.com/ToniLotempio)#!/

* Mention the contest on Facebook (+ 1 point)
* Mention the contest on your blog (+ 1 point)

Winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  Don’t forget to mention all you’ve done in your comment. Contest ends midnight, January 9. Good luck!