ROCCO’s REVIEW
ONE OF US
LORIE LEWIS-HAM
Kindle/Paperback/Amazon
Five Stars
At 35, children’s book author Roxi Carlucci finds herself
starting over again after her publisher drops her book series. With no income,
she has to pack up her life on the California Coast, along with her pet rat
Merlin, and move in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen Carlucci, who lives in
Fresno, CA. The one redeeming factor is that Stephen lives in the Tower
District—the cultural oasis of Fresno.
Stephen talks Roxi into helping out with a community theatre
production, which is also a fundraiser for a local animal rescue. Then someone
is murdered during a rehearsal in the locked theatre, and now she and Stephen
are hired to find the killer. Can they stop the killer before they strike
again? The killer has to be one of Roxi’s new acquaintances since the theatre
was locked at the time of the murder, but no one seems to have a motive. How
can they solve a murder without a motive? Could the local gossip website hold
any clues?
This is just the type of book we love....a plucky
heroine starting over, an animal rescue, a murder in a locked theatre---could
it get any more thrilling! Lori
Lewis-Ham is off to a great start with this series, which kept me turning pages
until the final clue was revealed.
Definitely a five paws up...and BTW, you will fall in love with Merlin.
Reminds me of a certain cat named Nick.......
and now, ROCCO interviews Lorie Lewis-Ham!
- Tell
us a little about your background-
Answer: My background in writing goes
way back. I have been writing ever since I was able to write
my first sentence. My first song and poem were published when I was 13, and I
have published many short stories and articles through the years, worked for a
local newspaper off and on, and have published 6 mystery novels-the latest of
which came out in 2021. For the past 12 years, I have been the editor-in-chief
and publisher of Kings River Life
Magazine, and produced Mysteryrat’s
Maze Podcast for the past 4 years.
- Tell
us a bit about your latest book
Answer: My latest book, One of Us,
is the first in a brand new series called the Tower District Mysteries. Here is
the back cover blurb-
At 35, children’s book author Roxi Carlucci finds
herself starting over again after her publisher drops her book series. With no
income, she has to pack up her life on the California Coast,
along with her pet rat Merlin, and move in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen
Carlucci, who lives in Fresno,
CA. The one redeeming factor is
that Stephen lives in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno.
Stephen talks Roxi into helping out with a community
theatre production, which is also a
fundraiser for a local animal rescue. Then someone is murdered during a
rehearsal in the locked theatre, and now she and Stephen are hired to find the
killer. Can they stop the killer before they strike again? The killer has to be
one of Roxi’s new acquaintances since the theatre was locked at the time of the
murder, but no one seems to have a motive. How can they solve a murder without
a motive? Could the local gossip website hold any clues?
- How
do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the
books?
Answer: I start out with some basic
ideas and then build on them as I work on the first draft—the characters kind
of develop as the story does. My main character Roxi though I have been working
on for years, she made her first appearance in the last book of my other
series, “The Final Note,” which came out 12 years ago. I have several pages of
information on her but that too grew and changed as I wrote the first book. The
main character in my first series was a lot like me, I wanted Roxi to be
different. So I’m short she is tall, and she is much braver and more of a risk
taker than I am.
- How
do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat
of your pants”?
Answer: Definitely a pantser!
- Which
do you consider more important, plot or character?
Answer: As a reader I think the main
character is the most important—if I don’t care about them and find them interesting
then I won’t keep reading in most cases. However, as a writer I would say they
are almost equal. Even the best character in the world can’t carry a boring
plot.
- What
are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?
Answer: I am working on the second book
in my series that I hope will be out next year. I don’t have a title yet but it
is set at Halloween and involves a mystery book festival.
My hope is to keep writing Roxi books
for some time.
- What’s
one thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you?
Answer: Well if they
are new to my writing with this book (I took a 12 year break from writing
mysteries) then they may not know that I used to be a gospel singer. I started
when I was 12 and sang until about ten years ago. I also wrote most of my own
songs.
- Where
can we learn more about you and your books?
Answer: You can learn all about my book
on my website. There are review quotes, links to purchase it and other info https://www.mysteryrat.com/
ROCCO’s Fast Five:
- What’s
something that’s always in your fridge? Pepsi
- What skill
have you always wanted to learn? Martial Arts
- What food
do you wish was calorie free? Ice Cream
- What
celebrity are you dying to meet (or have met)? Nathan Fillion or Jared
Padalecki
- Where can
readers find you?
https://www.mysteryrat.com/
Instagram @krlmagazine (I share it
with the magazine)
Twitter @mysteryrat https://twitter.com/mysteryrat
On Facebook I can be found at KRL’s
Mystery Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/krlmysterygroup
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21694525.Lorie_Lewis_Ham
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lorie-lewis-ham
Amazon https://tinyurl.com/4vaenz4z
Barnes
and Noble online
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/one-of-us-54
Thank you for a great interview, Lorie!
Lorie will give away an ebook copy of One
of Us through Bookfunnel. To enter,
leave your name and e-mail address in our comments section! Winner will be chosen at random. Contest is open to all and ends midnight, May
24.
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