Sunday, February 21, 2016

Welcome Nadine Nettman to the blog!


Me-ow! My guest today is author Nadine Nettman!

Nadine Nettmann, a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, is always on the lookout for great wines and the stories behind them. She has visited wine regions around the world, but chose Napa as the setting for Decanting a Murder, her debut novel which comes out May 2016 with Midnight Ink. Nadine is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She lives in California with her husband.

  • Welcome Nadine! Tell us a little about your background

Hi Rocco, I’ve wanted to be a writer my entire life and while I’ve had a few different careers, I’m so glad I’m finally able to combine my two loves – writing and wine. I also have a love for travel and I’ve been fortunate to visit wine regions around the world including Chile, South Africa, Spain, Germany, and every region in France.

  • Tell us a bit about your new series and the first volume, Decanting a Murder.

Decanting a Murder is about Katie Stillwell, a female sommelier who solves mysteries using her deductive wine skills. A large part of the sommelier certification process is blind tasting – looking, smelling, and tasting a wine to tell where it’s from, which grape, the vintage, etc. I thought it would be fun to apply this to a series in the wine world and Decanting a Murder was born. Every chapter is paired with a wine.

  • You are a certified Sommelier in real life.  How exciting is that and what prompted you to become one?

I’ve always had an interest in wine, but my actual wine journey started in 2010 when I was covering a wine and food festival as a travel writer. I was switching seats when Master Sommelier Fred Dame took my hand and led me on stage. He seated me on the wine panel next to Master Sommeliers and winemakers and I was terrified. I knew nothing about wine except that I enjoyed it. I managed to get through the panel but it sparked a desire to learn more, in fact, as much as I could. I began studying and passed Level 1, then passed Level 2 and became a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2011. I recently saw Fred at an event and was able to tell him how much he changed my life. It was a very cool moment.

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

I use a character worksheet but I think it’s safe to say there’s a fair share of myself in Katie Stillwell. I’ve heard a lot of advice to write what you know and since the most common comment on my first four books (all shelved for the time being) was that they didn’t know the main character, I decided to put a lot of myself in Katie, though she’s still very fictionalized.

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

I love writing by the seat of my pants, but I’ve found I spend a lot of time rearranging scenes so now I’ve switched to outlining.

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

I’m a huge fan of plot.

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

Perseverance. There were so many times when I could have given up but didn’t. It took me ten years to get here, but I never wanted to let go of my dream of walking into a bookstore and seeing my name on a book. Which will happen in May. I’m so excited!

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

Yes! It took me a very long time to find an agent – ten years and five books – but I found my agent through the slushpile. I was so used to rejection that when Danielle Burby at Hannigan Salky Getzler emailed that she wanted to talk, I reread it three times before I allowed myself to celebrate. A few minutes into our first phone conversation, I immediately knew she was the agent for me, so much so, that I forgot to ask her any of the questions I had planned. She’s been amazing and 100% worth waiting for.

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

I’m currently working on book #2 in the wine series, tentatively titled Uncorking a Lie, and I’m also working on a domestic suspense. My future writing plans are to keep writing. I truly love it.

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

Every workday is different but I try to devote several hours a week to writing. My current goal is do to a 1,000 words every weekday.

  • 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?

That’s a tough one but I would go with On Writing by Stephen King, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, and J is for Judgment by Sue Grafton. I’ve read each of them several times and I love them.

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

Never give up. Just keep trying.

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

Right after we got married, my husband and I stored 90% of our belongings, quit our jobs, and flew to Hawaii with two suitcases each. We planned to stay for about a year but we ended up staying for five years. Looking back, I still can’t believe we did that but it was such an amazing part of our journey together.

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

I’ve played guitar for 20 years.

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

This is my first interview so I’m not sure yet. Can I get back to you? J

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




 

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Day – I’m definitely a morning person.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully) –  I’ve had cats all of my life.

Beach or Pool?   Beach. I love the waves and the feel of the sand beneath my feet.

Steak or salad?  Salad. I don’t eat red meat and I also happen to be a huge fan of salad.

Favorite Drink?  Can I just say wine? ;)  Okay, I’ll be more specific. For white wine, I’m a big fan of German riesling and for red wine, I’m a big fan of cab franc.

Favorite Book?  Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. I fell in love with the book from the very first line.

Favorite TV Series?  The BBC One Sherlock series. The writing is brilliant as is the acting by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Favorite Movie?  Psycho. When I watched it, I had no idea that Norman Bates was his mother so I got the full effect that Hitchcock wanted viewers to get and it completely stunned me. It’s been at the top of my list ever since.

Favorite Actor: Anthony Hopkins

Favorite Actress: It’s a tie between Rachel McAdams and Meryl Streep

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Pina Colada

Hawaii or Alaska? Since I lived there for five years, I’d have to vote for Hawaii J

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be… Nora Ephron. I love her movies and her views on life.

If I had just one wish, it would be… for health and happiness for everyone in my life.

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be… no one.  

 

 


Sunday, February 14, 2016

Our guest today - author Jeanne Matthews!

My guest today is author Jeanne Matthews!

Jeanne Matthews was born and raised in Georgia.  She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism and has worked as a copywriter, a high school English and Drama teacher, and a paralegal.  She currently lives in Renton, Washington


Welcome Jeanne! Tell us a little about your background.

Thanks ROCCO. I was born in Atlanta and studied Journalism at the University of Georgia.  My checkered career path has included stints as an advertising copywriter, a high school English teacher, and a paralegal.  Twenty years of working for lawyers inspired my interest in murder. 

Tell us a bit about your Dinah Pelerin mystery series.

Dinah is a wannabe anthropologist fascinated by ancient cultures and strange superstitions. She has an irreverent attitude, a sharp wit, and a clan of criminally minded Georgia relatives with the habit of turning up to cause her grief no matter how far she travels. Each book is set in a different country – Australia, Hawaii, Norway, Greece, and most recently the storied city of Berlin, Germany. Thee all involve a murder mystery, but they’re also filled with history, mythology, and local lore.  Wherever Dinah goes, something happens that forces her to find out what it is that matters to the people who live in that particular place.

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

My characters walk onto the page wanting something and, usually, they want different things, which creates plenty of conflict.  They tend to develop as they confront obstacles and frustrations until pretty soon, they take on a life of their own.  Does it sound too weird if the writer carries on imaginary conversations with her characters?  Yep.  It happens.

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

Unhappily, it’s the latter.  My husband has threatened to leave me on more than one occasion for waking him up in the middle of the night whining that I’ve painted myself into a corner.  If only you’d outline, he says, yawning.  Well, I wish I could but I can’t.  My plots evolve organically. To quote Flannery O’Connor, “I don’t know what I think ‘til I see what I say.”

Which do you consider more important, plot or character?

Character.  Character is fate.  Desire is fate.

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

What keeps me motivated is learning amazing new things about the world. I had been traveling in the Northern Territory of Australia when I wrote my first book, Bones of Contention.  Learning about the Aboriginal concept of song lines fascinated me and that became a metaphor for Dinah’s personal quest to discover who murdered her father.  I had made Dinah part Native American because I thought it would give her an instinctive empathy for the Aborigines and other indigenous peoples she encountered in her travels.  Then I learned that the Germans are obsessed with Native Americans.  They form clubs in which they dress up as Indians, give themselves Indian names, and erect tepees in their back gardens.  It was an irresistible premise for my most recent book, Where the Bones Are Buried, which is set in Berlin. My biggest challenge was the same as for most beginning writers – finding someone who could help me get published.

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

I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful editor and publishing insider, Carl Lennertz.  Carl liked my story and made it all happen. 

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

I left Dinah in something of a predicament in Berlin and, while she figures out how to deal with it, I’m trying my hand at a historical novel – learning parts of American history I never knew and dodging anachronisms like bullets.  The story begins in Chicago shortly after the Civil War.  At the time, the country was reeling from so much death that conjuring a murder seems excessive.  Nevertheless, it will be a murder mystery involving a family of Irish immigrants. 

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

There’s no such thing as a typical workday, but I’m writing (either at the computer or in my head) for four or five hours every 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?

Tough question.  I think I’d choose books I’ve never read.  A huge gap in my literary experience is Anthony Trollope.  Sue Grafton is a big Trollope fan.  Maybe a dose of Trollope would help my career as much as it’s helped Grafton’s.  I couldn’t live for a year without some Mark Twain, so I’d take his Following the Equator.  And for the sheer fun of browsing through history’s bizarre quirks, I’d bring along Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

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

Read voraciously, write voraciously, and read your work out loud to other readers and writers.  You’ll hear what sounds natural and what gongs.

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

In Grindelwald, Switzerland, I paraglided off a cliff in front of the Eiger.  The moment of the jump felt crazy, but floating among the Alps was glorious.

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

I wrote my autobiography at the age of eight.  It was short on incident, but my third grade teacher said it had flair.  I looked up the word in the dictionary and have been striving to live up the definition ever since. 

What question do you wish interviewers would ask?  (And what’s the answer?)  You’ve asked it.  It’s “Where can we learn more about you and your books?”

And the answer is:

Visit my website http://www.jeannematthews.com where there’s a page describing each of my five titles.  You can ask for them in your local bookstore or library, or order them from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The books are available in hard cover, trade paperback, e-book format, and audio. 

Just for fun:

Night or Day?  Day

Dog or Cat?  Dog, (specifically, a Norwich terrier named Reacher, after guess who?)

Beach or Pool?  Beach

Steak or salad?  Steak

Favorite Drink?  Red wine

Favorite Movie?  Gone With The Wind (After all, I am from Atlanta).

Favorite TV Series?  The Closer (unfortunately, Brenda Leigh now appears only in reruns)

Favorite Actor?  Bill Murray – His face is the picture of irony.

Favorite Actress?  Meryl Streep

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada?  Martini – dry, not dirty

Hawaii or Alaska?  Has to be Hawaii.  My second book Bet Your Bones is set there.

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be Dorothy Parker.  I’d love to share a martini with her at the Algonquin Bar.

If I had just one wish, it would be “Grant me a hundred more wishes, Mr. Genie.  Please.”

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, I wouldn’t.  It’s taken a lot of years, but I’ve finally gotten comfortable inside my own skin.  Problems, flaws, and disappointments aside, I’m okay being me.  Provided, that is, that I can continue to invent fictional characters who can say and do a few things I can’t get away with.

Jeanne will give away a hard cover copy of her first book BONES OF CONTENTION, to three lucky commenters. To enter, leave your name and email address in the comments section below. Random.org will select three lucky winners. Contest closes midnight, Feb. 20!

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Say hello to Jacklyn Brady!

Meow!
My guest this week is author Jacklyn Brady!
Jacklyn Brady grew up in the cold climate of Montana but now spends her days on the white sand beaches of Florida. She is the national bestselling author of the Piece of Cake mystery series from Penguin Random House. A career writer for more than 20 years, Jacklyn also authored the Fred Vickery mystery series as Sherry Lewis and the Candy Shop mystery series as Sammi Carter. She’s a devoted mom and grandmom, and takes her marching orders from two cats, Tinkerbell and Aramis.

  • Welcome Jacklyn! Tell us a little about your background
Thanks ROCCO! I’m a mom, a grandma, and an avid reader. I grew up in Montana, spent a long time in Utah, and moved to the Gulf Coast area six years ago. I’ve held a number of different jobs, including (but not limited to) Christmas tree decorator, manager of a 7-Eleven, singer/keyboardist in a local band, and judicial assistant for a federal judge. It’s all great fodder for writing.
  • Tell us a bit about your “Piece of Cake” mysteries. How did that idea come about?
My publisher had decided to discontinue my previous series, but they wanted me to write another series for them. My editor and I brainstormed a few ideas and locations and came up with the idea for a series about a cake decorator (shades of Ace of Cakes) and the New Orleans setting. After that, I set about trying to get a handle on just who this cake decorator might be. It took a little while to find Rita and her family and friends, but once she walked onto the page, I knew she was the character I’d been looking for.
  • Tell us about the other series that you write.
I started with the Fred Vickery mystery series, written as Sherry Lewis and published by Berkley Prime Crime in the 1990s. Fred is a 70-something man who started life as a walk-on character in the very first book I wrote. I had another protagonist in mind, but Fred refused to get shot as I had planned. He completely took over that book and the series that came after.
When that series ended, I wrote five books in the Candy Shop mystery series as Sammi Carter, also published by Berkley Prime Crime. The protagonist in that series is Abby Shaw, an attorney who returns to Paradise, CO after losing her husband and her job to make candy at Divinity, the candy shop she inherited after her great-aunt died. From there, I moved to Zydeco Cakes with Rita and the crew.
  • How do you “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?
I spend a lot of time getting to know my characters. I have forms I can fill out and questions on them I can ask the characters, but ultimately I get to know them by writing about them. I write an awful lot of garbage about who the character isn’t before I figure out who the character is.
  • How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?
A little of both, actually. I like to have a rough roadmap to follow when I start out—an idea of where I think the book is going to go—but once the characters walk on stage and come to life, I just hang on and see what happens. If I write myself into a corner or wonder why I thought the plot would be a good idea in the first place, I go back to my original notes and see if they spark anything that will work.
  • Which do you consider more important, plot or character?
They’re both important to a good story, but I think a fabulous plot will fall to pieces without strong characters, so character wins by a hair.
  • What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?
The biggest challenges have come from personal issues. At one point in my career, I thought I had it all figured out, that writing through tough times was just mind over matter (laughs hysterically.) All I had to do was stay focused and I could write.  
And then one day in 2005 my youngest daughter attempted to take her own life and I found out just how wrong I was. My whole world imploded that day. I couldn’t string two words together for a long time, nor did I want to. It took a long time for the voices in my head to come back. I thought for a while that my writing career was over.   
The second time I thought my career might be over was quite recently. I was fighting extreme fatigue and depression of my own. I barely had the energy to get up in the morning, much less to be creative. All the thoughts in my head were mush and writing was nearly impossible. I was extremely frustrated, assuming that I was still struggling with the aftermath of the suicide attempt, and wondering why I couldn’t get it together. It had been a while, after all. It was so bad, in fact, that I told my then-editor I couldn’t write The Cakes of Monte Cristo. She disagreed and I tried again. If not for her belief in me and her continual support and encouragement, we wouldn’t be talking about the book or my career today.
Then just a few months ago I was diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes which had apparently been affecting me for quite a while. I don’t remember a lot of what the doctor said to me that day. It sounded a lot like the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoons, but I do remember that he said the word “coma” quite frequently and expressed a lot of concern that I was heading quickly in that direction (and perhaps some surprise that I hadn’t already arrived.) I made some abrupt changes to my lifestyle and my energy levels are on the rise. Most importantly, I can think clearly again most of the time.
  • Do you have an “How I got my agent” story you want to share?
I’m currently between agents, so no.
  • What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?
At the moment, I’m working on getting several books from my backlist released in Kindle format. They include all six books in the Fred Vickery mystery series and four time-travel romances which were also written as Sherry Lewis. Once those are ready, I’ll be finishing the first book in a new series that I plan to indie-publish, featuring small-town policewoman Katie Scarlett O’Malley. The working title is Dead on Arrival.
Readers have been asking for more books in the Fred Vickery series for a long time, so I think I’ll write another one of those next—unless something else (like a new publishing contract) comes along to throw my plans into disarray.
  • What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?
A typical workday for me starts at around 8:00 and goes until around 5:00. I usually try to write new pages in the mornings and then tend to all the other work (blogging, social media, promotion, etc.,) in the afternoons. That’s a typical workday. If I’m facing a looming deadline, everything is very different.
  • 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?
Ooh! Great question! They’d have to be very long books that would take me a while to read, so with that in mind:
Centennial by James A. Michener, Penmarric by Susan Howatch, and John Adams by David McCullough
  • What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?
Don’t expect to get rich quick, and never make the mistake of thinking you know everything you need to know about writing. Life changes, and so will you. What works for you today might not work for you tomorrow, so be open to new ideas and methods. Try everything. Keep what works and remember the rest for later in case you need it.
  • What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Oh. Goodness. I don’t know. You should probably ask my kids that question. I got kicked out of a federal penitentiary once, does that count?
  • What’s one thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you?
Hmmm. I don’t know. I’m a pretty open book.
  • What question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?)
That’s a hard one. You’re all pretty thorough!
  •  Where can we learn more about you and your books?
To learn more about the Piece of Cake mystery series, go to www.jacklynbrady.com 
Just for Fun:
Night or Day?   Day
Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Both; however, I currently have two cats and no dogs, if that says anything at all.
Beach or Pool?   Beach
Steak or salad?  Steak
Favorite Drink?  Sprite Zero with lime and blackberry
Favorite Book?  Impossible to say.
Favorite TV Series?  Longmire. I may be obsessed with it.
Favorite Movie?  I don’t think I have one.
Favorite Actor: I don’t have one, but several rank up there.
Favorite Actress: Ditto.
Dirty Martini or Pina Colada?  Make mine a margarita, please.
Hawaii or Alaska?  Alaska in the spring.
Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be John Adams.
If I had just one wish, it would be to live near my family again.
If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be nobody. I like where I am.
Thanks Jacklyn! Folks you can find out more about her here:
Jacklyn Brady: website/blog: www.jacklynbrady.com
                        Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1kyGRDv
                        Twitter: @jacklynbrady
                        Pinterest: http://bit.ly/1L4xktq
                        Killer Characters Blog on the 14th of every month www.killercharacters.com

Sherry Lewis: website/blog: www.sherrylewisbooks.com
                        Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1jXNFdS
                        Twitter: @SherryLewis
                        Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lewissherry/

You can find excerpts and where-to-buy info on Sammi Carter’s books at www.sammicarter.blogspot.com

Jacklyn will give away one lucky commenter their choice of one of the Piece of Cake Mysteries. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post with your name and email address. (Comments without email will be disqualified.) Sorry, open to U.S. mailing addresses only. Contest ends midnight, Feb. 13!