Today we are interviewing a friend and fellow author Rosie Genova!
Proud
Jersey girl Rosie Genova is a multi-genre author. Her work includes a Jersey
shore cozy series, The Italian Kitchen Mysteries, and The Tess Mancini Time
Travel Mysteries, set in 1955 Atlantic City. She is also the author of
standalone suspense and a couple of rom-coms that presently live in her
computer files (but are longing to be released into the wild). A former teacher
and journalist, Rosie’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of publications,
including Entrepreneur magazine and The New York Times. The
mother of three sons, Rosie still lives in her favorite state with her husband,
too many dusty antiques, and a charming mutt named Lucy.
Welcome to
the blog, Rosie! Tell us a little about
your background
As my bio states,
I’m a proud Jersey girl. I grew up in a small town with a tiny library that
became my favorite place to hang out. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was
eight. When my kids were young, I did some magazine writing and I taught
journalism for years. But writing fiction has always been my dream, which came
to fruition twelve years ago, when my first novel was published.
Tell us a
bit about your latest book
Murder
on the Steel Pier is a time travel mystery featuring
Tess Mancini, an investigative reporter who celebrates her thirty-fifth
birthday with her bestie in Atlantic City. Many tequila shots later, she wakes
up in a boarding house in 1955, where she finds herself living the life of her
own great-aunt, also a reporter. While there, a guest in the boarding house
(who happens to be a Nazi on the run) is murdered, and Tess’s teenaged
grandfather is accused of the crime—leaving Tess stuck in the Nifty Fifties
until she can clear his name and make sure she has a future.
How do you
“get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?
It starts with a
specific voice in my head, especially if I’m using first-person narration.
Writing Tess in Murder on the Steel Pier was a bit of a departure
for me; she’s a Millennial, she’s a badass, and she’s pretty snarky.
Do you have
an “How I got my agent” story you want to share?
Contrary to
popular opinion, the “agent phone call” is not necessarily an offer of
representation. (I’d had three such conversations in my past that did not turn
into offers.) So when my current agent emailed me asking for a phone call, I
kept my expectations low. I figured she’d be asking me to rewrite and then
resubmit the book. On the call, I was amazingly calm and confident. When she
asked if she could give me feedback, I thought, oh, here it comes. I
walked downstairs to where my husband and sons were waiting and gave them a
thumbs down. The agent and I talked about revisions, and I told her I would
resubmit promptly. There was this silence, and then she told me she assumed
we’d go through the process together. It was an offer, after all. Then I
dropped all my notes and started babbling like an idiot! So much for my
professional cool…
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?
Hmm. Guess I’m not
allowed my Kindle, huh? I would take Persuasion by Jane Austen, Touch
Not the Cat by Mary Stewart, and Agatha Christie’s collected stories. A
nice mix of the literary, the romantic, and the mysterious.
What’s the
craziest thing you’ve ever done?
(See answer to
biggest splurge in Fast Five.)
What’s one
thing your readers would be surprised to find out about you?
I write across
genres. I started out writing rom-coms, which are as yet unpublished. Then I
wrote a cozy series, The Italian Kitchen Mysteries. I’ve also written two
standalone suspense novels, both much darker than my usual humorous take. And Murder
on the Steel Pier is a mix of historical, paranormal, cozy, and noir
elements. Something for everyone!
What
question do you wish interviewers would ask? (And what’s the answer?)
Question: What is
your superpower? Answer: My homemade meatballs.
ROCCO:
And now Rosie answers my ‘Fast Five”
What song
do you like to sing along to?
“You Turn Me On,
I’m a Radio,” by Joni Mitchell. You can not shut me up if I hear that song.
What smell
takes you back to your childhood?
Lilacs. There was
a beautiful lilac bush at my grandmother’s house, and it’s a strong association
for me.
What’s the
last thing you splurged on?
Blowing through
every last one of my credit card points to fly business class to Italy this
summer!
If you
weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I’ve been blessed
to follow both my vocations; I was an English teacher for 25 years before
leaving to write full time.
What
celebrity are you dying to meet (or have met)?
I once stood next to the aforementioned Joni
Mitchell in the ladies room of a West Village restaurant. But I was stuck dumb
in the presence of my musical goddess!
Where can our readers learn more about you?
Book Bub
www.bookbub.com/profile/rosie-genova
Website
www.rosiegenova.com
Goodreads
www.goodreads.com/author/show/6462450.Rosie_Genova
Facebook www.facebook.com/RosieGenova
Thank you for a wonderful interview, Rosie! Now it's GIVEAWAY TIME.
Rosie will give away two e-pub editions of MURDER ON THE STEEL PIER to two lucky commenters! To enter leave your name and email address! It's that easy. Chazz will pick the winners at random. Contest closes midnight April 16th!
