ROCCO welcomes author Sherry Thomas to the blog!

Meow! My guest this week is author Sherry Thomas!

USA Today bestseller Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed historical romance authors writing today, winning the RITA Award two years running and appearing on innumerable "Best of the Year" lists, including those of Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Dear Author, and All About Romance. Her novels include My Beautiful Enemy and The Luckiest Lady in London. A Study in Scarlet Women is the first in the Lady Sherlock Series.

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Sparks, Sparks Studio

• Welcome Sherry! Tell us a little about your background

Thanks ROCCO! I was born in China and came to the United States when I was 13. Never really thought at all about writing books until 10 years later, when I was a stay-at-home mom, and read a less-than-satisfactory novel. Then all of a sudden, really, all of a sudden, I decided I would write books too. (I never look back without marveling at that completely crazy moment—and how it became such a turning point in my life.)

Eight years of apprenticeship later, I had my first contract. Since then I have published romance, fantasy, historical fiction, and now historical mystery.

• Tell us a bit about your Lady Sherlock series. How did that idea come about.

I loved the BBC Sherlock. As soon as I got done with Season 1, the writer in me said, “What a great adaptation. Hmm, wonder how it would be if, instead of moving the story forward in time 125 years, they’d made Sherlock a woman instead.”

Other reinventions of the character have been taken steps in that direction: The CBS Sherlock has a female Watson; Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries give Holmes an equally genius female partner. But I was surprised to realize that no one had gone ahead and gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes altogether.

So I said, I might as well be the one to do it. J

• Tell us about your newest release

A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN is the first book in the Lady Sherlock series. The thing with changing Holmes’s gender is that a woman with the mind, temperament, and background of a Sherlock Holmes is faced with the kind of constraints a man in the Victorian era never has to contend with. Charlotte Holmes can’t simply decide one day to set up a detective practice—her family would flip out. So book 1 is an origin story, essentially, about how Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant, eccentric, but still respectable young lady, runs afoul of Society’s restrictions, becomes ostracized, and has to figure out a way to use her remarkable powers of deduction to help herself and her family.

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

I don’t know them unless I’m writing them. They become more fully fleshed and more human as I go.

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

I am definitely not a methodical plotter—every time I’ve tried an outline or a spreadsheet I’ve never used said outline or spreadsheet in the final product. Nor am I a pantser who flies into the mist. I feel more like a traveler who can see her destination upon yonder hill—I just have to somehow get through the thicket between here and there.

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

Obviously I want to write books with both superior plotting and superior characterization. But as a reader, in a choice between superior plot with average characterization and average plot with superior characterization, I think I might actually prefer the former. Actually, I think what I really prefer is superior pacing, a book that just sweeps me along for the ride.

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

Fortunately, I have never had to contend with writer’s block, but from time to time I do suffer from writer’s exhaustion, and find that I have very little interest in what I’m working on. And the cure is actually to work more on the book—after a suitable break, of course—and dig deeper. In every story there is an emotional truth worth toiling for.

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

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth—or to be more precise, 2006—I sent out a single query letter. At that point, I was still unpublished but had already parted ways with an agent. So I wanted to make sure that next time I chose someone, it would be a much better fit. I’d seen recommendation from Miss Snark for agent Kristin Nelson and had been reading Kristin’s blog. I liked that she represented a variety of genres and was willing to move with her clients.

She was my dream agent and I decided to query her first and then go on to other agents only things didn’t work out with her. But things worked out and we are still together 10 years later.

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

I am working on book 2 of the Lady Sherlock series. I am also working on a YA. And I don’t know that I have any precise plans for the future, except to give each book my maximum effort and then go from there.

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

That depends on whether I’m on deadline. There are no typical days and I can be devoting anywhere between 0 to 18 hours a day to writing.

• 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?

I am going to cheat shamelessly, of course. I will take the Oxford English Dictionary, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Modernist Cuisine, the biggest cook book I can think of.

That ought to keep me busy for a while.

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

Read the best books you can find and aspire to be that good.

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

Becoming a writer out of the blue! J

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

People who read my books before they read my bio are usually surprised that English isn’t my first language.

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

Q: How can I send a lot of money your way? A: Here’s my paypal account. J

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

My website is sherrythomas.com. And we are building a site for the Lady Sherlock books at LadySherlockBooks.com—hopefully it will be ready soon.

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  An overcast day.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Hamster

Beach or Pool?  Beach    

Steak or salad?  Steak salad

Favorite Drink?  Tea

Favorite TV Series?  Battlestar Galactica

Favorite Movie?  The Matrix

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Virgin Pina Colada

Hawaii or Alaska? Hawaii

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

If I had just one wish, it would be to always find exactly what I want to eat in the fridge.

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be:  If it’s short term, for a day or so, then maybe Matt Damon’s wife. One of my best friends has loved Matt for 20 years and I want to be able to report firsthand what he’s like up close and personal. 

Thanks Sherry!

Penguin will give away a copy of A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN to one lucky commenter on this blog!

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, October 14!

ROCCO's guest: author Barbara Early

Meow! My guest today is author Barbara Early!

Barbara Early earned an engineering degree, but after four years of doing nothing but math, developed a sudden allergy to the subject and decided to choose another occupation. Before she settled on murdering fictional people, she was a secretary, a school teacher, a pastor’s wife, and an amateur puppeteer. She and her husband moved back to her native Western New York State, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, classic movies and campy seventies television, board games, and posting pictures of her four cats on Facebook. She wrote three books in the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mystery series (as Beverly Allen) before starting to write the Vintage Toyshop Mysteries.

• Welcome Barbara! Tell us a little about your background

Thanks ROCCO!  Many writers will tell you that they’ve always wanted to write, that they wrote their first book in crayon at age three and stapled it together. I’m the opposite. I lived over four decades without giving it a thought. I started writing puppet shows when my husband was pastoring a small country church. When he resigned that position, I found I missed writing. I wrote a little fan fiction for fun, and discovered a latent passion for fiction writing. When challenged to “try something original,” I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t sure how far it would take me, but it’s been a fun ride.

• Tell us a bit about your latest book, DEATH OF A TOY SOLDIER.  How did the idea for that series come about

The Vintage Toyshop series actually started with the location. I wanted to write something set closer to home. And there’s a lovely village called East Aurora, NY, a little over half an hour away from my house. Other people see quaint shops. I saw some amazing potential crime scenes.  When I was reading the history of the town, I discovered that it was sometimes called “Toy Town,” thanks to the extensive history of toy manufacture in the area (Fisher Price is still there, but there have been others in the past). “Toys” didn’t seem quite right—nothing cozy in all that plastic—but combined with the history, “Vintage Toys” seemed to fit perfectly. There’s a huge nostalgia factor.  So I fictionalized the town—keeping the real name and the history and some of the geography—but plopped a fictional vintage toyshop somewhere on the middle of an already quaint bricked Main Street.

• As Beverly  Allen, you also write the Bridal Bouquet mysteries.  Can you tell us about that series?

The Bridal Bouquet Shop series features a florist by the name of Audrey Bloom, who specializes in making custom bridal bouquets based on the old Victorian language of flowers. Her claim to fame is that none of the brides who have ever carried an “Audrey Bloom” bouquet down the aisle have ever split up with their spouse. The one drawback, since it’s a mystery series, is that not everyone always survives the ceremony.

Flowers were actually a bit of a stretch for me. I have terrible allergies. But this series was a lot of fun to write.

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

If anyone remembers those old flip books, where each page was a drawing of a character, but they were cut into three parts, so you could mix and match the heads, torsos, and legs? That’s often how I create my characters: compiling attributes from real people, or occasionally even from other fictional characters and mashing them together in new ways. I’ll sometimes write up a bit of their backstory, just to get to know them. Sometimes it ends up in the book, but usually I’ll cut it out of the beginning and sprinkle it in later. I think most readers do want to know where a character comes from—but just not right away.

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

I’m definitely an outliner. But my characters don’t always obey, so I continually have to revise my outlines. Usually, that’s a good thing. If the characters are surprising me, hopefully they’ll surprise the readers, too.

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

It’s like asking if air or water was more important, I think. For me, character needs to come first, though. The best plots happen when they most challenge the characters, so I need to know the characters first.

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

Oftentimes challenges are just opportunities in disguise, and I kind of enjoy them. I started writing mainly to see if I was up to that challenge. I do sometimes struggle with motivation. The writing life can be a little difficult, especially when I’m under deadline, and everyone else seems to be having parties and taking trips and lying on the beach reading. It’s a little easier when they’re driving to work in a snowstorm and I’m sitting in my PJs and drinking coffee.

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

I started out thinking I was writing inspirational fiction. I had a cozy about a pastor’s wife who solved crime. So I went to all the inspirational conferences, met with the inspy agents and editors, and finaled multiple times in the inspy writing contests. I had bad timing: the cozy mystery was dead in inspirational fiction. So while multiple agents and editors said they liked it, and my manuscript was enough to get me to committee, nobody was biting. In frustration, I sent one—yes, one—cold query to the agency I considered my dream agency if I were to write a mainstream cozy mystery. And…

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

I just turned in the second book of the Vintage Toyshop series, and have one more to go under the current contract.

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

I don’t know if I have a typical workday. I like to write in the morning, after coffee and breakfast. How much more writing I do depends on how close I am to deadline, I think. And then there’s more work during editing and promotion. It probably varies from 20 to well over 40 hours a week at crunch times.

• 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?

The Complete Sherlock Holmes collection, The Complete Agatha Christie Collection, and the Complete William Shakespeare. And if you think that’s cheating, I’d also smuggle my Kindle in my suitcase under my underwear. Shhh…

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

Spend less time worrying about how and when to be published, and spend more time studying writing craft.  Don’t be in a rush. It takes time, and it should.

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

Not sure. Moved to the country? Wrote a book?

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

I don’t really have a lot of surprises. Maybe that I go through a book so many times that I begin to loathe them by the time they’re fully edited. I often can’t bear to go back and read my old books.

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

I think you covered them. Good questions.

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

www.barbaraearly.com. Also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBarbaraEarly/

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Day

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cats

Beach or Pool?   Yes.

Steak or salad?  Steak, but only if it’s a filet.

Favorite Drink?  Very cold water with a splash of cranberry juice. Slushes and frozen lemonade for a splurge.

Favorite Book?  I can never decide.

Favorite TV Series?  Three-way tie between Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs King, and Monk.

Favorite Movie?  Without Love

Favorite Actor: Cary Grant

Favorite Actress:  Audrey Hepburn

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Pina Colada, but only if it’s virgin.

Hawaii or Alaska? Alaska

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

If I had just one wish, it would be a house on the lake and plenty of time to read

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be _someone who began writing when they were three

Thanks Barbara!

Barbara will be giving away a Vintage Toyshop swag bag to one lucky reader! 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 closes midnight, October 8!

ROCCO's guest this week: Linda Wiken!

Meow, my guest this week is author Linda Wiken!

Linda Wiken is usually found by her alias, Erika Chase, and writing the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries. But now, with the release of Toasting Up Trouble, the first in the Dinner Club Mysteries, she’s back to being her real self. A former mystery bookstore owner, she has been short-listed for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and an Arthur Ellis Award, Best Short Story, from Crime Writers of Canada.  She is a member of those dangerous dames, The Ladies' Killing Circle and can be found contributing to the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and Killer Characters blogs.  She admits to a passion for choral singing, chocolate and Siamese cats!  http://www.lindawiken.com

• Welcome Linda! Tell us a little about your background

Thanks ROCCO! I’ve had a variety of interesting and fun jobs in my working life - starting in journalism, then advertising, with a stint in community education, and finally as a mystery book seller before turning to writing full time.

• Tell us a bit about your new Dinner club series and book one, TOASTING UP TROUBLE. Where did the idea for this series come from?

I’m a closet foodie. I admit it! So, when my agent asked if I had any ideas for a second series, I dug deep, looked at my several shelves of cookbooks, and eventually the dinner club was born.

• AT one time you owned a mystery bookstore.  Is that where your love of mysteries emanates from?

Actually, I owned the store because I love mysteries. My affair with mystery books started at an early age. Think Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Ginny Gordon to name a few…right through to Agatha Christie.

• Your alter ego writes the Ashton Corners mysteries. Tell us a bit about that.

Although that series has ended with book #5, LAW AND AUTHOR, I enjoyed writing it particularly because it was about a mystery book club. And you can just imagine how much trouble they could get into, what with all the ‘experience’ they had solving crimes between the covers every month! The seven members of the club grew into great friends over the course of the series and they also became my close friends. A popular feature in the series is the book lists for each member at the back of the five books. It suggests possible new authors for the readers of the series.

• You’ve held down many jobs, including one as a volunteer on the Ottawa Police Force.  What was the most exciting part of that job?

At one point I was writing a weekly column on crime stats for the local newspaper. It was pretty interesting reading through the officers’ reports each week. But I have to admit, the night I was involved in doing overnight surveillance at a car dealership that had reported several previous break-ins, really got the adrenalin pumping.

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

I spend a lot of time thinking about my characters, in particular the main one because she sets the tone for the series. I go through her life with her, getting to know her family and her memorable experiences growing up. As I’m writing her, she’s letting me in on more of her thoughts and reactions to the world around her.

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

I used to be a pantser until my editor at Berkley Prime Crime wanted a synopsis. From there, it seemed natural to do an outline and I’ve found that’s the best way for me to write an entire book. It’s not written in stone, and the ending is often quite different from the outline, however, it’s a good guide to kick start me when I’m feeling puzzled.

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

Hard question to answer. If the plot doesn’t hold together or lacks suspense or interest, the readers won’t feel it’s been worth their while reading. However, if the character isn’t the right combination of traits to engage the reader, it doesn’t matter how outstanding the plot is because the reader may just abandon the book.

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

Promotion is the biggest challenge. There really aren’t enough hours in the day to do it thoroughly and even if there were, I’m clueless when it comes to some of the newer means of social media. Building an audience is the lifeline for authors. No pressure there! What inspires me is the kick I get out of the actual writing process and that keeps me going, even when I feel I’m lacking in the promotion end.

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

Be nice to your best friends! That’s my advice. Enough said.

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

I’m writing the third Dinner Club Mystery, MARINATING IN MURDER, which will be out in 2018. The second, ROUX THE DAY, is in the hopper and will be published March, 2017. I’m also preparing to pitch another cozy series. Shhh. Plus, I have lots of ideas hopping around in my brain. I’m going to try to do something with each one of them…some day.

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

I write weekdays, afternoons for at least 1000 words or as long as it takes, if it’s going gangbusters. I try to take the weekends off but that doesn’t always happen. Mornings are devoted to the business of writing – emails, websites, social media – and also a time when I fit in fitness classes and appointments, those real life annoyances that do appear.

• 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?

Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott

Poemcrazy – Susan Wooldridge

The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister

The first two would be for inspiration; the third to keep me happy.

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

Never give up! Don’t give up in re-writing and polishing that manuscript. Don’t give up in trying to find an agent and/or publisher.

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

Bought a mystery bookstore!

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

I wanted to be a police officer.

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

What is the best part about being an author? 

Hearing positive reactions from readers. A writer does write first of all for herself for the pleasure of writing. But if there are no readers, then it remains a very solitary task. And, when a writer hears that a reader enjoys the book, and in particular will tell others about it, then the writing circle is complete!

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

My books are available in mass market format and as e-books at independent bookstores and the big box ones in the U.S. and Canada. Visit me at Facebook:  Linda Wiken, author;  and Erika Chase, author; at Twitter  @LWiken and @erika_chase; and at: www.lindawiken.com   and www.erikachase.com

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?    Day

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)   Cat – easy because I have two Siamese! Never cross a Siamese!! (Rocco: Or a tubby tuxedo!)

Beach or Pool?    Beach – love the untamed ocean

Steak or salad?    Salad

Favorite Drink?    Espresso

Favorite Book?  Depends on my mood.

Favorite TV Series?    Vera

Favorite Movie?      Chocolat

Favorite Actor:    Colin Firth

Favorite Actress:   Helen Mirren   

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada?      Dirty Martini

Hawaii or Alaska?       Alaska

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be    Sally Armstrong. I so admire her as a journalist, an activist and a mentor

If I had just one wish, it would be_   to be able to split myself in two and live in two different places at once.

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be    no one. Really! I like being me and although there are a lot of things I’d do differently and choices I should have made, I’m happy right now.

Thanks Linda!

Find out more about her at:

at Facebook:  Linda Wiken, author,  and Erika Chase, author;

at Twitter  @LWiken,  and @erika_chase;

and at: www.lindawiken.com,   and www.erikachase.com

I also blog regularly at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.com and Killer Characters.com

          Linda will give away a signed copy of  TOASTING UP TROUBLE. Leave a comment about  your favorite food in the comments section!  Winner will be selected by random.org.  Contest closes midnight, October 1!

Rocco's guest is author Sarah Wisseman

Meow! Today my guest is author Sarah Wisseman

Sarah Wisseman is a retired archaeologist. Her experiences working on excavations and in museums inspired two contemporary series, the Lisa Donahue Archaeological Mysteries and the Flora Garibaldi Art History Mysteries. Her settings are places where she has lived or traveled (Israel, Italy, Egypt, Massachusetts, and Illinois) and her favorite museum used to be housed in a creepy old attic at the University of Illinois

Welcome Sarah! Tell us a little about your background

Thanks ROCCO! I grew up in a house filled with mystery books with parents who loved to read. I often forgot to do my chores because I had my head in a book, and the love of reading lasted long after the flashlight-under-the-covers stage. History came alive for me when I went on an archaeological excavation in Israel after my freshman year in college. That experience changed my life. I returned to Israel for my junior year, and then earned a doctorate in archaeology. My work career at the University of Illinois was spent in museums and laboratories, studying ancient pottery, metalwork, and mummies. Now I write mysteries about archaeology, art forgery, and the illegal antiquities market.

Tell us a bit about your two series. Are your characters’ careers based on your real life experience?

Archaeologist and museum curator Lisa Donahue is the heroine of the first four mysteries. She’s a lot like me, but a bit younger, and has unusual complications in her life—such as two marriages, step children, and a tendency to run into dead bodies at her museum job. Flora Garibaldi, my current heroine, is only in her twenties. Flora is a half-Italian professional paintings conservator (I have no Italian heritage, and I volunteered in a conservation lab for two years).

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

I have a character file on my computer and add information to it about each person before and during the writing process. I write down family background, personality quirks, dark secrets, and motives for each person.

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

I outline, again in a separate computer file, and then allow myself to change my mind as things come to while I’m writing. I modify the outline as I grow the chapters. Sometimes my characters talk to me on my long walks, or plot twists come out of nowhere when I’m doing something else. I’ve learning to respect the “percolating” process, realizing a part of my mind is still working even when I’m not writing. Once I even changed who the villain was 2/3 of the way through the novel because it resulted in a better story.

Which do you consider more important, plot or character?

Character, by a short lead. I have to like the characters, even the villain, enough to keep reading any book. The plot has to be compelling enough to engage the mind, but characters must come across as real people with strengths and flaws and fascinating pasts that help explain the present.

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

I still teach part-time, and I have other interests besides writing, especially painting. Sometimes the two interests feed each other; when I get stuck in writing, painting releases another kind of creativity. My biggest challenge is making my story long enough for a traditional mystery novel—I am crippled by years of writing dense (short) academic articles.

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

I’ve never had an agent (not for lack of trying!)

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

I am drafting my third Flora Garibaldi novel, The Botticelli Caper, a mystery centered around art forgery and the Uffizi Gallery’s long renovation project. I suspect I will write more short stories and novellas in the future.

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

About ten hours per week. I’m always working on something, even if it’s just a blog

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?

I’d never let myself be caught without a real library! A Complete Works of Shakespeare, a fat world mythology, and a comprehensive poetry anthology.

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

Keep writing, even if it’s just a blog or a journal, because that keeps your writing and thinking muscles exercised. Try different forms: non-fiction, fiction, poetry…

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

Camping illegally on Masada (Israel) when I was 18.

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

I used to be a belly dancer.

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

Why do I write? Answer: to create the kind of books I like to read.

 Where can we learn more about you and your books?

Website: www.sarahwisseman.com

blogs: authorexpressions.blogspot.com,sarahwisseman.blogspot.com

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Night.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cat.  (R: Good answer!)

Beach or Pool?   Beach.

Steak or salad?  Salad.

Favorite Drink?  Orange juice.

Favorite Book?  Mary Stewart’s The Moonspinners.

Favorite TV Series?  “I Claudius”

Favorite Movie?  Casablanca

Favorite Actor: Leonard Dicaprio

Favorite Actress: Katherine Hepburn

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Martini

Hawaii or Alaska? Alaska.

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

If I had just one wish, it would be to be able to fly without wings or any kind of machine

Thanks for a great interview Sarah!

Sarah will give away an e-copy of CATACOMB to one lucky commenter!  To enter, leave your name and email address in our comments section below!  Ends midnight, Sept 24

We welcome Peg Cochran back to the Blog!

Peg grew up in a New Jersey suburb about 25 miles outside of New York City.  After her first husband died, she remarried and her new husband took a job in Grand Rapids, Michigan where they now live (on exile from NJ as she likes to joke).

She has three cozy mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime—the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Cranberry Cove Series and the Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie series, written as Meg London.  The Farmer’s Daughter series will debut in 2016.

Peg’s Lucille Series is published by Beyond the Page Publishing.  Confession Is Murder, Unholy Matrimony and Hit and Nun are available for all e-book readers.  She is currently working on the fourth book in the series.

You can read more about Peg and her books at www.pegcochran.com or catch up with her on Facebook—facebook.com/pegcochran. 

Welcome back to the blog, Peg!

Thanks Rocco (and Toni!)  I’m thrilled to be here again. 

R:  Last time you told us about your Cranberry Cove series.  Now you’ve also got a new series debuting this month.  Can you tell us about that?

The Farmer’s Daughter takes place on Love Blossom Farm in the fictional town of Lovett, Michigan.  Shelby McDonald runs the small farm, writes a popular cooking and lifestyle blog and is raising her two children after the death of her husband.  She’s leased the pasture next to the farm to Jake Taylor who looks more like a cowboy than a farmer and has his sights set on Shelby.  Jake has competition in Matt Hudson who owns and runs the general store in town.  Shelby insists she’s not interested in dating but the two men are determined to change her mind!  Of course murder intrudes and shakes things up!

R:  Do you enjoy writing more than one series at a time?

I do—it’s fun to enter different worlds with each series.  The trick is in remembering who is in which book!

R: Which of (your character)  adventures in either series was the most fun for you to write? Were any of them the least amount of fun?

Actually some of the most fun are the antics Lucille gets up to in my Lucille Mystery Series (available for all ebook platforms)—stealing a hearse, an ambulance, a fire truck, a UPS truck….  In the Farmer’s Daughter, I would say the exchanges between my main character Shelby and Bert, an old family friend who has a quick wit and quicker tongue!

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

I don’t really have any “musts.”  I’ve trained myself to work wherever and whenever.  I write on my lunch hour at work and when I first started writing, I used to write longhand in a steno book while commuting to work on a bus.  That makes my laptop seem like a luxury!

R:  If a movie were to be made of one of your books, which one would you want it to be and who would you pick for the lead roles?

I’d have to say the first book in my Cranberry Cove series—Berried Secrets—because I think the visual of the body floating up in the flooded cranberry bog would be stunning!  Lead roles—tough question!

Monica Albertson:  Jennifer Garner

Jeff Albertson:  Liam Hemsworth

Gina Albertson:  Heather Locklear

Victim – Sam Culbert:  John Lithgow

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Right now I am working on book #5 (as yet untitled) in my Lucille Mystery Series as well as a proposal for my agent for a potential new series.

R: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m somewhere in between.  I lay out plot points (end of Act One, Midpoint, etc.) but I don’t do an extensive scene by scene outline.  And no matter how much I plan, something always surprises me and that’s the exciting part.

R: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

Well I wanted to be a ballerina when I was younger, but I think that ship has sailed!  Actually if I weren’t a writer with a day job, I’d be at the beach a lot more in the summer, doing more baking, spending more time with my family and reading more!

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

A few hours of escape and enjoyment!

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  .Day

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Both!

Beach or Pool?   Beach

Steak or salad?  steak

Favorite Drink?  Water

Favorite Book?  A Christmas Carol

Favorite TV Series?  Downton Abbey

Favorite Movie?  Bridget Jones

Favorite Actor:  George Clooney

Favorite Actress:  Meryl Streep

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada?  Dirty martini

Hawaii or Alaska?  Hawaii

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be President John F. Kennedy-having grown up in the era of the Kennedy mystique, I think it would be interesting to meet him.

If I had just one wish, it would be a cure for :type 1 diabetes

If I could trade places with anyone in the world, it would be:I’m pretty happy being me but for a few days it would be fun to be J.K. Rowling and see my name on the best seller list!

Peg will give away a copy of No Farm, No Foul to one lucky commenter!

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)
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* 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 Friday, Sept. 16!