Cozy Mystery: Paradise Can Be Murder by Susan Bernhardt

Kay, Phil, and friends are looking forward to taking their first vacation together on a Caribbean cruise. Visits to exotic islands, sailing through turquoise waters, luxurious dining, and great entertainment await them. But Paradise Can Be Murder when one of the guests on board dies an unnatural death.

With their innate curiosity, Kay and company find themselves in the heart of the investigation. Will they find justice for the victim, amidst secrets and deceit, before the cruise comes to an end and the murderer leaves the ship? Time is ticking away.

Meanwhile, a racially charged hate crime back home shakes the community of Sudbury Falls.

File Size: 3524 KB
Print Length: 344 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing; 1 edition (November 14, 2017)
Publication Date: November 14, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0764FRLLN


Order here!

Book Spotlight: AMACAT by Chuck Bowie

Second in the Donovan: Thief For Hire thriller series, Sean Donovan is embroiled in a triplet of trouble.

His sister’s newly ex-boyfriend, an obsessed art collector, dumped an ugly, but valuable fish mask in her lap. A mask being hunted by a lethal insurance agent.

Beth McLean, barely an acquaintance from London, is being framed. She reaches out to the only person she believes can help clear her name. Who at the Canadian embassy is behind this treachery?

Or is it all connected to his nemesis, Gaia? And did the multimillionaire art dealer order the murder of Donovan’s ex-girlfriend as the ultimate payback?

All this falls into Donovan’s lap, and he still cannot stop himself from a small side trip to find a stolen cask of the last great batch of Provençal pinot noir wine. Too much baggage? Read A Mask, A Cask and A Task: AMACAT.




Release October 17, 2014
Words 79000
Pages 308
ISBN 978-1-77127-602-3
Price $5.95

Purchase here!

Coming Soon! The Hudson Bay Mystery by John Russo

Back in the 1800s, freshman Pinkerton Detective Ethan Edwards, after solving his first field crime case, ‘The Gold Eagle’ safe robberies, is assigned his second case. His chief, Captain Butterworth, sends Ethan to Boston to investigate a $10,000 Hudson Bay fur robbery that took place during the Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Boston Harbor. The furs were discovered missing from their pier warehouse.

With the concurrence of the Boston police, Ethan questions everyone connected with the warehouse. His investigation broadens as he pursues leads involving the family that put on the display, and a quick trip to New York’s furrier district, which ultimately lead him toward unraveling the mystery.

Excerpt

Chief Butterworth came partway through. “Ah, Ethan! Right on time. Come in and bring your drink.”

“Yes, sir.” I tilted my glass in gratitude in Janet’s direction as I entered his office. Following him as he made his way to his desk, I couldn’t help thinking how most people would expect the Chief Detective of Pinkerton to be a burly, tall, gruff individual. But at six-two, I peered easily over the top of his graying head. Of course, I wasn’t exactly the figure of a criminal investigator either. My height only exaggerated my thin frame, and being so lanky, with size eleven feet, I appeared more like an overgrown farm boy in an inexpensive suit. I usually avoided wearing a hat to cover my thinning black hair since it further exaggerated my height.

“Have a seat, Ethan,” he invited as he plopped his stout frame in what I observed was a well worn, yet comfortable-looking leather chair.

“Thank you, sir.” I sat facing him in an armless metal chair, which I supposed was comfortable enough for brief meetings with the chief.

“Here, set your glass on this.” He slid a note pad over to my side of his desk. “That was a fine piece of work you did in Frisco, Ethan. Wells Fargo was quite pleased as well.”

“Thank you, sir. I must admit, for my first traveling assignment, I racked up quite a few miles but I did get to see a good part of our country.”

“Your expenses certainly indicated as much.”

“I tried to keep expenses at a minimum, sir…”

“I’m sure you did. It takes money to make money, which brings me to your next assignment.”

“Yes, sir.” I felt myself stiffen in the straight-backed chair.

“Are you comfortable, Ethan? You can stretch your legs if you wish.”

“I’m fine, sir. After two trips out west on the Union Pacific seats this old body appreciates a regular chair.”

“Old body! If I recall it was 1876 when we recruited you, Ethan. You were about… what twenty-six then? That’s far from old, believe me.”

I realized it was a poor choice of words when the chief had to be at least fifty. “Yes, sir, that was three years ago. I just turned twenty-nine last month.”

“Congratulations, however, you’re still one of our youngest agents. Now about your assignment.”

I took out my note pad as he picked up a folder from his desk.

“This time you’ll be traveling to Boston, Ethan,” he explained as he perused the contents of the folder. “We’ve been retained by the Hudson Bay Company.”

“Isn’t that an English company, sir?”

“Yes. They operate mostly out of Canada. It seems their main warehouse on Boston harbor was robbed, I should say emptied, of over ten thousand dollars worth of precious furs. Let’s see? Yes, here it is, Minks, Sables and Ermines.”

“That’s a considerable amount of pelts, sir.” I noted the amount.

“Apparently, it was being readied for shipment to England for distribution into the European furrier markets.”

“When was this, sir?”

“A week and a half ago, on July fourth.”

“Independence Day.” I penciled that fact down.

“Yes, that’s right. Not much of a celebration for our English friends in either event I’m afraid.”

I noted a slight grin on his face. Seems Samuel Butterworth has a bit of a sense of humor under that somber black suit and tie.

“And the Boston police?”

“They’re baffled. No witnesses and no leads. The only thing they have for certain is that the thieves blew up the heavy steel-clad wooden doors to get in.”

“But the noise, sir? That had to be heard by someone.” I stopped writing at this point and rose to stretch my legs.

“That’s the irony of it, Ethan. It happened during the fireworks celebration on the adjoining pier.”

“Sounds like a well planned job.”

“Very clever one and it’s all yours. I suggest you leave as soon as possible. And, Ethan, when you arrive check in with the Boston police. Pinkerton has a good rapport with local authorities and we try to keep it that way. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll leave for Boston in the morning.”

“Do that. And remember, Ethan, your expenses start then.”

“Of course, sir, and I’ll report back as usual.”

He was already involved with another folder as I retreated.

“Good assignment?” Janet asked as I returned the empty glass.

“Quite explosive, I believe.”

I left her looking as perplexed as I was.

Release October 28, 2014
Words 13910
Pages 59
ISBN 978-1-77127-617-7
Price $2.50

Coming soon!

Don't forget, MuseItUpPublishing is celebrating their 4th anniversary with 50 - 80% select titles.

MuseItUp Publishing Celebrates 4 Years!

Congratulations goes out to MuseItUp Publishing. They are currently celebrating their 4 year anniversary. During the month of October, select eBooks are 50 - 80% OFF! Here is a small sampling of the mysteries on sale:

80% OFF

60% OFF

80% OFF

50% OFF

Visit MuseItUp Publishing for further details at https://museituppublishing.com/ 

Guest Blogger: Marian Lanouette, Author of Burn in Hell

A botched missing person’s case.

A nervous mob boss.

Lt. Jake Carrington’s gut tells him Phil Lucci is being cagey—with good reason. Jake can see this case has been mishandled from the beginning. Sloppy police work? Or does Lucci's hand reach as far as the WPD? It’s Jake’s job to find the answers.

Then Jake meets Kyra Russell, a woman with an unusual job—she runs the local crematory. Despite the heated attraction between them, Jake becomes more and more suspicious of Kyra. Her gambling problem has already cost her a marriage and custody of her son. More than that, she also happens to be friends with Phil Lucci. Kyra assures Jake that it's just coincidence, but Jake's experience and his instincts warn him not to believe in chance. Can Kyra be burning bodies for the mob? If she is, what will Jake do about it?

Challenges of Writing a Series

by Marian Lanouette

When you write a book, you develop your characters, create the story (plot) and sub-plots and then solve or resolve all the characters' issues in that book. When you write a series you have to love your characters. Why? Hopefully you'll be spending a lot of time with them. And it's not just important for the hero or heroine, you have to love/hate your secondary characters as well.

I know in my Jake Carrington Series I have already outlined five books. Each book targets not only Jake Carrington, it highlights a secondary character's life, wants and needs. I think it makes it more interesting than always focusing on more the main hero.

Is it easy to make all the characters human? Loveable? Loathsome? Again the answer is yes and no. So far I've been lucky. Readers have told me they really hate my bad guys and they give them the creeps. Why is this so good? I portrayed them as human beings with flaws that drew emotions from my readers, yet at some point in the story the villain might have been likeable until his/her true nature showed through.

It's also important that you keep a bible or in my case a OneNote file on all the places, descriptions of places, historical points of interest, clothes, character descriptions and so forth. You can't have your character being six-one in one story and six-three in another. Your readers will call you on those little facts
The more time you spend with these characters the more they become real to you, like your spouse. They will grow with your story, change over time and hopefully become better people—just like real life.

I also do character studies. I might never use that Jake loves baseball but I know he does and would jump at the chance to see a Yankees game. Or in another book I might have him run up against a Red Sox fan. That always makes for a good confrontation. Mia might like a certain brand shoe. All these idiosyncrasies are what make us individuals along with the characters.

Writing a series has its challenges, but I love it and I love I get to know my characters inside out.

Read an excerpt:

“Son of a gun,” Kyra whispered.

Life’s not fair. In the last two hours she’d dumped over three thousand dollars into the Goddamn machine. This bitch sits down right next to her and hits the jackpot on the first spin. I’ll never get my son back this way.

Kyra Russell wiped away the tears that rolled down her face. Why couldn’t she hit the jackpot? Ten grand—she only needed ten grand to pay her lawyer. Taking another hundred-dollar bill out of her purse, she stuffed it into the machine and hit the maximum-credit button, anticipating the results. Loving the rush, her stomach jumped with excitement. Each time, her mind cheered ‘this is it.’ As the wheels rolled into place, a cold chill raced through her veins. One by one, they landed. By the second symbol, she realized she’d lost again. Kyra’s heartbeat increased, pounding in her chest, beating in her ears like African tribal drums, causing her anger to spike. It’s the next one, she told herself, banging the maximum-credit button again. Lord, she needed to take a pee break, though didn’t dare leave her machine for fear someone else would hit the jackpot after she’d primed the machine.

Watching the attendant pay the woman, Kyra counted along with him. The

bitch won seventy-five hundred dollars. After the woman received her payout, Kyra tried signaling the attendant.

“Excuse me,” she called.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I need to use the restroom. Can you watch my machine or lock it down?”

“I need to call a supervisor over. It’ll be a few minutes.” He pressed the button in his earpiece.

She watched him whisper into it. After ten minutes, the supervisor came over and locked down the machine for her, letting her know she needed to be back within the hour or they’d release the machine.

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem, Kyra,” the supervisor said.

He read her name off her reward card, addressing her like he knew her. Well, screw him.

She pushed off her seat, rushing to the ladies’ room. Kyra didn’t want to stay away too long, giving them a chance to re-program the machine against her or reset it. She hated the new system with the tickets. Since they’d installed it, she hadn’t won like she used to. How else could she lose constantly? Winning used to be the norm when she first started. It became addictive. She’d won twenty-five thousand dollars on one spin. On another night, she’d won eight thousand dollars.

Boy, the cash rolled in then. The feeling was indescribable when those wheels rolled into place and the bells went off. The noise the machine made when it hit a jackpot had crowds surrounding her. Though on that night she’d gone home with only twenty thousand dollars—she’d blown five grand trying to win more. Greed always took over. Winning excited her. It was the rush, the euphoria she got every time she pushed the spin button that kept her coming back.

The casino treated her like royalty, even gave her a host. He got her into the popular shows or restaurants anytime she wanted. Nothing was too good for Kyra, as long as she showed up and put her money into the machine. She became a regular at the players’ lounge—eat and drink for free. Yeah, free, her ass. The cost was extreme. Somewhere along the line, Kyra lost her self-respect—along with her marriage, her son, and her savings.

PURCHASE AT MUSEITUP PUBLISHING OR AMAZON!

One of ten children, Marian took to writing to explore new and adventurous places. While her friends traveled on planes for vacation, Marian traveled in books. With an overactive imagination she started creating her own characters and stories. If I Fail, A Jake Carrington Mystery is the first book in the series. Her second book in the series, Burn in Hell is now available. This month she released a novella called As the World Ends.

An avid reader, she discovered mysteries by reading the Daily News as a youngster. Intrigued by the real life crimes, and how the police worked and eventually solved them, ignited her imagination beyond the ordinary.

Marian has many plans (books) for Jake Carrington and his crew. The third book in the series Mated for Life will be out sometime next year.

Visit Marian online at:

Website: www.marianl.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/marian.lanouette
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMarian

This post first appeared at The Book Connection.

Interview with Frank Scully, Author of Empty Time

Frank Scully was born and raised in a small town in North Dakota and received a Bachelor’s degree in History with Phi Beta Kappa Honors and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the University of North Dakota. He then served more than five years as a Judge Advocate General Corps Officer in the U.S. Army in the U.S., Vietnam, and Thailand. After that he attended the prestigious Thunderbird School and received a Masters in Business Administration with honors. In his professional career he has worked as a manager with large aerospace and defense manufacturers and also owned his own small business.

Depending on the vagaries of the universe he has been well off at times and broke, but never broken at other times. Blessed with an understanding wife who gave him twin sons, he has remained through it all a dreamer whose passion is writing stories that will entertain readers.

Please visit the author’s Website at: www.frankjscully.com

Blog: http://frankjscully.com/blog/

Empty Time is a thriller crime novel with a modern day high concept setting. Today’s corporate titans are much like the feudal lords and barons of medieval times. They fight and scheme their way up a ladder of prestige, privilege, wealth and power. The major difference is the lack of a belief in a coherent code of conduct or moral precepts. Chivalry is dead. Working on a global scale beyond governments and borders, these new aristocrats are almost untouchable. To take over a large leading-edge technology corporation, three top executives are willing to commit murder and fraud to manipulate the stock market and the international currency exchange market. To divert attention and provide a patsy they set up Jim Lang to take the blame before he is to be killed. He survives and discovers through the sacrifice of another that in order for life to have meaning he must be willing to give it up for something. To save the people he loves he must put his life on the line to turn the tables on his former colleagues.

When did you begin writing?

I began writing with an eye towards publication in 1991. My wife finally got tired of me saying I could write something as well as some of the authors I was reading and bought a word processor for me and told me to prove it. The word processor was a pretty primitive one but it was better than a typewriter. I sat down and started. I must now admit that my first attempts were not worthy of publication but I kept at it and kept improving.

How did you get published?

I started the road to publication the usual way. I sent out queries to agents constantly. Over the years I received more rejections than I could ever count. If I kept all the paper rejections I received I could recycle the pile into enough pressed wood to build several houses. After queries and rejections became electronic I was no longer causing entire forests to be cut down but the results were the same. Along the way I did engage agents occasionally, and although I got very close to print a few times, something always seemed to come along that left me a few steps short of publication. I did manage to avoid the many scam agents and publishers.

And then Lea Schizas started MuseItUp. I heard about it through the grapevine from other authors and sent a note of congratulations and also a query. It was a very short time from that query to acceptance and then to publication. I have been very happy to be a part MuseItUp and to work with Lea and the amazing group of editors and cover artists she has put together. I now have three books out through MuseItUp and three more scheduled to come out in the next year.

Tell us more about the book and how it fits into your series?

I am writing a series of stand-alone mystery/suspense/adventure novels, at least one for each decade of the 20th and 21st century, set in different locales with both continuing and new characters in each one. I call it the Decade Series. There is something unique in each decade that marks it as separate from what went before or what follows. I explore aspects of what is unique as it is expressed in the locale chosen and how it affects the culture, characters and the tenor of the times and yet also see the common humanity that never changes. While the larger characteristics of the decade provide the background against which the story is told, I like to find certain lesser known events and circumstances that signal significant shifts around which to build the plot. The stories are not written in any chronological order.

Empty Time is set in current time frame and is a story of corporate greed gone global. We’ve had privileged classes and greed around since the beginning of man so that is a common thread. However, with the tools at their disposal now and the amount of money and power possible, why wouldn’t corporate titans do whatever they can to win?

What inspired you to write this story?
Ideas for stories tend to pop into my head regularly and what I need to do is weed through them to find the ones that have the substance I want to explore and develop. This one appealed to me. I have worked for several large corporations over a 40 year career and have watched corporations change. There have been generational shifts over the years from the WWII generation to the Boomers to each generation that followed. As the generations each moved into leadership roles in corporations, corporate culture has shifted to what it is now. Management pay has ballooned, the divide between management and worker has grown into a chasm. There is now a separate class of people at the top who control vast wealth. The story was easy to write.
Who are your favorite authors?

My favorite authors include some of the old masters such as Raymond Chandler, John MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade and others. Current writers I like include Michael Connelly, Martin Cruz Smith, and Walter Mosley.

Where can readers buy your books?
Empty Time and my other books, Resurrection Garden and Dead Man’s Gambit are all available at:

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/

and also:

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other online eBook retailers.

What is up next for you?

I have three more books in the Decade Series coming out next year from MuseItUp. Blood Sins, Gravedigger’s Open House and Vacation Man.

I am working on a seventh now tentatively called Digital Death. It involves outsourcing of work to India, software piracy, international bank skimming, terrorists, spies and murder, of course. The hero in this one will be a bit different. A young orphan who survived the boat exodus from Vietnam in the 70’s has grown up to be a remarkable man.

What would you say to a class of aspiring authors?

It’s a cliché but true. You can only perfect your craft by practicing constantly. Write and then write some more. Write because it is what you enjoy. Write because it makes you happy. Learn to love to edit.

This post first appeared at The Book Connection. 

Book Review: Murder is a Family Business by Heather Haven

A funny, crisp, unique murder mystery with tons of twists and turns is what you'll uncover in Murder is a Family Business by Heather Haven.

Lee Alvarez is sent out to keep tabs on a cheating husband. When the husband turns up dead on her watch, Lee needs to know what happened. With the help of her computer genius brother, Lee follows the clues, hoping to find the track to a killer.

In Murder is a Family Business, the first book in Haven's Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series, the author creates a superb story filled with engaging characters and one cute little kittie. This one seems to set the stage for the books that will come. The Alvarez family runs Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that deals with the theft of computer software. Perfectly groomed mother, Lila, computer wizard, Richard, and Lee work together; while Uncle Tio has come for a visit after the death of his wife.

This is a quick, fun read with new clues turning up and leading to additional discoveries. It has the right touch of humor, all the while not losing the focus of a murder investigation. Murder is a Family Business adds the love and sometimes annoyance of family to what has started off as a great mystery series. I look forward to reading the next book, A Wedding to Die For.


Title:  Murder is a Family Business
Author:  Heather Haven
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9865875-9-7
SRP: $5.95

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions. I received no monetary compensation to provide my review.

This review first appeared at The Book Connection. Since this review first appeared, the book has been reissued by The Wives of Bath Press.

Book Review: Resurrection Garden by Frank Scully

If you're looking for a superb historical murder mystery with a touch of romance, you'll find it in Resurrection Garden by Frank Scully.

Jake Turner is a lone drifter trying to escape a past that seems to catch up with him no matter where he goes. A veteran of the charge up San Juan Hill, he has earned a reputation that he can't shake.

It's 1904 in North Dakota and Jake is a part-time Deputy Sheriff. When he stumbles upon the frozen, brutally murdered body of Hjelmer “Thor” Thorsgaard, he sure doesn't get a lot of help from the townsfolk to figure out who might have wanted Thor dead. Seems everyone in Badger had a reason. The guy was a liar and a cheat who abused his family. Even his wife isn't sorry he's gone.

Jake feels the yearning to move on, especially when he becomes attached to Andy, an eight-year-old orphan boy, and begins to fall in love with his friend Issac's sister, Alice. When Andy is kidnapped and almost murdered, Jake is certain that whoever is behind Thor's death wants him out of the way, and they don't care who they have to hurt to make sure that happens.

He returns to Cuba, hoping to keep those he cares for out of danger. Though he knows he'll return to trap Thor's killer, Jake has no idea what will happen when all the dust settles.

In case you've somehow missed it, I'm a big fan of mysteries and I love historical fiction. That Resurrection Garden was able to blend two of my favorite genres into a well-written, intriguing novel, is a bonus over how much I truly enjoyed this book.

Resurrection Garden is Scully's debut novel, and the first book in his Decade Mystery series. Having read this book, I can barely wait until the next one is released in June.

In this riveting murder mystery, Scully has pulled together the wildness of the West, rich descriptions, a well-developed plot, and a menagerie of complex characters to come up with a winner. I expect this kind of writing from seasoned authors, so it is always a delight when a debut novel captivates me in this fashion. Simply put, I couldn't lay the book down. I stole every waking moment, and even moments when I should have been sleeping, to read this one. Just when I thought I had this one figured out, I discovered I was only partially right. I don't mind being fooled when such a satisfying ending is involved.

Guys shouldn't let the hint of romance turn them off this one. It's subtle and is crucial to Jake's development. As expected in a book set during this time period, there are plenty of bullets flying, and the situations Jake manages to get himself in can be a bit humorous.

Lovers of westerns, historical fiction, and murder mysteries will want to grab this one.


Title:  Resurrection Garden
Author: Frank Scully
Publisher:  MuseItUp Publishing
ASIN: B004HO6A90
SRP:  $5.95

This post first appeared at The Book Connection.

Interview with Heather Haven, Author of Murder is a Family Business

Joining us today is Heather Haven, author of Murder is a Family Business, the first book in her Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series published by MuseItUpPublishing.

Heather is a story teller by nature and loves the written word. In her career, she’s written short stories, novels, comedy acts, plays, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and even ghost-wrote a book.

One of her first jobs as a writer was given to her by her then agent. It was that of writing a love story for a book published by Bantam called Moments of Love. She had a deadline of one week and then promptly came down with the flu. Writing "The Sands of Time" with a temperature of 102 delivered some pretty hot stuff. A short stint with No Soap Radio in New York City as a staff comedy writer was a dream come true! She knew writing was for her, in particular, funny writing.

Two one-act plays, The Closet Corpse and Baltimore, farcical comedies both, were well received whenever and wherever they've been performed. She had the good fortune to have Baltimore done at Playwrights Horizon in New York City, shortly after The Closet Corpse premiered off-off B'Way, starring the very talented Sandy Faison, of Broadway's Annie fame. Both have also been recently done in San Jose to an appreciative audience.

Heather is in the process of writing the third novel of the Alvarez Mystery Series and finds it a joy. She gets to be all the characters, including the cat!

Welcome, Heather. It is wonderful to have you here today. Let's start off by learning a bit more about you.

Where did you grow up?

Sarasota, Florida, winter home of Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. That’s because both parents were members of the circus. My mother was a featured performer and my father was an elephant trainer. But that’s a story for a later time.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

At the tender age of 9, I was brought to the public library to check out my first book. I chose Nancy Drew, The Secret of the Old Clock. It changed my life. I knew then and there my life would revolve around mysteries and books.

When did you begin writing?

At around sixteen years old, I started writing lyrics to popular songs that had none. It was a fun start the writing process and one I sometimes do to this day, solely for my own amusement. I never did anything with them. I think they’re tucked away in a drawer.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Yes, yes, and yes. Although, I prefer the morning, when I’m fresh.

What is this book about?

Set in the present, Murder is a Family Business is the first in a series of humorous mysteries revolving around Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovitch’ Stephanie Plum, and the rest of Alvarez Family, detectives all. Basically, just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? Quirky Lee doesn't think so. The 34-year old ½ Latina, ½ WASP and 100% detective has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Her thinking is, of all the nerve.

Completing the family is Lee’s Never-Had-A-Bad-Hair-Day aristocratic mother, Lila; computer genius brother, Richard; beloved uncle “Tio;” and her energetic orange and white cat, Tugger. When this group is not solving murders, they run Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that normally deals with the theft of computer software. Seemingly light and frothy on the surface, the novel nevertheless explores familial love, the good, the bad and the annoying.

What inspired you to write it?

I don’t know that inspiration has anything to do with it. I write because I have to. Driven, don’tchaknow. But I belive in the family unit, whatever form it takes.

Who is your biggest supporter?

Lucky me, I have a family that is very supportive, down to the cats. Most friends and writing buddies are behind me 100%. That makes it a lot easier.

Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?

Every writer should be a member of a writing group, in my opinion. The help and support is unbelievable. So, yes, I am a member of several writing groups, plus I have been fortunate to study in the Stanford Continuing Studies Creative Writing program and with Ellen Sussman, a wonderful teacher and superb writer, in her own right.

Who is your favorite author?

Get ready for it: P.G. Wodehouse. I have read every book of his I can get my hands on and he wrote over 90! His writing can make me laugh like no one else’s. He’s most famous for the Jeeves and Bertie Wooster collection of short stories and books but he was a prolific writer of screenplays, plays, novels, short stories, pretty much anything. I’m a big fan.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

It was loooooong. My then agent – a lovely lady - had some near misses with major publishing houses for nearly three years. Then the economic disaster happened. Publishing went into the outhouse and hasn’t quite come out yet. I thought my little series was doomed, but hauled it out of the drawer last year and sent it off to MuseItUp Publishing, a new house in Canada and voila! It was accepted and now we’re off and running. Ain’t life grand?

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Not one danged thing. I did what was called for at the time. It’s worked out just fine. Maybe I would have exercised more, wouldn’t have eaten so much chocolate…wait a minute. Who am I kidding?

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

MuseItUp Publishing! It awaits there! Specifically at: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=32&category_id=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1
It’s lengthy but direct!

Bookstrand.com, Smashwords.com, and Amazon.com are some that carry the book.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

You betcha!
http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?

The trailer, which I did myself, is on my website. http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/. I worked on it for about 50 hours – learning curve – and then revamped it in about 15 minutes three weeks ago. So happy I did! The result is on my website and I’m proud of it. You can also follow Lee’s adventures at Twitter@PILeeAlvarez and join me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/.

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

Listening to my betters and those in the know. These people seldom steer me wrong. Also, everyone at MIU is supportive and helpful. We’re there for each other.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Write, write, write. You can’t be a writer if you don’t write. And don’t listen to anyone who says you can’t do it, or you don’t have the talent, or it’s crazy. Ignore them. Write. The world would be a better place is everyone in it planted a tree and wrote one story, even flash fiction. Get out there and write!!!

What is up next for you?

Finishing up the 3rd book of the Alvarez series, Death Runs in the Family, then I have a very exciting idea for a new novel, plus I need to finish a 3-act play I’m writing, and do the final edits on another mystery novel, not part of the Alvarez Family Series. I also like to write short stories whenever I get fifteen minutes or so.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Yes. Live, live, live! As Auntie Mame says, ‘Life’s a banquet and most sons-a-b------ are starving to death.’

This post first appeared at The Book Connection.

Interview: Terri Lynn Main, Author of Dark Side of the Moon

Joining us today is Terri Lynn Main. Terri teaches communication at Reedley College in Reedley California. She has been writing professionally for more than forty years, but Dark Side of the Moon is her first novel.


Welcome, Terri. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I hate that question. I am not that exciting as a person. I live a fairly quiet life with three cats and a lot of books. I love teaching my classes and writing. In many ways it’s my dream life. There really is not much interesting about me, and I kind of like it that way.

I think in some ways that helps writing fiction. In fiction you can explore parts of yourself that you don’t express openly. If you live a very exciting life, there’s not much left of explore. :)

When did you begin writing?

That would be about third grade. I learned about paragraphs then. Seriously, my first published piece was in the school newsletter that went out to the parents. It was about the sun. I found it after my mother passed away in her cedar chest. I had written that the light from the sun took eight minutes to reach the earth.

The principal had changed it to read “eight light-minutes.” I scratched it out and put back what I wrote. I then went to the principal and explained to him that “light minutes” were measurements of distance and not time. He invited me to join the science club two years before I was eligible to join.

What is this book about?

Dark Side of the Moon is a science fiction/cozy mystery novel. That’s right. There are not that many of those sort of novels around. It takes place in a small community built underground on the moon at the end of the Twenty-First Century. The main character is Carolyn Masters, a history professor and former FBI profiler, who is looking for a change after her mother dies. She is offered a position at Armstrong University and she heads off to the Moon.

She isn’t there long, though, before Juan McAlister, a astromechanics professor and lunar independence advocate, is murdered in his office. Being the first recorded murder on the moon, they call in Carolyn and a former Dallas homicide detective who runs the criminology department to investigate the case. They must now solve the murder, but also deal with clashing personalities, stop a terrorist attack on Earth, and exorcise their own demons.

What inspired you to write it?

Oddly enough, it was a dream. I had this dream in high school about a golden eyed alien who shows up at a lunar colony where I am working as a teacher. He gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and I am defending him.

What does that have to do with this story? Well, back in 2007 when I was planning a novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I thought about doing something with that dream. Being in my 50’s, golden eyed handsome aliens were not quite as attractive as they were when I was 17. So, my main character aged a bit, but she was still a teacher and there was still a murder. And the love interest? Well, you’ll have to read to find out, but he’s definitely not a golden eyed alien.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

It will be released in February at a number of locations, but it will appear first on the MuseItUp Publishing website. The URL for that page is huge. So just use this TinyURL http://www.tinyurl.com/darksidenovel.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

Yes, I have a website with free reads featuring these characters, excerpts from the book, information about the moon, and a map of the places mentioned in the novel. I’m updating it frequently.

It’s at http://www.darksideofthemoonnovel.com/.

You can also “like” us at http://www.facebook.com/darksidenovel.

What is up next for you?

Well, right now, I’m working on four sequels to Dark Side of the Moon. The next one which I will be finishing up this month is called Stormy Weather. Someone is messing with the weather control system in Armstrong City. Carolyn and Mike are called in to investigate. Soon they are on the trail of a serial killer. Their investigation takes leads them to sports betting, big time wrestling (in 1/6g it’s pretty interesting) and steroids for the brain. And, yes, it was inspired by another dream.

Thanks for spending time with us today, Terri. We wish you much success.

This post first appeared at The Book Connection.