Which book are you promoting during your takeover?

Second Chance with a Country Star

What comes next for your books?

I just announced a new shared world series that I’m so excited to be a part of! The Love, Canadian Style series showcases Canadian romance authors in Canadian settlings! My book, Canadian Harvest, brings us back to Logan Creek with a story that I’ve been wanting to share for almost a year now!

Who/What gave you the confidence to write a novel?

My husband. He’s been my biggest supporter through all of this. He’s the one that suggested that I start writing romance and he’s continued to be behind me every step of the way. 

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

To just keep going. There are times throughout the writing journey that are so hard, but it’s important to keep writing.

How did you start writing? When I was a child, I grew up in a very crowded house in Charleston. I have three sisters. The way I would escape all the mayhem was by reading. From kindergarten on I became a voracious reader. At eight, I would read my parents’ novels, whatever books I could find. At night instead of counting sheep I would tell myself Cinderella type stories where I got to be the heroine. But my first real writing class was when I worked in high-tech in Boston. I took a class at Harvard Extension, and the professor read my story aloud to the group. He asked me to read it, but I was too self-conscious, because it was the first story I had ever written. From that day on I was hooked.

What inspires your writing the most? I spent two decades working as a croupier on land and cruise ships. Although I didn’t realize it at the time every day was research. When I read or watch movies about casinos, they are always filled with errors. The dealers use the wrong hand, pay the bets in the wrong order, or plan a heist that is pure fantasy. These sloppy mistakes are my pet peeve. My husband and I compete to see who can catch the first mistake. I wanted the plot of my novels to be logistically possible. But most of all I want the stories to be entertaining.  

My inspiration was to write the first realistic novel about casino life from the perspective of an experienced table games dealer. Those years were invaluable in recreating crime scenes. My novels, Cruise Quarters and Casino Queen, have been about the casino and cruise ship industry because those were my life experiences. My new short story The Perfect Breasts was written for breast cancer month, it is a very raw and personal story pulled from family lore and life experiences. I like to write realistic novels, because life isn’t a fairytale. I also never write perfect characters, I like to show the shades of gray in people.

What would be your dream location for researching your book? When I was single and lived in Boston, I was offered the opportunity to join Princess Cruises as a croupier. Jumping at the chance, I spent the next five years circling the globe. Sometimes life exceeds your dreams. I was awed by the wonders of Venice, the fjords of Norway, the banks of the Amazon, and the Northern Lights in St. Petersburg. My first novel Cruise Quarters was inspired by those fantastic locations and my true love story of the whirlwind romance between me and my husband. We met on the Star Princess and were married three months later.

Where do you like to write? I was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and it has always been my dream to get back to the ocean. We now live in a high rise in Hollywood, Florida, where I have the privilege to be able to write, while wistfully gazing out at the ocean.

They say write about what you know, and
Cara Bertoia knows a lot about casinos. Her new mystery Casino Queen has been featured in The Big Thrill, Women Writers Women’s Books, Charlotte Reader’s Podcast, Tell Me About Your Book, and dozens of popular book review sites. Watch the book trailer for a peek into the Casino Queen’s world.

Description of Casino Queen:
Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California, where Native casinos have just opened. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino where she is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.

Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager. John sends her to the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree, to clean house. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of often unique guests, and growing revenue.

Her list of enemies grows as she uncovers the underbelly of corruption running through the casino.

When you run a casino, you make a lot of enemies. With her life on the line, can she pull out a win?

How did you start writing? Growing up, I honestly didn’t enjoy reading. Learning to read was incredibly challenging. My father invested in Hooked on Phonics, afterschool tutors, and the Sylvan Learning Center. It was a long road to get where I am today. While all my friends were reading the newest, higher-level books, I was behind. In 7th grade I was still reading 4th-grade level stories such as R.L. Stine and The Box Car Children. I had to hide the books I loved because other kids were making fun of me. I worked as a nanny for about 8 years, and picked up a love for reading then and started taking classes by mail where I fell in love with writing and wrote my first picture book, Nonnie and I, during that time (2004/2005). 

Where do you like to write, i.e. a coffee shop, park, your office, etc.? I love to write at home, usually on the couch with my dog, Ransom, next to me. I’ve tried to write outside and at the library but I get super distracted when there is other stuff around me, so I find that isolation works best to knock out the words I need to accomplish.

What inspires your writing the most? My day job, my dogs, my mom (who had MS), and my childhood inspire me the most. I love to tell a story that feels like nostalgia in the form of love, hope, and laughter.

Is there anything that sets your writing apart from other authors? I think that because there are so many authors in the world today telling stories, that what sets some of us apart is not the beginning to the end of the novel, but what happens in between, how the reader is transported from the first page to the last. There is a lyric from a Sugarland song that goes: “The first and last breath don’t matter, it’s all the ones that are in between.” I believe that is what sets some of us apart from other authors and how readers fall in love with authors that become their favorites.

What would be your dream location for researching a book? A small, sleepy town in Vermont that has changed little over the years, from the fall to winter months. I would be in dreamland for something such as that!!

Savannah Hendricks calls herself an author of heart and humor, and we couldn’t agree more! Read a description of her latest novel, The Album, and check out the book trailer for a glimpse of her vision for the book.

Description:
A hidden album unlocks a mysterious mansion’s
past and present.

Mississippi, present day – After her dad’s sudden passing, Michelle Davis returns to the childhood mansion she once called home. Only this time, she’s caring for her mom, who is struggling with schizophrenia and dementia. Thrust into the unexpected role of a caretaker, Michelle has her hands full when the haunted mansion’s past returns.

Mississippi, in the ‘90s – Meanwhile, some twenty-eight years earlier, intrigued by what she found hidden behind the one-hundred-year-old wallpaper, Michelle will soon discover it’s never easy to set the past free.

Michelle’s complex past and present are woven between the unlikely realms of Christianity and witchcraft. Can she overcome the mansion’s history before it takes another family member’s soul, secure the present, and plan for her future?

From the author who brought you the award-winning coming of age novel, I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station, comes a story that’s sure to send goosebumps down your arms.

*In memory of Mac, 5% of the proceeds from the sale of this novel will be donated to AKC Canine Health Foundation on a semi-annual basis to support canine epilepsy research.

The Album ALSO INCLUDES: Mom’s Favorite Mac & Cheese Recipe.

1. How long have you been writing? I started writing in 2016 when I discovered the sub-sub-genre of culinary cozy mysteries. I thought I could be a perfect fit and carve out a place for myself there. But I love all kinds of mysteries, so my next book, “Shoot Shovel and Shut Up,” is still clean and compelling, but not so cute and culinary.

2. What inspired the book you’re currently promoting? I was inspired by Agatha Christie’s “Death Comes As the End.” That’s a strange story and I felt like the characters had some potential that the original story didn’t explore, AND I thought it would be great on a modern Texan family ranch.

3. Who are the authors who most influenced your work? Definitely Agatha Christie, but also Stacey Swann’s “Olympus, Texas” for all the family drama, and my book seems to be similar to Bruce Hammack’s mysteries. I was told that “Shoot Shovel and Shut Up” is like a clean mystery version of the show “Yellowstone.”

4. Where do you write, i.e. an office, outdoors, a coffee shop? I mostly write at home, but I’ll write anywhere! Sometimes I go to a library, cabin, or coffee shop to have dedicated time, but mostly I write on a laptop at the dining room table. I used to have a desk, but now the family computer has taken my spot.

5. If you could visit one place to research a book where would it be? I would go to the past, but since I can’t, I’ll keep writing contemporary settings since I’m too afraid to get things wrong!

Jessica Thompson is the author of the Amazon best-selling mystery novels A Caterer’s Guide to Holidays and Homicide and A Caterer’s Guide to Love and Murder. She also curated and featured her own short stories in a family friendly anthology of campfire stories, Beyond the Woods: A Supernatural Anthology.

Description of her upcoming novel Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up (Pub date – Aug. 29):

After a fight over the family ranch, Dad’s young fiancée is found dead. Bria risks her family’s disapproval to sneak around and investigate as the tragedies pile up. Luckily, she has help from her childhood crush and from the handsome new deputy.

When new love blooms in two directions and her main suspect dies, she must grow around her grief to discover the family’s secrets before she loses everyone she loves.

Pozole de Pollo

In Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up, Sam leaves Mexico to work on the Hees ranch and quickly becomes part of the family. The main character, Bria, and her mother learn how to make this delicious pozole soup recipe to help Sam feel more at home.

Recipe

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Tools needed: blender, can opener, fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, big stock pot, another medium pot

This is a chicken pozole with two different sauces to add. Mix in the dry chile salsa if you want Pozole Rojo and mix in the tomatillo salsa if you want Pozole Verde. To save time you can use cooked chicken and premade stock but it won’t be as tasty. Luckily this makes a big batch because it’s even better the second day!

 Salsa Roja

            5 dry guajillo chiles     

            3 arbol chiles (or less if you don’t like spice)

            Water

            6 garlic cloves, peeled

            1 tablespoon salt

 Salsa Verde

            3 poblano (fresh ancho) chiles

            2 fresh jalapenos, stems, ribs, and seeds removed

            3 garlic cloves, peeled

            1 jar (about 17 ounces) salsa verde

            ½ bunch cilantro

            ½ teaspoon salt

Soup

            1 whole chicken, cleaned and whole or cut into sections

            1 head garlic, peeled

            ½ yellow onion, roughly chopped

            3 bay leaves

            3 tablespoons salt, or more to taste

            1 huge can of hominy, around 108 ounces, drained and rinsed

            ¼ cup fresh or 2 tablespoons dry Mexican oregano, chopped

            1 tablespoon salt

Toppings

½ yellow onion, finely diced 

5 radishes, thinly sliced

¼ head cabbage, finely shredded

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 large or 2 small avocados, diced

More Mexican oregano

More jalapeno, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. In a big stock pot, bring your whole chicken with a head of garlic, ½ and onion, 3 bay leaves, 3 tablespoons of salt or more, and enough water to cover it up to a boil. Keep in boiling water for about an hour, or until completely cooked.
2. While you wait for your chicken stock to boil, roast your chiles by putting poblano, guajillo, and arbol chiles on a cookie sheet. Roast in a 500 degree oven for about 5-6 minutes. Remove pan from oven and scoot all the dry chiles into a medium saucepan. Flip the fresh chiles and roast then for another 10 minutes, then set them aside to cool. Heat the dry chiles in enough water to cover them. Boil your dry chiles until they become soft and pliable, about 20 minutes.
3. After an hour of boiling your chicken stock, remove from heat and take the chicken out, waiting a moment to let the juices drip out of the chicken and back into the pot. Place chicken on a cutting board to cool for about 30 minutes. Strain the garlic, onion and bay leaves out of the stock. Save some stock for later use and keep about 2 quarts in the pot. 
4. While you wait for your chicken to cool and your chiles to soften, your roasted poblano chiles are probably cool enough to touch. Process those chiles by peeling off the papery skin and removing their stems and seeds. Blend those poblanos with jalapenos, 3 garlic cloves, the jar of salsa verde, ½ a bunch of cilantro, and ½ teaspoon salt. Now you have much better green salsa! Set aside as a mix in for the finished soup. And rinse your blender because you’re going to need it again.
5. When cool enough, shred chicken meat and discard bones and skin. Set meat back into the stock pot. Add hominy, Mexican oregano, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Heat over medium high heat and boil for 20-30 minutes while you finish everything else.
6. When dry chiles are softened, blend then with 6 garlic cloves, 1 cup of their cooking liquid, and 1 tablespoon salt. Strain through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth-lined colander over a big bowl. The liquid is what you really want here. Clean out your blender with another ½ cup of cooking water, then throw that in the sieve too. Press and squeeze the mixture through the sieve until you have beautifully red sauce in your bowl and crumbly mush in your sieve that looks like wet coffee grounds. Discard the dry part and set aside the sauce to use in the finished soup.
7. Use any remaining boiling time on the soup to prep your toppings, then serve immediately or reheated the next day.
8. Serve a bowl of soup with one of the salsas mixed in. Enjoy with cabbage, onion, radish, cilantro, avocado, and oregano and jalapeno to taste.

1. What inspired the book you’re currently promoting? My MFA thesis! I was in college and researching what I wanted that final project to be and at the time I had been binging cozy mysteries, Agatha Christie and some of my favorite BBC shows. Well, one day I woke up with the idea and boom, my book was born!

2. Where do you write, i.e. an office, outdoors, a coffee shop? I like to write in my bed or on my couch! Haha. But, usually I just write wherever I happen to be when the time and muse is available. 

3. If you could visit one place to research a book, where would it be? Oxford University! I have a fun idea that would flourish there!

J.R. Lancaster writes clean mysteries that she says borders on cozy. Join us Thursday for her takeover. She’ll discuss her new novel Someone’s Always Watching and her writing. Check out the trailer for her latest release.

We’ll share a Q&A with J.R. Thursday morning, so you can get to know her better before the takeover that evening.

How did you start writing? I’ve been a writer my whole life, I just didn’t know it. As a kid, I would watch soaps with my mom, and then lie awake at night and come up with dialogue in my head for the characters.

I would get “the look” in church when I was writing down what I’m sure was extremely angst-filled poetry and song lyrics in the blank corners of the Sunday bulletin. So I did what any good writer would do, and that’s go to college and get an accounting degree, followed by a law degree. I would like to state for the record that I am a reformed lawyer, emphasis on the reformed.

Where do you like to write, i.e. a coffee shop, park, your office, etc.? Anywhere quiet! I usually write either in my office or in my bed.

What inspires your writing the most? I’m a Southern girl, and lived in Memphis, and so my Memphis Magic series is about as authentic as it gets. As for my Parisi Family series, I loooove mafia romance. It’s one hundred percent my favorite romance sub-genre to read, and now to write!

Is there anything that sets your writing apart from other authors’? The characters and the humor. My characters are so real, you can’t help but love and root for them (or love to hate them!) And I guarantee you’ll laugh a few times while reading any of my books. (Unless you have no sense of humor, and in that case, my condolences).

What would be your dream location for researching a book? I’m currently writing a new paranormal romance series set in a tropical locale, so I’d definitely be down for some work-related travel.