20 Questions with Authors : Jenna St. James

Jenna St. James  writes in the genres of cozy/paranormal cozy/romantic comedy. Her series include the Ryli Sinclair mystery series, the Sullivan Sisters mystery series, the Copper Cove mystery series, and the new Trinity Falls romantic comedy series. She is also one of five authors who write the A Witch in Time series.

Books in the Ryli Sinclair Mystery series are  (so far)  :

Picture Perfect Murder
Girl's Night Out Murder
Old-Fashioned Murder
Bed, Breakfast, and Murder
Veiled in Murder
Bachlorettes and Bodies
Rings, Veils, and Murder
Next Stop Murder
Gold, Frankincense, and a Merry Murder
Heartache, Hustle, and Homicide

The Sullivan Sisters Mystery series has 7 books in that series (so far) and they are :

Murder on the Vine
Burning Hot Murder
Prepear to Die
Tea Leaves, Jealousy and Murder
Flames, Frames and Murder
Playing Tricks on Murder
Whispering Walls & Murder

Jenna and her step-daughter, Maddy Maddson have written 2 books (so far) in the Copper Cove Mystery series and they are :

Seaside and Homicide
Merriment and Murder 

Jenna said "This was a ton of fun!!" but after reading some of her answers I'm thinking I know her too well and some of the things she likes have me scared.....what about you ??

1.  What is your favorite color ?  Greens, blues, and pinks

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunrise

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Coffee (with Irish cream)

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  Any "B" movie--sharks, bugs, spiders

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  Spinach, onions, tomatoes, pesto

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?   Cake--anything boozy and chocolate!!

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Sandra Hill and LyVyrle Spencer--because of their books, I yearned to be an author

 

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Both!! Like...Killer Comedy Chicks from Outer Space!

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....  We have a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dog named Brownie; a tuxedo cat named Whiskey, and a tarantula named Legs

10.  Ideal vacation ?   Ireland! We were supposed to go this October to do a hand-fasting ceremony, but that has since been canceled! It's always been my dream, just have to wait a little longer!

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  Camping--only because I'm always outvoted! LOL

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Autumn. I love the beautiful colors and the crisp mornings. Perfect coffee and hot tea weather.

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  Failure

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  Booze. LOL. I mean, my family!!

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  English

 

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  The only two classes I ALMOST failed... Home Economics and PE! LOL

17.  What movie have you seen more than once ?  ANY spider, shark, insect sci fi movie.

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)  Decadent chocolates and amazing red wine!

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?  Dwayne Johnson!!

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ...... I love to laugh and enjoy life!

To learn more about Jenna and her books go to :  https://jennastjames.com/

20 Questions with Authors : Mark L. Dressler

Mark L. Dressler is the author of the Dan Shields Mystery series.  He has 2 books in this series (so far).  If you are a Stuart Woods fan, you will totally love these books.

They are :

Dead and Gone

Dead Right

We know he likes to take readers on a rollercoaster with his books, let's see what he's like personally......

1.  What is your favorite color ?  BLUE

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  SUNSET

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  COFFEE

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  TOP GUN and FRENCH CONNECTION

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  SAUSAGE and PEPPERS

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  CAKE- Orange Cake

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  MICHAEL CONNELLY

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Don't like horror movies or chick flicks.

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....   Like both CATS and DOGS- Have 

had both

10.  Ideal vacation ?  TRIP TO ITALY

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  5-STAR HOTEL

12.  Favorite season and why ?  SPRING- Baseball starts.(Normally)

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  REPTILES

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  MY WIFE

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  MATH

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  SCIENCE

17.  What movie have you seen more than once ?  TOP GUN / FRENCH CONNECTION

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)  ICE CREAM

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?  JULIA ROBERTS

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......  I was a DJ on a college radio station for 20 years. (WWUH- University of Hartford -1975-1995)

Readers can email Mark at mark.dressler17@gmail.com

He will send you signed copies of his books $15. each or 2 for $26.50 (No postage charge)

20 Questions with Authors : Arlene Kay

I had the pleasure of attending a book event with Arlene Kay.  This event included panels and contests..... one contest where I had to call out Arlene for "giving away the answer to a question" and since then we have had a fun relationship.  If you have ever met her, you know what I am talking about.  If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet, I highly encourage you to try to attend an event that she is participatiung in.....just be careful if there are any contests involved.

Arlene books are :

Death by Dog Show ( Book 1 in the A Creature Comforts Mystery series )
Homicide by Horse Show ( Book 2 in the A Creature Comforts Mystery series )
Swann Dive ( Book 1 in the The Boston Uncommons Mystery series )
Mantrap ( Book 2 in the The Boston Uncommons Mystery series )
Gilt  ( Book 3 in the The Boston Uncommons Mystery series )
Die Laughing
The Abacus Prize  ( Book 1 in the Grace Quinn Chronicles )
Intrusion

Now let's get to know her personally or as she said in her response to me "unburdening her soul" and she states some "very revealing responses".  You be the judge.....(yes Arlene that's a dig....hee hee)

1.  What is your favorite color ?  RED!

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunset

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Strong espresso

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  LAURA

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  White Italian Anchovies

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  Pie—Lemon Meringue (yum)

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Oscar Wilde

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Chick Flick (love the Bodyguard; Notting Hill)

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....  Love both cats and dogs—currently have 2 Belgian Tervurens, Kai, and Grand Champion Lord Byron

10.  Ideal vacation ?  Big city—like NYC or Paris

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  Five Star Hotel all the way!! CAMPING?? Ugh

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Autumn-especially in New England. Such a gorgeous display of nature

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  Fear factor: DEATHLY afraid of rodents

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  Gotta have it—Pellegrino or Perrier (glass bottles only)

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  Political Science

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Calculus 

17.  What movie have you seen more than once ?  Movie mania—My Cousin Vinny

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)  Guilty pleasure—AUCTIONS!

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?   Celebrity Crush—RUSSELL WONG

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......  I love giving public presentations and teaching but am very shy when meeting people one on one.

https://arlenekay.com/

Board Stiff (A Dead-End Job Mystery #12) by Elaine Viets

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets—the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing.

Helen Hawthorne and Phil—her husband and PI partner—are on the case when Jim Sandusky asks them to save his business. Because while “Sunny Jim’s Stand-Up Paddleboard Rental” is garnering a lot of attention, it’s not the kind the beachside business ever hoped to attract.

There’s a local restaurateur who wants the land for a parking lot, a competing board rental place aiming to poach customers, and a gang of local politicos who just want Jim gone. And Jim wants Coronado Investigations to find proof of dirty dealings.

They don’t have to try very hard, because it’s not too long before a customer of Jim’s dies after an accident. But when Jim insists it was a murder set up to make him look bad, it’s up to Helen and Phil to prove it before Sunny Jim’s is sunk for good.

Praise for the Dead-End Job Mysteries by Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets

“A stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful South Florida setting, and a cast of more-or-less lethal bimbos...I loved this book.”—Charlaine Harris
“Brave Viets preps by actually working the jobs she describes in loving and hilarious detail, giving her offbeat series a healthy balance between the banal and the bizarre.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Laugh-out-loud comedy with enough twists and turns to make it to the top of the mystery bestseller charts.” —Florida Today
“Fans of Janet Evanovich and Parnell Hall will appreciate Viets’s humor.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Wit, murder, and sunshine . . . it must be Florida. I love this new series.”—Nancy Pickard
“A heroine with a sense of humor and a gift for snappy dialogue.”—Jane Heller   (Summary via Goodreads)


I am a huge fan of the Dead-End Job Mystery series by Elaine Viets and Board Stiff, the twelfth book in the series, will tear at your heartstrings.    I know this series is a mystery series but after reading previous books, readers will get to know Helen and her group of friends and you cannot help but develop feelings for them.  And now that Helen and Phil are married and have their own private investigators business, you love them even more.

Another reason to love this series is the dead-end jobs that Helen usually takes.  Now that her and Phil are married and they have their private investigators business, they take jobs in order to solve the cases they get .... and the fun part is that now Phil gets to work some dead-end jobs as well.

In Board Stiff they are hired by Sunny Jim who owns a paddleboard rental and lesson business on Riggs Beach.  He thinks the city is going to revoke his business license so that a shady restaurant and business owner can get his location to expand his parking lot.  And when a customer of Sunny Jim's goes out paddleboarding and dies, Helen and Phil dive in head first to find out what happened and help Sunny Jim save his business.

You know it's going to be a good case when they recruit their landlady and friend, Margery to help with the investigation.  

Readers will love this series and want to return to Coronado Tropics Apartments to visit Helen, Phil, and Margery and see what is going on.  They will want to follow Helen around to all the dead-end jobs and watch how her and Phil work together solving cases.  They will even want to sit poolside in a cloud of Margery's smoke drinking wine from a box in a plastic wineglass.  There are so many reasons to read these books......I could continue to tell you but that's preventing you from picking up one and starting it. 



Review Missi M.

20 Questions with Authors : Charmain Zimmerman Brackett

Charmain Zimmerman Brackett is the author of the Grace's Augusta Mystery series which features her hometown.  There are five books in that series (so far).  They are :

Murder Under the Magnolia
Murder En Pointe
Murder Makes the Ballot
Murder Makes a Mistake
Murder Takes a Bow

She also writes the Victoria James Mystery series under the name of C.Z. Brackett.  There are six books in that series (so far).  They are novella's so you can probably breeze through one on a rainy day.
They are :

Murder at Twin Oaks
Murder at the Masquerade
Murder in Threes
Murder in Session
Murder Special Edition
Murder in Chambers

Now let's get to know Charmain personally......


1.  What is your favorite color ?  Fuchsia 

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunsets

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Hot tea

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  Tough one. Karate Kid

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  I haven't eaten pizza in three years.

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  Cookies are my favorite - chocolate chip.

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Victoria Holt

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Chick Flick

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....   Dog. I have two. Danni is a 10 year-old papillon and Duckie is a 3 month old Corgi.

10.  Ideal vacation ?   My favorite vacations are on cruise ships to the Caribbean; my bucket list vacation is a trip to Europe.

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  Give me a hotel.

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Spring.  My city of Augusta, GA, is the most beautiful in the springtime. Nature comes alive as pink, white, and red azaleas begin to bloom, and the purple wisteria drips from the vine. The beautiful dogwoods blossom. There are longer hours of daylight. The temperatures are perfect, and I can leave my windows open to hear the birds singing. At night, I'm serenaded by the songs of the frogs and crickets. 

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  Needles

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  My family

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  English

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Chemistry

17.  What movie have you seem more than once ?  Clue 

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)   I'm not ashamed to crank up my 80's music in my headphones. I like to exercise, and I have about 10 or so 80's related stations on my Pandora playlist. 

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?   Tom Hiddleston

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......  My fantasy job would be as a singer aboard a cruise ship. My son worked as a dancer/singer on a Carnival ship, and I would love to sing in one of the lounges. I can't dance so I couldn't do what my son did. 


Too learn more about Charmain and her books, you can find her at :

https://www.facebook.com/TheKeyOfElyon/

20 Questions with Authors : Dana Buckmir

Dana Buckmir has been interested in writing since she was in the fifth grade and is the author of Plenty of Laughs : One Woman's Journey Navigating the Online Dating Waters.

Let's get to know her personally......

1.  What is your favorite color ?  Purple

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunrise

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Coffee

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  The Shawshank Redemption

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  Mushrooms

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  Apple Pie

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Pablo Coelho

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Horror movie

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....  Dog person. Lucky the yorkie and Keira in heaven

10.  Ideal vacation ?  Tropical beach destination

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  5 star hotel

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Summer sun, sand and surf

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  Not accomplishing all of my goals

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  Pen and paper

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  English

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Math

17.  What movie have you seen more than once ?  The Notebook

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)  Chocolate covered pretzels

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?  Matthew McConaughey

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......  I love to laugh and make other people laugh. I try to get at least one deep belly laugh that makes my eyes tear up each day.

You can check out her book and follow her at :

https://danabuckmir.com/

20 Questions with Authors : Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider is the author of the Sedona O'Hala Mystery series.  There are four books (so far) in this series.  
They are :

Executive Lunch
Executive Retention
Executive Sick Days
Executive Dirt

She also has one book in the Haven Mystery series titled Catch an Honest Killer.

She also has the Moon Shadow Mystery series which is a paranormal, non-cozy mystery series.  There are 3 (so far) and they are :

Under Witch Moon
Under Witch Aura
Under Witch Curse

And she has one book in the Max Killian Investigations Mystery series titled Tracking Magic.  This is a paranormal short story.

Now let's get to know something about her personally.....

1.  What is your favorite color ?  Blue ranging all the way to deep purples

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?   Oooh, this is a tough one.  I'll go with sunsets.   But I love the hope that a beautiful sunrise brings.

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?   Definitely tea.  Lemonade in the summer is my favorite drink and hot cocoa in the winter.

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  I so rarely watch movies.  I guess probably Sound of Music

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  Cheese, fresh tomatoes from the garden, mushrooms and Italian Sausage!

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?    You mean which cake is my favorite and which pie??? Because surely you don't want me to choose between the two...

Chocolate mousse pie.   Red Velvet Cake. 

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Patricia Briggs.  But you know this is a tough question.  Can't we pick more than ONE????

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Chick flick.  I can't watch or read horror.

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....   Well, I like them both.  We own a cat.  His name is Leo, but he is also known as "the Convict."   My mom and dad own a Border Collie Dog.  His name is El Paso.  He loves to play chase.

10.  Ideal vacation ?  Probably Hawaii.  But I could be persuaded to spend a week in a Scottish castle. 

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?   I can do either.  But I'd pick the hotel if it was on hand.  It's hard to find one though in some places well worth hiking to.

12.  Favorite season and why ?  I love spring because I garden and that is when I plant and watch things grow and bloom.

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  coronavirus

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  food.  I'm a foodie.  Love to cook and eat!

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  Well, I didn't much like school.  I didn't even like literature classes because I had to read books I didn't like.  I think biology because I was allowed to grow things during one segment.

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Physics.

17.  What movie have you seem more than once ?  Sound of Music

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)   I love to spend time online looking at Victorian dresses generally from late 1700 through 1800s.  It's a waste of time, but I do it anyway!

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?  I don't have one.  I don't watch enough movies to even know a lot of celebrity names.

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you .....   I love bees and even spiders.  I am not afraid of snakes.  I love to find purpose in things.  I still believe in magic and unicorns.  There must be fairies under the red-capped mushrooms and somewhere a lonely werewolf shifter looking for a mate.  I believe in love and family and God watching over all things.  I am a dreamer and will always reach for that which is just out of sight, just beyond the bend, right over the next mountaintop. 

To learn more about Maria and her books, go to :

http://www.bearmountainbooks.com/