Mystery Author of the Month, Chris Redding

I’d like to welcome mystery author, Chris Redding.

Patricia: Chris, where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer? 
Chris: I grew up in an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. We weren’t affluent, but lots of others were. My mother was mentally ill, so yes I think most artists have dysfunction in their past. Yes, my childhood indeed let me to be a writer.

Patricia: Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?

Chris: I live in New Jersey and I use the area I live in in most of my novels. I make them fictional places so I can rearrange things how I like them.

Patricia: What inspired you to write your most recent novel?

Chris: Incendiary was the most recently published.  Someone once had the idea for a story where the arsonist is a police photographer.  If there is a series of arsons, the cops take pictures of the crowds to see if there is anyone they can spot in all the pictures. If the police photographer is the arsonist, he wouldn’t be in the picture. Incendiary is my take on it.

Patricia: When did you “know” that you wanted to be a writer?

Chris: In fifth grade, we had to write a short story. I wrote about an old lady with cats. I received an “A” and was allowed to read it in front of the class. When I was done the whole class looked at me in a different light. Suddenly I wasn’t the bespectacled, buck toothed socially awkward.  I had moved them. That was powerful.

Patricia: Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery/suspense genre. What makes them your favorites?

Chris: Lisa Gardner because she just writes great stuff. And she’s a lovely person.

Stephanie Bond because she writes with humor. I once heard her speak and she has a lot of wisdom to give new writers.

Anyone who writes funny cozy mysteries. I love them. 

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two sons, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works for her local hospital. You can find her at: http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com and www.chrisreddingauthor.com. Her books are filled with romance, suspense and thrills.

 A View to a Kilt

Omnilit: http://tinyurl.com/cr-vtak-omni

Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/cr-vtak-Smash

Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/44sbydm

Nook Store: http://tinyurl.com/3tlk2nh

Blonde Demolition

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/7olwvhs

Amazon in print: http://tinyurl.com/87qdaam

Incendiary

Paperback http://tinyurl.com/9k62wze

e-book http://tinyurl.com/9ty32j6

Mystery of the Month

Grilled, Chilled and Killed by Lesley A. Diehl

This is the second in the Big Lake Mysteries (the first was Dumpster Dying) featuring Emily Rhodes, retired preschool teacher and bartender turned amateur snoop.

It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies.  This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbeque cook-off dead and covered in barbeque sauce in a beer cooler.  She should be used to stumbling onto corpses by now and the question of who killed the guy should pique her curiosity, but Emily decides to let Detective Lewis handle this one, at least until she figures his theory of who did the deed is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Lewis’ denigration of Emily’s speculations is condescending enough to stimulate her dormant snooping skills.  As the two of them go on their separate paths to find the killer, Lewis’ old partner, Toby the dirty, tobacco-spitting cop interferes in the investigation leaving Lewis with the wrong man in jail. Killers, bootleggers, barbeque and feral pigs—it’s a lethal game of hide and seek in the Florida swamp.

Buy links:

Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/begadns

Oak Tree Press: http://OakTreeBooks.com/Shop%20OTP.htm

Bio:

Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York.  In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. 

  

Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse.  When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats, and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.    

She is author of several short stories and several mystery series: the microbrewing mystery series set in the Butternut Valley (A Deadly Draught and Poisoned Pairings) and a rural Florida series, Dumpster Dying and Grilled, Killed and Chilled (to be released late in 2012).  She recently signed a three-book deal with Camel Press for The Consignment Shop Murders including A Secondhand Murder.  For something more heavenly, try her mystery Angel Sleuth.  Several of her short stories have been published by Untreedreads including one (Murder with All the Trimmings) in the original Thanksgiving anthology The Killer Wore Cranberry and another (Mashed in the Potatoes) in the second anthology The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping.  She invites readers to visit her on her blog and website.

 

Website: www.lesleydiehl.com and blog  http://anotherdraught.blogspot.com

Getting to know Kathryn E. Jones

I'm pleased to have Kathryn E. Jones, author of "Scrambled," with us today. Let's get to know her.

Patricia: Kathryn, what are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

Kathryn: I love to take walks in the mountains or on the beach. Since I have mountains where I live and not many beaches, the mountains win out the majority of the time.

Patricia: What’s your favorite color? Why?

Kathryn: I love red. I also love hearts. I love wearing red and like to decorate with the color. Red makes me feel powerful and a bit glamorous. I like it because when I wear it I can't hide in a room of people and it forces me to talk. I wear red often when I give a presentation because it make me feel more courageous. I also love red roses and chocolate dipped strawberries. Yes, I am a romantic, but I don't write a lot of romance.

Patricia: How would you describe yourself, personality wise?

Kathryn: Along with being a romantic, I like my alone time and I don't like the idea of people covering up secrets. I think if something needs to be said it should be said, with tact of course, but it shouldn't be kept inside. I'd like to think that I am a pretty good conversationalist and that I care about what's happening in other people's lives. I like to have fun but I also like those quiet moment of meditation.

Patricia: Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go and/or what was your favorite vacation?

Kathryn: I LOVE to travel! My dream vacation is Paris, but I haven't made it there yet. I have been to New York and Hawaii, and have loved both. I've considered traveling to the coast of Oregon, staying on the beach for at least a week and writing, but haven't done that yet either. Mostly, I have dreams of traveling when I've sold enough books to get there. 

Patricia: How would you complete this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would 

Kathryn: build my dream home. I would want to be involved in all of the elements, from creation of the project to the design and decor chosen. Part of the reason I'd want to be involved in all of the elements is so that I could create a large enough space to house my creative writing classes, tutoring sessions, computers, etc. I have even considered adding a bathroom and a small kitchen to the area. Most of this room is already designed in my head. I think it would be great for writers to be able to come to a place especially designed for them and to get the writing assistance that they need--all in one place!

Kathryn has been a published writer since 1987.  She has published various newspaper stories, magazine articles, essays and short stories for teens and adults.  She is the author of: A River of Stones, a young adult fiction novel dealing with divorce published in 2002, and Conquering your Goliaths—A Parable of the Five Stones, a Christian novel published in January of 2012. One of her newest creations, a Conquering your Goliaths—Guidebook, was published in February of 2012. Scrambled, published in September 2012, is her first cozy mystery.

Kathryn graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Mass Communication and a minor in Creative Writing. Her studies included work in creative writing, public relations and journalism. Recently, she has opened the doors to Idea Creations Press, a publishing services company that caters to writers and their writing, publishing and marketing needs.

Find Scrambled at: http://www.ariverofstones.com/scrambled.html. Purchase the book from Kathryn and get it autographed, or purchase the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (links are on the site listed above). Scrambled is available in both paperback and Kindle versions.