Getting to know mystery author, J.L. Greger

Janet with her dog, Bug

 

Janet, I'm pleased to have you visiting with us today.

 

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

Janet: I love to travel to new places. No that’s not right. I like to revisit places too, as long as they’re interesting. What make a place interesting to me? First off, places that were forbidden, at least at one time, - like China, Russia, Lebanon, Cuba. Maybe I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Second, places where important history occurred and in some cases is still occurring, i.e. London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Boston, and my all time favorite Washington, D.C. Third places with unique “culture” and great food, such as the south of France, New Orleans, Charleston in South Carolina, Santa Fe, the Maine coast. My lists often overlap.

The problem is the other thing I like to do most is spend time with my dog Bug. We walk a lot and do pet therapy in the pediatrics wards at UNM Hospital and at the VA hospital in Albuquerque. While Bug travels well on airplanes (under my seat) and in the car, he can’t do international travel. Thus I’ve done less traveling during the last few years and more cooking, which is my third most fun thing to do. Maybe that’s why I called my second mystery/suspense novel Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight.

Patricia: What’s you favorite color? Why?

Janet: Warm pastels, especially pale yellow. I like warm cozy colors that aren’t brassy or pushy.

Patricia: How would you describe yourself, personality wise?

Janet: An introvert who learned to speak up.

Patricia: You've mentioned that you love to travel. Please name three of the most interesting places you've visited.

Janet: Three of my most interesting trips were done as a consultant on science and education issues. I visited the Marshall Islands (to assess safety issues near former H bomb test sites) and Dubai, Al Ain and Abu Dhabi in the Untied Arab Emirates and American University of Beirut in Lebanon (to help develop university and research infrastructure). I guess Lebanon was the best – archaeological sites that are over three thousand years old, the best of Middle Eastern cuisine, and a will to survive among the people. If the factions in Lebanon stopped fighting, I think Beirut would quickly become one of the top tourist cities in the world.

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

 

Janet: probably not live much differently. Perhaps I’d hire someone to stay with Bug when I traveled and/or hire an agent to do much of the publicity on my books Coming Flu, Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, and a third in this series of medical mystery/suspense novels which will be partially set in Bolivia. (Yes I have traveled there.)

Bio: J.L. Greger, as a biologist and professor emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, enjoys putting tidbits of science into her novels. In Coming Flu (published by Oak Tree Press in 2012), epidemiologist Sara Almquist is trying to stop two killers:  the Philippine flu, which is rapidly wiping out everyone in a walled community in New Mexico, and a drug kingpin determined to break out of the quarantined enclave. In Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight (published by Oak Tree Press in April 2013) Linda Almquist, Sara's sister, is scrutinizing two "diet doctors" for recklessly endangering the lives of their obese research subjects. Soon she finds her research entwined with a police investigation of the murder of one of the diet doctors.

JL included Bug, her Japanese Chin dog, as a character in all three of her novels. To learn more, visit her website: www.jlgreger.com or her blog at www.jlgregerblog.blogspot.com.

Amazon sell tag line for Coming Flu: www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363872699&sr=1-1&keywords=Coming+Flu

Amazon sell tag line for Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-New-Way LoseWeight/dp/1610090624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365534310&sr=1-1&keywords=Murder+A+New+Way+to+Lose+Weight

Reading A Mystery Series

I recently had the privilege of participating in the “Ohioana Book Festival” at the main library in downtown Cincinnati, an event to honor local writers. I was thrilled to have been invited.

As I stood in line to sign in and get my name badge, one of the librarians looked up and said, “Oh, Patricia. I read both of your books and I loved them!” Music to an author’s ears! My smile was as wide as the state of Ohio. It doesn’t get much better than that. Later that afternoon, we had an opportunity to talk for a few minutes and she told me, “The only thing I wish is that I’d read them in order.” Apparently, she read Unfinished Business before reading Mixed Messages.

I knew exactly what she meant. I love to read a mystery series from the beginning because it isn’t just about an intriguing plot for me; it’s about the lives of the characters. In a series, we get to know the characters and care about what happens to them. I always want to know what happens to them next. 

But, sometimes, it doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, a book by an author I've never read will attract my attention (it's often a new release) and I'll order it and read it. If I really, really like the book and want to spend more time with the characters, I then go back and read the whole series, starting with the first book. Here are two recent examples:

I read Old Murders Never Die by Marja McGraw and I loved it. So, I went back to the beginning and read the four novels that preceded it and I'm so glad I did. What a great series! A Well-Kept Family Secret is the first book in Ms. McGraw’s Sandi Webster Mystery Series for those of you who would like to start with Book One.

Another example: The Rocky Bluff PD series by F.M. Meredith. After reading No Bells, the eighth book in the series, I knew I wanted to read all of her books. I read Final Respects, book one, and went on to read the other novels. I recently learned that Ms. Meredith is working on the tenth book and I can hardly wait to read it.

If you’d like to read my mystery series from the beginning (I’m working on the third book now), I’m offering a chance to win a paper copy of Mixed Messages to someone who leaves a comment on this post. Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. Happy Reading!
And the winner is Sharon Arthur Moore!

Mystery/Suspense Author of the Month, Cheryl Tardif

I’m pleased to have author, Cheryl Tardif, as my guest today.

Patricia: Cheryl, where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?

Cheryl: I grew up all over; my father was in the military. We lived in various places in BC, Canada, such as Vancouver, Nanaimo and Masset, plus Edmonton (where I now reside). And I spent three glorious years in Bermuda. That was pure bliss. Being uprooted and forced to leave friends behind and make new ones made me a shy kid, and I turned to reading as my escape. I read novels far ahead of my grade, with adult subject matter and content, mainly because that's what was around my house. It was through reading that my love for writing began to grow. I was in awe of writers who could create worlds and characters that were so achingly real, especially my idols, Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Back then, I was Cheryl Kaye, and I wanted nothing more than to write a book that would sit on the same alphabetized shelf.

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

Cheryl: I now live in Edmonton, Alberta, a city of over one million. But I live on the edge of town; I'm not a city girl. Edmonton is a setting in my most recent psychological suspense, SUBMERGED, and it also makes an appearance in CHILDREN OF THE FOG, a supernatural suspense. All of my novels to date have been set in areas of Canada.

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

Cheryl: My fear of drowning—or to be more precise, my fear of being trapped in a submerged vehicle—was the inspiration for SUBMERGED. In fact, most of my novels explore basic fears and/or societal issues. I've learned that fears are very common worldwide, and I'm not the only one who has imagined what it must be like to be in a car that is slowly sinking underwater. I was also inspired by a high school friend who overcame drug addiction after becoming hooked while on the job as a paramedic. Not everyone survives addiction—I know that deeply, personally. So SUBMERGED is my way of honoring those who have fought their demons and won.

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

Cheryl: My mother would probably tell you it was when she found me scribbling in a Dr. Seuss book when I was a toddler. She was horrified, and when she asked me what on earth I was doing, I told her I was writing the story. Apparently, I thought The Cat in the Hat needed a rewrite. I don't ever recall not wanting to write.

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

Cheryl: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and J.D. Robb/aka Nora Roberts. King is the "king" of suspense so it's probably obvious why he's my favorite. He can take the simplest things and make them creepy. He can give me nightmares like no other. Koontz gives memorable characters, suspense with a softer edge, more emotional, perhaps. And J.D. Robb's In Death series is my all-time favorite mystery series because Eve Dallas is such a deep character, with a mysterious back story, and the other secondary characters add such humor, all the while a mystery unweaves before you.

Bio:

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an award-winning, international bestselling Canadian suspense author. Her novels include Submerged, Divine Justice, Children of the Fog, The River, Divine Intervention, and Whale Song, which New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice calls "a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel." Cheryl also enjoys writing short stories inspired mainly by her author idol Stephen King, and this has resulted in Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories and Remote Control (novelette eBook), and she's written a non-fiction marketing book, How I Made Over $42,000 in 1 Month Selling My Kindle eBooks. Under the pseudonym of Cherish D'Angelo, Cheryl also penned Lancelot's Lady, a contemporary romantic suspense.

Cheryl's website: http://www.cherylktardif.com

Official blog: http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif-novels/29769736630

Links to mystery/suspense titles (eBooks):

http://www.amazon.com/Submerged-ebook/dp/B00BJ64OHY

http://www.amazon.com/Children-of-the-Fog-ebook/dp/B004PVSTLW

http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Intervention-series-ebook/dp/B003AYEJSC

http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Justice-book-ebook/dp/B004Z1UX70

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-ebook/dp/B003BLPH6C

http://www.amazon.com/Lancelots-Lady-ebook/dp/B0043GX8C4

http://www.amazon.com/Skeletons-Closet-Creepy-Stories-ebook/dp/B003XKNG3W

Book Bashers

I am appalled at the number of people in this world who seem to derive pleasure from messing with other people's lives. Rather than using their time and energy to face up to their own problems (obviously, they have "issues") and deciding to do something positive to change their lives, they take out their anger and frustration on everyone else – online and offline. There are those who hack into computers, Facebook accounts, etc., instead of putting their computer skills to good use. There are scammers who make their living by taking advantage of unsuspecting victims, especially the elderly. And, there are book bashers. As my grandmother would say, “Shame on all of them!”

Book bashers can’t be pleased and I firmly believe they don’t want to be. I’m sure if they had reviewed “Gone with the Wind,” when it was first published, they’d have rated it a “1” and had horrible things to say about it. Book bashers go to sites like Amazon and write scathing reviews (usually with numerous spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors) for perfectly good books. I don’t think any intelligent reader would take them seriously. At least, I hope not. But you never know. Obviously, book bashers are miserable people who are determined to spread their misery in any way they can. As long as I live, I will never understand people like that.

Another thing I will never understand is why a person would bother to finish reading a book (assuming they do), much less review it, if they really thought it was that bad. Why waste your time reading and reviewing a book you don’t even like unless you get some kind of sick thrill from denigrating someone else’s hard work? 
“One man’s garbage is another man’s gold” and there’s a world of difference between constructive criticism and book bashing. But book bashers don't care about any of that.

Just my thoughts and opinions. What are yours?
Lesley Diehl suggested that everyone read this article. I did and it's great! Here's the link:
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/06/14/how-to-read-a-bad-review-advice-for-authors-and-buyers/