Tag: Amateur Sleuth

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Jezabelle Jingle and her neighbors in the Penderghast section of Brilliant, Minnesota, have a mystery on their hands. Someone is stealing sections of hardwood floors in their homes and the thefts may be connected to a long-hidden treasure left by the founders of Brilliant. Not only that, there’s a dead body in a basement to add to the mix. Can Jezzie and her quirky friends figure out the puzzle and find the treasure before some other, unknown person–maybe the murderer–beats them to the punch? Or will the town’s Chief of Police, Hank Hardy, prevent the group from their sleuthing? Anything can happen in the strange little town of Brilliant, Minnesota. After all, brilliant minds create brilliant finds!

Q: Julie, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential! Can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist Jezabelle Jingle?
A: Jezabelle Jingle is a 60-something woman. She has a little snark to her personality but is like most of us, having good days and bad days. Jezzy likes to bake, has a secret late night visitor, cares about her neighbors and is inquisitive but not intrusive. She develops lifelong friendships and those friends are with her through thick and thin. She doesn’t suffer fools lightly but likes the quirkiness of her neighbors and is not afraid to delve into the mystery when a burglar and murderer threaten her neighborhood, the Penderghast neighborhood. More of her character will be revealed in the coming books.
Q: How much is Jezabelle like you? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
I would like to think that I have a little of the quirkiness and fun that Jezabelle does. I would love to have her quirky friends. Otherwise I have a feeling I write characters that I would like to eventually become in real life. If I met my characters in real life I would want to hang out with them because they would make my life interesting. And I’d probably get in a lot of trouble.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Yes, in my Fuchsia Minnesota Series you get to know the background and what makes the characters who they are now. The same thing will happen in the Brilliant Minnesota Series.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: No, I guess I haven’t. I have those people, like all of us that I don’t like but I would think you would almost have to hate someone to kill them. I don’t know. There is no one I hate and I may threaten to put someone in my book and kill them, but no, I never would. Maybe next year. Ask me again. I have been known to change my mind.
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Very unrealistic. Brilliant is fictional and very different then Fuchsia in my other series. None are like the real world with the rules we live with today. They are more relaxed settings and quirky. My goal is to take people away from the real world for a short time and give them something to laugh about. And I never mention where in Minnesota they are located except close to each other. I leave that to my readers’ imaginations.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: In the Brilliant Series I can see Dolly Parton or Diane Keaton for Jezabelle Jingle and Mark Harmon for Police Chief Hank Hardy.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: The best advice would be to have faith in my writing and write from my heart. And don’t dwell on bad reviews if they aren’t constructive criticism. I can’t think of any worst advice. I have had some very good mentors.

About The Author

Julie Seedorf is a Minnesotan. She calls dinner, supper, and lunch, dinner. She has had many careers over her lifetime but her favorite career was that as mother to her children. In later life she became a computer technician, opening her own business. In 2012 Julie signed a contract with Cozy Cat Press for her Fuchsia, Minnesota Series. Books included in that series are Granny Hooks a Crook, Granny Skewers A Scoundrel, Granny Snows A Sneak and Granny Forks A Fugitive.
Closing her computer business in January 2014 Julie has transitioned to becoming a full time writer adding free-lance work for various newspapers, along with continuing her column Something About Nothing, which is now in book form in a book of the same name released in early 2015. Her children’s series, Granny’s In Trouble gives her grandkids a hint of the young Grandma underneath the wrinkles.
Her books are light and fluffy and highlight the fact that in the midst of life we have to find the humor in bad situations to keep us going. “We all take ourselves too seriously and we need to have a little fun.” Julie secretly yearns to be like the Granny characters in her books.
In February 2016 the first book in the Brilliant Minnesota Series was released titled the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors. She also is part of a group mystery by Cozy Cat Press Authors titled “Chasing the Codex.” Julie’s serious side is revealed in a story included in the Anthology, We Go On – Anthology for Veterans where the proceeds will go to Veteran’s Charities.
Visit her website at http://www.julieseedorf.com. Her blog http://sprinklednotes is a little scattered like Granny but lends itself to wisdom and occasional flip flops about life. You will also find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author and on Twitter at julieseedorf@julieseedorf and her character Granny has her own Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/GrannyFromFuchsiaMinnesota. Enjoy the moments; they may carry you through a lifetime.
Author Links
http://julieseedorf.com
http://sprinklednotes.com
http://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author
Tweets by JulieSeedorf
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6556799.Julie_Seedorf
Purchase Links

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-penderghast-puzzle-protectors-julie-seedorf/1123331597?ean=9781939816801

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Award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. On her road to publication she wrote freelance articles for two local newspapers and enjoyed her job with the County Extension service as a 4-H Program Assistant. Raising hay and cattle, riding horses, and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Her penchant for research takes her on side trips that eventually turn into yet another story.

Q: Double Duplicity might be described as a murder mystery with a supernatural twist: Can you tell us a little more about the book?

A: On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth.

Detective Ryan Greer prides himself on solving crimes and refuses to ignore a single clue, including Shandra Higheagle’s visions. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Ryan believes in them and believes in her.

Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

Q: Your protagonist is a potter. Is her job the most important part of her life, a way to express her creativity, or just a paycheck? How does her job color the way she approaches solving this mystery? Does it draw her into the murder?

A: Shandra Higheagle is a creative soul. She bought the ranch on Huckleberry Mountain because it had pockets of clay she could purify and use in her artwork. Her Native American heritage draws her to nature and nature feeds her creativity. She creates art pieces with her pottery to express herself not pay the bills. But she’s acclaimed and can live off her art and giving classes. Yes, in a way her art does draw her into the murder in Double Duplicity. There is a large art event approaching. One of the local gallery owners calls to discuss putting more of Shandra’s work in her gallery. When Shandra arrives at the gallery she finds the woman murdered.

Q: What inspired you to write Double Duplicity? How did this idea become a book?

A: I’ve wanted to write a mystery series for many years. When my brother, a bronze sculptor, told me a fascinating fact about a 300 pound bronze statue that would make a great weapon in a mystery novel, I started “stewing and brewing” to come up with the right protagonist and story. I needed something to do with the art world- an artist. I needed something to stay true to my tagline: Tales of romance and intrigue starring cowboys and Indians – Shandra Higheagle with a Native American background, and the crime that uses the 300 pound statue. That is how the book and the series came to me.

Q: What kind of research did you do, specifically with regard to the Nez Perce and the visions experienced by Shandra?

A: This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the Nez Perce. I have a historical paranormal romance trilogy with shapeshifting spirits that required extensive research. I read many books on their culture and myths as well as became friends with several Nez Perce people. The spirit books have been well received by the Nez Perce community. For the contemporary mysteries, I’ve been corresponding with authors of Native American heritage. Visions are a part of their heritage.

Q: What are some of the issues when writing about a community like the Nez Perce and representing them to the wider world?

A: There is always the worry what you write will upset someone. But I have the deepest respect for the Nez Perce and try to always make that come through in my writing. A friend who lives in the Colville Indian Reservation is taking me there to meet people and do research for an upcoming Shandra Higheagle Mystery.

Q. Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser?”

A: I’m a little of both. While I like to have my main characters well thought-out, the suspects and their motives (red herrings) listed and know where the story will start and end, after that I take off and start writing without an outline or synopsis.

Q: Are you working on a sequel? What’s next?

A: Double Duplicity is book one of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series. Books Two and Three are also available.

Book Two is Tarnished Remains.

Tarnished Remains
Shandra Higheagle is digging up clay for her renowned pottery when she scoops up a boot attached to a skeleton. She calls in Weippe County detective Ryan Greer. The body is decades old and discovered to be Shandra’s employee’s old flame.

Ryan immediately pegs Shandra’s employee for the murderer, but Shandra knows in her heart that the woman everyone calls Crazy Lil couldn’t have killed anyone, let alone a man she loved. Digging up the woman’s past takes them down a road of greed, miscommunication, and deceit. Will they be able to prove Crazy Lil innocent before the true murderer strikes again?

Book Three is Deadly Aim.

Deadly Aim
The dead body of an illicit neighbor and an old necklace send potter Shandra Higheagle on a chase to find a murderer. Visions from her dead grandmother reveals Shandra is on the right path, but the woods are full of obstacles—deadly ones.

Detective Ryan Greer believes Shandra’s dreams will help solve the mystery, but he also knows the curious potter could get herself killed. He’s determined that won’t happen.

Until he’s blind-sided. Are Shandra’s powers strong enough to save them both, or will the murderer strike again?

You can learn more about Paty at her blog Writing into the Sunset, her website, Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.
Enter to win three signed print books (Double Duplicity, Spirit of the Mountain, and Secrets of a Mayan Moon) Plus the swag for each series and other goodies plus other goodies on Rafflecopter!

Frankie Bow’s first novel, THE MUSUBI MURDER , is available at Audible.com, Amazon.com, and iTunes.