The Next Big Thing

Thank you to author Sarah Elle Emm for tagging me in her blog, My Name is Sarah...., to participate in The Next Big Thing!  Be sure to visit her site!

According to the rules, I am instructed to answer the following questions about my next book on this blog post and then tag other authors to take part.  Seeming as we kinda hang out in the same social web circles, a lot of the authors I wanted to tag, were already tagged! LOL So...on to my blog post. 

My next book, A Fair Killer, is set for release into cyberspace and my own website right at your fingertips this December 2012! 

What is the working title of your book? 

A Fair Killer 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

This book will be the first in the Chef ReCee Jay & Friend series and the main characters are Brand Ambassadors. I used to be one myself and would see a lot of goofy mishaps in the stores and at fairs. The conversations I overheard while standing around was reality TV worthy to say the least! Add a little CSI drama in the mix and you can have a bona fide mystery on your hands! 

What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Cozy Mystery 

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

To play Chef ReCee, I would love Regina Hall to play her. She has that great mix of comedy and seriousness when the role calls for it. Majandra Delfino was awesome in State of Georgia and I'd love for her to play Lily, the newest intern. When I think of the other intern Jett, Justin Chon, comes to mind. A few Twilight fans may recognize that name. The character's boss, Larry Hortie and CEO of ZKD Foods, I envision Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. The Rock. It would be a fantastic cast!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

As Brand Ambassadors, Chef ReCee, Jett, and Lilly are working feverishly, at a county fair, to not only put on a good show for their clients, but live long enough to make it to the next stop and find out who's causing their competition to drop off one by one!

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

This book will be self-published using Create Space. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I first came up with this idea earlier this year, so it's been about ten months. 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Chef ReCee's character has a few quirks that's right up there with the TV character's Monk persona. Although, one spoiler alert I'll clue you in on is when a container of bleach hits a counter, that means the mystery is about to be solved!! Couple that with a few cozy mystery authors like Cleo Coyle and Mary Daheim and voila! You got yourself a pretty good comparison within the cozy mystery genre. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Anyone that has gone through a struggle and looked for a positive way to recover from it, is what inspires me to write this book. In an ironic twist, the character Chef ReCee is a great food ambassador, but food is also her Achilles heel. As different tragedies happened in her life, the very thing people complimented her about, became the one thing that took over her life. She began to food binge, gain weight, and as a result gained type 2 diabetes. Getting help from her Uncle Lou, she was able to shed some weight, and bounce back into the spotlight, but as murders start piling up, the stress of it, tempts her to go back to the one thing that is readily available to comfort her…Food. Everyone has something that they have to deal with and it takes more than just ignoring a problem and hoping it goes away. Life has a funny way of making you grow up and face your troubles head on, which these characters will have to do....often! 

What else about your book might pique the readers’ interest?

There will be some drama, tom foolery between the characters, and recipes! Recipes will vary from original to semi-homemade, but I can promise you that fun will be had by all who read this book! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I intrigued you just a little bit! Thanks again to Sarah for inviting me to the Next Big Thing! Her book, Opalescent, is coming February 2013.  If you haven’t read the first book in the Harmony Run Series yet, you can grab a copy at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or The Sanibel Island Bookshop.  

You can also enter the Goodreads Giveaway to win one of seven paperback copies of Prismatic now through December 17th, 2012.  The giveaway is in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S.A.  You can enter the Goodreads Giveaway here!