Meet Jordan James, PI's Creator, Rachel Sharpe

Like Mystery? Meet Rachel Sharpe. author of The Jordan James PI series. Rachel, please tell us a little about yourself.

I was born to Baby Boomers in the Reagan era when the Cold War was still…cold. I'm an 80s kid raised in the 90s who loves life. I'm married to my best friend and we have the two greatest kids on the planet who just happen to both be under 2 years old. A lot has changed in my life in the past year and a half, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when a publisher told you they wanted to publish your book.

 I've been writing ever since I can remember. As a child, I always dreamed of being an author. According to my grandmother, that was one of my three dream jobs, the other two being astronaut and lion tamer. But that's another story. After graduating college and beginning my first real job, I began to write in my spare time. After writing a novella about a murder at a seafood festival set in small-town Louisiana that I couldn't get published, I came up with the concept of a female PI from New Orleans living in Boston taking a chance on her dream job. After two years of query letters and constant rejections, it finally happened - Soul Mate Publishing asked for my manuscript, and in the fall of 2013, I signed my first contract for Cold Ambition.

Nice!!!

What is the most exciting moment, so far, in your writing career?

That would have to be when I was named a finalist in InD'tale Magazine's Rone Awards in the Mystery category for Cold Ambition last year. To be nominated for such an award is an honor, but to reach the level of finalist, thanks to the readers, means a lot. All I've ever wanted to do with my writing is to offer a good story that is well told. That kind of recognition makes me feel like I'm doing my job right.

Congratulations. I was a finalist last year also. Truly a thrilling moment. I'm glad we shared it.

What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?

 Traveling. I love going to new places and trying new things. Oftentimes when I'm somewhere I haven't been before or doing something I've never done, I try to take a mental picture of it so that I can come back to it in my mind's eye and use it somehow in a story.

I love to travel to! But I have to take lots of pictures if I want to use the setting in a story. My mental ones keep getting misfiled.

How do you motivate yourself when inspiration takes a vacation? 

Keep going. Writing is no different than any other muscle and it has to be exercised to stay fit. Some days I really don't feel like writing, but I do it, even if it's just a little bit. Reading is also a very effective way to get the creative juices flowing. If you're stumped, just step away from your story and read another's. That kind of distance helps when you need to think of other ways to continue your story. Rachel walks the walk. Her second novel, Lost Distinction. came out in November 2014. five months after Cold Ambition . I wish I could write that fast. And that well.

Any advice for new writers just starting out? 

Read, read, read. And don't give up. It's hard to find a publisher, even in this digital age. But with every rejection, remind yourself it's all subjective and that was not the right publisher for your book. It's hard in the moment to realize that, but as I look back, I realize Jordan James, PI couldn't have found a better home than with Soul Mate Publishing. And neither could I.

Tell us about your latest release.

Bitter Retribution is the third novel in the Jordan James, PI series. It's set in the Rocky Mountains during the winter when Jordan goes to visit her best friend who is the head writer of the most popular sitcom on TV as they film a holiday episode on location. While she's there, someone is murdered. Jordan must hurry to find the culprit before anyone else gets hurt.

Here's the blurb:

"What started out as a star-studded vacation has turned into a sensational avalanche..."

When private investigator Jordan James decided to join her best friend on the set of her hit television series in the Rocky Mountains, she had no idea she would become a key player in a murder mystery more suited for the big screen than the slopes. With one actor dead and a killer on the loose, can Jordan uncover the culprit before another victim makes headlines on Hollywood Minute?

I want to read it!

What’s your current WIP? 

The working title is Misconception. It's book four in the Jordan James, PI series. Jordan is home in New Orleans for the Christmas holidays and while hanging out in the French Quarter, a friend is kidnapped and another is shot. Jordan knows she has to act fast if she wants her friend to be found alive. Unfortunately, there's more to this situation than she knows and if she isn't careful, the next victim could be her.

Sounds great.

And finally, where can we find  you?
Website: www.rachelsharpe.com

 www.facebook.com/authorrachelsharpe

www.twitter.com/rachelcsharpe

    Rachel is giving away an eBook of the first Jordan James adventure- COLD AMBITION.   

 Blurb:

"It was my life-long dream to become a private eye. Little did I know that with my very first case, that dream would become a life-threatening nightmare..."

When Jordan James decided to embark on a career as a private investigator, she never could have imagined that a chance encounter would lead to her staring down the barrel of a gun on the roof’s edge of a high-rise building. As she begins to investigate her first case, the puzzling murder of a prominent businessman that has left Boston’s finest mystified for more than two decades, she finds herself suddenly immersed in a treacherous underworld brimming with betrayal, raw greed, and political subterfuge of international proportions. In the midst of this, she discovers she is falling for her mysterious client despite the hints of his dark past. Can this feisty Southern girl with a penchant for trouble solve this baffling case or is she doomed to become another tragic chapter in an international conspiracy?
   Thank you for being here. You know the drill, friends. Rafflecopter below. Happy Reading.

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Meet Mystery Romance Author Gay Yellen

Hi. Thanks for stopping by. Gay Yellen's debut novel, The Body Business is  a 2015 RONE Award finalist in the Suspense category, AND here's your chance to win a copy!

With a great job and a fantastic boyfriend, Samantha Newman thinks she has it all. But when her best friend vanishes, doubt creeps in. Is there some ugly reality behind her company's success?

When she asks the FBI for help, they send a man with secrets of his own. How can she find her friend without getting caught in the web of deceit? 

Carter Chapman's on a mission. But it wasn't supposed to include a beautiful corporate executive with her own set of problems, until a terrible event puts them on the same path to discovery, and they each have to decide if some secrets are worth the price.

.

Gay Yellen began her working life as an actress in theatre, film and television commercials, then moved behind the camera to be the Assistant to the Director of Production at The American Film Institute. She is a former magazine editor and national journalism award winner, and was the contributing book editor for Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte Press), an international thriller. She also has extensive executive experience in marketing and media relations.

The Body Business is Book #1 of the Samantha Newman Series. I am so happy to hear we can look forward to more.

I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when a publisher told you they wanted to publish your book.

I was full of questions like: Should I use a pen name? Do I have to join Facebook? What’s Twitter? Other existential issues kept me up that night: Do I need an “Author” wardrobe? (Until the contract, my writing ensembles were old PJs.) And then, of course, The Big Question: Should I color my hair? Eventually, things sorted themselves out, and I’m thrilled to be a published author.

If it isn’t too nosy. How about the first time you kissed your true love?

So many first true loves to choose from! There was Peter, an absolute dream of a first-grader, whom I chased down on the playground during recess and planted a smacker on. That was before I turned shy. Then there was John, a young gentleman who carried my books and walked me home from fourth grade. One day when we reached my house, he asked if he could kiss me. I really really wanted him to, but I knew it was forbidden. Long story short, I led him behind our garage and let him give me a peck on the cheek. That evening, I was so deeply wracked with guilt that I wrote a confession promising I’d never ever do it again. I gave it to my mother. She must have had a good laugh over that one.
I used to threaten my first boyfriend with kisses unless he did what I said. 

Other than your own, who are your favorite (heroes/heroines/writers) in your genre?

In the mystery genre, you can’t beat Miss Marple for pluck. She faces sexism and ageism, yet remains fierce in her determination to solve crimes. Today, I admire the heroines of Pamela Fagan Hutchins books. She’s created three contemporary romantic suspense series, each one powered by a fully-realized and likable female character. Emily, the protagonist of her newest series, is vulnerable, smart and funny—someone the reader can really root for.

Sounds great. I have a new author to look up. 

What is the most exciting moment, so far, in your writing career?

I love book clubs! My very first one was hosted by a neighborhood club. Over forty people showed up. I had so much fun interacting with readers. We had a blast. Although I’ve been nominated for, and won, several awards for my writing, it’s speaking to a book club that gives me the biggest rush.
I want one of those. I need to pick your brain on how to get one.

What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?

My husband is an excellent nature photographer, and I love to hike with him. One of my favorite personal photos is a self-portrait he shot of us (well, our shadows, really) in the early morning at Death Valley.

 The shot is not only beautiful, it stimulates my imagination.

How do you motivate yourself when inspiration takes a vacation?

That’s when I take a mental vacation, too, and read. Almost anything from my to-be-read pile usually works. Sometimes it’s fiction, but even a magazine or newspaper item can unclog the creative pipeline. As long as the subject takes my mind off the issue at hand and keeps the circulation flowing into the problem-solving area of my brain, it helps. It also reduces the piles of reading material that gather dust around here.

Got a recipe you want to share?

I’m a food lover, but not a kitchen wizard. My critique group complains that reading my chapters makes them crave the food I write into scenes, and there are a lot of food scenes in my books. I plan to post recipes for some of them on my website.

Any advice for new writers just starting out?

Read. Study the craft and the business. Join a writer’s group to network with and learn from those who are further down the publishing road. Seek professional feedback at a conference, in a critique group, anywhere you can. Write, rewrite and rewrite again until it’s your best.

What genre or genres do you write?

While I was writing The Body Business, I didn’t aim for the romance genre, though there is a strong romantic thread in it, and it’s marketed as romantic suspense. I had just finished contributing work to another author’s very successful thriller, and I was comfortable in that genre, so I used it to structure my book. I’m more of a cross-genre writer; The Samantha Newman Series is a mash-up of danger and romance, with a little humor thrown in. I’ve also begun research for a historical fiction idea that has captured my imagination and won’t let go. And I dip into poetry—mostly children’s verse, but sometimes I tackle serious themes.

Here's an excerpt from The Body Business (I love the cover, by the way):

This is ridiculous. Stop being afraid. Put up or shut up. Get it over with.

Samantha quickly scanned the rest of the e-mail she’d written. You must find out what happened to Lista Pearson, the last paragraph began. Please, please help.

It still didn’t say all that it should, all that she knew. But she hoped it would be enough to get someone’s attention. If the FBI knew how much she really, really hated asking anyone for help - least of all them - they would take her seriously.

The clock on the oven blinked six-fifty. Derek would arrive soon to pick her up. It was now or never. Holding her breath, she gripped the mouse again and re-centered the arrow over Send.

This time, she clicked, and the message disappeared into the ether. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she blinked at the empty screen. She leaned back and shut her eyes. A jumble of thoughts sped through her skull at warp speed. She opened her eyes again to make them stop.

The kitchen seemed both familiar and suddenly strange. Like the eerie hush that descends as the eye of a hurricane hovers, she felt weirdly calm. The worst of the storm was sure to come, but for now, she had to drag herself upstairs and get ready for another dreadful day at the office, where the escalating hostility felt like a pair of clammy hands closing around her neck. 

Thank you!

 What’s your current WIP?

I’m winding down the sequel to The Body Business, and I can almost see through the tunnel to those two exquisite words: The End. Book #3 is in the wings, rarin’ to go.

And finally, where can we find  you?

Gay’s Amazon Author Page: Amazon.com/author/gayyellen

Gay’s Website: gayyellen.com

Twitter: @GayYellen

Facebook: Gay Yellen, Author

LinkedIn:Linkedin.com/in/gayyellen
Thank you for being here, Gay. 
Gay is giving away an eBook copy of The Body Business. You know the drill, friends. Enter below.

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