#elisesthoughts – Page 14 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Dating Can Be Deadly by Amanda Flower

Book Description

It’s August in Holmes County, and that means it’s time for the Holmes County Fair. It’s the county’s biggest annual event, drawing tourists and locals alike to see livestock, eat too much fried food, and watch the rodeo and speed racing contests. This year, Millie has entered the quilting competition—while her very not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is distracted by her new dating app and her search for husband number five. In a place where quilting is a way of life, the competition is fierce—especially this year, when an anonymous donor doubles the winning cash prize. Amish and English women are up against each other, and some will do anything to win—even murder . . .

When someone attacks the quilt barn by slashing the quilt display, it’s unsettling enough. But when a quilting judge is found murdered, Millie knows it’s time to for Lois to get off her app and help her hunt for a killer instead—before the competition is wiped out for good . . .

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Elise’s Thoughts

Dating Can Be Deadly by Amanda Flower is a great cozy mystery. Readers never get disappointed with any book Amanda Flower writes. As with all her cozy mysteries there are many suspects, a lot of humor, learning more about the Amish community, and some very touching moments.

There is always a contrast between the Amish characters and the English characters. Millie is Amish and someone who is unassuming, quietly competent, and not eager to call attention to herself. Her best friend, Lois, is English, very flamboyant, and quite vocal. Both are trying to solve murders while trying to figure out their romantic lives. Lois decided to use a dating app to find a love interest, whereas Millie is struggling to get beyond the love of her life, her late husband.

Readers will not get sidetracked with the character’s personal life because the focus is still on the mystery. In this book at the Holmes County Fair Millie has entered a quilt competition with other Amish women. Millie’s nephew, Micah, has also entered her goats, Phillip, and Peter, in a contest. The goats are known for being rambunctious and decide to escape their pen and explore the fair. Millie and Lois search for them only to find them at the quilt barn along with a dead body, the quilting judge. Now they must find who is the murderer before others get hurt including a ten-year-old Amish boy, Zach who possibly witnessed the murder.

This story has it all. The humorous part of the story always comes from Lois’s antics including her trying to find a suitor along with the rascally goats. Because of Millie’s apprehension about pursuing a romantic relationship she finds solace in turning to Amish proverbs, which is where readers learn more about the Amish community. The touching part of the story is how Zach has no family after his grandfather abandoned him and he only has Scooter, his belove Pygmy goat.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why was the story centered around an axe?

Amanda Flower: I always wanted to write about the Holmes County Fair. A year ago, my husband and I went to the fair to research for the book. One of the first things I see is an axe-throwing booth just like in the book. It seemed like a perfect fit for a mystery novel. Of course, I had to try it. I did hit the bullseye although not on the first time. As soon as I saw it. I knew I wanted to write about it.

EC: The quilts also play a role.

AF: I knew I wanted the main character, Millie, to enter her quilt in the fair. I went to the quilts at the fair and saw how they were displayed. She and her friends were in a quilt group and many of them entered their quilts in the fair contest.

EC: You introduced a new character, Zach. Can you describe him?

AF: He is a ten-year-old boy who is a friend of Millie’s nephew, Micah. His mother left him with his grandfather who thinks poorly of him because he was born out of wedlock and his father was an “English” man. His grandfather basically abandons him. He is a sweet little boy in a bad family situation. As I was writing this story the adoption was being finalized for two of my nephews who were in the foster system.

EC: Why the dating app?

AF: I thought of it funny to think of Millie’s friend, Lois, trying to use it. She is very zany but is a hopeless romantic. She loves being in love. Even though she is almost seventy she tried it. I wanted this to be the humorous part of the story.

EC: The goats played a major role in the story. Do you agree?

AF: Yes. Millie’s great nephew, Micah, wanted to enter her goats, Phillip, and Peter into the fair. Near the beginning of the book, they get out of their pen a lot because they are rascals. Because they were out and everyone was looking for them, they are found in the place with a dead body. They lead Lois and Millie to a dead body. Zach also had a goat, Scooter, who he loved very much because his mother gave it to him just before she left. Scooter is a Pygmy goat.

EC: Where are you going with the relationship between Millie and Uriah?

AF: I used the Amish proverbs to help Millie decide on where she is going with her life. She was really torn between her past and possible future. She is one of my most loyal characters. Even though her husband had been gone for over 20 years it is still hard for her to pursue another relationship. Uriah knows she is struggling and is very supportive of her and cares for her a lot. He realizes she is independent, is frightened of marriage, and how she is dedicated to her husband’s memory forever.

EC: Next books?

AF: There will be another Emily Dickerson mystery coming out this November. Then in March of next year there will be a series with the Wright Brothers written from the point of view of their younger sister Katherine. It is titled To Slip the Bonds of Earth.

It will be a while before there will be another Amish book. Going forward I will be writing one historical book and one Amish book, alternating between the Amish Candy Shop Book and the Amish Matchmaker Book.

The end of next year will be the Candy Shop Book titled Gingerbread Danger. It is a Christmas mystery. There is a life size Candyland Game throughout the village, and someone gets killed.

Then after that will be the Millie and Lois book where they go to Pinecraft Florida where there is an Amish community. There will be a lot of new characters and of course a murder.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: American Girl by Wendy Walker

Book Description

Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, is determined to leave Sawyer, PA, as soon as she graduates high school. In the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at a sandwich shop called The Triple S to save money for college. But when shop owner, Clay Cooper—a man both respected and feared in their small economically depressed town—is found dead, each member of his staff becomes a suspect in the perplexing case. Before she can go anywhere, Charlie must protect herself and her friends by uncovering the danger that is still lurking in their tightknit community.

Based on the #1 bestselling audio, American Girl is a riveting thriller told through the eyes of an unforgettable protagonist.

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Elise’s Thoughts

American Girl by Wendy Walker is a character study that begins as a murder mystery that then turns into a psychological thriller with elements of danger and twists. It is a story of good versus evil and life versus death. It about friendship and relationships between women surrounded by solving the crime of murder.

The story begins with the owner of a sandwich shop where Charlie Hudson works found murdered. Each member of the staff becomes a person of interest except Charlie who was hiding behind the counter. These people she works with have become her family, and she would go to any length to protect them.

Charlie is clever, thoughtful, resourceful, sensitive and has developed coping mechanisms for her autism that allow her to function.

The author is a master of suspense. The story has many twists and turns and readers will not want to put the book down.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why did you take the audio book and make it into a printed book?

Wendy Walker: I worked with Audible for a novella of mine, Hold Your Breath. Once it went to Audible there were changes made to the story. The main character, Charlie, never had her condition spelled out. Readers could tell she was Neuro-divergent. This story became number one for Audible across all fiction. Since it was doing so well, I decided to revise the story sightly to make it for print. And here we are. It is an ode to a woman’s life that starts at seventeen.

EC: How did you get the idea for the story?

WW: The summer of 2019 I was at a restaurant bar with a friend. When the song, “American Girl,” came on I got up to dance. There were young people there who were flirting with each other, in their little packs. I had a lot of images in my head. I had a visceral that transferred me back to what it was like to be seventeen. As I was seeing women in different stages of life in this restaurant everything came together in a perfect storm. I had an acknowledgement on the realities of life. I thought of all the dreams I had. I became obsessed in writing a story. This was the first plot of mine that came from a character with all the other supporting characters giving life to Charlie. All the characters were written to express what I had experienced, the trajectories of a woman’s life.

EC: Why did you make Charlie autistic?

WW: I wanted to explain why she is perceptive of the world. When she narrated the story, she is analytical and a little bit dispassionate even when things around her are very emotional and chaotic. She was atypical at that age. Most teenagers at that age are consumed with their own lives, their friends, but not the adults around them. I remember thinking how the adults were irrelevant to me when I was seventeen, that parents could not understand me. I did a lot of research and spoke to specialists in the field, advocates of autism. It was really an education for me about autism. I learned how autistic people are all so different, and unique, especially the way their brains work.

EC: How would you describe Charlie?

WW: She has a good memory, good at math, but not good at relating to people. She does not like loud noises or bright lights. She concentrates, an observer, loyal, and protective. She was diagnosed at age eleven. This helps to understand why she is different. She found the diagnosis very liberating and made her divergent. She can navigate the grown-up world.

EC: Charlie had a bunch of rules, why?

WW: It is a story about an autistic girl and how any person put in Charlie’s situation would handle it differently based on their set of skills. The most important rule, “there are no rules when it comes to love.” Love is a central theme to the book. The love between Charlie and her mom, between Charlie and her best friend Keller, and between Keller and her boyfriend Levi. Love is the one thing that throws off all the predictors. It causes all the other rules to fall away.

EC: What was the influence of Charlie’s mom?

WW: She felt trapped which is why she escaped from her parent’s clutches. She tells Charlie how love would destroy her. She tries to be supportive. She was rejected by her parents. She applies the lessons of what happened to her to everything for Charlie. All her dreams were stolen and now she has no dreams. What is important to her and for Charlie is getting out of their town, Sawyer and to focus on survival.

EC: How would you describe Keller?

WW: She is all consuming and passionate. She is an idealist, fragile, and harassed by the victim. She drinks and smokes.

EC: How would you describe one of the co-workers Janice?

WW: She once had dreams. She is devoted, affectionate, proud, a worrier, and a mother figure.

E: How would you describe one of the co-workers Nora?

WW: She is resigned to life and feels pride in her work. She is a managerial type who is honest, loyal, disciplined, and a loner.

EC: What about Ian, the policeman?

WW: He was a childhood friend she was in love with. He is wound tightly and is trustworthy, sarcastic, and understanding. He is conflicted about his life’s circumstances. He has unresolved issues and is shackled to the town. Charlie wants him to get over his past.

EC: Readers feel no sympathy for the victim-correct?

WW: He is not a good person. He had a persona of what he wanted people to think of him versus his real persona. He was power hungry, greedy, lusted, and was not caring. He represents the bad things of this small town. He enjoys humiliating people and takes advantage of people. He is corrupt. He exploits his employees and takes away their dignity and self-respect.

EC: Why the phrase, “lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions”?

WW: I worked in a sandwich shop at seventeen through college. The way the sandwich shop is described in the story is based on this shop. It was a chain called D’Angelos that have been around forever and puts those items on the sandwich. I had bosses who were sleeping with the teenage employees.

EC: Next book?

WW: There will be an Audible book, an audio play titled Mad Love. I describe it as Dirty John meets the Tinder Swindler meets the psychological thriller. It takes place in a wealthy suburban town.

EC: Will this be made into a movie or TV show?

WW: It has a TV series option. All my stuff had been optioned.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

Book Description

A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister.

There are secrets in the land.

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land’s indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own.

While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister’s disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her back. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd.

The truth will be unearthed.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie combines a riveting mystery within a thrilling plot. This is a story of the main character’s personal journey as she attempts to overcome her past demons and strives to balance her Native American identity with her current life.

Syd Walker, the protagonist, now lives in Rhode Island with her wife Mali, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). She moved there from Oklahoma because of her violent past. Fifteen years ago she barely escaped from being killed when two masked men came into the trailer she, her sister, and her best friend were staying. She was able to rescue her sister, Emma Lou, but her best friend, Luna Myers was murdered. She is guilt ridden and haunted literally by Luna’s ghost, who speaks to her ala Charles Todd whose ghost Hamish haunts Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge.

After Syd’s old BIA ID badge from a college internship is found inside a skull on BIA-managed land she is asked by her BIA supervisor, Jo Mankiller, to investigate. Reluctantly, she returns to her hometown and learns that her sister Emma Lou, an opiate addict, has vanished, one of many Indigenous women to have recently disappeared from the area. She begins to investigate the women’s disappearances, hoping her inquiry might finally bring her face-to-face with Luna’s killer.

The blending of the culture and history made the plot even more interesting. Readers take the journey with Syd as she tries to reconcile her past, come to terms with her demons, and attempting to rebuild a relationship with her family.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Vanessa Lillie: This is the first book in the series. The story is set in Northeast Oklahoma, which is where I am from. I wanted to write about my hometown and the surrounding towns. The town in the story, is based on the history of a real town where there was oil and minerals, lead, and zinc. It became a boom town overnight. I wanted to incorporate my real history within my fictional characters backstory. I also wanted to write about the meth production, the Mexican Cartels coming into NE Oklahoma, and the legislative changes which is all accurate for the time, in 2008. I wanted to show how the illegal drug of meth combined with the legal Opioid drugs caused a lot of devastation in so many communities.

EC: What about the Native American references?

VL: The Quapaw Tribe had land taken from them. I set the story in 2008 because it is now a ghost town, with a government buyout program. There are serious health issues because of all the left-over minerals. I grew up next to this community. I am Cherokee so I wanted to write about a Cherokee protagonist. Because the matriarchal connection among Native Americans is so strong, I wrote how Syd is connected to her late grandmother, her Cherokee heritage that they shared together.

EC: How would you describe the main protagonist Syd?

VL: She is a badass—with a lot of vulnerability. I wanted to show through this character how someone processes trauma. She cares about justice, what she believes is right. She is haunted and struggles to connect with people. She is not direct and a loner. She has a little bit chip on her shoulder.

EC: Syd coming home reminded me of those in the military who come home on leave and feel like a fish out of water?

VL: I am from a small town and left it to go to college when I was 18.I still felt a disconnect and insecurity when I returned, which is something I put onto Syd. It is hard for her to come in and think she has answers when Syd did not live there. She might have good intentions but does not know the reality of what is going on. She had created emotional boundaries and literal physical boundaries when she left her hometown and moved across the country.

EC: The story has the mystery of what happened to Syd’s sister?

VL: She will do anything to find, help, and save her. Even putting her life at risk. Syd had created boundaries in her life, but at the end of the day when her sister was at risk, she would do anything to save her sister.

EC: What was the role of Syd’s boss, Jo Mankiller?

VL: She represents the new generation of those in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). She feels she is there to support the tribes and the people. She has her own internal politics going. She agrees with Syd that BIA should help the tribes, particularly with the murdered and missing girls. The BIA is a management structure for tribal lands. Unfortunately, the Federal government in 2008 controls the law enforcement and they do not often care about girls going missing. Their attention is on the drug cases.

EC: What was the role of the ghost, Luna-did you get the idea from the movie “The Sixth Sense” where the boy saw “dead people?”

VL: I wrote a pilot through the Native American media. It was a screenplay. I was struggling to communicate Syd’s problem. My editor and I worked it into this story. Syd is literally haunted by this sarcastic ghost girl. Ghost Luna is a manifestation of trauma and pain that Syd carries. She appears during Syd’s stress. She is based on an old memory of a teenage friend when they were girls.

EC: Can you explain the quote about love?

VL: You are referring to this one, “Love isn’t protective. In fact, it’s what makes us vulnerable to pain.” Anytime someone loves, they risk pain. People open themselves up to others and risk disappointment and hurt. There are beautiful things that come with it. For Syd, she has the idea of love, pain, and hope.

EC: Next book?

VL: It will be set where I live now. Syd has another case tied to earlier colonial days. It will probably come out in 2025.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Lost and Found by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Book Description

Trudy Yoder shares a passion for birding with Micah Weaver–and she has an even greater passion for Micah. Their friendship is finally turning romantic when Micah abruptly grows cold. Worse still, he wants to leave Stoney Ridge.

Micah Weaver thought he was over Trudy’s older sister. A year and a half ago, Shelley had broken his heart when she ran away from Stoney Ridge to pursue a singing career in Nashville. Then, out of the blue, she’s started to leave distressing phone messages for him.

When the bishop asks for volunteers to scout out a possible church relocation in Tennessee, Micah is the first to raise his hand. Despite scant details, he’s confident he can find Shelley. After all, his reputation as a field guide is based on finding birds that don’t want to be found.

What Micah doesn’t know is that what you’re looking for isn’t always what you find.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Lost and Found by Suzanne Woods Fisher has a story that looks at change and how someone faces that change. There are hints of romance, dashes of humor, and some drama. Most of the characters in the story explore difficult choices. There is conflict between the Liberal Beachy Amish order, and the more conservative Amish order plus the conflict between those who want to protect the bird sanctuary of Wonder Lake and those who want to build a church, and the conflict between medical doctors and Amish parents.

The best part of the story has the heroine, Trudy Yoder, questioning her judgement of falling for Micah Weaver. They were best friends, and it appeared the relationship could go beyond that when he decides to pick up and leave without telling her why. Those who read the related first book, A Season on the Wind, will understand that Micah had strong feelings for Trudy’s sister, Shelley until she left to pursue a music career. Now he receives a message from Shelley to rescue her. After he finds her and brings her back to the Amish town of Stony Ridge things come to a head.

The story delves into loyalty, devotion, community, and love. It is insightful, inspiring, and thought-provoking with the information provided. A bonus for those who love birds is the bird log entry at the end of each chapter, along with a birder’s glossary.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: This book is another genre then your Ice Cream Series books?

Suzanne Woods Fisher: My grandfather was raised “plain” so I do have a connection. I have many cousins who dress plain and are raised plain. The door opened for me to write a non-fiction book about the Amish. I have written historical fiction as well as contemporary women’s fiction. This is how things have progressed for me.

EC: How did you get the idea for the story?

SWF: I wanted to understand how the Amish relate to each other within the different spectrums from ultra-conservative to very progressive. Those I write about are a little more central. This book brings in both sides that work with each other. Historically there is a concern that the liberal churches would tempt the children away. What is interesting is that the older orders would not have conflicts with the other orders but pack up and move off. This is something I explored. The conservative order sent a scouting team to Tennessee.

EC: Why the bird angle?

SWF: Going back two books there is a novel I wrote titled A Season on the Wind. I know that the Amish revere nature, particularly birds. They are stellar bird watchers. They just use patience, maybe expensive scopes. Micah was in that book, a bird lover who also stutters. He is a listener. The little girl in the story is Trudy who is also crazy about birds, but also adores Micah. This current book is not a sequel but a companion book. In the first book Micah wrote bird logs, the kind of bird and descriptions. In this book, Trudy wrote the bird logs. Trudy likes the songbirds, while Micah likes the raptors.

EC: What was the role of Shelley?

SWF: In A Season on the Wind, she disappears to pursue a music career and broke Micah’s heart. She is Trudy’s sister. In this book, she is leaving him cryptic messages asking for help. Little by little he gets sucked into finding her. He does this by using his birding skills. She was flamboyant and flashy.

EC: How would you describe Micah?

SWF: The silent type because of his stuttering. He is a loner, dependable, sometimes overreacts. He is extremely intelligent and gifted.

EC: How would you describe Trudy?

SWF: She is like the bird, a sparrow. She is plain, loyal, reliable, observant, curious, and likes to take charge. She is easy to overlook. She has a lot of attention to detail.

EC: How did Trudy’s parents react to her?

SWF: She gets taken for granted. She is very faithful and can be counted on. Her older sister was the focal point of the family. The parents were overprotective of Shelley because of her special needs and by doing this pushed Trudy aside. She has always been the sister in the background.

EC: The Amish bishop was very supportive of Shelley getting medical help?

SWF: He told her parents to get on board with what the medical doctor advised. I based it on a similar situation within my extended family. The parents want to keep everything under wraps and secret. A lot of pride gets involved with a little shame. In the story the bishop and the doctor were the voice of reason.

EC: What about the relationship between Trudy and Micah?

SWF: She makes him feel special. He opened her eyes to birds. They are best friends. She is absolutely devoted to Micah. She does not notice his flaws and just sees who he is deep down with a lot of admiration. They both love to go to Wonder Lake in the town because rare birds are there.

EC: Next books?

SWF: The third ice cream book comes out in May titled Love on A Whim. It picks up where the second book left off with family drama, ice cream, and Cape Cod.

The next Amish book comes out in October featuring the doctor who is helping Shelley in this story. The doctor was raised Amish. She knows them well and speaks the language. There will be other romances in the story. But the main part of the plot is how she is relating to the Amish with events in their lives.

I am also writing four novellas about three young girls working in a flower shop. Something dreadful happens there and the girl’s scatter. In the first three novellas each girl is featured as they return to their hometown. The fourth novella will wrap up all stories up and will release as a printed book with all the novellas.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Girl from the Red Rose Motel by Susan Beckham Zurenda

Book Description

Impoverished high school junior Hazel Smalls and privileged senior Sterling Lovell would never ordinarily meet. But when both are punished with in-school suspension, Sterling finds himself drawn to the gorgeous, studious girl seated nearby, and an unlikely relationship begins.

Set in 2012 South Carolina, the novel interlaces the stories of Hazel, living with her homeless family in the rundown Red Rose Motel; Sterling, yearning to break free from his wealthy parents’ expectations; and recently widowed Angela Wilmore, their stern but compassionate English teacher. Hazel hides her homelessness from Sterling until he discovers her cleaning the motel’s office when he goes with his slumlord father to unfreeze the motel’s pipes one morning. With her secret revealed, their relationship deepens. Angela-who has her own struggles in a budding romance with the divorced principal-offers Hazel the support her family can’t provide. Navigating between privilege and poverty, vulnerability and strength, all three must confront what they need from themselves and each other as Hazel gains the courage to oppose boundaries and make a bold, life-changing decision at novel’s end.

Gripping and richly drawn, The Girl from the Red Rose Motel explores the complex bonds between adults and teenagers and the power of the families we both inherit and create. Inspired by the author’s experiences teaching in a South Carolina high school, the novel is also an unflinching, authentic look at the challenges faced by America’s public school teachers and the struggles of the thousands of homeless children in motels who live, precariously and almost invisibly, amid the nation’s most affluent communities”-

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Girl from The Red Rose Motel by Susan Zurenda delves into very relevant issues of the day. It is told from three points of view: privileged high school senior boy (Sterling), a high school junior girl whose family lives below the poverty line (Hazel), and their high school English teacher (Angela). It is a drama about relationships, showing how poverty has impacted children and having to navigate being homeless with going to high school.

The plot has Impoverished high school junior Hazel Smalls and privileged senior Sterling Lovell meeting after both were punished with in-school suspension, Sterling finds himself drawn to the gorgeous, studious girl seated nearby, and an unlikely relationship begins. Set in 2012 South Carolina, the novel interlaces the stories of Hazel, living with her homeless family in the rundown Red Rose Motel; Sterling, yearning to break free from his wealthy parents’ expectations; and recently widowed Angela Wilmore, their stern but compassionate English teacher. Hazel hides her homelessness from Sterling until he discovers her cleaning the motel’s office when he goes with his slumlord father to unfreeze the motel’s pipes one morning. With her secret revealed, their relationship deepens.

This book will tug at reader’s heartstrings. The characters are complex, and people will root for each of them. The ending may not be what readers are hoping for, but it is very realistic. There are important current issues that are covered.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Did you base it on your experiences?

Susan Zurenda: I taught English for 33 years, mostly in the community college system. In the last ten years I taught AP English in high school. The story came out of my teaching experience since I taught the 4 AP classes and a fifth class called Reading Strategies. These children were behind in their reading and writing skills. I was supposed to be a magician to get their reading skills improved so they can pass the exit exam to graduate in South Carolina. In the story the children in the AP classes and this fifth class were from different backgrounds.

EC: Were there any incidents in the book based on your actual teaching experience?

SZ: Yes. One is what starts the action in the book. When Sterling and his friends take over his AP English class. I taught these eight boys who terrorized their teachers since middle school. They have never been called to task. I had three of them in a class. They tried to one up themselves with trifle behavior. I decided to just sit at my desk and the ringleader came up and started teaching. I went to the Vice-principal and insisted these boys be punished. They called themselves ‘the crazy eights,’ and I called them ‘the hateful eightful.’

EC: Are you the AP English teacher, Angela Wilmore?

SZ: No, but I could not have written her story if I did not have the teacher experience and knowledge. Angela is a lot nicer and funkier than I ever was. She is very stern and caring just like myself. She does not have children of her own. She helps the student Hazel when her family cannot help. Angela becomes Hazel’s foster mother. The inspiration for Angela becoming a

foster parent was a friend of mine, a teacher of the year. She did it because the child had no place to go.

EC: How would you describe Sterling?

SZ: He is very smart, in the AP class, but misbehaves so he finds himself in ISS, in school suspension. He does have some baggage because of what happened in his childhood. He is an arrogant, rude, disrespectful brilliant, affluent boy.

EC: How would you describe Hazel?

SZ: She is shy, quiet, and shameful of her desolate situation, having to live in a hotel. She does not seek out friends.

EC: How about the relationship between Hazel and Sterling?

SZ: When he starts to show he likes her she does not believe he is serious. It is a while until she opens up to him. She grows throughout the novel. Sterling and Angela show her it is possible to get out of the world of poverty. She becomes more self-confident, logical, and level-headed. I did hear of students living in run down motels, considered homeless. A guidance counselor I know started the organization CAST: Care, Accept, Share, and Teach, to assist families.

EC: What was the role of the Red Rose Motel?

SZ: I wanted to separate the families who are homeless from the drug addicts and mentally disabled. There are a lot of families with children who are homeless. In January 2022 there are about 350,000 children nationwide living in hotels because their families were evicted. There is a lack of affordable housing. The family gets evicted because they do not make enough money to afford a rental unit so they move to the Red Rose Motel.

EC: Next book?

SZ: I do not know if I will write another book.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah

Book Description

The latest installment in Darci Hannah’s delicious Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series set in small-town Beacon Harbor, Michigan, featuring a baker heroine who lives in the local lighthouse with her beloved Newfoundland dog, Wellington.

Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover . . .

The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens’ creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim discovery: the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.

Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween . . .

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Elise’s Thoughts

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah is a good book for the Halloween season since many are already decorating their houses. This Halloween atmosphere has ghosts, goblins, pranksters, costumes, pirates, clowns, and dogs in costume along with professional ghost hunters.

The plot has the main character, Lindsey, renovating an old lighthouse, for her home and bakery. In the story the Halloween festivities include Lindsey having in her bakery a lot of pumpkin-flavored treats. Lindsey has also reluctantly agreed to let her best friend, Kennedy, do her live podcast from the lighthouse with professional ghost hunters. But things go sideways after they all stumble upon a fresh corpse in Lindsey’s yard. First, they thought it was teens doing a prank, a clown as a dummy, but it’s a corpse. With the help of her friends and her resident ghost they strive to find the murderer.

The mystery has many tricks and treats that include twists and turns. The action leaps from the pages. One of the treats the author gives her readers is the delicious seasonal recipes included at the back of the book.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?

Darci Hannah: This is the fourth book I have written in the series. I have the setting in Michigan. I love to bake, and my youngest brother bought a bakery, so I incorporated a bakery and lighthouse into the series. I wanted to be a paranormal writer, so I slip some of this into my writing. When I started this series, I thought of a haunted lighthouse tale within a cozy mystery. I always visit a lot of lighthouses. I came to realize a lot of lighthouses have a history and a story about lingering lightkeepers. In this series the lighthouse has a history and a ghost story. Lindsey, the protagonist lives in the haunted lighthouse and has developed a working relationship with this lighthouse ghost.

EC: Was any of this real?

DH: A lot of the techniques of the ghosts I use are from real lighthouses here in Michigan. People see eerie green lights which I incorporated in this story. There are a lot of shipwrecks here. Because I did dive on shipwrecks, I included it in the story.

EC: What is the role of Halloween?

DH: It was great fun to write a Halloween theme. The idea came from my publisher. There are pirates, the Wizard of Oz comes into it with the costume of a straw headed person. The “Pumpkin Pageant” had people dressed in costume along with their pets. Everyone in the bakery owned by the protagonist dressed in a theme costume. There is also a pumpkin carving contest.

EC: Was Wellington, Lindsey’s dog based on a real dog?

DH: Yes, I love dogs so there are a lot of dogs in my story. Wellington is Lindsey’s dog. He is a Newfoundland because I had a dog of that breed. He is the perfect dog for a lighthouse because they are big water dogs. He has freedom and space now. He also loves to fish.

EC: How would you describe Lindsey?

DH: She has a financial background. She is practical, wants to make people happy, is pretty, and caring. She is from New York City and has moved to a Michigan small town. She has her mother’s looks and her father’s brain. She is not a social media person, more private.

EC: How would you describe her boyfriend, Rory?

DH: He is an ex-Navy SEAL who is a conglomerate of some of my friends. He is a woodsy outdoorsman. The whole state shuts down in November during deer season. I wanted to put this cultural piece of Michigan into Rory’s character. He is very protective, kind, funny, intense, and a good diver. Together they are an item and are attracted to each other. She sees him as intriguing. They respect each other a lot.

EC: The next book?

DH: The next book in the series continues the holiday theme. It is titled Murder at the Blarney Bash, a St. Patrick’s Day book, but coming out in January. The plot has a new Irish import store being opened by Rory’s uncle and cousin. There will be a Leprechaun in the story.

THANK YOU!!

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