Wednesday, April 21, 2010

LEMON TART: AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
LEMON
TART

BY JOSI S. KILPACK


ABOUT THE BOOK:
A Recipe For Murder

5 families living on Peregrine Circle..
1 flowered curtain tie-back...............
1 missing child.................................
1 body in the field............................


Mix a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.
***********

Cooking aficionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor—a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of the tragedy is Anne’s missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects—including her!

Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.

For an added treat, original mouth-watering recipes
are sprinkled throughout the book. RECIPES INCLUDED:
--Mom’s Lemon Tart
--Cinnamon Ginger Cookies
--Cream Cheese Frosting
--Homemade Alfredo Sauce
--Sadie’s Better Brownies
--Carrot Cookies
--Granny’s Gingerbread

Read an excerpt here!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Josi S. Kilpack grew up hating to read until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and accredits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began writing her first novel in 1998, while on bedrest with a pregnancy, and never stopped. Devil’s Food Cake is Josi’s eleventh novel, and the third book in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series. The other novels, Lemon Tart (Book 1) and English Trifle (Book 2) were released in 2009. While the books all feature Sadie Hoffmiller as the main character, they stand alone in regard to plot and can be read as a set or as individual titles. In addition to her writing, Josi enjoys reading, baking, traveling, and snuggling with her sweetheart, Lee. They now live in Willard, Utah with their four kids, a dog, and a varying number of chickens.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1. Thanks to Josi Kilpack for agreeing to answer a few questions for an interview. First here is some background on Josi:

Josi S. Kilpack grew up hating to read until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and accredits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began her first novel in 1998 and hasn’t stopped. Her seventh novel, Sheep’s Clothing won the Whitney Award 2007 for Mystery/Suspense. Her most recent book, Devil’s Food Cake, is the third book in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series. Josi currently lives in Willard Utah with her husband, four children, one dog and varying number of chickens. For more information about Josi, you can visit her website at www.josiskilpack.com or her blog at www.josikilpack.blogspot.com

2. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?

I am currently working on book 5 in the Sadie Hoffmiller series, Blackberry Crumble. In this one Sadie will be going to the Pacific Northwest to determine whether or not a death was actually a murder. This is the first time that Sadie has been hired to investigate a case, and presents a whole new set of circumstances she hasn’t encountered before. I’m only about fifty pages in right now, but so far so good!

3. What have you just finished reading?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I haven’t yet made my official determination of it. I liked the writing and I loved learning about the Chinese culture in the eighteenth century, but I didn’t find the story inspiring or even all that positive. I didn’t put the book down with a smile on my face and I felt some of the scenes and references were both gratuitous and slightly offensive to what I believe the true culture would reflect. That said, I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit, so it definitely made an impression. I’m just not sure how to ‘rate’ it in my own mind.

4. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?

While I write mystery, it’s actually suspense that gets most of my attention as a reader and it’s usually suspense novels that I put down and say “Dang, I wish I’d written that!”. I love Sue Graphton, John Grisham, and Mary Higgins Clark—plot driven novels with well written characters. That said, I don’t love all their books, but they are the authors that inspire me the most. I read very critically and I think this was a big part of my ability to write in the beginning because I chopped every book I read into little pieces so I could identify each element and decide how that one little part influenced the over all story and my over all enjoyment of it. Because of that, I think every book I’ve ever read has influenced my writing in one way or another.

5. What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?

Any and all of the above. Most of my ideas come from other people’s ideas. Not that I’m stealing, but a character will catch my attention, or a story on the news, and it sparks something that I then ponder on. That initial idea grows and morphs until I can fit a story around it. Some of my books have been started by a single scene I’ve thought about, others are inspired by a topic I want to address or a character that moves into my brain and won’t go away. Sadie’s stories have been inspired by a variety of these things but are additionally moved forward by the recipes that are spotlighted in each of the books.

6. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

That my life isn’t perfect and I don’t wake up or go to bed smiling every day. I have a good life, don’t get me wrong, but it seems that most people assume that I write because I have time with nothing else to do. They assume that it comes easy, that the words just flow, and that the rest of my life fits around my writing nicely. Like anyone making room for something they are passionate about, it isn’t easy. A lot of my writing is done at 4:30 in the morning, at my kitchen table before the kids get up. Right now, I don’t know my plot for the story I’m writing, which is not a good feeling and causing me all kinds of angst. My daughter was sick yesterday, which through my whole week for a loop since I had to stay home from work and will have to find a way to make that up (we own our own business and I do the bookkeeping). I love to write, which is why I do it, but it doesn’t fit in nicely, rather it’s shoved and molded into the nooks and crannies of my life. But I’m very glad to have found those nooks and crannies. I wouldn’t be who I am without it.

7. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?


First, ask yourself why you want to write. Money isn’t a bad motivator, but most writers I know have a day job for many years as they wait for their career to take off and so if money is your only motivation, you will likely burn out before it feels like you’ve succeeded. If you want to change the world, that’s a good motivator too, but remember that there are 50,000 books published in the US every year. A lot of them are trying to change the world. The motivation, therefore, that everyone needs is to love it. If you love to write it can work, but if the love of it isn’t there, then you’ll make yourself crazy with unfulfilled expectations.

Second, drown yourself in writing experiences. Write anything you can, read about writing, attend writing conferences, become part of a writing group, enter writing contests, and show the people in your life that this is real by treating it as such. Writing is not easy but if it enriches your soul and gives purpose to your life, then pursue it with fervor and embrace the challenges it presents with a can-do attitude. I don’t know anyone who had a publisher knock on their door and say “I hear you like to write?” you have to be the one to put yourself out there; only then can you be discovered.

8. What is something you would like to share with us about writing your favorite genre in general?

This series is my first writing experience with a mystery and has presented it’s own challenges that I hadn’t anticipated. In suspense, the reader usually knows more than the main character. In Mystery, the reader knows either as much as the main character, or even a little bit less. This is why Mysteries usually have only one point of view character as opposed to suspense novels which will often go back and forth between several characters, including the antagonist. I found it very challenging to write only what Sadie knew and realized that because of that, I didn’t know what was going to happen either. With every book in this series I’ve been a good 2/3rds of the way through the book before I figured out who did it, let alone how they did it. It’s both fascinating and frustrating to be so unaware. I’m sure other authors don’t do it that way, but I haven’t yet figured out how to do it differently.
GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO TRACEE AND
PUMP UP YOUR BOOK TOURS, I
HAVE ONE AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF
THIS SUPER BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!



--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY!
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS BOOK ABOVE, OR THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THE AUTHOR OR BOOK BY VISITING HER WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND THEN COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK

GIVEAWAY ENDS
AT 6 PM, EST, MAY 3


30 comments:

Linda Kish said...

It sounds like a lighthearted mystery. Not too dark, more humorous.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

She said she only ends up finishing about 1/3 of the books she picks up to read. Hates poorly written books.Gives a book about 50 pages to hook her.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I like where she gets her inspirations from, just seeing something or an idea.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I learned she took custody of her niece just a couple of weeks after she was married.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Pamela Keener said...

She says she, as the writer doesn't know whodunit in her books until the protagonist finds out.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

She has an entry in the book Mother's Wisdom which are lessons they have learned from their Mother's wisdom.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Tea said...

First of all I love lemon. I like any food made with or of lemon. Yum! I would love to win this book.

teakettle58(at)yahoo(dot)com

Kaye said...

This is a really fun mystery. I sure didn't see the twist coming at the end. Don't enter me, Karen, as I just finished the book but did want to comment on how good it is.

tea said...

I liked learning the author is creative while using her time. I think it's great that she began a novel while on bedrest during her pregnancy.

I was put on bedrest for one of my pregnancies, a loooong time ago. I'm trying to think what I did with that time. I must have read a book. Still, I remember spending time groaning and just making myself miserable because of the bedrest thing.

Tea said...

I have learned Josi made 4 trips to Costa Rica. Both Josi and Lee lost a sibling tragically. I'm very sorry.

Tea said...

I have blogged about the giveaway on my blog http://readwithtea.blogspot.com and I have linked back to this blog from there.

Margie said...

Authors Sue Graphton, Mary Higgins Clark, and John Grisham have influenced her the most. She is very critical when she reads a book, and she learns something about writing from every book she reads.
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

Margie said...

The author has been asked when she finds time to write. She has a portable word processor, and can write almost anywhere. And...she is a fast cleaner! The two sides of her life complement each other.
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

Colleen Turner said...

Found out from her website that she grew up in a household of nine children...that is quite a household!
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

What an interesting concept, to combine culinary recipes and interests with a murder mystery! I hadn't seen anything like it before.
Thanks,
candc320@gmail.com

traveler said...

Her ideas are inspiring and unique. She is fussy about reading a good book and has no patience with a badly written book. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

traveler said...

A book that would be easy reading. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Teresa said...

I always enjoy learning how authors get their inspiration.

teresasreadingcorner at gmail dot com

dag888888 said...

Dessert and a mystery = I like this combination! Please count me in!

dag888888[at]yahoo[dot]com

dag888888 said...

The author has 4 kids, the youngest was born in 2001...amazing!

dag888888[at]yahoo[dot]com

holdenj said...

I think it's sweet that she married her high school sweetheart!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

The book and the interveiw both sound great. I like that she is discerning. I too, have similar feelings about Lisa See books. (I've read two now) I enjoy all the historical info, but don't know if I really like the book, kwim?
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

bison61 said...

alot of her writing is done at 4;30 in the morning!

tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

Angie said...

I love books with lots of food in them. And it includes the recipes? Perfect!

aksimmo at brainerd dot net

throuthehaze said...

I find it interesting that there are recipes included in the book :)
throuthehaze at gmail dot com

MRWriter said...

I love that they put in recipes throughout the book.
AlexDean03@yahoo.com

Susan said...

I like how honest she is about finding time to write. She has to fit her writing time around her family and work.

susan56bft at gmail dot com

Rebecca Orr said...

I found her thoughts on Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See interesting. I would love to see if I think the same as she does when I am done reading it.

Thanks for the chance. bekki1820cb at gmail

rubynreba said...

She hated to read until she was 13!
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

rubynreba said...

It looks interesting that there are a lot of good recipes in the book.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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