LET'S GET COZY: LIVER LET DIE - A PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
LIVER LET DIE

A CLUELESS COOK MYSTERY

BY LIZ LIPPERMAN

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Jordan McAllister can’t cook her way out of a macaroni & cheese box, but filling in for the culinary reporter at The Ranchero Globe is better than writing personal ads. Her first assignment to review the new steakhouse in town is a disaster that ends with her waiter murdered outside her door—with her name and number in his pocket. Now Jordan is the prime suspect, as well as the main course on the murder menu.

AN EXCERPT FROM LIVER LET DIE:

Jordan dropped her review on Dwayne Egan’s desk and stepped back to await her fate. She’d spent the entire morning researching foie gras on the Internet and had come away outraged and ready to make a stand on the issue.

That was before Egan grabbed the report and lowered his eyes to read, and all her bravado dissipated. Shifting nervously and second-guessing herself, she tapped out the melody of a rock song along the side of her slacks with her fingers.

Too late to change her mind as Egan motioned for her to sit.

She eased into the chair behind her, eyes fixed on the editor while he finished the first page and flipped to the second. Her nerves were like aliens ready to burst through her skin.

“You actually ate this?” he asked, finally glancing at her over the top of his silver-rimmed reading glasses. 

To finish reading this excerpt from LIVER LET DIE go to Liz Lipperman's website HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Raised in a small town in Ohio, number eight of nine children, I graduated from nursing school and worked as a registered nurse for many years. When I could no longer ignore the characters talking in my head (No, I’m not on medication), I went back to school and got a professional arts degree. Then I started my first novel.

As most writers will agree, raising a family and working a full-time day job is a challenge when you’re trying to bring those characters to life. Three beautiful grandchildren later, I wouldn’t change a thing in my journey (Okay, I’d outlaw rejection letters.)

Anyone who has tried to write a book and sell it knows it doesn’t happen overnight. I started off thinking I was a romance writer, but those evil villains kept pushing their way into my stories. I discovered I loved killing off people, then tricking everyone into believing it was the wrong guy. Wait — isn’t that mystery writing? So, I gave in and let the mystery in me take over, although I still love romance and sneak it into every story.

But I didn’t get my happy ending just because I now wrote the kind of books I loved. Oh, contraire! Eight years after completing my first book, I finally sold. I am represented by the awesome Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary, LLC, who challenges me to take my writing to the next level.

Married to my high school sweetheart, I’ve lived in the Dallas area over twenty years and now call myself a Texan. (The Yankee in me still demands to be recognized every now and then.) We live seventy miles north of Dallas and have two grown children and a large extended family that remains close. Did I mention my three adorable grandbabies?

Since I grew up with love and laughter, that’s always been the type of book I read. If it can make me laugh or cry plus keep me guessing, I consider it a classic. I love mysteries, always have, always will.

FROM THE BERKLEY PRIME CRIME NEWSLETTER:LIVER LET DIE Q&A WITH LIZ LIPPERMAN: 
1)  In LIVER LET DIE, we’re introduced to Jordan McAllister, who takes a job as a food critic despite not knowing anything about cooking! How would you say your cooking skills measure up against Jordan’s? And are you a sports fan like her as well?  
I’m number eight of nine children (good Catholic family.) Like Jordan, I grew up eating casseroles and fighting with siblings. Also like her, I despise fancy food and steak or prime rib. To answer your question, I am a great casserole cook, and most of the recipes in LIVER LET DIE are my own. I love going to restaurants and finding a great dish, getting a doggy bag, then taking it home and figuring out how they did it. Almost always, I look for shortcuts like cake mixes, bottled spaghetti sauce, etc and doctor them up. As for being a sports nut, I confess, I am. I even run a fantasy football league during the NFL season.

2)  What is your favorite comfort food?
Without a doubt, chips and salsa. I prefer salty food over sweets.

3)  Jordan writes for a small town newspaper in Texas. What inspired you to use this setting?
I’ve always lived in small towns and love the cozy feel of everyone knowing everyone. Since Jordan had just been dumped after following her fiancé to Dallas, and she wanted as far away from big “D” as she could get, I needed a town just like that. Originally, I used a real city north of the Metroplex. However, I decided to fictionalize it since it gave me more options. The fact that I called the cops Dumb and Dumber might have had something to do with that decision, too.

4)  What is your writing routine like?
I wish I could tell you how disciplined I was with my writing, but alas, I can’t. I love Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and my writing loops too much. When I go into panic mode with a deadline looming, I have to totally cut them off. Also, I need absolute quiet when I write creatively, and with a retired husband, well...you get the point. Fortunately, I write long hand then type each chapter on the computer, so I am able to hide out with a paper and pen when it gets too noisy.

5)  Can you tell us a bit about what’s in store for Jordan in her next adventure?
Here’s the blurb for BEEF STOLEN-OFF: Jordan finds herself smack in the middle of a cattle theft ring where the “steaks” are high and the cowboys are not what they seem.

She gets coerced by her editor into going to the Cattleman’s Ball in Fort Worth with a wealthy ranch owner and his sexy ranch foreman. The plan is that she’ll write a great review in her column that will boost the sagging beef sales in the county. But when the hunky date dies in front of her, and his invalid mother grabs her and whispers Help me at his wake, things get crazy.

                                         
GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ALEXANDRA AND THE GOOD 

FOLKS AT BERKLEY AND PENGUIN, I HAVE

ONE COPY OF THIS DELIGHTFUL

MYSTERY, LIVER LET DIE,

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 WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT LIVER LET DIE  THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT LIZ LIPPERMAN'S WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY TO RECEIVE EXTRA ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 20

 GOOD LUCK!