BOOK TOUR
Salon owner Marla Vail and her detective husband Dalton are having a blast visiting a Florida living history village over Fourth of July weekend. But when a Seminole battle reenactment turns up a real dead body, it sets off fireworks among the villagers. One of the cast members has gone off script to murder the town marshal with a tomahawk.
As Dalton gets involved in the investigation, Marla determines to help him solve the case. Her flare for uncovering secrets reveals that everyone in the village is a suspect. Instead of celebrating the holiday with red, white, and barbecues, she discovers secrets, lies, and false avenues. Did the marshal’s murder have anything to do with a lost Confederate payroll, or did his plans to renovate the park light a fuse that he couldn’t snuff out?
In a place where history comes alive, the dead bodies are piling up. Marla would rather be chilling and grilling, but somebody’s mind is on killing. If she’s not careful, her sleuthing might blow up in her face like a faulty firecracker and she'll become the next victim. Recipes Included!
LKBR - Hi, Nancy. Thank you for being with us today!
NJC - Thanks for having me here!
LKBR: Please tell us about your newest book.
Star Tangled Murder is #18 in the Bad Hair Day mystery series. These stories follow the adventures of hairstylist and salon owner Marla Vail. She starts out as a divorced businesswoman in book one and progresses to a married wife and mother in book eighteen. You can read each book as a standalone, although you get a better view of her character arc by reading the entire series. To date, the series has 18 full-length novels, a novella, a short story, and a cookbook. Some titles are available in box sets or audiobooks.
In this latest story, Marla and her husband, Dalton,
visit a living history village where they attend a battle reenactment over
Fourth of July weekend. The smoky scene becomes real when the town marshal is
found dead with a tomahawk in his head. Since Dalton is due to retire soon from
his job as a homicide detective, Marla decides to help him investigate. She wants
him home safe to help care for their one-year-old son. All of the villagers are
suspects as it appears most of them had a grudge against the victim. Mixed into
the stew is a bit of Florida history, a ghost story, missing treasure and recipes!
LKBR - Readers always have a favorite character. Do
you have a favorite from this book/series?
NJC - NC Dalton, Marla’s husband, is a favorite character of mine. Who wouldn’t want to have a steadfast, sexy man by her side? He cares about Marla’s safety and urges her not to take risks, but he also respects her skills in getting suspects to talk. He’d warned her off his cases in the past but now he values her input as long as she doesn’t put herself in danger. She’s become wiser, too. In Star Tangled Murder, she asks her friends Robyn and Susan to accompany her to interview suspects. She’s learned to be cautious and not to go alone, especially now that she has a young child at home.
LKBR - Once you’re finished writing a book, how long
is it before you start writing the next?
NJC - It used to be that I started the next one right away. Now it takes me longer to do the research and plot another story. Several months might go by before I begin writing again. It helps me to take time off in between books to recharge the creative batteries. And I have household tasks to catch up on once I finish a novel.
LKBR - What is your favorite part of writing? Your
least favorite part?
NJC - My least favorite part is the beginning of a story. It takes me a while to get to know the characters. Usually, I have the victim and the suspects’ motives in my head before I start writing. But each character’s quirks only come to light when they’re on stage. My favorite part is revising what’s already written. I also enjoy the research and learning new things. But the best part of this career is hearing positive feedback from readers.
LKBR - Where do you do your best writing?
NJC - I have a dedicated home office where I’m surrounded by books and reference texts and meaningful mementos of my career. I use a desktop computer with an ergonomic keyboard. It’s a very comfortable space. I’m happy using Word and not any fancy software programs for writing.
LKBR - What are the different ways you research for your books?
NJC - Personal experience plays a large part in my research. Star Tangled Murder was inspired by a visit to Yesteryear Village in West Palm Beach. I loved the historic buildings and the glimpse into a bygone era of Florida history. I based my fictional Pioneer Village on this place. I’d taken photos that were helpful to me when creating my setting. Plus, I watched videos online to help set each scene within the village. Some of these included the one-room schoolhouse, the old jail, the general store, the fishing shack, and a grand mansion around which I created a ghost story. I also went to a doll store that inspired a scene in the story.
Online, I read news articles that inspired a historic element in the tale, and I looked up Fourth of July festivities, Native American corn rituals, tea production, the history of buttons, and other topics that interested me. The danger of research is going down the rabbit hole and then putting too much of what we learn into the book. I save some of this info for blogs and guest posts so I can share it with readers that way.
LKBR - Have you ever started writing a story just to find the idea simply isn’t working?
NJC - I’ve finished most of the books I’d started writing. A good many of them are still sitting unsold in my drawers. I do have a file filled with story ideas as well as book proposals that got rejected. It can be disheartening to put so much time and effort into a work that never gets anywhere, but it’s all part of the learning experience.
LKBR - Any new projects in the works?
NJC - I’m currently focused on releasing new paperback editions of my revised earlier romances. Then I want to do a final box set for the Bad Hair Day series. I am also revising a standalone mystery that could be the springboard for a new series.
LKBR - What do you love to do in your free time? LOL Do you get much free time?
NJC - I like to explore new places around where we live and try new restaurants. At home, I read, watch TV movies, and take walks. I enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes. I look for local festivals and farmer’s markets. Those are always fun to attend. And we go to Disney World now that we’ve moved to the Orlando area. Family events with our grandson also occupy our time.
LKBR - Where can readers go to read more about you?
Website: https://nancyjcohen.com
Blog: https://nancyjcohen.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJCohenAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyjcohen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyjcohen
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancyjcohen
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nancy-j-cohen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/nancyjcohen
LKBR - Thank you so much, Nancy, for letting us get to know you better!
About Nancy J. Cohen
Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and the RONE Award, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook, have won the FAPA President’s Book Award, the Royal Palm Literary Award, and IAN Book of the Year. When not busy writing, Nancy enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World.
Thanks so much for having me here!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteHappy Saturday!
Pat T