BOOK TOUR
I'm so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for
GLITTER BOMB
Book 15 in the New Orleans Scrapbooking Mysteries
by Laura Childs
with
Terrie Farley Moran
An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this latest Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author.
It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend Ava. Carmela's ex-husband Shamus rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus' float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed.
Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe-member's death, but as they dig deeper it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder....and Shamus seems less like a victim, and more like a suspect.
Lisa Ks Interview with Laura
Childs,
New York Times
Bestselling Author of
Glitter Bomb,
a New Orleans Scrapbook Mystery.
Laura, thank you for
being here today!
Hey, Lisa K, it’s absolutely my pleasure. This is the
exciting part – you finish a book, it finally pubs, and now you get to talk
about it!
Please tell us a bit
about Glitter Bomb.
Scrapbook shop owner Carmela and her BFF Ava are excited for
Mardi Gras. After all, what’s better than a week of parades, parties, beignets,
and beads? But while watching the Pluvius parade in the French Quarter, the
King Neptune float explodes, sending a plume of glitter into the night sky –
and killing a local hedge fund bigwig. Carmela’s ex-husband Shamus is tossed
from the float, too, but soon becomes a key suspect. Running her own shadow
investigation, Carmela tries to clear Shamus while dodging the watchful eye of
her fiancée Detective Edgar Babcock. Haunted cemeteries, a fashion show, sports
car rally, party at the zoo, and hungry alligators round out the mystery –
proving that New Orleans is a favorite go-to spot for visitors as well as
readers.
How did you come up
with the concept?
Once I stood on Napoleon Avenue and watched those enormous,
sparkling Mardi Gras floats emerge from the darkness, I knew it was the perfect
opening scene for a murder mystery.
What are your future
plans for this series? Any hints or spoilers you can give us about the next
book?
Glitter Bomb is
the 15th book in the New Orleans Scrapbook Mystery series and it
certainly won’t be the last. Right now, Terrie Farley Moran and I are just
finishing up Mumbo Gumbo Murder,
which pubs next year. And I’m noodling ideas for Cadmium Red Dead, the next in the series.
Is writing an
energizing experience, or does it take a lot out of you?
I spent several years as an advertising writer/producer and
then 20 years as the CEO of my own ad agency, so writing is basically my day
job. It doesn’t energize me, it doesn’t wear me down. And as long as I write
every day, the words and ideas (luckily) keep flowing.
Once you knew you
wanted to be a published author, who was the first person you reached out to
for help?
A dear friend introduced me to Mary Higgins Clark, who
invited me to attend a Mystery Writers of America symposium in New York. There,
thanks to Mary’s help, I was able to network with dozens of agents, editors,
and publishers. Within 5 months I was lucky enough to nail down a 3-book
contract for my first series, the Tea Shop Mysteries.
What sort of research
do you do for you books? Is it more computer based on hands on?
It’s more like boots on the ground. I adore New Orleans so I
travel there quite often. And since I have friends living there, I’ve been
lucky to visit the float dens, attend a Rex ball, and even march in a Mardi
Gras parade. The thing about the Scrapbook Mysteries is . . . they’re not about
scrapbooking. The scrapbook shop just helps spark a lot of crazy events. The
books are so much more – an exciting mystery, action that never lets up, the
incredible food, the spooky cemeteries, and the historic city itself.
What is your writing
process?
I always start with an outline on a huge sheet of paper.
That becomes my basic timeline from when the murder takes place in chapter 1,
to a big exciting ending last chapter that wraps it all up. Then I fill it in,
adding characters and suspects, what I call “touch points” between my main
character and the killer, as well as several action sequences. Then I transfer
everything to my computer and rough my outline out to about 80 pages. If that feels good, I go back to chapter 1
and just start writing.
How do you come up
with character names?
I have a list of possible character names that I keep adding
to. Plus, I read the obituaries. Lots of great names there!
What are 3 things
readers may not know about you?
I love traveling to foreign countries (Japan, China, and Indonesia
are faves), I helped with financing and marketing so a dear friend could open a
doggy daycare and dog training school, and I have a penchant for really good
French wine.
Where can readers go
to learn more about you and your books?
Thank you so much, Laura, for letting us get to know you better!
Thank you, Lisa K, it is always a great pleasure to visit
your blog!
In
this installment of the New Orleans Scrapbooking Mysteries, murder during Mardi
Gras is colorfully explosive and makes for a great read!
Author
Laura Childs knows how to pack a punch into a mystery. GLITTER BOMB is
exciting, fun, and at times, intense. And I’ve noticed a subtle change in the tone
of the stories since author Terrie Farley Moran has come on board. It’s a good
change. You can’t go wrong with two fabulous authors writing a book together.
Over
all, GLITTER BOMB was an excellent mystery with plenty of twists and turns, as
well as false leads to keep my inner sleuth guessing all the way to the end.
Returning
fans of the series are going to love GLITTER BOMB. New readers will enjoy it as
well and may become hooked enough to start the series from the beginning.
Profanity warning to cozy mystery
purists.
About The Authors
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries
, Scrapbook Mysteries
, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries
. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fundraising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries 
- set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.
The Scrapbooking Mysteries
– a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries
- set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.
Laura’s Links:
Webpage - http://www.laurachilds.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/laura.childs.31
Short-listed twice for The Best American Mystery Stories, Terrie Farley Moran is delighted to introduce mystery fans to the Read ’Em and Eat café and bookstore, which debuted with Well Read, Then Dead
. followed by Caught Read-Handed
and Read to Death
released in July of this year. The only thing Terrie enjoys more than wrangling mystery plots into submission is playing games and reading stories with any or all of her grandchildren.
Terrie’s Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrie.moran.9
Blog: www.womenofmystery.net
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23186092-terrie-moran
Purchase Links:
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TOUR PARTICIPANTS
October 14 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
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