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Jill Piscitello–One very talented Author!!

August 2, 2023 by in category Jann says . . . tagged as ,

Jill Piscitello is a teacher with a passion for writing and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand.

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, traveling, and going on light hikes. Jill loves to try out new restaurants, but if truth be told, she will order a chicken Caesar salad wrap whenever possible.

I’m delighted to be talking with multi-talented author Jill Piscitello. Today she is going to share with us a bit about her writing life and her new release.

Jann: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Jill: I enjoyed crafting stories as soon as I learned how to read. But it wasn’t until middle school that I considered the possibility of writing as a career. From a very young age, I had the voice of practicality ringing in my ears and went off in search of job choices more likely to pay the bills. Although writing still happened regularly, my first queries weren’t sent until I was well into my 40s.

Jann: What is your favorite genre to write? Tell us a little about your journey to publication.

Jill: Cozy mystery is my favorite genre to write. These books lend themselves well to series and allow me to follow a charming cast of characters as they develop over time. My first two published books were sweet, holiday romances. I love everything about Christmas and had so much fun writing both stories. Then I realized that a cozy mystery would allow me the best of both worlds in the form of a whodunit with a dash of romance.

Jill: Do you have to research a lot before you start writing your novels?

Jill: Research is key for so many pieces of every story. Pouring through resources is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. How to use the information is its own skill. For example, as a fiction reader, I’m not looking for a history lesson but want to feel like I’ve been dropped into a world set in during a specific time period.

Jann: How important is setting, theme and plot in your stories? Which one comes first when you start to write.

Jill: I suppose the answer to this question depends on the story. Setting plays a huge role in the beginning. I love writing about beautiful places. The theme usually presents itself right away, but the plot is a work in progress until the final page is written.

Jann: June 26, 2023, A Sour Note made its debut. What challenges did you set for your main character Maeve Cleary?

Jill: Maeve is a risk taker plagued by anxiety when things don’t go according to plan. She is learning to accept the highs and lows as learning curves, not mistakes. What’s life without a few risks? After quitting her job with zero prospects in sight and a shattered engagement, she returns to her childhood home. The discovery of a corpse, frivolous accusations, and navigating unsolicited advice from her type A mother and a clairvoyant cousin provide a welcome diversion from her upended personal life.

Jann: Where did the inspiration come from for A Sour Note?

Jill: My family and I vacation in Hampton Beach, NH every summer. A few years ago, I was walking along a stretch of beach with a view of the ocean and some stunning beach homes and realized how perfect the location was for my cozy mystery. Next, I needed to figure out a unique profession for my sleuth that would allow her the time needed to solve a mystery. When I heard about a local business offering music lessons and year-round performance opportunities, a rush of plot ideas revolving around various venues took shape.

Jann: What are you working on now? Can you tell us about your next project?

Jill: I’m currently working on the sequel to A Sour Note. The setting will remain in Hampton Beach, NH, but the new story will take place during the fall. I’m looking forward to experiencing the beach town outside the tourist season.

Jann: Where can we get your books?

 

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 Jann:. Do you have a website, blog, twitter where fans might read more about you and your books?

Website: https://jillpiscitello.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jillpiscitelloauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Piscj18

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillpiscitellobooks/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21978074.Jill_Piscitello?ref=nav_profile_l

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jill-piscitello?list=author_books

Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/author/jillpiscitello

Jann: What’s your favorite movie?

Jill: I adore It’s a Wonderful Life. The timeless message of everyone’s individual importance in this world, the close-knit community, and the cast warm my heart year after year. And I’ll opt for the black and white version every time.

Thanks Jill for sharing with us today. Good Luck with A Sour Note and I will be looking forward to the sequel. Happy Summer!!

 

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Spotlight on A Sour Note by Jill Piscitello

June 24, 2023 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as , , , , ,

Jill Piscitello
A Sour Note (A Music Box Mystery)
Cozy Mystery

Wild Rose Press 2023
978-1509249176

When murder provides a welcome distraction…

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About the Book:

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up behind her mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy, casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic, two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box— the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

EXCERPT:

With his mouth set in a grim line, he waited.

If anyone else had enough nerve to presume she owed them an explanation, she would respond with a solid mind your own business. Instead, the seventeen-year-old still inside her refused to tell him to get lost. “He was hiding money in his office.” This was one of those times when learning how to wait a few beats before blurting out inflammatory information would come in handy. Each second of passing silence decreased her ability to breathe in the confined space. She turned the ignition and switched on the air conditioner.

“How do you know?” His volume just above a whisper, each dragged-out word hung in the air.

“I found it.”

“When were you in his office?” He swiped at a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, then positioned a vent toward him.

“Last night.” When would she learn to bite her tongue? Finn’s switch from rapid-fire scolding to slow, deliberate questioning left her unable to swallow over the sandpaper lump in her throat.

“Where was Vic?”

She stared at the back of the building, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “He’d left for the night.” If she averted her gaze, she could pretend his eyeballs weren’t bugging out of his head, and his jaw didn’t need a crane to haul it off his chest.

“You were at the town hall after hours? Did anyone see you?”

“A custodian opened his door for me.” She snuck a glance. Sure enough, features contorted in shock and horror replaced his boy-next-door good looks.

About the Author:

Jill Piscitello is a teacher, author, and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand.

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes.

Purchase Links:

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Buy from Google Play
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Amazon

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I Am Honored by Linda O. Johnston

July 6, 2022 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

I am A Slice of Orange Author of the Month this month… and I feel honored.

It’s always such a delight to be recognized!

Yes, I’ve been at this for a while.  As mentioned, I’ve had 57 books traditionally published, mostly romantic suspense and mystery.  And I’m still going!

Also, I checked my list of blog posts for A Slice of Orange, and if I’m correct my first one was in 2007, fifteen years ago! And I still enjoy it.

So thank you all so much for having me here and reading my posts and seeing my comments about the joy and complications of writing, as well as my take on all the writing I’ve been up to for now, and for a while before.

Yay, A Slice of Orange!

A Few of Linda’s Books

UNDERCOVER COWBOY DEFENDER

Buy now!
UNDERCOVER COWBOY DEFENDER

SHIELDING COLTON’S WITNESS

Buy now!
SHIELDING COLTON’S WITNESS

HOUNDS ABOUND

Buy now!
HOUNDS ABOUND

THE MORE THE TERRIER

Buy now!
THE MORE THE TERRIER

BEAGLEMANIA

Buy now!
BEAGLEMANIA

GUARDIAN K-9 ON CALL

Buy now!
GUARDIAN K-9 ON CALL

BEAR WITNESS

Buy now!
BEAR WITNESS
UNDERCOVERING COLTON’S FAMILY SECRETS

HER UNDERCOVER REFUGE

Buy now!
HER UNDERCOVER REFUGE
COLTON FIRST RESPONDER (The Coltons of Mustang Valley)

THE SOLDIER’S K-9 MISSION

Buy now!
THE SOLDIER’S K-9 MISSION
COLTON 911: CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

FOR A GOOD PAWS

Buy now!
FOR A GOOD PAWS

VISIONARY WOLF (Alpha Force)

Buy now!
VISIONARY WOLF (Alpha Force)

TRAINED TO PROTECT

Buy now!
TRAINED TO PROTECT

PROTECTOR WOLF

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PROTECTOR WOLF

BAD TO THE BONE

Buy now!
BAD TO THE BONE

COVERT ALLIANCE

Buy now!
COVERT ALLIANCE

TO CATCH A TREAT

Buy now!
TO CATCH A TREAT

PICK AND CHEWS

Buy now!
PICK AND CHEWS

UNLUCKY CHARMS

Buy now!
UNLUCKY CHARMS
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A Deadly Inside Scoop Book Tour and Excerpt

February 24, 2021 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as , , , ,
 

 

 

Cozy Mystery

 

Date Published: May 12, 2020

 

 

Recent MBA grad Bronwyn Crewse has just taken over her family’s ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she’s going back to basics. Win is renovating Crewse Creamery to restore its former glory, and filling the menu with delicious, homemade ice cream flavors—many from her grandmother’s original recipes. But unexpected construction delays mean she misses the summer season, and the shop has a literal cold opening: the day she opens her doors an early first snow descends on the village and keeps the customers away.

 

To make matters worse, that evening, Win finds a body in the snow, and it turns out the dead man was a grifter with an old feud with the Crewse family. Soon, Win’s father is implicated in his death. It’s not easy to juggle a new-to-her business while solving a crime, but Win is determined to do it. With the help of her quirky best friends and her tight-knit family, she’ll catch the ice cold killer before she has a meltdown…

 

 

About the Author

 

 


Abby L. Vandiver, also writing as Abby Collette, is a hybrid author who has penned more than twenty-five books and short stories. She has hit both the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller list. Her latest cozy series, An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery, published by Penguin Berkley, is out now, with the second book, A Game of Thrones, coming in March 2021.

 

 

 

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Excerpt

A Deadly Inside Scoop

Abby L. Vandiver

Flashing red and blue lights lit up the dark, dreary corner where North  Main and Bell streets met. Yellow crime scene tape draped around trees cordoned off the perimeter of the wooden overlook. Floodlights invaded the stillness that surround the falls and voices bombarded my eardrums. I was numb, but not from the cold.

I had panicked once I realized I’d tripped over a body. Not a panic borne from fear, it was because I didn’t know how I could help. What to do. Blowing out a breath, I had to calm myself so I could figure it out.

It was dark and I hadn’t been able to see clearly enough to make a decision. Had the person still been alive? Should I try to start some life saving measures?

Not that I knew any . . .

Should I go get help?

The body hadn’t moved, even after me falling over it.

Not a grunt. Not a moan. Not a whimper.

Feeling with my hands in the dark, I found a face. I leaned in, my face close, to see if I could feel a breath.

Nothing.

I laid my head on its chest to listen for a heartbeat.

Still nothing.

I should call for help.

Crap. I’d left my cellphone in my knapsack, sitting on the prep table in the ice cream shop. All I had was my aluminum bowl and scoop, so I started banging them together.

“Help!” I yelled out and hit the scoop on the side of the bowl. “Hey! I need help! Anybody! Somebody help me!”

But all my noise making hadn’t gotten one response. I looked down at the silhouette of Dead Guy and back up to the street. No lights from passing cars. No footsteps crunching in the snow.

I needed to get up the hill to get help.

But the snow was thick and cumbersome, I trudged up at a slow crawl. My foot sinking into the snow with each step forward, my gloves wet and covered with the powder. It seemed to be deeper and heavier the more I tried to get up to the sidewalk. Bent over, hands clawing in the snow up the incline, I was out of breath with heavy legs by the time I made it to the top. Once my feet were planted on the sidewalk, I had to place my hands on my knees to catch my breath and slow my heart before I could go any further. 

With what I knew lay at the bottom of the falls, it made the night more ominous. The streets more deserted. The lights more dim.

I looked one way down Bell Street then the other. Not quite sure where I should go to get help. I just knew that I wanted to tell what I knew. Get someone else there with me. Then my eye caught sight of the woven scarf I’d seen on the kid who’d been down the hill with me. With Dead Guy.

I started to grab the scarf but thought better of it. People always come back to where they’d lost their things to find them. The little boy might return. Maybe I’d report the lost item to the police.

The police . . .

I had to call the police. Or an ambulance.

I scurried around the block, past the front of the ice cream shop to the side door and unlocked it. I hastily dumped the contents of my knapsack and had to catch Grandma Kay’s tin recipe box as it tumbled out before it dropped onto the floor. Hands slightly shaky, still breathing hard, I found my phone and pushed in the three numbers.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

I had to make a restroom pit stop to try to collect myself.

I shook my head. There hadn’t been anything I could have done. He hadn’t moved. He hadn’t made a sound. He wasn’t breathing and I didn’t know how long it would be before someone came along to help.

I ran warm water over my hands at the sink, dried them off and started to head back into the kitchen to get my knapsack, and ran right into Felice.

“Hello there, Muffintop, I said and stooped down, running my fingers through her white coat. “How did you get down here?” She looked up at me, fluffed out the end of her tail, then eyes half-closed, she blinked slowly. I picked her up. “You want some kisses, Sweetie?” I said knowing it was me that needed comforting. She rubbed her cheek up against mine. “Thank you.”

Holding her, I walked around to the back area where the stairs led to Rivkah’s apartment, and called up. No answer. “She must still be at the restaurant.” I looked at Felice. “Did you just come down for me? To make me feel better?”

“Mrra,” she said.

 I met her forehead with mine, but only for a moment, she didn’t have to be gracious. She jumped out of arms and ran up the steps. I watched as she strutted up, I didn’t know how she’d gotten out. Rivkah never left the door unlocked.

Tonight I was glad she had.

I went over to the prep table and stuffed everything back into my bag, grabbed the bowl and scooper and headed back outside. By the time I got out there, a police cruiser was pulling up in front of the store. The officer got out of the car and walked over to me.

“Are you the person who called 911?” he asked.

“I am,” I said.

“What’s going on?”

I pointed toward the falls. “There’s a guy down there. I think he’s dead.”



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For A Good Paws by Linda O. Johnston

April 6, 2019 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

May will be a good month for me.  It’ll see the publication of For A Good Paws, my fifth Barkery & Biscuits Mystery.  It will also be a difficult month, since For A Good Paws is the last mystery in the series.  The series has been published by Midnight Ink, which is going out of the publication business.

I’ve enjoyed writing the Barkery & Biscuits series and have also enjoyed promoting the books.  As I mentioned last month, I’ll soon be attending a couple of mystery-oriented conferences, Malice Domestic and California Crime Writers. I’ll also be signing at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.  And I’ll be doing whatever online promotion seems appropriate.

But all the time, knowledge that there won’t be any further Barkery books remains in my mind.  At least I’m not planning any, since I can self-publish, or perhaps find another publisher to pick them up, but don’t have any plans for either at the moment.

And—hey!  Here I am at A Slice of Orange.  Maybe you’d be interested in picking up a copy my last book in the series.  It’s a fun series, after all—about Carrie Kennersly, a veterinary technician who buys a bakery and turns half of it into a barkery to sell the very healthy dog treats she’s created.  Oh, and did I mention that it’s a cozy mystery series?  Carrie and her friends keep tripping over dead bodies, and she has to figure out whodunit to save herself and them.

Okay, I know A Slice of Orange also features romance novels.  Which is fine with me.  I’m currently writing four new novels for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

More mysteries in my future, too?  I hope so.  But meanwhile, help me say goodbye to my Barkery series, will you?  Any suggestions?

In any case, it’s been fun.

Linda

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