Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Is your eReader hungry?

If it’s like my reader then the answer is yes. My eReader, which is a male, has a ravenous appetite for books.

Today I’m giving away Kindle copies to help make your eReader happy and full.

Don’t have an eReader, but you’d like to participate? Check out Laura Kaye’s post on 4 Ways to Read an eBook Without an eReader.

Fill in the Rafflecopter and answer the question below to go into a draw to win one of the following ebooks. There will be two winners.

Monster in My Closet by RL Naquin (urban fantasy)

Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout (young adult)

The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro (historical, two love scenes)

Cat Burglar in Training by Shelley Munro (contemporary, mystery, one love scene)

Answer this question to go into the draw. Is your eReader male or female and why?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to have the chance to win more ebooks? Check out the links below.

I’m a fan of detective shows. My favorites are the British ones: Midsommer Murders, Agatha Christie – Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, Inspector Lynley, New Tricks. I also watch Castle (new season starting tonight – Yay!), Psych and old replays of Murder She Wrote. (I get a real kick out of the clothes and 80s hair and the clever mysteries)

I’ve had a good writing day today, and I decided to watch one of the shows I’ve recorded. A postie was doing his rounds, early in the morning. It was still dark and you see him walking along with his headphones on. He delivers mail to a box and moves on. A person approaches him. He smiles, but his smile fades when he sees the wicked knife flash into view.

In the next frame it’s daylight. We see a young girl wheeling her bike out of a driveway. She frowns at the letters and parcels strewn all over the ground. Then she sees the postie, the blood. She opens her mouth and SCREAMS – a long, never-ending scream before the show cuts to the opening credits.

It struck me as I was watching this how many detective shows start with someone discovering the body and screaming. It also made me wonder. Quite frankly I don’t think I’d scream if I discovered a body. Is this a likely scenario or is it dramatic theatre to make us sit up and take note?

I hope I never discover a body to test my reaction, but really, I don’t think I’d scream.

What do you think? Would you scream? Any crime/detective fans out there? What are your favorite shows/books?

Today I’m visiting Romancing the Book where Eve Fawkner, my heroine from Cat Burglar in Training is running the show. There’s also a copy of Cat Burglar in Training up for grabs by one commenter. Here’s the link to Romancing the Book.

Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it ~ Joseph Clark.

When I was a baby author and very wet behind the ears, I wrote my first manuscript. A masterpiece, I thought. I sent off my manuscript and eagerly waited for my contract by return mail. Three months later I received a rejection. I was crushed. Read the rest of my post at Savvy Authors.

I’m also visiting TBR today, the blog where you’re sure to find new reads. I did an interview, and I’m also doing a giveaway. One person who comments will win a download from my backlist. Here’s the link to my interview.

As I sit here writing this post, I’m wearing a T-shirt (purchased at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump in Canada) and shorts. My favorite summer outfit. When the days grow shorter and the temperatures become cooler, my uniform changes to a T-shirt and jeans. I love T-shirts. Read more at the Carina Press blog.

London. It’s a place I dreamed of visiting after hearing the poem about Christopher Robin and Alice as a child. Do you know the one I mean? Here’s the first verse:

Buckingham Palace
by A.A. Milne

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
"A soldier’s life is terribly hard,"
Says Alice.

Luckily I was able to persuade my husband that London was a good idea, and off we went on our overseas experience. Fast forward many years, and it was inevitable that some of my experience would find its way into my writing.

Today is the release date for Cat Burglar in Training, which is partially set in London. Eve Fawkner, my trainee cat burglar attends balls in various London locations and her receiver lives in Kensington, an area I’m familiar with since we lived there for several years.

Here are a few photos from the Kensington/Knightsbridge area. These are places Eve sees or drives past on a regular basis. (Scroll over the photos for info or click on them to enlarge.)

BTW – London was everything I dreamed it would be!

Here’s the blurb:

Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father’s footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London’s most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.

Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn’t the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve…

Purchase today from Carina Press

Is there a place you dreamed of visiting as a child?

A couple of months ago we purchased a new printer. It’s one of these new-fangled ones that does everything…if you can work out the instruction book that is! Fast forward to last weekend, and hubby decided to try out the scan function. He ended up scanning quite a few photos from an overland trip we did from London to Kathmandu.

This was the first big trip we did, and despite me catching malaria, we fell in love with many of the places we visited. I used this trip as the inspiration for one of my books, Wanderlust.

Instead of just posting a selection of the photos today, I thought I’d give you small snippets from my book, Wanderlust and some matching photos. BTW – Wanderlust is part of the Value in the Vaults program at Ellora’s Cave. You’ll pick it up at the bargain price of $0.99 there or $1.49 at Amazon Kindle.

I thought back to that day in Aleppo, Syria. My eyes narrowed while I remembered. The entire group had wandered through the crowded marketplace. Donkeys laden with huge loads of vegetables or bolts of cloth plodded down the narrow streets. Both locals and tourists jostled for space, the local people trying to carry out their business while tourists dallied, gawking at everything. It was noisy. Dusty.

The scent of petrol and oil was heavy on the air. We walked on, pushing our way through with all the panache of the locals. We learned quickly and we’d already visited the bazaars in Turkey. They were no place for correct and proper British manners and queues. The bazaars and marketplaces were every man or woman for himself. You pushed without being too pushy or else the locals walked all over you. And bargaining. We’d all learned to do that as well.

Without another word, we ambled down the dusty street, heading for Pushkar Lake. Other tourists wandered the streets, checking out shops and restaurants. Some wore red string bracelets on their wrists, reminding me we’d need to do the same—donate some money and receive a bracelet passport in return. Giving in and donating money stopped further harassment. Some of the priests were very persistent.

Top left: At a Pushkar cafe
Top right: The annual Pushkar camel fair
Bottom left: The crowded streets.
Bottom right: The beautiful lake

The sun lay low on the horizon when we drove in the old city of Jaisalmer, painting all the ochre-colored buildings a soft pink. I slowed the truck and waited for a cow to amble across the road in front of us.

A chill breeze blew over the flat rooftop but the knee-high wall plus the air-conditioning unit protected me from the worst. The sky glittered with a canopy of stars. I stared up at them, idly picking out fantastical shapes until my eyelids grew too weighty to hold open. A dog barked, the mournful howl picked up and repeated by another animal. Gooseflesh rippled over my arms. Talk about creepy. I heard others come up to the roof and settle down for the night, their chatter a low, background noise.

The mosquitoes came out about ten minutes later, the whine irritating and loud. Very loud. They flew in kamikaze circles around my head. I slapped my hand around my head a few times and snatched at the source of the sound. Missed. Muttering, I sat up and pulled out my mosquito net. I hadn’t put it up because there was nothing to hang it on. But desperation called for ingenuity. I covered my head and upper body with the netting, tucking it under my sleeping bag. It didn’t halt their whine but at least it stopped them landing and taking a bite.

“Don’t forget your water bottles and hats,” I said. There was always one who forgot if I didn’t remind them.

One of the camels grunted and made a loud whistling sound.

“Oh god. I think that camel farted,” Rosa said, waving her hand in front of her face.

“That will be your camel,” I said, attempting to keep a straight face.

Everyone laughed except Rosa, who pulled a face. “I expect farting is the least of our problems,” she said. “I hope I can walk by the end of the day.”

Shelley’s notes: I have very vivid memories of the mosquitoes and the dogs in Jaisalmer.  Between the barking and the buzzing around my head, I didn’t sleep a wink. I actually caught cerebral malaria on this trip and spent time in a New Delhi hospital. It’s part of the reason I look so skinny in the photos.

We enjoyed our camel ride very much but most of us walked like ducks the next day! Talk about sore muscles.

Welcome to my guest today Renée Pawlish! Renée was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she’s not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers that include the Reed Ferguson mysteries, Nephilim Genesis of Evil, the first in the Nephilim trilogy, Take Five, a short story collection, and The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within, a non-fiction account of a haunted house investigation.

Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents’ cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.

Hi Renee, and welcome! Give us an elevator pitch for your book, This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies.

Witty, intrepid Reed Ferguson is a wannabe private eye with a love of film noir, crime fiction and Humphrey Bogart. Amanda Ghering is a rich, attractive femme fatale who hires Reed to find her missing husband. It doesn’t take long before Reed realizes that all is not as it seems, and he is quickly thrust into a dark and daring investigation.

Where did the idea for your book come from and did you originally envisage more than one book featuring your lead character?

I usually get a hint of an idea and the more I think about it, a story forms in my head. This book was no exception. I had the femme fatale in my mind and I could picture her in an office, talking to a detective. Reed Ferguson came out of that scene – I first saw that old film noir detective, and then I modernized it. Once I had Reed created, I knew this could be the beginning of a mystery series. And now I’m working on book three, so I guess I was right…

What does your writing space look like, and do you have a view?

Right now my desk is a mess…maybe I shouldn’t admit that. I have lots of pieces of paper scattered around me because I jot things down that I want to remember, and they tend to stack up. I have set up my office where my desk faces a wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. I love to look at books while I’m writing. And I have a ton of autographed sports memorabilia, and I look at all that too.

What advice would you give an aspiring mystery writer just starting on their writing journey?

I get asked this a lot and my answer is to hone your craft before you actually publish. Amazon has made it easy to put a book out, but for most authors (me included), that first or second book is not very good. You haven’t written enough to understand how to shape a story, and how to show a story, not tell it. Learn by reading books about writing, taking classes on writing. And then write. And write some more. And don’t be afraid to get feedback from others who will give you an honest assessment of your work. It might sting at the time, but it will make you a better writer.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a teacher. I do some of that now when I work with other writers. I’m also pursuing an opportunity to teach creative writing at a community college here in Denver, so maybe that childhood dream of teaching will become reality.

Now Renee has a question for you: What makes a book a “page-turner” for you?

CONTEST: Renée is giving away a print or eBook copy of her book Nephilim and a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during her tour. Follow Renée’s tour, comment on every post and increase your chances of winning! The tour dates can be found here.

A wannabe private eye with a love of film noir and detective fiction.
A rich, attractive femme fatale.
A missing husband.
A rollicking ride to a dark and daring ending.

Purchase This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies
Print
Kindle

To learn more about Renee and her books visit her website or blog. You’ll also find Renee on Twitter, Facebook and at Goodreads.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser today comes from This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies, a mystery by Renee Pawlish. Also see below for my review of this book.

“I want you to find my dead husband.”
“Excuse me?” That was my first reaction

page 1, This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies

Blurb:

A wannabe private eye with a love of film noir and detective fiction.
A rich, attractive femme fatale.
A missing husband.
A rollicking ride to a dark and daring ending.

Review:

The story starts off with a classic meeting – a beautiful woman enters Reed’s brand new detective agency, wanting him to find her missing husband. Reed’s instincts go on alert. Something is not quite right, but he succumbs to her feminine wiles and takes the case anyway. The deeper he digs the more complicated the case becomes. What follows is a fast paced plot with many twists and turns before reaching the surprising climax.

Reed, the main character is a fan of classic old detective films and wants to emulate his detective heroes. He’s likeable, if a little naive at times, and intuitive when it comes to his case. Despite suspecting/guessing who the culprit was, the twists in this story and the “why” kept me reading right to the end. The writing-style is smooth and readable, hooking me from the first page. My only quibble was that although the reader is thrust into the “noir” setting straightaway, I was a little confused about the era. It took me a while to realize the story is a contemporary set one. This is the first in the series, and I’ll be checking out the followup stories. Highly recommended, especially if you’re a fan of the noir movies of the past.

Book provided for review by the author.

Purchase This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies
Print
Kindle

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I’ve just picked up Ghost Story by Jim Butcher. I like this series, and I was very disappointed when they cancelled the TV series.

I frowned. “What, like . . . purgatory?”
Jack shrugged. “if that works for you, call it that. But you aren’t here because you need to cleanse yourself. You’re here because there was an irregularity with your death.”

page 10, Ghost Story

Blurb:

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago’s first (and only) Wizard PI. Turns out the ‘everyday’ world is full of strange and magical things – and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in.

But he’s forgotten his own golden rule: magic – it can get a guy killed. Which didn’t help when he clashed with unknown assailants intent on his murder. And though Harry’s continued existence is now in some doubt, this doesn’t mean that Chicago’s resident professional wizard can rest in peace. Trapped in a realm that’s not quite here, yet not quite anywhere else, Harry learns that three of his loved ones are in mortal danger. Only by discovering his assailant’s identity can he save his friends, bring criminal elements to justice, and move on before he becomes trapped in his own unending nightmare.

It would just be easier if he knew which three friends were at risk. And had a (working) crystal ball. And had access to his magic. Instead, he must accomplish his mission unable to interact with the physical world – invisible and inaudible to all but the most specialised of magical talents. He’s far from the only silent presence roaming Chicago’s alleys. Hell, he put some there himself. And now, they’re looking for payback.

Purchase Ghost Story

Goodreads Giveaway – I’m currently doing a giveaway for my latest print release Sex Idol. Enter today to go into the draw to win. Here’s the Goodread’s link.

What are you reading this week? Leave a teaser or a link in the comments because I love to add to my wishlist.