IWSG and Cozy Mystery Review with Author Interview
This is a big post, so fasten your seat belts!
First: This is IWSG day, so I have a short post to report out on NaNoWriMo.
Why? The IWSG is here to share and encourage, to offer a place for authors to admit their insecurities and offer help and support to each other.
How? The official IWSG posting day is the first Wednesday of every month. Hop around the list and see who has worries, triumphs, and news to share.
Every month we have an optional question to spark discussion.
Our motto:
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
Every
month, we announce an optional question that members can answer in
their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice,
insight, a personal experience or story.
December
6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book
review do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what
you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique
the author?
I could leave you to judge, if you read to the bottom of this and see my review of Secrets Don't Sink. The short answer: I'm reviewing for the reader. I'm also assuming they read the blurb, so I don't summarize. I try to say what I liked, and touch gently on what I feel might be better. I am very aware that authors are people and have feelings!
My writer's report: NaNo is officially over, but I have four more days to hit my 80K target (Dec. 10). I have a book, after a fashion. But somewhere along the line, things went sideways despite all the planning and plotting I did, so we'll see. Next week I'm going to reflect on that and write some more about the plantsing experience. I'm currently sitting a bit over 72K, with several holes still to backfill.
And now, on to the Great Escapes Tour feature!
Secrets Don’t Sink: A Chattertowne Mystery
by K. B. Jackson
About Secrets Don’t Sink
Secrets Don’t Sink: A Chattertowne Mystery
Traditional Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Chattertowne, Washington- a small riverfront community in the Pacific Northwest
Level Best Books (July 4, 2023)
Paperback : 308 pages
ISBN-10 : 1685123899
ISBN-13 : 978-1685123895
Digital ASIN : B0C83SGJ23
Loose lips may sink ships, but bodies and secrets will always float to the surface.
Audrey O’Connell has returned from Portland to her hometown of Chattertowne, Washington, a place where gossip is currency but knowing when to stay tight-lipped is priceless. Procuring a part-time job at the local newspaper to keep an eye on her impetuous sister following Vivienne’s latest romantic scandal, Audrey is assigned a feature series for the upcoming festival which has her digging through the town archives in search of anything interesting. When her former boyfriend Marcus is found floating dead in the marina not long after reaching out to her in hopes of utilizing her research skills, her investigation reveals his conspiracy theories about Chattertowne and corruption within its leadership might not have been so crazy after all.
As she plumbs the depths of the town’s 150-year history, she discovers that beneath the façade of this idyllic hamlet lie secrets long-submerged–including within her own family–and finds herself in the crosshairs of those who guard them.
Now with three dead bodies, an intense case of aquaphobia, and a narrow window before her deadline, Audrey looks to City Manager Holden, octogenarian historian Mildred, and her enigmatic almost-boyfriend Darren to help her discover the truth that will forever change her and Chattertowne.
My Review:
About K.B. Jackson
Kate B Jackson (KB Jackson) is an author of mystery novels for grownups and mystery/adventure novels for kids. She lives in the Pacific NW with her husband and has four mostly grown children. A part-time genealogist, she loves to craft stories with elements of history and family dynamics.
And now, we have an interview with author Kate B Jackson!
RD: When did you start writing? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or did you stumble into it later in life?
KBJ: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I have notebooks filled with stories I started but never finished. After starting a blog in 2013 I was approached to submit a short story to an anthology. Finishing that story prompted me to revive a story I’d started ten years earlier. After four years, I completed that novel which eventually became Secrets Don’t Sink.
What are your books about and who is the audience?
I currently write three series. My middle grade mystery/adventure series, Sasquatch Hunters (Level Best Books), is about kids looking for evidence of Bigfoot in the woods near their Pacific Northwest community. It’s suitable for kids ages 8-14, but adults love them too! As for my mystery books for grownups, Secrets Don’t Sink is book 1 in the Chattertowne Mysteries series (Level Best Books). The series looks closely at small-town dynamics. My other series—Cruising Sisters (Tule Publishing)— is about two middle aged sisters who live fulltime on a private residential cruise ship (kind of like a floating small town) traveling the world, exploring culture, and solving mysteries along the way.
Wow, that sounds like an innovative approach to retirement! What is the best thing about being a writer?
Getting to explore other locations or eras even if it’s only in my imagination, working through my own difficult thoughts and feelings by letting my characters struggle through them, creating happy endings, resolution, or justice where in the real world it doesn’t always happen.
Since you have a pair of sleuths traveling the world, maybe you've given some thought to where you would live, if you could live anywhere in the world?
I think one of the reasons I set my new series on a cruise ship is because I feel I haven’t explored enough of the world to know where I could live. I love England, so that’s a strong contender. I could probably live in Italy or France, but I don’t think I’d want to live in Paris. I’m interested in visiting Greece to see how I feel about that. Also, I do love Canada. In the U.S. I see myself living east coast but haven’t narrowed down where specifically. I’m drawn to New England and the Carolinas but also Chesapeake Bay area.
That's a lot of options. I think I'll be a PNW girl the rest of my life. Do you garden? Do you focus on vegetables or flowers?
Unfortunately I have not inherited my mother’s green thumb.
Do you draft your books longhand or compose at the keyboard?
I plot in a notebook but write the book on my laptop.
Me, too. And make notes from my research. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for one of your books?
I’m always down the rabbit hole when researching my books. I’ve researched everything from sumo regulations to obscure Scottish folklore to the origination of werewolf legends to poem puzzles that lead to hidden treasure.
Do you use a detailed outline before you start writing, or... ?
When I first started what became Secrets Don’t Sink I had no idea where it was going. I was a full pantser. No outline, no plotting, nothing. That book was nearly twice as long as it should have been, and I kept changing my mind about who the killer might be. I learned a lot in the arduous editing phase and also when I took some screenwriting classes that showed how plotting can make a writer’s life so much easier! I wouldn’t say I’m fully plotter—I’m somewhere in the middle—but I typically have a semi-full notebook of basic plotting points, research, and thematic outlines before I start any book now.
Been there, done that. I'm similar in my approach to planning--a full-on plantser! Is there anything else you would like your readers to know about you?
I’m so grateful that with all the things people can chose to do with their time that they choose to pick up a book. Especially mine!
Well, I hope some of my readers will pick up your book, and good luck to it. Thanks for coming by!
Don't forget to enter to win a beautiful PNW-themed gift basket!
a Rafflecopter giveawayAuthor Links
Website http://kbjackson.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KBJacksonAuthor
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kbjacksonauthor/
Twitter / X https://twitter.com/KateBJackson
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/152007919-kate-jackson
Purchase Link – Amazon
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 27 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
November 27 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 27 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 28 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 28 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
November 29 – Cozy, Suspenseful, and Sweet – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
November 30 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 30 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
November 30 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 1 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
December 1 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
December 2 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
December 2 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 2 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 3 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
December 4 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 4 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
December 5 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 6 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
December 6 – Rebecca M. Douglass, Author – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
I like your review process. It's simply and to the point. Congrats on your 72K words. I like your review of Secrets Don't Sink. It sounds like a fun read. I wish the author the best with her giveaway.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Toi! I was unsure for a while, but I'm starting to recognize that's my desire for the familiar, not necessarily a problem with the book. I feel that way about almost every new book I read.
DeleteCongrats on your amazing NaNo word count. And congrats to Kate on her book. I had the same experience as her being a panster for my first manuscript. It was about 30,000 words too long.
ReplyDeleteLOL. My first, totally pantsed mystery (which was also written over the course of several years) was a TOTAL mess. I'm actually amazed that I managed to edit it into a decent book, with the help of a semi-professional editor (she was still a student at the time, but had very good suggestions about how to go about editing).
DeleteThank you for having me and for the amazing review! (And you’re not alone in your frustration over Audrey’s relationship choices 😂)
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to find an entertaining read. Though the geography of Chattertowne eludes me a bit, as a Puget Sound native :D
DeleteI think in the grand scheme of things, reviews are mostly for the reader. It's a nice thing one reader does for another.
ReplyDeleteYes! Though I don't forget that reviews help writers, too. In this overwhelming world of books, whatever we can do to help each other is good.
DeleteWhat a busy post. I'm with you. I want to be honest, but am painfully aware that authors--or their agents--read reviews. That reminds me to be clear and unbiased.
ReplyDeleteYes. I generally think it's best just not to review if I dislike a book. Though if something was getting tons of hype and I thought it sucked, I might be inclined to say so :)
DeleteGreat interview. I want to live on a cruise ship too. Such a neat idea. I wonder if such ships really exist?
ReplyDeleteOlga Godim from https://olgagodim.wordpress.com/
I don't think I'd like living on a ship, seasickness aside (and I get really, really seasick). I need to be able to get outside and away from civilization. A lot.
Delete