Sara Rossett's protagonist is a professional organizer married to an Air Force pilot, so I can only assume that Sara too is proficient at things like to-do lists and deadlines, to say nothing of paying bills and updating credit cards. For me, who spent my childhood as a military brat (my dad was also air force, also a pilot) the influence appears to have had the opposite effect. The more I try to get my ship in shape, the greater number of leaks it springs. Yes, Sara, I am making excuses, for being tragically late in blogging about your book, but truly, as part of my Suze Orman take-control-of-your-money regimen, I somehow changed credit card numbers and this created no end of havoc with the gods of the internet including TYPEPAD, home to this column.
Also, I have been working around the clock trying to get my second novel revised and back promptly to my new beautiful new editor at ATRIA while also worrying about every single semi-colon, dash and eggregiously embarrassing sex scene in its cluttered four hundred plus pages.
The final straw was a last minute invitation to a weekend (coincidentally involving military personnel from every branch of the service) central to researching my third work in progress that I couldn't pass up.
Thus was I pulled out of my normal state of utter confusion into a much more mystic chaos, preventing me from doing the simplest task such as updating my credit card information by correctly reading certain codes or GOD FORBID having to make a phone call to my Visa company to ask why it was that the damn computer kept telling me my card was invalid when it was Suze Orman shiny new.
There Sara. Do you need any more whining or do you believe me when I tell you I'm sorry and hey, if you're not busy writing your own books and having to move kids and husbands all over the globe, would you mind coming here and fixing me? I need a huge compensatory system for what my therapist friend recently diagnosed me with, Attention Deficit Disorder. Even my mental illness is behind deadline, so last century really. Never mind that, I have greeted the list of DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION symptoms like long lost BFFs. And it's not just the possibility of Adderal. More it's the soothing exculpation of a syndrome instead of a chronic character flaw.
SO. Let's do talk about Sara's newest book, a clever twist on her first entitled STAYING HOME IS MURDER
It was the perfect vacation until murder rearranged the itinerary
With swollen feet, pregnant Ellie joins the nation’s tourists in seeing the sights in Washington D.C. But a fatal incident at the Metro station convinces Ellie that something is rotten in the capital city. Should she do the safe thing and pack her bags? Not likely when too many people are telling lies, hiding secrets, and acting suspiciously. Luckily, Ellie Avery is just the right woman to clean up the most mysterious cases of murder—even if she has to brave the most dangerous byways in the corridors of power . . .
Reviews for Getting Away is Deadly:
Publishers Weekly: “…sparkling….”
The Mystery Gazette: “Fans of amateur sleuth mysteries will relish GETTING AWAY IS DEADLY as the tale contains a delightful whodunit that serves as a tour of Washington DC.”
Reviews for the Mom Zone series:
Publishers Weekly: “The author, also the wife of an air force pilot, includes practical tips for organizing closets, but the novel's most valuable insight is its window into women's lives on a military base.”
Romantic Times: “Thoroughly entertaining. The author’s smooth, succinct writing style enables the plot to flow effortlessly until its captivating conclusion.” (Four stars)
Here's our interview:
. If I had to offer two bumper sticker explanations for my novel, they’d be “Appearances are deceiving” and “Mean people suck.” Tell me what your slogans would be, and why.
“Vacations are murder.” In this book, Ellie accompanies her military husband Mitch to Washington D.C. He’s going to training classes and Ellie’s going to sight-see with her girlfriend Abby, who’s husband is also at the same training class. At least, that’s her plan. Things aren’t quite as relaxing and fun as she thought they’d be. Before her first day of touring the capital is over, she’s witnessed a death in the Metro.
2. 2. Your two favorite movies over the past twelve months and why?
I’ve been rewatching lots of old movies lately, so I’d have to say Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Romancing the Stone. It was funny to watch Romancing the Stone and see it through the eyes of a writer. The first time I saw it I wanted to be a writer. I dreamed of being a writer. Now I have several books out and, I have to say, the scene where she’d in the bulky flannel shirt, finishing her novel—on a typewriter!—ignoring everything in her world rang very true. Loved it when she couldn’t find one bit of tissue or even a paper towel in the house. Pretty much describes the month of March in my house!
3. 3. What was the one thing you learned in getting your book published that you were really surprised to find out?
I was surprised to find out how generous other writers are. Other writers are so helpful and really want to see other writers succeed. You’d think established writers might be protective and reluctant to help out newbies—we’re the competition, after all. But, in every case, other writers have gone out of their way to help me out, freely giving advise and help whenever I asked. Writers really are an awesome bunch!
4. If you had to pick one and only one condition (beyond computer or pen and paper) that would allow you to write would it be: a. solitude b. caffiene c. sleep d. food e. sex or f. ______.
No contest—solitude. I work best when it’s quiet. I’m getting better at filtering out distractions, but there’s no way I’d get a lot of work done in Starbucks. I know writers who write everyday in a coffeehouse, but for me, I do better with my laptop and a quiet house, which doesn’t really happen that often, so I do quite a bit of my writing when my kids are off at school.
4. 4. Do you have a favorite genre? If so, who are your three favorite writers? If not, who are your three favorite writers and how have they influenced your work?
Mystery, of course! I love the writers that first drew me to the genre, Elizabeth Peters, Mary Stewart, and Phyllis Whitney. I suppose they’d be classified as more romantic suspense instead of straight mystery, but they are still some of my favorite authors today.
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