Check out Tom’s interview here.

Penguin Berkley Books author Jennie Bentley’s debut Do-It-Yourself mystery Fatal fixer-upper has cracked the top 10 of IMBA bestselling crime-fiction titles in softcover for the month of November! Not bad for the first month of your first book. See list below.

Here are the bestselling crime-fiction titles in November as reported by the members of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association:
Softcover (not divided into trade and mass this month because “results were too divergent to make two meaningful lists”)

1 - Elaine Viets, Murder with All the Trimmings, Obsidian
2 - Barbara Cleverly, Bright Hair About the Bone, Delta
3 - M.C. Beaton, Kissing Christmas Goodbye, St. Martin’s
4 - C.S. Challinor, Christmas is Murder, Midnight Ink
5 - Jennie Bentley, Fatal Fixer-Upper, Berkley
5 - Clare Langley-Hawthorne, The Serpent and the Scorpion, Penguin
5 - Jeanne Dams, Indigo Christmas, Perseverance Press
8 - John Hart, Down River, St. Martin’s
8 - Earl Derr Biggers, The House Without=2 0a Key, Academy Chicago Press
10 - Kate Kingsbury, Ringing In Mur der, Berkley
10 - Archer Mayor, Chat, Grand Central
10 - Cynthia Baxter, Murder Packs a Suitcase, Bantam
10 - Kate Kingsbury, Shrouds of Holy, Berkley

Q–Fatal fixer-upper is from a genre called Do-It-Yourself Mystery. What groups of readers does this target?

A—The Do-It-Yourself Mysteries are part of Berkley Prime Crime’s cozy line, so they appeal to readers who enjoy traditional mysteries. There’s a cozy mystery out there for practically any hobby, craft, or activity invented, and people who are involved in that hobby, craft or activity, or who just like to learn about it, enjoy them. This series is geared toward people who never miss an episode of Trading Spaces or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It has tips for DIY projects, as well as a hot handyman in tight jeans and a low-slung tool belt, so I feel pretty good about it appealing to at least the female half of the viewers.

Q–Is Avery Baker based on anyone you know or possibly a combination of people?

A—The DIY-books are written from the first person point of view, so Avery has a few of my personality traits. It’s difficult to avoid. Other than that, she’s her own person. I didn’t sit down and create her, at least not deliberately; she became who she is through the writing of the book. I gave her traits and abilities as she20needed them, to further the plot, and by the end, she had become a complete person. But she’s herself, nobody else.

Q–Was this easy to write because of your vast experience in real estate and home renovations?

A—I don’t know that it’s ever easy to write a book, but certainly the background I have in real estate and renovating helped with that aspect of it. But because the renovating is just a part of the book – the backdrop against which the story takes place, if you will – there was still the mystery to plot, and the historical subplot to research, and lots and lots of hours spent hunched over the keyboard pounding out the words.
Q–Since this is the debut of a series, when in the process did you know how you needed to end this book?

A—I never know how I’m going to end a book until I get there. Some things are obvious, though: the murderer must be caught and brought to justice, and the loose ends must be tied up. Because this book revolved around renovating Aunt Inga’s house, I thought it made sense to end it when Aunt Inga’s house was finished. Since that was also Avery’s reason for spending the summer in Waterfield, it made sense to end with Avery resolving the issue of whether to stay in Maine or go back to Manhattan. And since the romance is directly tied to whether Avery decides to stay or go, it made sense t o end with that.

Q–How long did it take you to write the manuscript?

A—I was offered a 3-book, 18-month contract, giving me six months to complete each book. Altogether, the actual writing probably took around four months, and then there were a couple of rewrites, and some time spent waiting for feedback from my agent and editor before another round of revisions started.

Q–What authors do you enjoy reading?

A—I’ll read pretty much anything anyone puts in front of me, so there are a lot of authors I enjoy. Some I enjoy more than others. And I read cross-genre. I enjoy all sorts of mystery fiction, from cozies to thrillers, with some historical mysteries thrown in for good measure. I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, especially YA fantasy. I enjoy paranormals and romance. If I had to pick just a couple of authors, I’d have to say Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, J.K. Rowling, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Jennifer Crusie. That should pretty much cover the genres, I think.

Q–Actually you are writing under a pen name. OK, what’s your real name?

A—My real name is Bente Gallagher. My last name is courtesy of my husband, who’s Irish. My first name is courtesy of my parents, who are Norwegian. It means ‘blessed,’ and I certainly feel that I have been, in being given the opportunity to see my words become published!

Recently I wrote a guest entry on “A Good Blog is Hard To Find”. Be sure to check it out. You’ll also find entries from a couple of “Author and Book Media” authors.

Penguin Debut Author Writes Fatal fixer-upper

NASHVILLE, TN.–Jennie Bentley is a promising new author writing a new genre fiction they call Do-It-Yourself Home Renovation Mysteries.

Bentley will introduce herself to the crime fiction-reading public in early November when Penguin Berkley Prime Crime releases Fatal fixer-upper in bookstores.

It’s the first of a three-book series released in mass market paperback. This Nashville-based author seems a natural fit for the genre. Bentley—her real name is Bente Gallagher—is a realtor and has owned and renovated seven houses in the past decade. So she understands the setting for Fatal fixer-upper:

New York City textile designer Avery Baker has inherited her Aunt Inga’s Second Empire Victorian Cottage in Waterfield Maine. Leaving behind her career and an unfaithful boyfriend, she tackles the job of renovating the old home place. The renovating project takes a turn when Avery discovers the business card of missing history professor Martin Wentworth in Aunt Inga’s desk.

“The book has a little bit of everything,” said Gallagher. “The main character inherits a house, gets involved with the handyman and there’s murder and mystery, both in the present and the past. The publish er wanted a series of renovation mysteries set in New England and they were looking for someone to write this.” Enter Gallagher, with her real estate/renovation background, an uncanny gift for writing fiction and her pseudonym Jennie Bentley.

“I wanted to write like Elizabeth Peters,” she said with a smile. “It didn’t work out. I kind of look at it as Elizabeth Peters meets Janet Evanovich. Now I hope people will enjoy it. As a debut author that’s always a curious thing to see…how people react to your writing. I hope they find it entertaining to read. It’s a mystery and it would also appeal to those who like cozy fiction or even a little romance.” The back pages of the book even features renovation tips. “I think it will appeal to the HGTV audience as well,” she said.

Gallagher speaks in her native Norwegian accent. She was born and raised in Oslo and moved to New York City at age 20. Today she resides with her husband and children in Nashville, TN.

AUTHOR Q AND A WITH JT ELLISON ON 14

Q—Was it your goal to have more twists and plots in 14 to set it apart from All The Pretty Girls?

A—14 is a complicated, twisty book that practically wrote itself. The story just spilled forth, bending in on itself and surprising me in many places. I wanted to showcase Nashville, our investigative techniques, and show how dual jurisdictions can work together in a cooperative effort rather than infighting. I also wanted to explore the evolution of criminals who aren’t caught, where they might be twenty years after they commit their crimes. Have they gone on the straight and narrow, changed their MO, died? Who knows the real reason they stopped killing? 14 is a vision, a nightmare really, about what might happen in their worlds.

Q—This book presents so many more challenges to Taylor Jackson professionally and personally. Was this also part of the objective in writing a sequel?

A— Absolutely. When you’re writing a series, you have to keep the characters fresh and intriguing from book to book. By default, you don’t let every detail of their lives out into the open in the first book. I try to let Taylor and Baldwin unfold as characters over the course of the books. And people in every profession, from cop to writer, face challenges over the course of their careers. Taylor’s challenges are compounded in this book, and her reactions to them define her future.

Q—Is her live-on-the-edge father based on a character or combination of people you’ve known?

A— No, Win Jackson is purely a figment of my imagination. I think we’re all products of our upbringing, and as such, Taylor is a creation of her early environment. Win needed to be Taylor’s polar opposite, and he couldn’t be more different from her. Where she has integrity and courage, her father is severely lacking in any kind of morality. He does things that serve his purpose and interests, with complete disregard for the law. The juxtaposition of the two personalities allowed me to amplify their differences. His purpose as a character is to give the readers a glimpse into why Taylor is who she is. His immorality ultimately defines her strict moral code.

Q—To set the story did you research habits of a copy cat killer?

A— My research is wide and all-encompassing. I strive for realism, and at the same time, recognize that Nashville can only have so many serial killers. I did spend a good deal of time searching for just the right type of killers to emulate. The Snow White Killer is Nashville’s fictionalized answer to the big guns – the Zodiac, the Son of Sam, the Boston Strangler.

Q—This is an all-encompassing character piece as well as a thriller – delving into Taylor’s past, her imminent marriage, her feckless, missing father. What is more important to you – the story or the pace?

A—I think every great thriller has elements of both comprehensive character development and relationships, and breakneck speed. I love setting books in short time periods – 14 only spans seven days. It’s a challenge, but I think the reward is an engaging story that draws in the reader and doesn’t give them the chance to walk away. I want to hear that this story kept you up late, that you read well past your bedtime. That’s when I know I’ve done my job.

Q—If you could give any advice to a writer wanting to write a series—and you have several more coming out in this series—what would you say?

A—Always respect your readers, and always give enough detail that your books can be read out of order. It’ s a tricky, delicate combination, making sure that each book can stand alone as well as further the goals of the characters within. But you never know in what order new readers might pick up your books so it’s paramount to give enough of the backstory so they don’t get lost without giving it all away.

Author Weaves More Twists, Plots, Murders In MIRA Books Sequel 14

More subplots, more twists, more turns and plenty of suspense. Readers will find all this in MIRA author JT Ellison’s gripping mystery thriller 14, the highly awaited sequel to her popular debut ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS. 14 will be in bookstores in early September.

Tough and beautiful Nashville Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson is back! She has plenty to deal with: women murdered by a possible copy cat killer, striking fear in the city; a strained relationship with her live-on-the-edge father; New York mobsters and an impending marriage to FBI profiler John Baldwin. Ellison weaves it all together for a spine tingling read.

In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from the killer to the police stated that his work was done. Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature.

In 14 Ellison again uses her hometown of Nashville as the setting. But now the story takes on more complexity. Jackson, the author’s live-by-the rules lead character, faces all the challenges.

“Taylor doesn’t change from book-to-book,” said Ellison. “She’s still straight and narrow…everything is still very black and white. But in this second book readers will find she’s more open as a character. It’s more of seeing her delve into things that make her who she is rather than make her grow.

“In 14 she shows she’s harder in law and order, but we see her vulnerable side with Baldwin,” Ellison pointed out. “The love story is much more important in this book. You watch the two of them try to get normalcy in their lives, but normalcy is hard to find in the chaos that surrounds them. But it’s the lifestyle they’ve chosen.

“Taylor is also tested in the relationship with a father who, to put it mildly, is a stark contrast of her. His criminal past  haunts Taylor’s life.” In order to pull in New York City and its characters, Ellison once again did her homework before sitting down with the laptop to write 14. “I had never spent time in New York City,” she said. “So early last year my husband and I took the trip to do some research. I walked around the city to see it, get a sense of the energy, the people, the sounds, the smells. I felt it was essential for me to have an understanding of all this in order to write with authenticity.”

And it all comes together in this highly anticipated sequel

Booknote: Ellison is signed to follow 14 with four more novels in the Taylor Jackson series with MIRA.

St. Martin’s Author Brings Back Sassy Sleuth

In Sequel SOUTHERN POISON

Author T. Lynn Ocean thinks it might be a very long time before lead character Jersey Barnes will be able to relax on her boat or learn to play golf. “She keeps trying to retire, but the characters around her seem to have other ideas,” said Ocean.

So Jersey, the brassy, sassy ex-Marine-turned-securities-specialist is back in the supercharged mystery SOUTHERN POISON (St. Martin’s Minotaur) set for release September 5.

This fast-paced sequel to Ocean’s SOUTHERN FATALITY finds Jersey fighting to save herself from an assassin, thwarts an evil plot and keeps her misfit father and his poker buddies out of jail. And then there’s the matter of exploring a romantic relationship with her restaurant and pub business partner, Ox, just when his ex wife shows up to reclaim him.

The second book of the series brings its own set of challenges, which Ocean seems to handle in her Jersey Barnes style: forward at full throttle. “One challenge in writing a series is to very quickly bring the reader up to speed without being redundant,” said O cean. “There are creative ways to do that.”

And how close is Barnes to being Ocean? “Let’s just say that if Jersey walked through my front door, we’d be best friends,” Ocean said, laughing. “But while my days are rather ordinary and dull, Jersey’s days always land her smack dab in the middle of a huge adventure.”

Despite her claim of ordinary days, make no mistake. Ocean is one sharp wordsmith who does her research in order to write with authenticity. “I’ve learned how to use a pair of handcuffs, talk on a two-way radio in military lingo and operate a boat,” she said. “I also took some advanced firearms training and discovered cool things, such as the difference between shooting from behind cover or from behind concealment. I’ve always been a shooting sports enthusiast, but in Jersey’s case, she never leaves home without a weapon strapped to her body.”

The character of Ox is a Lumbee Indian and career military man. “So I interviewed several Lumbee veterans and attended a Pow Wow in Pembroke, N.C.,8 0 said Ocean. “I write pure fun fiction but I want the details in my novels to ring true.”

Her attention to detail pays off and takes Ocean’s readers on an exciting journey that should keep them turning the pages. Fans will be glad to learn that, for now, Jersey can forget retirement. The author won’t let her.