1. Tell me about your book? Genre? Deadly
Undertaking, a romantic suspense novel. The title is a play on the word “undertaking”
because the murder takes place in a funeral home. Lauren Staab returns to her home
town to help her father in the family business, the funeral business. Her
mother is in the nursing home due to Alzheimer’s Disease, so Lauren works as a
bookkeeper and support for her dad. It’s difficult for her. But finding the
body dumped in the garage by the mafia is way beyond what she could handle.
Thank goodness her friend is there to support her through it all. Or is he more
than a friend?
2. Where did the idea arise? My dad was an undertaker and so are
my brothers. I grew up believing it was natural to have the unclaimed ashes of
a stranger out in the pantry on our porch. There is mystery to the funeral
business. The regular person has no idea what it is like to be in the funeral
business. That’s when I thought this could be an interesting plot for folks who
were curious about the everyday life of an undertaker. And of course, there had
to be a ghost character, Henry the shadow man, who always shows up at the most
inappropriate times.
3. How much research was involved? Did you stay on point or be
distracted by wanting to look at just one more thing? I did some research by
quizzing my brother with questions about embalming fluid, picking up a body at
the hospital but no scholarly research. I had lived the life as a kid, and what
I didn’t know for sure, I embellished a bit. Afterall, it is a work of fiction.
That made it fun. I loved the characters in the story too, so I enjoyed
throwing them in situations involving romance, murder and lies.
4. How long did you take to write the book? The idea stewed in my
brain for a couple of years until I finally had to get it down on paper. It
took me two years to finish the book because Lauren’s story was based on my
life. Once I understood she was just a character and not really me, I could
place her in circumstances that I would never be in. I must admit, I spent a
whole summer writing short stories trying to put space between Lauren and me.
5. Now a bit about you. How long have you been writing? What is
your Sun Sign?
I have been writing since I was in second grade. My mother was my
teacher. I had a bad habit of finishing my work early, so I would hop up and
visit, or interrupt as my mother said, my classmates. So, to stay out of
trouble, I began writing stories and then shared them with the class. I had fun
entertaining them with my stories, so I continued to write all through school.
I took a hiatus to teach, get married, run a flower shop and take care of our
two daughters. When we sold the shop in 1995, I asked the editor of the
regional newspaper if he would be interested in any articles for the paper. He
said “yes!” That was my springboard to launching a career in writing
non-fiction articles for magazines, newspapers and online magazines. Then,
tired of interviewing people or getting the facts about a vacation place, I
decided to try writing fiction and began with writing what I liked to read, mysteries.
BWL Publishing released three of my mysteries and released Arranging a
Dream: A Memoir in January. My sun sign is Gemini. I think I do have the
characteristics of being born under that sign of the twins. I love learning new
things and call myself a life-long learner. I enjoy meeting people, and I am in
the media or arts as an author.
6. Do you write in several genres or stick to one?
Perhaps another sign that I am a Gemini. I write non-fiction and
fiction. I have non-fiction books in gardening, writing, a MG book for girls,
how to record memories for your life story, as well as memoir. The fiction
genres are romance, mystery, paranormal and time travel.
7. Where on the internet can you be found?
J.Q. Rose blog http://www.jqrose.com/
Facebook http://facebook.com/jqroseauthor
J. Q. Rose Amazon Author Page http://tinyurl.com/aeuv4m4
Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/jqrose
1 comment:
Thanks for hosting me today and tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting your readers!
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