The Next Big Thing Blog Hop -- The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping

By Gail Farrelly  http://www.farrellysistersonline.com/     

When my author friend Chris Verstraete wrote about The Next Big Thing Blog Hop, a means of spreading the good word about author work in progress, I couldn't resist joining in and answering the list of 10 preselected questions.  Chris (http://www.cverstraete.com/the-write-news-blog.html) points out, "I tried to find who originated the blog tour but no luck so far. Google the title and lots of cool authors and books will come up."   So get busy and Google, "The Next Big Thing Blog Hop."  But only after you're read my entry below.  

Okay, okay, I cheated a bit and tweaked some of the questions to make them more applicable to my work.  C'mon, be a sport and don't tell on me.     I hope you'll check with your local libraries about the digital book, The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping.  OverDrive (that's the digital vendor of choice for most libraries) will be carrying it.  The book contains a story by me as well as stories by 16 other authors.   

Maybe there are some other local authors who would like to step up to the plate and answer the list of 10 preselected questions (or variants of them).  Thanks for reading on, and Happy Thanksgiving 2012.      

What is the title of your book?
Actually, it's a short story, "They eDone Him Wrong" (about two electronic readers who murder a Thanksgiving guest!), published in the UntreedReads newly released digital anthology, The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping.   

Where did the idea come from for the story?
Electronic readers are so much in vogue these days, and they seem to be able to do more and more all the time.  So I figured, well, why not have them commit a murder?    

What genre does your book fall under?
The anthology falls under both Mystery and Humor. 

Which actor would you choose to play your main character in a movie rendition?
To play the Thanksgiving Dinner victim, obnoxious Uncle Jack, I'll go right to the top and choose Clint Eastwood.  I think he'd make a good curmudgeon.  Of course Uncle Jack isn't just a curmudgeon.  He's one mean dude.  And totally insensitive, to boot.  Really, it's like he was wearing a sign, "Murder me." 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your story?     Can ereaders kill?  You betcha! 
Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?
The digital anthology, The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Second Helping, http://bit.ly/RwyLY8,  is published by UntreedReads.  It's also available at Amazon http://amzn.to/SPPASD and lots of other ebook outlets. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft of my story took only a few days to write.  But I worked it out in my head for quite some time before that.  Then I did several revisions before I submitted it and one after (at the request of the Editor). 

What other books would you compare the book to within your genre?
It just so happens that, as the subtitle ("A Second Helping") of the anthology indicates, this is a followup-book to the original The Killer Wore Cranberry, published by UntreedReads http://is.gd/7FQUD6 in 2010.  That book sold so well, Editor Jay Hartman figured readers were hungry for more.  

The stories in the new anthology remind me of Laura Levine's Jaine (yep, that's the correct spelling) Austen mystery series, which I absolutely love.  Levine's books are very funny; but, in addition, they always have good plots.   

Who or What inspired you to write your story?

My ereader (I named her Katie) is almost 4 years old and is my constant companion.  She's almost like a person, and she inspired me to write the story. It's fun to write about electronic readers as if they were people.  Of course Katie isn't a murderer.  At least I hope not.  She's sitting here on my desk.  Uh-oh.  Should I be afraid?

What else about the anthology might pique the reader’s interest?
I hope that readers will be entertained by seeing the unique way each of 17 authors deals with the challenge of writing a funny Thanksgiving mystery.  The stories are all so different.  And none of them are dull!  Holidays should bring laughter.  This book definitely serves up a lot of that.