The Next BIG Thing!

Welcome to The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

What is a blog hop? It’s a virtual event that helps readers discover new authors. The first author tags five others whose work he or she admires, who each tag five more, who each tag five more, and so on. These memes float around the internet every few years, and this particular event has been so big, covering so many genres and amazing authors, that we’re thrilled to participate.

Before we get to the questions, we’d like to thank J.T. Ellison, a fabulous author, who tagged us for this. Publisher’s Weekly calls her work “Breathtaking…” and we’d have to agree, so be sure to check her out. You can learn more about J.T. and her crazy clever work here: www.jtellison.com

The way this hop works, we (and the authors we’ve chosen) will each answer (on our respective blogs) the same 10 (predetermined) questions ranging from our current works in progress to our writing processes and beyond.  We hope you’ll enjoy learning about our work. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

Okay, ready?  Here is our Next Big Thing! Well, more like…things. We have a new book that just came out. That’s a Big Thing! And we’re just finishing up the next book in the series. Also, a Big Thing!  And we’ve sold two more books in the series – slated to come out in 2014. We think that qualifies as a Big Thing, too!

So, here goes…

1: What is the working title of your book(s)?

KITTY KITTY BANG BANG – Just out!
YIP/TUCK – coming summer 2013
 and then in 2014…

50 SHADES OF GREYHOUND

THE GIRL WITH THE DASCHUND TATOO

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

These books continue the stories of Texas cousins, Caro Lamont and Melinda Langston, who live and work in the uber pet-friendly community of Laguna Beach, California. Caro is a pet therapist who works with problem pets (mostly problem pet parents) and Mel owns the exclusive Bow Wow Boutique. How we came up with the concept is a longer story (actually only 4:44 minutes on YouTube) and you can hear all about it here: Sparkle Abbey is Chicken http://youtu.be/MaYQ-hL0z2Q

3: What genre does your book come under?

Humorous cozy mystery

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Caro has always been Isla Fisher and Mel, Danica Patrick, and as many of our readers have guessed, Betty White would be perfect as animal advocate, Diana Knight. 

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

KITTY KITTY BANG BANG

Caro Lamont, Laguna Beach’s most sought after pet therapist, is back with more coddled cats and pampered pooches, but, her human neighbor, Kitty Bardot, has apparently used up her nine lives and Caro’s nose for trouble lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. 

 6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

The books are published by Bell Bridge Books, currently second home to some way cool established authors such as Sharon Sala, Vicki Hinze, Jill Marie Landis, Kathleen Eagle, Eve Gaddy, Trish Jensen, Ken Casper & Sabrina Jeffries, just to name a few. By the way, if you like humorous mysteries, you’ve got to try Jill Marie’s Tiki Goddess mysteries. What a hoot!

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Forever. Neither of us love the first draft part of the process so it always seems like that part goes very…very…slowly. Seriously, the first draft takes several months even though we plot the story in advance.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

People who like Donna Andrews, Laura Levine, Elaine Viets, Anne George and, of course, Janet Evanovich.   We were flattered to see on Amazon that one reader compared us to Gemma Halliday.  She said – “A really fun read. Think Gemma Halliday’s high heel mysteries, only with pets instead of high heels.” Love it! 

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

When we came up with the idea to write a series together we knew the theme had to be around something we were passionate about. We’re passionate about our rescue pets and writing this series allows us to include that love in our books.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

We have a unique concept that readers seem to like in that the cousins take turns as leads in every other book. So, Caro solves the murder in Desperate Housedogs and then Mel is the sleuth in Get Fluffy. We’re back to Caro investigating in Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and then Mel picks up in Yip/Tuck. Because the books all have the same setting and secondary characters you get consistency across the series, but some variety in the story-lines.

Also, the series was just picked up by Gale-Thorndike Large Print for their library Clean Reads program!

Listed below you will find authors who will be joining us via the blogosphere next Wednesday, January 16, 2013. Please use the links below to check out their blogs, bookmark their websites and add them to your calendars for updates on WIPs and new releases!

1. Cheryl St. John
2. Waverly Curtis
3. Nancy Parra
4. Sandra Brannan
5. Stephen Brayton