Welcome, Booklovers, to the first Coffee Chat of 2019!
Happy New Year! May 2019 be the best ever. To start us off on the right foot, our first guest is mystery author Sally Handley, who writes the Holly and Ivy cozy series.
Good morning, Sally. How do you take your coffee?
Sally: I love good ole Maxwell House Coffee with milk, no sugar.
Ally: Coming right up. While I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
Author of the Holly and Ivy Mystery Series, Sally Handley is an avid reader and has been a mystery lover since she read her first Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books as a young girl. After a career in teaching and marketing, she now devotes her time to writing and gardening. President of the Sisters in Crime Upstate SC Chapter, Sally also writes a blog entitled “On Writing, Reading and Retirement” at www.sallyhandley.com.
Something unique that isn’t in your regular bio: “Like my hero, Holly Donnelly, I bake Honey Oat Bread and haven’t bought a loaf of bread in the last 5 years.”
Contact Links:
E-mail: mailto:sally@sallyhandley.com
Subscribe to my blog: http://03ca48c.netsolhost.com/WordPress/blog/
Follow my author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sally-Handley/e/B071F6ZRSG/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Follow me on Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter (@AuthorSHandley )
Author of the Holly and Ivy Mystery Series, Sally Handley is an avid reader and has been a mystery lover since she read her first Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books as a young girl. After a career in teaching and marketing, she now devotes her time to writing and gardening. President of the Sisters in Crime Upstate SC Chapter, Sally also writes a blog entitled “On Writing, Reading and Retirement” at www.sallyhandley.com.
Something unique that isn’t in your regular bio: “Like my hero, Holly Donnelly, I bake Honey Oat Bread and haven’t bought a loaf of bread in the last 5 years.”
Contact Links:
E-mail: mailto:sally@sallyhandley.com
Subscribe to my blog: http://03ca48c.netsolhost.com/WordPress/blog/
Follow my author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sally-Handley/e/B071F6ZRSG/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Follow me on Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter (@AuthorSHandley )
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What made you choose a career of writing mystery fiction?
SH: I wrote some stories and poems when I was in grade school, but I was always more of a reader than writer. As an English major I wrote academic papers and after teaching a few years, I got a job in marketing because of my writing skills, but business writing and fiction writing are totally different animals.
Fiction is what I read. Novels, not poetry, not essays, not even short stories. And mysteries have always been my go-to genre, not just for books, but for television programs and movies as well. I remember the exact moment I came up with the idea for writing the Holly and Ivy cozy mystery series. My sister and I were sitting in the garden at the Daniel Webster Inn on Cape Cod. We were admiring the flowers and I said something about Rosemary and Thyme, the PBS series that featured two women gardeners as amateur sleuths. Suddenly I got the spark of an idea. Wouldn’t an American version be great…a series about two sisters who garden and solve mysteries? And that’s where it all began, the summer of 2010. What keeps me at it is that I just enjoy these characters and the world I’ve imagined for them, and, of course, the fact that others have read the books and been kind enough to let me know they enjoy them as well.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve learned?
SH: I think what has helped me over all is learning that all authors, even the big name best sellers and literary giants have felt at one time or another that they are kidding themselves, that their writing isn’t any good, that they should just forget it. For heaven sakes, Stephen King threw Carrie in the wastebasket. His wife retrieved it and said she thought he had something worth finishing. So I’ve been encouraged to keep writing and finish my stories in spite of my doubts about their worth. By the way, I highly recommend Stephen King’s On Writing to aspiring writers. He really makes you feel that you can do this if you really want to and just put in the work.
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Favorite genres, current reads.
SH: Well, as I’ve already mentioned, mysteries are my favorite. I’ve belonged to a book club for more than 25 years, and we read everything under the sun…mostly fiction, but occasional non-fiction. Next month we are discussing Anna Quindlen’s Every Last One and Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. After that, we’ll be reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Very excited about that one. I also belong to a local Mystery Book Club and we are reading Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca. What a masterpiece! I never read it before and never saw the movie, but now that I’ve finished it, I can’t wait for our next meeting to discuss it.. In between book club choices each month, I also read cozy mysteries. Just finished Kathleen Delaney’s Dying for a Change, a classic cozy. I’m also moderating a mystery book panel at the Local Author Showcase at the Greenville Hughes Main Library at the end of January. The authors on the panel are Trudy Nan Boyce, David Burnsworth and Rose Senehi. Last week I finished Boyce’s Out of the Blues, a police procedural set in Atlanta. Loved it. Will be reading Burnsworth’s Southern Heat and Senehi’s In the Shadows of Chimney Rock next. Yeah, I read a lot.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
SH: Totally! Holly and Ivy are based on my sister, Mary Ellen and me. Kate Farmer, Holly’s friend, is also based on a friend of mine. While they are not exactly like us, they do have some of our basic traits. I won’t be more specific about other characters because there are some not-so-nice ones who are also based on people I have known in my life. That’s the great part of writing…you get to exact a little revenge on the folks who have been mean to you in your life by making them villains in your books. And, Nick Manelli--well he’s my dream guy--haven’t met him yet, but I’m still looking for him.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
SH: I’ve actually started writing something that is a bit of a departure from my cozy mysteries. I’m trying my hand at writing a suspenseful and topical story that involves guns in our schools. I got the idea for this novel after I attended my local Citizens Police Academy. The final presentation was made by our high school’s School Resource Officer and really got me thinking. I hope to publish in November 2019. Wish me luck. After that, I have the basic plot idea for my next Holly and Ivy book, but that will probably have to wait until 2020.
Ally: Let’s finish the interview with a few quick answer questions.
Ally: What made you choose a career of writing mystery fiction?
SH: I wrote some stories and poems when I was in grade school, but I was always more of a reader than writer. As an English major I wrote academic papers and after teaching a few years, I got a job in marketing because of my writing skills, but business writing and fiction writing are totally different animals.
Fiction is what I read. Novels, not poetry, not essays, not even short stories. And mysteries have always been my go-to genre, not just for books, but for television programs and movies as well. I remember the exact moment I came up with the idea for writing the Holly and Ivy cozy mystery series. My sister and I were sitting in the garden at the Daniel Webster Inn on Cape Cod. We were admiring the flowers and I said something about Rosemary and Thyme, the PBS series that featured two women gardeners as amateur sleuths. Suddenly I got the spark of an idea. Wouldn’t an American version be great…a series about two sisters who garden and solve mysteries? And that’s where it all began, the summer of 2010. What keeps me at it is that I just enjoy these characters and the world I’ve imagined for them, and, of course, the fact that others have read the books and been kind enough to let me know they enjoy them as well.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve learned?
SH: I think what has helped me over all is learning that all authors, even the big name best sellers and literary giants have felt at one time or another that they are kidding themselves, that their writing isn’t any good, that they should just forget it. For heaven sakes, Stephen King threw Carrie in the wastebasket. His wife retrieved it and said she thought he had something worth finishing. So I’ve been encouraged to keep writing and finish my stories in spite of my doubts about their worth. By the way, I highly recommend Stephen King’s On Writing to aspiring writers. He really makes you feel that you can do this if you really want to and just put in the work.
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Favorite genres, current reads.
SH: Well, as I’ve already mentioned, mysteries are my favorite. I’ve belonged to a book club for more than 25 years, and we read everything under the sun…mostly fiction, but occasional non-fiction. Next month we are discussing Anna Quindlen’s Every Last One and Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. After that, we’ll be reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Very excited about that one. I also belong to a local Mystery Book Club and we are reading Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca. What a masterpiece! I never read it before and never saw the movie, but now that I’ve finished it, I can’t wait for our next meeting to discuss it.. In between book club choices each month, I also read cozy mysteries. Just finished Kathleen Delaney’s Dying for a Change, a classic cozy. I’m also moderating a mystery book panel at the Local Author Showcase at the Greenville Hughes Main Library at the end of January. The authors on the panel are Trudy Nan Boyce, David Burnsworth and Rose Senehi. Last week I finished Boyce’s Out of the Blues, a police procedural set in Atlanta. Loved it. Will be reading Burnsworth’s Southern Heat and Senehi’s In the Shadows of Chimney Rock next. Yeah, I read a lot.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
SH: Totally! Holly and Ivy are based on my sister, Mary Ellen and me. Kate Farmer, Holly’s friend, is also based on a friend of mine. While they are not exactly like us, they do have some of our basic traits. I won’t be more specific about other characters because there are some not-so-nice ones who are also based on people I have known in my life. That’s the great part of writing…you get to exact a little revenge on the folks who have been mean to you in your life by making them villains in your books. And, Nick Manelli--well he’s my dream guy--haven’t met him yet, but I’m still looking for him.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
SH: I’ve actually started writing something that is a bit of a departure from my cozy mysteries. I’m trying my hand at writing a suspenseful and topical story that involves guns in our schools. I got the idea for this novel after I attended my local Citizens Police Academy. The final presentation was made by our high school’s School Resource Officer and really got me thinking. I hope to publish in November 2019. Wish me luck. After that, I have the basic plot idea for my next Holly and Ivy book, but that will probably have to wait until 2020.
Ally: Let’s finish the interview with a few quick answer questions.
- a. an author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch: William Shakespeare
- b. an item on your bucket list: Trip to the Grand Tetons
- c. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes… unfortunately.
- d. favorite quote:
- “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -- MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
- e. Your pets: Lucky is a part border collie, part chow and she features prominently in all three of my Holly and Ivy mysteries.
Full Bloom (Holly and Ivy Mystery #3)
Genre: cozy mystery, romantic suspense
Rating: warm and tingly
In Full Bloom, the third book in the Holly and Ivy Donnelly mystery series, the look-alike sister sleuths are looking forward to a relaxing stay in the Catskills after Holly’s break-up with Nick Manelli Their plans are thwarted when, once again, they become involved in a murder investigation. The day they arrive at Kate Farmer’s house in rustic Reddington Manor, they discover the body of Kate’s next-door neighbor, Chuck Dwyer, in a pool of blood on his kitchen floor. In a rush to judgement, the local sheriff sets his sights on 17-year old Tommy Cranston, but Kate insists Tommy is innocent. Can the sister sleuths prove that a shifty neighbor, the victim’s widow and local drug dealers all have better motives for the murder? And can Ivy and Kate unravel another mystery -- the cause of Holly and Nick’s break-up and the chances of their getting back together?
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