It's Wednesday!
This week's guest on the Coffee Chat is mystery writer, Larissa Reinhart, featuring her book, 16 Millimeters.
Welcome, Larissa. How do you take your coffee?
LR: My first sip of coffee is scalding, cooled with a small dollop of whole milk. Dark, luscious, and invigorating. Then my kids wake up and/or I get to work. I spend the rest of the day drinking coffee lukewarm at best, usually cold, and without really tasting it.
Ally: Lol. We can certainly do better than lukewarm coffee. Introduce yourself to readers while I brew up something!
This week's guest on the Coffee Chat is mystery writer, Larissa Reinhart, featuring her book, 16 Millimeters.
Welcome, Larissa. How do you take your coffee?
LR: My first sip of coffee is scalding, cooled with a small dollop of whole milk. Dark, luscious, and invigorating. Then my kids wake up and/or I get to work. I spend the rest of the day drinking coffee lukewarm at best, usually cold, and without really tasting it.
Ally: Lol. We can certainly do better than lukewarm coffee. Introduce yourself to readers while I brew up something!
Bio:
Larissa writes humorous mysteries and romantic comedies including the critically acclaimed Maizie Albright Star Detective and Cherry Tucker Mystery series. Larissa’s a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, a contributor to the 2017 Silver Falchion Reader’s Choice winner, was the 2015 Georgia Author of the Year-Best Mystery finalist, 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, 2012 The Emily finalist, and a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. Larissa’s family and dog, Biscuit, had been living in Japan, but once again call Georgia home. See them on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode.
Something that isn't in your regular bio: "My husband and I have lived in Japan four times since our mid-twenties. The first in Yokohama (near Tokyo), the second in Kameoka (near Kyoto), and the third and fourth with our children in Nagoya. My children are as at home in Japan as they are in Georgia. Our dog, Biscuit, too! My dream is to eventually write a YA paranormal mystery series set in Japan with mythological Japanese creatures."
Visit her website:LarissaReinhart.com
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/RisWrites
Instagram: http://instagram.com/larissareinhart
Goodreads: http://smarturl.it/LarissaGoodreads
Join in Newsletter for a free short story: http://smarturl.it/larissanewsletter
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/larissa-reinhart
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LarissaReinhart
Larissa writes humorous mysteries and romantic comedies including the critically acclaimed Maizie Albright Star Detective and Cherry Tucker Mystery series. Larissa’s a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, a contributor to the 2017 Silver Falchion Reader’s Choice winner, was the 2015 Georgia Author of the Year-Best Mystery finalist, 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, 2012 The Emily finalist, and a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. Larissa’s family and dog, Biscuit, had been living in Japan, but once again call Georgia home. See them on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode.
Something that isn't in your regular bio: "My husband and I have lived in Japan four times since our mid-twenties. The first in Yokohama (near Tokyo), the second in Kameoka (near Kyoto), and the third and fourth with our children in Nagoya. My children are as at home in Japan as they are in Georgia. Our dog, Biscuit, too! My dream is to eventually write a YA paranormal mystery series set in Japan with mythological Japanese creatures."
Visit her website:LarissaReinhart.com
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/RisWrites
Instagram: http://instagram.com/larissareinhart
Goodreads: http://smarturl.it/LarissaGoodreads
Join in Newsletter for a free short story: http://smarturl.it/larissanewsletter
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/larissa-reinhart
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LarissaReinhart
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What can readers expect when they open a Larissa Reinhart book?
LR: I write humorous mysteries and romantic comedies. A Cherry Tucker Mystery series is listed as cozy mystery. The Maizie Albright Star Detective series is considered romantic comedy or chicklit. They’ve been rated on My Book Cave and More Than a Review as PG-13. No stronger language than on prime time TV, some suggestive overtones, but nothing overt, and violence is comedic or off-page.
Ally: Since you're featuring 16 Millimeters today, tell us about your main character and why readers will relate to her.
LR: Ex-teen and reality star Maizie Albright returns home (by judge's orders) to Black Pine, Georgia. She's determined to start a new career as a private investigator, modeled after her childhood starring role as "Julia Pinkerton, Teen Detective."
For a license in Georgia, she needs training and there's only one gumshoe in town, Wyatt Nash. He's got a hard body, Paul Newman eyes, and no interest in having an ex-actress for an apprentice.
Despite the bad luck (and bad advice, bad decisions, bad relationships) that seems to befall her, Maizie’s an eternal optimist. She relies on the wisdom she’s learned from her roles, her therapist, and sometimes her trainer to figure out how to deal with the situations she seems to land in. She believes the best in people and hopes for the best in herself.
Ally: How do you choose and name your characters?
LR: With my main characters, it’s super random. They tend to just pop into my head. Cherry Tucker. Maizie Albright. Finley Goodhart.
With the other characters sometimes I use hidden meanings. Like Max Avtaikin in the Cherry Tucker series. His nickname is the Bear. He’s brutish and kind of hulking. And in Russian, Avtaikin means bear. In the beginning of the series, he’s more like a grizzly, but later becomes more like a teddy bear where Cherry is concerned.
Wyatt Nash’s name, on the other hand, is inspired by Wyatt Earp, because Nash is a cowboy-type and although he’s a private detective, there’s the law enforcer in him. Nash just popped in my head. (Little known fact: Wyatt Earp was born in Monmouth, IL, a farm town - and now college town - not far from where I grew up.)
For Finley Goodhart, her ex-partner/ex-boyfriend, is brilliant, British con-artist Lex Leopold. Lex is short for Alexander, which mean “defender of people.” But he goes by Lex, like the villain in Superman, Lex Luther. Leopold means “brave people.” Although Lex is not the antagonist, he’s also not your typical good guy. An anti-hero.
As for the alternating characters in the books — the victims, the suspects, passers-by, occasional friends — I usually get their names from local obituaries.
Lastly, I have a contest with my street team for each book, “Put Your Name in a Book,” where they have a chance to have a character named after them. Some of those characters are Penny Forbes (The Cupid Caper), Celia Fowler (A View to a Chill), Robin Coxon (16 Millimeters), Katty Bomar (The Vigilante Vignette), Pamela Hargraves (Death in Perspective), Deborah Holt (The Body in the Landscape), and Debbie Krenzer (A Composition in Murder).
Ally: If you could have a supernatural power like many book and screen characters, what would it be and why?
LR: I want a power like Hermione’s Time Turner necklace. So, so bad. And I promise to only use it for good. But it’s either the Time Turner necklace power or I’ve got to cut out more sleep to get enough time to get my stuff done. And I really like sleep.
Ally: How did you choose the title of your feature book?
LR: Sixteen millimeters is the size of film used in certain movies and TV productions. When I wrote 15 Minutes, it referred to 15 minutes of fame. As I thought about the series, I decided to count up from 15 in the title. Makes it so much easier to read in sequence when you’re an OCD reader like me. The challenge with the Maizie Albright series is to then find a movie or TV reference to the number.
The third book is NC-17 (the rating meaning No Children Under Seventeen), which I think will be brilliant for a murder mystery and gives me the excuse to have teenagers in it. A great pairing for Maizie who’s got Peter Pan syndrome, having grown up in Hollywood. I haven’t gotten to 18 yet, so that might take some research. :)
Ally: What are you working on now? Is there a release date?
LR: The Cupid Caper, a Finley Goodhart Crime Caper novella, releases at the end of this February. Finley is a character from my free short story for my newsletter subscribers (when you sign up for my newsletter, you receive the story Pig’N A Poke). Finley’s an ex-con artist, trying to make good. She’s been nagging at me for a longer story. My next project was supposed to be writing NC-17, the third Maizie Albright book, because that releases July 10th. But I thought I could quickly write The Cupid Caper, appease Finley, and give something to my readers between now and July. July is such a long way off!
Ally: We've talked a lot about books, but these short answer questions are about you.
LR: The Cupid Caper, a Finley Goodhart Crime Caper novella, releases at the end of this February. Finley is a character from my free short story for my newsletter subscribers (when you sign up for my newsletter, you receive the story Pig’N A Poke). Finley’s an ex-con artist, trying to make good. She’s been nagging at me for a longer story. My next project was supposed to be writing NC-17, the third Maizie Albright book, because that releases July 10th. But I thought I could quickly write The Cupid Caper, appease Finley, and give something to my readers between now and July. July is such a long way off!
Ally: We've talked a lot about books, but these short answer questions are about you.
- a) favorite accessory: Purses. I have a series of purses from Japan by Mimo. They’re all vinyl have a French bulldog motif along with other graphics, and glittery rickrack on the straps. They’re roomy and totally crazy. I also have some cute Kate Spade’s from recycle shops. A teeny metal and silk embroidered snap box from Japan. And a fuzzy green handbag. I love purses.
- b) favorite quote: “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.” ― Dorothy Parker
- c) What comes to your first - character or plot? It’s always character but usually a “what if this happened to this kind of person” follows immediately after. My plots are always driven by the motivations of the main character.
- d) Your pets: Biscuit, a seven-year-old Cairn Terrier, like Toto, but brindle; a fat pygmy frog who’s about eight-years-old and lives in an aquarium in my daughters’ bathroom; an armadillo named Steve who I’ve never seen, supposedly lives under our garden shed; a hawk named Gerard, who I suspect ate our bunny Camilla; and an owl named Geoffrey. We also have several families of deer, fox, opossum, and a half-ton of squirrels who sometimes live in our attic and drive us nuts. I wish Gerard and Geoffrey would get to work on those squirrels.
16 Millimeters (Maizie Albright Star Detective #2)
Genre: Mystery, romantic comedy, chicklit
PG-13
In continuing her career-makeover quest as a for-real detective, ex-teen and reality star Maizie Albright has a big learning curve to overcome. A sleuthing background starring in a TV show— Julia Pinkerton, Teen Detective--does not cut the real life mustard. It doesn’t even buy her lunch, let alone extra condiments. Her chosen mentor, Wyatt Nash of Nash Security Solutions, is not a willing teacher. He’d rather stick Maizie with a safe desk job and handle the security solution-ing himself. But Maizie’s got other plans to help Nash. First, win Nash’s trust. Second, his heart.
Wait, not his heart. His respect. His hearty respect.
So when a major movie producer needs a babysitter for his hot mess starlet, Maizie eagerly takes the job. But when her starlet appears dead, and then not dead, Maizie’s got more than an actress to watch and a missing corpse to find. Body doubles, dead bodies, and hot bodies abound when the big screen, small screen, and silent screams collide. Maizie’s on the job, on the skids, and on thin ice, hunting a killer who may be a celebrity stalker. And Maizie just might be the next celebrity who gets snuffed.
Links:
Amazon/Kindle: http://smarturl.it/16MMKindle1
iBooks: http://smarturl.it/16MMibooks
Barnes & Noble/Nook: http://smarturl.it/16MMNook1
Kobo: http://smarturl.it/16MMKobo
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