1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE SELF-MADE WIDOW
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
How much of your life are you willing to destroy to see justice prevail?
To prove one of her friends is a murderer, amateur sleuth-savant Andrea Stern is going to face some hard choices that could have long-lasting ramifications for her friends and her family.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
It is a sequel to my first novel, Suburban Dicks, so it’s set in the same New Jersey suburban locations of West Windsor, Plainsboro, and Princeton, though I also expanded that to have chunks of the book take place in Manhattan as well.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Probably not, since I’m 25 years older than they are, but when I was their age, they were my social circle!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Arrogant. Insecure. Honestly, there are LOTS of other words, since I think Andrea Stern is a wonderfully complex, and sometimes confounding, character.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That there aren’t as many undetectable ways to induce a heart attack than I thought there were!
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
As I go along, usually around fifty-page chunks, then all over again from the beginning, then I let my editor tell me everything I need to improve!
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Sushi. Knob Creek Bourbon. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Not necessarily all at the same meal…
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I don’t have an office in my current home, so I write anywhere I feel like. Have lapboard, will travel. Weather permitting, I try to work as much as I can on my screened-in porch.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Too many to list them all. I respect longevity and hard work, so authors with long-running series like Lee Child, Louise Penny, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Lisa Gardner, and Michael Connelly get my tip of the cap.
Of the “newer” authors, S.A. Cosby has really impressed me a lot.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
It would have to be a comic book, since my DNA as a writer and reader is really tied to that publishing platform. To that extent, Stan Lee with John Romita on Amazing Spider-Man and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four in the 60s provided me with a foundation for smart storytelling that has lasted a lifetime.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Well, I’m an odd one to ask since I’d been comfortably earning a very good living as a professional writer for over thirty years before selling my first book.
I know securing the interest and support of an agent for my first manuscript was a huge day and Albert Lee of UTA gave me a lot of confidence that the manuscript would sell.
Between his hard work and my good luck, Suburban Dicks had several publishers bidding on it, which escalated into a two-book deal. So, there wasn’t a “day” as much as there was a “process” which allowed us the very good fortune of having editor Mark Tavani and Putnam publish my first two books. It was a wonderfully fun rollercoaster ride to be on!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
In books? Right now, crime fiction, but I tend to bounce around genre and then get ODC about it once I’m swimming in a particular pool. For years, I only read historical non fiction, before that, political thrillers, before that horror fiction, etc.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I don’t have a single “favorite,” but among my favorites are Godfathers 1 and 2, The Silence of the Lambs, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Bull Durham, Aliens, Animal House, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall. Humidity is my mortal enemy, so I like to see it go away with the end of summer and I like the changing of the leaves.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My birthday is New Year’s Eve, so it was a fun day when I was younger, but now that I’m an old man, it’s honestly a bit of a hassle. I don’t need to assess my year and turn a year older at the same time!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
TV Show: Severance
Movie: Coda
Book: Razorblade Tears
Podcast: I don’t listen to many podcasts, so I’ll suggest people listen to The Self-Made Widow on audiobook!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
If it is on a plate, I will eat it. I will probably eat it if it’s on the ground, for that matter. When they do those memes of “give yourself a point for every food you haven’t tried,” I usually get ZERO.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Answer: Watch way too much TV. Watch the Yankees, the Rangers or angrily, the Jets. I’ll exercise walk several days a week. I’ll read. Or likely, be cooking since I took over primary meal-making responsibilities a few years ago.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
For now, I would prefer readers focus on Suburban Dicks and The Self-Made Widow so that I get the opportunity for there to be a “next” thing in prose!
After mother of five and former FBI profiler Andie Stern solved a murder—and unraveled a decades old conspiracy—in her New Jersey town, both her husband and the West Windsor police hoped that she would set aside crime-fighting and go back to carpools, changing diapers, and lunches with her group of mom-friends, who she secretly calls The Cellulitists. Even so, Andie can’t help but get involved when the husband of Queen Bee Molly Goode is found dead. Though all signs point to natural causes, Andie begins to dig into the case and soon risks more than just the clique’s wrath, because what she discovers might hit shockingly close to home.
Meanwhile, journalist Kenny Lee is enjoying a rehabilitated image after his success as Andie’s sidekick. But when an anonymous phone call tips him off that Molly Goode killed her husband, he’s soon drawn back into the thicket of suburban scandals, uncovering secrets, affairs, and a huge sum of money. Hellbent on justice and hoping not to kill each other in the process, Andie and Kenny dust off their suburban sleuthing caps once again.
Mystery Woman Sleuth | Fiction [G.P. Putnam's Sons, On Sale: June 21, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593191293 / eISBN: 9780593191293]
Fabian Nicieza is an Argentine-American comic book writer and editor who is best known as the co-creator of Marvel’s Deadpool and for his work on titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Cable, and Thunderbolts. Suburban Dicks is his debut novel.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy