Murder in Real Time by Julie Anne Lindsey – Review, Interview + Giveaway

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MIRT_selectMurder in Real Time by Julie Ann Lindsey
The Patience Price Mysteries Book 3

With the chaos of summer tourists and fall birders out of town, counselor Patience Price is looking forward to the quiet life she remembers. She longs for some peace. And an apple fritter. But the calm is cut short when a reality show sets up camp to film a special about ghosts on her little island. Now fans, reporters and crew have flocked to sleepy Chincoteague. Who knew ghost hunters had an entourage?

When two cast members are killed in a room at the local B&B—a room usually occupied by Patience’s FBI agent boyfriend, Sebastian—she finds herself on the case. Sebastian doesn’t want Patience ruffling any feathers but, as always, she can’t help herself.

Patience promises to let Sebastian handle the investigation—he is FBI, after all—but after a drive-by shooting, her wicked curiosity gets the best of her. And with the TV show forging ahead with filming, the list of suspects (and the line of food trucks) only grows. But has the shooter already flown the coop? And how do you find a killer when you don’t know who the target is?

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authorinterview
First, please let me thank you so much for inviting me to your blog today! As a blogger, I know how hard it can be to open up to someone and hope they are interesting, polite and not completely insane. So, really, truly, thank you! It means a lot. I hope you won’t regret your very brave decision!

You’re welcome! Thank you so much for coming by. I truly enjoyed reading your interview and your book. Also, my middle name is Anne with an ‘e’. It’s fun to finally find someone else with that name, too! 🙂

1) What does a typical day in the life of an author look like? I think a typical day in my life probably looks a lot like yours. I get up at 6 and get kids on school busses. I run errands, clean house, jog and shower before lunch. I tend to social media using my phone, so I’m available all the time. I love to chat with other avid readers. My non-reading friends just don’t get it.
I write when I can. The timing changes according to the day. After school, I write at the pool while my offspring swim. My kids are 6, 8 and 11. All are competitive swimmers and they practice after school two hours a night. I do not make them do this. They just do and I love that they get such joy from it. My 6 year old is new to swim team, but of course, she wants to do it because her brothers do it and also it would be boring to sit in the stands while they swam. She has a point. I do a lot of writing at the pool.
Once the kids are home and in bed, I spend some alone-time with my husband. After he’s in bed, I put on a pot of coffee and write until my eyes demand otherwise.
Even when I’m not writing, I am writing, though. Plotting. Wondering. Whatever I’m doing, my mind is working out random questions. Mostly, I wonder, “What if?” Sometimes I wonder what if a drone landed in my driveway? Could I keep it? Other times, I wonder what would happen if I stuck a potato in the neighbor’s tailpipe or if I added obscene amounts of fiber to my bake sale items. I can’t help myself. I never stop wondering. I think that’s the biggest difference between me and my non-writer friends. I love making up scenarios and exploring them for fun. I guess you could say writing helps keep the crazy corralled.
2) Do you have a favorite genre you like to read? Yes! I have two. I love reading YA (young adult novels with teenage heroines/heroes). There’s something about the teen years that captivates me. Don’t get me wrong, I loathed my own teen years, but reading about them is fun. I like that the world is still ahead of YA characters. Everything is new and wondrous and powerful to them. Teen characters will jump in front of a speeding train to save a stranger or a cat or a helium balloon. They have a grand sense of justice and will stand by it to the end. I love that teens are noble and kind. I love that their stories and choices aren’t impeded by children, bills, pervy bosses or scheming ex-husbands.
My other favorite genre is cozy/amateur sleuth mysteries. Specifically, I like a cozy with an upbeat heroine who is current and real. My taste in cozy mystery isn’t exactly “traditional.” Instead of the dry wit and humor, I lean toward the Stephanie Plum characters and Gemma Halliday authors. I like a little romance in my stories, too. I love when a twenty-something heroine has to juggle romance problems in addition to her family, a career and possibly a killer.
3) If you could have dinner with any author, past or present, who would you choose and why? I would love to have dinner with Jane Austen or either Bronte sister. Their stories brought me into reading when I was young. I’ve always wondered what their lives were like. When I think of how solitary their lives must have been, I’m sad. I think they’d be jubilant to see how the world has changed.
Writing today is very social. The Internet makes the world small and unites us in our goals, struggles and successes.
I’m awkward and introverted to start with, if I had no one to talk to about my thought life, and couldn’t write the stories of my heart and know they’d be read because I’m a woman, I’m afraid I’d die of loneliness. No matter how loved I am – and I know my family adores me – without writing, I’d be lost. There’d be a hole in me and I’d likely go insane trying to fill it. I’d love to hear what it was like to be a woman writer when being such a thing was ridiculed and dismissed. How did they get through it? I’d want them to know they changed the world. I think they’d like that.
4) What is your favorite part of the writing process? What about your least favorite part? My favorite part of the writing process is the creation. I love seeing the stories come together. From fuzzy new concept to polished manuscript, I feel like I’m doing something amazing. I take pictures from my mind, translate them into letter combinations and pass them along in word form to readers I’ll never meet. Readers unravel the word pictures and see my story – see my heart. I think that’s beautiful, profound and just really very cool. Authors have the power to make friends with strangers through their characters. I want to make people smile, give the weary a reprieve. With writing, I can. That’s my favorite part of being an author.
My least favorite part of the writing process is the rejection. I’m rejected on a daily and ongoing basis by editors who don’t like my new project, by store owners unwilling to carry my book, festival organizers who won’t let me participate and readers who didn’t like what they read. It takes thick skin to be an author. I quit on a regular basis. My poor agent talks me off the cliff a lot. I take things too personally, but I’m getting better. I think it’s only-child-syndrome. I want people to be happy. When my stories disappoint them, I feel like I failed and I hate failing. I can’t imagine my life without writing, so I guess I need to locate some thicker skin.
5) Do you have any interesting writing quirks? I can’t think of any writing quirks, but my growing list of fears make me a little quirky. I’m basically afraid of my shadow and it’s getting worse as I get older. It’s good for my career (writing scary scenes) but not so great for my every day life. For example: I hate the highway, so it takes me forever to get places and I don’t like to drive to new places, so I enlist my husband for that. The fear of being lost is the worst. I live in rural Ohio and fear horses, so that’s interesting. Half my neighbors have horses. I stay away from the fences. I have multiple lists of things I avoid, like alleys, strange men, stray animals, the dark, insects, Oompa Loompas, raper vans (panel vans), parking garages, monkeys, Airplanes (I take a pill before I travel and by pill I mean wine) china dolls…I’m going to stop. I’m creeping myself out.
6) What do you like to do when you’re not writing? I read. I love to read. I also talk to strangers. I especially like to learn about the people in line ahead of me at the store or browsing book shelves in my section at the library. I talk to moms at the walking track and teens at the pool. People are so amazing and diverse. I do my share of people-watching, too…and I love to watch shows with my husband. Television has come a long way since the sitcoms I grew up on. My list is getting long for this question, isn’t it? I think I like to do everything. Life is good. I am healthy. My loved ones are here and relatively well, so I’m embracing each day and making memories.
7) What would you be doing if you weren’t an author? I’d still be all the other things I am: Mom, wife, daughter, friend. I’d volunteer at the schools and my church more often than I do. I’d probably need an outlet for my creativity, though, so maybe I’d start a YouTube channel where I recycle trash into crafts or collect pine cones that look like celebrities. If I wasn’t an author, my house would be much cleaner.
8) Do you have any furry friends? No. I have three kids. Do they count? Keeping them fed, alive and moderately happy is a big job. I’m not sure I could add anyone else to the mix.
9) Any favorite writing fuels (snacks or drinks)? I survive on black coffee and mindless snacking. Which explains the two dress sizes I’ve gained since becoming published in 2012. The more I write, the less I do the moving and walking. This year, I’m working on healthier habits. I’ve gotten my foot in the industry door and have a regular gig writing mysteries for Carina Press, so I can finally better-organize my time and establish a healthful.
10) Lastly, what are you working on right now? Right now, I’m writing the first in a new series I’m calling The Geek Girl’s Guide to Murder. I’ve got three books under contract and I’m excited to see book one coming together.
Also, Murder in Real Time, book three in my first cozy series, The Patience Price Mysteries, releases September 29th, so I’m chewing my fingernails about that, hoping readers will enjoy it. Book one in the series, Murder by the Seaside, hit number one status on Amazon, Nook Books and Kobo last week, so I’m still celebrating that small victory and Prophecy, book one in my new YA series releases October 6th.
Lots of wonderful things are happening right now and I’m doing all I can to live in the moment and enjoy each one for what it is – Precious.

My Thoughts

Murder in Real Time by Julie Anne Lindsey is the third book in the Patience Price mystery series. It’s the first I’ve read in the series, but I had no trouble getting into the story and feeling connected to the characters. I really enjoyed this contemporary romance/mystery story. The characters were a lot of fun. I loved the island setting! This is a series I would enjoy reading the other books in.

About the Author

Lindsey_headshotJulie Anne Lindsey is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. She’s a self-proclaimed nerd with a penchant for words and proclivity for fun. Julie lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three small children. Today, she hopes to make someone smile. One day she plans to change the world.

Julieannelindsey.com
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