Q&A with Sue Ann Jaffarian - Part 2

*Welcome, readers, to Part 2 of Sue Ann Jaffarian's Q&A with Cozy Murder Mysteries. Let's get right down to business!

CMM - You have a great quote from Camryn Manheim (love her on Ghost Whisperer) about your Odelia Grey books: "I wish I'd had Odelia Grey as my paralegal when I was on The Practice. Gutsy, smart, and loveable, she is the perfect take-no-prisoners heroine for today's woman." Camryn Manheim How did that come about? Did you approach her, or do you know her?

SAJ - I have not had the pleasure of meeting Camryn Manheim personally. My dream was to get a blurb from her, so I hunted down her contact information and asked her if she’d do it. She was so gracious to consent and gave me such a fabulous blurb.

CMM - Reviews are a mixed blessing for most authors; we love the good ones, hate the bad ones, and know they are just one person’s opinion. How do you deal with negative reviews? Do you even read reviews?

SAJ - I read all reviews, even reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Of course, I rejoice in the good ones, but I do not let the bad ones bother me. As you said, they are just one person’s opinion, and the good ones definitely outweigh the negative reviews. There have been many books I haven’t enjoyed that others have raved about, so I understand that my books may be subject to similar opposing views. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

One thing, though, I really wish readers would think twice before posting really tacky and/or hateful reviews anywhere on any book. If you don’t like a book, say so and say why in an intelligent, well-thought out manner. It doesn’t help anyone when reviewers think they’re being cute by being vicious. Those folks have no idea what goes into producing a book. If they did, they would use better judgment.

CMM - You do a lot of personal appearances. Have you had any funny/touching/interesting encounters with readers?

SAJ - My readers ROCK! I can’t begin to tell you the e-mails, snail mail, even gifts I’ve received from readers from all over. But I think the funniest encounter was when I was waiting in a line at a book conference and a reader tried to pitch me my own book. Seriously! I didn’t have my name tag on and she obviously thought that I, as a fat woman of a certain age, should read the Odelia Grey novels. She went on and on about how much I’d enjoy the books until someone pointed out to her who I was. She just about died of embarrassment. Then we laughed and hugged. I’ve run into her since and we still laugh over it.

On the touching side, I get a lot of e-mails from readers who tell me that having such a positive plus-size heroine makes them feel better about themselves. That’s golden.

CMM - As a paralegal yourself, do real life stories ever make a veiled appearance in your novels?

SAJ - No, never. What I do as a paralegal would put my readers to sleep in a nano-second. Trust me. I do infuse some of the details of my job into Odelia’s day at the office, but never base any of the plots on cases or matters I’ve been involved with in my position as a paralegal. What I make up is soooooo much more entertaining. Besides, a lot of folks at my office read my books, including many of the attorneys. It wouldn’t do for them to see office issues in the books, even if veiled over.

CMM - What do you read? Any favorite authors?

SAJ - I have so many favorite authors and so little time to read. I try not to read books similar to my own, especially while deep into a manuscript. Favorites include Walter Mosley, Diana Gabaldon, Naomi Hirahara, Jan Burke, John Morgan Wilson, Eric Stone, Terry McMillan, Amy Tan, John Irving, Lisa Scottline, Lee Child. (How much space do we have?) And I love discovering new authors.

CMM - Thank you so much, Sue Ann, for taking this time to be with us at Cozy Murder Mysteries.

SAJ - THANK YOU!!! And if any of your readers would like to sign up for my e-mail newsletter, Hotflashes, they should drop me an e-mail with Add Me in the subject line. My e-mail address is sue@sueannjaffarian.com.

Find Sue Ann at: http://www.sueannjaffarian.com/

Q&A with Sue Ann Jaffarian - Part 1

*Welcome, Cozy Murder Mysteries readers, to a wonderful Q&A with cozy murder mystery author Sue Ann Jaffarian, author of the Odelia Grey and Ghost of Granny Apples mystery series... as well as a new one she will announce here. Make her welcome, and after Part 2, on Friday, I'll provide an email link to sign up for her newsletter!

CMM - First, Sue Ann, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I very much appreciate it!

Tell us a little about your Odelia Grey and Ghost of Granny Apples series?

Odelia Grey is a plus size, middle-aged paralegal living and working in Newport Beach, CA, with a penchant for getting into trouble. She quirky, funny, and often cranky with a very big heart. No matter how often she says she’ll never get involved with another murder, she just can’t say no when people ask for her help. She’s also surrounded by a colorful and nutty cast of characters that include her husband Greg, who is in a wheelchair, best friends Zee and Seth Washington, and boss Mike Steele, an arrogant SOB of an attorney. They have dubbed her “the corpse magnet” but love sticking their noses into trouble right along with Odelia. Rounding out the group is detective Dev Frye who is constantly trying to keep Odelia and her posse out of trouble. The 5^th Odelia Grey novel, Corpse on the Cob, will be out February 2010.

The Ghost of Granny Apples mysteries feature the living/dead sleuthing duo of Emma Whitecastle, a divorced mom living in Pasadena who has recently discovered she can hear and see ghosts, and Granny Apples, the 100+ year old pioneer ghost of Emma’s cantankerous great-great-great grandmother. In the first book in the series, Ghost a la Mode, Emma meets Granny for the first time, and sets out to prove that Granny did not kill her husband, for which Granny was hanged. Most of Ghost a la Mode takes place in the town of Julian, CA, a real former gold rush town in Southern California. In subsequent books, Granny and Emma look into the long-forgotten murders of other ghosts. You might say The Ghost of Granny Apples mystery series is a cross between Ghost Whisperer/Cold Case/Topper.

Ghost a la Mode was released September 2009 and the 2^nd book in the series will be out September 2010. Unfortunately, the title for book #2 is still up in the air with my publisher, but it opens on Catalina Island.

And the big news is I am working on a third mystery series. It is scheduled for release in the fall of 2011 and will involve the sleuthing team of Doug and Dodi Dedham, a retired couple who just happen to be vampires. The working title for this book is I Could Bite You Forever.

CMM - How do you create characters that can/will sustain a series of books? Do you know everything about them going in, or does that come bit by bit as you write the books?

It’s a combination of knowing and learning as you go. To sustain a series, the characters have to come alive on the page, both the good guys and the bad guys, and grow with each book. Unless, of course, you kill them off! I usually start with an idea for a character and jot down a few paragraphs about their back story that include their age, physical appearance, occupation, education level, family background, specific quirks, and general outlook on life. After the foundation is set and I’m weaving them into the book, they start talking to me and I learn who they really are, warts and all. As I discover new things about the characters, I update my character list so I have it as a reference for later books. As nutty as it sounds, the characters do talk to me, and they are stubborn and won’t always behave as I’d like, but I’ve learned that if I let them lead, the book is the better for it.

CMM - I just love your writing advice, “Don't let anyone, I mean anyone, pee on your parade!” Any other words of wisdom for would-be writers?

Keep your butt in the chair and keep plugging. Writing takes a lot of persistence and commitment, and going through the publishing process requires a lot of patience. Don’t be discouraged, but also be realistic. If you have dreams of making it big with your first novel, you will be very disappointed. It’s a tough business and it takes time and several successful books under your belt to establish a solid writing career. Also, be open to criticism. Know that when agents or editors are giving you advice on your work, it’s to help you, not to hurt you. A writer who cannot take constructive criticism of his/her work is doomed.

CMM - Do you have a favorite place to write: office, library, under the stars? Under the stairs?

My best place to write is at my desk at home. It’s very messy and usually has a cat draped across it. The other cat likes to sleep on my feet while I work. It’s not fancy and doesn’t come with designer coffee, but I can work in my jammies and clean my bathroom or vacuum during breaks in the writing. When on the road, I travel with an Alpha Smart, a portable word processor. It’s very lightweight and low-tech and I love it. I can work anywhere with it without needing to plug it in or worry about the batteries going dead. It’s perfect for writing on long plane rides. But I find when I try to work anywhere but at home, my attention wanders too much and I’m not as productive.

CMM - You have created a plus-sized heroine for your Odelia Grey series; how does her size impact how she sees/experiences the world? Are you plus-sized? BTW, One thing that’s always irritated me is that people perceive plus-sized people as being not only unfit, but lazy. Is Odelia intended to combat the image, or is being plus-sized just one small aspect to her character?

I am a fat, middle-aged paralegal just like Odelia, but without the arrogant boss (mine’s lovely) and a nose for corpses. And, yes, being big does influence how Odelia sees the world as she has been molded by her experiences, both positive and negative, as we all are. In the first Odelia Grey novel, the reader is introduced to an Odelia who hasn’t been beaten down by the negativity towards her size, but isn’t as self-assured as she is in later books. As the story in Too Big To Miss develops, we see her gain confidence and step up to take her place in the world, but with no apologies. I didn’t create Odelia to combat the negative image of fat people, but to shine a light on the positive. And, as the books go on, there is less of a need for Odelia to prove herself in all her plus size glory, and the people around her (and the readers) accept her for who she is – bright, funny and accomplished. And isn’t that really what we all want?

*Editor's note... That's all for now, but Part 2 of Sue Ann's wonderful Q and A is coming up on Friday! Check back!

Coming soon...

Just a note to tell you that the wonderful and gracious Sue Ann Jaffarian has kindly answered many Qs with fabulous As, So come one back tomorrow for Part 1 of Cozy Murder Mysteries' Q&A with Sue Ann Jaffarian, author of the wonderful Odelia Grey and new Granny Apples mystery series.

Don't miss it!

Taking a short break...

I've certainly had a rip-roaring start here at Cozy Murder Mysteries. 41 posts so far in just a month and a half seems like a lot to me, and the variety of authors... it's going great and I am enjoying myself.

But... (you knew there was a but, didn't you?) I do have a writing career to attend to, and I must get organized! I'm in the middle of so many things, it's driving me slightly bonkers!

Sooooo... I'm going to take a brief... very brief, really... break, less than a week, to allow me time to catch my breath and work uninterrupted.

I will be back October Sixth with a wonderful treat, Margaret Grace also known as Camille Minichino on why writing mysteries is like physics. ?? I know! If you have a perplexed look on your face, good... you'll have to come back next Tuesday, October 6th at 8:01 AM to find out just how writing mysteries is like physics!

Also coming up:

Elizabeth Spann Craig on 'Why I Write Mysteries'

Publisher Spotlight on... Poisoned Pen Press

Author Q&A's on Cleo Coyle and Sue Ann Jaffarian

Marion Moore Hill 'On Touring' - A Mystery author takes her show on the road.

As well as....

More reviews, more author interviews, seasonal reads, and lots more!

Open Call:

I am still looking for: reviewers, opinion pieces, Why I Read Mysteries, Why I Write Mysteries, author profiles. I'm open to suggestion! If you've written a blog piece on some aspect of murder mysteries, especially cozy, and want someone to host it, think of me!

See you Tuesday, October 6th!

Coming Soon...

Just a quick note... I love reading and writing about murder mystery authors, both about their books and the craft of writing them. I have approached several prominent cozy murder mystery authors, and to a woman they have graciously agreed to do Q&A interviews for CMM.

Yesterday I had the brilliant (she says modestly) thought to post on the Murder Must Advertise group list an open call for cozy murder mystery authors to write a blog entry for me, and I have been flooded with wonderful responses.

So, in the coming weeks I will be featuring:

Q&A with the marvelous Cleo Coyle of the Coffeehouse mysteries and as Alice Kimberly of the Haunted Bookstore mysteries.

Q&A with Sue Ann Jaffarian, author of the Odelia Gray (a plus-size heroine!) mystries as well as the Ghost of Granny Apples mysteries.

As well as featuring:

A. R. Grobbo, author of the Gloria Trevisi mysteries.
Stacy Juba, author of Twenty-Five Years Ago Today
&
Marion Moore Hill, author of the Scrappy Librarian series and the Deadly Past mysteries.

...and many many more!!!

I welcome all cozy murder mystery writers, prominent and just starting out, and soon I will be instituting a one day a week 'independent' writer day, devoted to self-published, small press and print on demand novelists!

See you soon!