BLOG TOUR: The Quirky Quiz Show Caper by Sally Carpenter - GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY!

Hiya folks!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're joining a Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour already in progress for a Cozy Mystery released a little earlier this year.  It's the fourth title in the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries and, from the sound of things, it's got a lot going for it....including TROUBLE for the leading man.  Ladies and gents. ready or not, here comes today's blog tour guest...

The Quirky Quiz Show Caper

Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries, Book 4

by

Sally Carpenter

1939816870

Cozy Cat Press

About the book...

38-year-old formal teen idol Sandy Fairfax is a guest panelist on a TV game show–and the first category is murder! When his brother, a college professor is framed for the murder of one of his students, Sandy investigates, in between fighting with his ex, visiting his kids, wooing his new girlfriend, and presenting a concert at a black tie gala to save his father’s orchestra. Sandy’s ready to tear out his long blond hair as the game points and suspects pile up.

AMAZON  |  B&N

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooh...sounds like more than the game is at stake here, but family DOES come first so I applaud his potential efforts on his brother's behalf.

Now, we've an EXTRA special treat for you today.

Thanks to Dolly, we had the pleasure of connecting with the author for a GUEST POST created just for you and, if I do say so myself, ironically befitting my site outside of the bookish nature of things.  Please join me in welcoming, today's author in the spotlight...Sally Carpenter!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GUEST POST:  Food for Thought 

by Sally Carpenter

Fictional characters need to eat.

I get tickled watching detective/adventure movies and TV shows because it seems the characters never stop to eat.

How do they run all day and night on only a cup of coffee?

But in a book, the reader is more aware of the passage of time and the fact the characters haven’t had a bite to eat in one hundred pages. So in my novels, I either find a way for my characters to get their three squares a day or have a good reason why they miss a meal, such as getting tied up the villain.

I try not to repeat the same meals as not to bore the reader, so I think up new foods for each meal. I didn’t give anyone a food allergy, so my choices were wide open, but I stayed away from foods I don’t like, can’t pronounce or just don’t know what they taste like. My latest book, “The Quirky Quiz Show Caper,” covers twelve days, so that’s a lot of noshing.

My hero, former teen idol Sandy Fairfax, is a bachelor, so when he’s home alone his meals are pretty simple: sandwiches, pizza, and leftovers. Those were easy to write!

I use meals to further the story. I don’t write scenes where characters sit around in a coffee shop shooting the breeze. Who has time for that? There’s a murder to solve. During my meals the characters are either discussing the mystery, engaged in some sort of conflict, or learning more about each other—or sometimes all of these.

Due to the nature of Sandy’s career, and also that he really doesn’t like solo meals, he eats out a lot with other people. This gets the story moving because Sandy isn’t spend a great time of time cooking (and I don’t have to think up recipes). In this book he eats at a college cafeteria, a Hollywood deli, the executive dining room of a movie studio, an Italian restaurant, and Sunday brunch at the home of a fellow teen idol.

The book ends at a gala banquet at a black tie event. With all this fine dining, it’s no wonder Sandy has to work to keep his weight down.

There are only a couple of meals at Sandy’s home involving other people (to say more would be a spoiler). It’s not surprising because as a celebrity, he guards his privacy. He only lets people he trusts pass through the security gate of his home.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About the author...

Sally Carpenter is native Hoosier now living in Moorpark, Calif.  

She has a master’s degree in theater from Indiana State University. While in school her plays “Star Collector” and “Common Ground” were finalists in the American College Theater Festival One-Act Playwrighting Competition. “Common Ground” also earned a college creative writing award and “Star Collector” was produced in New York City.  Carpenter also has a master’s degree in theology and a black belt in tae kwon do.  She’s worked as an actress, college writing instructor, theater critic, jail chaplain, and tour guide/page for Paramount Pictures. She’s now employed at a community newspaper.

The Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series is comprised of: “The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper” (2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel), “The Sinister Sitcom Caper,” “The Cunning Cruise Ship Caper” and “The Quirky Quiz Show Caper.”  She has short stories in two anthologies: “Dark Nights at the Deluxe Drive-in” in “Last Exit to Murder” and “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet” in “Plan B: Omnibus.”  Carpenter penned chapter three of the Cozy Cat Press group mystery “Chasing the Codex.”

To atone for her sins of killing fictional people, she also writes the monthly Roots of Faith column for the Acorn Newspapers.

BLOG  1/2  |  FACEBOOK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks to Lori as Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the chance to bring this promotion to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on THIS TOUR, the title, author, publisher, or those tours on the horizon, please feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Cozy Cat Press, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

BEFORE YOU GO...

DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO ENTER THE TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY!  UP FOR GRABS ARE TWO PRINT COPIES OF THIS VERY TITLE!  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM!

Until next time...happy reading!