Today I am thrilled to be interviewing Tonya Kappes, prolific indie author and fellow University of Kentucky alumnus. She’s the author of eight novels and co-author of Tricked Out Toolbox, a book on marketing for authors. Her ninth novel, A Charming Crime, launches today!
Tonya is giving away TWO copies of A Charming Crime and a copy of Tricked Out Toolbox to some very lucky readers! Email tkgiveaway@williamgjones.com with the subject line TK Giveaway and put your choice of book in the body of the email. Winners will be picked at random on Friday!
Tonya, first off, I know this is what you really want to talk about today and I won’t make you wait until the end of the interview. How about them Cats?
C-A-T-S CATS, CATS, CATS!!! I don’t think Kentucky will EVER see a team like this in a long time. I was there in the Rick Pitino years and we were pretty good then… Pitino definitely doesn’t encourage the team to play like a team. That was so much fun to watch this year. They were an unselfish team and just plain fun to watch.
The defense only let the opponent shot 36.7% from the field. That’s pretty amazing. UK had the most blocked shots out of any other college basketball team. LOVE THE BROW!! The brow, Anthony Davis, had more blocked shots than 300 division one teams combined. Seriously, you shouldn’t have started with this question!! I could go on and on!!
Hahaha! I know the feeling! Except with me, it would be a question about NASCAR… which nobody really seems to care about beyond the Sportscenter crash highlights. Anyway, now that we’ve got that out of the way, tell us about A Charming Crime. What’s it about and what inspired you to write it?
It’s easier to give you the blurb:
Magical Cures Mystery Series
Cures don’t solve murders…
June Heal has nothing to lose when she relocates her homeopathic cure
shop, A Dose of Darla, from the flea market booth in her home town,
to a quaint shop in the cozy but unusual little town of Whispering Falls,
Kentucky. Or so it seems.
Whispering Falls has a lot of secrets. From talking snow globes to
whispering animals not to mention a few sprinkles of fairy dust, June
realizes Whispering Falls is more magical than she thought…literally.
June discovers she was born into a family of psychics, and her
homeopathic cures truly are magical. Unfortunately, they are not magical
enough to save her from being the number one murder suspect when
a member of the community that she had just had a disagreement with shows up face down in the lake with June’s lucky charm in the victim’s grasp.
Add to that an attraction to her high school best friend, Sheriff Oscar Park
and Mr. Prince Charming, her cat, is stealing charms from Belle’s Baubles,
June is forced to clear her name in more ways than murder.
I’m so excited to hear that you’re basing the story in Kentucky! To be honest, aside from the show Justified–which I hated because they didn’t depict Lexington anything like real life in the few episodes I watched–I haven’t seen that many positive portrayals of Kentucky in popular culture.
A Charming Crime is the start of a new series for you—what made you want to start a new series?
It’s hard for me to write one book and that’s it. I get way too attached to my characters. Plus I want readers to invest in my writing, and series are a great way to do that. If they like the first one, chances are they will buy the next ones.
What sets A Charming Crime apart from your previous work?
A Charming Crime is a made up world of magical/psychic stuff….I’ve never written anything where I completely make up the entire world and words with in that world. It was a ton of fun!
If there’s one reason readers should rush right out and buy A Charming Crime, what is it?
It’s magical! I write super light and give my readers a good escape from today’s hectic life. When they pick up a Tonya Kappes novel, they know they are going to enjoy a light read where they don’t have to think for a few minutes.
Can your readers expect any new twists from A Charming Crime that they haven’t experienced in your novels before?
The entire magical made-up world. I’ve always made my settings in a real town or a relatable town. In Whispering Falls, A Charming Crime town, there is talking animals, witches, fairies, etc…
Come back tomorrow for part two of my interview with Tonya, where we’ll be discussing writing.
Also, be sure to check Tonya out online at her blog, http://tonyakappes.blogspot.com/ and follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authortonyakappes and Twitter at @TonyaKappes11
You can buy A Charming Crime at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.