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Friday, December 05, 2008

Spotlight on Mary Connealy and her Nosy in Nebraska series

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARY CONNEALY is the author of Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and the soon-to-be-released Gingham Mountain. She has recently signed an exclusive contract to write for Barbour Publishing for the next three years.

She is also the author of four books for Heartsong Presents, a line of short, sweet romances from Barbour Publishing; Golden Days, Buffalo Gal, Clueless Cowboy and Bossy Bridegroom. And three books for Heartsong Presents Mysteries, a line of cozy mysteries from Barbour Publsihing; Of Mice…and Murder, Pride and Pestilence and The Miceman Cometh.

Mary's dream is to tell love stories that make people laugh. She lives on a farm in Nebraska with her husband, Ivan. She is the mother of four beautiful daughters Josie, married to Matt, Wendy, Shelly, married to Aaron, and Katy. She's got one granddaughter on the way. And later, if it turns out the doctor was wrong about Josie's baby being a girl, we will look at this bio and laugh.

Visit Mary's blog: http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/ or you can find out more and hang around with me and some writer friends here: http://seekerville.blogspot.com/ and http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com/.

NOSY IN NEBRASKA
by Mary Connealy
Published by Heartsong Presents Mysteries/Barbour Publishing

ABOUT THE BOOKS

OF MICE...AND MURDER
November 2008

Join the club here: www.heartsongmysteries.com

Being named in Great-grandma's will was like hitting bankrupt on Wheel of Fortune. The whole family held their breath while the wheel ticked around and around, or rather while the lawyer opened the envelope. Then they all heaved a sigh of relief when the wheel stopped on Carrie's name. Carrie the heiress. Great. Clean up the house. Clean up the yard. Clean up Great-grandma's rap sheet. Carrie hates mice and loves the big city. So why is she living in a huge mouse infested house in her dinky hometown? The dead guy in her pantry closet is the most interesting thing that's happened since she came home. Of course the carpenter who's helping her trap her mice and solve the crime is pretty interesting, too.

PRIDE AND PESTILENCE
Coming 2009

Joe Manning comes to town to finally meet his dead beat dad, only to find his father has been murdered. Bonnie is attacked while she's at work in the Melnik Historical Society Museum, proud home of Maxie the World's Largest Field Mouse. Only her attacker now claims it was an accident, and he claims he's never seen the guy before who's dead in Bonnie's store room. Bonnie wants to be suspicious but once he stopped attacking her he turns out to be pretty sweet. And lots of people had a motive to kill Sven Gunderson - including Bonnie herself. Gunderson, the true owner of Maxie, wanted his mouse back.
In Melnik, that means war!

THE MICEMAN COMETH
Coming 2009

Tyler Simpson is opening a new law office and he's home to stay. The very British Dr. Madeline Stuart is writing an anthropology doctoral thesis about a small town that worships an oversized rodent. Success with her project should lead to her dream job, a full professorship at Oxford... even better, a guest shot on Oprah. When a body falls out of a cupboard in Tyler's law office, clutching Maddy's necklace in his cold, dead fingers, Maddy gets arrested and Tyler is appointed her attorney. But once Tyler finds out Maddy's here to betray his beloved Melnik, he isn't giving her his best effort. And someone out there thinks blaming the murder on Maddy would be a perfect solution to his own problems. And Maddy's more likely to cooperate with being framed - if she's dead. Maxie the World's Largest Field Mouse must come through one more time to thwart the criminal in his peaceful, if someone mouse-obsessed, hometown.

Buy Your Copies of the books in the Nosy in Nebraska series by contacting Mary at her web site or pre-order the 3-book collection at Amazon.com today!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. What gave you the inspiration for these stories?

The cozy mystery series should be called My Three Glitches.
I'm scared of mice like Carrie in Of Mice. . .and Murder.
I'm an insomniac like Bonnie in Pride and Pestilence.
I'm clumsy and tend to live inside my head too much like Maddy in The Miceman Cometh.

2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?

You know, those traits I mentioned before are just jumping off points. I go in any direction the story takes me and although my own experiences influence my characters, I'm not bound by them.

3. If one of your characters were an ice cream flavor, what he/she be and why?

Carrie's Peppermint. Bonnie's vanilla. Maddy is mainly the ice cream that drips off your cone onto your shirt. So chocolate I guess because it stains. ON Maddy, every thing is a mess.

4. Are there any themes in the Nosy in Nebraska books that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the stories progressed?

What I really wanted to do was show how wonderful small town life is, while making gentle fun of the quirks of any (and probably every) small town. I think we’ve gotten so separated from each other these days. I see suburban neighborhoods in bigger cities filled with houses so big they qualify as mini-mansions...and they're all empty. All those expensive homes and the whole population empties out every day all day. Kids in school and/or day care. Mom and dad at work. Neighbors don't know each other, how can they with so little time.

A small town is just so different.

The best thing and the worst thing about a small town is the same thing. Everybody know your business. So if you have trouble, an illness, death, car trouble, anything, there are people lining up to help you out. And...If you do something stupid, get a ticket, flunk a test, have a fender bender, have a too-loud fight with your husband, everybody knows.

5. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?

Action scenes and comedy scenes are hard work. They take a lot of tweaking to get them to move just right, flow just right. They're also my favorite, but I can feel myself dreading them when I'm coming up to one, And if it's a comedic action scene, well, it's pretty intimidating. But I love it when I get it right.

6. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?

The cozy mysteries are in the Heartsong Presents Mysteries book club. That's the only place they're available for a while. The three books in this series will release as a collection in June called Nosy in Nebraska. That's listed on Amazon now-so you can buy it, but you'll be waitng a while for delivery. It will be in bookstores in June.

My next release into book stores will be Gingham Mountain. You can buy it on Amazon now, for later delivery and you can also find a pathway to it through my blog and my website.

Thanks for having me on, Amber.

* * * * *

Thank you, Mary, for being in the spotlight with us.

Readers, leave a comment for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of your choice of one of Mary's books.

If you wish to comment but don't want to be entered, say so when you post. Make sure you also leave your email address (name at domainname dot.com/net). Wouldn't want you to miss out on winning a book. :)

And if you want to make certain you don't miss anything, check the box that says 'email follow-up comments to:' when you leave a comment and they'll be sent to the email address associated with your blogging account. That way you'll be notified of any comments and will know when I announce the winner.

This week, the contest is open to anyone worldwide.

* * * * *

18 comments:

windycindy said...

I enjoy this author a lot! Her
"Canyon Ranch" and Petticoat Canyon" were both enjoyable books to read.
Please enter me in your choice of her books drawing. Thanks very much,
Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

cheryl c said...

I enjoy reading Mary's books and blogs. She has a wonderful sense of humor! Please enter me in the drawing.

Carole said...

I love Mary's writing and would love to read any of her cozy mysteries. Thanks for entering me.

cjarvis [at] bellsouth [dot] net

Mary Connealy said...

Hi, ladies. You're all in. Thanks for stopping by.
I wish there was an easy way to send you all to these cozies. They're pretty different, just wacky, off the wall comedy. I had so much fun writing them. But the whole point of the book store is to make it exclusive, right? So people will join it? So it makes sense that the books are hard to get any other way.
Still........

Anonymous said...

Nosy in Nebraska..what a fitting title he he he.

We should have an online support group for romance writing insomniacs. We can chat at 3 am without fear of serial killers being among us.

Great interview, Mary.

Missy Tippens said...

Great interview!

Mary, I love the blurbs for your books! I've seen titles but never the blurbs. They all sound so fun! And of course, lots of dead bodies. :)

Please enter me in the contest.
missytippens [at] aol [dot] com

Mary Connealy said...

Hi, Tina and Missy.
Are you an insomniac Tina? I just thought you stayed up day and night working. I didn't know it wasn't forced on you.

The books are fun. I can't wait until Nosy in Nebraska comes out and I can have a place to really SEND READERS WHO WANT TO BUY THEM. :)

Mary

Myra Johnson said...

Always fun to learn more about what makes one of my favorite authors tick. Mary, you are a riot! (And a terrific friend, too!)

myraj2......cox.net

Anonymous said...

The book sounds great. I too live in a small town.

13rubberducks [at] gmail [dot] com

Cherie J said...

These books sound so good. Definitely would love to try one out so please drop my name in the hat.

Maureen said...

I've read Petticoat Rance and it was a great story. The other stories look just as good.
mce1011[at]aol[dot]com

Mary Connealy said...

Hey, do we have a winner yet???

Tiffany Amber Stockton said...

Not until Friday, Mary. Be patient. :) I run contests for 1 full week, and your spotlight was live on the 5th. I'll hold the drawing on the 12th and announce the winner.

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for an interesting interview and also for opening this contest worldwide.

I haven't had the privilege of reading any of Mary's books, so please enter me in the drawing.

Thank you

Ruth Dell
ruthdell[at]mweb[dot]co[dot]za

Edgy Inspirational Author said...

Sheesh, the adorable titles alone make you want to crack the covers. Plus, I love Mary's sense of humor.

ChristyJan said...

If I'm not too late please enter me.

hawkes(at)citlink.net

Tiffany Amber Stockton said...

We have a winner from this drawing and that is:

MISSY TIPPENS!

Congratulations! I've emailed you for your mailing information so we can send out your book.

As always, thanks to everyone for your continued support.

Missy Tippens said...

Wow!! Thanks so much!!

Missy