Tuesdays Tidbits with Kari: Featuring author Anne Carter

Okay, so we can tell Kari is on major deadline!!! Poor Anne had to fend for herself, but....she wrote a fabulous blog post and we thank her tremendously :-) Enjoy folks!!!

Where's My Drink? Interview with Author Anne Carter

Kari and I were going to do an interview, but as often happens, we both ran out of sand in the hourglass. So instead, I'm going to interview myself. I mean, what better way to tell you what I want you to know, and avoid what I don't want you to know, about me?

Like Smeagol and Gollum, I'll ask the questions and have my alter-ego, Anne Carter, come up with the answers. So here we go!

Pam: Good morning, Anne! And welcome to Mysteries and Margaritas.

Anne: Hello. On the rocks, with salt, please.

Pam: What?

Anne: My margarita. I'll start with a single.

Pam: Um...I'm not sure Kari said anything about, uh, refreshments.

Anne: No chips n' salsa either?

Pam: I think we're supposed to be talking about books.

Anne: Yawn. Okay. Go ahead, ask away.

When did you start writing?
In 1st grade--large grip crayon (still have it just in case one day it will bring a lot of $ on eBay.)

Where do you get your ideas for characters?
From you - in case you haven't noticed, I've been taking notes! So be nice.

Do you personally research the murder scenes?
Of course I do. Just like my fellow author Stephen King wrote Misery from personal experiences. How else could he have figured out that scene where Kathy Bates breaks both of James Caan's ankles? Now there’s a vision for you.

What's it like to be published?
Exactly like not being published except that you have to work really, really hard to sell books.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Don't give up your day job.

What is your book about?
It's about... 290 pages, give or take.

Does your husband read your books?
I think he's afraid to. Seriously.

What is your next book about?
I'm not sure – I'll let you know when I figure it out.

How much money do you make?
Show me your paychecks and I'll show you mine...
Why can't I find your books at Wal-Mart or the local supermarket?
What--they're sold out again?

How much did you have to pay to get your books published?
I know it’s hard to imagine such a concept – believe it or not--they-pay-me!!

Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers today?
You tell them. After all, you're really you. I'm just a figment of your imagination. I'm going to go find a bag of Tostitos.

Fine. Well, I write mostly romantic mystery, with a touch of paranormal elements. I live in So. California, have three mostly grown kids and a wonderful hubby who really is reluctant to read my stories! I'm a lighthouse nut and incorporate them as settings for my Beacon Street Mystery series, the first of which was POINT SURRENDER. PS takes place in a fictional Northern California lighthouse and chronicles the mystery behind the last keeper, who died in the old beacon 40 years ago. Present day characters do some digging, one of them reluctant to discover the truth.

While the Beacon Street Mysteries are stand alone, they share characters and some settings, and all will center on lighthouses. The latest debuts this month! Here's the blurb for CAPE SEDUCTION: "After being the backdrop for 1948’s critically acclaimed tragic romance, Cape Seduction, Northern California’s Dragon Rock Lighthouse was shuttered and abandoned for decades—and was the last place up-and-coming Hollywood starlet Darla Foster was seen alive.
"When photojournalist Rebecca Burke locks horns with Los Angeles attorney Matt Farralone while trying to gain access to the derelict off-shore beacon, she encounters the spirit of the sassy, once-promising Oscar-hopeful Foster, and uncovers a 60-year-old secret that sets her world on end." (Cue eerie music.)

The third novel is currently in the works. Titled ANGEL'S GATE, this story revolves around the Los Angeles Harbor Lighthouse, also known as Angel's Gate, and touches on a WWII mystery still lingering in present day.

To celebrate the release of CAPE SEDUCTION, I'm holding a contest! All you have to do is read the CAPE SEDUCTION excerpt and leave me a relative comment—you’ll be in the drawing for FIVE Echelon Press eBooks of your choice, downloaded onto a really cool 2GB flash drive! (Or a $25 gift card to B&N, your choice.) Drawing will be on my last blog tour stop. See schedule at my website!

Thanks, Kari, for giving me the microphone today! Love this site! Tomorrow's tour stop, Wednesday, Sept 8: A Writer’s Jumble.

Pam Ripling, who also writes as Anne Carter, is a self-proclaimed Lighthouse Nut and the author of Beacon Street Mysteries CAPE SEDUCTION and POINT SURRENDER, in paperback or for your Kindle; also for your nook, iPhone, Sony eReader and other formats at Omnilit. Visit Pam/Anne at Beacon Street Books.