1. Did you always
dream of being a writer?
Yes, I did. As a child I used to dream of being a
journalist and I’d chop up my mum’s magazines and paste bits into a scrap book,
making my own version of a newspaper or magazine! When I was in my final year
at school I wanted to be a journalist but realised I didn’t have the
personality for it! My career advisor said you needed to be pushy, persistent
and outgoing to be a journalist and I’m definitely not! I ended up working in
the travel industry (my next favourite career option) but eventually the
writing bug reared its head again and I gradually became involved in
researching, writing and compiling travel brochures. Then I started writing
freelance articles and short stories and eventually started writing
novels. I think writing has always been
a part of me.
2. You are doing
self-publishing, what does it include?
I was lucky enough to get my first three novels
published by traditional publishers and that has been wonderful. However I soon
learned that there is just as much (if not more!) work involved once a book is
published. It has been a very steep learning curve regarding the promotional
side of things and, as I’m a very shy person, self-promotion of my books has
not come easily (and still doesn’t!).
I’ve discovered there are some promotional opportunities which are
available to self-published authors which are not available via publishers.
This is just the way of the highly competitive book market these days. This was
behind my decision to self-publish my new series of books. The overall process is much the same as
working with a publisher. The same editing, proofing, the same high standards
have to be upheld. As I can be a bit of
a control freak I’ve discovered I actually quite like being in control of the
whole publishing process!!
3.
You wrote a series of chicklit-type mysteries, the first book is called And The Earth Moved, what is it about?
The books are each stand alone stories but
they are all based on an agency called the CCIA – the Celebrity Crimes
Investigation Agency. The main character
is called Amber. She’s a part-time barmaid and part-time newspaper admin
assitant. Her duties at the local newspaper include making up the horoscopes
under the name of Madam Zamber! Her one claim to fame is that she dated
heartthrob actor Ennis McKarthy, but it was before he was famous, back when
they were at university together. Since
then they have remained friends. When Ennis‘ brother Joel is found dead in
mysterious circumstances, Amber becomes involved in trying to solve the murder
mystery. Firstly, she has to try and
convince CCIA agent Charlie (who has been assigned to the case) that she’s
going to be a help not an hindrance in solving the crime! The book combines
romantic comedy with celebrity murder mystery.
4. Can you tell us
more about the second book in the series?
I’d love to. The second book in the series is called
Precious and the murder mystery to solve this time revolves around a pop star
who has recently quit his band. His body
is washed up on a beach on a remote Scottish island and CCIA agents are sent to
figure out what happened. It’s not long before they discover the former pop
star has been keeping lots of secrets and one of those secrets will lead them
to the answer of why he was murdered.
Though the stories have a murder mystery element to the plot they aren’t
heavy going or dark at all. They fall very much in the chicklit cozy mystery
reading genre – there’s no violence or gore! They’re romantic comedies with a celebrity
murder mystery to solve.
5. What was your
inspiration for the series?
I love reading books in the chicklit mystery genre
–authors like Gemma Halliday (Spying in Heels series), Kate Johnson (I adore
her Sophie Green Mysteries), Sibel Hodge (Amber Fox Mysteries) and Camilla
Chafer (Lexie Graves Mysteries). From there I thought I’d like to try writing
in this subgenre of romance myself so I was inspired to invent Charlie and
Amber. Everyone has heard of the CIA so I decided I wanted to create an agency
with a similar name but which deals solely with celebrity crime cases – and the
CCIA was born. The books just grew from there. I had loads of ideas for plots –
celebrity crime offers such a huge range of possibilities, exciting locations
and the chance for the characters (and the readers) to escape into the world of
fame and fortune, red carpet film premieres, the whole celebrity lifestyles
thing. The books are great fun to write because I get to (mentally anyway!)
escape into that world too!
6. If You Only Knew was published last year, tell
us more about the story.
The book is about trust and letting go of your
past. It’s essentially a love triangle. Faith has sworn off relationships. Then
Zane arrives in town and she finds him rather distracting. Zane’s not looking
for a relationship after what he’s been through. His focus is on his new business – an extreme
sports centre. But he is distracted by Faith. A friendship begins… which they
both realise, despite their fears, may develop into something more. Then Matt arrives on the scene. He’s Zane’s
best friend and business partner. He’s also Faith’s first love. With Zane
keeping secrets and Matt up to no good Faith’s soon reminded why letting a man
into her life is asking for trouble. But she can’t help wondering if one of
them could turn out to be the love of her life…
7. Where and when do
you write your stories?
Anywhere and everywhere! I write in a notebook as well
as straight to a computer. Ideas for scenes pop into my head all the time.
8. What do you do and
enjoy when you’re not writing?
Spending time with my husband
and taking our 3 dogs for long country walks. I also love gardening and am in
the middle of revamping our back garden – again! Of course, I also love
reading.
9. If you could switch
places with a characters from a book, who would it be and why?
Oooh, tricky question. I’d be
torn between being Amber in my new chicklit mysteries and being Faith in my
novel If You Only Knew. The character of
Amber appeals because I was always a tom boy as a child and spent playtime
racing around pretending to be Purdey from The Avengers (showing my age here!).
Faith appeals because I’m very much an outdoorsy person, just like she is!
10. How would you
describe your style of writing?
I
like to write books which have drama and romance mixed with comedy, nothing too
heavy going. I’m a bit of an impatient
person and like books that I’m writing (and reading!) to whiz along so I’d say
I don’t go in for writing lengthy descriptive scenes of people or places. I
hope I manage to strike the right balance between giving enough information
about a place or character without slowing the pace of the story.
11. Another one
of your books is called How Do You Spell
Love, what is it about?
How Do You Spell Love? is a
little different from my other books because there is a magical theme to
it. The book is about two women – Kat
and Summer – and their disastrous love lives. Summer – a modern witch who only
uses her magic for good – breaks her number one rule when, in desperation, she
performs a lunar love spell to try to help but then she begins to wonder if she
might have actually made everything worse instead! The book encompasses a whole
range of issues, from friendship and relationships to betrayal and questioning
what you REALLY want out of life and who you want to share it with. Again, it’s
a mix of comedy, drama and romance but this time mixed with friendship and
magic.
12. What do you enjoy most about writing?
I get VERY excited about creating characters and the
world they live in. Then I get to spend months escaping into their world and
telling their stories. Writing is, for me, the best job in the world. I feel as
though the characters are all my friends!
13. Imagine If You
Only Knew would be turned into a movie, who would you cast for the main
characters?
Well, in the book Zane mentions how he thinks Faith
reminds him of the actress Emily Blunt, so I’d have to choose Emily to play
Faith. I always pictured Matt as looking
like Ryan Gosling, so that would have to be the actor for him. As for Zane,
well… maybe the hunky rugged actor Eddie Cibrian.
14. Tell us about your book The Love Programme and it’s prequel Back To Square One.
The Love Programme was my first book. It tells the
story of Lucy, a very confused young woman.
Lucy’s childhood sweetheart Marcus walks out on his wedding to someone
else and tells everyone it’s because he’s still in love with Lucy – even though
he and Lucy broke up a long time ago.
Having people think she was carrying on with someone
else’s husband-to-be makes Lucy the talk of the town – and not in a good
way! Lucy knows she’s innocent but
people aren’t interested in hearing the truth. Even her boss wants to get rid
of her –claiming she’s putting off the customers at the travel agency!
The only thing for it is to get out of town for a
while and, thankfully, fate seems to agree. As a last minute stand-in
contestant on a reality TV series about love, Lucy ends up staying in a
gorgeous Scottish castle where the programme is being filmed.
Marcus tries to track her down in an attempt to
rekindle their former romance and Lucy finds herself questioning her life and
her choices - as well as developing confusing feelings for the castle’s laird,
a man she’s told is definitely not part of the Love Programme and very much off
limits.
Lucy needs to figure out what (and who) she wants in
her life – and fast!
15. Coffee or tea?
Herbal tea. I’ve never liked coffee to drink but love coffee flavoured
cakes and desserts – strange, I know! I don’t like the taste of regular tea
either but I do love mint and ginger teas.
16. Paperback or e-reader?
Less than a year ago I would
have said paperback, definitely. I was very much a ‘proper’ book person. Then,
last February, I ‘gave in’ and got a Kindle because there were so many
wonderful books I wanted to read which were only available as ebooks. I was convinced
I would hate reading on an ereader and not having a ‘proper book’ in my hands.
I was stunned when the complete opposite happened and I fell in love with my
Kindle.
17. Mountains or the sea?
Ooooh, tricky one this. My
husband and I used to go hill walking in the Lake District and Scotland for
every holiday we had. We loved being in the hills and mountains and stopping
for a picnic on the tops of them before making our way back down. Then we got a
dog. And another dog. The rocky paths up and down mountains were not
paw-friendly so we switched to beach holidays instead! So I’d say I love
mountains and coast but these days it’s mainly the coast we head to when we get
chance. Though we live as far as it is possible to from the coast in England,
so trips to the coast don’t happen very often these days.
18. Summer or winter?
I used to be a winter person because
I don’t cope very well in hot sunny weather. I can’t expose my skin at all to
summer sun, I always have to stay covered up, because I’m very fair skinned and
immediately get itchy and come out in heat rash if my skin sees the sun for a
second! I spent my childhood covered in pink calamine lotion to cover all my
heat rash! These days though I’d probably
lean more towards choosing summer, simply because I prefer the longer hours of
daylight which means we can walk the dogs in the evenings and I can spend a
blissful hour in the garden after the working day, just pottering and enjoying
the plants and flowers. Even if I have to be dressed in trousers and long sleeved
tops, plus a hat!
19. Sweet or salty?
Probably salty. My favourite treat
food is cheese, crackers and crisps!
And The
Earth Moved
Amber
Reed CCIA Mystery Book One
Tagline
- “Romantic comedy meets celebrity murder mystery”
Short
blurb – Can a barmaid convince a secret agent she can
help him solve a celebrity murder mystery?
Book
Blurb:
Amber’s making up the horoscopes for the local
paper and wishing for some excitement in her life when she gets a phone call
offering her just that. It could change her life forever and plunge her into a
world where she’s quickly (and scarily) out of her depth.
The call? Heartthrob actor Ennis McKarthy, her
old uni boyfriend, begs her for a favour. His brother Joel has been found is
dead - in very suspicious circumstances.
Desperate to keep the story out of the
newspapers and solve the mystery of his brother’s death as fast as possible,
Ennis has called in the specialists in the shape of the CCIA. The Celebrity
Crimes Investigation Agency has just the man for the job – their top agent
Charlie Huxton.
But Ennis, stalked by journalists and paparazzi,
doesn’t trust a stranger to handle the case on his own and keep quiet about
what he might discover so he pleads with Amber, wanting her to shadow Charlie
throughout the investigation.
Much to Amber’s surprise Charlie eventually
agrees, leaving her wondering why. What’s he up to?
Charlie and Amber delve into Joel’s death and
soon have their hands full with questioning potential suspects and the victim’s
irate ex-girlfriend. Then they discover they’re battling something far more
dangerous than they could ever have expected…and it’s not just their growing
attraction for each other.
Maybe Amber’s life is about to get too exciting…
Find
the book on Amazon UK
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the book on Amazon USA
Extract:
“What kind of excitement are Gemini’s going to
have this week?” I ponder, tapping my fingers against the keyboard.
I’m a third of the way through making up the
horoscopes for this week’s local paper. Aries are going to get news of a
fantastic job opportunity. Capricorns will receive some kind of windfall. But
what about Gemini? I always like to give my Madam Zamber horoscope column an
upbeat feel – after all, nobody reads their star signs to get depressed right?
My fingers hover over the computer keys as I
debate on Gemini’s fate. I’m a Gemini so this one better be especially good;
it’s been a rough week.
My phone, nestled somewhere in the depths of my
bag, starts playing a chart tune at full volume. When I eventually find it I
check the caller display and see Ennis’ name.
Ennis and I haven’t spoken for a while but I
know he came home last week after he’d finished working on his latest movie, he
sent me a text. He probably wants to meet for a coffee and a catch up. It’s
strange; to me Ennis is, well, just Ennis. I don’t think of him as a heartthrob
actor, just my ex, my university boyfriend, who I meet up with for a chat
whenever he’s in Palstone.
Time for a little break from the horoscopes. I
hit the answer button.
“Hi, how’s things?” I ask, leaning back in my
chair.
There’s nothing but silence on the other end of
the line.
“Ennis?” I sit up, instantly concerned. “Are you
there? Is something wrong?”
His voice is so quiet I can barely hear him.
“Joel’s dead,” he says.
“What?” I shout, leaping to my feet and earning
myself a look of curiosity from the other two members of staff at The Palstone
Courier. I lower my voice. “How? What
happened?”
“We don’t know yet,” he replies, his voice heavy
with emotion. “But the police are saying he died in suspicious circumstances.”
I gulp. “You mean murder?”
“Look, Amber can you please come over?” Ennis
says. “Now? Please? I need to ask you a huge favour.”
I grab my jacket and bag. “On my way.”
Find
the book on Amazon UK
Find
the book on Amazon USA
Author
bio:
Zanna Mackenzie lives on the
Derbyshire/Leicestershire border with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch
that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books
waiting to be read.
Being a freelance writer and editor of business
publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found
scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves
it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start
deviating from the original plot!
Find out more about Zanna on her blog
www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk, on Twitter via @ZannaMacKenzie or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie
Find
out more about Zanna at:
www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ZannaMacKenzie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie
Goodreads -
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10703273-zanna-mackenzie
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zanna-Mackenzie/e/B00BKY1A18/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Pinterest: http://uk.pinterest.com/zannamac/
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