The title of this blog  post needs to be  Murder and Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction. The title  has such a nice ring to it.   Yes, I know it’s a long title for a blog; not for a book.  It is however the blog title because I need to have that in the first paragraph for search engine optimization.  It’s a case of technology over creativity but there it is; the world we live in.

Amy graciously agreed to an interview about her book. (It’s part of what we authors do to promote our work.)  Amy’s book deserves the attention so I was excited to interview her about it.

You can find the book on Amazon by following this link.   Ok, so here is the interview.

Amy what is the title of your book?

Murder & Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction

How was it you came to write this book?

I needed an outlet for stress when my mother was diagnosed with dementia. As time passed and she got worse, every time I was with her I felt like I was on Candid Camera. Taking care of her was both funny and sad, but it was almost always contentious. So each time after being with her, I’d go home and relive it again by writing about it, which helped to some degree, but also was depressing. I needed something to make me laugh, so I began writing GPJ.

When did you start the book and how long did it take you to finish it?

I began writing it around late 2009 or early 2010. I worked on it on and off while I also wrote the book about my mother. I think it took about a year.  I started querying in May 2011–I think! I’ll have to start keeping better records.

Would you tell me a little about the book including its genre and what it’s about?

The main genre is mystery, but it’s a cozy mystery. It has a bit of humor and romance along with the whodunit and also a little suspense. The book is centered around John Hobb’s murder, which took place in 1935 but was never solved. Tess, my main character, moves into Hobb’s house and during some mild remodeling, she finds a key. At first, she’s just curious and wants to know about its owner. But when she learns about the unsolved murder, and as weird things begin to happen to her, it’s clear the key has a history, and she’s intent on finding out the truth.

Please tell me about the main character.

Tess Tremaine is a Yankee. Yes, it’s true. When she moves to the southern town of Goose Pimple Junction, she’s kind of in culture shock. She sometimes has trouble understanding people’s accents or the goosepimpleisms they say. But she has Jackson Wright to help her out with that. He becomes her unofficial translator. Tess is in her forties, she is a writer, and she ends up getting a job at the town bookstore. She’s newly divorced and determined to stay away from men. But Jackson is persistent.
What challenges does this character face in the book?

Tess faces a couple of challenges. First, she’s sworn off men, but Jackson is testing that oath; she finds him hard to resist, but she does try her best.
Second, she wants to find out to whom the key belongs, but she runs into a lot of roadblocks.
Third, someone doesn’t want her to find out anything that has to do with the key, and they produce quite a few dangerous deterrents.
Fourth, Tess is sometimes culturally challenged when it comes to understanding the local dialect and her new friends’ many southern sayings.

What do you see as the main similarities and differences between you and
your main character?

There are actually a few similarities. We’re both klutzes (Jack says Tess could trip over a cordless phone.) We both like to garden, we’re both writers, and we both like to bake. But we’re also very different. People ask if Tess is me, and the answer is no. She’s a Yankee, I’m a southerner. She’s also braver, younger, and more attractive. I’m sure there are more similarities and differences, but those are the main ones.

Tell me about the three most important supporting characters in the book.

Louetta is the owner of the bookstore where Tess works. She’s also the daughter of the 1935 murder victim. And she’s a hoot. She’s the life of the party, kind of the unofficial matriarch of the town, and she always speaks her mind.

Jackson is Tess’s love interest and unofficial translator. He’s extremely attractive, a successful author of mystery books, and the owner of a very precocious Basset Hound.

And then there’s Pickle. Pickle is a teenager who works in the bookstore with Louetta and Tess. He’s very tall and skinny, and he wears a different funny t-shirt every day along with different colored Chuck Taylor tennis shoes. He’s a little—no, make that a lot—clueless, but he means well.

Where does the book’s story take place and how did you choose that location?

Goose Pimple Junction, Tennessee is the town where my story is set. There is a real Goose Pimple Junction, Virginia, which is where I got the name. I visited it in 1985, loved the name and never forgot it. When I decided to write a humorous mystery, Goose Pimple Junction seemed perfect for the name of the town where my quirky southern characters would live.

Just as a sidebar: someone once told me to change the name to Goosebump Junction, and someone else told me to change the name altogether because it would make people think of the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. I’m glad I stuck with Goose Pimple Junction.
What makes your main character unique?

Tess is flawed, but she’s also very likeable, I think. She’s not your typical leading lady for a romance because she’s in her forties, but I wanted her to be different from the twenty-something main characters you usually see. Tess is older and wiser, but I think she shows that romance is good at any age.

How does your character earn a living?

She has one published children’s book, and she’s writing a novel. She works in the bookstore, of course, she also gets those alimony checks every month.

When was this book first published and where is it available? 

Murder & Mayhem In Goose Pimple Junction was published in August 2012 and it’s available at any of the online bookstores, and the local bookstores, if you live in Louisville.

Is there anything you’d like to add about the book?

I’ve had a few reviewers tell me there is no southern town with people who would talk like my characters do. I’d just like to say they’re absolutely right. This is a work of fiction. It’s meant to entertain. It does not reflect anyone real and is not meant to be stereotypical.

I’d also like to say thank you to those whom have purchased the book. Thank you! I’m truly grateful for your time and money.

And thank you to Michael, too, for hosting me on his blog.

You are welcome Amy.  I enjoyed learning about your book.