Fifty Shades of Greyhound by Sparkle Abbey Interview & 2 Giveaways

Fifty Shades of Greyhound by Sparkle Abbey

TOUR HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 4, 2014

You don’t have to a dog lover to enjoy this captivating story, just a lover of a good mystery and an intriguing plot.
~Thoughts in Progress

I would say they had me at the title, but the truth is, I fell in love with this series back with the first book.
~rantin, ravin and reading

The mystery kept me guessing and the cast of characters kept me entertained.
~Michelle’s Romantic Tangle

Fifty Shades of Greyhound by Sparkle Abbey
Cozy Mystery
205 Pages

Synopsis

It was a killer party.

Caro Lamont, Laguna Beach’s favorite pet therapist is thrilled to support the elite fundraising gala for Greys Matter, a SoCal greyhound rescue group. All the guests in the couture-attired crowd are clad in varying shades of grey, the champagne and donations are flowing, and there are fifty gorgeous greyhounds in attendance. But before the evening ends a stranger in their midst is dead.

Caro sets out to help the rescue group find out the identity of the mystery guest, but soon finds herself in the doghouse with homicide detective, Judd Malone. And federal agent, John Milner. When there’s a second death, Caro is convinced she’s on the track of someone who wants a secret to stay buried, but it’s a race to see whether Caro can uncover the truth before the killer decides she’s next up.

Full of adorable pampered pets, the story re-visits lovely Laguna Beach, and some of the colorful characters readers have come to love in previous titles: Desperate Housedogs, Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and Yip/Tuck.

About The Author

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write the popular pet mystery series which features whodunits set in the wacky world of pampered pets, precious pedigrees, and secrets. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon mystery series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 national bestseller, was followed by Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and Yip/Tuck.  Fifty Shades of Greyhound is the latest installment.

Interview:

National Bestselling Author Sparkle Abbey
Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write the popular pet mystery series which features whodunits set in Laguna Beach in the wacky world of pampered pets, precious pedigrees, and secrets. They chose to use Sparkle Abbey as the pen name on this series because they liked the idea of combining the names of their two rescue pets – Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog).

Where are you from?

As you may have noticed there are two of us. We both live in Central Iowa right now. In fact we live just a block from each other. Mary Lee grew up in Iowa, in Madison County. (Yes, the one from the “Bridges of Madison County” book/movie fame.) Anita grew up in California, in Silicon Valley. (Before it was the Silicon Valley.) However, we both grew up watching classic Gary Grant/Grace Kelly/Katherine Hepburn and Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies like, To Catch a Thief, or Pillow Talk. We find that shared love of old movies is at the root of our storytelling every bit as much as where we were raised.

Tell us your latest news.

Two things. Fifty Shades of Greyhound, book five in our Pampered Pets mystery series is out and we’re so thrilled about that news! And…we just signed a contract for two more books in the series. So, after book six, The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo, comes out this fall, we’ll be moving on to: Kitty Confidential and Raiders of the Lost Bark.

When and why did you begin writing?

Like a lot of writers, it’s hard to pinpoint the moment because we’ve always written. As far as writing a full-length book, that came from the love of reading. We’re both voracious readers and the first books we finished came from writing a story that would create a book we would want to read.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

This question is easier. When that first rejection letter came. It’s much easier to write for yourself, or your friends and family. It’s takes real courage (or perhaps insanity) to send that writing out to agents and editors. When you receive your first rejection letter, it’s crushing, but it’s also empowering. It means you’re a “real” writer.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Mary Lee – I’ve always been a reader and a writer. I’d mostly done essays and articles, but had always had ideas for books. The ideas changed as my reading tastes changed, but it seemed to me ideas for stories were everywhere. So I decided to take a novel writing class, and the instructor brought in a guest speaker for one of the classes. Ohmigosh! There was a novelist living right here. In Des Moines, Iowa. I was so excited by the fact that there was a regular someone who worked as a writer, that I determined I was going to complete what I’d been dabbling with. I have to tell you that book was awful. Really awful. But I learned so much from the experience. Mostly I learned what I didn’t know about fiction writing, but I was even more determined to learn.

Anita – Like ML, I’ve always been a reader and a writer. I penned my first book at a very young age. It was a YA story but, of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I’d have to say what set me on the path of writing my own books was the ending to a book that wasn’t exactly what I thought it should be. So, in my head I re-wrote it. Which led to writing stories with what I considered to be the right endings.

Do you have a specific writing style?

The interesting thing with there being two of us is that, when we pitched this mystery series, we didn’t really think about writing style.  However, our editor tells us that our writing styles are so similar that it’s difficult to tell them apart. We’d say that our writing style reflects our view of life – sometimes it takes humor to get you through the tough spots.

How did you come up with the title?

We often say that we come up with the titles over margaritas and sometimes that’s true. We do have fun thinking up titles. Writers are always cautioned not to get too attached to their own book titles. In many cases, the author will have a working title but the publisher’s marketing department may have a different idea. We’ve been lucky in that our publisher has always kept the titles we’ve come up with. We’re hoping the series continues, so if your readers have suggestions for books nine and ten, we’re open to ideas.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

The biggest message is that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Our books are amateur sleuth mysteries and the thing we love about this type of mystery is that the stories star people like you and me. Maybe Caro and Melinda, the two protagonists in our books, have a different background than our readers do. Heck, they have a completely different background than we do! But they don’t have a background in law enforcement and so when faced with helping to solve a crime, they have to use their wits and their own gifts.  

What would you like my readers to know?

And that reviews are important.

We all create these stories in our heads and put them down on paper and send them off to our editors. Then when the book is out there we hope it finds readers that are looking for just such a story. We aren’t all going to like the same type of book, but fair and honest reviews help us all discover new books and new authors.

And that we love to hear from readers.

It’s so important to authors to hear from readers, via an email or on social media or both. Creating the stories is a very solitary thing and so if the books have touched you or entertained you, we really want to know. Readers we love to hear from you!

Readers can find Sparkle Abbey online at:

Website: www.SparkleAbbey.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/sparklesbbey

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/sparkleabbey

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey

YouTube: www.youtube.com/sparkleabbey

And monthly on these blogs:

Paws to Read: http://www.sparkleabbey.com/category/blog/

Killer Characters: http://www.killercharacters.com/

The Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

Author Links

www.SparkleAbbey.com

http://www.sparkleabbey.com/category/blog/

www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey

https://twitter.com/sparkleabbey

https://www.goodreads.com/sparkleabbey

http://www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey/

Purchase Links

Amazon

Tour Giveaway:
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I can also Giveaway an ebook copy. Please enter here:
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Tour Participants

May 15 – Mystery Playground – Guest Post, Giveaway

May 16 – Kelly P’s Blog – Interview
May 17 – off
May 18 – off
May 19 – Thoughts in Progress – Review, Giveaway
May 20 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading  – Review, Interview
May 21 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle – Review
May 22 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog – Guest Post
May 23 – deal sharing aunt – Interview
May 24 – off
May 25 – off
May 26 – Community Bookstop – Review, Giveaway
May 27 – Books-n-Kisses – Review, Guest Post
May 28 – Brooke Blogs – Review, Guest Post 
May 29 –
May 30 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post 
June 4 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Guest Post