In The Drink by Allyson K. Abbott Interview & Giveaway

In The Drink
by Allyson K. Abbott

The plot is fantastic. So wicked. So twisted. This would be a great episode for the show Criminal Minds.
~fuonlyknew
Laura’s Ramblins and Reviews

In the Drink
(Mack’s Bar Mysteries Book 3)
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0758280190

Synopsis

Mack’s Bar and its crime-solving clientele are quickly gaining notoriety for helping solve some high-profile cases. But Mack is learning the hard way that not all press is good press…

By day, Mackenzie “Mack” Dalton is the proprietress of a popular Milwaukee watering hole. But after last call, she uses her unique cocktail of extra perceptive senses to help solve some of the city’s most grisly homicides. Now, Mack and her barstool detectives are happy to help when Tiny, one of the bar’s newest patrons, asks them to look into his sister’s murder. Though the case has gone cold, Mack’s heightened senses quickly put her on the killer’s trail. But when a throng of reporters intrigued by her talents descends on Mack’s Bar, her efforts are muddled as a real-life Moriarty begins putting her infamous skills to the test, leaving Mack feeling shaken and stirred…

* Includes drink recipes *

About The Author 

Allyson K. Abbott is the pseudonym of a mystery and thriller writer who also works as an emergency room nurse. She lives in a small Wisconsin town with her family. Visit her at bethamos.com.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6567174.Allyson_K_Abbott

Interview

Where are you from?

When I was growing up our family moved a lot so I’ve grown accustomed to saying I’m from wherever I’m living at the moment. So at the moment I’m from Wisconsin. But I’ve also lived in New York, New Jersey, Washington, California, and Virginia.

Tell us your latest news?

I’m working on #4 in the Mack’s Bar series now and will soon begin work on #8 in the Mattie Winston series that I write under the pseudonym Annelise Ryan. Book #7 in this series, Stiff Competition, comes out in January. And I just added a new member (and huge distraction) to my family, an adorable pup named Winston!

When and why did you begin writing?

I honestly can’t answer this. I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t writing (or reading, for that matter). My mother tells me that as an infant I was writing on the wall by my crib using the only thing handy to me at the time—something that came out of my diaper! So I think it’s fair to say I was writing some sort of crap at a very early age. I sent my first written piece out for possible publication when I was seventeen. Twenty years later I finally saw something of mine in print.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In my own, oft-deluded mind I’ve always considered myself a writer. But I never referred to myself as a writer to anyone else until I had my first novel published twenty years ago at age forty-one.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I spent a lot of years writing short fiction and not getting anywhere with it, so when I went back to school in my thirties to get a Bachelor’s degree, every elective I took (except for one unfortunate piano class) was a writing class of some sort. It was one of these that prompted me to first try writing longer fiction and, as a result, I started several novels that I never quite finished. It took me a couple of years to finally finish one—it wasn’t very good and thankfully no one has ever seen it. But the next one I wrote was the first one I ever had published.

Do you have a specific writing style?

My style? I think all writers have a somewhat unique voice, seasoned by their personalities, their experiences, their knowledge, their locales, and their ideas.

How did you come up with the title?

The title In the Drink was a collaborative effort between my publisher and me. Since the series has a bar as the main setting and a bartender/bar owner as the main character, all the titles so far have been some sort of drink-related pun: Murder on the Rocks, Murder with a Twist, and the next one, which is tentatively titled Shots in the Dark. Each title also hints at the plot.

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

I go where the story takes me and I don’t have any big messages in mind during the trip. But I do tend to write strong women characters who learn to believe in themselves, stand up for what they believe in, and go after what they want. And of course there’s that “crime doesn’t pay” lesson in all the books.

What would you like my readers to know?

For me, books have always been one of my greatest joys: a doorway into another world, a chance to meet new people, and an opportunity to step outside of my own life for a little while. They have taught me things, enthralled me for hours, taken me to new places, sparked ideas in my mind, and expanded my horizons. Reading is my greatest guilty pleasure. And if any of my books can do any of that for anyone else, I will die a happy woman!

Purchase Links 

Amazon
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