Deal Sharing Aunt: Sinful Science by Frankie Bow Interview & Giveaway

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Sinful Science by Frankie Bow Interview & Giveaway

Sinful Science
by Frankie Bow

This novella was a quick, interesting read and I really mean it in the best of ways when I wish more ‘Miss Fortune’ for everyone!
~Back Porchervations

The Miss Fortune Series: Sinful Science
(Kindle Worlds Novella)
(Hair Extensions and Homicide Book 1)
Cozy Mystery
Kindle Worlds (December 6, 2015)
Print Length: 116 pages
ASIN: B01928QJPU

Synopsis

A graduate student from Hawaii visits the tiny bayou town of Sinful, Louisiana to investigate the effects of the oil spill on the local wildlife. Sinful resident Fortune Redding, who happens to be a CIA operative hiding out from a ruthless arms dealer, worries that the nosy newcomer might blow her cover. But he discovers something that even Fortune couldn’t have predicted, unleashing forces that will go to any lengths to protect Sinful’s darkest secret.

About The Author

Frankie Bow teaches at a public university. Unlike the characters in her Mahina State Mysteries, she is blessed with delightful students, sane colleagues, and a perfectly nice office chair. She believes if life isn’t fair, at least it can be entertaining. In addition to writing murder mysteries, she publishes in scholarly journals under her real name. Her experience with academic publishing has taught her to take nothing personally.

Interview

Where are you from?

I live in Hawaii and have for years, but people I meet here will still ask me where I’m from, so I guess they assume the answer is “not Hawaii.” I was actually born in California and apparently it shows.

Tell us your latest news?

I’m excited about the release of Sinful Science, my first work of fan fiction. It’s written in Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune world. The setting is the tiny bayou town of Sinful, Louisiana, and the protagonist is an undercover CIA officer posing as a retired beauty queen to hide out from a vengeful arms dealer.

When and why did you begin writing fan fiction?

It was something I’d never really thought about until I heard about Kindle Worlds. The Kindle Worlds platform offers worlds for fans to write in, with the blessing of the original authors. Anyone can write a story in one of the worlds, upload it, and split the royalties with the author. It’s a brilliant idea. The fanfic writer and the original author both make a little money, and fans get more stories to read. Everyone wins.

I had already read and enjoyed Jana DeLeon’s work, both the Miss Fortune series and the Mudbug books, and now I had a chance to write a Miss Fortune story of my own! Of course I had to give it a try.

Since you write under a pen name, which people in your life know that you’re a writer?

When I started writing I had to make a decision about how “out” I wanted to be. I decided to use a pen name to make sure my academic research and my mystery stories didn’t show up together in the same search. On the other hand, I wanted to be able to do in-person talks and book signings and have an author photo. So I settled on being pseudonymous, rather than anonymous. My family and friends, some of my work colleagues, and one or two of my students know my secret identity.

What inspired the plot of Sinful Science?

Without committing a major spoiler, I’ll just say that I wanted to introduce an element that was a little outside of the normal Miss Fortune universe, but have it make perfect sense within the setting, and have the characters react to it in an authentic way.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I try to write what I like to read, and what I like to read usually involves smart humor, imperfect characters, and petty vendettas. I love Sarah Caudwell’s mysteries, and will re-read them repeatedly even though I already know who the killer is. Although they aren’t mysteries, I adore E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories and E.M. Delafield’s Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I just started reading after a thoughtful friend sent it to me for Christmas.

How did you come up with the title, Sinful Science?

Sinful is the name of the town, and Science has to do with the visiting graduate student doing his fieldwork on nutria. He finds something in the course of his research that kicks off the events in the book.

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

Even your closest friends have secrets that would astonish you.

What would you like my readers to know?

I encourage everyone to take advantage of the “read a sample” or “look inside” options before downloading a book. The samples are quite generous, and reading them will tell you more about whether you’ll like a book or not than any number of reviews.