Friday, January 13, 2012

Beach Chat with Jayne Ormerod

Fifteen questions in five mintues....GO!


Name:  Jayne Ormerod  

Book you are reading right now:  Murder, She Wrote, The Fine Art of Murder by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain

Preference, print or ebook: Print!

Genre you write: Cozy Mystery

Current work in progress: Blond Justice (The third book in the Blond trilogy)

Favorite place to write:  I like the idea of writing at the beach, but the reality is there are too many distractions.  And sand gets in my laptop.  Things go better when I lock myself in solitary confinement in my upstairs office, turn off all music and TV and just escape to my imaginary worlds. 

Biggest writing challenge:  Getting published! 

 
   One author, living or dead, with whom you’d like to sip Mai Tais with on Waikiki Beach: Agatha Christie


Three of your favorite things:  Family time, a good meal, and books written by a friend.

Worst non-writing job you ever had:  Slinging spaghetti at Mama Rosa’s Italian Restaurant under the water ski stadium at Sea World, Ohio (yes, there used to be one there!)

Dream car: Nash Metropolitan (Nancy Drew drove one in her 2008 movie)

One guilty pleasure: watching House Hunters

Pet peeve:  When people don’t show up at the appointed time

Favorite quote or saying:  “Life is not about finding shelter in the storm but learning how to dance in the rain.”

Best beach memory:  Sitting with friends on the deck of the O’Club while enjoying beach food and beverages, listening to the Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band and watching sailboats speed across the Narragansett Bay, all this painted in a rosy glow by the sun setting behind the Newport Bridge.  Life doesn’t get any better than that.    

Bio: Jayne Ormerod writes what she knows—small towns (influenced by her childhood growing up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and beach settings (a result of 28 years as a navy spouse, always living within a flip-flop’s throw of the ocean.)  Thanks to a youth spent reading Nancy Drew and an adulthood devouring the words of Janet Evanovich, Lillian Jackson Braun and Mary Daheim, she can now write about amateur sleuths, wacky escapades and dead bodies with a modicum of authority.  Her first cozy mystery, The Blond Leading the Blond, was released in October, 2011 by Avalon Books and is available for purchase or for borrowing from a library near you. 

6 comments:

Patricia said...

Hi Jayne! I read all the Murder She Wrote mysteries and love them. And I wish I could write on the beach, but, like you, I'd be too distracted and sand would ruin my MacBook. I enjoyed reading personal snippets about your life. Cool.
Patti

Anonymous said...

If you get that meeting with Agatha Christie, may I come? Great Q&A!

Jayne Ormerod said...

Patti, I actually met Donald Bain (the one who "helps" J B Fletcher write the books) and Donald's wife at the New England Crime Bake Conference last November. So he actually signed the copy I'm reading. Pretty cool!

Would love to "Beach Chat" with you someday soon. I'll post something on Wanaminions. Thanks for stopping by.

Jayne Ormerod said...

Julie, I am fascinated with all things Agatha. if I ever win the lottery, I want to visit her ould haunts in england. i think her home is available for tour.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jolyse Barnett said...

You and I share the same pet peeves and same love of the water. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to reading mysteries, never graduating from Nancy Drew. Oh well, I still plan to read your cozy mystery this winter, snuggled safely next to my husband. :)

Jayne Ormerod said...

Joleyse, no worries, my mystery is not as scary as Nancy's escapdes! Promise! Thanks for stopping by!