Good Morning, Booklovers!
Please join me in welcoming Sharon Michalove to the Coffee Chat with her featured mystery, Dead in the Alley.
Good Morning, Sharon. Welcome to this terrific morning on the deck. How do you take your coffee?
SM: I drink it with a splash of half and half, and a sprinkle of some flavored sugar (I have five different ones).
Sharon grew up in suburban Chicago but after spending most of her life in a medium-sized university town she moved back to Chicago in 2017. She loves music, theater, travel, hockey, and cats, and less elevated activities like eating doughnuts and sampling gins and single malts.
Besides writing mysteries, she is the author of the romantic suspense series, Global Security Unlimited, and several short stories.
Something unique/unusual about me: “Two of my specialties as a historian are the history of polar exploration—I will be traveling to Antarctica in 2023—and food history. Readers say that my books make them hungry.”
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.sharonmichalove.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdmichaloveauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sdmichalove
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073761707861
Amazon author page: http://amazon.com/author/sdm_romance_and_more
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2128144.Sharon_D_Michalove?from_search=true&from_srp=true
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sharon-michalove
Ally: Who or what inspired your featured book?
SM: Dead in the Alley came sort of fully formed as if from the head of Zeus. My characters called the shots. I woke up one Saturday morning with characters speaking to me. And they insisted on this particular murder, the setting in Northern Michigan, and the love story. By the end of the weekend, it was plotted, and I knew a lot about the main and supporting characters. I did a lot of research on the characters. That kind of epiphany had never happened before, and I wish it would happen again. In some ways it’s the easiest book I’ve written.
Ally: What is the easiest—or the hardest—part of writing for you? Explain.
SM: The easiest part is revising. My first draft is kind of bare bones. I love adding more description and emotion. The hardest part is the first draft. Getting those initial words down and making the plot cohesive is hard work for me.
Ally: Do you use critique groups or beta readers? Do you find them valuable?
SM: I haven’t had any success with critique groups. Instead, I have a couple of critique partners that I brainstorm with. Then I use two sets of readers—early readers who get a pretty okay first draft to tell me if I’m on the right track and whether there are plot holes or characterization problems. Beta readers get a mostly polished version. I use two or three for each. Then it goes to the editor, who does two passes and proofreads.
Ally: How many drafts (revision passes) do you do on a typical book before submission to your editor/publisher?
SM: I do a certain amount of revising as I go along. Then I do a revision after I get early reader comments and a second revision after I get beta reader comments. Then it goes to the editor. I try to keep my hands off the manuscript while its being edited but I note down any new thoughts that come to me, incorporate them when I go through the editor’s comments, then submit for the second pass, usually with a note that I added, had second thoughts, etc. for the editor to note.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
SM: I have two right now. I am writing Murder at the Great Jane Austen Cook Off, my first stab at a “real” cozy mystery. And I am concurrently planning At the Ready, the third book in my Global Security Unlimited romantic suspense series.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose?
- book you’re currently reading: A Discerning Eye by Carol Orange
- most watched tv show: A Discovery of Witches
- favorite comfort food: Mushed up graham crackers and milk
- last time you rode a train (not subway): 2017 Paris to Bruges to Dijon to Venice
- How long does it take you to write a book? The first one took three and a half years, the second one about nine months, and the third one about six months. But each project is different.
Ally: Thank you for being on the blog, Sharon. Before we finish for today, please show us your featured book.
Genre: traditional mystery/second chance romance
Rating: PG-13
When Bay Bishop’s husband was found in the alley behind their Northern Michigan restaurant, she lost not only the partner in her dreams of establishing the best fine-dining establishment in the area but the man she thought was the love of her life.
Now she’s a suspect.
The detective who shows up on her doorstep turns out to be the high-school boyfriend who broke her heart. Faced with uncomfortable truths and new beginnings, Bay must chart a course to prove her innocence and create a new future.
Trailer link: Canva.com
Podcast about Dead in the Alley:
https://tgwolffcom.wordpress.com/2022/08/07/dead-in-the-alley-chapter-1-and-review/
Buy links: