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BOOK TRAILER

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Nicole Graves arranges a summer-long swap of her Los Angeles condo for a London couple’s house, she thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She’s always dreamed of seeing the real London; she’s also hopeful the time away with her husband Brad will be good for their troubled marriage.
But things don’t turn out the way Nicole expects: The Londoners fail to arrive in L.A. and appear to be missing. Then people begin following Nicole and making threats, demanding information she doesn’t have. Soon, Nicole realizes she’s in serious trouble–but she can’t get Brad or the police to believe her.
When the confrontations turn deadly, Nicole must either solve the case or become the next victim.

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

What initially got you interested in writing?

I’ve always loved to read. Majored in English at UC, then earned a living as a writer and editor. So I guess you could say that I’ve always been a writer. No single event drew me into it.

What genres do you write in?

Mystery.

What drew you to writing these specific genres?

I got into mystery writing when I took a mystery writing class at UCLA’s writer’s program. On the very first day of class, the teacher handed out a single sheet of instructions about how to set up a mystery plot. That did it. Not sure I got much else out of the class, but that was enough.

How did you break into the field?

After years of rejection letters, I gave up trying to write novels and took up painting. Half a dozen years later, I dug out my last manuscript. Figured I had enough distance to see the flaws that prevented it from being accepted for publication. But guess what? It was a terrific read. Even I was surprised by the ending. i’d forgotten the final twist.  I decided to self publish the book on Amazon. It got some great reviews, including one in Foreward Reviews. A publisher, Light Messages Publishing, saw the review and contacted me. They are reissuing my first two books (now working on a third) next year. So I’d say I broke into the field by having faith that people would enjoy reading my stories and making the effort to get them out there.

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

I’d like readers to be surprised by my plot developments and to have a good time reading the story. I mean these books to be entertaining and perhaps enlightening about the places where they’re set.

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

I find it very rewarding when someone tells me they enjoyed reading the book. Also the validation that comes from good reviews.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

The biggest challenge is finding a good plot and keeping it afloat and exciting without having it sag in the middle for 60,000 or so words.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

For people who want to write fiction of any kind and don’t know how to begin, I’d advise them to enroll in some kind of writing class, preferably one addressed to the genre they’re interested in. I’d also advise them to join a writers group, a small one. I was in one for twelve years. The weekly meetings, where each of us would read what we’d written, get us all focused and writing. We also got good, constructive feedback from one another.

What type of books do you enjoy reading?

As I said, I like mysteries. But I also like literary fiction. I adore Victorian novels and modern-day books written in that style. I like gothic novels, science fiction, dystopian novels. I have a long list of reviews of books I’ve enjoyed on Goodreads.com

Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

Aside from writing, I’m a painter. I like painting portraits and use a lot of old family photos. I also write about neighbohood mysteries (odd happenings I notice on my morning walks) for laobserved.com.

What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your store and what you offer?

I have author pages on Facebook, Goodreads, and nancyboyarsky.com