SUMMER OF MYSTERY AND CRIME BLOG TOUR – The House on Xenia

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The House on Xenia
(A Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery Series)
by Rita Moreau

About the Book

The House on Xenia (A Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Independently Published (May 8, 2019)
Paperback: 332 pages
ISBN-10: 1096120712
ISBN-13: 978-1096120711
Digital Print Length: 209 pages
ASIN: B07R9Q682Y

A government conspiracy. A life-threatening secret. Can a psychic accountant balance the books of justice?
Mary Catherine “MC” Mahoney prefers numbers to her supernatural powers. But when a cold-case corpse shows up under her cousin’s family home, the only calculations that add up are paranormal. And deep within the floorboards of the house on Xenia, MC and her madcap Greek family uncover evidence pointing to visitors from another planet…
Pursued by military agents intent on keeping the secrets buried, MC will have to play by the house’s rules to expose the alien mystery. And there’s only one member of the family who can get to the hidden truth…
Can MC reveal the cover-up, or will a dangerous hush job close her books forever?
The House on Xenia is a standalone novel in the Mary Catherine Mahoney cozy mystery series. If you like psychic female sleuths, crazy family antics, and long lost aliens, then you’ll love Rita Moreau’s quirky tale.

About the Author

Guest Post by the Author

The Writing Process

One question my readers always ask me is “How do you write a novel?” I usually respond, “You write a novel one page at a time.”

When writing my fourth novel, The Russian & Aunt Sophia, I did not start out to write a novella. I actually had a 50,000 plus word manuscript about the time I decided to enter the 2017 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Contest. The entry could not exceed 20,000 words. It was challenging to take a 50,000 word manuscript and trim it down to less than 20,000 words. But in the process I learned to let go of words. It was very painful. A lot like downsizing from a house you have lived in most of your life. You have to let go of your grandmother’s china because it won’t fit in your new home and to your surprise no one in the family wants your grandmother’s china. It hurts and if you have that mindset and you are a writer it is painful to let go of those words you cherish but you have no choice if you want to write fiction in today’s market. This is sometimes called “killing your darlings.”

Two years ago I found a new editor when I decided to re-edit my first three novels. Live and learn is part of the life of an indie author. I have learned quite a bit about the craft of writing through the process of re-editing my first three novels and working with my new editor. One thing was I tend to write way too much backstory or in other words TMI. Readers get bored and will not finish a book if the plot does not move along and they stop reading and do not finish the novel or worse leave a negative review.

I also learned that my readers don’t need to be spoon fed because they are an intelligent group of individuals not children. After I entered the ScreenCraft competition my editor suggested publishing it as a novella. So I did and hence The Russian & Aunt Sophia became a novella.

The House on Xenia is my latest novel in the Mary Catherine Mahoney mystery series. I am proud that my readers enjoy my writing but tell me that they enjoy learning something along the way. My novels do fit the definition of cozy in that we have a whodunit featuring an amateur sleuth (Mary Catherine Mahoney), a distinctive setting (Florida), no explicit sex or violence. With that said I would venture to say my novels are a hybrid genre since I do employ large impersonal groups like drug cartels or secret government agencies. I like to call it a cozy with an edge. My novels all contain humor and are light and quick reads. No dark themes although I do have a theme in most of my novels. In the House on Xenia I celebrate the strength of a single Mom and in doing so I celebrate my mother who was one of the strongest women I have known in my life.

In The House on Xenia I introduce some new characters along with the zany and quirky characters my readers have come to enjoy. One is Mabel Gold and she will be the protagonist in a new series I am working on currently. I also employ what is called the fourth wall in writing The House on Xenia. The fourth wall is a conceptual barrier between those presenting some kind of a communication and those receiving it. The term originated in the theater, where it refers to the imaginary wall at the front of the stage separating the audience from the performers.

Xenia, (the house on Xenia) is a character in the book that breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader. This is employed in films where the characters in films break the fourth wall and talk to us, meaning they ignore the imaginary “wall” that keeps the actors from the audience.

In the movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” the lovable Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick) is constantly talking to the audience like they’re his best friends. The film makes it clear in the very beginning that it’ll be ignoring the rule of audience movie subject separation. More recently the villainous Frank Underwood breaks the fourth wall in the Netflix series, “House of Cards.”

I’m always happy to hear my readers tell me that they found humor in my writing and escape from their worries. My job is done.

Author Bio

Rita Moreau is the author of the Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery series.

A workaholic by nature, upon retirement, Rita Moreau began work on her bucket list, writing a book. Traveling the national parks with her husband George in a vintage Bluebird motor home, (on George’s list), Rita completed her first novel Bribing Saint Anthony. Back home she completed Nuns! Psychics! & Gypsies! OH! NO, Feisty Nuns, The Russian & Aunt Sophia and The House on Xenia. Rita and her husband live in a postcard called Florida where he has fun telling everyone he is the author’s husband. When not writing she joins PatZi Gil on the Joy on Paper radio program with Book Buzz Mysteries or you can find her teaching fitness classes and doing her best to keep busy. She loves connecting with readers.

Visit her at www.RitaMoreau.com or find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RitaMoreauAuthor. She would love to hear from you.

Author Links

Website – http://www.ritamoreau.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RitaMoreauAuthor/

Blog – http://www.radio-joyonpaper.com/book-buzz-mysteries/

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6587803.Rita_Moreau

Purchase Links – Amazon
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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

July 18 – Into the Abyss Reviews – REVIEW

July 19 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 20 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST

July 20 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT

July 21 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT