Friday, April 22, 2011

Hey, You Wrote a Book!

It's always lovely to meet authors that you enjoy reading but it's also quite lovely to have worked with a person who is now an author. Jessie Chandler is a former bookseller colleague of mine. We traveled in the same book selling circles for many years and I even attended a training session that she taught back in the day.
Well, turns out she has been very busy and now is a mystery author!
I went to my Sunday morning bookstore gig last week and my manager asked if I remembered her. I said, "Sure do!" and was quickly led to her book on our local author table.
How cool is that?

Well, when I got home I emailed Jessie and congratulated her and caught up. When I told her I had a book review site, she offered to send me a copy to read and review at my leisure.
Well, I can't pass that up, especially if it's a mystery!

So here it is folks, Bingo Barge Murder -Book 1 in the Shay O'Hanlon mystery. series
(description from author's website)

Shay O'Hanlon is a Minneapolis coffee shop co-owner whose life revolves around her work. Her best friend, Nicholas "Coop" Cooper is a vegetarian tree hugger who wouldn't hurt a fly. He works on a moored bingo barge on the Mississippi River. Coop has words with his boss, Stanley "Kinky" Anderson, and the talk ends with Kinky telling Coop, "You're fired!"

The next day Kinky is found dead in the bingo barge office, his head smashed in by a bronzed bingo dauber. Coop runs to Shay for help. They enlist the aid of Shay's mother-figure, Edwina "Eddy" Quartermaine, who's a 60-something, hip, lovable woman (also the owner of the Victorian house in Uptown where Shay's coffee shop is located).

After breaking into the barge to look for clues to who really bashed Kinky's head in, Eddy is kidnapped, and craziness ensues. Shay and Coop must locate a missing truckload of nuts and return it to two bumbling mobsters or they'll feed Eddy to the fish. During the search for these missing nuts, Shay and Coop do some additional breaking and entering, discover another dead body, acquire a Boxer dog named Dawg, and try to dodge JT, the Minneapolis detective working Kinky's murder case.

Will they succeed in their quest to clear Coop and nail the murderer? Or will their madcap inexperience doom Eddy forever?

Sounds like a lot of fun!
My review is to come since I just got it in the mail yesterday.
I am excited to stop by her book release party at Once Upon a Crime Mystery bookstore in Minneapolis on May 19.

It's so much fun to support local authors and it's even more fun to support the ones you know!

I hope you check her out.

Author Website:

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

10 comments:

Audra said...

How fun! I'm a little envious when people I know get book deals, but then again, I'm not actually writing a book so I can't fault them for doing so! ;) This sounds like a fun read -- I visited Minneapolis last summer and loved it -- so the setting is appealing!

Sheila Deeth said...

How very cool! It sounds wonderful, to know the writer, and know her before the book, and know she's a real person. The book sounds great fun too.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

That is so cool! I know you are proud of her. I look forward to your review.

Misha said...

That's so cool!
Bingo Barge Murder sounds like a fun mystery!

Unknown said...

Ooh, very fun!

Tales of Whimsy said...

*high five* How cool! Don't you feel like a big shot now for knowing an author? ;) I SO would.

Senator said...

Awww that's awesome! Yay!

Stacy at The Novel Life said...

how very cool to *know* an author! AND one wants to take you to dinner...you are so moving up in the world Michelle!

Gina said...

Wow...that's great! Congrats for your friend/former co-worker and how cool you get to review the book....which from the sound of it ought to be fairly interesting. Can't wait to read all about it.

Jessie Chandler said...

Well geez! I missed this! Michelle, thanks for putting this out there. Now I have to see if you've read the book yet LOL Thank you too for linking my website to your post. I am so far behind on everything... all this author promote youreself stuff is rough indeed :-) Bookselling is easier LOL

Keep workin' it, girlfriend!!!