Triple Shot by Sandra Balzo — #7 in the Maggie Thorsen murder mystery series
Sandra Balzo is one of my favorite writers and I was so pleased she agreed to this interview. I have to admit, when I asked it was based on her YA book Running on Empty, which I read this past summer. When her newest book Triple Shot arrived by mail, I was excited and embarrassed. She is the author of what I call “The Coffee Books” — The Maggy Thorsen Mystery series of which I have several on my Kindle.
So, before the interview I began reading the first book in the series, Uncommon Grounds. It was fantastic — entertaining, good plot twist, and above all, no typos. I am in love with her work more than ever. And with newest book Triple Shot, I now have 6 more books awaiting consumption.
Enjoy the Podcast with Sandra Balzo
The goal to writing a novel is to just get it down. Don’t worry about how bad it is, the point is to put words on a page.
Coffee Talk: Espressos, Cappuccinos and Lattes.
True to form, I chat with Sandy about herself as an author, her life and the need for reading glasses. This is the part of the interview I love, getting to know the author. I was halfway through her first novel Uncommon Grounds, and had just received the printed copy of her novel Triple Shot. (Murder on the Orient Espresso released in Dec 2013) She now has 8 books in her “coffee” series.
What I love are the book cover designs — the layout and art are fantastic. Like many authors, her ebooks have a completely different cover design that those in print. This is commonly due to publishers owning the book cover copyright. When she moved into the digital format, new covers were required. We didn’t discuss this in detail, but it is something authors need to be aware of.
Between the laughter, we covered some ‘serious’ points in writing, formatting, weaknesses and strengths:
- OCR: Optical Character Recognition: a way to scan a tangible print book into a digital word file. While a great process, careful proofreading is necessary. OCRs are not infallible and at times, will generate a word incorrectly. Word processing program looked for misspelled words and though the word was correctly spelled it was definitely not the right word.
- Plot: we all know what it is, and should decide on the plot before you sit down and write. Not an easy task if you are bad at plotting.
- Setting your Story Location: Sandra chose a coffee house in a small town because she loves the sense of community and the people from all walks of life: from business people to soccer moms to students.
- Dialog and Scene: We all seem to have our strengths – some have an uncanny ability for dialog, others can visualize scenes. Balzo says “it’s really important to show those things that will tell the reader what is important to that character and for that character.”
- Backstory: Not all backstory needs to be included in the final piece, but it is common to put in a lot when writing the first draft.
I enjoyed my chat with Sandy. She is a warm, open and very talented woman and I am happy to place her as one of my favorite authors (and friends).
If you enjoy small town murder mysteries, then take a look at Sandy’s Maggy Thorsen series or The Main Street series the second to be release early 2012. You won’t be disappointed.
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Sandra Balzo Author of the Main Street and Maggie Thorsen Murder Mysteries
About Sandy
Sandra Balzo turned to mystery writing after twenty years in corporate public relations, event management and publicity and her newly released novel Triple Shot, is her seventh Maggy Thorsen coffeehouse mystery, and Sandy’s second series, Main Street Mysteries, debuted in April 2011 with Running on Empty. The books, set in the popular vacation destination of North Carolina’s High Country, will alternate with the Maggy Thorsen mysteries. Heaven’s Fire, about a fireworks show gone badly wrong, was released directly to Kindle with excellent reviews.
Balzo’s novels have been nominated for both the Anthony and Macavity awards and received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist. In addition to her books about coffee-maven Maggy Thorsen and displaced journalist AnnaLise Griggs, Balzo writes short stories, two of which have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, winning the Macavity, Derringer and Robert L. Fish awards. Those psychological thrillers, along with a third original story, are available on Kindle in The Grass is Always Greener and Other Stories.
Balzo has handled publicity for three Bouchercons (World Mystery Conventions), as well as the International Association of Crime Writers, and has served a national board member of Mystery Writers of America. A native of southeastern Wisconsin, she currently splits her time between Florida and the High Country of North Carolina.
And roots for the Green Bay Packers.
Learn more about Sandy and her work at:
List of Published Work
- Heavens Fire
- The Grass is Always Greener and Other Stories by Sandra Balzo
Maggy Thorsen series:
- Uncommon Grounds
- Grounds for Murder
- Bean There, Done That
- From the Grounds Up
- Brewed, Crude and Tattooed
- A Cup of Joe
- Triple Shot
Main Street Mysteries
- Running on Empty
This was my very first podcast, so thanks to Suzanne for making it so easy. In fact, I kept forgetting we were taping (hmm, maybe not a good thing :-). Hope everyone enjoys listening as much as we did talking. Thank you, Suz, and happy holidays to everybody!
Sandy
http://www.SandraBalzo.com
Sandy, I had a great time too — I was laughing as I was editing. Would love to have you back, perhaps on your venture into e-publishing your fiance’s books? THAT would be an adventure —
All the best,
Suz