CLarbojahn Presents with give away! / Author Annette Dasofy Part One

Hi Friends!

Doesn’t this look exciting!!

Today welcome Annette Dasofy, the author of four amazing crime mystery novels and fellow colleague from one of my writer groups called Penn Writers. I won her book, Circle of Influence, in a giveaway on Goodreads, the famous reader web site, last year and enjoyed it so much I asked if Annette would appear on my blog. She agreed right away. And of course I was tickled pink. What follows are the book blurbs and then the interview.

 

 

 

First let’s start with some blurbs ok?

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

Zoe Chambers, paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township, has been privy to a number of local secrets over the years, some of them her own. But secrets become explosive when a dead body is found in the Township Board President’s abandoned car. As a January blizzard rages, Zoe and Police Chief Pete Adams launch a desperate search for the killer, even if it means uncovering secrets that could not only destroy Zoe and Pete, but also those closest to them.

 

LOST LEGACY

On a sultry summer afternoon, Paramedic Zoe Chambers responds to a call and finds a farmer’s body hanging from the rafters of his hay barn. What first appears to be a suicide

quickly becomes something sinister when Zoe links the victim to a pair of deaths forty-five years earlier. Her attempts to wheedle information from her mother and stepfather hit a brick wall of deception, one that brings into question everything Zoe knows about her late father, who died in a car crash when she was eight. Or did he?

Police Chief Pete Adams fears Zoe’s inquiries are setting her up for deeper heartbreak and putting her in danger. As Zoe and Pete inch closer to the truth, they discover that a missing gun links the crimes which span more than four decades. But the killer isn’t done. Two more Vance Township residents fall victim to the same gun, and when tragedy strikes too close to home, Zoe realizes her family is in the crosshairs.

 

BRIDGES BURNED

Paramedic Zoe Chambers is used to saving lives, but when she stops a man from running into a raging inferno in a futile attempt to rescue his wife, Zoe finds herself drawn to him, and even more so to his ten-year-old daughter. She invites them both to live at the farm while the grieving widower picks up the pieces of his life.

Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams, of course, is not happy with this setup, especially when he finds evidence implicating Zoe’s new houseguest in murder times two. When Zoe ignores Pete’s dire warnings, she runs the very real chance of burning one too many bridges, losing everything–and everyone–she holds dear.

 

So let me start with no further ado.

 

1-CBJ.- What did you learn from writing your book, Circle of Influence, not just in writing craft but for you personally?

 

A.D. -Probably the biggest lesson I gained from writing Circle of Influence was the importance of research. Since one of my point of view characters, Pete Adams, is a police chief, I needed to learn about proper police procedure. I’d read books and blogs, but the best source I found was the Pittsburgh Citizen’s Police Academy. It was eye-opening, educational, and FUN. Since then, I’ve also taken the Pennsylvania State Police CPA and Lee Lofland’s Writers Police Academy. I highly recommend that anyone writing crime fiction should find their local CPA and sign up. You won’t regret it.

2-CBJ- What was the most fun?

I enjoyed essentially going back to my younger days when I worked on the local ambulance service. It was an exciting, memorable part of my life, and while I don’t really want to go back to that kind of work, I loved putting my protagonist in that world and living vicariously through her!

3- What gave you the inspiration for Circle of Influence? And why did you give the book that name?

The seed for the idea was a snippet of conversation I overheard. There was a brouhaha going on around here involving a local politician and I heard someone grumble, “Someone should just kill him and put him out of my misery!” I knew immediately I had to use it and the line is used early in the book. As for the title, I thought of how one person’s actions can reach out and affect many people, like a pebble dropped into a still pond creates rippling circles spreading out…and Circle of Influence came from that.

4- What made you turn to writing? Did you work at other jobs before becoming a full-time writer? Or are you now full-time?

I’ve been writing in some form or another since I was very young. It’s something I’ve always NEEDED to do. I did work a lot of other jobs over the years including being an EMT, lots of retail jobs, farm work, running a photography studio, and teaching yoga. Even after I decided to focus on writing, I sold Avon and continued to teach yoga. But gradually the other jobs have dropped aside and now I write full-time. Fortunately, my husband has a “real” job with good health insurance!

And  the fun part!! The Give Away! 🙂

The book of your choice goes to the lucky winner of the person who comments and follows this blog. The lucky winner would have a double chance if tweets about this post and another chance of winning if this post gets on their Facebook page. So there could be three extra chances to win. It works by me putting your name in the hat one,two or three times in the hat depending on what you tell me about how you promoted this post and Annette Dasofy. You are on your scouts honor.( But I might check you out on Facebook or twitter if I have time.  🙂 But really we are all adults here.  🙂 ) We are doing a give away each part! So you have the ability to win two -2- books from Annette!! Go comment and win! 🙂 We’ll have the drawing the Saturday following part two next week. That way everyone who wants to win will have had a chance to comment and enter into the drawing.

Annette Dasofy’s Bio!!

Author Annette Dasofy

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best selling author of the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE (Henery Press) was published in March 2014, followed by LOST LEGACY, which was released in September 2014, and BRIDGES BURNED, available in April 2015. Her short fiction includes a 2007 Derringer Award nominee featuring the same characters as her novels.

Where can we find you on the web?

My website is www.annettedashofy.com. I have a blog at http://annettedashofy.blogspot.com/. I invite you to “like” my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/annette.dashofy and follow me on Twitter at @Annette_Dashofy.

Thanks so much, Annette!

We have to stop here today after the fourth question to keep from making it too long for readers to read in one sitting. This is so scintillating I don’t want to miss any and hope the rest of you feel the same way. Next time, Next Tuesday we are going to learn about her second book. And also what the real fascination with her character, Zoe Chambers, Annette has. So be sure and come back and read all about it okay?

 

See you here Friday for a Picture Book Friday review and follow this blog post of Annette Dasofy’s interview for next Tuesday.

 

XOXO