Book Bits~n~Bobs: Valentine Countdown Day 3

Amey Zeigler wrote her first mystery with her best friend in fourth grade. She wrote, the friend illustrated. It also had a cute boy in it with spiky hair (because that was the style back then). Not much has changed. She loves mysteries. She loves romance. She loves suspense. She loves action, adventure and comedy. But she wants it to have a happy ending.

Because she grew up moving all around the United States, Amey loves writing about different places. In her books, she explores the whole world.

Growing up, Amey was always trying new things. She played violin, drums, flute, piano, all before she was sixteen. She also discovered she didn't have much talent for music.

When people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she was afraid to tell them she wanted to be a writer because she didn't know how to write.

She is so grateful for her Sophomore year Honor's English teacher who gave her a star and five points (out of five!) for Voice on her personal essay. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had enough courage to pursue writing.

In her spare time, she adopts stray furniture left on the side of the road, fixes it up and gives it a new look and home. Amey lives with her husband and three children near Austin, TX.

Connect with the Author here:

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~
~ Blog ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~

Twenty-three year-old investigative journalist, Andy Miller is armed with her many disguises and creativity to take down the riff-raff of Saint Louis. When her stepbrother is murdered by the mob, Andy soon discovers she’s out of her depth.

Enter Hugh Donaldson who has reasons of his own for discovering the murderer. He’ll use everything in his power to achieve that, including lying to Andy about his past. Dangerous as he is attractive, his martial arts skills and his quirky ways raise Andy’s suspicions.

Although Andy balks at his lies, Hugh’s charms, twenty-inch biceps, and electrifying blue eyes are difficult to resist. Striking out on their own, Hugh and Andy try to outwit each other as they traverse North America tracking down people connected to the case.

As clues disappear and the body count climbs, Andy and Hugh must trust each other and use their combined skills to bring the murderer to justice.

~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~

~ Wild Rose Press ~ iTunes ~

Q&A With the Author:

1. Tell us about things you enjoy — what you do for fun or personal satisfaction besides writing?

I am a full time mom. I also like to sew costumes especially for Halloween. I oil paint. I like to adopt stray furniture on the side of the road and give them a face lift with chalk paint and/or reupholstery. My husband says we have enough free furniture in our house. I might need to find another hobby. I garden. I bake. I am an avid people watcher. And I exercise and read.

2. What is the thing you struggle with the most while writing? And how do you defeat it?

I struggle with getting a plot nailed down. I write about twenty thousand words before I truly have a sense of the story. Then I go back and rewrite large swaths of it. I have so many ideas it’s just a matter of find out which ones will work for the story. Not every good idea can be squeezed into a story, but I do try :)

3. What are your future projects?

I will finish out the Baker’s Dozen series, I have a sweet casserole romance, a sweet romance set in Switzerland and two sweet romances set at the University of Arizona. I also have paranormal YA romance as well that needs to be polished. Then I’m working on plotting out another mystery series set in Europe.

4. What is the “message” of your writing?

I have themes for each book. Baker’s Dozen talks about honesty, hypocrisy and whether or not it’s okay to lie to protect people. All of my themes are uplifting and inspiring, I hope. I also like writing romances because I really do feel that finding love and developing a relationship brings us happiness.

5. Are your characters/stories/scenes, etc. based on anything in real life?

I am sending out a novel set in Vevey, a city where I lived in Switzerland. The novel includes some crazy adventures like hauling a recliner up four flights of stairs and cultural misunderstandings. I left out the scene that was really similar to the time I went down in the basement and in searching for the light, turned on the fire alarm.

6. Have you done anything writing-related, besides actually writing your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?

I wanted to be a writer since I was little. But I didn’t know if I had talent. In my sophomore honors English class, we were asked to write a personal essay about a talent we had. As I went walking, I brainstormed ideas. Then, I found it. I found my voice. My personal essay talked about how I couldn’t do sports because I had my father’s rear and my mother’s hips and they didn’t work well together. I talked about taking raw materials and creating something new by sewing them together. I read my essay aloud to my class. They laughed. And I got a perfect score. I was delighted I found my voice. I love to make people laugh.