Visit Jenny T. Partridge (and Natalie!) at their site!
Natalie, where did you get the idea for your dance series?
Oh, an easy one! Good. I have worked for my daughter's dance
studio for eight years now, and I have seen every shape, size and color of
psycho dance mom. I also have had some very colorful dance teachers to draw
from, and while they will probably never admit it, dance teachers are all kinda
crazy. It's the creative gene, I think. Writers are probably the same, but
don't tell. Working with the dance teachers, studio owner, and the many girls
and their moms, I just kept thinking that people would absolutely not believe
what goes on in the youth competition dance world. And then I decided to share
those stores. I have seen fights. I have seen backstabbing. I have seen the
police called to competitions... I've even seen a mom pull a fire alarm so that
the girl going against her daughter in solos got flustered before she went on.
(Yeah, she got in trouble.) It's just a crazy, creative, eclectic world, and I
feel privileged to get to write about this world, and use Jenny T. Partridge to
tell my stories.
Tell us about your series and what we can look forward to in future books?
Jenny T. Partridge is the main character, and she doesn't even come close to imagining herself as a detective, so she is a little frustrated she keeps getting pulled in to all these crazy schemes and murder plots by all these crazy people. I mean, she's not crazy, right? Don't answer that. She meets up with Detective Tate Wilson in the first book, and he is intrigued with her eccentricities, her talent, and even her red hair. Too bad she is a suspect in a murder! He sticks around even after he rules her out as a suspect, but she has a hard time believing a man this hot wants to get mixed up with someone like her, since she has a hard time mating socks, let along going on more than two dates with the same guy. And his ordered and investigated world is nothing like her crazy, unscheduled life. But intrigued he is, and since he is hot, hot, hot, she is willing to try to put a little “crazy” in his normal routine. What’s fun about this series is watching Jenny grow and settle into a mature relationship. Well, as settled as Jenny can get. But she doesn’t stagnate, and stay the same, and since I expect that of a series I enjoy reading, I’ve tried to do it with the series I am writing as well.
We want to know about your writing schedule?
Are you sure? Well, okay. I try to write at least two hours
a day, which right now means I am up late at night writing. Like now. It’s
11:52 p.m. and I’m just getting started. But I’m working a government job at
night right now, and I sleep in more during the day, so this is the time I find
myself most creative. If I don’t get two hours in, my schedule goes all to
heck, and then weekends are spent on catch-up, which irritates my children
immensely. So I try to stick with that two hours, usually when they are in bed,
deep asleep.
What can we find you doing when you're not penning mysteries?
Working. Writing suspense fiction as Natalie R. Collins. Designing Web sites. And playing solitaire. I try to not get too caught up in that solitaire thing. Oh, and of course, chauffeuring my youngest Dancing Daughter to all her many conventions, competitions, and dance classes. She recently made junior high cheerleader as well, so it will be interesting to see what kind of chaos that throws into the whole scheduling mix.
Do you attend conventions, workshops or writing groups?
I like conventions. I haven’t been to a ton, but I do like
to try to go to at least one a year. I will be an instructor at the upcoming
Pen to Press Retreat, www.pentopressretreat.com, and I’m really excited about
that opportunity. This one is in New Orleans, a fabulous place to visit, and
since I haven’t been there for many years, I am interested to see how it has
changed, particularly after the hurricane. I also am excited to be supporting
the city, as it comes back to revitalization.
Tell us about book signings and do you have a favorite bookstore?
Indeed I do. I love the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, www.seattlemystery.com, and all the people who work there. They are supportive, truly love books, and they are so happy to put a book in a reader’s hand, that you almost might suspect they are making thousands of dollars an hour. I’m sure they don’t, but they are that enthusiastic about books, mysteries, and the authors who write them. I signed there last October, and I want to go back for every book release! I’m not sure they will let me, but I want to! Can you stalk a bookstore? Is there a law against that?
What advice might you give mystery writers who want to write a series?
Are you nuts? I hear accountants have stable jobs…. Seriously, though, the biggest thing for writers to remember is you must be thick-skinned, determined, and unwilling to accept defeat. You must also be gracious when the muck is flying, and that is not always easy. There are always going to be bad reviews, and people who decide they don’t like your work or your writing—some who don’t even read it—and you have to be able to just sit back and take that and not listen. And you absolutely cannot respond. And that is not an easy thing to do. You also have to be willing to accept critique, to know when that critique or criticism is valid or when it is wrong, and to know when to ignore advice. That is not always easy, either. But if you have a good idea, you believe in your ability to write well, and to plot a good story, then you should absolutely pursue your dream. So many people say, “I just know I have a good book in me.” If you manage to get that book out, you are ahead of most of the population, even if it never gets published. And while a New York publisher is the ideal, you must understand that a lot of people don’t ever get there. And then when you do, you find out it is not all champagne and book tours. Most midlist authors don’t make enough to quit their day jobs, and they must continue to earn money while pumping any extra time and energy they have into their books. Hmmm. I sound depressing. I hope it doesn’t come across that way, but rather that if someone reads this, they will be realistic about it. And realize that just getting that “sale” is not the ticket to easy street.
Tell us about Natalie the mother, the author and the friend?
Well, I have a rather irreverent sense of humor. My kids
think I’m a dork, and if I refer to flip flops as “thongs” one more time in
public, they have threatened to have me shot at sundown. Hey, when we were
growing up, you wore thongs on your feet, not your butt…. I feel really
fortunate to have the good friends I do, and my family is everything to me. I
like to make people laugh, and to entertain them, and I hope that if anything
is remembered about me, it was that I liked to smile and laugh. I also like
boats, camping, fishing, and the ocean. Tropical weather is wonderful, and I
don’t much like the snow, although it’s pretty in the first few hours after it
falls. Viewed from indoors. Sipping a warm drink.
When it comes to being an author or has been your dream day and your nightmare day?
It’s been both, really. There are lots of ups and downs to writing, publishing, getting published, reviews, contracts, negotiations, etc. This is a business, and like any business, it isn’t always wonderful. But I love what I do. I love writing, and I feel so fortunate to see my books in print, and for that reason, I put up with the downs, as well as celebrate the ups. I really do love what I do, and so I will continue to do it for as long as the readers will buy my books.
Is there something you would like to say to your readers?
Thanks for the support. I mean, what more can you say? Without the readers, it just wouldn’t happen.
Okay now for the good stuff.....What is your favorite meal,snack,dessert, drink, place to
vacation, movie and season?
Meal, definitely lobster and garlic mashed potatoes. I have
champagne taste on the proverbial beer budget. I also like potatoes a LOT. Just
about any way you make them.
Snack, I like raw almonds. I like the crunch, and I like the
taste.
Dessert, tiramisu cheesecake. To die for. Nuff said.
Drink, hmmm, I’m addicted to Rockstars (I have had to limit
myself to one a day, so that I don’t hyperventilate, pass out, and then wake up
to find myself being checked by cute paramedic. Not that I mind a cute
paramedic, but that can get expensive, and there has to be other ways to meet
cute paramedic. Hang out at hospital? I’ll get back to you on that.) I enjoy a
Fresca and vodka on occasion, and a good glass of white wine.
Place to vacation, Mexico, or anywhere tropical. But I also
enjoy camping, fishing, and boating.
Movie, that’s a hard one. I like too many. Favorites,
though, I love Overboard, with Goldie Hawn, and The Big Easy with Dennis Quaid.
Those two are definitely among my all time favorites. Love The Christmas Story,
as well.
Season, spring and summer. I like the sun, and I like it WARM.
Are there any mysteries that you would reread or have
reread?
I have re-read Jennifer Apodaca’s DATING CAN BE MURDER, because I loved it and found the characters so compelling and intriguing, and also all of Janet Evanovich’s books with Stephanie Plum. She just makes me laugh. On the more serious mystery side, anything by Laura Lippman and Dennis Lehane are musts for the re-read pile. I have also read Stephen King’s THE STAND about five times (yes, I know it is not a mystery) and Deborah Smith’s A PLACE TO CALL HOME at least five times.
Tell us about your website and leave us with some mysterious words of writing wisdom.
Well, my Web site is www.jennytpartridge.com, for the Jenny books, and also www.nataliemroberts.com, where you can read more about my suspense book, TWISTED SISTER. I also write under the name Natalie R. Collins, and you can find more about my suspense books at www.nataliercollins.com.
Wisdom? Mysterious wisdom? There’s not enough vodka……
Tutu Deadly Reviews!
"Blending the humor of Janet Evanovich with chick-lit quirkiness,
Roberts adds sassy prose and a spunky heroine to create a new series to
watch."--Library Journal
"When an obnoxious stage mom turns up dead from poisoned cookie dough,
the laughs and the mystery start rolling. Roberts' charming new series
is a winner -- a one-sitting read with laugh-out-loud moments, a wacky
heroine and enough red herrings to populate a fish market."--Romantic
Times Magazine
"…Tutu Deadly is a book I can recommend -- stage mothers might even
enjoy being skewered a bit. Jenny is a great cozy heroine - with a
self-deprecating sense of humor and a big heart."--Cozy Library
"Grit and humor propel Jenny ahead. Roberts handles a variety of unrelated threads to create a fun read."--Gumshoe Review
"When a cookie-dough fundraiser goes awry, Jenny T. Partridge, dance
studio owner and amateur sleuth, is on the case in this upbeat
mystery....In a nutshell: A light caper with many familiar details of
life in the dance studio world.--Dance Teacher Magazine
Tapped Out Review!