Cozy Mystery
File Size: 632 KB
Print Length: 340 pages
ASIN: B00FQ748GO
SYNOPSIS
Sheridan Hendley is a professor and psychologist, not a sleuth. When her colleague at Cold Creek College, Adam Millberg, is murdered, she is charged with helping the Detective assigned to the case. Immediately, her good friend becomes the prime suspect and Sheridan is motivated to help solve the case and prove Kim isn’t guilty. It also becomes apparent that Sheridan is attracted to the handsome Detective. As Sheridan tries to implement the crisis plan on campus and connect all the people in Adam’s life, she finds that many women have a motive for Adam’s murder. Slashed tires are the first indication that Sheridan’s involvement is obviously making someone nervous.
About This Author
Christa Nardi is and always has been an avid reader. Her favorite authors have shifted from Carolyn Keene and Earl Stanley Gardner to more contemporary mystery/crime authors over time, but mystery/crime along with romance are her preferred choices for leisure reading. Christa also has been a long time writer from poetry and short stories growing up to technical, research, and nonfiction in her professional life. With Murder at Cold Creek College, Christa is joining many other reader/writers in writing one genre she enjoys reading – the cozy mystery. Christa Nardi is a pen name for a real life professor/psychologist from the Northeast.
Interview
How
long have you been writing?
Probably since elementary school.
I always wrote stories and then in high school also wrote poetry. Since then, most of my writing has been
nonfiction and more technical in nature (e.g. textbooks), but occasionally I
would jot down an idea or two.
What
makes you like to write?
Like talking or acting, writing is a way to express how the writer
feels and thinks about certain issues. The writer poses a problem and then
solves it through the characters, with a range of considerations and
personalities. It is a way to think through situations or people or political
issues. In Murder at Cold Creek College,
the most obvious issue is sexual harassment, one that many women face or have
faced regardless of where they work.
Who is
your favorite author and why?
That is a tough one. It is
so hard to choose. Of current cozy
mystery writers, I always look forward to the next one in the series by Vanessa
Gray Bartal (Lacy Steele Mystery Series), Kassandra Lamb (Kate Huntington
Mystery Series), and Ellen Crosby (Wine Country Mysteries), and of course Janet
Evanovich. Outside of mysteries, I also
read science fiction/fantasy, and my favorite fantasy author is Mercedes Lackey
– her stories weave in a theme of humanism as well as feminism. I guess that is more than one.
What
are your favorite things to do besides writing?
I love to read – mystery, cozy mystery, romance, and
scifi/fantasy. I also love to garden,
and spend many hours working in mine.
When not writing, reading or gardening, I am likely doing jigsaw puzzles
or logic puzzles.
How
long did it take you to write Murder at Cold Creek College?
Murder at Cold Creek College started with several ideas that I
wrote down. As I added to my ideas, it
became more of a story. It probably took
about a year, with some times when I didn’t write at all, and some when I wrote
a lot.
What was
your favorite scene to write?
Another hard question.
Obviously, I am invested in all the scenes. Two scenes come to mind though – the scene
with Max trying to stand down against Brett in the beginning, and the scene
with Sheridan and the Chancellor and his wife at the end.
Who
designed the book cover?
My sister designed the cover for me and did a great job!
Who is
your favorite character in your book and why?
I think my favorite characters (other than Sheridan) are Kim and
Mitch, for very different reasons. Kim
is the BFF, and brings energy and enthusiasm to the scenes; she also is the
most vulnerable in this story. Mitch, on
the other hand, is the down to earth, stable figure with the dry sense of
humor. All three are tight, but with
their own agenda.
When
did you start writing?
As noted above, probably in elementary school with teacher
assigned creative writing. Sadly, once
in high school, the assignments were much more technical and structured – more
like my nonfiction writing.
How
many books did you write before you were published?
That depends on if you count the ones that I never finished or wrote
and never did anything with (and now don’t have a clue where they are). Fiction-wise, this is first book I have
finished and published and that’s pretty exciting! Murder at Cold Creek College is
self-published. I have thought about
trying the agent route with the sequel, Murder in the Arboretum though. We’ll
see.
Again,
thank you for having me on your blog today!
Christa
Author Links
Facebook
Blog: Christa Reads and Writes
Goodreads
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