INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR JUDY PENZ-SHELUK!

Judy Penz-Sheluk

Please help me welcome author Judy Penz-Sheluk to Jemsbooks.blog Segment, Interview an Author.

Nice to meet you Judy.  Please feel free to take the stage.

1. Please tell us something about yourself.

I’m the Amazon international bestselling author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries, and some short stories. I’ve also the Senior Editor of New England Antiques Journal(www.antiquesjournal.com).

jjspina: I look forward to reading your books. I love mysteries!

2. When did you know that you wanted to be an author?

I’ve been writing stories “inside my head” since I was a kid—I thought everyone wrote stories in their head. I started writing them down in 2002, after taking a creative writing workshop. I started writing my first book, The Hanged Man’s Noose, on Christmas Eve, 2012.

jjspina: I know what you mean, Judy. I did the same thing.

3. What process do you need in order to write?

I start with a basic premise, i.e. in The Hanged Man’s Noose, it’s “a greedy developer comes to a small historic town with plans to build a megabox store on the Main Street, thereby hurting all the indie shops located there. Then I “what if” my way through the chapters—I’m very much a pantser, and don’t work well with an outline.

jjspina: I agree definitely. I am a pantser too.

4. How do you come up with ideas for your stories?

Life. In the previous example, we see that sort of thing happen all the time. Big box store comes in, little shops struggle and eventually go under. In my most recent book, Past & Present, the idea came to me when going through my mother’s train case after she passed away in Sept. 2016. There were all sorts of documents and photos in there that I never knew existed, including her immigration papers. As I started to unravel her journey, the idea for a book just came to me. It was as if she was with me when I wrote it.

jjspina: Maybe her spirit was with you.

5. What projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on book 3 of the Marketville Mystery series, and about halfway through the first draft. I’ve also beenplaying around with book 3 in the Glass Dolphin Mystery series. I’m working on a jewelry caper mystery with a friend who was in the business for many years. I’ve never co-wrote with anyone before, and we’re in the early stages, but so far it’s been interesting. We’ll see where it goes.

jjspina: Good luck with the new book. I hope it all works out well for you.

6. What do you expect to accomplish in 2018?

I will have released two books in 2018: book 2 in Glass Dolphin (A Hole in One) and book 2 in Marketville (Past & Present). I’d like to finish book 3 in the Marketville series, to the point where I can send it off to my beta readers. Beyond that, I just want to keep writing and loving every minute of it.

jjspina: That’s wonderful!  Enjoy it!

7. What hobbies do you have when you are not writing?

I love to golf and belong to two ladies leagues (both 9 hole). I’m an avid reader, mostly mystery and suspense, though I will veer out of that lane on occasion. I enjoy walking my dog, Gibbs, an almost three-year-old Golden Retriever, along the nature trails surrounding my house.

jjspina: Golfing, reading and walking your dog will keep you busy. Love Golden Retrievers. I had a Black Lab. Beautiful animals!

8. What is your target audience for your book?

There’s no overt sex, violence or bad language in any of my books. They really can be read by anyone, at any age, who enjoys mysteries.

jjspina: I like books like that. There are entirely too many with all of the above.

9. Please share your books with us and a synopsis of each.

You can read about all my books and short stories on my website: http://www.judypenzsheluk.com/books/

My most recent release, Past & Present: A Marketville Mystery #2, is currently available for pre-order at the introductory price of $2.99 (reg. $5.99) on Kindle. Publication date is Sept. 21, 2018. Here’s a bit about it:

Sometimes the past reaches out to the present…

It’s been thirteen months since Calamity (Callie) Barnstable inherited a house in Marketville under the condition that she search for the person who murdered her mother thirty years earlier. She solves the mystery, but what next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto? 

Callie decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations.

It’s not long before Callie and her new business partner, best friend Chantelle Marchand, get their first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone—least of all Callie—could have predicted. 

10. Please share your links and where to purchase your books.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Penz-Sheluk/e/B00O74NX04

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Judy%20Penz%20Sheluk%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/search?query=judy%20penz%20sheluk&fcsearchfield=Author

Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Sheluk

11. What advice would you give prospective authors?

Write every day. The writing muscle is like every other muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

jjspina: Great advice and so true.

Social Links:

Website/Blog: http://www.judypenzsheluk.com

Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/JudyPenzSheluk/Twitter:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8602696.Judy_Penz_Sheluk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyPenzSheluk

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/judypenzsheluk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judypenzsheluk/

Thank you, Judy, for coming today. It was a pleasure to learn more about you and your books. I wish you much success with your future endeavors. I look forward to reading your books and promise to review them.

Please feel free to come back again when you have new books to share now that you are part of Jemsbooks Blog family.

Thank you, readers, for stopping by to read about Judy Penz-Sheluk. I hope you will visit her links and check out her lovely books.

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Blessings & Hugs,

Janice