Mystery Mondays: Judy Penz Sheluk – In Praise of Book Clubs

This week on Mystery Mondays, it is my pleasure to have author Judy Penz Sheluk as a returning guest. I’m a big fan and have read every one of her books!

Today she’s sharing some interesting insights into book clubs and at the end of this post, you’ll find a recipe that might make you happy 🙂

Judy’s latest release, Past & Present, is coming soon! Congratulations. Let’s cheer her on in the comments.

In Praise of Book Clubs

by Judy Penz Sheluk

BOOK CLUBS!

One of the things I enjoy doing as an author is visiting local book clubs, should they select one of my novels for their monthly read. Not all of those picks translate into sales—my town’s library has book club sets of The Hanged Man’s Noose and Skeletons in the Attic—but now and again someone will download an e-book copy or purchase another one of my books. I’ve also received paid speaking engagements as a result, most recently to a PROBUS group, where I was paid a speaker’s fee of $150 and sold about 20 books. Not a bad deal for an hour’s work.

But visiting book clubs isn’t about the money or getting speaking gigs. It’s about connecting with readers, getting their honest feedback, answering questions, and for a short time, playing the role of “Author Judy” before heading back to the solitude of my office.

Not all book clubs are created equal, however. Some offer tea and homemade cookies. Some really go all out, making book-themed related food and drink, like the Treasontini from the Hanged Man’s Noose (recipe attached). And one didn’t offer me so much as a glass of water (I’ve learned to bring my own). There’s also the occasional book club whose members heavily favor “literary” and “don’t really read or ‘get’ mysteries.” I’ve learned to take it all in stride.

pnp3My upcoming release is Past & Present, book 2 in my bestselling Marketville Mystery series. I’m already putting feelers out there for book clubs and I’ve decided to expand my horizons. If your book club is interested in reading it, or any of my other titles, I’ll find a way to connect with your group online. If you’re interested, you can email me at judy at judypenzsheluk dot com and we can sort out the details.

In the meantime, here’s some Shameless Self Promotion for Past & Present, including a blurb about the book. It’s on pre-order for $2.99 US / CAD (no nasty U.S. exchange) on Kindle (regular $5.99) and will also be available in paperback (if your bookstore or library doesn’t have it, they can order it from Ingram Spark). Release date is September 21, 2018. So without further ado:

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.

IMG_4117 copyAbout the author:An Amazon International Bestselling Author, Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, the first in the Glass Dolphin Mystery series, was published in July 2015, and is also available in audiobook. The sequel, A Hole In One, was published March 2018, with audiobook to follow Fall 2018.

Skeletons in the Attic, Judy’s second novel, and the first in her Marketville Mystery series, was first published in August 2016 and re-released in December 2017. It is also available in audiobook format. The sequel, Past & Present, will be released September 2018. Judy’s short crime and literary fiction appears in several collections.

Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves on the Board of Directors as a representative for Toronto/Southwestern Ontario.

Find out more about Judy at http://www.judypenzsheluk.com.

The promised Treasontini Recipe…

Screen Shot 2018-09-04 at 1.15.11 PM

 

 

 

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