#GIVEAWAY West of Famous Interview with author Joni Fisher

Today I have an interview with author Joni Fisher about #3 in her Compass Crime series West of Famous.
Joni's publicist Author/Guide is offering a #Giveaway, see below for details!
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-0997257540
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: 2-17-2019
Length: 268pp
Compass Crimes #3
Buy It: Amazon/B&N/Kobo/IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

This contemporary suspense story, set in Florida, features a strong female protagonist facing the issues of identity, mortality, and survival after kidnappers mistake her for a celebrity. The boating community known as Loopers play a key role in the story.
This is the third book in the Compass Crimes series, which is a collection of stories linked by an ensemble cast of characters. Each book can stand alone. Each book features a different heroine and a life-changing crime. The stories are linked by the alliances, friendships, and occupations of the characters common to the stories. While some of the stories contain a romantic subplot, some do not. In the aftermath of each crime, the relationships between these characters grow deeper and stronger

The Giveaway is
The complete 3 book set of
The Compass Crime Series
Print US ONLY
Please use Rafflecopter form to enter
Good Luck!

Book Trailer:

Interview with Joni:

Joni welcome to The Reading Frenzy

First off I LOVE the cover page to your website http://www.jonimfisher.com/.
I’m jealous is this a view from your boat?

The photo on the bow of the boat shows my feet. Seeker is a Nordic Tug owned by Paul and Caryn Frink. They were a huge help in the research phase of writing West of Famous, because much of the story takes place on a boat. Paul retired from the Navy and does engineering. Caryn retired from nursing. They graciously hosted me on their boat and answered thousands of questions, taught me boating terminology, and even helped me test out parts of the story. They took me to an ideal place to hold a kidnap victim in the 10,000 Islands of South Florida. We dropped anchor in a spot so remote there’s no point in screaming or trying to jump overboard. Most of the islands are sandbars covered by mangrove trees.

Paul showed me how to sabotage a boat and where to hide a body on board. (Never mess with an engineer.) Caryn and Paul also introduced me to the world of Loopers, a tight-knit community of boaters. The more I learned, the more I had to change the story to include this community.

When Caryn and I were lounging on the bow, I asked if I was officially trawler trash. Caryn shook her head and said women are called “bow candy.” I like that.

Tell my readers a little about your new book, West of Famous, #3 in your Compass Crimes Series.

In West of Famous, a grad student named Martina takes a secret part-time job as a celebrity stand-in. Her job is to keep the celebrity’s social media posts alive by being seen in places with the celebrity’s boyfriend and entourage. Martina’s having the time of her life getting the VIP treatment until kidnappers mistake her for the real celebrity.

I see that these can be read as stand alones.
How are they related?

The Compass Crimes is a collection of suspense books in which a crime overturns a woman’s life. The ensemble cast flows through all the books because they are involved in some way with each investigation. In North of the Killing Hand, a teenager named Nefi is orphaned by a killer. She struggles to learn the difference between revenge and justice while adjusting to her new life. In South of Justice, a newlywed named Terri learns her husband is arrested for a death-penalty crime. Terri launches her own investigation to find out if her husband is the man she believes him to be, or a killer. Terri and her husband were introduced to one another through Nefi. In West of Famous, Martina is kidnapped. Nefi and Martina are best friends. The East book is still in development.

If readers want to read them in chronological order, then begin with North of the Killing Hand. It’s the second book published, but it’s a prequel to South of Justice. The bonds that form among the characters grow stronger with each book. I believe that strong women make for strong stories. I prefer to read stories that feature fighters instead of victims waiting to be rescued.

I envy storytellers and yet it must be a bit terrifying sending your baby out into the world and into the hands of strangers.
Is release day scary for you and does it get easier after a while?

Releasing the first book was like watching my daughter ride her tricycle on the road. I had no clue how sales were going until the quarterly report arrived. The reviews dragged in slowly because, well, I didn’t understand marketing. At all. Slowly, people discovered the book and started asking for the next one. By the third book, I hired a publicist, David Ivester of Author Guide. He is valiantly trying to get me up to speed on social media and marketing, but it’s probably like training a seal to play music. It can be done, but it’s a loooong process. I still have no idea why my books sell so well in Japan, but hey, “Arigato gozaimasu!”

Your Goodreads read shelf visible on your website is quite varied and includes some of my favorite authors.
Do you have a favorite genre to read?

I love suspense, crime, thrillers, SF, romance, fantasy, magical realism, biographies, and basically everything except erotica. I find erotica boring. Why? Because if I wrote a crime novel with, say, a car chase in every single chapter, readers would toss the book. Where’s the suspense in repetition? Oh, look, they’re having sex. Whoop. They’re at it again. Oh, hello, sex again? Yawn. Give me a relationship that builds to something, or an element of magic, or a murder, anything, but surprise me. Drive me to keep reading to find out what happens next. That’s what I want from a book.

Your bio tells me that writing is in your blood whether for someone else or for yourself.
Are you one of those people who dreamed of writing The Great American Novel as a young girl?

I started out as a voracious reader. I consumed books. This love of stories sparked the desire to write the one I always wanted to read.

My mother, a lawyer, steered me toward a degree in journalism so I’d be able to support myself writing.

Journalism taught me how to write on a deadline and to organize vast amounts of information quickly. It also taught me to love research. I continue to report for General Aviation News because it’s fun. What journalism beat out of me was point of view. My editor would say, “Nobody cares how you feel about the news. You’re not a columnist. Report the facts and let the reader come to his own conclusions.”

I like what Lester Markel of the New York Times said, “What you see is news, what you know is background, and what you feel is opinion.”

Now, especially on television, the lines between news reporting, opinion, and entertainment are blurred as if they are all the same. After years in journalism, I had to quash my opinion and point of view. In fiction, I write with freedom.

Since the point of view of the story shapes the story, I had to learn how to express my point of view. For a few years, I wrote a column for a local publication to rediscover my voice, my style. Once I found it, I knew what kind of stories to write. I had to write about women who get back up no matter what life throws at them.

One of your passions (that you share with your husband) is flying.
What’s the farthest you’ve ever flown?

The farthest north is Mackinac Island, Michigan. The farthest south is Grand Cayman. The farthest west is Albuquerque, New Mexico. The farthest east is Crooked Island in the Bahamas. We share ownership of a Cessna 210, a six-seat single-engine aircraft.

Flying influenced me to name the series the Compass Crimes and to use compass points in the titles. My husband joked that if the series really takes off, it could become 360 books. I’m not planning to run the Compass Crimes series beyond four books. Sue Grafton’s alphabet series is a staggering legacy.

Joni thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, good luck with the new book!

Dear Reading Frenzy,

Thank you for the interview!

Joni M. Fisher

joni@jonimfisher.com

Praise:

WEST OF FAMOUS is a terrifically smart, strong thriller from Joni Fisher, whose crime novels get better with each entry in the series.
– Linda Fairstein, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Alexandra Cooper novels and winner of the Nero Award

The action and mounting tension in West of Famous doesn’t stop till the end. This is a book you won’t want to set aside for later. Coupled with a touching rendering of family love and values, along a belief in God, West of Famous will appeal to all who believe in the ultimate goodness of human beings. Don’t hesitate to read this one.
– Reader's Favorite 5-star review by Viga Boland

West of Famous is the third in Ms. Fisher’s suspenseful, crime series and I loved it! Fisher wraps her intriguing drama in captivating characters and a well-developed plot that seizes you from the first sentence to the last. Through the Compass Crimes Series, I have fallen in love with the cast of characters and West of Famous can be read as a stand-alone or in sequence. With the third in the series, Fisher had established herself with the other great crime writers—her writing crisp and fast-paced. I can’t wait to see what blows in from the East!
– Timothy Browne, MD—Author, Dr. Nicklaus Hart Series

About the author:

After working decades in journalism, Joni M. Fisher turned to crime.
Her Compass Crimes series has garnered attention in Publisher's Weekly and earned recognition in the 2017 National Indie Excellence Awards, the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Awards, the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest, and the Sheila Contest.
She serves on the Arts and Humanities Advisory Board for Southeastern University and is a member of the Florida Writers Association and Sisters in Crime. She’s also an instrument-rated private pilot. For more information, see www.jonimfisher.com.

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