Straight Chatting from the Library: Joyce Proell

A special welcome to Joyce Proell who is visiting with us to talk about books as part of her virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. She will be awarding a $10 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour. You can see the other stops here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/06/virtual-book-tour-deadly-truth-by-joyce.html.
Thanks for inviting me to Straight from the Library. It’s a pleasure to be here today and talking to new readers.

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?
The Pink Ballet Slippers was the first book I recall. I couldn’t read yet but begged my mother to check it out of the library. Like most little girls, I adored the color pink. Once I spotted the cover illustration of the pink slippers, I wanted it.
When I learned to read, my favorite children’s book was Fifty Famous Fairy Tales. My goal was to read all fifty stories, which I did, making a little check mark after each title in the Table of Contests. It’s funny to see how compulsive I was even as a child.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words?
A man obsessed, a woman willing to risk it all…That’s ten words on the dot!

What books do you have on hold at the library?
There are fifteen books on hold, and I won’t name them all. Here are just a few:
Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. (I’m reading all her earlier works)
The Highway by CJ Box
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Hit by David Balducci
The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

E-Reader or print? And why?
I adore my Nook as it’s so convenient especially when traveling. However, my local library is on the main street that runs through my little town. I reserve my books online. Since I travel past the library nearly every day, I stop and pick up the books when they arrive from other libraries within the library network. The process works really well. The tactile sensation of paging through a book is nice, and it’s a lot cheaper too.

When do you do most of your reading?
Two things I never do during the work day are watch TV or read fiction. The exception is if I’m in bed nursing a cold or the flu. Since I write at least five days a week, I save my reading for the evening when I can relax.

Favorite place to read?
When it’s cold outside, I build a fire in my living room then sit on the sofa, feet propped on the coffee table, book in hand and read. I listen to the fire pop and look up to admire the leaping flames in the fireplace.
My second favorite place to read is in bed. Leaning against a half-dozen pillows, I often read until late at night, long past the time most people have gone to sleep.

Favorite book to recommend?
There are so many wonderful books to recommend. Instead I’ll recommend some series where the writing remained consistent and engaging book after book. The first is the ‘Outlander’ series by Diana Gabaldon. It’s a sweeping epic time travel and love story with marvelous characters and set in Scotland. The second series is John Sanford’s ‘Prey’ novels. The books are fast paced thrillers and feature one of the most likeable cops around. For lovers of historical romance, I recommend Mary Balogh’s ‘Bedwyn’ series.

Keep books or give them away?
When I moved to the Midwest some years ago, I gave all my books to the public library.
Thanks for having me here today and happy reading.

READ THE BLURB

Tainted in the eyes of Victorian society by his wife’s suicide, Doyle Flanagan turns a deaf ear to the baseless gossip and harsh rebukes. Ignoring his shattered reputation, he goes about his business, making money and enemies, and doing good works whenever his conscience gets the best of him. Arrested for murder, he is forced to rely on a feisty school administrator to solve the puzzle. As he struggles to prove his innocence, he realizes gaining the trust and loyalty of Cady Delafield may be more important than his freedom.

On a quest to locate a missing student, school matron Cady Delafield enters a stranger’s house and discovers the woman murdered. Driven to see the murderer brought to justice, she is determined to prevent any further tragedy even if it means joining forces with the very man accused of the atrocity. Against the wishes of her powerful family, she risks her job and reputation to learn the truth. But will the truth, once revealed, drive her away from the man she has come to love?

Passion and murder collide in 1880’s Chicago as they race to keep one step ahead of the police who want Doyle to pay for his crime. As the attraction between Cady and Doyle sizzles, they battle suspicions, lies and lethal actions to uncover the murderer before he destroys them both.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Joyce Proell grew up in Minnesota and attended college and grad school in Chicago. After working in mental health, she retired at a young age to write full-time. Her first book, Eliza, was published in 2012. When she isn’t writing mysteries or historical romances, she loves to travel, walk, read, and do crossword puzzles. She and her husband make their home in rural Minnesota in her very own little house on the prairie.

Visit her website: www.joyceproell.com or Facebook. Buy the book at Champagne Books.