Today
we sit down for a chat with Ramona Argrow from author Elaine Orr’s Jolie Gentil
Cozy Mystery Series.
What was your life like
before your author started pulling your strings?
A good bit quieter! I went to high school for one
year with Jolie, but she moved back home. I ran into her again where I work, at
an office supply store in Ocean Alley (the Purple Cow). That way I have income,
but it's the kind of work that lets me have time for my art. I enjoy pen and
ink drawings, but work in a lot of mediums.
What’s the
one trait you like most about yourself?
I'm true to myself. For example, people think it's
odd that I dress in flowing skirts and short vests, but I'm tall and I think
the kind of hippie look of the 1970s fits me.
What do you
like least about yourself?
Hmm. I think if I paid as much attention to selling
my art as I do in making it that I'd have things like a cottage here at the
Jersey shore, or at least be able to take a vacation to see the Louvre. But, I
don't like numbers and routines.
What is the
strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?
She got me to go with her to follow one of my friend
Jolie's crazy hunches about who left a body under a pirate ship display. (One
that I helped make! It's on the cover of Any
Port in a Storm.) I told Jolie to mind her own business. But, I ended up
getting her out of a bad scrape, so I suppose it's a good thing I went along.
Do you
argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?
Generally, no. I thought she made me look like a
busybody for a while, but I pretty much got her to cut it out.
What is
your greatest fear?
Don't tell anyone, but I've kept to myself for so
long I worry about being alone when I'm older. What if I don't marry? I used to
not pay attention to kids – unless I was doing a drawing of one – but now I
find myself looking at cute toddlers on the boardwalk.
What makes
you happy?
The perfect yoga pose. I've tried to explain to Jolie
how fulfilling yoga is, but she doesn't like to slow down that much.
If you
could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?
I always thought I'd live in New York City and have
pictures in a gallery by now. I wasn't bold enough to head there on my own. I
told myself it was too expensive to live there. But I should have tried.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?
Without a doubt, George Winters. He’s the best
friend of Jolie's best bud, Scoobie, and he thinks he's some prize-winning
reporter. He comes by the store a lot. I know he's just looking for chatter for
his newspaper column. He also thinks he's really witty. I roll my eyes a lot
when I'm with him.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?
No one! I love my art. I suppose Jolie's Aunt Madge
has an artistic flair. You see it in how she's decorated her B&B. But I
wouldn't want to be anything but an artist.
Tell us a little something
about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?
Elaine did a lot of nonfiction work and used to
think she didn't have much of an imagination. I guess it eventually got the
better of her. Now she writes three mystery series and what she calls
reflective fiction. Elaine isn't big on the term literary fiction. She also
likes to write whimsical essays, but she hasn't gotten up the nerve to publish
any of them. Elaine can barely do paint by numbers. Fortunately, Patty G.
Henderson, who did the cover of Any Port in a Storm, is a very good
artist. Learn more about Elaine and her books at her website and blog.
What's next for you?
I've been saving up to open a small studio, maybe
teach some classes. Scoobie has dropped hints that George might like to go out
with me, but I've ignored him. So far.
Any Port in
a Storm
A Jolie
Gentil Cozy Mystery, Book 4
Someone is breaking into the houses Jolie appraises.
Plus, a hurricane's on the way to disrupt the Talk Like a Pirate Day fundraiser
for the food pantry. When a corpse turns up under the pirate ship, Jolie's name
pops up as a suspect.
Soon she has less work. Who wants a possible murder
suspect appraising their house? Scoobie's pirate limericks can't solve a crime,
so Jolie and her sometimes buddy reporter George Winters look for the murderer
and try to figure out who's trying to frame Jolie. They need to stay ahead of
whoever's mad at her and off the radar of the local police who tell Jolie --
for the hundredth time -- to butt out. All this and Jolie has to deal with Aunt
Madge's blossoming love life. And what about her own?
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