MEET AMATEUR SLEUTH SAMANTHA DAVIES FROM AUTHOR S.A. KAZIO'S SAMANTHA DAVIES MYSTERIES

Today we sit down for a chat with Samantha Davies from author S.A. Kazlo’s Samantha Davies Mysteries.  

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings? 

Murderless- lol. Okay, so I made that word up. I was a happily divorced woman penning what I hoped to be a successful children's story, Porkchop the Wonder Dog, starring my faithful dachshund, Porkchop.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself? 

My loyalty to my family and friends. I'll stick with them through thick and thin, guilty or not of murder.

 

What do you like least about yourself? 

I'm pretty happy with myself now that I'm shed of my cheating ex- George, although we still co-own a funeral parlor together, the Do Drop Inn Funeral Parlor, but my stubbornness can get me in a pack of trouble at times. I really hate to be wrong.

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you? 

I'd say going along with Candie and posing as Cagney and Lacey when we were questioning a young man about a possible murder suspect. Of course, he was too young to even know who those characters were.

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about? 

Oh, my, do we ever. Mostly about the situations she wants to stick me in. Doesn't she realize that investigating murders can be dangerous?

 

What is your greatest fear? 

I guess my greatest fear is anything happening to the ones I love, especially since I tend to get myself into some pretty hairy situations often involving them, too.

 

What makes you happy? 

Being with my boyfriend Detective Hank Johnson, my dachshund, Porkchop and of course anything chocolate

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why? 

Maybe it would have been listening to my dog, Porkchop, when he didn't cotton to my ex George. Porkchop was smarter than me when it came to George. I should have shed myself of George way before I did. Porkchop would growl whenever George came into the room.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

Sergeant Joe Peters. He'd love to arrest me and throw away the key. Joe and I have a long history, going all the way back to kindergarten. You see, one day at recess I saw him using the sand box as his personal pee-potty.  So, shoot me- I reported him to the teacher. I mean who wants to play in a sand box after he's christened it. He's held that against me ever since.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why? 

My Southern Belle cousin, Candie. I love her strong personality, She's bold, bright and beautiful. She sparkles as brightly as the rhinestones she adores. 

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog? 

My author is a retired Home Ec teacher. Since she hates cold weather, she retired to Upstate NY with her husband and two dachshunds. Go figure. See what I'm dealing with. When she's not writing, watching her three grandchildren, or voraciously reading cozy mysteries, she loves to rug hook. Her website is www.sakazlo.com

 

What's next for you? 

Syrl already has me involved in another murder. Geez, and I thought I lived in a nice quiet town in Upstate New York. At least I did until she got involved in my life.

 

Pups, Pumpkinss and Murder

A Samantha Davies Mystery, Book 4

 

When Samantha Davies finds a murdered man—crushed beneath a 2,000 pound pumpkin!—her upstate New York fall suddenly turns very chilly. And when her good friend and owner of the local cafe becomes the police's prime suspect, Sam takes it up on herself to find the real killer. With her faithful dachshund, Porkchop, by her side, can Sam get to the truth... before the killer gets to her?

 

Preorder (available 9/19)

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AN INTERVIEW WITH "HOOKER" AND COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR S.A. KAZLO

Today we sit down for a chat with cozy mystery author S.A. Kazlo, aka Syrl Kazlo. Learn more about her and her books at her website.  

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

Years ago, I wrote articles for kids' magazines and a couple of young adult and middle grade novels, but after papering my room with rejection notices, I set my writing ambitions aside. About five years ago, I got hooked on cozy mysteries and wanted to give them a try. Thankfully, I found my writing niche.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

From putting fingers on the keyboard to getting a contract, about five years.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

Hybrid 

 

Where do you write? 

I write at a small desk in a small spare bedroom with my dachshund at my feet. 

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

I get too easily distracted. I need silence, but I also need my ever-faithful dachshund at my feet.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular? 

My plots and characters are definitely drawn from real life. I want my readers to be able to relate to my stories.

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I've drawn a number of my characters' names from my past and present friends. In fact, I have a friend who wants me to use her name as a murderer in an upcoming book.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

I live in upstate New York which is dotted with great small-town settings, so I use those as settings in my books.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

My protagonist, Sam, is a hooker, rug hooker that is, and as such she has a tendency to hoard wool fabric for the rugs she creates.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Like Sam, I am also a rug hooker and a hoarder of wool. But I am an organized hoarder. My wool is stacked and color themed.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why? 

The Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowlings transformed reading for kids. I'll never forget standing in a bookstore next to a young boy who was proclaiming how proud he was that he had read such a "big" book.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I can't think of a thing I would change. I am blessed with a wonderful husband and family. What more could I ask for?

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

Protagonists who are clueless about how dangerous a situation is that they are walking into.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Family, my dachshunds and lots of books to read.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

Waitressing at a dinner theater, Trying to serve a busload of people their whiskey sours before showtime was not a fun job.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why? 

I'd have to say two books that I read my children when they were young- the characters in Charlotte's Web and a book by Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree. Such life lessons to learn from those two books

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Mountains. Their majesty can't be matched, in my humble opinion.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

Definitely country where living is so laid back. A person could fall asleep at a red light and have it turn green and no one would beep.

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Hopefully, uncovering more murders for Sam to solve.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books? 

I just found out from my publisher that book 2 in my Samantha Davies Mystery series, A Doggone Death will be released on November 8^th. It is available now for preorder on Amazon.

 

Kibbles And Death

A Samantha Davies Mystery, Book 1

 

After a nasty divorce, Samantha Davies has finally gotten her life back on track. She enjoys her hobby of hooking—rug hooking, that is—and is fulfilling a lifelong dream by writing her first children’s book, featuring her dachshund, Porkchop. But the pleasant pace of her life in small-town Upstate New York is suddenly shattered when she finds the dead body of the local pet shelter owner—murdered and covered in kibble!

 

While Calvin Perkins wasn't the most beloved man in town, Samantha's shaken to think there's a killer among them. Even more so when her octogenarian neighbor's boyfriend becomes the police's number one suspect, and her neighbor pleads with Sam to help him. While Sam's research skills have been honed in her pursuit of a publishing career, she's not convinced she won't be in over her head. Calvin may have been great with the animals, but he wasn’t well-liked by people, creating a list of suspects almost as long as Porkchop's favorite bone. But with the help of her Southern belle cousin, Candie Parker, Sam vows to find the truth...even if she has to go toe-to-toe with the handsome new detective in town to do it. Old grudges, new secrets, and danger around every corner means Samantha better find the killer's identity quickly...before they set their sights on another victim!

 

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