Island Life Sentence by Carrie Jo Howe

Please welcome Carrie Jo Howe author of Island Life Sentence.

Carrie Jo Howe will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Island Life Sentence

by Carrie Jo Howe

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GENRE: Adult Fiction, Humorous, Romantic comedy

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?  I’m inspired by life events and the world around me. Also, my family is very funny.
2. How did you come up with ideas for your books? 
 My first book, Motherhood is NOT for Babies,is a series of vignettes about raising 3 boys, a husband and a bad dog. My second book, Island Life Sentence, was born from the culture shock of moving from Chicago to Key West. I did not assimilate well. I’m getting used to the heat and humidity, but the iguanas, ghosts and hurricanes… that’s gonna take awhile. 
3. What expertise did you bring to your writing? I wish I had an expertise.
4. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?  I can touch my tongue to my nose and wiggle my ears…but not at the same time. I love chips and abide by a serious snack chip ranking. Chili Cheese Fritos #1.
5. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? Island Life Sentenceis scheduled to be a trilogy.
6. If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?I’d be Trudy because she doesn’t take crap from anyone. She’s brutally honest.
7. If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles? I would cast Melissa McCarthy as Peg, and Amy Poehler as Trudy–the DREAM!
8. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing? I didn’t belong to a group but I used a writing coach with my second book. She helped me with the structure and layout. She kept me on track. I liken this to a personal trainer. They make you work harder with better form–and you can’t quit after 2 pushups.
9. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?  I wrote the book with the intention of submitting it. I’m glad I did because I’ve learned a lot and toughened up just as much.  I went with Unbound, a crowdfunding publisher out of England. Once funded, the book went through a traditional process of editing and cover art. There are trade-offs, but I’m convinced that I have a better product because of using them.
10. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) The best advice about writing a book – “You should write a book” . The worst advice is “Anyone can write a book” – it’s not true. You have to be really good at sitting, typing and erasing.
11. Do you outline your books or just start writing?I wrote the beginning and the ending then created a story arc for the middle. The writing did take a life form of its own in the process, but I tried to keep it as close as possible to my initial rendering.
12. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?  When we moved to Key West and a friend asked me to go to paddle board yoga, I was extremely intimidated.  It’s hard and I am pretty sure that I got sun stroke. The other class members make it seem easy.

Unfortunately, poor Peg had to experience my pain.
13. Do you have an all time favorite book?  I love Tourist Season and Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen. He’s a Florida writer who gets it.  Florida is fantastic fodder for writing.
14. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?It’s going to be Peg and Trudy in Key West – I’m thinking a paranormal romance, a corporal romance…all mixed in with adventure. Of course the a-hole husband, Clark, needs to re-surface.
15. Who is your favorite actor and actress?I’m a fan of comedy and slapstick, so of course I’m partial to Tiny Fey, Amy Poehler, Melissa McCarthy, Nick Offerman, and Jerry Seinfeld. I love movies with The Rock and Kevin Hart too!
16. Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book? The blackest moment in the book is when Peg faces the hurricane. In reality, we lived through Hurricane Irma last year, a Cat Five storm headed directly for Key West. We fled to 3 different “hurrication” locations in an attempt to avoid the dreaded “cone”. It was terrifying and humbling. Key West was fortunate – was it the protection of Sister Gabriel from the Grotto?  I’m lighting extra candles just in case.

Thank you for hosting me Christine!

BLURB:

Peg Savage has contractually agreed to move to Key West, Florida. The smudged signatures on the damp cocktail napkin are irrefutable proof.

“An adventure…” her husband Clark says.

Peg can’t swim; she’s afraid of bridges (there are 42 of them); and she doesn’t want to leave her friends. However, after a bottle of Cabernet, a move from Chicago to the southernmost city in the United States seems like the best decision ever.

But now Clark has taken a long term job in Cuba and she’s on her own.

Neither her dog Nipper, nor the ghosts in the attic, offer up any good advice. But how hard can it be living in paradise?

Peg dives into island life but the more effort she makes, the wider her wake of catastrophes. She is tortured by a paddle board, a giant poisonous toad, the local Conservation group, and the patron saint of hurricanes. Not to mention the persistent sweat rash under her left breast.

A tropical depression descends on the island – one that can’t be cured with medication. Peg must gather her strength if she has any hope of surviving the storm.

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EXCERPT:

The next day, when Clark greeted Peg in the kitchen, his face lit up with hungover happiness. Peg held up the still-damp paper towel contract – black ink sticking to her index finger and thumb.

“Yes, here’s the proof.” She dropped the drunken pact into the desk drawer on top of the crusty remains of past contracts that refused to lie flat. She could just make out the blotchy inked words company, job and dog on the corners of the stacked agreements.

“It’ll be fun, an adventure.” Clark kissed her lips, his breath a mixture of mouthwash and sour bar towel. “I’ll make the arrangements. We can get away at the end of the week.”

Peg wished that he would stop saying the word adventure.

Excerpt Two:

“Sunshine state… my soggy ass.”

It was dark. The power and the air conditioning had gone out hours ago. Peg hugged her dog under the makeshift bed-tent, clutching him to her sweaty pajama’d breasts.

An engraved locket pinned to Nipper’s blue life vest dangled under his pirate dog collar. Hurricane rain pummeled the bedroom window – the violent wind shook the glass panes. Peg wondered about the moaning sound until she realized it was coming from her own throat.

She shrieked at the sudden crash on the metal roof. Several days of binge drinking without proper oral hygiene, or any hygiene for that matter, produced noxious vapors in the tent. Nipper’s nostrils flared as he took in the odors and licked her fluorescent orange, cheesy, tear-stained fingers.

Excerpt Three:

She put the flashlight in her armpit and squeezed the dog tightly. More sounds of destruction echoed down the hallway from the living room, reactivating her shivers. The booze and chips from yesterday gurgled in her stomach. Nipper cowered, squinting his eyes, ears flat to his head.

Do not throw up. Get a grip.

Snuggling him close, she yelled over the din, “Oh, my friend, you’ll be okay.” The dog’s loving brown eyes made her heart constrict. She tightened the straps of his life jacket.

“I’ll see you in the afterlife.” She kissed his forehead.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

After raising three boys in the suburbs of Chicago, Carrie Jo Howe now lives in Key West, Florida with her husband and her dog. Her latest novel, Island Life Sentence, is a fictional account of an American Midwestern woman who feels like an alien in the “one human family” of Key West. Carrie Jo’s first book, Motherhood is NOT for Babies, received a rave review (thanks Mom), and works wonderfully as a form of contraception. Her blog Florida Keys Crime Report, tells of all the goings on in the Keys, where bank robbers get away on bicycles, and perps caught with undersized, pinched, out-of-season lobsters get more jail time than drug runners. She is currently working on the sequels to Island Life Sentence.

Website: www.carriejohowe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carriejohowe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carriejohowe

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carriejohoweauthor

Blog: https://carriejohowe.blogspot.com/

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Island-Life-Sentence-Carrie-Howe/dp/1911586521

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Carrie Jo Howe will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2838