Divorce is Murder by Elka Ray

Posted: November 14, 2019/By: achristay@aol.com

Please Welcome Elka Ray author of Divorce is Murder

Elka Ray will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Divorce is Murder

by Elka Ray

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GENRE: Romantic Suspense, Mystery

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INTERVIW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

I’m an only child. My family moved constantly when I was a kid, often to wild, remote places. As a result, I spent a lot of time drawing and reading, which led me to write my own stories.

2. How did you come up with ideas for your books?

I write mysteries, so there’s always a crime to be solved. But more than whodunnit, I’m fascinated by why. What motivates horrible actions? Where do jealousy and insecurity start? In Divorce Is Murder, divorce lawyer Toby Wong is hired by her old teenage crush, whose soon-to-be-ex gets murdered. More than just a murder mystery, it’s a book about the lasting effects of bullying – and how loving friends and family can get us through most things.

3. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Much like the main character’s fortune teller mom, Ivy, I’m addicted to crystals and gems. My husband calls me “stoner” and it’s not because of drugs. I don’t know if pretty rocks actually have healing powers or not. I don’t much care. Their beauty is uplifting.

4. If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?

I have a soft spot for Toby’s old hippie mom, Ivy, who reads tarot cards for a living. But I’m far too skeptical to be like her. I’d love to be like Toby’s best friend, Quinn. She’s smart, brutally honest, and totally practical – the sort of person you can count on to make good choices in a crisis.

5. If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles?

I don’t care, so long as they’re talented and of Asian descent. When she was little, my daughter announced her desire to be an actress when she grew up. My first thought was: “Oh no. What sort of roles would she get?” That’s because my kids are half-Asian and Hollywood’s mainstream leading ladies aren’t. In North America, Asian actors are largely still relegated to niche roles. I can’t change Hollywood but I can create stories with smart, brave, and funny main characters who look like my kids.

6.Do you have an all time favorite book?

It’s hard to pick one but Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book is way up there.

7. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

Best:

Your first three chapters is probably backstory.

Worst:

Pretty much anything that starts with: “You should…” A good editor simply marks a little question mark or writes “Hmmm?” in the margin. They don’t say: “Why don’t you do this…” or “I think X should happen…” It’s your story.

8. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I create a rough map, so I know which way I’m headed, then start motoring along. It’s like a road trip – full of small diversions. Invariably the person I thought was the murderer turns out to be innocent. If it surprises you as the writer, it’s more likely to surprise the reader.

9. 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?

I live right next to a tropical beach and adore the ocean. Every day, unless the waves are too big, I swim. That’s when character’s voices and plots come to me. I work out plot-snarls when I’m swimming or walking on the beach.

10. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

I’m thrilled that the Toby Wong Vancouver Island mystery books will become a series. In the second book, a socialite friend of Toby’s mom goes missing after falling for a conman she met online. Family loyalty forces Toby into the drama.

BLURB:

As teens, they bullied her. Twenty years on, she’s not scared of them. Except she should be…

After returning to her quiet hometown to care for her ailing mom, divorce lawyer Toby Wong is hired by Josh Barton, a guy who broke her heart as a teen at summer camp. Now a wealthy entrepreneur, Josh wants to divorce Tonya, the mean girl who tormented Toby all those years ago. When Tonya is found murdered, Josh is the prime suspect.

Together with her fortune-teller mom and her pregnant best friend, Toby sets out to clear Josh, whom she still has a guilty crush on. As she delves deeper into Tonya’s murder, Toby keeps running into catty ex-campers she’d rather forget. Are her old insecurities making her paranoid? Only too late does she realize she’s in danger.

The first entry in an addictive new series, Divorce is Murder introduces fans of mystery and romance to an irresistibly smart and sarcastic new heroine – Chinese Canadian divorce lawyer Toby Wong.

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EXCERPT:

That noise? Had I imagined the soft tremor of the door, the handle just starting to turn? I must have because the door stayed tight shut, no light around the edges, no eager whisper of my name. I tried to slow my breathing, to be even quieter than I was already, to force my ears to be even sharper.

The floor was cold and hard. My butt hurt, and my knees felt welded in place. It was painful to stretch out my legs. I held onto a table and stood, as stiff and rickety as my Grannie Mei Li, in the hospital, a few days before she’d died. I forced myself to straighten up, forced myself to face the cold hard truth: I’d been waiting a long time. Too long. It was very late. My eyes felt gritty.

He wasn’t coming.

A slow tentative shuffle to the door, my heart as heavy as my footsteps. Why did he write that note but not come? Had he been caught? Surely, if he could have, he’d have come to me.

A slick of silver lead my hand to the doorknob, which felt even colder than my creaky fingers. Cold and smooth. It started to turn but stopped. I tried again. And again. It was no use. The door was locked. It couldn’t be!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

ELKA RAY

Stories that don’t let go

Elka Ray writes fast-paced romantic mysteries and scary thrillers – a dichotomy that reveals her belief in Yin and Yang, or the balance of opposites. A great lover of scientific facts, she may be found clutching crystals for good luck; reads highbrow journals and tabloid trash; and refuses to watch romcoms yet moved in with her now-husband on their first date.

Elka is the author of three novels – the romantic mysteries DIVORCE IS MURDER and HANOI JANE – and the noir thriller SAIGON DARK. She also has a collection of short crime and ghost stories set in Southeast Asia – WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW. Elka lives with her family near Hoi An, Vietnam. She is represented by Folio Literary Management. – link to http://foliolit.com/agency#f.About

www.instagram.com/elka.ray/

www.facebook.com/elkaraybooks/

twitter.com/elkaray?lang=en

www.goodreads.com/author/show/5027427.Elka_Ray

Buy Link:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-Murder-Toby-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1633885429/ref=sr_1_1

Barnes & Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/divorce-is-murder-elka-ray/1130721019?ean=9781633885424#/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Elka Ray will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.