Monica LaSarre Q&A The Ruby Brooch of Atlantis @MLaSarre

Jasper Penzey International Boy Detective

The Ruby Brooch of Atlantis

Monica LaSarre

5 out of 5 Stars-“I literally could not put this book down from beginning to end. This may be the author’s first book, but she writes like an old pro! I especially liked that she wrote from a 9 – 13 year old’s perspective. I got lost in this adventure and that is pretty good for a woman in her 50s reading a children’s book. Greece came alive in my imagination, and the history and geography weaved into the plot was excellent. Kids will be learning without knowing it. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.”-Amazon

5 out of 5 Stars-“Read this book with my daughter to help her with her reading- such success! We loved it and read it in a weekend! This is a fun exciting read. A BIG thumbs up. Can’t wait to read more and go on more exciting adventures with Jasper!! A must have book, we will have to own this book”-Amazon

“better than Harry Potter”-Pinterest

I like to interview Authors. I think that’s a given considering I created a site for that purpose. Having a 10 year old son of my own, today’s guest has me excited because it’s right up his alley and I am looking forward to reading it and reviewing it. I may even throw in some opinions here on the LitWorldInterview book review from my son, who I call ‘B’ on the internet. If the cover and title of the book today doesn’t tell you why I am so enthusiastic then let me get out of the way so you can meet . . .

Monica LaSarre

@MLaSarre

RW: Where are you from?

MONICA: I am originally from Houston, TX, but have lived in Colorado for the past 21 years. More specifically, I live in a very rural area, beside a creek, on the side of a mountain. It’s lovely!

RW: Who are your favorite authors?

MONICA: My favorite authors are… wow! This is a tough question. I love authors who make me think (e.g., Dan Brown), make me feel (e.g., Amy Tan, A.S. Byatt) who make me fondly recall reading their works (e.g., Diana Gabaldon, L.M. Montogmery). As a children’s author, I take great inspiration from “Lemony Snicket” (pen name for Daniel Handler) and Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. Probably my all time favorites authors though are Daphne du Maurier (best known for her novel Rebecca), a master of suspense, and M.F.K. Fisher, a culinary genius when it comes to weaving fiction and history around food.

RW: What is your favorite beverage to drink, any kind?

MONICA: My husband tells me I need to drink more water and less coffee, to which I always reply, “Coffee has water in it, doesn’t it?” I drink coffee constantly. It’s my biggest regret in life.

RW: What is your escape from writing when you are at that about to explode point?

MONICA: I’m not the exploding type, actually. I’m pretty calm most of the time. I do find great relief personally in managing stress and angst through Reiki energy therapy and enjoying nature. I have a long dirt-road driveway and often will take a walk to clear my head and get some fresh air. I used to run quite a bit and have completed a couple of marathons, but can’t say that I run a whole lot in the more recent years. Still, it’s something I’ve enjoyed in the past.

RW: What is your favorite word?

MONICA: “Persnickety” It makes me giggle. And, it reminds me of Lemony Snicket, whose books are amongst my favorite in children’s literature, which is always a happy thought.

RW: What is your background in writing, what makes you a writer?

MONICA: I spent 13 years working in the field of transfusion medicine and clinical laboratory science (translation: I wore a lab coat and geeked out on test tubes and biology) and one day decided it wasn’t what made me happy anymore. When I considered what did make me happy, I could only conclude one thing: I love words, I love books and I love writing things that people enjoy reading. My background in writing really is pretty minimal: I wrote as a student, grade school up through graduate school, and in my past career I wrote quite a bit in the peer-reviewed scientific journal realm. Now I write fiction as an author, and fiction and non-fiction as a ghostwriter. It comes so naturally to me and so I must conclude I’ve always been a writer, who simply would be unhappy if I stopped being one.

RW: How did you come up with the name for your book?

MONICA: My first published fictional work is entitled, The Ruby Brooch of Atlantis and it is Volume 1 in the series called Jasper Penzey, International Boy Detective. The series is a color-coded one, covering each color of the rainbow + a pot of “gold” at the end, so red was the theme color I wanted to incorporate into the first book of this eight-book series. I wanted a touch point for kids that was color-centered (red in the case of the first book) and that immediately caused them to be intrigued (“What about the Ruby Brooch? What is that?”) As for Jasper Penzey, the main character, his name came to me while I was running a marathon on the Great Wall of China in May of 2013. I had met a fellow runner from Canada who had a son named Jasper and I immediately loved the name. Penzey seemed like a good fit for a last name.

RW: The book is about a boy detective but genre and reading age does your book fall into?

MONICA: This is a middle-reader (ages 6-11) book, in the mystery/detective genre.

RW: Why did you pick the mystery/detective genre for young people to write about?

MONICA: Kids love mysteries. In fact to them, at the young ages of 6-11, the whole world is a mystery. They’re trying to figure out things, which people to trust, what things mean and how they work. I love that inquisitiveness. In fact, in many ways, I’m still a child…always asking why and wondering why things are the way they are. My overarching desire in writing a book for children was to make it re-aloud friendly (so many kids’ books aren’t, unfortunately!) and write it in a way that would teach children about the diversity of cultures, other countries and history in a way that entertained them and wet their appetite to want to explore the world. I chose a mystery format for that, since I think that’s what kids enjoy the most.

RW: Tell us a little about Jasper and his story.

MONICA: Jasper Penzey is 9 and he’s never known his mother. His history professor father never wants to speak of her. One summer, Jasper moves from Louisiana to Greece with his father and on the eve of his move, he finds a note from his mom and an amulet. His move to Greece no longer is just about tagging along with his dad, it’s suddenly about finding his mom and solving a mystery that will change the course of history. He has never traveled before and, like many children, assumes the world is full of people just like him. His eyes are opened to a different way of life in Greece and he cleverly makes observations about the lives and cultures of people different than his norm, all the while being pulled further and further into a mystery involving the location of his mom and the lost civilization of Atlantis. It’s a lot of fun. And it has cookie recipes.

RW: What inspired the story concept and setting?

MONICA: I was able to travel to Santorini, Greece several years ago, to the exact place where this story is set. I remember being so impressed on so many levels with the geography and people of Greece and though it’s been several years since I traveled there, the landscapes and textures of the country have never left me. I wanted to write a story set in a far away land, especially since Jasper is an international detective, and knew I wanted it to take place in an area I fondly recalled. Greece was a sure fit.

RW: Tell us about Jasper and what you think will help readers connect to him.

MONICA: Jasper is precocious, like most 9-year olds. He asks big questions and is observant all the time. I think this is how most children are, at least it’s how my children are. I also think it is good as an adult to aspire to be young at heart and regain the childhood curiosity we lost along the way. Young readers will relate to Jasper because he’s fun loving, adventurous and curious; adult readers will relate to him because they remember being the same way, and perhaps wish to be the same way again.

RW: Who do you see when you think of Jasper in a movie?

MONICA: I picture Jasper looking a bit like a younger version of Dylan Sprayberry, with his spiky brown hair and big eyes. But at the same time, I love leaving the mental picture of my main character up to the reader’s imagination. I’ll never forget how I felt after reading the Twilight series and feeling like the air knocked out of me when Robert Pattinson was cast as Edward, because that’s not at all how I pictured him. And never again could I recall my own imagination’s image of Edward after that.

RW: What message do you think The Ruby Brooch of Atlantis delivers to the reader?

MONICA: There is a universality amongst humans, regardless of what country you are from, and that diversity in cultures and people and history is what keeps life interesting. I hope my book will create in young readers an early understanding of that fact, and spark in them a lifelong curiosity that can only be satisfied by travel and experiencing history through their own eyes in far away lands across the globe.

RW: What did you learn about yourself from writing this book?

MONICA: I learned a very valuable lesson, actually. It’s interesting because, when I first started writing this book, I was an adult, a responsible mom, trying very hard to write a great kids’ book. Along the way, I learned that the only way I could do that was by putting myself into the mindset of a child. Now, though the book is written and published, I’ve yet to let go of the sheer joy I experience living as an adult who tries always to see the world as a child would. I laugh a lot more, I don’t over complicate things, I enjoy the wonder of each new day and get excited about goofy things right alongside my kids. It’s been an amazing, unforeseen fountain of youth for me, writing this book.

RW: Describe your book in one word.

MONICA: Enthusiastic

RW: Where can we Jasper Penzey International Boy Detective The Ruby Brooch of Atlantis now?

MONICA: It’s available on Amazon in paperback, and for Kindle including Kindle Unlimited. It will also be available through Ingram, catalogued for order by any other online and brick-and-mortar bookstore.

RW: I imagine you are working on book 2 if not already completed it, what about your ghostwriting, anything you can share?

MONICA: At the moment, I’m all about Jasper Penzey, working very hard on his next book in the series, volume 2. I have many exciting books I could share with you that I have ghostwritten for clients around the world, but then I’d be breaking confidentiality. Suffice it to say, there are some really excellent memoirs and fictional works on the publishing horizon that I’ve ghostwritten for others. Shhhh….

RW: How do people connect with you through all forms of social media?

MONICA: I use Twitter and Facebook most, but also Instagram and LinkedIn. I also respond to all messages left for me through my website and via email. On Facebook, I give away a paperback children’s book every single day to those who follow my page and Like/Share my posts. The Book-A-Day-Giveaway is a big draw for my fans to my Facebook page. Parents, teachers, librarians love it. It’s my way of giving back and increasing the reach of quality children’s literature in the world.

RW: Do you currently have agent representation?

MONICA: I actually agented for myself in seeking a publisher for my work. It never occurred to me to look for an agent, and as luck would have it, I never needed one. Had I looked for one, I would definitely have wanted someone who believed in my book as much as I did. Thankfully, I found that person in my wonderful publisher, Dr. Kitty Bickford of Chalfant Eckert Publishing. A mother, grandmother, educator and advocate for quality children’s literature, she and I see eye-to-eye on how important it is to share Jasper’s story with children of all ages (young and old).

RW: What are your plans for Jasper in the future?

MONICA: I’m working on Volume 2 of the Jasper Penzey series and with 8 books in the series, I have my work cut out for me. When I’m not writing Jasper Penzey’s books, I’m daydreaming about what I want to write next and I’m working very hard on ghostwriting projects for clients (one non-fiction, one fiction, currently).

RW: What book are you reading at this time?

MONICA: I’m reading a book called Mary Anne, by Daphne du Maurier, which I found in a used book store recently and realized I’d never read it. Over the weekend, I devoured Gone Girl in a 36 hour reading marathon. It was THAT GOOD. With my children, I’m happily re-reading a beloved classic, Charlotte’s Web.

RW: What is your biggest tip for someone to getting published?

MONICA: Write a great query letter by doing this: believe in your book because if you don’t, no one else will either; the rest of the query letter is just semantics.

RW: If you could have written any book that exists, other than your own, what would it be and why?

MONICA: I wish I had written The Game of Thrones series, or Outlander. Epic fiction, the way George R. R. Martin and Diana Gabladon do it, is so beautiful to me. It’s my pie in the sky, the type of work I aspire to be capable of when my writing career is said and done.

List links to all websites you have and social networks such as Twitter.

Website: www.monicalasarre.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MLaSarre

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

Instagram: http://instagram.com/mlasarre

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/monica-lasarre/2/aa5/826

First of all, follow Monica LaSarre everywhere you can. Then really first of all, go buy her book! Now after reading about her and her book, do you see why I was excited to share this Author with you? I know not to judge a book by its cover but when I get my hands on the book, I don’t think I will be disappointed considering the creative mind behind it and the publishing behind it. When I do review it, trust me that I will be honest. If I’m not honest then there is no point to having this site.

Now I want to thank Monica for the interview and sharing so much of herself with us. I look forward to continuing a working relationship with her as I do with all Authors who come through LWI. Again, get her book now! You will be in on the beginning of something great!

Like the interview? Like the sounds of the book? The Author? Then let us know with a comment of encouragement.

And as always . . .

Read a Book, Write a Review.

Much Respect

Ronovan

I really need to make an image that says Follow US on bloglovin’. I’ll put that on my To Do List.

Get Book Sales with your Book Description.

There are foods out there that I love, but they look awful. I can cook some of the best tasting things you will ever eat, but they may just not look that great.

“What’s is this?” My son asked.

“Diced chicken, rice, condensed cream of mushroom soup, broccoli, garlic powder, salt, pepper…”

“Daddy, can I have a sandwich?”

I was describing a delicious casserole dish that is seriously amazing, but I lost my audience. I was giving him not what he wanted, I was giving him the chef’s description of the dish. He didn’t ask for the recipe, he wanted to know what it was and what it tasted like.

As Authors we need to keep this in mind when we come up with our “Book Descriptions”.

Did anyone else shudder or get a bad taste in their mouth when I said those last two words? They are almost as bad as the words “synopsis” or “hook” or . . . NOOOOO “pitch” or Sally Fields forbid-“query letter“.

I look through Amazon a lot as I look for Author Interviews.

Straight Talk Time from Ronovan

There are some seriously B.A.D. Book Descriptions. What’s B.A.D.? Oh, that means Badly Authored Descriptions. These Book Descriptions have been by Authors. When I read them it makes me wonder one of two things;

Did the Author use up all their talent in the book writing or
Does the Author just not know how to write

Sorry, I know, that was bad, but you have to admit when you are looking at a book description and you see two or three lines or you see a recipe of the book you wonder the same things. And this is Straight Talk, not Sweet Talk.

You have to stand out from the crowd. If you ever look at ‘Amazon Best Sellers Rank’ and then look at the Book Descriptions, most often there is a correlation.

How to Write a Book Description

Establish Who You Are

Who the heck are you? Why should I trust you to write this book and believe I am getting quality?

I have several Author friends who are award winning. Mention it right off the bat. Show the reader you are legit.

The LWI: Book Description is from Award Winning author Ronovan Writes.

You don’t have Awards?

The LWI: Book Description is Ronovan Writes third novel.

Ronovan Writes brings us the first in his NEW series “The LWI: Book Descriptors”.

Author Historian Ronovan Writes delivers his newest jump into adventure with “The LWI: Book Descriptors”

Okay, so they might not be the best but I think you see what I mean. You need to give them a piece of you. Connect somehow. Pretend you are reading and think what would catch your eye. Read those Amazon Best Seller Book Descriptions.

Review Blurbs

I had a comment in a recent article asking if regular people read the long reviews on Amazon. If they get that far they just might. How do you let the potential purchaser of your book know people like it?

Okay, so there is the star review they can see but you want them to see the words.

Take review quotes and put them in your Book Description. Not a lot of them. Pick those which keep the energy going in your “pitch”. Always remember your Book Description is a sales pitch.

“Ronovan Writes nails the book to the wall with non-stop action and keeps you guessing every step of the way. I started reading it and could not put it down until I was finished. Who needs sleep?”

“The LWI: Book Descriptors had me pacing the floor wondering what would happen next. I loved and hated the author at the same time as he pulled me through every emotion and made me question what I believed.”

“I started reading this as a night time read and the next thing I know I am wide awake. My wife hit me to turn out the light. Ronovan Writes “The LWI: Book Descriptors” is worth a night on the couch, or two.”

Keep the quotes short and not many. You only have a little time of the modern day person’s short attention span.

The Story

Now tell about your book. Give the nutshell version. The commercial, the “hook”. You threw out the line with Who You Are, you baited them with the Review Blurbs, now hook them with your pitch of the book. The real description of the story. Forget the little parts, the recipe. Tell them what you have for them.

“The LWI: Book Descriptors” races you through the dark places that we thought we knew to be true, but in reality were all a devastating plan from on high. If you can handle surprise, revelations and being kept on the edge of your seat in the world of political espionage, you’re in the right place.

How to Conclude

There are various methods. The comparison, just like you do with a literary agent or publisher where you mention how your book is similar to some other super star author’s.

Close with your best review quote blurb or blurbs.

“Not since The DaVinci Code have I read such a reality shaking story. Ronovan Writes delivers a gripping tale of intrigue and desperation. I can’t wait for his next book.”

Length of Book Description

Get the job done. After this point do all the quotes you want, or whatever else, but get the job done quickly and if you want more quotes or then add comparisons, go ahead and do it.

Formatting the Description

Wake people up. Bold, symbols like asterisks. Do something to wake the reader up from looking through dozens of descriptions already.

Let’s see what it might look like:

Author Historian Ronovan Writes delivers his newest jump into adventure with “The LWI: Book Descriptors”

5 out of 5 Star Reviews

*****“Ronovan Writes nails the book to the wall with non-stop action and keeps you guessing every step of the way. I started reading it and could not put it down until I was finished. Who needs sleep?”– Joe Contrare-Amazon Review

More Reader Praise:

“Not since The DaVinci Code have I read such a reality shaking story. Ronovan Writes delivers a gripping tale of intrigue and desperation. I can’t wait for his next book.”-Daniel Constano-Amazon Reviewer

These are suggestions. The idea to take away from this is to put some effort into the Book Description or your months of writing a book will not get read by many. All that time and effort and you waste it away with soup can ingredients.

Make your Book Description as good as if not BETTER than your Book!

Much Respect

Ronovan

Subscribe to Blog via Email

And as always . . .

Read a Book, Write a Review.

My Review of The Blue Diamond by @PSBartlett.

One thing to tell you about me and the rest of us here at LitWorldInterviews (LWI) is we are going to be honest, even about our own family and by family that includes the LWI Team members. Why, because if we’re not then we might as well not even be doing this at all.

If you’ve read the recent announcements here at LWI, then you know award winning author PS Bartlett has joined our team. You also know her latest novel, The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge was released this past Friday.

I read the book.

I will say here and now that a Historical Adventure Romance was not exactly on my radar, even though I have actually written Romance in the past year and am working on revisions and all of that as I get feedback. But still, I’m a guy, right? Romance? And then the cover? I loved the cover but it just looked so . . . so . . . ROMANCE!

Yeah, my bad.

I’m an idiot. I admit it. Think about it. I have written Adventure novels. I have written Romance novels. I have written novels with Historical elements in them, I am a certified History teacher after all. So you would have thought this would have been something I would have read with no problem. Two Pirate Captains meet and the adventure begins and thoughts and worlds begin to be questioned.

I mean you have Pirates, Adventure and a lot more, why would I not want to read it?

Yeah, my stereotype manly man side peeked out and tried to show itself.

I started reading it and right from the start it wasn’t what I had expected. The more I read the more I liked it. Being a former History teacher I definitely enjoyed the history aspects, which were not in your face. They were there for no other reason than a backdrop to enhance the story. That is one thing I appreciated about the novel. Some people make some historical thing THE reason for the book. Not in this one. I’m not saying a historical thing cannot be the point of a book, but it can be over done.

I also appreciated that Bartlett handled the romance scenes with what I think was an eye to all readers. In my own novels, yes novels, the Romance I am doing is a Trilogy, I am concerned about what I call the ‘scenes’, if you know what I mean. Bartlett handled these with taste and oddly, as I think about it, she lets your imagination do a lot of the work.

Was the book perfect?

There were some passages between face to face scenes that I could have seen just a little shorter as I got farther into the book. As I said in my Amazon Review, I think this might be partly because toward the end of the book I was ready for more of the action and seeing what was going to happen next.

I at first wondered about the character displayed by Ivory Shepard and her cousins. Ivory “Razor” Shepard is the pirate captain of a ship that is attacked and sunk. The aftermath is where we enter the story. Her cousins are also women pirates. But the truth is they could very well be based on actual women pirates that operated in the Caribbean, one of which particularly comes to mind.

Even if there was no historical basis for a female pirate, Bartlett does handle how Ivory becomes captain well. I do wonder about the final action that makes her captaincy possible, but it is a believable and not fantastical idea. It is just something I might have wanted to see handled in a slightly different way, yet I do understand why it happened the way it did.

What did I really like?

I enjoyed the character of Maddox “Blacksnake” Carbonale a lot. He is a slightly typical Romantic Hero lead type, but with a few extra layers of development added. I’m not one for the typical. Bartlett made Carbonale believable in many ways and as the story progresses you understand more and more.

The supporting cast, which in reality is more than that, was developed well and was given enough attention for you to care about them. There were no unnecessary characters thrown in. There are a few surprises along the way that I enjoyed, and one that I caught onto just in time before a reveal. Bartlett definitely can tell a story and give you just enough to tell you all you need to know if you pay attention.

So what’s the score?

I gave The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge 5 out of 5 stars at Amazon. I give it the same here. Why? I didn’t find the scenes overdone or unnecessary. The plot was excellent. The story was great. And it kept me wanting to read. I also liked the balance of the three genre elements. Historical enough to be scenery, Adventure enough to keep me wanting more, and Romance enough to make it believable and real. And one other big reason for a 5-I want to read the next book in the series. And isn’t that a sign of a successful piece of writing?

Since this is a ‘family’ member I reviewed and somewhat said there were some improvement areas, I do hope to see you again at LWI. If not, Bartlett knows where she buried the body.

Remember

Read a Book, Write a Review!

I did!

Much Respect

Ronovan

@RonovanWrites

Read a Book, Write a Review.

That’s my new slogan here at LWI.

What many people don’t realize is, reviews have an impact on Amazon and other sites in how a book might show up and of course the more reviews the better chance of a book being purchased.

I’ll have something more about how to write a good review at another point. But really, just write an honest and helpful review for a possible reader. Write what you would be looking for if you were wanting to know about the book, without giving away the story of course. I had to throw that in there because you know some people might give away all the details.

Expect to see “Read a Book, Write a Review” a lot.

Much Respect