Undeveloped Memories by Karina Bartow

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to feature author Karina Bartow and Undeveloped Memories, a women’s fiction mystery-adventure set in contemporary Alaska. With Karina is photo-journalist Lorelei Carmichael who will go first.

Good afternoon, Lorelei. Thank you for spending time with us today. Let’s start with you telling us a bit about Undeveloped Memories. The book follows my exploration into my Uncle Reed’s past. When I returned home to Arizona, my priority was seeing if his physical health was as bad as my dramatic brother made it out to be. While I stayed in the home where he raised us, I came across an old roll of film he never developed, alongside other photos of a trip he took to Alaska. Since I didn’t recall him talking about it before, the roll intrigued me because I wondered what it might reveal, so being a photographer myself, I processed it in our darkroom. What it uncovered only made me more curious, and well, I couldn’t let it go.   

What made you choose photojournalism for a profession? My uncle’s history in it fostered that desire. I understood it was his job, of course, but it was oddly an escape for him, too. He loved the mechanics and craft of photography, but he adored the connection it fused between him, his subjects, and his audience. That passion rubbed off on me.

Knowing what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick with being a photojournalist or do something different? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my career and honestly wouldn’t change a thing. After the discoveries I made in Undeveloped Memories, though, my family keeps teasing me about becoming a private investigator or an investigative journalist, at least!  

What is your biggest fear? Not being able to take care of the people I love.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? Lois Lane, because she couldn’t rest until she unearthed the truth about a story. I’d just like to think I’m a little wiser in my approach and that I could figure out Clark Kent was Superman!

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? The best things in life don’t come easy.

Thanks for this, Lorelei. Now we’d like to chat with Karina.

Which writer or character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major impact on your writing? A recent influence I’ve enjoyed is author Nita Prose. While writing Undeveloped Memories, I began reading her “Molly the Maid” series. Even though those novels are pretty different from Undeveloped Memories, they nourished the elements about family and yearning to understand those who raised you on a new level.

With regard to research, where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths, thereby changing the original concept? I’ve never had the privilege to travel to Alaska, so one of the first things I did was talk to a friend who grew up there. I expected just to get some information about the culture and food, but having lived through the 1964 earthquake, she also gave me a riveting eyewitness account of that event. Her narrative became central to the plot, as I was only toying with ideas up to that point.

Tell us a bit about your publisher. How did you hear about them; what influenced you to submit to them; how is the submission process; what is the turn-around time from date of query to date of release? I’m honored to be with The Wild Rose Press again, with this being my fifth release under their kind wings. Undeveloped Memories is a bit different from my previous works, so I didn’t know if they’d accept it right away. To my delight, my awesome editor offered me a contract within a couple of weeks, and all said and done, it’s been just about five months between submitting my query to today’s release! 

What are you reading right now? No Rest for the Departed by Nancy Herriman.

What's next for you? I’m presently working on two mysteries, and I have a manuscript on the shelf that I’ll probably be tweaking at some point. I have to decide which one will be on tap.

 To learn more about Karina Bartow and the stories she creates go to: www.KarinaBartow.com

https://www.facebook.com/karinabartowauthor

https://www.instagram.com/karina.bartow/

https://x.com/KarinaBartow

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15045283.Karina_Bartow

 

To purchase Undeveloped Memories, go to:

https://wildrosepress.com/product/undeveloped-memories/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF5FRS3N/

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781509262908

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undeveloped-memories-karina-bartow/1147667550?ean=9781509262908 

 

 

 

 

The Wine Jelly Murder by Meg Benjamin

 Weddings can be murder. Roxy’s trying not to be the next victim.

 Wild Women Authors focus is on Meg Benjamin and The Wine Jelly Murder, book 5 in the Luscious Delights series.

About the Book:

Roxy Constantine and Nate Robicheaux are into weddings, both for work and family. But when the obnoxious father of the bride is murdered at their catered engagement party, they find out more about his business than they bargained for.

         Now someone wants to stop Roxy from investigating even as she pulls out all the stops on a super New Year’s Eve wedding celebration for her uncle.

         She’ll need more than wine jelly favors and wedding cake to stop the killer.

An Excerpt:

“You ready to go?” Nate asked.

“Pretty much. Did you check to see if Thalia’s still around? I saw her talking to Pollack. She might have some last-minute stuff to tell us.”

Nate grimaced. “Grab your coat. We can check for her and then keep going out the front entrance. Thalia can always call tomorrow if she’s got something to pass on.”

I followed him into the dining room where the janitor was running the Zamboni-style sweeper around the room. I didn’t see Thalia or anybody else. “Looks like she’s gone.”

“Probably,” Nate said. “Everybody else has taken off. Let’s take one more pass at the stairs.”

He stepped out the doors that led to the stairwell. It looked pretty dark to me, but as I stepped onto the landing, I heard something that sounded like a sob. For a moment I pictured Jennifer Pollack staring out at the falling snow like she wanted to escape. I hoped she hadn’t been left behind by mistake “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Nate turned to stare at me.

“That sound. It was over…” As I started across the landing toward the stairs, I heard another sob, much louder this time, coming from the stairs leading down to the lower floor. “Is anybody there?” I called.

“Roxy?” It sounded like Thalia, but a very different Thalia from the normal, terrifyingly efficient woman we’d been working with. I stepped quickly to the landing and peered toward the lower floor.

And saw Thalia Rosenberg leaning over Emerson Pollack, who lay spread-eagled on the concrete floor.

From where I stood, he looked very dead.

I ran down the steps, which is to say I went down quickly, not exactly running. The stairwell was very dark although the light from above streamed down on Pollack’s body where it lay. Nate was at my heels.

Thalia knelt beside Pollack, her face the color of the snow still falling outside. “We need to call an ambulance,” she said. “He’s…hurt.”

Judging by the way Pollack was splayed on the floor, I didn’t think an ambulance would do much good. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Thalia. Step away from him now.”

Nate had climbed up the stairs and was now speaking urgently into his phone. I heard the words “accident” and “serious injuries,” which might well be true, as far as the “serious injuries” went. I was less certain about the “accident” part. Still, he was talking to the police, who were better equipped than us to figure out what had happened.

Thalia looked like she might faint or have hysterics, neither of which I wanted to deal with right then. A pool of blood spread under Pollack’s body; some had soaked into the hem of Thalia’s bright blue suit. I didn’t think she’d noticed. I couldn’t see any good reason for her to go on kneeling next to Pollack’s body.

He obviously wasn’t in any condition to need her help.

Thalia leaned toward me, her brown eyes huge in her pale face. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “My God. He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Looks like it.” I pulled her a little farther away from the body just as I heard the sound of sirens outside. The Shavano Police Department had taken Nate seriously when he’d told them we needed help.

“Did he fall?” Thalia said, her voice trembling. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“He looks so…flat.” Her voice was rising, and she sounded much closer to the faint or hysterics option I’d sensed earlier.

“The police will figure it out.” I took her elbow and nudged her gently toward the stairs. “That’s what they do.”

One flight up, I heard someone banging on the front door. Nate was already undoing the front door lock, while the guy who’d been running the Zamboni peered out of the dining room. “What’s going on?” he called. No one bothered to answer him.

Nate got the door open, and I heard a lot of voices, including Nate trying to explain what had happened. I edged up the stairs, still holding Thalia’s arm. Then I heard a very familiar voice, one I’d been expecting. “Well, well. Nate Robicheaux and Roxy Constantine. Here you are again.”

The Wine Jelly Murder can be found at:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCVCRC6S/thewildrosepr-20

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wine-jelly-murder-meg-benjamin/1147592049?ean=2940184558462

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-wine-jelly-murder/id6747186348

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-wine-jelly-murder?sId=1b710c3e-005f-485c-9d5f-1e7fae3124c2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Meg_Benjamin_The_Wine_Jelly_Murder?id=pf-AEQAAQBAJ

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781509261482

BooksaMillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781509261482