Today, Wild Women Authors feature author GG Calpo and Death Hits the High
Notes, a contemporary cozy mystery, a recent release by the Wild Rose
Press. First up is music teacher Stefan Papadopoulos.
Good
morning, Stefan. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak
with us. Let’s begin with what made you choose teaching band and choir for a
profession. Music is in my bones.
Without music, I’d wither like that plant on your desk. You might want to
drizzle some water on it. It’s really parched and gasping. Say what? Stick to
your questions? I’m just saying…okay, okay. To get back to music, without it,
I’d be brown and droopy like your plant. And brown is so not a good look for
me.
Knowing
what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick with being a
band teacher or do something different? Well…I
might have tried out for America’s Got Talent. It would have been fun to see
Simon Cowell’s jaw drop when I belt out my solo. You know I sing solo in
Whitman’s Port Choral Society? I’m not bragging when I say my “Ave Maria”
brings tears to everyone’s eyes. You should a ticket to the concert. It’s this
weekend. I’ve sung in the choir for years now. In fact, the choir is where
everything happens in Death
Hits the High Notes.
What
is your biggest fear? Fear? What is
fear but the knowledge that you’re doing or are in something out of your
comfort zone? And what is life if you don’t step out of your safe, square box?
Boring, that’s what it is. So, with your permission…or without it, actually, I will
rephrase your question to “What is the one thing I dread more than death?” Then
the answer, my dear, is to be BORING. For an Original like me, boring is the
kiss of death.
Who
is your favorite fictional character and why? Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, of course! Have you
seen his tweeds? His monocle? And that British upper-class twang? He’s divine!
I just wish Dorothy Sayers wrote more books about him. I’ve read all eleven
books and the short story collections so many times, I’ve lost count!
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? As a young Greek man, my father—then my uncle when he
stood loco parentis when my father died—drilled generosity into me. With
family, with friends, with acquaintances, and even with strangers. Everyone,
really. At work, with family and friends, in your neighborhood, wherever you
find yourself. He said, generosity is never wasted. It creates ripples and
returns to you in ways you will not expect. It pays uncounted dividends and
enriches your life beyond what it cost you.
Thank you for spending
time with us, Stefan. Now we’d like to chat with GG.
Which writer or
character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major impact on
your writing?
Another author I love is Lois
McMaster Bujold, author of the Vorkosigan Saga, a series of science fiction
novels about Miles Vorkosigan, an interstellar double agent for his planet
Barrayar. What is most notable about this series—the story spans sixteen books
and several shorter novellas—is how Miles perseveres through his physical and
character flaws and challenges and becomes more than anyone would have dreamed
he would be. When I write, I keep in mind that dynamic for my characters. Which
is why each book in the Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery Series explores the
character growth of one of Meg’s friends while driving Meg’s investigation into
the deaths of her husband and son, and, of course, solving another murder in
the cozy towns of Whitman’s Port, The Village of Codling Bay and Sands Neck Point.
With regard to research,
where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths,
thereby changing the original concept? I
started by researching how choirs work—when and where they would be rehearsing,
the role of the conductor, and the dynamics among the members. And as often
happens with research, one detail leads to another, then to another, which
changed the three M’s of mystery murder books: Motive, Means and Method. But
that’s the fun of writing. You never know where the plot and your characters will
take you.
Tell us a bit about your
publisher and how you heard about them.
I attended the 2025 annual conference of the Liberty States Fiction Writers
Conference in New Jersey, and they had an editor/agent pitch session. There I
met Melanie Billings of The Wild Rose Press, who generously asked for my full
manuscript. She liked my five retired teachers as amateur sleuths and wanted to
know more.
What influenced you to
submit to them? The Wild Rose Press
is a small press, but it is very responsive and supportive. They host a weekly
chat forum where you get to talk to other TWRP authors and learn from them.
It’s a great tool for a newbie like me.
How is the submission
process? Quick, painless, and timely.
I knew exactly what to submit and what to expect. There were no unnecessary
steps or complications, and the entire process went smoothly from beginning to
end. It was a less stressful experience that I had expected.
What is the turn-around
time from date of query to date of release? My editor, Melanie Billings of The Wild Rose Press, is fantastic. I submitted
Death Hits the High Notes in April this year, and she got it turned for
publication by July, with a release date of October 7, 2026.
Let’s talk about what you are
reading right now. The Queens of
Crime. It’s a historical whodunit by
Marie Benedict featuring real-life Golden Age female mystery writers—Dorothy
Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma
Orczy—solving an actual murder, instead of just writing about one. I’ve just
started the book, and it’s very engaging. The author did a great job blending
historical facts about the authors and the societal context of the book in the
1930s.
What’s next for you? I’m hard at work on Book 3 of The Sweet TOOTH Murder
Mystery Series, which should be out sometime in 2027. The focus of Book 3
shifts to Barbara, the former principal of Post Elementary School, and the
self-appointed leader of the group. I also write short stories about a retired
Filipino-American detective, Luzviminda Abad—four-feet eleven and walks with a
cane. She’s a badass detective who refuses to let her sixty-plus years get in
her way. Readers can visit my website, www.ggcalpo.com, and download free
copies of the short stories.
To learn more about GG
Calpo and the stories she creates go to: https://www.ggcalpo.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/gg.calpo
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gg.calpo
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/62170493.G_G_Calpo
Amazon Author Central: https://amazon.com/author/gg.calpo
To purchase Death Hits
the High Notes, go to:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/034m76OT
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-hits-the-high-notes-gg-calpo/1151020222?ean=9781509266845
