About Twenty-Five Years Ago Today:
Kris Langley has always been obsessed with murder. She blames herself for the violent death of her cousin when they were kids and has let guilt invade every corner of her existence. Now an editorial assistant and obit writer for a Massachusetts newspaper, Kris stumbles across an unsolved murder while compiling "25 Years Ago Today" items from the microfilm. She grows fascinated with the case of a young cocktail waitress who was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the woods. Determined to solve the case and atone for the death of her cousin, Kris immerses herself in the mystery of what happened to Diana Ferguson, a talented artist who expressed herself through haunting paintings of Greek mythology. Not only does Kris face resistance from her family and her managing editor, she also clashes with Diana's suspicious nephew, Eric Soares - until neither she nor Eric can deny the chemistry flaring between them. Kris soon learns that old news never leaves the morgue and that yesterday's headline is tomorrow's danger, for finding out the truth about that night twenty-five years ago may shatter Kris's present, costing her love, her career, and ultimately, her life.
Q&A with Stacy Juba:
Describe your ideal writing space. How does it compare to reality?
My writing space is a big desk in my home office. Ideally the desk and floor would be nice and neat, however, everything gets cluttered from me and from my family as I share the computer. Also, several years after moving into the house, I read feng shui books and found out that I had my desk in the wrong part of the room. I tried to talk my husband into helping me move it, but that didn't go over so well as the desk is huge! So I did what I could to work on attracting prosperity, such as adding touches of red and metal to the shelves above the desk, setting out some gemstones, and hanging a vision board. I don't remember the exact reason for every little change that I made, as I am by no means a feng shui expert, but everything had a reason. I just wish that desk could be moved!
What is the first story you remember writing and what was it about?
My first story was The Curse of the White Witch, written when I was in third grade. I remember getting a coloring sheet of a witch from school, around Halloween, and using that as an illustration. The story was several pages long and was about a girl with special healing powers who was considered a witch by the townspeople. It has a few strange similarities to my young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn.
Name a memorable book from your childhood. Why is it memorable?
The Hidden Staircase, one of the early Nancy Drew mysteries. I remember taking it out of the school library and reading it in a few hours. From that point on, each week in library class I would check out a Nancy Drew book, until I read them all, and then I moved onto Dana Girls, Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys and Cherry Ames. It inspired my writing, as I started writing my own mystery series in fifth grade (the Cathy Summers mysteries) and I still write and read mysteries to this day.
If you could ask any writer (living or dead) a question, who would it be and what would you ask?
I'd love to meet JK Rowling and ask about her outlining methods for the Harry Potter series. That was an amazing series to plot out. I'd like to know how many details and plot twists she knew ahead of time and which ones evolved during the writing process.
If you could pick any of the worlds or characters you have created, which would you want to visit or spend a day with?
I'd like to spend a day with Dawn from my young adult psychic thriller Dark Before Dawn. She's psychic and I'd like to get a reading from her. The poor thing feels like such a misfit, so I'd also like to give her a big hug and tell her everything will be okay and that she won't care so much what other people think of her when she's older. And there's a big decision she makes in the book, when she goes to visit someone's house. I'd tell her, don't do it!
What is one thing you like to do when you are not reading or writing?
I enjoy using my Wii for exercise. I like doing yoga, strength training, and using the Just Dance games for aerobics.
What are you currently working on?
I'm working on an adult romantic comedy that spins off from the Cinderella theme. It's a lot of fun to write and is totally different from anything I've written before. I'm hoping it will be released later this year. I've also just wrapped up up the process of getting all my current books out into audiobook format through Audible, Amazon and iTunes. It has been an exciting experience to work with narrators and producers and bring a whole other dimension to my words. I didn't realize how much acting went into audiobooks. I also recently teamed up with award-winning narrator Nicole Poole to offer a free 23-minute mystery audiobook to readers. It's called Laundry Day and is a blend of mystery, lingerie and Desperate Housewives. It can be downloaded for free at SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/wordsmiff/laundry-day-by-stacy-juba?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=email&utm_content=https://soundcloud.com/wordsmiff/laundry-day-by-stacy-juba
For more information on my books, visit my website at http://stacyjuba.com/blog/ .
Bio:Stacy Juba has written about reality TV contestants targeted by a killer, an obit writer investigating a cold case, teen psychics who control minds, twin high school hockey stars battling on the ice, and teddy bears learning to raise the U.S. flag: she pursues whatever story ideas won’t leave her alone. Stacy’s titles include the adult mystery novels Sink or Swim and Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, the children’s picture books The Flag Keeper and the Teddy Bear Town Children’s Bundle (Three Complete Picture Books), and the young adult novels Face-Off and Dark Before Dawn. She is also the editor of the essay anthology 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror: 52 Authors Look Back. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit.
Where to find her:
Website
Goodreads
Thanks so much for the fun interview and for sharing my books with your readers!
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