I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author Shelley Noble and her new release Ask Me No Questions. This is the first book in her A Lady Dunbridge Mystery.
Ask Me No Questions: A Lady Dunbridge Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery
New Series
Forge Books (October 16, 2018)
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 0765398710
ISBN-13: 978-0765398710
Digital ASIN: B078X2BSDR
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N Kobo Google Play IndieBound
From New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble, Ask Me No Questions is the first in the Lady Dunbridge Mystery series featuring a widow turned sleuth in turn-of-the-twentieth century New York City.
A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She’s ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm.
From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.
SHELLEY NOBLE is the NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of women’s fiction. (BEACH COLORS, WHISPER BEACH, LIGHTHOUSE BEACH,)
As SHELLEY FREYDONT she writes cozy mysteries.(CELEBRATION BAY FESTIVAL MYSTERIES, THE SUDOKU MYSTERIES) and the Newport Gilded Age Mysteries beginning with A GILDED GRAVE an RT Reviewer’s Choice nominee for Best Historical Mystery of 2015 and Macavity Finalist.
ASK ME NO QUESTIONS is the first of a Manhattan Gilded Age series and written as Shelley Noble.
A former professional dancer and choreographer, Shelley lives at the Jersey shore and loves to discover new lighthouses and vintage carousels.
Author Links
Website https://www.shelleynoble.com
Website https://www.shelleyfreydont.com
FB https://www.facebook.com/ShelleyNobleAuthor
Twitter https://twitter.com/ShelleyNoble3
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shelleynobleauthor/
When did you know that you wanted to be an author? What things, if any, influenced that decision?
I’ve always enjoyed making up stories, I even took a creative writing class in college, but it wasn’t until I retired from dancing and my kids were in school that a friend and I were in a museum one day deciding what we were going to do next. She said you should write a mystery. So I did. An agent took me on and sold it. So instead of me choosing to be an author, writing sort of chose me.
With so many cozies being written today, what makes your books stand out from the crowd?
I tried to do a different take on the Gilded Age, a time when American heiresses were going to Europe to snag a title. Lady Phil is an impecunious countess who decides to come to America to make her fortune. It gives her an different insight to Gilded Age culture than home grown heroines.
Do you work from an outline or plot or do you just see where the characters take you?
Both. It’s a constant juggling act of balancing rational investigations, with clues, red herrings, and pushy characters who all seem to want more page time.
Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you do anything special to get those reviews?
I do read reviews. I never respond to them. I do some of my own outreach to reviewers that I know personally , but mainly my publisher is in charge of sending out review copies.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Lighten up. Stop worrying about things you have no control over. It’s advice I would give to myself now. I probably still wouldn’t take it.
Do you think that the cover plays an important part in someone buying your book(s)? Who designs your book covers?
Covers are very important. They are the window into the book. A first impression. The art department of my publishers design the cover with input from me. The cover art of Ask Me No Questions was created by Andrew Davidson.
Please give us an insight into your main characters. What do you think makes them special?
My main characters think of themselves as modern men and women. So I tried to portray that feeling instead of creating a staid historic vision of the Gilded Age. I wanted Phil, Lady Dunbridge, to be in the thick of current events, not afraid to go out and make a place for herself. Show the bravery and make the mistakes that we in 2018 could relate to. And just like most of us, she sometimes has to put on a good front when she’s privately quaking.
What have you learned about yourselves since becoming an author?
That sometimes people are more than they appear. I hope that by getting into the motivation and circumstances of my fictional characters , it will help me and my readers to be more understanding of other people in “real life.
Do you write full-time or part-time?
Full time
What do your plans for future projects include?
I also write women’s fiction, beach reads with substance a reviewer once said. I have a new one, A Beach Wish, coming out in June, another Lady Dunbridge out next October and several more in the development stages.
What do you think the hardest part of writing is? What is the easiest?
I think the hardest part is trusting yourself to capture what you really want the book to be about. It’s a constant balancing act sometimes fun sometimes hair tearing. But totally worth it. The easiest part is rolling up your metaphorical sleeves and jumping right into the lives of these characters who take on a life of their own. Dealing with them for six months at a time is no walk in the park.
What type of books do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?
I like reading historical novels and time slip novels, also fantasy. Susanna Kearsley, Kate Morton, Juliet Marillier, Chanel Cleeton, Jennifer Robson, Renee Rosen, just to name a few. Also Austen , Dickens, Trollope and those guys of course.
What is the one thing you would like your readers to know about you?
I always give the best that I’ve got.
Do you have anything specific you would like to say to your readers?
Most authors really try to give you the best work we can at all times. So if you like what you read, let us know. (It can get pretty isolated living 24/7 with imaginary friends.)
How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Website: https://www.shelleynoble.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShelleyNobleAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShelleyNoble3
Pinterest; https://www.pinterest.com/sfreydont/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Shelley-Noble/e/B007IT925U/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1540903085&sr=1-1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5560617.Shelley_Noble
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shelleynobleauthor/
To enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway, click on the link below:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/02887792809/?widget_template=56d5f80dbc544fb30fda66f0
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 26 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
November 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
November 27 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
November 28 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
November 29 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 29 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
November 29 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
November 30 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW*, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 1 – The Power of Words – REVIEW*
December 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW*, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 3 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 4 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 5 – Laura s Interests – SPOTLIGHT
December 5 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
December 6 – Mysteries with Character – REVIEW
December 7 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
December 9 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW*
mjbreviewers 