Hillary Avis writes several Cozy Mystery series, including; The Clucks and Clues Cozy Mysteries, The Magic Library Mysteries, The Souperb Culinary Cozy Mysteries and the Neela Durante Mysteries. You can find out all her book on her Website. Hillary lives in Eugene, Oregon with her family and LOTS of animals! Hillary loves to bake bread, make pottery watch British TV shows and has a fondness for a good cup of coffee. You can also find her books on Amazon. Be sure to follow her on Facebook.
Hillary Avis is sharing her book No Egg to Stand On…
Truly O’Toole wakes up the morning after her fiftieth birthday party with a few fuzzy memories, a raging hangover, and a whole lot of questions. For example: Who is the dead woman in her bathtub? How did her best friend, Fran, lose half her hair overnight? And why the heck is there a chicken in her purse?
While we’re waiting for the answers to the book’s questions, lets hear Hillary’s answers to my questions…
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
I’m definitely a beach gal. About fifteen years ago, I was lucky enough to stay on Maui in a beachfront rental that had a huge lawn between the house and the ocean. In the daytime, the grass was full of feral chickens eating the fallen mangos. At night, it would populate with giant toads! It was wild and wonderful experience, and not at all what I expected from a beach house.
Can you give us some insight into what makes your main character tick?
Truly has had bad luck since the day she was born with (as her grandpa loved to tell her) too much red hair and not enough sense. Anything that could go wrong, has, including losing her beloved husband when she was only forty-five. As a result, she doesn’t believe in moping around. Truly is out to have the most fun possible because she knows that bad stuff is always going to happen. She figures she might as well enjoy life in the meantime. Want to karaoke until 2 a.m. on a Wednesday? Crash a weekend wedding to sample the open tiki bar? Take a spontaneous road trip to track down a potential cold-blooded killer? Truly will say yes to any adventure.
What comes first, the plot or the characters?
Main characters always come first for me. Writing a book takes a lot longer than reading one, so I have to really enjoy a character to want to spend that much time with her! Then the plot emerges, and side characters show up to help it along.
As a writer, what animal would you choose as your mascot?
My readers would probably guess a chicken, since chickens feature so often in my mysteries. But I’d say my mascot is a cat. Cats spend a lot of their time curled up and dreaming, and (day)dream time is critical for authors and other creative types. I might look like I’m being lazy, all curled up in a chair with my cup of tea, but I’m actually working!
Before the release, you are going to want to pre order your copy! Not only will you get it at the lowest price of 99 cents, but you will also get a fun addition that the authors put together for our readers; a recipe book of great summer salads.
We are also doing something extra special for our potential readers; we’ve put together an exciting package with over 30 prizes to win. Ereaders, gift cards, signed copies of books, ebooks, audio books, the list goes on. And you can check out the list AND sign up to win the Mysteries, Midsummer Sun & Murder anthology prize pack by clicking on the box below.
Pen In Hand, Words on Page 
