If you enjoyed Nancy Drew novels as a child, you will enjoy today’s author spotlight for Friday Reads. Tara Ellis has just released book five in her Samantha Wolf Mysteries and she has agreed to answer our Friday Reads questions, so let’s get started.
Tell our readers why they should choose your novel as their Friday Read.
This would make the perfect Friday Read, due to it being a fun, quick mystery. While the book is written at the middle grade level, it is an intelligent story that readers of all ages will enjoy.
What is the book’s backstory, what inspired you?
This is book #5 in an on-going series, so finding new and exciting adventures is something I rather enjoy. Each book can be read on it’s own, or you can start with book one. They are chronological, and this one happens during Halloween. It was only natural to feature something spooky, but as with all the other books, there are a few different layers to the mystery. I was inspired by reviews on the other books to include the brothers more, which ended up adding to some really fun scenes.
Who were your favorite authors as a child and teen.
Julie Campbell (Trixie Beldon), Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew), Lois Duncan. As I got older, I spent some time reading Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Ken Follett.
Imagine a big name author that you love is reading and raving about your book. Choose one of these reactions and explain why.
a. Freak out and shake all over.
b. Google everything you can find about your book and the author
c. Call everyone you know to share your excitement
d. Post immediately to Clean Indie Reads so your friends can freak out with you.
e. Begin to mentally compose a tweet to tell the world.
d. Post immediately to Clean Indie Reads Facebook group so your friends can freak out with you.
You know, it’s funny. Not that long ago, I would have chosen any other option equally. But I know that this is what I would do, because I have done it already. It was under different circumstances, but exciting nonetheless. There is something about sharing news that you KNOW only another author can fully appreciate, that is worth SO much. Having the support of other writers is monumental and something I absolutely cherish.
I feel the same as Tara about Clean Indie Reads. In the words of its founder, Lia London, it is awesome sauce!
After reading her Friday Reads answers I am sure you would like to know more about her, so here is the official bio.
Author Tara Ellis lives in a small, rural town in Washington State, set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She enjoys the quiet lifestyle with her husband, two teenage kids and several dogs. Tara was a firefighter/EMT, and worked in the medical field for many years, before committing herself to writing young adult and middle grade novels full-time. (she still dabbles in teaching CPR)
She grew up on sci-fi, was a devoted Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica fan, and has since found a love for conspiracy theories. This background, combined with a wild imagination has led to The Forgotten Origins Trilogy. The first book in the series, Bloodline, was a finalist in the IAN 2015 Book of the Year Awards, was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2015 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards, named ‘Indie Book of the Day in Oct, 2014’ and voted as ‘Top 50 Indie Books of 2014’. (readfreely.com)
Her on-going middle grade mystery series, The Samantha Wolf Mysteries, has hit the best seller status on Amazon in the children’s detective story genre several times, and continues to grow in popularity. The engaging, fun stories herald back to the days of Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon, and several readers have commented that the series is of the same caliber. These are clean reads that are suitable for the whole family to read together, and are also part of the Kindle Unlimited program.
*Find her on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/taraellisauthor
**Visit her personal blog at: taraellisauthor.blogspot.com/
***Twitter: @taraellisauthor
Without further ado or chit-chat, I am pleased to introduce you to Tara’s new release.
The Haunting of Eagle Creek Middle School
Halloween is right around the corner, and the girls find themselves in the middle of a hauntingly good mystery.
Sam, Ally, and Cassy help form a new club at their school in order to raise money for charities. Their first mission is to save a struggling program founded by a local widow, but the benefactor has some secrets.
It turns out that Eagle Creek Middle school has some secrets too, including a tragic story passed down for fifty years. Does a tormented ghost really roam the basement of the school?
While creating a haunted house to raise the needed donations, the young detectives uncover the shocking truth. One that will forever change the lives of people they have come to cherish.
Visit Amazon to view the whole series.
If you have enjoyed meeting Tara Ellis today, consider signing up for her newsletter.
Tara is one of over 2,000 authors who are committed to writing Flinch-Free fiction, books packed with excitement but without the “ewww factor.” Visit them on the Clean Indie Reads book blog where each author listed has a short Q&A .
Thank you, Tara for allowing us to share in the excitement of your new release. We would love to host you when book six comes out!