Special Guest – Connie di Marco – The Light Beside the Sea (A Zodiac Mystery) #AuthorInterview / #Giveaway Great Escapes Book Tour @Connie di Marco

The Light Beside the Sea
by Connie di Marco

It is my pleasure to welcome Connie Di Marco back to
Escape With Dollycas!

Thanks for inviting me to Great Escapes, Lori!

Hi Connie,

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in Boston and a few years after college, relocated to San Francisco where I lived for ten years.  I loved the city and still miss the fog, and I think that’s the main reason I decided to set the Zodiac Mysteries there.  I now live in Los Angeles, I’m a mom of two daughters and now a grandmother, with three darling grandchildren, two born in the midst of Covid.

What is the first book you remember reading?

My mother told me I started reading at a very early age.  I’m not sure I remember my earliest books, but the series that still stands out in my memory is The Borrowers.  They were fascinating books — to think that a tiny family could be existing in the walls and under the floorboards of a large house, furnishing their home with “borrowed” cast-off objects.  I loved those books and was so disappointed when I finished the last one and knew there’d be no more adventures for Pod, Homily, and Arriety.

What are you reading now?

At the moment I’m reading Rachel Maddow’s Prequel, sadly not a mystery but a great historical book.  Before Prequel, I read The Astrology of Family Dynamics.  I try to keep up with my research for the Zodiac Mysteries by reading non-fiction astrological books.  But other than these two, you can always find me with a mystery or thriller by the bed or tucked into my purse.

What books have most inspired you?

I think the Sue Grafton Alphabet Series has most inspired me.  But I’ve always been an avid reader of all American and British mysteries, particularly Agatha Christie.  I love espionage stories, such as those by Alan Furst and John LeCarrė or thrillers by foreign writers, like Jussi Adler-Olsen who writes the Department Q series.

What made you decide you wanted to write mysteries?

For many years, I worked as an actress in Los Angeles.  One day, I found myself on the set of a mini-series, and a shoot that was delayed for hours and hours.  I was completely bored, creatively bored, and even though the thought of writing my very own mystery had rattled around in my head for a long time, that day I made the decision to try.  My goal was to write one mystery.  If anyone had told me I’d be the author of two series, and maybe more, I would have never believed it.

Do you have a special place where you like to write?

In our tiny office in front of the computer.  I’m not someone who can work in a coffee shop with noise and interruptions.  I really need quiet to focus and become completely invested in the scene I’m writing.  I can’t even listen to music.  That’s the only way I can completely sink into the story I’m working on.

Where do the ideas for your books come from?

From everywhere!  News articles, murder stories, a neighbor that hasn’t been seen for weeks.  You name it, there’s mystery all around us and human motivations are often dark and intriguing.  It’s fun to imagine the worst.

Is there anything about writing you find most challenging?

When I had my first publishing contract, that would be the Soup Lovers’ Mysteries written as Connie Archer, with Penguin, I struggled with translating what was in my head to written words.  I finally realized the most important thing is to just write, not edit or judge until it was time to revise.  Sometimes, whole passages needed to be cut, but sometimes I was surprised that what I had written was actually okay.  That gave me a lot of courage.

What do you think makes a good story?

I think creating solidly fleshed-out, believable characters that readers will really truly care about is the most essential thing.  That’s true no matter the genre.  Of course, in mystery, there also has to be a very well-thought out and detailed plot.  Mystery is not a genre where one can wander too much.

Which, of all your characters, do you think is the most like you?

Every writer probably invests some part of themselves into a character.  There’s a good bit of me in every character I’ve written.  But perhaps Julia would be the character most like me.  She’s younger than I at the start of the series, but she loves her city, San Francisco, and uses astrology to help her clients and solve crimes.

What makes your books different from others out there in this genre?

I’m not really sure.  I consider the Zodiac Mysteries to be traditional mysteries, not cozies, even though my protagonist is an amateur sleuth.  I’m certainly not a professional but I have a great interest in the subject of astrology, so I guess I’m a well-read amateur.  I also wanted to bring the subject to life in a real way, not in a newspaper column sun sign pop culture way.

When my agent first tried to sell the Zodiac Mysteries no publisher was particularly interested.  One editor thought astrology was too complicated for their readership.  Another felt there wouldn’t be enough interest in a protagonist who was an astrologer.

I didn’t agree, so I just forged ahead.

What’s next on the horizon for you?

I’ve started work on Zodiac #6 which will feature Gale, Julia’s friend and owner of The Mystic Eye Bookshop.  Gale has a secret past that will come back to haunt her.  I know some of the things that will happen, but haven’t completely worked out all the details of this story yet.

I’ve finished a police procedural set in Los Angeles that was a lot of fun to write but still needs some revisions and tightening up.  And I’ve been mulling a possible ghost story, set in present day with a ghost from another century.

All I need is time to finish all these projects and with new grandbabies in the family, that’s a little difficult right now.  But a wonderful distraction!

Thank you Connie for visiting today! 

Keep reading for more information about Connie and her new book, The Light Beside the Sea. 

About The Light Beside the Sea

The Light Beside the Sea (A Zodiac Mystery)
Traditional Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – San Francisco, California
Publisher – CMA Literary (May 6, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 341 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8989009596
Digital Print length ‏ : ‎ 318 pages
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D393JQ87

San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti has been haunted for years by the hit and run death of her fiancé, Michael Sefton. The driver of the vehicle was never apprehended. The lone witness to the accident spoke to no one and now is dead. Even the cold case detective assigned to the case died before any resolution was found. Every time Julia thought she might be getting close to an answer, each clue led only to a dead end.

Michael, a graduate student, had just returned from an archeological dig in Guatemala when he was killed. But why did he mail his journal to Julia for safekeeping before his return home? What was he afraid of? Why did another graduate student fall to his death on that trip? And now, another man connected with that journey has been murdered closer to home. And the murderer hasn’t finished.

When Julia finally finds the courage to delve into the journal Michael sent to her years before, she learns of the undercurrents, jealousies and anger between members of the group. She begins to understand the pressure and fear her fiancé was coping with and his suspicions of their University mentor who was most likely engaged in unethical and illegal behavior.
But events soon take a darker turn when Julia finds a likeness of the Maya god Hunhau, god of death and the underworld, on her doorstep. A strange man covered with markings and tattoos keeps appearing to her but no one else seems to see him. With guidance from another professor she’s introduced to a world she never knew existed.

Is the man she sees human? And is he under the sway of the Maya god of death?

Will he unleash evil or is he here to right a wrong done to his people?

Julia must move quickly or her death will be the next.

More About Connie di Marco

Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti, a woman who never thought murder would be part of her practice.  The fifth book in this series, The Light Beside the Sea, has just been released.

Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime.  You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook.  Connie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime.

Author Links
Blog  Facebook    Twitter/X    Instagram   GoodReads 

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas.

Purchase Links

Amazon 

The Rest of the Series

Also written by Connie

TOUR PARTICIPANTS – Please visit all the stops.
May 6 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 7 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 8 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 9 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 10 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
May 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 12 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 13 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 14 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 15 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 16 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 17 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
May 18 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
May 19 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

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