J A Whiting - An Author Interview in the HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author J A Whiting. She is the author of several mystery series. Jeri writes Cozy Mysteries.

Author: J A Whiting

Author Genre: Cozy Mystery

Website: J A Whiting Books
Author's Blog: J A Whiting
E-Mail: jeribooks@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Amazon Author Profile



Author Description:
USA TODAY Bestselling Author, J. A. Whiting, loves reading and writing mysteries. She is the author of the Sweet Cove Cozy Mystery series, the Lin Coffin Cozy Mystery series, the Claire Rollins Cozy Mystery series, the Paxton Park Cozy Mystery series, and the Olivia Miller Mystery series. She lives in New England where she loves spending time with family, traveling to seacoast towns, following New England sports teams, and being outdoors.


SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

Congratulations on your book: The Haunted Inn. What do you have on the drawing board next? Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?

My next book will be number 5 in the Claire Rollins series, Fortune’s Favors. The series is set in Boston and Claire has recently developed some paranormal skills which she uses to help solve crimes. Claire is a character found in one of my Lin Coffin books and I decided to give her a series of her own. The book will be out at the end of April or beginning of May.

Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?

I’ve never done personal appearances or book signings. I interact with my amazing readers on Facebook and through email messages.

You have great covers. They carry a theme for each of your series. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?

Thank you ! I have a woman in England who does the covers for my Sweet Cove series, my Claire Rollins series, and my Paxton Park series. She is very easy to work with and does beautiful covers. I also work with a designer in Canada who does my Olivia Miller series, and my husband handles the cover work for the Lin Coffin series. I explain the story to the designers and suggest something for the cover and then they do all the work!

Several of your novels have been converted into audio books. What has been the impact on your regular sales? Has the audio books gained a new audience for you?

Tantor Media has handled some of the audiobook creation and I’ve worked with a narrator to do a couple of my Lin Coffin books. People email often asking for more and I plan to eventually have all the books done in audio.

I like the idea of Author bundles. You are a part of a novel collection called Winter Whodunnits. What was the impact on your other sales? What was the main objective of bundling your works with other romance authors? How did you put something like that together?

I’ve been lucky to have taken part in two author bundles. I met the authors on Facebook and we decided to create a bundle of our books to reach new readers. The bundles have been wonderful experiences and I feel very lucky to work with such an amazing group of writers.

You have put together a couple of sets of your novels. What was the impact on your other sales? What was your main objective in bundling your novels?

The main objective in bundling some of my novels has been to reach new readers and provide the books at a discount so people can try an author they are unfamiliar with.

Since you started before the social media buzz, what impact has social media relationships had on your current success? How did you build your reader base? What is your primary marketing vehicle?

My primary marketing vehicle has been to write and publish on a regular basis. Social media allows me to interact with readers and other authors. I built my reader base by putting out new stories on a regular basis.

What is your primary genre? What has been your best marketing approach to this group?

My primary genre is the cozy mystery. I also write traditional mysteries/crime novels.

What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?

I have had excellent response to giving books away for free. I think it is a great way for readers to try an unfamiliar writer.

Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?

Author’s answers coming soon.



Author's Book List
The Haunted Inn - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 8
When Lin Coffin and her cousin, Viv, are returning from a walk along the bike paths and streets of Nantucket, an icy chill surrounds Lin as they walk past a bed and breakfast inn that was once a silk factory. An hour later, a dead body is found behind a house two doors down from the inn. Two murders and a ghost who can't cross over pull Lin and Viv into the mystery to find the killer and to figure out the connections between the victims, the murderer, and the ghost.

Will Lin and Viv, with the help of several others, be able to solve the case before the killer strikes again?


Order the Book From:
Amazon


The Haunted Valentine - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 7
Lin and her cousin, Viv, stop into a gift shop in Nantucket town and while browsing, Lin sees an antique Sailor's Valentine. The valentine, made of tiny beautiful shells, pulls at Lin and she decides to buy it and bring it home.

At times, the object feels hot to the touch and sometimes the shells illuminate and dim in a sequenced pattern. Once in a while, the valentine makes appearances outside the house in places Lin happens to be. A ghost pays a visit, but Lin has no idea what he wants from her or what his link might be to the sailor's valentine. With the help of her boyfriend and her cousin, Lin works to solve the mystery of the haunted valentine.


Order the Book From:
Amazon


The Haunted Lighthouse - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 6
East End Lighthouse on Nantucket island is undergoing renovations and Lin Coffin's boyfriend has been hired to work on the project. When Jeff and Lin bike out to the bluff, Lin sees a ghost inside the lighthouse and he fills her heart with grief and loneliness.

Someone is trying to disrupt the renovation project by compromising the workers' safety, but is the person responsible for the problems alive or dead? Jeff, Lin, and her cousin, Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve two mysteries - what does the ghost want from Lin and who is trying to stop the lighthouse renovations?


Order the Book From:
Amazon


A Haunted Invitation - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 5
Lin Coffin has been hired to landscape the front garden of an old Nantucket mansion. The owner of the home complains that workers are making noise late at night just outside her window, but no one else ever sees these men. While Lin and her cousin, Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the mystery of the strange late-night disturbances, a ghost appears and asks Lin for her help.


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Amazon


A Haunted Theft - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 4
While her cousin Viv attends a wished-for class on the craft of Nantucket lightship baskets, Lin Coffin visits the island's cultural museum's exhibition on the history of the woven baskets. Lin and island historian, Anton Wilson, arrive at the museum just as the staff discovers that a valuable item has gone missing.

Lin and Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the mystery of the theft, a murder, and why a Native American ghost appears to ask Lin for help.


Order the Book From:
Amazon


The Haunted Bones - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 3
Lin Coffin and her new business partner, Leonard, have started a landscaping business on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. One evening while reviewing a new project, Lin's dog digs in a pile of dirt in the new client's yard and finds a bone. When Lin goes to see what the little creature has found, she sees the ghost of her ancestor watching her and knows that the bone must be human.

Lin and her cousin, Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the mystery of who the bone belongs to, how it got in the yard, and who put it there.


Order the Book From:
Amazon


A Haunted Disappearance - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 2
The main mystery is solved in each book but you will enjoy the stories more if they are read in order.

Lin Coffin is enjoying her new life on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. One night while helping her cousin and her cousin’s band members load instruments and equipment into a van, she meets a friendly young couple who help her after she falls on the sidewalk. The next day while working in the garden of a new client, Lin sees the girl again but there is something very wrong.

Lin and her cousin, Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the mystery of the girl’s disappearance.

This story has ghosts and some mild paranormal elements.


Order the Book From:
Amazon


A Haunted Murder - A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 1
After the death of her grandfather, Lin Coffin returns to the island of her birth, Nantucket, Massachusetts, to make a new start in life, but things don't begin smoothly. After not seeing one for twenty years, a ghost appears in her back yard and her cousin, Viv, becomes a suspect in a murder. Lin and Viv, with the help of several others, work to solve the crime before the killer strikes again.


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Audible


A Puzzle in Paxton Park - A Paxton Park Mystery Book 3
It is autumn in the mountain resort town of Paxton Park and Shelly Taylor and her friend, Juliet, are on their way to the center of town to see a horror movie. While they wait to cross the street, a car careens around the corner and crashes into a building. The vehicle’s occupant is dead, but it wasn’t the accident that killed her.

Will Shelly’s unusual “intuition” be able to help the police gather the needed pieces to solve the puzzle of who murdered the woman in the car?


Order the Book From:
Amazon


Panic in Paxton Park - A Paxton Park Mystery Book 2
Shelly Taylor is settling into her new job as a baker in the mountain resort town of Paxton Park. When she and her friend, Juliet, are out shopping, they hear people in the market discussing the disappearance of a teenager from town. Later that day, a gruesome discovery is made causing a sense of panic to race through the town. As suspects pile up, will Shelly be able to help the police find the teenager's body and figure out who killed her?


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Amazon


Peril in Paxton Park - A Paxton Park Mystery Book 1
This is book 1 in the Paxton Park Cozy Mystery series. After surviving a terrible car crash in Boston, twenty-eight year old Shelly Taylor accepts a part-time job as a baker at a mountain resort in western Massachusetts. While on a hike one morning, she and a new friend make a terrible discovery that pulls them into peril and death. Will Shelly's new ability help the police solve the crimes or will another murder be committed in Paxton Park?

This story has some mild paranormal elements.


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Amazon


Fortune's Wheel - A Claire Rollins Mystery Book 4
While working at the chocolate shop and clearing tables, Claire Rollins notices a story in a newspaper left behind by a customer about the cold case murder of a young graduate student. Odd details about the case draw Claire's interest and when her boyfriend, a Boston detective, asks her to read over the old case notes, Claire knows she will be pulled into the decades old mystery. With the help of her "intuition" and with her friend, Nicole, by her side, will Claire find answers before the killer strikes again?


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Amazon


Murder and Misfortune - A Claire Rollins Mystery Book 3
On a foggy, early summer morning in Boston, Claire Rollins goes for a run along the Charles River. When a woman runner passes her in the mist, a terrible sense of alarm rushes through Claire's body leaving her feeling anxious and uneasy. The next time she sees the young woman, Claire is thrown headlong into a confusing mystery of murder and deception. Can Claire, with the help of her friends and her "intuition", get to the bottom of the crime before another person loses her life?


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Amazon
Audible


Reversal of Fortune - A Claire Rollins Mystery Book 2
At a musical event, Claire and Nicole meet Vanessa, an old friend of Nicole's who is having a night out with her teenage sister, Maddy. After a short conversation, the young women part ways and Claire confides in Nicole that she "felt" something sad about Maddy when she shook her hand. Within thirty minutes, a telephone call plunges Claire and Nicole into a tangled mystery of infidelity and death. Will Claire's paranormal intuition help solve the case or will her skills fail her when she needs them the most....


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Amazon
Audible


Good Fortunes - A Claire Rollins Mystery Book 1
After the death of her husband, Claire Rollins moves to Boston, Massachusetts to start a new life. After living in the city for a year and working in a chocolate shop, she begins to develop some "special" skills and when she and a friend just miss getting shot while walking along a city street at night, she taps her new abilities to try to solve the mystery that is swirling around her.


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Amazon
Audible


Sweet Spirits of Three - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 13
It is holiday time in Sweet Cove and the Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch are getting ready for Christmas when a criminal begins to harass some of the town residents. Finch has rediscovered his love for drawing and has been spending time sketching, but some of his pictures reveal clues that someone in the family is in grave danger. Will the mystery be solved before someone they love loses his or her life?


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Amazon


Sweet Lies and Deception - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 12
When the Roseland sisters, Mr. Finch, and the two family cats are sitting on the Victorian's front porch enjoying the late summer weather, some of them smell a strange scent on the air. A burning car near the state park signals a new crime that will draw the group into investigating a double murder. Suspects pile up and lies and deception swirl around the family as they attempt to sort through motives, whereabouts, and opportunities. Will the sisters, Mr. Finch, and two fine felines find the answers before one of the family falls victim to the killer?


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Amazon


Sweet Time in Seconds - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 11
When Courtney and Angie Roseland wait in the dentist's office early one morning, they begin to experience feelings of alarm. When the married dentists don't show up for work, the sisters' sensations of worry increase. They call Chief Martin and meet him at the doctors' home where they find something terrible. The four Roseland sisters, Mr. Finch, and two fine felines begin to investigate the crime and the more they discover, the more they fear that Chief Martin is in grave danger. Will the amateur sleuths figure things out before they run out of time?


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Amazon


Sweet Vows and Promises - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 10
Spring has returned to Sweet Cove, Massachusetts and The Roselands and Mr. Finch are getting ready for Jenna and Tom's wedding. When a new guest arrives to stay at the bed and breakfast for a night before moving into a rental house in town, Angie and Courtney feel an alarming sense of distress swirling around the woman. The sisters, Mr. Finch, and two fine felines know they will soon be drawn into the mystery surrounding this newcomer's arrival.


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Amazon


Sweet Hide and Seek - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 9
The Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch have returned home rested and happy after a mini-vacation at a ski resort. Their feelings of peace and calm are cut short when a new bed and breakfast guest arrives with a request that plunges the family into someone’s game of hide and seek. With the help of their two fine felines, the family must figure out what is truth and what are lies.


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Amazon


Sweet Friend of Mine - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 8
Although it is winter in Sweet Cove, Massachusetts, the Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch are still busy running their businesses. The group is planning a mini-vacation together at a ski resort until Police Chief Martin shows up to ask for their help with a case involving a young man who has gone missing after driving his car off the road late one night. With the help of their two fine felines, the family works to figure out what happened to the missing man and who is friend and who is foe.


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Amazon


Sweet Fire and Stone - A Sweet Cove Cozy Mystery Book 7
It is October in Sweet Cove, Massachusetts and the Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch are enjoying the fall season until Police Chief Martin asks them to come to the town common to see something that might be a threat to the family. Newcomers to town add to the mystery of who wants to harm the sisters, Mr. Finch, and their two fine felines. Danger is brewing and the family must discover who and why before it's too late.


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Amazon


Home Sweet Home - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 6
Chief Martin asks the Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch to look into odd happenings on his aunt’s property on the outskirts of Sweet Cove. While visiting Aunt Anna, they make a discovery that draws the group, including two fine felines, into what seems like a missing person’s case (or is it?).


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Amazon


Sweetness and Light - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 5
The Roseland sisters and Mr. Finch are hired to cater the wedding of Bethany Winston, the daughter of a wealthy former Senator. The sisters and Mr. Finch are looking forward to creating a beautiful event until something tragic happens and the group, including two fine felines, is once again called in by the police to help solve a murder.


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Amazon


Sweet Deceit - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 4
Angie and Jenna Roseland accompany their family friend, Mr. Finch, to view a house that has just come on the market and they discover something unexpected in the basement which may be tied to a murder of twenty-five years ago. The Roseland sisters, with the help of their fine orange feline and sweet black cat, encounter lies and deceit as they work to uncover the truth.


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Amazon
Audible


Sweet Secrets - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 3
Renovations begin on the Victorian mansion and lead to revelations about Professor Marion Linden and why she left the house to Angie in her will, while questions surface about the Robin's Point land. Who really owned the land where Nana's cottage once stood? The Roseland sisters begin an investigation into misdeeds of the past, and with the help of their two fine felines, engage in a dangerous search for the truth.


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Amazon
Audible


Murder So Sweet - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 2
Angie Roseland has closed her Sweet Dreams Bake Shop for a few months until she can move the shop to its new location. Her sister, Ellie, has just opened a bed and breakfast in Sweet Cove and Angie is helping her run it. Their youngest sister, Courtney, has a part time job at Finch Confectioners where the owner is known around town for being nasty and mean. When Finch is found murdered in his shop, the Roseland sisters, with the help of two fine felines, are drawn into the search for the killer.


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Amazon
Audible


The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop - A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 1
Angie Roseland runs The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop in the seacoast town of Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. The building's new owners are not renewing the bake shop's lease and Angie is running out of time to find a new location. When one of the town's long-time residents is murdered, Angie finds herself on the suspect list. With the help of her three sisters and a huge orange cat, Angie works to uncover the killer's identity.


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Amazon


Justice - An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 4
Taking a year off from her legal studies to recover from feelings of loss and sorrow over the murder of the aunt who raised her, Olivia is excited to meet up with a friend from college who will be in Boston for two weeks. Olivia doesn’t know that her friend, Ynes, is dealing with similar emotions and that she needs Olivia’s help to find justice for someone she loved.

Will Olivia and Ynes find the answers they need before a killer strikes again to silence their questions?

Although some of the details of this novel's crime are loosely based on an unsolved Boston art heist, this is a fictional story and the characters and setting are products of the author's imagination.


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Amazon


The Stone of Sadness - An Olivia Miller Mystery Thriller Book 3
Olivia Miller has just finished her first year of law school. She is staying at her cousin John's house in Howland, Massachusetts to dog-sit his chocolate Lab while John goes on a business trip. Olivia promises to clean out the attic and she finds a forty-year-old newspaper with an article recounting the grisly murders of a young mother and her four-year-old daughter. John tells Olivia that the mother and daughter were their cousins and that the murderer was never brought to justice. Olivia is still dealing with feelings of loss, guilt, and sorrow over last year's murder of the aunt who raised her, but she decides to research the killings and find out why no one was ever accused of the crime. By trying to uncover any piece of information that might shed new light on the old murders, Olivia may be putting her own life in danger.


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Amazon


Red Julie - An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 2
Olivia was raised by her aunt Aggie from the time she was a year old. Several weeks before Olivia graduates from college, Aggie dies suddenly and unexpectedly, riding a bicycle at night near her home in Ogunquit, Maine. The death certificate lists the cause of death as a massive heart attack, but Olivia doesn’t believe it.

Soon after her graduation, Olivia is on the highway, late at night, heading home to Ogunquit when she comes upon an accident. A man is on his back, in the middle of the road, his legs caught in the wreckage of his overturned Mercedes. He grabs at Olivia’s jacket and frantically mumbles to her something that sounds like, ‘red Julie’. The man dies at the scene, but not before he slips something into Olivia’s jacket pocket. Will Olivia figure out what ‘red Julie’ means and how her aunt really died that night before it is too late?


Order the Book From:
Amazon


Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
Indie Author’s Corner and HBS Mystery Reader’s Circle