"Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping" is the first novel in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a funny, whimsical, murder mystery series that appeals to 'mystery readers' of all ages. Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a lover of cats, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey. When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course! In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna's somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid? After being stalked for weeks, Anna quickly finds herself literally 'tied up', fighting for her life, and desperate to get back home to her cats; all while unwittingly falling in love with the detective who was trying to save her. How she finds her way out of this mess is anyone's guess! Find out more about Anna and the dangerous cases of murder and mayhem she 'haphazardly' gets herself into, in the new Anna Romano Mystery Series.
Cheryl Powell, (writing under pen name Cheryl Denise Bannerman), is a multi-genre author of five successful works of fiction, a motivational speaker, and CEO. She resides in Orlando, Florida, where she runs a virtual Training and Development company, GC Learning Services LLC dba Learn2Engage, which she founded in 1996.
One of the lines I often use in my social media posts is “Write the pain.” Now that doesn’t mean you can only write well if you are pain, sad, lonely, or depressed. It means whatever emotion you are feeling, get it down on paper, or the pain of NOT telling your story will torture you until you do.
Being a writer, whether fiction or non-fiction, means putting it all out there for the world to see and not being afraid to share life’s embarrassing moments.
It often requires shutting ourselves off from the world, and squeezing writing in wherever possible, as many authors like myself, work full-time jobs and have families to care for.
It means creating characters who may be similar to ourselves, or someone we know, or someone we wish to be, or the complete opposite of ourselves, like a serial killer.
Our stories occur in our own towns or halfway across the world.
Writing takes research, months of writing and rewriting, editing, marketing and publishing.
For me it is a long, meticulous process that has the ultimate reward of bringing a reader into my newly created world…if only briefly…and hearing their feedback upon their exit.
In this blurb, Anna describes her schedule as a writer in her own humorous and slightly sarcastic tone.
Book Excerpt
Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping: An Anna Romano Mystery Series, Book One
The most fulfilling part of my life is my work as an author. This is my fifteenth year in the world of fiction, specifically murder mysteries, and I love it. I get to work from home with my cats and not have to deal with the politics of working in an office. I’ve always said that “death by cubicle” would be the worst death EVER. I could see myself stuck, almost frozen in time, listening to co-workers ramble on about their spouses, forging smiles through large arrays of kid’s photos in various stages of life, and faking interest in slideshows of family vacations. Ugh!
In addition to writing novels, I also write from home part-time for the local newspaper’s Dear Jesse relationship column. Honestly, this is the last topic I should be advising anyone on, but I manage to get by using my sarcasm and sense of humor.
If I’m not on my laptop or cleaning litter boxes, I keep to myself watching the food and travel networks, trying my hand at new recipes, or watching scary movies.
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