Friday, May 27, 2016

CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH JANA LANE by Joe Cosentino



FEARLESS FRIDAY
Please welcome Joe to Discover Yourself.
On Fearless Friday, I am pleased to have Jana Lane with me, the leading character in Joe Cosentino’s SATIN DOLL, a Jana Lane mystery, published by The Wild Rose Press. It’s an honor to interview an Academy Award nominated actress.
It’s my pleasure to be here. It’s nice to leave Joe Cosentino’s head for a while.
Jana, what was it like being the biggest child star in America?
I felt like God’s special child. A lot of people’s livelihoods depended on me. I worked hard learning how to do things like steer a motorboat, swim for hours at a time, ride my horse Ginger. People really believed that I was the girl in the movies who could outsmart the villains, perform acts of bravery, and save those she loved from every evil fate.
What was it like going to movie premieres?
Once we arrived at the movie theater in the limousine, a red carpet led us inside. Camera flashes went off in all directions. Hundreds of people screamed and cried out my name, as I smiled and waved. Once inside the theater, I saw my face on that screen as large as a billboard. I was not only the central character in my own life, but in everybody’s life in that audience. I felt so loved and protected, until it all went away when I was eighteen in 1960 and left the business.
Why?
I was attacked at the studio.
In PAPER DOLL twenty years later you went from your mansion in Hyde Park, New York back to Hollywood and used the skills you learned as a child star to figure out who attacked you. In the process you uncovered a web of secrets about everyone you loved. Can you tell us more about that?
Toward the end of the novel, my family and I are in incredible peril. That gave me the strength and courage to do all of the things I did to catch the killer and turn the tables.
Tell us more about that final confrontation.
I’d love to but Joe Cosentino would prefer you buy PAPER DOLL. It’s an amazing story.
And your reviews were amazing. “Paper Doll is a superbly crafted mystery with an eclectic cast of characters that will engage you and elicit some very emotional responses as you are completely caught up in the events that unfold in these pages. Everyone has secrets and the people in Paper Doll have them in spades!” Fresh Fiction
"Mr. Cosentino has produced a masterpiece of mystery (Paper Doll)" "The story gripped me from the start and there were enough twists and turns, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure, to keep hold of me until the end of the book." "Great book, can’t wait for book 2." Readers’ Favorite
They liked me. They really liked me.
Next in PORCELAIN DOLL you made a comeback film, His Obsession.
In the process of filming, I uncovered who was being murdered on the set and why. My heart was also set aflutter by my incredibly gorgeous co-star, America’s heartthrob Jason Apollo. The other suspects included my James Dean type young co-star, my older John Wayne type co-star, my children’s Eve Harrington type nanny, the film’s gossipy makeup and hair artist, a local reverend trying to stop the film’s production, and Jason’s agent.
You had an incredible struggle and confrontation scene at the end of that novel too with a shocking ending. Again you received terrific reviews. “Porcelain Doll is Joe Cosentino at his finest. We are drawn back to the fashions and attitudes of the 1980's in a character-driven story full of intrigue and passion." Kirsty Vizard, Divine Magazine
“Beautifully written and intensely detailed, Porcelain Doll is one not to be missed. Flirtatiously decadent with a strong moral undertone, set in a decade of extraordinary social change this is a story of its period that is as poignant today as it was then. Joe Cosentino controlled the emotions that the book encouraged with a deft but delicate touch. Suspenseful and mysterious, Porcelain Doll is a masterful creation, one that was impossible not to be affected by.” Carol Fenton, BooksLaidBare Reviews
“Murder, mystery, and suspense are high inside of this brilliant masterpiece by Joe Cosentino.” “Every page fills the readers with intrigue.” “Edge of your seat mystery that lures readers instantly.” “Once you read it, you can't put it down.” Danielle Urban Universal Creativity Inc. And you were nominated for an Oscar for His Obsession.
I didn’t win, but I was more pleased to save myself and my family.
And now in SATIN DOLL, you and your family head to Washington, DC, where you play a US senator in a new film, and become embroiled in murder and corruption at the senate chamber. Tell us about some of the people you encounter in SATIN DOLL.
There are some familiar faces like my old world, loyal, and hysterically funny agent, Simon Huckby, who produces the AIDS benefit I host at the Ford Theatre. And my best friend and lawyer, Congressman Jackson Mitchell and his partner Adam, who host my family at their rustic home on a lake. And there are some new faces too like Senator Maxmillion, the Republican majority leader of the Senate, and Benjamin Topower, Maxmillion’s wealthy super pack contributor. And of course there is Senator Cassie Castle, the Democrat senator touted to run for Vice President.
Is she like Hillary Clinton?
Cassie is a smart, strong woman who is deeply involved in protecting the environment, women’s rights, gay rights, education, and creating jobs, like her father before her. She is also quite charismatic. So in some ways she’s very much like Hillary. In many ways she is different.
In which ways?
Cassie is dating the Republican majority leader of the Senate. Cassie seems to wear her heart on her sleeve.
Jana, have you always been interested in politics?
Jana: I’ve always found politicians like Maxmillion and Cassie fascinating. How they can speak to someone and make him/her feel as if he/she is the only person in the room. I also marvel at Cassie’s will to serve others and to make the world a better place. The issues I am concerned with are Cassie’s issues, so I am clearly on the liberal bent. However, I believe all the political characters in the story are treated equally in showing their good points and bad.
In the novel you are interviewed on the radio by a Christian host for your upcoming AIDS benefit. Do you think Christians would be offended by that character?           
I sure hope not. I’m a Christian who prays and goes to church on Sundays. I try to love my neighbor as myself, not judge others, and help the downtrodden and outcasts. The radio hosts who interview me use their wealth, power, media chops, and religious affiliations to demean others and try to take away their rights. So I stand up to them and protect the people they are persecuting.
As in the first two Jana Lane mysteries, you are tempted by a gorgeous man, this time Detective Chris Bove.
Read how Bove is described in the book. Can you blame me?
Frankly, no. And your husband goes through a major personal event.
I love that part of the story. It still brings tears to my eyes when I read it.
I love your comic banter with Jackson, and with Bove.
Jana: They’re both good guys.
Since the book takes place in 1983, you get to dance to songs like “Flashdance…What A Feeling” and “Maniac.” You also wear layered hair, shoulder pads, and lace gloves. I loved that period!
And we also experience a number of historical events like Karen Carpenter’s passing, the still new AIDS epidemic and the devastation it caused when ignored by our political representatives, and dangerous proposed legislation by conservatives like the Protect the Children Act, which was a disguise to try to make gay people second class citizens.
Like in all the Jana Lane mysteries you are a champion fighting for funding for AIDS research, protecting victims when nobody else would.
I’ve always believed it is our duty to take care of the less fortunate who need our help.
There is also a sexy young senator in the book, Senator Sancho Ramirez from New York. How does he play into the story?
Like everyone in the story, Sancho has secrets that are eventually revealed.
Can someone read this story before reading your previous two mysteries, Jana?
Yes, each Jana Lane mystery is it’s own story. Readers get a complete mystery with each novel full of revealed secrets, plot twists and turns, and a white knuckle ending leading to a shocking conclusion. Through the course of the books, I not only solve the mysteries, but also reclaim the courage and fortitude I had as a child. As one reviewer wrote, I start out as a wounded bird, and end as tiger.
But you play fair in your mysteries, meaning the clues are there. And again toward the end of SATIN DOLL you have a physical and verbal confrontation with the murderer.
Thankfully after the shocking ending, all is resolved.
What’s next for Jana Lane?
In China Doll (releasing late May), I head to New York City to star in a Broadway play, co-starring the gorgeous Peter Stevens, and I’m faced with murder on stage and off.
And after that?
RAGDOLL, where I’m offered the leading role in a new television mystery series. And again life imitates art.
How does Joe Cosentino think up all these terrific storylines and surprise endings?
I’m in his head helping him.
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure. Keep fearlessly catching the bad guys and gals, heroine Jana Lane.
You got it!
purchase links:


Blurb:
Murder, corruption, and scandals rock Washington, D.C.... America’s most famous ex-child star, Jana Lane, is playing a US Senator in a 1983 film. Just as she and her family arrive in DC, two Washington power players are murdered, and Jana is caught in the web of intrigue and political scandal. Jana falls under the spell of the breathtakingly handsome detective assigned to the case, ex-professional football player and food aficionado, Chris Bove. Will Jana and Bove uncover the murderer’s identity and shocking secrets before Jana and her family become the Capitol’s next victims?

Author’s Bio:
Bestselling author Joe Cosentino wrote Paper Doll the first Jana Lane mystery, Porcelain Doll the second Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press), Satin Doll the third Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press), Drama Queen the first Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), Drama Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), An Infatuation, A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, & The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press), Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back & Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward (NineStar Press), and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are China Doll the fourth Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press) and Drama Cruise the third Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press). Joe was voted 2nd Place for Best Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards for 2015.

Monday, May 16, 2016

DON'T MESS WITH THE MUSE by CJ Matthew



MUSE MONDAY
I'm so happy to have CJ Matthew as my guest on Discover Yourself today.

The belief that creative people have a contributing or inhibiting entity woven into their artistic process, in the form of a muse, is a fascinating idea. In writer interviews and blogs, some authors refer to consulting with their muse. Conversely, writers have accused a muse of refusing to help, or of abandoning them.
In the classical framework of Greek mythology, the muses are the nine daughters of Zeus, trained by Apollo, who gave artists and philosophers the inspiration to create. Within each muse’s particular field of expertise: music, poetry, writing, and so on, she was heavily involved in a mortal’s artistic process by providing imagination and inspiration.
At the beginning of the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer invokes the Muse to provide any information she may have to help him better tell the stories in his epic poems.
For a romance writer, the most connected muse appears to be Erato. As the protector of love and love poetry, in art she’s depicted holding a lyre, love arrows and bows. Her name comes from the Greek word Eros referring to the feeling of falling in love.
In a more modern context, the 1999 film comedy, Muse, is set in Hollywood and stars Sharon Stone in the title role. In this movie, the fickle muse drives men seeking her help crazy by demanding gifts and constant attention.
However a writer chooses to imagine the muse, either as an external force providing a direct conduit of ideas and creative resources, or as simply the name give to the author’s own inner well of creativity, history urges all creative people to treat the muse with care.

Still risking their lives…The Paladin Group.

Ginger Odom has sworn to become self-reliant…
Until she is arrested in a small town and framed for the murder of a police officer. Seems everyone in the community wants her behind bars, regardless of the truth, so her aunt enlists the help of the Paladin Group. A team of wounded former military men and woman, now civilian lawyers and investigators, they rescue people in serious trouble.

Hale Peters is determined to ignore his knee injury…
The former Air Force Pararescueman, wounded during a rocket attack on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, accepts his first reboot for Paladin. His mission—keep Ginger safe until he can prove her innocence—becomes a bigger challenge than expected when he and Ginger clash over who’s in charge.

The Devil Dogs just want to help…
The group of older veterans steps up to assist, but when Ginger’s life is threatened by the real killer, Hale and Ginger need to work together if they hope to stay alive.


Amazon Kindle:  http://amzn.to/1Pko75r



The Paladin Group
The romantic suspense series begins with Deadly Reboot, Paladin Group Book 1 .
Set in a small southern town, the series features wounded air force veterans, men and women warriors turned civilian lawyers and investigators determined to continue their rescue work.
Book 2 Survival Reboot is due to release September 28, 2016.
Book 3 Maximum Reboot is releasing December 7, 2016.