LARISSA REINHART & PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY

Larissa considers herself lucky to have taught English in Japan, escaped a ferocious monkey in Thailand, studied archaeology in Egypt, and survived teaching high school history in the US.  After moving around the midwest, the south and Japan, she now lives in Georgia with her husband, daughters, and Biscuit, a Cairn Terrier. 

She loves small town characters with big attitudes, particularly sassy women with a penchant for trouble. PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY (Henery Press, August 28, 2012) is a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, a 2012 The Emily finalist, and a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. Cherry Tucker’s second mystery, STILL LIFE N BRUNSWICK STEW, will release in May 2013. When she’s not writing about southern fried chicken, she writes about Asian fried chicken at her blog about life as an ex-expat at theexpatreturneth.blogspot.com. You can find Larissa chatting on Facebook; Twitter; and Goodreads. You can also find more information on her website at larissareinhart.com.

Where are you from?

First, thanks so much for having me on your blog!

I’m from a farming village, population 600, called Andover. My roots are small town and slightly redneck, although my mother would argue that fact because she was raised in a town with sidewalks and went to college. I also went to college and like to live in cities, but can’t seem to shake the redneck factor. It comes across more strongly with beer.

Tell us your latest news?

My first novel in the Cherry Tucker Mystery series, PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, launched in August and it’s been a whirlwind publication that began last March. My second in the series, STILL LIFE IN BRUNSWICK STEW, will release next May. I’m working on a Christmas novella anthology with two other Henery Press authors for 2013. Beyond that, I’ve got several projects started and hoping someone will invent a time machine or cloning to help me get them done.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Don’t mess with an artist and her shotgun when she’s on a deadline? Just kidding. Hopefully, my love of small towns and small town characters shines through. And that small town people lead richer, more diverse lives than you’d suspect.

If someone wrote a book about your life, what would they title it?

NOTHING’S EVER SIMPLE

What is the ultimate dream vacation?

Anywhere foreign, but where I don’t fear for safety.

What person in history would you most like to meet?

The easy answer is Jesus Christ. Agatha Christie would be pretty cool, too.

If you could design a refrigerator magnet, what would it say?

I like that quote by Benjamin Franklin: “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Actually, that’s probably dangerous for a refrigerator magnet.

I’d like to encourage readers to enter my giveaway contest. Up for grabs is an e-copy of PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, book one of the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. Leave a comment and you're automatically entered. Include your email addy so I can get in touch with you should your name be selected at random. The winner will be announced on my blog (http://theexpatreturneth.blogspot.com/) on December 12, 2012. Good luck!

In Halo, Georgia, folks know Cherry Tucker as big in mouth, small in stature, and able to sketch a portrait faster than buckshot rips from a ten gauge -- but commissions are scarce. So when the well-heeled Branson family wants to memorialize their murdered son in a coffin portrait, Cherry scrambles to win their patronage from her small town rival.

As the clock ticks toward the deadline, Cherry faces more trouble than just a controversial subject. Her rival wants to ruin her reputation, her ex-flame wants to rekindle the fire, and someone’s setting her up to take the fall. Mix in her flaky family, an illegal gambling ring, and outwitting a killer on a spree, Cherry finds herself painted into a corner she’ll be lucky to survive.

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