Welcome to the 2024 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close four days after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 5th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

Rita Webb  will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo.

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under? Rita Webb

Where do you call home? Southern RI and Southern FL

What genre(s) do you write? Mystery/Whodunnit but I'll be trying my hand at a Thriller in 2025.

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? Was there a reason that genre(s) appealed to you the most? 

I've been drawn to mysteries forever. When I was young my mother loved everything spooky and mysterious. She gave me all the Nancy Drew books, my uncle gave me a subscription to Ellery Queen magazine for a while. So of course I loved Agatha Christie as well. But once I discovered Stephen King, I became a fan of his horror stories for years.

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why?  

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Jaws by Peter Benchley, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Sometimes Zeppo byJoe Adamson. These books are memorable to me because the first time I read each of them I was introduced to a different genre that let me know there was a whole world of writing and reading out there.

What are some of your favorite books today?

Wicked, and Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler, The Stand and It by Stephen King are all-time favorites.

What inspired you to become a writer? 

I've always had the desire to write, like my mother. She was always submitting short stories and poems to Reader's Digest. She was never published but I admired her tenacity. I started writing for the school paper in junior high and have dabbled since then with poems, song lyrics, and finally my first novel.

 

 

An Offer to Die For: The First Julia Novo Mystery

When Louise Lemay, self-proclaimed typical snowbird, has a chance meeting with a “funny little woman”, through which she meets her new friend Julia Novo, Julia tells her that it’s not merely chance, but some type of divine guidance that brings together a cast of characters to the same unusual open house on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Not all the guests are happy to be there, but some might kill to own the breathtaking, waterfront property. When the homeowner, who is intensely detested by just about everyone, is murdered, Louise becomes a reluctant but fascinated witness to the unnerving way in which Julia uses her otherworldly connections to solve the crime. Spirits and sparks fly as the two join forces with detectives, but they use the kind of forces to which the police are not necessarily accustomed. Together they must dig up ghosts of the past and the present to narrow down the list of suspects. Will the murder victim join in the hunt for his own killer? Anything is possible in this, as Louise’s husband, Roger, describes it, “open house of horrors”.  Louise doesn’t know it yet, but life is about to be full of surprises that, for her, will change everything.

 

 

Tell us a little about how “An Offer to Die For: The First Julia Novo Mystery” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? 

The idea for this series came first of all from the concept that sometimes an author should write about what they know. I've met many colorful characters over the years, some who believe strongly in the power of "universal energy", using the "third eye" to divine life's messages, and that we are all connected. I've also read so many books with mystical subjects that I thought I could share some of this knowledge through the genre that I love using different but interesting characters who learn from each other while solving the mystery of a person who was murdered and the mysteries of life itself.  

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? 

One the minor characters went from being the most standoffish to being on the spiritual side of things himself towards the very end, which props him up for the next book in the series.

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why?  

The most challenging character to write was the husband of one of the protagonists. He's present for much of the story but doesn't take it all very seriously. He was a bit of comic relief and I wasn't sure if I should keep him there the whole time or send him off in a different direction. I ended up doing both which seemed more natural to me. 

What do you like best about being a writer? 

What I love about being a writer is that I actually have a very difficult time speaking in public...like in a room with more than four people due to some social anxiety. Writing lets me express myself in so many different ways in my own time and style. The words flow from me in a way they don't otherwise and it's a very freeing and stress relieving feeling.

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb.  

If I could, I would collaborate with Steven Tyler of the band Aerosmith. I'm a big fan of his music/lyrics because he has such a clever and colorful way with words. I'd love to see what a murder mystery or thriller would look like through his expression. The title would probably be something like The Death of Rock & Roll ;)

 

You can follow Rita Webb here - 

Website - https://ritawebb.com/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorritawebb/ 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rita_webb_author/ 

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204311246-an-offer-to-die-for 

 

Rita Webb is giving away a copy of An Offer to Die For: The First Julia Novo Mystery

 

To enter, comment below →  What body of water, be it natural or man-made,is your preferred reading retreat? 

 

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