Welcome!

Introducing Gail Pallotta!

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner and a TopShelf 2020 Book Awards Finalist. She’s published six books, poems, short stories and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums.

Social media links:

Facebook–https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-pallotta-b368b220/

Blog–https://gailpallotta.blogspot.com

Interview with Gail

I’m so happy to have you here today, Gail. My first question is: What was your favorite book when you were a kid? Did it play any part in your writing style today?

I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries. I don’t think they played a part in my style of writing, but I do like to involve my heroines in amateur sleuthing.

I remember reading a couple of Nancy Drew books. I’d bet that spurred your love for a good mystery. What book is currently on your bedside table?

Dead Fall, book two in Nancy Mehl’s new series, The Quantico Files. I’ve just started it, but know I’m going to enjoy it as much as I have Nancy’s other books.

I have not read any of Nancy Mehl’s books yet, but I’ve heard some wonderful things. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve written stories for as long as I can remember, publishing my first one in a newspaper in grammar school. However, I didn’t consider writing seriously until I enrolled in a writing class in college. There I learned I could probably make a living as an editor or copywriter, so that’s what I did until I married. Then I helped my husband with his business and sent out freelance articles. During that time I wanted to write books, but didn’t start until he semi-retired and my daughter left for college.

I’m so glad you are finally pursuing your dream. As a writer, which comes first for you—the plot or the characters—and why?

They’re almost simultaneous in my head. I start writing down a brief outline of the plot, even though I know the heroine and hero I’m going to put into it. After I have the plot sketched out, I work on the main characters and their supporting cast.

Can you share with us something about the book that isn’t in the blurb?

My mother’s beauty shop inspired Hair Calamities and Hot Cash. Triville, the fictitious town has a similar ambiance to my hometown at the foothills of the North Carolina Mountains. But, it takes place at a higher elevation. The towering Western N.C. peaks are too beautiful to resist as a setting. As far as something about the book, I love this quote from an Amazon review by RJS and am humbled by her kind words. “Comical chaos flows effortlessly in this starry-eyed, humorous tale of misfortune surprisingly turning to serendipity. Hair Calamities and Hot Cash is a fresh, cozy, romantic mystery by Gail Pallotta…every bit brilliant and complete with charm, excitement, and wit.”

What a wonderful review! What was the highlight of writing this book?

Taking the essence of a place I know so well and creating a fictitious town and characters to put in it.

What is the key theme and / or message in the book?

God wants us to love one another. Wonderful, caring Christian people filled the small town where I grew up. No matter if you were a best friend, an acquaintance or someone kept at a distance, when a crisis struck the residents answered with prayers and casseroles. I wanted to bring that kind of spirit to life. I believe it’s needed even more now than when I wrote the book.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

My Website – http://gailpallotta.com

BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-pallotta

Sign up for my newsletter – https://www.gailpallotta.com/mainphp.html

Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

Yes, thank you. Hair Calamities and Hot Cash is my first book about a woman entrepreneur set in the North Carolina Mountains. My second one is Cooking up a Mystery. In it Laney Eskridge worked to put her husband through dental school. Then he left with another woman. She’s on edge from the emotional scars and her parents’ deaths. Then she hears unexplained noises in her new tea house, and her anxiety is tripled. Add a budding romance with Eric—a guy with a fear of commitment—and it’s all too much to handle. She cuts ties with Eric and plunges into making her business pay off.

When Eric discovers that Laney’s in danger, he vows to protect her. But can he make a lasting promise? Will she trust him? . . .and when they overhear a threat that could cause national turmoil, will anyone believe them? There’s more brewing than herbal tea in Cooking up a Mystery.

Fun characters in this book include a cute, little dog and his elderly master; a roller derby queen and the Busy Bee Seniors. It’s available wherever books are sold online.

About the Book

Name of Book: Hair Calamities and Hot Cash

Genre of Book: Inspirational Mystery

Name of Publisher: Prism Book Group

Release Date: October 11, 2018

Back Cover Blurb:

“A comedic romp from small town to big city in search of missing money, hair catastrophes, and love. A truly fun read” ~Cynthia Hickey, author of the Shady Acres Mystery series

What happens when a New York stockbroker crashes his car into Eve Castleberry’s North Carolina beauty shop … on the same day the young widow’s defective hair products are causing wild hairdos? Soon, Eve finds herself helping the handsome stranger hunt the thieves who stole his clients’ cash…and hot on the trail of two of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals!

Romance blossoms amid danger, suspense and Eve’s hair-brained plan to get back the money.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Hair-Calamities-Cash-Gail-Pallotta/dp/1522397914

Giveaway

Gail Pallotta is giving away an e-book copy of Hair Calamities and Hot Cash. Comment below to enter the giveaway. Giveaway ends February 14, 2022.