Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: The Flapper, the Imposter, and the Stalker by Charlene Bell Dietz @GoddessFish

The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker

by Charlene Bell Dietz

GENRE: Mystery, Historical, Suspense Novel

BLURB:

A privileged teenager from Minneapolis in 1923, scraps her college scholarship and runs away to become a flapper in dangerous, chaotic Chicago. In her search for illusive happiness, she confronts the mob and then must contrive a way to not be murdered.

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Excerpt:

Crystal stood and moved her hand toward the hall stairway. Sophie and Kathleen set their plates down and followed. Before they left the parlor Kathleen picked up her pocketbook and valise and nodded for Sophie to do the same. She didn’t want Crystal to rummage through their things while they were upstairs trying on dresses—or whatever they were to do. When they reached the top of the stairs, a door stood open at the far end of the long hall. A single hanging lightbulb illuminated a rack of dresses with shoes lined up underneath, and at the back stood a
large chest of drawers.

“Goldie, I’ve told you—keep that door closed and locked. Now hurry.” The girl lunged down the hallway. Crystal guided Kathleen and Sophie into the first door on the right.

“This is one of the bedrooms. The other is right next to this. Down the hall next to the closet you’ll find the bathroom. We don’t have hot water, but I’m sure that’s not a problem when you consider your rent is free.”

“Free rent and free dresses?” Kathleen congratulated herself. Even with moths batting around in her brain, she knew a ploy when she heard it. Crystal pushed open the door into a small bedroom. The room contained a table, a chair, and a bed. With the shade pulled down, the cleanliness remained questionable, and the room smelled funny, maybe from sweat or body odor. Kathleen couldn’t identify it.

“Goldie does have an eye for size. This dress should do you nicely. Tell her what size shoe you wear. Now, let’s go next door and see what Goldie has for Sophie. Isn’t this fun?

Interview with Charlene Bell Dietz

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

I’ve written four major award-winning books. I love all my books because I don’t rush the writing of them. I need my characters to feel real to me, so I can’t even begin to turn out a book every year. This book, The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker holds dear to my heart because this book grew out of my forced association with a cantankerous old aunt, I knew little about. As her only relative, I ended up caring for her. She told stories about her life in 1923 when she was a teen. She refused to tell me juicy details, for the most part, so this book really is fiction. My aunt stole my heart, and this story did too.

However, I find it takes research, time, and many rewrites to do any story justice. My latest book, The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor, is competing for won favorite status. It demanded a boat-load of research, and took forever to complete, but the story turned suspenseful and flowed through my mind, easily. It’s a historical biography novel about an incredibly out-of-bounds, intelligent woman, Margaret Brent, who should be in every history book. She left only her will, no diaries, letters, journals. I had to learn about her through what the prominent men of the mid 1600s said about her. They ended up calling her their attorney. Wow! She presented over 134 cases in Governor Leonard Calvert’s Provincial Court. The first recognized woman attorney happened in the late 1800s. Today, the American Bar Association awards five women attorneys, every year, their Margaret Brent Award.




If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?

A sequel is out there for your enjoyment right now. Actually, the rest of Kathleen’s story is covered in two other books: The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur takes place when Kathleen is quite old, and she wants to maintain her independence—as she always has, but her obsessive niece insists on keeping Kathleen safe. However, the niece works in a biomedical science laboratory where someone is sabotaging the research and murdering staff. Being compulsive and obsessed with her work, she can’t let this continue.

The final book, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut was a hoot to write. It mostly takes place in the Caribbean, and is full of quirky character. The scientist takes her husband on the vacation of his dreams, that quickly turns into a deadly nightmare because the scientist won’t give up digging into the flapper’s past life. She annoys an angry nest of islanders, in her quest to uncover past secrets. This novel ties up many of the dangling ends of the previous two books, and should give the readers some serious things to think about along with lots of giggles, too.




Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Each of these three books stand alone. Readers have told me they have no problem reading them in any order. However, I use the same main characters in each of them. Since the The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut ties up loose ends, I would recommend reading it last, but others who have read it say it doesn’t matter—it’s a complete and fun read in and of itself.




How did you come up with the title for your book?

The first book about the saboteur had probably twelve different titles before I found one my publisher liked. After that, a pattern was set and the other two were simple to title. My husband and I were attending an awards banquet and one of my author friend’s husband leaned over and said, “Tell me about your book. My wife said it’s about a Flapper and a scientist. BINGO! The light blub lit up and I finished his thoughts. Yes, “It The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur. Yay! Problem solved. The next three books followed the same pattern. It works well for me: The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut, and my historical, biography novel, The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor.




How long did it take you to write this book?

The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker only took me about two years to write because I had covered most of the research and created some of my characters during the writing of my first book The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur. This book took me ten years, because I had so much to learn. I guess I learned well, because both of these novels won the coveted Kirkus Starred Review and were name to the best books of 2018.




What does the title mean?

The titles are rather self-explanatory, except for the deeper concept. For each title, I put the protagonists’ life’s title first (Flapper, Scientist, Spinster). Then I put the most influential character to the story in the middle of the title, like a possible antagonist or maybe a mentor (Scientist, Impostor, Psychic, Rebel.) and last I put the villain, or the possible problem-solver.




What did you learn when writing the book?

When my characters misbehave in my writing, I probably have something wrong. Every book, between pages 150 and 250 they wake me up and tell me I have the wrong villain/murderer/or such. Naturally, they don’t tell me who the actual murderer is. I have to figure that out for myself. The characters in this book is what made me create the Impostor.




What surprised you the most?

Who the impostor really was. Amazing.




Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?

I’m sure I haven’t, not yet, anyway.




What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?

Beyond the research, I listen to what the other characters say about the protagonist and antagonist. I go for long walks in the forest and let ideas percolate for hours, days, weeks if need be. I listen to how real people talk and think about what it is they don’t say. Once I get to a certain point, after doing all of this, I start to write. If I can’t hear my protagonists voice in my head, I just can’t start writing. My Margaret Brent book, where she left no primary source materials except for her will, challenged me in this way. I couldn’t write this book until I heard her. Then I came across the many court cases, and there was her voice. This book, The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker started right away, because I created the flapper according to what my aunt had told me. I grew to love this caustic old woman who interrupted my busy work and family life, but to this day, I can still hear her wisdom, her whisky-cigarette voice, and her love.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Charlene Bell Dietz’s award-winning mystery novels The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage, and The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 in frenetic Chicago. The Scientist, the Psychic, and the nut gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her latest novel The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor is a historical biography about Lady Margaret Brent, the first American woman to be called an attorney, whose integrity and intelligence saves pre-colonial Maryland from devastation. This book won the New Mexico Press Women’s first place award and an award by the National Press Women. The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor will be released as a second edition by Artemesia Press in February 2024. Two of her Flapper books have won the coveted Kirkus stars, and two were named best book of 2018. Charlene, a retired educator, lives in the foothills of the mountains in central New Mexico where abundant wildlife, solitude, and natures’ beauty inspires her creativity.

Connect with Charlene:

Email ~ Website ~ Facebook

 

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon/BN GC

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