I am delighted that my good friend Amy Metz  has agreed to chat with me here on New York Army Mom! I know from my experience that readers love to hear personal things about their favorite authors. It doesn’t get any more personal than this. Well, maybe it can, but we won’t go there!. Please meet Amy Metz, Author of the Goose Pimple Junction Series.  There are currently 4 books in the series and what first attracted me to this series was the awesome covers. How adorable are they?

amy pics

AmyMetzpic

Now on to the good stuff!!!!

Sharon: If one of your books was made into a movie, and you could be an actor, which character would you play and why?
Amy: First of all, I’d make a horrible actor, so let’s be clear that this is totally hypothetical! Having established that, I would love to be Louetta. She’s fun and wise and always the life of the party. She’s like Sara Lee. Nobody doesn’t like Louetta!
Sharon: Perhaps, but I have a feeling that you would make a good Louetta! She is definitely my favorite character.
Amy: She is definitely a character, isn’t she?!
Sharon: That she is!

 

Sharon: If you were to compare your boyfriend to any of the characters in your books who would he be?
Amy: He would definitely be Jackson, although Tom is funnier than Jack. Tom’s not a writer or a former lawyer (thank goodness!), but they both have integrity and big hearts, they’re both thoughtful, kind, charming . . . and they both treat their girlfriends like every girl wants to be treated. I thought Jack was the perfect man until I met Tom.
Sharon: Not even knowing Tom, I could have answered that question for you. And it’s real sweet that you created a character and then found him in real life!

Amy: And for my next feat, I’m going to create a character who’s a bestselling novelist. If we’re talking life imitates art, it’s worth a shot, right?
Sharon: Absolutely! 

 

Sharon: Your current WIP is the 5th book in the wonderful series of Goose Pimple Junction , have you ever considered writing a stand alone novel?
Amy: I’ve started writing two other novels that can be standalones. I may get back to them when I get writer’s block on book #5. (Which means any day now.)
Sharon: I can’t wait to read your next book. Series or stand alone.

 

Sharon: I happen to love your writing style, have you ever written a song? Or wanted to? If so, tell me about that song!
Amy: Thank you so much! To the best of my recollection, I’ve never written a song. Probably for the best!
Sharon: Smile – 🙂

 

Sharon: Do you play an instrument? If so, which one/ones? Did you take lessons or learn on your own?
Amy: Sigh. No, I don’t. I tried to learn to play the violin when I was in elementary school, but that did not last long. In college, the final in a music ed class was playing a song on a musical instrument. The only one I could handle was the recorder (and I was pretty bad at that). Math and music are foreign languages to me. Both of my sons play percussion, and my youngest son is majoring in music performance. I have no idea how that happened!
Sharon: I hear you! About the music that is. I only wished I could play the piano. I know you love that your boys are musically talented. That’s great. My oldest is a self taught guitarist. And he is pretty good at it.
Amy: I marvel at that ability!
Sharon:Me too!

 

Sharon: If you decided to pick up and move any place you want as long as it’s in the U. S. where would you want to go?
Amy: I would move to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in a heartbeat. I visited there for a month in 2014 and fell in love with it and the area. Of course, I stayed in a carriage house with a great view and a 5-minute walk to the library, but I would still love to live there. It is a beautiful, beautiful area. I’m also fond of the South, though, and I would love to live by the beach—maybe in South Carolina. How about South Carolina in the winter and Stockbridge in the summer?!
Sharon: A lady after my own heart, I will visit you in both places.

Amy: Deal!

 

Sharon: If you could sit on a bench with someone living or deceased, who would it be and what would your first comment be?
Amy: It would be the real life inspiration for my character John Hobb in Murder & Mayhem. My first comment would be, “Who murdered you?”
Sharon: I would like to know that too. But I loved how you solved it fictionally.

 

Sharon: I know you love to bake, have you baked anything exotic, if so tell me about it?
Amy: I don’t recall baking anything you would call exotic. I love good old Southern cooking. I bake pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, brownies/bars, cobblers, bread pudding . . . my Pinterest boards are overflowing with recipes I want to try, but I have my old favorites too. I value old family recipes—they’re like gold.
Sharon: Well, I for one, love your upside down caramel apple pie!

 

Sharon: We all know that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, what does Tom think of your abilities in the kitchen?
Amy: I think he approves. One thing we have in common is our passion for desserts. We’re a good team because he likes to cook meals and I like to bake desserts. He’s a good sport about being a guinea pig for my Pinterest experiments. And we’re a good match when it comes to brownies. He likes corners, and I like middle pieces.
Sharon: And I will take the leftovers, because I like both!
Amy: Send me your address. I will mail some to you!

Sharon: Smile – 🙂

 

Sharon: Is there anything else you want to share with your readers?
Amy: I just want to say thank you to readers who have spent time and/or money on my books. I truly appreciate it. Sharon, you’re great about writing reviews of books you’ve read, and I hope you’ll encourage your readers to do the same. Reviews help an author tremendously. The first book in my series, Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction, has amassed a lot of reviews (for which I am very thankful), but reviews for the other three have been slow to come in. Just a short review helps inch up the total review number for a book, which figures into a lot of factors. But mostly . . . thank you for reading my books.

 

Sharon: And there you have it. A conversation with Amy Metz, Author of the hilarious Goose Pimple Junction Series. Amy is one of my all time favorite authors. Head on over to Amazon or your favorite bookstore and pick up a copy. And by all means, do leave a review. I so often hear from people who say they can’t write reviews. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a short story. Those take time. Just answer a few questions. For example, Did you love the book? What was your favorite part? Did you love the characters? Was there enough suspense? Did you guess the plot too soon? Or perhaps not until the end? Was it a great cover? Was there anything that you could personally relate to? Characters or Setting? Did the story make you laugh out loud or cry? And perhaps why? There you go, a review in 5 minutes tops!

Amy: That is so true, Sharon. Or next time you tell a friend about a book you like, write down what you say–there’s your review! And I agree that less is more! Two recent reviews I liked are: “A great cozy mystery that had me laughing out loud.” And “One of the better ones.” Short and sweet and to the point! Love it.
Thanks for coming by, and don’t forget to:
Live, Love, Laugh and by all means READ! (and write reviews)

Sharon