Author Spotlight: Sue Perry

Introducing author Sue Perry and her latest novel, Nica of Los Angeles (Frames #1):

1). Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a seasoned yet new writer. I published a novel in hardcover with Bantam-Doubleday-Dell some 20 years ago, then stopped writing until recently. In that hiatus, I was a low-budget TV producer, a disaster scientist, a college professor, and more, until I finally acknowledged that writing is the only work that matters to me.

2). When did you start writing, and why?
When I was growing up, teachers always told me I was a writer, and at some point I came to believe them. However, for a long time, I had little to say. So I would start writing then stop, pick up again then set down. Nowadays, however, the "stopping" is over and I feel considerable urgency to write.

3). What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write?
I write novels, and the occasional novella, about whatever most preoccupies me at the time - I have many interests! To date I have written a psychological thriller involving split brain research, animal rights, and a love quadrangle ("Was It A Rat I Saw"); a novella about an oddball group of scientists and techies who solve crimes ("C.R.I.M.E. Science"); literary fiction about a family with secrets ("Scar Jewelry"); and a fantasy detective adventure ("Nica of Los Angeles"). Although my books span many genres and perspectives, they share key features. They all have smartass dialog, strong female characters, and stories that unfold like mysteries. There will always be a cat, and there will usually be a musician.

4). What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books?
"Nica of Los Angeles" is my latest novel, the first in a quartet of novels that will make up the speculative detective series FRAMES. Book 2 in the series, "Nica of XXX" (location currently embargoed), will be out in the first half of 2015.

5). "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book or series.
Frames are dimensions, and there are an infinite number. No one has been to them all. Landscapes are similar from Frame to Frame, but structures and beings vary. What seem to be inanimate objects in one Frame may in fact be animate and/or sentient beings in other Frames. You just never know. For example, a lawn chair, a volcano, and a building - among other non-human characters - are all sentient in "Nica of Los Angeles".

---

6). Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them?
Narrator Nica S.T.A.T.Ic. (Sheridan Taggart Ambrose Taggart Ickovic) has recently appointed herself as a private detective. She is an upbeat person in a very noir world. She never loses her wits, her wit, or her enthusiasm for life, and she never lets details like fear or inexperience slow her down.

Miles and Monk are siblings. In our Frame, they are known as the tallest of the Watts Towers, inanimate folk art sculptures. In other Frames they are animate as well as sentient. Monk is a quiet philosopher given to inscrutable remarks; Miles is a lively gadabout and a flirt.

7). A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book.
I'm adopted and as an adult, met my birth family, who (luckily!) turn out to be awesome people with amazingly similar attitudes and senses of humor. Turns out that, after I was adopted, my parents got together and had five more kids. I wrote about some of this in my novel "Scar Jewelry" (Btw, that wasn't a spoiler - that isn't the secret the characters grapple with in SJ.)

Nica of Los Angeles (Frames #1):
When rookie private eye Nica takes on a mysterious case, she enters a world of multiple dimensions called Frames, where buildings and lawn chairs can be sentient, a stray cat has great powers, books can be killers, and clouds can be spies. At home, Nica tackles missing person cases, while in the larger reality of the Frames she is swept into an escalating battle with stakes that could not be higher.

Read a three-chapter excerpt from Nica of Los Angeles here.

Nica of Los Angeles is available at:
Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Apple

Where to find Sue Perry:
Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon author page | Smashwords author page
I rarely post to my Facebook fan page, but it does exist: https://www.facebook.com/SuePerryAuthor

Music is crucial in the shaping of my novels. As user "scperryz" I have playlists on Spotify for "Scar Jewelry" and "Nica of Los Angeles".
Nica of Los Angeles: http://open.spotify.com/user/scperryz/playlist/61lXhpNJCeYEcAVwOXvnyO
Scar Jewelry: http://open.spotify.com/user/scperryz/playlist/5515fvDrOfhpwBqYye4atP

---