Waverly Curtis's Blog, page 3
January 19, 2014
Pepe Predicts…
At our book reading at Third Place Books, Pepe (with the help of a Magic 8 ball) predicted that the Seahawks would win the Super Bowl! Looks like he is well on his way to being right!
October 25, 2013
Book Launch for The Big Chihuahua
We had a great time at the book launch for our third novel, The Big Chihuahua, on Friday, October 19. We were welcomed by fabulous booksellers, Casey and Brandy, at one of our favorite book stores: Elliott Bay Book Company.
We played off the theme of magical and mystical powers since the novel features Geri and Pepe dealing with a cult which worships an ancient warrior dog whose wisdom is channeled through a Weimaraner and his human, Crystal Star.
Pepe, as usual, stole the show. He wowed the crowd with his predictions, channeled through a Magic 8 Ball.
And then Curt amused the assembly in his incarnation as Karnak the Magnificent. One of our lucky audience members won a copy of the Dog Tarot.
As we have for every book launch, we gave a dramatic reading
, from Chapter 10 of the book, which introduces several important characters, including Crystal Star and Dogawanda.
We also provided delicious dog-bone shaped cookies, for humans.
And signed books, with the star of the show, who contributed his paw print. 
Thanks to Shayla for taking the photographs and Stephany for Pepe wrangling during the event.
July 17, 2013
Interview with Pepe at the Qwillery
Pepe is delighted that he was finally interviewed by the Qwillery,
http://qwillery.blogspot.com/2013/07/...
and asked for his opinion about the books in which he appears, but he’s a little miffed that he was featured under the Paranormal heading with a ghost, a black cat and a ghost hunter.
Of course, in his next adventure, The Big Chihuahua, coming out in October 2013, he gets involved with a cult that worships an ancient dog spirit named Dogawanda, and that’s certainly paranormal. Or is it?
June 5, 2013
Pepe at #2
We have just received good news! Chihuahua Confidential was tied for #2 in sales of mass market paperbacks at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop in May. Also at #2, our compadre, Seattle author and thriller writer, Kevin O’Brien, and Lee Child! Pepe is certainly getting up there in the world.
May 15, 2013
Good News
Good news, amigos! The first written account of my adventures as a private investigator, the book known as Dial C for Chihuahua, is on sale right now. The e-book version is $1.99 only at Barnes and Noble, Apple, Sony, Kobo and Amazon! If you have not yet bought your copy, this would be a good time to do so! The sale ends May 28. And be sure to inform your amigos!
April 8, 2013
Chihuahua Confidential Launched
We had a fabulous time at our book launch at Elliot Bay Book Company and so did our audience, judging by their laughter and appreciative comments. Pepe was, as usual, the star of the show, but we got some great feedback on our dramatic reading (Waverly’s daughter, Shaw, who is also the chief Pepe wrangler) joined Waverly and Curt on stage to read the first chapter of Chihuahua Confidential. 
We gave away prizes. David Bukey’s dog, Phoebe, will appear in our next book–we’ll be interviewing Phoebe in a future post. And we’re still negotiating with Henry Burton about whether or not he really wants a Chihuahua purse from Fuzzy Nation–we might swap it out for a bookstore certificate instead.
We ate cookies. And we watched dog dancing videos. The big favorite was an audition tape for Ashleigh and Pudsey who won Britain’s Got Talent in a routine eerily like our imagined reality TV show, Dancing with Dogs. We’ll be posting some of these on our Facebook page. And, of course, we signed books.
Forty plus copies were sold at the reading but there are plenty of autographed copies at the store if you still need one.
January 16, 2013
Next Big Thing Blog Hop
THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP
Welcome to The Next Big Thing!
What is a blog hop? It’s a virtual event that helps readers discover new authors. The first author tags five others whose work he or she admires, who each tag five more, who each tag five more, and so on. These memes float around the internet every few years, and this particular event has been so widespread, covering so many genres and amazing authors, that we’re thrilled to participate.
Before we get to the questions, we’d like to thank Sparkle Abbey, who tagged us for this. We met Sparkle Abbey (another collaborative writing team!) at Bouchercon and have enjoyed their Pampered Pet series, set in Laguna Beach, California were there are plenty of eccentric characters and lots of spoiled dogs. You can read more about them here:
The way this hop works, we (and the authors we’ve chosen) will each answer (on our respective blogs) the same 10 (predetermined) questions ranging from our current works in progress to our writing processes and beyond. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about our work. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.
Okay, ready? Here is our Next Big Thing!
1: What is the working title of your book(s)?
CHIHUAHUA CONFIDENTIAL — coming out April 2, 2013
THE BIG CHIHUAHUA –coming out October 2013
2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
We had set up the idea of a Dancing with Dogs competition in our first novel, Dial C for Chihuahua, and wanted to find out what happened when Pepe and Geri went down to Los Angeles to compete. Of course, the day they arrive, they meet the Beverly Hills starlet who Pepe insists he once lived with, and they stumble upon the corpse of one of the show’s judges, the mean judge, Nigel St. Nigel.
3: What genre does your book come under?
Humorous cozy mystery
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Geri Sullivan, our female PI, might be played by Zoe Deschanel–she’s that kind of quirky, arty character. Adam Rodriguez could play the handsome dog trainer who she meets in the first novel. Vince Vaughn would make a great Jimmy G. the eccentric PI who hires Geri. The white Chihuahua who played Chloe in Beverly Hills Chihuahua looks a lot like the hero of our book, the very macho Pepe.
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
CHIHUAHUA CONFIDENTIAL
Geri Sullivan, amateur PI, and her talented Chihuahua, Pepe, are dancing up a storm on the set of a reality TV show, Dancing with Dogs, when a series of murders threatens to disrupt the show and ruin Pepe’s chances to impress his Pomeranian lady love, also a contestant.
THE BIG CHIHUAHUA
Pepe and Geri go undercover in a cult that worships an ancient warrior dog named Barkawanda. Pepe considers starting his own cult until the peace of the ranch is shattered by a series of murders that are blamed on a pair of wild wolves.
6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
Our books are published by Kensington Books, which publishes many other cozy authors including Staci McLaughlin, Sara Rosett and Barbara Allan’s Trash ‘n’ Treasures mysteries.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It takes us about a year to write a book. We take turns writing chapters so we have to move slowly as we never plot in advance and need time to react to and anticipate the twists and turns our partner introduces.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
People who like Judy McCoy’s Dog Walker series, Sparkle Abbey’s Pampered Pet series, Spencer Quinn’s clever and funny books about Chet (the hound) and Bernie (his hapless owner and PI), and, of course, the champion of humorous mystery: Janet Evanovich.
9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The short answer: Waverly’s daughter, Shaw, owns a white Chihuahua named Pepe who has a lot of personality.
The long story: It all started when Waverly fired herself as Curt’s writing coach because he wasn’t writing. That was the year he was a judge for the Edgars and had a bathtub full of mystery novels to read. After that year, Curt started a revenge mystery, called “Who’s Killing the Edgar Judges?” in which he was going to kill off five imaginary mystery writers whose books had been nominated for best mystery. Of course, he had to make up those writers and their mysteries and he invented a writer who was writing a book about a talking Chihuahua named Pepe. Waverly said, “I want to read that book!” and the next week, Curt brought in the first scene of what became our first book, Dial C for Chihuahua. Waverly, knowing Curt’s tendency to start things but never finish them, asked if she could collaborate with him and thus Waverly Curtis came into being.
10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
We are unusual in that we write together. Curt Colbert is the author of three hard-boiled detective novels set in Seattle: Rat City, Sayonaraville and Queer Street and editor for the anthology Seattle Noir from Akashic Books. Waverly Fitzgerald wrote three historical romances under the name of Nancy Fitzgerald decades ago. Curt likes to start things and Waverly likes to finish them. Curt writes more one-liners and Waverly prefers situational humor. Curt lives with his wife and their cat, Esmeralda, while Waverly lives with her daughter and her daughter’s Chihuahua, Pepe. But we are great friends and have enjoyed working together and writing together for years.
Listed below you will find authors who will be joining us via the blogosphere next Wednesday, January 23, 2013. Please check out their blogs, bookmark their websites and add them to your calendars for updates on WIPs and new releases!
January 9, 2013
Our Next Big Thing? Chihuahua Confidential
It takes a dogged sleuth to collar a killer…
When novice P.I. Geri Sullivan first heard her adopted Chihuahua talk, she thought she’d gone barking mad. But it turns out Pepe is a savvy sleuth–and if he has his way, he’ll soon be a bone-a-fido celebrity, too, as Pepe and Geri are Hollywood-bound to star in the reality show Dancing with Dogs. So far, so bueno.
Then Nigel St. Nigel, the judge everyone loves to hate, becomes the judge someone wanted dead. Pepe and Geri are hot on a killer’s heels but between perfecting the paso doble and protecting Pepe’s Pomeranian lady love, both have their paws full. If Pepe’s new status as a Beverly Hills Chihuahua goes to his head, it may be the last waltz for Geri’s crime-biting compadre…
We love this book even more than our first novel, Dial C for Chihuahua, and we think you will love it too! The publication date is April 2 but it’s already available for pre-order from these online retailers
Or your favorite independent bookstore
December 26, 2012
KOBO sale!
Good news for those of you who got a KOBO e-reader for Christmas. Dial C for Chihuahua is available for 2.99 until December 30. Just click here.
October 25, 2012
Top Billing
Pepe is happy to see that he got top billing at Kensington’s page celebrating e-books published this month.
