Interview with humorous romance author D. E. Haggerty

We’re chatting with chick lit, humorous romance author D.E. Haggerty today. Among other things, D.E. is telling us a bit about her newest novel, Jack Gets His Man, book 2 of the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series.

During her virtual book tour, D.E. will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card (winner’s choice) to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops, and enter there, too!

Welcome, D.E. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but think I’m a European. After spending my senior year of high school in Germany, I developed a bad case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. My flying Dutch husband and I have lived in Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany and now Istanbul. We still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. I’m leaning towards somewhere I can learn to surf even though the hubby thinks that’s a less than sound way to decide where to live. Although I’ve been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, I think with writing I may have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. That’s assuming I ever grow up, of course. Between playing tennis, running much slower than I would like, trying to adopt every stray dog within a 5-mile radius, traveling to exotic new locales, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, addictively watching new movies and reading books like they are going out of style, I write articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, review other indie authors’ books, write a blog about whatever comes to mind and am working on my sixth book.

Wow. That’s quite a lot to take in!

Please tell us about your current release.

Jack Gets His Man is the second book in the three book series the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives. This installment features the store of Jack. In the first book, Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem, Jack featured as the main character’s (Izzy’s) best friend. Now it’s time for Jack to get his own story. Jack owns a cross-dressing store together with his ex-lover. Jack’s having a tough time of it at the moment. His ex is being a pain in Jack’s fabulous behind, his new bookkeeper is smoking hot but Jack’s not allowed to date him and then it turns out that someone is playing fast and loose with the store’s money. Jack’s bestie and his gal pals, the gray-haired knitting detectives, jump at the chance to solve Jack’s problems. When they aren’t re-enacting scenes from spy thrillers, they’re setting Jack up on dates and generally insinuating themselves into his love life. They’re determined to find love for Jack as well as his missing money. Will Jack catch a thief or find love? Either way Jack’s going to get his man.

What inspired you to write this book?

When I wrote Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem, I wasn’t planning on doing a series. I just wanted to see if I could manage to write a funny chick lit novel. But I had such a fun time writing the book and then the reviews were really positive. Quite a few reviewers even suggested I wrote a book about Jack (who was a secondary character in Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem). I was having a good time and thought why not?

Excerpt from Jack Gets His Man:

The first candidate arrived promptly at 9:30 or at least his mom did. Danny ushered an elderly matron with a stern bun into Jack’s office and made a hasty retreat.

Jack just stared at her until Izzy cleared her throat and poked him in the ribs. “I’m sorry,” she said when Jack kept staring. “We were expecting someone named Fred. Is that you?”

The woman looked first at Jack and then at Izzy. “Of course that’s not me,” she snapped. “What kind of name is Fred for a woman?”

“Er.. um,” Izzy stumbled. “Do you know where Fred is?”

The woman rolled her eyes and harrumphed. “He’s in the bathroom. He always gets nervous at interviews.”

“Um. Okay,” Izzy was quick to respond when she saw Jack opening his mouth. Knowing Jack nothing appropriate was coming out of his mouth at the moment. “Can you have a seat outside while we conduct the interview?” Izzy could do prim and proper when necessary.

The woman gave Izzy the evil eye before turning on her heel and walking out. They never saw Fred.

Jack was licking his fingers when Danny ushered in the next candidate. “Hi!” the enthusiastic candidate nearly shouted. “I’m Tim!” That part was definitely shouted.

Jack and Izzy stood to shake the man’s hand. He swayed a bit as he leaned forward. Jack took a sniff, but didn’t smell anything untoward. Tim collapsed in his seat while Jack stared at his hand in disgust. Tim’s hands were sweaty. Jack’s mouth pulled tight in a grimace and his nose scrunched in displeasure.

“So Tim. Why do you want this job?” Izzy’s voice was overly enthusiastic in an attempt to bring Tim’s attention to her so he wouldn’t see Jack’s grimace. She need not have bothered. Tim had leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. When he didn’t respond, Izzy snapped her fingers. “Tim?”

He started. “Huh? What?”

“Have you been drinking?” Jack didn’t even bother to ask in a polite manner.

Tim shrugged. “Just a tiny drink to settle my nerves.”

Jack stood. “Okay. Thanks a lot for coming. We’ll be in touch.”

Tim looked confused but managed to struggle to his feet and lurch out of the door. Izzy was giggling uncontrollably by the time Jack sat back down. He snorted. “At least this isn’t boring.”

An hour later, Jack had changed his mind. Interviews #3 and #4 were tedious. Like he was going to hire someone wearing a gray, off-the-rack suit to work in his company. He laid his head on the table, careful not to mess up his hair, and turned pleading eyes to Izzy. “Can we please have lunch now?”

Izzy shook her head. “Nope, another interview before lunch.”

“I hate you,” Jack whispered as the door opened again. Danny ushered in a beautiful man and Jack perked up immediately. Izzy gave him a side-long glance but he ignored her. Things were looking up.

“This is Damien,” Danny said before backing slowly out of the office, eyes glued to the man candy that was Damien.

Izzy jumped up to shake his hand. Jack just stared until she kicked him in the shin. Then he stood up as well, but he looked like he was in a trance as he reached forward to shake Damien’s hand. Izzy had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling.

“So,” Izzy began once everyone had sat down and Jack had inspected Damien from top to toe. “Why do you want to work here?”

Damien turned his dazzling smile on Izzy and winked. “Seriously? This store is awesome.”

“Are you a cross-dresser?” Jack asked before Izzy had a chance to kick him again.

“No,” he shook his head. “But I think it’s great that someone is willing to have a store dedicated to cross-dressers in such a small town in Oklahoma of all places.”

“You do realize that a significant portion of the store’s income comes from the big and beautiful women’s section,” Izzy pointed out.

Damien waved his hand in dismissal of her objection. “But that’s great as well. Everyone should have good clothing options.” He looked at Jack for confirmation and Jack nearly took his head off nodding in agreement. Izzy had to stifle yet another laugh.

Jack cradled his head in his hands with his elbows on the table staring at Damien. Obviously it was up to Izzy to conduct this interview. “Tell us about your work experience.”

The interview lasted 30 minutes, but Jack couldn’t tell you one single thing that was said during that time. He was too busy trying to keep his drool from spilling out of his mouth. Izzy cleared her throat and Jack realized that everyone was standing. He quickly jumped to his feet and shook Damien’s hand, holding on for as long as possible. Damien gave him a megawatt smile before turning to leave.

Izzy collapsed in the chair and turned squinted eyes on Jack. “No.”

Jack flounced into his chair and decided to play innocent. “Whatever do you mean, my dear?” He might be overdoing the innocent thing.

8. What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m already busy with the third and final installment of the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series. It will be the knitting detectives toughest case yet – not only are there no obvious clues in this murder mystery but the accused murderer is Delilah, the granddaughter of one of the knitting detectives. Dee’s life is in shambles. She finally managed to pry herself from her husband’s clutches but now the man turns up dead and the police are pointing their fingers at Dee. As if she doesn’t have enough trouble trying to stay out of the slammer, the gray-haired knitting detectives decide that Dee being a widow is the perfect opportunity to find her a new man and put their matchmaking skills to use.

Writing life related:

9. When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Oh man I struggle with this. Sometimes I’m still not ready to call myself a writer. I cringe when people ask me what I do for work and I say I’m a writer. I’m always waiting for someone to say No you’re not! With every book I write, Jack Gets His Man is my 5^th, I gain more confidence in my writing abilities and this strange career we call being a writer.

10. Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Writing is my full-time ‘job’ but as a self-published author I unfortunately can’t spend all my time writing. I usually write for 3-4 hours first thing in the morning. After a break to work out or play tennis, I spend the afternoon answering emails, updating social media and other marketing necessities and working on my Readsalot blog. If I’m in the middle of a novel, however, I’m thinking about the story constantly and will often been seen flying out of the shower to run to my office to write down some crazy idea I just had.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
After spending a decade as a lawyer where everyone wrote and reviewed documents in the same way (track changes, different colored pens, etc.), I enjoy being quirky with my writing utensils. I’m completely obsessed with journals. I try to find colorful and fun journals whenever I get the chance. Once I start working on a novel, I dedicate a journal to the novel and put all my notes, research, outlines, etc. in the journal. On top of that I use sticky notes in all shapes, sizes, and colors to leave myself notes. When I’m editing a book, I move my office to the dining room table, which quickly fills with rows and rows of sticky notes. I can’t seem to escape my legal past, however, as I still use different colored pens and highlighters to make notes and edits.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was completely and totally obsessed with becoming a lawyer. Even though I’m interested in just about everything (I have a liberal arts degree in history, am a qualified diet consultant, and have nearly finished a master’s in international relations), I kept my eye on the prize – law school – throughout it all. I even went into the military for five years so that I could get the GI bill to help me finance law school. I freaking loved law school but I hated being a lawyer. I tried every branch of law I could think of before deciding to re-evaluate my career choice.

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Thanks, D.E!

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