One of You (Tower District Mysteries)
by Lorie Lewis Ham
I am happy to welcome Lorie Lewis Ham
to Escape With Dollycas today!
Entertainment Matters
By Lorie Lewis Ham
One of the things I enjoy about writing my books is sharing through my main characters some of the things I love. In all of my books, even the series before this one, I have shared my love of Frank Sinatra, Sherlock Holmes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Trek—which are all fandoms that have been very important to me.
With my Tower District Mystery series, I have been able to expand on that to include some newer interests such as manga, anime, and Supernatural. Roxi has also mentioned several superheroes (especially the Flash and Superman), and the show Gossip Girl—which was the inspiration for the Tower Gossip website in my series.
I know there are some people who may think it is silly to call things like TV important—but I don’t agree. I made a new friend recently who had watched very little TV growing up so I had to explain to him why TV was so important to me—Roxi shares these feelings as well. I had a hard time making friends when I was a kid—I was quiet, I was different, and I dealt with social anxiety. I also went through some trauma and abuse as a teenager (not from my family) that I struggled to deal with. But TV was my constant companion—my friend. It not only kept me company, but it inspired me, lifted me up, made me think, made me cry, and encouraged me. And it still continues to do so.
Star Trek has always been a source of hope for the future. Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave me courage through some difficult times, even Sherlock Holmes showed me that it was okay to be different. And I am not sure if I would have become a mystery writer without Murder She Wrote—she inspired me to keep going and not give up. It was such a thrill to me when I got to know one of the screenwriters from the show Tom Sawyer and he even sent me a signed script.
TV and books also provided a needed escape—I can’t imagine my life without either of them. I think they also made me a better storyteller.
S
ome may be surprised to know that entertainment has always helped people find hope, inspiration, and escape. During World War II, Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, among others, provided a much-needed escape through their light and happy musicals. During the lockdown and earlier parts of the pandemic, entertainment kept the whole world going by providing escape, hope, and joy. Performers went above and beyond by doing free virtual events of all kinds to help us through this and book sales went through the roof. Even Sir Patrick Stewart read Shakespeare on social media.
Some of the new entertainment I discovered in the last few years that I have put in my latest book, One of You, are manga and anime. I knew they existed and had seen some Studio Ghibli movies, but that was about it. But early on in the pandemic, my oldest child introduced me to some amazing anime shows, and that in turn encouraged me to give manga another try. There is some amazing storytelling in anime and manga and much of the artwork is stunning. Some of my finds that fit well in the mystery genre include Moriarty the Patriot (a retelling of the Holmes story from Moriarty’s perspective), Spy Family (this one is just darling), Death Note, and Oshi no Ko (both combine mystery with the supernatural).
One of You takes place during a mystery event at Halloween with several mystery authors as guests and one of them happens to be a manga author who has just gotten a contract to turn her books into anime. We have also begun reviewing manga in my online magazine Kings River Life this year.
Another passion of mine that I brought into this new series, is my love of King Arthur. The sense of honor that the knights have appeals to Roxi. She comes from a Mafia family, although her parents were never directly involved as far as she knows, and she likens the sense of honor the Mafia at least used to have, to that in the King Arthur stories. She also has a replica of Excalibur and knows how to use it. The world of Camelot brings Roxi comfort as well. It was her father who introduced her to that world when he took her to see the musical Camelot and gave her a copy of The Once and Future King. Her parents died in a car crash when she was a teenager and these things help her feel close to her father.
Whenever I wonder if I am doing anything in this world that truly matters, I remind myself of how important entertainment in all forms is. If my books can make someone smile, laugh, think, or cry—or give them a fun escape to a world different from theirs, that is the best feeling in the world and perhaps helps pay it forward a bit for all that entertainment has given for me.
Thank you Lorie for visiting today!
Keep reading for more info about Lorie and her new book.
About One of You
One of You (Tower District Mysteries)
Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – The Tower District of Fresno, CA
Publisher : Mystery Rat’s Books (June 4, 2024)
Paperback : 278 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8325667381
Digital ASIN : B0D46P6JBJ
With her life on the California Coast behind her, Roxi Carlucci is beginning to feel at home in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno, CA—where she now lives with her cousin P.I. Stephen Carlucci, her pet rat Merlin, a Pit Bull named Watson, and a black cat named Dan. She has a new entertainment podcast, works as a part-time P.I., and is helping local bookstore owner Clark Halliwell put on the first-ever Tower Halloween Mysteryfest! The brutal summer heat is gone and has been replaced by the dense tule fog—perfect for Halloween!
She just wishes everyone would stop calling her the “Jessica Fletcher” of the Tower District simply because she found a dead body when she first arrived. But when one of the Mysteryfest authors is found dead, she fears she jinxed herself! The Carlucci’s are hired to find the killer before they strike again. Will Mysteryfest turn into a murder fest? How is the local gossip website back, and what does it know about the death of Roxi’s parents?
About Lorie Lewis Ham
Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California, and has been writing ever since she was a child. Her first song and poem were published when she was 13, and she has gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper, and publish 7 mystery novels. For the past 14 years, Lorie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, where you can hear an excerpt of her book One of Us, the first in a new series called The Tower District Mysteries. Book 2, One of You, will be out in June of 2024. You can learn more about Lorie and her writing on her website mysteryrat.com and find her on Facebook, and Instagram @krlmagazine & @lorielewishamauthor.
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