Thursday, July 23, 2015

Guest Post - Linda Reilly

Guest Post with Linda Reilly. We are talking about Summertime. Linda is the author of Fillet of Murder.Welcome Linda, so glad you can be with us today.



Thank you, Shelley, for inviting me as a guest today. I am very excited to be here!

When I began writing Fillet of Murder, which features a fish and chips eatery in the Berkshires, I wanted readers to like my people . . . maybe even find a few of them quirky. Isn’t that one of the things we love about cozy characters? Since I grew up in the region where the series takes place, I scrolled my mind backward (okay . . . way, way backward) to my younger days, to some of the wonderful “characters” I was lucky enough to know.


I was seventeen when I first got a summer job at an old-style restaurant called The Willows (long gone, I’m afraid). The owner was a generous soul and one of the best cooks I’ve ever known. Throughout that entire summer I flipped burgers, made sub sandwiches, and washed a never-ending stream of dirty dishes and pans. I even scrubbed clam shells for the soon-to-be steamed clams, never realizing they were still alive until one of them snapped shut and sent my heart into overdrive!


That summer left me with so many treasured memories. I can still recall how appreciated the owner made me feel after working long hours in a kitchen cooled only by a table fan. She overpaid me and over-praised me—she was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. Those are the days I thought back to when I first began writing the Deep Fried series. I wanted Talia Marby, my main character, to have those same warm recollections of her first summer job. So I created Bea Lambert.

As characters go, Bea is one of my favorites. Picture a petite, sixtyish woman with springy black curls, leaf green eyes, and a darling British accent. Originally from the UK, her speech is populated with words like “luvvy” and “bloke” and “wanker.” Bea is the co-owner, with her hubby, of Lambert’s Fish & Chips—an eatery located in a cobblestoned shopping plaza designed to resemble an old English village.


Talia was a teenager when she got her first job at Lambert’s. Troubled by a rift between her mom and dad, she bonded with the childless Bea, and Lambert’s became her refuge. Even when she wasn’t working, Talia could often be found mulling over homework at one of the tables at the back of the restaurant. Bea couldn’t have loved Talia more if she’d been her own daughter.


Talia learned the fish and chips biz that summer, never dreaming she’d return there more than fifteen years later to help out Bea in a pinch. What she also never imagined was murder, right there in that charming plaza. When Bea is accused of murdering a fellow shopkeeper, Talia dives right in to rescue her friend from a certain stint in the pokey.


So tell me, do you have a story you’d like to share about your first summer job?


About the Author

Armed with a degree in Criminal Justice, Linda Reilly once contemplated a career in law enforcement. But life took a twist, and instead she found her niche in real estate closings and title examinations, where the dusty tomes in the Registry of Deeds enticed her into solving mysteries of a different sort. Linda now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, who affectionately calls her "Nose-in-a-Book." She loves solving mysteries of the cozy type. When she's not pounding away at her keyboard, she can usually be found prowling the shelves of a local bookstore or library.


Giveaway:Leave a comment talking about your first summer job. Leave an comment and email for a chance to win a copy of Fillet of Murder and a Deep Fried Mysteries tote bag Winner will be chosen on July 25th and will have three days to respond.

32 comments:

  1. One of my first jobs was a demonstrator aka the sample lady or girl at that time. Strangely enough after a career in advertising my final job before full retirement was demonstrator.

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  2. My first job was at a Baskin-Robbins, a teen's dream come true, right? The work was hard sometimes when we helped unload trucks, but the owner was a kind man and very appreciative. One of our perks was two free scoops of ice cream each day we worked. I still lost weight! jeaniedannheim ( at ) ymail ( dot ) com

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  3. My first job was at a Baskin-Robbins, a teen's dream come true, right? The work was hard sometimes when we helped unload trucks, but the owner was a kind man and very appreciative. One of our perks was two free scoops of ice cream each day we worked. I still lost weight! jeaniedannheim ( at ) ymail ( dot ) com

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  4. My very first summer job lasted not even one day. It was at the local icecream/lunch place. I didn't live up to the owners expectations and he fired me before I finished the first day.

    kaye dot killgore at comcast dot net

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  5. My first summer job was in a restaurant. My friend wanted a job and asked me to go with her. I got the job. It was fun and the money was great to have.
    angelhwk68@yahoo.com

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  6. My first summer job was putting up hay for the neighboring farmers in southern Iowa. doward1952@yahoo.com

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  7. My first summer job was in an office. My boss was great and really enjoyed the work. poohwine1217@gmail.com

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. My first summer job was working on the tobacco farms. It was very hard work and my family said I would never last. Well I proved them wrong and worked the whole summer. pamelajrichard50@yahoo.com

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  10. I love reading about everyone's first summer job! It's interesting how a lot of us gravitated toward restaurant work. I guess that's what was readily available for teens, but I sure did enjoy it. I didn't even mind the stifling hot kitchen back then!!

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  11. My first summer job was in retail. My boss was a kind woman, who gradually gave me more responsibility as the summer lead into fall. I stayed on thru college.
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. I worked at the local drugstore. I am about a third of the way through this book - enjoying it! grammyd01@comcast.net

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  13. My first summer job was picking black raspberries. It was a hot, tiring job and the man who had the farm was very strict. If he saw you put a berry in your mouth, he docked you a quart of berries. robeader53@yahoo.com

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  14. I had just turned 16 and couldn't wait to get a job. I got employment at Kresge's (a 5 and 10 - you know how long ago that's been). I worked in the housewares department. Learned how to cut window shades (people didn't use blinds like they do now). It was so much fun.
    txmlhl@yahoo.com

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  15. I never had a summer job. When I was old enough to get working papers I got a weekend job working for "Sam Goody's" a music chain that had stores in NYC. I think in my entire lifetime I had at least 25 or 30 jobs. While in school I'd been able to find jobs very quickly after one was gone.

    I love to read new to me authors and series and would love to add this book to my home library.

    NoraAdrienne (at) gmail (dot) com

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  16. I think I would have loved a job at Kresge's or the drug store. But picking berries and tobacco farming would have made me hot and cranky!

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  17. My first summer job was babysitting, a mother's helper they were called then. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  18. A summer job which I really enjoyed was as a Junior Counselor at a summer day camp. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. I grew up on a farm so my first summer job was driving tractor. I really did not like that. I would get so hot and dirty! But one time I did catch a baby cottontail rabbit and I kept it wrapped in my shirt until I went home for the night. I fed it milk with a doll bottle and it got to know me pretty good. It would come to me when it wanted to eat after I was done working for the day. Unfortunately I had to give it up when I went away to college.

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    1. Email address: ElaineE246 at msn dot com

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    2. Ooh, driving a tractor sounds like fun! How sweet that you adopted a baby cottontail.

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  20. First let me just say I absolutely love this series and cant wait for the next one!! I never really had "summer jobs". The first place I worked was at a veterinarian office. Then I picked up a side job where I worked at a cat house. Now I am not sure if that name means the same in your area, but down south it can mean something completely different than what it was, a cattery or a house with 100 plus cats, all show quality. I did that on weekends when the owners were showing their cats. Not fun, but it had MTV and no one else had that at the time. So I loved spending the weekends there. I too was over paid and over praised and loved it. I also loved working at the vet's office. Never had a job in a restaurant though. It was either a vet's office or the airport or airline. As I have already read, reviewed, and even won a copy I am happy there will be someone else out there with a super prize pack. Again LOVE THIS SERIES!!

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    1. Thank you for such kind words, Kay! That cat house job sounds very intriguing. Did you have to feed and clean up after all those cats when the owners were away??

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  21. I'd like to thank all of you for sharing your remembrances of your first summer jobs. From retail to ice cream to babysitting to office work to putting up hay . . . there's a lot of experience out there!

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  22. My first summer job was babysitting a neighbor's child. He was a sweet and happy baby.
    myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. I WORKED AT THE CITY POOL AND ALSO DID BABYSITTING. THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY! SHELLEY S. calicolady60@hotmail.com

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  24. I used to babysit for my little cousin when her folks went to her brothers' basketball games in the evening. She would always beg me to let her stay up later than she was supposed to. I told her "okay, but when you see those headlights coming up the driveway you'd better run to bed!" Of course her folks always saw her flitting across the picture window when she did that.

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  25. My first summer job was a waitress. I gained mucho pounds drinking milk shakes.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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    1. I hear you there, Sue. I used to eat some luscious stuff when I worked at The Willows. Back then I was skinny and could absorb the calories, but now . . . gulp.

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  26. Congratulations Mary H! Winner winner!

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