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Friday, March 13, 2015

A Mystery by Any Other Name.... by Maria Grazia Swan

Our guest post today is from National Bestselling Author of the Lella York mysteries, Maria Grazia Swan.  Don't miss this one, because there's an awesome giveaway at the end!!

A Mystery by Any Other Name.... 
by Maria Grazia Swan

Growing up I read a lot. Possibly because back then we didn’t have television, telephones or computers. Our small town at the foot of the Alps did have one movie theater, owned by the parish, and I did get to watch the occasional Shirley Temple movie (Italian dubbing), and no, it wasn’t in the thirties or the forties, or…okay, you get the picture. Remember movie night on the TV show “MASH”? Well that’s the way we got to watch movies, the same ones over and over, with frequent interruptions to fix the reel.

I preferred reading. My favorites were I Gialli Mondadori. Sounds fancy but in reality that was the label of Italian Publisher Mondadori’s mystery imprint. Their mystery line was called ‘Gialli’ because of their yellow book covers. That name stuck and today mysteries released in Italy are commonly known as Gialli.  My favorite author was Agatha Christie, the queen of mystery.

When I wrote my first full length novel I sold it as a mystery. And after that, when people asked me what kind of books I wrote, I proudly declared, “Mysteries, Italian style.” And in case there was any doubt, in my best channeling of Freddy Krueger I would add, “You know—I kill people.”

All went well until I sold more manuscripts to more publishers and one of them pointed out my books were more suspense than mystery.

Say what? Where did I go wrong? Huuh, I still kill fictional people. And my goal is the same; to make you sweat trying to guess whodunit.

I decided to check out the official definition of mystery. Here is what I found.

     Something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.

     Unresolved problem.

     In other words, l-i-f-e.

I would like to thanks Must Read Mysteries (Not Suspense!) for giving me the opportunity to share this with you, and I hope you all rush to your favorite online bookseller and buy one of my books. Regardless of whether you are a mystery or a suspense lover, I hope you sweat profusely trying to guess whodunit. Ciao.

Lella York YouTube Trailer




About the Author

Best selling author Maria Grazia Swan was born in Italy, but this rolling stone has definitely gathered no moss. She lived in Belgium, France, Germany, in beautiful Orange County, California where she raised her family, and is currently at home in Phoenix, Arizona--but stay tuned for weekly updates of Where in the World is Maria Grazia Swan?

As a young girl, her vivid imagination predestined her to be a writer. She won her first literary award at the age of fourteen while living in Belgium. As a young woman Maria returned to Italy to design for--ooh-la-la--haute couture.

Maria loves travel, opera, good books, hiking, and intelligent movies (if she can find one, that is). When asked about her idea of a perfect evening, she favors stimulating conversation, Northern Italian food and perfectly chilled Prosecco--but then, who doesn't? 

You can find out more by visiting her website www.mariagraziaswan.com   or connecting with her on Facebook.




Giveaway!
Maria Grazia Swan is very generously sponsoring a giveaway for Must Read Mysteries readers!  Please comment below for a chance to win your choice of a signed paperback copy of Death Under the Venice Moon or a $10 Amazon card.  Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 20th via random number generator.  Share this post on social media for an additional entry - just comment below and let us know you shared!  Please Note:  If you are commenting as "Anonymous," please leave your Facebook name or some other way to contact you!  

48 comments:

  1. A mystery set in Venice-- count me in!

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  2. Love this series and loved this book! Great posting and I really enjoyed the series trailer, Thanks, MRM and Maria.

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  3. Thank you Nancy and Ritter and a very big thank you to Must Read Mystery, it looks terrific.

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  4. I'm so thrilled to have Lella York representing mature, strong women.i can't wait to read this next suspense-filled mystery. I hope it's a grand success for both Lella & you. I do think women of all ages will love the entire Lella York series so they should just go ahead & order all of them now. Good luck. I've posted a link to the Must Read Mysteries & your discussion. Congrats on the new release.

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    1. Thank you my dear, the whole book takes place where I was born, I even drew the little map that gets my kids to laugh hysterically every time they look at

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  5. Great post! I think genre definition is blurred these days, or perhaps always has been. Mystery and suspense are so closely related, too. I actually just started reading "Love Thy Sister" last night and am enjoying it! This one looks great, too :)

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    1. Thank you Deborah, Love Thy Sister was my first fiction and Death Under the Venice Moon the last released, 14 years between the two, but hey, who is counting, right? Thanks for stopping by, and I hope we don't let you down.

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  6. Always happy to offer kudos to you, Maria! Super posting.

    Your books keep getting better all the time.

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  7. Shared on my book blog Facebook page (Book Babble). I would definitely consider your books to be mysteries more than suspense--to each their own, though, I suppose. :)

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    1. Thank you Teresa, you made my day.

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    2. By the way, Teresa is a family name...I intend to use it in one of may books very soon, just like yours, Teresa.

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  8. Love the interview! Thank you for sharing.

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  9. And thank you for sharing on Facebook Mary Anne!

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  10. Murder, mayhem, cats, nothing beats a good read

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  11. This looks like a great book. The cover is cute. Thank you for the chance.
    Moonbay7399@gmail.com

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  12. You're welcome Candace, good luck!

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  13. I love mysteries and suspense! Thanks for the chance! I shared on my FB page. Barbara Hawk. angelhwk68@yahoo.com

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  14. Enjoy reading your books and you always having something fascinating to share about your life! Thankyou! Jill; minishoes@msn.com

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  15. I still think that suspense is a form of mystery, but I call your books suspense, so I guess I understand. I have read and loved all of your books.

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    1. Thanks Billie, just turned in the next Lella's book and I am now starting Mina's adventure, never know where the next story will take us, I am just the messenger.

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  16. sounds like a winner to me!!
    thank you for the giveaway!!

    cyn209 at juno dot com

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  17. shared giveaway on FB: www.facebook.com/cyn209

    cyn209 at juno dot com

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    1. Thank you so much, waiting to find out who the winner is...I'm as curious as everyone else.

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  18. I confess - I'll read it regardless of the giveaway! As my favorite saying goes - "So Italian, so intense." Okay, it's referring to espresso, but applicable to your stories :-) -Maureencorps (at) yahoo dot com

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    1. Anonymous, love the quote, stealing it...thank you so much.

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  19. Maria Grazia Swan is a new author for me, and Death Under the Venice Moon sounds intriguing. Thank you for the giveaway.
    myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I shared on Pinterest (as Jen Scott) and Facebook (as JL Scott). Thank you.

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  20. Really nice post! This sounds like a wonderful mystery. :)

    brookeb811 at gmail dot com

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  21. Thanks Brooke, good luck to you, we will find out soon who the winner is.

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  23. Shared on Facebook. I'd love to win an Amazon gift card. It was nice to learn about mysteries in Italy. I'm a big Agatha Christie fan, too.

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  24. Would so love to read this book and an autographed copy would make it that much sweeter.

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  25. Enjoyed reading about Maria Grazia Swan and her books. I'll be looking for them. She's a new author to me.

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  26. I'm eager to read this. Love a good mystery.

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