RI Authors Showcase and Giveaway! Meet Anne-Marie Sutton
Each day this month, meet a Rhode Island author! Comment on the blog post for a chance to win our Grand Prize (a $200 Amazon gift card) or our Bonus Prize (a $100 Amazon gift card). Some authors are giving away copies of their books, too - your comment enters you into their drawing as well. (See details at the bottom of this page)
Starting a mystery series set in Newport was one of the best decisions I ever made as a writer. My family always enjoyed visiting Newport as vacationers, and I loved walking the Cliff Walk. One day I started to think about a short story set in Newport where the Cliff Walk was key to the plot. One thing led to another, and my short story became a full-length novel: Murder Stalks A Mansion. Kenwood, my fictional mansion (everybody knows you call Newport mansions “cottages,” but the tourists know they are mansions), was located on the Cliff Walk. Its young owner had turned her family’s estate into an inn. . .money troubles. Caroline Kent was determined to make a go of her new business, but since this was a mystery story...well, what would you expect? One of the first guests gets murdered. The police arrive to investigate, but Caroline is sure she can solve the mystery herself. Her inn’s future was threatened, and another murder could soon occur.
The fun I had writing that first book has probably never been duplicated. I did drawings of the house, the grounds, the interior layout. I went to my bookshelf and reread the history of the Gilded Age families in Newport. When the book was published, I walked all over downtown Newport to promote my book and got several stores to take it on. I worked festivals, participated in library events and did speaking engagements, including being asked to give a lecture on the History of the Mystery at the Redwood Library in Newport. I did book signings and met interesting people from all over the world.
I’ve written three more Newport mysteries with Caroline at their center: Gilded Death, Keep My Secret, and Invest In Death. I have notes and research for a future book, which I would like to start in 2021. Working title: The Color of Death.
Along the way I’ve had several short stories published. Mostly mysteries, in anthologies from the Sisters In Crime, Darkhouse Books, Level Best Books and ARIA (my first ghost story); and online at Mysterical-E.
This year 2020 is the first year in a long time that I have not been able to travel to Newport for book events. I look at the blank spaces on my calendar and miss seeing the friends I’ve made at my various events. The gift shop at The Breakers had become a comfortable home base for me, and I miss being there so much. I hope 2021 will see the cruise ships come back to Newport and the shops ready to welcome back the visitors. Everybody wants to see the Newport mansions, and I am so fortunate to write about them and have readers want to know their stories.
–Anne-Marie Sutton
Anne-Marie has generously offered to gift a copy of her book Murder Stalks a Mansion to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment on this blog post and you're entered to win, plus this is your daily entry into the Grand Prize and Bonus Prize drawing.
Author Anne-Marie Sutton has lived in Newport, Rhode Island and uses her knowledge of the city and its fabulous Gilded Age mansions to craft her mystery novels.
“I love walking on the Cliff Walk, and it truly was my original inspiration for the stories in the Newport Mystery series. The Cliff Walk, for those who don’t know Newport, is a three mile stretch of pathways and steps along the high rocky sea wall of the Atlantic Ocean. I love reading mysteries and often thought how pleasant it would be to read something set in Newport, particularly near the Cliff Walk, which is where I placed the stories’ fictional mansion/turned inn, Kenwood Court.
“British mystery books, especially what are referred to as country house mysteries, are some of my favorites. Of course, the wealthy residents of Newport have always called their homes summer cottages, so I guess you could say that what I write are summer cottages mysteries!”
A marketing/communications consultant and former journalist, Anne-Marie has lectured on mass communications at the college level. She was born in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in English. Now residing in Connecticut with her family, she continues to spend time in Newport where she does frequent signings and other events.
“Newport is a great place, and I never get tired of being here and meeting visitors literally from all over the world. It’s my real pleasure to introduce them to my books.‟
Learn more at Anne-Marie's website https://www.newportmystery.com/
Visit her Amazon page here: www.amazon.com/-/e/B0085L3SJG
You can leave a comment on each day's post during the month of November, for up to 30 chances to win. Daily giveaways by authors will be drawn one week after publication. The author will contact the winner to coordinate delivery. Grand Prize and Bonus Prize will be drawn and announced on December 8.