Guest Post: Justin M. Kiska – FACT & FICTION

Greetings, book people. I hope all of you are doing well and getting some reading in. I’ve got to admit, I’m a very curious reader. I wonder why that setting, why that specific time, how did the author choose those names, and more. The biggest question that seems to pop into my head is what pushed this person to write? Today’s guest may not answer all of the questions I have, but he does answer the big one about becoming a writer. Please help me welcome Justin Kiska, author of Fact & Fiction. Thank you, Mr. Kiska, for taking time away from your obviously busy schedule to join us today. I’ll now turn the blog over to you.

How In The World Did I Become A Mystery Writer?
by Justin Kiska

I’ve been asked that question a lot. In fact, I’ve asked myself that question because I would have never thought I’d have one mystery on bookstore shelves, let alone three with another three on the way! So, let’s back up a bit.

Technically, I’ve been writing mysteries for almost twenty years. As a theatre producer in my daily life, I have been producing interactive murder mystery events since 2005. These have always been funny mysteries with over-the-top characters. And while the characters in these mysteries were always developed with thorough backstories to give the actors something to work with, they were all just outlines. I never wrote a full mystery from beginning to end with all of the details like you have in a novel. In total, I have over fifty different interactive mysteries like this in my Marquee Mysteries Series.

Several years ago, one of the mysteries spoofed famous mystery writers. It was a lot of fun. As props, the actors each had mock-ups of their character’s latest book. When creating props, I always put a lot of detail into them, so the mock-ups had full synopsizes of the books on the back covers. As the actors were reading the blurbs, they were all saying how they’d really like to read those books if they were real.

The question then became, why not try writing an actual novel?

That’s what I did. For the next couple of years, I worked on what became Now & Then, the first book in my Parker City Mysteries Series from Level Best Books. I’d had the idea for it rattling around in my head for a while, but again, writing full mysteries wasn’t something I did. Once it was finished and a publisher was going to publish it, I was thrilled. I didn’t expect them to come back and offer me a three-book deal! But I’m glad they did because I’ve had so much fun writing the first three books in the series. And this past summer, they extended my contract and asked for another three. So, there are still a lot of mysteries to be solved in Parker City over the next few years. And there’s even a chance some of the characters I created in my interactive mysteries may show up from time-to-time bringing everything full circle.

For now, I’m off to devise another clever way to kill someone . . . for my mysteries! ♦

Synopsis:

Parker City, Autumn 1984…

As the leaves begin to change colors and the weather starts turning cooler in the historic city in the heart of Western Maryland, Parker City Police Detectives Ben Winters and Tommy Mason are called to Saint Paul’s where the recently installed Father Roland Taylor, who has become very popular in the community, has been found dead in his office at the church. By all appearances, it seems to be a tragic case of a break-in gone wrong.

Only twenty-four hours later, the detectives find themselves at the home of the city’s well-known morning radio show DJ, Morning Mike Moran, who also seems to have been the victim of a robbery gone wrong. Coincidence?

Neither Ben nor Tommy believe in coincidences. But at first glance, it seems to be just that. Until they find that the victims shared a common interest and begin an investigation that leads them to uncover a secret Parker City has been hiding for over one hundred and twenty years.

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: February 2023
Number of Pages: 330
ASIN: ‎ B0BT373DNG (Kindle edition)
Series: Parker City Mysteries, Book 3 | Each is a Stand Alone
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: Amazon

Author Bio:

When not sitting in his library devising new and clever ways to kill people (for his mysteries), Justin can usually be found at The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, outside of Washington, DC, where he is one of the owners and producers. In addition to writing the Parker City Mysteries Series – which includes, NOW & THEN, VICE & VIRTUE, and FACT & FICTION – he is also the mastermind behind Marquee Mysteries, a series of interactive mystery events he has been writing and producing for over fifteen years. Justin and his wife, Jessica, live along Lake Linganore outside of Frederick, Maryland.

Catch Up With Our Author:
JustinKiska.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @JMKiska
Instagram – @JMKiska
Twitter – @JustinKiska
Facebook – @JMKiska

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