Jo Davis is here!

 Jo (Jonita) Davis, author of DOMESTICS and non-fiction Michigan City Marinas is on a blog tour.

Domestics chronicles a wounded woman’s struggle to end the suffering of domestic violence. Like Death Wish with Charles Bronson when Bronson avenged the innocent against out-of-control street gangs, Sarah is on a mission to avenge women from brutal men. Her story starts with the murder of her child at the hands of her husband, broken but not destroyed, her journey of vengeance begins.

Smoke is a short story, an antidote after Domestics. It tells of Charlie Daniels wanting something so badly that he’d die for it – a short tale of dark comedy.

I’m sure there are a few questions you’d like to ask Jo as well, but I’ll start us off:

I know that that you began writing Domestics in 2004 with the intent to win a literary competition. What made you decide to turn it into a full length novel? I was a bit disappointed after the competition. My husband suggested that I turn my main character into an assassin-for-hire. It was a creative way to let off steam after the competition, to say the least.

Michigan City Marinas is a local history book, so you obviously have an interest in that area. Will you continue to write non-fiction, or is fiction something you prefer now? I am continuing the non-fiction, actually. Michigan City is a tourist town, so the marina book sold well. I have a contract with the publisher (Arcadia Publishing) for two more history books about the area. Fiction is where I get to “let my hair down,” as the saying goes, but nonfiction has become one of my loves as well.

How much research did you have to do for Domestics? Honestly, there wasn’t an organized research effort. Over the years, I have come in contact with a few people who had been through relationships involving domestic violence. Some of it was a little Lifetime Movie Network overload as well. When writing the story, these things just came together with other memories and experiences to create Domestics.

You own the company Bylines by Jo writing content for websites, ghost blogging, editing website design...the list goes on. You sound very busy. How do you fit your writing in? With a crowbar to my calendar and caffeine in my cup! Just kidding. My writing gets a spot in the schedule like any other project. Like Domestics, I am writing my current novel long hand. So, I can get some pages written while in waiting rooms, taking the kids to the lake or the park, places like that.

I’ve got to ask... what’s ghost blogging? Ghost blogging is like ghost writing. I write blog posts on a regular basis. The client that I write for posts them to his blog, as if he wrote it. It’s a practice that is more prevalent than you’d think.

What are your plans for the future? Any more books in the pipeline? Well, I’ll continue to write. My current work has the working title Carrying On, a comedic mystery. The local history books that I’m working on have working titles Michigan City Park and Michigan City Zoo.

Blurb for Domestics:

"Today there would be no slamming door. Keith's grumbling is silenced. He and Brandy are both dead. Sarah Thomas was sitting alone in the middle of her clean home."

So begins the tale of a broken woman, struggling to move past a history of violence and loss. Soon, a new opportunity drops into her life, along with the promise of a fresh start. But, some new beginnings cannot happen until we let go of the past.

Well, Sarah's past is one that refuses to die. In fact, it is haunting her in the eyes of her new abusive employers. She sees herself in the abused women she meets. Sarah also sees a chance to stop the cycle of violence for good.

Domestics chronicles a wounded woman's struggle to end the silent suffering of domestic violence. She justifies the means by the ends, becoming an assassin in a housekeeper's clothing to avenge the victims.

As Sarah brutally punishes the violent offenders, she becomes a freedom fighter for the abused. However, too late does she realize that she just may be the one who needs liberating.

Smoke (Available as a download)

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you'd die for it? Charlie Daniels does. He just doesn't know it yet.

Smoke throws a nicotine craving into a pot of madness, stir in incompetence, inflated egos and fear, to get one darkly comedic story of a cigarette break, miles up in the blue skies.

Thanks Jo, it's been a pleasure and an honour.