Taking 1960 by Rosa Sophia

Taking 1960 by Rosa Sophia

Rosa Sophia is a mystery author currently residing in South Florida. She lives with her writing partner in crime and their five cats. She works at a library, enjoys watching old television shows, collecting comic books, travelling and hiking. Her favourite authors are Jeff Markowitz and J.W. Coffey. In her photo, she is dressed as one of her characters from her next mystery novel, entitled Check-Out Time, a quirky story that takes place in a grocery store.

By her own admission she loves criminology, psychology, and collecting comic books and worrying, also has an unhealthy obsession with power tools!

You can purchase her book through the publisher by following this link: http://dreamz-work.com/products/Taking-1960.html

Hi Rosa, and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. If you could sum up Taking 1960 in a couple of sentences what would they be?

Five young men were murdered in the late 1950s. It is up to Katherine to clear an innocent name and dig through her own family history to find the real killer.

Who are the main characters?
The main character is Katherine Maslin, and the story is hers. However, she is supported by her best friend Corry, her boyfriend Jake and eventually her therapist, Janis Crow.

What category would you put Taking 1960? Is it for adults only?
Taking 1960 was never written with a genre in mind. Nevertheless, I had to define it somehow, so I started calling it a Paranormal Mystery. It is essentially a ghost story, with a lot of twists. It deals with heavy issues including domestic abuse. I am sure that teenagers would enjoy it, but it is certainly not intended for children.

What makes your book unique?

There is a mystery, but it is not at all traditional, and neither is the character who ends up solving the mystery. What is especially unique is that Katherine transcends time itself in order to find the man who bloodied her family's history.

So there's a paranormal element like time travel?

There is an element of both the paranormal and time travel in my novel.  My main character is continually visited by the spirit of her grandmother. She is somehow linked to her grandmother's spirit, perhaps even her grandmother's own memories, and sent back to the year 1960.  If she can manage to alter events, she will be able to save the life of a young boy.  But if she can't...?

I enjoy reading crossover novels. They seem to be popular.
I'm sure it could be defined as a crossover, but I'm not sure what the other genre would be.  When I first wrote it, I didn't do it with a genre, and I had to struggle to find one that would define it properly.  I tend to write outside genre restrictions, and I strive to overcome formulas, rather than stick by them. 

Good for you! So, can you name any other authors or books with an audience who would be likely to enjoy reading your book?
Anyone who enjoys dark mystery will like Taking 1960. Fans of dark fiction and suspense will be interested. The Thief of Always by Clive Barker comes to mind. In Taking 1960, the homestead becomes a character in the story. In Barker's book, a house takes on a life of its own.

What experience do you have when it comes to writing - is this your first book?
This is my first mystery novel, and my first published book, but it is by no means the first book I have ever written. My first novel is part of a Science Fiction series called The Minder, but it is nowhere near ready for publication. I have been writing since childhood, and I have several more novels lined up for publication as well.

Tell us a bit more about your editing service? Prices etc. Do you do it all on-line?
I don't charge nearly as much as most editors because I like to help out writers who can't always afford editing services. It can be really hard to get started, so I like to tailor my prices according to a person's budget. I do everything online, as the majority of my clients live far away from me. For details on my services, readers are welcome to visit my editing website: http://www.rosesophia.webs.com/

Have you done any marketing for your book so far?
My book launch was very successful. Thirty-two people showed up, they had a lot of questions, and I sold almost thirty copies. There has been a lot of positive responses to my book, and once the book hits Amazon, there should be numerous reviews going up. I am also trying to get into some book stores in my area. I am currently living in Palm Beach, Florida, so I am shooting for Books-A-Million and maybe some smaller non-franchise bookstores. If things go well, I hope to attract more people to future signings and events. I also have an author website, an author group on Facebook under “Rosa Sophia” and I have been interviewed a couple of times. You can visit my author site at http://www.rosewrites.webs.com/.

How did you get on with your book signing? Was it easy to set up? Do you do your own marketing?
It was great! It was very easy to set up. Conveniently, the book launch took place at the North Palm Beach Library, where I work. Because the publisher is very small and only a year old, I will have to do a lot of marketing on my own.

You also did a “book talk”, can you explain?
I read an excerpt of Taking 1960 and then opened the floor for questions. I was surprised at how many people had questions for me, ranging from the publishing process to how I started writing in the first place.

Who is your publisher, and do you have an agent?
My publisher is Dreamz-Work Productions, LLC, and they can be found at http://www.dreamz-work.com./ I do have an agent; he is a fellow writer for Dreamz-Work and does a lot for the company itself as far as marketing and pitching ideas to the owner. He is the author of Honoring the Sacred Earth: A Path to Spiritual Awakening and his book can be found on the Dreamz-Work website as well.

Have you had any feedback from readers?
Readers have told me that they “can't put it down” and that it is a “page-turner.” The first person to read Taking 1960 excitedly told me that she loved it, and that the house featured in the story is a character all on its own. The integration of Katherine's family homestead as a character happened unintentionally as I allowed the book to “write itself.” So far, reader response has been extremely positive. I can't wait to read the reviews once it hits Amazon!

Anything else we should know about your book?
Only that I plan to make it as available as possible in the very near future. Dreamz-Work is a very small publisher, and I hope that through some increasingly intense marketing, I can continue to expose Taking 1960 to as wide an audience as possible, while at the same time helping my publisher. When I wrote Taking 1960, I fully intended to publish it traditionally, because I felt it was meant to be. I hope that the messages I convey in the story reach as many people as possible. It's my baby, and I want to share it with the world!

Visit Rosa's writing blog: http://www.lily-scarlet.xanga.com/

Excerpt from Taking 1960

An envelope addressed to Katherine Maslin stood out amongst the pile of bills. It is a notice from an attorney… the rights to her grandparents’ farmhouse and adjacent property.

She believes that a change will rid her of the strange dreams she’s been having, wherein an oddly familiar woman visits her, begging for her help. But when Kat realizes that the woman in her dream is her dead grandmother, she begins to have doubts about moving to the farm.

Rumors and nightmarish tales fill her mind, stories of the five men who lost their lives in the late 1950s to a heartless murderer. A man had been convicted, but was he the one the police had been looking for, or had he been framed?

Kat is thrown backwards through time on a journey to discover a terrible truth. The ghost of her grandmother is always one step ahead of her, leading the way. But will she find the real killer before he finds her?

Taking 1960 is also available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble's website.

To learn more about Rosa, you can visit: http://www.rosewrites.webs.com/