“Dear Miss Behave,
Last weekend I was at the
pool with the children, and there was a woman naked and walking around the
locker room.
I hate to be prissy, but to
be naked around young children like that just isn’t right. She comes to the pool regularly and I am not
the only one who has happened upon her strolling around the locker room without
clothes. Now I know there are showers
and that people change in locker rooms, but showers should be taken while
wearing bathing suits and there are private changing rooms that are clearly
marked.
How can I convey to her the
accepted rules of decency before any of our children become hopelessly
corrupted?
Sincerely,
-Agape at the AquaPark”
--From Traci Highland’s Miss
Behave
Traci Highland writes funny books for sassy ladies. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and has a Master’s from Quinnipiac University. She
uses this education to write books, bake cakes, garden and make homemade
jams. Her children say she’s bossy, her
husband says she’s high-maintenance, but the dog thinks she’s perfect.
Book Description:
She's great at
giving advice, too bad she never takes it…
Piper Anderson wants to be a serious journalist at a serious paper covering serious news. Instead, she’s stuck at the Pendleton Falls Herald, where her massive investigative skills are wasted penning the paper’s advice column, Miss Behave.
Her shot at a meaty story comes when she’s assigned to write up a profile of a local business, Brookes Jewelers. She is determined to write the piece so she can use the article to impress a real paper.
Unfortunately Hunter Brookes, co-owner of Brookes Jewelers and the Pendleton Falls Herald, is rather persistent, in his own hot little way, that the piece should be nothing more than a glorified sales pitch.
But when diamonds disappear, Piper may get the chance to do a real investigation, leading her to confront family secrets and worst of all, turn to her mother for help.
Piper soon realizes that there is more to Mr. Brookes than a tight ass and a ridiculous fascination with name tags. Together they deal with roasted pigs, crazy cat ladies, and gun-toting fashionistas.
In all the chaos, they just might find the one thing that neither one was looking for: true love.
Piper Anderson wants to be a serious journalist at a serious paper covering serious news. Instead, she’s stuck at the Pendleton Falls Herald, where her massive investigative skills are wasted penning the paper’s advice column, Miss Behave.
Her shot at a meaty story comes when she’s assigned to write up a profile of a local business, Brookes Jewelers. She is determined to write the piece so she can use the article to impress a real paper.
Unfortunately Hunter Brookes, co-owner of Brookes Jewelers and the Pendleton Falls Herald, is rather persistent, in his own hot little way, that the piece should be nothing more than a glorified sales pitch.
But when diamonds disappear, Piper may get the chance to do a real investigation, leading her to confront family secrets and worst of all, turn to her mother for help.
Piper soon realizes that there is more to Mr. Brookes than a tight ass and a ridiculous fascination with name tags. Together they deal with roasted pigs, crazy cat ladies, and gun-toting fashionistas.
In all the chaos, they just might find the one thing that neither one was looking for: true love.
Interview:
Hi Traci! Romantic Comedy has to be at the top
of my must read list and your new book, Miss
Behave (The Anderson Family Series Book 1), sounds exciting! What was
it while writing this book that set your fingers on fire?
Traci: Oh darling! Romantic Comedy is absolutely my favorite as
well! I think the part of this book that
really got my fingers flying has to be the Miss Behave columns. I just adored Dear Abbey as a kid and
wondered what would happen if her column was taken over by some snarky
body-double that said horrible, terrible, no-good things in that column.
Can you tell us a little about your main
character, Piper Anderson? She sounds like a fun character!
Traci: She is a rather delightful, if somewhat
cheeky, young lady. She is a journalist that wants more than her small town
assignment and her task as the local advice columnist, so she is desperately
trying to write the worst advice column ever so that she gets taken off
the assignment. But in Piper’s world,
things never go as planned.
What about the rest of the Anderson family to
which you base your new series? Who are they?
Traci: It starts with Ann, Piper’s mother, who
is a bit too proper for Piper’s tastes, and Piper’s Aunt Elise, a gun-toting,
hard-stomping, wrestling obsessed family matriarch. Then there are the four Anderson sisters,
Mags, who has a terrible temper and somewhat unhealthy habit of speaking her
mind, Betty, the beautiful, career-obsessed producer, and Stacy, the artist.
There is a love interest for Piper. Can you give
us a little glimpse of who that might be?
Traci: He
is everything that Piper is not. He is
always put-together and a tad bit uptight.
Hating disorder, he and Piper are on something of a collision course.
Where does your book take place and why did you
choose that location?
Traci: It
takes place in the fictional town of Pendelton Falls, CT. Small, in the quiet corner of the state, the
central focus of the town is on the lovely lake at the center and the charming
local shops that attract weekending New Yorkers.
What was your hardest scene to write?
Traci:
The scene in the hotel at the end.
You will see!!
They say all books of fiction have at least one
pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the
pivotal points in your book?
Traci:
The scene with the scarf. Scarves
can cause a surprising amount of trouble, darling.
Have you started on book 2 yet?
Traci:
Book two, Mags’ book, is completely written and will be released very
soon! Here is a wee bit of a blurb:
Mags has
gotten herself in a ton of trouble: she's lost her job, any hope for
references, and she's going to run out of money.... fast.
Yeah, sure, it may be her fault for punching her boss, but the
jerk totally had it coming.
Nobody listens to her until she reaches her boiling point, and by then,
well, she’ll admit that there’s no stopping Mr. Fist To The Face.
Now her years of hard work as a speech therapist are about to go down
the drain unless she can find some way to salvage her career. So when her Aunt Elise calls to say that she
has a job for her, it’s not like she can say no, even if the job is up in the
wilds of Vermont.
Between stuffed moose, sloppy dogs and sexy men, Vermont proves to be a
lot more interesting than she expected.
But when she uncovers a scheme that would put her new employers’
livelihood in jeopardy, more than just hydrangea bushes are about to get
squashed.
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to
write and why?
Traci: So
many favorites! I think the scene
towards the end with the she-cult, or maybe the scene with the gun-happy
fashionista. Both were incredibly fun to
write. (My dog prefers the scene with
the hero’s dog, but she’s completely biased).
Is there a genre you haven’t written but would
love to?
Traci: I
have not yet written a true cozy mystery, and I think I would enjoy it!
What’s next for you?
Traci:
Well, this interview wore me out, so I think a margarita is in
order. After that, I’m writing Betty’s
book. I’m having so much fun with this
series and the Anderson girls!
I hope you enjoy the reads and thank you so much
for having me on your site!
Love and Margaritas,
-Traci
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