An Exclusive Interview with Sharon Dunn! (AND A GIVEAWAY!!!)

1) Ginger and the Bargain Hunters Network are always looking for sales and clipping coupons. Are you a bargain hunter, and how well do you hunt?

I am a senior Bargain Hunter and I was taught by one of the best, my mom. My mom never worked outside the home and she raised six kids on my dad’s salary as a phosphate miner. To me it is no fun to pay full price for something, I like the thrill of the hunt.



2) Where did the idea for this series begin?

The Bargain Hunters mysteries combines a two of my favorite things, a fun, follow the clues mystery and women bonded together by the need to find a good deal. That was sort of where the concept came from and then I had this picture in my head for the prologue in book one Death of a Garage Sale Newbie where one of the bargain hunters leaves a cryptic and frantic message on Ginger’s answering machine and the cat is the only one who hears it.

3) We have a wide variety of personalities and backgrounds in this fun group of women. Do any of them fit your personality?

I think I identify with are Ginger in terms of how she makes discoveries in her marriage even as an empty nester. My hubby and I are not empty nester, but we have been through hard seasons in the last 20 years of marriage and there have been times when I fell in love with him all over again. I identify with the character of Suzanne as well because she is a mom. Her kids are younger than mine, but I remember going to garage sales on Saturdays and looking for clothes and toys and books for my kids just like Suzanne does.

4) When can we look forward to more from Ginger and company?

There is a third book in the works after Death of a Six Foot Teddy Bear that should come out late 2008 or early 2009. The working title is Death at Discount Prices. Ginger and the girls head down to a shopping channel called the Discount and Value Network where Ginger is slated to be a guest. A snow storm traps the women in the huge shopping network complex along with the suspects and the killer.

5) Tell me a little about your writing process, such as the best location for you to write, what inspires you...things like that.

When I first got my laptop, I thought that meant I would stay in bed and write in my pajamas, but I just ended up falling asleep. If I went to a coffee shop I would become too easily distracted. I have found that the routine that makes me productive is to wash my face, brush my teeth and put comfortable work clothes and then I go to work at my desk. I have to treat the whole thing like a job where I am punching in and punching out or I just get lazy. So I make a deal with myself to write for two or three hours like it was shift at work. I take short breaks to make a phone call or throw in a load of laundry or grab a cup of coffee. But mentally, I have to act like I am at a job. I usually listen to talk radio or movie sound tracks while I write. The silence is hard to take sometimes.

6) What book(s) are you currently reading?

I usually have two or three books going at once. In non-fiction I am reading C. S. Lewis Problem of Pain. For fiction I am reading Dee Henderson’s The Guardian. I’ve got a couple of Lisa Samson’s on deck as wekk. Also, I listen to a book on tape when I take my bath at night and sometimes when I cook. Right now, I have fallen in love with Anne Tyler and am listening to Breathing Lessons.


7) Any music on your iPod (or stereo) right now?

Okay, I must confess, I am the only person in America who doesn’t own an iPod and has never seen the movie Titantic (the boat sinks, I know how it ends). I am so not with it when it comes to technology and being trendy. I like cassette tapes. I have mostly movie soundtracks on my computer for when I write, The Mission, Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Carribean, and The Princess Bride. I also have some Celtic Worship music and John Michael Talbot for when I am writing quieter scenes.

8) What other projects do you have in the works that you can share with us?

The next series is still in the early stages, but it will have some the same elements as the Ruby Taylor mysteries and the Bargain Hunters series: lots of humor, a strong female cast and of course a mystery.

So, there you have it! Now, wanna win a copy? Leave me a comment, maybe with the best bargain you've ever found, or best place to bargain shop...and I'll be drawing a winner or two on February 29th (which seems to be the day to win around here these days:-)

Or, if you just can't wait, click here to purchase a copy for yourself!
Happy Reading!

Deena