JILL SHURE IS!: THE NEXT BIG THING: FIND OUT WHAT I'M WORKING ON NEXT!

My good friend Terry Ambrose has penned an excellent suspense novel, License To Lie. He was generous enough to tag me in an ongoing game of The Next Big Thing, where authors get to talk about their books and writing lives.

What is the title of your book?

A CLAUSE FOR MURDER

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My imagination tossed in with a few women who actually behaved like Courtney.

What genre does your book fall under?

Chick Lit Mystery, or a Cozy Mystery.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Kate Hudson would play Betsy Ross.

Rosie O'Donnell would play Arlene.

Angelina Jolie would play Courtney Farrow.

Johnny Depp would play Ken.

What is the two-sentence synopsis of your book?

When sexy heiress Courtney Farrow turns up burned to a crisp in a neighbor's garage, all fingers point to Betsy Ross, single mother, insurance agent, and leading victim of Courtney's mania to steal other women's men. Desperate to prove her innocence, Betsy struggles to find Courtney's real killer.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Published through Syntax Books.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Anything by writers: Janet Evanovitch and Heather Webber.

What inspired you to write this book?

Betsy Ross is like many working women who support themselves and raise children on their own. Betsy's love life is in turmoil, too, thanks to Ken, a fickle lover who refuses to commit. Enter Courtney Farrow, a destructive competitor who makes a play for everyone Betsy dates, especially Ken, which results in a major scene in the book, where a drunken Courtney physically attacks Betsy.

Then Courtney vanishes and is presumed dead, and Betsy becomes a prime suspect. This throws her life into chaos. But as sad and tormented as Betsy becomes, the situations she encounters are hilariously funny. The murder mystery is intense but so are the laughs. So even though Betsy has to deal with insurance clients, her rebellious daughter, and heartache, she also faces characters and situations that are very comical, during her quest to prove her innocence and find the real killer.