Barrie Summy

I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS

Today I'm excited to be hosting my good friend, Barrie Summy, who's fourth book, I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS, the final book in her Sherry Holmes Baldwin mysteries series releases today.

In true free-spirit form, Barrie decided to only answer one of the many questions I asked her. (A true woman of mystery.) But at least it was the "Gotta Answer!" question. :) And she did an uber-fabulous job of answering, too.

Please welcome, Barrie Summy:



Barrie Summy grew up in Canada on a steady diet of books and tobogganing. She worked as a lifeguard, a cashier and a speech therapist before figuring out she really did want to be a writer. Now, she lives in San Diego with her husband, their four children, a poodle named Dorothy, two veiled chameleons and an incubator full of chameleon eggs.

GOTTA ASK -- GOTTA ANSWER


MAUREEN:  Sherry is such a fabulous amateur sleuth. Did you always plan to write mysteries for kids? What was your inspiration for this series?

BARRIE:

Well, it all goes back to my childhood! Seriously.

I grew up in a very nice family consisting of a mother, a father and three daughters.

However, it must be said that my very nice parents had some very odd rules. One of the oddest rules was the meat-&-potates-and-dessert-book rule. It went like this: You could read as many meat-&-potatoes books in a row as you wanted, but to read a dessert book, you had to first read at least one meat-&-potatoes book. Oh dear. The first daughter (that was me) was hugely addicted to Nancy Drew mysteries. And Nancy Drew mysteries were dessert books, which meant I never got to read two Nancy Drews in a row. I vowed to one of my sisters that I would grow up and write a Nancy Drew mystery, probably two. In a row.

Many, many, many years later, I wrote NANCY DREW AND THE MYSTERY AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK. Luckily, this book was rejected. I re-wrote it as I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES with a brand-new detective: 13 year old Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin who wants more mall time, less homework and a certain eighth-grade boy.

Sherry's fourth mystery, I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS, comes out on May 10! This book was uberfun to write because I went to Hollywood THREE TIMES for research. And I used a bunch of real places in the book. And I used a bunch of real names of friends, my kids' friends, my nephews and nieces.



In I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS, Sherry wins a trip to Hollywood with her BFF Junie, and her dad. While there, Sherry gets involved in a new case. And she ends up going undercover to find out who's breaking into celebrity homes.

Here I am, working uberhard in Hollywood, matching my handprint against Marilyn Monroe's.


Sherry, her dad and Junie stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt. In real life, this hotel owns a mirror that is visited by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe!

Sherry and Junie hang out at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Sherry and her dad lunch at the famous Pink's Hot Dogs.

Sherry and Junie check out the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

MAUREEN:  Wow! That was some answer, and some inspiration for the series. No wonder they are so fabulous. :)

BARRIE ASKS:

I got a Kindle for Mother's Day! And I'd love to download a slew of books. What do you recommend?

GIVEAWAY!!

Barrie will give away two prizes, one each for each of two lucky commenters: a signed hardback of I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS and I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS t-shirt. **

** Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH BARRIE HERE:

my blog/website: www.barriesummy.com
the book trailer on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak_PealXuCo
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Barrie.Cox.Summy