Maggie sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can get to know her better.

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What is your full name?
Maggie Ann Romano, although my cat keeps wanting me to ditch my last name and go back to Everett.

How old are you?
Twenty-three.

What is your profession?
I work for the Harmony Beach Herald as a journalist.

Do you have a significant other?
Does my cat count?

What is their name and profession?
His name is Pepper, and he is my confidante and sidekick.

Do you have any children?
No.

Do you have any siblings?
No.

Are your parents nearby?
I don’t know my father. I live with my mom in a big house with Pepper and my favorite high school English teacher. That’s not weird, is it?

Who is your best friend?
Pepper. But in terms of humans, it would be Serena. But don’t tell Owen. That would hurt his feelings.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
I never thought I would live with any animals. I never had one as a child or when I married Eddie. But now Pepper is my cat, and I am his person. He would hate to be called a pet.

What town do you live in?
Harmony Beach, New Jersey, a tourist town in the summer, a place where it feels like everyone knows everyone’s life story, a place where murders never used to occur until I returned.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I live in our family home.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
My bedroom. That’s where I can close the door and really have conversations with Pepper.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
I would say The Maggie from Jimmy’s Cheesesteak Shop. (Yes, he named a sandwich after me. He also named one after Pepper.) It’s provolone and spinach and mushrooms and grilled onions. I’m vegetarian. Then I would say a cinnamon doughnut from Crystal’s Café. She would be very hurt if I didn’t include her food here. That’s my current favorite sweet because when I returned to town, and I didn’t feel welcome, she handed me one of those doughnuts, and I felt loved once again.

Do you have any hobbies?
I love to sing. I sing all the time.

What music do you listen to?
All kinds of things, pop, rock, jazz, reggae, and TV theme songs.

What is your favorite color?
Black. It’s the color of Pepper’s fur.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Harmony Beach. It’s my hometown, but it’s often considered a vacation spot for others. I used to think I wanted to travel the world, but now I really love being here.

Are you a morning or night person?
Morning.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Walking around town with Pepper on my shoulders, mumbling words to him under my breath and singing songs.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Conversations with My Cat.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur. I work with Pepper.

What is a typical day in your life like?
Pepper is almost always with me. There’s lots of coffee and good food. I’m usually hanging out with Owen, who is the photographer for the Harmony Beach Herald. We attend town events for the paper and interview locals about their businesses or if they have an interesting story. There’s a woman in her seventies who hasn’t missed a bike ride on the boardwalk in the last twenty-five years. That was fun to talk to her. Then I write, and I can see my words in print, which feels magic to me, even though we’re just a dinky online publication. But we’re important to our town.

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Sandcastle Secrets, A Maggie and Pepper Mystery Book #2
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

A former lifeguard found belly-up at the beach. A reporter off to a rough start. Can she and her whiskered-BFF follow the footprints to the truth?

Maggie Romano is itching to put pen to paper. Tasked with covering the big opening event of the summer season, the anxious journalist takes a beachside walk to calm her nerves. But instead of being soothed, the jittery journalist is jolted when she and her feline sidekick stumble over a stranger’s body with a bullet hole in his back.

Shocked by her mother’s unexpected emotional reaction to the news, Maggie vows to protect the distraught woman and solve the case before it makes the front page. But as she digs deeply into the dead man’s past, she discovers tangled local connections going back decades that threaten to trigger a heartbreaking scandal…

Will her persistent prying lay old wounds to rest or open a can of worms?

Sandcastle Secrets is the poignant second book in the cozy Maggie and Pepper Mysteries series. If you like precocious pets, quaint communities, and watching characters grow, then you’ll love Wendy Ledger’s four-footed romp.

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About the author
Wendy Ledger lives In the California Gold Country with her husband and three cats. She is currently working on the third book of the Maggie and Pepper Mysteries.

All comments are welcomed.