Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The MATCHPOINT Playlist: Guest blog and Giveaway with Elise Sax




               A lot of writers listen to music while they write. Music helps set the mood for a scene, which allows a writer to transport herself and write the best she can.

               Writer friends of mine have contacted me when they stumble on the best music for their books, the magical song that gets their fingers dancing on their keyboards and gets their books going.

               As you can imagine, writing a book is hard work, and sometimes the words don’t want to come. Music helps make it happen, but it has to be the right music. You don’t want to listen to Nicki Minaj while you’re writing a sad death scene. You don’t want Celine Dion when you’re writing an action scene.

               Writing MATCHPOINT had its own playlist, but mostly, music was not involved. Most of MATCHPOINT is comedy, and comedy has its own rhythm. When I listen to music, it alters the dialogue, throwing off the rhythm of the banter, and rhythm and pacing are very important when trying to be funny.

               So, during much of my writing, I have the television on in the background. The sound of people speaking, helps me enormously stay on rhythm, and keeps my fingers moving. So, here’s my MATCHPOINT playlist, some spoken, some sung.


Comedy scenes:
Gilmore Girls (Perfect pacing and rhythm for my writing. I wish they made more seasons!)
Big Bang Theory (I love this show. So funny and uplifiting.)

Scary scenes: (there are a couple really scary scenes in MATCHPOINT, which I wrote late at night in my dark office. Scared the pants off of me, and this music really helped.

Dark Knight soundtrack
Lord of the Rings soundtrack
Braveheart soundtrack
Gladiator soundtrack

Love scenes: (Yes, there some in the book!)

Pride and Prejudice soundtrack
Diana Krall (The Very Best of Diana Krall)
Melody Gardot (My One and Only Thrill)






Matchpoint
The Matchmaker Series, Book Two
Elise Sax

Genre: Comedic romantic mystery

Publisher: Ballantine (Random House)
Paperback Pages: 288

ISBN: 978-0-345-53224-4

Book Description:

Lovably troublesome Gladie Burger runs into sizzling danger and a fiery love triangle in the second installment of Elise Sax’s hilarious and sexy Matchmaker romance series.

“Elise Sax will make you laugh. Her larger-than-life characters jump off the page and make crazy seem like a fun place to hang out.”—New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig

Since joining the family matchmaking business run by her eccentric Grandma Zelda, Gladie is always looking for love. But when an unbearable toothache knocks her out of commission and into the dentist’s chair, she prays only for relief. No such luck. Emerging from an anesthetic haze, Gladie awakes to find that not only is her tooth still throbbing, but her dentist is dead—and the lead suspect in the murder, office receptionist Belinda, just so happens to be Gladie’s first real client. Now it’s up to Gladie to find Belinda a man and keep her from being locked up behind bars.

As if that weren’t enough distraction, two gorgeous men are vying for Gladie’s attention: Spencer, the playboy chief of police, and Holden, Gladie’s secretive, gorgeously muscled neighbor. Still, Gladie’s not complaining about having a helping hand or two when the case leads her to a dangerously bizarre cult. She may have met her match—and if she’s not careful, it could be her last.


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An Affair to Dismember
The Matchmaker Series, Book One
Elise Sax

Genre: Comedic romantic mystery

Publisher: Ballantine (Random House)

ISBN: 978-0345532220

Number of pages: 320
Word Count: About 80,000




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Book Description:

Certain to appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie, and Katie MacAlister, Elise Sax’s hilarious series debut introduces matchmaker-in-training Gladie Burger, who stumbles into a dangerous quagmire of murder and red-hot romance.

Three months has been Gladie Burger’s limit when it comes to staying in one place. That’s why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her eccentric Grandma Zelda recruits her to the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What’s more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has “the gift.” But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy.

When Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor’s death was murder. It’s not too long before she’s in way over her head—with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she’s unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued—either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?

Praise for An Affair to Dismember

“Elise Sax’s new Matchmaker series is off to a rousing start! . . . Sax gives the comic mystery genre a new spin. . . . A fun read sure to entertain.”—RT Book Reviews

“Fans of laugh-out-loud romantic suspense will enjoy this new author as she joins the ranks of Janet Evanovich, Katie MacAllister, and Jennifer Crusie.”—Booklist

“Elise Sax will win your heart.”—New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis

“In the tradition of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, Elise Sax’s new novel is a funny, sexy ride.”—Valerie Frankel, author of Four of a Kind

“What a fun book! It will leave readers begging for more.”—Kim Gruenenfelder, author of There’s Cake in My Future



 About the Author:

Elise Sax worked as a journalist for fifteen years, mostly in Paris, France. She took a detour from journalism and became a private investigator before trying her hand at writing fiction. She lives in Southern California with her two sons. An Affair to Dismember, the first in the Matchmaker mystery series, is her first novel.



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