Author LynDee Walker joins us for Drinks With Reads to show us how to pair her latest book in the Headlines & High Heels mystery series with a Midori Sour.
“How much of Nichelle is you?”
It’s the question I hear most often from readers and in interviews, understandable because like the heroine in my Headlines in High Heels mystery series, I was a reporter in my pre-mom (former) life.
While she has several of my personality quirks and shares my love of beautiful shoes, Nichelle is not me. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I think she originated as a sort of “what if” fantasy—but over the course of five books, she’s become her own person. Not in a “The Dark Half” creepshow sort of way, mind you, but each novel gives her more depth, more life, more of herself.
In the newest book, Cover Shot, things are complicated in and out of the newsroom. Nichelle gets sucked into a story that has her running into an active shooter hostage situation, breaking and entering, and hacking into the cloud, all in pursuit of a secret that could change the world. Then there’s her hotter-than-ghost-peppers boyfriend (who has ties to organized crime), a precious little chihuahua that needs saving, the publisher who’s trying to force her beloved editor into retirement, and the ever-present race against the internet and TV to get the story first. But Nichelle also has to get it right—because getting this one wrong could cost her the person she loves most.
While I got myself into a few hairy situations back in my reporting days (I even came close to going to jail, but that’s a story for another day), I couldn’t hold a candle to Nichelle’s courage. And I couldn’t walk three steps in her Louboutins without falling on my face, either.
We do share a favorite cocktail, though. Our beloved Midori Sour is the perfect drink to accompany Cover Shot (or any of the earlier books in the series—it begins with Agatha Award-nominated Front Page Fatality), because it’s fun and sweet, with a kick you don’t see coming.
LynDee & Nichelle's Midori Sour
1 oz Midori melon liqueur
1 oz sour mix
2 oz Ginger Ale (diet works great and cuts the calories in half!)
2 cherries
Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker, give three gentle swirls (so you don’t shake all the carbonation out of the soda) and pour over ice. Garnish with cherries. Cheers!
LynDee Walker is the author of the national bestselling Headlines in High Heels mystery series, beginning with the Agatha Award-nominated Front Page Fatality (2013). The newest book in the series, Cover Shot, was published on November 10, 2015. Before she started writing mysteries, LynDee was an award-winning journalist. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the U.S. She adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is either playing with her children, working on her next novel, or admiring beautiful shoes she can't wear. Visit her at lyndeewalker.com and connect with her on Facebook (facebook.com/lyndeewalkerbooks) and on Twitter (@LynDeeWalker).
Thanks so much for having me today, Kerry! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Lyndee! Love the drink, can't wait to read the book.
DeleteI hope you enjoy it, Deborah! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! And the drink looks good, too...though not diet! If you're going to indulge in a good book and a good drink, go for it properly, I say! :)
ReplyDelete