Your Next Favorite Author–Jill Piscitello!

When murder provides a welcome distraction…

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up in a dumpster behind her mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy, casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic, two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box— the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

Jill Piscitello is a teacher, author, and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand. 

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes. 

Avis: Welcome Jill Piscitello to Your Next Favorite Author! Readers will love your new release, A Sour Note. Very clever title by the way! I know readers can’t wait to find out more about you and your writing life, so let’s begin! 

Our first question is one that many new writers wonder about and hope to avoid! 

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Jill: Always ask a reliable friend or family member to read your manuscript before sending it out to potential literary agents and publishers. After proofreading multiple times, much of your book is memorized. Major and minor errors become easy to overlook because your brain automatically corrects the mistakes while you’re reading. Someone with fresh eyes (preferably an avid reader with decent spelling and grammar skills) will pick up a slew of items that require editing.

Avis: That is so true! I’ve heard that it’s impossible to edit and proofread one’s own work because we read over the mistakes. Having a good editor on your team is so important! Thanks for your great response. 

How about something more personal?

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Jill: Technology of any kind is my biggest distraction. I accomplish far more work if my phone is on mute in another room. Going down a winding rabbit hole of research is also one of the fastest ways to reduce my word count for the day. And last, but certainly not least, attempting a new social media post such as a book trailer or trying to learn a fancy new feature on my website is a huge drain on time. Sometimes these activities are worthwhile, but finding a balance is necessary and a work in progress.

Avis: Ditto! Technology helps make our lives easier, but it also draws us into interesting searches about butterfly migration that has nothing to do with our story! I like your idea of muting the phone. But then there is also the black hole of marketing, which takes up so much time, but is so necessary! What are busy authors to do? 

Here’s one of my favorite questions:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Jill: When publishing my first novel, I thought long and hard about using a pseudonym. Romance and cozy mystery authors often have short and sweet names. Piscitello requires a bit more work to spell and pronounce. My editor suggested sticking with my own name because it didn’t look like everyone else’s.

Avis: That’s interesting advice, and it makes a lot of sense. It is your work after all, and so satisfying to see your name on the cover! 

Here’s our last question:

If you could tell your younger writing-self anything, what would it be?

Jill: Don’t wait so long, and don’t listen to people who say something can’t be done.

Avis: Great advice, and something I’ve heard so often at conferences and writing workshops! Don’t listen to the nay-sayers! I love Joseph Campbell’s famous quote, “If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.” This is so true for authors. 😊

Thank you so much for joining us today on YNFA, Jill! I look forward to reading more books from you, and I know readers will love The Sour Note!

Please scroll down for my review of Jill Piscitello’s A Sour Note, an uplifting cozy mystery!

For more information on Jill and to purchase her books, see her links below!

social media 

Twitter  ~ Facebook ~  Instagram  ~ Amazon ~ GoodReads ~ BookBub

Purchase links:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ ITunes ~ Google Books ~ Walmart ~ BooksAMillion ~ Indie Bound  ~ Kobo

author web site: 

Jill Piscitello’s Website

Review by Avis M. Adams

In Jill Piscitello’s latest cozy mystery novel, A Sour Note, we meet Maeve Cleary, a hero still in shock from the public reveal of her fiancé, Greyson Walker’s, infidelity with film siren Shannon Plum. Piscitello masterfully creates Maeve and a huge cast of realistic characters that leap off the page and into our imaginations as murder plays out on the quaint and cozy streets of Hampton Beach. 

When Maeve’s life implodes, she moves back home to lick her wounds. But how can she show her face in public again with her humiliation splashed all over social media? When she finally decides to venture out, she lands in the middle of Trixie Bell’s murder, and her friends Paige and Seamus become the prime suspects. 

Maeve knows they are innocent, but how can she prove it when she’s been sworn to secrecy? The other problem is how to narrow the list of suspects because who didn’t want to kill Trixie? Maeve goes on a sleuthing mission that soon puts her own life in danger, as she clashes with the local detective, Spencer Taylor, for messing with his crime scenes and tampering with witnesses. 

Piscitello plots a murder that only Maeve can solve, but Maeve is distracted by the man she loved before Greyson, Finn, her high school sweetheart. Add to the mix the good detective, and we have instant rivals in what Maeve doesn’t want—or does she? All Maeve knows is another relationship so soon on the heels of her humiliating and public breakup with Greyson is the last thing she wants to think about right now. Her focus is on clearing the good name of her friends who won’t come forward with the truth because of their own secret.

So, who killed Trixie Bell? Piscitello keeps us turning pages, as she unfolds a crime scene filled with clues and a cast of suspects that keeps Maeve searching and interviewing until she ends up in the hospital. But nothing will stop Maeve from finding the truth. Piscitello’s A Sour Note will satisfy murder/mystery, romance, and cozy mystery readers alike, along with anyone who loves a great read. This is book 1 in the Music Box Mystery series, so keep your eye out for more from Jill Piscitello! Five stars!