A Sour Note (A Music Box Mystery)
by Jill Piscitello
About A Sour Note
A Sour Note (A Music Box Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Hampton Beach, NH
Wild Rose Press (June 26, 2023)
Paperback : 250 pages
ISBN-10 : 1509249176
ISBN-13 : 978-1509249176
Kindle ASIN : B0C2ZH3XL2
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 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?
GUEST POST
What’s in a Name?
By: Jill Piscitello
What’s in a name? For this author, quite a bit. First, I make a painstaking effort to ensure I’ve never personally known any human with a name I’d like to use. I don’t base my characters on real people and aim to avoid such confusion. So how do I choose from the long and ever-growing list? Sometimes, when I hear a name, it immediately strikes as one I’d like to use for a character. But most often, the names that appear in my books are attached to a fond memory. For example, my friend grew up on Reynold’s Avenue. Reynold’s pops up in Homemakers’ Christmas as a catering business. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a favorite childhood movie and led to the stepmother, Clarice, in Tinsel and Tea Cakes. I also paid homage to The Facts of Life’s Edna Garrett with Daphne Garrett, an employee at The Music Box.
Every once in a while, I’m forced to resort to countless websites offering names according to themes, cities, meanings, and years of popularity. But this search requires time far better spent writing. Without an existing attachment to the sound, meaning, or internal pull toward the name, I need to build and ingrain a connection before proceeding with the storyline.
There are unofficial rules to choosing a name. They should not look or sound similar to any other in the book, be easy to pronounce, fit a specific personality, and meet genre expectations. But I believe stepping outside the confines of a rule box is okay. I remember loving the name Aisling in Maeve Binchy’s Light a Penny Candle, but I had zero idea of the pronunciation. The word was lovely in print, and I needed no other reason to adore it. The name has stuck with me for 30+ years. I now know the correct pronunciation and will likely use it for a character that may or may not be Irish.
Naming fictional towns and business establishments such as restaurants, pose their own challenges. To date, I try to have fun with the process. One example is Dog Eared, the fictional used bookstore in Hampton, NH. For years, one of my first stops in Hampton was The Book Outlet. My daughter and I could get lost in there for hours. A Sour Note wasn’t complete without reference to this favorite diversion, and I wanted the fictional name to radiate the same joy we felt flipping through the many dog-eared pages of used books. The outlet has since closed, and we’re always searching for a new spot.
What makes a name special for most people? Often, a connection to family members is important. But a name can also relate to one’s culture or personal experience. Sometimes the goal is to convey meaning. But that grows tricky when multiple sources share different meanings for the same name. Depending on which website I visit, Jill might mean “youthful”, “child of the gods”, “girl”, and “sweetheart”. Given that I just stepped into the last year of my 40s, I’ll go with “youthful”.
When done well, naming a character has lasting, iconic, implications. Some authors craft such vivid, 3D, larger than life characters, their first and/or last names take on a life and definition of their own. Scrooge is synonymous with greed. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t be a Scrooge”. Sherlock is often used to imply inept detective work, such as the inability to locate something in a drawer or coming to an obvious conclusion. “No kidding, Sherlock” is one common phrase. Wonka resulted in a line of chocolate products. Was Hannibal chosen because it rhymes with cannibal? Lolita now describes a young woman too alluring for her age. We’re unlikely to see anyone name their child Dracula or Frankenstein any time soon. Mr. Darcy pops up in more versions of books and movies than I dare to count. Holly Golightly is every bit as singsong as a name should be for such an enchanting character. For an author to create another Katniss, Hermione, or Gatsby, they’d likely appear more than presumptuous. I dared to name one heroine Scarlett, but mainstream popularity allowed me to do so.
Sometimes, authors write manuscripts around a moniker that catches their fancy. One of my works in progress demands to be finished if for no other reason than I love the name of my fictional town in Maine. Stay tuned.
Pseudonyms are another piece of the name game. When my first book was contracted, I struggled with whether or not to use my real name. Piscitello isn’t easy to spell or pronounce. Who would remember me? Did the name even fit my sweet, holiday romance genre? I knew a cozy mystery was in my future. Would something short and sweet be better? As previously noted, I prefer a personal connection and spent a good amount of time playing with names of grandmothers and great-grandmothers. My maiden name was taken by another author, so that option was kicked to the curb. I shared the struggle and a few viable, flowery options with my publisher who suggested I stick with my real name because it was, in fact, memorable. I’m still not sure if I made the correct decision, but here’s to no regrets.
About Jill Piscitello
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.
Author Links
Website: https://jillpiscitello.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillpiscitelloauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Piscj18
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillpiscitellobooks/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21978074.Jill_Piscitello
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jill-piscitello?list=author_books
Purchase Links
Amazon Barnes and Noble Apple Google Kobo BooksAMillion Walmart Bookshop.org
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