I am so happy to be taking part in the blog tour for a new and very exciting book Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie by a very talented author Tyler Collins. This blog tour was wonderfully put together by Jina Bazzar who made sure everything was on track and none of the blog tour articles you see on this site or all the other participating sites could have happened without her hard work. Make sure if you get time to check out all the wonderful posts for the blog tour. Links to participating blogs can be found on the above schedule list. đ
So without further ado, I present to you all Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie by Tyler Collins …
Book blurb:
The aspiring detectives of the Triple Threat Investigation Agency take on their first official paying assignment: discover the secret of an elderly millionaireâs young wife.
It seems straightforward enoughâuntil the wife is found dead in the sapphire Hawaiian oceanside. As Jill (JJ), Rey and Linda strive to uncover the killer amid a cast of curious, unconventional characters, they stumble across several secrets and fall over a few bodies.
Piecing together the puzzle detours the trioâto the domains of drug pushers, informants, and gangs. Serious game players, they play for keeps. Does the trio possess enough shrewdness and savvy to beat the odds and win the game?
Interview With The Author
What is your earliest writing memory?
As an only child, my powers of invention served to entertain a lot, be it through drawing or painting or writing. An avid Nancy Drew reader, imagination prompted me â probably around the age of eight or nine â to pen a few short mysteries.
What was the inspiration for Can You Hula like Hilo Hattie?
My love of Hawaii and the dream is to one day live there. In the meanwhile, I thought Iâd reside there vicariously through the trio from the Triple Threat Investigation Agency. Hilo Hattieâs is a popular tourist shopping venue . . . but Hilo Hattie was also a real person. A Native Hawaiian, she was a talented singer, hula dancer, actress, and comedian. It felt right to incorporate an icon into the title.
Is there any fellow mystery writers who influence your work or who you like to read in your spare time?
With a full-time job and Mom-care, itâs tough to find time to do a lot of reading (something Iâve always very much enjoyed). Iâm a fan of Kellerman and Evanovichâthe former for the gritty realism and the latter for the hysterical buffooneryâand try to read them as time allows. Feeling nostalgic, I recently bought some classic Nancy Drew books and enjoy a chapter or two a day.
This particular book is from the Triple Threat Mystery series. In what way, without giving too much away, can readers expect to see a progression from book to book in the lives of the characters and their crime solving skills?
A great question. JJ, Rey and Linda will hone P.I. skills with each case solved. Because theyâll slowly but surely build a solid reputation, theyâll expand the agency to one or two other islands. The trio will have off-again on-again partners. One will marry. One will suffer a loss. And another will face a difficult, faith-challenging ordeal.
Do you have a favourite character from the series?
There are two. I love Rey. Sheâs melodramatic and impetuous . . . a real diva. Though headstrong and self-centered, she has a good, kind heart (which sheâd prefer no one notice, much less acknowledge). I love Cash, too. I suppose heâs the male version of Rey. Overconfident and arrogant, and often annoying, heâs the proverbial âbad boyâ that many of us are drawn to.
Do you have any advice for how readers should go about reading the series? Is each book a standalone or better read in the order they were published?
The Connecticut Corpse Caper, the first, was to be a standalone, but the gals decided to take their amateur [inadvertently acquired] sleuthing skills and go professional. While it lays the foundation for the stories that follow, there is enough history in each book re previous cases/events that someone wouldnât necessarily have to read them in sequence.
Do you have any favourite lines from book 2?
Yes. When JJ impulsively throws a Taser and catches Cash in the head. Itâs one of my favorites.
She supported his head and got him to drink a third of the glass. âDo you deal locally or on the Mainland, as well? Do you hobnob with guys who have the status of the once-super-rich-and-successful âFreewayâ Rick Ross and Amado âLord of the Skiesâ Fuentes?â
He eyed her as if she were as demented as Norman Batesâ mother.
âOh, sorry. You probably donât want to share your criminal life with us. Thatâs okay.â Linda smiled and he closed his eyes in a give-me-strength cast. âLetâs get you upright.â She assisted him into a more vertical position.
He noticed her dressing. âDid she bean you, too?â
Did you experience any writer’s block in writing the book or any of the three books?
Writerâs block not so much. I do, however, have severely stressful times and those serve to âblockâ my writing.
Has your family and friends read the series? What did they think of it?Â
The only family I have is my elderly mother, and sheâs never read it. While I will share my writing with my blogging and writing communities, I wonât talk about my writing with those who I work with or are close to me (call it a quirk).
What can we expect next from your writing career?
Iâm working on the fifth in the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series (âHA-HA-HA-HAâ) and am tossing around an idea for a weekly installment book to place on Wattpad. Given time constraints, I canât do half as much as Iâd love to, so for now, Iâm taking each day as it comes. Iâd like to polish my blog and offer more than two weekly posts. Editing and proofing are services Iâd like to provide at some time, as well.
Where can readers find out more about your work?Â
Please feel free to visit my WordPress blog A Writerâs Grab-Bag at https://thewritersgrabbag.com. Readers can also check out Odd Woman Out on Wattpad (a weekly-installment fiction book thatâs almost completed). Thereâs Smashwords and a Facebook page dedicated to the Triple Threat Investigation Agency (which has daily posts about the galsâ adventures).
Thank you so much Tyler for being a guest on here on Culture Vulture Express! đ
To purchase Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie by Tyler Collins go to:
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Excerpt:
Carmie was the main focus of the mission, so I dug around and discovered her name at birth had been Carpella. Sheâd been born in Tenafly New Jersey to Joseph Leone Carpella, the owner of a popular local pizza shop on Washington Street, and Lina Spera, a former aesthetician. Gino, Carmieâs fraternal twin brother, was currently a prominent businessman in New York. At a young age, heâd recognized there was money to be made in food that drew townspeople for blocks. A well-conceived business plan, leg power, and lots of charm resulted in his papaâs delicious pizzas becoming available beyond a twenty-block radius.  In record time, Papa Jo Leoneâs product moved beyond the borders of the borough, across the state, and then the nation.
At twenty-five Gino made his first million. Papa and Mama Carpella remained in Tenafly, but instead of living over the pizza parlor, resided in a lovely six-bedroom house with enough garden space to grow fifty bushels of Roma tomatoes.
While sister was slim, brother was heavy, not from fat, but muscle. In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Gino had talked about an obsession with staying fit (evidently, it ran in the twinsâ veins), but his went beyond the physical. In addition to daily one-hour workouts at 5:00 a.m., he hit the books frequently to engage the gray matter. Heâd even made it an objective to take two university courses every year.
As I drove to Kalihi, I considered all the information gleaned so far. It was edifying, but pretty rudimentary. Would it prove worthwhile and time efficient to dig deeper? We had to prove Carmie was having an affair at the very least, but discovering she was into something illicit or that she had something to hold over her husband would be best. Did the past matter? Probably not, other than maybe demonstrating sheâd been a flirt or skank. That would go to character and integrity and all that. But if sheâd been a flirt or skank, wouldnât William have discovered that? Surely heâd have learned all he could about Carmelita Sangita Carpella before heâd married her.
And why marry someone of such a common background? Was it true love? Or a need to prove virility and/or have a trophywife? Williamâs first wife, Lucy, had been born to an aristocratic English family. Fox hunts, high teas and Harrods had been part of the Howellâs routineâuntil sheâd passed at the age of thirty, after five years of marriage. A misadventure with a bunch of boisterous beagles during a fox hunt in Kent had cut her privileged life very short. Like Carmie, she was slim and approximately 5â4â tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Her nose, set between two incredibly high cheekbones, was quite pronounced. Some might have called it Patrician if theyâd been feeling kind, while others who were more candid might have called it for what it was: a Gonzo (as in Muppet) proboscis. Snout, uh, nose aside, Lucyâs face held a noble and haughty air.
William remained single for four years and then met Lowella, the daughter of a Greek olive tycoon. A whirlwind romance ensued. They were married not quite eight months when daughter Sophia Bella was born. Lowella passed after five years of marriage when a tractor-trailer totaled her and a Jaguar in oatmeal-thick fog along Californiaâs SR 1. Poor William. He wasnât particularly lucky in the sustainable marriage-love department.
I pulled into the Kalihi district and found a small parking lot in a tiny strip mall. Before stepping from the car, I peered into the rearview mirror. The peacock-blue cotton sun hat looked okay, but dark circles under the eyes didnât. I should have slapped on make-up, or at the very least concealer and lipstick, but really, why should I care that I looked tired and edgy? The folks Iâd be asking about Xavier wouldnât.
I eyed a long, white clinic across the road. Two young people, one scarecrow skinny and one sea-lion blubbery, shuffled from the entrance, whispered excitedly and anxiously shambled onward. It was as good a place to start as any. Maybe Xavier had dropped in.
My career as P.I. had officially begun. Hopefully, in the process, I wouldnât blow itâor get âblownâ, as into bitty pieces. What did I know about druggies and dealers other than what Iâd heard at the stations Iâd worked at or viewed on the idiot box, as Great-Uncle Warren called television? My fatherâs uncle was the only relative I had ever known on that side of the family. Iâd never even met my dad. When Iâd been a baby, heâd taken a fatal roll down Mount Kilimanjaro during a botanical exploration (so the story went).
These folks had been babies once, too. Innocent, trusting infants with lives to live and dreams to make happen. . . . Or destroy. Sometimes we made wrong choices; sometimes others made them for us. And sometimes life simply wasnât fair.
A Second Interview with author Tyler Collins:
Q1. What drew you to cozy mysteries?
Iâve been reading them for many years but I grew up on Nancy Drew mysteries (which Iâve recently started reading again). Cozies have always been appealing because of quaint locations and settings, intriguing characters with often fun careers (cooks, bakers, archeologists), and non-graphic murder scenes. While I also enjoy âhard-boiledâ mysteries, thereâs something to be said for stories that truly allow you to escape everyday life/news.
Q2. Do you write in any other genres?
I dabble with womenâs fictionâa chapter from Odd Woman Out can be found weekly on Wattpad. Itâs nearing completion, though, and Iâm thinking the next âinstallmentâ book might be short stories about lessons learned.
Q3. What does the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series entail?
The Triple Threat Investigation Agency series is about three (still somewhat novice) private eyes living on Oahu. JJ, her cousin Rey, and Reyâs BFF Linda become embroiled in challenging if not crazy cases but, ultimately, they always catch their culprit without too many
Q4. Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
Iâm very fond of melodramatic, part-time actress Reynalda Fonne-Werde. Rey is feisty and lippy, and believes anything is doable. Sheâll confront a villain with teeth and claws bared, and has no qualms about doing a little B&E if it will net answers. Despite an army-tank approach and in-your-face attitude, she has a big heart.
Q5. Is there a specific inspiration for your series?
Nancy Drew, as mentioned. I read (devoured) her mysteries in my youth and wanted to be I now have that opportunityâby writing the TTIA series and following the antics, er, pursuits of my three aspiring sleuths.
Q6. What made you decide to e-publish your work?
Iâve always wanted to be a published writer. Publishing the traditional wayâor finding an agentâis very difficult, so I opted for e-publishing. No regrets. Iâve met an amazing group of like-minded writers/bloggers in my e-publishing travels.
Q7. If you could have a dinner party and invite three authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
My favorite authors would be invited: Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, Shakespeare!
Q8. Is there anything of note youâre currently reading?
With a full-time job, taking care of Mom, and trying to maintain a blog (never mind writing books), itâs extremely difficult to pick up a book. But I have managed to buy a few of the original Nancy Drew mysteries I used to read (was feeling nostalgic) and manage to read a chapter every day or so.
Q9. What about personal interests?
Writing, blogging, writing, blogging. <LOL>Â I also have a fascination for / love of Hawaii, am interested in spirituality, and am trying to develop as a [better] individual.
Q10. If you werenât a writer/ blogger, what would you be?
At this stage of my life, I canât imagine doing anything else. If I were a few years younger, however, I believe Iâd like to have done food styling or catering, or something in the culinary world. Itâs another creative realm; instead of words, you use food.
Q11. Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or might you start a new series?
Iâve just started working on âHA-HA-HA-HAâ, the fifth in the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series. There are plans for a sixth. Iâm quite fond of the Triple Threat trio, so Iâm/weâre not ready to move on yet . . . but Iâm tempted to write one of the books with Rey as the narrator.
Q12. What’s your favorite thing about being an author?
Itâs fun (and challenging) making characters and situations come alive. I love being with the characters as they learn and grow; in essence, they influence how I learn and grow.
Q13. Do you have a set writing routine?
I write as often as a full-time job and Mom-care allow. A dream come true would be to write and blog for several hours a day. Itâs all good, though; things still get done (it just takes a wee bit longer).
Q14. How do you pick the names and settings?Â
A name will pop into my head courtesy of a television program, a newspaper or magazine article, or even a product. If I have to âthinkâ of a name, nothing comes to mind; if I do something trifling, like dishes or dusting, an array of them pop into my head. As for settings, the Triple Threat Investigation Agency e-books (Caper aside) take place in Hawaii. I know Oahu well enough that neighborhoods and venues are easy to select and describe.
Q15. What do you like about your main characters?Â
The three gals from the Triple Threat Private Investigation AgencyâJJ, Rey, and Lindaâbicker and banter. They can be funny and quirky, and bitchy, and are [wonderfully] far from perfect.
Q16. How did publishing your first e-book change your process of writing?
It didnât really change my process, but it did offer me enough confidence to continue. Seeing an actual coverâa productâprovided self-assurance. But after the second and third e-books were published, I realized I had to get out there and start marketing and promoting myself. That in itself, however, is a full-time job. So Iâm not even close to where I want to be re my blog and e-books, but everything in its own sweet time. J
Q17. Whatâs your favorite novel and/or character of all time?
I still love To Kill a Mockingbird and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Theyâre books I read in school, fell in love with, and pick up again every few years. The characters and settings seemed so real back then, vibrant and tangible, as they still do today. When you can create such realism, you know youâre a stellar writer.
Q18. How social-media savvy are you?
<ROTFL> Oh, that was a real question? . . . OMG. Thereâs so much to learn and constantly stay on top of. Given time constraints and comfort levels, I stick with Facebook and Twitter. While I signed up for Instagram, I truly havenât a clue as to what to do with it (Iâm not a picture-taker, at least not right now, but photography is something Iâd like to eventually pursue).
Q19. Are there any common traps for budding writers?Â
Trying to be âperfectâ the first time out. Not doing due diligence when seeking services such as formatting or cover design, editing or promotion, or marketing. Not doing any form of self-promotion or marketing. Not using social media to its/your full advantage.  . . . Do as I say, not as I do.  <LOL>
Q20. Any advice for aspiring writers?Â
Believe in yourself. Always strive to better yourself and your product. If youâre serious about becoming a published writer, be it traditional or e-book, learn all that you can about the various components involved. Completing a book/e-book for publication is merely the first step.
Q21. The mystery genre, regardless of type, is your favorite. What about music?
These days Iâm into K-pop . . . totally.
Q22. What’s your favorite food?
Cheese. Fromage. Käse. Queso. Formaggio. Ser. ěšěŚ.
Q23. Whatâs one thing you never leave the house without?
My glasses. (Seeing the world as a blur has merit on occasion, but not being able to read is no fun.)
Q24. You live in Canada currently, but have been known to say (declare, promise, affirm) that one day youâll reside in Hawaii. Is this still true?
The first time I set foot on Hawaiian soil, I knew I had to live there. Yes, thereâs that teeny-weeny [annoying] issue about Canadians not being able to live there permanently without a green card, but Iâm maintaining faith/hope.
Q25. Name one thing youâre good at and one thing youâre bad at.
The good: scheduling and coordinating (Iâm great at organizing, if I do say so myself though, sometimes, I spend way too much time at it).
The bad: scheduling and coordinating (Iâm great at organizing, if I do say so myself though, sometimes, I spend too way much time at it.)
Q26. What do you like to do when you have free time?
Free time? Whatâs that? <LOL>
Q27. Whatâs your pet peeve?Â
Bad customer service / rude people / me-me-me folks. (The three fall into the same bucket.)
Q28. If you could be anything you wanted to be, what would that be?
One thing Iâve always desired: a great voice. While I love writing, it would be awesome to sing/perform (without sounding like Iâm choking on a handful of jellybeans).
Q29. What projects are you currently working on?Â
The fifth in the Triple Threat Private Investigation Agency series, titled âHA-HA-HA-HAâ. Iâm finishing Odd Woman Out, which can be found in weekly installments on Wattpad.
About the author:
Tyler Colins is a fiction writer and blogger, and a sometimes editor and proofreader (books, manuals, and film/television scripts). Sheâs also been known to create business plans, synopses and outlines, and film promotion documents.
Fact-checking and researching, organizing and coordinating are both skills and joys (she likes playing detective and developing structure).
Her fiction audience: lovers of female-sleuth mysteries. Her genres of preference: mysteries (needless to say), womenâs fiction, informative and âaffirmativeâ non-fiction.
She aims to provide readers with smiles and chuckles like the ever-talented Janet Evanovich and missed Lawrence Sanders, the âcozinessâ of Jessica Fletcher, and a few diversions and distractions as only long-time pros Jonathan Kellerman and Kathy Reichs can craft.
Book Trivia:
1- Hula is, according to Google: noun
a dance performed by Hawaiian women, characterized by six basic steps, undulating hips, and gestures symbolizing or imitating natural phenomena or historical or mythological subjects
2- Hilo Hattie, according to Wikipedia was: âHilo Hattie (born Clarissa Haili, October 28, 1901 â December 12, 1979) was a Hawaiian singer, hula dancer, actress and comedian of Native Hawaiian ancestry.â
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilo_Hattie
3- Sam, a homeless fellow in Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie?, was inspired by one of several the author met during her trip to Hawaii.
4- Xavier, the teenager with drug issues, was also inspired by that first trip. Anti-drug posters at that time were quite graphic, if not horrific, and certainly thought-provoking.
5- The author set Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie in Hawaii because itâs a place sheâs always wanted to live in; and because â in real life â the requirements to open a pi agency in Hawaii is less strict there than in the states.
Good luck with Can You Hula Like Hilo Hattie Tyler. Hope it sells many deserved copies! đ
The previous blog tour post was on The BookWorm Drinketh blog by Nicole Campbell and the next post in the blog tour will be tomorrow and can be found on Plot Monster by MD Walker. Be sure to check them out when you get the chance. đ
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