Guest Author: Lori Avocato

Thanks so much for inviting me to blog here! Let me tell you a bit about myself and how my romantic mystery series came to be. I’m Polish. Okay, American but of Polish decent. I’m proud of my heritage, have witnessed many strong, independent, successful Polish women and one day said to my cousin Barbara, “I’m going to write a Polish heroine.” Barbara immediately yelled, “Yes! And make sure that she is smart, sexy and thin!”

Thus my character, Pauline Sokol, was born.

Smart—thirteen years of nursing.

Sexy—a single thirty-something with great legs!

Thin—size four. Don’t even go there.

When I was growing up, my extended family lived within walking distance and every holiday was celebrated at the same aunt’s house so we never had to think of where we would be going. Maybe they did it that way cause we are Polish and they thought we’d get too confused!

With the past engrained in me, I set out to write my humorous mystery series—a no-brainer with my Polish heroine fashioned after my Babci (grandmother)—the real Pauline Sokol, who lived to be ninety-two years old and died on her birthday—and the first book of my series came out on her birthday. (Insert spooky music here)

With a kick-ass grandmother like Pauline Sokol (Sorry for the bad language, Babci!) I had very little trouble giving fictional “birth” to Pauline in the first book, A DOSE OF MURDER.

Fictional Pauline has the smarts and common sense that it takes to investigate fraud and the medical knowledge that got her frequent assignments from Worker’s Comp fraud, to medical insurance fraud on a cruise ship, to getting high jacked into a mental health facility by the hunk, Jagger?

An, Jagger. He’s another blog.

There’s an ensemble cast of characters from her mother, Stella, who worries that Pauline is still single and should go back to nursing, to her father, Michael, who’s retired but spends all day reading the newspaper, to transvestite Goldie, who dresses better than a runway model and has a heart of gold.

Pauline’s family’s home, circa 1950, remains unchanged and homey although she needs occasional sniffs of pine-scented Renuzit, her mother’s favorite, to calm her worries. No one but an ethnic mother like Stella would replace Pauline’s briefs with thongs—“because, after all, Pauline’s still single.”

I do a daily blog of humor so pop on over if you need a daily chuckle.

www.loriavocato.com/blog

After serving in the Air Force as a registered nurse, Lori Avocato decided to switch careers and now writes a humorous mystery series for Avon Books. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, PASIC, NINC, The Author’s Guild and Sisters in Crime.

Her Pauline Sokol Mystery Series, in which a burned out nurse becomes a medical insurance fraud investigator, is a perfect medium for Lori’s quick wit and amusing, believable characters. Lori’s first book of the series, A DOSE OF MURDER, has made the best-selling suspense/thriller list on Amazon and placed second in the Reviewers International Organizations award of excellent for debut novel. You can visit Lori’s website at: www.loriavocato.com where you can drop her a note and read excerpts of the hysterical series.

Lori Avocato’s side-splitting novels featuring spunky heroine Pauline Sokol have been called “delightful” by Publisher’s Weekly and her experience as a former Air Force nurse allows Avocato to infuse her fast-paced plots with authentic medical details.

“… an outstanding mix of humor, family relationships, unusual characters and realistic detecting from the viewpoint of a novice.”

– Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel