Hello! TINA KASHIAN here. I’m excited to be the first MLK author for our Spotlight Sunday. What is Spotlight Sunday? It’s a chance for each of us to talk a bit about ourselves, our writing journey, and our books. Since I’m relatively new to MLK, many may not know much about me. I’ll have an upcoming February release, MURDER IN THE MOUNTIAINS, that I’ll talk about below and offer a giveaway.
Pre-Order for only $0.99 here: https://bit.ly/3naP5W0
I write the Kebab Kitchen mysteries set at a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey Shore. The first book in the series is “Hummus and Homicide.” Lucy Berberian is a recovering Philadelphia lawyer who returns home to her family’s restaurant and promptly encounters the new health inspector, a former high school rival and bully. After the health inspector serves up a list of bogus heath violations, she eats at Kebab Kitchen’s famous hummus bar, then drops dead in the parking lot. Lucy, who served the woman her last meal, is a prime suspect.
This is a series from my own heart. I’m a first generation American and my Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years in south Jersey. I grew up in the business. My mother carried me around as a baby to greet customers. I worked as a tween rolling silverware in napkins, then as a teenager hostessing and waitressing. The tips paid for my prom gown. I have memories of local customers, chatty waitstaff and temperamental cooks in a hot kitchen. My mother was a talented cook and spoke five languages. Yes, five! I’d often come home from school to the delicious aromas of simmering grape leaves, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, and shish kebab. Lunch at school was hummus and pita instead of peanut butter and jelly at a time when hummus wasn’t as popular as it is now. It wasn’t always fun as a teenager to have an eccentric, ethnic family. But I’ve grown to value my own roots and my own colorful cast of family members. In contrast, my husband can almost trace his roots back to the Mayflower. We have two daughters who have the best of both worlds, and yes, they know how to make hummus and like it.
As for my writing journey, it started when I discovered my love of reading. I began late, 8th grade. English was my second language and I struggled with reading as a kid. But boy did I catch up fast and started devouring books. I began to write my own stories. I wrote my first book when I was sixteen. I was thrilled to finish, but that book is under my bed and will never see the light of day.
I was also a very shy teenager. I had scoliosis and had to wear a brace. The doctor told me I had to wear it 23 hours a day, only a one-hour break to shower. The only exception was if I was in a swimming pool. There’s no gravity in the water and it’s much easier on the spine. I immediately joined the swim team as a thirteen-year-old. I loved the freedom of the water—the escape from that awful brace! I’ve never stopped swimming, and I’m an avid lap swimmer.
Thereafter, I graduated college with a mechanical engineering degree, then a law degree. During my commutes to a Philadelphia law firm, I plotted books in my head. I started writing a historical romance. I loved Jane Austen, especially “Pride and Prejudice'', and rooted for Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The Regency period fascinated me–the gowns, the carriages, and the manners. I published thirteen books for Kensington and Entangled Publishing under the pen name Tina Gabrielle. I still practice part-time law, but to have more time with my children, I’ve pivoted to working as a middle school librarian, my most challenging and rewarding position so far (other than as a mother.)
Meanwhile, I started reading mysteries. I discovered cozies. I began including more and more mystery in my romances. My most popular historical novel published by Kensington Books is “In the Barrister’s Chambers” which featured an English barrister and a lady who seeks his help to clear her beau’s name of murder. Publisher’s Weekly called it, “a Regency series with legal backbone…the tale is bolstered by enthusiastically detailed portrayals of England's Regency-era legal system, and witty comradely repartee.”
Learn more: http://www.tinagabrielle.com/inthebarristerschambers.html
So, what’s new from me now?
This past fall, my short story was published in an anthology, “MIDNIGHT HOUR” with Crime Writers of Color from Crooked Lane Books. My Story is "CAPE MAY MURDER." The anthology received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, as well as wonderful reviews from Kirkus, and the NY Journal of Books.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3I6FBCJ
UPCOMING RELEASE! I’m excited for my upcoming February 1, 2022 release, “MURDER IN THE MOUNTAINS.” Nine authors are participating in this anthology, including our own MLK author, Leslie Budewitz. My story is “A KILLER POCONO HIKE,” and it features my Kebab Kitchen amateur sleuth, Lucy and her BFF Katie. To escape the stress of wedding planning, Lucy goes on a week-long getaway with Katie, her maid of honor, to the Pocono Mountains. The two friends look forward to leaf peeping, hiking, dining in the resort’s five-star restaurant, and receiving relaxing massages. But murder foils their plans…
This story is based on a real-life Pocono getaway. My husband’s entire family is from the Poconos, and we visit often. During Covid and quarantine last fall, we went a bit stir crazy stuck in the house with the kids and with John working from home. But what could we do safely? A group of families with tweens and teens the same age as our girls decided to go on a fall Pocono hike. The trees were ablaze with color and the fresh mountain air was a lovely escape. We came upon a karst cave, as deep and deadly as a sinkhole. No fence surrounded the sinkhole and one of the mother’s yelled at her son to stay back from the ledge. My writer’s mind immediately came up with a killer plot.
You can pre-order “Murder in the Mountains” for a special price of only $0.99!
Pre-Order for $0.99 here: https://bit.ly/3naP5W0
GIVEAWAY! Winner’s choice. You can pick from an ebook of “Murder in the Mountains” when it releases on 2/1/22 or a signed, print copy of “On the Lamb,” my Easter cozy mystery in my Kebab Kitchen series. (U.S. Only for print). My books are set at the Jersey Shore and now at the Poconos. So, what is your favorite getaway? A winner will be selected from one of the comments. Please leave an email address.
Learn more here:https://amzn.to/2PP9nEd
Last, please visit my website at www.tinakashian.com to join my newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more.
You can also connect with me at:
Website:
www.tinakashian.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TinaKashianAuthor/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TinaKashian1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinakashian/
Thank you for reading our first Spotlight Sunday. I love my MLK family!
Tina (sharing a pic of my puppy Joy)
xoxo
