Bob at the Lake by R. Murphy – Review, Guest Post + Giveaway @GoddessFish

Bob at the Lake by R. Murphy

Take a crabby woman of a certain age, move her to the wintry shores of a New York lake, and then throw in a martini-loving ghost from 1920s Manhattan. Last, stir in the good-looking grape grower who lives up the hill. Now there’s a recipe for a potent screwball cocktail!

How do you make a crabby character lovable? by R. Murphy

Poor Roz! The cranky woman-of-a-certain age who features in my debut novel, Bob at the Lake, has worked so hard, for so many years, but even if luck does visit her once in a while, it never stays for long. Thanks to a series of career and financial missteps, and that economic smack-down we now call The Great Recession, Roz has wound up living alone in a deserted house on the frozen shores of Crooked Lake. Well, almost alone. Turns out a plump martini-loving ghost gets assigned to help her work out of her slump.

The whole situation irritates Roz and readers often see her frustration. She’s not particularly likable sometimes. But don’t we all get crabby once in a while? Especially if we’re scared? Many of us have a soft place to fall if we fail at something–some savings, a spouse with an income, family or friends with a spare couch. Roz really doesn’t have many cushions, and I think most readers can empathize with the panic that might cause. In Roz’s mind, she has to take care of herself or she might wind up on the street. Let’s face it; panicked people are not usually the most polite people in the world.

That’s how I tried to make Roz lovable. I showed how–underneath her top layer of pluck, good humor, and occasional grumpiness–Roz is trying to navigate a dark and scary path mapped out for her by the Recession. All by herself. (Well, mostly.) And with, all told, a pretty amazing resilience, honesty, and lack of self-pity.

Once we know somebody, and we understand what’s made them the way they are, don’t we tend to care about them a little more?

My Thoughts

Bob at the Lake by R. Murphy is a fun read. Bob, the ghost, is entertaining and I love his humor. Roz is definitely cranky, but still a really likeable character. I enjoyed the connection between the two of them. This was a really interesting story to read and it was the perfect choice for a light, fun read. I would definitely enjoy reading more of Bob. 🙂

About the Author

Roz Murphy is the pseudonym of a shy, retiring writer who doesn’t want her neighbors to know how nutty she really is. Brooklyn-born and Jersey-bred, Roz now lives on the misty shore of one of New York’s beautiful Finger Lakes. Prior to that, her business writing career took her to many locations, including Manhattan, where she worked for a number of years. As a freelance and corporate writer, Roz won several national and international writing and communications awards.

Now Roz is pursuing her first love—fiction. She’s writing the ‘Bob’ books, the humorous chronicle of a crabby ‘woman of a certain age’ who moves to the wintry shores of a New York lake—and gets a ghost. And not just any ghost, mind you. Bob’s a plump, middle-aged ghost from 1920s Manhattan who swans around in a silk smoking jacket and drinks far too many martinis. Stir the good-looking grape grower who lives up the hill into this mix and you get a pretty potent screwball cocktail!

When she’s not reading, writing, hill-walking, staring mindlessly out the window at the lake or piling rocks onto her ever-diminishing lakefront, you can usually find Roz hanging out with her family, travelling, or exploring the amazing wines and wineries of the Finger Lakes.

‘Bob at the Lake’ is exclusively available as a Kindle download from Amazon. Please join Roz Murphy Author on FaceBook for updates on the many adventures of Roz, David—and Bob.

Amazon buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Bob-at-Lake-R-Murphy-ebook/dp/B00F3O9G4Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1388423123&sr=1-1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roz-Murphy-Author/213668102110571

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Please leave a comment on this post and enter using the Rafflecopter below. Be sure to click the banner at the top of the post to follow the tour and comment at other stops.
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