Welcome to amazing author Ileana Munoz-Renfroe! I had the pleasure of beta reading A Wisterious Witch and loved it! I've read a few of Ileana's other books and look forward to reading about Raul in Raul's Demise. Join me in a fun interview!
For the longest time, Ileana Muñoz-Renfroe wanted to be an author. Almost twenty years later, and after raising two children and owning numerous businesses, she decided to take the plunge.
It started in a
Café in Paris. The idea of Rosa popped into her head, and the stories and
characters became real. Since two of her passions are the paranormal and
high-end fashion, she found a way to combine them and created Rosa The Cuban
Psychic Mysteries. This series brings together her Cuban and American culture
to make for a fun cozy mystery story.
Book 1 – A
Fashionable Fate and Book 2 – A Parisian Bait are available on Amazon.
She is also hard
at work writing books 3 and 4 of Rosa The Cuban Psychic Mysteries, as well as, several
new series. A Tarot and Vintage Caravan Mysteries features Abuela Nana and her
newly acquired vintage caravan. Candeedo Brewdinkle Series involves Candeedo, a
retired spy and cipher expert enjoys solving mysteries in the quaint town of
Killian Cove alongside his companion Bartholomew – a Sphynx.
Another new
series, Las Cubanitas, has Rosa and her best friends – Maruchi, Alexandra,
Ellie, and Caridad solving mysteries together. Every new adventure to exotic
locations brings about – what else – murder.
She has delved
into the Children’s book genre. The Gizmo Adventures, book 1 “Gizmo Welcomes a
New Baby” is bilingual - English and Spanish. Book 2 is in progress.
Recently, she finished
three separate short story collaborations. A Wisterious Witch, Book 1 of A Wisterious
Bay Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series is due November 1, 2022 and is on Pre-Order
on Amazon. There’s also, Ghostly Gift due December 7, 2022. This book is also on
Pre-Order on Amazon. Finally, there’s Raul’s Demise. This book is the prequel to Rosa The Cuban
Psychic Paranormal Cozy Mysteries and available for free only through Prolific
Works.
When she is not
writing, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, reading,
entertaining, and listening to music.
Social Media Links
Ileana Renfroe
Renfroe's Reading Room
Ghostly Gift - Holiday Corner FB Group
Do your
characters come before or after your plot?
My
characters always come before I start a story. An idea will pop up in my mind
and I'll find myself thinking of the names of potential characters. Then they
just come to life. I have found that my characters have a voice of their
own.
How do
you choose a villain and how do you make them human?
I think
of specific personalities that would make the reader hate the character.
Then I develop those characters by being as specific as possible in my
description of them. The main thing is to make them seem to real you will
actually dislike them as you are reading the story.
Do your
reading choices reflect your writing choices?
Sometimes,
my reading choices do reflect my writing style. I tend to read a lot of
paranormal, mystery, and cozy mysteries. So, you'll find that I tend to write
more in the paranormal/cozy genre with a twist bringing together various
elements from the stories I read.
Which type of
characters are your favorite to write?
My
favorite characters to write are those that are spunky, a bit cooky, and
express a substantial amount of Cuban flair in their behavior and how they
speak.
What are
you working on now?
Oh, boy
that's a loaded question. Let's see, I am currently working on Murder in The
Campground - Book 1 (A Tarot and VIntage Caravan Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Series). Abuela Nana has decided to take a year sabbatical from her cafe -
La Misteriosa Cafe on Colten Island and travel with her Miami Coastal Caravan
Club only to find herself deep in murder after purchasing a vintage caravan,
that comes with an unexpected guest.
I'm also working on If Walls Could Talk Book 1 (Lolita Restoration Cozy
Paranormal Mystery Series). Lolita has been asked by her aunt to restore
an old abandoned home that turns up to have a dead body in the wall.
However, that's not the only problem. Lolita and her BFF are being blocked by
an unseen entity that is determined to keep the body hidden. She must not
only contend with the ghost but also figure out whose's body is in the wall and
if her aunt is involved.
Then there's Ciphers, Mobsters & A Sphynx Book 1 (Candeedo Brewdinkle Cozy
Mystery Series). Candeedo a retired spy wants to spend his days solving puzzles
and hanging out with his companion Bartholomew, a very vocal sphynx. The
problem is that when he goes to pick up his monthly book with a bookmark that
contains a cipher he must solve, he finds Norman the proprietor missing, and
a dead body in the bookstore with the same book he was supposed to pick up
next to the body. The bookmark is missing and now the Mafia has arrived in
town. Candeedo may just have to come out of retirement if he wants to solve
this mystery.
There are a few others, but I'll keep that for another time.
What sort
of research do you do for your work?
Sometimes I
actually try to visit the location. For example, in the book If Walls Could
Talk, I actually visited an abandoned town in Ohio. As a matter of fact, the
lady dressed in black on the cover of the book is actually someone who lived in
that town. With the permission of her daughter, I have included her picture on
my cover. Other times I research online an idea or thought until I'm
satisfied that it can be used in my stories. Or, on my travels, I take pictures
of different buildings or go to cemeteries and read the tombstones, learn
the history of the area, and then make up a story based on what I imagine could
happen.
A WISTERIOUS WITCH
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BCR65Y2T
In the quaint town of
Wisterious Bay, Alice, a spunky witch, just wants to spend her time quietly
practicing her spells, and running her crystal and candle shop.
But her peaceful existence is thrown into jeopardy when right
before the Halloween celebrations are about to begin, she finds a body in her
shop with a note Trick or treat! Want to repel my spell? Give me what I want
and I'll say farewell.
The only way to make certain she’s not framed for the murder is to
find the killer and figure out why anyone would want to kill the head of her
coven.
GHOSTLY GIFT
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFC72C27
Once the talk of the town, Mistletoe Manor stood abandoned for years, that is until Edwin Bowater came along and revitalized it.
Now with the Manor restored and the traditional gala preparations underway, Edwin does not have time for Lady Louise Rafferty. She roams the Manor and the town scaring the guests and visitors.
Celeste and her daughter Hayley, arrive for a week’s stay just in time for the festivities. What Celeste didn’t expect is that before long she, along with the town’s grandmotherly figure, would be solving the mystery of the haunting ghost.
Who killed Lady Louise Rafferty and why hasn’t anyone found her body? And why is she insisting on finding her daughter?
Will Celeste and Hayley be able to solve a century-old mystery?
Ghostly Gifts is Book 2 in the Holiday Corner Christmas Cozy Mystery Series.
Enjoy all the cozy mystery short reads in the series...
Missing Santas - Book 1
Ghostly Gift - Book 2
Slay Ride - Book 3
RAUL'S DEMISE
https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/5f21907n
Before Raul became Rosa de Los Reyes' spirit guide he had a life. That life was interrupted shortly when someone killed him.
Now his partner and the local detective must put the pieces together to figure out who wanted him dead and why... Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he worked for the biggest local Cuban mafioso in Miami.
Find out what really happened to Raul Silva in this prequel to the Rosa The Cuban Psychic Cozy Mysteries Series.
