Character Interview: The Quirky Quiz Show Caper

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Former teen idol Sandy Fairfax is a guest panelist on a TV game show—and the first category is murder!

When his kid brother, Warren, is framed for killing a college student, Sandy makes it his duty to track down the thug before the police move in. After all, Sandy did play a detective once on a hit TV show. Sandy will get right on the case—right after he visits his kids; fights with his ex; woos his hoped-to-be girlfriend, Cinnamon; and convinces his parents he should be the special entertainment at a black tie gala designed to raise funds for his father’s faltering orchestra. All this while he and his biggest fan attempt to “Raise The Stakes” on a rigged quiz show where––wonder of wonders––the murder victim had recently been a contestant. Sandy’s ready to pull out some of his long blond hair as the game points and the suspects pile up.
Today we have Sandy Fairfax as our guest.

Q: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself—maybe something they might not guess
I’m Sandy Fairfax, a 38-year-old former teen idol. That’s my stage name. My real name is Stanford Ernest Farmington Jr. In the late 1970s I starred in the TV show “Buddy Brave, Boy Sleuth” for four seasons, along with two feature films. My career hit the skids when my show ended and my recording contract ran out. For a number of years I didn’t do much except drink, but now I’m clean and sober and making a comeback. I’m also reconnecting with my family and seeing my kids more, which unfortunately also means talking to my ex more. What readers might not know is that I started singing with a boys’ choir at church. That was a great experience. I got used to performing in public and it also exposed me to some great classical music. Of course that gig ended when I hit puberty. I never joined a school choir, probably because I was busy with piano and violin lessons and recitals. I didn’t start singing again professionally until I joined a rock band in college and from there to solo shows.
Q: Who’s the character do you get along with best?
That’s easy. In the second book of my series I met Cinnamon Lovett who not only became the choreographer for my shows but is now my girlfriend. Besides being drop-dead gorgeous she’s smart, funny, sensitive and caring. She doesn’t fawn over my like many women but treats me like a friend and equal. She’s worked in the entertainment business so she isn’t impressed by celebrities. And she doesn’t mind telling me off if she’s unhappy.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
My brother, Warren Farmington, is the poster child of the family and I’m the black sheep. I haven’t seen him in ages and now he resents me trying to wheedle my way back into the family fold. He finished graduate school and puts me down because I dropped out of college to pursue fame and fortune. I think he’s jealous of my teen idol fame but he won’t admit it. He makes fun of my former rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, even though my life has calmed down since. But Warren had to swallow his pride when someone framed him in the murder of one of his students and yours truly came to his aid to clear his name.
Q: Just between you and me what do you really think of your author, Sally Carpenter?
She’s a typical fanatic, er, fan, the kind who’s in the front row of my concerts screaming her head off at me. She shares too much information about me to the readers. Hey, even celebrities deserve a little privacy. I’m annoyed that after four books I still haven’t had a really torrid love scene. I’m not a monk, you know. And what is with these death traps? In every book the bad guy comes close to killing me off. Nobody’s safe around this author.
Q: What’s next for you?
Thankfully, my author is letting me take a break while she starts a new series. Whew! Now I can finally get in some serious time in with my girlfriend and not worry about a murderer looking to put me six feet under.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Carpenter is native Hoosier now living in Moorpark, Calif. She has a master’s degree in theater from Indiana State University. While in school her plays “Star Collector” and “Common Ground” were finalists in the American College Theater Festival One-Act Playwrighting Competition. “Common Ground” also earned a college creative writing award and “Star Collector” was produced in New York City.
Carpenter also has a master’s degree in theology and a black belt in tae kwon do. She’s worked as an actress, college writing instructor, theater critic, jail chaplain, and tour guide/page for Paramount Pictures. She’s now employed at a community newspaper.
The Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series is comprised of: “The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper” (2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel), “The Sinister Sitcom Caper,” “The Cunning Cruise Ship Caper” and “The Quirky Quiz ShowCaper.”
To atone for her sins of killing fictional people, she also writes the monthly Roots of Faith column for the Acorn Newspapers.
She blogs at http://sandyfairfaxauthor.com and ladiesofmystery.com.

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