Joyce Oroz's Blog: All about life, mural painting and tracking down the bad guys

Read My Lipstick is the second novel in the Josephine Stuart Mystery Series. The story starts off with the murder of an elderly man--the accountant for a newly built physical therapy center. Josephine has been hired to paint a large mural at the center and she is the first one to find the man at the bottom of the stairs. He is alive long enough to tell her that he was attacked.
Josephine automatically immerses herself in the mysterious murder. The clues she uncovers lead to a political travisty--and murder.

Read My Lipstick by Joyce Oroz is available on Kindle

Follow Joyce Oroz Blog http://authorjoyceoroz.blogspot.com/

By Robert "Dimndbangr" Hicks (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Secure the Ranch (Paperback)
Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you.

Secure the Ranch is the first book by debut author Joyce Oroz.

Secure the Ranch follows a mystery surrounding Josephine Stuart, an artist who is hired to paint some murals for a wealthy client high in the mountains of California. After strange accidents, occurrences, and the death of a wildlife ranger, Josephine finds she is unable to set aside her curiosity and delves deep into a mystery best left alone. Some subplots involve her friendship with one of her neighbors, visits with her mom and dad, and others that would lead to spoilers.

I will have to admit that the writing in this book is well done. Even though I may have found myself hesitant at times to pick the book back up from other things I was doing, once I did, I was engrossed and read chapter after chapter. The characters were also better than I imagined they would be at the beginning. I had a vision of the wealthy clients to be the snobbish type and they turned out to be much better than that and I was thankful. There was some nice depth to the characters and they were easy to connect with.

Some criticisms:

1. The dialogue, though done well enough throughout the majority of the book had some abrupt endings to it. It just felt like there was more to be said, but the next thing I know, the story moves on to something else. Mostly this happens while Josephine is searching for answers of what is going on.

2. There were a couple of inconsistencies in this book. The main one is at the beginning when Josephine is getting ready for bed; she sets the alarm for 7:30. In the next chapter, she is woken to music coming from the clock radio at 7.

Some Positives

1. I really did enjoy the characters in this novel. Everyone had their own voice and was easy to distinguish from the other characters. The reader can easily connect with the characters.

2. In just about every chapter, something happens to keep the reader engaged in the story. Ms. Oroz really knows how to keep a mystery going and giving just enough tidbits for the reader to try to figure out what is going on and who is involved.

3. The imagery is nicely detailed without overbearing the reader with all the details. It is a nice mix of giving the author's vision while at the same time leaving out enough so the reader can fill in the rest.

There are reviewers who compare this with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Aside from having a pet, bill collectors calling constantly, and an overactive sense of curiosity, that is about where the comparison ends. I will say I did enjoy this book and if there are to be more books from this author, I will definitely buy them. I know most of Janet Evanovich's fans are getting tired of the stale trail the plum books have been following, so I would recommend this one to them for a refreshing view away from the every day.

Happy reading

-Dimndbangr

By Robert "Dimndbangr" Hicks (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Secure the Ranch (Paperback)
Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you.

Secure the Ranch is the first book by debut author Joyce Oroz.

Secure the Ranch follows a mystery surrounding Josephine Stuart, an artist who is hired to paint some murals for a wealthy client high in the mountains of California. After strange accidents, occurrences, and the death of a wildlife ranger, Josephine finds she is unable to set aside her curiosity and delves deep into a mystery best left alone. Some subplots involve her friendship with one of her neighbors, visits with her mom and dad, and others that would lead to spoilers.

I will have to admit that the writing in this book is well done. Even though I may have found myself hesitant at times to pick the book back up from other things I was doing, once I did, I was engrossed and read chapter after chapter. The characters were also better than I imagined they would be at the beginning. I had a vision of the wealthy clients to be the snobbish type and they turned out to be much better than that and I was thankful. There was some nice depth to the characters and they were easy to connect with.

Some criticisms:

1. The dialogue, though done well enough throughout the majority of the book had some abrupt endings to it. It just felt like there was more to be said, but the next thing I know, the story moves on to something else. Mostly this happens while Josephine is searching for answers of what is going on.

2. There were a couple of inconsistencies in this book. The main one is at the beginning when Josephine is getting ready for bed; she sets the alarm for 7:30. In the next chapter, she is woken to music coming from the clock radio at 7.

Some Positives

1. I really did enjoy the characters in this novel. Everyone had their own voice and was easy to distinguish from the other characters. The reader can easily connect with the characters.

2. In just about every chapter, something happens to keep the reader engaged in the story. Ms. Oroz really knows how to keep a mystery going and giving just enough tidbits for the reader to try to figure out what is going on and who is involved.

3. The imagery is nicely detailed without overbearing the reader with all the details. It is a nice mix of giving the author's vision while at the same time leaving out enough so the reader can fill in the rest.

There are reviewers who compare this with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Aside from having a pet, bill collectors calling constantly, and an overactive sense of curiosity, that is about where the comparison ends. I will say I did enjoy this book and if there are to be more books from this author, I will definitely buy them. I know most of Janet Evanovich's fans are getting tired of the stale trail the plum books have been following, so I would recommend this one to them for a refreshing view away from the every day.

Happy reading

-Dimndbangr

... I rested quietly with a sack of frozen peas on my head, until I remembered Solow.
“Oh, my God, Solow,” I gasped. I hadn’t a clue how he took the crash. I jumped up and raced out the front door. Herbert had the light on in the garage that looked like Hurricane Josephine had hit it. I rounded the truck and opened the passenger door. Solow practically fell out. I helped him to the ground, noticing his whole backside was crimson. I stifled a cry with my hand. Tears welled up as I embraced the best dog-friend a person could have. Down close, hugging him, he smelled like strawberries.
Once I realized Solow was wearing strawberries and a few other food groups, I relaxed considerably. He had polished off a pound of ground round, a pint of ‘cookies and cream’ ice cream and a dozen raw eggs. He had been literally rolling in groceries under the dash. Every dog’s dream!
I walked Solow to the house and introduced him to Mary, then tied his leash to a porch pillar. He looked like he'd been in a food fight and lost....

Oroz and Jennifer Chase had a lively discussion about writing and painting September 16th. Check it out on blogtalkradio, (the Jennifer Chase program). Learn about Oroz' next mystery novel.

June 21, 2010: Josephine Stuart is a heroine that you'll cheer for in this carefully crafted mystery. She's an artist and muralist who gets herself in a heap of trouble while on a job in a remote mountain community. There are strange happenings with accidents, fires, and of course murder.


Secure the Ranch is a well-written, entertaining mystery with characters full of depth that builds from the first page and doesn't stop until the very end. You won't see what's in store for Josephine - I guarantee it. I couldn't put this book down. I couldn't believe that this is a debut novel for Oroz. It drew me into the lives of the likeable, and some not so likeable, characters in the story.


I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves mystery and suspense stories. I can't wait for the next installment to see what's in store for Josephine.


-Jennifer Chase, Author of Compulsion & Dead Game

I Also Recommend: Compulsion and Dead Game by Jennifer Chase.

Secure the Ranch
First of the Josephine Stuart Series
Josephine Stuart, a fifty-year-old widow, is blessed and cursed with an overactive curiosity, a strong sense of right and wrong and a willingness to put herself on the line for her friends. Josephine has been hired to paint murals in the secluded Munger mansion, located at the top of a wooded mountain. Certain local reprobates have their reasons for wanting the Mungers to leave. Accidents, fires and the death of a forest ranger have everyone on edge. Josephine's curiosity drives her down the mountain, into the world of illegal activities and nefarious characters. Her situation becomes dire - no way to escape. One captor has a knife, the other has a rifle. Can she save herself and her friends?

Coming soon to Aromas, fun and pageantry, Sunday, August 29th. The fun begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Grange Breakfast.



JUNE 23, 2010 Interview by Jennifer Chase With A New Mystery Author

I have met a wonderful new mystery author that I had the pleasure to chat with recently.

Jennifer Chase: Welcome Joyce. Please tell us a little bit about your background.

Joyce Oroz: At the tender age of twelve, I was painting in oils and writing poems while normal children socialized with each other. I was a female nerd full of pre-teen feelings of inferiority. A bazillion years later, after raising a family, working at my commercial art/mural business and taking creative writing classes on the side, I finally wrote and illustrated my first children’s book. And then I wrote twenty-six more stories, but my dream was to write a novel. After watching my husband write a book, I decided to give it my best shot. Now that I’m practically ready for the rocking chair, I am busier than ever, writing “mystery novels”, but also enjoying country life in Aromas with my husband and golden lab.

Jennifer Chase: What inspired you to write a mystery?

Joyce Oroz: Going back to twelve years old, I loved reading Nancy Drew Mysteries and read every one the library had. The Nancy Drew seed was planted, but the seed didn’t sprout until I read my first Janet Evanovich mystery five years ago. I tried to write like Janet, but only she can pull it off. Only she can blow up Stephanie’s vehicles every other day and make it seem normal. But she had set me to writing, and because I love to read mysteries, I decided to write one of my own.

Jennifer Chase: What was the hardest thing about writing this book?

Joyce Oroz: For me, the middle of the book is always the most difficult to write. I generally know how the story begins and how it ends, but there are a couple hundred pages in the middle I know nothing about. I try to let the story pull me along and take me to surprising places. If I relax and shake-off my writer’s block, the story will usually go where it needs to go.

Jennifer Chase: How long did it take you to write and what’s your writing schedule?

Joyce Oroz: One day I had an epiphany. If I could write one page a day, in one year I would have a complete novel. "Secure the Ranch" was born nine months after that idea was conceived. But the rewrites lasted two years! I average two hours of writing, six days a week, forever and ever. I look forward to it, even though it’s sometimes frustrating. But when a workable idea makes it way into my brain, it’s all worth it.

Jennifer Chase: Who are some of your favorite writers and why?

Joyce Oroz: Colleen McCullough was a favorite author (The Thorn Birds). I loved “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Nowadays, I read a mix of material by J.A. Jance, Jennifer Chase, Janet Evonavich, John Grisham and many others. The hard part is finding time to read, write and live a busy lifestyle, which is why my red pickup truck (still wearing an American flag on the rear window) speeds down the road for twenty minutes to Jasmine’s yoga class where I am able to relax and then speed home.

Jennifer Chase: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Joyce Oroz: I hope you enjoy my first effort. The effort was to make you laugh and maybe raise some hairs on the back of your neck. It was to entertain you and take you away from ordinary life. If those things didn’t happen, try my next book coming out at the end of 2010, and enjoy the ride.

Jennifer Chase: Last but not least, I love asking this question. If you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring only 3 things, what would they be?

Joyce Oroz: Since I don’t have time to be stranded on a deserted island, I would take a map, a bicycle pump and an inflatable yacht.

Jennifer Chase: Thank you so much Joyce. I look forward to your next book.

For more information about Joyce Oroz and her debut mystery novel: http://www.mysteriesbyjoyce.com/ and Joyce

August 18th, 11:00am to 1:00pm I will be signing books and answering questions, as you munch on refreshments at the Morgan Hill book store. I look forward to meeting you and would love to sign a copy of Secure the Ranch for you. Preview the book at www.mysteriesbyjoyce.com