Anna Romano Mystery Series, Cats, Cannolis, and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Bannerman – Audiobook 1

Author: Cheryl Denise Bannerman

Narrator: Robin Waters

Length: 2 hours 42 minutes

Publisher: Cheryl Denise Bannerman

Released: May 21, 2020

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Critics call the series “a laugh-out-loud, whimsical adventure full of tasty Italian dishes and adorable cats!”
Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a cat-mama, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey.
When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course!
In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna’s somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid?
After being stalked for weeks, Anna quickly finds herself literally “tied up”, fighting for her life, and desperate to get back home to her cats; all while unwittingly falling in love with the detective who was trying to save her. How she finds her way out of this mess is anyone’s guess!
Find out more about Anna and the dangerous cases of murder and mayhem she “haphazardly'”gets herself into, in the new Anna Romano Mystery Series.

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Cheryl Denise Bannerman is an award-winning, multi-genre author of six self-published books. She is the winner of the 2018 Book Excellence Award for her book of poetry, Words Never Spoken, and winner of the Best Books Awards in the category of African American fiction in 2020 for Black Child to Black Woman. She is also a Semi-Finalist in the MLC Audiobook Awards with a 2020 IMDb Nomination for Book 1 of the Anna Romano Mystery Series, Cats, Cannolis, and a Curious Kidnapping.

Within the author’s first three works of fiction, Black Child to Black Woman, Words Never Spoken, and A Killer’s Reflection, the author addresses critical topics of social concern, such as alcohol and drug addictions, racism and bigotry, domestic abuse and violence, suicide, and child molestation.

In her latest releases, a cozy mystery series entitled the Anna Romano Mystery Series, she hopes to provide relief from a somewhat somber world and spread laughter and smiles with the main character’s witty humor and ‘unintentional stumbling’ over dead bodies and into murder investigations.

Her goal in life is to keep writing and continue helping victims of Domestic Abuse/Violence, Grief and ANON family groups, and Corporate Health and Wellness groups, to heal through words — encouraging them to ‘write the pain’ via journaling, and expressing themselves through short stories, songs, and poetry.

She currently resides in Orlando, Florida, where she runs her 25-year-old Virtual Training and Development company, specializing in Instructional Design and eLearning.

In her spare time, she loves to read murder mysteries, attend museums, watch movies, try new cuisines, shop with her daughter, and take in the sun on the beach. And, although this author’s works are fiction, she has incorporated many of her personal life experiences into their stories.

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Author Interview

How did you select your narrator? I interviewed several voice tablets and selected the one who truly captured the personality of Anna. She is fun, sarcastic, eccentric, and lovable. That was the true test for me, if she could capture all of that in a sample read.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters? We had several phone meetings in the beginning to talk about characters and their personalities. I mimicked many of them in the calls as to how they should sound, and any peculiar quirks they had. When she was comfortable, she would record a sample and send it to me for approval. Once approved, she was ready to record the book!
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series? With a stand-alone novel, the story is over ‘in my head’ and I can move on to a new book, or even a new genre, in my instance. But with my cozy mystery series, Anna is with me all the time and the stories never stop developing. I was going to stop at 6 books, but I feel like the potential to do even more is there.
What’s your favorite…
1. Food: Anything Italian
2. Song: Survivor by Destiny’s Child
3. Book: Still Me by Jojo Moyes
4. Television show: Seinfeld
5. Movie: Matrix (all)
6. Singer: Whitney Houston
Are any of those things referenced in appearance in your work? Yep, tons of Italian food and recipes!
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors? You only get out of it what you put into it. Take the time to do your book right, even if it takes longer. That means creating a professional cover, hiring a professional editor, etc.
What’s next for you? More Anna Romano! I’m also working on an idea for a sci-fi thriller.
Anything else you’d like to share? Anna Romano and their entire cozy mystery series has helped me achieve that purpose and I am overwhelmed at the number of readers who tell me how much they love Anna and her cats or how much they laughed throughout the book. To me, that’s what matters most…bringing a smile to someone’s face.