Author Interview: Frank Anthony Polito

Today I am so excited to bring you an interview with Frank Anthony Polito, author of the quozy series Domestic Partners in Crime. This series has completely captured my heart, I pre-order each book as soon as I get a chance and recommend it to everyone. Thank you Frank for joining us today on my blog! 

1. Can you give us a background of what your series is about? 
Domestic Partners in Crime is a “qozy” (queer cozy) mystery series, featuring a gay millennial
couple, Peter “PJ” Penwell and his real-life domestic partner John Paul “JP” Broadway. PJ is a
bestselling mystery author and JP is a professional actor. After living together in Brooklyn, they
move to Peter’s native Detroit, where they buy an historic house that they renovate as part of a
hit TV home renovation show called...what else? Domestic Partners. Of course, someone always
dies, and it’s up to PJ and JP to solve the mystery, since no one is ever murdered in the quaint
little suburb of Pleasant Woods...until now. And in the next book...and so on...and so on.

2. What inspired you to start writing cozy mysteries?
It wasn’t my idea, actually. My editor at Kensington Publishing asked if I’d be interested in
writing a cozy mystery series. Before that I’d never read a cozy, or even watched an episode of
Murder, She Wrote. But growing up I was always a fan of Encyclopedia Brown and Agatha
Christie, so I welcomed the opportunity to try my hand at mystery writing.

3. They always say “write what you know” as advice for writers. How much of your
personal life & experiences were reflected on the pages of Rehearsed to Death? (As a
side note, from a fan who follows you & your dogs on social media, I loved seeing your
play writing & home renovation experiences, along with your dog adoptions, reflected on
the pages of this book.)
Writing what you know is definitely easier! For me, I used the real-life experience that my
partner Craig and I had when we moved to Michigan, after living in New York City, and bought
an old house on HGTV’s House Hunters that we started renovating ourselves. For Rehearsed to
Death, specifically, I used the fact that Craig is an actor and I’m a playwright, and the play that
JP and PJ are producing in the story is an actual play that I’d written while in grad school at
Carnegie Mellon. I also based the character of the play’s diva director on the actual director of
that same play, only in Rehearsed to Death, I got to finish him off by making him the murder
victim. And of course the subplot where PJ and JP adopt a dog (in both books of the series) is
based on my and Craig’s real-life experience of when we adopted our own dogs, Clyde and Jack,
which is also the name of PJ and JP’s dogs in the Domestic Partners in Crime cozy mystery
series.

4. Which part of this book was the most fun to write? 
Not sure if there’s a specific part that I enjoyed more than any other, but I did have fun writing
all of the Theatre-related scenes, since I’m no longer involved in this world. In undergrad, I
studied Acting, which is how Craig and I first met at Wayne State in Detroit a looong time ago.
Then we moved to New York City together to pursue our acting careers, and we produced and
acted in lots of plays while we were there. Writing Rehearsed to Death gave me a chance to re-
live that part of my life, which I will always fondly look back on, and share with readers what
the behind-the-scenes experience of producing a play is all about.

5. If you had to describe Peter “PJ” Penwell in 3 words, what would they be?
Eccentric, neurotic, tenacious

6. Anything else you’d like to add for readers?
If you get a chance to read any of my books, please find me on social media or via my website
and share with me your thoughts. I really enjoy hearing from readers, whether they like what I’ve
written or not. Without readers, a writer is nothing. Receiving feedback and criticism will only
help me my writing get better. 

Here are my social media links:
Website: www.frankanthonypolito.com
Instagram: @frankanthonypolito
Facebook: @frankanthonypolito
Twitter: @fapolito

And if you’d like to see lots of cute pics and videos of our dogs, Jack and Clyde, please follow
them too!
Facebook: @thedailyclyde
Instagram: @thedailyclydeandjack

Rehearsed to Death is out now!