Alone with a Tasman Tiger (Chic Charlie) by Jane Ellyson

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Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Alone with a Tasman Tiger (Chic Charlie) by Jane Ellyson. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

Alone with a Tasman Tiger (Chic Charlie)
Australian Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Settings –Brisbane, Sydney, Tasmania and London
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stanley Press (September 23, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 398 pages

A high stakes race. A missing friend and a search for the impossible.

In the Tasmanian wilderness six contestants battle it out to win $250,000. Only five finish.

In Bass Strait the Blue Gazelle yacht tackles fierce winds, huge waves and a phantom vessel, in its race to win the Tattersall Cup.

In London a fashion designer learns about a Belarussian scientist, possibly involved with a deadly technology.

In Hobart a search party is launched for a missing sailor.

At the centre of investigations are two feisty sleuths, Galina Ivanov and Charlotte Harmon, who are looking for clues which could save their partners and stop the spread of a devastating weapon.

Can they find them before all hope is lost?

Character Guest Post

Interview with Galina

November 4, 2024

Interviewer. Good morning Galina-Elizabeta.

Galina. You can call me Betty.

Interviewer. Good morning Betty. Could you introduce yourself to our listeners.

Galina. I’m a drummer.

Interviewer. In a band?

Galina. I’m freelancer.

Interviewer. I see. I understand that you’re about to enter a survival competition.

Galina. Yes.

Interviewer. Why?

Galina. Why not? I’ve spent many nights in the forest in Estonia. I think that will be useful. There are few things that frighten me.

Interviewer. There are snakes and devil and perhaps even tigers in the Australian bush. How will you manage these encounters?

Galina. ‘I’ve killed a bear in the forest in Estonia. Before you ask, yes, the bear was protected but my dog was not.’

Interviewer. Goodness. Were you’re family worried about you?

Galina. My father is dead. My mother knows I am self-reliant.

Interviewer. You’re boyfriend perhaps.

Galina. That is a ridiculous question.

Interviewer. What’s the first thing you’ll do when you exit the competition?

Galina. Collect the prize money.

Interviewer. (laughing) And after that?

Galina. We’ll see. I’m open to opportunities.

Interviewer. Many thanks to Galina- Elizabeta Ivanof. We wish her luck in the Alone survival competition. Although, I have my suspicions – she won’t need it.

Interview with Author Jane Ellyson about Galina

What’s Galina’s Story?

I’m often asked what inspires the creation of a character. For me, my protagonist is typically drawn from several people who I know, who exist only in the literary world or who I might have seen and taken a photo of during my travels. This was the case for Galina-Elizabeta Ivanof.

Stieg Larsson’s detective character, Lisbeth Salander, the “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” was apparently inspired by Pippi Longstocking. According to a former work colleague,

Stieg got the idea for the character Lisbeth Salander after a discussion during a break from work. They were talking about how different characters from children’s books would manage and behave if they were alive and grown up. Stieg especially liked the idea about a grown up Pippi Longstocking, a dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder who would have had a hard time finding a regular place in the “normal society,” and he used … those characteristics when he created Lisbeth Salander.

Lisbeth Salander has become an iconic and beloved character for several reasons. She is deeply complex with a unique mix of vulnerability and strength. Her personality is shaped by her traumatic past, yet she emerges as a fierce, independent, and intelligent individual.

Lisbeth challenges societal norms, particularly regarding gender roles. She refuses to conform to expectations and maintains her independence at all costs. This makes her a symbol of empowerment, particularly for women who see in her a figure of strength and self-reliance.

Her role in solving complex mysteries, often out of pure curiosity or a sense of justice, makes her a fascinating character in the crime fiction genre.

Her methods are unorthodox, but her results are impressive. And her distinctive appearance, including her tattoos, piercings, and punk fashion, visually symbolizes her rejection of societal expectations. I also like the face that she makes morally ambiguous decisions.

So in case you haven’t guessed, Galina shares some of these qualities but is a softer version of Lisbeth.

This is how Galina introduces herself to the other competitors at the start of the survival competition in Alone with a Tasman Tiger.

‘I’m thirty-six. You are unlikely to remember my name so you can call me Betty. My mother is Estonian, my father was Australian. He died. What are my strengths?’ She spat on the ground. ‘I’ve killed a bear. Does that count? Yes, the bear was protected but my dog was not. I’ve spent many nights in the forest in Estonia. I think that will be useful. There are few things that frighten me. To relax I smoke. When I can’t smoke, I play the drums. I’ve entered this game because, well, why not?’

Later on the story, she reveals her feistiness when a man attempts to pick her up in a bar…

‘Hello gorgeous. Which yacht did you sail in on?’

Galina swivelled around in her chair and looked at the inebriated sailor wearing a shirt identifying him as crew of the Eagle Express. It was obvious from the tone of his question, and the glassy look in his eyes that he was hoping to leverage his team’s recent race success, to success in other areas.

‘I’m not a sailor,’ she replied.

‘Then a model, perhaps?’ he asked. Galina sighed and regarded the man carefully.

‘No. I work at an abattoir. My speciality is disembowelling pigs.’ The man froze, suddenly lost for words.

You can learn about Galina’s experience in the survival competition in Alone with a Tasman Tiger. Available from major online bookstores.

References:

https://www.williamlanday.com/2009/10/29/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/

About Jane Ellyson

Jane Ellyson has written six novels across the action, adventure and romance genres. Having lived in Europe and Asia, in addition to her native Australia, her stories frequently visit beautiful locations. She currently lives at Possum Creek, just out of Bangalow in northern New South Wales, Australia – well she would if she was real – rather than being the pen name of someone who would prefer to remain anonymous.

Previous novels include: