Failure is Fatal

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Annette Drake

Lesley A. Diehl visits my blog to talk about her newest release, Failure is Fatal. Welcome, Lesley. I’m so delighted to host you today.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?
I have lived in small towns for most of my life, so the setting of a cozy mystery is familiar to me. I can’t imagine trying to write something set in an urban area. While I like to construct complicated plots, I like mysteries where the characters can be explored in some depth, and I prefer to have a cast of characters that I can introduce to the reader. The interplay among them is important to making the story compelling and encouraging the reader to solve the puzzle of the crime. The reader should have a sense that the people inhabiting the book are reachable.
The aspect of a cozy that is most important to me is the implied contract that is developed between the writer and the reader, the contract that says this book will not disappoint. I will solve this crime and set the village right again, perhaps not the same as before, but the bad guy or gal will be brought to some kind of justice. There is an inherent optimism in a cozy mystery: this crime can be solved and justice will prevail.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
Failure Is Fatal is the second book in the Laura Murphy mysteries and, as with the first one, Murder Is Academic, we have snoopy Dr. Laura Murphy, a member of the psychology department at a small public university in Upstate New York, investigating murder, this time of a coed. She’s encouraged to help ferret out clues by a detective and her good friend in the local police department. Her obsession with finding the killer puts her relationship with Guy LaFrance on the back burner, making the future of their love affair problematic. But Laura perseveres despite Guy’s reservations. Fueled with chocolate and her nosy nature, Laura’s quest brings her into conflict with a local fraternity and forces her to look closely into her own past for clues in this murder.
The idea for the book came out of a study on sexual harassment undertaken by my undergraduate research assistants and me the year before I retired. The project, hitting close to home for some faculty on campus, stirred up controversy. I simply took that controversy and blew it up into a murder.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
The typical reader for my work is a woman over the age of forty, and knowing this about my readers, I write to this description, not only because it appeals to this group, but also because cozy mysteries always find this age and gender group as their reading audience. Mysteries set in a small town where the characters know one another, where motives for murder abound and are intimate, and where the protagonist is fond of and part of village life is my ideal reader’s cup of tea, although cozies can feature jazzier settings and quite sassy protagonists. I think Laura Murphy is that kind of protagonist. If my readers don’t want to be like her because she’s too outgoing and in-your-face, they secretly like her style and might want her as the friend who says what they might not. I write the protagonists I like, but I’m pretty certain I’m creating a story the reader will find compelling because I include humor as well as serious themes, and the bad guy always gets it in the end.

Please describe your writing routine.
I do most of my writing in the morning and afternoon. With my morning coffee, I check my emails and attend to the business of writing and promotion. I’ll then work on my manuscript, taking a break for lunch and returning to work in the afternoon. I try to take computer breaks every hour, engaging in more active tasks such as walking to get the mail, doing a load of laundry, hanging out clothes, gardening, prepping for dinner or cleaning a closet. There’s something about cleaning a closet or organizing my desk or a bureau of clothing that allows me to let my thoughts free and sometimes I get writing ideas from accomplishing these menial tasks. I never write after dinner or before I go to bed. I’ve found that I can’t sleep if I do.
As for the writing itself, sometimes I have a plot outline which I check from time to time. Other times, I’m just winging it. I do go back and reread what I’ve written the day before so that I can pick up the thread of where I’m headed and to give my writing flow.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
Learn your craft by reading about it, taking classes offered by the Guppies, the unpublished arm of Sisters In Crime, joining professional writing organizations such as Mystery Writers of America or Sisters in Crime, attending conferences, finding a critique partner, or joining a critique group online or in your area. Read books in your genre, lots of them. Read outside your genre. Talk with other authors, but don’t use them as the final word on what you write or how you write it. Your aunt wants the best for you, but she’s probably not the best judge of your work, so don’t think friends and relatives will function well as sounding boards. You need feedback, so get it from professional sources by swapping manuscripts or partial manuscripts through the Guppies Group as suggested above. If you are going to go the traditional route in publishing by finding an agent, learn how to do this. Learn how to write a synopsis and a query letter.
Most importantly, find your own voice, the one you’re comfortable with, and then write, write, write!

More About Failure is Fatal:
Someone at Professor Laura Murphy’s college appears to be playing a joke on her by planting sexually explicit stories in her research results, but the joke turns deadly when one story details the recent stabbing murder of a coed.
Laura’s close friend, Detective Derrick Pasquis from the local police, asks for her help in interviewing the prickly suspects who resist intervention from outside the campus community. Eager to search out clues, Laura ignores warning signs that playing amateur sleuth may jeopardize her newly developing romance with Guy. And of course her usual intrusive manner puts her at odds with everyone on campus — colleagues, the college administration, the head of campus security and fraternity members. Is there no one Laura can’t offend in her eagerness to find the truth? The closer she gets to solving the crime, the more it appears that the past — the coed’s, that of a prominent faculty member and Laura’s own — is the key to the murder. Caught in an early winter blizzard, Laura must choose between wandering the mountains and freezing to death or taking her chances with a killer clever enough to make murder look like the work of an innocent student.

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01AYNXO64]

How to connect with Lesley:
Website: http://www.lesleyadiehl.com
Blog: http://www.lesleyadiehl.com/blog
Twitter: @lesleydiehl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lesley-A-Diehl-522270901254754/timeline

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To Catch A Treat

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Annette Drake

Author Linda O. Johnston visits my pages today to talk about her newest release, To Catch A Treat. Welcome, Linda.
Hi. I’m delighted to be here as part of my Great Escapes Book Tour. I’d like to tell you about me and my writing and my latest work.
First: me. My name is Linda O. Johnston, and I’m here to let people know about my latest release: To Catch A Treat. It’s the second book in my Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series. The first book was Bite The Biscuit, which was released a year ago. It was a finalist in the fiction category of the Dog Writers Association of America’s Maxwell Awards.
In addition to the Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries, I also write the Superstition Mysteries for the same publisher, Midnight Ink. The second Superstition Mystery, Knock On Wood, was released last October, and the third, Unlucky Charms, will be out in October of this year.
If you haven’t guessed, I write a lot. To Catch A Treat is my 42nd published novel. In addition to my mysteries, I write for two Harlequin series. My Harlequin Romantic Suspense novel Clandestine Attraction will be published this August. I also write the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters for Harlequin’s paranormal romance Nocturne line.
So why do I write? It’s who I am, what I do. Why do I write cozy mysteries? Because I love them. And I love dogs. All of my mysteries feature dogs. I additionally enjoy writing romances, and there are also canines in my Alpha Force miniseries — werewolves! Also, the shifters have cover dogs in case they’re seen in shifted form.
For many years, I was an attorney specializing in real estate law. That was fun while it lasted, but I started getting my fiction published while I practiced law. Eventually, I became the full-time writer that I am today.
In addition to writing novels, I enjoy blogging and letting people know about my published work and just getting out there and meeting readers and other writers in person… and virtually!

More about To Catch A Treat:
Carrie Kennersly, veterinary technician and owner of the Barkery and Biscuits bake shop, agrees to a day of hiking with her brother Neal mostly because she wants to meet — and critique — his latest romantic interest, Janelle Blaystone. But instead of judgment, Carrie has only sympathy for Janelle, whose beloved black Labrador, Go, was recently dognapped along with many other purebred pets.
Janelle thinks the culprit is Ada Arnist, a wealthy homeowner spotted at the dog parks where Go and the others were stolen. Soon after Janelle confronts her, though, Ada is found dead. With Janelle and Neal on the suspect list, Carrie must solve the mystery before the police bark up the wrong tree.

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01A5OGVOE]

How to connect with Linda:
Webpage: http://www.LindaOJohnston.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOJohnston

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Meddling with Murder

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Annette Drake

Today I welcome the sister writing team of Pam Burks and Lorraine Campbell. They write contemporary women’s fiction laced with humor, romance, and mystery. Welcome!

Why do you write cozy mysteries?
We love stories with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing.
And we especially love humor. Most of all, cozy mysteries are usually character-driven and having entertaining, idiosyncratic characters in fiction is always a big plus! Lorraine, even more than Pam, is a big coward, the sort that puts her sweater over her head when something too scary or hard-core comes on screen. Of course cozy mysteries usually revolve around a murder but without the graphic elements that provoke nightmares and make you triple-check your doors and windows are locked. We want excitement, drama and suspense, yes. But most of all we want fun. We’re not brave enough to write anything that will have us shivering in our bed at night.

Please tell us about Meddling with Murder. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
It’s a funny mystery about a harassed housewife and mother who gets up to all kinds of crazy antics as she becomes a wanna-be sleuth operating her own North London agency. There are a lot of elements to the story but since Pam is always jaunting off on charity bike rides to Europe, it’s probably natural that bicycles feature largely in this one – stolen bikes, vandalism to Cathy’s girlfriends’ new bike shop. Then there’s the tougher side of being a teenager today, with gangs, drugs and the communication gap between parents and kids. We had this image of an alarmed mother anxious to find out why her teenage son is hiding a gun but terrified he’ll run away or choose to live with his divorced father if she probes. And since we wanted to add some complications to Cathy’s far too happy marriage, and we’d been talking about the Norfolk countryside (where both of us have had several holidays) we made husband Declan intent on moving the family away from the crime-ridden city and Cathy desperate to stay in Crouch End, running her business and close to her best friends. As in all our novels, the female friendship aspect is huge and Cathy faces some difficult choices about whether it’s more supportive to hide things from them or keep hurtful information secret to spare them heartbreak.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I’m not sure that we have an ideal reader exactly but if we did, they’d be very much like our friends. Probably over thirty, married or in a relationship, possibly with children (Pam has them, Lorraine doesn’t) so they can identify with the parenthood struggles. I think they would be gossipy, intelligent, concerned, tolerant, not too naïve about the world … who knows – maybe fans of Friends or Desperate Housewives? But whatever their age or social status, the biggest thing is that they like to laugh, they love hanging out with their girlfriends and they’re not afraid to have a good time.

Please describe your writing routine.
Ours is slightly different from most writers in that our working days involve a seven hour time difference – Lorraine starting just as Pam is almost ready to wrap up for the day. Having said that both of us work strange hours sometimes. Lorraine often rises at four a.m., works a few hours, takes a break to do horse stuff, then writes again in the afternoon. Pam works part-time at a local college, so on those days, she usually rushes to her computer as soon as she gets home, takes time off to cook and eat dinner and gets back to work again. (Otherwise she works a full day.) We usually rush to check emails first thing to see what the other has sent and that sets our priority. It might be a new version of the manuscript we’re working on, a blog post to write or questions that need to be answered. We often phone each other and get into hour-long discussions about plot problems, decisions to be made or promotional plans, calls which can be very creative, essential or total time-killers. And then we knuckle down and get to work, emailing each other a barrage of questions about anything that arises. At the end of the day we send off whatever we produce and a few hours later, our writing partner wakes up and carries on the good work.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
Be fearless. (I know that sounds contradictory given that we’ve admitted to being cowards but that’s why we write as a team.) It takes courage to start a book and stamina to finish. It takes courage to show it to people. It takes courage to face rejection and bad reviews.
However today’s novelists are extremely fortunate in that we don’t have to depend on traditional publishers to find readers. So, having said that, the best thing is to write about what interests you, what will make you excited to get to the computer, and accept that for most of us fiction is less about making money and more a creative need and labor of love.

More about Meddling with Murder:
Crouch End Confidential, the agency started by housewife and mother, Cathy O’Farrell, with ex-cleaner, Pimple, is failing badly. Hardly surprising when Cathy’s too soft-hearted to charge their only clients – little old ladies seeking lost pets and a school kid searching for his stolen bike.
A new case involving a teenager in possession of an unexplained Glock pistol promises to change all that. Quickly Cathy’s deep in waters over her head, forced with hilarious results to pose as a mathematics tutor, a subject of which she’s truly clueless. There’s also the tricky situation of best friend and new mother Rosa hiring her to investigate her fiancé, Alec, plus the mysterious sabotage of Cathy’s friends’ cycle shop and a gang of yobbos dealing drugs at her children’s primary school.
Worst of all, an ill-fated trip to rural Norfolk has Cathy’s husband, Declan, intent on buying a post office and transplanting the family to safer climes, threatening to tear Cathy permanently from her beloved North London home.
Pretty soon Cathy’s risking her friendships, her marriage and even her life untangling all these messes. But that’s what you get for meddling in murder.

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01DA706ZI]

How to connect with Ellie Campbell:
Website: http://chicklitsisters.com
Email address: chicklitsisters@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllieCampbellbooks:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ecampbellbooks

About the author:
Ellie Campbell is a pseudonym for sister writing team, Pam Burks and Lorraine Campbell. Running wild as tomboys in Scotland, playing imagination games, they couldn’t dream that one day they’d co-author novels despite an ocean between them. From boring clerical jobs in London to a varied life of backpacking and adventure travel, both started almost accidentally as short story writers, Lorraine when working in publishing, Pam as a fun hobby while an at-home mother of three.
By the time each had 70 short stories published internationally, Pam was settled in Surrey, England, and Lorraine had finally taken root in Boulder, Colorado. Long telephone chats about life and fiction led to their current collaboration. They have produced five acclaimed novels – How To Survive Your Sisters, When Good Friends Go Bad, Looking For La La, To Catch A Creeper and Million Dollar Question. They write contemporary women’s fiction laced with humor, romance, and mystery.
When not hunched over computers, Lorraine, a certified ROTH ‘horse whisperer’, can usually be found messing about with her four rescue horses. Pam spends her time on a fund-raising bike ride, madly cycling over mountains to Paris, Barcelona or Gibraltar on the back of her husband’s bone-shaking tandem.

For Dead Men Only

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Annette Drake

Author Paula Paul stops by today to talk about her new cozy mystery, For Dead Men Only. Welcome, Paula.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?
I like writing cozy mysteries because of the challenge. The plot must be more intricately woven than a thriller or even a police procedural novel. A cozy mystery presents a puzzle that the reader becomes involved in solving. I once read that cozy mysteries are the “beach reads for intellectuals.”

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
For Dead Men Only involves the secrets and ancient history of the Knights Templars and the Freemasons. I find those secret societies intriguing, and they lend themselves quite well to mysteries. I am so familiar with the fictitious village of Newton-Upon-Sea where the Gladstone series is set, and I’ve gotten to know the citizens of the village as I’ve written the books. I started wondering how they would think and feel about a Freemason’s lodge in the village and about the stories of the Templars who would have most certainly been a part of local legend. Once I started researching the organizations and how they evolved in Essex, where Newton is located, a plot just seemed to form itself, and I became eager to write the story.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I try to write for as broad a spectrum of the population as possible. I am aware that women buy more books than men, but I don’t want my books to be addressed only to women. I always assume that I am writing for a smart reader who won’t let me get away with writing down to them. I always think of my reader as a highly intelligent person who challenges me, and who won’t let me get by with sloppy plotting or facile solutions to the mystery.

Describe your writing routine.
I usually start writing in the afternoon and often write until dinner. After I’ve had dinner, I come back to my office and write more. That’s easier to do now that my children are grown and my husband is no longer living. When I had a houseful at home, I just snatched an hour here and there when I could. Now, I live with my two five-pound maltese-and-poodle-cross dogs who sleep in my lap while I write.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
Write a lot and read a lot. If you really want to be a writer, you either have to be writing or reading or thinking about writing. When you read a book in the genre or type in which you want to publish, you must not read strictly for pleasure. You need study the technique as you read and apply what you learn to your writing. Most of all, don’t give up. If a person really wants to be a writer, they don’t need that last bit of advice. A real writer will never give up.

More about For Dead Men Only:

The Temple of the Ninth Daughter sits on a hill at the edge of Newton-upon-Sea, an aura of mystery lingering over its tall, gray silhouette. Villagers whisper about the treasure housed inside, protected by local Freemasons who are bound by clandestine oaths.
Dr. Alexandra Gladstone has no time for such nonsense. Between the patients in her surgery and the rounds she makes with her faithful dog, Zack, her days are busy enough. But Alexandra has no logical explanation when the Freemasons start dying, one by one, with no sign of foul play other than smears of blood on their Masonic aprons. And what to make of reports that a Knight Templar rides through the village before each passing?
After the constable disappears in the midst of the crisis, Alexandra reaches out to her dashing, diligent friend, Nicholas Forsythe, Lord Dunsford, for assistance. Is someone after the treasure, or might a more sinister game be afoot? In order to solve this puzzle, Alexandra must somehow catch a killer who shows no remorse — and leaves no witnesses.

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01208WOJ4]

How to connect with Paula:
Website: paulapaul.net
Facebook: facebook.com/paula.paul.545
(the Gladstone series has a Facebook page:
Facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Gladstone-Mysteries/279336318782364
Twitter: PaulaPaul4

Never Trust a Skinny Cupcake Baker

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Annette Drake

Author D.E. Haggerty generously hosted me on her website in a few months back, so I’m delighted to return the publicity. Learn more about her newest release, Never Trust a Skinny Cupcake Baker!

About the book:

Callie’s life is rather awesome.
She owns a successful bakery and teaches German literature at the local university. There’s just one tiny problem. She has no self-confidence when it comes to her body. And then there’s the little matter of her being accused of murdering her pole dancing instructor. There’s no way Callie’s going to risk losing her teaching position and thus she embarks, with her best baker bud Anna, on a journey to discover the real killer. Between stripper auditions and a detective who insists Callie is the woman of his dreams, it’s a roller coast adventure. Cupcakes not included.

How to connect with D.E.:
Website: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/denaehaggerty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty

The author is hosting a $15 Amazon card giveaway. Here’s details on entering.
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Murder Dancing

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Annette Drake

If you’re a reader who loves a long series, this is the book for you! It’s the 16th installment of the Libby Sarjeant series. A hearty welcome to the author, Lesley Cookman. I’m so delighted to host her today. Welcome, Lesley.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?
I was brought up on mysteries/detective stories of the Golden Age, which I still love, and when I began to write this is what they were called! I had no idea I was writing “Cozy” crime when my first mystery was published, and I still hate the term.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
This particular book, the sixteenth in my Libby Sarjeant series, was inspired by the British Dance company of Matthew Bourne, whose innovative all-male Swan Lake took the world by storm over a decade ago.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I don’t really. I doubt very much if anyone under the age of 50 would enjoy them, and as far as I can tell, my main readership is female, but I’m not writing specifically for a white, middle-aged female audience. I’m very inclusive!

Please describe your writing routine.
Routine? What’s that? No, seriously, it’s my job, so I work as much as possible in my office and keep to more-or-less office hours.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
Keep trying and read. A LOT!

More about Murder Dancing:
Max Tobin brings his all-male dance company to Steeple Martin, with his new ballet Pendle, based on the infamous Pendle Witch Trials, due to be performed at the Oast Theatre.
There have been unpleasant incidents during rehearsals in London, and Max asks Libby Sarjeant and her friend Fran Wolfe to look into them. To everyone’s surprise, the seriousness of the incidents escalates until, inevitably, someone is murdered.
While the police look into the murder, Libby and Fran wonder why someone seemed so set against the ballet. Were occult forces at work, or was there a more worldly, personal motive?

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01BFSKBV8]

How to connect with Lesley:
Website: http://www.lesleycookman.co.uk
Email address: via website
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteepleMartinMysteries/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LesleyCookman

Death by Trombone

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Annette Drake

Today I welcome mystery author, Rebecca M. Douglass, to talk about Death by Trombone, the second installment in her Pismawallops PTA mystery series. Welcome, Rebecca.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?
I have been reading cozy mysteries for years, so when I set out to write a mystery it was natural that it would be a cozy. That also fits with my sense of humor — I just can’t take things too seriously, so I wasn’t likely to pull off a thriller or even a good police procedural. I like to keep the tone light, and I like reading books where the setting, people, and community are as important as the mystery, so that’s the kind of book I try to write.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
Death By Trombone is the second book in the Pismawallops PTA mystery series, so the main characters and setting were developed with Death By Ice Cream. Writing about a PTA was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek answer to the constant advice to “write what you know,” as at that time I was fully immersed in running a PTA (a task for which I’m not really any better suited than JJ MacGregor is). Pismawallops Island is in part based on Vashon Island, the Puget Sound “Rock” where I grew up.
The idea for DBT came from the title, which I’m pretty sure I selected just because it was a bit absurd. Having the title, I simply went looking around my brain for a trombonist, and the rest followed! JJ struggles with her impulse to investigate, because she knows it can be dangerous, and she’s a single mom. She is also at least half in love with the police chief, so if she forgets she shouldn’t be interfering, he’s always willing to remind her. But as she herself would say, things just happen to her, and she can’t ignore them, can she?

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I don’t think I have an ideal reader in mind, exactly. I do keep a certain type of audience in mind, as much as anything to keep me from wandering too far into non-cozy situations (violence, cursing, or sex). My mom (I admit it!) is in many ways that audience, and I sometimes run things by her to see if I’ve gone too far. Because this is a series about a PTA, I’m also thinking of the PTA parents who often share the same frustrations as JJ and her friend Kitty: the difficulty of finding volunteers, too many expectations, and the way that kind of work can keep drawing you in deeper. On reflection, that pretty much explains how JJ got started sleuthing, too!

Please describe your writing routine.
I wish! On an ideal day (I’m pretty sure I’ve had one of those, sometime), I would see the kid out the door at about 7:20, finish my breakfast and read the paper, and at 8:00 start working. I’d work for 2-3 hours, break for a workout and lunch, and then go to my job at the library. Evenings are for social media.
What really happens is that I have to run to the grocery store after breakfast, and then I just have to peek at Facebook, and someone wrote a great trip report on the backpacking forum where I hang out, and I need to run a load of laundry and bake some bread and… I do usually try to work for 1-2 hours each morning on writing or editing, and to spend some time at Goodreads and reading and commenting on other people’s blogs each day.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
Read. Read, read, read! And write. If you haven’t internalized English grammar, read more, and study it, because having the mechanics come without thinking really helps. Read in your genre and in others, including at least some of the time in genres you don’t really like. Pick a book in your genre that you like and dissect it — re-read, listen to the audio, figure out why you like it, and what works or doesn’t work. And write a lot. Don’t expect your first novel to be any good, but do finish and revise it. That’s all part of learning the craft. Finally, if you don’t enjoy the process, and I mean most of it (we all have something we struggle over), then it probably isn’t for you. Writing is unlikely to make you rich, so you need to love it.

More about Death by Trombone:
JJ MacGregor’s very bad day has just gotten a lot worse.
JJ thought starting the day without coffee was a disaster, but now there’s a dead musician behind the Pismawallops High School gym. His trombone is missing, and something about the scene is off key. JJ and Police Chief Ron Karlson are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but will they be able to work harmoniously or will discord ruin the investigation? With the music teacher as the prime suspect, JJ could be left to conduct the band, and then graduation might truly end in a death by trombone, or at least the murder of Pomp and Circumstance!

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B019HK8VI6]

How to connect with Rebecca:
Website: http://www.ninjalibrarian.com
Email address: Rebecca.douglass@ninjalibrarian.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaDouglassNinjaLibrarian/
Twitter: Douglass_RM

Other places to buy Death by Trombone:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/601273

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-by-trombone-rebecca-m-douglass/1123153621?ean=2940152530179

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A Muddied Murder

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Annette Drake

Author Wendy Tyson visits my blog today to talk about her new mystery novel, A Muddied Murder. Welcome, Wendy!

Why do you write fiction?
I write because in a sense I have to. It’s my favorite form of expression and a therapy of sorts. I write because I want to connect with other people, and the written word is the most direct, lasting, efficient way I’ve found to communicate with others. I write because I am in awe of language and the power of words. I write fiction because I love it. Probably like most of your readers, I’ve been a voracious reader since I can remember. My mother used to kick me out of the house (“put that book away and get some fresh air!”) because I always had a novel in my hands. It feels only natural to write fiction. I relish the challenge of using an imaginary story as a vehicle for communication and entertainment—and writing mysteries is particularly enjoyable. Each mystery is a puzzle, as much fun to create as to solve.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
A Muddied Murder, the first novel in the Greenhouse Mystery Series, was inspired by a personal hobby and a trip to North Carolina. My husband and I are passionate organic gardeners. We live on a four-season micro-farm in the Philadelphia suburbs, grow most of our own produce, and a few years ago, we started an urban farm. I’d long been thinking about a way to incorporate gardening/farming into my novels. One day, during a book signing in a small town in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, I had the idea to set an organic farming series in a small Pennsylvania town, a town similar to the one I had been visiting. The more I thought about the project, the more excited I became. I’d spent my childhood in the kitchens and gardens of my grandmothers, and, later, at my husband’s grandparents’ rural homestead. What better way to pay homage to those family members than a cozy about farming, sustainable agriculture and slow food? I couldn’t wait to get started, and A Muddied Murder was born.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I don’t really keep an ideal reader in mind while I write. I’d like to think that anyone can enjoy my mysteries. That said, I think the new Greenhouse series will especially appeal to people who enjoy mysteries with a colorful cast of characters (including animals), set in a small town. If they love gardening and/or “real” food? A bonus!

Please tell us about your writing routine.
I work full-time and have three kids, so I have to take advantage of any free moment I get to write or promote my books. Right now, I write largely in the mornings. I typically get up early, around five, and write for an hour or two before work. At night, I log on to Facebook and Twitter and attend to social media.
If I’m in the midst of a revision, or it’s crunch time for a book deadline, all bets are off. I use weekends, my lunch hour, PTO days — whatever it takes to finish the book.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?
My best advice is that if you want to be a writer, you need to write. Develop the habit of writing. There is no getting around the fact that you must write often and regularly. And stick with it. Don’t wait for inspiration. You have to foster inspiration, coax it out of its shell, make it come to you. Too often I see new writers focus on research, outlining, how to get published — anything but the act of writing itself. Stop making excuses and get that first draft done.

More about A Muddied Murder:
When Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family’s organic farm and café, she expects to find peace and tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, Pennsylvania. Instead, her goat goes missing, rain muddies her fields, the town denies her business permits, and her family’s Colonial-era farm sucks up the remains of her savings.
Just when she thinks she’s reached the bottom of the rain barrel, Megan and the town’s hunky veterinarian discover the local zoning commissioner’s battered body in her barn. Now Megan is thrust into the middle of a murder investigation—and she’s the chief suspect. Can Megan dig through small-town secrets, local politics, and old grievances in time to find a killer before that killer strikes again?

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01A1I8J6W]
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More about Wendy:
Wendy Tyson is an author, lawyer and former therapist whose background has inspired her mysteries and thrillers. Wendy’s latest novel, Dying Brand, the third Allison Campbell mystery, was released in May 2015. The first Campbell novel, Killer Image, was named a best mystery for book clubs in 2014 by Examiner.com. Wendy is also the author of The Greenhouse Mystery Series, the first of which, A Muddied Murder, premiered March 29. Wendy and her husband are passionate organic gardeners. They live with their three boys and three dogs on a micro-farm just outside of Philadelphia.

How to connect with Wendy:

Author website: http://www.watyson.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendytysonauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WendyTyson

Pinterest: Greenhouse Mystery Series: https://www.pinterest.com/henerypress/greenhouse-mystery-series/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7132379.Wendy_Tyson?from_search=true&search_version=service

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Between Good and Evil

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Annette Drake

Today, I welcome R. Michael Phillips to talk about his novel, Between Good and Evil. I really enjoyed this interview, and I hope you do too. Welcome, Michael!

Why do you write fiction?
Fiction is, and always has been, a great escape from the demands and sometimes drudgery of our everyday lives. Before there were movies, or TV, or Smartphones, there were books. Books filled with stories of faraway lands, colorful characters, or worlds far beyond our own. The authors of these books allowed an individual to experience other cultures or different periods in time. They brought romance into some lives and mystery into others. They introduced us to Pip and Mrs. Havisham, Holmes and Watson, Mr. Darcy, Scarlett O’Hara, and so many more leading to current favorites like Harry Potter, Jesse Stone, and Katniss Everdeen. Characters so real we feel we’ve known them forever.
So, why do I write fiction? Having the ability to create a character, develop a story around them, and then present them to readers is one of the most creatively rewarding things you can do. Over the course of writing the new Auburn Notch series I’ve developed a few new characters that I hope readers will come to love or hate as I do. I’m just finishing the second book in the series, so I’ve gotten to know these characters pretty well. My reward for doing this is hearing what my readers think of them.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?
Between Good And Evil is the first book in my new Auburn Notch Mysteries. The book introduces Sheriff Promise Flynn, an overly impulsive Metro Detective whose disregard for procedure finally resulted in her being shot and left for dead during an investigation. To repair her bruised ego and splintered confidence she abandons the callous dark alleys of Chicago to patrol the quiet, birch-lined streets of Auburn Notch. What she wasn’t expecting were her troubles following her there.
Promise is a combination of the personalities of two people I met years ago. My recollection of them was so strong that when it came time to develop a main character for the new series I drew from those memories. With a little creative license I added something extra to her background, darkening the past enough to add a mysterious note to an otherwise outwardly carefree appearance. We all have skeletons in our closets; it’s when they choose to rattle their bones that make our lives interesting.
As for the town of Auburn Notch? I spent many years in New Hampshire, skiing, hiking, and just enjoying the scenery and the hospitality of the wonderful New Englanders. I still look forward to every trip back there. There is genuineness to the towns I spent time in and the people who make up those towns. It was an easy choice for a setting when I was putting together the series. I believe location is so important to any story that it should be treated like a character. The setting has to make sense of the events.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.
I’ve read mysteries all my life, so the progression to writing them seemed to just happen. The readers I hope will enjoy my books are readers quite like myself — people who enjoy whodunits with quirky characters, surprising plot twists, and Aha! moments peppered in throughout the book. They enjoy a good puzzle and get to the answer right along with the main character. The Auburn Notch Mysteries are a little darker than my Ernie Bisquets Mysteries; they’re English cozies. The new series has a bit more suspense to it, something I hope my readers will enjoy as much as I do writing it.

Please describe your writing routine.
I have, since I first opened my laptop and typed the first words of my first book some 10 years ago, devote all day Saturday to writing. Whether it’s one paragraph, one chapter, or research for certain technical aspects of the book, I devote 8-10 hours every Saturday to writing. This is not to say I don’t throw together notes and plot ideas during the week, because I do. I’m constantly jotting down ideas, dropping them off on my desk all week long. But when Saturday comes, I hit the keys hard and stay at it all day. My family is very supportive, which I appreciate immensely. I think the key to writing is establishing a routine and sticking to it. I talk to other writers all the time who write just about every day. They all tell me the same thing — they get distracted and don’t get as much done as they hoped. Treat writing like a job; set hours and be there on time.

What advice do you give writers just starting their careers?
There are many stumbling blocks along the way when writing your first book, too many to really mention but none that you can’t overcome. Along with those you should remember, there are no magic formulas. If you follow a few basic steps it will take the pain out of writing that first novel. First, get the story out of your head and into a basic book form. This is your first draft. It will be short, terrible, and an editor’s nightmare, but it will at least be a story. Second, go back to the beginning and start fleshing out your characters, cleaning up the plot, and correcting grammar. Done correctly, this should significantly increase your word count along with polishing your book. Third, hire an editor to check the entire book. This can be done relatively inexpensively, and should be looked at as an investment in your work. This is important, so don’t skip this step. If you want to be taken as a serious writer, a polished manuscript will speak volumes. From here you start the query process and the next book. A good query is just as important as the book itself. It is the first impression an agent/publisher will have of you and your work. Make it count. I highly suggest a query-writing seminar. There are a lot of good ones out there. While the query process is going on, get the next book started. Don’t be surprised if the second book is hands-down better than the first, it happens more than you think.

More about Between Good and Evil:
Years after the Willis Asylum closed, the secrets of its past lingered in its decaying halls as a reminder to the good people of Auburn Notch. When Evil closes a door, he opens a window. Sheriff Promise Flynn was new to the town, and she was about to find out some windows should never be opened.
Promise Flynn is an overly impulsive Metro Detective whose disregard for procedure finally resulted in her being shot and left for dead during an investigation. To repair her bruised ego and splintered confidence she abandons the callous dark alleys of Chicago to patrol the quiet, birch-lined streets of Auburn Notch—a favorite vacation spot of her youth. For two years everything was idyllic, until the body of a young girl found in the abandoned asylum outside of town awakens the insecurities she thought her new life would insulate her from.
As the new Sheriff she begins her investigation refusing to accept the similarities between the young woman’s death and her own case, oblivious to being unexpectedly recognized and penciled in at the top of a clever murderer’s To-Do list. Her internal struggle intensifies when a discredited crime reporter from the past suspiciously arrives in town to resurrect his threadbare reputation, along with an FBI agent chasing down a lead in a cold case. Both men quickly become entangled in Flynn’s investigation and her attempts to finally put her past to rest.
Flynn reluctantly accepts the murder of the young girl might be the work of the two men responsible for her hasty departure from Chicago, but Agent MacGregor insists the evidence points to a man he’s been chasing. As the rising current of her past threatens to pull her under, Flynn finds herself unprepared for option three.

Grab your copy here: [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01B12YPTC]

Michael Phillips is a classically trained artist turned mystery writer. By combining his creative talents with a passion for mysteries he conceived his first series—The Ernie Bisquets Mysteries. It introduced Ernie Bisquets, a retired London pickpocket who decided he was going to assist the London police with their most difficult cases, whether they want his help or not. Michael has completed three books in the series, and has plans for at least five additional books.

Michael travels a bit, especially to Great Britain, but also has a fondness for New England. He spent many winters in the shadow of the White Mountains, skiing and enjoying the beautiful countryside. Those fond memories are the backdrop now for the new Auburn Notch Mysteries being published by Sunbury Press. The main character is Sheriff Promise Flynn—an ex-metro detective who left a dark past and her big-city detective shield behind and moved to a small New England town. What follows is anything but therapeutic.

When not painting or writing Michael is an avid antique collector, filling his current home — an 1894 Queen Ann Victorian he is restoring with his wife and son — with an assortment of antiques from around the world. Michael also enjoys cooking, working in the garden, and playing in the yard with their two rescues, Beau and Pup.

How to connect with Michael:

Website:
http://www.rmichaelphillips.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/R-Michael-Phillips-104782886282707/?ref=tn_tnmn

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2995205.R_Michael_Phillips

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rmpbook

A Fifer’s Blog:
http://rmichael-fifer.blogspot.com

Death by Sunken Treasure

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Annette Drake

Author Kait Carson is visiting my blog today to talk about her newest book, Death by Sunken Treasure. Welcome, Kait!

Florida, where the rules are different.
Both of my mystery series are based in Florida. The Catherine Swope series is set in the greater Miami area. The Hayden Kent series is based in the fabulous Florida Keys.
Florida is a state of contrasts and a state of mind. Glance at a map of the United States. Down there, deep in the Southeast, is the Florida peninsula. Now keep following the coastline. Dribbling from the end of the peninsula is a series of buff-colored bumps connected by a skinny road and a number of bridges. At the very end of the trail, Key West. Some say that when you run out of places to go, you end up in Key West. That was probably true at one time, heaven knows the place has (and has had) far more than its fair share of eccentrics.
Take the lone road north from Key West and you’ll soon come to Miami. A thriving metropolis, the financial center of the tropical south where life and business is conducted with a Latin accent. Eccentrics who don’t get all the way to Key West roost in Miami. It’s a place of reinvention. No one delves too deeply into the past. A fall from grace elsewhere can be a leg up in this last bastion of free enterprise and the American dream.
Leave the tri-County area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach and you’ve left the tropics. The East Coast continues through largely sleepy beach towns until you arrive in Jacksonville, the insurance capital of Florida. Venture through the center of the state (avoiding the mouseland of Disney) and you’ll find the Deep South. Central Florida is a place of cattle ranches and orange groves. Accents here bring with them the soft drawl of the South and the taste of sweet tea. Follow the west coast to the big bend (try to skip Tampa – another big city in the State) and you’ll meet more cracker than conch. Yes, it’s a state of contrasts.
For a writer, Florida quickly becomes a character in the story. The state has so much of its own energy it won’t be ignored. Hayden Kent in both Death by Blue Water and Death by Sunken Treasure knows that life can change in an instant in the Keys. Living in an area with one road in and out, that is subject to blinding rainstorms, hurricanes, floods, and the ever-present threat of waterspouts, tornadoes, and lately, earthquakes, keeps you humble. Life is always at the mercy of the weather. God had a sense of humor when he made the Keys. Like the gorgeous Angel Trumpet plant that grows everywhere in the tropics, it is beautiful, but deadly.
Hayden is doubly aware of the danger. She’s a SCUBA diver, often visiting underwater wrecks and dive sites in excess of one hundred feet below the surface. It’s a dangerous place for the uninitiated. And it’s where Hayden has found not only bodies, but almost her own death. Only Hayden’s training and skill at the sport have saved her. As she says in Death by Sunken Treasure, “If the sea wants you, then no amount of skill will matter.” She will tell you that it’s underwater that she feels most alive and she returns to the underwater environment again and again. Even though she knows, underwater, no one can hear you scream.
Readers, do you feel drawn to a book that uses the setting as an integral part of the story? Writers, do you use setting as a character?

More about Death by Sunken Treasure:
When Hayden Kent’s mentor and friend discovers her son Mike’s dead body, dressed in full scuba attire, washed up on Pigeon Key, she needs Hayden. Her paralegal and dive skills may help unravel the tragedy of Mike’s last days. He’d recently discovered a sunken Spanish galleon and rumors that he hit the mother lode ran through the Keys like wildfire.
Hayden’s dive on the treasure site uncovers gold, and clues that Mike’s death was something far more sinister than an accident. When two different wills, both signed the day Mike died, are delivered to the courthouse, the suspect list grows, as do the threats against her. The danger escalates as she tries to save herself, discover the motive, and find the killer.

About Kait:
Kait Carson spent a lifetime living and working in the tropical paradise of south Florida. She opted for a day job as a paralegal, practicing in the world of high-end estates and probate litigation. Legal pads give way to a keyboard in the evening and Kait spins tales of murder and mayhem set in the steamy Florida heat. Like her protagonist, Hayden Kent, Kait is an accomplished SCUBA diver. She lives with her husband, six rescue cats and three tropical birds at an airpark in Florida. Not too far from the water.

How to connect with Kait:

Website: http://www.kaitcarson.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kaitcarsonauthor
Twitter – @kaitcarson
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5769655.Kait_Carson

Grab your copy of Death by Sunken Treasure here:
[amazon text=Amazon&asin=B01A1HZ6U0]

For those who want to read series in order, here’s where to grab a copy of the first installment, Death by Blue Water:
[amazon text=Amazon&asin=B00N11OD80]

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