Laina Turner's Blog, page 9

Why I love a cozy Lifestyle

What does the word cozy mean to you?

To me, the word cozy conjures up visions of hot drinks, a warm blanket, and a roaring fire, among other things. As an author, I have gravitated toward writing cozy mysteries and clean, heartfelt romance. I have realized that I find those genres cozy (even if the word cozy wasn’t in the genre name cozy mystery).

The genres are light-hearted, serious but not too deep, meaningful, but also warm and inviting like a warm cup of coffee or cocoa.

Now obviously, I can’t sit on my warm and cozy couch all day reading and being cozy, but it’s less about a setting and more about a feeling. I can find “cozy” in many places.

I thought I would list my top 10 things that evoke a cozy feeling for me. It’s also a list of things that make me happy. No great coincidence that they are one and the same.

The coffee shop with it’s fragrant smells (and of course the coffee itself)
A walk with a friend
Cuddling with the dogs
Reading a book
Having a meaningful conversation
Window shopping
A nap
The colors pink, gray, and white
A piece of dark chocolate
Fuzzy blankets

What makes your cozy list?

 

 

 

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Why I changed my Publishing Name

After 10 years of using the name Laina Turner as my author name for my cozy mysteries a couple months ago, I decided to make a switch.

Why, you ask?

Because I like to make things difficult for myself. I just love a challenge, don’t you?

Ok, not really. The name change wasn’t on a whim. It was something I had thought about for a very long time before actually deciding to do it. I thought I had things well thought out and a calculated plan on how to execute things. I knew it would be kind of a pain to change all my book covers over social media accounts, explaining to my readers, and all that, but I felt it was what needed to happen to best reflect my brand.

However, the name change endeavor has proved to be a lot harder than I ever expected. The word challenging doesn’t even begin to describe what it’s been like, but when I finally finish the process, I know it will be worth it.

When I started writing years ago, I used Laina Turner, my real first name, and my maiden name. Since we’re all friends, and I do like to be transparent, I can tell you my legal last name is Molaski (my ex-husbands). My current husband’s last name is Sartori. I didn’t change it when we married because I wanted to have the same last name as my kids. For a long time, my son thought it’s just because I thought having a Polish last name was cool.

I may change it when my kids are all off on their own, but then again, maybe not. It’s a lot of paperwork, and not sure it’s worth it.

But anyway, I digress.

After years of writing cozy mystery, I finally wrote the romance books I’d wanted to write for years. Delving into a new genre meant I needed a pen name (for marketing reasons, not because I wanted one), and I came up with Elle Sweet.

I thought I was so brilliant. Elle for the “L” in Laina and Sweet was my grandfather’s last name, so it was meaningful, plus I found it fitting for a clean romance author.

However, it never felt right to me to have a pen name. I didn’t feel authentic, and it hindered me from engaging my fans. I actually became a little angry. Because while I enjoy writing cozy mysteries and love all my readers, I’ve been dreaming of writing a clean contemporary romance with older characters for years. Now that I was finally doing it, I didn’t feel I could market my romance books the way I wanted, and that made me mad.

I realize being uncomfortable and not marketing the way I want to is mostly in my head. I know so many authors who use multiple pen names because they write in different genres, and they do just fine marketing their books. I’m even confident that readers aren’t fazed by an author they like using a pen name. It’s common. But for some reason, it bothered me.

However, I knew I needed a pen name to keep my genres separated on Amazon.

After a lot of thought, I created a pen name closer to my actual name in hopes it would “feel” better to me, and that’s how I came up with L.C. Turner. The initials of my proper name Laina Carole.

Instead of just changing my romance books to the new L.C. Turner name, I thought, why not make things as confusing as possible? I changed my cozy mysteries from Laina Turner to L.C. Turner and changed my romance books to Laina Turner.

Now, why would I do that to myself, you ask? Isn’t that taking a confusing process and making it even that much more confusing?

Why yes? Yes, it does, but again, it all had to do with how I felt portraying myself to readers and my desire to be as authentic as possible.

While both the cozy mysteries I write and the romance are fiction, the romance books I write are more personal, and I want them to have a message.

My cozy mysteries also have many personal elements, but I don’t live in a town where people drop dead like flies. I am an almost 50-year-old woman who has been married twice, divorced once, has kids, has lost a parent, plus experienced many more of life’s obstacles. You know all the life experiences that help form who we are.

Because my passion is romance with older characters who have experienced many life’s curveballs, I wanted these to be written under my real name to share my real experiences.

I know it’s confusing; I know I may anger some who buy one of my cozy mysteries under L.C. Turner just to find out they already read it (thank goodness for the simple process of returns). Still, I hope you understand why I changed the name.

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FRIEND FRIDAY – ROSE FRESQUEZ

This week’s Friend Friday spotlights The Doctor’s Nanny by Rose Fresquez.

Find the book on Amazon.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

He’s about to propose to the woman of his dreams when he meets the love of his life.

As a successful neurosurgeon about to propose to his gorgeous girlfriend, Ryan Harper has the perfect life. When his sister and brother-in-law die in a tragic car accident, he suddenly becomes a single dad to his orphaned niece and nephews. A sixty-hour workweek with a houseful of children is a lot to juggle, and he desperately needs help.

When Destiny Brown finds herself out of work, she takes a job as a temporary live-in nanny. Despite her lack of experience, she’s certain she can handle four kids. Fighting her attraction to her handsome boss, however, is going to require some extra training.

While all his spare time should be on connecting with his girlfriend, Destiny’s love and devotion to his family is working its way into his heart. Every conversation, every interaction, every heated glance across the table, might be a step closer to his destiny—until his best friend starts pursuing Destiny.

Ryan can do one of two things: confess his feelings to his employee, or suffer in silence and let fate take its course.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rose Fresquez is a stay-at-home mom, with a husband and four kids. In her free time, she likes to spend time outdoors with the family, sing gospel music and plotting her next writing project.

Rose’s writing projects include both Christian non-fiction and Christian fiction.

Her latest release coming soon is Something Right. An interracial romance between a firefighter and an Interior Designer. Other books are; FIRST SITE, COMPLEX, the Ten Commandments for Kids and Families and Rose’s Signed and Delivered devotional letters.

Visit Rose on Facebook.

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FRIEND FRIDAY – CHERRY CHRISTENSEN

This week’s Friend Friday spotlight is on Cherry Christensen’s Secret Angel.

Find the book on Amazon and FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Doctoral student Hannah Wagganer has big dreams of leaving her hometown of Glen Arbor behind to teach at a large university. That is, until Jasper Morgan, the new mail carrier, arrives in town. Not only does he send Hannah’s heart racing, but he creates an instant bond with her cat, Jingles.

While Hannah is busy preparing for the church’s candlelight Christmas Eve service and running the family store, she keeps bumping into Jasper—right in front of the prying eyes of the locals, who suspect there’s more going on than business as usual.

But then, a series of unexpected blessings occurs that changes the town’s focus: first, an anonymous donor pays to have the church furnace repaired, and then other locals suddenly find solutions to their problems. Is it coincidental, or the work of a secret angel?

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cherry resides in the Mitten State with her husband of 19 years and a tabby cat named Caden. A true Michigander, she points at the palm of her right hand when telling people where she lives, drinks Vernors ginger ale when she’s under the weather, wears shorts and a sweatshirt at the same time, and measures distance in minutes, not miles. She also cheers for her favorite football team, the Michigan Wolverines. Go Blue! A confirmed night owl, Cherry wholeheartedly agrees with whoever said, “I could be a morning person, if morning happened around noon.” It’s no surprise then she prefers to write in the evening. She’s a bit of a pantser writer, meaning she dreams up stories without using an outline, so every day is an exciting adventure as she waits to see where the characters lead her next! A lifelong avid reader, Cherry turned to writing as a creative outlet. Drawing partly from her own experiences, and partly from her wild imagination, she weaves romantic tales with a smidgen of religion and a hint of mystery. Cherry’s first novel, The Fearful Heart, debuted in 2014, and she has never looked back. She continues to grow as an author, learning more about the writing craft with each book.

Visit Cherry on Facebook and Pinterest.

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Promotions & Poisons – A Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery FREE Ebook

Grab your free copy of this fast paced, exciting cozy mystery!

Can Presley crack the case of her murdered co-worker before she ends up in jail?

Presley Thurman, the Human Resources manager at her company, is up for a big promotion and the only thing standing in her way is co-worker Susan, who is also a candidate.

Presley and Susan aren’t the best of friends, so when Susan turns up murdered Presley is the logical suspect.

It’s no secret she didn’t like Susan, but she certainly didn’t kill her. Presley has to clear her name before not only does she lose out on this big promotion, but even worse – she ends up in jail!

Do you love cozy mysteries with a quirky, strong female lead that just can’t keep her nose out of police business? Do you enjoy a touch of romance with your cozies? Then the Presley Thurman series is for you!

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FRIEND FRIDAY – KANDICE E. GEDDES

This week’s Friend Friday spotlight is on Silver Bells Cottage by Kandice E. Geddes.

Find the pre-order on Amazon – releases November 30, 2020.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Holiday Cottages are magical places, where those who come to Sprucewood, Colorado to “get away” find themselves and their hopes renewed, relationships kindled, and dreams coming true. Read the twelve Holiday Cottage books in this series…. (Book 3) Silver Bells Cottage No matter where she goes….he still finds her. Noelle Carroll, Christmas fanatic and YouTube singing sensation, has thousands of followers and adoring fans. Her songs have more views than the average cat video. Yet, one obsessed fan becomes threatening in the emails he keeps sending her. In an attempt to get away from the city and find a sense of security, she and her sister decide to stay in the small town of Sprucewood, Colorado, where her uncle resides as the local sheriff. The picturesque town feels more like a trip back to Mayberry than a refuge from the current threat, but that fits in with Noelle’s wistful sensibilities just fine. The swoony deputy doesn’t hurt matters either. After receiving a less than cordial reception from the town’s Scrooge for stumbling into him while Christmas caroling on his front porch, she comes up with the perfect scheme to not only get back at him for his rude behavior but also sprinkle a little holiday cheer into his seemingly “bah humbug” life. But when her prank backfires and her heart starts to beat to the tune of a different song, she realizes maybe first impressions aren’t always the most reliable. As Christmas quickly approaches, the threat towards her escalates and Noelle begins questioning who she can truly trust when her bubble of safety in this small town starts to disappear. Will the magic of Christmas be enough to save her and perhaps set more than one heart free before it’s too late? Silver Bells Cottage is a sweet romantic comedy full of swoony moments, magical mishaps, and a healthy dose of suspense. Come along for the journey of finding home and healing all wrapped up in one.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kandice Geddes was born and raised beside the red hills of St. George, Utah. She discovered her love of writing as a small child and began creating stories about mermaids falling for dashing princes. Thank you, Disney.

FRIEND FRIDAY – CHRISTMAS COOKIE COZIES

This week’s Friend Friday features Christmas Cookie Cozies, a cozy mystery holiday anthology that has stories from Ava Mallory, Summer Prescott, Jenna St. James, Gretchen Allen, Laina Turner, Joanna Campbell Slan, S. C. Merritt, Minnie Crockwell, Mona Marple, Rachael Stapleton and Loraine Hudson – along with their favorite holiday cookie recipe!

Find it on Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

2020 is going to be the coziest holiday season yet with these cozy mystery authors and their favorite holiday cookie recipes!

Gretchen Allen – Lost Claus

Charlotte Moss is one tough cookie, but her new job as Mrs. Claus isn’t what she expected. When Santa goes missing and a body is found, the most wonderful time of the year looks bleak.

Joanna Campbell Slan – How the Cookie Crumbles

Cara Mia Delgatto never met her maternal grandmother. But Nonie Josephina reaches out from the grave with a message for Cara: I left behind a treasure! Can Cara Mia find it before Santa comes to town?

S.C. Merritt – Caramelized Casualty

With the annual holiday unveiling of a giant gingerbread village quickly approaching, Kate Kennedy’s stress level is sky high. When one of the event’s diva celebrity chefs turns up dead, Kate decides she has no choice but to team up with the town’s newest detective if she’s going to pull off the big event. Can she expose the killer in time to save the event?

Minnie Crockwell – Death By Cookie

Widow Sallie Chilcoat decides to get into the holiday spirit by baking up a batch of cookies for her lakeside condominium neighbors only to have one of them turn up dead – with the remains of her cookies! Did Sallie kill her neighbor with her vegan cookies?

Ava Mallory – Christmas Cookie Catastrophe

When Consuelo “Cookie” Alvarez inherits a bakery from her aunt Birdie, she doesn’t expect to take her late aunt’s place in the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off. Now she has two weeks to perfect the super-secret recipe, but there are major obstacles in her way: she can’t bake, the recipe is missing, and her competitors are a who’s who of shady characters.

Summer Prescott – Hang Out The Stalkings

Someone is stealing Nancy’s cookies…will they steal her holiday spirit too?

Jenna St. James – Christmas Cookie Caper

When Ivy O’Brien learns her mother has been injured at the annual Couples Christmas Cookie Contest, she runs to the rescue. Looks like she needs to fill in for her mother and hunky policeman Anthony Romano has to help bake the cookie and question the suspects. Between dough-making disasters, nips of peppermint Schnapps, and rolling pin thefts, the pair slowly whittle down their suspect list.

Mona Marple – The Santa Run Is Murderous Fun

Emily Monk’s run out of excuses not to take part in the annual Santa run, but the festivities are threatened when the long-running Santa Run champ is found dead the day before the race.

With a killer to be caught, and a Christmas dinner to be bought, Emily needs to think fast if she’s going to solve this case before Santa comes.

Rachael Stapleton – Christmas, Corpses & the Gingerdead Flip-Flop

When house flippers Jack Young and Juniper Palmer purchase a colorful Queen Anne home, Juniper assumes the exterior gingerbread trim will be the most outlandish thing to see. That is until a prominent wine merchant dressed as Santa is murdered, and Jack’s mother is caught on the naughty list.

Loraine Hudson – Holly, Jolly Misdeeds

First, it’s a thieving Santa. Next, it’s a prowler that threatens Jenny’s peace. It all seems to revolve around a box of cookies.  Why? And what’s next?

Laina Turner – Cookies and Crime

What is supposed to be a joy-filled awards ceremony for the Romero Boy Scouts turns out to be anything but when Jean Sartor, Scout co-leader, drops dead on stage.

Trixie lands herself on the suspect list since she baked Christmas cookies for the ceremony. She knows she didn’t poison Jean, but who did?

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FRIEND FRIDAY – TRACI WOODEN-CARLISLE

This week’s Friend Friday spotlight is on Traci Wooden-Carlisle’s Taking Chances.

Find Taking Chances on Amazon.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Friendship always seemed like the safest bet, but the possibility of love may make theirs a chance worth taking. Almost from birth, Andrew Wolfe knew the majority of his life would be spent healing people. It’s a passion that he embraces with all of his being until a dark-haired, gray-eyed girl looks up from a pile of books between them and challenges the space in his heart for his first love.

Unsure if he can have Pietra along with the life he’s been destined, Andrew remains friends with Pietra for years without revealing his true feelings, but love won’t be denied forever.

Those who’ve met Pietra Rivera think she’s a shy but kind and generous woman with intelligence to rival the best minds in medicine, and they would be right.

They also believe that the ideal man for her would be an equally nice guy, with like ambitions who would move mountains for her and again they would be correct. But is Andrew that man or is she headed for heartbreak?

Will either of them take the chance at more than friendship with the other or will lifelong expectations and obligations keep them in the friend zone?

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Traci Wooden-Carlisle began writing poetry and short stories as soon as she was able to form words on paper. She used that as a way to create worlds, as well as, to communicate with God. A native of Los Angeles, California, she grew up attending United Methodist Church under the leadership of a pastor whose heart was for youth. Once she finished college she found herself at a loss. She felt caught in the transition between childhood and adulthood. She surrounded herself with saints and volunteered her services as a graphic artist. Through the early-morning prayer, all night Friday prayer and 3-day shut-ins she started on her journey toward her most desired gift, an intimate relationship with God. She began writing to publish in 2011 and enjoys writing stories that provoke thought and evoke emotions. Her desire is to draw readers into the lives of her characters and share messages of God’s love, His faithfulness and peace. The messages in her books speak to her way before they speak to her readers. Traci lives in San Diego with her husband, David. When she isn’t writing she does some light traveling or assists people with their physical fitness, creates graphics, designs pretty things for her jewelry business and swag for authors.

Visit Traci on her website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

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FRIEND FRIDAY – MICHELE BROUDER

This week’s Friend Friday spotlight is on Michele Brouder’s A Wedding For Christmas.

Find this new release on Amazon.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

One disastrous blind date might just lead to something else…

After being dumped, Annie Beasley moves to New York City to create a new life for herself. When her sister gets engaged to her ex-boyfriend’s brother and decides on a Christmas wedding, Annie knows she can’t avoid her ex forever. But she’s intent on proving that she has moved on with her life. If only she had a new man in her life to bring home with her!

Oliver Chesterfield has been in New York for a year and although he misses England, he’s determined to make his mark without using any family connections. The only glitch was a disastrous blind date with Annie, an experience he’d care not to repeat. But when he realizes he needs a date for his company Christmas party to impress his boss, it’s Annie who comes to the rescue. But not without conditions of her own. And before he knows it, Oliver has agreed to be Annie’s date for her sister’s wedding.

It’s strictly a business arrangement. They don’t like one another. But it only takes one spark to light a fire.

Each book in The Happy Holidays series is a standalone novel and therefore can be read in any order.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michele Brouder is originally from the Buffalo, New York area. She has lived in the southwest of Ireland since 2006, except for a two-year stint in Florida. She makes her home with her husband, two boys, and a dog named Rover. Her go to place is, was, and will always be the beach. Any beach. Any weather.

Find Michele on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

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FRIEND FRIDAY – ANNETTE K. LARSEN

Annette K. Larsen’s Songs For Libby is this week’s Friend Friday feature.

Find this book on Amazon.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Libby and Sean have been best friends for years. Libby was there to help him climb the ladder of success, but now that Sean has made it big in the music industry, he’s fallen into the cliché bad habits of stardom, and Libby is constantly having to pull her delinquent best friend out of trouble. The emotional toll is wearing her down, but she’s afraid that putting herself first will mean leaving Sean to self-destruct.

Eventually, Sean’s recklessness lands him in serious trouble, and Libby is forced to make a heart-breaking decision. Rather than becoming collateral damage to Sean’s fame and addiction, she chooses to save herself…by walking away.

Years later, Libby has lived a lot of life, and instead of being the one to pull Sean out of the darkness, she finds herself in need of rescuing. Can she trust Sean to be there for her, or will allowing him back into her life put her broken heart in greater danger?

Full of heart-wrenching decisions and a friendship with the potential to be so much more, Songs for Libby takes a hard look at what it means to truly love someone, what it takes to restore trust after it’s been all used up, and the joy that comes from fighting the battles that need to be won.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I write sweet, clean romance. Why? Because that’s what I love to read, but over the years I’ve discovered it’s quite a challenge to find wholesome romance that’s also quality romance. I believe it’s a genre that many people are looking for and too few authors are writing. My first novel, Just Ella, took me many years to write because I wanted it to be more than just a cutesy love story. I wanted it to have depth, to feel genuine. Hopefully I succeeded, but you’ll have to be the judge. I have Charlotte Bronte to thank for the courage to write novels. After being bombarded with assigned reading about women who justified abandoning either their families or their principles in the name of love, I had the great fortune of reading Jane Eyre. And that was it: finally a heroine who understood that being moral and making the right choice was hard, and sometimes it hurt, but it was still worth it. After rereading it several years later, I realized that if I wanted more books to exist with the kinds of heroines I admired, then I might as well write a few myself. My books are about women who face hard choices, who face pain and rejection and often have to sacrifice what they want for what is right. The consequences are often difficult or unpleasant, but in the end, doing what’s right will always be worth it. I was born in Utah, but grew up in Flagstaff Arizona and St. Louis Missouri, the fifth of seven children. I studied English and Theater in college. I now live in Idaho with my husband and five littles. I believe there is no substitute for good writing or good chocolate. Fortunately, one often leads to the other.

Visit Annette on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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