Beth Groundwater's Blog, page 65

Tomorrow's Guest Blogger: Timothy Hallinan!

Tomorrow, thriller author Timothy Hallinan will be a guest on my blog. Timothy Hallinan has written ten published novels, all thrillers. A series of six mysteries he wrote in the 1990s featuring erudite Los Angeles private eye Simeon Grist is a cult favorite and two titles, THE FOUR LAST THINGS and EVERYTHING BUT THE SQUEAL are now available for the Kindle. Since 1981, Hallinan has divided his time between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia, the setting for his Poke Rafferty novels: A NAIL...

Mystery Writers Mix and Munch!

On Saturday, August 14th, I hosted the summer mixer at my home for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (RMMWA). We scheduled it for noon, since some attendees drove two hours or more to come, and asked everyone to bring a dish to share for a potluck lunch. I provided drinks and paper goods and my photographer husband took photos of the festivities.

What a great time we had! By 4 pm, I was sitting in an easy chair with the last of the homemade peach wine (thanks to the Dilt...

A Horseback Ride for Research

On Monday, my husband and I took a guided horseback ride with Academy Riding Stables on a trail through the Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs. This was done for research for the third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series. The weather was delightful, and the vegetation was super green from all the rain we've been having (rare for our high-alpine desert environment).

My legs remembered what a horseback ride was like--and the soreness afterward, and I was able t...

My mystery author guest: Deborah Coonts

I'm pleased to welcome Deborah Coonts, author of Wanna Get Lucky?, to my blog today to answer my interview questions and ones asked by my blog readers. Above is the cover photo for the first book in her Lucky O'Toole series, which was released May 11th.

Deborah Coonts, of Las Vegas, comes barreling onto the book scene with this sinfully delicious tale of Lucky O'Toole, 'Chief Problem Solver' for The Strip's newest, most over-the-top, mega-casino, The Babylon. With her hotel bursting with por...

Tomorrow's Guest: Deborah Coonts!

I'm very, very excited to have debut mystery author Deborah Coonts coming on my blog as a guest tomorrow. Deborah's mother tells her she was born in Texas a very long time ago, though Deborah is not totally sure—her mother can't be trusted. But she was definitely raised in Texas on Barbeque, Mexican food, and beer. She currently resides in Las Vegas, where family and friends tell her she can't get into too much trouble. Silly people. Coonts has built her own business, practiced law, flown...

Pikes Peak Writers' American Icon Event

Last Friday evening I attended Pikes Peak Writers' American Icon event and worked at the registration desk. At this annual super-fun evening event, contestants have two minutes to read from their work of fiction or non-fiction. A panel of three celebrity judges then gives on-the-spot feedback to the contestant. At the end of the night, the audience votes for an Audience Favorite and the judges panel awards prizes in various categories.

A cash bar and a dessert buffet and lots of literary frien...

Cover Art for Deadly Currents!

The cover art for the first book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, Deadly Currents, has been released by Midnight Ink and is slowly making its way onto the on-line booksellers' websites. It's up on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, though on Barnes & Noble, you have to search for it by ISBN (9780738721620) versus my name or the title.

I'm very pleased with the cover, because it illustrates the opening scene of my book beautifully. That raft is about to plunge sideways over the ...

Researching Hippotherapy

For my third Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery book, I've decided that I want Claire's brother to own a stable and for his wife to run a hippotherapy charity at the stable. Hippotherapy is the use of horses to help challenged children and adults gain confidence, muscle strength and greater flexibility, among other benefits. A more detailed explanation can be found at the American Hippotherapy Association's website. After I learned as much as I could from reading about the the therap...

Interview on Mysterious Musings

Today Julia Buckley, author of The Dark Backward stand-alone mystery and of the new Madeline Mann mystery series, posted an interview with me on her blog, Mysterious Musings. She had some interesting, unique questions that I've never answered before, so please go read the interview. And, if there's something you've always wanted to know about me, go ahead, ask it in the comments!

A Birthday Gift --- for YOU!

Sometime in the next few weeks, I will be celebrating my birthday. I won't tell you exactly when, because for identity theft protection purposes, I protect the date almost as well as I protect my social security number and full name. I will divulge that I am a Leo. And, don't ask how old I'm going to be either! ;-)

To celebrate, instead of collecting gifts, I am giving one away--in a contest that I'm running both here and on Inkspot, the blog for Midnight Ink authors. I will give away a p...