Kate Collins's Blog, page 116
July 4, 2016
Independence Day Celebrations
by Maggie SeftonHi, there, Everyone! I hope you all had a very Happy Independence Day yesterday July 4th. I'm up here in Northern Virginia staying with childhood friend Diane and husband Les in Vienna. Lots of kitty cats asking to be let in and out the glass patio door here in the kitchen where I'm doing this post late Monday night. My friends and I just finished watching the Capital Fourth Independence Day concert and fireworks celebration around the Washington, D.C. Then we watched the replay of the New York City Macy's Independence celebration with a fabulous fireworks display.
I hope all of you had a wonderful, fun-filled July 4th celebration yesterday. :) Share with us some of your activities, why don't you? Did you picnic? Go to a city park to hear the local band play patriotic music and watch colorful fireworks? Share with us.
July 3, 2016
HAPPY JULY 4TH!
Happy 4th of July from the Cozy Chicks. Have a wonderful day! Mary Kennedy
July 2, 2016
Getting to know...Joanne Kocourek
Hi Everyone. We love getting to know our online friends. Today were taking to Joanne Kocourek. Hi, Joanne! -Where do you live now? Worth, IL (a small village Southwest of Chicago) -Pets? Kids? Hobby? Our lives are blessed with three children who completed our family through adoption. They are all young adults: Joshua, Annalies and Kristen. Josh lives in Southern Illinois. Annalies and Kristen are young adult children who are vibrant and thriving despite being medically fragile and technology dependent (requiring round the clock care). We, also, have a sweet, vibrant 6-year-old granddaughter, Gianna. Gianna fills our lives with love and laughter. Four Golden Retriever service dogs faithfully provide amazing assistance in everyday living and love us unconditionally. They bring love, companionship and joy continually. Their skills and antics are amazing. My boy, Skittles, is nicknamed Houdini as there isn’t anything he can’t open or escape! My hobbies are reading, crocheting and crafting with our Granddaughter. I read hours every day based on limiting physical challenges. -Day Job? Prior to long term disability, I worked as the RN Manager of Clinical Research for a major academic medical center. Now, I’m home as “Nurse Mom” caring for our daughters. -Upcoming plans? Lord willing, I hope to have surgery to completely reconstruct both of my knees in the hope of regaining the ability to stand. The decision is hanging in limbo by several surgical teams as the success rate is 50/50. If not, I will continue to adjust to living my life with extremely limited mobility/abilities and supportive Palliative Care providing a bridge to Hospice at some point in the future. As a previously very active adult, I never envisioned being diagnosed with a progressive, degenerative life limiting/life threatening disease. While maintaining hope for the future, I’m looking forward to going to visit our son, spend quality time with our daughters and granddaughter, and providing support to other individuals who are walking similar journeys with their children or personally. -What do you do for fun? Honestly, at present, there is very little I can physically do “for fun”. I’m finding enjoyment visiting with friends who call or visit in person and living vicariously through the books I read. My favorite authors are skilled at portraying settings I can visualize and characters who become friends and a part of my life through imagination. -Do you travel? Got a fav place? When I could travel for other than medical care, I loved family trips to Disney World and/or Disney Cruises with my family. When traveling for medical care, we always try to take some time to explore an attraction in the region (a plantation in Savanah, GA, Water falls or Amish country in Ohio or New York). My all-time favorite trip was to Italy. Our daughters and I represented the U.S. at a medical conference. Florence was absolutely wonderful. We explored the museums and art. -How did you come to reading mysteries? My introduction to mysteries was as a child. We visited the library often and my favorite books were Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden, and Nancy Drew.
-Do you have a fav mystery show? Movie? Castle and Murder She Wrote are favorite shows. I like many of the Hallmark Mystery movies. I’m glad they are rerunning Mystery Woman and hope they rerun Jane Doe and Father Dowling Mysteries. -Do you have a fav book that you reread from time to time? Other than The Bible, I reread The Giving Tree and A Wrinkle in Time. -Do you remember the first mystery you read? The Secret Mansion (Trixie Belden). -Is there a character in a book or movie that you’d like to pal around with? From a book: Zoe Donovan. From a movie: Samantha Kinzie -Tell us anything else about yourself. We all love meeting new friends. I truly appreciate the cozy mystery authors who generously share their talents, books and time with me. Life has been a struggle, ups and downs, nothing is in our control, not one little thing, it is a tough battle, one that has caused us to be tired and worn. At times our hearts are heavy and we struggle to breath in and out, other times we are good and at peace. Just being and being before God is really our only strength, we, as a family, covet the prayers of everyone. I try to not get mired down in the “woe is me” or “woe is us” dumps. This is the reality of the life I live – knowing that as hard as life is many days, as many things as I WANT to whine and complain about – I know at the end of the day, that the fact that we are all still HERE and still alive is the biggest blessing of all. This is not a lesson I take lightly. So we will get through this day, and the sun will rise again in the morning and things will look different. Maybe still hard, maybe a little better. But each day is new and always full of the opportunity for good things. Most of all I thank you, Duffy, and the authors who so generously give of their time and talent to fill my days with hours of reading enjoyment and for hanging in there with me through this stage of the journey. The sun will come out tomorrow, right? Joanne Kocourek (mom to Joshua, Annalies and Kristen and Grandma to Gianna and Angel Lilyanna)http://www.caringbridge.org/il/annakris
July 1, 2016
SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY: Meet Amanda Duncan
by Maggie SeftonFrom my Historical Mystery--1890 Washington, DC
SCANDALS, SECRETS, AND MURDER:The Widow and the Rogue Mysteries
Amanda Duncan , wealthy young Washington widow, has spent years trying to ignore the clairvoyant visions that flash unbidden before her eyes, but she can no longer. If only her husband had believed her vision of the fiery train crash, he and her young daughter would still be alive. Since she couldn’t save her own loved ones, Amanda turns her back on Washington society and deliberately treads where no respectable lady would dare---into the grimy and violent world of Washington’s tenement alley slums. Perhaps her visions can help others. This latest vision, however, was most troubling. She saw a man stabbed to death by a shadowy assailant and a young girl screaming.
Not surprisingly, the police scoff at Amanda’s visions. But Devlin Burke does not. Her account of the murder causes the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. He had been present in London two years earlier when the famous psychic Robert James Lees led Scotland Yard to the very door of the Ripper--only to be ignored.
Available in Tradepaper edition from Amazon as well as E-book format.
Gardening 2016: Better Late Than Never
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
And so it's now July and we haven't put in our veggie garden. Mr. L dislocated his shoulder seven weeks ago and that put half of May and almost all of June in the toilet as far as plans for the garden went. (Did I mention I write for a living and that it takes up a LOT of my time???)
Since Mr. L wasn't going to be able to turn over the garden, we hired a landscaping firm to do it. Oh, and they also weeded the gardens (including ripping out Mr. L's bleeding hearts, because apparently they can't tell a flower from a weed, and I had to threaten mayhem when one of the workers thought it would be a good idea to take out my rhubarb, too) and put down new mulch.
Today--the veggies go in. Not a lot -- seven tomatoes and two pepper plants. I put them in the (small) bushel basket so they'd stand straight. I was afraid the (slight) breeze would topple them. They're going to need staking.
They're a bit leggy, and no doubt pot bound, but with a good dose of compost water, they should be good to go.
My potted zucchini plant seems very happy. It has now produced a second zucchini. The first one was bitten by some critter (which is now why the pot is living on top of the picnic table) and stopped growing. It said, "OUCH" and lost the will to live. But the second one is now about three inches long. I see stir fry in my future!
A little over a week ago, I rescued a "volunteer" squash from my compost pail. It could be a delicata (I hope!!!) or an acorn plant, since those are the only two kinds of squash we remember eating during the past year. It didn't take off like the zucchini did, but I'm hopeful we'll find out what it is in the near future.
While at the garden store, we decided to buy a couple of knockout rose bushes ... except -- they didn't have the colors we wanted, so we only ended up getting one. We hit another nursery, but they only had the same colors. There's yet another one we intend to try early next week to fill a whole in front of the house. We had three small rhododendrons that were killed by snow being piled upon them by our plow guy. I'm going to cut back the roses and protect them (you can get cardboard thingys -- our neighbors use them and their roses were full of blooms this year).
So this morning is blocked out for planting the veggies. The weather is perfect -- cool and overcast. No sunburn! And next week we'll plant the roses.
How's your garden growing?
----------------------------------
A few hours later, the veggies are in!
And so it's now July and we haven't put in our veggie garden. Mr. L dislocated his shoulder seven weeks ago and that put half of May and almost all of June in the toilet as far as plans for the garden went. (Did I mention I write for a living and that it takes up a LOT of my time???)
Since Mr. L wasn't going to be able to turn over the garden, we hired a landscaping firm to do it. Oh, and they also weeded the gardens (including ripping out Mr. L's bleeding hearts, because apparently they can't tell a flower from a weed, and I had to threaten mayhem when one of the workers thought it would be a good idea to take out my rhubarb, too) and put down new mulch.Today--the veggies go in. Not a lot -- seven tomatoes and two pepper plants. I put them in the (small) bushel basket so they'd stand straight. I was afraid the (slight) breeze would topple them. They're going to need staking.
They're a bit leggy, and no doubt pot bound, but with a good dose of compost water, they should be good to go.
My potted zucchini plant seems very happy. It has now produced a second zucchini. The first one was bitten by some critter (which is now why the pot is living on top of the picnic table) and stopped growing. It said, "OUCH" and lost the will to live. But the second one is now about three inches long. I see stir fry in my future!
A little over a week ago, I rescued a "volunteer" squash from my compost pail. It could be a delicata (I hope!!!) or an acorn plant, since those are the only two kinds of squash we remember eating during the past year. It didn't take off like the zucchini did, but I'm hopeful we'll find out what it is in the near future.
While at the garden store, we decided to buy a couple of knockout rose bushes ... except -- they didn't have the colors we wanted, so we only ended up getting one. We hit another nursery, but they only had the same colors. There's yet another one we intend to try early next week to fill a whole in front of the house. We had three small rhododendrons that were killed by snow being piled upon them by our plow guy. I'm going to cut back the roses and protect them (you can get cardboard thingys -- our neighbors use them and their roses were full of blooms this year).
So this morning is blocked out for planting the veggies. The weather is perfect -- cool and overcast. No sunburn! And next week we'll plant the roses.How's your garden growing?
----------------------------------
A few hours later, the veggies are in!
June 29, 2016
Plenty to celebrate!
Happy Canada Day!
Okay, we're a day early but we like a chance to wear our hats!
The first week of July is such a wonderful week for celebrations! Up here north of the 49thparallel we’re celebrating Canada Day tomorrow, July 1st! It’s all about the red and white and we feel happy and patriotic.
We are lucky to live in prosperous, democratic, literate countries. Sure we have problems, but we have much to be grateful for. Some of our readers are from the UK, Australia, France and elsewhere and we know you are lucky too.
Like many people in the USA on the 4th, the Canadian national pastime will be something wonderful on the bbq, a great dessert or three and fireworks.
I’m getting ready by sticking flags in anything that moves (and things that don't!) and buying strawberries for this great and extremely easy dessert idea. Strawberries have just arrived in our village! We bought these from the farmer at the roadside stand.
You will need:
One tray or bowl of lovely fresh strawberries.
I smaller bowl of whipped cream cheese (we bought it whipped)1 smaller bowl of Demerara sugar (or dark brown sugar).
That’s all it takes. Dip your strawberry in the whipped cream cheese and then in the Demerara sugar and you will think you died and went to heaven. These were a big hit with my friends last night and will be added to the dessert list FOREVER!
May I suggest if you are celebrating the 4th, that you add some blueberries (and maybe a spoon) and you’ll feel right at home.
We hope that everyone enjoys their holidays and that there’s still plenty of time to relax and read mysteries.
Enjoy Canada Day! And enjoy the 4th of July! Happy eating and reading. Enjoy the fireworks.
Come on over and tell us what you plan to do/eat/or plant flags in on your special day. Maybe you just want to chill ... maybe you are somewhere else, celebrating something else. Whatever it is, let's hear it!
Fireworks...in or out
Duffy Brown here and its boom time again meaning its time for fireworks. They are pretty darn awsome in how they light up the sky but they sure make a lot of racket getting up there. The 4th of July conjures up the idea of celebrating out freedom and celebrating a lot of times means fireworks.
Do you have fireworks at your house so your 4th of July get-together has fun with sparklers and the like? Is there someone in the family who loves to put on a display for everyone? The designated firework guy or gal who loves to go out every year, spend a ton of money and put on a show for everyone?Or do you go to a community firework show? Pack up the lawn chairs and bug spray and head out to the park. Often they have you turn to a certain radio station and the fireworks blast off in time to the music. That’s pretty cool!
We have fireworks display here in Cincy over Labor Day that draws 500,000. It is really amazing! People sit on the hills overlooking the Ohio River and the fireworks are set off from barges on the river. It is one big bang!
And then there is the pet issue. I know of no pet who likes these things. My cats go nuts, my kids’ dogs hide and cry. This really takes the fun out of fireworks for me. I hate to see my animals so upset. I close the windows and turn on the TV to drown out the noise. Poor babies.
So what about you? Are you a fireworks person? Were as a kid? Love it or hate it? Have a crowd over for a big show?
Have a wonderful 4th of July and God bless everyone who keeps us safe.
Hugs, Duffy
June 28, 2016
A Bad Luck Day
by Maggie SeftonKelly Flynn # 14 is a June release from Berkley Prime Crime. Check out Kelly and the Gang's new adventures.
Apologies for the late post, everyone. Today has been unbelievably problem-filled. My always reliable Macbook laptop froze late last night in the middle of a complex new update from Apple. I had to wait till 10:00am today to take it to the Simply Mac store in Fort Collins so the Apple techs could tell me what's up. Their advice was to re-start that update while sitting at the store. Come back hours later. It was a huge update, new operating system, etc.
Sorry to bore you folks with the techno babble, but it's a sample of the world we live in. Our systems that we depend on to keep in touch with all you folks can have problems sometimes. Meanwhile, other weird stuff started happening this morning. First, there was a leak under my kitchen sink and water on the floor. Ackkk! Towels helped but a call to the plumber was in order. He was able to come in early afternoon & problem is disposal is cracked. Old age. :(
So, once I've posted this, I'm off to Home Depot for new disposal that he can install tomorrow. Meanwhile, other weird little things happened, like the lawn treatment guy coming at the wrong time when dogs were outside in backyard. Because he didn't call before he came, I was still at Mac store, I couldn't put doggies in garage. Yeah. . .these are little things and annoying as the daylights, but not earth shattering. But it does make me remember my friends who follow astrology. Whenever a weird screwed up day occurred, they would say "Mercury was going retrograde." In other words, backwards in its orbit. I never quite understood the connection, but they always swore by it. Who knows? Not me, that's for sure. It does make you wonder, though. :)
June 26, 2016
YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. OR CAN YOU?
By Mary Kennedy
After writing 40 plus novels, I find that I'm very interested in book covers. On the whole, I've been lucky and the cover gods have been with me. Can a cover make or break a book or a series? Very possibly.
I've had some terrific ones over the years, created by talented artists who really understood the concept of the book and painted wonderful, colorful covers that readers adored. The cover above is for A PREMONITION OF MURDER, the latest in my Dream Club Mysteries for Penguin Random House.
It's the inside of Oldies But Goodies, a "vintage candy" shop in Savannah run by the two main characters, Ali and Taylor Blake. Much of the action in the book takes place in the store as the sisters interact with friends, customers and Dream Club members, always sleuthing, always looking for clues to solve the latest murder. Or murders!
Hint: some of my books contain multiple homicides. So if you're reading the Dream Club Mysteries and think you've figured out the killer, just wait. Another body may drop.
You can tell from the cover that the book is a "cozy mystery." The colors, the style, the font all suggest the genre. Take a look at book one in the series, NIGHTMARES CAN BE MURDER.
In this cover, the artist depicts the living room of Ali and Taylor's apartment, which is right above the candy shop. The room is ready for the arrival of the Dream Club members and in true southern style, there's a pitcher of sweet tea and cookies on the coffee table. Again, the cover has a "cozy, welcoming" feel to it.
In this book, one of the two cats is playing with a Dream Catcher (bottom right of the cover) Interestingly, a sharp-eyed reader noticed that the dream catcher is broken. The reader asked if that was deliberate and wondered if the artist was trying to suggest that since the Dream Catcher was broken, "nightmares" could creep into the person's sleep. Hmm. An interesting question, and I hadn't even noticed! A book on dream interpretation is also displayed in the bottom right corner.
In the second book in the series, DREAM A LITTLE SCREAM, one of the bedrooms in Ali and Taylor's cozy apartment is featured. The four poster bed and the round table with flowers suggest a cozy retreat and fit the mood of the book. Both cats are included in this cover. As you can see, one is lounging on the floor at the end of the bed and the second is tucked away on a bedside table, staring out at the moon and the dark Savannah night.
My own six indoor house cats spend long hours staring outside and my fictional cats, Barney and Scout, do the same thing. (the cat pictured above is Calpurnia, one of my pets). She loves attention and can't resist posing for the camera. I wasn't going to include her in a post about book covers, but she insisted. And who could resist that cute little face.
Speaking of pets (and dreams!), I wrote a very short little guide to Dream Interpretation and all of the profits-every single penny-go the Wayne County Humane Society in Lyons, New York. It's only 99 cents and you will know that your money is going to a good cause. It you're interested in this little digital guide to dreams, here's the link and a photo of the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Interpretation-Psychologists-Mary-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B00JNGGRXG/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1466954002&sr=1-6&keywords=mary+kennedy+dream+club
I hope you've enjoyed this look at "cozy covers" and have a great week!
Mary Kennedy
After writing 40 plus novels, I find that I'm very interested in book covers. On the whole, I've been lucky and the cover gods have been with me. Can a cover make or break a book or a series? Very possibly.
I've had some terrific ones over the years, created by talented artists who really understood the concept of the book and painted wonderful, colorful covers that readers adored. The cover above is for A PREMONITION OF MURDER, the latest in my Dream Club Mysteries for Penguin Random House.
It's the inside of Oldies But Goodies, a "vintage candy" shop in Savannah run by the two main characters, Ali and Taylor Blake. Much of the action in the book takes place in the store as the sisters interact with friends, customers and Dream Club members, always sleuthing, always looking for clues to solve the latest murder. Or murders!
Hint: some of my books contain multiple homicides. So if you're reading the Dream Club Mysteries and think you've figured out the killer, just wait. Another body may drop.
You can tell from the cover that the book is a "cozy mystery." The colors, the style, the font all suggest the genre. Take a look at book one in the series, NIGHTMARES CAN BE MURDER.
In this cover, the artist depicts the living room of Ali and Taylor's apartment, which is right above the candy shop. The room is ready for the arrival of the Dream Club members and in true southern style, there's a pitcher of sweet tea and cookies on the coffee table. Again, the cover has a "cozy, welcoming" feel to it.
In this book, one of the two cats is playing with a Dream Catcher (bottom right of the cover) Interestingly, a sharp-eyed reader noticed that the dream catcher is broken. The reader asked if that was deliberate and wondered if the artist was trying to suggest that since the Dream Catcher was broken, "nightmares" could creep into the person's sleep. Hmm. An interesting question, and I hadn't even noticed! A book on dream interpretation is also displayed in the bottom right corner.
In the second book in the series, DREAM A LITTLE SCREAM, one of the bedrooms in Ali and Taylor's cozy apartment is featured. The four poster bed and the round table with flowers suggest a cozy retreat and fit the mood of the book. Both cats are included in this cover. As you can see, one is lounging on the floor at the end of the bed and the second is tucked away on a bedside table, staring out at the moon and the dark Savannah night.
My own six indoor house cats spend long hours staring outside and my fictional cats, Barney and Scout, do the same thing. (the cat pictured above is Calpurnia, one of my pets). She loves attention and can't resist posing for the camera. I wasn't going to include her in a post about book covers, but she insisted. And who could resist that cute little face.
Speaking of pets (and dreams!), I wrote a very short little guide to Dream Interpretation and all of the profits-every single penny-go the Wayne County Humane Society in Lyons, New York. It's only 99 cents and you will know that your money is going to a good cause. It you're interested in this little digital guide to dreams, here's the link and a photo of the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Interpretation-Psychologists-Mary-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B00JNGGRXG/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1466954002&sr=1-6&keywords=mary+kennedy+dream+clubI hope you've enjoyed this look at "cozy covers" and have a great week!
Mary Kennedy
YOU CAN'T TELL A BOOK BY ITS COVER. OR CAN YOU?
By Mary Kennedy
After writing 40 plus novels, I find that I'm very interested in book covers. On the whole, I've been lucky and the cover gods have been with me. Can a cover make or break a book or a series? Very possibly. I've had some terrific ones over the years, created by talented artists who really understood the concept of the book and painted wonderful, colorful covers that readers adored. The cover above is for A PREMONITION OF MURDER, the latest in my Dream Club Mysteries for Penguin Random House.
It's the inside of Oldies But Goodies, a "vintage candy" shop in Savannah run by the two main characters, Ali and Taylor Blake. Much of the action in the book takes place in the store as the sisters interact with friends, customers and Dream Club members, always sleuthing, always looking for clues to solve the latest murder. Or murders!
Hint: some of my books contain multiple homicides. So if you're reading the Dream Club Mysteries and think you've figured out the killer, just wait. Another body may drop. You can tell from the cover that the book is a "cozy mystery." The colors, the style, the font all suggest the genre. Take a look at book one in the series, NIGHTMARES CAN BE MURDER.
In this cover, the artist depicts the living room of Ali and Taylor's apartment, which is right above the candy shop. The room is ready for the arrival of the Dream Club members and in true southern style, there's a pitcher of sweet tea and cookies on the coffee table. Again, the cover has a "cozy, welcoming" feel to it.
In this book, one of the two cats is playing with a Dream Catcher (bottom right of the cover) Interestingly, a sharp-eyed reader noticed that the dream catcher is broken. The reader asked if that was deliberate and wondered if the artist was trying to suggest that since the Dream Catcher was broken, "nightmares" could creep into the person's sleep. Hmm. An interesting question, and I hadn't even noticed! A book on dream interpretation is also displayed in the bottom right corner.
In the second book in the series, DREAM A LITTLE SCREAM, one of the bedrooms in Ali and Taylor's cozy apartment is featured. The four poster bed and the round table with flowers suggest a cozy retreat and fit the mood of the book. Both cats are included in this cover. As you can see, one is lounging on the floor at the end of the bed and the second is tucked away on a bedside table, staring out at the moon and the dark Savannah night.
My own six indoor house cats spend long hours staring outside and my fictional cats, Barney and Scout, do the same thing. (the cat pictured above is Calpurnia, one of my pets). She loves attention and can't resist posing for the camera. I wasn't going to include her in a post about book covers, but she insisted. And who could resist that cute little face. Speaking of pets (and dreams!), I wrote a very short little guide to Dream Interpretation and all of the profits-every single penny-go the Wayne County Humane Society in Lyons, New York. It's only 99 cents and you will know that your money is going to a good cause. It you're interested in this little digital guide to dreams, here's the link and a photo of the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Interpretation-Psychologists-Mary-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B00JNGGRXG/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1466954002&sr=1-6&keywords=mary+kennedy+dream+club I hope you've enjoyed this look at "cozy covers" and have a great week! Mary Kennedy
After writing 40 plus novels, I find that I'm very interested in book covers. On the whole, I've been lucky and the cover gods have been with me. Can a cover make or break a book or a series? Very possibly. I've had some terrific ones over the years, created by talented artists who really understood the concept of the book and painted wonderful, colorful covers that readers adored. The cover above is for A PREMONITION OF MURDER, the latest in my Dream Club Mysteries for Penguin Random House.
It's the inside of Oldies But Goodies, a "vintage candy" shop in Savannah run by the two main characters, Ali and Taylor Blake. Much of the action in the book takes place in the store as the sisters interact with friends, customers and Dream Club members, always sleuthing, always looking for clues to solve the latest murder. Or murders!
Hint: some of my books contain multiple homicides. So if you're reading the Dream Club Mysteries and think you've figured out the killer, just wait. Another body may drop. You can tell from the cover that the book is a "cozy mystery." The colors, the style, the font all suggest the genre. Take a look at book one in the series, NIGHTMARES CAN BE MURDER.
In this cover, the artist depicts the living room of Ali and Taylor's apartment, which is right above the candy shop. The room is ready for the arrival of the Dream Club members and in true southern style, there's a pitcher of sweet tea and cookies on the coffee table. Again, the cover has a "cozy, welcoming" feel to it.
In this book, one of the two cats is playing with a Dream Catcher (bottom right of the cover) Interestingly, a sharp-eyed reader noticed that the dream catcher is broken. The reader asked if that was deliberate and wondered if the artist was trying to suggest that since the Dream Catcher was broken, "nightmares" could creep into the person's sleep. Hmm. An interesting question, and I hadn't even noticed! A book on dream interpretation is also displayed in the bottom right corner.
In the second book in the series, DREAM A LITTLE SCREAM, one of the bedrooms in Ali and Taylor's cozy apartment is featured. The four poster bed and the round table with flowers suggest a cozy retreat and fit the mood of the book. Both cats are included in this cover. As you can see, one is lounging on the floor at the end of the bed and the second is tucked away on a bedside table, staring out at the moon and the dark Savannah night.
My own six indoor house cats spend long hours staring outside and my fictional cats, Barney and Scout, do the same thing. (the cat pictured above is Calpurnia, one of my pets). She loves attention and can't resist posing for the camera. I wasn't going to include her in a post about book covers, but she insisted. And who could resist that cute little face. Speaking of pets (and dreams!), I wrote a very short little guide to Dream Interpretation and all of the profits-every single penny-go the Wayne County Humane Society in Lyons, New York. It's only 99 cents and you will know that your money is going to a good cause. It you're interested in this little digital guide to dreams, here's the link and a photo of the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Interpretation-Psychologists-Mary-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B00JNGGRXG/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1466954002&sr=1-6&keywords=mary+kennedy+dream+club I hope you've enjoyed this look at "cozy covers" and have a great week! Mary Kennedy
