Kate Collins's Blog, page 191

Pets who read mysteries!

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

Last week I ran a contest on my blog and Facebook:  Send me a picture of your pet reading my book to enter for a chance to get an advance review copy of my latest Booktown Mystery, BOOK CLUBBED (which will be available on July 1st).  I had a great response.

Several cats decided to start at the very beginning of the the Booktown series with Murder Is Binding. That's Debbie L's cat Smithie.  She says she can't get enough of the Booktown Mysteries!

To the right is Laura I's girl Kit-Kat.  She told her mom, "Stop bugging me with this picture taking...can't you see I'm about to sink my teeth into Lorna Barrett's Murder Is Binding?!"

 The book was also very popular with dogs, such as Leah A's girl Olive (at left)
 and Sally S's pup Pep (at the right.)
















It turns out that not just cats and dogs like to catch up on the Booktown Mysteries.  Bunnies like Linda D's Hannah like the series, too! (That's Bookmarked for Death, the 2nd book in the series.)

A few of the pets decided to try my other series, like Linda's K's dog Gizmo decided to read One Hot Murder (the third book in my Victoria Square mystery series).














Meanwhile, Margie B's dog Max likes reading my edgier Jeff Resnick series while enjoying a cup of tea.  Doesn't he look scholarly?  Kind of like Mr. Peabody!  (BTW, that's the first in the series, Murder on The Mind. If you've got an ereader, it's free for all e formats.)











Some people don't have pets, so they got creative.  Like Jennifer S.  Her stuffed Shrek liked Not The Killing Type (which comes out in paperback on July 1st).  He read it on her e reader.  (Smart little guy, huh?)

I got many more entries, and I'll be posting all of them on Facebook during the next week or so.  I hope you'll visit my profile page to see them and comment on them!

See you there!

Summer love!

By Mary Jane Maffini aka Victoria Abbott



This Saturday will be the “longest day” of the year – meaning the one with the most hours of daylight -- and the official start of summer. This is just about my favorite day.  After a grumpy hibernation during this long, tough winter, I’ve been overjoyed by the longer days and the warm weather. I love all the standard stuff of summer: cooking outside, ice cream cakes for birthdays,

stopping to smell those roses, watching dogs and my neighbor’s cats dozing in the sun.  This is the week that I first find fresh local strawberries at our neighborhood stand.   
 Yum! I’m planning a chicken salad with fresh strawberries and toasted almonds tonight.  We’ll eat in the screened porch as the mosquitos are also enjoying the season. Forget the mosquitos. It’s all good. Have I mentioned sandals? No closed shoes for this gal from April to October.  I love the night sky on these short summer nights and I should mention that around here we all find even more time to read in the summer.   

Daisy's reading about conquering cats (as if), but I prefer mysteries.  If you caught Dru Ann’s report this past Saturday, you know, there are some wonderful cozies coming our way this summer.  Here’s a special shout-out to our own lovely Cozy Chicks who have been busy being mysterious for your summer reading pleasure. Lorna Barrett aka our Lorraine Bartlett’s Book Clubbed, her new hardcover, will be here in July! 

Get in on the pre-order action by clicking: HERE
 And more good news: the paperback edition of Not The Killing Type hits the shelves in July too: 

You’ve been waiting, haven’t you?  All you have to do is click the link to preorder. This helps you and helps your favorite authors too.  We’re all in this together.  Pre-order HERE
It’s a doubleheader on August 5th with Ellery Adams launching a terrific new series with Murder in the Mystery Suite (when does she sleep?)  It's available for pre-order HERE


and Leann Sweeney is back with the sixth in her beloved Cats in Trouble series with The Cat, The Vagabond and the Victim. 





Click HERE to preorder that. Your cat insists too!    
September’s still summer in these parts, some of our most beautiful weather.  Our own Mary Kennedy presents the first in her fascinating new dream club series with Nightmares Can Be Murder.




Keep the light on, but preorder here:HERE





   And as Victoria Abbott (half of, I'll be sharing my major crush on Archie Goodwin in The Wolfe Widow., the third book collector mystery.

Oh yes, and people die. You can find it  HEREThe list of books and summer enchantments goes on. I may still be talking about my love affair with summer (and summer reading) this time next week.

What about you? Do you celebrate the summer solstice? The ‘longest day’? The many joys of summer?  Do you read more mysteries in summer? Dish, my friends, and, yes, that may mean an ice cream dish!

Until We Meet Again

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

Many of you have been following along on my sixty-and-suddenly single journey for the last fifteen months. It's been a strange and exciting ride. Most of the first year was taken up with adjusting - to packing up and saying goodbye to the family home, moving to my own place, learning to fly solo. Some of that time has also been spent standing at a fork in the road, wondering which way to go next.

The Cozy Chicks and this blog have been my anchor in sometimes turbulent weather. I'm so grateful for your friendship and support. I couldn't have gotten from there to here without you.

But the time has come to make a decision, choose a new direction. I've spent far too much of my time hanging onto my cyber lifeline. Now I'm ready to let go and get back out there in the physical world and connect again.

Too much aloneness isn't health for any of us. And believe me, we writers spend a lot of time by ourselves just working on our craft. So I'm leaving the Chicks as a regular blogger, heading out into the unknown. I have lots of plans - writing, of course, continuing to learn Spanish, traveling, exploring.

I've really enjoyed our time together and don't want to lose touch.

You can find me on facebook:

Hannah's page

Deb's profile page
 
And please subscribe to my mailing list to get updates on the upcoming Scottish Highlands mystery series, which I think you are really going to like.

Instead of goodbye, I'll just say, "hasta luego" (Until we meet again).

Summer Harvest

by Maggie Sefton


I don't know about you folks, but I am enjoying one of the greatest treats of
Summer----all the fresh fruit and veggies that are available during these months.  Yes, I know-----thanks to our fantastic food distribution network, we can enjoy practically all of these fruits and veggies during Fall, Winter, and Spring.  But nothing is as good----and I repeat----Nothing is as good as the fresh Summer Harvest of fruits and veggies that are grown in our local areas.

Colorado is lucky in that we have lots of areas where we can grow produce, but our Western Slope is the best.  The Western Slope is located on the western side of the Rocky Mountains.  Many of our Colorado cities are on the Eastern Slope----Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs.  If you've ever driven west on Interstate 70 which crosses Colorado, you'll recall that you're gradually climbing, the road rising, after you've crossed over from Kansas.  And you will continue climbling long after you've passed by Breckenridge and Vail.  Finally you'll cross over the summit of the Rocky Mountains where the interstate is located and then. . . . you'll start going down.  That's why the Western Slope has more temperate climate and temperatures than the cities that are higher in altitude.  Temperatures drop as we go up the mountains.  :)

The temperatures on the Western Slope are perfect for growing produce and fruit.   Temps are milder and more temperate there.  That's why there are so many fruit orchards.  Peaches are delicious, so are the apples, and plums, and berries----and you can find a great variety in the local farmers' markets that are open all over Colorado.  In Fort Collins, we have Farmers Markets  on several days of the week starting in late Spring.

Plus, you can buy different produce and fruit from growers who do not use herbicides and pesticides.   Many of us are trying to make sure our food doesn't have any of those chemical substances on it.  Peaches, for instance, are fuzzy.  There's no way to scrub away chemicals sprayed on peaches.  So, some of us simply prefer to buy produce that is chemical free.  That's another benefit of buying from local Farmers' Markets.  You  can meet the actual growers.  Many growers use family and friends to work the vendors' boothes.

Do you have Farmers Markets in your area?   What are your Summer favorites?

SURPRISE WINNER for the NAME THE BABY CONTEST!

by Kate Collins

Mind blown. Seriously.  The baby names all of you contest entrants devised simply blew me away. They were collectively creative, hip, elegant, lovely, melodic, significant, funny . . . shall I go on?

Can I say how artistic you are? You took the requirements and ran with them. You did such a good job that I poured over them for an hour trying to winnow the list down to thirty! From there, I agonized until I had ten. Oh, the pain! I had to eliminate any name with Rose in it because of the new character I'm introducing in the next book.  Also, I eliminated the Graces because Jillian probably wouldn't name her baby after Grace Bingham.

And then I had to narrow them down further. ACK! In collaboration with my son, who is also my web designer, contest manager, creative consultant and grand master at plotting, we compared notes and came up with a final SIX.

Yes, 6. Because I just couldn't -- no, make that wouldn't -- slash them down more than that. I'm leaving that task to YOU! And I'll abide by whatever the majority chooses.

All I ask is that you click on the button at the bottom to enter your favorite name from the list below.  Keep in mind that Jillian is a snob, loves fashion and anything trendy, relies on Abby a lot, and is mindful of initials, which are joked about in the Knight family.

Here is the list of 6, with explanations of why they work for us:

1.  Magnifique Abigail Osborne 
         (Can't you hear Jillian telling Abby, "I named her Magnifique after moi, and Abigail after you.")

2.  Harper Abigail Lynne Osborne
         (With initials of HALO, she'd be Jillian's little angel)

3.  Zoey Ocean Osborne   ZOO
          (Zoey is very au currant, and Ocean falls in with some of Jillian's earlier choices of Rain, Snow, and Park)

4.  Chloe Ophelia Chanel Osborne     COCO
         (Chock full of designer references, brings in Jillian's middle name, and is very Francais)

5.  Zuzu Osborne
         (Who doesn't love Zuzu from ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE? Plus, I get to pick the middle name,       which would probably be Petal. Zuzu's petals, get it?)

6.  Kaily Irene Knight Osborne  KIKO
         (Kaily means little rosebud, which would be a tribute to Abby, plus it's tres feminine, as well as Irish, which the Knights are.)

There you have it! Pick your favorite, click on the button below,  and VOTE!

But please vote today because I will tally them at the end of TODAY, Monday June 16th, and announce the winner and her winning NAME here, on my Facebook pages, and on Twitter. If your name is chosen, I'll email you first thing Tuesday morning and post the announcement all over the Internet.

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The June 2014 Report

* * * * * * * * * *Welcome to Dru's Cozy Report: June 2014. This month we have three recently released new series for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!



Tempest in a Teapot by Amanda Cooper
Series: Teapot Collector #1
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

When her fashionable Manhattan restaurant goes under, Sophie Taylor retreats to her grandmother’s cozy shop, Auntie Rose’s Victorian Teahouse, where serenity is steeped to perfection in one of her many antique teapots. The last thing Sophie expects is a bustling calendar of teahouse events, like her old friend Cissy Peterson’s upcoming bridal shower.

Not everyone is pleased with the bride-to-be’s choice of venue—like Cissy’s grandmother, who owns a competing establishment, La Belle Epoque, and has held a long-simmering grudge against Rose for stealing her beau sixty years ago. Tensions reach a boiling point when Cissy’s fiancé’s mother dies while sampling scones at La Belle Epoque. Now, to help her friend, Sophie will have to bag a killer before more of the guest list becomes a hit list.

I enjoyed this nicely developed whodunit that had me quickly turning the pages as I had to know who was doing what to whom. The pace was very comfortable and I love how each chapter flowed into one another. The author did a good job with the mystery keeping me guessing throughout most of this story with plenty of suspects and there were a few surprising twists that I didn’t see coming. Sophie is very likable and I love that she’s come back; more different from when she left several years ago…the hint of what was back then as opposed to what is now was a recurring theme throughout this light drama. Boasting a diverse cast of secondary characters, who I can’t wait to know more about, I’m looking forward to the next book in this fresh new cozy series.

Visit Amanda Cooper, pseudonym for Victoria Hamilton at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com
Scene of the Climb by Kate Dyer-Seeley
Series: Pacific Northwest #1
Publisher: Kensington

Portland, Oregon, is the perfect fit for someone like Meg Reed. It's a city with a small town feel, where she can crash on the couch of her best friend Jill, now that she's graduated from journalism school.

But a girl needs a job, so Meg bluffs her way into writing for Northwest Extreme magazine, passing herself off to editor-in-chief Greg Dixon as an outdoor adventure enthusiast. Never mind that Meg's idea of sport is climbing onto the couch without spilling her latte. So when she finds herself clawing to the top of Angel's Rest--a two-thousand-foot peak--to cover the latest challenge in a reality TV adventure show, she can't imagine feeling more terrified. Until she witnesses a body plummet off the side of the cliff. Now Meg has a murder to investigate. And if the climbing doesn't kill her, a murderer just might.

This was a fun read that was hard to put down. Meg is my kind of girl and I love her tenacity when it comes to figuring out who the murderer was. The author did a great job in keeping me engaged in all facets of this wonderful book from the introduction of Meg, to the staging of the murder, to watching Meg dig for the clues and to that moment when I knew who the killer was. Meg is very likable and I love her sense of comfort and devil may care attitude. This was a terrific read and I can’t wait to see what adventure awaits Meg.

Visit Kate at katedyerseeley.com
Engaged in Murder by Nancy J. Parra
Series: Perfect Proposals #1
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Event planner Pepper Pomeroy is making the most of her current unemployment by arranging a surprise for her sister, Felicity. Warren, Felicity’s boyfriend, plans to lure his lovely lady into a private jet, propose, and whisk her away on a romantic vacation. He just needs Pepper to handle all the fine details in order to make it the perfect proposal—and it is. Everything goes so well when Warren pops the question that he suggests Pepper do this sort of thing professionally.

But before she can get her new business off the ground, there are some disturbing questions. Like who’s the dead guy Pepper finds in the ladies’ room of the jet hangar? Is it possible Felicity’s high-flying fiancé has been hiding more than the engagement ring? Pepper’s not married to the idea of having a criminal in the family, so in order to protect her sister, she takes off in pursuit of a killer.

Being at the wrong place puts Pepper on the trail of a murderer when her sister’s fiancé is arrested. What follows is a wonderfully crafted light whodunit filled with a mystery that fueled my interest with every page that I turned. The pace was comfortable and the action was non-stop as our heroine took all opportunities possible to expose a killer. The author did a great job in setting this drama up with plenty of suspects and it was fun watching how it all played out. I like Pepper is and I hope we get to see more of her and her blossoming professional business and prospering relationship. This was a great debut novel that grabbed my attention immediately from the beginning and kept its hold even when I turned the last page. I can’t wait to see what exciting new adventures Pepper will take us on in the next book in this pleasantly appealing series.

Visit Nancy at www.nancyjparra.com

HOW I CURED MY LITTLE SOCIOPATH

by Mary Kennedy
       As promised, here is how I cured Henry of *most* of his sociopathic tendencies. If you remember Henry's story from last week, he was on his way to being a full-fledged sociopath, without conscience or remorse. Let's face it, if Henry was a teen-ager, he'd be spending a lot of time in juvie.

       When I first adopted Henry, (rescued from the neighborhood) I heard from the grapevine that he's already lost two or three homes because of his "aggressive tendencies." I had to keep him in the garage for the first couple of months. I'd let him inside to eat and how did he repay me?  He'd race around the den like a maniac, beat up my seven cats and then run back out to the garage.  So frustrating. I called him "Gladiator Cat" and wondered how in the world I would ever tame him. He was very friendly and affectionate to humans so I was baffled by his behavior towards his fellow cats.

       I asked myself what "treatment plan" I would devise if Henry was a client. (I'm a clinical psychologist.) I decided unconditional love and LOTS of attention might be the answer. So here's what I did; it was amazingly simple and best of all, it worked!

       1. I set aside 20 minutes a day just for Henry. Yes, I know I could have been learning Mandarin or doing Pilates but I figured I owed Henry 20 minutes to help change his little cat life around. (and my life, of course.)
 
       2. We went to a special place for the 20 minutes and I sat with him on the glassed-in sun porch. No other cats were allowed out there for our special time together. (they had their cute little cat faces pressed against the glass, as if wondering why "the evil cat" was getting all the attention.) As soon as I unlocked the door to the porch, Henry ran eagerly ahead of me, knowing he was going to have my undivided attention. It was the highlight of his day.

     3. I made sure I had a nice selection of cat toys (he loves catnip mice and also those "cat dancer" toys with feathers on the end.) I also had an assortment of grooming supplies, brushes and combs.

    4. For 20 minutes every day, I gave Henry unconditional love and attention. I played with him, groomed him, pet him, gave him tummy rubs and he purred happily the whole time. I think he was amazed at his good fortune.

    5. I started noticing changes in his behavior right away. He's still not a model citizen of course, but he is so much better! He very occasionally has a "stand-off" with one of his housemates, but he has stopped attacking them, stopping "menacing" them and has even leaned over and started grooming one of the female cats. What a transformation!

   6. It took about 3 solid weeks of my "program" to turn things around and I never missed a day. It was so worth it!! Henry is fun, playful and a very sweet cat to have around. It was a small price to pay to change this little sociopath into an adorable pet. If you're having behavioral problems with your pet, I hope you'll try my method. I hope you have good luck with it and I'd love to hear how things go.

Mary Kennedy

Visit The Cozy Chicks Store!

Our mugs are so cute! Maybe you'd love one for yourself or a friend. Great for your morning coffee, tea, or cocoa! Click this link to take you to our Cozy Chicks Store.



The Cozy Chicks Mouse Pad is your perfect companion at work or at home.  Click the link to take you to our Cozy Chicks Store.



The Cozy Chicks Tote is perfect for carrying your favorite cozy mysteries (our killer books, of course)! It comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. All you have to do is pick the one you want!  You can even customize it with whatever words or pictures you's like to add. Click this link to take you to our Cozy Chicks Store.










NOW AVAILABLE!Cozy Chicks Bumper Stickers

Bumber stickers?  We got 'em!

If you like pink, click this link.
If you prefer white, click this link.

The weed wars! Who's winning?

By the green-tinged Mary Jane Maffini aka Victoria Abbott
 
A few weeks ago, I showed pix of spring flowers and asked about your gardens. Surprisingly, many of you here (and on Facebook too) wanted to talk about weeds. 
I can hide in the daylilies! Maybe take over soon.Well, I can talk about those too.  After attending a conference and getting a bit behind, this morning I woke up to hear them plotting on the lawn.  I think this captures some of that rabble rousing I heard from my window.
I can grow in rocks!
                The dandylions bellowed, “Hey, let’s take over that bed there. We’re an army. We can do it. We’ve done it before on other properties. We are dandy! See our spores!”
Our spores are everywhere on this street! Yippee!                “The roses!  I want to squeeze out the roses. Never liked those uppity snobs,” the creeping Charlie muttered creepily.                “We’re not really weeds, you know.” That from the sweet voice of the violets. Make that many, many voices of many, many violets. “We’re flowers. We just have a lot of energy and like to move around.”
We're violets! Not weeds, just ambitious!
                “We’re not weeds either. Lily of the valley is used for perfume. Invasive is such a nasty word. We prefer assertive or ambitious and also beautifully scented.”                “Come on over here, guys. It’s really hard to reach on the edge of the rock garden. Anyone trying to yank us out will probably snap an ankle. Heeheehehee. And we’ve got deep roots.”
Go ahead. Make our day.                “We’re not going down without taking them with us. We’re stinging nettles and we know how to fight back.” 
Go ahead! Try to pull us out without getting strung.
                 All to the swelling sounds of a stirring but unknown anthem (say La Bandiera Rosa meets The Marseillaise):  “To the barricades! Stamp out gardeners!”                    Okay, my friends. You see what I’m up against? So let’s hear it: what garden battles are you fighting?


I can grow in bark. Just try and stop me.

Slowing Down to Watch Life Grow and Bloom

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

In my opinion, there's nothing better than slowing down enough to appreciate the passage of time, and yesterday I did just that. It's sad that our days get away from us. I don't want to wake up one morning and realize that significant parts of it have already passed by without me noticing. Here's what I saw through my lens:

Mother and baby ducks napping along the river outside my home.

Lilies starting to bloom.

My granddaughter growing like a weed.




Take a few moments today to smell the lilacs, to watch children playing, to be grateful for the beauty surrounding you. You won't regret it.