Kate Collins's Blog, page 198

A Photoshopping I Will Go

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

I love Photoshop. It has to be one of the most wonderful programs on the face of any computer. Too bad I don't know how to use it.  I've had the program for several years now, and the most I've done with it is crop photos and fix the exposure, but now I want to learn more.

Okay, I did teach myself one other thing: how to add text.  I noticed that when I put pictures of my teacups up on Pinterest that they were showing up all over the web. (Even on a Google search.) So I learned to add a copyright (big wow), not that I was ever going to go after someone for using them--I just wanted people to know where it/they came from.

Back in December, I was a part of a Don't Text And Drive ... Listen to an Audiobook! campaign. Not only do I feel strongly about not texting while driving (talk about Russian Roulette), but having a bunch of audiobooks out there and not knowing how to promote them, I figured it couldn't hurt to try to get the word out. (We gave away over 30 audiobooks, including mine).  The graphics were done by my friend Evelyn David (and if you don't know her work, she writes (of all things) mysteries!).

Evelyn (well, half of her--it's actually a writing team) makes all kinds of graphics all the time to promote her two series, be they ebooks or audiobooks.  That bulldog wears many hats (literally), goes everywhere, says pithy things.  I thought it would be great fun to do something like that for my own books.  But where does one start?

It turns out, Miss Marple has a lot to say.  I knew I could crop, and thanks to a program called Paint, I knew I could add a thought balloon (after much trial and error) and text. 

But I want to be able to do more.  I've been watching tutorials on my computer, but even the ones for dummies take a lot of short cuts.  Excuse me, I'm trying to learn the basics and in it the guy says "just do a control D deselect" at 60 mph. You blink and whatever he just did is gone and you have to go back and listen/watch two more times before you know what just happened. So it's been slow.  Too bad Evelyn doesn't live down the road (I believe she's in Oklahoma) to give me a few lessons.  So, I'm on my own.

I figure I'll eventually learn enough to do stuff like this, which Mr. L did for me (although not in Photoshop. He's an Adobe Illustrator wiz--there are seven elements in the graphic below) and I'd probably be pretty happy.



Anybody got any good (EASY) Photoshop tips?  Do you like to see these types of graphics?

April Showers Bring …

By Mary Jane Maffini/aka Victoria Abbott
 Ta Da!   CONTEST WINNER! 
The winner of the Walter the Pug tote from last week’s blog is: KELLY!   Kelly, please send your mailing address to detect@rogers.comand Walter will wing his way to you.  Thanks everyone, for comments! 





And now onto those April showers!

April showers bring so many things: muddy boots,  wet feet, gray days, for sure.  Then there is flooding: what they call nuisance flooding (blocked roads and driveways, unusable parks) and more serious water problems.  I hope you are all avoiding those things this year and every year in fact.
It's not easy being a crocus!What I like about April showers is that the messy, black snow starts to disappear and bright, brave little flowers start to appear.  The bravest in this part of Ontario with its brutal winter and hot humid summers are the little crocuses.





Yesterday, I noticed two people had stopped while walking by our house and were pointing. The patch of crocus we planted last year was emerging to bring a little joy and the promise of better days ahead – Spring and Summer.   They're not beautiful yet, but they give me hope!
The other gift of the showers is that my nearly legless dogs can at last for a W-A-L-K.  Being princess dachshunds they’re not crazy about being wet and cold.

No one can see me hiding under this blanket!

But they like the reaction their raincoats get from the world.  Of course, I have to talk them out from the porch first.

Let's wait until May!As for me, I love my old yellow rain boots. 



 I feel like I’m five years old in them and I can’t resist splashing in the first puddle I find.  This one might have been a bit too much.
Very cold and very wet!

What can I say? Dignity is overrated.How about you?  Do April showers fill you with joy or dread?  Let’s hear it. Spill!

Spring is in the Air and the Chicks are Hatching New Stories!

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

Yesterday, Maggie shared her exciting news - a brand new historical mystery. Today, I have my own 'breaking' news. Off Kilter, which is the first in the Scottish Highlands series, is available for pre-order. You can find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, or order it from your favorite indie store.


This is very exciting for me, because my very own Scottish ancestors were seventeenth century rabble-rousers who were eventually shipped to the new world, where they settled in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. I have happily traveled back to my homeland, and in keeping with family tradition, enjoyed causing mayhem in the Highlands.

Here's a little bit about the story:
 
After the recent death of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage, thirty-something Eden Elliott is seriously in need of a fresh start. At the urging of her best friend, bestselling author Ami Pederson, Eden decides to embark on an open-ended trip to the picturesque village of Glenkillen in the Scottish Highlands, to do some hands-on research for a book of her own.

But almost as soon as Eden arrives in the quaint town, she gets caught up in a very real drama… The town’s sheep shearer is found murdered—clipped with his own shears—and the locals suspect Vicki MacBride, an outsider whose father’s recent death left her the surprise heir to his lucrative sheep farm. Eden refuses to believe the affable heiress is a murderer, but can she prove that someone is out to frame her new friend before she finds herself on the receiving end of more shear terror?

-------------------------
So, what do you think?

Exciting News! My Historical Mystery is Out!

by Maggie Sefton


I'm SO excited!  The first in my new Historical Mystery series is out on E-Books.  Right now, it's up on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.  By this weekend it should be up on Smashwords which distributes to Apple's iBookstore, Sony, and Kobo.   Tradepaper copies will be available sometime in  May from Amazon.   

SCANDALS, SECRETS, AND MURDER:  The Widow and the Rogue Mysteries is set in 1890 Washington, DC.  Here's a description below----and the cover photo above.  I have a new cover designer, and I just love her work.  :)    I hope you give Amanda and Devlin a try.  Please let me know if you do.    Enjoy!  



Powerful and corrupt U.S. Senator Horace Chester is stabbed to death in a Murder Bay brothel, wrapped in the arms of his evening’s entertainment.  His assailant escapes into the crush of unwashed bodies filling the streets of 1890 Washington’s notorious red light district---just a few blocks from the President’s  House. 
Amanda Duncan,young Washington widow, tries to ignore the clairvoyant visions that flash  before her eyes.  She couldn’t save her own family, so maybe her visions can help others.  Now, Amanda deliberately treads where no respectable lady would dare.  This latest vision was most troubling.  She saw a man stabbed to death by a shadowy assailant and a young girl screaming.
Devlin Burke, English investor and sometime sleuth, is in Washington on family business and to rescue his nephew Freddie who’s gone bankrupt in one of Sen. Chester’s investment schemes.  In a fit of rage, Freddie attacked Chester in a crowded Capitol Hill hallway only days before the senator’s murder.  Freddie has no alibi and is now the police inspector’s prime suspect.
Devlin and Amanda join forces in a search to find the real killer, which takes them from the Capital’s poshest salons into the crime-infested streets of Murder Bay.  Devlin’s sleuthing instincts and Amanda’s psychic detection lead them ever closer to the truth.  But the closer they approach, the more desperate the killer becomes---and the more dangerous.
Praise for Maggie Sefton’s  Mysteries:
“Maggie Sefton’s foray into political intrigue is a marvelous look at the shady underbelly of insider Washington…A tightly plotted tale of treachery.” ----Mystery Scene Magazine on DEADLY POLITICS
“The true draw of this series is the camaraderie between the characters who are so vibrant and connected that they stay with the readers long after the story has ended.”            RT Book Reviews on CAST ON, KILL OFF

When a Character Dies

by Kate Collins

As a writer, I know how difficult it is to kill off a character in a book, and as a reader, I know how difficult it is to accept. So it's been interesting to read the comments from fans of the TV series, "How I Met Your Mother."  For anyone who followed the show through its nine year run, it had to be tough to handle that ending. And from comments I've seen, many haven't been happy about it.

I remember when "Lost" ended, and how dissatisfied viewers were with it. My biggest disappointment wasn't how but that it actually was over. I really looked forward to that night to see what would happen next.

And then there are mystery series where a main character dies. Truthfully, after following a series through several books, I felt grief.

In my Flower Shop mystery series, I've debated a few times about the fate of one of my characters, but when it came down to plotting the death, I couldn't do it. I like my recurring characters too much, and I have a feeling fans of the series feel the same way. In my opinion, for whatever that's worth, we go through enough tragedy that we don't need to lose a beloved character as well.

But do TV shows fall into that category? By the mixed reaction the characters in "How I Met Your Mother" got, I'm not sure any of them were beloved. I could be wrong -- it's happened once or twice -- so I'd love your opinion.

Are you upset when a character in your favorite show dies? Are you more upset when the show ends? What did you think about "How I Met Your Mother"?

Mirror, Mirror

by Leann

If you think this blog is another message about women's body image, it's not. It's a literal title--actually about mirror choices. The new house is coming close to completion--though the pace has been even less than a snail's, as far as I am concerned. Because of my fatigue issues I can't hop from store to store to check things out. Even one trip to Lowe's is tiring because of all the stimulation of way too much stuff and walking long distances from one area to another on concrete.

So, I ended up buying many things for the house online and every single one has been perfect. I love all my light fixtures. Here's the kitchen pendant fixtures with seeded glass globes.
I bought cushions that will look amazing for the kitchen island chairs and a set of pottery canisters I absolutely adore. The white vanity with marble top that I bought from a California company arrived in perfect condition and is exactly the right size for the small downstairs bathroom.

But now it's time to buy mirrors for the upstairs bathrooms. A choice I thought would be simple turned out to be almost impossible. Thank goodness my sister, the real Candace Carson, came to visit this week. She helped me measure the spaces where the mirrors need to go and we decided what size and shape would work best.

I'd already gone cross-eyed looking at pictures of mirrors. Here are the spaces I needed to fill in the master. My husband's vanity is the smaller one. And I've included pics of both showers so you can get a feel for the spaces.

                          I have finally made my decisions after looking at picture after picture. For the master I chose two of these
and for the guest bathroom I chose a plainer version.

I was so surprised I ended up with the mirrors that were curved on top since most everything else is very vertical and horizontal in the house, but when I picture these mirrors in those bathrooms, they just seem perfect. Let's hope my luck holds and they don't arrive in a billion pieces!

What do you think? Have I conveyed how excited I am to being so close to a peaceful life on the lake? If not, I am THRILLED!

SALAD DAYSby Mary Kennedy &n...

SALAD DAYS

by Mary Kennedy
                                         
                         Yes, I know I'm jumping the gun a little, but salad days are almost here! Think of a lovely leafy green salad, or perhaps a tangy pasta salad.     We all have our favorites and I'm very fond of a green salad with marinated baby carrots and a handful of garbanzo beans--delish!                         
 No matter what your preference, you need a delicious vinaigrette, and I'm going to share my favorite recipe, right here, right now! The salad is a snap to make, here are the ingredients: 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard4 tablespoons red wine vinegar1 tablespoon sugar1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon pepper2 or 3 green onions, chopped (or use 1/4 of a regular onion, chopped)minced parsley or chives1/2 cup olive oil Mix well in a blender or food processor and store in the refrigerator. This is a delicious topping and I know you will enjoy it. You may never buy salad dressing again! Salad days are almost here, in the northeast, what's your favorite salad? by Mary Kennedy             

Where are you, Spring?

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

Spring sprang two weeks ago, and while we haven't had a snowstorm in an entire FIVE DAYS, and while Robins are hopping around everywhere, you sure could have fooled me.

I spent an hour or so out in the yard today, getting rid of the stuff that had blown into our garden, and yet ... there's only one patch of (very short--we're talking less than an inch) daffodils to be seen (when there should be at least three of them), and not a snowdrop in sight. (Did they just die out--after 22 years???--or was this winter just brutal enough to send them to an untimely grave?)

Spring will eventually happen. It HAS to. The days are getting longer. There are birds tweeting from (earlier than) dawn to (past) dusk.  But where are the flocks of geese that usually head north long before this?  Where are the crocus?

After this terribly long, awful, icky winter ... I'm longing for spring and then a VERY LONG, HOT summer.  But what if I don't get it?

Well, to paraphrase T'Pau of Vulcan, "The weather is the weather. What can be done about it?"

Very little, I fear.

Has spring sprung where you are?

Bouncing new covers and a silly Walter the Pug contest for you!

Proudly posted by Victoria Abbott aka Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini

 
Well, I do remember being a proud mum and showing off babies in person and in photos and I must say that sharing the new covers for books feels pretty much like that.  It's very exciting and satisfying after all those long months of waiting. 

This month, Victoria Abbott (that's me and my daughter) are celebrating the cover for The Wolfe Widow: the third book collector mystery.  It's out September.2, 2014.



Of course, you always worry about the covers. Will the colors work? Will the cover capture the spirit of the book? Will the dog appear to have six legs? Will  we love it or will we hate it?

We were very relieved with this new cover.  In fact, thrilled. We think it's cute and smart and all that good stuff.

While we were mid-celebration, we got to see the cover for the audio version of The Christie Curse which is coming out in April!   Here for the first time, is the reveal. Ta da!  



We're so excited we'll offer a Walter the Pug tote in a random draw from your comments. Just tell us what you think of either or both covers (or the book collector series) and answer this:


WHAT IS THE PUG'S NAME?

So pop by, comment, and we'll put your name in the hat.  I'll announce the winner next Thursday right here on my regular Cozy Chicks day.
 

We know you'll find that clue.   Good luck.  And now, what do you think of the babies, um, covers?

How Does the Garden Grow

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

Downsizing to an apartment doesn’t mean I have to give up gardening. The local university extension rents out plots every year, and I moved from the waiting list to a guaranteed 20x20 foot garden. They will even till the soil for me! 20x20 was the smallest they rented. It’s pretty big if you ask me, especially for a singleton, although I have enough friends and family for gifting.

So…what to plant? The for-sure list – tomatoes, kale, beets, cukes, arugula.

But this year, I’d like to plant cutting flowers, too. The family home I left behind to start my new life had lots of perennial beds. This is going to be different. Rows of annual flowers specifically for filling vases with bouquets. I’m not sure how it will work out, but I’m looking forward to trying.

I’ve read online articles that suggest choosing a color palette and going from there. Apparently timing them so they are ready at the same time can be tricky. I really like dahlias, but just discovered they are tubers. Still might be worth the effort though. Also on the consideration list: pincushion flowers, bachelor buttons, zinnias, snapdragons, sweet peas (the dwarf version), the possibilities are endless.

Any suggestions? What are you growing this year? Isn't it fun to plan?