Kate Collins's Blog, page 22
November 17, 2019
WRITERS AND IDEAS, PART TWO
By Mary Kennedy
Where do you get ideas? A popular question for writers. If you missed the first blog on this topic, you can click right here and read it.
A snippet of a song can lead to a book idea. I was watching The Big Chill (an old movie but a favorite) and heard the famous lyrics from the Rolling Stones:
And, you can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantBut if you try sometime you might findYou get what you need.
Definitely some good book material there! And food for thought.
Someone once said that writers are like sponges, absorbing sights, sounds, impressions and ideas all day long; a never-ending stream flowing across our brains. Some are good, some are okay, some are terrific. The smell of freshly cut grass, hearing the words from a long-forgotten song, the sound of a screen door banging shut on a hot summer night, the patterns the sunlight makes as it filters through the trees, this is all grist for the mill. We'll tuck it away and it will all turn up in a book sometime. Nothing is wasted.
Writers are always thinking, recording, taking mental notes about our surroundings. We can't help it. We do it automatically. I think it's in our DNA.
One of my friends said to me, "Are you always thinking about books? Always coming up with ideas for plots and characters and settings?"
Busted! "Yes, I am. Why?"
"Well, it's sort of annoying," she told me.
"Sorry," I said. "It goes with the territory."
But was I really sorry? Probably not. Where would I be without ideas? No ideas, no books! No books, no readers. So I guess I'll keep on thinking and welcoming those elusive ideas...
Happy holidays everyone. Enjoy the season and keep reading! Mary Kennedy
Where do you get ideas? A popular question for writers. If you missed the first blog on this topic, you can click right here and read it.
A snippet of a song can lead to a book idea. I was watching The Big Chill (an old movie but a favorite) and heard the famous lyrics from the Rolling Stones:
And, you can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantBut if you try sometime you might findYou get what you need.
Definitely some good book material there! And food for thought.
Someone once said that writers are like sponges, absorbing sights, sounds, impressions and ideas all day long; a never-ending stream flowing across our brains. Some are good, some are okay, some are terrific. The smell of freshly cut grass, hearing the words from a long-forgotten song, the sound of a screen door banging shut on a hot summer night, the patterns the sunlight makes as it filters through the trees, this is all grist for the mill. We'll tuck it away and it will all turn up in a book sometime. Nothing is wasted.
Writers are always thinking, recording, taking mental notes about our surroundings. We can't help it. We do it automatically. I think it's in our DNA.
One of my friends said to me, "Are you always thinking about books? Always coming up with ideas for plots and characters and settings?"
Busted! "Yes, I am. Why?"
"Well, it's sort of annoying," she told me.
"Sorry," I said. "It goes with the territory."
But was I really sorry? Probably not. Where would I be without ideas? No ideas, no books! No books, no readers. So I guess I'll keep on thinking and welcoming those elusive ideas...
Happy holidays everyone. Enjoy the season and keep reading! Mary Kennedy
November 15, 2019
In a hurry for Christmas?
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
Earlier this week, we had a BIG snowstorm. The official inch count at the airport was 8 inches. I live closer to Lake Ontario, and I'm sure we got at least a foot of snow. (I know because I was out there with the snowblower cleaning up after Plow Man.)
We don't usually get this much snow until January. We're taking a 4 foot-high pile of snow at the top of our driveway--which will never melt until spring. We might get warmer temps next week, but they will be in the 30s. You can't melt that much snow in just a few days. I have no idea where Plow Man is going to put the snow for the rest of season. You see, we have an L-shaped driveway, and if there's nowhere else to put the snow, Mr. L will never get his car out of the garage for the rest of the winter.
Oh, and did I mention that I absolutely LOATHE winter?
So, outside all my windows is what's known as a winter wonderland. That makes me want to nestle in and think about celebrating the holidays. Only ... Thanksgiving is a full week later than usual this year. I usually put up my tree the week AFTER Thanksgiving, but that means it would be December 7th instead of like the 24th or so of November.
Excuse me, but I don't want to wait that long to put up my Christmas tree. And I've got a craft sale on Black Friday (Nov. 29th) this year, so I can't even put the tree up on that day. And we spend our weekends in our downstairs pub on weekends...so what's a holiday-loving person supposed to do?
Mr. L isn't thrilled, but we agreed that we would put the tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving. This is a first. In our 28 years of marriage, this is the very first time we're putting the tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving. He'd not thrilled. Me? YAY!!!!!
Will we get sick of the decorations? Probably not, because we spend our days in our offices. The Christmas stuff is upstairs, and on weekends, we'll be downstairs in our pub. (We do have a 2-food tree, but it's only got lights, not ornaments.)
How are you going to cope with the shortened Christmas season?
Earlier this week, we had a BIG snowstorm. The official inch count at the airport was 8 inches. I live closer to Lake Ontario, and I'm sure we got at least a foot of snow. (I know because I was out there with the snowblower cleaning up after Plow Man.)We don't usually get this much snow until January. We're taking a 4 foot-high pile of snow at the top of our driveway--which will never melt until spring. We might get warmer temps next week, but they will be in the 30s. You can't melt that much snow in just a few days. I have no idea where Plow Man is going to put the snow for the rest of season. You see, we have an L-shaped driveway, and if there's nowhere else to put the snow, Mr. L will never get his car out of the garage for the rest of the winter.
Oh, and did I mention that I absolutely LOATHE winter?
So, outside all my windows is what's known as a winter wonderland. That makes me want to nestle in and think about celebrating the holidays. Only ... Thanksgiving is a full week later than usual this year. I usually put up my tree the week AFTER Thanksgiving, but that means it would be December 7th instead of like the 24th or so of November.
Excuse me, but I don't want to wait that long to put up my Christmas tree. And I've got a craft sale on Black Friday (Nov. 29th) this year, so I can't even put the tree up on that day. And we spend our weekends in our downstairs pub on weekends...so what's a holiday-loving person supposed to do?Mr. L isn't thrilled, but we agreed that we would put the tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving. This is a first. In our 28 years of marriage, this is the very first time we're putting the tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving. He'd not thrilled. Me? YAY!!!!!
Will we get sick of the decorations? Probably not, because we spend our days in our offices. The Christmas stuff is upstairs, and on weekends, we'll be downstairs in our pub. (We do have a 2-food tree, but it's only got lights, not ornaments.)
How are you going to cope with the shortened Christmas season?
November 13, 2019
Bittersweet Memories
by Karen Rose Smith
I was reading the page proofs this week of my June 2020 release, MURDER WITH CLOTTED CREAM. In this book, in addition to Daisy Swanson solving a murder, she is also dealing with the birth of her first grandchild. While the entire family is thrilled with the new arrival, Daisy, her aunt Iris and her mom are also concerned with her daughter's struggle to adapt to her new baby and the responsibilities that go with him. Only married three months, Vi and Foster are still adjusting to married life and Vi seems to be sinking into a depression that doesn't seem normal. Vi has a tremendous support system and is able to get the help she needs--nutrition, medication, group therapy and emotional support from family.
It was both easy and difficult to write the scenes that involved the struggling new mother because I had experienced much that I was writing about. The subject matter brought back the struggles I experienced after the birth of my son. Forty-seven years ago, postpartum depression was not recognized as a serious condition and new mother's were expected to feel the joy that a new baby brings to a family. When my son had colic day and night, I blamed myself for failing as a mother who couldn't find a way to comfort my newborn child.
My husband was very supportive and insisted that, even though he had to go to work the next day, we did nighttime feedings together. We were a team and that helped the sleepless nights seem more bearable. While one of us was feeding and rocking the baby, the other would just sit in the kitchen next to the baby's room for support and companionship. Being newlyweds, we didn't have an abundance of holiday decorations. We found an unfinished wooden Christmas ornament kit. We painted the ornaments while we sat and waited for a fussy baby to fall back to sleep. By the time the holidays rolled around, we had a complete set of ornaments to decorate our tree.
I recently found the ornaments packed away in a box I was sorting through. They immediately took me back to those long nights of calming a baby with colic. But, even more, they reminded me of the teamwork that my husband and I shared that helped lift my spirits and enable me to treasure the bonds that a baby and his mother share and can never be broken.
*************
Coming in December!
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson has a tea shop to run, a daughter to marry off—and a murder to solve . . .
Daisy’s worried one of her employees at Daisy’s Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina’s been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift—and while the shop’s scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there’s more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek.
Planning her own daughter’s wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can’t help feeling a protective maternal instinct—and an instinct to investigate. It turns out Karina has been helping a down-on-his luck single dad who’s been making ends meet—barely—by selling antiques at a place called Pirated Treasures.
But when an employee at the antiques store is bludgeoned to death with a marble rolling pin, Karina’s new friend is suspect number one. Though the motives are muddy and steeped in intrigue, Daisy is more than determined to flush the real killer out.
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Amazon
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Barnes and Noble
I was reading the page proofs this week of my June 2020 release, MURDER WITH CLOTTED CREAM. In this book, in addition to Daisy Swanson solving a murder, she is also dealing with the birth of her first grandchild. While the entire family is thrilled with the new arrival, Daisy, her aunt Iris and her mom are also concerned with her daughter's struggle to adapt to her new baby and the responsibilities that go with him. Only married three months, Vi and Foster are still adjusting to married life and Vi seems to be sinking into a depression that doesn't seem normal. Vi has a tremendous support system and is able to get the help she needs--nutrition, medication, group therapy and emotional support from family.
It was both easy and difficult to write the scenes that involved the struggling new mother because I had experienced much that I was writing about. The subject matter brought back the struggles I experienced after the birth of my son. Forty-seven years ago, postpartum depression was not recognized as a serious condition and new mother's were expected to feel the joy that a new baby brings to a family. When my son had colic day and night, I blamed myself for failing as a mother who couldn't find a way to comfort my newborn child.
My husband was very supportive and insisted that, even though he had to go to work the next day, we did nighttime feedings together. We were a team and that helped the sleepless nights seem more bearable. While one of us was feeding and rocking the baby, the other would just sit in the kitchen next to the baby's room for support and companionship. Being newlyweds, we didn't have an abundance of holiday decorations. We found an unfinished wooden Christmas ornament kit. We painted the ornaments while we sat and waited for a fussy baby to fall back to sleep. By the time the holidays rolled around, we had a complete set of ornaments to decorate our tree. 
I recently found the ornaments packed away in a box I was sorting through. They immediately took me back to those long nights of calming a baby with colic. But, even more, they reminded me of the teamwork that my husband and I shared that helped lift my spirits and enable me to treasure the bonds that a baby and his mother share and can never be broken. *************
Coming in December!
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson has a tea shop to run, a daughter to marry off—and a murder to solve . . .
Daisy’s worried one of her employees at Daisy’s Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina’s been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift—and while the shop’s scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there’s more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek.
Planning her own daughter’s wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can’t help feeling a protective maternal instinct—and an instinct to investigate. It turns out Karina has been helping a down-on-his luck single dad who’s been making ends meet—barely—by selling antiques at a place called Pirated Treasures.
But when an employee at the antiques store is bludgeoned to death with a marble rolling pin, Karina’s new friend is suspect number one. Though the motives are muddy and steeped in intrigue, Daisy is more than determined to flush the real killer out.
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Amazon
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Barnes and Noble
Pearls and Poisonand Mamma’s running for city council!
Hi, Duffy Brown here.
As you can tell from the title all does not go well. Somebody’s poisoned that Kip-the-scumbucket Seymour and Mamma’s the prime suspect.get Pearls and Poison hereI know she didn’t do and you know she didn’t do it. So now we got to figure out how. With a gun you pull the trigger and bam it’s over. With a knife it’s slash and dash, but with poison the possibilities are endless. Where do you get it? You just don’t walk into Walgreens and ask which aisle has the cyanide. How much do you need? Which ones work the best? What do you mix it in?So, like I always do when I have a question, I hit the Google and there it was…plants! With Pearls and Poison set in Savannah there are lots and lots of plants year round. All I had to do was pick one…decisions, decisions.Everyone knows Poinsettia berries are a big no-no but I bet you didn’t know those lovely spring daffodils you adore can cause big problems. You may not die; you’ll just be so sick you wish you were dead.I have a whole hedge of oleander in my back yard and one plant could probably wipe out my neighborhood. Good thing we never used the sticks to roast marshmallows! Rhododendron, jasmine azaleas and wisteria, foxglove is so beautiful, they are the focal point of spring and toxic to extreme. The victim gets deathly ill then a coma and then he kisses his butt goodbye. ( I used one of these in Pearls and Poison)Yew is fatal and has no symptoms you just keel right over. Up minute dead the next.And then there’s Lantana, buttercups, foxglove, periwinkle Vinci rose. These are in every summer garden and pot and totally lethal. How can thing be so lovely and so deadly?I can never fee Bruce Willis onions and chokecherries are pure death for horses.I did a ton of research for Pearls and Poison to get the right poison and figure out how to get the victim…who deserves to die…to drink it.When doing this research I was invited to a dinner party and asked to bring ice cream instead of the salad. Wonder why?My customers at the Prissy Fox saw my poisonous plant books out there on the counter and went screaming from the shop.I wonder who did in Scummy and I wonder how? Did they use one of these plants and how did they do it. Hugs,Reagan Summerside Pearls and Poison
November 11, 2019
PASSING DAYS
by Maggie SeftonIf you missed this Autumn story featuring the Kelly Flynn characters, check it out on Amazo. It was a lot of fun to write.
November 10, 2019
BOOKS ON THE BATTLEFIELD
By Mary Kennedy
(I wrote this article for Publisher's Weekly in 2012 but I thought readers might like to see it again.) I'd never met Lt. Col Lisa Schieferstein, yet I was intrigued by her story. I knew Lisa was half a world away, doing a tough job in a gritty, remote location. As the garrison commander of the 389th "Renegades" division in Iraq, she was stationed at a desert outpost, with ninety soldiers under her command. The heat was appalling, the conditions were rugged and danger was ever-present. (When I sent them instant "cups of soup," the desert heat was so brutal, they could add water to the Styrofoam cups and cook the soup right on the hood of their jeeps.) Even though my life is incredibly cushy by comparison (a nice psychology practice, a second career as a mystery novelist) when I saw a photo of Lisa--in full body armor--visiting a one-room Iraqi schoolhouse to bring presents to the children, I knew right away we had something in common; a love of books. We began to e-mail each other and I was offered a glimpse into her day-to-day life. When I learned that the 389th was a "sustainment division," offering food and snacks to American convoys passing through, I decided to send boxes of books and homemade goodies to the Renegades every two weeks. Over the course of the summer, I mailed over 200 pounds of boxes stuffed with brownies, "sweet" Chex mix snacks made with pecans and corn syrup, individual packages of Crystal Light, coffee, creamer and sugar. Tuna fish and individual packets of mayo. (They loved to make tuna salad sandwiches). Plus plenty of gum and hard candy (good for staying alert during night patrols, they told me.) And I included paperback books. They loved mysteries! My writer pals joined in with copies of their new releases and Carolyn Hart made regular donations of her best-selling books along with delicious gourmet coffees. Kim Adams, SOS Military Liaison and an Air Force spouse said, "As a veteran of the first Gulf War, I know firsthand what difference mail makes to deployed personnel. But that war was short-term and our troops came home. Today, our military personnel are facing longer and more repeated deployments. I wish everyone reading this piece could adopt a soldier and send books, candy, snack and sure, home-made cookies or brownies. It's easy to do and it really means the world to our brave men and women in the armed forces." As Janet Evanovich told me, "If Stephanie Plum could meet the Renegades, she'd give them a high-five and say, "Well done!"
Epilogue: all of the Renegades are now safely home in the States. I know you join me in thanking them for their service. Mary Kennedy
(I wrote this article for Publisher's Weekly in 2012 but I thought readers might like to see it again.) I'd never met Lt. Col Lisa Schieferstein, yet I was intrigued by her story. I knew Lisa was half a world away, doing a tough job in a gritty, remote location. As the garrison commander of the 389th "Renegades" division in Iraq, she was stationed at a desert outpost, with ninety soldiers under her command. The heat was appalling, the conditions were rugged and danger was ever-present. (When I sent them instant "cups of soup," the desert heat was so brutal, they could add water to the Styrofoam cups and cook the soup right on the hood of their jeeps.) Even though my life is incredibly cushy by comparison (a nice psychology practice, a second career as a mystery novelist) when I saw a photo of Lisa--in full body armor--visiting a one-room Iraqi schoolhouse to bring presents to the children, I knew right away we had something in common; a love of books. We began to e-mail each other and I was offered a glimpse into her day-to-day life. When I learned that the 389th was a "sustainment division," offering food and snacks to American convoys passing through, I decided to send boxes of books and homemade goodies to the Renegades every two weeks. Over the course of the summer, I mailed over 200 pounds of boxes stuffed with brownies, "sweet" Chex mix snacks made with pecans and corn syrup, individual packages of Crystal Light, coffee, creamer and sugar. Tuna fish and individual packets of mayo. (They loved to make tuna salad sandwiches). Plus plenty of gum and hard candy (good for staying alert during night patrols, they told me.) And I included paperback books. They loved mysteries! My writer pals joined in with copies of their new releases and Carolyn Hart made regular donations of her best-selling books along with delicious gourmet coffees. Kim Adams, SOS Military Liaison and an Air Force spouse said, "As a veteran of the first Gulf War, I know firsthand what difference mail makes to deployed personnel. But that war was short-term and our troops came home. Today, our military personnel are facing longer and more repeated deployments. I wish everyone reading this piece could adopt a soldier and send books, candy, snack and sure, home-made cookies or brownies. It's easy to do and it really means the world to our brave men and women in the armed forces." As Janet Evanovich told me, "If Stephanie Plum could meet the Renegades, she'd give them a high-five and say, "Well done!"
Epilogue: all of the Renegades are now safely home in the States. I know you join me in thanking them for their service. Mary Kennedy
November 9, 2019
Your Guide to Victoria Square
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
You know about Victoria Square thanks to the Victoria Square Mysteries. Artisans Alley takes center stage in those books, but the merchants--and their businesses--are just as intriguing. They all have stories to tell ... and that's what the Life on Victoria Square companion series is all about.So settle back and really get to know the merchants. Learn about their lives, and how life on Victoria Square affects them. It might just make a profound impression on you, too!
Contains
Carving Out A Path: A shoplifter learns a lesson about life and integrity.
A Basket Full of Bargains: Iris Drake is a strange duck with a secret.
The Broken Teacup: Katie Bonner receives a broken teacup in the mail--but it's a mystery who sent it.
It's Tutu Much: Bullies come in all sizes and ages. Can a dance class teach kids--and adults--how to get along?
The Reluctant Bride: Does a bride-to-be really want to get married?
Tea'd Off: The Square's new tea shop is about to open, but not without problems.
PRINT:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
E-BOOK
Kindle US | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play
November 8, 2019
Rock-a-Bye Poppy
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
For a while now, I've been having a problem with my baby girl, Poppy. She's the sweetest little girl in the world. Unlike her sister, who pays attention to everything and comes when she's called, and does everything she's told, Poppy is a rebellious girl. She doesn't listen all that well. Like her sister, she's a flipper and a flopper. She loves to roll on the rug--back and forth and forth and back. She's a good lap cat at the end of the day and will sit quietly, but during the day? Not so much.
She also likes to bite -- everything. Not just me, but paper, boxes, desks, you name it, she bites it. She's not teething. She has passed her first birthday, but she still likes to BITE.
Recently I realized that there was a way to calm her. She will settle in my arms and I rock her like a baby. She purrs and purrs and then falls asleep. This is all very nice and loving ... until my arms and feet fall asleep. Then I have to put her down and she almost immediately jumps back on my lap. This makes it very hard to get any work done.
The girls chill under Mr. L's lamp.Luckily, Mr. L has a 200 watt light bulb in his office. Under the light we've placed three cat beds. (We used to have more cats.) The girls often sleep under the warmth of that incandescent bulb. (We aren't going green with that lamp any time soon.) I also have a small oil-filled radiant space heater in my office and I keep a cushion next to it that's big enough to accommodate both girls. Now that the weather has turned, I'm hoping they will use it more and let me work.
It's not a terrible problem to have cats who love me and want to be with me. I just need to convince them that they need to change their timing.
What's your biggest pet problem?
For a while now, I've been having a problem with my baby girl, Poppy. She's the sweetest little girl in the world. Unlike her sister, who pays attention to everything and comes when she's called, and does everything she's told, Poppy is a rebellious girl. She doesn't listen all that well. Like her sister, she's a flipper and a flopper. She loves to roll on the rug--back and forth and forth and back. She's a good lap cat at the end of the day and will sit quietly, but during the day? Not so much.
She also likes to bite -- everything. Not just me, but paper, boxes, desks, you name it, she bites it. She's not teething. She has passed her first birthday, but she still likes to BITE.
Recently I realized that there was a way to calm her. She will settle in my arms and I rock her like a baby. She purrs and purrs and then falls asleep. This is all very nice and loving ... until my arms and feet fall asleep. Then I have to put her down and she almost immediately jumps back on my lap. This makes it very hard to get any work done.
The girls chill under Mr. L's lamp.Luckily, Mr. L has a 200 watt light bulb in his office. Under the light we've placed three cat beds. (We used to have more cats.) The girls often sleep under the warmth of that incandescent bulb. (We aren't going green with that lamp any time soon.) I also have a small oil-filled radiant space heater in my office and I keep a cushion next to it that's big enough to accommodate both girls. Now that the weather has turned, I'm hoping they will use it more and let me work.It's not a terrible problem to have cats who love me and want to be with me. I just need to convince them that they need to change their timing.
What's your biggest pet problem?
November 6, 2019
Tea On A Friday Night
by Karen Rose Smith
Since my next cozy mystery, MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS will be released at the end of November, I was honored to be asked to return to the TranquilaTEA Room in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania for their Friday night Book Lovers Tea Party. In a quaint refurbished house in the downtown area, the tea room offered an intimate setting for me to meet with tea lovers and readers of my cozy mysteries. The nighttime service allowed for candlelit teapot warmers to create a soothing accent to the beautiful tea service table settings.
Each tea lover was treated to a full tea service including sausage and cheddar quiche, creamy butternut squash bisque, cinnamon scones with lemon curd and almond cream, chicken Caesar salad triangles, pumpkin nut tea sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches wrapped as tiny presents. Dessert selections included pear custard bars and tiny chocolate cupcakes with salted-caramel frosting. And, of course, a full selection of teas, including herbal, black, green and specialty blends were offered throughout the meal.
Between each course, I circulated around the tea room to visit and chat with each table of guests. This gave everyone a chance to ask questions or share what they enjoy about reading cozy mysteries. After dessert was finished, I did a short reading from my second Daisy's Tea Garden Cozy Mystery, MURDER WITH CINNAMON SCONES as the guests finished sipping their tea samplings. Then I moved into the gift shop area to sign the books that were part of each guest's fare for the evening.
And, of course, before leaving, I had to do some shopping. Tea rooms have the neatest gifts for stocking stuffers and beautiful teacups and teapots. I had to take home a few bags of the menu teas that were available on the tea rack. My favorite tea of the evening and that I brought home was Rooibos Caramel!
I love meeting with readers in a tea room setting. It is personal, satisfying and gratifying to share my love of tea, writing and cats with my readers.
*************
Coming in December!
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson has a tea shop to run, a daughter to marry off—and a murder to solve . . .
Daisy’s worried one of her employees at Daisy’s Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina’s been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift—and while the shop’s scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there’s more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek.
Planning her own daughter’s wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can’t help feeling a protective maternal instinct—and an instinct to investigate. It turns out Karina has been helping a down-on-his luck single dad who’s been making ends meet—barely—by selling antiques at a place called Pirated Treasures.
But when an employee at the antiques store is bludgeoned to death with a marble rolling pin, Karina’s new friend is suspect number one. Though the motives are muddy and steeped in intrigue, Daisy is more than determined to flush the real killer out.
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Amazon
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Barnes and Noble
Since my next cozy mystery, MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS will be released at the end of November, I was honored to be asked to return to the TranquilaTEA Room in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania for their Friday night Book Lovers Tea Party. In a quaint refurbished house in the downtown area, the tea room offered an intimate setting for me to meet with tea lovers and readers of my cozy mysteries. The nighttime service allowed for candlelit teapot warmers to create a soothing accent to the beautiful tea service table settings.
Each tea lover was treated to a full tea service including sausage and cheddar quiche, creamy butternut squash bisque, cinnamon scones with lemon curd and almond cream, chicken Caesar salad triangles, pumpkin nut tea sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches wrapped as tiny presents. Dessert selections included pear custard bars and tiny chocolate cupcakes with salted-caramel frosting. And, of course, a full selection of teas, including herbal, black, green and specialty blends were offered throughout the meal. 
Between each course, I circulated around the tea room to visit and chat with each table of guests. This gave everyone a chance to ask questions or share what they enjoy about reading cozy mysteries. After dessert was finished, I did a short reading from my second Daisy's Tea Garden Cozy Mystery, MURDER WITH CINNAMON SCONES as the guests finished sipping their tea samplings. Then I moved into the gift shop area to sign the books that were part of each guest's fare for the evening.
And, of course, before leaving, I had to do some shopping. Tea rooms have the neatest gifts for stocking stuffers and beautiful teacups and teapots. I had to take home a few bags of the menu teas that were available on the tea rack. My favorite tea of the evening and that I brought home was Rooibos Caramel!I love meeting with readers in a tea room setting. It is personal, satisfying and gratifying to share my love of tea, writing and cats with my readers.
*************
Coming in December!
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson has a tea shop to run, a daughter to marry off—and a murder to solve . . .
Daisy’s worried one of her employees at Daisy’s Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina’s been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift—and while the shop’s scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there’s more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek.
Planning her own daughter’s wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can’t help feeling a protective maternal instinct—and an instinct to investigate. It turns out Karina has been helping a down-on-his luck single dad who’s been making ends meet—barely—by selling antiques at a place called Pirated Treasures.
But when an employee at the antiques store is bludgeoned to death with a marble rolling pin, Karina’s new friend is suspect number one. Though the motives are muddy and steeped in intrigue, Daisy is more than determined to flush the real killer out.
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Amazon
MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Barnes and Noble
A true Southern Home
Auntie KiKi here and now that it’s fall here in Savannah everyone is getting ready for the holidays and doing a bit of redecorating to gussy the place .One of my dearest friends is redecorating her house, top to bottom and that’s always a scary thing to be doing in my opinion especially if you go and turn it over to one of those snooty decorators who think they know it all. I mean a house...especially a Savannah house has got to have certain things to make it right.
There better be a big old table in the kitchen. Not one of those bar things with stools. I mean a fullout table that sits all the family at once. A family that eats together stays together especially if there’s fried chicken on that table.And while we’re talking kitchen’s there better be a big one. This is cooking country and we need room to move around. Everyone has a job to do like stirring the gravy, and setting the table proper.
And there better be room enough in that house for grandma’s pie safe and auntie’s sewing chest and that there rocker your mamma rocked the babies in. A house can be new but we take our past with us for sure.When picking out new furniture be thinking something that a swaying. Don’t be forgetting that swing on the porch and the rocker by the hearth. Things that stay put get downright boring if you ask me.
These are some of the must-haves in a Southern home. What’s a must have in your home? A big porch to sit a spell? A fireplace to gather round? A garden for growing tomatoes and okra? 
