Kate Collins's Blog, page 271

Sunny Sunday

by Maggie Sefton








I guess it's official. We got a very early Spring this year---it started in early March with really warm temps and no snow, which is highly unusual for us in Colorado. Now, it's an even prettier April, even warmer, and all our flowering bushes and trees are blooming! Last year after we'd had a warmer March, our April and May came with La Nina's chilly temps and lots of rain, even snow in May. Not so this year. Daffodils have pushed up through the ground along with all the other spring flowers. Birds are singing their "Spring" songs----yes, I can tell the difference in the way birds sing when they think it's Springtime. I'll bet you can, too.



Since last Sunday was Easter, lots of people were out enjoying the gorgeous weather and visiting. My daughters were in various places: New York daughter Melissa was at the famous Fifth Avenue Easter Parade, wearing the "bonnet" she decorated with several candy "peeps." Fairfax, VA daughter, Christine and family were spending Spring Break in Florida with friends and relatives; Arlington, VA daugh ter Maria was at a special sunrise service at Arlington National Cemetery; and Houston, TX vicinity daughter Serena was in Vancouver, BC for special "solo submarine" instruction for NASA.

And I was quite happily at home enjoying the gorgeous sunny day---and staying on schedule writing the next Kelly Flynn Knitting Mystery which is due on my editor's desk in June and checking the final "galleys" for the upcoming release of the first in my new mystery suspense series, DEADLY POLITICS. And, doing the final revisions to the 2nd in the series.







But I did get to play the role of the Easter Bunny and take a flower-filled basket to my Mom at the lovely Healthcare center, Columbine West, here in Fort Collins. And, yes----I also brought chocolate. :) I'm a smart Bunny.

Would you like some?

While our wonderful Kate Collins finishes the last part of writing her manuscript--rewrites, copy edits and even more edits--we are fortunate to have Julie Hyzy, who writes two cozy series, join us for a few weeks. Many of you are probably familiar with her White House Chef series as well as her Manor House Mysteries. We welcome Julie while we await Kate's return. (We do miss our Kate!) 
++++++++++++++++++
Bookmarks!! 
I'm super excited because the bookmarks I ordered for GRACE AMONG THIEVES have come in and they're so pretty  I want to share them with everyone!


Here's a scan of the front and back -->


As I'm sure you know, postage keeps going up and it costs the same (45 cents) to mail one bookmark as it costs to mail five. So... with that in mind, I'd like to offer you bookmarks, if you'd like them.


There are a couple of details to keep  in mind, though. First of all, U.S. addresses only, please. Second, if you'd like these bookmarks, please don't leave your address in the comment area below (we don't want personal information getting out!). Rather - email me at my name - Julie Hyzy - (all one word) at gmail.com. And... lastly, because I always get very odd requests from faraway lands from individuals (and sometimes companies) who probably have no interest in reading, but take anything offered for "Free," I'd like to ask that you include in your email a quick sentence about what/who you like to read. That way, while I'm addressing envelopes in front of the computer for hours, I'll get to know you a little bit better. That's always fun. 


Five bookmarks will be the minimum I'll send - with the hopes that you'll share the extras with reader friends. If you'd like more than five - say you're in a book discussion group, or your local bookstore or library would be willing to distribute them - let me know, and I'll be happy to accommodate.


Grace Among Thieves is the third (and so far, my favorite) in the Manor House series. It's due to debut on June 5th and I'll be launching it at Printers Row in Chicago. More details on that to come.


But for now... email me with a few words about your reading habits, and I'll send bookmarks to you ASAP!
(PS - I'll sign them, if you like)


Thanks!
Julie

Scary, But Wonderful

by Leann

I had my book launch signing for The Cat, The Wife and The Weapon on Saturday and on my way there I witnessed something that at first felt like a disaster about to happen. My heart was pounding and I was terrified.

The road to the freeway to get to Houston and thus to Murder by the Book is almost a freeway itself. It's a four lane divided highway and though the speed limit is 45, people tend to drive a tad faster than that, myself included. Up ahead I saw something that had me put on the brakes. A tiny little dog, looked like a chihuahua puppy, came racing across the road, over the median and into oncoming traffic. He was motoring, too. Then, to my right came first a girl who looked to be about 10 and then a boy, maybe 14. They raced onto the busy road trying to catch the puppy. I was sure that dog would be dead and those kids would be hurt, too.

But what happened was absolutely wonderful. Everyone stopped. I mean everyone. And I was amazed at how many teenage boys were passengers in those cars up ahead of me. They clambered out of vehicles and the chase was on. As traffic remained at a standstill, thank goodness, they all gave chase. One guy even did a U-turn to block the little dog, and maybe slow him down. Didn't work, but so many people got out of the cars that the puppy realized going straight wasn't about to help his escape. He ran back across the highway to side I was on. Silly guy was trapped then, when he ran up to a door at store in a strip center.

He was soon surrounded and gathered up by the children who would have been devastated had he been crushed by a 2,000 pound automobile.

I hummed and smiled all the way as I made the hour long drive into Houston. What a good feeling to see people come together to help in a little crisis--and protect both the dog and those kids who were afraid to lose him. Bravo, people of Friendswood! What a great thing to witness.

I can play art director, too!

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

I've been an "indie" author for a little over two years now.  Indie as in independent of traditional publishing.  Make no mistake, my bread and butter is still writing cozy mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin USA), but let's face it, it's pretty hard to live on two paychecks a year.  So, I became an independent author publishing my backlist, as well as new material.

Of course, I don't have all the same assets of traditional publishing at my fingertips, either.  Namely and art department (or marketing, for that matter).  So I've had to stumble along in that regard.

Take book covers, for instance.  I had to come up with my own.  I paid to have the covers made for my Jeff Resnick mysteries, and I love them.  But for my short stories ... I didn't know if they would pay for themselves (they do eventually ... but for the ones that don't sell well, it was a very L-O-N-G wait).

This week, it was time to give my covers a push.  To make them look more a part of the book series.  To give them a brand all their own.  So ... that's what I set out to do.


Here's the old cover for Cold Case.  The truth be told, I never liked the picture.  It wasn't exactly the same as the trike described in the story, but I couldn't find anything better at the time.  And apparently it didn't matter; this is my second best selling short story (which is also the basis of the 4th book in the series).

Back when we did the original covers, most people were using the same tricks.  A stock photo with a block of color and type.  Eighteen months later, that doesn't cut it.  The whole e book explosion has a lot of people paying BIG BUCKS for professional looking covers, and this no longer cut it.  How do you like the new cover?

Note I'm using the same stock photo, but now I'm also using the identical look for the author name as it appears on the rest of the Jeff Resnick mysteries.  I've also darkened the photo so that it doesn't look so cheerful.  The subject matter is mystery, after all--and the subject of the story is a missing child, hence the abandoned trike.  The feeling I hope to convey when a reader sees the cover is that something is amiss, and I think (hope) this new cover will convey that.

Meanwhile, I've tried several covers for my humorous short story We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert, and they all missed.  But I wasn't sure what to do with it.  Since it's a holiday and holiday candy is involved, I thought of using chocolate on the cover.  Unfortunately, while the photo is as sharp as a tack, when reduced to thumbnail size, it's difficult to tell exactly what it is. (And I won't elaborate on what it has been suggested it might be.)  But even the font (as well as the colors)  is all wrong.  This is called experimentation.

So I sat down to think about the true essence of the story.  And what it is about is murder.  Therefore, why be coy?  We're going to go for a similar look with the author name/font when we get around (hopefully this weekend) to updating the rest of my covers.  But don't you agree that the new cover is at least a teensy bit more enticing?

Thanks to the generosity of other authors (and artists), I've learned a lot about cover design in the last year (heck, the last week).  Here's hoping it does some good.

What do you think of the changes in these cover?  Would they entice you at least read the story blurbs?

Wipeout

By Heather

I have a few email accounts. Over the past year, I've been trying to combine accounts, but it's proven harder to do than I thought. With two names, a personal account, and various website addresses...it's a bit overwhelming.

One of the reasons why it's so overwhelming is because I'm an email hoarder. That's right, I admit it. I hoard emails. I have dozens of files. Hundreds of saved emails. So deleting an account means having to go through all those, deciding which to keep and which to get (gasp) rid of.

Well, AOL helped me out this week. I signed on to my personal account the other day, and AOL said it had "updated" me. Before that point, I'd had 53 emails in my inbox and a dozen or so folders.

After the update, I had over 5,000 emails in my inbox.

Yeah.

5,000+.

AOL had put every email I'd ever received and written over the past two years back in my inbox. The good news is that the "update" didn't touch my folders—so they were safe. But the 53 emails I had in my inbox were now impossible to find. I ended up deleting everything. A complete wipeout.

So now, I have zero emails in that inbox. I've been keeping up with ones coming in. I'll probably keep this account, because I've had it for fifteen years, but I'm still trying to consolidate some of the others...but I really hope none of those "update" on me. Don't know if I can handle that again.

Are you an email hoarder? Or do you stay on top of them?

Ellery's Cozy Mystery Contest

By Ellery Adams
It's that time of the month again - your chance to win a $10 ecard to the bookstore of for choice!

I'll give you one line from a contemporary cozy and you have six days to email me the title and author at elleryadams@verizon.net.
Please DO NOT POST the answer. You can certainly post a comment, but no title or author name in the comments, okay?
Here's the line: "When she'd gone to pick out a dog at her local shelter after the demise of her marriage, she'd gotten the surprise of her life to realize that she could communicate with the yorkiepoo."
Ellery's hint: This post is in memory to a wonderful cozy author who passed away late February. She will be missed.

Cats Galore

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed
Last month might have been our official cat month, but April is shaping up to be about cats again with the Cozy Chicks. Ellery lost her beloved Pippin on Saturday, which as any animal lover knows, can be as painful as losing a human loved one. You can pay your condolences to her here in comments or on facebook, where so many of her friends are offering support.

On the brighter side of cats, another of Leann's Cats in Trouble Mysteries came out yesterday. The Cat, the Wife, and the Weapon, and sales are rocking. You can check it out by clicking on the cover. Isn't it sweet?
Next, Mr. Deb/Hannah and I received a letter from the city regarding his business. The Milwaukee Common Council has adopted an ordinance that allows residents to establish outdoor cat colonies, and since an application was submitted within a certain radius of his building, we have to decide whether we want to support it or object to it.  What a no-brainer!
I didn't know such a thing existed! How cool is this! According to the letter, a resident is certified for a feral cat colony through the Wisconsin Humane Society. Then the cats are trapped, brought in for spaying/neutering, vaccinations and other medical care, and returned to the neighborhood where their basic needs (like food and water) are met by the responsible resident.
This is like cat utopia. No more euthanasia, which hasn't solved the population problem anyway. No more starving felines. With managed colonies, life on the street as homeless cats will drastically improve.

Doing a waggle dance for street cats! And if you don't know what a waggle dance is, you better read Buzz Off (A Queen Bee Mystery)

Old Friends and New Faces

by Maggie Sefton





I'm back from the Left Coast Crime mystery conference in Sacramento, CA I attended Thursday through Sunday last week---and I'm REALLY glad I went. This particular conference which is always held in the Western part of the U.S. (hence, the name Left Coast Crime) is always well attended by readers and fans of the mystery novel in all its forms. And there are many, many of your favorite writers in attendance as well. Everything from Thrillers to Cozy and everything in between is represented. And---this year, there was plenty of attention paid to the blossoming New World of E-books.


I was participating on two panels this year---one, which emphasized Cozy mysteries, so I spoke about the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries at that one. The second panel dealt with "Setting" in mysteries and why authors chose certain places for their novels to take place. And that panel was the perfect place for me to spread the word about my upcoming new mystery series set in my old hometown, Washington, DC. Those are the Molly Malone suspense mysteries. The first in that series is DEADLY POLITICS and will be out this August 2012.


Great turnout for both panels. The rooms were packed each time, and people were standing in the rear. That's a great feeling for an author---to see so many people show up to hear about books they loved to read and new books on the horizon.


Panels are fun, but the main reason I enjoy conferences is because I get to meet readers and fans. I've been enough times now, that I recognize faces! That's always fun. Confererences are also a wonderful way to renew acquaintances with fellow mystery writers. Re-conne ct with old friends and make new ones! This year, I met several of the new mystery writers. But Catriona McPherson, from Scotland, now living near Sacramento, stands out. Delightfully thick Scottish accent, and a wicked sense of humor. :)


At the end of April, I'll be in Washington, DC for another mystery conference, Malice Domestic. More old friends, and hopefully, lots of new faces as well.

A fun and quick recipe for Napoleon pastries

While our wonderful Kate Collins finishes the last part of writing her manuscript--rewrites, copy edits and even more edits--we are fortunate to have Julie Hyzy, who writes two cozy series, join us for a few weeks. Many of you are probably familiar with her White House Chef series as well as her Manor House Mysteries. We welcome Julie while we await Kate's return. (We do miss our Kate!) 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


I don't know about you, but I love having a quick and easy go-to recipe for dessert that's good enough for company. I'm hosting dinner here this Sunday and haven't quite decided on the menu. Well, aside from ham and a lamb cake, that is, but I'm sorely tempted to make these. They're pretty, they're delicious, and best of all, they're easy. Keep a few of these ingredients in your fridge/freezer and you can whip these up almost any time. 


Napoleons (adapted from one of the recipes offered in Affairs of Steak) 


1 (16-20 oz) package puff pastry
4 Tbsp sugar, divided (I used less than half this amount)
2 cups fruit - sliced peaches, berries, sliced pears, and mandarin orange segments are all fine. Pick what is seasonal and beautiful  (I used frozen strawberries. I recommend them!)
1 Tbsp Amaretto liquor (optional - I skipped this)
1 cup cream, whipped and sweetened with 2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar (I used canned whipped cream)
12 cup chocolate sauce (made my own with chocolate chips melted with a little heavy cream)
Powdered sugar for garnish


Unfold puff pastry and scatter 2 Tbsp sugar across the dough. Using the fold marks to guide your knife, cut each piece ofthe dough into three pieces. Cut each of the six rectangles in to six equal-sized rectangles.


Place the pastry, sugared side up, on baking sheets (I used parchment) and bake until brown and flaky, abou t15 minutes.


While pastry is baking, slice fruit into a bowl. Toss with remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar and the liquor, if using.  (Unless you use the frozen strawberries, then skip this step and just ensure they're defrosted)


When the pastry is done, remove from oven and let cool.


For each Napoleon, place a bottom layer of cooked puff pastry on a dish. Top with whipped cream and a spoonful of fruit. Repeat this for a second layer. Top with a third layer of puff pastry. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce, sift powdered sugar onto the finished dessert. Serve chilled.


COUPLE OF HINTS:
- As I mentioned above, I used prepared whipped cream - you know, the kind that comes in cans. It worked wonderfully. This makes the whole process so easy.
- Also, I *strongly* suggest you make this only 2 layers high, not three. These things are tough enough to keep from toppling - another layer and it would be impossible.
- The second time I made these, I sliced the baked pieces in half, like a bun. I sprayed the whipped cream on the bottom, layered the thawed strawberries, added more whipped cream, and then topped it with the second half of puff pastry. They stayed together (and pretty) much longer.
- We tested this recipe the way it was originally written - with fresh fruit. All *my* taste-testers preferred the frozen strawberries to the fresh. Why? Because the gooey strawberry juice that oozed all over added a lot of flavor.


Seriously - I'm now keeping whipped cream, frozen puff pastry, and frozen strawberries in my house all the time. This one looks great, tastes even better, and is sure to impress!


Have fun!
Julie
If you have a moment, please check out my Facebook Author page: HERE

Our Latest Newsletter

The Cozy Chicks most recent newsletter went out this morning.  If you didn't get it and think you should, please check your spam filter. 

It wasn't in your spam filter?  Could be you never confirmed you wanted the newsletter.  The company that sends it out makes it a two-step process to eliminate spam and sends out a confirmation letter.  If you didn't get it (spam filter?) and didn't open it, they won't send out the newsletter.  : (       The only way to get back on the list is to send us an email confirming you want to be on the newsletter list so that we can forward it to our provider.  (Yeah, what a pain in the butt!)

Meanwhile, if you haven't signed up for the newsletter and want it -- just scroll on down and sign up now!