Kate Collins's Blog, page 278

Looking For Title Help! (You Could Win a Bucket of Brownies)

I like starting off a new book with a title in mind. Sometimes the title is completely changed by the time the powers-that-be get ahold of the manuscript, but I still like to write with a working title.
Here's the problem. I've started the next Supper Club book and this time, there won't be any powers-that-be because this installment is going straight to the market as an ebook. That's good news for fans of the Flab Five because you don't have to wait 9 months after the book is done to read it.
But the title! I saved the first chapter using the title Weapons and Weigh Ins, but I'm not in love with that title. As many of you know, the Supper Club books are about food and murder, so I try to combine food items with a synonym for corpse, but I think I've used all of them.
So I need help! James and the Flab Five are going to spend 12 weeks on a Biggest Loser-type show. This one's called Big, Fat Lies and of course, a few of the contestants will be bumped off. The gang will be doing lots of calorie counting and I'd love to use calories, but Killer Calories has been used by multiple mystery authors.
Friends, I've seen you come up with some killer titles before and I hope you can help me. And the person who comes up with the best title will win a bucket of brownies (see pic) and my gratitude!

Comfort and Pasta

by Lucy Arlington

In the winter months I crave comfort food. You know the warm, stick-to-your-ribs stuff your mom made—oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, fresh bread. When I lived in Ontario, Canada with its ice and snow, those cravings made sense. Who doesn't love to burrow on the couch under a blanket, with a good book and a warm oatmeal cookie, while the wind howls outside?

But currently I'm living in Bermuda, and although the winter temps can go as low as the high 50s, the weather hardly calls for snuggling inside to stay warm. So why am I still craving those chicken and dumplings?

Today, I'm sharing a recipe that, in my opinion, falls into the comfort food category, but is lighter and healthier. A friend of mine gave me this recipe, and it fits the bill on so many levels—it's pasta, it's easy, and it's delicious. Make it for dinner sometime this week and see if you agree.

Do you crave comfort foods in the winter? What is your favourite comfort food?

(By the way, less than a week to the release of BURIED IN A BOOK! I can't wait.)

MUSHROOM PASTA

1 ½ cups bow tie pasta (farfale)

½ lb. mushrooms

½ onion, chopped

1 Tbsp butter

1 4.4 oz package of garlic-herb cream cheese (Boursin is the best)

¼ cup chicken broth

pepper, to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While it's cooking: In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms, onions, and pepper in the butter until tender.

3. Add cheese and broth and stir until blended.

4. Drain pasta, add to skillet, and toss to coat.

5. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

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January Energy

by Maggie Sefton




I believe in something I call "January Energy." Call me crazy, but I think there's a special energy or determination or ability to focus that occurs each January. An old year has passed, and it's the beginning of a new year. It's a time when we naturally start to review what we've done over the past year and what we'd like to do in the upcoming year. Maybe we'd like to run a marathon for the first time. My NYC daughter Melissa sent us all a text w/photo last weekend saying she'd just completed her first 10K race. Yay, Melissa! Her photo showed her standing in Central Park with a coff ee in her hand. Race organizers had made sure there were coffee stands at various points throughout the race. (This photo, of course, shows a man breaking through the winner's tape). :)

Most people use January Energy to help them get back on track with their diets or exercise plans, especially after all the holiday excess. I don't know about you folks, but I always indulge myself during the holidays.




But a lot of us use January as a starting point for new projects, new paths, sometimes, new careers. I know I have. In fact, I've done it all my life. I didn't know how many times I'd started new projects or directions until I reflected on it and actually discovered that EVERY new project or new life direction I've taken has started in January. For some reason, I find January Energy the perfect time to "re-create" myself in several ways:

---Years and years ago, I started running as a way to speed up losing leftover "baby weight" after my fourth daughter was born. Running became a regular part of my life. I no longer run outside but inside at tracks or treadmills at gyms, where I never have to worry about being rained out;

---in 2003, I listened to my instinct and began a non-fiction writing project which eventually led me into the knitting shop here in Fort Collins, CO. I went there to interview knitters for a magazine article, and I fell down the rabbit hole into a world of color and texture and sensuality. Five months later, after I'd been sitting in on weekly get togethers around the knitting table at Lambspun, Kelly Flynn and friends "walked onstage" in my head. I recognized her story as an amateur sleuth mystery, and I started writing down the scenes playing through my head. This June, the 10th in the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries will be published.


---there are other examples like that throughout my life. The latest is this January, when I submitted my very first published amateur sleuth mystery, DYING TO SELL, as an e-book. It's now available on Kindle, Nook, and soon on Apple, Sony, Kobo and others. A whole new world awaits.


What about you? Are there any new projects you'd like to attempt in 2012? Did you get any new ideas in January?

Forget the Freshmen Fifteen… what about the Author Eight?

By Amanda Flower

2011 was a whirlwind as my agent snagged two more cozy mystery series contracts for me. She asked me, "Are you sure you can do both?"

"Yes, yes, of course," I said while thinking, OMG! How am I going to do this?

"Are you going to keep your library job?" She asked because in addition to being a mystery author, I am a fulltime college librarian.

"Yes. I have to. I get dental!"

"Okay. They are fast tracking the first series. The first book is due in eight weeks."

Deep breath. "Sure, no problem. I can do it." I mean how hard can it be? It was only 80,000 words, right? Right?!

Somehow, I turned the first book, A PLAIN DEATH, in on time. Sure, I looked a little crazed about the eyes and had given up brushing my hair on a regular basis, but the book was DONE. I felt on top of the world when I emailed it my editor. At least I felt that way until I stepped on my bathroom scale. I gained eight pounds. Eight! A pound for every week of writing.

During that eight week period, I spent every waking minute at work or writing. Before the new contracts, I exercised almost every day and gave it up in order to make my deadline. Also, I admit my eating habits deteriorated too. Some nights, I ate dry cereal straight from the box for dinner. I was tired, and opening the refrigerator door seemed like too much trouble.

While staring at that fear-inducing number on the scale, I realized I hadn't read a book for fun in four months. Forget the weight gain; the loss of reading time had to change. Is life worth living without reading? I don't think so. But how was I going to find the time to exercise and read with five more back to back deadlines looming over me?

While walking across campus one day, the solution hit me. The college fitness center! It's free to college staff, and I could use the treadmill on my lunch hour and read ebooks on my Kindle.

I must confess I was nervous going to the fitness center the first time. What would the students think when they saw a librarian outside of her natural habitat? Wouldn't it be like seeing a tiger in the middle of a suburban street?

You know what, they ignore me. They are too busy with their own quarter life crises to worry about mine.

I suppose the question is would I have signed both contracts had I known how hard it was going to be. The answer: absolutely yes in a heartbeat. I think all the Cozy Chicks will agree that we have the very best jobs as cozy mystery authors. Being able to do what I love is worth every extra pound on the scale.

Thank you to Heather and rest of the Cozy Chicks for letting me stop by!

~Amanda, who still sometimes eats cereal straight from the box for dinner

**************************
Amanda Flower writes the India Hayes Mystery Series. The first novel in the series, MAID OF MURDER, was nominated for an Agatha Award. The sequel, MURDER IN A BASKET, releases February 8, 2012. A PLAIN DEATH, first in a new Amish mystery series, releases July 2012. To learn more visit Amanda online at http://www.amandaflower.com/. You can also follow Amanda at http://www.facebook.com/authoramandaflower and http://twitter.com/aflowerwriter.

How Did My Kitten Become the Boss?

by Leann

My dog Rosie, a very bright labradoodle, lives on a schedule. She knows when every treat is due, what time to go to her bed in the utility room and even what time I take my meds. If I forget, she is there sitting at my feet and staring up at me. She even brings my husband his shoes when it's time for a walk. Who knew I'd get another pet with a schedule?

Wexford, my 9 month old rather large kitten, isn't so big on regular meals, but if I am out, when I come home he is there to greet me and expects--yes, you guessed it--a treat. He also gets on top of his scratching post when it gets dark so he can reach the light switch. He can't turn the lights on yet, but I figure it won't be long.

But he has started becoming a little more than demanding about one thing: bed time. I usually head for the sack some where around 10 PM. Of late, Wexford has decided he needs to persuade me to get there on time, if not early. First, he worms his way between me and my laptop and sprawls out. I pet him, but don't get up. So his latest trick is to get up on the table next to me and swipe of any items near me. The tissue box. My inhaler. Any book I have put down. Pens. Pencils. Snacks. The TV remote. It's all fair game until I get up and give him what he wants. A race to the bedroom.

As I go through the routine--put on PJs, brush teeth, get the glass of water, put in the night guard, turn on the MP3 player--he watches each step intently. And then what does he do once I am in bed with the lights off? He leaves to do whatever cats do in the dark. But when I wake up later like the good insomniac I am, he's there beside me or above me. Never below. He is the boss of me, after all.

How about you? Are your pets as dedicated to routine as mine are?

Planning My Garden

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

Okay, it's still January, but is it every too early to start planning the garden for spring.

For YEARS, we have had problems with bunnies and ground hogs eating our veggies.  It's enough to make you rip out y our hair.  Yes, the animals need to eat to live, but why my garden?  (We have a farm behind us.  Yes, they eat there, but seem to have dessert in our yard.  And the farm only harvests a fraction of what they grow.  We wonder ... is it a tax write off?  Can you say government subsidies???)

[image error] Last summer, Mr. Ground Hog ate my potato plants.  Since he loved our Brussels sprouts so much the year before, we tried growing them in containers but learned they have really large root systems pots just don't cut it.

And while the ground hogs and bunnies didn't eat our tomatoes, the chipmunks did.  And since it has rained a lot these past couple of years, our tomatoes have had blight. (Nasty leaves and --ick-- black (rotten) spots on our tomatoes.

Our parsley did really well last summer, as did our green beans (well, those that survived the bunnies)--at least until the tail-end of a hurricane came through and broke the bean poles, making it difficult to find and harvest the crop.

Are you planning a garden this year?  If so, what will you plant?

Not So Camera Shy

By Heather Blake / Heather Webber

It's about that time again. Time for my official author photo to be updated. It's been a couple of years, and even though I haven't changed all that much (just a few more wrinkles!), it's good to keep current.

Once upon a time, the thought of having my picture taken would have freaked me out. I didn't like cameras. Posing. Anything about it. A trait I figured I inherited from my photo-phobic mom.

Then, about five years ago, as I was going through old photo albums, I realized something. I hardly had any pictures of my mother. And barely had any photos (maybe one or two) of me and my mother together.

It was a light bulb moment. I suddenly realized that there were hardly any pictures of me with my kids. Lots of the kids. Tons. Albums full. But not too many of us together (like mother like daughter!). Not of the baking lessons, the puzzles, the bedtime stories. Not of trips to the park, swims in the pool, playing in the yard. And it made me sad. Full of regret. All those Kodak moments I missed capturing forever. Because I was camera shy. It suddenly seemed so silly.

From that point on, I've made a point of being in pictures. It's not easy, I'll admit, but I'd rather be in a photo than not. I'm a long way from being a ham, but when I get my next author shots taken, I'll definitely be saying cheese. And the pics with my kids? Just try keeping me out of them! I'm making up for lost time. It doesn't quite wipe out the regret, but it helps.

Are you camera shy? A ham? Somewhere in between?

Cozy Guy in a Cozy Chick World

By Guest Blogger Miranda James (aka Dean James)

"What do you mean, you're writing a cozy series with a guy as the main character? Don't you know that a cozy series has a female amateur sleuth as the protagonist?"

Well, yeah, most cozy series these days do feature female leads, but that's no reason to discriminate against a guy who isn't a hard-boiled private eye. I don't walk the mean streets, and I don't see any reason why my hero, just because of the chromosomal difference, has to walk them either.

There have been other cozy male characters in mysteries. Anybody remember Lord Peter Wimsy? And he of the "little grey cells," M. Hercule Poirot? For all that he was a professional detective, one can't get much cozier than the Grande Dame, Agatha Christie herself. There's also Margery Allingham's Albert Campion(my personal favorite) and Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn (who, even though a Scotland Yard 'tec, is pretty dang cozy, too).

So I didn't see any reason why the main character in my "Cat in the Stacks" series shouldn't be a guy. After all, the cat in the series, a Maine Coon named Diesel, is also male. Plus, after having written a couple of series (as Jimmie Ruth Evans and Honor Hartman) from the female point of view, I wanted a change. Don't get me wrong, I loved the female characters in those other series, but I thought it would be an interesting challenge, to write a male amateur detective in a genre that's currently dominated by "cozy chicks."

Reader response so far has been gratifying, although I must admit that the character that everyone likes best is Diesel, but Charlie gets a lot of favorable comments for being a nice, caring, family-oriented guy. One of the reasons I write cozy mysteries is that I like writing about decent people who sometimes find themselves mixed up in murder and mayhem. People who aren't paid to deal with crime, like professional crime solvers. I've loved amateur detectives ever since I first discovered Nancy Drew longer ago than I care to admit these days.

Why shouldn't an ordinary guy have fun solving crimes? And if his cat is along for the adventure, so much the better.

A Tour of Inspiration Valley

By Guest Blogger Lucy Arlington
I'm Lila Wilkins, the brand new intern at A Novel Idea Literary Agency, and it's my pleasure to take you on a tour of Inspiration Valley, North Carolina, the setting of Buried in A Book: A Novel Idea Mystery. You could reach my bucolic berg by car, but the road is curvy and winds through the blue-green mountains curling around our little town like a sleeping cat. So let's take the train. On the Inspiration Express, you can relax on plush seats and read a novel or select a cappuccino and cinnamon roll from the pastry cart and watch the scenery go by.
The moment you step off the train you'll inhale a breath of pure air scented with a hint of jasmine from the trellis at The Secret Garden, the plant and flower store. As we get closer to my office, we'll pass by Six Pence Bakery and the heavenly aromas of baking bread and chocolate croissants fresh from the oven will have you drooling, but I promise to buy you a treat at EspressoYourself, the coffee shop located right below A Novel Idea.

Here's the quaint brick building where I work. I have a view of the park and the Nine Muses Fountain. And did you notice that the streets are all made of cobblestone and are lined with urns bursting with marigolds and snapdragons? This is the prettiest downtown I've ever seen.

Come on into the coffee shop and meet Makayla, the beautiful barista. Not only does she make the world's best caramel latte, but she also keeps a little lending library in the café and she and I talk about books every day. And take a look at all the walls! Local artists created all of these gorgeous watercolors and oil paintings. Inspiration Valley is loaded with writers, potters, photographers, weavers, musicians, foodies, and book lovers.
After I show you around the literary agency and try to not to feel too guilty about the stack of query letters and proposals pilling up on my desk, we can have lunch at Catcher in the Rye, which is an amazing sandwich shop, or head over to the hot food bar at our local grocery store, How Green Was My Valley. For dinner, I recommend trying out Voltaire's. I've been dreaming of sharing a candlelight dinner there with Officer Sean Griffiths, the dashing policeman I met when an aspiring writer died at A Novel Idea.

Yes, there's been a murder in this Southern paradise! But don't let that keep you from visiting. My mother's a psychic and she's predicted that with the help of Makayla, Sean, and the other literary agents, I'll find out who decided to silence an innocent author forever.

Would you like to spend some time in Inspiration Valley?

DYING TO SELL---an EBook at last!

by Maggie Sefton





I'm SO excited! I've finally released the ebook version of my first amateur sleuth mystery, DYING TO SELL! I've watched several of my fellow Cozy Chicks release their previously published books, both mysteries and romances. Their advice and encouragement--and hand-holding--has been essential throughout this entire process.



I spent six hours on Sunday afternoon loading various formatted versions of DYING TO SELL onto all the main ebook platforms: Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, Apple's iPad, and Sony & Kobo. So, it should be available for all platforms by today, Tuesday. For those of you with Kindles, the Amazon link to DYING TO SELL is:

http://www.amazon.com/DYING-TO-SELL-ebook/dp/B0070OINJO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327327694&sr=8-2



Here's a brief description for DYING TO SELL:

Real estate agent Kate Doyle knew divorce was messy, but she didn't expect it to be bloody. Kate agrees to sell the home of old friends who're locked in a bitter divorce. She's hoping the upscale house will be an easy sell in the Colorado college town. But her hopes turn to horror when she walks into the lawyer-client's study to find him brutally murdered—stabbed in the throat. "A crime of passion," says Kate's police detective brother-in-law. The prime suspect is Kate's close friend, the spurned wife, who begs Kate to help her.

Kate's meddling turns up some surprising suspects. The successful lawyer deceived numerous ex-lovers as well as his wife. He'd also played off one land developer against another, dangling a choice tract of land as bait. Businesses were ruined and fortunes lost. Had the loser taken revenge on the wily lawyer? Or had an ex-lover killed in jealous rage?
Kate's real estate license helps her dig into the scheming lawyer's dealings as she sifts clues from cyberspace to crawl space. Unfortunately, her snooping tempts the killer to exercise his own license—to kill.

Dying to Sell was originally published in hardcover by Five Star/Tekno Books in 2005 and subsequently published in paperback by Worldwide Mystery Library.

If you give DYING TO SELL a try, I'd love to hear your comments. You can post them on my Facebook page or email me personally at maggie@maggiesefton.com