Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 102

Wicked Wednesday – Strong Fictional Women

Hey Wickeds,  keeping on with our strong women theme this month!

There are so many strong female characters to choose from including Hermione from the Harry Potter novels to Joan from Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. Who is your favorite badass female protagonist? 

Barb: This one is so easy for me–always and forever Jo March. In all the books, Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys. First published in 1868, Jo spoke to me, and for me, almost a hundred years later. I still feel her with me today, 153 years on.

Edith/Maddie: I so agree, Barb. Jo has been “my” character since I first read her at age eight or nine. To shake it up, I’ll go with someone contemporary, Clare Fergusson from Julia Spencer-Fleming’s long-running series. Clare is a kickass Episcopal priest, a former military pilot, and someone who cares deeply about justice. I have loved this series since book one.

Julie: This is a tough one! Since I’m listening to one of my favorite series right now, I’ll choose Amelia Peabody. I love the Elizabeth Peters series about an Edwardian Egyptologist and her family. The books are mysteries, but mostly romantic adventures written by someone who was an Egyptologist, so that’s fun as well.

Sherry: I love Lily Wong in the Lily Wong series by Tori Eldridge. Lily is tough physically and mentally, but also vulnerable. Her mother is Chinese and her father Norwegian. Lily’s mother has lots of expectations and Lily lives over her father’s Chinese restaurant so family is an integral part of Tori’s action-packed books.

Liz: These are all great! I’ve been reading Paula Munier’s Mercy and Elvis Mysteries and I LOVE Mercy Carr. She’s a former army MP who retired to Vermont with her deceased fiance’s bomb-sniffing dog Elvis and she’s such a great character. Her family is really interesting as well, especially her veterinarian grandmother. And the books are great!

Readers, what about you? Who’s your favorite fictional strong woman? Tell us in the comments below.

Guest Charles Fergus #giveaway

Edith here, delighted to welcome a new favorite historical mystery author to the blog.

I met Charles Fergus at the last in-person New England Crime Bake. Last year he wrote, wondering if I would offer an endorsement of Nighthawk’s Wing, his second Gideon Stoltz mystery. I’d said I’d take a look, and am so glad I did! One lucky commenter here will win a copy.

Here’s my honest assessment:

Fergus intrigues and entertains in this atmospheric page-turner of a historical mystery. He paints the landscape and the hardships of 1830s rural Pennsylvania with a detailed brush. Readers are right at Sheriff Gideon Stolz’s side as he tries to overcome memory loss from a concussion and solve a woman’s murder, or with his wife True on her own journey of recovery from loss and rediscovering herself. I was borne away by Nighthawk’s Wing, and you will be too.

Take it away, Charles.

Thanks, Edith, for inviting me to write a guest post for The Wickeds blog.

Nighthawk’s Wing is my twentieth book, my third novel, and the second in my Gideon Stoltz historical mystery series, published by Arcade CrimeWise.

Sixteen of my books have been nonfiction works about nature, wildlife, and the outdoors. I spend a lot of time hiking, birding, botanizing, and riding horses. (My wife, the writer Nancy Marie Brown, and I have four Icelandic horses.)

Things I’ve learned about nature over the years find their way into my mysteries. Although I live in northern Vermont now, I was born and raised in the rugged uplands of central Pennsylvania – where my main character, a young “accidental” sheriff, solves crimes in the 1830s. Readers tell me that my knowledge of nature brings a vivid sense of place to my descriptions of Gideon’s neck of the woods.

Photo of Alan Seeger Natural Area in central Pennsylvania, by Charles Fergus

I’ve studied – and written about – oaks and hickories and pines and hemlocks, bears and beavers and foxes and owls (nighthawks, too), salamanders and katydids, rattleweed and skullcap (plants good for healing) and cowbane (a deadly plant employed for nefarious purposes in Nighthawk’s Wing).

The Pennsylvania uplands today are different from what they were like when Gideon Stoltz was patrolling on his mare Maude. There were farms carved out of the woods; fast-growing towns like my fictional Adamant; and a burgeoning charcoal-fired iron industry drawing on abundant wood, iron ore, limestone, and water power resources. I’ve done a lot of research into central Pennsylvania in the early nineteenth century, and I’ve also visited untouched natural places where the old forest still remains, places that probably don’t look much different today than they did during Gideon’s era.

When I write, I hearken back to things I’ve experienced in nature. Like the time I stepped over a fallen log and almost landed on a timber rattlesnake coiled on the other side. (A rattler’s warning buzz sounds like a lump of fat suddenly thrown into a red-hot skillet. Your body instantly knows that it’s dangerous.) Watching nighthawks side-slipping through the dusk on their long narrow wings, seining the air for insect prey. Hanging out with thousands of katydids sounding their nocturnal chorus from the trees: Katy-did, she didn’t, she did.

Cooper’s Hawk photo by Tom Berriman, used with permission

In Nighthawk’s Wing, Gideon and his wife True listen to a story told by True’s gram (that’s what folks call a grandmother in central Pennsylvania) while sitting around a fire at night listening to that ratcheting chorus: “They say the katydids tell a story,” Gram Burns said. “Two sisters fell in love with the same man, and Katy was the one who didn’t win his heart. Later, the man and the other sister died – they were poisoned. The insects in the trees kept saying ‘Katy-did!’ because Katy was the one who murdered them.”

Sights. Sounds. Smells. I use vivid details and impressions that let the reader feel they’re firmly connected with Gideon Stoltz’s time and place.

Readers: What favorite writer of yours has used nature effectively to create a mood or a sense of place in their fiction? One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of Nighthawk’s Wing (U.S. residents only).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As well as authoring his Gideon Stoltz historical mysteries, Charles rode a horse 204 times in 2020. (Yes, he keeps count. No, he didn’t fall off!). He lives on a hill farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom with his wife, the writer Nancy Marie Brown, who rides horses with him and is, he reports, “the best editor I know.” His first Gideon Stoltz mystery, A Stranger Here Below (2019), just came out in paperback. Its sequel, Nighthawk’s Wing (2021), received a starred Publishers Weekly review. Learn more at his web site.

The Houses of Busman’s Harbor

In my post here on February 23, I told the story of how my new map of Busman’s Harbor, Maine, the setting for my Maine Clambake Mystery series, came about. You can read that post here. And you can see the full, final map on my website here.

This post is about how the illustrator, Rhys Davies, and I collaborated to create the buildings on the map.

I knew from the beginning which houses I wanted to include and the list was unchanging from the first document I sent to Rhys until the end of the project.

Julia’s mother’s houseSnuggles InnTicket kioskQuentin Tupper’s houseGus’s restaurantDinkum’s LightHerrickson Point LighthouseOn Morrow IslandDining PavilionWindsholme (mansion)

I had, simultaneously, very strong ideas about what these places looked like and no idea how to explain them to anyone else in a way they could be rendered physically. Some of the places had morphed or been given added details over the course of the series and some were like sitcom houses where my picture of the interiors did not line up easily with my picture of the facades.

The project sent me searching through Pinterest, real estate sites, architecture and home improvement websites, and a number of print books I’ve bought about Maine houses over the years. Though time-consuming, this was a pleasure. I love to look at houses. My books are so full of descriptions of buildings a member of my writers group once asked, “Is the narrator an architect?” She was making a point and I heard it.

Julia’s mother’s house

I began with Julia’s mother’s house, the place where Julia and her sister Livvie grew up.

I’ve described Julia’s mother’s house as “Perched at the peak of the hill that formed the residential part of Busman’s Harbor, the house was a solid foursquare with a cupola on top of its flat, mansard roof. It was painted deep yellow with dark green trim and you could see it from anywhere around, land or sea. I always thought it was like a bright beacon leading me home.”

One of the photos I sent to Rhys was of the Russian House at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The house in the above photo doesn’t have a mansard roof, and it’s not quite a foursquare but I felt it is very close to what I was going for. One important change, the double window on the second floor needed to be a triple window because I’d gone on and one about how Julia looks out the windows in her father’s office down to the pier and the Snowden Family Clambake ticket kiosk.

I also sent along a photo from the real Boothbay Harbor that was part of the inspiration. This building is an inn, not a house, but I felt it captured the idea of Julia’s mother’s house–high up on the harbor hill, a beacon of home for those out at sea.

Here is the final house.

The Snuggles Inn

The Snuggles Inn is a B&B across the street from Julia’s mother’s house owned by family friends and honorary great-aunts, Fee and Vee Snugg.  I’d described it often as a Victorian with gingerbread trim. It is based on two different houses in Boothbay Harbor, but my internet searching brought me to Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard where gingerbread trim lives in abundance.

Martha’s Vineyard, MA, USA – September 17, 2014: New England House (Cottage) in Trinity Park (Campground area), Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, on a beautiful autumn day. Martha’s Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts and is famous as an affluent summer colony. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. HDR photorealistic image.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever mentioned the color, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t blue. Here’s the final from the map.

The Snowden Family Clambake Ticket Kiosk

The ticket kiosk is a free-standing building that sits out on the concrete town pier. This one took a lot of Googling, mainly because it was hard to figure out what I was looking for. I thought it might look something like this.

Here’s the final. It doesn’t look like it’s on concrete, but I decided that was okay.

Quentin Tupper’s house

Quentin Tupper’s house is new construction. I’ve written, “The house was massive, a three-story wall of dark grey granite, with huge windows all along the front, looking out to the wild North Atlantic and our island.” Lots of people in town call it a monstrosity, but some people, including Julia, like it.

I’ve described it as looking like it was thrust up out of the rocks it sits on. Julia teasingly calls it Quentin’s Fortress of Solitude.

This one also led to an insane level of Googling and oogling some pretty amazing houses.

Here’s where we ended up. Rhys and I discussed adding a third story, but decided the illustration would be too big and loom-y for the scale of the map.

Gus’s Restaurant

This is how I’ve described Gus’s. “Gus’s restaurant had an old gas pump with a round top out front, like something out of an Edward Hopper painting. Inside, you climbed down a long set of stairs into the main room where you found a candlepin-bowling lane on your left and a lunch counter on your right. In back was a dining room with the best view of Busman’s Harbor anywhere.”

This is the actual inspiration, sadly gone now.

However, I moved the restaurant and added added a second story where Julia’s apartment is, so I also did a drawing. Here’s the sketch.

Here’s the final, which I love, especially the Easter egg of the gas pump on the top left.

The Lighthouses

I’ve described the lighthouses frequently as the Jacquie II, the tour boat that brings guests to and from Morrow Island for the clambakes, makes its trips back and forth in the books.

Dinkum’s Light is on a small island in Busman’s Harbor. It is like the real life Burnt Island Light in Boothbay Harbor.

B Lee Mannino, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s the final.

Herrickson Point Lighthouse has a starring role in Steamed Open. It is more elaborate than Dinkum’s Light with a two-story keeper’s cottage. It is based on the Hendricks Head Lighthouse.

Ted Kerwin, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

And the final.

The Dining Pavilion

The dining pavilion on Morrow Island is where the Snowden Family Clambake serves half their guests. (The rest sit at picnic tables scattered around the grounds.) It’s actually a warren of buildings, open at the center, filled with picnic tables, with a gift shop, bar and small kitchen attached.

It’s bigger than the one at the real Cabbage Island Clambake, but in the same architectural genre.

It took a bit to get to the final, since my fictional one is more open, but here it is.

Windsholme

The hardest structure by far was Windsholme. It took the most searching and the most iterations between Rhys and me. I’ve written about some of the inspirations for Windsholme before.

There were two reasons it was hard. 1) I’ve never had a specific building in mind while I described it, but rather pieces of various buildings, and 2) the description has, admittedly, wandered.

When Brenda Erickson created the image for my bookmarks and banner before the first book in the series, Clammed Up, was even published, I was fairly crazed and had no idea what I was doing. I grabbed a super-impressive house I’d been to from the right era, Edith Wharton’s The Mount, and ran with it. Here’s the result, which I’ve always loved.

But over time it became clear to me that Windsholme had a big front porch. The mansion got built out as the books went on, especially in Iced Under and Sealed Off. Also, I was learning a lot more about Maine Shingle-style houses from the time of the Morrow family mansion. But the one thing that had always been true, was that I described it as straight and strong, braced again the strong wind and weather of the Atlantic.

So, after much, much searching and fretting, I went with a photo of Blaine House, the Maine Governor’s mansion.

Albany NY at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

In the end no place was perfect, nor could it be. Rhys removed the cupolas and added dormers for the third floor where important scenes in Clammed Up took place. And he added that front porch.

The houses were in many ways harder than the map, and I think they may be for readers, too. Everyone builds structures in their heads when they read about fictional places, so if you’ve followed the series, you’ll have your own ideas.

Readers: Well, what do you think? If you’ve read any of the books, are the buildings as you imagined them? Are any closer or further from your conception?

Welcome R.J. Lee!

Happy Friday! I’m pleased to welcome R.J. Lee back to the blog. His third Bridge to Death mystery, Cold Reading Murder, is out now and and he’s here to tell us about how deadly bridge can be…take it away, R.J.!

During a recent virtual literary festival in my hometown of Natchez, Ms, I remarked with a sly grin that the heroine of my BRIDGE TO DEATH MYSTERY series, Wendy Winchester Rierson, ought to give up the game of bridge for good.  Why?  Because it seems that someone gets murdered every time she sits down for a casual game or even a teaching session.

I exaggerate, of course.   As her creator, I always allow Wendy at least a year in between her amateur sleuth adventures in Rosalie (modeled after Natchez).  In the third novel just released—COLD READING MURDER—the plot is set after Covid when the world has truly regained its equilibrium.  Virus, begone!

What is dealt with is Wendy’s status as a bridge player.  Her Rosalie Country Club group is a big success—even after the murder of major benefactor and toxic male, Brent Ogle, in the hot tub in the second novel in the series, PLAYING THE DEVIL.  Wendy’s reputation is such that people seek her out for instruction.  COLD READING MURDER opens with our heroine agreeing to teach the basics of the game to five people.

Here’s the eclectic group:  Charlotte Ruth, whose running joke about herself is that her name sounds like a dessert with a lisp, is a middle-aged widow hoping to get a new start by meeting people through playing bridge (not a bad strategy, actually); Vance Quimby is in Rosalie to do research for the next Great American Novel, set in the Deep South; Sarah Ann O’Rourke is a student at the College of Rosalie hoping to use her degree to become a teacher; Milton Bagdad is a Theater Arts graduate who has taken a job delivering singing telegrams in Rosalie for a New Orleans company; and finally, Aurelia Spangler claims to be a psychic, set to do readings for Rosalieans in a mansion on the High Bluff which has a reputation of being haunted and after its owner fell down the stairs to his death.

Whew!  Is that a cast of characters or what?   Aurelia offers to give her friends a free cold-reading after their first bridge lesson.  She hopes that will send them out into Rosalie raving about her services.  Aurelia turns out to be on point, including revealing the plot of the novel that is still hatching in Vance Quimby’s head.  Furthermore, the ‘vision’ she has for Milton Bagdad is so disturbing to him that he goes AWOL.  But…

Two days later when Wendy finds Aurelia slumped over her desk in Overview with a suicide note and traces of cocaine scattered about, it appears that one of the cold readings may have cut too close to the bone for someone.  Wendy does not believe the suicide attempt, however, even though the crime lab verifies that the note was indeed done in Aurelia’s handwriting.  She had worked closely with Aurelia in planning the first bridge lesson and saw nothing despondent going on.

It’s later revealed that Aurelia told Milton that she clearly saw a knife being plunged into the chest of a man wearing a tuxedo. That’s Milton’s uni: a tuxedo, along with a top hat and a pitch pipe in his hand.  So…

Wendy, along with her police detective husband, Ross Rierson, and father, Chief of Police Bax Winchester, set about to uncover the chicanery behind Aurelia’s death; revealing something far more insidious and widespread than could be imagined initially. 

Readers, what do you think – is COLD READING MURDER in your future? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

R. J. Lee is the second generation of his family to write mysteries at the New York level.  His father, R. Keene Lee, wrote pulp-fiction, detective novellas for Fiction House after WWII, and R. J. Lee is following in his footsteps with the BRIDGE TO DEATH MYSTERY series from Kensington.  Lee was born in Natchez, Ms and received his degree in English and Creative Writing from Sewanee (the University of the South), studying under Andrew Lytle, then the editor of the Sewanee Review.  COLD READING MURDER is the third novel in this cozy mystery series, with the next installment, THE KING FALLS, to be released in April, 2022.

Pride Award — A Legacy of Love

There aren’t many chances in life to make a big impact on a large group of people. I was lucky enough to be president of Sisters in Crime (SinC) an organization that all of the Wickeds have been active in – Barb, Julie, and Edith as presidents of the New England chapter. Barb and Julie both have served on the national board and/or are serving on the board. And Julie is now the acting executive director. Liz and Jessie have been active in the New England chapter.

Part of the responsibility of being president of is coming up with a legacy project the year you are the immediate past president. Legacy is a big word and to be honest when I first joined the board knowing that was in my future I was a bit terrified. What could I do that would be worthy of such a project?

An idea begin to form as I navigated being vice president and president. I wanted to do something that would honor the organization’s roots as an advocacy group for women writers. Two things really impacted me along the way. The first was attending SinC into Great Writing at Bouchercon in New Orleans — this was before I had any idea I’d become national president. The topic was diversity and it was followed up with The Report for Change. Both efforts were led by then past president Catriona McPherson. Greg Herren spoke about the difficulties he’d faced as an LBGTQIA+ author.

The second thing was SinC’s Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for an Emerging Crime Writer of Color. I saw the impact that it had on the authors who won the award. By combining the two things I came up with the idea for a similar award for the LBGTQIA+ community. I wrote a proposal and submitted it to the board. It was thrilling that they enthusiastically embraced the idea and have worked hard to make it happen.

The team I’m working with to run the program: Valerie Burns, Marla Bradeen, and Mia Manansala are fabulous. Julie has worked hard on this along with Vanessa Lillie who is heading up the publicity for the award along with Kaye Publicity.

John Copenhaver, Cheryl Head, and Kristen Lepionka didn’t hesitate to say yes when asked to be judges. They are all busy people who are willing to give up their time to read through all the submissions and pick the winner and five runners up.

Along with the $2000 monetary award, the winner and five runners up will also be assigned a critique partner. I’m thrilled to announce them today. Terri Bishoff, Senior Acquiring Editor at Crooked Lane Books will work with the winner. The other critique partners are authors Brenda Buchannan, Leslie Krast, Anne Laughlin, Katherine Maiorisi, and Jeffrey Marks. What an amazing group of talented authors — again willing to take time from their busy lives to help newer authors.

The award is open to all members of the LBGTQIA+ community who are new to the crime fiction community. You don’t have to be a member of SinC or live in the U.S. to enter. And you don’t have to have a completed manuscript. Click here for rules and submission forms.

While the idea for the Pride Award might have been mine, it quickly grew to a huge group effort and I’m blessed to have so many wonderful people working on this project. Thanks to all of you for the love and time you’ve poured into the Pride Award.

Readers: Have you worked on a project that became a group effort? 

Wicked Wednesday – Celebrating Strong Women

Happy March, readers! Our theme this month is “Strong Women,” since International Women’s Day is March 8 and in my opinion, we should have an entire month devoted to badass women. So we’re going to do it here on the blog!

The theme for the IWD 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge. One of the statements on the IWD website is: “We can choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements.” To kick off a month of celebrating/acknowledging strong women, let’s talk about the achievements of women who we’ve never met, but who have impacted our lives in some way (Agatha Christie, Maya Angelou, etc). Pick one and tell us who and how. 

For me, I’ve always loved the story of journalist Nellie Bly, known for her time undercover in a mental institution to expose the awful conditions in which women were being made to live. Her investigative journalism prompted reforms for the system and also paved the way for serious women journalists. So cool!

Edith/Maddie. I’m going for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I didn’t realize the impact this tiny brilliant woman had on my life until the last ten years. She fought so hard for women’s rights, for civil rights. She had an equal loving marriage. She survived illness after illness and worked hard in the gym to stay fit well into her old age (planks at eighty-two!). And with all that, she was apparently funny and caring – as well as Notorious. Rest well, RBG.

Jessie: At some point I ran across the book The Scarlet Sisters by Myra MacPherson, a biography of Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tenny Claflin. I was so astonished by their audacity and persistence. Victoria ran for president long before she could legally vote. The pair of them set up as the first female stock brokers in NYC. They had progressive ideas on birth control, marriage and love affairs. They practiced Spiritualism. Completely fascinating and inspiring!

Liz: Edith, I’m with you on Ruth for sure! I also have to shout out Glennon Doyle – she is one of the most inspiring women out there today. Not only is she an amazing role model for women and girls about being true to yourself and living the life that works for you, she is also a fierce activist. She created Together Rising, a non-profit led by all women that impacts causes all over the world. Her book, Untamed, is a must-read for women and girls. It’s one of those books I keep handy to refer back to regularly for inspiration.

Barb: I am going to go with the mystery author PD James. Forced to drop out of school by a father who didn’t believe higher education was for girls, she married and had two children. When her husband returned from WWII so mentally compromised he was eventually institutionalized, she took over as the only source of income for the family, went back to school to become a hospital administrator and rose through the ranks. All the while writing her wonderful mysteries while commuting, until she was able to live off her writing. I mention her story because this is how so many strong women persevere, balancing the worlds of family, money, and creativity, any one of which can be all-consuming. I highly recommend her autobiography, A Time to be in Earnest.

Sherry: Barb, I’d never heard that about PD James! Phyllis A. Whitney influenced me. I loved reading her books when I was young. Her books are part of why there is always a touch of romance in my books. I was also fascinated to find out that a letter she wrote to Mystery Writers of America in the eighties pointing out that it had been fifteen years since a woman had won an Edgar for Best Novel was one of the reasons that Sisters in Crime was formed. I’ve read the letter before, but of course can’t find a link to it to share right now. All of us are members of Sisters in Crime and I can’t imagine my writing life without being part of SinC.

Julie: There are so many women who have inspired me over the years. I do remember the story of a woman named Deborah Sampson. I read a biography of her when I was in third or fourth grade, Even then, the Revolutionary War fascinated me. Anyway, she disguised herself as a soldier in order to fight the British. At one point she was shot, and removed the bullet herself to keep her secret. She was finally discovered to be a woman when she got sick, lost consciousness, and was taken to the hospital. She was honorably discharged, and went back home and got married. Anyway, learning about Deborah Sampson opened my eyes to thinking about the stories we don’t know, of which there are many.

Readers, what about you? What strong women have influenced your life? Tell us below!

Reflections on Gratitude – Carlene O’Connor

News Flash: Pat Christensen is the lucky winner of Maria DiRico’s giveaway! Please check your email, Pat.

Liz here, happy to welcome Carlene O’Connor to the blog today. Her recent release is Murder in an Irish Bookshop and I know you’re all going to love this heartfelt post about Ireland, connection and the hope for better times ahead. Take it away, Carlene!

Here it is, March of 2021, and over a year into a very difficult period for the entire world. As a writer I am so grateful that books are still being read and written and sold. Not only is writing them my passion, I love reading books. They’ve always been there for me, an escape, an experience outside myself, a connection to something bigger than me.

As a human I am humbled that is the case when everything else has been turned upside down and shaken around. I don’t think I’ll ever take “normal life” for granted again and I find myself reflecting on the things that matter to me the most. At the top of the list is family. My parents who I haven’t hugged in a year. My sister, and niece, and nephew who I haven’t hugged in a year. The writing friends I haven’t had coffee dates with or readers and writers I haven’t been able to meet at conferences, or festivals. The writing students who no longer fill the seats in my home. The bookshop events, the Irish festivals I enjoy every summer, all canceled one after the other as together we faced this new normal.

Learning of friends and family members getting sick, rallying together and loving them through it. I have not lost anyone to Covid but my heart is very much with those who have. I feel the pain. I know you do too. I know just from the fact that you’re reading this blog that you’re my people. Connection is what matters most and this year connections were put on pause, or funneled into a different form.

I’ve thought a lot about Ireland during this time. As you probably know, Irish pubs in normal times are the hub, the heart and soul in many towns and for many folks in Ireland. The place where locals gather for friendship, music, a nice peat fire, networking, and a pint or two of the black stuff. Where stories and jokes flow right along with the tap. Where everyone knows your name, your stool, and your drink. Connection is a human need and in some ways, despite being isolated this year, I do feel connected to my fellow man.

I’m so grateful for phone calls and Zoom, and the easy exchange of pictures and texts. I feel connected in a sense of responsibility to help protect one another, to be kind, to lift each other up. I’ve had cookies left at my door by thoughtful neighbors and I’ve left them in return. I’ve cried and I’ve listened as others have cried. I’ve cheered people up and I’ve allowed others to cheer me up. We need each other. I, as a writer, need readers. We’re an ecosystem. Zoom has allowed me to see the faces of my writing students or engage in panels and interviews to talk about my current release.

We can do hard things. We can lift each other up. And hopefully soon, we can travel again. To far away places. To pubs with roaring peat fires and local lores. To sandy beaches, or simply to the kitchen of a friend, a family member, or even a stranger. In the Fall of 2019 my father and I traveled to Ireland for HIS first time. We thought about the trip for a few years before committing to it. And we had a fabulous time. From Limerick to Cork, to Galway, and Connemara, I showed him this land that I love. He reads all of my mysteries and wanted to see the town of Kilmallock which is the inspiration for Kilbane in my Irish Village Mystery Series.

At first I thought the trip wouldn’t be as special because when I went for the first time, it was a specific set of Irish friends that made the trip extra special for me. By showing me around with that world class hospitality the Irish are known for. But I was going to do my best and just hoped his experience would come close to my first experience of Ireland. The joke was on me because the exact same group of folks who made the trip so special when I went for the first time showed up for my father too. A man they’d never met. They welcomed him like he was family. They opened their homes, their cars, their hearts. They rolled out the green carpet and showed him the land they love. They used their charm to make him feel welcome and their humor to illicit belly laughs. That is a gift I can never repay. He had one of the best times of his life.

Little did we know that after the trip we’d spend the next year not being able to see each other. How grateful I am we had that trip. How grateful I am that I have a second family in Ireland. And how grateful I am that the characters in my Irish Village Mystery series are just as dear and real to me as the people who inspired them. In my recent release, Murder in an Irish Bookshop, I welcome a new bookshop and more people into the close-knit village of Kilbane, County Cork Ireland.

Roam the aisles of the new bookshop: Turn the Page. Be careful– not all of them can be trusted. And if you have some extra time on your hands, Eoin reveals his recipe for Irish stew at the end. It’s comforting and we all could use a little of that right now. #Grateful. And thank you to The Wickeds (how cool are they?!) for their very gracious invitation to this guest blog. I am sending my light out to all of you.

Better days are coming, and you’ve got this. And until we can safely be together, you can always pull up a chair, open  book and get lost in the pages. As a wise Irishman once said: May your day be touched with a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart and warmed by the smiles of the people you love. #ForeverGrateful. 

USA Today bestselling-author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland filled with tales and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. Currently there are 7 mysteries and one novella in The Irish Village Mysteries and many more to come. They’ve recently been optioned for television. Carlene also has two installments in her Home to Ireland series and a brand new series is coming in the Fall of 2022. Readers can follow Carlene on Facebook, CarleneOConnor.net, Goodreads, and Book Bub, Insta as Writergirlchi or Twitter as @MaryCarterbook

Readers, do you have a place you love that you can’t wait to go back to? Leave yours in the comments below.

Author Darci Hannah with a New Series and a #giveaway

Today, I’m so pleased to host author Darci Hannah, who’s latest book Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop, first in a new series, was released on February 23rd. Darci is giving away one copy each to two lucky U.S.-based commenters below. If you haven’t heard about it yet, once you read the description, you’ll be as excited about it as I am.

Take it away, Darci!

A huge thank you to Barbara Ross, and all the wonderful Wicked authors for inviting me to their blog. It’s such an honor getting to share my passion for cozy mysteries as well as my enthusiasm for my newest cozy, Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop, with you. This is the start of a new series for me, and I’ve managed to pack all my favorite elements into this one—a stunning lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan, delicious baked goods, an adorable Newfie named Wellington, an untimely murder, and a resident ghost! Oh, and plenty of humor. Can’t forget the humor. I don’t know about you, but laughter is about the only think keeping me sane these days. 

You might be asking yourself, “Wow, um… that’s a lot to pack into a little cozy mystery.” To which I would reply, “It is. And I apologize. It just kind of happened that way.”

You see, and this is in no way an excuse, but I started my writing career in historical fiction. My first novel, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, was set in a remote Scottish lighthouse on Cape Wrath. The novel had a gothic flair. It had a mystery in it as well, and, ‘spoiler alert’, a ghost story. I learned a lot writing that novel, and it really sparked my passion for old lighthouses. Living in Michigan, we do have quite a few lighthouses to explore—124 to be exact. Yet of all the lighthouses I’ve visited since living here, the one that really spoke to me was the Point Betsy Lighthouse in Frankfort, Michigan. The setting was not only romantic but also spectacular. And it had a plethora of lighthouse lore. Really, the moment I saw it I knew it would make the perfect setting for a cozy mystery. Lucky for me, when I set out to start a new cozy mystery series, the old lighthouse popped into my head and taunted, “Go ahead. Write me a story.” 

Now, as for ghosts, all I can say is that if you’ve climbed as many winding lighthouse stairs as I’ve climbed, you might begin to believe in the local lore too. It also helps to have a brother who, as a hobby, was a paranormal investigator.

Although I have a healthy amount of skepticism regarding ghosts, there’s just something about the unknown that intrigues me. Naturally, when my main character, Lindsey Bakewell, purchases a Michigan lighthouse on the internet (which, by the way, you really can do!) I figured it would be haunted. (Aren’t all lighthouses haunted?) Enter Captain Willy Riggs, whom I modeled after a picture of one of the first keepers of the Point Betsey Lighthouse. Unbeknownst to Lindsey, he’s never left. Wait until Lindsey finally figures that one out!

Weaving baking, humor, and dogs into the mix was a given for me. I love to laugh, love to bake (I sometimes make baking videos to entice readers to try a recipe!), and love dogs. Years ago, my husband and I had a Newfoundland. I still love the breed but I now have Ripley and Finn. They’re the best. Shedding, yes, but not so much drool. And let me tell you, they love the fact that I bake. Ripley and Finn have happily sampled some of my best flops!

Readers: What’s your favorite lighthouse? And does it come with a ghost story? Do tell! Two lucky U.S.-based commenters will receive a copy of Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop.

About Darci

Darci Hannah is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn’t baking for family and friends, hiking with furry pals, Ripley and Finn, or working on her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering around picturesque villages, sampling baked goods, and breaking for coffee more often than she should. To connect with Darci, please visit: www.darcihannah.com

Guest Ellen Byron, Big Fat Italian Functions, plus #giveaway

Edith here, happy to hang out under any auspices with Ellen Byron, one of my favorite author buddies.

Ellen’s second Catering Hall Mystery released Tuesday. Long Island Iced Tina is written as her alter ego Maria DiRico, and she’s here to tell you all about it. And give away a copy, too!

In the second installment of Maria DiRico’s Catering Hall Mystery series, Mia Carina is back in the borough of Queens, in charge of the family catering hall Belle View Banquet Manor and keeping her nonna company. But some events–like murder at a shower–are not the kind you can schedule…

Mia’s newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View–but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It’s a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for “how to run a catering hall” can get you only so far.

Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambience suffers at Nicole’s Belle View shower when a fight breaks out–and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina . . .

My Big Fat Italian Functions

The Catering Hall Mystery series, which I write under the pen name Maria DiRico, is very much inspired by my own life. (“Maria DiRico” is actually my late nonna’s maiden name.) The series revolves around an Italian-American family that runs a catering venue in Astoria, Queens. In real life, cousins by marriage ran not one, but two banquet halls in Astoria. I spent many weekends of my youth at engagement parties, weddings, showers, anniversaries, and yes, even funeral luncheons at these locations.

Have you ever heard of the Italian term, bella figura? Technically, it’s defined as “fine figure: fine appearance or impression.” A less technical definition would be “showing off.” In my family, bella figura translated into lavish events that seemed to one-up the lavish events that preceded them. One cousin’s wedding included a set by a comedian, a performance by a dance troupe doing to a number to the song “Memories” from Cats, and a framed blessing from the Pope. But this bride merely plighted her troth at a local Astoria church, so when her cousin got married, she upped the stakes with a High Mass at Manhattan’s St. Patrick’sCathedral, departing the ceremony in a white Rolls Royce while fascinated tourists looked on. Another wedding featured an oyster bar, waiters juggling pepper mills to the theme from the movie Rocky, and fireworks. The event was so over-the-top that it inspired a one-act play on my part.

While my relatives generally put the most bella figura effort into weddings, no function was completely spared. I was at a cousin’s baby shower when men wheeled in two giant boxes on dollies. The cousin’s mother-in-law had bought her a brand-new washer and dryer as a shower gift.

The plot of LONG ISLAND ICED TINA, my new Catering Hall Mystery, is kicked off by a series of circumstances involving baby showers. One shower is tame – aka, normal – but the other, plotted by a competitive stepmother, is bella figura on steroids. I had a blast coming up with Extreme Baby Shower moments. A band, an endless parade of food, an entire gifted room of nursery furniture wheeled out like on a game show, and yes, fireworks. As over-the-top as this shower may seem to the average reader, I can totally envision a family member hosting one just like it.

My husband and I had our East Coast wedding reception at one of the two venues my family ran, which happens to be the location that inspired the Belle View Banquet Manor of my series. I’ll end this post with a photo of us posing next to our wedding cake. Pretty impressive, huh? Sorry, but no bella figura here. If this was one of my cousins’ weddings, the cake would have been three times as big. And probably brought into the banquet room by a dance troupe.

Readers: Have you ever been to an over-the-top event? Comment to be entered to win a copy of LONG ISLAND ICED TINA.

Ellen Byron’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty awards for Best Humorous Mystery. She writes the Catering Hall Mystery series, which are inspired by her real life, under the name Maria DiRico. Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

Newsletter: https://www.ellenbyron.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ellenbyronauthor/
https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ellenbyronmariadirico/
Bookbub:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ellen-byron
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maria-dirico
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23234.Ellen_Byron
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19130966.Maria_DiRico

It’s a Pawty!

By Liz, wishing spring would come a bit faster

This was a big month in my house. A few of my furry friends celebrated birthdays – and this is notable for a couple reasons. First because it’s always fun to celebrate four-legged birthdays (and those of you with furry children totally get this). And second, because when it comes to my cats, well, these birthdays are extra notable given the age ranges. So I figured I’d have all you readers celebrate with us!

Here’s a recap of the notable days this month:

First up was Snowy, who celebrated her 25th birthday on February 9! I mean, come on – that’s pretty good, right? Here’s a pic of her enjoying her treats.

Snowy came to me back in 2008 – I rescued her and her friend Red, a flame point Siamese, from a not-so-great house. The plan was to adopt them out, but they were older than the person had told me so no rescues would take them. Red and I fell for each other, but he died about eight months later. I attempted a few times to adopt Snowy out but she was notoriously nasty to everyone who tried – she made it pretty clear she was here to stay. Thirteen years later, I’m beginning to think she’ll outlive me.

Next up is Penny, who turned 3 on February 14th (yes, I gave her Valentine’s Day as her birthday). Most of you who follow the blog are familiar with Miss Penny and her antics. I adopted her a little over two years ago and she was a bit out of control, to say the least. But with some good training, a lot of love and patience (which is definitely not my strong suit) and Molly keeping her in line, Penny is a different dog than the one who crashed into my life like a homemade bomb a couple years ago. She’s become the sweetest, funniest, most snuggly little girl. Here she is at her party.

And finally, Jack celebrated his 16th birthday on February 19. I adopted Jack from the shelter I used to work at in New Hampshire. An older couple brought him in one night, crammed into a bird box from Petco, after their grandson had pretty much abandoned him. He was nine months old. He’s named after Jack Bauer from 24

So that’s how I spent my month! Readers, do you do anything special for your furbabies birthdays? Tell me in the comments below.