Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 11

Happy Labor Day!

Jessie: Spending the holiday with family, friends, and plenty of BBQ!

The Wickeds are all celebrating the unofficial ending of summer and are hoping that you are doing the same! Here’s to a day filled with sun, fun, and making memories! Oh, and of course, a great book to read!

A Wicked Welcome to Betsy Groban **giveaway**

by Julie, in Nashville at Bouchercon–find me and say hello!

Betsy Groban and I share a passion for Jane Austen, and arts advocacy. She’s had a fascinating career, and recently added another title to her resume–author. She’s thrilled that this dream came true, and is making the most of it, hosting book events for her target audience and their parents. Betsy’s book is a young readers’ book–she’s working on the next generation of Wicked readers. Welcome to the blog, Betsy!

Hello.

This is my first time at bat, and it’s good to e-meet you!

I’m a former longtime children’s book publisher (at Little, Brown and the company formerly known as HMH) who just published my first book for kids. It’s called Pizza for Pia and it’s about a plucky little girl who stands up for her meal of choice in a pizza-loving family.

It’s been incredibly fulfilling to find myself on “the other side of the desk.” I’m intimately familiar with the publishing process and well aware of what I can expect from the publisher – in my case, S&S — and what I should do on my own. This summer, I’ve set up a series of appearances in bookstores in several states and have had an absolute ball doing them.

At An Unlikely Story in Plainville 

My process has been relatively simple. Bolstered by a few great reviews (“A panoply of plosive P’s, a panorama of pizza prep, and the power of persistence make this particularly pleasing.” -Booklist ) I drew up a list of bookstores that I knew to be especially strong in children’s books. Since I’m an unknown debut author at this point, I created a “package” that I hoped would encourage booksellers to invite me to do an event at their store.

The Bookshop of Beverly Farms in Beverly Farms

My proposed package has three parts. First, I read and discuss Pizza with Pia (retail price: $5) with kids and their families. Second, I lead the kids in a pizza-themed craft activity (supplied by me); and third, and maybe most important, I encourage the bookseller to provide real pizza for the kids to eat, during which I sign books. A book-craft-and-pizza party! What could be better?

As I mentioned, I’ve had the best time travelling around to bookstores talking to kids and reading and autographing copies of Pizza for Pia. The response has been beyond gratifying. I think the very best moment so far was when a little boy came back after I’d signed his copy of my book and asked me to sign a copy of the cut-paper pizza he’d just made. Be still, my heart!

If you are in the Boston area, Book Ends in Winchester, MA will be hosting me for an End of Summer Pizza Party on Saturday August 31 at 3:00:

Question: I believe that children’s books are especially meaningful, even when we’re adults. Do you have any memorable experiences meeting a children’s book author, either as a child or with a child? Or how about a children’s book that’s meant a lot to you? I’m happy to give away three copies of Pizza for Pia to commenters on the blog.

About Pizza for Pia!

Pizza is easy. Pizza is cheesy. Everyone loves pizza…right? A plucky little girl in a pizza-loving family pushes for her meal of choice in Pizza for Pia, a playful and delicious book for beginning readers.

Learn more here!

About Betsy Groban

Betsy Groban is a correspondent for the Boston Globe and writes a column on reading for Publishers Weekly Children’s Bookshelf.  She is also the book review editor of the Jane Austen Society of North America.  Betsy lives in Cambridge and has four magnificent grandchildren, one of whom is called Pia. Pizza for Pia! is her first book for children.  www.betsygroban.com

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor: Welcome Darci Hannah

By Liz/Cate, excited to help Darci Hannah celebrate the release of her latest book – the first in a new series! I love ghosts and anything paranormal – so I can’t wait to read this one. Take it away, Darci!

Thank you, Cate, for inviting me to be a guest on the fabulous Wicked Authors Blog. I’m so happy to be a guest today, and to get to share a little bit about my new cozy mystery, A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor, the first book in my new Food & Spirits Mystery Series. 

I’m going to be honest. When I got the bug to write novels many years ago, I never considered that one day I’d be writing a paranormal mystery series (with food and travel too!). While I’ve always been fascinated with paranormal mysteries like, does Sasquatch really exist? Are ghosts real? And what exactly is an UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon)? I had never considered writing about them. That was until my younger brother Ron, who for some odd reason decided to hunt ghosts for a hobby, started telling me all about his wild paranormal adventures. Now tell me, who doesn’t love a good ghost story?

My ghost picture: haunted chainmail. Can you see the ghostly face?

I started my writing career writing romantic historical fiction. I really thought that’s what I would do forever. That now makes me laugh. After two published books, I lost my contract. Around the same time my brother had joined a paranormal investigative team. He’d tell me to watch those crazy ghost hunting reality shows on TV. There were so many of them on cable at that time that I made the comment that the Food Network was the only network that I could tell without a ghost show on it. We then thought of the perfect ghost show for that network and called it Food & Sprits. It would be a food baiting ghost hunting show based on the ancient Celtic tradition of the Dumb Supper. As a spoof, I wrote a reality TV pitch for it, because I had some time on my hands, then ended up selling my very first cozy mystery series, The Very Cherry Mysteries, instead. I stuffed that pitch away in a drawer where it was nearly forgotten. 

Two years ago, my publisher asked me to pitch another cozy mystery series. That’s when I found my old pitch for Food & Spirits, my spoofy ghost hunting foodie show. I dusted it off, rewrote it as a cozy mystery pitch, and here I am today. 

Now, I said that I’ve never considered myself to be a paranormal writer. But looking back at the very first novel I got published in 2010, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, the very first line goes like this: Someone once told me that every tower has a ghost, and every ghost has a story. And I think right there is the heart of the matter. A touch of the paranormal tends to seep into my writing. I can’t help it. I’m intrigued by ghost stories, and lucky me, in A FATAL FEAST AT BRAMSFORD MANOR, I get to tell you one. I get to tell you all about the tragic, ghostly legend of the Mistletoe Bride. 

But don’t worry. There’s a lot of humor peppered throughout the book, along with some really good food. I hope you enjoy reading A FATAL FEAST AT BRAMSFORD MANOR as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Readers: Do you believe in ghosts?

About A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor:

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Disliking spooks but loving food, Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. It’s a sumptuous meal she hopes will entice the ghostly Mistletoe Bride to take a seat and join them while the cameras roll. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

About Darci Hannah

Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com. Instagram: @authordarcihannah. Twitter: @darci_hannah. YouTube: @darcihannah. You can even listen to Darci and her sons on the Nearly Literate Podcast @ https://rss.com/podcasts/motherboy/  Or  watch on YouTube @NearlyLiteratePodcast.

Wicked Wednesday – Fiery Female Law Enforcement Characters

Happy Wednesday! We’re wrapping up our August theme “The heat is on” this week with one last fiery women topic: Favorite fiery law enforcement protagonist in the mystery world.

The first one who comes to mind for me is Faith McClellan, LynDee Walker’s protagonist in the Faith McClellan Texas Ranger series. Faith is such a badass character – she has integrity, compassion, brains and a burning desire to put the world back to rights. She is one of my fave characters.

Wickeds, what about you? Who’s your favorite female law enforcement protag and why?

Edith/Maddie: I don’t know that she’s particularly fiery, but I’m particularly fond of Gemma James in Deborah Crombie’s long-running British police procedural series. Homicide detective Gemma has evolved over the years, and I love how she manages to do an excellent job at solving murders while also being a busy mother of three AND keeping her relationship strong with husband Duncan Kincaid, a detective superintendent.

Barb: I love Gemma, too, Edith! For this post I’m going with Karen Pirie, Val McDermid’s Edinburgh-based police detective. I read all but the latest on a trip to Scotland in 2022. I just finished Past Lying, a banger of a mystery set during the first UK lockdown in April 2020, a novel within a novel, which takes place in the world of mystery writing/writers. The paperback comes out September 10. The TV series–one season on Britbox, the second being filmed now–is great, too.

Julie: These are all great choices! I don’t read police procedurals as often as I watch them. When I think of fiery law enforcement a number of British procedurals come to mind. At the forefront is Jane Tennison from Prime Suspect.

Sherry: I agree that Faith is a great character, Liz. Tracy Clark’s police woman Harriet Foster is one of my favorites! She’s tough, vulnerable, and someone is out to get her. The third book in her series, Echo, comes out in December. I also like Renee Ballard written by Michael Connelly. And if spies fall into the law enforcement category of I love the women in Mick Herron’s Slough House books. They’re beaten down, have problems, but are tough and smart.

Jessie: I adore Jane Tennison, Julie! I’m going with DS Harbinder Kaur from Elly Griffiths’s novels. I love those novels!

Readers, who are your favorite female law enforcement characters? Add yours in the comments!

The body on the porch and a giveaway! Welcome Peggy Ehrhart

By Liz, happy to welcome Peggy Ehrhart back to the blog to celebrate her latest book! And it’s all about Halloween, which makes me so happy. Take it away, Peggy!

A Dark and Stormy Knit opens with the grisly discovery of a corpse on Halloween night. Sitting in a chair on a porch, the corpse had gone unremarked until a group of teenagers approached in quest of Halloween treats. The porch, like others in charming Arborville, New Jersey, had been decorated for the holiday, and the corpse blended in with a tableau meant to evoke the spooky season.

Arborville, where my Knit & Nibble series is set, resembles to an uncanny degree the suburban New Jersey town where I’ve spent much of my adult life, and Orchard Street, where my amateur-sleuth protagonist Pamela Paterson lives, resembles my own street. Over the years, Halloween has become more and more of an extravaganza on my street, so I didn’t have to look far to find my inspiration for the opening scene in A Dark and Stormy Knit. 

Once the days start growing shorter, my neighbors’ creativity comes to the fore. Fake cobwebs festoon shrubbery, complete with huge furry spiders. Plastic tombstones sprout from lawns. Ghouls with rubber faces congregate on porches. Skeletons enjoy a tête-a-tête on a garden bench in a front yard. Miniature ghosts made from styrofoam balls with squares of white cloth draped over them dangle from trees. A giant inflatable ghost, glowing a spectral shade of pale green, looms from behind a tree. Pumpkins, carved and whole, abound and—in acknowledgment of the harvest season that overlaps Halloween—decorative squash and gourds, as well as hay bales and bundles of corn husks, are part of the décor.

Like my sleuth, I live in a wood-frame house that dates from the early years of the last century. It was a fixer-upper when my husband and I bought it long ago (and fixing it up was a process I’m not sure I’d have taken on if I’d known what all was involved). But now it’s pretty and quite picturesque, and with its barn-red and pale gold color scheme, it fits in with the autumn foliage of the many oaks and maples that shade my street. The other houses on the block are old and picturesque as well.

Thus our street has become a favorite of trick-or-treaters. The houses and the trees with their colorful leaves make for wonderful photo ops, and the goblins start arriving as soon as school gets out. Parents stand on the sidewalk snapping pictures as troops of princesses, monsters, space aliens, and other creatures beat a path to our front door.

A few years ago, my husband and I realized that there was no point in closing the door and retreating between visits because no sooner had treats been dispensed to one group than another group took its place. Now we take turns being on door duty—or even porch duty. Lately, even in northern New Jersey, fall days well into late October and beyond have been bright and balmy. Sitting on the front porch with a supply of candy, watching the passing parade of giggling, costumed children, and greeting them with a “Happy Halloween” as they ascend the porch steps is quite a pleasant assignment. 

Our neighbors station themselves outdoors for porch duty as well, and the atmosphere takes on the feel of a block party. Last year we had such crowds that the town closed our block off to cars. It’s easy to keep track of how many goblins have visited by keeping track of the candy supply. Last year I started with a giant economy bag of assorted “fun size” candy bars that held 275 pieces and one that held 150 pieces. Allowing for the fact that my husband and I helped ourselves to a few treats along the way, I estimate that we gave treats to at least 400 goblins—and as it began to get dark, we extinguished the candle in the jack-o’-lantern, retreated inside, and turned off all the lights visible from the street. The few late-calling trick-or-treaters—usually they tend to be teenagers—had to go away empty-handed.

Of course, as a mystery, A Dark and Stormy Knit, has to lean into the spooky side of the holiday rather than the sunny block-party aspect. In the book, Halloween night features a fierce storm, with plenty of thunder and lightning and a momentary power outage that leaves the scene in ominous darkness. The trick-or-treating teenagers are reveling in the spooky atmosphere of Halloween night, but they certainly do not expect to come upon a real corpse. In the house next door to the murder scene, Pamela and her best friends, the Frasers, are enjoying oatmeal cookies and hot cider, and Pamela and her co-sleuth Bettina Fraser certainly do not expect to be summoned by screams to the scene of the murder that will present their latest sleuthing challenge.  

Readers: Are you expecting lots of trick-or-treaters this year? Do you have a favorite Halloween tradition? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of A Dark and Stormy Knit!

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature. Her Maxx Maxwell mysteries, Sweet Man Is Gone (2008) and Got No Friend Anyhow (2011), were published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage and feature a blues-singer sleuth.

Peggy is currently writing the Knit & Nibble cozy mysteries for Kensington Books. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder and mainstay of a knitting club in the charming suburban town of Arborville, New Jersey. Book #11 in the Knit & Nibble series, A Dark and Stormy Knit, has just been released.

Peggy herself is an avid crafter, dating from her childhood as a member of the 4-H Club in rural Southern California. She is a longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and regularly attends mystery-writing conferences and participates in conference panels. She also gives talks on mystery fiction at libraries and other venues in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

Pumpkin spice and poodles – welcome Laurien Berenson!

By Liz, happy to welcome Laurien Berenson today to celebrate Pumpkin Spice Puppy – book 30!!! – in the Melanie Travis Canine mystery series. Pumpkin spice and puppies – I am so in! Take it away, Laurien!

Thanks so much Liz Mugavero and the Wickeds for inviting me to your blog!

In the mid-1980s, I walked into a bookstore looking for something fun to read and found Sue Grafton’s book, B IS FOR BURGLAR. I devoured it in a day, then went back for the previous book in her alphabet series, A IS FOR ALIBI. After that, I eagerly waited for each new installment in the series to become available.

At the time I was an aspiring mystery writer, so I was delighted to discover a woman author who was writing books about a woman sleuth–a circumstance that was much less common then than it is now. I was also fascinated by the idea that Grafton intended to write her way to the end of the alphabet. Dame Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels aside, I couldn’t conceive of a single series lasting for twenty-six books–a quest nearly three decades long!

And yet, thirty years later, I find myself exactly there. After discovering Grafton’s terrific series, I wrote two books of ‘psychological suspense’ (as it was then called). But by the early 1990s, what I really wanted to do was write a mystery novel centered around the dog show world. At the time, I was breeding and showing Standard Poodles, and that milieu seemed like the perfect setting for intrigue. 

When A PEDIGREE TO DIE FOR was published in February 1995, I got my wish. Having previously only written standalone novels, it never occurred to me that PEDIGREE wouldn’t be the same. But when my editor accepted the manuscript, he asked for two more books featuring Melanie and crew. Then he wanted more after that. To my delight, the series just kept going. 

PUMPKIN SPICE PUPPY, the 30th book in the Melanie Travis Canine mystery series came out this week. And I am no longer shocked by the notion that a mystery series can continue for three decades.

Writing about the same set of characters all these years has been an interesting journey. The first book in the series had just two main characters: Melanie and her Aunt, Poodle breeder Peg Turnbull. Making lesser appearances were Melanie’s four-year-old son, Davey, and potential suspect Sam Driver. 

Twenty-nine books later, Davey is fifteen and has a little brother. Sam and Melanie have been married for seven years. The cast of characters that revolve in and out of the series numbers nearly twenty people, including reader favorites, gay couple Terry Denunzio and Crawford Langley. 

Over time, there have been at least as many dogs added to the stories as humans. Melanie, who’d never previously owned a pet in A PEDIGREE TO DIE FOR, now lives with her family and six dogs. She and her Standard Poodle sidekick, Faith, are inseparable.

Aunt Peg is not only still causing trouble in Melanie’s life, she has also spawned a spin-off series of her own. Now in her early seventies, Peg along with her sister-in-law and sometime nemesis, Rose Donovan, have become senior sleuths. In their third book, PEG AND ROSE PLAY THE PONIES, they go to Kentucky and become involved in the horseracing industry.

It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to write such a long-running series. I’m honored that readers have stayed interested in Melanie’s adventures through so many years. And even though I now understand how such longevity can happen, sometimes when I stop and think about it, I’m still amazed.

Readers: Do you enjoy long-running series with familiar characters, or would you rather encounter something new and unexpected when you pick up a book?

Laurien Berenson is the author of the long running Melanie Travis mystery series and her new Senior Sleuths series. Her books have won or been nominated for the Maxwell Award for Dog Fiction, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, Agatha and Macavity awards. She lives on a farm in Kentucky, surrounded by dogs and horses.

A Wicked Welcome to Maria Kelson!

by Julie, packing for Bouchercon in Somerville

I met Maria Kelson last year in Chicago at the Midwest Mystery Conference. She was an attendee last year. This year she’ll be on a panel, celebrating the release of her debut thriller, Not The Killing Time. Welcome to the Wickeds, Maria!

My Favorite Interviews

Ever wish you had a few more fun questions you could ask authors at book events? How about this: did you do any interviewing as part of your research process, and if so, which conversations were your favorites?

When I was writing Not the Killing Kind, my debut thriller coming out next month, a number of people were kind enough to share their thoughts with me on life in Humboldt County, CA, where the story is set. However, four special interviews became standouts in my mind and heart:

Bilingual (English/Spanish) court interpreter and her Spanish-speaking mother

We met at a down-home family diner in Eureka, California, and there’s just something about breaking bread together that naturally builds trust and rapport between people. There must’ve been pie served, at some point. We talked for over an hour.

My novel deals with the complexities of life for undocumented people and those who advocate for them in Humboldt County, an area on the far north coast of California known for redwood forests, stunning coasts, and drug-related crime. Although Spanish-speaking is not synonymous with “undocumented,” this interview source was well versed in the strengths and heartaches of people who, whether it be by language or other circumstances, find themselves on the outside of what’s considered “normal” on the rural north coast. Furthermore, talking to her mother gave me a much-needed chance to practice my Spanish, which I speak at about a third-grade level, with the zeal of a PhD student. Lots of flubs and good intentions, on my part, rewarded with accounts of daily life in an elder generation’s lengua madre.

Operations Manager for a local food bank

This young woman helped me understand that not everyone is excited to talk, talk, talk right away. When we first sat down together at Old Town Coffee and Chocolates in Eureka, she admitted she’d had her partner “stalk me a little” online to make sure I wasn’t a creeper. Well. I know I’m not a creeper. But she had no way to be sure!

I tried to ease into meatier questions about her perceptions of life as a younger professional, a Latina serving the undocumented Latinx population, by starting off with basic questions about the food bank. What was their warehouse like, what was a typical week for her, etc. As we got to talking, I eventually learned that because the cost of living was so high there in scenic northern California, she knew many professionals who had to supplement their salaries with mini marijuana “grows” in their homes to attain a middle-class lifestyle.

This was prior to legalization in the state, and it reminded me that there are many ways to find oneself outside the law in late capitalism beyond being undocumented. It prompted me to think further about how the rails of our legal system are greased for some and hazardous for others, depending not only on citizenship status, but also on economic circumstance.

Founder/owner of an organic/fair trade coffee roastery

I love talking to strong women! This entrepreneurial leader exuded a wonderful combination of energy, curiosity, and cleverness. In fact, I made my lead character an energetic, curious, and clever education leader because I find mover-and-shaker women heroic.

In the case of this source, I wanted her perspective on trying to do the right thing, ecologically, while thriving as a business. The natural world in the redwood country is so threaded into daily life, and this woman talked passionately about the social elements of land and water conservation.

Look for Signature Coffee Co.’s Costa Rica medium roast in the novel, a favorite fuel of the protagonist!

The county sheriff’s immigration liaison

This gentleman thought he’d left the stresses of law enforcement behind when he’d moved from CA to rural Oregon for calmer pastures. Then, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office recruited him to this position, saying, “We’re trying to do something different here.”

For this source, “something different” meant the county not spending excessive law enforcement resources on someone who drank too much and threw a punch at a bar, for example, instead working with social services and community partners to keep “ghost people” (his term for immigrants in the county, based on their near-invisibility from the mainstream) well-served and away from trouble. His role was to talk to Spanish speakers newly incarcerated in the county jail and try to get their stories and understand how they had ended up in there.

He shared a glimpse of the emotional side of the prosecutorial process, recalling how, at times, he feels so badly for the wives and children left behind when a head of household (typically a man) is sentenced.

His human concern for the people he encountered infused the hearts of several characters in my novel, and his inner conflicts about some of the situations he witnessed as a professional in the justice system reminded me that there is no one face of the law.

Reader question: what’s something you’ve always wanted to ask someone in a helping profession (medical, legal, etc.) but were afraid to ask?

About the Book:

Not the Killing Kind follows Boots Marez, a Latina single mother raising a headstrong and sly eighteen-year-old boy she adopted six years ago. She also runs a school that helps the undocumented people in her politically divided town in Northern California. When her son Jaral is jailed for the murder of one of her former students, her world is turned upside down as she decides how far she’s willing to go to bring her son home. Called “a stirring debut … with satisfying twists” by Publisher’s Weekly and described by Booklist as “fast-paced and propulsive . . . [A] thriller filled with culturally relevant and timely themes,” Not the Killing Kind is available for print, e-book, and audio pre-order today.

About the Author:

Maria Kelson published two collections of poetry as Maria Melendez. Her debut thriller, Not the Killing Kind, was twelve years in the making, won the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Crime Fiction Writers of Color from Sisters in Crime, and comes out September 10 with Crooked Lane Books. Connect at mariakelson.com. 

Facebook: facebook.com/mariamelendezkelson

Instagram: @mkelsonauthor

A Witch City landmark tour and giveaway with guest Carol Perry

By Liz, excited to welcome Carol Perry back to the blog! You may know I’m kind of obsessed with my nearby town of Salem, Mass., and so of course I love that Carol’s books take place in the Witch City, where she’s also from! She’s celebrating her 14th book today – and she’s talking about Salem and its impact. Congrats, Carol!

Thanks, Wicked Authors for inviting me to spend time with all of you to celebrate the release this week of my new cozy mystery, Death Scene—the 14th book in my Witch City Mystery series.

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Here’s a bit of the back-cover blurb:

“It takes a lot for Salem locals to get excited about their historic Massachusetts town being known as “the witch city.” But when a major studio arrives to shoot a witchcraft-themed movie, folks go Hollywood. For WICH-TV’s program director and chief documentary-maker, Lee Barrett however, the project may come complete with a real-life death scene . . .”

When the first book in the series, Caught Dead Handed was released in September of 2014, I had no idea that Lee Barrett, cop boyfriend Pete Mondello and a clairvoyant gentleman cat named O’Ryan would still be having adventures together a decade later! Choosing my birth city of Salem for the locale of my very first attempt at mystery writing came easily. (The fact that I was born there one long-ago Halloween Eve might have had something spooky to do with it too!) 

Salem is blessed with a wealth of historic buildings. The cover of Death Scene shows the one we call “The Witch House.”  This structure is the only one still standing with direct ties to the witchcraft trials of 1692. A Judge Jonathan Corwin and his family lived here, and legend tells us that the Judge actually held the trials in his home which ultimately sent seventeen souls to the gallows. Last summer I made a visit to the Witch House to see for myself the room where the trials took place—and where much of the action in Death Scene happens too! The main floor houses artifacts both historical and horrifying. I saw hand-written transcripts of the actual trials as well as some of the downright creepy things used to induce confessions from the accused.

In my story, when the gorgeous lead actress is found dead on a set staged to replicate the room where Corwin held the trials—and her on-screen lover in full period costume is found asleep in her trailer—the hunt is on for a present-day killer on the loose in Salem.  Even with help from Pete, Lee’s Aunt Ibby, O’Ryan the wonder cat, and Lee’s best friend –tarot card reader and practicing witch River North, sorting out a witch’s brew of secrets, sorcery and special effects might turn Lee’s documentary into her own final act!

 Kirkus Reviews had these good words for Death Scene : “A little history with a little mystery proves just the right mix in this good-natured tale.”

Readers: Do you like books set in in real places, with mentions of present day streets, buildings, restaurants, or do you prefer made-up towns? (I write both—real Salem for Witch City Mysteries and make-believe Haven for the Haunted Haven series.) I’ll send the newest book of each series to one lucky commenter!

Wicked Wednesday – Fiery women in publishing

Happy Wednesday! Cate here, and we’re in our “The heat is on” theme, AND we’re celebrating the release of Shock and Paw this week (yay!) One could argue that, since it’s a Christmas-themed book, it’s the farthest thing from hot–but the victim in the story, who is also a fiery woman, dies by electrocution, so there’s that.

My murder vic is a newspaper publisher and a force to be reckoned with, both in and out of publishing. So today, in her honor, I want to talk about females who have shattered glass ceilings in the publishing industry and challenged the status quo.

People like Ida B. Wells and Nellie Bly in journalism, classic authors like Agatha Christie, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Alice Walker, Virgina Woolf, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison. I also think of today’s badass women like Jodi Picoult, who isn’t afraid to write about the most controversial topics and stand up for causes like book bans and LGBTQ+ rights with her platform.

So many women in publishing to celebrate. Wickeds, who stands out for you?

Sherry: Congratulations on Shock and Paw, Liz! I love that title! There are so many women who do so much that it’s hard to pick a few. For me, it’s Sara Paretsky and her fellow women authors who started Sisters in Crime in 1987. It’s an organization that started to advocate for women authors and has expanded its advocacy since. And Kellye Garrett and Gigi Pandian who started Crime Writers of Color with Walter Mosley in 2018. It has become a thriving organization since then.

Julie: Congratulations Liz! Like Sherry, I love that title! And you’ve both listed great examples. I’ll add Juliet Grames from SoHo Press to this list. SoHo is an interesting house that publishes wonderful authors. She’s also an author, and a great member of the community.

Barb: I second Julie’s mention of Juliet Grames, who gave a barn-burner of a speech about artistic integrity at the Maine Crime Wave this year. I have watched in awe as Kellye Garrett and Gigi Pandian have grown Crime Writers of Color from a standing start to become a force in the industry. Let me add the late literary agent Janet Reid. She didn’t take me as a client but she was so kind to me and supportive of my first book. I’m not sure I would have gone on without her encouragement. And our own publicist at Kensington, Larissa Ackerman, who has been a supporter of all the Wickeds from the go. Congratulations on Shock and Paw, Liz!

Edith/Maddie: Yay for a new Cat Cafe book, Liz! I’m excited to read it and catch up on (the other) Maddie’s world. I agree about all those women already mentioned. I’m going to add our friend (and my really good pal) Ellen Byron. She’s an author like us, but she has lobbied hard for the inclusion of the cozy genre in Mystery Writers of America awards and at Bouchercon, the biggest crime fiction convention. Those worlds have not traditionally given a nod to cozies, but they’re starting to, due in part to Ellen’s efforts.

Jessie: I love all of your picks! I would add Mary Wollstonecraft with her classic Vindication of the Rights of Woman published in 1792. She was the mother of Mary Shelley, author of one of the first bestsellers, Frankenstein. I would also mention Sarah Josepha Hale the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, an extremely popular magazine first published in 1830.

Readers, tell us which women you admire in the publishing world!

It’s Shock and Paw Release Day – giveaway!

By Liz, celebrating the release of Shock and Paw, the 8th Cat Cafe Mystery!

It’s release day for Shock and Paw!

The 8th installment in the Cat Cafe series takes place over Christmas – and it was even more fun because I wrote it over Christmas last year, so it felt extra festive. 

Aside from the electrocution and all. 

For this installment I was excited to be able to give Becky Walsh, Maddie’s best friend and the editor of the island’s daily newspaper, a starring role. 

Becky’s boss, the publisher of the independent newspaper, is murdered after Becky overhears her contemplating selling the paper. She’s terrified about what that will mean, both for her as a an employee and for the people who need the news on the island. 

I love writing about the newspaper biz. The reality is, what’s happening on Daybreak started happening everywhere back in the 2000s. A lot of smaller papers were sold and/or folded. Staff was cut. The way news happened changed with social media.

And yet. The sentiment of journalists doesn’t change.   

I started my career as a journalist, and it’s something that I don’t think you ever stop being. The mindset is ingrained. Curiosity, one of the main drivers of the job, is a given. None of that wanes if it’s in you, even when you go on to other jobs. 

I really believe that journalism gives you so many skills that are applicable not only from a writing perspective, but from a life perspective. Things like:

Deadlines. As a journalist, we lived by deadlines. You didn’t miss them, period. It’s a helpful skill to translate to writing books. 

Interview skills. You needed to get people to talk to you, so you learned to ask questions in many different ways. You learned to ask interesting questions. You learned to ask the question beneath the question. A journalist never stops asking. It’s why we’re so annoying to family and friends. 

Relationship building. People won’t talk to you if they don’t trust you. You have to learn how to cultivate that trust by keeping your word, being fair and as objective as possible, and remembering the people behind the stories. It’s never worth it to treat someone poorly to get one scoop – because the next time you need them, they won’t talk to you. 

Writing lean. When you have 13 or 15 inches for a story, you can’t waste words. Write lean, kill your darlings, and just tell the story. 

Time management. Juggling multiple stories every day in between checking in with sources, keeping track of developing news, running around to events or locations and getting the actual writing done means you’re always on the clock. Maximizing your time and working smart is key to being successful.

I love when I get to write about the newsroom again. It’s like revisiting one of my favorite career stops along the way. 

As for the sale of the Daybreak Island newspaper? You’ll just have to read the book to find out. 

Readers, who here is still a newspaper reader, even if it’s online only? I’m giving away a copy of the new book to a random commenter!