Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 114

Mourning Justice Ginsburg on Release Day

Edith/Maddie here, writing from north of Boston where the light, the day length, the turning leaves, and the calendar all tell me it’s fall. We’re still eating tomatoes and lettuce from the garden, local farms still have sweet corn and cucumbers, and we’ve had a spate of warm weather. I haven’t hauled out sweaters and boots – yet. But apples and pumpkins are everywhere and the leaves on my blueberry bushes are a deep winey red.

We all know winter is coming and with it the holidays. So a book called Candy Slain Murder (out today!) is only a little early for the Christmas season. Read down for a giveaway.

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I had started to draft this post about where I got my ideas for the book. But what I want to write about is how deeply I am grieving the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Physically she was tiny, but intellectually and ethically she was so much stronger than just about anyone. She fought for justice her entire adult life. Justice for women, for same-sex couples, for the disabled, for African Americans, for the environment. For us, the people.

I started learning more about her a few years ago when my friend, author Leslie Karst, asked if I would read Cooking for Ruth, her manuscript about preparing dinner for the justice and her husband. Leslie talks about it in this recent Jungle Red Writers blog post. In subtle ways, retired lawyer Leslie also weaves in the story of Ginsburg’s long years of legal/civil rights work, her challenges and triumphs, with the story of the meal planning and execution.

[image error]Leslie and Ruth at the dinner; photo used with permission

Then I discovered the RBG Workout book written by Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg’s fitness trainer, and, inspired by a ninety-pound eighty-something, I started lifting weights again and doing planks. (Did you see the man paying his respects by dropping and doing three pushups as she lay in state at the capital? That was Johnson.)

And then came the biopic “On the Basis of Sex” and the lovely documentary, “RBG.” I thought, why hasn’t this marvelous person been on my radar for decades instead of just now? I even got her action figure.

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I’ve been a feminist since I was a girl. I remember an acute sense of injustice when, in fifth grade, the teacher asked two boys to bring back a box of books from the book room. I demanded to know why I wasn’t asked. (Maybe being the smallest kid in the class had something to do with it. Or maybe not.)

So I feel a kinship with RBG. I attribute being able to write books with strong female protagonists to the advances she fought for. I know my ability to own a credit card in my own name is because of her, and my friends in same-sex marriages owe her the same.

Thank you, Justice Ruth. May we all carry on your work in our own way and fight injustice wherever we find it.

But since you, dear readers, probably also want to hear about the new book, here are a few bits:

I dedicated Candy Slain Murder to another strong woman, dear friend and stalwart author, Sheila Connolly, who died last spring.

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In a recent guest post, I talked about the inspiration for the subplot of Danna’s birth brother showing up on page one to meet her for the first time. This book also features a decade-old skeleton, the current murder of the skeleton’s twin sister, and a delightful Hungarian grandfather. Winter holidays are about family for many people, and this book is no exception. I hope readers will love the family-centered surprise at the end.

For many of us, the holidays means a lot of sweet baked goods and some special drinks. Over on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen last week, I offered a recipe for holly-shaped sugar cookies as well as the history of the recipe. Maya Corrigan (whose Gingerdead Man share this release day) and I interview each other on Jungle Red Writers today. I guested with a no-egg nog over on Drinks with Reads. Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder will feature the Gingerbread People recipe in the book on October 2. And on October 6 I’ll be celebrating in a Super Cozy Release Party with seven other fabulous authors – hope you can join us!

I don’t think Ruth Ginsburg would want any of us not to continue celebrating our successes, so I am happy to send one commenter a copy of the new book, and you can specify how you would like it endorsed. What’s your favorite winter holiday memory, or food or drink? Do you have an RBG story to share?

Crazy Cat Lady Energy

By Liz, writing away on Claws for Alarm, the fifth Cat Cafe Mystery

I got a preview of a review last week from Kirkus.

As writers, I think it’s safe to say we all have a love/hate relationship with reviews. We simultaneously look forward to them and dread them. Many of us avoid reading the majority of them altogether. But when a Kirkus review lands in your inbox, you kind of have to pay attention, especially when the accompanying publisher commentary sounds promising.

The review was for A Whisker of a Doubt, my forthcoming Cat Cafe Mystery (#4). This book was a lot of fun for me to write – a Christmas-themed mystery centered on feral cats and their caretakers, a subject which is near and dear. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the review (one never is with Kirkus, after all), but I was optimistic.

It was an interesting review that basically summarized the book, but the one obvious takeaway was the line “Filled with crazy cat lady energy…”

I honestly wasn’t sure how I felt about it in the moments that followed. Of course it’s true that I’d been a crazy cat lady for a long time, and it’s not a title that I’m super fond of. Mostly because it tends to have negative connotations for us ladies who love/rescue cats. So of course, I brought it to my fellow Wickeds for their reaction. And being the wise ladies they are, they advised me to embrace it.

So I thought about it this weekend as I was changing litter boxes and cleaning cat vomit off my couch – you know, the things crazy cat ladies do pretty much every day. And I went back a couple decades to my first experiences having cats, from my very first two when I knew nothing about cats (Rico and Freddie, twin sisters who both lived to age 17) to my very first rescues (Pumpkin and Gypsy, my brother and sister team who also both lived to 16 and 17 respectively), which led me to my time in rescue.

Over the years, I worked at shelters and with various animal rescue agencies, served on boards and executive committees for a couple of those agencies, fostered more cats than I can even remember their names at this point, donated, transported, traipsed around various woods trapping feral cats, worked at feral cat clinics doing everything from giving vaccines to sterilizing instruments, and staged unconventional rescue missions.

I’ve also adopted my fair share of the cats I came into contact with over the years – from Tweetie, the triple-pawed chronically runny-nosed cat, to Ferris, who bit me on a regular basis, to Jack, the cat who showed up at the shelter in a bird box, to Junkyard Johnny, the impetus for the cat in the Cat Cafe books, to Tuffy, the cat who strolled into the backyard of my new house back in 2008 and who became the star of my Pawsitively Organic Mystery series.

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There are also the fosters who never left, who ultimately became adoptees – like Snowy, who I rescued at age 12 and is now 25.

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I’ve had cats who peed in my purse, cats who really weren’t nice to anyone (but I loved them anyway), cats who lived only a couple of years to cats who will probably outlive me. I’ve said goodbye to more of them than I can count, and I still miss them.

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So I guess when you do the math, this all does add up to a crazy cat lady. It also adds up to a lot of lives saved, a lot of gratifying work, and a sense of having done good in the world.

These days, I only have four cats left (which is crazy considering how many cats used to share my house), but I have no doubt that even if the numbers stay small, the soundtrack of my life will always be full of purrs.

Being a crazy cat lady isn’t so bad after all.

Readers, what’s something you’re passionate about that will always be part of your life? Leave a comment below.

Guest Denise Swanson

Edith/Maddie here, happy to welcome the talented and prolific Denise Swanson to the blog! She’s celebrating a new book and a big number.

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Here’s the blurb for Winner Cake All:

Once again, it looks like Dani Sloan will get a slice of the action… In the small town of Normalton, IL, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for small business owner Dani Sloan to cater big-ticket events. But that’s about to change—a client named Yvette Joubert is marrying Franklin Whittaker, the richest guy around, and they want Dani to cater their engagement party! The swanky event is the perfect opportunity to put Dani on the map for wealthier clients.

But when a storm hits the party after guests arrive, it becomes clear that more than the dinner is ruined: Yvette is found dead beneath the marquee. Is her death a tragic accident, or a perfectly orchestrated murder? Then the case gets even juicier—it turns out that Yvette’s ex-husband is Spencer Drake, Dani’s almost-boyfriend, and the police start circling. Now Dani must follow an unending list of clues to save her business, her better half, and catch a criminal. Let’s just hope they get their just desserts!

From One to Thirty-Three in the Blink of an Eye

Getting my first book traditionally published was a long and arduous journey. It took a long time and two hundred and seventy rejection slips to find an agent. And even then, it took that agent eighteen months to find a publisher. Twenty years ago, cozy mysteries were nowhere near as popular as they are now. And since I had my own ideas on setting, sleuth’s appearance, and sleuth’s occupation, it was lot harder than if I’d have put Scumble River in Alabama, made my sleuth Skye a size six, and had her own a bookstore or work in law enforcement.

Few editors wanted to take the gamble on a book that didn’t fit the mold and am I ever glad the editor at NAL/Signet/Penguin was willing to give me a chance! With the first book, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, going into multiple printings, and the twenty-third book, Body Over Troubled Waters, due out in April, I think it’s safe to say there was more interest in a curvy, Midwest, school psychologist than a lot of folks ever realized.

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Thrilled that my first series was successful, I tried my hand at a second, Devereaux’s Dime Store. Wanting to stretch my creative muscles even more, I also wrote a few contemporary romances and a paranormal cozy, A Call to Charms.

I’ve always used my real-life experiences in my books so when I got interested in cooking, I proposed a third cozy series—Chef-to-Go. This series features a caterer/personal chef named Dani Sloan who lives in the fictional college town of Normalton, Illinois (inspired by Bloomington-Normal, home of three universities).

In the first two books, Dani is getting settled in her new career and new house, but by the third one, Winner Cake All, which debuts September 29th, she’s looking to expand her business into the world of luxury catering. The setting for the murder is based on an outdoor wedding reception that I attended where bad weather blew in and almost destroyed the tent that we were all under.

Stagnation is always a risk, with long running series, but by writing additional series, I have been able to allow my characters to change and grow. This means that my sleuths crash cars, inherit and lose houses, and occasionally change boyfriends. Their goals, expectations, and how they deal with family and friends also evolve.

When I married off Skye in my Scumble River series folks started asking if I planned on ending those books. I’m sure I’ll get similar questions about Deveraux now that she’s chosen her man and about Dani because of the way her latest book concludes. But because I don’t think a woman’s journey ends when she finds the man of her dreams, the answer is no.

Having a settled relationship pushes my sleuths into even more exciting adventures and changes the dynamic between them and their family and friends. So, to anyone who is concerned that I’ll end a series just because the sleuth looks as if they’ve gotten their happily ever after, all I can say is stay tuned for book number thirty-four!

Readers: Do you prefer a happily married (or in a settled relationship) sleuth to a one who is unattached? I’ll give away winner’s choice: either a signed copy of Murder of a Small-Town Honey or Winner Cake All (US only).

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New York Times Bestselling author Denise Swanson writes the Scumble River, Devereaux’s Dime Store, Forever Charmed, and Chef-to-Go mysteries, as well as the Change of Heart and Delicious Love contemporary romances. She lives in rural Illinois with her husband and a pack of squirrels, blue jays, and the occasional deer.

For more information, please visit at DeniseSwanson.com. Or come hangout with her at https://www.facebook.com/groups/428723763963797/

Or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeniseSwansonAu

A Wicked Welcome to Melissa Bourbon

Last month Melissa and I shared a release date. As Winner Archer, Dough or Die is the 5th in her Bread Shop Mystery series. As you can tell from this post, she’s a multi-published author, and is celebrating the first in a new series today.

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Some of you may have heard that my new book, Murder in Devil’s Cove, came out a few days ago. I’ve been so, so excited about this book! It’s the first in the Book Magic Mysteries, a collaborative series I’m writing with my friend and fellow mystery writer, Wendy Lyn Watson.

Today I’d like to fill you all in on the premise. The first book, Murder in Devil’s Cove, introduces Pippin Lane Hawthorne, who, along with her twin brother, Grey, inherits her parents’ old home on the fictional Outer Banks island of Devil’s Cove. A decades old crime is discovered and Pippin, who is—as are all the women in her family—a bibliomancer. The thing is, Pippin has never been a ‘book person’. There is a reason for that, but you have to read the book to find out more!

Pippin has to tap into this mysterious gift (or curse, depending on how you look at it) in order to get to the truth.

There’s a mystery in the book, but there is also a bigger mystery that will play out over the course of all the novels in the series.

Book 2, Death at Cape Misery, will release on December 1st. It features Cora Lane—Pippin’s cousin.

Wendy and I are going back and forth in the writing of these books, each of them revealing a piece of the big puzzle, then the final book we’ll write together.

So. Much. Fun!

If you enjoy:

Small town mysteriesA fun and unique cast of characters, including craggy old seamen and a brainiac bookshop ownerA smidge of romanceA great mystery in each book, plus another bigger mysteryA rescue dog with a story of her own…

then you’ll like Murder in Devil’s Cove.

If you’re intrigued by:

The Outer Banks (the show or the locale!)Bibliomancy, aka Book MagicCharacters named after Tolkien’s Lord of the RingsA dog modeled after the real life Finn from The Finn Chronicles (https://www.facebook.com/FinnChronicles)Any of the afore mentioned elements…

then you’ll like…and probably love..Murder in Devil’s Cove! There’s a map of Devil’s Cove on my website, as well as a Lane Family Tree, so check those out.

Also, I’m part of an Epic 36 book cozy mystery giveaway which ends on October 1, so check out this Rafflecopter for the giveaway info!

Before I go, let me ask you…do you like a hint of magic in your books? Happy reading, and may the Book Magic be with you!

Bio



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Melissa Bourbon is the national bestselling author of nineteen mystery books, including the brand new collaborative Book Magic mysteries, the Lola Cruz Mysteries, A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, and the Bread Shop Mysteries, written as Winnie Archer. She is a former middle school English teacher who gave up the classroom in order to live in her imagination full time. Melissa, a California native who has lived in Texas and Colorado, now calls the southeast home. She hikes, practices yoga, cooks, and is slowly but surely discovering all the great restaurants in the Carolinas. Since four of her five amazing kids are living their lives, scattered throughout the country, her dogs, Bean, the pug, and Dobby, the chug, keep her company while she writes. Melissa lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and their youngest son. She is beyond fortunate to be living the life of her dreams.

Visit me at:

Website: https://melissabourbon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissabourbonbooks/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBourbonWinnieArcherBooks
Book Warriors FB Book Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BookWarriors

Wicked Wednesday: When Do You Do Your Research?

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Wickeds, there are all types of research for a book. When do you do most of your research? Before you start, to help you find your way into the story? After you’re done, to add details? Or while you’re writing?

Jessie: I love all the questions you have been posing this month, Julie! I start all my books by poking around researching and seeing what captures my fancy. I follow and learn and make notes for as long as I need until the story starts forming in my mind. I generally end up making notations in my manuscript of things to go back and check or learn more about as the writing gets underway but the bulk of it happens for me in the noodling up stage.

Edith: This month I’m researching a new historical era for a new project. Like Jessie, I do some of it up front, but I’m also eager to start writing, so I make lots of notes to myself as I go, for things I’ll need to check later. I’ll jump out and look something up mid-draft if I think it will change the direction of the story. But a lot of it I do after the first draft is complete.

Barb: I’ve mentioned I like to read narrative non-fiction as a part of my research. If possible, I like to do that before I begin. Often it will spark ideas for plot or character. I don’t interview anyone or send out emails to experts with questions until between the first and second draft. I like to know precisely what I want to ask and not waste their time. The biggest challenge for me is visiting locations and venues. So much that I write about is seasonal and I often can’t visit exactly when I wish, so its a matter of either going early when I may not know what I’m looking for or going later and inserting information in a late draft of the manuscript.

Sherry: Barb, I’m getting ready to start writing the third Chloe Jackson book and I have a lot of non-fiction books about the panhandle of Florida — I think I’ll borrow your method and see what happens. At this point the plot is only one line. I also usually do the research after the first draft. In A Time to Swill , I had questions about the Coast Guard and military wills. I was fortunate to have Bill Randall (author Shari Randall’s husband) answer questions about the Coast Guard. Friend and retired Navy JAG Vida Antolin-Jenkins gave me great information about military wills.

Julie: It’s so interesting that we all research before and after our first draft, but not during. I like the narrative non-fiction idea for reading. I did that a lot when I wrote the Clock Shop series. Does anyone know a narrative non-fiction book about cemeteries? Let me know! While I’m writing I use a bracket method. I make myself notes of things to check or research as notes in brackets, like [check on how long a person can hold their breath while juggling knives], that I check after I’m done with the draft.

Readers, if you’re reading a book that makes you want to learn more, do you explore while reading or after? Writer friends, when do you do your research?

Mass Max Book Giveaway

In June Larissa Ackerman, a communications manager at Kensington Books, did a post for us talking about the new book format Mass Max. (You can read the post here.) Guess what? The Mass Max format books are out and to celebrate we partnered with Kensington to give away the very first batch of Mass Max books. We will have three winners who will win three books each.

[image error]Winner #1:

CANDY SLAIN MURDER by Maddie Day

VEILED IN DEATH by Stephanie Blackmoore

THE CORPSE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Debra Sennefelder

Winner #2:

MURDER AT THE PTA by Lee Hollis

VARNISHED WITHOUT A TRACE by Misty Simon

MISTLETOE, MOUSSAKA, AND MURDER by Tina Kashian

Winner #3:

DEATH ON THE GREEN by Catie Murphy

GINGERDEAD MAN by Maya Corrigan

MRS. MORRIS AND THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST by Traci Wilton

Readers: Do you have a favorite holiday? Answer that question or just say hi for a chance to win. Winners will be drawn on Friday, September 25th. Good luck!

 

Weaving Threads

Jessie : In New Hampshire where the weather is turning distinctly autumnal.

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One of the most interesting aspects of writing historical fiction for me is the research involved and having the pleasure of discovering where it will lead and the sorts of storylines that it will end up suggesting. Often I find a surprising number of parallels with the present day.

I generally start each of my historical novels with an idea of approximately which month the story will take place within and I use it as a lauching point for researching events that were current at that time. It never fails to provide me with all manner of interesting bits of information around which to build a narrative. Often the most seemingly unrelated threads seem to suggest themselves as building blocks for a twisty and tangly mystery.

For my upcoming Beryl and Edwina mystery, Murder Comes to Call, which I planned to take place in June, 1921, I ran across the information that the UK Census was conducted at that time. Like the U.S. 2020 Census, the process needed to be conducted differently than it had in the past, albeit for different reasons. While the pandemic is requiring adjustments to the count this time, concern for civil unrest did so in the the U.K. in 1921.

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Economic conditions in the U.K. during the post-war period, along with sweeping cultural changes, led to a push by many members of sociey for reforms to the rights and privileges for workers. Individual unions began working together to form even larger collectives and they weilded more power than ever before. The government at that time held serious concerns that enormous numbers of union members would refuse to participate in the census as a way to bargain for better pay and conditions.

That, in itself, was enough to suggest to my mind some intriguing possibilities for a mystery. After all, tensions running high are always fertile ground for murder and mayhem. But, because I never seem to like to stop the research, I kept poking along through a variety of sources and realised that Fathers’ Day was the same date as the census was to be conducted. All sorts of possibilities combined as those two bits of information swirled together in my brain.

Before long an entire story had constructed itself in my mind’s eye. I could see the characters who would be involved, the concerns both officials and members of the public faced and a number of reasons why criminality would spring readily from such events. It was such fun to drop Beryl and Edwina down into the middle of all of it.

I have thought of the book and its upcoming release every time I spot a census sign as I am out walking my dog or driving past on errands. It feels as though the past and the present are weaving over and under and through each other in constant and delightful ways. Well, at least it does if the crimes stay safely on the page!

Readers, are you ever surprised at the way different threads of a story pull together? Do you find yourself thinking about how history repeats itself? I have one advance reader copy of Murder Comes to Call to give away to a randomly selected commenter.

A Wicked Welcome to Gayle Leeson **plus giveaway!**

by Julie, still not wearing socks in Somerville

I’m thrilled to welcome Gayle Lesson to the blog today! Gayle is a multi-published author who is visiting us to talk about her Down South Café Mystery series. Take it away, Gayle!

If You Can Dream It Up…



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My latest Down South Café Mystery, Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets, releases today. In the book, Amy Flowers, proprietress of the Down South Café, is tasked by the town manager to create a float for the Winter Garden Christmas parade.

So, a little backstory is needed here: Under the pen name Gayle Trent, I wrote a series of books about a cake decorator named Daphne Martin. My publisher and I sent books to Kerry Vincent to be used as prizes for the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. Ms. Vincent invited me out for the event, and I attended twice. I had such fun! To see a short video from my visit with my lovely daughter in 2015, click this link: https://youtu.be/fjGYJf4eSiQ.

I met some wonderful people in connection with the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show, one of whom was Rosemary Galpin. Rosemary is a Master Sugar Artist (and a gifted seamstress—some people have all the talent!) who lives in Luling, Texas.

When I decided I wanted Amy to create an enormous cake to put atop her car—a Volkswagen Beetle—and drive through town in the parade, I knew Rosemary was the person to ask whether this feat would be possible. I sent Rosemary a message asking her: “One of her workers suggests she make a huge dummy cake [A dummy cake, or cake dummy, is a decorated cake made using cake forms rather than actual cake for contest and display purposes.] and anchor it to the top of the car for the parade. Is that feasible? I know those cakes are heavy, but if it’s a hundred pounds or less–if I could come up with a way for her to get it to stay–it shouldn’t cave in the top. Having never done a dummy cake, I thought I should check with the expert.”

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Rosemary replied, “Yes, that can definitely be done!” And then she proceeded to walk me through the entire process. She told me how to make the cake board which would secure the cake to the car’s luggage rack. I used a bit of a cross-over to have a character from my Ghostly Fashionista mystery series make the cake board for Amy since the books are set in neighboring towns.

I incorporated Rosemary’s instructions on decorating the cake into the book, although rather than a wedding cake, like the one in the photograph with Rosemary, I decided Amy would create a café-themed cake.

My new question for Amy Flowers was, “What would a café-themed cake look like?” A Google search quickly provided answers. Which leads me back to the title of this post, “If You Can Dream It Up…” Because if you can dream it up, you can figure out a way to do it. I hope you’ll let this be an encouragement to you.

Readers, what dream(s) are you trying to make happen? Comment below, and I’ll choose one reader [U.S. and international welcome] using a random number generator to win an ebook copy of Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets .

About the Book

Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets, A Down South Café Mystery

Christmas comes with chaos—and a murder—in the fifth book in the Down South Café cozy mystery series!

Amy Flowers thinks her biggest problem is going to be creating an enormous cake dummy to mount atop her car for Winter Garden’s upcoming Christmas parade. But when one of Roger’s employees is murdered, making the float is the least of Amy’s worries. Her childhood friend is a prime suspect, Aunt Bess is making a new Pinterest board: Things That’ll Probably Kill Me, and her boyfriend’s mother is insisting on helping Amy make three-hundred-seventy-five sugar cookies to hand out along the parade route.

When Amy starts trying to clear Roger of the murder, she unexpectedly finds herself involved in international intrigue. How will our favorite café owner outwit sophisticated criminals who want to deck the halls with her head?

Read an excerpt at https://www.gayleleeson.com/excerpt-fbhc

About Gayle Leeson



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Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent, an author living in Virginia with a beautiful family and quite a few pets. I also write as Amanda Lee. As Gayle Trent, I write the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. As Amanda Lee, I write the Embroidery Mystery series. As Gayle Leeson, I write the Down South Cafe mystery series, the Ghostly Fashionista mystery series, and the Kinsey Falls women’s fiction series.

Thankful Thursday! **plus a Wicked giveaway**

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These days practicing gratitude is more important than ever, so the Wickeds spread some on the blog. Wickeds, what are you grateful for this month? Readers, let us know what you’re grateful for, and we’ll choose one winner to get a book from each of us.

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Edith/Maddie: I am grateful for small islands of grace. I recently spent a day with two of my favorite people: an almost three-year-old whom I helped usher into the world and her Gran, my bestie of forty-three years. We canoed and splashed and ate and played and talked. They filled up my heart and my need for loved ones. And I have two books out this month, so I’ll give away an ebook of Taken Too Soon and a signed paperback of Candy Slain Murder.

Barb: I’m grateful my husband and I were able to spend five days with our daughter and her family, helping out with the whole two-jobs-no-childcare thing. As much as we could. Two kids under two is pretty intense. I’m still not sure if we helped or if adding more people to the mix created more confusion. Either way, we love spending time with them. I’m giving away an advance reader copy of Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door.

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Liz: I am grateful to have a full life! I definitely tend to feel overwhelmed when there’s a lot going on, but looking at it differently, I have so much: A job, when so many people are struggling; two book contracts; amazing friends (like all you guys); a pretty awesome guy and his pretty awesome kids to spend my time with; and of course my furries. I really am blessed. I’ll give away a copy of Witch Hunt.

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Sherry: My husband and I recently celebrated our thirtieth anniversary. I’m grateful that I’m going through life with him by my side. He has been such a great supporter of my writing career and he makes me laugh 99% of the time. That other one percent? We won’t talk about it. I’ll give away a copy of From Beer to Eternity.

Julie: Sherry, I love that picture! And Barb, how cute are those grandkids? Edith, what a blessing to know many generations! And Liz, you do have a full life! I’m grateful for my imagination, and tech. I can teach at home, reach people in different ways, coach via Zoom and create wonderful things. I’ll give away an ARC of Digging Up the Remains!

Readers, let us know in the comments what you’re grateful for, and we’ll randomly pick a name to get the books we’ve mentioned!

 

Wicked Wednesday: Fun Discoveries

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Wickeds, we’ve all had those moments while researching where we think “that is so cool,” right? What’s the favorite research tidbit that you’ve included in one of your books?

Jessie: I am not sure I could choose just one tidbit since there have been so many! I can say that my favorite research venture so far has been my excursion to Lily Dale, NY to the Spiritualists enclave there. I spent several days there along with a dear friend and conducted research for my Change of Fortune mysteries. It was an entirely delightful experience and one that I believe helped create the atmosphere of the hotel, and its inhabitants, in the series.

Sherry: Jessie, that trip sounds fascinating. I hope some day you have time to write another book in that series because I loved it. I attended the Citizens Police Academy for my county. In one of the sessions a woman told us about bait cars. I was hooked and had to include a bait car in All Murders Final!

Edith: Bait cars! Shoot – I read that book but can’t remember what they are, Sherry. I picked up a couple of fun factoids when I was researching Taken Too Soon. West Falmouth on Cape Cod in 1889 had an entire industry – owned by a woman with all women workers – tying strings to tags that ended up being price tags. They also had an early kind of dune buggy, a wagon with extra-wide axles and wheels to accommodate sandy roads. I had to include both.

Barb: I had a lot of fun researching the next Maine Clambake Mystery, Shucked Apart, which is about oyster farming. One thing that stuck with me was from an article about aquaculture. It was talking about how, as our fishing industry has disappeared in New England, more fishermen and lobstermen have tried their hands at aquaculture. But it’s a hard adjustment, “like a hunter/gatherer taking up agriculture.” That struck me as such a great comparison and fundamentally true. Fishing and lobstering are hunting, finding and capturing a natural resource. Aquaculture requires a different kind of patience, the willingness to plant a crop, nurture it and wait years in many cases to take it to market. For some reason, all I could see in my mind’s eye was dancing lobstermen and oyster farmers, arguing over who had rights to the bottom of the river, and singing their own lyrics to “The Farmers and the Cowhands Should be Friends,” from Oklahoma!

Liz: Barb, you always find the most interesting things in your travels with this series! For me, I spent a lot of time in and around funeral homes with a dear friend who is a funeral director. I got to observe the inner workings of the whole industry and learned so many interesting things – like you can’t cremate someone with a pacemaker because it would explode, so you had to remove it first. I even got to watch the removal of said pacemaker. I eventually want to write a series about a funeral home because it’s just such a fascinating business.

Barb: Liz–You should totally write that series!

Julie: Liz, I’m coming to you for book #5 of the Garden Squad series. Barb, you do such amazing research on your books. I never thought I’d find the sex lives of lobsters interesting, but you made if fascinating. My favorite bit? I’ve mentioned it before, but for me it was visiting a working clock tower. It was fascinating, and not at all what I expected. It changed Chime and Punishment completely. I love doing hands on research.

Readers, what’s been your favorite discovery while reading one of our books?