Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 138

A Wicked Welcome to Misty Simon, and a Giveaway!

By Julie, traveling a lot this week, and spending some time with some of the Wickeds!

I met Misty Simon at the Pennsylvania Tea Festival in Mechanicsburg, PA. We were both there wearing our author hats, and it was so much fun to chat with her. I’m thrilled to welcome her to the blog today!

Misty Simon’s World

Good morning, Wicked Readers! I’m so thrilled to be here with you today to talk writing stuff. I’m the author of several different series, and, while they all have a different location and heroine, they’re all a little bit me and where I live.

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Small towns and the people that inhabit them fascinate me. I’ve lived in bigger cities but my heart has always been in small town locales. What’s not to love about being in a place where a lot of people know your name and you can never get away with anything without someone telling your mom? If I eat too many whoopee pies or don’t wave to my great aunt while she’s walking and I’m trying to drive, my mom gets a call. If I am out to dinner, I might run into ten people I know and stop at each table to catch up really quickly and end up eating an hour later than I had planned.

But I also have the circle of women who know me enough to ask me how I’m doing and really listen to an answer that isn’t “fine.” Or an aunt who will drop by with snickerdoodles because she knows how much I love then and she just made a fresh batch with me in mind.

So when I’m writing my cozies, I try to pull all those things in to the world. And then add the quirks, like a night at the fire hall playing Bingo that’s more like a death sport. Or secrets that people keep for years that everyone knows but no one talks about.

The possibilities are endless in a town where you’re surrounded by family and friends of the family and relationships that go back for generations, good and bad.

I love playing with the concept of what it means to be a part of a community like that. The wonderful parts where you never feel totally alone and at any given moment you could put out a hand and someone will take it a give you a huge helping of love and support or a slap upside the head to get you back on the right track.

And bringing that into the books, with all the mess of relationships and secrets and loyalties and families is one of the true joys of writing about a small town in a small town. I never run out of ideas on how to make my main character, Tallie’s life difficult. I love pitting her against a chief of police that’s known her since she was younger. One who’s not quite able to give her the credit of adulthood (since he still thinks of her as that young girl) much less believe she can solve a case of murder before him. And I love introducing you to my little slice of heaven, where the coffee is always hot, the snickerdoodles just came out of the over, and we all knew that our cousin should have never married that man because her family wasn’t reliable back in 1907, so what did she think was going to be different now?

Dearest Wicked Reader: If you don’t stop at your uncle’s table when you see him at the diner on Sunday morning do you hear about it at the next Christmas dinner in front of everyone within ear-shot?
I’d love to give away a copy of my new book Carpet Diem to one commenter. US only.

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Bio: Misty Simon always wanted to be a storyteller…preferably behind a Muppet. Animal was number one, followed closely by Sherlock Hemlock… Since that dream didn’t come true, she began writing stories to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time. She lives in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel.

www.mistysimon.com

Blurb for Carpet Diem



Live and let dust . . .

Now that
Tallie Graver’s cleaning business is starting to shine, she’s ready to go
squeegee to squeegee against Audra McNeal for a major contract at the
Ambecrombe mansion. Tallie’s not afraid of a little friendly competition from
the new cleaner in town. In fact, Tallie likes Audra, though she wonders how
her glamorous rival manages to clean house and maintain her fancy
manicure. But when someone from her ex-husband’s snobby social circle tries to
sabotage her efforts, Tallie has her rubber-gloves full staying one step ahead
of her nemesis. Until she finds a well-polished hand poking out of a rolled-up
carpet, rendering her competition . . . dead.

Though it
lands Tallie the big job, there’s nothing tidy about Audra’s death. So between
polishing and scrubbing, Tallie’s determined to find the killer. Hopefully the
police chief doesn’t mind her cluttering up his investigation with the filthy
dealings she discovers. Turns out Audra was not as squeaky clean as she
appeared. And confronting her killer could bring Tallie to a very foul end
indeed . . .

Wicked Flash Fiction – Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween, readers! Liz here – and we wanted to do something fun and a little different today to celebrate the scariest day of the year. We’re going to do a flash fiction story – mad lib style! I’ll set the creepy stage…

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I’d been watching the new neighbor all week since he moved in to the creepy house down the street. It was dead quiet during the day, but a lot of activity at night. I couldn’t get a good glimpse of the guy either – but every night, like clockwork, he went into the backyard with a shovel.

Sherry: My next door neighbor here on Daybreak Island said he bought the shovel  at her garage sale right after he moved in. At first I thought he was one of those guerilla gardening types–going around the neighborhood grooming people’s yards. But nothing in the neighborhood has improved.  I’m no adventuress like my great grandmother’s friend, but one night I crept down the alley at midnight, approached his back fence. If only my friend Robbie was here with me. I peeked over. That was no clam bake.

Barb: I was shocked, shocked, I tell you by what I saw by the light of the full moon. There were three rectangular holes around the edges of the lawn. Too deep for a garden, too long for a footing for a structure, too wide to plant a shrub. But that wasn’t even the weird thing. The weird thing was this: my new neighbor was resting in a gently rocking hammock while the digging was being done by

Julie: Well, I wasn’t really sure. It looked like a person, in a tattered white dress and what looked like a wedding veil on its head. But when the clouds moved away and the moon shone bright, I didn’t see a face. Instead it looked like a skeleton. I blinked twice and swallowed hard. The clouds had moved back, and the yard was cast in an eerie blue light. Just then

Jessie: I heard the siren. The figure appeared to hear it, too. It turned its head towards the sound of the approaching police car, then dropped the shovel and fled off through the woods. My heart pounded in my chest as I peered after it. The cloud cover parted once more and I was startled to notice

Edith: other eerie white figures swaying between the trees, as if beckoning the digger closer. The siren grew near. I dashed back into my own yard and hurried upstairs to throw open the sash of a back window. My neighbor sat up in the hammock, shielding his eyes against the strobing police lights. “Everything’s fine, officer,” he said after the cop told him a neighbor had called in suspicious activity. “I was just taking a rest. My boy and me, we’re putting in a French drain tomorrow so the blasted yard doesn’t flood every spring. I was getting a head start on the digging.”

I glanced across to the second floor of the house beyond him. In a window facing mine, a ghostly figure waved her fingers at me. I turned away. I’d had it with this creepy neighborhood. I was putting my house on the market tomorrow morning.

Dear Readers: Happy Halloween!

Costume Party

Liz here! Ok, last one, I promise. It’s almost the big day. When I was in college at Salem State, it was the CRAZIEST time up there – costume parties every day just randomly in the street, Halloween spirit everywhere, preparations for the big Halloween party in town. SO much fun.

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So I want to know – if your character was going to Salem for this costume party, what would they dress up as? I think Stan would go as Catwoman….

Julie: Lilly would go as Miss Marple. Not a huge stretch for her, since she dislikes dressing up. She’s probably just add a hat and knitting bag to what she normally wears.

Sherry: The image of Lilly just slapping on a hat and grabbing some knitting made me laugh. Sarah would find some fabulous fifties dress at a garage sale or flea market and pair it with a vintage purse and shoes.

Jessie: I love all of your answers! It shows your characters so succinctly! Costumes are one of the points upon which Beryl and Edwina actually agree! They both love them! The appeal to Beryl’s well-developed sense of the dramatic and Edwina’s secret longing for a bit of adventure. Beryl would likely wear a sari or a kimono that she picked up during her travels. While she does love something that startles she would prefer to do so while looking beautiful. Edwina, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to wear a cowboy outfit straight from a Zane Grey novel. She would love a pair of jangling spurs and would probably borrow Beryl’s pistol to complete the outfit. Of course, she would unload the firearm first!

Barb: In my story “Hallowed Out” in Haunted House Murder, the Barnhouse theater loans Julia a beautiful, beaded 1920s flapper dress. It’s so heavy! She loves it and insists on wearing it even when she’s called to do emergency fill-in work as the hostess on the Haunted House Trolley Tour. Perhaps it was a dress previously owned by Beryl that somehow found its way into the costume collection at a regional theater in coastal Maine.

Edith: These are great! Robbie would think of going as a pancake, but that costume would be hard to manage. Instead she’s going to belt up a trench coat, find a fedora at a thrift shop, dig up a big magnifying glass somewhere, and go as a PI. Investigating is what she spends half her time doing, anyway.

Sherry: Edith I have a magnifying glass Robbie can borrow. I bought it at a garage sale.

Hilarious! I wish we could have all our characters at a costume party together. Maybe that’s a story we can write next year…

Readers, what are you dressing up as this year? Or, what was your favorite costume from a past Halloween?

Murder Cuts the Mustard-Launch Day Giveaway!

Jessie: In New Hampshire, where there are more leaves skittering about on the ground than clinging to the trees!

I am so delighted that today is the release day for my third Beryl and Edwina Mystery, Murder Cuts the Mustard! I have had so much fun writing each of these books and this one was no different than the first two. With each passing book I love discovering more and more about my two intrepid sleuths!

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Every time I sit down to write about these ladies I can hear them each chattering away distinctly in my ears. I love to eavesdrop on their conversations and take notes as they go about their business! I’ve mentioned before that I outline my novels so I have some idea what sorts of mechanics I am trying to accomplish with each scene I set out to write. I jot a couple sentences on a sticky note for each scene and arrange them into an order that feels right to me at the outset of the project.

But even though this is my ninth novel to be released I never know before I get started just how the story will actually unfold. Until I start to work in earnest I don’t know who will say what or how they will say it. I don’t know if a new quirk in one of the characters’ personalities will rise to the surface or if an unexpected backstory will flesh out. It is always delightful to experience the surprise of it all!

And speaking of surprises, I like to think of how surprised Edwina, and even Beryl, would be by the changes in the world since their era, the 1920s. In Murder Cuts the Mustard Beryl acquires a Remington portable typewriter and both she and Edwina make use of it. I would love to see either of their faces if they could watch me writing about them. While I am certain they would love my my computer, they would be even more intrigued by the fact that I dictate my books using Dragon dicatation software.

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I open Scrivener, my preferred writing software, and turn on my dictation program. Then I pop my headset on and close my eyes or focus on a soft on the wall. I clear my throat and wait for what amounts to a movie to start running behind my eyes. I usually “see” the film from the perspective of whichever of my characters is narrating that particular scene.

Then I begin to describe what I am seeing. For the most part it doesn’t feel as though I am doing any of the decision making as the scene plays out. It feels as though the story just moves through my head and then on out of my mouth. From time to time, I flick my gaze to the screen to check that the software is keeping up with my steady stream of story. I still cannot quite believe the computer is able to keep up with me, especially when Beryl is the one with something to say!

I think they would also both be enchanted by the opportunity to correspond with each of you here, on the blog! Beryl would love to chat with you about places to travel and best spots to drop in for an illicit cocktail. Edwina would delight in swapping recipes or gardening tips or even to chat about reading recommendations.

They would also love to chime in on my Jessica Ellicott Facebook page for a live event this evening at 7:30 ET to help launch Murder Cuts the Mustard! Since they cannot really join me, I hope that you will!

Readers, who is one of your favorite fictional characters and what would you like to chat with her or him about? Leave a comment by midnight ET on October 31 for a chance to win one of three copies of Murder Cuts the Mustard.

Keeping a Series Fresh

Edith here, increasingly hunkered down north of Boston, and hoping to give away a couple of books.

As a beginning writer ten years ago, I longed to have a successful long-running mystery series one day. I imagined writing the tenth book, the eighteenth, the twenty-second, all because readers demanded it. What could be better?

I now seem to be slowly getting there, book by book. I’ve finished and polished my sixth Quaker Midwife Mystery, and this spring I’ll write my ninth Country Store Mystery. I’m not up in Victoria Thompson (22 in her Gaslight Mysteries), Katherine Hall Page (25 Faith Fairchild Mysteries), or Deborah Crombie (her 18th British police procedural just came out) territory – yet – but, knock on wood, it could happen. Wickeds Barb, Sherry, and Sheila are getting up in the higher numbers with their ongoing series, too.

So now I realize the challenges that come with writing about the same characters in the same setting. Are people in Indiana starting to mutter to themselves, “Don’t go near South Lick – their rate of homicides is horrific!” Are the 1889 residents of Amesbury, Massachusetts, backing away every time they see Rose Carroll, because they know how she is a magnet for murder?

One way to get around Cabot Cove Syndrome is to take the story elsewhere for one installment. In Nacho Average Murder (Country Store #7 and up for preorder!), Robbie Jordan heads back to Santa Barbara for her tenth high-school reunion.

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My editor wanted to be sure book #8 would return to South Lick again, though. He says it’s the town that is the big draw. Taken Too Soon, the Rose Carroll book I just finishedpolishing, takes place in West Falmouth on Cape Cod, which was primarily populated with Quakers in the late 1800s. Rose will be back in Amesbury for book #7.

Another trick is to kill off strangers who come to the village instead of local residents. It doesn’t do much for the Tourism Bureau, but it prevents decimating a small town’s population.

We also need to keep the recurring characters fresh. That can happen through evolving relationships. Will Rose and David ever get to wed? Are Robbie and Abe going to continue unattached? Maybe a formerly prickly relationship starts to ease, or new obstacles are thrown in the path of an amateur sleuth.

Making sure the protagonist grows and changes in relation to herself, too, is crucial in a long-running series. She needs to regularly reassess her world and what she’s doing in it. In Jess Lourey‘s Murder by the Month series, her protagonist realizes she is getting really good at amateur sleuthing and decides to become a licensed private investigator.

Julia Spencer-Fleming has used different story-telling techniques in her Clare Fergusson Mysteries. She’s said it was to keep the writing interesting for her, and it certainly keeps it interesting for the reader. In one of the books, the story goes back and forth between the present and two different times in the past. In another, the entire book takes place in a twenty-four hour period with a ticking clock.

As I head into writing my 24th novel, I need to be sure I don’t get tired of my three series. It’s a challenge to not re-use a murder weapon, not to get lazy about telling the story. I want to continue to grow as an author, to keep learning and improving, as I add book after book. I never want a reader to throw down one of my books and say, “She’s phoning it in.”

[image error]My 2019 shelfie

I love my job. What could be more delightful than sitting alone in an office – with no commute – making things up for a living? But any job needs goals, and getting better at what I do is always one of mine.

Readers: Have you given up on a series? Why? Writers: What do you do to keep a series fresh? How do you challenge yourself in your craft? I’ll give away my two latest books to two commenters (one each): Judge Thee Not and Christmas Cocoa Murder.

Blimey, That’s a Lot of Research — Welcome Back Julie Mulhern

I’m such a big fan of Julie Mulhern’s books — both her Country Club mystery series and [image error]her Poppy Fields Adventures series. Julie’s back to talk about her latest book Field’s Guide to Fog! Julie is going to give away a signed paper copy (US only) or ebooks of book two (Field’s Guide to Assassins)  and three (Field’s Guide to Voodoo) to one lucky person who leaves a comment. The Kindle version of the first book in the series, Field’s Guide to Abduction, is free right now.

I have two daughters in college. There are many wonderful things about that. I get to see them blossom as young women, hear their excitement when they call about a paper or test they aced, and put my mom-hat on as the oldest struggles with what comes next. But two tuitions mean my husband and I haven’t taken any big trips lately.

What better time in my life to write the Poppy Fields series about a woman who travels the world?

If you’ve not met Poppy, she’s a Hollywood IT girl who’s recruited by a secret government agency. Poppy and her killer Chihuahua, Consuela, find trouble. Here. There. Everywhere.

Poppy travels have taken her to resorts, my favorite cities, and most recently to a city I don’t know well. London.

[image error]I read an article about the most expensive apartments in the world ($11,000 a square foot) and decided Poppy would stay there. With One Hyde Park as Poppy’s home base, I needed a map. I bought myself a whole book of them from Knopf.

The Knopf guide was invaluable, but at the end of the day, I needed more. I ventured into the time-suck that is YouTube where I discovered Joolz Guides (https://joolzguides.com/).  I followed an amusing man in a bowler hat through Knightsbridge. I watched shoppers walk through Harrods. I entered famous pubs and took note of the décor. I learned the difference between London and the City of London.

In my research, I heard multiple references to cheeky Nandos and spent an afternoon learning more. For the record, cheeky Nandos is an impromptu visit to Nando’s for spicy grilled chicken. (They have Nando’s in Chicago, but the US version isn’t cheeky.)

[image error]My goal wasn’t just to write a humorous action-suspense novel, my goal was to take the reader to London with me. Almost as if we’d taken that vacation I can’t afford—together.

With maps, and YouTube videos, and cheeky Nandos notes, I wrote a story filled with action, adventure, the challenges of driving on the left side of the road, and the challenges posed by those we love.

I had a marvelous time on my almost-vacation. A good thing, since my girls are still in school, and Poppy is off to Egypt next.

Readers: Where have you visited without leaving your home?

Bio:

[image error]Julie Mulhern is the USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders and the Poppy Fields Adventures.

She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean–and she’s got an active imagination. Truth is–she’s an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.

Action, adventure, mystery, and humor are the things Julie loves when she’s reading. She loves them even more when she’s writing!

 
Links: 
website: https://www.juliemulhernauthor.com/books.html
FB: https://www.facebook.com/juliekmulhern/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieKMulhern

 

 

 

 

Three Books and a Puppy — Welcome Back Debra Sennefelder

I’m so delighted to welcome back Debra Sennefelder who has a brand new book coming out on October 29th! Thanks for join us!

[image error]I’m thrilled to be back on the Wickeds to celebrate the upcoming release of my third Food Blogger mystery, THREE WIDOWS, AND A CORPSE. My first visit was way back in 2017. While it was only two years ago, it feels like a lifetime has passed by. Back then, I shared what it was like to be a contracted author – newly signed by a publisher but not yet published. I wrote about my three-book deal, and this month THREE WIDOWS AND A CORPSE is the final book in that contract. How did that happen?

It feels just like yesterday when I got “the call” from my agent, telling me there was an offer for my series. And now in only a matter of days, all those three proposed books will be out there in the world. So much has changed since that day. I went from working a 9-5 job to full-time author, I sold a second series, Resale Boutique mysteries, I got a new contract for the Food Blogger series and our beloved Shih-Tzus both passed away this year. I’m now writing with a new companion and let me tell you my new co-worker, [image error]Connie, is a little sweetie and a huge distraction.

As I dive into plotting the fifth book in the series, Connie will be beside my desk, keeping me company. But this month is all about the book that’s about to be launched out into the world.

I’m often asked where I get ideas for my books, and most of the time, my answer isn’t all that exciting. THE HIDDEN CORPSE was inspired by a real-life event with a neighbor (luckily she didn’t face the same fate as Hope’s neighbor), and sometimes ideas come out of desperation. Like THREE WIDOWS AND A CORPSE.

When I was preparing to submit the first book in the series, which was complete, to publishers, my agent asked me for short summaries on the next two books in the series. I wasn’t prepared for that. But I had started working on the second book, so I knew what it was about. Easy. Those two paragraphs were a breeze to write. Then came book number three. What on earth was that going to be about?

Cue Jeopardy theme music.

A murder!

Yeah, that’s a novel idea. Back to the music.

Three wives. I must have seen a news story on a bigamist at the time. Since I write murder mysteries, those three wives needed to become three widows. But of who? A very unsavory character who had shady business dealings, and we wouldn’t be surprised to find he’s been lying all along. Great. Got the murder, got the suspects. But I needed something else.

Music, please.

A scavenger hunt. That sounded like so much fun! A town-wide scavenger hunt as the backdrop to the murder, where the body is found. Genius. Trust me, that moment didn’t last long. I’d never been a part of a scavenger hunt and had no idea how one worked, especially one that is town-wide. But I wasn’t going to let that stand in my way to getting a book contract. No, no, no. By the end of the day, I had two paragraphs summarizing the book.

Fast forward to 2017 when I had to write the book. I pulled up my summary and stared at it. I hadn’t given the story idea much thought because I was busy writing the first book in my second series and doing all the writerly things for THE HIDDEN CORPSE. Now it was time to turn those couple hundred words into a full-length novel. All I can say is thank goodness for Pinterest. I spent hours researching scavenger hunts, creating the annual event for Jefferson, and dove into the manuscript.

And that’s how THREE WIDOWS AND A CORPSE came to be. I had a blast writing the book. The three widows were a hoot, Hope yet again had her kindness come back to bite her, and her new cat turned out to be more than she bargained for.

Thank you for sharing my upcoming release with me, and thank you, Wickeds, for the opportunity to be here today.

Readers: What activity, like a scavenger hunt, you’d like to participate in but haven’t had the chance?

Debra Sennefelder

Website –  http://bit.ly/2mkLpnz

Facebook Author Page – http://bit.ly/2mkLpnz

Instagram – http://bit.ly/2mkLpnz

BookBub – http://bit.ly/2mkLpnz

Amazon – http://bit.ly/2mkLpnz

BIO:

Debra Sennefelder loves to read – mystery books being her biggest passion. When she is not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and is a former food blogger. Born and raised in New York City, she now resides in Connecticut with her family. She is the author of the Food Blogger and Resale Boutique Mystery Series.

 

 

Grab the Popcorn…

Hi! Liz here, happy Halloween is getting closer! In preparation for the big event, I’m watching lots of scary movies. One of my favorites, actually – well, it’s a series – is The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix – so awesome.

If your characters do like Halloween, what would they be watching right now? What’s their favorite scary movie?

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Julie: Lilly would be watching Suspicion. She’s a Hitchcock fan. Ernie would be watching What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. I’m not sure that Delia would watch scary movies. Warwick O’Connor loves scary movies, but Tamara only watches them through her hands.

Jessie: I love reading what your characters would watch, Julie! I’m with Tamara about watching through hands! I love this question, Liz! I sent out a newsletter a few months ago mentioning what Beryl and Edwina were watching at the Palais in Walmsley Parva. They are Buster Keaton fans and just enjoyed attending a showing of The Haunted House. You can see it for yourself from the comfort of your own computer if you are so inclined!

Sherry: Jessie, there is nothing like a wonderful old theater and Buster Keaton. I haven’t thought a lot about Sarah and movies. If she was going to watch something it would more likely be The Ghost and Mister Chicken with Don Knotts or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Gene Tierney than The Shining or something really scary.

Edith/Maddie: Rose is out of the question, of course – late 1880s is a wee bit early for motion picture shows. I haven’t thought about movies, either, Sherry. Robbie Jordan and Mac Almeida’s author (aka, me) doesn’t like scary movies, and has been known to yell out loud from fright in a movie theater. I think the last scary movie I saw since The Shining in 1980 was Psycho in the comfort of my living room (because I’d never seen it). I got nothing!

Liz: OMG Sherry, I used to watch The Ghost and Mr. Chicken on repeat!! I loved Don Knotts… Stan loves Halloween, so she’d be watching Scream (the original), Halloween (also the original) or The Haunting of Hill House – anything scary. Maddie would be watching something kind of funny like Hocus Pocus or Practical Magic.

Barb: I love Practical Magic! I rewatched it relatively recently and it holds up really well. Julia’s mother Jacqueline is watching the original Haunting of Hill House movie adaptation, The Haunting, starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The Snugg sisters are watching The Shining. They love Jack Nicholson, and Stephen King, too, of course. Julia and Chris are settled on their broken-down couch watching Get Out. Livvie and Sonny are at their house watching Scary Movie, now that they finally got the kids to bed. Gus says if he wanted to be scared he’d read the g-d newspaper, thank you very much.

Readers, do you love or hate scary movies? What’s your favorite scary movie?

The Detective’s Daughter – Over the River and Through the Woods

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Kim, in Baltimore, getting things together for the York Book Expo on November 2nd.

 

I always joke that because my dad was a homicide detective and my mother grew up in a graveyard, I was obsessed with death. I’ve spent countless hours watching shows about unsolved cases, police dramas, and anything that involves haunted houses. In addition to reading mysteries, I also enjoy writing them.[image error]

Dad would say I tried too hard, that I made my writing difficult. He wanted me to fictionalize some of his cases, and before he lived with me, would spend hours on the phone explaining them to me in great detail. After his death I found that I was in possession of  his notebooks and a few case files. I’ve never used any of them.

Recently I’ve been writing more than just mysteries. I’ve dipped my toe into women’s fiction and romance. A lot of this change has come about during my fall and spring retreats with a group called The Mindful Writers.

[image error]We meet twice a year for retreat in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The group consist of writers from all genres. During one of our retreats we decided to produce anthologies and donate all the proceeds to different charities. Our first collaboration was called “Into the Woods” and we chose the Children’s Heart Foundation as our charity. This year we published “Over the River and Through the Woods.”

All the proceeds of this anthology will be donated to the Ligonier Camp and Conference Center which holds summer programs for children and most of the work the LCCC does is geared towards children and their families. [image error]

This year’s anthology contains twenty-one winter holiday stories written by some of the most entertaining authors I know.  If you are a lover of short stories you may want to check this volume out. I will be giving away a copy to one lucky reader who comments below.

My story, Tidings of Comfort and Joyce, involves a woman named Joyce Pine. The name, or character rather, came to me before the story did. I knew Joyce was a lost soul who had tried to make the best of the bad choices she had made in her life. When the theme for the anthology was decided, I began to wonder how Joyce might be spending her holidays. I thought about the conflict that occurs during family holiday gatherings. How would Joyce avoid that? With that question as the jumping off point, the story practically wrote itself.

With family holiday gatherings in mind, does anyone care to share a funny or touching story of your own? Remember, your comment may win you Over the River and Through the Woods  A Mindful Writers anthology.

 

Giveaway- Murder Cuts the Mustard!

Jessie: In New Hampshire where the leaves are steadily blowing off the trees.

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I am pleased as punch to mention that my third Beryl and Edwina Mystery, Murder Cuts the Mustard, is releasing next Tuesday! I love writing about these ladies and am always happy to be able to share another of their adventures with readers. This book is especially dear to my heart as the idea at the center of the mystery came to me many years ago.

I have a large notebook filled with blank paper that I sometimes use to work loosely on ideas at the beginning of novels. There is something about that blank, snowy sheet that makes it seem like anything is possible! When I was first thinking about what this story would involve I pulled that notebook out and commenced to leaf through it to find a fresh page. As I did so my gaze landed on a previously noodled story idea involving a character with an unusual affinity for mustard.

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It was simply perfect for this particular story! I had never found a place to use it in any of my other novels and had sort of let the thought fade to the back of my mind. But, there it was, all shiny and perfect for this third Beryl and Edwina tale! I found an unmarked sheet in the notebook, began scribbling furiously and before long had the idea for the book fleshed out. I hope you will enjoy what came of that long-simmering idea as much as Beryl, Edwina and I all have!

Readers, do you ever have ideas follow you around for ages before you can take action on them? Writers, do you have stories waiting for jus the right book to use? I have two copies of Murder Cuts the Mustard for commenters who post by midnight ET on 10/22/19!