Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 159

What’s New?

by Barb in lovely Key West

What’s new you ask? I am tempted to say this:

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But really, getting to the writing, these two things are new.

Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody. As Mark Baker has correctly noted, I’ve teased this one before. Dru’s Book Musings even did a cover reveal, but I was waiting until it was available for pre-order before announcing it here. Jane Darrowfield is a non-Clambake book. It’s a part of the same program as Edith’s book Murder on Cape Cod–exclusive in paper from Barnes & Noble for the first year, then widely available in all formats after that. It’s a part of an experiment by B&N, Kensington and the authors. I’m grateful Edith is ahead of me in the program so I can follow in her footsteps. The cover of the book says, “First in a new series,” though I don’t have a contract for more, so that’s part of the experiment, too. Here’s the skinny on the book.

[image error]Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody

Jane Darrowfield is a year into her retirement, and she’s already traveled and planted a garden. She’s organized her photos, her recipes, and her spices.  The statistics suggest she has at least a few more decades ahead of her, so she better find something to do . . .

After Jane helps a friend with a sticky personal problem, word starts to spread around her bridge club—and then around all of West Cambridge, Massachusetts—that she’s the go-to person for situations that need discreet fixing. Soon she has her first paid assignment—the director of a 55-and-over condo community needs her to de-escalate hostilities among the residents. As Jane discovers after moving in for her undercover assignment, the mature set can be as immature as any high schoolers, and war is breaking out between cliques.

It seems she might make some progress—until one of the aging “popular kids” is bludgeoned to death with a golf club. And though the automatic sprinklers have washed away much of the evidence, Jane’s on course to find out whodunit.

It releases June 25, 2019 and is available for pre-order here.

[image error]Haunted House Murder: I’m also excited about Haunted House Murder, the new novella collection by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and me. I love writing these holiday-themed novellas and I hope you enjoy reading them. Here’s the description of this one.

Haunted House Murder

Tricks and treats keep the Halloween spirit alive in coastal Maine. But this year the haunted house theme is getting carried a little too far . . .

HAUNTED HOUSE MURDER by LESLIE MEIER

Newcomers to Tinker’s Cove, Ty and Heather Moon have moved into a dilapidated house reputed to be a haven for ghosts. Now strange noises and flickering lights erupt from the house at all hours and neighborly relations are on edge. And when a local boy goes missing near the house, it’s up to Lucy Stone to unravel the mystery of the eccentric couple and their increasingly frightful behavior.

DEATH BY HAUNTED HOUSE by LEE HOLLIS

For the past two years, the house next door to Hayley Powell has sat abandoned after the owner died under mysterious circumstances. The Salinger family has recently taken possession of the property, but the realtor behind the deal has vanished—after a very public and angry argument with Damien Salinger. If Bar Harbor’s newest neighbors are murderers, Hayley will haunt them until they confess.

HALLOWED OUT by BARBARA ROSS

With its history of hauntings and ghost sightings, Busman’s Harbor is the perfect setting for Halloween festivities. But when a reenactment of a Prohibition-era gangster’s murder ends with a literal bang and a dead actor from New Jersey, Julia Snowden must identify a killer before she ends up sleeping with the fishes.

There’s nothing like home sweet home in this trio of Halloween tales . . .

This book is currently available for pre-order from all major retailers in hardcover and ebook formats. There will also be an audiobook version. Amazon*Barnes & Noble

Readers: So that’s what’s up with me. What’s new with you?

Guest Art Taylor and Being Uncomfortable

Hey there! Happy Friday! Liz here, and I’m psyched to have our friend Art Taylor here today. He’s always got something interesting to say! Today he’s talking about books that make you uncomfortable…Take it away, Art!

Come In, Sit Down, Make Yourself… Uncomfortable?

Last week, The Wickeds hosted a holiday edition of “What We’re Reading”—balancing books they got for Christmas against some they still needed to finish reading from 2018. 

As I commented, I was in the same boat myself—still about halfway through Tana French’s The Secret Place as the New Year rang in. The book is great, but it’s looong! (I’m still reading it as this post goes up.) 

But meanwhile, I also snuck in a book I got from my parents for Christmas—a first edition of Stanley Ellin’s 1972 novel Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, a book that (to be honest) I’d hinted that I wanted. 

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Ellin is probably my favorite short story writer, but I’ve only read one of his novels, The Eighth Circle, and I wanted to read more. This one caught my attention after reading that my friend Martin Edwards wrote about it, part of his series on forgotten books.

The premise of Mirror, Mirror is intriguing: The main character, Peter Hibben, finds in his bathroom “a large, fleshy, terrifyingly lifeless woman on the floor, apparently shot to death by the gun lying beside her.” He recognizes the gun, doesn’t recognize the woman, but as he admits, “trembling, sweaty, nauseating logic tells me that since the lady’s remains repose on my bathroom floor in my own locked, barred, closed-circuit-TV-guarded apartment on Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village, and since she is semi-clothed in a way that makes it clear she had not simply stepped in off the street, there could have been some connection between us. With emphasis on the physical.” 

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A locked room mystery then, and as Martin Edwards described it, a “whowasdunin” too. And the book’s structure proves fascinating. As Peter struggles to remember (or admit?) who the victim is and his own role in the death, a fantasy or dream plays out in that bathroom: his therapist and a lawyer (also his ex-wife’s new husband) taking opposing sides in a trial scene, interrogating Peter as well as his family members and others, each new round of questions delving into some new chapter from his past and trying to figure out the truth of what’s happened. 

It’s all very cleverly orchestrated—brilliantly so even. The novel includes a lot of sprightly humor, despite that body center stage. And from fairly early on, the book indulges some sexual shenanigans, which seem playful and suggestive and risqué in equal measure.

…until they aren’t anymore. 

The book is short, novella-length maybe, and I basically sped through it—spurred on by wondering who the woman was and how this crazy “trial” was going to play out, what turn the plot would take next. Right up to the end, I felt myself pulled further and further along by the twists and revelations, but it eventually went places that left me uncomfortable, I’d even say disturbed. Still, I couldn’t stop reading it, even through the final pages when I found myself stuck with this unpleasant feeling—shocked and sad—a feeling it took me a while to shake. 

Despite my admiration of Ellin’s work generally and this novel too in many ways, Mirror, Mirror is not a book I’d necessarily recommend to others—not widely at least and not without caution. 

But I’m bringing it up here because I’m curious: Like many of us, I read along a wide spectrum of crime fiction—cozy and traditional, domestic suspense, psychological suspense, thrillers, noir—and as a writer, my own stories sometimes range from light to dark. But I often wonder where the lines are for readers—myself included— and what might compel any of us to cross those lines. So: What novels or stories have you read that drew you in and kept you reading despite some aspect of the book you found uncomfortable or even unpleasant? And did you ultimately regret reading them? 

I’m not sure I’ll be adding all answers to my TBR list (!!) but I’m interested to see where the discussion goes! And thanks to Liz for having me on today. 

[image error]www.arttaylorwriter.com. 

Happy Days

[image error]Last week was a fun one. On Sunday I finished up a lovely visit with my mom in the panhandle of Florida. On New Year’s Eve we had a wild time. My husband went to bed around ten. I dozed on the couch, but woke up in time for the ball drop. Are we two crazy kids or what?

But one of two big events was on Wednesday afternoon. I checked into a hotel for three nights. The hotel is only about fifteen minutes from my house. I desperately needed some dedicated writing time to work on A Time to Swill the first Chloe Jackson Redneck Riviera mystery. On the way to the hotel I stopped at Wegmans and picked up the three “S’s” – sushi, salads, and sandwiches to eat while I was working.

[image error]It was a rare opportunity for me and seemed incredibly indulgent. I know Edith and some of my other writing friends go on fairly frequent retreats and always rave about them. Now I know why. I left the room once to go down for breakfast on Friday morning. I know this sounds extreme and it was. But I got up every half hour to pace around the room and clear my head. Since my room faced the interior of the hotel I had nothing to stare out at and distract me. Even that helped my productivity.

When I stumbled out of the hotel Saturday morning I’d written 16,000 words. I think most of them are good but they will need some polishing. Being out in the fresh air after all that time outside was a bit disorienting.

My other big event was Saturday evening. I moderated a panel at East City Bookshop in Washington, DC sponsored by OutWrite DC called Unspeakable Crimes: LGBTQ Mystery Writing. The three authors Brenda Buchanan, John Copenhaver, and Cheryl Head are all amazing people and writers. We had some laughs and some poignant moments too. I could have talked to them for hours. Their books aren’t cozies but are well worth reading. Thanks to Diane Kenty for taking these photos!

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[image error]Sunday it was a return to real life – wash, bills to pay, spending time with my family, and of course writing. I’m a lucky woman.

Readers: Have you ever done something for yourself that seemed indulgent?

Wicked Wednesday – Goal Setting Tips

Welcome to Wednesday! So I consider January kind of a pseudo-month – it’s the start of the year and we’re all amped up about it, but it’s also the month where we’re recovering from the year-end flurry of activity and really looking at what we want from the year ahead.

Thinking about goal setting this year, I turned to one of my gurus, Marie Forleo. She always has tips and tricks to get things done smarter, faster and better, and her steps to set goals is no different. The video below is all about the two main components: Pruning and purging. If you want to watch, I’d encourage you to do so. Otherwise, here’s the skinny:

The purge: Make a list of everything you want to get done in three areas of your life – yourself, your relationships and your business/professional life. Basically a brain dump.

The prune: Choose only the things that support what you really want your life to be like and who you want to become.

So that’s what I’m doing this week!

Wickeds, do you use a process to set your goals? 

Edith: No process, other than making lists. At this point in my life, my goals for my personal life and relationships are pretty straightforward. My work life requires a lot of advance planning, looking ahead to deadlines and figuring out how to meet them, trying out new ways of reaching readers, that kind of thing. So I make daily to-do lists, keep a couple of calendars, have a long-term list on the white board, and chip away at it, word by word, day by day. So far it seems to be working.

Julie: I am working on getting Your Ladders soaring, and between that and launching a new series, I have a lot of purging and pruning to do. Re goal setting–I try to not set too many, so that I have a better chance of achieving them. I also differentiate between goals and projects. Goals have more impact on my life, projects keep things moving. I have set a health goal, a business goal for Your Ladders, and a couple of audacious writing goals. I write them down, and then write down the steps I need to do to get there. Then I put deadlines by the steps, and check in weekly.

Sherry: Like Edith, I don’t have a very formal process. I have lots of reminders on my phone so I don’t lose track of things I’m supposed to do. I have had to prune back on social engagements and I hate that because I’m such a social person. I keep thinking next month I’ll have more time. So far next month hasn’t come.

Barb: For many years our corporate process of goal setting and budgeting was ingrained in me. Honestly, I loved it. I always said goals should turn you green but not have you actively puking, since that led to paralysis and people thinking “that goal is not really the goal.” I still pretty much adhere to that last one today–green but not actively puking.

Jessie: I choose a theme each year that really resonates with me. I start thinking about it well before the end of the previous year and really spend a chunk of time turning it over in my mind. I use my theme as a litmus test for my goals, aspirations and plans. I ask which goals in different aspects of life line up with the big picture that is the theme. I find it really easy to make decisions about the projects and other commitments based on how well each align with my established theme.

Readers, do you use any special process to set goals? Tell us about them!

Cheryl Hollon on Goals

Hey friends! Liz here, happy to welcome our friend Cheryl Hollon back to the blog – with her own take on goal setting. Welcome, Cheryl!

Is everyone out there working on their new set of New Year’s Resolutions? 

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Not me. Nope. I’ve given up New Year’s Resolutions.

Let me explain. At this time of year, most of us have a list of resolutions that read a bit like this:

Save Money

Exercise

Lose Weight

Make New Friends

Find Love

Every January, I would bring out my programming and organizational skills and make sure each resolution was SMART. In other words, Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-Bound.

I would work like a fiend to set up those SMART goals by splitting them up into smaller tasks to be achieved monthly, weekly, daily – you get the drift. That worked well until about the middle of March when something would happen to send me off track. It was impossible to regain that early enthusiasm so I let them slide.

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At that point I knew they had turned into DUMB goals, which stands for Dull, Unexciting, Mindless and Boring. The next thing I knew, time had overcome intention and it would be New Year’s again.

Now I have a new approach to achieve my self-improvement goals. I only set one goal for the year. That’s right, just one. And, even better, the goal is grandly anti-analysis. It doesn’t meet the SMART criteria at all. 

I started this about five years ago when I was trying to get an agent and struggling to write while working a demanding job. I found a book that turned on the light bulb for me. The book is The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. 

Getting to that ONE thing, that single right thing just might help me get that agent. I came up with WRITE EVERYDAY. That’s it. No word count targets. No totaling up time spent. Nothing else but simply to write every single day.

Last year’s goal was BE KIND. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Not if you have a quick retort to almost any remark that, you can probably guess, might not be particularly kind. I wanted to fix that. I reminded myself in e-mails, conversations,  and especially in the middle of family drama to BE KIND. I’m a more thoughtful person this year because I thought more about what I said. 

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This year I’m going to work on FOCUS. I have a tendency to be easily distracted and can start more than a dozen tasks without making much progress on any of them. By concentrating my focus on what really must be done – preferably ahead of schedule – I think I can achieve more tasks with less stress. 

So, that’s my method. If you were forced to choose only ONE goal for 2019 that would make your life better, what is it?

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Cheryl Hollon is the author of the Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries. She writes full-time after an engineering career designing and installing military flight simulators in England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Living the dream, she combines a love of writing with a passion for creating glass art in the small studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cheryl is Past President of the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime, a member of Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.

What You Remember

So here we are, on the first Monday of the first month of the new year. If I’d been smart when I started writing in 2001, I would have kept some kind of journal of my progress over the years, but I was a newbie and had no idea what I was doing or where I’d end up, so I just kept plugging along. (Predictably the publishing and writing universe changed.)

[image error]Connolly’s of Leap

The seventh book in my County Cork Mysteries comes out tomorrow. One of the first books I ever completed was set in West Cork, in front of the now-iconic pub Connolly’s of Leap. It’s not only still there, but it’s thriving, and I know the people who run the place (although we haven’t yet proved that we’re related, but the odds are good). That first book, however (written in 2001), is still sitting on a shelf collecting dust, which is where it belongs. But writing it taught me a lot.

I had never seen Ireland before my first trip in 1998 and I had no particular expectations, just curiosity. When I was there on that first trip, with my husband and daughter, it never occurred to me that I was doing research. I just knew I loved West Cork on sight (and it was pouring rain at the time!).

I went back to Ireland the next year with my daughter. In 2001 I went with a friend I knew only through the Internet (we were distantly related). I went to Australia because I had Irish relatives there, and we got together a couple of times. And so on, through the years, and I lost count of visits. Two years ago I bought a cottage in West Cork, within sight of where one of my great-grandmothers was born. I can see the family house while I wash dishes.

[image error]The cottage at Garryglas

Since 1998 I have learned so much about the region and the people of Ireland without even looking for it. I have made friends with an unlikely mix of people, who now greet me by name when I show up. We talk, and I listen. Several of us have found that we’re either related, or we know some of the same people (usually a few thousand miles away). If I say I’m a Connolly, immediately I’m surrounded by relatives I didn’t know existed, and we start comparing notes about families.

This past year I took the Ancestry DNA test, just out of curiosity, and discovered that while I thought I was 50% Irish (through my father’s parents), in fact biology shows I’m 75% Irish—which means my mystery grandmother (my mother’s mother, who was orphaned as a young child) had to have been Irish, which even she didn’t know. I never expected that.

I started writing about a particular niche in Ireland, the part where my father’s father’s people came from. I’ve seen their houses, and in some cases their graves, and I’ve gotten together with the one cousin I know more than once.

But this is not only about enjoying a vacation. After seven books, set in a very real place, reviewers have said things that startled me:

“This seventh in Anthony and Agatha Award nominee Connolly’s ‘County Cork Mystery’ series (after Many a Twist) is a thoughtfully executed and charmingly talkative cozy. The Irish setting is authentic, Maura is a delight, and the characters are gaining depth as this series matures.”

—Library Journal starred review

“Inviting…As usual, Connolly’s lively characters and lovely landscape enhance her well-wrought, thought-provoking plot. Series fans won’t be disappointed.”

—Publishers Weekly

I didn’t go to Ireland to make notes and take pictures (which I do often, though mostly they’re of flowers and mushrooms and cows and food), but along the way I paid attention—enough that I could make the place “real” to readers. And I didn’t even know I was doing it—I just watched and listened.

It’s a wonderful way to learn to write: just pay attention. And save the memories. I want to keep doing it as long as I can, while watching the cows across the lane and the rainbows.

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What about those of you who write? Do you find some details or places or event just stick in your mind and you find a way to use them? Does it make a difference if your places are real rather than invented?

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Coming tomorrow, January 8th, from Crooked Lane Books

What We’re Reading – Holiday Edition

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Yesterday we revealed the books we got for Christmas. But I’m sure I’m not speaking for myself when I say I already had a bunch of books started that I probably should finish first.

So, Wickeds, what are you reading to ring in the new year?

Julie: I am reading a recent Joanne Fluke for fun, and Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller for business. Have decided that reading for pleasure is high on my list for 2019, so I expect more reading this weekend!

Jessie: I am halfway through Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin, Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris and Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. I love reading a mix of fiction and non-fiction!

[image error]Edith: I just finished Louise Penny’s Kingdom of the Blind and am nearing the end of Lauren Belfer’s City of Light, which I LOVE. I had it around the house – no idea where I got it – and was absorbed almost immediately by this 1901 story of mystery, power, industry, and love in Buffalo. Turns out she has two more later books. I can’t wait!

Sherry: My reading has been ARCs to blurb including Bad Picks by Linda Lovely and Staging is Murder by Grace Topping. It’s always exciting to get a sneak peek at interesting new books. I’m also reading books for a panel I’m moderating on Saturday “Unspeakable Crimes, LGBTQ Mystery Writing.” The three authors, Brenda Buchanan, John Copenhaver,  and Cheryl Head, are all amazing writers.

Liz: I’m reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, one of my Christmas gifts, and I’m also reading Walter Mosley’s John Woman and Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly. And I have a whole bunch loaded up on my Kindle…

Barb: Sherry, I got to read a bit of Staging is Murder a couple of years ago when I did a manuscript review at Crime Bake. I knew it was gonna get published. I’m so glad I was right. It’s a terrific book. And Liz, Becoming was the most stolen book at our recent Family Christmas All Book Yankee Swap. The most often traded away? Stormy Daniels’ Full Disclosure. What can I say? It was a political Christmas. As for me, I am embarrassed to tell you I am reading my own book, Iced Under. The characters and themes continue in book eight in the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Sealed Off, and though I kept a bible including timelines and a family tree, I found there are some details I’ve forgotten, so…

Readers, what are you reading as we begin the new year? Tell us in the comments!

The Wickeds’ Christmas Books

Hey Wickeds – inquiring minds want to know: What books did you get for Christmas? Or maybe you got a gift card to a bookstore – so what books will you buy? Tell us so we can get some ideas for our own list!

 

Julie: I bought myself a Christmas present–of Steamed Open and Murder on Cape Cod! It was so much fun to go to Barnes and Noble in Annapolis with my sisters, and buy both books while seeing other books by the Wickeds in the wild. I also bought my mother both books, and my sisters bought them for themselves.

Edith: Yay! Thanks for the pic, Julie, and for spreading the love around.

Jessie: For the first time in ages I did not receive a single book for the holidays! I’ve decided to go ahead and order a few things for myself including the latest by Ann Cleeves and also Inspiralize Everything by Ali Malfucci.

Barb: We had thirty people at our home for Christmas dinner, all members of my husband’s extended family. One of the highlights of these Christmas parties is our absolutely vicious, all-book Yankee Swap. I ended up with My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, which I was happy I got to keep. because I’ve been wanting to read it.

Edith: Hugh kindly gave me a Haruki Murakami collection of stories, Men Without Women, because it was highly spoken of. I dutifully started reading it, but it didn’t grab me (like, do I want to read about men without women? what was he thinking?), especially with Louise Penny’s Kingdom of the Blind waiting for me. He agreed I can return it – goody! So I’ll pick up a Lauren Belfer historical novel, instead (see tomorrow’s post…).

Sherry: I gave my husband Micheal Connelly’s latest book, Dark Sacred Night. I love his books and so does my husband. It’s a win win for me. I have a gift for a hard to by for man and then I get to enjoy it as well.

Liz: I got Becoming by Michelle Obama, in a Secret Santa swap in my building. So excited! And a dear friend from work gave me Marianne Williamson’s A Year of Miracles, which is an awesome add to my morning routine.

Readers, what books did you get for Christmas – or which ones are you planning to buy with your Christmas money? Leave a comment below!

Wicked Wednesday – Planners

Welcome to our first Wicked Wednesday of the new year! Today, we’re talking planners – a topic near and dear to a lot of our hearts (yes, Julie, I’m talking to you).

So tell us, Wickeds – do you use a planner? If you do, what planner out of the million options did you choose this year? If not, why? And how do you keep your life straight if the answer is no?

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[image error]Edith: No planner for me! But I do rely heavily on my Google calendar (personal and Book Stuff versions) and my upstairs and downstairs paper calendars. For years I’ve been buying a wonderfully compact (6″ x 13″) Tibetan Nuns calendar for my office. It hangs right above my laptop so I have a visual of my month. Look how tidy January still is! Above it is my homemade three-year calendar, with nothing but book due and release dates, so I have a visual of that, too.

Liz: Under Julie’s influence, I’ve tried so many planners over the past two years and really liked all of them! Unfortunately, I haven’t really stuck with any of the them. And they started feeling like another job and if I missed a day I had to go back and fill it in….anyway, it was stressing me out. So I’m going into the new year planner-less, but I’ve sketched out a new schedule to fit everything in that I’m going to put on my phone calendar and see what happens.

Julie: I confess, I am a planneraholic. This year I am starting the new year with my Google calendar, of course. I am also using (and have been using, so hopefully it will stick) an Erin Condren vertical planner for every day, an Erin Condren deluxe monthly to keep track of the social media, webinars, etc. for my two businesses, and an Hobinichi Weeks for my gratitude journal, and to keep track of books, theater, movies, and inspiration. On January 7 I am doing a free webinar about Making Time for Your Artistic Life, and yes, I’ll be talking about what I’ve learned from my planner obsession.

Jessie: I love planners too and use two every day. I have one for my personal life and the broad strokes of my business. This is the third year in a row that I am using a planner for that by Ink and Volt. I love the way it sets each day up as morning, noon and night rather than in hourly increments. For the business side of life I use Your Best Year by Lisa Jacobs. It is really great for getting clear on what I need to do and why I don’t always make a priority of the most important things.

[image error]Barb: I’m in the two planner world, too, both paper. My Levenger Circa junior notebook with the monthly calendar tabs runs my life. Behind each monthly tab are my “chrono notes” from that month–to-do lists, notes from meetings and conference calls, grocery lists, party plans, etc. I have the filled out calendar pages and the notes going back literally decades. About ten months ago, I also started using the Plot Your Work planner. I find it very useful for getting an overview of the year. It was illuminating seeing how much time is taken up by conferences, appearances, teaching classes (and prep for such), support for book releases, copy-edits, page proofs, vacations, and so on–i.e. how much time I really have to write[image error]. (Always less than I think.)

Sherry: I’m the least organized of all the planners in this group. Life however is forcing me to be more organized. I keep notes and reminders on my phone. So far it’s working. I’ve bought a couple of planners but they just sit on the nightstand gathering dust. My daughter gave me the notebook in the photo. It’s empty too. And in case it’s hard to read it says: There are seven days in a week. Someday isn’t one of them…do you think there’s a message there for me?

 

Our Characters’ New Year’s Resolutions

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Welcome to 2019 , readers! Today, the Wickeds are revealing their characters’ resolutions for the new year. We thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek into what they’re planning to do — and not do!

Hopefully none of them are resolving not to find more dead bodies…

[image error]Edith: Mac Almeida  in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries resolves to try to relax her somewhat obsessive neat freak tendencies. Robbie Jordan resolves to research her father’s Italian ancestors during the slow winter months at her country store. And Rose Carroll back in 1889 wants to start writing down some of her midwifery tricks of the trade. Who knows, maybe she’ll even write a book!

Liz: Maddie James in the Cat Cafe Mysteries resolves to bring green juice to Daybreak Island – she’s determined to open a second business. Stan Connor in the Pawsitively Organic series resolves to hire people to staff her pet patisserie so she doesn’t have to work all the time!

[image error]Julie: Lilly Jayne in the Garden Squad series resolves to get back out into society, with the help of her friends. Sully Sullivan resolves to stick to theater, no more sleuthing. (She fails in this, I promise.)

[image error]Jessie: Beryl in the  Beryl and Edwina Mysteries resolves to drive a bit more sedately when Edwina is in the motorcar with her. Edwina resolves to allow Simpkins to be right about a decision in the garden at least once each week.

[image error]Sherry: Sarah is terrible at making and keeping resolutions. However, she’s determined to work on her poker face, be a bit less trusting, and to try and learn to cook!

[image error][image error]Barb: Julia is in her second winter in Busman’s Harbor and isn’t thinking about returning to her life in New York. Therefore, her resolutions are about putting down roots in her community–making friends her own age, people unconnected to her through her boyfriend Chris or her sister Livvie, finding a place to volunteer during the off-season and maybe even a hobby.

Readers:  Do you or your character have  a resolution?