Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 22

Some Random Favorite Things

Sherry enjoying the lovely spring weather! I was thinking about things I was grateful for a few days ago and that thought somehow morphed into thinking about things I like. So here goes with the random favorite things:

Books – too many to list but I have to shout out A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton and Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky for introducing me to strong female characters in crime fiction. It’s amazing that they both were published in 1982.

Exercise – walking outside (although in inclement weather, I’ve been known to walk in the mall before it opens)

Games – Wordle, Worldle, Chronoquest – I usually do them as soon as I wake up. I got Wordle in two yesterday. I think it’s just luck.

Movies – Billy Elliott and The Blues Brothers

Social Media – Instagram – my feed is dogs (mostly Westies and Bernese Mountain dogs), artists—from ballet dancers to authors to musicians, chefs, and clothes designers, thrift shop finds, DIY furniture makeovers, self-defense videos and tips which I send to my daughter (I’m sure they are received with much eye-rolling but a mom’s got to do…). No politics allowed! Below is a photo of what my Instagram search page looks like when I open it.

TV shows– NCIS for crime, Emily in Paris for fluff

US city – Boston there’s so much history and great food

Smell – freshly sawed lumber – I think part of the reason I love this smell is because it reminds me of my childhood. When I was in first grade we moved to a new neighborhood. Our street probably had seven houses and many of the streets had less. It built up quickly but the smell of lumber was in the air for a long time.

Last minute add: Athlete – Caitlyn Clark! She’s not only an incredible athlete but a class act! Go Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team!

Readers: What are your favorite things in these categories?

Wicked Wednesday – Spring Cleaning

By Liz, still too cold in the northeast

It’s April and (supposedly) spring although the weather hasn’t warmed up much in Boston yet. 

Still, I’m ready for the warm weather and I’ve been getting that itch to clean stuff out. Which made me think about the whole concept of spring cleaning and all the potential opportunities for mayhem…because that’s what I do. 

So Wickeds, I want to know – have you ever found something questionable during a cleaning spree? An old trunk in the attic with mysterious contents? Old letters that raised some questions? A creepy doll?  A family secret? Tell me below!

Edith/Maddie: Ooh, I love this question, Liz. Hmm. It might not have been from spring cleaning, but I recently found that I still had my Japanese hanko. It’s a little round stamp with a person’s name in characters that people use (or used to use) as an official signature. One of the classes of businessmen I taught in Tokyo in 1977 had the stamp made for me before I left teaching them to come home – they had transliterated Maxwell into characters. I’m in Japan now and am looking around to see if hankos are still in use.

Barb: While cleaning out my mother-in-law’s stuff after she died I found a cache of letters. They were from a friend who had been assigned as her big sister, a system Northeastern University had for welcoming incoming female freshman. Constantly taunted by her male engineering classmates in those post-WWII years, my mother-in-law transferred to all-girls Emmanuel College after her freshman year but the women remained friends. I found the letter writer’s obituary online but she had a daughter. The daughter, weirdly, is a children’s book author and I managed to obtain her contact information. I emailed to ask if she wanted the letters. I warned her that her mother had very mixed feelings about marrying–not about the man, but about the choice to marry at all and the timing. She wrote back right away and I sent off the letters. She thanked me via email and said she loved having them. It was so gratifying.

Jessie: Once when I was a child my mother sent me to the back of our creepy attic for a rummage round for the Easter basket grass that she saved from year to year. When I lifted the bag it was in, it felt oddly heavy so I stuck my hand inside. Terrifyingly, I withdrew a set of false teeth! When I showed my mum she said ” I wondered what I had done with those.” Apparently, they belonged to her father. I still can’t look at Easter grass without feeling a shiver run up my spine!

Sherry: Oh, my, Jessie! But I’m glad you shared that memory because I couldn’t think of anything until I read yours! After my grandparents died we took a bunch of stuff from their house to ours. I remember sitting in the basement going through things and opening a black case. It was full of glass eyeballs that my grandfather had used! I think some shrieking was involved in that experience.

Readers, what oddities have you found during spring cleaning? Tell us in the comments!

The Power of Distractions in the Writing Process with Guest Olivia Blacke and a #giveaway

By Liz, happy to welcome Olivia Blacke, author of the Record Shop Mysteries, to the blog! I love what she’s talking about today – I’ve been thinking a lot about writing when you’re not in front of the screen, and Olivia is a master at using her non-computer time to write. I’ll let her tell you. Take it away, Olivia!

We’ve all heard it before: “If I had more time, I’d write a book.”

Writers have the same 24 hours a day everyone else does. We have friends, families, and obligations like everyone else. Most of us have a job (or jobs!) outside of writing. And on top of that, we still need to eat (three meals a day? Ridiculous!) and sleep (8 hours a day? Please!). In order to find time to write, something has got to give.

So, how do I make time to write without giving up all the things I love without adding more hours in the day? It’s all about getting creative and using distractions to my advantage. Of course, there is no one-size-fits all solution for finding time to write. Every author has unique challenges competing for their time and energy, and what works looks different for everyone.

For me, dedicated keyboard time is limited to weekends, but that’s not the only time I’m writing. Ordinary life responsibilities are always distracting me, but when I’m doing dishes, I’m working on character development. If I’m writing and get stuck, instead of staring at the screen, I take a long shower (Aqua Notes are my best friend!). I might forget to rinse the conditioner out of my hair, but now I know what needs to happen in the next scene. Even mealtimes can be useful if I turn off the TV and have actual conversations with real humans.

I also love to read. It’s a distraction from writing, but it relaxes me. It fills the well. It helps keep me current with what’s selling and gives me the opportunity to blurb books and authors I admire. But who has time to read? I used to read on my commute, but now that I’m not spending an hour each way on Metro every day, I have to find (or make!) time to read. Books on tape are my secret weapon – I can listen to them while I’m driving or cooking. If I’m a passenger in a car/train/plane, I’m waiting on a friend, or it’s the intermission of a hockey game, I’ve got my nose stuck in an e-reader. And when I can’t sleep at night, instead of rewatching Buffy for the nth time, I’m reading.

Whenever possibly, I use the time I’m not writing to figure out where my story is going so once I’m finally in front of the keyboard for however long I’ve carved out of a busy week, I’m typing. But in order to do that, I have to choose my distractions during the day wisely. Television and social media are fun, but my brain is preoccupied instead of working. A long walk, a soothing crochet project, or even a trip to the grocery store gives me time to plot. So if you’re ever at a writer’s house and the laundry is half-done or dinner is cereal (again), give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they got distracted by some fabulous plot twist!

Readers: What’s one distraction in your life that you could use to your advantage to find time to read or write? I’m giving away one signed copy of Rhythm and Clues to a random commenter. Open to U.S. readers only.

About the book:

It’s raining murder in the third book in the Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke, Rhythm and Clues. It’s been months since Juni Jessup and her sisters solved the last murder in Cedar River when disaster strikes again. After a sketchy financier dies outside Sip & Spin Records during a torrential Texas thunderstorm and the overflowing river spits out a macabre surprise, can they catch the killer without missing a beat? The rhythm is gonna get you! 

OLIVIA BLACKE (she/her), author of the Record Shop Mysteries and Brooklyn Murder Mysteries writes murderously fun, cozy, and caffeinated mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up. Connect with Olivia on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or check out her website OliviaBlacke.com, where you can join her newsletter.

Welcome Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles: Working Together, Mother and Daughter and a #giveaway

By Liz, so delighted to welcome mother/daughter cowriting team Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles! Their new Molly Murphy mystery is In Sunshine or In Shadow, and they’re here to talk about their cowriting gig and their process. Let’s give them a Wicked welcome!

Rhys: When Clare first came to me at the beginning of the pandemic and said she’d like to continue the Molly Murphy series with me I was a tad skeptical at first. I mean, what if it didn’t work out? I knew Clare was a good writer but if our styles didn’t mesh? If we didn’t think along the same lines? I would hate to have to tell her it wasn’t working.

But we gave it a try. Clare came to it with brilliant and fresh ideas, Molly’s voice perfectly in her head. We work together so smoothly—talk through where we are going next, one of us takes on the next chapter, the other adds, smooths for continuity, and on we go. At the end I can’t tell you who wrote which scenes.

I’ve been asked so many times what it’s like writing with my daughter. I think the answer is pure joy. Would you agree, Clare, or am I really a pain?

Clare: I agree! While we began writing our first novel together I was nervous, wondering if my work would be good enough. But Rhys and I enjoyed reading each other’s scenes and the book flew along. And now we have just finished our third novel together, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW. Molly Murphy and her friends journey up to the Catskills to an early Jewish bungalow community. 

Rhys: Clare and I have such fun conversations planning out the twists and turns of each mystery.  And we never fight or argue. Clare is the most even-tempered person in the world but we never seem to find something to disagree about. She’ll suggest something and I’ll say, “Oh, great idea. Let’s do it.”

Clare: Many mothers and daughters talk every day, but not many of them talk about different ways to murder people and get away with it!

Rhys: At an event last year I was asked how we hooked up. I replied  “I made her.” 

The best thing about working with Clare is that she loves the research and is so good at it. Tell the readers how you approached the research for this book, Clare and what gems you discovered that totally enriched our story. 

Clare: I do love to research! And of course, writing a series set in the early 1900’s every page needs research.  As I looked deeply into the Catskills in 1909 I found not only information on the beginning of what would become the ‘Borscht belt,” but also a bohemian community with professional women, blue stone miners and new park rangers who reported to the NYPD. What a wonderful setting for a mystery! 

 Rhys: So the book just kept getting richer and more complicated, and more fun! We’ve already finished our fourth book together, exploring the early silent picture era. And the best thing of all… it’s a great excuse to chat every single day!

Readers, would you do a big project with someone in your family? Have you already? What was the experience? We definitely want to hear – leave a comment and Rhys and Clare will choose one commenter for an audiobook version of In Sunshine or In Shadow .

About the authors:

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of the Anthony Award- and Agatha Award-winning Molly Murphy mysteries, the Edgar Award-nominated Evan Evans series, the Royal Spyness series, and several stand-alone novels including In Farleigh Field. Born in England, she lives in San Rafael, CA.

Clare Broyles, who is Rhys Bowen’s daughter, is a teacher and a musician. She began collaborating with her mother on the Molly Murphy mystery series with Wild Irish Rose. She has worked as a composer and arranger in the theater for both Arizona Theater Company and Childsplay and was nominated for an Arizone ‘Zoni’ theater award. Clare is married to a teacher and they have three children.

Armchair Aloha from Leslie Karst #giveaway

Edith/Maddie, at this very moment winging my way to Japan.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t welcome my good friend Leslie Karst to the blog! She has a hot new series debut out next week that I was lucky enough to get an early read of. I promise you’ll love Molten Death. Check out the gorgeous cover and the blurb:

Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.

Early one morning, the couple and their friend—tattooed local boy, Isaac—set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg—a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.

Valerie’s convinced a murder has been committed—but as she’s the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who’s going to believe her? Determined to prove what she saw and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock . . .

An Armchair Aloha!

I recently received a review from Booklist of my new Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death, which called it “part murder mystery, part vividly evocative, colorful sketch of Hawaii and its history, geography, tradition, culture, food, language, and people,” and concluding that “[a]rmchair travelers and mystery aficionados alike will find it entertaining.”

I was pleased, not simply by the fact that it was such a favorable review of the book, but also because one of my primary purposes in writing Molten Death was to do exactly that: introduce readers to my beloved Hawai‘i Island.

I’ve lived on the “Orchid Isle” half-time for sixteen years and have been visiting since 1990, and over that time I’ve grown to appreciate how very special a place it is for so many different reasons.

First, there’s the fact that the Big Island is home to eight of the thirteen total climate zones that exist on earth, from humid/tropical on the lush windward side of the island to polar/tundra atop the frigid slopes of Maunakea. So no matter whatever is your pleasure climate-wise, you’re bound to find it here.

Second, there’s the unique geology of the island. The presence of two active volcanoes (three, if you count Hualālai, which looms over the tourist town of Kailua-Kona and last erupted in 1801—just yesterday, in geologic terms) is, for me, one of the most compelling aspects of living here. It’s an island still being formed—a living, breathing place where fissures open and spill forth steam and hot lava, where new land is continually being created. And if you ever get the chance to actually witness that hot lava, I can guarantee it’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.

Hawai‘i’s volcanoes have influenced the local culture since the arrival of the intrepid Polynesians who made the long voyage from the South Pacific to the archipelago by outrigger canoe some eight hundred years ago. Not surprisingly, living on an island where at any moment your village could be inundated by molten rock resulted in a society whose dance, chanting, song, and religion have historically been focused on the power behind that awesome force. And even today, residents of the Big Island are extremely respectful of the volcano goddess Pele, with her streaming hair of fire.

There are also, of course, all the attractions one finds in glossy tourist magazines: azure waters flanked by both white- and black-sand beaches; rainforests bursting with eye-popping ginger, heliconia, and orchids; coconut palms swaying in the gentle trade wind breeze; and coral reefs populated by tropical fish in a host of psychedelic colors.

And then there’s the food. Oh, my. Seared ahi tuna with a sesame-furikake crust; smoky, succulent kālua pork with papaya chutney; kalbi beef ribs in a teriyaki glaze; macadamia nut-encrusted mahi-mahi; and of course fresh mangoes, pineapples, papaya, breadfruit, apple bananas, lychee, jackfruit, starfruit, the list goes on and on.

Not to mention the Mai Tais, Lilikoi (passion fruit) Martinis, Blue Hawai‘i cocktails, and Pineapple Margaritas.

So if you want to take a trip to the Big Island without leaving your living room, you can find all of the above (including recipes!) in Molten Death—along with the mystery of a body in the lava flow, which my protagonists, Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen, undertake to investigate, swapping surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions.

Readers: What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled, either in person or via an armchair and a book? Comment below (with your email address) for a chance to win a copy of my new Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death! (US residents only)

Buy link: https://tinyurl.com/3sxeckvf

Leslie Karst is the author of the Orchid Isle Mystery Molten Death, of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari series, and of Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. When not writing, you’ll find her cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California.

Visit Leslie at: lesliekarstauthor.com/

Adventures on the Auto Train

Sherry here and spring has sprung!

My husband and I spent some time in Florida this winter. I dreaded the long ride back and especially driving 95 — so much traffic, so many idiot drivers. I knew someone who’d used the auto train that goes from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida (just north of Orlando). So I explored that option. The first time I looked my husband said it cost to much. The next time I looked the price had dropped $500.00. I looked again and there was a sale which dropped the price another $300.00. So we booked a room!

You have to arrive at the station no later than 3:00 pm so they can load your car for a 5:00 departure.

One thing I found out too late was as soon as you arrive to the station you have to get a physical ticket. The QR code they provide doesn’t do anything. At the time you get your ticket you also book your dinner time–five, seven, or nine if you eat in the dining room or 5:30, 7:30, or 8:30 if you eat in your room. Eight-thirty was the only time left so we ate fashionably late and yes, I thought of you, Barb!

We boarded promptly — here are a few photos of the room. The shower/toilet was tiny! There is a chair on the left by the window.

Watching out the train window was fascinating! We went by an outdoor venue strung with beautiful lights and I saw a bride and groom having their first dance.

Our dinner was good and then the attendant came and pulled out the beds. My husband heroically took the top bunk. The biggest downside of the journey is you don’t get a good night’s sleep. The mattresses are thin and hard and there is a lot of swaying. But I enjoyed watching out the window when I was awake and took catnaps. The woman in the room next to us told me she didn’t sleep at all. Ah, and the walls are thin! If you take the auto train, I’d recommend only planning a short drive the day you reach your destination.

In the morning we woke to fog and rain which made us even happier that we weren’t driving.

The train goes right through the middle of the historic town of Ashland, VA.

We arrived in Lorton an hour early. Then the wait for your car begins. They have slots (that you pay extra for) so that your car comes out early. Those were already filled by the time we booked. It can take up to two hours to get your car. Ours took an hour but we figured it was better than driving!

Here are some facts about the auto train:

There were 280 cars on the train we took. Would we do it again, even with the lack of sleep? Yes!

Readers: Do you like train travel? Have you slept on a train?

Wicked Wednesday-March Madness

Jessie: In Northern New England where the bulbs are beginning to poke up through the still cold earth.

Historically, artists of all sorts have often been considered unconventional. Writers are no exception. Wickeds, do you have any eccentricities that might look a bit strange to others?

Julie: Likely. I worked with performing artists for a number of years, and their joy of expression wore off on me. I wear expressive earrings, red lipstick, and quote show tune lyrics on a dime. I also think about how to kill people all the time, which I suspect is only normal for crime writers and sociopaths, so there’s that. PS, bring on the eccentrics. I hope I am thought of as slightly eccentric long after I’m gone.

Edith/Maddie: Like Julie, I love talking poison and unusual murder methods over dinner! Unusual for many women, I’ve never died my hair – until recent years, when I started adding a turquoise streak to my natural silver on one side. When I take my daily walk, I tend to talk out loud about my plot, and I no longer worry if locals are watching me and worrying. I also hope I’m remembered for my eccentricities.

Barb: “I am a perfectly normal person,” I always say of myself. I have no idea why friends and family members find this amusing.

Sherry: What? Me? No! Like Barb, I’m perfectly normal. It’s the rest of you who are eccentric. Okay, so my family may be afraid to sit in “my spot” on the couch or at the dining room table, but it’s all right — really, as long as I’m not home.

Liz: LOL this is the best question ever. Pretty much everyone thinks I’m weird, so there’s that. Many people raise their eyebrows when I talk about my crystals or how attached I am to my dogs (I have more separation anxiety than they do). And there is the talking about murder all the time. I accidentally told a new friend about the true crime podcast Park Predators when she told me she likes camping and she was mortified…

Jessie: Liz, I can totally imagine giving a podcast recommendation like that myself! There are a couple of things others may find a bit eccentric about me. I am completely convinced that I’ve heard a voice in my ear telling me what to do in times of crisis that has saved either my life or my lifestyle on several occasions. On a lighter note, I eat popcorn with chopsticks. It keeps my fingers from becoming greasy and it makes each morsel a thing to savor. I still cannot understand why people who visit are shocked when I offer them a pair of chopsticks to use with their bowl of popcorn!

Readers, do you have any eccentricities?

Guest- Julia Spencer-Fleming

Jessie: In New England where we have been having some wild weather!

It is a great pleasure to welcome my friend Julia to the blog today. Her books are wonderful, as are her company and outlook on life. Take it away, Julia!

I know the Wicked Wednesday theme this month is the very appropriate March Madness, a phrase that brings back so many memories… of me making bowls of stew and trays of snacks for my dear husband.

Let me take you back to the heady days of the 1980s in Washington, DC. I was a graduate student at GWU, and I happened to meet a funny looking handsome guy who was attending law school at the same university. On out first date, he took me for drinks at a chi-chi Georgetown bar, dinner at Au Pied du Cochon, followed by dancing at an African night club. I told you they were heady days.

On our second date… he took me to a Georgetown basketball game. 

I can’t say I didn’t know what I was getting in to.

My husband, Ross, was a genuine basketball nut, a combination of growing up in Maine cheering for the Celtics and graduating from Georgetown, which, in the 80s, was at the peak of its record-charting years, led by power forward Patrick Ewing and legendary coach John Thompson. No, I didn’t know who these men were before meeting Ross. Yes, our son’s middle name is John. It was intended to honor my dad, but Ross may have privately thought differently. 

The aforementioned dad was one of the few American men I’ve known with zero interest in any sport other than competitive gliding with his sailplane. No hockey, no baseball and certainly no basketball. And the guys I tended to date before that fateful meeting in DC were – well, my mother called them “The A’s” – an anthropologist, an actor, an author, an artist. You know the type; soulful, poetical guys with shaggy hair and no money. Ross was another breed of A: an attorney. When I told my mom we were getting serious, she prayed a Novena for him to propose. He did! I wish I had asked her what saint she used; I’d do the same for my own kids.

Over the years, I learned the rules of March Madness. No, the first rule wasn’t “Don’t talk about March Madness.” We talked about it ALL the time. The paper bracket would be spread over the dining room table, along with annotated Sports Illustrated articles. (It was such a great magazine! A curse on all private equity firms.) The kids got quizzed about the various divisions during dinner. Ross would get into conversations with random guys who also happened to be filling up at the gas station. No, the rules were:

Do not plan anything that clashes with an important game.All games are important games.During Georgetown games, the foam “Go Hoyas” finger must be carefully positioned by the TV.All family members must wear their Hoyas T-shirts/sweatshirt/sweatpants. Failing this, an all-navy-and-gray outfit is acceptable.You can make as much conversation as you like, as long as you wait until the commercials.Meals and snacks must be easy to eat while staring, riveted, at the screen, and shouldn’t contain anything that might stain the sofa or rug when G’town scores and Ross leaps from his seat screaming. (This was my rule, after some experience.)You can root for teams in the following order: If G’town wasn’t playing, any other Catholic school in the Big East Conference. 

If no Catholic schools were playing, any other team in the Big East, except never, never, never Syracuse. (Where I was from, but let it pass, let it pass.) 

If it wasn’t a Big East game, it’s acceptable to root for a Big Ten team.

Every other conference is just critiqued, not cheered.

I haven’t watched March Madness in years. It’s not the same without my funny looking handsome basketball nut. I hope they have March Madness in the next world, played by the best of the old boys on squeaky courts of perfect, shining maple. And where Georgetown is never, ever *peeks through her fingers* in tenth place. Hoya Saxa!

Readers, are there any passions or pastimes brought into your life by a loved one?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING is the New York Times bestselling author of One Was a Soldier, and an Agatha, Anthony, Dilys, Barry, Macavity, and Gumshoe Award winner. She studied acting and history at Ithaca College and received her J.D. at the University of Maine School of Law. Her books have been shortlisted for the Edgar, Nero Wolfe, and Romantic Times RC awards. Julia lives in a 190-year-old farmhouse in southern Maine.

Packing, Packing, Packing!

Edith/Maddie, who is alternately losing her mind, grinning, and pulling out her hair north of Boston.

Why, you might reasonably, ask, am I doing those things? Because I am leaving FRIDAY for two weeks in Japan!

The cruise is courtesy of my writer pal Tiger, who likes taking nice cruises and bringing a friend or relative to share her room and the experience. Thank you, Tiger! Check out the updated itinerary (changed from last year’s brochure):

Whee! More than a month ago I started a Japan To-Do list.

Yes, some of it is silly and personal. Toenails? Still, every item needed to be dealt with, including the pedicure. And see how many I’ve crossed off? But that list is only travel stuff.

The thing is, during the same time I’ve also been working super hard to finish the first draft of Scone Cold Dead, Country Store #13, so I can travel without needing to work. Then my editor wanted a synopsis and cover ideas for Cozy Capers Book Group mystery #7. Gulp, okay. Ah, and I am committed by May 1 to turn in a short story for an anthology, a story I wrote four pages on and then got stuck. And I had two recipe posts to do for Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, my other group blog. And show up here for Wicked Wednesdays.

And did I mention I launched a new book last week?

I also have a family, with a new grandbaby. Because I’m leaving Friday, yesterday I hosted Easter for fourteen yesterday (well, two are little babies), a week early. I always host Easter, and I wanted to see everybody! Crazy, I know. (Shown below are the brunch dishes, plus we had sourdough bread, yummy appetizers, and two rich – and gluten- and dairy-free – desserts.)

Oh, yeah, it’s also tax season. I’m happy to report I sent it all off to my tax person last week, so glad to get that item off my to-do list.

So, yeah, I’m kind of tearing my hair out. Today the actual packing begins. We’ll see how much of the packing list makes it in.

I am bringing my laptop, hoping to finish that short story and maybe do some other creative work, but I don’t expect to be online as much as usual.

I’m both excited and nervous about the trip. I haven’t traveled internationally except to Canada in quite a while, but I’m all set for passport stuff, and I splurged on a business-class seat, so at least I’ll be comfortable. At this age, how I will cope with a thirteen-hour time difference is anybody’s guess.

Excited? Yes, because I lived in the greater Tokyo area in the mid-seventies teaching conversational English to businessmen and studying Japanese, which was fabulous, except I haven’t been back even once. As you can see, it’s been a few years…

I traveled a fair bit while I was there, but the cruise takes us to places I’ve already been as well as places I didn’t visit, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to Busan in South Korea. I love Japanese food, and am also looking forward to seeing how much Japanese I can fish up from the depths of my brain (speaking other languages is a teensy superpower of mine, and it makes me happy to stretch that muscle).

All righty. Enough blathering. That suitcase isn’t going to fill itself!

Readers: Share the most exotic place you have traveled to – or want to visit.

Cover Reveal for Writing the Cozy Mystery – Authors’ Perspective on Their Craft

I am delighted to welcome back Phyllis M. Betz. We met a number of years ago at a Popular Culture conference in Washington DC. She’s been a guest here before when she talked about her book Reading the Cozy Mystery: Critical Essays on an Underappreciated Subgenre. Today she is here to talk about her next book on cozy mysteries!

Phyllis: I began the process that resulted in Writing the Cozy with a basic question: why do authors do what they do when they approach the task of producing a mystery. I am not a creative writer, but as an old English teacher, I am fascinated by the process, somewhat akin to magic, that results in an exciting mystery. Sherry Harris graciously allowed me to put a call for essays on the Wickeds blog and the response was quick. I am very grateful to all the authors who took time from their very busy schedules to contribute a piece for the anthology. 

​Writing the Cozy presents a collection  of short essays written by well-know cozy authors. In their essays, the writers discuss their writing processes, how they have developed characters, the importance of setting, and the changing thematic emphases of the modern cozy mystery.

The authors included in the anthology:

Carol Ayer, Leslie Budewitz, Kim Carson [Kit Striker], Jennifer Chow, Maya Corrigan, Tine deBellegarde, Vicki Delany, Peggy Erhart, Mary Anna Evans, Amanda Flower, Winnie Frolik, Marni Graff, Sherry Harris, Julie Hennrikus, M.E. Hilliard, Andrea J. Johnson, Sybil Johnson, Justin Kiska, Kathleen Marple Kalb, JC. Kenney, Edith Maxwell, Rabbi Ilene Schneider, and Diane Vallere.

The book will be released next fall.

Bio: I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. Deciding that the world of academia fit my abilities and interests, I went to graduate school and ultimately received my PhD in 1990.  I worked as an adjunct professor in various schools in the Philadelphia area for eight years before becoming a full-time teacher at La Salle University in Philadelphia. I retired in 2021 after 32 years in the English Department. Like any good academic, I’ve published critical work in a number of areas, but my recent, and most enjoyable, work has been examining the cozy. I am particularly pleased that the my first anthology, Reading the Cozy, has received both critical and popular praise.