Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 27

How the writing magic happens

By Liz, thawing out after a long week of freezing in the northeast!

I’m going to tell you all a little secret. 

I should be done with my book by now. 

Now, if you’ve met me, you know this is nothing new. I’m usually a little behind and racing to finish as my deadline hovers over me like a guillotine and the panic escalates just a bit more every day.

But this one in particular has really been tripping me up. 

So I was getting close to the end and I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t finish it. As I was revising a scene that had a very minor character in it – after I had already deleted the scene and then put it back–this character suddenly took over. 

They started doing things that I never expected. They started acting and saying things that I hadn’t imagined. And it suddenly clicked. This was my killer. Not the poor, innocent person I’d been pinning the murder on all along. 

And it was the reason why I was struggling to finish the book the way I had laid it out.

This is the magic of writing. It’s annoying, sure. And the book really needs to be done, but now I have to go back and do some surgery on it. But it’s going to be way better. You know how I know that? I’m excited about it again. Before that moment, I just wanted to delete the whole thing. 

This is where we need to leave ourselves room. Even if you’re a plotter–or a semi-plotter–there is a gift in being able to have a roadmap, having an idea of where the book’s headed.

But also you have to leave room for the magic. And if I had rushed this book to the finish line and just plowed through the scenes the way I had laid it out, it probably wouldn’t be any good. Now, as I go back and do some more revising, I’m happier. More excited. Feeling good about putting it into the world. 

And it tells me that I have to keep respecting the magic of the practice.

Keep showing up at the desk, at the notebook, at the laptop, and keep doing the thing, because eventually the thing will be amazing.

Or at least in good enough shape to turn in. 

Where are you letting a little magic happen in your life? Tell me in the comments!

Looking Forward To . . . Spring?

This week we’re celebrating Barbara Ross’s story in Easter Basket Murder! While I’ve never considered an Easter basket a lethal weapon, I love that the three authors in this anthology are going to change this. Also, thinking about Easter makes me think about spring. A taunting thought at this point in the long New England winter. Tell me, Wickeds, do you look forward to spring so much that you don’t enjoy winter? What about spring do you look forward to the most?

Sherry: People enjoy winter? Just kidding…maybe. Congratulations on Easter Basket Murder, Barb. It’s a wonderful story! I love it when the trees first get their leaves. They are such a delicate green and look so beautiful.

Edith/Maddie: Sherry, this native Californian loves winter. Especially when it’s clear and cold and crisp and I can cross-country ski on fresh snow. Yum. But Easter is good, too – many congratulations, Barb! I always look forward to hosting Easter brunch, and this year I’ll make sure not to include any murder weapons in the collection of baskets.

Liz: I can’t wait for spring already! Although spring hasn’t been so, well, springy the last few years. Mostly I think I’m looking forward to summer again. I’m not a huge winter fan although I’ve been trying to embrace it more. But this year I’m looking forward to new beginnings in general – and spring feels like a really good time to think about those things.

Jessie: I never let winter bother me until we added a dog to the family. I don’t mind walking in the cold, or even in the snow, but I don’t love ice under foot or snowbanks piled high and eliminating any safe shoulder to move out of traffic. It just makes things miserable. So, I am looking forward to dry ground to walk on and plenty of width for moving about the village!

Julie: I try not to wish time away, but February in New England is the longest month of the year. Barb, I look forward to reading your story and jumping forward a bit. Congratulations!

Barb: Thanks, everybody! If I lived where Sherry does and there were long, flowery springs, I would totally be looking forward. But in New England spring is often cold, sleety days that turn abruptly to 95 degrees and sunny, and your laundry basket is suddenly and mysteriously full of flannel pajamas and shorts mixed together. In Easter Basket Murder, Julia and company do get a break with a sunny Easter Sunday, which can happen. In the novella, Easter is on March 31, semi-coincidentally the same date it is in real life this year.

Readers, how about you? Any winter sport fans? For those of you in temperate climates, I know this time of year is lovely. How about for the other folks in colder climates. Love winter or long for spring?

It’s Release Day for Easter Basket Murder (and a #giveaway)

by Barb in Key West

Hi All–it is release day for Easter Basket Murder, coming to you in hardcover, ebook, and audio versions today.

“Hopped Along,” my novella in Easter Basket Murder, is number 11.5 in the Maine Clambake series, falling between Hidden Beneath and Torn Asunder, (which is coming on April 23rd). This is my sixth novella to be included in collections with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis, and I’m thrilled.

Here’s the description:
Julia Snowden’s Easter Sunday at Windsholme, a sprawling mansion tucked away on a remote Maine island, looks like it’s been borrowed from the pages of a lifestyle magazine. But when a dead body is discovered in the garden—then vanishes soon after without any explanation—an innocent hunt for eggs becomes a dangerous hunt for answers. With no clues beyond a copy of The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Julia must find out if April Fool’s Day came early or if she’s caught in a killer’s twisted game . . .

To celebrate, I’m giving away a signed copy to ten lucky winners. To enter, click here and fill out the form. If you have already entered via my newsletter, there is no need to enter again.

I had a lot of fun coming up with a cozy mystery set at Easter and I hope you enjoy it!

Readers: What do you think of the idea of an Easter holiday themed story? Sure, why not–let’s celebrate spring and renewal? Or, stick with Christmas and Halloween?

Beginning Again

Edith/Maddie here, writing, still, from north of Boston.

For the thirteenth time – well, fifteenth, if you count novellas – I am beginning to write Scone Cold Dead, a new Country Store Mystery. The first book in the series, Flipped for Murder, came out in October, 2015, over eight years ago.

I love starting a new book. I try to craft a perfect first line. I set up an opening that I hope will draw you into the story. I write my way through a few scenes, giving you a sense of the setting, season, and regular characters, and introducing who might be a victim. I like to let you see the soon-to-be dead interacting with others, including my protagonist.

Sometimes the story of who the poor murdered person is can come later in memories and interviews, but in books when we don’t come across a corpse in the first few paragraphs or pages, I want you to know a bit about who he or she was. I want you to see how they speak with and react to other characters.

And then, when I feel the time is right, we find a body. I write cozy mysteries, so the body is already dead. You’ll never see a murder happening on the page in one of my books.

“When the time is right” is key to my process. I am the most minimal of plotters. I have a scanty outline before I start writing only because my editor demands requires strongly encourages me to hand one over. I love feeling my way through those opening scenes without really knowing what’s going to happen. Have I showed enough? Not too much? When is the right time to drop the body, as we say in the trade?

Once that’s on the page, forward we go. By the end of March I’ll have batted out a first draft, and by my deadline a couple of months after that, the book will be revised and edited and polished to the best of my abilities.

But…thirteen books, you say. Two important questions come to mind: how does the author keep track of everything, and how do we keep a long-running series fresh?

After a few books, I made a “Series History” file for my Country Store Mysteries (it’s in addition to the extensive Characters file, which I started with book #1). The history file lists how old protagonist Robbie Jordan is in each book and which year it’s in. She’s now in her fifth year (I think). I also include the murder method, the detective’s name, and a few other notes. It helps to have that summary at a glance.

As for making sure the series doesn’t go stale, the standard advice is to keep the main characters learning and changing. Nobody wants to read a stagnant series or character arc. Have the Country Store Mysteries stayed fresh?

Hmm. You be the judge. In Flipped for Murder, Robbie was single, twenty-seven, and living in an apartment at the back of her newly renovated country store restaurant. The book opens when Pans ‘N Pancakes does.

Scone Cold Dead brings us Robbie five years later. She’s married to Abe O’Neill and is a few weeks short of giving birth to their first child. The country store is thriving, with devoted regulars and lots of visitors, and Robbie employs five people.

She also has a few investigations (gulp, twelve!) under her belt. She’s more confident in working to figure out homicides, and she’s learned (mostly) not to act as if she’s too stupid to live. Plus, in this book and Deep Fried Death, the previous one, Robbie has a bun in the oven to protect, too. I have tried to keep her changing and learning over the dozen books.

Readers: If you’ve stopped reading a series before it ended, why? How long of a series have you stuck with all the way through? Writers, do you have the end of a series in sight when you start writing it?

A Wicked Welcome to Lori Roberts Herbst! **giveaway**

by Julie, listening to books in Somerville

I am delighted to welcome Lori Roberts Herbst to the blog today! Lori and I work together at Sisters in Crime, and I love her kind but fierce passion for the writing community. Welcome, Lori!

Embracing Change

I’m pleased to be back with The Wickeds—thank you for inviting me! Since this month’s theme is “looking forward,” I thought I’d share the code phrase I’ll be trying to live by in 2024: peaceful adaptability.

A little backstory:

I’ve lived in Texas since I was 9 years old. That’s a gasp-worthy 52 years as a Southern belle. A half century of triple-digit summers, the inevitable two-day winter ice storm (one of which occurred on my wedding day in 1983), and unnoteworthy spring and autumn seasons. Still, it’s been home—familiar and stable.

But now we’ve packed up our belongings and moved to Colorado. Not only that, our Dallas home sold, but our new house won’t be ready until April. In the meantime, we’re nomads. Our belongings will be taking a vacation in a climate-controlled Public Storage unit, while my husband and I will trek from one AirBNB to another.

For a semi-control freak such as myself, someone who gravitates toward stability and craves a detailed plan (I consider myself a full-fledged plotter, after all…), this uncertainty and temporary lack of roots results in more than a little anxiety.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m excited. It’s a good change, but it’s still change. As I used to tell my students back in my teaching days, even good change creates stress. It takes awareness and insight to help us cope.

Thus the peaceful adaptability mantra.

Now to add another curve to the winding mountain road:

After three years of focusing on my Callie Cassidy Mysteries, I’ve decided in my wisdom that this would be the perfect time to tackle something new. So, this year, I’ll start writing the Seahorse Bay Mystery series. It’s still in the planning stages, especially since, before I “dive in” to the new series, I need to revise and publish Graven Images, Book 6 in the Callie series (available in April). Once that task is complete, my goal is to complete a three-book outline and draft Seahorse book 1 by summer.

(To point out a bit of irony, I’ve spent the past three years writing about a village set in the Colorado Rockies. Now, on the heels of moving to the Colorado Rockies, I intend to write about a port town on the coast of…you guessed it…Texas.)

As with the relocation, I find myself alternately bubbling with excitement and quaking with terror. (Pause. Deep breath. Peaceful adaptability.) Callie and her friends and family represent my first foray into the world of publishing. Like Texas, life with Callie has been familiar, stable, and at least somewhat predictable. But I’m ready for a new challenge, and I hope my readers will be ready to move ahead with me.

So, wish me luck, friends—and for those of you in snowy climes, be sure to pass on survival tips!

How do you handle change in your life? Excitement, resistance—or somewhere in between? I’ll choose one commenter to receive the Callie book of their choice. U.S. only, paperback, ebook, or audio.

About Negative Reaction:

Wedding bells are ringing in Rock Creek Village. But when a venomous villager crashes the nuptials, events take a toxic turn…

The long-awaited day has arrived—Callie Cassidy’s best friend is tying the knot. The wedding is perfect—even Callie’s golden retriever and her tabby cat have donned tuxes for the occasion. Callie’s trainee is documenting every moment, with the help of twin brother. Then an uninvited visitor barges in—the twins’ absentee father—and an angry altercation ensues. When their father later winds up in a coma, the victim of poisoning, suspicion mounts against the twins. With detectives stonewalling her, Callie turns for help to her family and friends. Together, can they prove the twins’ innocence—and reveal the true culprit?

Buy link: Amazon

About the author:

Silver Falchion and CIBA Murder & Mayhem award-winning author Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mystery series. A former journalism teacher, Lori serves as Board Secretary for Sisters in Crime. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, as well as the SinC North Dallas chapter and the Guppy chapter, where she moderates the Cozy Gup group. Lori lives in Colorado Springs. Find out more at

Website:           www.lorirobertsherbst.com
Facebook:         https://www.facebook.com/lorirobertsherbst/
Instagram:        https://www.instagram.com/lorirobertsherbst/
BookBub:         https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lori-roberts-herbst

Genre Hopping with Edwin Hill

by Julie, wintering in Somerville

I am delighted to welcome Edwin Hill back to the blog today. We’re here to celebrate the release of Who to Believe, which will be released January 23. He offered to do an interview for today’s post. Enjoy!

Name (s): Edwin Hill

Genre(s): Mystery; domestic suspense; thriller

What drew you to the genre you write?
I write what I read. I started reading crime novels when I was a kid, starting with the Three Investigators and the Famous Five, and then quickly graduated to authors like Agatha Christie and Ken Follett. Now, I continue to read crime fiction, both contemporary and classic! I love stories that begin with a puzzle and show characters having to overcome unimaginable obstacles.

What sets your book apart from what is out there?
If you like puzzles and looking at how one person’s “truth” might differ from another’s, then you’ll like my newest novel, WHO TO BELIEVE (see, it’s right there in the title!)
The story begins with a murder in a small town – a local restaurateur named Laurel Thibodeau is found asphyxiated in her own home – and suspicion immediately falls on her husband and business partner, Simon. He has gambling debts and recently took out a large life insurance policy on his wife – he also has a rock-solid alibi.

Soon after the murder, we join a gathering of friends who’ve come together to celebrate one of their birthdays. Each of them has their own take on the murder, and, in turn, we see how each character interprets the story for themselves. Of course, there’s a second murder that very night! And none of the friends are being honest with each other. As the reader, you wind up seeing who survives the night, and then you have to decide which of these characters to believe.

I love stories that play with perspective, and how different people interpret the same events. For this novel, I was inspired by a Kurosawa film called Rashomon, as well as the TV show The Affair, both of which look at how stories unfold through the lens of multiple perspectives.

Do you write a series or standalones? Why?
I like to work on both! WHO TO BELIEVE is a standalone, though one character from another novel makes an appearance. I’ve written a series, too, about a Harvard librarian named Hester Thursby who finds missing people, and I would love to revisit Hester’s world at some point. Series allow you to explore your core cast and see them grow as characters over the course of many novels. Standalones are nice, because you have the freedom of not having to protect your core cast or save any of the tension for another novel. In a standalone, you throw the kitchen sink at your protagonist, and when the story’s done, it’s done!

What are you currently writing?
I’m working on a new novel called WHAT HAPPENED NEXT that may or may not turn into a series. It’s about a young man who survived a brutal murder as an infant. He begins to record a podcast to see if he can learn more about what really happened, but when another murder strikes close to home, he pairs up with a TV star who played a detective in a police procedural (think Law & Order) to see if they can solve the murder together. It’s sort of like Castle meets Three Pines.

What are you reading right now?
This is not my typical answer to this question, but I’m rereading HOWARD’S END and am amazed by how engaging and contemporary it is. I love Forster’s language and characters, and how modern much of the story feels. We’re still dealing with good ol’ classism a hundred years later.

Do you have a favorite quote or life motto?
My current manuscript has been a challenge for a number of reasons, mostly personal, so the motto that keeps me going right now is, “The shark that doesn’t swim, drowns.”

Favorite writing space?
I am fortunate to have a home office. Because I’m on deadline for WHAT HAPPENED NEXT, it is a complete mess right now. I look forward to cleaning when I send the manuscript off to my editor!

Favorite deadline snack?
I get up at 4 a.m. to write every day… so I drink gallons of coffee!

4am?!! That’s dedication!What do you see when you look up from writing?
I look out my back window on a beautiful Japanese maple. If I’m lucky, my yellow lab Edith Ann will be playing under the tree. It’s a good view.

Thanks for having me today!

Congratulations on Who to Believe , Edwin! Readers, Edwin mentioned that “standalones are nice, because you have the freedom of not having to protect your core cast or save any of the tension for another novel.” That’s part of what makes reading standalones so nervewracking–anything can happen and surprises abound. When was the last time you gasped while reading a standalone?

About the Book:

Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too . . .

Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death. Max Barbosa, police chief, has heard plenty of them, as has his longtime friend, Unitarian minister Georgia Fitzhugh. Local psychiatrist Farley Drake is privy to even more, gleaning snippets of gossip and information from his patients while closely guarding his own past.

But maybe everyone in Monreith has something to hide. Because before this late-summer evening has come to a close, one of these six will be dead. And as jealousy, revenge, adultery, and greed converge, the question becomes not who among these friends might be capable of such a thing, but—who isn’t?

About the Author:

Edwin is the Edgar- and Agatha-award nominated author of three novels in the Hester Thursby series: Little Comfort, The Missing Ones, and Watch Her. His latest novel is the standalone thriller The Secrets We Share.

He was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and spent most of his childhood obsessing over The Famous Five, Agatha Christie, and somehow finding a way into C.S. Lewis’s wardrobe. His parents were fond of taking his sister and him on month-long family camping trips across the U.S. and Canada, and one of his best memories is of finishing a copy of The Seven Dials Mystery while the rest of the family visited Mount Rushmore. Growing up when VHS tapes were new meant that watching Alien, Jaws, The Shining, or Halloween whenever he wanted seemed luxurious, and still does today. Like Hester Thursby, he watched these movies – and others like them – a lot.

After attending Wesleyan University and graduating with a B.A. in American Studies, he headed west to San Francisco for the dotcom boom. Later, he returned to Boston, earned an MFA from Emerson College, and switched gears to work in educational publishing. He served as the vice president and editorial director for Bedford/St. Martin’s, a division of Macmillan Learning for many years before turning to writing full time.

He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.

Website: https://www.edwin-hill.com/

Looking Forward To . . . Events

This month the Wickeds are starting the year off right.

Wickeds, are there events you’re looking forward to this year? A vacation? A milestone? A play or concert? A conference?

Sherry: We are looking forward to a trip to Australia to visit our friend Christine and her boys. I met Christine along with Edith, Barb, Liz and other friends at the Seascape Writers Retreat in 2009. Christine thought she had a single room, but lo and behold, I was her roommate. It turned out quite good as my Aussie (pronounced Ozzie) friend would say or not bad.

Jessie: That sounds like a dream trip, Sherry! As for me, I am looking forward to being at the beach this summer. We missed all of this past one because of the renovation project we decided to take on so it will be especially pleasant to be back at the seaside with the salty breezes and pounding surf! I cannot wait to enjoy the changes to the house and to set about rehabilitating the garden which took a terrible beating during the construction project.

Edith/Maddie: Sherry, how fun to visit Christine where she lives! And the beach is always fabulous, Jessie. I’m looking forward to two-hour car trips to visit my granddaughter. Plus I’m making an exciting trip in April to a take cruise around Japan and pay a visit to the town I lived in while teaching conversational English to Japanese businessmen. I haven’t been back since I left in 1977 and can’t wait.

Liz: I’m looking forward to heading to Seattle for Left Coast Crime this year. I’ve never been, to either that conference OR Seattle, so I’m excited! I have a friend who lives out there who I haven’t seen in a long time, so hoping to get a visit in. Also because Seattle has so much good coffee

Barb: We had such a busy 2023, there are no big trips or events planned for 2024. Not an “event,” but I’m looking forward to a quiet spring-summer-fall in Maine. Though I’m sure it won’t turn out quite that way!

Julie: What wonderful plans! I look forward to conferences this year. My niece and I are going to Montreal in March, which will be a first for me. Nuts, since I live in New England. And my traveling friends and I are hatching plans for a possible trip. So far no plays or concerts planned, but this post makes me think I should hatch a plan.

Readers, what events/plans are you looking forward to this year?

A Wicked Welcome to Annette Dashofy!

by Julie, wintering in Somerville

I am thrilled to welcome Annette Dashofy back to the blog, and the celebrate the release of her new book, Keep Your Family Close.

Changes

I remember my mother always grumbling about changes. She wanted everything to stay status quo. Of course, change is inevitable. According to Ben Franklin, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I would never want to argue with one of our founding fathers, but I feel “change” needs to be added to that quote.

We all undergo changes, some good, some bad. In the final months of 2023, I ran into a few weeks of both. I’d been cruising along, thinking I knew what I was doing and what I would be doing for the next few years of my writing career. All was blissfully moving along according to plan.

Then my agent and friend, Dawn Dowdle, passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack. I’d just spoken to her days earlier, mapping out a plan of action, discussing writing projects and contracts. The news that she was gone had me in tears. Not only would I not have any more of our laughter-filled phone conversations, but what the heck was I going to do now? My “plan” had been torpedoed.

After a number of days, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and reached out to some author contacts. Before I knew it, I was signing an agency agreement with Paula Munier and Talcott Notch Literary. Had this not happened as a result of my friend’s untimely death, I’d have been dancing on my rooftop. As it were, I felt immense relief. And no small measure of terror. I’d been playing it safe in many ways for years. Paula is challenging me to up my game. It’s a challenge I’m excited about and am embracing. But in the unknown, there is that terror that I mentioned.

“Change” may have been forced upon me near the end of last year, but I’ve decided it’s my Word of 2024. I’m still terrified, but the excitement of a new project is simmering. The bones of a new story are rattling around in my brain.

But as I think about change in my life, I’m also thinking about my characters. They’re as “real” as other humans (my change-fearing mother also worried about the imaginary friends I talked to as a kid), so they need to face change as well.

Granted, there are characters out there who live through dozens of books and who never change—not naming names—but I want my characters to grow.

In Keep Your Family Close, my recent release and the second in the Detective Honeywell Mysteries, both Matthias Honeywell and Emma Anderson are faced with circumstances that change who they are. Matthias is set in his ways. He’s single. He likes playing the field. He feels safe keeping those walls up between him and anyone who might make him think about commitment or that “L” word. But along came Emma in the first book (Where The Guilty Hide). The feeling she provoked in him scared the bejeezus out of him! As the new book starts, he has tried really hard to back away and stay in his safe zone—until he finds Emma’s missing sister, deceased in an abandoned warehouse. Not only does he feel Emma’s anguish and want to protect her, when she shows up with a male friend in tow, Matthias discovers a deep well of jealousy.

Of course, very little is as it seems, and both of them face changes to their lives that they didn’t expect. By the end (no spoilers!) they’re both different people than they were at the beginning.

I’m currently drafting the follow-up novel and they’re facing even bigger problems and going through even harder changes.

For characters or for humans, change is often difficult. But like diamonds, we need the pressure in order to change from a rock to a gem.

What about you? Are you planning to make any big changes in the coming year? Or are you hoping to stay the course for a while?

About the book:

When a badly decomposed body is found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse, Erie police detective, Matthias Honeywell, is called in to investigate.

Meanwhile, freelance photographer Emma Anderson is desperately trying to find her drug-addicted sister, Nell. Then a devastating piece of evidence found at Detective Honeywell’s crime scene brings her world crashing down, a driver’s license belonging to her missing sister.

In need of her assistance, Matthias asks Emma to help with the case, hoping to solve the mysterious disappearance of Nell Anderson. But in doing so, will the investigation uncover more questions than answers?

Buy the book here.

About the author:

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today bestselling author of fifteen mystery novels including six Agatha Award finalists and one Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award winner. Keep Your Family Close is the second in the Detective Honeywell series set on the shores of Lake Erie.

Same, but Different

Jessie: In New Hampshire where the weather is swinging about wildly enough to give one whiplash!

Here, where the winter weather puts me in mind of an endurance race I am constantly drawn to things that bring comfort to offset what is going on outside. There are the things that are universal fixes like cozy slippers for feet and hearty stews for dinner. But there are other things that seem to do the trick for me as well. While novelty is certainly something I enjoy in my life, in winter, when the nights are long and the forecasts are almost never correct I turn again and again to familiar things I know that I already enjoy.

The things I choose don’t have to be exactly what I already know, although I am not opposed to rereading a book or rewatching a television series. Familiarity takes the form of a tweak to a family favorite recipe, a slight variation on a knitting pattern I have already enjoyed making, or a book I somehow missed in a favorite series. I move the furniture around in the living room.

It also involves doing some of the same things in different places or with different tools. I moved my lap desk to the library recently and filled it with new stationery supplies. I still will write letters to loved ones, I just will be taking in a different view as I do so. I am using my favorite pens, but I have filled them with inks I haven’t tried before. I love to wear my old stand-by scarves but I enjoy tying them in new ways.

Even the podcasts I listen to or the playlists I choose on Tidal or Spotify seem to follow the pattern. I look for new historical or true crime podcasts from the same companies. I seek out playlists of music that feature artists I love along with others that are like them, but new to me.

I don’t think I am alone in this tendency. After all, readers are constantly in search of books that are in the same genre, but that tell a different story. Mysteries, especially those in a series, are particularly good at the same but different. I know I love that in the books I read as well as the series that I write. It is so comforting to visit characters and locations in favorite series when the wind whistles round the house and the snow piles up in the driveway.

Readers, do you love things that are the same but different? Which kinds?

A Wicked Welcome to J.C. Kenney!

by Julie, with her umbrella in Somerville

J.C. is a regular commenter on the blog, and has visited us in the past. I had a chance to meet him last November in Chicago, at the Murder in the Midwest conference, which was a ton of fun. He’s got a new series launching later this year, and agreed to come on the blog to talk about it.

The Power of Optimism

Happy Friday, friends! I’m so happy to be back visiting with you and The Wickeds again. We’ve almost made it to the weekend, something most definitely worth celebrating.
This month, we’re talking about looking forward. I’m fortunate in that category because this year, I have a lot to look forward to writing-wise. I have two books coming out. The first, Magic Box Murder, is scheduled to arrive February 27. It’s the third book in my Record Store Mysteries series and I have had a ball writing about the adventures of my amateur sleuth, Darcy Gaughan, and her friends.. The other book, Panic in the Panhandle, drops September 26. It’s the debut of my new Elmo Simpson Mysteries. Isn’t that a fun cover!

I’m also set to attend two bookish conventions. I’ll be in Orlando, Florida in late February for the Coastal Magic Book Convention. Here’s a link if you want to check it out. As if that isn’t exciting enough for this kid from Indiana, I’ll also be at the Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of August. You can get more deets about it here. Exciting things to look forward to, indeed!

The thing is, none of this fun stuff happened with the snap of a finger. It took a lot of time, a lot of hard work, and some good luck for me to be in this position. Shoot, I wrote the first words of Panic in the Panhandle in February of 2020. By the time it arrives on shelves, four and a half years will have passed from that day I first started writing about Elmo and the oddball denizens of Paradise Springs, Florida.

While that’s a long time, it’s nothing unique in the writing world. Shepherding a book from an idea to a finished, published work takes a lot of things. One of those things is optimism, which can be defined as hopefulness about the future or the successful outcome of something.

For the longest time, I thought I was a pessimist, or a realist at best. Since I started writing stories, though, I’ve come to realize that, deep down, I’m an optimist. I mean, what other kind of person would take on a project like writing a novel with the full knowledge that nothing may come of it, yet they keep at it anyway? Someone with belief in their story and themselves. That the story is good enough. That someone will like it enough to read it.

Someone with hope for good things to come.

That’s a powerful thought. Am empowering one, too. Of course, I have my tough days where I’m convinced I’ll never sell another book again. I know those moments will pass, though. Writing taught me that, despite the gloom that comes with cold and dreary Indiana days in January, better times are ahead. Like sunny days in Daytona or music filled nights in Nashville.

Writing taught me that, at heart, I’m an optimist. I truly believe that if you hang on and keep trying, there will be good times ahead. Not just in writing. In life, too. So, don’t give up, friends. Not on yourself and not on your passions. As we begin another new year, let’s try our best to keep hope alive and to be optimistic about things to come.

Who’s with me? Tell me something you’re looking forward to this year or something that you’re hopeful for. One randomly drawn commenter will receive a $5 Amazon gift card. Until next time, believe in the power of optimism, friends!

About the book:

In the sleepy panhandle of Florida, Benjamin “Elmo” Simpson has carved out a comfortable niche as the go-to wild animal removal specialist. Life is sweet until a peculiar service request takes him to a local condo and an unexpected scene. Retired lawyer Fran Cohen is missing and in his apartment is a well-fed alligator that appears to have enjoyed a nice breakfast with…or rather, of…Fran.

All evidence points toward murder, and local alligator farmer, Waldo “Rambo” Quigley has the motive and the means. When Rambo pleads for help to clear his name, old debts and a history of friendship leave Elmo no choice but to investigate. With his girlfriend, Nicola, by his side, and Rambo’s freedom on the line, Elmo’s on the hunt for the real killer, but don’t panic…Elmo’s got a plan…sort of. Maybe.

Reptilian clues lead to unexpected allies, and the call of danger is addictive. Can Elmo uncover the identity of Fran’s killer before becoming the next victim, removed from the scene like an unwanted pest?

About the author:

J.C. Kenney is the bestselling author of The Allie Cobb Mysteries, The Darcy Gaughan Mysteries, and The Elmo Simpson Mysteries. He’s also the co-host of The Bookish Hour and The Bookish Moment webcasts. When he’s not writing, you can find him following IndyCar racing or listening to music. He has two grown children and lives in Indianapolis with his wife and a cat. You can find him at www.jckenney.com.

You can pre-order your copy of Panic in the Panhandle by clicking here: https://tulepublishing.com/books/panic-in-the-panhandle/