Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 86

What makes a good scare?

By Liz, gleefully waiting for the scariest night of the year!

When I was a kid, my parents were a little, shall we say, worried about me. There were many reasons for this (my interest in serial killers being the main one) but definitely topping the list was my life-sized poster of Freddie Krueger that hung in my room, right next to my Johnny Depp poster. This was also ironic because Johnny Depp was killed BY Freddy Krueger in that iconic bed scene in Nightmare on Elm Street, but it definitely showed the range of my tastes at the time. 

https://giphy.com/embed/3otPozKJFziVLlXfEY

Yes, I was obsessed with Freddy Krueger. I dressed as Freddy for a few Halloweens, and I had the voice down pretty good. I had a talking Freddy doll with which I would shamelessly scare my brother half to death. (When you pulled the string in his back, there were a few different lines he would say. I used to stand in my brother’s doorway in the dark after he went to bed and make Freddy talk. And yes, I got in a lot of trouble for it.) I also watched the Nightmare on Elm Street movies repeatedly, although they admittedly got worse as they went on. But still, Freddy was an iconic character to me, a killer with panache who could bring humor and his own unique style to every gruesome murder. He was much more interesting than Jason, for example, who just silently went around killing people. I mean, where’s the personality in that? 

So as we approach Halloween – my favorite time of the year – I started thinking about scares, and what makes a good one. I know that my tastes have changed over the years. I still love to have the bejesus scared out of me, but that looks different than it did in my Freddy-obsessed days. Back then, I loved these kinds of movies, the gorier the better. Scream, Halloween (Michael Meyers is still the scariest of all of them, hands down), Candyman, The Conjuring. While I still have a fondness for those kinds of scares, admittedly my tastes have changed a bit. 

I’m not seeking out the goriest movies or books anymore, but I still love a good scare – and my new motto is, the creepier the better. I love anything that’s atmospheric, instills a sense of unease from the moment you start watching or reading, and that delivers its chills more subtly than, well, Freddy sucking you into a bed along with all your electronics. 

One of my favorite things to watch during Halloween season since its release a few years ago is the remade Haunting of Hill House. I never watched the original, but I do love this version – I think it was extremely well done and had it’s share of “jump scares,” but ultimately they did a great job of balancing that creepiness with the main storyline, which to me was the devastating breakdown of a family. 

Another good example is a book I had to pick up because it was on Stephen King’s list of scariest books. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is reminiscent of The Exorcist – a teenager possessed by demons, an ensuing reality show, and I’m not sure what else because I’m still reading it but it’s definitely freaky. It’s terrifying in a very subtle, matter-of-fact way and part of the reason I’m not done it yet is because I can’t read it at night. 

There are so many other good examples – but it’s your turn! Tell me in the comments below what your favorite scary book or movie is for this time of year. 

Wicked Wednesday-The Unexplained

Jessie: In New Hampshire, where there are more leaves on the ground than on the trees.

As we finish up our month of discussing The Unexplained, I wanted to ask a craft question. For my latest Beryl and Edwina , which released yesterday, I had to research the answers to a wide variety of questions before I felt ready to explain many of the story details to readers. Which parts of the writing process can you not leave unexplained in order to begin a novel? Do you have to know the murderer? The victim? The sub-plot?

Julie: Jessie, huge congratulations on Murder in an English Glade! I can’t wait to read it. I suppose it’s good that I’m starting this conversation. I spend a lot of time on my outline and plotting before I start writing. During that process, I figure it all out. There are times (like during writing Wreathing Havoc) that I stop and change my mind. But I don’t forge ahead until I settle my mind again. During the writing, there are changes, nuances, and subplots that take on more substance, but I need to explain the story to myself before I start writing.

Edith/Maddie: Congratulations from me, as well, Jessie! My copy is waiting for me at my local indy bookstore. I’m about as opposite a writer from Julie as you can get. I have to know the victim and the means of murder, and I always know the season. And that’s about it, at least for second and subsequent books in a series. I discover the suspects as I go along, and sometimes the true villain doesn’t reveal his or herself until well into the story. I write into the headlights on a foggy night, and I like it that way.

Sherry: Yay, Jessie! A new Beryl and Edwina novel to read! It’s been different for me with every book. Sometimes the murderer presents themselves first, sometimes the person who dies, sometimes a plot idea like wanting to write about a deserted sailboat that comes ashore like I did in A Time to Swill comes first. I love how it doesn’t always have to be the same and is one of the many fascinating things about writing. I don’t think a subplot has ever come first.

Liz: I usually start with the victim and work backwards from there. I figured out along the way that knowing the murderer before I start is going to help me stay on track, so I usually figure that out too. The rest is often up for grabs as I go along! Congrats on the new book!

Barb: Congratulations, Jessie! I’m so excited to see Beryl and Edwina again. I usually do general research around the theme of the book, by which in this case, I mean clamming, oyster farming, pottery, digital gaslighting, etc. (To name the last few.) And if I think the plot may turn on a particular type of law–property, insurance, inheritance–I will do enough research to determine if what I’m thinking about is even possible. When I start writing, I generally know what time of year it is, the “theme,” the victim, and how the body is discovered. From there on I am scaffolding all the way.

Jessie: Thanks for the warm wishes, everyone! Like Julie, I am a plotter. I start books with an idea of time and place and work from there. But before I start in on the actual writing I have an entire plot outlined. It isn’t fleshed out very much, no more than a line or two about the point of each scene, but I have to have it in place. I tried on my second to most recent novel to wing it and I ended up scraping 75,000 words! I went back to the plotting board and ended up selling the novel as the first in a new series!

Readers, are there things you have to know before you can embark on projects of your own or do you like to dive in and figure it all out as you go along?

Five Things and a Giveaway

Jessie: In New Hampshire where the recent storms have left a tangle of bare branches everywhere the gaze lands.

Today is the release day for my fifth Beryl and Edwina mystery, Murder in an English Glade and I must admit, such days always leave me feeling reflective. While, theoretically, a new release should be about the future, in fact it always makes me look back at the path that has led to publication day.

As I peer into the rearview mirror at my writing life so far there are five things, in no particular order, that I have learned since my first book released in 2010.

Buy the good stationary supplies. I know I have mentioned it on the blog before, but I never tire of praising the virtues of beautifully crafted fountain pens, luscious bottled inks and thick, creamy paper. Goulet Pens and JetPens are two of my favorite places to procure such things if you want to give them a try for yourself. Even those who feel their handwriting is less than lovely will probably be pleased with how much nicer tools than a ballpoint pen and a sheet of copier paper will improve things!Time management is pain management. Some sort of high level planning makes life richer and much more fun. It may not sound glamorous, but since I plan my free time first and slate in work around it I end up feeling inspired by my calendar rather than subjected to its tyranny. I love using a personal kanban system along with a quarterly goal planner and a Google calendar.Inspiration is found in the most unlikely of places so say yes to things that are unfamiliar, possibly boring or simply interesting. I have ended up visiting Spiritualist enclaves, a maple syrup meadery, art galleries and even a pirate museum to fill my well and conduct research. Walks with my dog, books at my library and snatches of conversation overheard at the grocer have all contributed to the books I have written over the years. I love sharing my life with a dog. I ended up with one, quite unexpectedly, three years ago and it has proven to be one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had in years. I have raging allergies that run the gamut from foods to plants to animals and dogs happen to be on that list. But, Sam, the poodle, is from a breed that doesn’t make me ill. In our time together I have learned so much about the value of nonverbal companionship, loyalty and exciting games of tug. He faithfully keeps me company tucked up in his dog sofa beneath my desk and gently reminds me to stretch my legs by taking a walk a few times each day. What an unexpected joy!Writing really is about the journey, not the destination. I adore my job. Well, not during copy edits, or if there is a technology snafu that incinerates most of a manuscript, but all of the rest of the time. I love imagining circumstances, people, relationships and growth. Traveling to other places and back into the past is a constant source of delight. Researching bits of trivia like the number of times per day the post was delivered during WWII or the starter mechanism for a 1920s motorcar makes my heart sing. I delight in spending time with other writers and sharing experinces. But most of all, I am grateful for the chance to connect with readers like all of you. Thanks for making this life I love a possibility!

Readers: What word of advice or encouragement have you picked up over the years? Three lucky commenters will be sent a hardcover copy of Murder in an English Glade!

Stories from the Past

Edith/Maddie here, writing from my favorite retreat cottage in West Falmouth, with a couple of things to celebrate.

A few years ago, I blogged here about finding my grandmother Dorothy’s travel diary from 1918, and how I felt stories rising up from it.

Second from left: Driver of car #2 Dot Henderson age 17 with her brother, her father, her four younger sisters, my great-aunts, and her mother.

Then I found a picture of my maternal grandmother Ruth as a young woman sitting on a rock in the northwest where she lived while reading a letter with a rifle across her lap, a side of my little grandmother I never knew about.

Ruth Skinner, no older than twenty

I couldn’t help but imagine if the two had met as young women. What if they hadn’t followed the paths they did, but instead formed an investigative agency to help women in need? Petite Ruth Skinner could do anything domestic, never smoked or drank alcohol, and was sweet and open – and apparently she could also shoot. Tall, slender Dot Henderson drove and smoked and imbibed and was more reserved. All that was true and was still true when I knew them in their later years. I invented that Dot could also repair the car she drove, probably a necessity in the early twentieth century. Don’t they sound like quite the pair? And the stories have flowed!

“An Excellent Team,” which tells how Dot and Ruth (fictionally) met in Walla Walla, Washington in 1919, released last week in the November/December issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

I’m thrilled and honored to have my first short story in that illustrious magazine – and look, my name even made the cover! In the story (not a ghastly tale at all), Dot and Ruth exact justice for an abused and murdered woman. As they hightail it out of town with Dot at the wheel of her automobile, they resolve to head south and become a team. You can read the start of the story on the AHMM web site.

Releasing officially at New England Crime Bake (but already for sale), Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories (Crime Spell Books) includes another historical story featuring Dot.

“Dark Corners” brings Dot to Boston in 1926, where she meets a dashing social worker named Amelia Earhart. The two, along with a young gay journalist, catch an arsonist and expose his ruthless boss. I loved learning that Amelia Earhart lived in the Boston suburb of Medford, and of course I made a pilgrimage to her home.

She worked at a settlement house in Boston before she became a famous pilot, and I thought it was a story opportunity not to be missed. (Editor Susan Oleksiw will be in this space next week to present the whole anthology.)

Amelia with Denison Settlement House children and others

Next year AHMM will publish “Peril in Pasadena.” By 1920, Dot and Ruth have set up the HS (Henderson-Skinner) Agency in Pasadena, California (my birthplace). In next year’s story, they solve the murder of a young female astronomer at the new California Institute of Technology. It’s been a delight to research the history of the area of California where I grew up, something I never did when I lived there.

As I started writing these pieces, I was lucky enough to have phone conversations with my uncle Richard Reinhardt, who knew Dot – his mother-in-law – well, and with my mother’s cousin Jack Crump, Ruth’s nephew. Both gentlemen are in their nineties and still clear of mind. They were happy to share memories of Dot and Ruth, which enriched my portrayal of these women who died before I was twenty-five.

I’ve been working on Dot and Ruth (and Amelia) novels set in both Pasadena and Boston, with no news to report. Fingers crossed!

Readers: What did your grandmothers do, or what can you imagine them having done?

Guest- Heather Redmond and a Giveaway

Jessie- Enjoying sweater weather and evenings spent curled up knitting!

I am delighted to welcome Heather Redmond to the blog today! I love books with writers as protagonists and hers features one of the most revered writers of all!Take it away, Heather!

We book people are always chasing the latest social media trends in order to be where our readers are. I’ve been through MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now TikTok, not to mention the various sites that weren’t so successful. How about you?

 I loved the countdowns to book releases on MySpace, the humor on Twitter, and the photos on Instagram. As I became artsy over the past three years, I have enjoyed posting my paintings there. In the past couple months, though, reels were introduced and it became obvious that the perfect social media for artists was changing to go up against this new kid on the block, TikTok. Now we need to make videos!

 That’s what I’m trying to do these days. #booktok is a thing on Tiktok, just like #bookstagram is on Instagram. If Facebook is now for Gen X, I’m hoping younger readers can be found on these other platforms. We authors just want our books to be seen, after all.

On Facebook, I concentrate on supporting other authors. I have my own book club, Heather’s Book Club, in The Drawing Room on Facebook where I read historical romance and give prizes every week. Want to join? We’re at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheDrawingRoomHR. 

Now, though, it’s promo season for my upcoming release, The Pickwick Murders. It’s undeniably fun to go on Tiktok and find other authors to “duet” against – showing their video while mimicking their activities with my own books, or using “sounds” to create videos, which means you film yourself with a previously created audio track or musical track. On Tiktok my biggest hit so far was showing the first two Trixie Belden books, written in the late 1940s(!), to make the point that my childhood faves (read in the 80s) were still really good reads.

On Instagram, my “if you like this, read that” challenge, showing The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens and then my The Pickwick Murders, garnered close to seven thousand views. Does any of this generate sales? Maybe. But social media is best when the author themself is having fun creating content. I’m definitely enjoying myself and stretching my brain to learn new skills.

Readers, what social media site do you like best? Where do you find book recommendations? Answer below by October 29th to win a signed copy of A Christmas Carol Murder, my third A Dickens of a Crime mystery.North American residents only.

About the book:

In this latest reimagining of Dickens as an amateur sleuth, Charles is tossed into Newgate Prison on a murder charge, and his fiancée Kate Hogarth must clear his name . . .
 
London, January 1836: Just weeks before the release of his first book, Charles is intrigued by an invitation to join the exclusive Lightning Club. But his initiation in a basement maze takes a wicked turn when he stumbles upon the corpse of Samuel Pickwick, the club’s president. With the victim’s blood literally on his hands, Charles is locked away in notorious Newgate Prison.
 
Now it’s up to Kate to keep her framed fiancé from the hangman’s noose. To solve this labyrinthine mystery, she is forced to puzzle her way through a fiendish series of baffling riddles sent to her in anonymous poison pen letters. With the help of family and friends, she must keep her wits about her to corner the real killer—before time runs out and Charles Dickens meets a dead end . . .

About the author:

Heather Redmond is the author of many novels, novellas, and short stories under three names. She writes the A Dickens of a Crime and the Journaling mysteries series. Her novel, A Tale of Two Murders, received a coveted starred review from Kirkus and was a multi-week Barnes & Noble Hardcover Mystery Bestseller.

Other Genre Guest and a Giveaway!

Jessie: Watching the leaves flutter past my window.

I am always pleased to get to know a bit about new to me authors so it is with particular pleasure that I am hosting Stacy Finz and her co-authors of cafe Between Pumpkin and Pie. Welcome, Stacy!

Thanks so much for having me and featuring The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie on the Wickeds today. Though my co-authors and I are not mystery writers (we write romances), there’s a good amount of intrigue running through our stories in the Halloween anthology about Moonbright, a small, fictional town in Maine.

According to local legend, on Halloween night a woman will see her future spouse in the reflection of a mirror. It’s been happening for centuries in Moonbright. And while our protagonists are modern-day women who have no time for antiquated town myths nor are in the market for husbands, they find themselves face to face with their future. 

Writing my story made me think of real-life town legends, which as writers are wont to do sent me down an Internet rabbit hole. I didn’t find anything quite as romantic or sweet as the mysticism in Moonbright. But I found plenty of hair-raising stories that are Halloween worthy—and excellent fodder for mystery aficionados.

Of course, there’s the legend of Charlie No-Face, a radioactive green ghost that haunts an abandoned freight tunnel in western Pennsylvania. Apparently, the myth is rooted in the true but tragic story of Ray Robinson, a boy who was electrocuted by a trolley wire in the early 1900s and was horribly disfigured. 

Fisherman in Connecticut claim they can hear eerie piano music coming off Gardner Lake. According to regional accounts, a house sunk to the bottom of the lake while a family tried to move it over the frozen water in the 19th century. Newspaper reports confirm that there is indeed an intact home resting down there. But as far as the weird piano music . . . well, who knows? 

Then there’s my favorite urban myth. This one is about Hell’s Gate Bridge in Alabama. The story goes that a couple drove off the bridge and drowned sometime in the 1950s. According to local legend, if you drive to the middle of the bridge and turn off your lights the couple will appear and leave a wet spot on your seat. Alternatively (this one being my favorite), if you drive halfway across the bridge and look over your shoulder, you’ll see the burning flames of hell behind you. Good thing the bridge is now closed to cars because I’m pretty sure hell fire would cause one heck of a traffic jam. 

There’s the Chesapeake Bay Monster, the Spirits of Hoosac Tunnel, the little girl on Knock Knock Road, Bigfoot (or Sasquatch), and tales of buried treasure. There are more urban legends than I can count.

Readers, do you have one in your town? One randomly selected commenter will win an ARC of the book! US/CAN only.

About the Café Between Pumpkin and Pie: In Moonbright, Maine, there’s a pumpkin on every porch, fresh brewed apple cider in every cup—and the sweetest sorcery in the air . . .
 
Before, after, and even during the excitement of the annual Halloween parade, gathering at the Corner Café is a beloved Moonbright tradition. Costumed revelers of all kinds come for the famous whoopie pies, the heartfelt hospitality, and the chance to hear the town’s spookiest stories and local legends whispered to the younger generation . . .   
 
The most magically romantic legend of all promises that a Moonbright woman will marry the man she sees reflected in a mirror on Halloween. For three such singles, the crunch of fall leaves and the fragrance of fresh-baked pie sets the perfect stage for this most tantalizing trick—and most delightful treat—the genuine enchantment of true love.
 

Wicked Wednesday- The Unexplained

Jessie: In New Hampshire, felling thankful for wool socks!

As we continue to discuss The Unexplained this month, I thought I’d turn the discussion to books. Do you like a bit of “woo” in the novels you read or write? What about books that end without tying up all the loose ends or those that leave grey areas? Do you like that sort of ending or loathe it? Have you ever written an ending that leaves dangling threads?

Liz: Love this question! And I definitely love woo in books I read as well as write. I am a fan of grey areas for sure – in my Full Moon Mysteries, I’ve had a thread that I’ve been pulling through the first three novels and only revealing pieces at the end of the first and second book. I suspect I’ll tie it up fully at the end of the third, but I’m not sure yet!

Julie: I don’t mind a little woo. I haven’t added it yet, but am playing with that. As for grey areas–it depends what they are. If they feel like the author left them for a reason, I’m good. If I feel like it was neglected narrative, I’m not as fond.

Edith/Maddie: I love Liz’s new Full Moon mysteries. That kind of woo I can live with, as well as Gigi Pandian’s Accidental Alchemist series and the Low Country Mysteries by Susan M. Boyer, which has the protagonist’s dead friend from high school popping up in the back seat of her car or from behind the couch. Like Julie, for me grey areas are all right if it’s an allusion to something I think the author will address in a future book, but not if it’s just bad writing.

Sherry: I never think I like woo in my books, but over the weekend I read Abby Cooper Psychic Eye the first book in Victoria Laurie’s Psychic Eye mysteries. I loved it! I also love Esme Addison’s Enchanted Bay mysteries featuring a magical healer descended from a mermaid. The second book A Hex for Danger released in July. And of course I love Liz’s new series. I like the main plot of a book to be tied up, but don’t mind some gray areas with subplots. And yes, I’ve left some danglers in my own books.

Jessie: I love woo in novels and films. I adore reading it and also writing it. My Sugar Grove and Change of Fortune series both feature quite a bit of it. Grey areas in terms of ambiguity about whodunnit is an entirely different matter. I am happy for there to be unexplained phenomena but not to have unexplained criminality. I don’t mind it if the guilty are not prosecuted if there is a good reason for subversion but as a reader, or writer, I want the tale told to the audience if not the authorities.

Barb: I would say I don’t like woo–but then I would tell you I love time travel stories in any form, Harry Potter, Douglas Adams, especially the Dirk Gently books, Jasper Fforde, especially the Thursday Next series and on and on. All I can conclude is I’m not very self-aware about my reading habits. As for resolution in mysteries, I don’t like books that feel sloppy or unfinished. But I am perfectly content, in fact I like, books that leave the reader with lingering questions at the end, the kind you turn over in your own mind, wonder about, discuss with a partner or friend. I really like books that live on in the mind long after the last page is turned.

Readers, do you like novels that end with some uncertainty or do you like everything to be neatly sewn up as you close the book?

Guest Debra Sennefelder and a Giveaway!

Jessie, enjoying the cool evenings and soup and sweater weather!

I am delighted to welcome Debra Sennefelder to the Wickeds once again. Her books are fun and clever and the covers are charming! Not only that, she provided a scone recipe!Take it away, Debra!

I’m so thrilled to be here today. I love hanging out with the Wickeds and you! I just had a release, THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO, a Food Blogger mystery, on September 28th. Turns out it was also National Neighbor’s Day. Who knew? Well, perhaps if I’d consulted a social media planning content calendar, I would have known and planned accordingly. But that didn’t happen.  No fear, I found it early in the day and used it in my social media posts. Luckily, that was a week before the Great Facebook Outage of 2021.

I thought it was awesome that the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO fell on National Neighbor Day because the murder plot in the book revolves around Hope Early’s neighbor. Now Birdie Donovan isn’t your average neighbor (well, at least I hope not), and neither is Hope Early. It seems there are two extremes of neighbors living on Fieldstone Road in Jefferson, CT. Hope is a food blogger and sharer of all things whipped up in her kitchen. At the same time, Birdie is a curmudgeon of a woman circulating a petition to force Hope to move. It seems Birdie has had enough of the chaos Hope’s sleuthing creates. Yes, there has been police activity and crime scenes on the usually quiet road but Hope really shouldn’t be held responsible for that. Clearly, these two women find it challenging to get along because one of them ends up dead.

I am grateful that I don’t have a neighbor like Birdie, and in my hood, I’m more like Hope. It’s not unusual to spot me heading out of my house with a plate of cookies or a container of muffins in hand to deliver to a neighbor. My husband and I have lived on our street for close to thirty years. Over the years there’s been little turnover among the other homeowners. This means we’ve all known each other for a long time, and there are a few neighbors who feel like family. We’ve been there for each other during extended power outages, deaths in families, illnesses, and life celebrations. In fact, last month we celebrated our neighbor’s marriage, and yes, there was a group of us from our road. It was wonderful to have shared that special day with people who have become a big part of my life.

It’s these types of relationships that have made their way into the Food Blogger Mystery series. Hope has good relationships with most of her neighbors. There’s Gilbert and Mitzi Madison and their Golden Retriever Buddy. Buddy is the bestie of Hope’s pup, Bigelow. There’s Leila Manchester and Dorie Baxter, retirees who power walk the neighborhood and occasionally share gossip. When Hope starts asking questions, like looking for alibis, she ruffles some feathers in THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a choice because she’s a suspect in Birdie’s murder, and it jeopardizes not only her freedom but her career. I loved writing this story, and I hope you’ll find it an enjoyable, satisfying read.

As I wrote this post, I realized that I hadn’t shared any recipes in my previous posts. Why not? I have no good answer, but I have a yummy recipe to share with you today. From THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO is Hope’s Chocolate Chip Scone recipe. Slightly sweet and crunchy on the edges, soft and moist in the center. . Like Hope, I love a good scone, and I have a hard time not eating all the scones when they come out of the oven. That’s why I usually share a few with my neighbors.

Hope’s Chocolate Chip Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

½ cup heavy cream (plus 2 tablespoons for brushing and a little extra if dough is dry)

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 large egg

1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups mini chocolate chips

Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on scones before baking

Confectioners’ sugar for sifting on scones after baking and they are cooled

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together. Set aside.Cut in butter, with pastry cutter, two forks or your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse meal but there are pieces of butter throughout. Set bowl in refrigerator while you combining the wet ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together ½ heavy cream, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Remove flour mixture from refrigerator. Drizzle wet mixture over flour mixture and add in the chocolate chips. Mix until everything appears moistened, but don’t over mix.

Transfer dough onto a floured surface and work into a ball. Dough will be sticky. Add a little more flour to work more easily or add up to 2 tablespoons of heavy cream if the dough is too dry. Gently pat and shape dough into an 8-inch disc. With a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges.

Transfer wedges onto prepared baking sheet lined. Set them 2-3 inches apart. Brush scones with the 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and then sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Place scones in refrigerator for up to fifteen minutes before baking. If space is tight, you can place the scone wedges on plates and then transfer to parchment lined baking sheet or baking stone (my preferred method) just before putting them into the oven.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and then serve. These are best eaten the same day but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Thank you for spending some time with me today. I love hanging out with you guys! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Readers, what is the most neighborly thing you’ve done for a neighbor? One randomly selected commenter will win a print copy of The Corpse in the Gazebo.

Debra Sennefelder is the acclaimed author of the Food Blogger Mysteries and the Resale Boutique Mystery Series. An avid reader who reads across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery.

Her first novel, THE UNINVITED CORPSE (A Food Blogger mystery) was published in 2018.When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in retail and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Her writing companion is her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzu, Connie.

Five, Six, Seven, Eight

Jessie: In New Hampshire where the backyard firepit is getting a lot of use!

I am delighted to announce that I’ve recently signed a contract to write books 7 & 8 of the Beryl and Edwina Mysteries!

I have loved the chance to develop the characters and storylines in this series over time. It seems like just yesterday that Beryl and Edwina swept full-blown into my imagination and out onto the page. The village of Walmsley Parva and its assorted inhabitants have delighted me with their antics over all this time. I have grown to love Beryl’s motorcar and Simpkins’s culinary concotions. Charles Jarvis has inspired me to try my hand at painting. Edwina has renewed my enthusiasm for gardening.

But I’ve also learned about growing characters and their relationships to each other with each book. I’ve tried my hand at revealing a bit of backstory for characters a nibble at a time so as to deepen them without slowing the story down. I’ve learned more about pigeons, coal mines, the census, anti-Irish sentiments, war wounds and the Women’s Land Army than I could have anticipated.

I’ve gotten the chance to visit the U.K., build relationships with readers near and far and to enjoy the thrill of my novels being turned into audiobooks. All in all it has been a wonderful experience. I have ideas galore for novels 7 & 8, which will release in 2023 and 2024 and I can hardly wait to see what happens next two my intrepid sleuthing duo. To celebrate the good news I have 3 ARCs of Murder in an English Glade to give away to a randomly chosen commenters!

Readers, do you have a favorite series? Tell us about it!

Cozy Mystery Author Gone Rogue — Welcome Julie Anne Lindsey!

I’m not sure when I first met Julie but it was through Sisters in Crime. She’s an amazing, talented, and generous woman and writer. Julie is going from traditionally published to indie publishing and agreed to share her story. I found it fascinating and I think you will to. I’m rooting for you, Julie!

Julie: I did a thing last month that, until about ten months ago, I never thought I would do. I put down my traditional publishing career, and I went rogue. The process was slow and scary, but here I am, alive to tell the tale. Are you curious?

I was a full time mystery writer, working for four publishers, under four pen names, with nearly forty published novels under my belt. I was the actual definition of a traditional midlist author. My photo is included in the online dictionary entry. Midlist sounds a little unimpressive, but in this business, it’s really not. Midlist is a goal. It had been mine once, and I’d achieved it. I should’ve been happy. But here’s the thing about our industry, the climb keeps getting steeper. I’d already beaten the odds, and trying to move up was proving impossible.

I’d had multiple conversations with my very top-notch literary agent for several years about how I could push onward. Nothing worked. Except me. I was toiling away 60-80 hours a week, producing high-quality mysteries, with all the right industry connections, but I was stuck. My career was stuck. My income had plateaued and working longer and harder wasn’t changing any of that.

Then there was a pandemic.

I had all the fears and feels that everyone did. Then one day, I was day drinking, watching my governor tell me the death tolls and all the ways things were getting worse, and it occurred to me, in my tipsy-at-two-in-the-afternoon condition…. I was being a two-dimensional, reactive character in my story.

No one. Absolutely No. One. Likes or wants a flat, reactive character. That’s writing 1-0-1.

And if there’s anything I know, it’s writing.

I needed to take control of something.

I considered cutting my hair or getting bangs, but the salons were closed, so I took a long, hard look at my life and realized my career was something I could change.

Approximately one year ago this month, I began to absolutely devour every article, video and podcast I could find on self-publishing. Because what if I decided what I would write? Me, the author, making decisions! Imagine that. What if I chose when and how often the books would release, how they would be advertised and where, or who would voice my audiobooks?

What if I took control?

Of my career?

I know some of you are thinking, well, duh. It is YOUR career. Why didn’t this occur to you sooner?

Well, for starters, my Midwestern manners and one-step-above-human-doormat personality, made me afraid to rock the boat. Any boat. Ever. And the career I’d spent a decade building was a BIG boat. Add to that I’d been taught slowly, over a long period of time, to be thankful for what I was offered and keep my head down. The implication being I wouldn’t be offered anything again if I didn’t accept and choose to be happy about it. Whatever it was.

To me, in that moment, the industry I loved felt a lot like an unhealthy relationship. I had concerns I couldn’t voice without being silenced or patronized by others who were stuck in the mixer with me. So I climbed out.

Hey, the world was potentially ending, what did I have to lose?

I created a business and registered it with my state. (I am now the owner, operator and sole employee of Cozy Queen Publishing LLC. **deep curtsy). And I started writing my new cozy mystery series, the Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries, featuring a second-chance shop owner, Bonnie, and her kitty companion, Clyde. With names like those, what could possibly go wrong?

I wrote book 1, BURDEN OF POOF, between my traditional contracts, often late at night, or at a hotel on the weekends. When I finished book 1, I started book 2. I turned in every contracted manuscript on time and with a smile, because I am intensely, deeply thankful for the relationships and opportunities that carried me to midlist. Those publishers, editors and marketing teams hold me up and make my stories better. I appreciate them all to the moon.

But you can love something and still need more.

So, I created book trailers and promo graphics for Bonnie & Clyde between traditional writing bouts, new releases, and edits. I organized an ARC Team, reanimated my long-dead newsletter, wrote a short story prequel to generate interest, and I doubled down on my social media marketing. I started a Facebook reader group called Cozy Queens, hired a kick butt editor from my traditional world, found an illustrator in Barcelona to hand draw my covers, and I reached out to the actress who reads my Cider Shop Mysteries, and she blessedly agreed to voice my new stories.

I set a goal and I went after it like the world was ending.

And, when the contracts ran out, and the agent called to see if I would write more for each publisher, I said no.

Again.

And again.

It was possibly the scariest thing I have ever done. And I had to do it often.

,Now, here I am, still standing. A traditional author with no contracts, but an abundance of hope. My second book in the Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries–Seven Deadly Sequins— released today, so I guess, technically, I’m a hybrid author. I’m proud of these stories, the support team, and of myself for being brave, when bravery doesn’t come easily.

There are eight planned books in the Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries, a five-book spin-off series coming next spring, and two side projects I hope to incorporate. It feels incredible and empowering to see what I’ve accomplished and to dream of more good things to come. I no longer feel small or timid, because every single scary step of the way, I’ve become stronger and more confident, which is life changing and priceless. I would do it all again just for that.

Will I ever go back to traditional publishing? Maybe. But this journey wasn’t about them. This was about me.

And I have zero regrets for going rogue.

Readers: Have you ever gone rogue?

About the Author:

Julie Anne Lindsey is an award-winning and bestselling author of mystery and romantic suspense. She’s published more than forty novels since her debut in 2013 and currently writes series as herself, as well as under multiple pen names, for Harlequin, Kensington, Sourcebooks and Crooked Lane Books. When Julie’s not creating new worlds or fostering the epic love of fictional characters, she can be found in Kent, Ohio, plotting murder with her shamelessly enabling friends. Today she hopes to make someone smile. One day she plans to change the world. Learn more about Julie at julieannelindsey.com

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