Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 87

A Wicked Welcome to Clea Simon!

I’m delighted to welcome Clea Simon to the blog today! Clea has a new standalone suspense novel coming out later this month, and I invited her here to talk about it.

Hold Me Down opens with Gal, who used to be a rock star, back in town for a benefit. But when she sees someone from her past in the crowd – and that someone ends up dead, she’s sucked into a mystery that will make her revisit her own past and those of all she loves. Hold Me Down, a standalone psychological suspense, is a departure for Clea Simon, the author of such cat cozies as A Spell of Murder and (most recently) A Cat on the Case.  But in all her books, she believes that strong female characters are key – because who doesn’t want a heroine we can believe in?

Do certain songs bring up memories for you?

That’s one of the questions Gal Raver is facing in Hold Me Down. Back in the day – some twenty years ago – Gal was a rock star, or close enough, with a touring band and songs on the charts. She not only sang and played bass, she wrote those songs, the ones that stick in your head and immediately bring you back to a certain place and time – they just poured out of her like hot lava.  When we meet her, she’s retired, off the road and living a much healthier life, and only strapped on her bass again for a benefit: her former drummer (and dear friend) Aimee has died of cancer, leaving behind a ton of bills for her husband Walter and their daughter Camille. But as Gal rejoins her old bandmates at a local theater, reviving their hits (like “Hold Me Down”), she has to face the fact that she’s not able to do it anymore. Sure, she can play those old songs. But write one? Even though she knows more about music – and certainly about the music business – than she did in her youth, the magic just eludes her.

Of course, that’s not the most urgent problem Gal has to deal with. The night after the benefit, she hears that an old colleague – someone she’d seen in the crowd – has been found dead behind the venue. What’s worse, Walter has been arrested. And for some reason, he doesn’t seem willing to defend himself. At Camille’s urging, Gal gets involved. Camille reminds her so much of her lost friend, and all the questions she’s raising – why won’t her dad fight the charges? What could have happened? – resonate with Gal. Plus, she has some odd, flickering memories of the dead man, some of the few memories she has of that crazy, boozy time.

Clea Simon rocking it!

To save Walter, Gal has to go back to those memories. Reunited with her old crew, she starts asking questions, trying to understand what could have happened – and why. Some of that may be coded into the songs she wrote back then, apparently without thinking. Some of it might be lost forever in the craziness of the rock star life. While Gal is not your typical amateur sleuth, she has a vested interest in uncovering the truth. For Walter and Camille, of course. But just maybe because the truth will help her understand just what happened in the wild time – and figure out where the music went.

While Hold Me Down isn’t a cozy, I like to think there’s some similarity between this standalone and my cat books. For one, Gal – the musician at the center of Hold Me Down – is a very strong, independent woman, just like my Becca or Dulcie or Theda. And when one of her friends is in trouble, especially when he’s accused of murder, she will do anything to defend him and uncover the truth. If that means figuring out what really happened that night, behind the theater, or years earlier, she’s up for it. And, with the music as a guide, she’d love to take you along for the ride.

Readers: Do certain songs bring you back to a place or a time? Is there one song or artist who brings up all the memories for you? Even for those of us who aren’t rock stars, music can have such meaning, touching something deep within. What songs do that for you?

BIO:

A former journalist, Clea Simon is the Boston Globe-bestselling author of three nonfiction books and nearly 30 mysteries including the new psychological suspense Hold Me Down.  While most of these (like A Cat on the Case) are cat “cozies” or amateur sleuth, she also writes darker crime fiction, like the rock and roll mystery World Enough, named a “must read” by the Massachusetts Book Awards. Her new psychological suspense Hold Me Down (Polis Books) returns to the music world, with themes of PTSD and recovery, as well as love in all its forms. New York Times bestseller Lisa Unger called Hold Me Down “provocative, moving, and suspenseful. Don’t miss it,” while Caroline Leavitt (also a New York Times bestseller) said “Clea Simon’s devastatingly powerful mystery hits you like a punch in the heart.” Clea can be reached at:

Website:  www.cleasimon.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CleaSimonAuthor
Instagram: @cleasimon_author
Twitter: @Clea_Simon

Wicked Wednesday-The Unexplained

Jessie: In New Hampshire, tucking the last bulbs into the ground before it freezes!

During October we are discussing The Unexplained. So, Wickeds, have you ever had an experience you just couldn’t explain?

Edith/Maddie: It happens occasionally right here at my desk. Seriously, how is it that I can write characters doing things that surprise me – and the words came through my own fingertips? It feels so much like the characters really are alive and are guiding what I write. And I don’t know how that comes about. I love it and am delighted by it, but it mystifies me every time.

Sherry: Edith, I agree that writing often seems mystical. I met some friends in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa a few years ago. We stayed in this beautiful, old art deco hotel in the downtown area. Cary Grant was staying there when he died so it’s rumored that he haunts the hotel. A friend and I were in her room when there was a knock on the door. She answered but no one was there. We both looked up and down the hall. No one was in it and because it’s an older hotel, there weren’t any hiding places in the hall. We closed the door, went to sit down, and both felt this light breeze brush by. We looked at each other and said, “Hi, Cary.” I’ve always thought it might make a fun premise for a paranormal cozy–a hotel manager who can see Cary Grant.

Liz: I’ve always wanted to have a haunted hotel experience, Sherry! At a former job I used to have to travel to Dubuque, IA every so often. There was this amazing hotel there called the Julien where I absolutely loved to stay. Al Capone allegedly owned the hotel while he was a mob boss in Chicago and used to escape there for quiet time pretty often. I always hoped he was there haunting the place and awaited evidence, but alas never saw anything spooky.

Julie: Edith, I agree about the magic of ideas. And Sherry, if you’re going to be haunted, Cary Grant is a good way to go. Many years ago, I lived in an apartment that had a poltergeist. I’d noticed things, but didn’t say anything to my roommate. I’d not be able to find a strand of pearls, then I’d find them in the living room under a cushion. Unexplained noises. That sort of thing. She’d apparently had the same issue–flashing lights in mirrors. One day we were both standing in the living room arguing, and a can of roach spray that was on top of the refrigerator (it was that kind of apartment) flew between us and hit the wall. I was never able to explain that.

Barb: The B&B my mother-in-law ran in Boothbay Harbor, Maine (and that my husband and I later owned) was rumored to be haunted by the sister of Captain Murray, the original owner of the house. Some people believed this, I emphasize. Miss Murray haunted Room 2, which, given the layout of the bedrooms, logically could have been hers. My husband and I almost never slept there, but one weekend we had a family gathering and every other room was full, so we stayed in Room 2. Our cocker spaniel MacKenzie was with us. He whined, paced around on his toenails, and panted all night. None of us were getting any sleep. We didn’t want to let him out of the room because we were afraid he would bark at a guest who got up in the night or went down early to breakfast. But finally, at dawn, we could stand it no longer. As soon as we opened the door, MacKenzie ran out, flung himself down in the hall and immediately fell into a deep sleep. I still say there were squirrels in the walls, but other people insist…

The Murray family in front of the house in 1879.

Jessie: I love all your stories! And I agree with magically inexplicable ideas and writing flow. I always feel so blessed when it happens to me. Some of my most intriguing experiences have been auditory. I have had two times in my life where a voice in my left ear has kept me from real harm in a vehicular accident. I cannot explain it in the least but I believe, in the first case at leasr, that I owe it my life.

Readers, have you ever had an experience you could not explain?

Celebrating Festive Mayhem 2 with Guest Rhoda Berlin

debbiejpruss is the winner of Rhoda’s book. Please watch for an email from her!

I’m so happy to welcome Rhoda Berlin to the blog today. We’ve had some delightful email exchanges about Festive Mayhem 2. Amazingly in her blog post below she mentions Buffalo, Iowa which is a small town near my hometown. I had to find out how someone from Los Angeles had heard of Buffalo. (It was through a friend.)

Rhoda: Many thanks to the Wickeds for the warm welcome!

I’m delighted to be here with some thoughts on holidays and culture. “Culture” means different things to different people. For our purposes, let’s define it as what goes into living our everyday lives. This includes how we speak, dress, celebrate, and – of course – what we eat. With this in mind, holidays and culture are tightly entwined.

During a recent wait at the post office, I overheard a woman and her young son discussing Thanksgiving. He asked, “Where are we eating?” (A boy after my own heart.)

His mom said, “Aunt Marisol and Uncle Derrick’s.”*

I could practically see the boy drooling as he said, “Oh, good! Yummy turkey, and I love lumpia!”

His joyful anticipation of both American and Filipino dishes whisked me back to the epicurean acculturation that I grew up with. In my Korean immigrant family, holidays initially meant kalbi, fresh off our little charcoal grill, rice, kimchi and lots of other side dishes. As my parents’ knowledge of both English and local traditions increased, American fare was added, making our table a bicultural smorgasbord. That’s how I learned the vital roles language and food play as you settle into a new community, whether you move from Russia to the US or from Buffalo, New York to Buffalo, Iowa.

Over time, I learned that fitting in goes deeper than vocabulary and diet. No matter how many generations ago they’d arrived, my friends’ families also struggled with culture clash. Blue collar and white. Baptist and Jewish. Urban and rural. Sixth generation Californian and Italian immigrant. We were all multicultural in some way, and dealing with the differences wasn’t easy, especially during the holidays. We relished comparing notes on how our families dealt with the conflicts and how we, heirs to the confusion, made sense of it all.

It was comforting to say, “You, too?”

I was jerked back into the present when the boy stopped naming Thanksgiving dishes. He got a frozen look on his face and said, “But what about –”

Before he could finish, his mother said, “Don’t worry. Uncle Todd’s not invited, not after last time.”

The boy smiled, and cheerfully planned his dessert.

Notorious Uncle Todd reminded me that whenever people gather, emotions can get whipped up, and events meant for pure fun and feasting can get downright explosive. In other words, celebrations – family or otherwise – provide the perfect opportunities for searing suspense!

That’s why, when an invitation went out for cozy holiday tales with a culinary bent, I couldn’t resist. Cross-cultural ideas blend in “Last Bite,” a story in which a young woman introduces her fiancé to her family, differences meet head-on, history plays a roll, and things happen.

*All names have been changed.

Readers, what holiday foods and traditions were passed down to you? And what cultural bridges have you learned to build?

In celebration of the multicultural experience, I’m giving away a hard copy of my non-fiction book Mixed Blessings: A Guide to Multicultural and Multiethnic Relationships. For a chance to receive it, please leave a comment below. (The giveaway closes at noon EDT, October 14, and is open to U.S. residents only.)

In addition, the Festive Mayhem 2 team is offering a multiple-item giveaway, one winner per item. To join the fun, go to our Rafflecopter page: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f0f9d74e25/

Festive Mayhem 2 blurb

“Last Bite” is in Festive Mayhem 2, a collection of seven cozy holiday mystery shorts by writers of color. The zesty tales stretch from 1921 to 2021, Halloween to New Year’s Eve, the US to the UK. Recipes are included!

Bio

Rhoda Berlin is a second-generation Korean American who enjoyed a thirty-year career as a marriage and family therapist. She co-authored the non-fiction book Mixed Blessings: A Guide to Multicultural and Multiethnic Relationships with Harriet Cannon. Now folding her knowledge of human nature into her writing, Rhoda recently completed her first novel,a multicultural mystery.

Website link: https://rhodaberlin.com

Maine Clambake #10, Title, Release Date, Cover Reveal

by Barb, just back from a lovely week in Virginia, visiting family, touristing in Williamsburg, and seeing Sherry Harris!

At long last, I am excited to announce the release of Maine Clambake Mystery #10!

Release Date: June 28, 2022. Yes it’s a long wait, sixteen months from the last one. I’m not sure about the timing. I think there were some covid-related delays in contracting and signing. And, Kensington may have wanted to move publication away from the wide release of Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door on December 28, 2021. I’m happy to have a release date in the summer, which I think suits the series better than the late December date the Clambake books had for many years. I’m thinking, if this ^&*# virus is mostly behind us, maybe even some personal appearances to celebrate the release, which were never possible in the crazy time between Christmas and New Year’s.

Title: The title of the book is Muddled Through. My editor was initially skeptical about it and I understand why. It doesn’t scream cozy or food. And I can see some hot-take reviews. “I muddled through this miserable mess of a manuscript.” BUT I love this title because the book a) takes place during mud season (roughly mid-March to the end of April in Maine), b) is about pottery and local Maine clay, and 3) “muddling through” accurately describes Julia’s emotional state during the period this book covers.

The winner of the title suggestion contest in my newsletter is Lorna Doran. Lorna will be included in the acknowledgements and will receive an Advance Reader Copy as soon as I get them. (I am thinking around March-ish.) Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! There were some excellent ones that may yet get used later in the series.

Cover: Here you go.

It’s different right? No food for one thing. (Never fear, there are recipes in the book.) Weirdly, it’s exactly what I asked for and not at all what I expected. (Though maybe that’s not weird. It happens a lot.) As per usual, I sent a long a link to a Pinterest board to my editor during our cover discussions. Check it out to compare.

Here’s the blurb

Mud season takes on a whole new meaning in the coastal town of Busman’s Harbor, Maine, when local business owners sling dirt at one another in a heated feud over a proposed pedestrian mall. Vandalism is one thing, but murder means Julia Snowden of the Snowden Family Clambake steps in to clean up the case . . .
 
When Julia spots police cars in front of Lupine Design, she races over. Her sister Livvie works there as a potter. Livvie is unharmed but surrounded by smashed up pottery. The police find the owner Zoey Butterfield digging clay by a nearby bay, but she has no idea who would target her store. Zoey is a vocal advocate for turning four blocks of Main Street into a pedestrian mall on summer weekends. Other shop owners, including her next-door neighbor, are vehemently opposed. Could a small-town fight provoke such destruction? When a murder follows the break-in, it’s up to Julia to dig through the secrets and lies to uncover the truth . . .

Where to pre-order

Don’t miss out on Muddled Through. For some reason, Amazon has been super-slow getting the mass max paperback up along with the cover image, but the Kindle pre-order link is there. And the book is available from most other retailers.

AmazonBarnes & nobleKoBoChapters/indigoAN independent bookstore

Readers: What do you think? Cover? Title? Release date? Let me know in the comments.

Fall Favorites

By Liz, feeling like fall is really here!

I’m definitely a summer/warm weather girl, but fall is right up there on my list of favorite seasons. So while I always hate to say goodbye to summer, I figured I would embrace the beginning of fall by recognizing everything I appreciate and look forward to about the season. So here goes!

I love cozy socks, sweatshirts and scarves. There’s no arguing that sweater weather brings lots of opportunities to shop. And I do love to be comfy, so that means lots of great outfit choices, so that’s definitely a pro.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about October and Halloween season. I love haunted houses, scary movies, costumes, all of it – I can’t get enough.

Keeping the windows open all day and night. The air is just cool enough, and smells so fresh!

Watching Gilmore Girls reruns. Let’s be honest, I do this all year round, but there’s something about the fall that feels so perfect to watch this show. Feels like I’m visiting old friends.

It’s the perfect season to curl up at night with tea and a good book. Right? There’s just something about fall that makes this the activity of choice.

Readers, what’s your favorite thing about fall? Tell us in the comments!

Wicked Wednesday – National Coffee Day

It’s our last national day to discuss – and I think this one is my favorite. It’s National Coffee Day – and we all know how much I love coffee! It’s also Julie’s (as Julia Henry) release week – we’re still celebrating Wreathing Havoc! Congrats, Julie – and we need to discuss Lilly’s coffee habits too.

So let’s get to it – love coffee or hate it (gasp!)? If you love it, how do you take your coffee (black, loaded with cream and sugar, lattes only)? When did you start drinking coffee? If you hate it, first, what’s wrong with you (I’m kidding) and second, why? What do you prefer instead? What about your characters? Can you tell I’ve had too much of it already today?

Jessie: Congratulations, Julie! I laughed out loud at this question, Liz, as I thought of your face as you imagined people not liking coffee! I love it too but am rather picky about how it tastes. I love it very strong and black. Last year we added an espresso machine to our kitchen and I have been drinking a double espresso each morning since. In cold weather I sometimes have an Americano in the afternoon and have been enjoying espresso tonics through the summer months in the heat of the afternoon. My character Edwina Davenport makes terrible coffee and is an avid tea drinker. Her sleuthing partner, Beryl Helliwell, loves the same sort of coffee that I love but has not found it easy to obtain in rural 1920s England!

Julie: Thank you all! I love coffee, but alas can’t drink it anymore. I miss it terribly. I loved it black, but was also a huge fan of cappuccinos and specialty drinks for treats. Lilly drinks coffee in the morning, and tea in the afternoon. And in Wreathing Havoc, which came out yesterday, there are eggnog lattes, which are so, so good. Though not necessarily in this case.

Sherry: I’m so happy for you, Julie and can’t wait to read Wreathing Havoc! Liz, I’m glad you still love me even though I don’t drink coffee, Liz. It’s my mom’s fault (hi, Mom)! When I was in second grade we were sitting out on out our tiny front porch and I asked if I could taste her coffee. It was the bottom of the pot and the bottom of her cup and it was AWFUL. The Wickeds are well aware of my Coke (a Cola) habit and I go through cycles of drinking it and giving it up. (I’m in a giving it up cycle) I do love tea — hot or cold. Both Sarah and Chloe drink coffee but they aren’t addicts.

Barb: Congratulations, Julie! I would sit down for an eggnog latte with Lilly any day of the week. My two huge cups (bowls) of coffee every morning are one of my favorite parts of the day. I don’t care if it’s hot, so I can linger luxuriously, the best part of working from home. Both Julia and Jane drink a lot of coffee and tea, and iced tea and lemonade in the summer, and wine and beer in the evening, as they make their sleuthly rounds. So much that one thing I do during a revision cycle is delete some of those drinks, to make sure my sleuths don’t get the jitters or float away!

Liz: Sherry, I guess I can forgive you…. kidding! Everyone knows how much of an addict I am, and like Jessie I drink it strong and black. I will definitely do specialty drinks, especially iced ones, as a treat, like lattes with oat or almond milk. And, not surprisingly, Stan, Maddie and Violet are all big coffee drinkers – mainly because I wouldn’t know what they would do in the mornings otherwise!

Edith/Maddie: First, congratulations to Julie for yesterday’s release of Wreathing Havoc! I’ll be picking up my copy at my local indy bookstore tomorrow. Coffee – I would be bouncing off the walls if I drank as much coffee as you, Liz. I learned to love good coffee as an exchange student in Brazil (my parents back in California drank instant…). I’m a fan of a good dark roast with a bit of whole milk in it, and I carry it in a travel mug upstairs to my desk so it stays hot as I work. But I only drink two cups in the morning and that’s it (unless I’m out to an excellent dinner and then I’ll ask if they have decaf espresso), and I almost never buy coffee out. Rose Carroll makes coffee in a stovetop pot back in 1890. Robbie and Mac drink coffee but I don’t make a big deal about it.

Readers, what about you? Love coffee? Hate it? How do you take it?

Wreathing Havoc–It’s Today!

by Julie, celebrating in Somerville

I am DELIGHTED that Wreathing Havoc is out in the world today!

I loved writing this book, the 4th in the Garden Squad series. I got to combine Thanksgiving, A Christmas Carol, dramatic theater people, long ago love affairs, wreaths, competition, mini-pies and poison in a tale that involves the entire Garden Squad. Here’s what the book blurb says:

There’s nothing like autumn in picturesque Goosebush, Massachusetts, but beneath the season’s sun-dappled foliage, Lilly Jayne and her Garden Squad must investigate a shadowy murder mystery after a theater owner’s sudden death sows as much drama behind the scenes as on any stage . . .

 

Lilly Jayne typically spends the harvest season baking festive pies and crafting colorful wreaths to enter in the library’s annual fundraising contest. But this year, autumn opens on a somber note when beloved local theater owner, Leon Tompkin, dies unexpectedly. His memorial sets the scene for a mini reunion of The Goosebush Players’ best and brightest alumni, including Hollywood star, Jeremy Nolan . . . until someone plucks Jeremy from the spotlight, permanently.

 

Now, as dedicated theater volunteer, Scooter McGee, falls under suspicion, Lilly and her Garden Squad must spring into action. They quickly discover a cornucopia of potential suspects in Jeremy’s murder. Was it an embittered ex . . . or a jilted lover? A rival thespian . . . or an overly ambitious artist? Lilly rakes through the piles of clues, but if she doesn’t uncover the real killer soon, more than autumn leaves will be dropping in Goosebush . . .

Wreathing havoc

I’m so looking forward to celebrating WREATHING’s book birthday with five other authors at 7:30pm EDT/4:30pm PDT on my Facebook page or via Zoom. Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82859608031

Any other theater fans out there? Do you remember the song, It’s Today? From Mame? I’m going to celebrating the release of Wreathing Havoc by singing that song all day. The book is out in mass market paperback, large print and audiobook versions. I can’t wait for you all to read it!

Here’s Christine Baranski singing It’s Today:

Thank you all for your support!

Cover Reveal: Batter off Dead

Edith/Maddie writing from north of Boston, where fall has arrived with a vengeance.

Yes, I’m a summer lover. I’m already grieving the end of sweet corn from the farm a mile away, of my garden’s sun-warmed Asian eggplants and tomatoes of all sizes, of blueberries and raspberries, of swimmable-temperature water (all two weeks of it) and reading on the beach. Yes, I know sweater and boot season is coming, along with cider donuts and soups and hot tea. I’d rather have summer, thank you very much.

But let’s not get dark before the days actually do. I’m delighted to show you the cover of set-in-summer Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10! Read down for a giveaway.

Isn’t that fun? Depicted is the front porch of Jupiter Springs Assisted Living. (I’m not sure how Robbie’s kitty Birdy got there, but that’s the cover artist’s prerogative.) Here’s the blurb:

In Batter Off Dead, Robbie Jordan and her new husband Abe O’Neill are enjoying a summer evening in the park with fellow townsfolk excited for some Friday night fireworks. In attendance are senior residents from Jupiter Springs Assisted Living including Roy Bird, father to South Lick’s very own Police Lieutenant Buck Bird. Despite his blindness, Roy is a member of his group home’s knitting circle, spending quality time with some lovely ladies.
 
But when the lightshow ends, one of the knitters who sat with Roy is found dead, a puncture wound in her neck. The poor woman’s death echoes that of Buck’s mother— Roy’s wife—an unsolved homicide. To help find the killer, Robbie’s going to have to untangle the knotty relationships deep in the victim’s past…

The book releases February 22, which is suddenly seeming sooner that it had been. I’ve finished a Christmas Scarf novella in the Country Store series, to release in about a year, and am deep into first draft of Four Leaf Cleaver, book eleven (yes, which takes place around St. Patrick’s Day).

To celebrate, and to be sure you’re up-to-date on the series, I have codes for two audiobooks of the previous book, No Grater Crime, to give away!

Readers: What’s your favorite thing to make – or eat – from a batter?

National Felt Hat Day

September 15th was National Felt Hat Day. We postponed our post to say happy birthday to Agatha Christie, but it was a fun post so we wanted to tackle the subject a week late.

Some people can pull off hats and look great in them. I actually love hats, but my characters don’t wear them much. Wickeds, do your characters wear hats and if so, what’s their favorite style of hat? Do you wear hats?

Jessie: Liz, this topic is one of my favorites! I adore wearing hats and do so almost daily. Felt, straw, knitted, I love them all! My sleuth, Edwina Davenport is just as smitten with hats as I. She can even be persuaded by her fellow sleuth, Beryl Helliwell, to launch herself into new experiences if they might justify purchasing a new hat!

Edith/Maddie: I like the thought of wearing hats, but most are too tight on my extra-large head (trust me on this), and my head always gets hot even when I find one that fits. It has to be really cold and windy out to find me in a topper. None of my protagonists seem to have my hat issues, thank goodness. Rose Carroll wears a Quaker bonnet when she goes out. And I can vouch for how good Jessie looks in a wide-brimmed hat!

Julie: Edith, I also have an extra large head. When I was in college I wore fedoras. It was the 80s and they were in style. In remembering that, I think I should start to do that again. I loved them. And since they were men’s hats, they fit. I’d love to wear a cloche that looked good and fit–hard to find. As for my characters–Lilly wears a hat while gardening and walking. She’s fond of big straw hats, some with scarves to keep them on her head.

Barb: In the late sixties I had a big, floppy, red felt hat, when such things were fashionable. Alas no photos exist. Now I only wear hats, grudgingly, to keep the sun off my very sunburnable face. Hats, however, always put me in mind of my grandmother, Eleonore Kimbel Taylor Ross, who was a millinery buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue throughout her career, from the 1930s until she retired in the early 1960s.

Here’s my grandmother in quite a felt hat in an ad for Raybestos Brakes painted by Norman Rockwell (1922).

Liz: Love this, Barb! And Jessie, I knew your fondness for hats so I definitely wanted to tackle this topic. I love hats – I have a few fun ones and I’m currently on the hunt for some fun new ones. I love fedoras, and slouchy hats in the winter, and I have a wide-brimmed beachy hat that makes me feel like a movie star when I wear it that is a treasured gift from a friend. I also usually wear some kind of hat walking the doggies in the morning. Makes me feel much more presentable than I usually am at that hour!

Sherry: Barb you seemed to have an endlessly supply of fascinating relatives! I rarely wear hats unless it’s some knit thing stolen from my husband to wear on cold winter walks. My face is so square hats never seem to look good on me. I do have a floppy hat to keep the sun off my face, but don’t wear it often. Chloe might slap on a baseball cap now and then and Sarah something if she needed a disguise.

Readers, what about you? Love hats? What’s your favorite kind? Leave us a comment!

Welcome Jen Danna – The Thrilling World of Hostage Negotiation

By Liz – and today I’m super excited for our “other genre” guest, Jen Danna! This post is right up my alley – I love reading action-packed stories where hostage negotiators are trying to beat the clock in a stressful situation. Jen takes us behind the scenes to learn all about their tricky, high-stakes job. Take it away, Jen!

Thanks so much to Liz for the invitation to join you all today!

Police procedural thrillers can be extremely entertaining—the intrigue of high stakes criminal acts, the heart-pounding ride of the chase, and the challenge of actually having to stick to legalities (unlike those lucky amateur sleuths and PIs who get to bend the rules!). But what if the lives of multiple victims regularly rest in your protagonist’s hands? That’s the world of hostage negotiation. It’s Gemma Capello’s world in the NYPD Negotiators series.

Hostage negotiators are a special breed of law enforcement. Within the NYPD, they are experienced officers; interested individuals can’t even apply to join the Hostage Negotiation Team until they’ve been on the force for at least twelve years. In that time, officers learn the human side of law enforcement—not just the crime, but the story behind it, and, more importantly, the people behind it. It’s that understanding of human nature and human frailty that allows them to connect with victim and hostage taker alike.

They’re called the Hostage Negotiation Team, but the emphasis is on the negotiation, not the hostages. These negotiators are also the first line of protection for distressed individuals, those wanting to take their own lives because they don’t see any way out other than stepping off a bridge or jumping in front of a subway train. That’s when the ability to make a personal connection can be a truly life-saving skill.

Of course, the most dangerous situations arise when the innocent are taken hostage. Then it’s the ultimate fine line to walk. In SHOT CALLER, Detective Gemma Capello is confronted with an extremely complicated situation: Inmates in a secure unit at Rikers Island have rioted and taken eight correction officers hostage. Gemma needs to negotiate for the live release of all the hostages, all while knowing her hands are essentially tied behind her back. There isn’t much she is allowed to offer as a trade for the hostages, and she’s dealing with inmates who were already looking ahead to life sentences, and therefore have absolutely nothing left to lose. 

Like real-life hostage negotiators, Gemma carries a gun and a badge, but force and violence are not her tools. She uses connection, compassion, and empathy to bridge the gap between herself and the hostage taker. But in a situation like that, the ability to think on your feet, pivot adroitly in the face of constantly changing circumstances, and, above else, to stay calm when disaster strikes is paramount. 

While most of us have never had to negotiate a life-and-death situation, have you ever successfully negotiated something in your life? A raise, an argument, a better price on your new car, or maybe your way into that peanut butter cup Blizzard you’ve been hankering for? Darn it… now I’m hungry!

To celebrate the launch of NYPD Negotiators #2, SHOT CALLER, I’m giving away a hardcover copy to a random commenter. Please share your thoughts below and good luck in the draw! (Giveaway open to residents of Canada and the US; contest closes at noon EDT on September 25th)

A scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen works with a cutting-edge research group on three national COVID-19 clinical trials. After a day battling microscopic pathogens, she enjoys spending her evenings taking on hostage takers and serial killers. She is the author of the NYPD Negotiators thriller series, and, with Ann Vanderlaan, writes both the FBI K-9 series (as Sara Driscoll) and the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries. You can find her at https://jenjdanna.com/ and on social media:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenJDanna 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jenjdanna

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jen.j.danna/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5807939.Jen_J_Danna 

SHOT CALLER Blurb:

In Jen J. Danna’s gripping suspense series, NYPD detective Gemma Capello is called to Rikers Island, where a prison riot threatens to become a bloodbath . . .

On Rikers Island, tensions always run high, especially in the Enhanced Supervision Housing unit. The ESH is home to Rikers’ most dangerous offenders, many of them members of rival street gangs. When Gemma Capello and her team get word of an uprising at the ESH, they know how much is at stake. Gemma also has her own unresolved feelings to deal with—this is the first case she and Detective Sean Logan have worked together since a siege at City Hall that ended with the hostage taker’s death.

Built to hinder escape, prisons are also especially difficult for a tactical team to invade. That’s a last resort for Gemma, but the longer the inmates remain in control, holding corrections officers hostage, the greater the risk. Gemma begins negotiating with Kill Switch, a young, aggressive member of the Filero Kings gang and the inmates’ spokesman. She can tell the stress level is escalating inside. That may give her team some advantages, but it soon leads to a brutal act of retribution—and threats of more to come.

Navigating assumptions on all sides, Gemma desperately tries to stop the body count from rising. But with disagreements and volatility increasing all around, the only certainty is that the next misstep may be a fatal one . . .

SHOT CALLER is available at these fine retailers: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Audible, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, Hudson Booksellers, IndieBound, Indigo, Target, and Walmart.