Barbara Ross's Blog, page 2

From the Mail Bag

by Barb, last post from Key West for the year. We’ve had a lovely time.

Most of the email, FaceBook messages, web contact form responses, Instagram messages, etc. that I get are absolutely lovely. Many people enjoy the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Some people wonder what happened to Jane Darrowfield. Others send corrections, note typos, and so on.

Then there are some like this one.

I have just finished “Hopped Along” and enjoyed it. I am a 71 year man who grew up reading lots of children’s book. I even took a College course in Children’s Lit. Your story had Major Error which was confusing. I’m surprised it was published. Your friends and editors don’t do you favors by allowing your Mistake!!! The old man in the Top Hat was like “Uncle Wiggily” by Howard R. Garis; Not Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. You need to make a Public Apology in your talks, newsletters, and website.

First Draft of Response

Dear Xxxx-

I am a 71-year-old woman who is Tired of Being Corrected by Old Men, particularly for sins I have not committed. Though your college professor from 50 years ago would be proud of your recall, your first grade teacher from 65 years ago must be weeping in the Great Beyond at your inability to read. I Never Wrote Anywhere that the old man in the top hat was Peter Rabbit. Julia’s nephew calls him the Easter Bunny. The Tales of Peter Rabbit is indeed a clue in the story but an entirely separate clue. I therefore Decline to Apologize on my website, newsletter or talks.

Yours Very Sincerely, etc., etc.

Too much?

Actual Response

Thanks so much for writing! I’m so glad you enjoyed “Hopped Along.”

Happy reading–

Seriously, don’t rush to reassure me. I’m not upset. I find these things funny. It’s not unusual for people to read things in the books and novellas that aren’t there. OR to say things that have actually happened to me are impossible and could never happen. OR to say people in Maine would never, ever say something I have heard people say many times. And (spoiler) when Julia broke up with Chris…Oy! I still get mail about that.

In reality, I’m glad people are moved enough and care enough to write. Even Mr. Uncle Wiggily above. And the truth is I am glad to have the mystery solved of who was the bunny in the top hat because I googled like mad many times and never found him.

And, as I said above, most of the mail I get is absolutely lovely. In fact, I got a beautiful email this week about the book coming in April that makes up for this one times 100.

Readers: Do you write to authors? Do you send corrections or is it fan mail or both? Writers: What is the most “interesting” piece of mail you’ve received?

A Murderous Rage

Hi. Barb here. We’re taking a little stroll down Memory Lane today with a post I originally wrote for Maine Crime Writers during February 2012. I wish I could say things have improved, but if I told you about the series of conversations my husband had last month with our phone insurance company, Apple, and UPS after UPS lost the phone for which the insurance company had sent us the UPS mailer, you would know that things are not.

One day…

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for quality control. Are you an Aetna member?”
Me: Did I not just dial the Member’s line? “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Claims’ ‘Benefits’ or ‘What are my choices?’”
Me: “Claims”
AA: “What is your member id? Your social security number? Your birthdate? Your mother’s maiden name? Your eye color? Do you prefer frozen or fresh-squeezed? Pulp or no pulp? Have you heard about that new one that kinda has a little pulp?”
Me: Answer, answer, answer, answer.
AA: “We have several claims for you here.”
Me: “That’s actually why I’m calling. You seem to have stopped paying my husband’s—”
AA: “For each claim, we need the provider number and the exact date and time of the claim.”
Me: “Wait, what? The time of the claim, not the service, because how would I know–AARRGGHH!”

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—?”
Me: “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Claims’ ‘Benefits’ or ‘What are my choices?’”
Me: “What are my choices?”
AA: “Your choices are ‘Claims’ or ‘Benefits’
Me: “I hate you.”

Welcome to the Aetna Navigator website: For your protection, we’ve randomly assigned you a user name you will never remember and then we’ve hidden the area of the site where you can change it! Also for your protection, we require all passwords to have two consonants, three vowels, a number between 30 and 50 and any symbol that cannot be created by your keyboard. Good luck!

Aetna Navigator: We see you’ve accessed our site! What a surprise. Now that you’re here, our Automated Attendant Ann will answer any questions. Please click here.
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: Click
Ann: No response
Me: “Ann, are you by any chance related to the Automated Attendant who works on the Member’s line?”

Aetna Navigator: Send a secure message to Member Services. We will reply to the e-mail address below.
Me: After 15 months, you have apparently decided my husband is no longer covered by our policy. This seems a little random to me because I am still covered by the policy, we pay on the same bill, and our payments are up to date. Please advise.
Aetna Navigator: For your safety, this response to your e-mail has been encrypted. Click on this link. No, not that link, the other link! No, the other, other link. Now download the document. Enter your password again. No! Not that password. You are never going to be allowed to read this message.
Me: Grrrrrrrrrr

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Member’s line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—?”
Me: “Member”
AA: “How may we help you? You can say ‘Clai—’”
Me: “REPRESENTATIVE!”
AA: “I don’t understand what you said.”
Me: “I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU WITH THE WHITE HOT HEAT OF A THOUSAND SUNS. WHENEVER I HEAR SOMEONE ON TELEVISION SAY WE HAVE THE BEST HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD, MY HEAD EXPLODES AND FIRE SHOOTS OUT OF MY NECK!”
AA: “You can choose ‘Claims’ or “Benefits.”

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for quality control. Please listen carefully to our menu options because they have recently changed.
If you have questions about a payment, press 1.
If you have questions about an invoice, press 2.
If you like spicy food, press 3.
If you think puppies are cuter than kittens, press 4.
If you are a Starship commander, or are otherwise responsible for a Starship fleet, press 5.
If you are unhappy with your health insurance, wave your hands over you head and scream like a chicken.
Or, to speak to a customer service representative, press 7.”
Me: 7!
AA: Click, buzz, silence.

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—”
Me: 7!
AA: “What is your member id? Your social security number? Your birthdate? Your mother’s maiden name? Your eye color? In what city were you born? Was it a difficult birth? How long was the labor? What do you think about that Kim Kardashian?”
Me: Answer, answer, answer, answer.
Human Being: “Can I help you?”
Me: “God, I hope so. I do not actually have a billing problem, but since Aetna deems it appropriate to have human beings solve billing problems, and not claims problems, let’s pretend this is a billing problem, okay?”
HB: “Okay. In order to help you, I’ll need your member Id.”
Me: “I just gave that to the computer.”
HB: “Yes, but it doesn’t come through to our system.”
Me: “That seems incredibly inefficient.”
HB: (placating tone) “If you think so.”
Me: “I am quite sure I’m not the only person who thinks so. Anyway, here it is.”
HB: “What is your question?”
Me: “You’ve stopped paying my husband’s claims.”
HB: “Yes, we need his social security number.”
Me: “He’s been a member and you’ve been paying his claims for fifteen months, and now you need his social security number?”
HB: “We don’t have his social security number.”
Me: “I don’t understand, did you lose his social security number, or never have it or what?”
HB: “I don’t know, ma’am.”
Me: “Do you know what would happen to the productivity of this country if I had the time back I have spent on this? Not to mention the people in my husband’s doctor’s office and pharmacy who now have to re-submit these claims? Not to mention your time? Our national economic problems would be solved! The stock market would soar, and—”
HB: “If you think so, ma’am.”
Me: “I am quite sure I’m not the only person who thinks so. How long will it take to reinstate him?”
HB: “The computer will be updated overnight. It will be all fixed by tomorrow morning.”
Me: “If you think so…”

The Next Day

Me: Dial, Dial, Dial
Automated attendant: “Welcome to the Aetna Health Insurance Billing line. In order to improve our service, your call may be monitored for qual—”

Readers: Have you had a notable customer service debacle? Tell us about all about it. I will make you feel better, I promise.

The Tale of the Tale of Peter Rabbit

by Barb, still in Key West, where we’re all still complaining about the cold. (68 degrees right now.)

I’ve told the origin story of how I came up with the plot of “Hopped Along,” my story in Easter Basket Murder, in a post on the Jungle Red Writers blog here.

The next step was to write the synopsis, which I submitted to my editor, John Scognamiglio at Kensington, on September 1, 2022. From my brainstorming session with other Maine writers, I had the basics of character and plot. The challenge remained to tie all this together in a way that made it possible for my main character Julia Snowden and her boyfriend Tom Flynn to solve the mystery.

Though the original idea included both Easter Sunday and the Easter bunny, I felt I needed at least a nod to the title of the book, Easter basket. One of the pieces of connective tissue I included in the synopsis was this:

All that remains is the Easter basket, with a note, “for the little guy.” Julia picks it up and realizes it also contains a copy of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit.

The mistake in the title, as is obvious here, is entirely mine. I often find I make the worst mistakes with the things I am absolutely certain of. So certain that I never look them up. As a friend of mine says of his dynamo wife, “Often wrong, but never uncertain.” The same can be said of me.

1901 First Edition, independently printed by Beatrix Potter

After the synopsis was accepted I got on with the business of writing the novella. In a later draft, I realized that I didn’t need Peter Rabbit as a clue. Julia had another reason to look where it pointed. I eliminated the book from my book.

With the Maine Clambake Mystery novels John Scognamiglio always asks me for input on my covers and Kensington has used that input all but once. He also asks for me to write a little marketing blurb, which Kensington’s marketing department always takes and makes much better. (Except for once, when they made it much worse. John let me rewrite it that time.) John sends the proposed blurb to me before it is finalized and has worked with me long enough to ask, “Is the book still about this?”

But with the novellas, I never see the covers until they turn up in my email, finalized. (They’ve all been great). I never see the blurb until the book is on Amazon and the other retailers for pre-order, which is where I discovered it in May of 2023. Here’s what my part of the back cover copy said.

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 Adventures 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 . . .

Yikes! I had handed in the manuscript at that point but not yet done the copy edits. I was faced with a dilemma. I could ask Kensington to change the blurb, one of three for the three novellas in the book and already published on the various retail sites, or I could put Peter back in the book during the copy-edits. Peter had been in the book until quite late in the process and reinserting him would only effect two scenes. The solution was obvious.

The copy-edits came back in June of 2023 and I did a deep dive on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. It really is a remarkable story.

Peter began life as a series of illustrated letters to the sickly eldest son of Beatrix Potter’s former governess and lifelong friend. It was she who suggested the story could be a book. Potter was quite the entrepreneur. When The Tale of Peter Rabbit was rejected by publishers, she printed two editions independently. One of the publishers who’d rejected her then picked the book up. Potter didn’t stop there. She patented a stuffed bunny to be sold with the book, followed by a board game, wallpaper and other goods. Thus becoming the first content creator ever to invent that thing we’re all obsessed with now. Merch.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit has never been out of print in over 120 years. Beatrix Potter’s life was remarkable before she published the books and in a wholly different way afterward. She was one of those upper class, late Victorian woman with way more brains and energy than the society she was born into was prepared to let her exercise.

So now I had a bead on The Tale of Peter Rabbit and its publishing history. One challenge remained. As a clue it had to lead back to my regular character Quentin Tupper. Quentin is childless and not interested in anything childish or cute. For the clue to work, the edition of Peter Rabbit that Julia finds had to be worth a lot of money. That’s why Quentin would have collected it. But how much was it worth?

After touring around online auction and antique book sites, I turned to my friend Annette Holmstrom, an expert in rare and collectible books. Her response was reassuring.

Ok if it’s one of the really rare 450 copies Beatrix Potter had personally printed -and signed – it’s worth a LOT – the only copy I could find is priced at $100,000!

Whew! I was off and running. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was back in “Hopped Along.” And you know what? I think it makes the story better.

Readers: Did you have copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit when you were young? Did your kids?

Why the Easter Bunny Wears a Top Hat

by Barb in Key West where it’s c-c-c-old (64 degrees)

In the reader letter at the end of “Hopped Along,” my novella in Easter Basket Murder, released last Tuesday, I explain why my Easter Bunny wears a top hat.

I know why my Easter Bunny wears a top hat and tails. It comes from one of my favorite stories told by my father. When he was small, maybe five or six, he heard a noise outside just after dawn on Easter morning. Hoping to catch the Easter Bunny in the act of leaving the basket, he got out of bed and sat at the top of the stairs. Through the transom over the door, he was thrilled to see a top hat bobbing down the front walk. When the door to the house started to open, he lost his nerve and darted back to bed.

I don’t know how many years later it was that my father figured out that he’d seen the top of his father’s head as his parents returned at dawn from a formal party. But after my dad witnessed that scene through the transom, he said forever after he pictured the Easter Bunny wearing a top hat, and thus I do, too.

I especially loved this story because my father wasn’t given to mythologizing his childhood–or telling many stories about it at all. I adored his parents. As a teenager in the 1960s, their tales of the 1920s, beaded dresses and bathtub gin, where entrancing to me. I spent a lot of time with them and their colorful assortment of friends–millionaires, gigolos, B-to-D list celebrities, gay couples. All people who were kind and lovely to me. My grandparents were wonderful in an Auntie Mame-ish sort of way. Now that I’m older I can see that while that was great for grandparents, maybe it wasn’t the greatest for parents. Returning at dawn from a party on Easter Sunday may be emblematic of my father’s almost-never-spoken-about reservations about his upbringing.

As it happens, I still have that top hat, still in its original packaging. I have no idea why my grandparents saved it or why my parents saved it when it came to them or why I’m saving it except that having lasted this long…

The label on the box says it was deliverd C.O.D. to R. M. Ross for $9.94 to 38 Westminster Court in New Rochelle, NY, on December 22, (unfortunately no year). My father’s family, which included his mother’s father, lived at that address in the 1930s. By the mid-thirties when my father would have been old enough to have observed the hat bouncing down the front walk, the days of flappers and bathtub gin were over. Neither my grandfather, who was stockbroker, nor my great-grandfather, who had worked in my grandmother’s family’s interior design business, was working. (Neither profession is built to withstand economic downturns.) The only income coming in would have been from my grandmother, who worked at Saks Fifth Avenue. She eventually became a millinery buyer, but in those years she may have been behind a counter selling hats.

Paying $9.94 for a top hat during the Depression must have been an indulgence. On the other hand, having the chance to go to a fancy party and recapture a bit of your younger years must have been irresistible.

Inside the hatOriginal tissue paperBack of the sales slip above

I love that R.H. Macy’s, however diminished, is still at Herald Square. Given the many evolutions and revolutions in retail in the last 90 years, it seems like a miracle.

So now you know why my Easter Bunny wears a top hat.

Readers: Does your Easter Bunny wear a top hat? Do you have a tale from a parent’s or grandparent’s youth that you treasure? Tell us about it.

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?

Christmas in New York City

by Barb, first post of 2024, first post of the year from Key West

This was the year our kids and their families spend with their in-laws, so Bill and I were on our own. For a lot of good logistical reasons, we planned to spend Christmas in New York City, along with Bill’s sister, and her daughter (who lives there). Then, one by one, the logistical reasons faded away, logistical challenges took their place, and I started to lose my enthusiasm for the idea.

But then, as the days counted down, my mood changed again and I began to get excited.

We arrived in the city on Thursday night, December 22nd. Our hotel was the Tempo by Hilton, just opened in August, right in Times Square. The address was on Broadway, but the hotel was on 47th and 7th. Bill and I spent the hour between 10:30 pm and 11:30 pm driving through massive numbers of people and traffic and blocked off roads trying to find the entrance. Snarky words may have been exchanged between the driver and the passenger (and vice versa).

But then we got there and it was marvelous. The valets know how to unload a car on a busy street and whisked it off. The hotel was bustling with holiday tourists. Our room, typical of Manhattan, “wasn’t big enough to swing a cat.” (Note to cat lovers: This expression is not a reference to an actual cat, but to a cat o’nine tails, a multi-tailed whip used as punishment in the British Army and Navy. Maybe an almost as unpleasant reference, but invariably the expression my mother used to refer to a small hotel room. I carry on her legacy here.) But we looked right over Times Square. (And motorized room-darkening shades when needed.)

The next day, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for no particular reason except that we hadn’t been in quite awhile.

There was a special exhibit on Manet and Degas, a happy find for me because I love to see how creative people influence one another, both contemporaries (as in this case) or across generations.

Bill and I started a new thing in Paris this year. When we return to a museum we’ve been to several times and have seen all the “highlights,” we wander around, without a map or guide, completely lost to see what’s around the next corner. You can stumble across some delightful surprises that way. At one point, we were so lost we had to ask a guard how to get out. He pointed out the way, but then frowned a little and said, “Unless you want to see the Christmas tree. Then go that way.” Did we? Of course.

The tree is surrounded by 130 or so 18th century Neapolitan creche figures. Pretty amazing.

That night we walked around Rockefeller Plaza and the surrounding area.

The spectacular display by Dior on the Saks Fifth Avenue building. The windows were wonderful, too,……including this one of the display above us.Rockefeller Center tree I remember skating here as a child. There was a restaurant downstairs where we would go for hot chocolate afterwards.

The weather was perfect the whole time we were in New York. Cool enough so you remembered it was Christmas, but not cold. None of the nose-reddening, cheek-chapping freezing wind that can happen in the city.

Rockefeller Plaza Christmastime selfie. In 2009, I was working in New York City and lived in an apartment right behind this scene. (If you kept going back through the walkway to 48th Street. I watched the lighting of the Christmas tree from under my bulding’s portico.)

Both Bill’s sister and our niece work jobs with variable schedules and it took a long time to know who would be available to do what, when. By the time we were booking things, there weren’t many tickets to mutually agreeable shows to be found. Finally, I said that for nostalgia reasons going back to my childhood, I would be happy to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so that is what we did.

We went to a matinee. I thought we might be the only people there without kids. (We weren’t.) I was a little worried when they announced the show was 90 minutes with no intermission but the kids around us were completely entranced and incredibly well behaved. Their gasps of appreciation added to our enjoyment of the show.Dinner at Tavern on the Green.Gingerbread Tavern on the Green. Reminds me of two years ago when I posted about the gingerbread house at the Biltmore estate.

But then, when schedules did solidify, something amazing occurred. A Christmas Eve day matinee of Merrily We Roll Along was added and there were tickets! It felt like it was done especially for us. My niece was convinced it would be all understudies, but the main cast was there.

The mid-century modern set. Very Versatile. The musicians are in the penthouse above.The show was as great as we expected–and I could totally see why it was a flop in 1981.Christmas Eve dinner at a great Italian place in Greenwich Village.And Christmas brunch the next day at La Grande Boucherie

A good time was had by all!

The day after Christmas it was time to get back on the road to wend our way to Key West, stopping to see my brother’s new house in Baltimore and my daughter-in-law and granddaughter in Roanoke along the way.

Readers: Did you do something special or fun over the holidays? Were you on the road? Tell us about it in the comments.

Most photos by Bill Carito. https://www.billcaritophotography.com/

Maine Clambake Mysteries at the Governor’s Mansion

by Barb, home in Maine where it looks a lot like Christmas

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Pam Johnson, a member of the Kennebec Valley Garden Club. The club decorates the Maine Governor’s Mansion, known as Blaine House, every holiday season. This year the decoration theme was Maine authors, and Pam had chosen my novella, “Nogged Off” from Eggnog Murder for her decorations. Could I send along a book?

Could I? Of course. And then, reader, I couldn’t resist. I signed Bill and me up for a tour. After all, how often do these things happen in your lifetime? I was so eager that I initially signed us up for a tour of the Governor’s Mansion in Augusta, Georgia instead of Augusta, Maine. Bill pointed out my mistake when the email confirmation arrived.

I don’t know what I expected. I had some vague notions about a lot of Stephen King, and maybe writer pals Paul Doiron and Julia Spencer-Fleming would be included? I could let them know and send photos. It would be fun.

When we got there, it wasn’t that at all. But it was wonderful.

I found myself included with some of the greatest and most famous American authors of all time. I was honored, flattered, and a little bit embarrassed. But not so embarrassed that I’m not going to tell you all about it.

Just these writers (among others)

Robert McCloskeyE. B. WhiteEdna St. Vincent MillaySarah Orne JewettDahlov IpcarHenry Wadsworth Longfellow

And me

Didn’t Pam capture the cover of Nogged Off beautifully? (see below) Don’t I look delighted?

As an almost 50-year resident of New England, I was initially baffled by the Yankees paraphernalia. Until my own husband reminded me that the novella opens with my main character Julia traveling to New York City to clean out her apartment and say good-bye to her old life.

Two of the other women on the tour told me (while laughing) that they were in “the most powerful book group in Maine.” Naturally, I gave them bookmarks.

There were other fun connections, too.

I used Blaine House as the model of Windsholme on the map of Busman’s Harbor I had made a few years ago.

Blaine House

I added the porch and the third floor dormers to fit with descriptions of the house that had appeared in several of the books. I had the hardest time picking an image for the mapmaker to use for Windsholme. You can read all about that process here.

And then there’s this. Right next to the Nogged Off decorations.

The guide described it as James G. Blaine‘s desk when he served in the U.S. Senate, but I recognized it right away and confirmed my suspicion after consulting online auction sites and the book, Modern Gothic: The Inventive Furniture of Kimbel and Cabus, 1863-82. The desks and chairs were used in the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning in 1857. One hundred and thirty-one of the chairs, designed by Thomas Ustick Walter, architect of the Capitol Extension, 1851-1865, were hand-carved, assembled and finished by the firm of Bembe and Kimbel. Anton Kimbel, the cabinetmaker in the partnership, was my great-great grandfather!

How’s that for synchronicity? The desks and chairs were retired in 1873, when Blaine was Speaker of the House, so it makes sense that it was that set that he brought home.

Bill and I had a great time touring Blaine House at Christmas and I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along for the ride.

I bought a Blaine House Christmas ornament as a souvenir

Readers: Have you ever received an unexpected recognition? Or taken a tour filled with lovely concidences?

Easter Basket Murder ARCs are Here and Two #giveaways!

by Barb, in Maine where it’s cold and dark

Easter Basket Murder Advance Reader Copies are here and I’m celebrating with TWO giveaway opportunities.

Giveaway #1

Ten lucky winners will be selected to receive a ARC of Easter Basket Murder, the novella collection including stories by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and me. It will be released on January 23, 2024, so be the first on your block to read it. To enter, click here and fill out the form. US only, I’m afraid. Winners will be selected on November 16. If you entered through my newsletter this morning, there is no need to enter again.

Easter Basket Murder is also available on NetGalley for frequent reviewers who access ARCs in that way.

In addition to providing murder and mystery, my novella “Hopped Along,” moves Julia Snowden’s personal story along.

Giveaway #2

As an extra bonus, I’m participating in a group giveaway organized by the Book Talk authors (Paige Shelton, Hannah Dennison, Kate Carlisle, and Jenn McKinlay). Can you imagine how excited you’ll be if you win this BOOK HARVEST—sixteen wonderful mysteries from some of the most intriguing storytellers writing today.

Prize package includes:

Winter’s End by Paige SheltonThe Grim Reader by Kate CarlisleDeadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah DennisonStrawberried Alive by Jenn McKinlayDead in Devon by Stephanie AustinHidden Beneath by Barbara RossRest Ye Murdered Gentlemen by Vicki DelanyHot Pot Murder by Jennifer ChowWhat They Don’t Know by Susan FurlongBayou Book Thief by Ellen ByronUnder Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi PandianMurder Once Removed by S.C. Perkins, aka Celeste ConnallyMurder from Scratch by Leslie KarstHere Comes the Body by Maria diRicoMurder at Archly Manor by Sara RosettThe Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks

To enter, click here. Winners will be drawn on November 14. This giveaway is open internationally, but a winner outside the US will receive a $100 gift card to the bookstore of choice.

Best of luck to everyone!

About ARCs

ARCs or Advance Reader Copies are what used to be called uncorrected galleys back before digital printing. There will be some typos. (I’ve already spotted one that thank goodness I caught when I reviewed the page proofs.) And for Easter Basket Murder, the ARC will be a paperback, not hardcover.

Readers: Can you put up with the imperfections of an ARC or do they bug you too much. Would you rather have the book early and a little rough, or wait for publication day?

About Easter Basket Murder

Put on your springtime best and grab a basket, because Easter egg hunting is to dye for in this delightful new collection of Easter-themed capers set in coastal Maine and featuring fan-favorite sleuths from the long-running, bestselling cozy mystery series by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross!

EASTER BASKET MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
Tinker’s Cove businesses are clashing over a new Easter Basket–themed promotion to boost in-store sales, with tensions boiling over the grand prize—a mysterious golden egg crafted by a reclusive Maine artist. When the one-of-a-kind art piece is stolen, it’s up to part-time reporter Lucy Stone to investigate three struggling entrepreneurs who stick out in the local scene. But a huge town scandal comes into focus when a harmless shopping spree turns deadly, leaving Lucy to stop a murderer from springing back into action . . .

DEATH BY EASTER EGG by LEE HOLLIS
As Bar Harbor’s annual egg hunt approaches, Island Food & Spirits columnist and restauranteur Hayley Powell is thrilled to introduce her grandson, Eli, to local springtime traditions. Turns out, keeping up with a rambunctious toddler isn’t always sunshine and rainbows—especially when a decadent peanut butter treat kills the Easter bunny himself during the festivities! Now, with a clear-as-cellophane case of murder on her hands, it’s up to Hayley to crack the clues and scramble deadly plans before it’s too late . . .

HOPPED ALONG by BARBARA ROSS
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 Tale 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 . . .

Maine Clambake 12 Title, Cover, Pub Date Announced

by Barb, briefly back in Maine

It’s extremely gratifying to authors when on publication of one book, the most common question they get is, “When is the next one?” Gratifying and a little stressful, since it takes longer to write a book than to read one.

But, I’m happy to announce that Maine Clambake Mystery number twelve, Torn Asunder, will be released on April 23, 2024. The book has been up for pre-order on the retail sites for a while and some people have already found it. I was waiting for the ebook to be up and available (and my turn on the blog) to announce it.

Here’s the cover.

And here’s the blurb.

In Barbara Ross’ award-winning series featuring sleuth Julia Snowden and her family’s coastal Maine clambake business, Morrow Island is a perfect spot for a wedding—and a Snowden Family Clambake. Julia Snowden is busy organizing both—until a mysterious wedding crasher drops dead amid the festivities . . .

Julia’s best friend and business partner, Zoey, is about to marry her policeman boyfriend. Of course, a gorgeous white wedding dress shouldn’t be within fifty yards of a plate of buttery lobster—so that treat is reserved for the rehearsal dinner. Julia is a little worried about the timing, though, as she works around a predicted storm.

When a guest falls to the floor dead, it turns out that no one seems to know who he is, despite the fact that he’s been actively mingling and handing out business cards. And when an injection mark is spotted on his neck, it’s clear this wasn’t caused by a shellfish allergy. Now, as the weather deteriorates and a small group is stranded on the island with the body—and the killer—Julia starts interrogating staff, family members, and Zoey’s artist friends to find out who turned the clambake into a crime scene . .

Hidden Beneath for 99 Cents

If you’re behind in the series, the ebook of the eleventh Maine Clambake Mystery, Hidden Beneath, is on sale for just 99 cents on popular retail sites, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. The ebook went on sale yesterday and I don’t know how long the sale will last, so act now.

Readers: How do you react to the cover, title, description and pub date for Torn Asunder? Bring it on, good or bad!

Where Have I Been?

by Barb, back in wonderful Maine, watching the cruise ships from her study window

Astute readers of the blog may have noticed my absence over the the last three weeks. (Possibly because I mentioned I was going away a couple of times.) I did manage to get all my Wicked Wednesday post responses done ahead of time, but I haven’t been chiming in with comments in my usual way. Also, Edith was kind enough to trade posting days with me.

Where have a I been? We started with four days in Paris.

The trip was long planned. We didn’t realize it would take place over the 50th anniversary of the day we met until Bill figured it out right before we left. It was a happy coincidence. When our granddaughter, Viola, saw this photo she said, “I bet they’re eating cheese!” We were.The Picasso Museum in Paris had become a bit of an inside joke for Bill and me. It was closed for renovation 2009 to 2015, which meant it wasn’t open on our trips in either 2010 or 2014. This time true to form, while it was open, the exhibit had just changed and the top two floors were closed. Nonetheless, we had a lovely visit and I have officially checked it off the list. The museum is in the beautiful Hotel Sale, built in the 17th century by the guy who had the right to collect the salt tax in France, a lucrative position.I was anxious to see the progress that had been made at Notre Dame since the fire. The construction of the cathedral in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is a marvel, but looking at the current work, even in an age of cranes and power tools, what has been accomplished seems amazing.

From Paris we boarded a train to Bordeaux, and boarded our cruise ship. We spent a day and a half in Bordeaux, where we toured a vineyard and admired the vibrant city, and then we left for the long cruise up the Garonne River and on to northern Spain.

We had long wanted to visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa. The building is every bit as stunning as everyone said it would be.

After visits to El Ferrol and Vigo in northern Spain (and a short foray into Portugal) we cruised to southern Spain.

In Seville, a small bit of the decoration at the Spanish Pavilion from the Exposition of 1929. One of the fun things about a cruise is going places you never would have thought to go. It’s happened on every trip. This time it was Gibraltar. Here is one of the Barbary apes that live on the rock. (Really macaques.) They are wild animals who will steal your sunglasses or hat or jump on your back. We were warned to carry backpacks or bags on our fronts as the mothers carry the infants. If you carry them on your back the way the older kids are carried, the apes may try to steal them back.Gibraltar: Light show in St. Michael’s caveMalaga, Picasso’s birth place and another Picasso Museum, this one in a 16th century palace. The exhibit was arranged chronologically by the women in Picasso’s life, his muses. All things considered, being a muse appears to be a pretty thankless task.We spent the last four days of the trip in Barcelona, where I ate Andalusian gazpacho every chance I got. We didn’t have a single bad meal on the trip, even when eating near a tourist site or just wandering and randomly picking a place to eat.Barcelona, our third Picasso Museum. We had been to this one before, but I was working on symmetry, or Rule of Threes. I’ve always liked this museum in the city where Picasso lived and studied as a young man, because among other pieces, it has a lot of his early work, which really shows his evolution as an artist.When we visited Gaudi’s Sagada Familia in 2005, it was a construction zone. A beautiful, awe-inspiring construction zone like no place we had ever been. In 2023, it feels like a cathedral (which it technically isn’t) with floors and pews and stained glass. It is still beautiful and different, and unfinished, but it looks now more like it will be and not so much like it has been.

It was a marvelous trip. I didn’t take my laptop. Didn’t answer emails. I said to Bill at one point that I was more relaxed than I had ever been in my life. I missed you all, but I wouldn’t have missed it.

Readers: Do you have a fantasy trip, even if it is to remain a fantasy?

Photos by Bill Carito. You can see more of his work at

https://www.billcaritophotography.com/

and follow him on Instagram at billcarito and bill.carito.colorphotos.