Annette Drake's Blog, page 8

Pumpkins in Paradise

Today I welcome author Kathi Daley to my pages to talk about her new cozy mystery, Pumpkins in Paradise. Welcome, Kathi!

Why do you write cozy mysteries?

Cozy mysteries allow me to combine all the best things in life: family, friends, animals, small towns, romance, food, and of course a whodunit type mystery. The characters I develop for my mysteries are like real people to me, and I believe to my readers. I love hanging out with them and catching up with the latest developments in their lives. Cozy mysteries allow me to delve into a mystery while spending quality time with these characters as their lives evolve and their personalities change and develop.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?

The Tj Jensen Paradise Lake series is set in the small town of Serenity, Nevada, which is perched on the shoreline of Paradise Lake. I live in Lake Tahoe, and I wanted to write a series set in Lake Tahoe but I didn’t want to deal with the limitations inherent in writing about a real place so I developed Paradise Lake. If you read the series and are familiar with the Lake Tahoe area it will be clear that Paradise Lake is a fictionalized Lake Tahoe. Tj is a physical education teacher and coach at the local high school. I used to be a teacher and while I am happy to be an author and not a teacher, there are aspects of life in a high school setting that I do miss and wanted a chance to revisit. I am also big on holidays and family so I tend to set my stories around the holidays and Tj, like me, has a large extended family that play into her everyday interactions.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.

Actually I don’t have an ideal reader, or any reader for that matter, in mind when I write. I write primarily for my personal enjoyment and I hope that in the end others will allow exploring the fictional worlds and lives I have developed along the way. The first book I ever wrote, but not the first one I published, was a Christmas romance (Road to Christmas Past). I wrote this book during December when I couldn’t find a book that quite matched the story I was in the mood to read. Writing that book allowed me to take the journey my heart and mind longed to take, and I found that I rather liked being in the driver’s seat. The first book I published (Halloween Hijinks) was written in about a week on a whim when I had an idea to share a Facebook page with my dog. Pumpkins in Paradise was developed so that I could explore the themes of my actual life which include: mountain living, small towns, and a large and loving multi-generation family.

Please describe your writing routine.

I don’t plot and I don’t plan. I currently write five series. When I start a new project, I decide which set of characters I want to write and the basic background for the story. Going into a book I might know that I am writing a story from the Tj Jensen series and that it is Halloween, but that is usually the extent of my pre-writing plotting. I then format a Word document and type in chapter 1. I figure out a fun opening paragraph and then keep typing until I have the number of words I set out to write. For me writing is like driving in the fog. You can see just far enough ahead to continue on but not to see where you are heading, but the reality is that, in the end, that is enough to complete the whole journey. I think I’d be bored with a story before I began writing if I plotted the whole thing out. Where is the discovery? The surprise? Letting the story develop as I write has the same feel as reading a story where you are eager to find out what will happen next. I’m always surprised and often enchanted by what my characters do and say.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?

Just do it. I don’t think there is a magic formula to success. I have a lot of writer friends and those who are the most successful have followed their heart and their passion rather than following a plan. I will say that relationships are important. I’m certain it has been my relationships with readers, other authors, bloggers, and editors that has allowed me to find the success I have.

More about Pumpkins in Paradise:

Between volunteering for the annual pumpkin festival and coaching her girls to the state soccer finals, high school teacher Tj Jensen finds her good friend Zachary Collins dead in his favorite chair. When the handsome new deputy closes the case without so much as a “why” or “how,” Tj turns her attention from chili cook-offs and pumpkin carving to complex puzzles, prophetic riddles, and a decades-old secret she seems destined to unravel.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

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Count Down to Paradise Launch Event – https://www.facebook.com/events/848072505336998/

Pumpkins in Paradise Book Club – https://www.facebook.com/events/1408072279209347/

More about Kathi:

Author of the Zoe Donovan cozy Mystery Series, Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery series, Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery Series, Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mysteries, and Seacliff High Teen Cozy Mystery Series.

Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

Kathi lives in the beautiful alpine community of Lake Tahoe with her husband Ken and dog Echo. When she’s not writing she enjoys hanging out on the beach with her children and grandchildren. During the summer she enjoys hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, wakeboarding, and sunset cruises on the lake. During the winter she enjoys cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and curling up by a fire with a good book.

Kathi uses her mountain home as inspiration for her books, all which include appearances by the wildlife she shares her life with.

How to connect with Kathi:

Website: www.kathidaley.com

Email address: kathidaley@kathidaley.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kathidaleybooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathidaley

The Black Thumb

Author Frankie Bow stopped by to talk about her newest release, The Black Thumb. Welcome, Frankie.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?

I write what I enjoy reading, which is a blend of academic satire and cozy mystery. Some favorites are Sarah Caudwell’s mysteries featuring Oxford don Hilary Tamar, Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night, and Joanne Dobson’s Karen Pelletier mysteries.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?

Things that inspired The Black Thumb, in no particular order: Undermine-y people who serve up backhanded compliments and are astonished when you take offense; the utter wretchedness of the academic job market; DNA analysis; blended families; the Completion Agenda; and, of course, tropical gardening.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write?

I write books that I enjoy and am proud of. My ideal reader is anyone who will read my books!

Please describe your writing routine.

I try to get my actual outlining and writing done first thing in the morning, when my brain is the freshest. Less cognitively taxing tasks, like updating my blog or reading email, are done in the afternoon.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?

1) To calibrate your unconscious, read as many well-written books as you can get your hands on, and avoid letting bad writing into your brain. 2) Have a web presence. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but there should be somewhere online where readers can find you and figure out how to buy your books. 3) Don’t try to edit as you write. Just get something on the page and fix it later. Revising is much easier than first-time writing. 4) Find and support other authors in your genre. Whether it’s co-promotions, box sets, or just friendship and moral support, authors can be a great resource for one another.

More about The Black Thumb:

When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness – the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just … academic.

Grab your copy here:

How to connect with Frankie:

Webpage: www.frankiebow.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Frankie_Bow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frankie.bow.1

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/frankie-bow/

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

Cracked to Death

Cheryl Hollon visits my page today to talk about her new cozy mystery, Cracked to Death. Cheryl now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.

More about Cracked to Death:

When a treasure hunt leads to deadly plunder, it’s up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb and her trusty investigative posse to map out the true motives of a killer.

It’s the dog days of summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Webb’s Glass Shop proprietor Savannah Webb has an eco-friendly plan to help locals escape the heat – a recyclable bottle-crafting workshop taught by reticent store manager Amanda Blake. Turns out, the class is a bigger smash than expected, thanks in part to a pair of staggeringly old bottles brought in by snorkeler Martin Lane.

Linked to a storied pirate shipwreck, the relics definitely pique Savannah’s interest. But intrigue turns to shock when Martin’s lifeless body washes ashore the next morning, another glass artifact tucked in his dive bag. With cell phone records connecting Amanda to the drowning, Savannah must voyage through unchartered territory to exonerate her colleague and capture the twisted criminal behind Martin’s death.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

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Die, Die Birdie

J.R. Ripley visits my page today to share news of his newest release: Die, Die Birdie. J.R. Ripley is the pen name of Glenn Meganck, the critically acclaimed author of the Tony Kozol mystery series. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he has chaired the Edgar committee for Best Original Paperback novel and served on the Best Short Story Committee. As a member of the International Association of Crime Writers, he has served on the Hammett Award committee for Best Novel. When not writing books, Glenn is writing songs, often singing them to the consternation of his audience and neighbors, or involved in one of his many passions, none of which have involved any of the dead bodies that seem to keep cropping up in his mysteries. For more information about him, visit glennmeganck.com.

More about Die, Die Birdie:

For Amy Simms, hatching a birding shop in her hometown of Ruby Lake, North Carolina, hasn’t exactly been a breeze. But could a deadly discovery clip her wings for good?

It’s just days before Amy plans to open Birds & Bees on the first floor of her creaky Victorian house, but delayed seed shipments have prevented the fledgling owner from stocking her shelves. And it doesn’t help that Amy’s best friend and business partner is out of town indefinitely. With locals skeptical about the niche shop taking flight, the last thing Amy needs now is a dead man in her storeroom-or for a crotchety tenant to catch her holding a bloody bird feeder hook over his body…

Pigeonholed as a leading murder suspect by police and lacking a solid alibi, Amy’s delving into the victim’s ugly past and buzzing around Ruby Lake for clues on his killer…before she ends up like so many of her beloved feathery friends – trapped behind bars!

Grab your copy here: Amazon

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The Bluebonnet Betrayal

Author Marty Wingate visits my pages today to talk about her new cozy mystery, The Bluebonnet Betrayal. Welcome, Marty.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?

Someone has said that authors write what they want to read, and for the most part that’s true for me. I love the traditional and cozy mysteries because they are always so much more than a puzzle to solve. There’s the setting, which is important to me (and so I’ve made it important in my books) and the characters’ stories. I have been known to begin reading a series, like it, and then pick up subsequent books and scan them, looking for mention of my favorite character from the previous book! I like the overall series arc the main character has (or should have).

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?

The Bluebonnet Betrayal takes place at one of my favorite yearly events, the Chelsea Flower Show in London. This is the fifth book in the Potting Shed series and Pru Parke (American gardener who has moved to England) gets an out-of-the-blue email from a long-ago co-worker at the Dallas Arboretum asking Pru if she would help the Austin Rock Garden Society build a display at Chelsea. How can she say no? Once committed, however, she discovers back-biting, resentments, and jealousies among the contractor, designer, and the Austin women who show up to work. The murder is particularly difficult for Pru and so it’s a sort of campaign for her to help solve it.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.

My reader is someone who likes to travel – I think that’s part of the allure of a series set abroad) and enjoys the outdoors. It isn’t necessary to be a fantastic gardener, but gardens do figure prominently. So does food – Pru loves a good meal, but she is not a cook. Also, my reader likes a mystery, but doesn’t necessarily need a detailed description of someone’s brains being blown to bits. Know what I mean?

Please describe your writing routine.

I write new material mostly in the morning, and I rewrite and edit some in the afternoons. I write or attend to the story in some way every day. It becomes a part of me, so that I am never at a loss for something to do while waiting in a line or sitting on a bus or train. I have a story in my head, and I’m my own entertainment.

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?

Write. Don’t know where to begin? Don’t think of it as a beginning – the first words you put down could end up in chapter three. Read. Read books that you enjoy (I steer clear of books I’m “supposed” to read). Absorb all those wonderful words. Talk about writing. Talk about story arcs and character development. Do this with friends, or at writing workshops. Join a writing group or just go out regularly for coffee with one writing friend.

More about The Bluebonnet Betrayal:

Pru’s life in England is coming full circle. A Texas transplant, she’s married to the love of her life, thriving in the plum gardening position she shares with her long-lost brother, and prepping a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit featuring the beloved bluebonnets of the Texas hill country. Technically, Twyla Woodford, the president of a gardening club in the Lone Star State, is in charge of the London event, but Pru seems to be the one getting her hands dirty. When they finally do meet, Pru senses a kindred spirit—until Twyla turns up dead.

Although Twyla’s body was half buried under a wall in their display, Pru remains determined to mount a spectacular show. Twyla would have insisted. So Pru recruits her husband, former Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse, to go undercover and do a bit of unofficial digging into Twyla’s final hours. If Pru has anything to say about it, this killer is going to learn the hard way not to mess with Texas.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

How to connect with Marty:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martywingate...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/martywingate

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Website: www.martywingate.com

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marthawingate/

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Marty-Wingate/e...

Homicide in the House

Author Colleen J. Shogan stops by to talk about her cozy mystery, Homicide in the House. Welcome, Colleen.

Why do you write cozy mysteries?

I started reading cozy mysteries when I was in graduate school. They provided a nice respite from my dissertation research. When I decided to write a novel, I’d read enough in the genre to know the basic elements. I made sure to incorporate those into my storyline and characters when I wrote my first book, Stabbing in the Senate.

Please tell us about your book. What ideas or images inspired this novel?

Homicide in the House is the second installment of the Washington Whodunit series. In this book, my main character, Kit Marshall, has a new job in the House of Representatives. The story begins as the federal government shutters due to a political crisis. Unfortunately, not everyone will survive the shutdown, and Kit will be tasked once again to uncover the murderer who is loose on Capitol Hill.

Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you write? If so, please describe that reader.

I don’t really have an ideal reader. I know that a lot of people who work in Washington, D.C. will read the book. However, I love readers of the series who have never lived in our nation’s capital. Reading my novels is a fun way to experience something new. When readers tell me they enjoy the series because now they know what it’s like to be a Washingtonian, then I’m quite pleased.

Please describe your writing routine.

My full-time job is at the Library of Congress. I have limited time to write in the evenings, typically after work. I try to squeeze in an hour on most weekdays, and several hours on the weekends. In the summer months, I love sitting outside on my backyard deck when I write. Conan, our dog, usually joins me after I give him a treat!

What advice do you give new writers just starting out?

It’s really important to know about what agents and publishers are looking for in your genre. After the writing is complete, the challenge becomes getting the book into print. Understanding how that process works is no small task. Don’t get discouraged if success isn’t immediate. Likewise, it’s imperative to take criticism seriously. If one agent or editor notices a problem, chances are that other professionals will recognize it, too.

More about Homicide in the House:

Kit Marshall has bounced back from her first brush with the law, when she was suspected of murdering her senator boss. Now she is working for a freshman congresswoman, Maeve Dixon, a young Gulf War veteran representing North Carolina. It’s February, and Kit is feeling out of sorts. A government shutdown has just been announced, wreaking havoc on the Hill, and Dan, Dixon’s chief of staff and Kit’s supervisor, is an inexperienced lightweight flying blind. Then there’s Kit’s distracted live-in boyfriend, Doug, who doesn’t seem any closer to popping the question. Kit’s best friend Meg is up to her eyeballs with her new beau and oversight committee job, and Clarence the beagle mix will certainly not win Capitol Canine if Meg has to campaign for him all by herself. Bad as things are now, they are about to get much worse.

Early one morning Representative Dixon is caught standing over the corpse of Jack Drysdale, the Speaker of the House’s top staffer, a man she argued with in front of the press the day before. The murder weapon was the Speaker’s gavel. This item was entrusted to Dixon at the time, leading the police to believe they’ve found their killer. To save her job, Kit must clear her boss’s name, and quickly. Dixon’s career may be over if the police declare her a suspect or an anonymous blogger known as Hill Rat breaks the story. Solving this murder will test Kit’s courage and all her fledgling powers of deduction as she roams a spooky, sparsely populated Capitol Hill looking for clues and sounding out suspects.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

How to connect with Colleen:

Website: www.colleenshogan.com

Email address: washingtonwhodunit@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/washingtonwh...

Twitter: @cshogan276

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Planted

C.T. Collier recently released Planted, book one in her new mystery series, The Penningtons Investigate. C. T. grew up in Seneca Falls, NY, left the area for college and jobs, and always wanted to return to the Finger Lakes. Today she lives in a beautiful small city on one of the prettiest of the Finger Lakes, not unlike fictional Tompkins Falls on lovely Chestnut Lake. Most days you’ll find her writing in her tiny office, looking out on a woods populated with fox, deer, wild turkeys, and songbirds. In her career as a tech-savvy college professor she has been endlessly fascinated with campus intrigue. Entirely fictional, Tompkins College is no college and every college.

More about Planted:

The Penningtons, Lyssa and Kyle, are both PhD’s, and when their clever minds start asking questions, clever killers can’t hide.

It’s Monday of spring break when Professor Lyssa Pennington’s backyard garden project unearths a loaded revolver. With no record of violence at their address and no related cold case, the Tompkins Falls police have no interest. But the Penningtons and a friend with the State Police believe there a body somewhere. Whose? Where? And who pulled the trigger?

The Penningtons’ canvass of their quiet neighborhood turns up disturbing secrets about the family who lived in their house for decades and another ill-fated family a few doors away. No one seems to know how to contact the only sons of either family. The few facts they have about them don’t add up and, since the gun was buried about the time both young men disappeared from Tompkins Falls, the Penningtons feel compelled to find them and make sure all is well.

Lyssa follows the money story and finds twenty million dollars, a neighbor who’s not what he seems, and a long-buried rivalry. Kyle goes after homicide data in six states and finds a body. Their next surprise is a murderer who will go to any length to conceal the crime.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

How to connect with C.T.:

Website: https://drkatecollier.wordpress.com

Facebook: kate.collier.315

Twitter: @TompkinsFalls

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Yes! That “a-ha” moment arrives

This past February, I wrote a blog post about romance novels and questioned whether the books I write really are romances.

Because for a book to be a romance novel, “…the core story is the developing relationship between a man and a woman. The other events in the story line, though important, are secondary to that relationship…”*

I think my books, A Year with Geno and A Beautiful Day in Alaska do meet that requirement: the romance between the two characters is the focus of the story, though both of my heroines have other priorities.

But what about my debut novel: Celebration House? The main character has much greater priorities than falling in love. There are things she’s dying to get done…

If you glanced at the Goodreads page for Celebration House, you would see reviewers agree: “There is a nice romance element in the book,” and “It mostly concerns the renovation of a house, with a hint of romance.”

And then, it happened. Yesterday, the Romance Writers of America announced a new category of books (that’s me doing a drum roll): “Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance.” That’s it! That’s me! More importantly, that’s all three books in my Celebration House Trilogy. No, my female protagonists are not solely focused on finding and maintaining romance. They have other things to do. But, yes, the men who find a place in their lives are important. They are essential to the story.

I’ve thought up an analogy: The romance in my books is like the mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon and onion, and peach cobbler that are served alongside the roasted chicken. No. It’s not the entree, but damn, who wants to eat roasted chicken without those side dishes? Not me!

And maybe I’m still on a sugar high from all the birthday cheesecake I ate yesterday – thank you for the many birthday wishes, by the way – but I am so excited about this. Truly! This news has lit a fire under my fanny to buckle down and finish the first drafts of my Celebration House Trilogy. I’m not yet ready to announce publication dates for the three books, but I’m feeling like 2016 will be an amazing year.

Let’s get ’em done! Because now, I have a place I belong. I have a strike zone to aim for. I have “a category.”

Hands and arms inside the cart: Re-releasing Bone Trombone Girl.

*Quote from Leigh Michael’s book, On Writing Romance

Nun But The Brave

Alice Loweecey’s cozy mystery, Nun But The Brave, is the third in the Giulia Driscoll mystery series. The book premiers on July 12th.

Baker of brownies and tormentor of characters, Alice Loweecey recently celebrated her thirtieth year outside the convent. She grew up watching Hammer Horror and Scooby-Doo Mysteries, which might explain a whole lot. When she’s not creating trouble for Giulia Falcone-Driscoll, she can be found growing her own vegetables (in summer) and cooking with them (the rest of the year).

More about Nun But The Brave:

Giulia Driscoll’s sister-in-law barges into Driscoll Investigations and promptly passes out from OD’ing on an unknown drug. Two OD’d teenagers are found dead in the park and behind a convenience store. DI’s new client insists her missing twin sister is not dead and enlists Giulia as the “Missing Person Whisperer.” Hooray for steady work?

The missing sister’s trail leads to married, pregnant, ex-nun Giulia’s first experience with online dating sites, to the delight of her husband and employees. Those dates lead her to local Doomsday Preppers. They grow their own everything, and that everything may be connected to the drugs, her sister-in-law, and the missing twin. These Preppers are about to learn the true meaning of doom.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

How to connect with Alice:

Website: www.aliceloweecey.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alice.loweecey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AliceLoweecey

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4166880.Alice_Loweecey

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Come, Bitter Poison

 

Author Monica Knightley shares news of her latest release, Come, Bitter Poison. The cozy mystery is the second book in the Stratford Upon Avondale Mystery series. Welcome, Monica.

Monica began creating compelling characters and stories at the age of three, when she had a plethora of imaginary friends, all with complete backstories. Today any characters that come knocking on the door of her imagination find themselves in one of her mysteries, young adult novels, or paranormal romances.

When not fueling her reading addiction or writing her next book, Monica loves to travel with her husband—especially to England. A bit of England seems to make its way into most of her books. Must haves include a perfectly steeped cup of tea, and a good, bold red wine. She lives in Portland, Oregon where the frequent rainy weather is perfect for curling up with a good book and a cup of tea.

More about Come, Bitter Poison:

Sexy film star. Long-held secrets. Murder by poison.

When international stage and film star Miles Elliot comes to Stratford Upon Avondale to play Macbeth, Maggie O’Flynn is thrilled. He’s been her actor crush for years. But when Miles ends up at the center of a murder investigation Maggie finds herself slipping back into the role of amateur sleuth. Before long many of her friends become suspects in not just one murder, but two. Maggie must discover who’s poisoning people associated with the Shakespeare Festival before one of her friends gets slapped with a murder charge. And she must do so while dodging paparazzi that are stalking her due to a supposed love affair she’s having with Miles Elliot.

With a bit of Shakespeare, copious amounts of tea, and a faux-English setting to rival anything the real England has to offer, COME, BITTER POISON is the second book in THE STRATFORD UPON AVONDALE mystery series. Though part of a series, COME, BITTER POISON can be read and enjoyed as a standalone. Lovers of cozy mysteries will find a cozy home in Stratford Upon Avondale.

Grab your copy here: Amazon

Website: http://www.monicaknightley.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicaknightleyauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/monicaknightley

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