Coming February 5th - DEAD MAN'S HAND

 

Katie’s been dealt the Dead Man’s Hand …

 It’s all fun and games when Katie Bonner and her friends play poker for chocolate-covered peanuts, but the very next day Jamie Seifert collapses and dies after visiting Katie’s tearoom on Victoria Square.
 
Katie’s business in on the line and she needs to prove Jamie wasn’t poisoned at Tealicious. Her first order of business is to locate the mysterious woman he was dining with, and her next step is to go undercover at a nearby poker club where Jamie won big just a week before. It seems everyone there might have had a motive to rub Jamie out...and if they learn Katie has been lying to them, she might be next! 

PRE-ORDER NOW!

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The print edition will be available on or before Feb. 5th.

A lovely lunch

 

Happy Sunday! When you're skipping a meal (every day for months on end. It's called intermittent fasting), you start to become obsessed with food. (Starting?) I start planning lunch the minute I open my eyes in the morning (and sometimes that's at 3:30. I'm really BAD at sleeping). Since my brother gave us some croissants, I've been salivating more than Pavlov's dog. 

Ideally, I'd love it with chicken salad, but...egg salad is almost as good. (With minced celery and chopped olives--and LOTS of mayo. I've found the best olive oil mayo is actually Walmart's Great Value brand. Costs less than the big brands and tastes better. Has almost half the calories of regular mayo, too. Commercial over.) I have just enough lettuce to put on the croissant, too. (Boy, have I been nursing this head of lettuce.)

 We're having fried rice (with ham click the link for the recipe) for supper tonight. (I love it because you can make it ahead.)

What's on your menu today?

It's the little things ...

 

Thanks to Covid-19, we're getting in the holiday mood a little early this year. 

 My brother and his wife bought a pop-up trailer three years ago. Since then, they've upgraded twice to other "towables," (see how I've got the lingo down?). They have become real fans of camping (mostly at parks and campgrounds). They love the camaraderie and they have several other families they hang out with.

I saw the little camper in a catalog that came wayyyyy back in August. I bought it in early October, and it's been sitting in my entryway ever since. (Let me assure you, I was totally able to sweep around it.) I didn't want to wait until Christmas to give it to them, but this morning my brother went to the Public Market and dropped off some cider donuts and croissants for Mr. L, and wonderful cinnamon scones for me. As we put up our Christmas lights yesterday and are getting in the holiday mood, and I didn't know when I'd next see my brother, I gave him the box (with batteries) this morning. (We both had our masks on!)

I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes when they opened the box, but the sister-in-law was thrilled! (After all, she was the one who wanted to start camping.)

Knowing she loves it, made my day.  I think it's been sold out, but you can buy something similar from the same company here.

What's going to make your day?

Ready for something different...

Today is National Pieorgi Day and Mr. L will be having them for lunch. Buffalo has a big "Polish" population. Mr. L's mother was a first generation American of Polish descent and made all kinds of great Polish dishes.

I'm on the fence about pierogi. I like potatoes, but I'm not a big cheese fan. We've tried as many versions of Mrs. T's pierogi as we could find and I absolutely LOVED the jalapeño kind, but then we couldn't get them again. Mr. L will eat them just boiled, but I like them fried with onions.

I'm sure my character, Jeff Resnick (from the Jeff Resnick Mysteries) has eaten his share of pieorgi, but he's never mentioned it to me.

Are you a pieorgi fan and if so, what's your favorite kind?

P.S. Don't these pieorgis look fabulous?

If you want my bucks, don't insult me

 Nothing says "hire me" like a sales pitch that starts out "your website is crap." Really, NOTHING. I can't tell you how many of these pitches I get in a week. Most of them from other countries (you can tell by the names of the (I assume) men who sign the emails).

Okay, maybe my site isn't as sophisticated as say ... Barbara Freethy (romance author) or Mary Kay Andrews, but then I'm pretty sure they don't update them, either. They've got the bucks to hire someone. Me? I'm running on a shoestring. My goal was to have a site easy to maintain so that I didn't have to wait for an update. My first website designer was also a writer (like my current one), but she only did updates once a week. She had enough clients that sometimes it took as long as three weeks for her to get around to fixing whatever was broken. And if you wanted a site where she DIDN'T make the updates (where I had to pay for every tiny change), then she charged you three times as much to set it up. Uh...needless to say we parted ways.

I found Jo (my current designer) because I someone I knew had a site done by her. I wasn't that impressed, but I looked at Jo's portfolio anyway and realized that she had probably given the author exactly what she wanted. (Her books were set in a swamp--that's what she got.) I wanted something that said "cozy" and Jo gave it to me. And if I have a problem, she almost always answers within an hour of my email, and often doesn't charge me. She's wonderful and I'm happy to call her my friend. (We hung out at a Ninc writers conference several years ago. It was great to have a friend there.) If you're ever looking for a website designer, Glass Slipper WebDesign is the place you should go.

Anyway, maybe you'll go and check out my website. There are lots of hidden pages (links to the maps of Victoria Square and Lotus Bay), Breakfast at Blythe Cove Manor, etc. Fun things you can find if you just explore a little bit. (Same with my Lorna site.) Here's a link.

http://www.lorrainebartlett.com

So, have you gotten a sales pitch where the person giving it starts out with an insult?

Happy Book Day to Gayle Leeson

Happy Book Day to my Victoria Square co-author, Gayle Leeson. Check out her latest Down South Cafe Mystery, Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets on sale now. (Don't worry, the Amazon paperback edition will be arriving in a couple of days--you can order from Barnes & Noble now!)

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Apple Books
Barnes & Noble

A Deadly Deletion

YAY! It's been almost six months since I got a call from my agent telling me that Berkley was interested in at least two more Booktown Mysteries. But then the pandemic hit and everything went on hold. But I'm happy to announce that I signed the contract yesterday. Whew! What a relief. I've been working on the book for more than a month now and while I knew how the cliffhanger would be solved, and I knew who the new victim would be, I was shocked by some of the other things that have already happened. I only have four complete chapters written, but I moved ahead and have written at least 20 partial scenes and now I'm starting to connect them. I pretty much know where the story is going, and it's great that it's finally starting to gel. (It usually takes another 10,000 words before that happens.)

Even though the contract was (very, very) late, they've already had a cover conference. My editor is a doll and he let me have input (which a lot of authors don't get). He made some suggestions and let me choose. I think it will be super cute.

So, what do you think?

Saving Kathy's House

As most of you know, I write the Lotus Bay Mysteries (and not often enough). When I started the series, I based it on a real place.

Over about a decade, I'd watched what I began to call "Kathy's house" (the basis for Swans Nest Inn) fall into disrepair. It made me sad. It made me want to write about rescuing it. Of course, I needed a BIGGER house to act as the inn, so... I just added more rooms. A lot more rooms--and a taller attic. (I figure Swans Nest Inn is at least double the size of "Kathy's house.") The grass was never cut (the picture above was taken in early spring), and it just got shabbier and shabbier. And then one day, the dreaded RED X went up. That meant, if it caught on fire, it wasn't safe for firefighters to enter.  (Ruh-roh!)

Then, two years ago, a FOR SALE sign went up. Yay! Someone was going to save Kathy's house.  Only nothing happened for quite a while. In fact, there's also a commercial building on the lot, and the new owner worked on it before the house. It was finished last summer and looks quite nice. They finally painted (or stained) the house last fall. I was surprised he choose charcoal gray. (Not my choice.) But the house was finally starting to get some love.

The house is by no means finished. And where I took it from four apartments back to a home, the new owner is taking the home and making it a duplex. It looks quite a bit different, but actually very nice.

How do I know about all this?  I met the new owner last week. He's a surveyor and was surveying a cottage near ours. Our neighbor works with him and as I was packing the car, I was called over to speak to him. Not only had our neighbor read the Lotus Bay Mysteries, but he'd loaned the books to the surveyor and his wife. I told him I'd added a big porch, and apparently it's in the works, although I'm not sure if it'll be in the front or the back of the house.

It was so nice to hear about the love and care that's going into the restoration. (You can't see it, but there's a lovely picnic area to the left.)

Don't you just love happy endings?

Welcome to the pool

Yesterday we opened our pool for the summer. It's always a potentially frightening event.  Will the water be clear or murky?  Will the bottom be full of dead worms who wiggled their way under the cover, fell in the water and drown? And...how's that liner doing?

We were relieved that upon peeling back the cover that the water was sparkling clear. (Whew!)

Last week, while poking around in our basement looking for something else, I came across a plastic yellow duck.

Hmm. Where did that come from?  Neither Mr. L nor I remember ever buying this duck. Did someone give it to us?  Was it conjured up by rubbing a lamp and asking a genie for a wish? Who knows! But it's now in our pool, floating around and looking a little lonely. Should I try to find her a friend? Many friends?  Where would I find it/them?

Since the pool was looking pretty spiffy, I decided to make a video using it as a background. What do you think? (I like the bird tweeting in the background.)


So, yup, if you'be been waiting for the paperback of A KILLER EDITION, it'll be available on June 30th.

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Chapters/Indigo | Indiebound 

 Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)

Give Sabina A Chance

It's only been 15 years in the making.

Back in the day (which means before I was published in novel-length), I experimented with several different genres. I started out with hard-boiled suspense (the Jeff Resnick series), cozy mystery (the Victoria Square Mysteries) and women's fiction.

Sabina Reigns started out as women's fiction, but then I wrote three chapters as a cozy mystery (for a contest, where it didn't even place), and then went back to women's fiction. But then I got contracts for Booktown and Victoria Square from Berkley Books and the Sabina manuscript went back under the bed. But I never forgot her.

This winter, when I was between projects, Sabina came out from under the bed and I spent two months rewriting it. I've come a long way in 15 years and so Sabina and her cohorts have a much deeper, more sobering story to tell. But there're still some elements of fun as Sabina makes her journey from housewife to successful entrepreneur. It's also a story about mothers and daughters and how those relationships change.

The book will be available in print and ebook on September 4th. (The print edition isn't yet available to pre-order, but if you read ebooks, it can be pre-ordered now.)

Sabina Reigns Miller had it all: a wealthy husband, a beautiful home, a daughter at a great college. Without warning seven words blow the bottom off her world. "I've met someone else-and she's pregnant." Her husband of twenty years wants a divorce so he can move his mistress into their former residence. Although Sabina loses her comfortable life, she refuses to fall on her face. Her ex-husband's girlfriend may be living in their house, but Sabina has interior design skills and a bucket of dreams.
Can she rebound from the unexpected change, stick to her principles, help out a friend, and find someone to love again?
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Will you give Sabina Reigns a chance?

Saying Good-Bye to a Reader

Last week, I got a note from a reader of my Booktown Mysteries. She wrote:  "I can't bring myself to read on. In every good series there are twists and turns, good & bad,,but killing off (SPOILER) has broken my heart."

A writer never wants to hear that a reader has given up on her work. (Yeah, ouch!) But despite losing this reader, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud.

I'm sorry she feels that way ... but you know, the fact that I was able to make her care so much about that character means I succeeded as a writer.  I brought life to that character. He meant something to her, something that will stay with her for a while. But that also means that she cared more for him than you do for Tricia, Angelica and the rest of the Booktown characters, and that makes me sad.

I'm also sad to know how she isn't interested in how the characters will survive this turn of events. 

I'd hate for her to miss the next book in the series. I wrote that book while my mother was in hospice dying. It kept me going when I felt like I'd lost everything. How I ever wrote such a fun book during that terrible time still amazes me.

Of course, there're more hard times ahead for Tricia and the other Booktown characters because that's what storytelling is all about: conflict. When there's no conflict, there's no story.

I thanked her for reading the first x-number of Booktown Mysteries, and I invited her to check out the other six series I write under my real names. I'm pretty sure she won't give them a chance, but that's her decision. When I write a book, the most important thing I consider is characterization, even over plot. Apparently, that's what keeps readers coming back for more. 

Have you ever given up on a series in the middle? If so, why?

Summer with the good and the bad

Just about everyone around the world has had their lives impacted by Covid-19. Here's my list of things that we won't be doing or having done.

• No flowers: we usually go to the local nursery and buy flowers for our urns.
• Nobody to clean the house every two weeks.
• No one to help me in the garden
• Not so much meat for supper
• No interacting with friends and family
• No trips to the ice cream place
• No yard sales (oh, boy--for a thrifter, that's a BIGGIE)

But then there have been some good things, too.

• Our pansies from last year self-seeded, so we do have some flowers after all
• I  baked bread for the first time
• I've been baking quick breads (to use for Mr. L's breakfasts)
• We've been doing more jigsaw puzzles (well, mostly ones we've done before)
• We're still able to patronize our favorite restaurant via takeout
• I've been able to stay on my diet despite bread and quick breads (15 lbs down) 
• I've finished two books and a short story and started another two books
• I've got everything I need to repaint my kitchen cabinets 
• Curbside pick-ups & home deliveries
• The mail still comes 6 days a week

So while this won't be the summer we all wanted, maybe it can still be a good summer.  How will you make your summer special?

Mixing things up

It's Tuesday. I have to look at the calendar or the computer to remind myself what day it is. I also find that I'm forgetting to do stuff I want to do because--SQUIRREL!--I get distracted, which seems pretty easy these days.

Like I was going to post here yesterday, and then...I ended up emptying the cat box and did a few loads of laundry and then it was bedtime. But during those moments between the hauling the clothes from the washer to the dryer, I decided I needed to go back to playing house. By that, I mean doing a better job of cleaning (boo boo hoo! I miss the cleaning ladies who came twice a month to blitz the place), play with my new Dyson (currently still in the box), and get out my spring/summer decorations. But I'm not sure what boxes they are in so...I need to do an inventory. I need to put things away and take other things out. I'm inspired by those French Chateau videos I've been watching (now up to three channels).

If the sun ever comes out, I'll be out in the garden (self-sewn Pansies have suddenly appeared in the urns!!!!!). I need to make every day a red-letter day. Something special needs to happen so that every day isn't just the same.


What would make your day a red-letter day?

Squash seeds roasting in a hot oven

Welcome to WONDERFUL Wednesday.

Are you baking today? I think instead of baking, I'll be roasting (which is kind of the same thing as the oven is involved.) All last fall, I saved my squash seeds.

Today, I'm going to roast them. (Did I mention we've run out of happy hour snacks?) Once they thaw, I'm going to toss them on a tray with some Wegmans basting oil (OMG it's yummy) a little kosher salt, and cook them until they're done. (I have no idea how long that will take. I'll keep checking on them.) Taking them out of the fridge/freezer gives me a little more room.

I've been rummaging in the freezers and finding stuff I didn't know we had. Like bagels. Clam strips. A single chocolate-chip scone. Wayyyyy more hamburger buns than we need and no burgers. It's like a treasure hunt every time I open the door!

Are your cupboards and freezer a treasure trove you didn't realize you had?

Love those slow-cooker recipes!

I'm on a recipe roll.

Mr. L and I save the newspaper to read in the evenings. After a day at the computer, we just want to chill out with an adult beverage and the paper. We don't read our local paper (OMG--what a disaster), so every day Mr. L goes to the grocery store and picks up the Buffalo News.

The last thing I want to do after relaxing for an hour or so is get up and cook dinner. That's why I love my slow cooker. Toss everything in and six to eight hours later you've got your evening meal read to serve. And one-pot (or crock) meals are a breeze to clean up, too. (Okay, usually the crock soaks overnight and then it gets washed and put away in the morning.)

One of the easiest recipes I make is Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Beans. It literally couldn't be easier.

Ingredients
1 pound smoked turkey kielbasa, cut into coins
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
2 cans (16 ounces each) beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup chicken broth
Pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and switch it to the "high" setting.  Give it a stir and cover. If using raw onions and peppers, let it cook for 5-6 hours. If using frozen onions and peppers, give them a quick thaw in the microwave. Heat on high for 2 to 3 hours. (Everything is pretty much already cooked, so you're really only heating it up.)

Yield:  6 servings

It doesn't matter what kind of beans you use. I've used just kidney beans, and I've switched it around using cannellini, garbanzo, black-eyed peas, great northern beans--anything I had in the cupboard--and it still turns out great.

Another great thing about this recipe: if you use turkey kielbasa, there's very little fat, it tastes great, and has very few calories.  Win-win!

Have you got any easy-peasy slow cooker recipes you'd like to share?

Love me a good SPUD

A few weeks ago, Mr. L and I tried a new-to-us restaurant for lunch. I ordered a Cuban sandwich on our first visit. It wasn't the best I'd tasted. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. Mr. L chose a brisket sandwich and he raved about it. He wanted to go back. Me? Not so much. But before we went last week, I went through the menu at least three times and could not find anything I wanted. The only thing that vaguely interested me was a loaded potato. I love baked potatoes and when I'm at home, I usually only have butter and a lot of fresh-ground black pepper. Because I'm trying to lose weight, I ordered it with the grilled chicken, but without the sour cream and cheese ... but that's mainly because I don't care for sour cream or cheese. (Okay, I'm a bit of a picky eater.)

It was GOOD. So good, that days later, I was still thinking about it. And last week, we went back for our third try. (Mr. L and I go out to lunch twice a week. Yeah, not really a good thing if you're trying to lose weight, but I'm down seven pounds with intermittent fasting, so...it could be worse.)

The bartender messed up my martini (ick--he made it dirty, dumping in olive juice), not a good omen but they replaced it right away. And when it was time to order, I had made up my mind that I would try the potato topped with pulled pork instead of grilled chicken. (Just to try it out, you understand.) But when it came my turn to order I found myself blurting "with prime rib."

Where did that come from?

It's been more than a year since I had prime rib. Besides ground beef in a burger, taco, or a burrito, I'm just not a fan of beef and if I eat it once a month, that's a lot. EXCEPT for prime rib. I really LOVE it, but it's so expensive, we only have it once a year, usually on my Mum's birthday--even though she's been gone for nearly five years. We used to invite her (and Dad) over for supper on her birthday and always served prime rib. (We always had lobster on Dad's birthday.)

OMG -- that loaded potato was even better then the one the week before. The beef was cooked to perfection, and though there wasn't a lot of it, it was the perfect amount and beautifully seasoned.

We're planning on going back this week and guess what I intend to order?

P.S. These pictures don't do it justice. I will have to take a photo the next time we go.

What do you like on your loaded spud?

Couldn't you go for a slice right now?

It's National Chocolate Cake Day. Wouldn't you like a slice?

It's National Irish Coffee Day

Are you an Irish coffee fan?

Celebrate National Peanut Butter Day!

It's National Peanut Butter Day! What's your favorite way to eat it?

No one's talking

Mr. L and I go out on a date for lunch at least once a week and the one thing we notice EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. is that most who go out to eat are seated and immediately whip out their phones. Sometimes they only put the phone down between bites. Last week, we went out to eat and the man and woman (who were older than me) sat down and the man immediately whipped out his phone. I could see them through their entire meal. He was on his phone for nearly the whole time they were there. The only conversation during that 45-minute span was when they were ordering. Otherwise, the woman sat there looking around and not speaking...BECAUSE HER HUSBAND WAS ON THE PHONE.

I expect that kind of behavior from younger people, so it was surprising to see it from an older gentleman.

More than 20 years ago, one of my friends confided to us that she told her husband, "I'm not going out if there will be no conversation between us." He didn't have a phone to whip out, but he was reluctant to speak to her when out. So, they stayed home.

I don't get it.  Mr. L and I have been together for (mumble, mumble) years. In all those years, we have NEVER run out of conversation. We both work from home. We talk all day long (albeit sometimes shouting between our offices--which are connected), but we have never run out of things to say to each other.

I feel sorry for these people. If you have nothing to say to each other--why are you still together?  Go find someone (friend, family member--whatever) to talk to.

What's your opinion on this?

I'm Rocking the Cat

My cat, Poppy, is a rambunctious little girl. Her favorite thing to do is to "flip and flop." She loves to roll around on the rug looking as cute as a button.

Unfortunately, she likes to flip and flop on my lap, too, and it never ends well. But I've finally found a trick to keep that wiggle-worm still. I rock her--like a baby. When I'm at the computer and she jumps onto my lap, I scoop her into my arms and we sit and have a cuddle.  This has turned our mom-and-girl time into a much more pleasant experience for both of us. (When I'm sitting on the couch, Poppy likes me to have an afghan on my lap. She'll liable to sit with me more often when I've got an afghan.)

As it turns out, Poppy likes to watch YouTube videos almost as much as I do. Just this week we've watched episodes of Restaurant Impossible and What's for Tea? (Love What's for Tea? It's about Scottish woman, named Sheryl, who cooks dinner (sharing the recipes) often in a crock pot, or a grocery store haul, and she ends her videos with beautiful shots of Scotland. (I love her!) This is the kind of food I grew up with. (My mother wasn't Scottish, but my Dad was half Scot.) This is the kind of food I want to make.  (Poppy is content with 9 Lives.)

But Poppy isn't just a mama's girl. Lately, she's developed an independent streak. Instead of spending all her time with us in our offices, she's been snoozing on the couch or behind the living room drape. Go figure. But our times together are much more calm (with a lot less biting) than they used to be just because I finally figured out what she needed as opposed to what she wants.

Does your pet require you to adapt to its needs?

Pop some corn today!

Oh, yes -- it's National Popcorn Day. Are you a fan?

Drink milk on National Milk Day

I like milk. I like whole milk (which tastes like melted ice cream to me--and I rarely have it), 2% milk, and even skim (now called fat-free) milk. Not such a fan of chocolate milk, but I like hot chocolate (made with milk).

I don't like pseudo milk. (Think almond, oatmeal, etc.)
Are you a milk fan?

It's Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve!

The Brookview Inn is beautifully decorated for the season and will be booked solid tonight--and tomorrow, the dining room will host a lovely holiday brunch.

Have you ever spent Christmas away from home?

Would you wear this sweater?

Today is National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.

Do you have a holiday sweater? I have one--but I didn't buy it. After my mother passed, I acquired hers. It's H-E-A-V-Y and so far I haven't worn it, but I'm planning on wearing it tomorrow when Mr. L takes me out to lunch to celebrate the season.

Can you imagine my character, Tricia, wearing one?  I honestly can't. I can, however, see Angelica wearing one. I think her granddaughter, Sofia, would love it. And I can see her buying them the same sweater.

Do you have an ugly Christmas sweater?