A small, life-changing thing?

A writer never knows what she writes that will influence a person--hopefully for all the right reasons.  And where do we get all these wonderful tidbits we share with readers?  Usually from real life.

Years ago my parents had a West Highland terrier who was a joy to walk.  Buddy had gone to obedience school twice. Um, he flunked the first time, but it couldn't have been by much, for he aced it the second time.  And the thing he learned best was how to walk.  That doesn't sound that difficult, does it, but it actually is.  How often do I see people supposedly walking their dogs who are either being dragged by them, or dragging them, or struggling just to control them while on their constitutionals? The answer to that is wayyyyy to often.

I would often take Buddy for a walk.  You didn't have to take a litter bag with you when you walked with Buddy.  He knew where he was to do his business--and that was at his own backyard.  When you came to a curb, he automatically sat down and waited for the "all clear" signal that it was safe to go on.  He trotted beside you with a smile on his doggy face and tail held high and wagging.  Is it any wonder that when I added a dog to the Booktown Mystery series that I would have him be as well trained?

As I wrote last week, I LOVE getting Christmas cards.  I also love to get those newsy Christmas letters from friends.  Sadly, I don't get as many as I used to get, but I thoroughly enjoy the ones I do get.  I got one on Friday, and added at the end were a couple of personalized paragraphs.  It said:

"As I was reading MURDER ON THE HALF SHELF, and noting the little Bichon would stop at the corners, I found myself remembering how I used to tell my dogs to "stop" and, surprise, they actually did.  Glad I saw that, because now I've begun trying to train my Bichon-Poodle mix and ten-year old shih-tzu to also stop at corners.  This is even more important to me since January, when my next-door neighbor and best friend was killed by a car about a block from home while she was walking two of her shih-tzus.  Thanks for the reminder."

I cried when I read that paragraph. First, for the loss of my friend's friend, and second, that something I wrote has caused her to train her dogs to sit and stay until it's safe to cross the street.

It's just such a little thing, but it made me glad that I write books.  That my words can touch people.  That in some small way I can make a difference.

Thank you, Karen.  You made my day.

Where are all the Christmas cards?

I admit it, I love Christmas cards.  In fact, I collect them.  Well, I collect VINTAGE Christmas cards and have about 50-60 of them.  Thanks to Pinterest, I now have an even bigger collection (spread out over several of my writing personas). 

I like cards from the 1950s.  It was such an innocent era.  (Well, we like to think that.  The WWII had ended, but Korea was in full swing, and there was the Cold War going on ... but let's think innocent.)

Most of my cards came from yard sales.  Usually when daughters were cleaning our their parents homes.  They bagged them up and I bought them. (I also have an entire box of assorted cards for every occasion that I got FOR THREE BUCKS!) I love them all!

Every year I hand the last Christmas card I got from my Granddad back in the 1980s.  It wasn't an expensive card, but it has his signagure on it and it says "with Love"  (sniff).

But so far this year I haven't received one Christmas card.  I'm so sad that that tradition seems to be going the way of the doh-doh.  I looked forward to the mail every day in December. Now people send virtual cards which, less face it, don't entail much effort at all.  Especially when all one has to do is gang a load of email addresses and shoot off one card with one message.

I've got my cards all ready to work on this week, and will feel sad that my wall of cards might only have a couple of it this year.

If you like vintage cards, they have reproductions on Amazon.  I'll be sending out a few of my vintage cards to a chosen few.

Will you be sending out Christmas cards this year?

Holiday stories to put you in a festive mood

Are you having a tough time getting into the holiday spirit?  Well, have I got some great holiday stories for you.  Okay, two of them are mine -- but a lot more are by my friends at the Incredible Indie Authors. (We're all traditionally published authors who have backlist and new titles available as ebooks.)

Mine are:

Bah! Humbug (which really won't make much sense unless you've just read my 4th Jeff Resnick mystery, Cheated by Death).  It’s Christmas Day, and Jeff and Maggie spend Christmas dinner with Maggie’s family, who are not receptive to her new significant other. It’ll be a Christmas to remember . . . but who wants to?

and

We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert:  The Nichols family finds that their stingy Uncle Albert, who’s been mooching off of the family for years, is actually quite wealthy.  Naturally they aren’t at all that happy about it and decide that Uncle Albert has overstayed his worldly welcome.  What to do?  They plot to get rid of him–just in time for Christmas.  It’s a jolly holiday all right!

Both are just 99 cents.  Such a deal!

They have a Facebook page (please LIKE us!), and a Pinterest account.  Here's the link to our Christmas stories (in many genres--and even a few audio books),and here's the link to our regular Pinterest page.

Please come and visit!
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Icing fever strikes!

Every couple of years I make cut-out cookies for Christmas. The reason I don't do it more often is because ... well, let's face it.  If you make it, you must eat it. If I didn't already need to lose (mumble, mumble) pounds, I'd go for it.

Pinterest is terrible.  It is.  There are hundreds and hundreds of pictures of cut-out cookies and dammit--I must repin and admire them over and over again. I was actually so inspired, I spent Sunday making cookie dough, and yesterday baking the cookies.

I lost my favorite recipe, so I often punt--and use an unfamiliar one.  I must stop this.  Next year (for I've already baked my cookies), I'm going to do more research to find the perfect recipe ... although, perhaps i won't have to look that far.

Thanks to Google, I found a great blog that walks you through decorating your cookies.  (And gives recipes and tips and stuff.)  OMG -- I could explore this site for days on end.  It's called The Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle. Of course now that I have investigated the site I want to go out and buy all the things you need, like icing bottles, and have learned all kinds of new terms like 20-second icing and fill icing and icing bottles, etc. And that I should make icing 4 pounds at a time.

Will I ever have the talent to make gorgeous cookies?  Not unless I practice a whole lot and I won't do that because I would eat the cookies and gain more weight and ... it's a vicious cycle.  Maybe I should just BUY a cookie now and then.

Still, I've got 5 dozen uniced cookies in the freezer and must hit the craft store (which has a HUGE Wilton section), or maybe just Amazon.  After all, I have just under three weeks before Christmas to finish these cookies.  (Mostly stars.  I'm a star girl.)

Are you baking cookies this year?  If so, the Cozy Chicks Blog is going to hold a Cookie Exchange -- 7-8 (we haven't decided yet) of our favorite recipes to share.  It'll be Dec. 16-22.  Don't miss it!

It's the holiday season--haul out your Christmas music!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE Christmas music.  I know, I know -- I blog about it every year, but I can't help myself. 
I've been playing Christmas music in my office since about the first of November. Nothing with singing -- mostly just a plain piano.  I have to admit, I like the jazz or new age ones the best, but I'll take just regular "classic" tunes as well.

It's funny that I should listen to so many piano CDs (yes, I still have a gazillion of them--and CD players scattered around the house, too.  They're hard to find.  I buy most of them at yard sales these days). When I was a kid I took piano lessons, but I could never sight read, which was a huge disappointment to me. I had friends who could sit down at the piano and play any piece of music I put in front of them, but their playing had no soul. It was very mechanical.  So here I had all this soul, but no ability to play without memorizing every note first.  I gave it up.  I never understood how I could take to typing so easily, but not playing the piano. I don't even think when I type...my fingers just know what to do.  But then I'm just thinking the words not trying to read them letter for letter.

I got a lot of my piano Christmas CDs from The Dollar Tree.  (Yeah, a buck a piece.)  I have little notes written on the inside of the sleeve:  Not bad.  Slow tunes.  Okay.   The ones marked "not bad" are ... not bad!  One of them is of Celtic tunes.  That's really good, but is so lively it kind of distracts me when I'm trying to write. And as it happens, while I'm listening to Christmas music, I'm writing about Valentine's Day.  Oh well, at least it's still winter.

Our local radio station has been playing Christmas tunes 24/7 since November 16th.  That's a bit early to be hearing Michael Jackson wail "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" or "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."  Why couldn't they start out with instrumentals (of which you never hear ANY) and gently ease into the singing ones.  They could play just about any tune from A Charlie Brown Christmas and everyone would be happy and tapping their toes.

As for singing ones, my favorite is Celine Dion's These Are Special Times, but I will admit to listening to Der Bingle and The Andrews Sisters, too. (Theirs is my very favorite version of Jingle Bells.)  I've also made a lot of compilation Christmas CDs.  Where else can I hear the Waitresses Christmas Wrapping and the Tran-Syberian Orchestra?

So, what's your favorite Christmas music?
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Where's the off switch?

Last Friday, I posted on the Cozy Chicks Blog that I recently got a new car.  If you want to know more about it (and why I'm not driving it), go and check out that post.

Last night I was working on sending out the entries in the cookbook contest I did on Goodreads. (Sorry I didn't post about it. I thought I had another day, but Hello! There were the winners' addresses in my in-box this morning).  All of a sudden the quiet night was broken with the obnoxious sound of a car alarm going off.  And it went on and on and on.  And the neighbors didn't come out to turn it off!

What was with them?

And then Mr. L yells out to me from the kitchen, "Hey, it's YOUR car!"

So I grab my keys, run to the car and realize I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF!  I open the car, slam the door.  Open the door again, grab the pseudo owner's guide (they dont print the BIG one anymore, they give you a CD and if you want more, you have to call and order one--which I had not done because ... well, I didn't need to).  Well, who can find their reading glasses at a time like that (um, they were on my head), so Mr. L had to fumble to find ALARM in the back Index.  He finally found it and it says to put your key in the ignition and turn it.  But before we could get back to the car, it had stopped.

All was quiet.

Hmmm.  I wasn't liking the new car all that much,and I'm not liking it even less today. And I'm also wondering ... what other surprises is it going to hand me ... and when?

How long did it take you to get used to a new car?
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Don't forget, I've got the Goodreads GIveaway for Advance Review Copies of ONE HOT MURDER.  Only 3 days left to enter.

P.S.  The Jeff Resnick Mysteries are going to audio ... hopefully all of them ... in the near future

One hot Goodreads Giveaway

You know what?  My Lorraine name has been in print for almost two years.  Well, you wouldn't know it by my website hits.  And that's why I spent the last week talking with my web designer.  We did an overhaul, and you can see the results here:  LorraineBartlett.com
Go on, take a look -- then come back and tell me what you think.

And in another effort to get the Lorraine name out there, I'm participating in a book giveaway over at Goodreads.  I'm giving away TWELVE advance review copies of ONE HOT MURDER:

Katie Bonner, the reluctant manager of Artisans Alley in the quaint shopping district of Victoria Square, is no stranger to ambivalence ambivalence. Things have been going hot and heavy with pizza maker Andy Rust—so much so that Katie has moved in over his pizza parlor. But now that summer’s ushered in a heat wave, an apartment above pizza ovens without an air conditioner is making Katie hot and bothered.

At the height of the heat wave, a tragic fire strikes Victoria Square. Wood U, a small store selling wooden gifts and small furniture, is destroyed. But the fire may just be a smokescreen—for murder. Because a body is found among the charred wreckage—and the victim didn’t die from smoke inhalation. He was shot. Now—despite making Detective Ray Davenport hot under the collar—Katie is determined to smoke out a cold-hearted killer…

How do you enter?  If you're a member of Goodreads, you log in and click on the link for the book.  They also ask that you add the book to your to-be-read list. 

What's the point of all this?  To get my name out there.  A lot of cozy readers still don't know that Lorraine and Lorna are the same.  A lot of my L.L. Bartlett readers don't even know about Lorraine or Lorna.  I want them to know all three names.

I'll be updating my Lorna Barrett site in the next couple of weeks, and getting new Facebook banners.

Stay tuned!
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Hot off the press!

My good friend and Cozy Chicks blog sister Ellery Adams has a new book out this week. 

When Munin Cooper, known as the Witch of Oyster Bay, warns Olivia Limoges that death is coming, neither of them realize that it is the older woman herself who will soon be found dead. And Olivia’s instincts tell her that something—or someone—more sinister than a mystical force is at play…

Olivia has a lot on her plate preparing for the Coastal Carolina Food Festival. When she hears the news of Munin’s untimely death, however, finding the murderer takes priority. The witch left behind a memory jug full of keepsakes that Olivia knows must point to the killer—but she’s got to figure out what they mean.

With handsome Police Chief Rawlings by her side, Olivia starts to identify some of the jug’s mysterious contents—and finds its secrets are much darker than she suspected. Now Olivia must enlist the help of the Bayside Book Writers to solve the puzzle behind the piece of pottery and put an end to a vengeful killer before any more damage can be done…

KINDLE - Nook - Kobo - iTunes

Booktown #7 Cover -- It's Not The Killing Type

Here's the cover for the next Booktown Mystery:  NOT THE KILLING TYPE.  It's currently available for pre-order only from Amazon, but I'm sure Barnes & Noble will list it in the not too distant future.



What do you think?
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New Booktown release

My latest Booktown offering is available.

Wait a minute, it's Booktown, but I had nothing to do with it.

Wait a minute, I wrote the books, but I had nothing to do with this offering.

Okay, it's like this; my publisher decided to offer a trade paperback edition of the first three Booktown Mysteries and has called it MURDER IN THREE VOLUMES.  (Catchy title that, eh?)  Of course they picked my least favorite cover.  But wait a minute--it looks so very different than it did when it was the cover for Bookmarked for Death.  Oh -- wow, you can see a LOT of the detail that my cover artist (Teresa Fasolino) added to the painting and was covered up by the banner title and the little box proclaiming recipes.  I always thought of it as a PURPLE cover, because it has that god-awful purple band at the left hand side.  (Now that the latest book is in hardcover, they've decided not to use that band of color on the book (and I sure hope they don't add it to the paperback edition of Murder On The Half Shelf, which will be available on July 2nd of next year.)  So maybe I do love this cover as much as the others, after all.

It's a BIG book, and a good value--three books for the (list) price of two. (And if you preordered, it was an even betterdeal at a 43% discount--don't know if that will hold after today--or was it yesterday?)

The one thing it won't be is an ebook, which is too bad, because I think it would have sold really well.  (Hey, I'm selling the boxed sets of my Jeff Resnick books and they sell like hotcakes!)  But don't blame me, it was the publisher's decision.

I admit, I didn't pull out all the stops promoting this one (sending out postcards, etc.) because if you like the series, you had to have already read all three books, right?  But ... this could be a great introduction to the series for other people you know.  Or for a library.  Hey, Christmas is right around the corner ... think stocking stuffers! (Or gifts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, baby and wedding showers ... birthdays ... the possibilities are endless!)

At any rate, it's out there.  If you're among the Booktown faithful, I hope you'll spread the word about Murder In Three Volumes.

You can find it at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and other independent booksellers.

Thanks!
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Not again!

ROOM AT THE INN: now available

It's official, my (now 3rd of 5) new Jeff Resnick mystery, ROOM AT THE INN, is available from the following e-tailers:

Amazon (Trade paperback)
Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords (all e formats)

(It'll take a couple of weeks, but the paperback will be available at Barnes & Noble, and on the other big e-tailer sites (iTunes, Sony E Reader, Diesel, etc.).

Here's the blurb:  Jeff Resnick is definitely out of his element when he and Maggie take a working vacation at a quaint Vermont inn. For most people, the chance to spend time with a beautiful woman in a romantic, isolated setting would be a plus, but the moment Jeff crosses the Sugar Maple Inn’s threshold, his sixth sense warns him that someone is about to meet a violent death.

His anxiety intensifies when he travels on one of the local roads and he is nearly overwhelmed by feelings of impending doom. Ultimately, Jeff can only find respite in his brother Richard’s presence and it is only after one of the inn’s guests is murdered that Richard reluctantly becomes a third wheel on Jeff and Maggie’s trip. With their own lives at stake, Jeff, Maggie, and Richard must use all their wits and skill to bring a ruthless killer to justice. And if they don’t, one of them might just become the next victim.

Hope you enjoy it!
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I shouldn't have, but did anyway ...

Last week, Mr. L and I went to beautiful Niagara on the Lake to visit the even lovlier Prince of Wales Hotel for afternoon tea.



IT WAS WONDERFUL!

One of the things I like best, besides the charming ambiance, the delicious food, the nice strong cups of tea, is the china.  I wondered what it was, turned my saucer over, but didn't see any marking.  : (

So there I was last night, flipping through the latest issue of Teatime Magazine and there it was--featured in a story.  Oh boy, you never saw someone flip to the products page so fast in your life.  It said they had obtained the china from Replacements Ltd.

Hey! Over the years I've bought a bunch of china from Replacements Ltd. Of course, I didn't like the price they quoted so I went online to see if I could do better. Damn. It was the same price. Still, I went ahead and ordered ONE cup and saucer.  I love the pattern so much I had to have it so that I can drink my tea from it and think about those lovely afternoons at the Prince of Wales.

What do you think?

That was one happy mailbox!

Wee!  As you can see, the other day was a great mail day.  Not only did I get my sample copy of Room at the Inn, but two sample copies of Murder In Three Volumes. 

It might not look like it from this picture, but that three-volume book (Murder Is Binding, Bookmarked for Death and Bookplate Special) could A) choke a moose, and would B) make a great doorstop.  But the best use would be as a gift (Christmas is coming!).  Have a relative or a friend who doesn't yet know about cozy mysteries?  This might be a way to introduce them to the genre.  (Not that I'm being pushy or anything. No--no!  Perish the thought.) 

Even better, Amazon and Barnes & Noble are currently discounting it by 43% (it lists for $16 and is being sold for $9.09--free shipping at Amazon if you spend $25).

Room at the Inn will be available at most online retail outlets on September 10th.

Murder in Three Volumes will be available everywhere on October 2nd.
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First Tuesday of the month = new cozy mysteries!

Oh, how I love the first Tuesday of the month.  It's when my publisher releases new cozy mysteries, and there're three really good ones I think you should consider.

Murder In Four Courses by Lucy Burdette

The annual Key West Loves Literature seminar is drawing the biggest names in food writing from all over the country, and Haley Snow is there to catch a few fresh morsels of insider gossip. Superstar restaurant critic Jonah Barrows has already ruffled a few foodie feathers with his recent tell-all memoir, and as keynote speaker, he promises more of the same jaw-dropping honesty.

But when Hayley discovers Jonah's body in a nearby dipping pool, the cocktail hour buzz takes a sour turn, and Hayley finds herself at the center of attention--especially with the police. Now it's up to her to catch the killer before she comes to her own bitter finish.






Murder Unmentional by Meg London (also known as Peg Cochran)

Emma Taylor thought she knew what to expect when she abandoned life as a big-city fashionista to help her aunt, Arabella, breathe new style into Sweet Nothings, her waning lingerie boutique. As Emma settles back in to Paris, Tennessee—a world where pie is served with a parable and a pitcher of sweet tea is the cure for most of life’s ills—her escape seems smooth as silk.

But when the town acquires a touch of unneeded je ne sais quoi with the arrival of Emma’s philandering ex, an unseemly murder turns her world inside out. As the police’s top suspect, Emma is going to need more than fishnets to snare the real killer. And when she and Arabella refuse to let death threats wrapped in knifed nighties stall Sweet Nothings’ vintage lingerie fashion show, it becomes increasingly clear that any garter may hide a gun and that bullet bras might have to live up to their name…



Murder of the Cat's Meow by Denise Swanson

When ex–Vegas showgirl and local business owner Bunny Reid starts an online dating service called Cupid’s Cat’s Meow, out-of-town visitors flock to her bowling alley for the speed dating and cat show events that she hosts to bring in extra cash. Bunny’s scheme sounds harmless enough, but school psychologist Skye Denison knows all too well that an influx of strangers in Scumble River always spells trouble….

Meanwhile, Skye is convinced that her house is haunted and is afraid her fiancé, police chief Wally Boyd, won’t move in until the ghost moves out. But ghost-hunting takes a back seat when Skye is called to the bowling alley, where a riled up contestant is choking a cat show judge for insulting his feline. Skye breaks up the scuffle, but the next morning the judge’s dead body is found, strangled with a cat toy. Now Skye must solve this purrplexing mystery—and show a devious killer that her sleuthing skills are the cat’s meow.

Hope you'll give them a try!
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A cozier Jeff Resnick returns September 10th

Yesterday I got the cover for my upcoming Jeff Resnick release, ROOM AT THE INN, which will be available on September 10th.  Needless to say, I'm really happy.  (How about you?)

Here's the story description.

A Cozier Side of Jeff Resnick …
 Jeff Resnick is definitely out of his element when he and Maggie take a working vacation at a quaint country inn in Vermont. But just crossing the inn’s threshold brings Jeff’s funny feelings to life: someone is going to die. He’s also gripped with anxiety when he reaches a certain point on a local road. The feelings intensify and he feels the only thing that will quell them is his brother Richard’s presence. A reluctant Richard joins them—after one of the other guests has been murdered. And while the local cops do their best to investigate, Jeff knows—or at least feels—more than they do, and is driven to find the killer before he, Richard, and Maggie become the next victims.
 
(The story fits, chronologically, between When The Spirit Moves You and Cheated By Death.)

Will you help me spread the word? 

(Thank you.)
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Come on over and visit me at the Cozy Chicks Blog

It's Friday - Friday
Ya gotta get down on Friday ...

And that means I'm over at the Cozy Chicks blog talking about being LIKED on social media.

I hope you'll check out my post, and then fly over to Facebook to LIKE me.  (Really, really, LIKE me!)
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Three Weeks And Counting until there's ROOM AT THE INN

Three weeks from today, my fifth Jeff Resnick book will be released.

What's the hold up?

Several things.  The cover; formatting the book so it will be available in Trade Paperback. I also need time to order postcards. (And I guess it wouldn't hurt to write the product blurb, eh?)

This is the photo that will be used on the cover.  I'm eager to see what my cover designer will do with it.  What do you think it means?

Which Julia Child recipe did I choose?

As promised, I blogged today about making a recipe from Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking. I've included LOTS of pictures of the process, too.

You can find my post over on The Cozy Chicks blog.

Go on.  It's waiting there for you!

Oh, Just Do It Already!

by Guest Blogger Evelyn David

We love mysteries. It's why we got into writing them in the first place. And we confess we love a nice touch of romance in our whodunnits because, well, why not? But here's what we don't like, be it in mysteries, television, or for that matter, real life. We hate, and yes that's a strong word, but we hate the concept that the only interesting part of a relationship is the chase.

Yep, we love good, crisp, flirty banter in a relationship. Think Tracy and Hepburn, Cary Grant and just about any actress, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Both the man and woman are smart, sassy, and instantly attracted and immediately repelled by the other. The build-up of a relationship captures our imagination, teaches us about the characters, and most of all, it's fun. But what happens next?

All too often writers drag out this stage of a relationship ad nauseum. The "will they-won't they" grows stale after a few years or a few books. At some point, it's not "will they-won't they," but "who cares." If the couple can't commit to each other and also can't quit each other, that tells us something about their emotional maturity. At some point, the unresolved adolescent longing in a 30-something man or woman isn't attractive, it's worrisome.

Many fiction writers have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the Moonlighting Curse. The underlying premise of this myth is that the hugely popular television show Moonlighting tanked immediately upon the coupling of protagonists Dave and Maddie. One kiss, after two years of protracted verbal foreplay, and the show died. The twosome lost all ability to form clever quips; doomed to be assigned to the subset of boring married couples who sleep in separate bedrooms. Who'd want to watch that?

In a very thoughtful essay, Laura Akers points out that it's really an indictment of writers that they are stuck in the junior high school paradigm of romantic relationships. "…the idea that there is no one capable of producing a series [or book] in which two people solve crimes, fall in love, move in, argue about where to spend Thanksgiving, and all the other things that we, as human beings, not only experience but pursue almost above all else, is patently ridiculous. Are all…writers single and have never learned that that first (real) kiss is only the beginning of the best part of what it is to be in love, and in a relationship? That a life together--especially one punctuated by gun fights, serial killers’ riddles, and the like—is the real adventure? Can it really be that hard to make an actual relationship both genuine and compelling?"

And so we have accepted the challenge of defeating the Moonlighting Curse with our Brianna Sullivan Mysteries and the story of our psychic heroine Brianna and her small town police detective Cooper Jackson. We've decided that we want to write about grownups in our mysteries. The focus is still on the who- and why-dunnit, but their relationship moves forward with each book. The mystery's the thing, but the romance is real. We're not talking about Fifty Shades of Grey kind of real. Our mysteries are cozies and sex and violence take place off-the-page. But we are determined that our couples take charge of their romantic lives as fearlessly as they do their sleuthing. No hocus-pocus involved, but poof, the Moonlighting Curse is broken.

If you're already a Brianna Sullivan fan, the ninth book has just been published – Summer Lightning in Lottawatah. It's available in e-book format at Amazon, BN.com, and Smashwords.
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Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett. Marian lives in New York and is the author of eleven nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics ranging from veterans benefits to playgroups for toddlers! Rhonda lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is the director of the coal program for the state, and in her spare time enjoys imagining and writing funny, scary mysteries. Marian and Rhonda write their mystery series via the internet. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have now chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person.

Please check out Evelyn's website at www.evelyndavid.com for information about Evelyn David's appearance schedule and writing projects.

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia!

Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday.  I must admit, I never paid much attention to her until after she was gone.  I've never been much of a cook.  But writing the Booktown Mysteries, which include recipes, has made me a fan of all kinds of cookbooks, including Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I must admit it was the movie Julie & Julia that really caused me to look into Julia Child's life, and what a fascinating one it was. I've probably seen it about 20 times by now.  I love it on so many levels, not only because of the cooking, but the struggle of two writers to become published.

I not only read Julie Powell's book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, but also My Life in France, by Julia Child.  And I've been contemplaing reading the new Julia Child biography, Dearie, The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz.

To celebrate her birthday, I'm going to cook one of the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blog about it on Friday at The Cozy Chicks Blog. (And I'm not telling which one!  You'll just have to go over there and take a peek!)

And so ... Happy Birthday, Julia.  You really did live a remarkable life.

Have a good one! Really?

by guest blogger Heath P. Boice

I swear.  The next time I'm going to say it.  I really am.

The next time a cashier, or anyone says to me, "Have a good one."  I'm going to respond, "I already do."

Or maybe I’ll say, "What about two, three, and four?" 

I’ll admit it.  I’m a sucker for good customer service.  This might account for the fact that one of my favorite places on earth is Walt Disney World, the mecca of service “magic.”  But even though I realize that I cannot live in customer service nirvana, is it too much to ask a store’s cashier to say, “Thank you, please come again.”  Or perhaps, even more outrageous, “Have a nice day.”  Instead, these platitudes have been bastardized into, “Have a good one.”  Why is this? 

In today’s world of social networking, texting, and email, perhaps, “Have a good one,” is just about as personal as it gets.  I suppose that compared with “LOL!” (laugh out loud) or, “TTYL,” (talk to you later) “Have a good one” is a veritable feast of hospitality.  But is this the new standard that we want to condone?  I don’t.
Maybe it’s not the statement as much as the overwhelmingly bland way it is commonly delivered.  Never have I heard a cashier at the supermarket say excitedly, “Thanks so much.  Have a good one!!!!”  or the kid at the drive through window shout, “Don’t forget to have a good one, sir!”  It’s always a monotonous drone, almost as an afterthought as I walk away, “have a good one.”  As if Eeyore were working in retail.  Why does this irk me so much?  Perhaps I need a life.

I suppose if there was a law against, “Have a good one,” something worse would probably take its place.  Maybe, “Get the hell away, now.”  Or, “I hate my job.” Or worse, “Did you really need those fries, tubby?”

I guess that there are much more important issues to get annoyed about.  I realize, at the end of the day, that there are more significant things to consider in the world.  Like the use of “at the end of the day.”   I cringe every time I hear it.  Clearly I DO need to get a life.

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A college administrator for 20 years, and former resident of the New Jersey shore, author Heath P. Boice combines both in his new series of cozy mysteries.  The first book in the Ocean Grove Mysteries is "Missing by the Midway."  The second book, Buried By The Boardwalk, will be out this fall.  For more information, check out www.101mysteries.com

A day later than the Penguin releases comes the first in a new series by my Cozy Chicks blog sister Maggie Sefton, Deadly Politics.

Molly Malone was driven from Washington, D.C., by political back-stabbing, scandals, and personal heartbreak. But now she’s starting a new life in the one place she swore she’d never come back to.

When Molly’s only Washington job prospect falls through, her politico niece, Karen, sets her up with a position in the office of a freshman senator. As the former wife of a congressman, Molly is alarmed to hear that Karen is having an affair with her boss,  congressional chief of staff Jed Molinoff. Just days later, Molly finds Karen shot to death. Discovering that Molinoff has ransacked Karen’s apartment, Molly investigates further . . . and finds herself in the crosshairs of a shadowy political group that’s killing anyone who gets in its way.

Maggie also writes the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries.  The first one in that series is Knit One, Kill Two.
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Need something to read? These cozy books fit the bill.

I love the first Tuesday of the month.  That's when my publisher releases a new bunch of books.  (Not that I want you to forget my book, Murder On The Half Shelf, that came out last month, which Amazon has reduced to $13.91 -- an $11.04/44% savings off the $25.95 list price.)

First up, by my Cozy Chicks blog sister Heather Blake (who also writes as Heather Webber), A Witch Before Dying:

Darcy Merriweather is Salem, Massachusetts’ newest resident Wishcrafter—a witch who can grant wishes for others. While Darcy isn’t able to grant wishes for herself, she does possess a certain knack for solving problems—including the occasional murder…
     When Darcy is hired by Elodie Keaton to clean up her missing mother’s disorderly home, the Wishcrafter is certainly up for the task. After all, the motto of her Aunt Ve’s personal concierge service As You Wish is “No Job Impossible.” But beneath the piles of old newspapers and knickknacks Darcy discovers something much more disturbing—Patrice Keaton’s body.
     Darcy’s determined to give Elodie peace of mind by investigating her mother’s disappearance and death. Patrice was last seen over a year ago after a fight with her Charmcrafter boyfriend. Was her murder a crime of passion? Or were Patrice’s troubles caused by the Anicula, a wish-granting amulet? Now Darcy has to not only find a killer, she has to find the Anicula— before the power of ultimate wish fulfillment falls into the wrong hands…

Next up, Allergic to Death by Peg Cochran (who also writes as Meg London).


Preparing calorie-conscious meals for the dieters of Woodstone, Connecticut, Gigi Fitzgerald knows a cheater when she sees one. And when murder is on the menu, she's ready to get the skinny on whodunit...

     Business is looking up for Gigi's Gourmet De-Lite, thanks to her newest client, restaurant reviewer Martha Bernhardt. Martha has the clout to put Gigi's personal meal plans on everyone's lips. But instead of dropping a few pounds, Martha drops dead from a severe peanut allergy...right after eating one of Gigi's signature dishes.

     When the distractingly debonair Detective Mertz identifies traces of peanut oil in Martha's last meal, Gigi suddenly finds her diet catering business on the chopping block. Now she'll have to track down who tampered with her recipe before her own goose is cooked.

Dead Blondes Tell No Tales by Denise Swanson (an ebook special):

A Novella-Length Mystery  from the New York Times bestselling author of the Scumble River Mysteries!
     Skye’s beau, Simon, asks her to keep an eye on his mischievous mother, Bunny, who is hosting at her bowling alley a Spring Break Bash that will include a talent show, trivia games, and karaoke. As Skye sets up for the event, she’s stunned when a statuesque, scantily clad blonde shows up at Bunny’s door—Ruby, a sex-toy shop owner who used to be a showgirl with Bunny in Las Vegas. Bunny is overjoyed to be reunited with her old friend, but barely a minute later, Ruby butts heads with the police over showing off paraphernalia from her shop. More mayhem ensues when Ruby’s beloved Cadillac is vandalized and her room is set on fire.
     It appears that someone is after Ruby, but the blonde is too nervous to cooperate with the authorities. Ruby’s evasive behavior convinces Skye that she’s hiding some critical information that would explain the recent havoc at the bowling alley. With the safety of the Spring Break Bash attendees on the line, Skye decides to find out Ruby’s secret before some nefarious criminal decides that dead blondes tell no tales.

 I hope you'll give these books a try!
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A new to you Jeff Resnick Mystery?

What do you do with a perfectly good manuscript that's sitting on the shelf?

These days, you publish it, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

The problem?  Way back in the day (we're talking 2004), I sent the 2nd Jeff Resnick book to my agent.  She read the first three chapter and told me, "I won't represent this.  It's a cozy."  PIty she didn't read the rest of the book. It does have a cozy setting (a country inn in Stowe, Vermont), but it's still a Jeff Resnick book, and that means it's gritter than my Booktown or Victoria Square books.

She went on to say, "Write another book.  You have lots of ideas."  The problem was, I was working full time, I was running my own little business, and I didn't have lots of ideas or time.  I started the book and then lost my job, which did give me the time to write and finish it (record time, I might add). I decided to set Dead In Red three months after the first book (where the original second book happened six months after the first), and I borrowed elements from that book and incorporated them into Dead In Red. I will admit, Dead in Red is a lot grittier and violent than the original 2nd Jeff Resnick book.  But man, what an exciting ending to the original book.

I finished Dead in Red, was in the midst of polishing it, when I got a note from my agent.  Surprise!  I'm retiring!  And she did, I had no representation, and that was it.  I was not a happy camper.  I felt abandoned, and I'm sure I could have sold that original book to Five Star (where the first one ended up) without a blink of an eye.

So, the original 2nd book has been sitting on a shelf for the past eight years, gathering dust.  The problem was ... I'd already finished the first four books when I wrote Dead in Red.  I hadn't figured out how to remedy the stolen storylines.  But ... now I have.

When will the new book come out?  Sometime this fall.  I have to work on my contracted books first.  (And since I don't know which one will be due first, I'm juggling Victoria Square #4 and Booktown #8.)  I'm giving myself weekends to rewrite the original 2nd Jeff Resnick book.  I'm giving myself firm daily writing quotas and if I don't meet them, I can't "play" with Jeff.  (Although, my ideas to "rescue" it really aren't all that extensive after all.  Go figure!)  So ...  if you'll indulge me bringing out a new book that's plunked down at the series (so far) halfway point, there will be a "new to you" Jeff Resnick book sometimes this fall.

The name?  Room at the Inn.  (And it'll be available as an e book and a Trade Paperback.)

Do you think you'd be interested?
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Whoa--didn't like THAT book!

Over the weekend I read a book by an author I admire. I've read just about every book she's ever written.  I've loved just about every book she's ever write, but not that one. In fact,  I could find very little to like about the book. And yet, I read it to the bitter end (and the ending was just that--bitter; it left an unpleasant tang on my tongue). So, am I going to run to Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com to write a scathing review?

Not on your life.

This author is big, much BIGGER than I will ever be.  She writes women's fiction.  She makes mega, Mega, MEGA bucks. She's hit the New York Times bestsellers list (in hardcover) at least 16 times (and probably the USA Today top fifty as many times, too). So how could she write a book I didn't like?

Was the novel well written? Yes. Her gift for description is to die for. (Well, at least if you aspire to be an author.) Did she have a bad plot? Nope. She's written almost a score of books--she knows what she's doing. So what was the problem?

It just wasn't my cup of tea. It just didn't "sing" for me, but that doesn't mean it didn't hit the right notes for thousands (and we're talking HUNDREDS of thousands) of readers.  So why not go on a public forum and tell the world my opinion of this book?  Because it's not necessary. Would I have written a glowing review if I'd loved it?  Probably not, so why do it if I didn't enjoy the book?

With the advent of social media, far too many people log on to review sites and vent their spleens. I've read some pretty nasty book reviews--and have been on the receiving end of them as well.  Will a nasty review keep this fantastically talented woman from making a living?  No. And she doesn't expect everyone will like her book(s).  But neither does she (or any author) expect to be trashed in a public forum.

We all have different tastes.  Not all books will appeal to everyone.  Will I warn others away from the book?  No. It's got quite a twist at the end that some (probably many) will find quite appealing.  Will I read her next book?  Probably. If I don't like it, then I will probably stop reading her work. There are plenty of other brilliant authors out there. But trash her work?  Never.

Have you ever trashed a book on an online site?  If so, why?  (Feel free to answer anonymously.)

A bad hair day gets better

Earlier this week I went to get my hair colored.  I used to do it myself, but last fall I botched it and thought to myself, you know, you've reached a point in life when you can afford to treat yourself to SOMETHING now and then.  My pals Patrica Ryan and Leann Sweeney had encouraged me to get highlights, and so I tried that, too.  Hey, Mikey!  I like it!  A LOT.  Of course I don't get highlights every month, but if there's a conference on the horizon, or I have to be somewhere and look presentable (that is, not in jeans and a T), I spring for highlights.

On Monday I arrived bright and early at the salon and to my dismay, my regular stylist had changed her hours.  Yikes!  I was in a hurry, so I settled on someone else doing my hair.  Big mistake.  I wasn't happy with what she had done the last time my regular stylist wasn't available.  The instructions for my color were on my customer card, so how bad could she mess things up?

BIG TIME -- that's how.  I came out looking like I'd stuck my head in a pot of very, very, very dark brown paint.

I had to go out of town and came back yesterday with a plan to hit the salon again this morning.  Sure enough, my stylist was there to make things right. Super highlights! And she did it for free.  Weeeee!  I look like (the new) me again!  I gave her a big fat tip, and offered her a part in my current book.  (As it happens, I'm writing a hairdresser.)  She was thrilled.

So, when you get to Victoria Square #4 and meet Brittney, you'll know where she came from.

Praise oh praise this anthem generator!

The other day at a garage sale, I bought a second copy of the Yes CD Big Generator.  Love that CD.  (I'm a big Yes fan -- but only the albums with Trevor Rabin.  Sorry, I came in on his watch and that's all there is to it.)  I stuck it in the CD player and immediately thought of our foolish purchase last year.  Yes, we bit the bullet and bought a Big Generator.

"Ha!  What do you want to waste your money on that for?" more than one person asked me.  After all, how often do we have power failures?  Well, not three months after the generator went in, the power went out for a couple of hours.  What's a couple of hours?  Well, when it's COLD and DARK in December, it's a while.  We sat there at happy hour, listening to music and reading the newspaper by 150 watts of light, while the furnace happily chugged away.  Meanwhile, our neighbors were in the dark.

Last night we had a nasty thunderstorm.  Guess what?  It took out the power for three hours.  Admittedly, you don't need all that much power during the night.  But my clock has a battery in it.  It's not flashing this morning because 10 seconds after the power went out, Mr. Big Generac came on.

Already this summer too many of my friends have been inconvenienced for days, nearly a week, when a storm (and the power lines) took out their electricity.  We suffered a number of times with that ourselves, and we said, "never again."  The crazy way weather is changing makes me glad we sacrificed so we could buy that generator.

Thank you for being my friend, Mr. Big Generac.
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Free, Free, Free -- Murder on the Mind is Free!

I'm celebrating!  Murder on the Mind is FINALLY gone free for the Nook!

So let's recap.  Murder on the Mind, my first Jeff Resnick Mystery is now FREE for:

Kindle ~ Nook ~ Kobo ~ iTunes ~ Smashwords ~ Sony E Reader (And it's free for Kindle in the UK, too!)

So far, more than 117,000 copies of the book have been downloaded on Kindle alone.

What does that mean?

It means that FINALLY people will be reading my first mystery series.  The one I shed blood, sweat, and tears trying to find an audience.  Yeah, but they're reading it for FREE.  Where's the logic in that?

A good number of those people have gone on to buy the rest of the books in the series.

(To refresh your memory they are:  Dead In Red, Cheated by Death and Bound by Suggestion, along with two short stories (Bah! Humbug and Cold Case) and a novelette (When The Spirit Moves You).

Suddenly my website numbers are five times greater than they were a month ago.  (Rats--and it's due for a refit NEXT month.  I would rather have had people see the new and improved site.) Not only do I hope the readers go on to find the rest of the series, but that when they visit the site they discover that I also write two other mystery series.

Won't you help me spread the word about the Jeff Resnick series?  Even if you don't have an e reader, download the book.  You can read it on your computer, your tablet, or smartphone.

What have you got to lose?  It's free.
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A Cookbook With A New Look

Sometimes we make mistakes.  It's a good thing that some mistakes can be corrected.
For example, the cover for Recipes To Die For: A Victoria Square Cookbook.  The picture I chose for the original cover.  It was ... okay.  The cover designer did a great job with my poor choice.  She added a little noose to my name, she made a nice "sign" for the cookbook, but for some reason the whole thing just didn't "sing" for me.  But, up it went.  Sales have been lackluster.

I've been thinking about changing the cover for a long time.  What held me back so long?  The box of bookmarks I had made up.  You see, I've only used about half of them.  But finally I decided--the heck with that.  I want my cookbook to find its way into the hearts and homes of my readers, so I started hunting for a new cover picture.

I don't have the resources of a big publishing company.  They have a marketing department.  There's just me.  I don't have a marketing degree.  I don't have years of experience when it comes to marketing a book.  But I do know when it's time to change a cover.  I spent a couple of days going through stock photo sites, trying different keywords, until I came upon one that seemed to work.  Next up, getting Mr. L to play with the concept.

My second choice of cover was a purple-blue close up of a silverware pattern.  Mr. L said right off the bat, "I don't think that's it."  But he was game to try.  He was right.  He liked my first choice, and I think it worked out well.

It's already up on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, and should eventually filter through to the other e booksellers.  The new cover should be up for the print version in a couple of days.  (It takes longer to do than an E cover.)

So, what do you think?  Do you like it better than the original cover?  Would you be enticed to buy the book with its new cover?