Stay home and read

Happy Black Friday, everyone. Today on The Cozy Chicks blog I'm talking about Black Friday and why I don't participate. What I will be doing later today is starting to read the holiday magazines that have been coming to my house since the end of September. YES, SEPTEMBER. Hey, I didn't want to read about Christmas before Columbus Day. (Or, rather, Canadian Thanksgiving.) So I saved them all up. Now I'm ready to start looking at them.

What are you doing today?  Shopping or something else?

Keep your hands warm!

Happy National Red Mittens Day! Red mittens will keep your hands warm on a snowy day! (Whew! Not supposed to snow here today, though!) Do you wear mittens or gloves?

Where's my pretty cover?

My publisher, Berkley, is teasing readers of the Booktown Mysteries by not showing the cover for #12 in the series, POISONED PAGES, on the websites of popular book retailers. The color of the title and author name is right, but where's the picture?

It turns out -- there was some kind of glitch, but still -- what's with that? What's the book about?

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, throws a housewarming cocktail party in her new apartment and has cooked all the food by herself--quite a feat for someone who previously couldn't boil water. Then one of her guests is poisoned and dies. Tricia's left to wonder if her cooking is to blame or if there's something much more sinister at play. Either way, Tricia's once again in hot water with her ex-lover, Chief Baker. Meanwhile the charming town of Stoneham is being disrupted by a vandalism crime wave. It's the hot topic in the race for Chamber of Commerce president which sees Tricia pitted against two bitter rivals. With all that's going on can she find the killer before she's the next item on the menu?

 You can't see the very pretty cover on those sites, but you CAN see it on my website. Click this link for a sneak preview.

To Pre-order, click the links below. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Chapters/Indigo
Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)

Kindle US | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

Lotsa love on Teacup Tuesday

Well, not much more I can add except ... what would go well with that wonderful cup of tea? How about a nice slice of pumpkin bread (with walnuts).  What would you like with your nice cuppa tea?

Maybe I'm not cut out for the simple life

How big is your To Be Read pile? I buy a lot of books and sometimes it's years before I get to read them. I bought a book at Barnes & Noble a while back ... it must have been QUITE a while back, because I though, "Wow -- I've never seen this book before IN MY LIFE." But I must have, because I always put the price sticker on the back of the dust jacket flap. Because my job is writing fiction,  read a lot of non-fiction.

The book?  Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James.

There are a lot of good ideas in this little book. Things like pay off your mortgage. (Yeah, that's an easy one.) Get out of debt. (Another easy one.) Buy in bulk. Works great for families, not so good for two people--especially if you follow her suggestion to move to a smaller house. I don't have enough closet space now? Where would I put my stuff if I moved to a smaller house? She's got the answer for that, too ... get rid of all your stuff.

Get rid of my stuff? Are you crazy?

Mind you, my Mum was a bit of a pack rat, and I don't have nearly as much stuff as she accumulated. Still, I've got a lot of stuff. I like my stuff and I have tried parting with it. But then I get more stuff.

I have this problem "rescuing" stuff at yard sales. Lots of times I find homes for the stuff. (Like teacups, teapots, etc.) Other stuff...not so easy.  Earlier this summer, I posted on my Facebook Group (Lorraine's Perpetual Tea Party) some little vintage cookbooklets I got at a yard sale; did readers think it was a good giveaway. YES!  So, every time I saw one at a yard sale, I bought it. We're in week three of the giveaway and it hasn't been as successful as I would have liked. (The contest is over for this week, but join the page and enter next week's drawing!)

Back to the book.

Another helpful hint: turn off the TV.  Too late. I did that back in 2003. Don't ask me if I've seen Game of Thrones, Outlander, or the Walking Dead. The last TV show I regularly watched was Fraiser. I do watch TV shows on Youtube. (well, I have it on; I'm usually doing other stuff). I think I saw about 40 gastric bypass surgeries over the summer watching Fat Doctor. (Fascinating stories.) I've seen just about every Gordon Ramsey show he's ever made (I like the Brit versions better), and watch a lot of tutorials. But network (and cable) TV. Nope.

Ms. St. James also suggests you get rid of your houseplants. WHAT? Just when my thumb has started to turn green? Listen, honey, if the plant still has life in it, I'm keeping it. Three of my late mother's violets are blooming right this minute and I can't tell you how much pleasure they give me. Nope. Not tossing them.

So, I guess the thing is that ... right now, I'm not ready to simplify my life.

How about you?