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)

Mmmmm....peanut butter

Cookies are a favorite at The Patisserie -- what a great day to visit and try the different peanut butter cookies on sale.

Of course, if you don't like peanut butter (what???), what kind of cookie would you order?

NOW AVAILABLE!!!

I know a lot of you have been waiting for Booktown #11 to come out in paperback. Well, today is the day!  Not only that, but the publisher has dropped the price of the ebook! You can't go wrong!

Here's the description:

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, is in for a surprise when her ne’er-do-well father, John, comes to town—and promptly becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a woman with her own scandalous past. Even Tricia’s faith in the old man is shaken when the Stoneham police break the news that her father is a known con man who has done jail time. From merlot to murder, Tricia is determined to clear the family name before another body shows up and ruins Stoneham’s first—and highly anticipated—wine and jazz festival.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million |  Chapters | Book Depository | IndieBound

Kindle US | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

ENJOY!

Yummy! It's National Bagel Day.

Angelica can make any sandwich you like on a bagel at Booked For Lunch. How would you like YOURS?

bit.ly/1KLLIem

Pets who read mysteries

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

Last week I ran a contest on my blog and Facebook:  Send me a picture of your pet reading my book to enter for a chance to get an advance review copy of my latest Booktown Mystery, BOOK CLUBBED (which will be available on July 1st).  I had a great response.

Several cats decided to start at the very beginning of the the Booktown series with Murder Is Binding. That's Debbie L's cat Smithie.  She says she can't get enough of the Booktown Mysteries!

To the right is Laura I's girl Kit-Kat.  She told her mom, "Stop bugging me with this picture taking...can't you see I'm about to sink my teeth into Lorna Barrett's Murder Is Binding?!"

The book was also very popular with dogs, such as Leah A's girl Olive (at left)

 and Sally S's pup Pep (at the right.)

It turns out that not just cats and dogs like to catch up on the Booktown Mysteries.  Bunnies like Linda D's Hannah like the series, too! (That's Bookmarked for Death, the 2nd book in the series.)

A few of the pets decided to try my other series, like Linda's K's dog Gizmo decided to read One Hot Murder (the third book in my Victoria Square mystery series).

Meanwhile, Margie B's dog Max likes reading my edgier Jeff Resnick series while enjoying a cup of tea.  Doesn't he look scholarly?  Kind of like Mr. Peabody!  (BTW, that's the first in the series, Murder on The Mind. If you've got an ereader, it's free for all e formats.)

Some people don't have pets, so they got creative.  Like Jennifer S.  Her stuffed Shrek liked Not The Killing Type (which comes out in paperback on July 1st).  He read it on her e reader.  (Smart little guy, huh?)

I got many more entries, and I'll be posting all of them on Facebook during the next week or so.  I hope you'll visit my profile page to see them and comment on them!

See you there!

Cover news or woes?

Whew!  I was out of town for three weeks and it's taken me nearly two to catch up.  But I'm back, writing, thinking about the holidays ... and hoping I will find more things to blog about in the near future.

First up, a while back my editor sent me the cover for Book Clubbed, which is the 8th Booktown Mystery and scheduled to be released on July 1, 2014.

Oh, dear. That was my first reaction. 

And then, Oh, NO!!! 



My eyes!  That wall is blinding me!!!

Needless to say, I was not happy about the cover,  After much discussion with my editor and agent, the Marketing Department came up with this revision (which I did not see for another month).



It's better, but ...

At any rate, I promise the book is better than its cover.  Should you wish to pre-order you can do so:
Amazon | Kindle  and apparently not anywhere else ... yet.  But stay tuned!

And speaking of which, tomorrow and Wednesday, I'll unveil some covers that I truly DO love.  And on Pet Peeve Thursday, my very good friend E.J. Copperman will visit to delight us with something else that gets under his skin. 

Promise you'll come back, now!
.

My new favorite number!

Well, there was certainly a lot to celebrate yesterday.

First I got an email from my editor saying that according to Bookscan, Sentenced to Death was the #1 bestselling mystery mass market paperback for the week (that would be last week).  Weeee!

I must admit, it was hard to focus on my work (I'm writing the third Victoria Square mystery) after that.  But I made my minimum word count, which was worth celebrating in itself.

Of course, what I was REALLY waiting for was the phone to ring.  And it did.  And it WAS my editor.  And (drum roll) Sentenced To Death was #17 on the New York Times bestsellers list for mass market paperbacks.

Woo-hoo!

That's two steps up from Chapter & Hearse.

Ahhh, seventeen.  My new favorite number.

Of course, while I'm celebrating for Tricia, I'm also hoping that with this book getting so much attention, my other characters/books (under other names) just might get some attention, too.  We're talking Katie in A Crafty Killing (Victoria Square #1) and all the Jeff Resnick books and short stories.  (Hey, they're like my kids.  I love them and want them all to do well.)

As it happens, the next Booktown Mystery (Murder on The Half Shelf) is already written.  (As is the 2nd Victoria Square Mystery.)  When I finish this current book (in September), I'll jump right back into Tricia's world.  And boy have I got a lot planned for the denizens of the little village of Stoneham, New Hampshire.  (Mwa-ha-ha!)

In the meantime . . . if you've never read the Booktown Mysteries, I hope you'll give them a try.  They start with Murder is Binding.

Okay, back to work!

Just another way to go crazy

Several months ago, Amazon started sharing Bookscan numbers with authors.

According to Wikipedia:  Nielsen BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry, owned by the Nielsen Company. BookScan compiles point of sale data for book sales.

Bookscan doesn't track ALL books sold, but it can give you an idea of what and where you're selling.

Of course, like the Amazon rankings, it can drive you crazy as you watch your numbers go down every week.  (On Amazon that's good.  On Bookscan that's bad.)

The Jeff Resnick books have been available for well over a month now, and they've suddenly shown up on Bookscan.  I hadn't been expecting this.  So far 9 copies have sold.  That means that BOOKSELLERS are selling copies of the books!!!  I'm astounded and extremely happy.  (I just wish the numbers were a heck of a lot better.)  Most of my sales have been from Amazon, which don't show up on Bookscan.  And since I lowered the price to $11.95 (just a week ago), they've been selling quite a bit better.

(So if you've been holding off--quick!  Go buy copies of the books.  Do it now.  We'll wait.)

Sentenced to Death comes out in four weeks.  It'll be interesting to see if the sales of the rest of the Booktown Mysteries pick up.  (And why doesn't Bookmarked for Death sell as well as the other books in the series???)

Okay, I admit it, I'm a numbers freak.  I love my spreadsheets and I work on them every day.  It's fun.  It's frustrating.  It's anal.  But I do it anyway.

What do you do that's fun, frustrating and anal?

That's not how it was supposed to be . . .

As most of you know, my cozy mysteries include recipes.  Angelica was cooking and I needed something for her to make.  I thought it might be nice to include a vegetarian dish for my readers, so out came one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks.

I selected a recipe (helpful when these books have gorgeous photography) and read it over to decide how to make it mine.  It featured filo dough, broccoli, and feta cheese.  Hmm.  I'm not a big fan of broccoli mixed with cheese, and I'm REALLY not fond of feta cheese.  Well, I needed to make the recipe my own anyway right?

So, out went the feta.  But wait, I thought why keep the broccoli when I prefer onions and peppers.  And if it needs cheese to bind it, why not use mozzerella?  And since onions, peppers and mozzerella sound like a pizza, why not add sausage to the mix?

So much for my good intenions on a nice vegetarian recipe.

Hitting the grocery store later today to buy the ingredients as I intend to test the recipe to make sure it works for the book. 

I'll let you know how it works out.

Isn't it pretty?

Not much to do but admire the cover for SENTENCED TO DEATH, the 5th Booktown Mystery, which will be released on June 7th.  *Sigh*



Here's a brief synopsis of the story:  

It’s Founder’s Day in Stoneham and the whole village has turned out to celebrate in the square, including Tricia’s friend and festivities organizer Deborah Black. As everyone watches Deborah give the opening speech, a small aircraft crashes into the village gazebo, killing both Deborah and the pilot. While the Sheriff’s Department is convinced that it was an accident, Tricia has a feeling that there’s more to the story. And when she reads between the lines of the case, what she finds is worse than the most sinister whodunit…

So, what do you think?

I made it myself!

My publisher likes me to include recipes in my books.  At first, I thought this was kind of a pain.  But now I look at it as an asset.  Angelica is a bit of a gourmand.  Because of that, I have to make the recipes she makes (and adapt them) for the Booktown Mysteries.

Angelica was in a bit of a funk and needed a pick-me-up.  And since I had seen a saltine candy recipe in an old Taste of Home magazine (yard sale find) some months ago, it's been on my mind.

I decided last week that Angelica should make the recipe. But first, I needed to make it.

Well, it didn't work out that way.  First, I couldn't find that issue of the magazine, and then I found a similar recipe online, but then I didn't have the vital ingredient.

Yesterday, all the stars aligned and finally had time to not only write the scene, but test the recipe.  And, since I can't make a recipe without tweaking it (not even the first time), I made it my own.

Why oh why don't I think to take pictures AS I'm making these recipes (or have Mr. L do it)?  But, I did remember to take one during and after.

I think I like the after picture better.  How about you?  (BTW, these taste like Heath (candy) bars.)

(Where's the recipe?  It'll be in the 6th Booktown Mystery--Murder on the Half Shelf.  When will it be available?  I'm not sure.  But most likely sometime in 2012.)

Putting the pieces together

I've been working on the new Booktown book for about 8 weeks now, and feeling like I was making pretty good (but not great) progress. I'd written all the main scenes of the main plot.  Unfortunately, I hadn't written them in order.  I had a vague idea of where the story was going (although I think I have six suspects and no clue whodunit).

Last week I had a hard time getting to work on it--part of that had to due with contract negotiations for the next three books.  I was so bamboozled by the net outcome that I was too frazzled to write.  That's not good because the whole idea is that I'm going to be writing MORE not less.

Monday I figured out why I was stalled:  Duh--I had run out of main story!  Time to work on all the connections for those main plot scenes.  But first, I had to put them in order.  That sounds easy, but when your document is one long string of unconnected scenes . . . talk about messy.

I sat down with my time line and my list of scenes and starting figuring out which scene went on what day.  Of course, I thought the story started on Monday but then realized that too much was happening too fast and had to move the start back to Sunday, which means I have to get Angelica to change clothes in the first scene.  (Oy!  As it is the woman doesn't travel light.  Uh, just like ... her creator.)

Next up, putting the scenes in order on the manuscript.  That meant printing them all out and trying to put them into chapters.  I usually have between 24-26 chapters in a book.  Separating these scenes gave me 13 chapters.  Then, as I was putting the chapters in my notebook, I realized I had one of my big scenes in the wrong spot.  Okay, move it back and renumber the next 20 pages.

Now that I can see the flow of the main story, I can (and did) start writing the connecting scenes.  Whoo-hoo!  For the 2nd day this month, I actually got my daily word quota.  (I was doing pretty good and making at least half or three-quarters up until last week.)

Of course, the big, black hole of Thanksgiving and having a house guest looms before me.  (Did I mention I have galley proofs that are due this month, too?)  I write in the dining room.  My guest will be stationed in the adjacent living room for most of my working day.  Not that she'll make a peep, it's just knowing somebody is there will mean I ain't gonna get any writing done.  (Good time to work on the galley proofs, huh?)

I've got three craft shows coming up.  I've got decorating the house for Christmas coming up.  Christmas shopping.  Christmas baking.  I've GOT to work in all my annual Christmas movie watching, too.  (Hey, I've seen White Christmas at least 43 times--I've GOT to see it for the 44th time or it won't be Christmas.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I need at least another four hours in my day.  EVERY day.

I don't want to cut out any of the "fun" stuff for Christmas, and yet I need to get my work done, too.

How about you?

 (How did I get so much accomplished when I had a day job, too?)

More books in my future . . .

And so I've been offered the opportunity to write books 7, 8 and 9 in the Booktown Mystery Series.

Guess what?  I said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Ya think I'm a fool?)

It's been a roller coaster week or ten days as my FANTASTIC agent has kept me informed of the negotiation process.  Actually, all I had to do was answer the phone and say, "Uh-huh" and nod vigorously at all her suggestions.  Next up, putting my name on the actual contract.

This is a wonderful opportunity.  The books will be coming out in hardcover.  I know, a lot of people are going to say, "I can't afford hardcover!"  That's where ebooks and libraries come into the picture.  A year after the hardcover comes the paperback edition.

Hardcover is a good and bad thing.  Good, because it earns me (and my publisher) more money (and did I mention my healthcare premiums are going up TWENTY PERCENT in January???), and there's the possibility more libraries will either buy or rent the books.  Bad because . . . well, my paperback readers will hold off a year before buying/reading the books.

Ah, but it'll be available as an ebook for considerably less than the $25 hardcover price. (But still more expensive than a paperback.  Hopefully publishers will rethink their ebook strategy in the coming years and lower the prices ... but that's another blog post.)

I've already got a three-story arc planned for those books (but not the nitty-gritty details) and it should be a fun ride.  And I'll still be writing the Victoria Square Mysteries (using my Lorraine Bartlett name), and they'll be in paperback for the foreseeable future.  Did I say win-win?

But still ... I worry.

Would you consider buying a Booktown mystery in hardcover?

Where did it land?

Yesterday was Wednesday, a day Ive been anticipating and dreading because I'd get to know if Chapter & Hearse made the New York Times Bestsellers list for mass market paperbacks.  If it did--where would it land?

Okay, no more suspense--it hit at #19 -- that's one step higher than Bookplate Special and I am ecstatic! 

My biggest thanks need to go to my readers who bought the book.  You helped put Chapter & Hearse there through your loyalty and trust that I'd come through with another book you'd enjoy. 

Thank you all!