Dazed and Confused

Monday, September 1, 2014

Happy Labor Day!

That sounds like the perfect (un)Labor Day to me. What are you up to today?

Friday, August 29, 2014

It was just under a month ago that our family celebrated my mother-in-law Mary's 100th birthday. She was surrounded by her family (her children, her three favorite nieces, and me, my mother, and my sister-in-law). Mr. L made a video. We all took loads of pictures.

The nursing home provided pizza, punch, and we brought a wonderful (HUGE) birthday cake that was gobbled up in no time flat. A good time was had by all. It was a happy day we will long remember.

Sadly, two days later, Mary suffered a devastating stroke. A week later, she was gone.

Wow. How could such a small lady leave such a big hole in our lives?

The Cozy Chicks sent us a lovely dish garden that we will enjoy for years to come. Every time we see it we think of Mary and of the friendships we've made with the wonderful women here on this blog. (Love you guys!)

Mary loved Nilla wafers and hard candy. We bought her boxes and boxes of wafers and pounds and pounds of candy, which she shared with members of the nursing home staff. When we cleared out her room, we found the last box of Nillas in a drawer. It hadn't been opened.

Truthfully, neither of us are fond of Nillas (I'd prefer a GIGANTIC OATMEAL COOKIE with walnuts and raisins!!!) so we aren't likely to eat them. But ... I know that other recipes use Nillas as a base. Among them, bourbon balls. Our friend Jean used to make bourbon balls and bring them to work every year at Christmastime. Boy, they sure were the hit of the office party. (She did NOT spare the bourbon!) I'm sure Mary would have enjoyed bourbon balls (although she drank beer when she was younger, and white wine these past couple of decades).

I've made bourbon balls before, but I was wondering if there were other recipes out there that use Nillas as a base and that you guys have made and enjoyed. I know I'd be pleased to know about them, and I'm sure those reading the comments would, too. So, if you have a recipe, please share it. (If I make one, I'll let you know the results.)

Thanks!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Happy Day for The Cozy Chicks

It's a great day for the Cozy Chicks. Not only did our own Ellery Adams hit the New York Times Best Sellers list at #1 for her debut novel in the Book Resort Mystery series, MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE ...

Not only that, but Leann Sweeney hit the list at #25 with The Cat, The Vagabond and the Victim!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

So true ...

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Don't miss these two new great books!

I love the first Tuesday of the month because that means NEW BOOKS!

This month, two of my best friends have books out:

New from Leann Sweeney: The Cat, The Vagabond and the Victim
When Clyde the cat travels two hundred miles back home only to find his former owner dead, the story makes national news. While everyone seems eager to tell Clyde’s incredible tale, someone needs to step up to care for him. Because the media attention is creating chaos at the local shelter, cat quilter Jillian Hart agrees to foster the loyal orange tabby, hoping his location is kept secret.

But while the media circus around Clyde continues, Jillian learns the real story behind his owner’s death—he was murdered. Why would an eldery man already dying from a serious illness become a murder victim? As the local police search for an answer, Clyde makes another escape. Jillian is drawn into the case when she finds Clyde has returned to his home again—and he’s found another body. When the motive behind these murders is finally revealed, Jillian understands Clyde is in danger of becoming the next victim, and she must help find the killer before the claws really come out.…

Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Kindle | Nook | iBooks

First in a new series by Ellery Adams
Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia is the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving.

But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book he won as his prize is missing, Jane realizes one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There’s no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up…

Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Kindle | Nook | iBooks

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

It's a PANTY RAID!

Get it's while it's HOT!

Tori Cannon and her BFF, Kathy Grant, get together for a girl’s weekend of wine, cookies, and laughter, but there’s also the specter of a panty pincher hanging around the laundry room of the complex where Tori lives. Kathy thinks they can catch the culprit red-handed in a panty raid!

Kindle | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | Kobo | Smashwords

(coming soon to iBooks!)

This mini mystery introduces the two main characters of the upcoming Lotus Bay Mysteries. With Baited Breath arrives Fall 2014.

Monday, July 21, 2014

I've got a new cozy mystery series coming soon!

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

Writers write, but not always in a logical sequence.

Before I finished the first Jeff Resnick Mystery, Murder on the Mind, I'd already started Room At The Inn (what later became the third book in the series). Before I'd finished Room At The inn, I was already writing Cheated By Death (#4 in the series). Bound By Suggestion (#5 in the series) was written before Murder On The Mind (#1) ever saw print. (And Murder on the Mind is FREE for all e formats.) Confused? Yeah, me, too!

In between all those Jeff books (written under the name L.L. Bartlett), I started writing the Victoria Square Mysteries. A Craft Killing (then called A Matter of Murder, and I still prefer that title) and The Walled Flower were already written (under the name Lorraine Bartlett) before I wrote one word of Murder is Binding (and under another name--Lorna Barrett).

Confused yet?

In the past couple of weeks, I've been working on the first story in a new cozy mystery series that will be called the Lotus Bay Mysteries. The thing is, the idea for it came to me more than nine years ago. Poor Tori Cannon has been toasting her buns on the back burner for all those years! Now, finally, I'm beginning to tell her story. Tori is going to solve a number (and I hope a GREAT number) of crimes with the help of her BFF Kathy Blake. And they've got new friends, too. (I haven't written their parts yet, but I know that Noreen and Anissa will be very important to them WHEN I FINALLY GET TO WRITE THEM).

So, what am I trying to tell you?

I've written a prequel to the Lotus Bay Mysteries, which I've sat on for more than a year because during that time I wrote my short story, Blue Christmas (which I only sat on for about four months), and then Dark Waters (Jeff Resnick #6) and Evolution (a collection of Jeff Resnick short stories which took place BEFORE the first Jeff Resnick Mystery, except -- most of them were written DURING the course of writing the first four books). Still, Tori kept poking my brain and saying, "Hey, START WRITING ABOUT KATHY AND ME NOW!"

(And what about Sabina, who's been sitting around even LONGER than Tori waiting for her story to be told. And then there's Lee, a cozy male protagonist (which my 4th agent said would never sell ... but NEVER say NEVER to me).)

So, I'm almost ready to release Tori's and Kathy's first (mini) mystery. It's called PANTY RAID and I hope it will be available by next week. It's currently being copy edited. (Sorry, but it's short, so will only be available in e format.)

So, when will the first book in the Lotus Bay series (in e and print formats) be available? I'm shooting for early October.

Meanwhile, I've got plans for a new Jeff Resnick short story (the next book is still percolating on the back burner), and a new paranormal series (like Jeff, it'll be edgier than my cozies), and I'm already plotting Booktown #10 (#9 will be published next June ... and oh, poor Tricia ... she needs a break).

Gosh, I feel exhausted just thinking of all the work I need to do in the next few months/years ... but you know what? I anticipate it all being a LOT of FUN, too! And I hope my readers feel the same way.

I'll be announcing the availability of PANTY RAID next week on my Facebook pages and on my website. Oh, and it will come out under my Lorraine Bartlett name.

Stay tuned!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Mailing list?

You can sign up right here on my blog, or on my websites.

LornaBarrett.com

LorraineBartlett.com

LLBartlet.com

Don't miss out on the news and fun contests I run!

Monday, July 14, 2014

My friend C.J. Lyons decided it would be great if readers could find new-to-them authors. To do that, she set up a website called Digital Book Day. On it, she would list all the free books she could come up with on a multitude of genres that are absolutely FREE ... and guess what? She's included mine -- MURDER ON THE MIND. The link is for Amazon worldwide, but the book is FREE for all e formats.

Hope you find lots of great books. Here's the link again: http://www.digitalbookday.com/

Remember -- don't just download the books -- PLEASE READ THEM, and then leave these authors a review, too.

Thank you!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Lap Sitter

In early May, I broke my office heater. I had taken it to our family's cottage for the weekend (it gets REALLY cold there) and brought it home. My office is the farthest from the furnace and it's COLD there from October through May.

The heater's wheels idn't turn as well as they should and as I was pushing it toward the door to the house -- oops! It tipped over. The next thing you know there's oil allllllll over the driveway. Luckily, There was cat litter in the garage. I tossed it on the oil and the next day you wouldn't know it had ever spilled. Of course, the heater was a goner. It went out with the trash on Tuesday, but it was rescued by someone looking for metal to recycle so I guess alls well with that. Except for one thing.

My cat Betsy was very fond of that heater. In fact, she practically lived next to it all winter. She's got a cushion she sleeps on on one side, and a towel on the other. Sometimes there's a bit of snarling if Chester decides HE, too, wants to sleep there during office hours.

Since there was no more heater, Betsy decided she was going to sit on the only other warm object in the office. ME.

Betsy takes a break on Mr. L's foot for a change.

This is all well and good for five or ten minutes. But even a 7 pound cat gets heavy after a while. And it's extremely difficult to type when said cat decides to CONTINUALLY rub her head on your hands WHILE you're trying to type. And when typing is a VITAL part of your job ... well, let's just say productivity goes down pretty quickly.

Betsy likes to sit on my lap first thing in the morning. All morning. Right after lunch, most of the afternoon, and then in the evening when I'm trying to read the newspaper. I figure she puts in 4-5 hours a day on my lap.

I often sit in the living room to edit what I've written. My butt isn't in the chair 30 seconds before there she is ready to spend the next hour on my lap.

I'm not really complaining. Betsy is almost 18. I don't know how much longer we'll be blessed with her company, and I want to make her happy. So ... I guess she'll continue to sit on my lap for as long as it pleases her ... and me.

Have you got a lap sitter?

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Just 7 more days!!!

Have you seen the video booktrailer?

Friday, June 20, 2014

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!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

VIDEO: BOOK CLUBBED

Ellery Adams and I have been at it again, producing a book trailer for my upcoming release (July 1st) BOOK CLUBBED.

What do you think?

Monday, June 9, 2014

CONTEST: Win an ARC of BOOK CLUBBED

Do your pets like to read as much as you do?

How would you like to win an advance review copy of BOOK CLUBBED, the 8th Booktown Mystery? Send me picture of your pet reading any of my books along with your snail mail address to Lorna@ LornaBarrett.com (don't forget to close up the space).

Below is my cat Fred reading Not The Killing Type. Okay, he sort of fell asleep, but it was because he was TIRED, not because he was bored.

The winner will be announced next Monday (June 16th).
=========================================
UPDATE: It was too hard to choose, so everyone who entered the contest will receive a copy of one of my books. Stay tuned. Pictures of pets reading coming soon!

Friday, May 30, 2014

Foodie Friday: Ruminations on Rhubarb

I had a load of fun putting together y little cookbook RECIPES TO DIE FOR: A Victoria Square Cookbook together. The odd thing is, most of the recipes are ones I really do use over and over again. (It's kind of nice to have them all in one place.)

It's springtime and for me that means fresh rhubarb. What an odd vegetable. I never thought about it as a vegetable, since the only thing I use it for is desserts and chutney, but it really is a veggie, and the leaves are very, very poisonous. (If you value your liver, never, EVER eat them.) But the stalks are just fine to eat--and EXTEMELY tart! We've got rhubarb up the wazoo and I've been even tossing it in my green smoothies. (Yes, VERY TART indeed.)

Mr. L is partial to rhubarb crisp. Here's my favorite recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
½ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Press half of the brown sugar and oats mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Top with the sliced rhubarb. In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and the 1 cup of water and vanilla. Cook together until the liquid is clear, then pour over the rhubarb. Top the rhubarb with remaining crumb mixture and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm, and if desired, with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Yield: 4-6 servings.

Mmm-mmm good!

And in case you are interested in RECIPES TO DIE FOR, here are a few links.

Watch the video! (Made by Ellery Adams and me!)

Trade Paperback Kindle US
Kindle Worldwide
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
Smashwords

P.S. New recipe up on my Lorna Barrett Website from Bookmarked for Death. Find it here!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Teacup Tuesday: Readers share their beautiful teacups and dishes

Well, I missed a week. Then I thought I had written the blog post and would just post it this week. Hello, I got the pictures ready, but forgot to write the post. Oy. (My excuse: I've been writing up a storm!)

Last time out, I invited readers to submit pictures of their own china cabinets. Two readers took me up on the challenge. First up, is Diane L. from Manchester, CT submitted two pictures. Here's her curio cabinet.

and here's a view of her dining room. Just lovely, Diane!

Suzann F. from Bethlehem, PA is a collector after my own heart. She has a lot of really neat collectibles she keeps in a number of cabinets and shelves.

Look at the detail on that drawer! Beautiful.

Don't you just love those turkey plates? I have a turkey platter with a similar design.

Pretty, pretty, pretty!

Thanks Diane and Suzann for sharing your lovely cups and plates with us.

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