Squeeee! I'm so excited about my new series!

I am so excited. My new cozy mystery series by Level Best Books is launching in January, and it’s the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

I am a beach girl, so this has been so much fun to write. Jade Hicks is the owner of ‘Tis the Season, a Christmas shoppe in the tiny town of Mermaid Bay, Virginia. It’s near the Historic Triangle on the coast near Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Jade spends most of her days (and nights) striving to keep the store viable in today’s crazy world.

Jade has a great team who helps her keep the brick-and-mortar store open year-round to cater to tourists during beach season. They are Peppermint Patti Hall, the bubbly ball of energy who has the world’s largest Ugly Christmas Sweater collection, Lorelei Tucker, the fashion plate of an aunt who keeps her ear close to the Mermaid Bay gossip mill, and Bernie Nash, Jade’s part-time handyman and Santa doppelganger. They help her share the Christmas spirit with the locals and thousands of visitors who flock to our town that prides itself in preserving the historic traditions of a bygone era.

Jade’s trusty sidekick and faithful companion is Chloe, a French bulldog who likes long walks on the beach, frequent naps, and plenty of snacks. She’s a good ambassador for the store. Though she grudgingly shares that role with the tuxedo cat, Neville (the Devil Cat) who really rules the showrooms with his iron paw.

Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones is the first in the series. They will be followed by Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir and A Tisket a Tasket Not Another Casket.

Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones opens with the town’s big Christmas in July festivities that include a lighted boat parade, a fun run in the sand, and a Christmas craft show. Before all the hubbub starts, Jade and Chloe start their day with a quiet walk on the beach to enjoy the sounds and smells of the shore. It was the perfect beach day. The puffy white clouds floated above the bay, dotted with a few ships on the horizon. Seagulls and sandpipers outnumbered the people, and the lapping of the waves on the wet sand provided a soothing soundtrack. All was quiet until a scream rang out and shattered the peace.

An early morning jogger tripped over something in the sand that turned out to be a suitcase that had washed ashore. Its contents, a collection of bones, a skull, and rusty pistol spilled out onto the sand and drew a small crowd of gawkers. The gruesome discovery, along with some cryptic warning notes that some of the local business owners received a few days earlier, rock the small community. Word spreads like wildfire, and the town leaders schedule an emergency meeting to decide what to do about the weekend’s festivities and the macabre find.

Thankfully, calmer heads prevail, and the Sheriff (and Jade’s handsome boyfriend) Nick Driscoll reminds everyone that his office had stepped up security. There didn’t seem to be any imminent threats, and he warns everyone to be cautious. His investigation is ongoing, so he didn’t offer any more details, and unfortunately, that didn’t calm some of the jangled nerves. In the absence of an explanation, rumors about mob hits and murders fly around faster than a pickup game of Frisbee.

Jade and most of the other business owners in town are excited about the upcoming festivities. The hope is that this will be the start of a new annual tradition for Mermaid Bay, and a night that everyone in the town will never forget.

Here’s the cover of the first book in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. I am so excited that Chloe made the cover. (Neville the Devil Cat will be jealous when he finds out.)

Have You Read the Classics? A Quick History of the Mystery

Do you ever go back and read classic mysteries? I try to sprinkle in some every so often to make sure I’m varying my reading habits. The best class I took as an undergraduate was “The History of the Mystery in American and British Fiction.”

These books are time capsules to a different era. Here are some interesting tidbits I came across when I was researching a presentation on the topic.

• “Three Apples” in Arabian Nights is often cited as the first mystery story. (However, the hero didn’t solve the murder.)

• Edgar Allan Poe is often called the Father of the Modern Detective Story. (If you’ve never been to the Poe Museum in Richmond, you need to add it to your bucket list.)

• In 1868, Wilkie Collins wrote Moonstone, which is credited as being the first English detective novel.

• Anna Katherine Green is the Mother of American Detective Fiction. She wrote The Leavenworth Case in 1878.

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes in 1890.

• The Golden Age of detective fiction in Great Britain was roughly 1914-1945.

• Agatha Christie published The Mysterious Affair at Style in 1920, and she earned $125.

• Winnie the Pooh creator, A. A. Milne, wrote The Red House Mystery in 1922 for his father.

• In 1928, a group of detective fiction authors (including Christie, Sayers, and Chesterton) created the Detective Club to define the rules for fair play in mysteries.

• After World War II, the police procedural as a subgenre became popular. This is often attributed to the surge of patriotism and the return of the war heroes in uniform.

Here’s alist of classic mystery and detective fiction authors you should check out. They’re in no particular order.

• Edgar Allan Poe

• Anna Katherine Green

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Agatha Christie

• Dorothy L. Sayers

• G. K. Chesterton

• E. C. Bentley

• Margery Allingham

• Freeman Wills Croft

• Josephine Bell

• Philip MacDonald

• Dashiell Hammett

• Raymond Chandler

• Ellery Queen

• Erle Stanley Gardner

• Mickey Spillane

• Rex Stout

• Carroll John Daly

Who would you add to the list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Michele Drier

I’d like to welcome author, Michele Drier to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Read, read, read.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Cleaning house, primarily vacuuming.

Favorite snacks: Popcorn, nuts, raw veggies, M&Ms

Things that make you want to gag: Organ meats (liver, sweetbreads), kale, escargots (but oh, the garlic butter!)

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: Either a Grand Prix driver or an archeologist.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Type for a living (writing!). I’m of an age when mostly girls took typing so they could be secretaries. I started college as a chemistry major…no typing there! I took one typing class in college so I didn’t have to pay to have my papers typed. Got a D.

I’ve ended up making a living at typing (reporter, editor, writing grant proposals, annual reports and now, novels…working on the 18th so far). I still type about 45 wpm with errors.

Last best thing you ate: Greek salad
Last thing you regret eating: Ohhhh…brownie with ice cream! Same meal.

Favorite places you’ve been: Europe, almost anywhere but primarily Paris. Based my Kandesky Vampire Chronicles on Hungary because I loved it there.
Places you never want to go to again: North Dakota

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):Louise Penny, Elizabeth George, Barak Obama
People you’d cancel dinner on: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul

Favorite things to do: Travel, learn new things.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Household chores, going to meetings (sigh).

Best thing you’ve ever done: Had my daughters.
Biggest mistake: Getting married, getting married, getting married (yes, three times, the last one ended more than 30 years ago).

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Driven through Greece and Hungary in a rented car. Couldn’t even read the street signs.
Something you chickened out from doing: Climbing to the top of the Duomo in Florence (I chickened out almost at the top and had to fight my way down through all the other tourists coming up the one-sway staircase)

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Vice President Kamela Harris. When I was running a Legal Services organization in Oakland, she was the newly-elected DA in San Francisco and we worked together (mostly I called and left messages) on legal conferences we presented about recognizing and halting Elder Abuse.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: This goes way back, but I saw Shirley Temple shopping several times at Sak’s in a Palo Alto mall. This was when she was Shirley Black and an ambassador and Chief of Protocol for the U.S.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: Telling wonderful stories about women I want to be like.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Start earlier and try harder to find an agent.

Tapestry of Tears

History had always been a strong magnet for Rosalind Duke. She took up the medieval craft of making stained glass and was building a solid international reputation, taking on larger and larger commissions. Her idyllic life with her husband, Winston Duke, an art historian at UCLA, was cut short when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. After moving to a small town on the Oregon coast, she’s offered a commission to translate the medieval embroidery, The Bayeux Tapestry, into stained glass for a museum at a small Wisconsin university. Roz jumps at the chance. Not only to try to transfer the Tapestry into a new medium, but to spend time in Southern England and Northern France, tracing the path taken by the invading Normans under William the Conqueror. But the 21st century drags her back when she finds a body crumpled against a wall in an ancient stone church in the small town of Lympne, on the southern coast of England. Has she walked into a contemporary murder?

About Michele

Michele Drier is a fifth generation Californian. During her career in journalism at daily newspapers in California, she won awards for investigative series. She is the past president of Capitol Crimes, a Sisters in Crime chapter; the Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime, current vice president of NorCal Sisters in Crime, and co-chaired  Bouchercon 2020.

Her Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries are Edited for Death, (called “Riveting and much recommended” by the Midwest Book Review), Labeled for Death and Delta for Death. A stand-alone, Ashes of Memories was published May 2017.

Her paranormal romance series, SNAP: The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, named the best paranormal vampire series of 2014 by PRG. Currently writing Book Eleven, SNAP: Pandemic Games.

Her new series is the Stained Glass Mysteries, Stain on the Soul and Tapestry of Tears, and she’s working on the third, Resurrection of the Roses.

She lives in Sacramento with her cat, Malley.

Let’s Be Social

Visit her webpage www.MicheleDrier.me

Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMicheleDrier

Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G/

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Sandra Marshall

I’d like to welcome author, Sandra Marshall, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things:

            My camera. My fleece blankey.

Things you need to throw out:

            Fabric I bought but never made into anything. And now it’s out of style.

Things you need for your writing sessions:

            A mechanical pencil, Roget’s International Thesaurus, a yellow tablet, and an idea.

Things that hamper your writing:

            Someone trying to talk to me while I’m working.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

            Writing the bridges between the well-visualized scenes without being boring. That’s when you really have to fall back on craft.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

            When the movie starts rolling in my head, the characters start talking to each other, and I just take dictation.

Things you never want to run out of:

            Good coffee, lead for my mechanical pencil, books to read.

Things you wish you’d never bought:

            Clothes that didn’t quite fit, but would as soon as I lost a couple pounds. Sure.

 Favorite smell:

            Rain falling on the desert.

Something that makes you hold your nose:

            Gardenia blossoms. Too sweet and cloying. Makes me queasy.

 Something you’re really good at:

            Research

Something you’re really bad at:

            Swimming

Something you wish you could do:

            Play a musical instrument.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

            Play internet mahjongg. Had to go cold turkey on that one.

The last thing you ordered online:

            Books, books, nematode spore to kill blackflies, books.

The last thing you regret buying:

            A jar of purple glop meant to enhance curly hair.

Things to say to an author:

            “I loved your book, especially the part where…”  Then you know they actually read it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:

            “How’s your next book coming?”

Favorite books (or genre):

            Histories, biographies, literate mysteries.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

            The Art of the Deal

Best thing you’ve ever done:

            Marrying my husband.

Biggest mistake:

            What were their names again?

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

            Gave up a steady job to go back to school—three times.

Something you chickened out from doing:

            Accepting an invitation to go skydiving.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

            I just finished your book. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.

About Sandra

Sandra Marshall was raised in Texas. She holds degrees in anthropology and public history and had an extended career as an archaeologist and architectural historian, primarily in the American Southwest. Now a writer and photographer, she has settled in southern New Mexico with her husband, historian George Matthews, and tabby cat  Fog. Recipient of the 2018 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, she is a proud member of Sisters in Crime, Guppy and Croak and Dagger Chapters, and of Women Writing the West.

Let’s Be Social

https://sandramarshallbooks.com/  

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Charlotte Stuart

I’d like to welcome author, Charlottes Stuart, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: I collect small boxes made of a variety of materials, but especially wood. I particularly value ones given to me by friends and family. And I love my orange Subaru Crosstrek, mainly because it’s orange.

Things you need to throw out: We downsized a few years ago, but I still have too many clothes, especially jackets. And shoes that I never wear. And old family pictures of relatives I’ve never met and couldn’t name if my life depended on it.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Marketing!
Easiest thing about being a writer: Getting enthused about an idea and having fun exploring ways to bring it to life. I love doing research.

Words that describe you: Friendly. Opinionated. Stubborn. Sense of humor.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Short. Opinionated. Stubborn.

Favorite foods: Blackberry pie. Tomatoes. Almost any cheese. Prawns and scallops.

 Things that make you want to gag: Oysters. Sushi. Undercooked steak. People eating undercooked steak.

 Favorite smell: A saltwater beach.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Vomit. Not only does it make me hold my nose – I run away! It’s either that or throw up alongside the person throwing up.

Something you wish you could do: Play the piano.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Work with fiberglass. My husband and I built a fiberglass boat, and I was, unfortunately, good at fiberglassing. I always wore a mask, but that didn’t keep the resin stink from penetrating my psyche.

Things you’d walk a mile for: To go swimming in a freshwater lake.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Frequently of late, the nightly news. And, still another update for my computer or cell phone.

Things to say to an author: I read your book and really enjoyed it. I’m planning on reading your book soon. I like the cover of your book. Congratulations.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I knew who did it in the first 10 pages. I found 3 typos. Comment: I just don’t read mysteries. What the mystery writer hears: I only read REAL literature.

Favorite places you’ve been: Greece. Italy. Vashon Island.
Places you never want to go to again: The O’Hare Airport. Minneapolis in the winter. D.C. in the summer.

Favorite things to do: Swim. Walk in the woods. Read.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Not sure about eating bugs…but I hate cleaning the house, especially dusting, doing the floors, scrubbing the tub/toilet/sink…just about anything that involves using cleaning products.

 Things that make you happy: Being with people I enjoy. Swimming. Reading.
Things that drive you crazy: Snooty people. People who give you the stink-eye over things such as a dirty car, Velcro sneakers, or an overgrown yard. TV mysteries where someone discovers a body and kneels down to look without considering that there may be someone behind them.

The funniest thing to happen to you: Giving a finger to a slow driver on the way to an interview only to discover he was a board member at the college where I was interviewing. When introduced, he said, “We’ve already met.”

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Falling down on stage at my high school graduation after playing a saxophone solo. I fell like a tree with my arms wrapped around my instrument to protect it. And I didn’t get up right away; I just lay there laughing but with tears rolling down my face. When I returned to my seat, I had to walk all the way to the back of the graduating class because we were seated alphabetically, and my last name began with ZY. So many murmured “Poor Charlotte’s….” And a few snickers.

About Charlotte:

In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart, PhD, has taught college courses in communication, gone commercial fishing in Alaska, and survived being the VP of HR and Training for a large credit union. Her current passion is for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys watching herons, eagles, seals and other sea life from her Vashon Island home office.

Let’s Be Social:

 cs.charlottestuart@gmail.com

Website: www.charlottestuart.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quirkymysteries

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.stuart.mysterywriter

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Lois Winston

I’d like to welcome author, Lois Winston, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Complete silence.

Things that hamper your writing: Noise from leaf blowers, snow throwers, lawn mowers, and the incessant barking of the three dogs that live next door.

Things you love about writing: Getting lost in a world of my own creation.

Things you hate about writing: When the words and ideas just don’t come.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Planting my butt in a chair for hours and hours each day.

Easiest thing about being a writer:  You have an excuse for listening to the voices in your head.

Favorite foods: Crème brûlée, chocolate anything, macarons (I once dragged my husband all over Nice, France in search of a patisserie that sold them.

Things that make you want to gag: Peanut butter (I used to have to hold my breath when I made PB&J sandwiches for my kids when they were little.

Favorite music or song: Most Broadway musicals. Right now I’m obsessed with the music from Hamilton.

Music that drives you crazy: If I told you, I’d probably alienate a portion of my readership, which I’d never want to do. Can I lie and say I love all musical genres?

Favorite beverage: Coffee.

Something that gives you a sour face: Beer. I’ve never been able to develop a taste for the stuff.

Favorite smell: Vanilla.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Cigarette and cigar smoke (and peanut butter.)

Something you’re really good at: Getting my protagonist into trouble.

Something you’re really bad at: Speaking French.

Something you like to do: Go to the theater.

Something you wish you’d never done: Gone skiing.

Things you always put in your books: Humor.

Things you never put in your books: Anything of a political nature (I don’t want to alienate readers on either side of the aisle.)

Things that make you happy: Certain members of my family.

Things that drive you crazy: Certain other members of my family.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I’ve had several readers write to tell me they were going through a very difficult time in their lives, and my books made them laugh when they really needed a good laugh.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: She didn’t like my book because it was nothing like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. Huh? Why would she think it would be? I write humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, not hardcore thrillers!

About Lois’s Latest…

Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 8

Two and a half weeks ago magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack arrived home to find Ira Pollack, her half-brother-in-law, had blinged out her home with enough Christmas lights to rival Rockefeller Center. Now he’s crammed her small yard with enormous cavorting inflatable characters. She and photojournalist boyfriend and possible spy Zack Barnes pack up the unwanted lawn decorations to return to Ira. They arrive to find his yard the scene of an over-the-top Christmas extravaganza. His neighbors are not happy with the animatronics, laser light show, and blaring music creating traffic jams on their normally quiet street. One of them expresses his displeasure with his fists before running off.

 In the excitement, the deflated lawn ornaments are never returned to Ira. The next morning Anastasia once again heads to his house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name. But Anastasia has promised her sons she’ll keep her nose out of police business. What’s a reluctant amateur sleuth to do?

Buy Links

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VG2QZXV/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=Handmade+Ho-Ho+Homicide&qid=1563673299&s=gateway&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=loiswins-20&linkId=cbd92af3c45b1134cb5408cc8450e3b4&language=en_US

 Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/handmade-ho-ho-homicide

 Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/handmade-ho-ho-homicide-lois-winston/1132607263?ean=2940163093748

 iTunes https://books.apple.com/us/book/handmade-ho-ho-homicide/id1473711082

About Lois:

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 Let’s Be Social:

Website: www.loiswinston.com

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston

Pet Sidekicks

I love pets, and I'm drawn to mysteries and thrillers that have pet characters. My sidekicks are two crazy Jack Russell Terriers, Disney and Riley. Disney's been the model for Darby in my story, "Moving On," and Bijou in a cozy mystery that I'm working on. I started listing authors who have pets in their mysteries. I found lots with cats and dogs. And only one with a hamster. And I found lots to add to my TBR (To Be Read) piles.

Dogs

• Robert B. Parker's Sunny Randall and Rosie the miniature American Bull Terrier

• Ellery Adams' Olivia Limoges and Captain Haviland the Standard Poodle

• Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Pearl the Wonder Dog

• Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker, a Corgi

• Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie Mystery Series

• Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles and Asta the Terrier

• Judith Lucci's Michaela McPherson's Angel the German Shepherd

• Waverly Curtis' The Barking Detective Series with Pepe the Chihuahua

• My Delanie Fitzgerald Series with Margaret the English Bull Dog

Cats

• David Baldacci's John Puller and AWOL the cat

• Lorna Barrett's Tricia Miles and Miss Marple

• Lilian Jackson Braun's Jim Qwilleran's Koko and Yum Yum

• Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy and Sneaky Pie Brown

Lots of Pets

• Krista Davis' Pens and Paws Mystery Series

• Sparkle Abbey's Pampered Pets Mystery Series (Their pen name came from their pets.)

• Bethany Blake's Lucky Paws Petsitting Mysteries

• Annie Knox's Pet Boutique Murders

Hamster

• Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Rex the Hamster

Who else would you add to the list?

Collaborating on a Mystery Party Script

For the past few years, my Sisters in Crime chapter volunteers have been asked to write a script for our library's fundraiser. We write the script, and the very talented librarians and staff bring the play to life. On the night of the event, the guests are divided into two groups. One views the mystery clues, and the other attends an author panel. They switch. Then there's time for the guests to interview the actors and look for clues. Afterwards, there is the big "who dunnit" reveal and a book signing.

The first two years, we killed off the head librarian and the children's librarian. The next event has even more surprises. I met with Mary Miley and Rosemary Shomaker yesterday to create the characters and plot the murder. The collaboration was a lot of fun. Writing is usually a solitary sport, and it was neat to bounce ideas and motives off each other. I just hope the folks in the next booth didn't think we were plotting a real murder.

This event has sold out in the previous years. And it is such a thrill for me to see something we created brought to life. The actors do such a good job of filling out the characters and making the scenario seem realistic. Each guest gets a handout with a list of all the characters and room to make notes. At the end, they vote on who they think the guilty person is.

Here are some things we do to prepare the script.

1. Work with the library's planning team to get an idea of themes and interests for the event.
2. Come up with the crime (usually a murder) and build clues around it. It needs to be something that can be done either on or off stage. (The first year, the guests were invited to an event, and they arrived to find the police investigating the head librarian's murder. The next year, the guests were attending a concert by a popular children's musician, and there was a murder.)
3. Create an interesting/zany cast of characters. Each character needs to have some distinguishing characteristic that the actors can exploit.
4. Name the characters so that there's not confusion about who did what. You don't want a Kevin, Kyle, and Kurt. 
5. Think of characteristics or props that the actors can use. The planning team seeds the library with clues and red herrings. 
6. Make sure that every character has some combination of means, motive, or opportunity. The guilty one should have all three. 
7. Ensure that there are ways for the audience to get the clues they need (e.g. through action, dialogue, or questioning the suspects). 

I'm looking forward to the next murder mystery evening. I can't wait to see what the actors do with our latest script.