#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with E. W. Cooper

I’d like to welcome author, E. W. Cooper to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Books, dinner with family, my kids, and a glass of wine with husband after a long day of work. But most of all, time with my family listening to their stories about the past and present.

Things you need to throw out: All those clothes from college I’ve convinced myself I will fit into again.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Time, music, and a good idea of where I need to get to in the story.

Things that hamper your writing: Sometimes I just run out of words. That will stop my work cold. That’s when I focus on reading and replenishing that reservoir of ideas.

Things you love about writing: I love the scenes I see inside my head taking shape on the page and hearing the characters talk to each other. Sometimes what they say and do is unexpected. When that happens, I can barely tear myself away.

Things you hate about writing: Editing feels like it can go on forever which can become discouraging. When that happens it’s important for me to remember that the better a book is edited, the better it is for a reader. That’s the goal, after all.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Finding the time to write.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with ideas for Penelope and Lund is about as easy as it gets. I have the next four books plotted, just not enough time to write them.

Favorite music or song: I love opera, like my main character Penelope Harris, but I listen to all sorts of music new and old. Favorite music from an opera – the “Barrcarolle” from Tales of Hoffman, favorite classic rock “Rock and Roll Suicide” by David Bowie, favorite modern song “Uncle ACE” by Blood Orange.

Music that drives you crazy: Easy listening jazz. Please, no. Sorry Kenny G.

Favorite beverage: Unsweet iced tea – can’t get enough of it. I love it so much, but it keeps me awake all night, so I’ve had to cut back. Unless I’m writing – then I drink it by the gallon.
Something that gives you a sour face: Buttermilk – it makes a great cake but ick!

Favorite smell: Baking bread
Something that makes you hold your nose: Pancake syrup mixed with bacon. Strange but true – I can’t stand the smell of those two things together.

Something you’re really good at:  Writing
Something you’re really bad at:  Singing – don’t even ask me to try. I am so bad at singing it isn’t even a good joke. No one who has asked me to sing has ever asked me to do it again. Perhaps that’s why my main character is an opera singer – she does what I always wish I could?

Last best thing you ate: Chocolate cake        
Last thing you regret eating: That chocolate cake

Favorite places you’ve been: My mother grew up on Long Island, New York and introduced me to it when I was a baby. It’s a little slice of heaven for me. I go back as often as I can to visit family and restore. Santa Fe, NM is a close second.

Places you never want to go to again: I once spent a very uncomfortable and spooky night on a derelict sailboat and I will never do that again.

Favorite books (or genre): Historical mysteries are my favorite, but I have a soft spot for speculative fiction and noir thrillers.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Sadly, I do not enjoy poetry. That is not the fault of poetry. But otherwise, I will read just about anything. My mother is a retired librarian and always has something new to read. We do a lot of book trading between our households.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Cate Blanchette – she was so friendly and happy. And did I mention – drop dead beautiful? A class act.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Johnny Depp – really not what I expected at all. He was a very long stretch of bad road. Oddly, he spoke with a British accent the entire time.

About E. W.:

Booklife Prize 2020 Finalist (Mystery/Thriller) E.W. Cooper lives quietly with her partner, children, three dogs, and one cat in a very noisy house in South Texas. A lifelong fan of mystery novels and Grand Opera, Ms. Cooper is hard at work on the next book in the Penelope Harris Mystery series. To read more about the author and the other short stories and novels featuring Penelope Harris, visit her website at www.ewcooper.com. 

Let’s Be Social:

Roll up of everywhere The Jade Tiger is sold: https://books2read.com/thejadetiger

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mysteryattheopera

Twitter: E (@ewc_cooper) / Twitter

Instagram: EW Cooper (@ew.cooper) • Instagram photos and videos

Website: www.ewcooper.com

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Lane Stone

I’d like to welcome author Lane Stone to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Dogs, lighthouses (I’m on the board of Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation) and travel.

Things you need for your writing sessions: white noise – pre-COVID Panera’s background noise was absolute perfect. 

Things that hamper your writing:  My husband talking to me.  Too honest?  Ok, let’s go with clutter. 

 Things you love about writing: Hanging out with readers.

 Favorite music or song: Cold Little Heart by Michael Kiwanuka is the ring tone on my phone.  I thought the whole soundtrack from Big Little Lies was amazing.

Music that drives you crazy: Neil Diamond music. 

Favorite beverage: Starbucks Trenta Black Iced Tea, Light Ice, Light Water, One Stevia, No cane syrup.  (I’ve gone to Starbucks almost every day since COVID started.).

Favorite smell: My dog, Cordy, wet or dry.

Something that makes you hold your nose: The smell of turnip greens cooking.  (But some days I miss my Mom so much I’d gladly smell it if I could see her again.)

The last thing you ordered online: Alice Boatright’s Christmas mystery, WHAT CHILD IS THIS.  Every year I like to read a holiday mystery. 

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: When my husband plays his Neil Diamond tapes. 

Things you always put in your books: Our first Standard Schnauzer, Abby, is in each of my books. 

Favorite books (or genre):

Books you wouldn’t buy: Autobiographies by negative people, who just want to get in the last word. 

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marry my husband, Larry Korb, 30 years ago.

 About Lane:

Lane Stone is the author of the Pet Palace Mysteries and the Tiara Investigation Mystery series.  The first book in her new series, The Big Picture, will be available in 2022.  She lives in Alexandria, Virginia during the week and Lewes, Delaware on the weekend.

When not writing she’s enjoying characteristic baby boomer pursuits:  traveling and volunteering for good causes, like the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation and American Association of University Women.  She recently earned a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime.  She can be found at www.LaneStoneBooks.com and https://twitter.com/themenopausedog. 

Let’s Be Social:

Website  

Twitter

Facebook

Book Links

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jodi Rath - Holiday Edition

I’d like to welcome author Jodi Rath back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday! Today is a holiday edition.

A few of your favorite traditions:

Decorating the tree, inflatable holiday cats in the front lawn, wreaths around the home.

Something holiday-related that you’ll never do again:

Tree with eight cats—yet, I still do it every year! BWWWAAAHAAHAA!

Favorite holiday song:

“All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth”

Holiday song that always gets stuck in your head for the wrong reason:

“Jingle Bells”

Favorite holiday treat:

Peppermint bark

A holiday treat that makes you gag:

Eggnog

Favorite holiday show or movie:

Love Actually

A holiday show or movie that you’ve seen too much:

Love Actually

Favorite holiday beverage:

Peppermint Mocha iced

A drink that gives you a sour face:

Eggnog

Favorite holiday smell:

Baked ham

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Deviled Eggs

Best holiday gift ever:

Oxford English Dictionary—I know—I’m a weirdo😊

Something you wished for but never received:

Peace on Earth that never ends

Best holiday gift you gave to someone:

Cats—my husband and I like to adopt cats😊

A gift that needs regifting:

Fruitcake

Best thing you ever cooked/baked for the holidays:

Cast Iron Skillet Honey Glazed Ham

Your worst holiday kitchen disaster:

Souffle—I was SO wrong to try it!

Favorite place you spent the holidays:

Home

The worst place to spend the holidays:

Anywhere but home.

Yuletide Cast of the Iron Skillet

Holiday folly—LITERALLY! Alongside a murder comes another new little addition to the human race in Leavensport, Ohio. Not to mention a broken-off engagement, a double wedding, and buried bones in the village chapel cellar. The Martinez family is back in town to observe Nochebuena with Ava as the Tucker family gears up for their Christmas feast. Leavensport community center is abuzz with preparations for the village multi-cultural shindig until the discovery of an old unresolved crime casts a dark shadow over the town. Will Jolie and Ava solve their first cold case in time to save the holiday celebrations—and will they both survive it?

Welcome to Leavensport, OH, where DEATH takes a DELICIOUS turn!

About Jodi:

Moving into her second decade working in education, Jodi Rath has decided to begin a life of crime in her The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series. Her passion for both mysteries and education led her to combine the two to create her business MYS ED, where she splits her time between working as an adjunct for Ohio teachers, educational writing, marketing consultant work with authors, and creating mischief in her fictional writing. She currently resides in a small, cozy village in Ohio with her husband and her eight cats.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: www.jodirath.com 

FB Author page: @authorjodirath or https://www.facebook.com/authorjodirath/

Twitter: @jodirath

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jodi-rath

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Book Links:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Yuletide-Cast-Skillet-Mystery-Holiday-ebook/dp/B085ZR2CRQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Yuletide+Cast+of+the+Iron+Skillet&qid=1606691798&sr=8-1   

All other e-platforms:  https://books2read.com/u/mdzPwR

Newsletter link to A Mystery A Month—sign up for my monthly newsletter to receive a free Mystery a Month and a chance to win prizes for those who guess the right answers! http://eepurl.com/dIfXdb

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Melissa Powell Gay

I’d like to welcome my friend, Melissa Powell Gay, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things:

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens (and all the Sound of Music songs.)

Things you need to throw out:

Reams of paper that are drafts of my first novel. (Was saving them for the posthumous library.)

Favorite music or song:

See answer to first question.

Music that drives you crazy:

Songs filled with profanity, written and performed to shock. I like hip-hop and rap. But the more radical rappers (especially women) do a disservice to womankind when they verbally masturbate, eviscerate, eliminate, and denigrate their sexual partners in front of millions of followers. Not a good example for the young ones watching-and we know they’re watching.

Favorite beverage:

I’m addicted to Diet Coke. I know, I know, it’s not as hip or as funny as saying I’m addicted to Coke but DC is my monkey.

Something that gives you a sour face:

Lemons, definitely lemons.

Favorite smell:

Lavender. And the top of a baby’s head. Is the latter too creepy?

Something that makes you hold your nose:

These days? Voting in the national election.

Something you’re really good at:

Seeing both sides of an argument. However, it’s a curse when I have to decide which flavor of ice cream is the smarter choice.

Something you’re really bad at:

Extemporaneous answers but give me five minutes and a web browser and I can nail it.

Something you wish you could do:

Fly. With a cape. And boots. Got to have the kick-butt boots.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

Scroll while writing. My daily writing routine sometimes gets highjacked by The Sirens of Social Media

Something you like to do:

Nothing.

Something you wish you’d never done:

Told my husband I can cook.

The last thing you ordered online:

Is this a trick question? A book, of course.

The last thing you regret buying:

That dress I really liked but it was a tad snug however I convinced myself that I’d drop a pound or two before the day of the big event then I didn’t so the dress is still in the closet, with the tags still on it, staring at me EVERY TIME I OPEN MY CLOSET DOOR.

Things you’d walk a mile for:

Water. A bathroom. In that order.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room:

Listening to political speeches. Listening to others talk about the political speeches.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog. You mean together, right?

People you’d cancel dinner on:

The guy that forgot his wallet the last time we meet for dinner.

Favorite things to do:

Make up stories. This comes in handy since I’m a fiction writer.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing:

I don’t react to coercion very well. I do, however, force my characters to do it.

The coolest person you’ve ever met:

My husband.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video:

I met Samuel L. Jackson at a Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas once. He was gracious and polite, unlike the surly and devious characters he often plays in the movies.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

Ah, “I read your book.”? No, seriously, the nicest thing a reader has said to me is, “I liked your book. I gave it to my friend to read.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

Reader: “I really like that part where she smashed in the guy’s head.”

Me, to reader: “Wow, thanks.”

Me, to myself: “I’ve never written a scene like that. Maybe I should.”

About Melissa and Her Books:

Melissa Powell Gay lives and writes in Glen Allen, Virginia. Featuring the Southern storytelling genre, her novels and short stories champion themes of self-reliance and independent thinking. Sprinkled with a dash of humor, her work is for any reader over the age of eighteen. She is the author of four books and is busy working on her fifth.

Talking To Herself  (October, 2020)

 It’s Christmas. The year is 2049 and Amara Vivian Graves is mourning the loss of her husband of forty years. While participating in a bio-nanochip treatment plan to address her depression, Amara finds herself hurled back to the year 1999. There she meets the younger version of her future husband. Over the course of her second Christmas of 1999, Amara must decide to stay in the past or return to her reality of day-to-day living without her one true love.

When Are You Leaving (2016)

 Set in southwestern Virginia, this story is about small town living in a 21st century world. Iris Lee, an unemployed bank executive, comes home to Mt Pleasant to take care of her aging parents and to find out why the local police want to arrest her father, a paragon for Virginia gentlemen, for selling drugs to the locals.

Every Now & Then (2018)

Every Now & Then is a second Mt Pleasant novel. A dual narrative, the Now reveals hidden family secrets and why they called Iris Lee’s father “Mr.” Henry. The Then narrative takes the reader back to mid-20th century and tells the story of Henry and his brother Ben and their love for one woman.

Parkland Tales, Stories for 3 a.m. Readings (2016)

Hailed as a pleasant distraction on sleepless nights, this series of connected stories is about the furry and feathered residents of Parkland, an urban park. Inspired by city parks and classic literary characters like Don Quixote, Bambi Deer, Romeo and Juliet and others, Parkland Tales is for every adult who still likes a good story to ease into sleepy times.

 All titles can be found at Amazon Books, Barnes & Noble Online, and any Indi Bound Online bookstore.

Support a local bookstore. Consider purchasing these books online at Book No Further (Roanoke, Virginia) and Book People (Richmond, Virginia.)

Let’s Be Social:

Website

Facebook

 Twitter

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with J. A. Dennam

I’d like to welcome author, J. A. Dennam, to the blog for the Thanksgiving edition of #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: My chickens, motorcycles, and traveling the Midwest.

Things you need to throw out: 9/10 of my belongings. With age I have come to appreciate the minimalist lifestyle.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Coffee, a quiet space (my she-shack in particular) and Internet.

Things that hamper your writing: Rules.

Things you never want to run out of: Ground beef and toilet paper.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Excuses.

Words that describe you: Trusting, creative, tolerant, affectionate, hermit.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Procrastinator, obsessive-compulsive.

Favorite foods: Key lime pie, pizza, and cheeseburgers.

Things that make you want to gag: Pineapple on pizza. Who thought that was a good idea?

 Favorite smell: My husband fresh out of the shower.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Rotting corpses.

 Something you’re really good at: Improvising.
Something you’re really bad at: Social media.

Things you always put in your books: Hot sex.
Things you never put in your books: Weak heroes and heroines.

Favorite places you’ve been: South Dakota and Wyoming.
Places you never want to go to again: Big cities and hospitals.

Favorite things to do: Ride motorcycles, get pedicures, and write books that excite me.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: A full-time desk job…which I have.

Things that make you happy: My family, home, and growing bucket list.
Things that drive you crazy: My family, home, and growing bucket list.

 Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Skydiving.
Something you chickened out from doing: Working on a scissor lift. I have a terrible fear of heights.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I was late to work because I couldn’t put your book down until 2:00 am.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I see Danny Bennett in you (heroine in TRUTH AND HUMILITY). I wish!

About J. A.:

J.A. DENNAM resides in a small Kansas town with her husband and children. Creativity is her strong suit having nurtured a career as a western artist and graphic artist.

Storytelling, however, has been a part of her life since childhood. At six years of age, insomnia forced her to endure many long, sleepless nights staring at the ceiling. After confessing her problem to her older sister, the two of them decided to tell each other stories to entice sleep; however, the inevitable snore always tore through her sister’s nose before she could utter the words Once Upon a Time. So the stories began to flow in silence, her imagination taking her to quiet, private places so enthralling, the sudden trick was to stay awake.

Those habits carried on to adulthood until the need to purge her stories demanded she put them in print. Her fascination with romance, fast cars, and adventure films is what structures her novels today.

Let’s Be Social:

 Website: http://jadennam.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/jadennamauthor/

Twitter: J. A. Dennam (@JADennam) / Twitter

Instagram: Author J.A. Dennam (@ja_dennam) • Instagram photos and videos

Goodreads: J.A. Dennam (Author of Truth and Humility) | Goodreads

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Valerie J. Brooks

I’d like to welcome author, Valerie J. Brooks, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: my Paris pen; my crystal-encrusted moon necklace, à la Stevie Nicks; my library

Things you need to throw out: recently, I redid my writing studio and threw out binders of papers that no longer seemed useful now that we have the internet; plus I took everything out of the room and only put those things back that I really wanted, much easier than trying to pick it off, one at a time.

Things you need for your writing sessions: my Bose earphones while listening to Creative Mind System’s “Vision” and “Inspiration” by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson

Things that hamper your writing: getting started

Things you love about writing: it’s a combination of the immersive, like reading a great book, and the analytical; writing psychological femmes-noir thrillers is like solving a puzzle

Things you hate about writing: getting started

Hardest thing about being a writer:

When I was a visual artist, people saw my work in its different stages and said things like “I could never do that!” Now you can even post your paintings on the web. Writing a novel is different. It takes a long time to finish a novel, and it’s difficult to get out to your audience. Plus, some people think anyone can be a writer just because everyone can put words to pages.

Easiest thing about being a writer: LOL; Ok, seriously? Probably having your own hours.

Favorite music or song: Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”

Music that drives you crazy: klezmer

Favorite beverage: kombucha
Something that gives you a sour face: lima beans

Favorite smell: amber
Something that makes you hold your nose: heavy chemical perfumes

Something you’re really good at: theorizing, according to my husband
Something you’re really bad at: trying not to fix everything

Something you wish you could do: sing professionally

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: I’m happy about everything I’ve learned, even if I’m not good at it, because it always has a benefit, especially for a writer

Something you like to do: travel more, but that’s not an option right now
Something you wish you’d never done: given my dad fits when I was a teen

The last thing you ordered online: purple fairy lights for my studio

The last thing you regret buying: a “Smart Reusable Notebook”; it sounded great, but it had that horrible plastic smell that makes me sick

Things you’d walk a mile for: People; I’d walk a mile or more for my family.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: things don’t bother me, but self absorbed, aggressive people with no empathy do

Things you always put in your books: themes of justice and fairness; dogs; and three-dimensional characters
Things you never put in your books: gore for gore’s sake; sex can’t be gratuitous, must always develop character.

Things to say to an author: “Really? How cool. Tell me what that’s like?”
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I have this great idea that I think you should use for a novel.” So many people ask right away, “Oh, have you published?” Not a good start.

Favorite places you’ve been: Paris
Places you never want to go to again: none

Favorite books (or genre): I’m an eclectic reader, but at the moment, I’m reading anything noir as that’s what I write.
Books you wouldn’t buy: cookbooks

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Stevie Nicks, Richard Branson, Michelle Obama, Helen Mirren, Laura Lippman.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Trump and his minions

Favorite things to do: writing and gathering with my family
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: dusting

Things that make you happy: dancing and being with my family
Things that drive you crazy: not being able to be with my family because of Covid

Best thing you’ve ever done: had a family
Biggest mistake: I don’t think of mistakes as bad. If you didn’t make mistakes, you’d never learn.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: be a professional writer.

Something you chickened out from doing: rappelling into caves with the family; I hate that type of physical “adventure”

The funniest thing to happen to you: too many to mention!

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: too many to mention!

The coolest person you’ve ever met: my bestie, Jan Eliot, who is one of the world’s best and one of a few female syndicated cartoonists with her strip “Stone Soup”; sadly she’s retired and we all miss her daily strip.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Robert Kennedy; he looked small, irritable, and was unfriendly, nothing like Jack

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I had a stranger call me from Maine to say how much one of my stories affected her and how much it helped her to read the story; it was in the anthology France, a Love Story, and was about what I learned about my father the first time I went to ParisThe craziest thing a reader said to you: at a wedding, I was approached (almost accosted) by someone who was a tipsy and wouldn’t let me up until he told me the story he was going to “give” me to write.

 About Valerie

Award-winning author Valerie J. Brooks is a lifelong writer and reader, enjoying everything from Daphne du Maurier to the latest Scandinavian crime writers. Her English war bride mum and artistic army officer dad raised her and two siblings in ultra conservative New Hampshire during the 1950-60s. Growing up in puritanical New England, she was drawn to the gothic, to secrets, mystery, and the dark side of human nature. As her mum once said, “You’re a good girl who wants to be bad.” Now she has the perfect conduit for her “bad girl” side—writing noir.

Her college studies of film noir led her to write noir. She combines her interests in politics, culture, travel, psychology and women’s issues while writing strong, gutsy women who make mistakes and have lots of baggage. As the saying goes, and Brooks expanded upon, “Well-behaved women seldom make history—or good novels.”

She received an Elizabeth George Foundation grant and the Monticello Award for Fiction. For four years, she served as fiction editor at Northwest Review, was a member of the Oregon Writers Colony board of directors, and co-founded the Willamette Writers Speakers Series.

She writes psychological femmes-noir thrillers. The first in a trilogy Revenge in 3 Parts was a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award and a winner in the International Reader’s Favorites Awards in the thriller category. Her second novel in the trilogy Tainted Times 2 has just been released.

If she were hypnotized and regressed, she said she probably would have been a psychiatrist or a witch.

Book Links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Parts-Valerie-J-Brooks/dp/1732373205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534903639&sr=1-1&keywords=revenge+in+3+parts

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/revenge-in-3-parts-valerie-j-brooks/1129217190?ean=9781732373211

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/revenge-in-3-parts

iBook

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/revenge-in-3-parts/id1420858674?ls=1&mt=11

Bookshop.org

https://bookshop.org/shop/valerie_j_brooks

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Tainted-Times-Novel-Angeline-Porter/dp/1732373221/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1598817737&sr=1-1

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tainted-times-2-valerie-j-brooks/1137513394?ean=9781732373228

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tainted-times-2-1

 Bookshop.org

https://bookshop.org/shop/valerie_j_brooks

iBook 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/tainted-times-2/id1528910926?mt=11&app=itunes

Let’s Be Social:

Website

http://www.valeriejbrooks.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/NoirTravelStories

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/valinparis/

Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.com/valinparis/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/ValinParis

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriejbrooks/

#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.

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https://sandramarshallbooks.com/  

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with the Mutt Mysteries Authors

I’d like to welcome my pals, Jayne Ormerod, Maria Hudgins, and Teresa Inge to the blog today for a fall edition of #ThisorThatThursday. We’re the Mutt Mysteries authors.

A few of your favorite fall traditions

Heather: Apple-picking, Visiting the pumpkin path; Halloween

Jayne: Carving Pumpkins using templates from Pumpkin Masters. I have displayed some really tricked-out jack-o-lanterns!

Teresa: Finding the perfect pumpkins and fall decorations to decorate my front porch and house, and making homemade Chili. I make the best Chili with Texas Pete!

Something fall-related that you’ll never do again:

Heather:  I hate to rake leaves. I avoid it (and pulling weeds) at all costs

Jayne: Jump in a pile of leaves (raked leaves included dog droppings. Yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds!

Maria: Have a Halloween party and serve Fish House Punch in a Tub.

Teresa: Place a bale of hay on my front porch. The wind blows the hay everywhere and it's messy when transporting in my car. I found hay in my car for months afterward. 

Favorite fall treat:

Heather: Chocolate Halloween candy; caramel apples

Jayne: Dip (pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar and spices) with crisp fall apples or ginger snaps as dippers. Now that I think about it, that is tied with pumpkin seeds, baked in olive oil and garlic salt!  Yum!

Teresa: Pull-apart Cinnamon Roll Brioche. Warm and yummy!

A fall treat that makes you gag:

Heather: Biting into Halloween candy and finding that it has coconut in it

Jayne: Oyster stuffing. Yech.

Maria: Anything pumpkin flavored or scented (other than pumpkins or pumpkin pie)

Teresa: Not sure if this qualifies but anything that has chocolate and peanut together, especially in cake I cannot stand. But I love Reese's cups. Go figure. 

Favorite fall beverage:

Heather:  Apple cider

Jayne: Wine. (Actually, that is my favorite year-round beverage.)

Teresa: Hot Chocolate! I made it homemade and my family loves it. 

A drink that gives you a sour face:

Heather: Diet soft drinks

Jayne: Beer. (I'm not much of one for Oktoberfest!)

Maria: Lemonade

Teresa: I'm not sure but anything sour I don't like! 

Favorite place to visit in the fall:

Heather: Apple-picking in Charlottesville, Virginia

Jayne: Anyplace where the leaves are changing. New England put on some pretty good shows, but the mountains of Virginia can be breathtaking as well. Nature has the best crayons, doesn't she? 

Teresa: Haunted House and Pumpkin Patch at Greenbrier Farms! Scary and beautiful at the same time. 

 The worst place to spend the holidays:

Heather: Stuck in an airport

Jayne: In the hospital. Especially now during the COVID restrictions. 

Maria: In a dorm room, typing an overdue paper.

Teresa: Not sure, but I love to be home during the holidays to enjoy the fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family. I have traditional holidays and start cooking two days prior since I make everything homemade. 

Funniest autumn story:

Heather: My Grandmother was notorious for telling ghost stories late at night when my sister and I would spend the night. Her rooms had a lot of large dark wooden furniture and antiques that cast freaky shadows.

One evening as she was telling one of these tales, my sister and I looked up at the open window, and there were two sets of yellow eyes staring back at us. For several minutes, my sister and I were convinced that demons or zombies were lying in wait. When all of the screaming died down, we discovered that it was the neighbor’s cats sitting on the window ledge peeping in.

Jayne: On a glorious October morning, I sent my dad out to walk the dogs while I took care of the toddler. Husband not in picture (deployed to some remote location known only to those with top-secret clearance.) Dad was not quite "elderly" but no longer at his most agile. I saddled up the dogs and sent them on their way for a walk under the canopy of colorful autumn colors. Only they didn't come home. Like for over an hour on what was supposed to be a ten-minute trip around the block. Did I worry? Heck, yeah. After over an hour, the dogs found their way home, dragging (literally...he was on his belly) my dad behind them! No lasting injuries, except to my stomach...from laughing so hard. The look on his face...surprised...perplexed...humiliated...was priceless! He laughed, too! 

Teresa: Not sure if this is funny, but each year my granddaughter and I go to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins together. It's always fun and silly in finding the best pumpkins. 

Something embarrassing that happened during autumn:

Heather: This shows my age. When I was fifteen, the Tylenol scare happened, and it all but put an end to trick-or-treating that year. My friends and I decided not to waste good candy that people had already bought, so we dressed up and went out. We raked in the candy that year. It probably wasn’t the best decision in light of the product tampering.

Jayne: Navy Birthday Ball (Oct 13) Husband-to-be in full dress whites. Me in a beautiful light blue gown with the back of my dress tucked in my underwear! Finally, someone on the dance floor pulled me aside and told me. Mortifying doesn't begin to describe it. But he did marry me anyway!

Teresa: When I first started making homemade cranberry sauce it was hard to get just the right balance to make the relish un-soured. No one at the table ate it the first year I made it. 

Let’s Be Social:

Mutt Mysteries

Website/Blog: http://muttmysteries.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MuttMysteries

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MuttMysteries1

Teresa Inge grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Today, she doesn’t carry a rod like her idol, but she hotrods. Love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and novellas. She is president of Sisters in Crime Mystery by the Sea Chapter and author of short mysteries in Virginia is for Mysteries, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Coastal Crimes: Mysteries by the Sea, and Murder by the Glass.

Website: www.TeresaInge.com

Website and Blog: http://www.teresainge.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@teresainge7

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teresa.h.inge

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresa.h.inge/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/teresainge

Amazon Authors: https://www.amazon.com/Teresa-Inge/e/B06XGZ7RTG

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/teresainge7/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-inge-cap-07687820/

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AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/author/teresaingeauthor/

Jayne Ormerod grew up in a small Ohio town then went on to a small-town Ohio college. Upon earning her degree in accountancy, she became a CIA (that’s not a sexy spy thing, but a Certified Internal Auditor.) She married a naval officer and off they sailed to see the world. After nineteen moves, they, along with their two rescue dogs Tiller and Scout, have settled into a cozy cottage by the sea. Jayne’s publishing credits include two novels, five novellas, and eight short mysteries. A complete list can be found on her website. Website: www.JayneOrmerod.com

 Maria Hudgins is a mystery writer and a former high school science teacher. She is the author of the Dotsy Lamb Travel Mysteries, the Lacy Glass Archaeology Mysteries and several published short stories. Her favorite things are traveling, reading, dogs, and cats. She lives in Hampton, Virginia with her cat, Lulu.

Website: www.mariahudgins.com

Heather Weidner writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series set in Virginia (Secret Lives and Private Eyes, The Tulip Shirt Murders, and Glitter, Glam, and Contraband), and her Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries launch October 2021.Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, and Deadly Southern Charm. Her novellas appear in The Mutt Mysteries series.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Through the years, she has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager.

Website and Blog: http://www.heatherweidner.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8121854.Heather_Weidner

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About the Mutt Mysteries:

Old dogs and new tricks abound in To Fetch a Villain, the third installment in the Mutt Mysteries series. This collection of four novellas illustrates why dogs are our best friends and the perfect companions for digging up clues, solving crimes, and bringing villains to justice. Let sleeping dogs lie? Not when the MUTTS are on the case!

RUFF DAY by Jayne Ormerod

Store owner Darby Moore suffers through a “ruff” day when a dead body is discovered in her custom dog house. With her best friend topping the suspect’s list, Darby knows the police are barking up the wrong tree. It’s up to Darby’s Great Dane Mr. Belvedere to channel his inner Scooby-Doo and save the day.

AT YOUR SERVICE by Maria Hudgins
Mystery writer Jessica Chastain is deaf and relies on her service dog Trey who acts as Jessica’s ears. Kim, a Bichon like Trey, is the latest addition to their family. But life is not a walk in the park when someone threatens all they hold dear. Together they take on an unethical breeder and dog-napper, whose bite is worse than his bark.

A SHOT IN THE BARK by Teresa Inge
Dog-loving Catt Ramsey hires an ex-con as her handyman to help with her dog-walking business at the same time a crime wave hits the neighborhood. But it’s Catt who is accused of murder. She enlists the help of family, friends, and her dogs Cagney and Lacey to prove man’s best friend can be crime’s worst enemy.

STRUT YOUR MUTT by Heather Weidner

Sassy PI Delanie Fitzgerald attends the Strut Your Mutt festival, where her business partner’s English bulldog is a finalist in a pampered doggie pageant. The dog’s new-found fame leads to a client with a missing poodle. Delanie and her team put paws to the pavement, sniff out clues, and show the villain that when you lie with the dogs, you wake up with fleas.