Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast owner Rick Atwood is again called on to assist his friend, Chief of Police Adam Cunningham, with a murder investigation. The case seems straightforward enough.
Clive Crabbe, who has a quick temper and a strong jealous streak, was found hunched over the victim after the man made advances toward Clive’s ex-wife.
A murder investigation is the last thing Rick wants right now. The B&B is booked solid. The town is inundated with tourists and news reporters chasing stories about treasure thieves. And Rick’s wedding to Marquetta Weiss is just weeks away. As if that wasn’t enough, Rick’s eleven-year-old daughter Alex is not only itching to help the cops solve another murder, but she’s forming an unhealthy friendship with a B&B guest.
The worst part is that Alex may be the one person capable of cracking the case.
Terry Ambrose
Trouble in Paradise and Seaside Cove Mysteries
Once upon a time, in a life he’d rather forget, Terry Ambrose tracked down deadbeats for a living. He also hired big guys with tow trucks to steal cars-but only when negotiations failed. Those years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons such as-always keep your car in the garage. Today, Terry likes fast, funny mysteries and cool photography. He writes the Trouble in Paradise McKenna Mysteries and organized an anthology to benefit Read Aloud America. He fondly likens his efforts to those of a blind man herding cats.
Nina Fleet’s life ought to be as sweet as a Georgia peach. Awarded a tidy sum in her divorce, Nina retired at 41 to a historic Queen Anne house in quaint Cymbeline, GA. But Nina’s barely settled into her new B&B-to-be when a penguin shows up on her porch. Or, at least, a man wearing a penguin suit.
Harry Westcott is making ends meet as an ice cream shop’s mascot and has a letter from his great-aunt, pledging to leave him the house. Too bad that’s not what her will says. Meanwhile, the Sisters of Perpetual Poverty have lost their lease. Real estate developer Gregory Bainbridge intends to turn the convent into a golfing community, so Cymbeline’s mayor persuades Nina to take in the elderly nuns. And then Nina finds the “penguin” again, this time lying in an alley with a kitchen knife in his chest. A peek under the beak tells Nina it’s not Harry inside the costume, but Bainbridge. What was he doing in Harry’s penguin suit? Was the developer really the intended victim, or did the culprit mean to kill Harry? Whoever is out to stop Harry from contesting the sale of his great-aunt’s house may also be after Nina, so she teams up with him to cage the killer before someone clips her wings in Peach Clobbered, Anna Gerard’s charming first Georgia B&B mystery.
Where do you get your ideas? It’s a question we authors are asked a lot, and one that we seemingly can never satisfactorily answer. I read somewhere once that a famous bestselling writer would tell gullible sorts that he subscribed to Writing Ideas of the Month magazine. He claimed that he’d thumb through each new issue when it hit his mailbox, choose an idea, and write his next blockbuster. Of course, he was kidding. But the truth is that the idea part of writing actually is easy, which is why we often give a frivolous response to that question. We all have ideas, writers and non-writers, alike. They’re a dime a dozen, to use the cliché, and we have far more than we’ll ever need. Not sure how to generate an idea? All it takes is two simple words – What if?
What if the old woman at the coffee shop nervously cradling a latte was once a prima ballerina?
What if the convicted murderer I read about in the morning paper actually was framed?
What if the smelly, unshaven guy prowling the thrift store aisles is actually an undercover cop?
What if the new house I bought was built on an old cemetery?
Ideas come from everywhere and anywhere. Newspapers, television, books, radio. And, of course, from simply observing. Most writers have far more ideas than they can ever hope to use. As Shakespeare might say, they droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. And, at least in my case, that’s not far from the truth. I tell people I get my best ideas in the shower and, silly as it may sound, I mean it.
There’s something zen-like about standing under splashing water, almost like being in a isolation chamber. Outside sounds are temporarily muffled, and as a result one’s mind starts casting about for thoughts to fill the void. Soon enough, ideas start filtering through the pounding water.
Which is one reason I’m planning on having one of those oversized rain shower heads installed in my bath sometime soon. Who knows, maybe I can even write it off as a business expense!
But often non-writers don’t realize that an idea, no matter how grand, isn’t a plot. And without a plot, you don’t have a book. Because the plot is the underlying structure of a story. It’s how you get from the beginning to the end of the tale in an interesting yet logical and satisfying way.
An idea, no matter how grand, isn’t a plot. And without a plot, you don’t have a book
To put that concept into real-life context, you may wake up one morning with the “idea” that you want to drive from New York City to Dallas. But simply having the idea isn’t magically going to transport you from Point A to Point B. You need to “plot” your journey. Will you go the scenic route that takes a couple of extra days, or will you travel via the fastest highways and toll roads? Are you going to stop at four-star hotels, or are you going to catch a few winks in roadside parks? Only once you’ve made all these decisions can you begin your trip.
In much the same way, an author has to line out their book journey before they can begin writing. And depending on one’s writing style, that can take quite a bit of planning. Some authors I know spend months researching and outlining before they ever type the words, Chapter One. On the other hand, many writers plunge right into the story, working off nothing more than a mental outline and a few scribbled notes. Most writers probably fall somewhere in between those two extremes.
But no matter their process, they all have moved well beyond the “idea” stage when they begin typing.
So instead of asking an author, where do you get your ideas, next time consider asking, how do you construct a plot? You might find yourself hearing a much more interesting answer
About the Author
DIANE A.S. STUCKART is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series (writing as Ali Brandon). She’s also the author of the award-winning Leonardo da Vinci historical mysteries, as well as several historical romances and numerous mystery, fantasy, and romance short stories. The first book in her Tarot Cats Mystery series is FOOL’S MOON, available in trade, large print, and Kindle versions. Her Georgia B&B Mystery series from Crooked Lane Books launched July 2019 with PEACH CLOBBERED, written as Anna Gerard. Diane is a member of Mystery Writers of America and has served as the 2018 and 2019 Chapter President of the MWA Florida chapter. In addition to her mystery writing affiliations, she’s a member of the Cat Writers’ Association and belongs to the Palm Beach County Beekeepers Association. She’s a native Texan with a degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, but has been living in the West Palm Beach FL area since 2006. She shares her “almost in the Everglades” home with her husband, dogs, cats, and a few beehives. Learn more about her books at www.dianestuckart.com.
She’s got to solve this—or her friends are sunk . . .
Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is fond of the Doblinsky brothers, Ivan and Rudy, members of the Silver Sentinels, a crew of crime-solving senior citizens in their Northern California seaside hamlet. After she discovers a jewel-encrusted dagger—with what appears to be dried blood on the blade—on their fishing boat, they share their family history with Kelly, and she learns that the knife may be part of a set from their long-ago childhood in Russia. Its sudden reappearance is eerie, but the mystery grows much more serious when a body is found on the boat. The victim was staying at Kelly’s inn, in town for a Russian Heritage Festival, and some of the organizers were clearly harboring some bitterness. But the story behind this murder seems as layered as a nesting doll—and Kelly’s feeling completely at sea . . .
Janet Finsilver is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Kelly Jackson mystery series. She worked in education for many years as a teacher, a program administrator, and a workshop presenter. Janet majored in English and earned a Master’s Degree in Education. She loves animals and has two dogs–Kylie and Ellie. Janet has ridden western style since she was a child and was a member of the National Ski Patrol. One of the highlights of her life was touching whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon.
Honolulu landlord Wilson McKenna can smell a scam from across the room. So when one of his tenants loses everything in a work-at-home scam involving a new perfume, he’s shocked. With his wedding just weeks away, McKenna has to make a tough decision. Does he evict a woman who’s down on her luck? Or take time out from wedding planning to help his tenant?
Turning the case over to his PI-in-training friend Chance Logan seems like the perfect solution—until Chance tells McKenna he needs a wingman for a visit to fragrance entrepreneur Skye Pilkington-Winchester. McKenna’s sure he can keep everyone happy by helping Chance this one time. But nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and soon McKenna’s up to his board shorts in hot water. His tenant’s simple fragrance scam might involve industrial espionage, Skye’s assistant is murdered, and McKenna’s bride-to-be accuses him of having cold feet.
As McKenna and Chance dig deeper, it seems so much of what they’re being told doesn’t pass the sniff test. And the only way to get his life back is to find the dead girl’s missing boyfriend, unmask a killer, and finish up in time for the wedding. Other than that, it’s just another day in paradise. Enter to win a copy of The Scent of Waikiki plus a Starbucks gift card
About the Author
Terry Ambrose is a former skip tracer who only stole cars when it was legal. He’s long since turned his talents to writing mysteries and thrillers. Several of his books have been award finalists and in 2014 his thriller, “Con Game,” won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. He’s currently working on the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series.
To Rick Atwood’s dismay, the police find a body on the beach near his Seaside Cove B&B. The dead woman held a pottery shard from an ancient rice bowl, which the cops believe is a clue to her murder.
The chief suspect is Flynn O’Connor, a female archaeologist known for her hatred of treasure thieves. Trouble is, Rick’s daughter Alex sees Flynn as a role model and will not believe her friend is a killer.
Alex pressures her dad as only a ten-year-old can to prove Flynn is innocent. The mayor is also making demands—for Rick to stay out of the investigation. With his daughter and the mayor at odds, Rick sees trouble brewing. He knows too well how much Alex loves sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Especially when there’s murder involved.
I gotta go soon because we’re having a luau here at the B&B! Daddy said we were gonna spend the afternoon sipping umbrella drinks and watching the sunset. Okay, I’m only ten, so I don’t get a real umbrella drink. I get the kid’s version. But, here in Seaside Cove we have palm trees and we have a beach, so it’s almost the same as what we’d get at a real luau, right?
Now that me and Daddy own the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast and are living here, we can’t take a big vacation. Marquetta’s worked here for so long she could totally run this place on her own, but Daddy says that wouldn’t be fair. That makes me happy because I’d like her to go with us if we do go to Hawaii.
Marquetta ran the B&B after Captain Jack died. She did that for a long time before me and Daddy moved here. I didn’t think I was gonna like Seaside Cove, but when I met Marquetta, I totally fell in love. She’s gonna be my new mom someday. I just have to get her and Daddy to realize it. My plan to get them together is starting to work. They both like each other a lot and maybe someday they’ll stop acting so lame!
For the luau, Daddy ordered the makings for this stuff called shave ice. We got coconut and macadamia nut and pineapple syrups, plus a couple other flavors. According to Marquetta, this won’t be authentic because we don’t have a machine to shave the ice, but we can use a blender and it will be close!
Today I’m wearing my first grass skirt. Daddy wanted to buy one for Marquetta, too, but she said she wouldn’t wear hers unless he wore one too. Me and Marquetta thought that was funny, but Daddy didn’t think so.
It’s kinda fun getting an afternoon off. Between being in fifth grade, helping around the B&B, and finding a killer, my life has been totally hectic. After we moved from New York, Daddy said we were gonna settle into a nice little town where not much happened. That sounded totally boring to me. Then, I heard about all the treasure around here.
The treasure hunters are getting closer to the old Manila galleon that sunk off the coast. Miss O’Connor, she’s the lady archaeologist who’s staying here, told me all about those old ships and how hard the journey was. It’s awesome that one sunk off our coast!
Anyway, I thought having all those treasure hunters around would be super interesting, but it was even better than that because they keep getting murdered! That gives me and Daddy killers to find. I’ve told you how he doesn’t like me to help him find the clues, but between you and me, Journal, he needs my help. That’s why I’ve gotta get him and Marquetta together soon. I can’t keep splitting my time between helping them see the obvious, finding killers, and fifth grade. Something’s gotta give, Journal.
I just looked out my window and Daddy’s out on the patio with Marquetta. They look super happy right now. Someday, this is all gonna work. I just know it!
Gotta go,
Alex
PS I guess that should’ve been aloha.
About the Author Terry Ambrose is a former skip tracer who only stole cars when it was legal. He’s long since turned his talents to writing mysteries and thrillers. Several of his books have been award finalists and in 2014 his thriller, “Con Game,” won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. He’s currently working on the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series. Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon
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