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Limited time featured #giveaway: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct
>>>The Case of the Defunct Adjunct featured on Instafreebie for one week only<<<
“Follow your dreams, and you’ll never work a day in your life. Because that field’s not hiring.”
Molly Barda earned her Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from a top-ten doctoral program. After a year of fruitless job-hunting, she finally landed a job at chronically underfunded Mahina State University (“Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow!”), in rural Hawaii. Teaching resume-writing. In the Business School.
Molly longs for working air conditioning. She sits on a yoga ball because there is no budget for office furniture. Her dean, unwilling to lose paying customers, won’t let her report cheating students.
Molly’s determined to bloom where she’s planted, enjoy the tropical beauty of her new home, and stay out of trouble until she gets tenure.
But when a serial harasser collapses face-first into his haupia cheesecake at a Student Retention Office retreat, Molly’s summer goes from dull to disastrous. Now Molly has to fight to keep her best friend out of the worst kind of trouble — and herself off the unemployment line.
If you like Dorothy Parker, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy The Case of the Defunct Adjunct, a tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics in the middle of the Pacific.
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#Giveaway: 20 #Free Mysteries? What's the catch?
Grab The Case of the Defunct Adjunct and 19 more mysteries
Through September 20. Get them now!
Through September 20. Get them now!
Why are we doing this? We are a group of mystery authors who love writing and reading mysteries. Funny mysteries, cozy mysteries, thrillers, anything that keeps us turning the pages! We want to thank our readers, and share some of our own favorites. I’m taking this opportunity to feed my e-reader. You should, too. Why not? Come have a look!
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#Book Blast: Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler
Dandelion Dead
by Chrystle Fiedler
Dandelion Dead: A Natural Remedies Mystery
Cozy Mystery
Pocket Books (September 27, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1476748931
E-Book ASIN: B00WRBQP22
Synopsis
In a cozy mystery filled with natural cures and edible plants that you will love, an organic winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional amateur sleuth and holistic doctor, Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true vintage.
Business is blooming at Nature’s Way Market & Café, and shop owner, holistic doctor, and amateur sleuth, Willow McQuade has never been happier. Her new medicinal herb garden is a hit, so is her new book, she’s in love with ex-cop and animal rescuer Jackson Spade, and enjoying teaching seminars about edible plants and natural remedies.
But everything changes when Willow’s old boyfriend and TV producer, Simon Lewis, winemaker David Farmer, and his wife Ivy, ask her to cater a party at Pure, their new organic vineyard, to kick off North Fork’s Uncorked! week and the competition for Wine Lovers magazine’s $200,000 prize. Pure’s entry, Falling Leaves, is the favorite to win, and the wine flows freely until after Simon’s toast when smiles give way to looks of horror. Ivy’s twin sister, Amy has been murdered! Turns out, the poison that killed her was actually meant for David. But who wants him dead? A rival vintner? Or someone closer to home? This time the truth may be a bitter vintage to swallow.
About the Author
CHRYSTLE FIEDLER is a freelance journalist specializing in natural remedies, alternative medicine and holistic health and healing, and is the author of the Natural Remedies Mysteries series. Her many consumer magazine articles have appeared in USA Today’s Green Living, Natural Health, Remedy, Mother Earth Living, Spirituality & Health, and Prevention. She is also the author/co-author of seven non-fiction health titles including the Country Almanac of Home Remedies with herbalist Brigitte Mars, and The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty with Vegan Beauty Review founder, Sunny Subramanian. Chrystle lives on the East End of Long Island, NY in a cozy cottage by the sea. Visit www.chrystlefiedlerwrites.com.
Author Links
Website link: www.chrystlefiedlerwrites.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dandeliondeadbook/?fref=ts
Twitter: @ChrystleFiedler
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3360187.Chrystle_Fiedler
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/chrystle123/dandelion-dead-a-natural-remedies-mystery/
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Amazon – B&N – IndieBound
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#CozyMystery Spotlight: Death Among the Doilies
For thirty-something blogger Cora Chevalier, small-town Indigo Gap, North Carolina, seems like the perfect place to reinvent her life.
Shedding a stressful past as a counselor for a women’s shelter, Cora is pouring all her talents—and most of her savings—into a craft retreat business, with help from close pal and resident potter Jane Starr. Between transforming her Victorian estate into a crafter’s paradise and babysitting Jane’s daughter, the new entrepreneur has no time for distractions. Especially rumors about the murder of a local school librarian . . .
But when Jane’s fingerprints match those found at the grisly crime scene, Cora not only worries about her friend, but her own reputation. With angry townsfolk eager for justice and both Jane’s innocence and the retreat at risk, she must rely on her creative chops to unlace the truth behind the beloved librarian’s disturbing demise. Because if the killer’s patterns aren’t pinned, Cora’s handiwork could end up in stitches . . .
About The Author
Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of the Cumberland Creek Scrapbooking mystery series. She is also author of two cookbooks, the regional bestseller Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies and Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley . An award-winning journalist and poet, she currently blogs, cooks, and scrapbooks in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Scrapbook of Secrets was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel.
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#Interview: Mud Bog #Murder by Lesley A. Diehl
>>>Enter to win an e-copy of Mud Bog Murder<<<
When Jenny McCleary leases her property to be ravaged by the annual mud bog races, the small rural town of Sabal Bay, Florida, is divided into warring camps: environmental activists versus monster truck fans. Jenny, who frequents the consignment store owned by Eve Appel and her friend Madeleine, doesn’t seem to mind when Eve and Madeleine join the protesters the day of the races.
When Jenny McCleary leases her property to be ravaged by the annual mud bog races, the small rural town of Sabal Bay, Florida, is divided into warring camps: environmental activists versus monster truck fans. Jenny, who frequents the consignment store owned by Eve Appel and her friend Madeleine, doesn’t seem to mind when Eve and Madeleine join the protesters the day of the races.
During the race, Eve catches Jenny’s airborne head after it is tossed into the air by the wheels of a truck. Now every protester is a suspect in Jenny’s murder. What’s left of her alligator-gnawed body is found near the airboat business of Eve’s Miccosukee Indian friends, Sammy Egret and his grandfather. When more evidence turns up nearby, Grandfather is arrested.
Even without the disembodied head, Eve has her hands full. The town resents her role in the protests and is boycotting the consignment shop on wheels. She is torn between two men–GQ-handsome, devoted PI Alex and tall, dark, and exotic Sammy. Jenny’s sweet and needy teenage daughter is dating a petty criminal. Will Eve and Madeleine ever be able to move into their new digs? Not unless the town forgives them. And not if whoever decapitated Jenny gets to Eve before she and her sleuthing buddies solve the mystery.
Q: Aloha Lesley, and welcome back to Island Confidential. Can you tell us a little bit about Eve Appel?
A: The protagonist of the Eve Appel mystery series and the newest book in it, Mud Bog Murder, is Eve Appel, a woman who has spent her life in the Northeast and has now moved to rural Florida to open a consignment shop there with her best friend, Madeleine Boudreaux Wilson. These two friends couldn’t be any different in appearance. Eve is tall, willow thin with spiky blonde hair (with dark roots, her fashion statement) while Madeleine is short, round and has red curly hair. They are different in personality also. Eve is an in-your-face gal and Madeleine, although a bit physically clumsy, is polite and always knows the right thing to say. Eve may know what is socially appropriate, but she seldom feels compelled to say or do it. The two have been friends since childhood, sharing a commitment to righting wrongs and a loyalty to friends and family. Eve loves designer fashions as long as she doesn’t have to pay full price, so she’s addicted to consignment shopping, and she’s determined to bring the opportunity to dress for less to rural Florida. And, oh yes. Eve is as snoopy as can be especially when it comes to murder.
Q: How much of you is in Eve? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: There is little of me in Eve except that we both probably share the need to find answers to questions. My questions involve more mundane issues such as where did I leave my glasses while her questions are both mundane (what should I wear today?) and significant to her life and her community (who killed my friend?). In Mud Bog Murder, that means Eve not only catches the severed head of the victim, but she searches for the killer. There’s no question that if I had caught that head, I would have dropped it and run like crazy. I admire her and Madeleine for different reasons. I can certainly relate to Eve’s search for secondhand merchandise. I’m addicted to yard sales, consignment shops and bargains in general. There is nothing that Eve won’t take on when it comes to social injustice—insults to the environment, family upheavals, as well as theft and murder. Who wouldn’t want a friend with the attitude of can do, or as they say, in the South a get ‘er done approach to problems? Madeleine’s warm, friendly, ladylike exterior hides a streak of real spunkiness. Madeleine is the lady my mom raised me to be. I guess it didn’t take. But, for Madeleine, lady combined with spunk really works.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series? I imagine catching a severed head (!) would be a transformational experience, no?
A: Yes, they do. I think it’s necessary for characters to face challenges and change to handle these in each book, but I think a writer must take series characters through life journeys especially if the writer decides to age the characters which is what I do. Throwing murder at a character necessitates adjustment and self-exploration especially if solving the crime means the character confronts situations she fears and people she doesn’t like. In a mystery series, writers do this again and again, so the reader has a right to see a character altered by so many encounters with death. Subplots that involve the character’s personal life and development entail the same consideration: what does love, family, friendship and the absence, presence or alteration in all these mean for the character. How is she different at the end of the series from what she was in the beginning? Eve has certainly confronted some interesting issues, and she has been changed by them. Love is one of these, and what happens to Eve’s love life in Mud Bog Murder may surprise the reader. It certainly surprised Eve.
Q: So just between you, me, and the millions of people with internet access: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Sure, and I did it in an early manuscript in which I also made the murderer someone I knew and disliked. It was quite cathartic, and some really bad writing on my part. I radically altered that story and it later was a book in which the story is nothing like the original version. However, I have to thank the people I disliked for helping presenting me with characters I could enhance and recreate. It sure was fun!
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: The setting for Mud Bog Murder is rural Florida a place few tourists are familiar with or visit and where few Floridians live. The county I live in has more cattle than people and probably more alligators too. This is really “old Florida”, the Florida before interstates, sugar fields and runaway development. I try to stay true to the setting and what it means to its people although I do alter names of towns and streets sometimes. I want the story to not only be about murder, but I want the impact of that to be imbedded in the setting such that to move the story away from that setting would change the tone and the significance of it. Because I’m not a Florida native, neither is my protagonist. She’s an outsider, someone who can see what is happening with new eyes, but who becomes more and more a part of the community in each book.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: I’m not much of a moviegoer. My husband and I prefer watching British comedies and mysteries on Netflix. I’m not good at knowing actors, but there is the short, shapely blonde on Big Bang Theory who, with a red wig could play Madeleine. She seems to have the bubbly persona of Madeleine. As for Eve, she is physically like Angeline Jolie but with short, blond hair. Since the mystery is humorous, it’s always difficult to find comic actors who can carry the parts.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: In the writing world, we’re always told to write what we know, but sometimes it’s important to understand what it is we know, and it’s not always what we have spent our lives doing. My first manuscript featured a college psychology professor. That’s what I did, so I figured I was on safe ground writing about it. I was so close to the college world that my manuscript lacked sizzle. It was boring. Once I used what I knew to create, not copy the world in the story, the manuscript improved. Writing is all about imagination and the creation and crafting of the work. Sometimes we leave that out when we tell beginning writers to write what they know. Most important is to learn your craft. You can only break the rules when you understand what they mean to your story. As for what you know, you can always learn what you don’t know. Research is important—interviews, experience, involvement in new endeavors as well as research on line and in libraries. It can open a world of writing opportunities.
About the Author
Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.
She is the author of a number of mystery series (Microbrewing Series, Big Lake Mystery Series, Eve Appel Mystery Series and the Laura Murphy Mysteries), a standalone mystery (Angel Sleuth) and numerous short stories.
Visit her on her website: www.lesleyadiehl.com
Webpage: www.lesleyadiehl.com
Blog: www.lesleyadiehl.com/blog
Twitter: @lesleydiehl
Facebook: [email protected]
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Character Guest Post, book and #GiftCard #Giveaway: Gnarly New Year
>>>Win a set of signed paperbacks and a $20 Amazon gift card. Wow!<<<
The honeymoon’s not over yet!
Kim and Brien’s excellent adventure at the swanky Sanctuary Resort & Spa continues when an unwelcome visitor drops in on New Year’s Eve.
An elusive marine GPS device found and lost again, unleashes another wave of murder and mayhem in Corsario Cove! What is it about that thing? Will the secret be revealed when they visit the chamber of heinousness? Stooges, Krugerrands, and monks—oh my! Is it going to be a Gnarly New Year for Kim and Brien?
Character Guest Post: Truth or Chore?
Brien and Kim are back from their honeymoon. They’re not in Corsario Cove but out in the California desert where they met. It’s a balmy evening in January on the patio of the condo they rent. The moon is shining, the palm trees are swaying, and they’re lingering over a cold beer and a platter of nachos.
~~~~~
Brien: “These are awesome nachos, even without the beef.”
Kim: “Gracias, Dude. I’ve been getting tips from St. Bernadette so I can better perform my wifely cooking chores.”
Brien: “Too bad you don’t cook every night. You’re way better at it than I am, even without Bernadette’s tips. Maybe I should ask her for help, too.”
Kim: “Sure, you could do that. Nachos aren’t that hard to fix. Heck, it’s hardly even cooking. Especially if you leave out the barbacoa or carne asada you carnivores love so much.”
Brien: “Like the ones we had that night we met. Those were epic nachos.”
Kim: “That’s what you remember about the night we met—the nachos?”
Brien: “Not just the nachos. It’s my turn to ask you questions, though. Truth or chore: what do you remember?”
Kim: “It was an evening a lot like this one—gorgeous lounging on the Huntington’s patio overlooking the swimming pool and golf course. I remember being nearly knocked out by that house Jessica’s dad had designed and built. It’s a work of art. When I worked for Mr. P, he had an enormous house up in the Hollywood Hills. That one was dark and sinister—like a holdover from a gothic horror movie set. He was so impressed that it had once been owned by a dead monster movie mogul. Complete with secret rooms and passage ways. Creepy. How did I get on this topic?”
Brien: “Uh, you were talking about meeting me for the first time. My memories of nachos are way better than your memories of creeps!”
Kim: “Jessica’s house triggered those memories, not you. Give me a break. It’s still a little hard for me to open up about mushy stuff like feelings, Brien. You must know that about me.”
Brien: “I do.”
Kim: “So, truth—no chore. I wasn’t just knocked about by that house. You wowed me, too, Moondoggie.”
Brien: “I thought you were a knockout, too. I tried not to stare at you in front of the Cat Pack but whoa, that tattoo of yours was so hot!”
Kim: “My tattoo? That’s what grabbed you about me—my Saraswati tattoo?”
Brien: “I didn’t know she was Saraswati, or that she was a goddess. She was beautiful, like you. Your face and that smokin’ hot body of yours. What did you like about me? Truth or chore.”
Kim: “Okay, truth. You do have a bodacious body, as you surfer dudes like to say. I was totally in awe. I’m not even sure I could hear what you were saying, Brien. You didn’t say much did you?”
Brien: “Nah, I was tongue-twisted.”
Kim: “Tongue-tied is what you mean, right?”
Brien: “Probably. You were quiet that night, too.”
Kim: “I still am, but not like then. I didn’t like being around a lot of people. All those awful parties I had to go to working for Mr. P. At least I didn’t run off to a corner and hide that night at Jessica’s house.”
Bien: “I wouldn’t have let you go off by yourself, Kim. Truth or chore: was it love at first sight?”
Kim: “Truth. I don’t believe in love at first sight. Let’s just say I felt a strong attraction to you.”
Brien: “That’s fair. I’d have to say it was hard to figure out if it was love or not with all that animal magnetism between us.”
Kim: “Yes, that’s a perfect way of putting it. You also made me nervous—maybe because I was fighting off that attraction. Besides, I didn’t want to get involved with anyone.”
Brien: “Yeah, I could tell that, Kim. That’s why I didn’t push it. From what you and Jessica went through with Mr. P and the Doc, it couldn’t have been good hanging with those bogus guys—and you did that for years. I felt bad for you. Sometimes, though, I thought it was me you didn’t like.”
Kim: “You irritated me. I didn’t understand that when you’re nervous instead of hiding in a corner or clamming up like me, you talk. The more anxious you get the more you say, and that’s when you make mistakes. Truth: that drove me up the wall at first.”
Brien: “Malapropisms—you told me all about that. What changed?”
Kim: “Later one night when you drove me home. We were alone and you were quiet, except for a question or two. Something simple, like how are you doing? The way you said it—the way you often say things—was so sincere. I remember feeling safe answering you honestly. That surprised me.”
Brien: “That night changed things for me, too, Kim. We were friends after that.”
Kim: “Yes, friends. And I wanted to see you again. Just you, without that crowd around. That’s why I said yes right away when you asked me to go with you to the 60’s beach movie film festival.”
Brien: “Truth or chore: when did you realize it was love?”
Kim: “Soon. You became my dream date—my very own Moondoggie. Was that ever a shock. It took me a while longer to deal with it. Then one night you called me Gidget. That’s when I knew you were on to me.”
Brien: “I was—at least I hoped I was since I was in deep by then.”
Kim: “Me too, even though I still couldn’t say I love you.”
Brien: “You had to hear it from me first. Not quite love at first sight, huh?”
Kim: “Close enough, Moondoggie.”
Brien: “One more question. Truth or chore: Do you want me to take that job and move with me to Corsario Cove or not?”
Kim: “Um, it’s going to have to be a chore.”
Brien: “You won’t tell me the truth?”
Kim: “I can’t, because I haven’t figured what that the truth is yet. Maybe we should take that second honeymoon, then make a decision.”
~~~~~
Will Kim & Brien leave Palm Springs, their friends and their jobs behind? Stay tuned for their next adventure to find out.
About The Author
Anna Celeste Burke is an award-winning and bestselling author who enjoys snooping into life’s mysteries with fun, fiction, & food—California style! Her books include the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series set in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, the Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery series set on California’s Central Coast, and The Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery series set in Orange County, California–the OC. Coming soon: The Misadventures of Betsy Stark that take place in the Coachella Valley. Find out more at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com.
Author Links
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Character Interview and #giveaway: Nine LiFelines, a Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery
>>>Enter to win one of eight Kindle copies of Nine LiFelines<<<
The elevator won’t go to the tenth floor, someone is breaking into condos, and the well-heeled Ukrainian renter isn’t paying the rent.
Beth and Arnie have retired to the building where Beth’s last rental unit is located, and Beth, the klutzy landlady, has declared herself through solving mysteries. Then, her renter is arrested for the murder of the neighbor who fell (was pushed?) from the tenth-story balcony and the dead neighbor’s grandchildren are left with only their wheelchair-ridden grandmother to care for them. Beth feels compelled to help out. Are Sylvester’s psycho-cat behaviors providing clues? Is the renter actually the killer? Do the break-ins and elevator problem have anything to do with the murder? Even Arnie, who has always told Beth to keep her nose out of police business, gets involved—for the sake of the children.
Today we have Beth’s sister, Meg Knells, visiting our blog.
Q: Meg, welcome to Island Confidential! Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess?
A: You may think I’m a staid middle school teacher, but I my younger years, I was a party girl. Beth’s and my mother died when we were teenagers, and I tried to help guide my little sister. Later, I dropped out of college for a couple of years to bartend and travel. In Europe, I hitchhiked across the continent until I met my future husband, Paul, in Italy. We came home and settled down.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?
A: I get along with my sister, Beth, now. We’re best friends. She has an adventurous spirit. A few years ago, she flew to the Virgin Islands to find my missing stepdaughter who was accused of embezzlement. (Catastrophic Connections) Since then, I’ve helped her solve other problems.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why?
A: I’m not a fan of Detective Renquire. He never seems to do enough to find the real killers. Well…I mean…I guess he comes through in the end.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: To tell the truth, I am the result of a bit of a learning curve in Joyce Ann Brown’s mystery writing exploits. Sure, I was there as the sidekick to her sleuth, Beth Stockwell, from the beginning. But, in Nine Lifelines, her latest book in the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, the development of the characters and the twists and turns in the plot make this her best book yet.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Oh, I’m done helping Beth solve her mysteries. I’ve retired from school teaching and want to relax. I’m taking a quilting class and am thinking about writing a family history. Sigh…I suppose if Beth asked me, I’d be there for her. After all, she is my little sister. Her causes are compelling. I do come up with clever ideas to help gather information. Sigh…Smile.
CHAPTER 1
THE ELEVATOR
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. We stopped on the wrong floor—again.”
Beth’s lanky husband, Arnie, his bottom half inside and his top half outside the elevator, held the Open button with one finger while he twisted his head around his grocery sack to see the number above the door in the hallway. He had pressed 10 in the lobby, and the display read 10, but the number in the hall didn’t match.
“It took us to the eighth floor this time,” Arnie said, “and there’s no one here waiting—again.” He pulled his head back inside and punched the 10, none too gently, his irritation emphasizing the wrinkles on his suntanned forehead.
“This has happened every time.” Beth shifted her bulky grocery bag to the other arm and ran her hand through her undisciplined silver-blond curls. “Don’t you think we’d better tell the management? Darn it, I’m getting tired of this.” She bumped her bag with the arm she jerked down to emphasize her words. “Oops.” Arnie caught and stabilized her load before the groceries could fall all over the elevator floor. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” Her husband took Beth’s habitual klutziness in stride.
“This problem has probably been reported,” Arnie said. “We just moved in. We don’t want to start complaining so soon.”
Beth sighed and leaned her small frame back against the wall to relieve the weight of her package. “But this is inconvenient and…and spooky and…”
She glanced through the opening from her new viewpoint just as the doors were about to snap together. With her free hand, she slapped the Open button, and the doors swooshed aside as if this unruly machine was always obedient to her every command. As if.
“Arnie, look. Something’s going on. Half the people in the building are standing in front of a door down there.” She took a step out into the hallway and crooked an index finger at Arnie.
With a skeptical frown, he followed. “Maybe they’re getting ready for an outing or something. We aren’t invited. It’s none of our business.”
“No, it looks like they’re looking at the door. Let’s go see what’s going on. We can explain we’re new to the building and accidentally got off on the wrong floor.”
“Humph. Here, give me your bag. I’m going on up. You can satisfy your curiosity without getting me involved.”
“Deal.”
Beth heard snippets of conversations as she neared the cluster of people. “Something needs to be done.” “I’m having double locks installed.” “One of these times, someone will be home, and then what will happen?”
At the edge of the noisy crowd, Beth sidled up to a young teenaged girl who was holding a phone that emitted a constant series of beeps and chirps. Sending and receiving text messages, Beth decided. She must be telling the world, or at least her sphere of friends, about whatever was happening.
“What’s going on here?” Beth asked.
The kid, her wavy red hair half over her face, glanced sideways at Beth and then back at her phone. Somehow she kept her thumbs busy punching letters while she answered. “Another lock was picked. That old woman’s apartment got robbed.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joyce Ann Brown, the author of the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, set in Kansas City, was a librarian, a landlady, and a Realtor before becoming a short story and novel writer. She also has two mischievous cats.
Her actual tenants have never disappeared, murdered, or been murdered. Nor have any of them found a skeleton in the attic. Joyce has never solved a crime. Moose and Chloe, her cats, haven’t sniffed out a mystery, at least not yet.
Joyce spends her days writing (with a few breaks for tennis, walking, and book clubs) so that Beth, the landlady in the series, and Sylvester, the Psycho Cat, can make up for her real-life lack of excitement in a big way.
Author website with Blog: http://www.joyceannbrown.com
Blog: http://retirementchoicescozymystery.wordpress.com
Blog: http://hikingkctrails.wordpress.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/joyceannbrownauthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joyceannbrown1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9858447.Joyce_Ann_Brown
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Interview and #Giveaway: Kathi Daley, author of Pumpkins in Paradise
>>>Enter to win a Kindle or paperback copy of a Tj Jensen book–48 hours only!<<<
Countdown to Paradise Launch Event on Facebook
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Between volunteering for the annual pumpkin festival and coaching her girls to the state soccer finals, high school teacher Tj Jensen finds her good friend Zachary Collins dead in his favorite chair.
When the handsome new deputy closes the case without so much as a “why” or “how,” Tj turns her attention from chili cook-offs and pumpkin carving to complex puzzles, prophetic riddles, and a decades-old secret she seems destined to unravel.
Q: Kathi Daley joins us today to talk about the first book in the Tj Jensen Mystery Series, Pumpkins in Paradise. Kathi, welcome to Island Confidential! Can you tell us something about Tj Jensen?
A: Tj Jensen is a petite and spunky tomboy with a huge heart. She is a coach and teacher at the local high school, as well as surrogate mother to two half –sisters who came to live with her after their mother died. Tj is the type of person who seems to have a knack for getting involved in everyone’s life. She is the sort of friend, teacher, and neighbor who people will naturally gravitate toward when they have a problem, and she is the sort of person who is intelligent and industrious enough to actually help those who seek her out.
Q: How much of you is in Tj? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: Like Tj, I used to be a teacher and I also used to be the teacher all the students hung out with. I always ate lunch in my room rather than in the teacher’s lounge and I always had a room full of students who brought their lunches in and joined me. I also live in a small town in the mountains and I enjoy a large multi-generation family. I am a tomboy and enjoy being outdoors with my dogs, and like Tj, I find puzzles and problems to solve energizing.
Tj is a lot more fearless than I am however. She seems to be willing to put herself into danger to help the people she loves while I’d most likely coach from the sidelines. She is also more social than I am as I tend toward being an introvert while Tj is very much an extrovert.
I would love to meet Tj in real life. In a way I feel like she is a real person. I love hanging out with her and catching up on the developments in her life.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Absolutely. I write 5 series and the characters have grown and developed to varying degrees. Tj was already pretty level headed and focused from book 1 so she had probably changed less over the six books in the series I have written so far, than say Zoe, from the Zoe Donovan series, who was an immature and reactive but loveable mess in book one and is now married and raising children in book 21 which was just recently launched.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: No. I think that would be a little too real for me. I do have readers who write to me and ask me to kill them off but I think I’ll let my victims and well as my killers remain fictional. I have characters in some of my books who are not the victim or killer who are loosely based on people I actually know.
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Paradise Lake is a fictionalized Lake Tahoe. The overall feel of the small town perched on a large alpine lake is true to life, as are the interactions Tj has with wildlife that lives in the area, but the specifics of the town and the people in the town have been fictionalized to suite my purposes.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: LOL, I haven’t given this a single thought. I’m not sure I’d even want to do a movie. I get so frustrated with the movies that have been made from other series when they change sooo many things that really don’t need to be changed. Fiction allows each reader to create an image of the characters based on their own set of references and experiences. I never have people on my covers preferring to let the reader fill in the blanks.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: Best advice – when I was starting out a fellow author told me that I’d have people and opportunities coming to me from all directions. She warned me that it could become overwhelming, (and she was right). Her advice was when deciding what to do and what to pass on – just do what you want to do and pass on the rest.
Worst advice? Hum, I guess the worst advice I ever received was from an agent I met at a writing seminar at a local college who told me that it was almost impossible to be successful as a self-published author and that finding an agent and trying for trade publication was the only way to truly make a name for myself. I sold over 100,000 books in my first year as a self-published author and twice as many my second year. I think I’d consider that to be a success. Having said that, I do think there is a place for traditional publishing in an author’s overall portfolio which is why I am thrilled to be working with Henery Press on the Tj Jensen series.
Henery Press is releasing the first 6 books in this series on September 6, 2016
Snowmen in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 2)
Winter Carnival comes to Serenity, and with it Tj finds her schedule busier than ever. Not only is her ski and snowboard team heavily involved in demonstrations and local competitions, but her ragtag choir is about to debut in their first live performance. To make matters even more complicated, someone has killed Travis Davidson, a town favorite son, world-class snowboarder, and Olympic hopeful. Tj is determined not to get involved in the subsequent investigation until she learns the prime suspect is Chelsea Hanson, high-school boyfriend Hunter Hanson’s sister.
Although there’s no shortage of Sereninites with a grudge against the hometown hero, even Tj has to admit there’s good cause to suspect Chelsea of the murder. Balancing bridesmaid duties, Winter Carnival obligations, show choir duty, and after-hours investigation, Tj sets out to prove Chelsea innocent.
When the Tropical Tan Corporation descends on Maggie’s Hideaway, the lakeside resort where Tj Jensen lives, she must juggle a bikini contest, a BBQ cook-off, a missing model, and a dead chaperone while her father is out of town. Lead Deputy Dylan Caine is on vacation while his sister is visiting, leaving Assistant Deputy Roy Fisher in charge. When Roy asks Tj for her help they find there may be more going on than anyone realized. With Kyle and Jenna’s help, they dig into the lives of those involved, only to find a mystery more complex than anything they could ever have imagined.
Puppies in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 5)
When a friend of Tj’s is injured in a car accident during a blizzard, Tj takes responsibility for the litter of puppies left behind. Meanwhile, she works with Kyle, Jenna, and the gang to catch the person responsible for the death of a close family friend. When it turns out that the main suspects are also close to the Jensens, Tj must deal with one of the most difficult decisions she’s ever had to make.
In the midst of the annual Halloween frenzy, Tj finds herself pulled into a series of events at the high school where she works. Not only must she help one of the girls on her team deal with a case of cyberbullying, but she must help a student who has recently suffered a personal tragedy. And as if Tj wasn’t busy enough, in walks Samantha Colton, a reporter for Second Look, a television series that takes a look back at unsolved murders. This time the case is the death of a popular student after the homecoming dance ten years before. To make matters even worse—or maybe more convenient—the graduating class of the victim is in town for their ten-year reunion and all the suspects just happen to have converged on Serenity for the weekend. When Samantha turns up dead, Tj must track down someone who seems willing to kill again to keep their secret.
About the Author
Author of the Zoe Donovan cozy Mystery Series, Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery series, Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery Series, Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mysteries, and Seacliff High Teen Cozy Mystery Series.
Come for the murder, stay for the romance.
Kathi lives in the beautiful alpine community of Lake Tahoe with her husband Ken and dog Echo. When she’s not writing she enjoys hanging out on the beach with her children and grandchildren. During the summer she enjoys hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, wakeboarding, and sunset cruises on the lake. During the winter she enjoys cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and curling up by a fire with a good book.
Kathi uses her mountain home as inspiration for her books, all which include appearances by the wildlife she shares her life with.
Visit Kathi Daley:
Blog – http://kathidaleyblog.com
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#CoverReveal: Dandelion Dead
Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler : A Natural Remedies Mystery
Coming September 27, 2016
In a spicy cozy mystery filled with herbal remedies readers will love, a sustainable winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional homeopath and amateur sleuth Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true essence.
Coming September 27, 2016
In a spicy cozy mystery filled with herbal remedies readers will love, a sustainable winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional homeopath and amateur sleuth Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true essence.
Pre-Order today: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
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