Tag: Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day (Book Cover) Makeover

A fundraising scheme at Mahina State University (“Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow”) forces pregnant Professor Molly into the role of “tutierge” (that’s tutor-concierge). While she’s battling morning sickness, a meddling mom, and the Student Retention Office. The last thing she needs to deal with right now is murder.

But here we are.

Mother’s Day, Professor Molly #6

The physical book covers for the Professor Molly series have been undergoing a minor makeover. The back covers have been reworked to have similar layouts, and the name-title order on the books’ spines is now the same. (There is no universally-accepted convention for which comes first, but it was bugging me that half of the Professor Molly book spines had the name at the top and the title at the bottom, and the other half were the opposite. Now they’re consistent.)

There have been no major changes to any of the cover designs. With one exception: Mother’s Day. That cover had always been my least favorite. It was supposed to evoke Professor Molly approaching an imposing lava-rock dwelling, but I didn’t think it accomplished its goal. It didn’t evoke the sense of a venerable, once-grand house gone to seed. Nothing about it said “Hawaii” [1]. And in my opinion, the design wasn’t particularly pleasing to the eye.

At first glance, the new cover says less about the plot. There’s no decrepit old mansion in the jungle, just Molly standing with her briefcase on a Hawaiian beach. We don’t know whether she is walking toward the water or away from it. In the story, we learn that she’s pregnant, but the front-facing direction of her silhouette disguises any tummy bulge. In Mother’s Day, Molly is trying to conceal her delicate condition from the administration at her family-unfriendly workplace.

In the new cover illustration, Molly might have walked down to the water’s edge to take a break and think over what to do about the murder plot she’s sure will come to fruition any day now. But while the setting is somewhat foreboding with its hint of shadow, it’s also colorful and evocative of her island home. Molly’s silhouette takes up a smaller portion of the picture, allowing the viewer to appreciate the beauty of her Hawaiian home.

If you’ve read the previous books (specifically The Cursed Canoe) you know that Molly lives on the east side of the island, so she is watching a sunrise, not a sunset. Despite the indignities heaped upon her by the Mahina State University fundraising machine, Professor Molly can look forward to a brighter day ahead.

[1] The Fever Cabinet cover doesn’t really evoke Hawaii either, but in this case I think it’s okay. The theme of the abandoned asylum and the archaic medical equipment are so central to the plot that it seems right for the cover design to focus on those elements.

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Mother's Day #SampleSunday

Mother’s Day

With her round-the-clock morning sickness, along with “helpful” pregnancy advice coming in from every direction, Professor Molly can’t wait for the registration rush to be over so she can settle into teaching her classes.
That’s when Mahina State’s powerful fundraising office tasks her with a special assignment: to serve as the personal tutierge (that’s tutor-concierge) to Jeremy Brigham, whose mother happens to be fabulously wealthy and gravely ill.
But once inside the Brigham House, Molly realizes something is very wrong. And she has to decide whether to mind her own business and keep her job, or risk everything to prevent a murder.

Excerpt

I could never remember Victor Santiago’s actual job title. As far as I could tell, his duties involved cozying up to potential donors and scolding faculty members whose unruly behavior threatened to tarnish our Institutional Image.
“Professor Barda.” Victor half-rose as I entered his office and shook my hand, in precisely the way you’d greet someone you could barely stand. “Please. Have a seat.”
I sat down as directed and stared at the plaque on Victor’s desk, trying (once again) to memorize it:
Victor Santiago, (M.Ed., MBA) Vice-President for Student Outreach and Community Relations.
Alas, I’d forget it (again) as soon as I walked out the door.
“We’re rolling out an exciting new program,” Victor said, without any excitement whatsoever. Victor did not waste his charm on faculty members. “We call it the Young Leaders Program. It’s a targeted, high-touch, boutique program for our valued student stakeholders.”
“Sounds great.”
“We’re piloting the program this semester with a student named Jeremy Brigham. You’re familiar with the Brigham family, I assume.”
I shook my head.
“Jeremy’s late father was Alexander Brigham, a direct descendant of Hiram Brigham.”
“Hiram Brigham, of course.” I vaguely recalled something about a planter son of a missionary who had married a Hawaiian princess. The confluence of money, land holdings, and political connections had catapulted the Brigham family into Hawaii’s elite.
“Jeremy Brigham has had to withdraw from his classes due to illness.”
“I’m sorry to hear it.”
“Fortunately, under our new Young Leaders Program, Mr. Brigham will receive daily tutoring sessions to keep him on track for graduation.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” I said. “Very compassionate.”
What does all this have to do with me? I wondered. If Jeremy Brigham were a management major, I’d know his name by now.
“Is Jeremy Brigham a management major?” I asked.
“No. Psychology. But they can’t spare anyone, so we’re inviting you to serve as Mr. Brigham’s tutierge.”
“Me? Excuse me, his what?”
“Tutierge. Tutor-Concierge.”
“I see. Well, that’s immensely flattering. But I’m the chair of the management department. Why would you choose me for such an important job?”
I wondered how Victor would manage to answer this question without saying anything positive about me. He did not disappoint.
“Your elective didn’t fill. Your participation in our pilot of the Young Leaders Program gives you a way to discharge your teaching obligations. Without having to pay part of your salary back.”
“Pay my…what? I thought I just had to do more research or something if my class didn’t make. I have to pay my salary back if my class is canceled?”
“Your union agreed to the terms, Professor Barda. To those of us without tenure or summers off, it seems more than fair.”
I didn’t bother to reply that my summers were unpaid, which was very different from having summers off. Especially when I always got stuck doing work over the summer anyway. And tenure was great, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t get fired. It only meant the administration had to put in a little more paperwork to do it.
“No, that sounds great,” I said. “I’d be thrilled. What am I teaching him?”
“Statistics.”
“Stats? I’ve never even taken a stats class, let alone taught one.”
“It won’t be a problem for you. It’s the intro class. I’ll have my assistant send over your schedule and textbook. You and I will make the initial visit together. And remember, Professor Barda.”
Victor fixed me with his unsmiling gaze.
“Your students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. We’ll start on Monday. Meet me here at my office at seven-thirty.”
“In the morning?”
“Yes. In the morning.”

Mother’s Day is available on these platforms

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Mother's Day: The Novella #SampleSunday

Mother’s Day

It’s the start of the semester, and Professor Molly is dealing with the joys of being department chair: The last-minute scramble to hire adjunct instructors, the confused students caught between payment deadlines and late financial aid checks, and the mountain of paperwork required by the administration’s latest half-baked “student success” initiatives. With her round-the-clock morning sickness (along with “helpful” pregnancy advice coming in from every direction), Molly can’t wait for the registration rush to be over so she can settle into teaching her classes.
But then Mahina State’s powerful fundraising office tasks her with a special assignment: she is to serve as the personal tutierge (that’s tutor-concierge) to Jeremy Brigham, whose mother happens to be fabulously wealthy and gravely ill.
But once inside the Brigham House, Molly realizes something is very wrong. And she has to decide whether to mind her own business and keep her job, or risk everything to prevent a murder.

Excerpt

Russian Road wasn’t far from campus, and I would have been happy to meet Victor Santiago there. But he clearly didn’t trust me to find my own way.
And he insisted on driving. I believe he would have preferred to commit seppuku rather than show up at a donor’s house in my turquoise-and-white 1959 Thunderbird.
I sat in the passenger seat of Victor’s Lexus and checked my email as he drove. Then I texted Donnie:
ME: With Victor from marketing. On my way to be a “tutierge.” That’s a combination of tutor and concierge.
DONNIE: I know you’ll do a great job. Darlene brought in a book for you.
ME: Who is Darlene?
DONNIE: the shift manager
ME: Is it what to expect etc.?
DONNIE: Yes how did you know?
ME: My mother sent me a copy already
DONNIE: I’ll keep this one then. If your mother recommends it must be good. BTW she called me, would like you to call her back. Have to go. Love you.
Then I texted my friend Emma Nakamura. Between her paddling practice, her teaching schedule, and some book project she was working on, I hadn’t seen much of her since the semester began.
ME: With Victor from marketing. On my way to be a tutierge. That’s a combination of tutor and concierge.
EMMA:
As much as I loved my husband, sometimes Emma understood me better.

Mother’s Day is available on these platforms

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Mother's Day Mysteries

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12 or thereabouts (depending on what country you live in). There’s no better time to treat yourself to a Mother’s Day-Themed mystery.

Margaritas & Murder by Cece Osgood

In honor of Mother’s Day, meet Marsha, Sunny Truly’s mom. Marsha doesn’t like her daughter’s new job as a rookie private eye. She was so proud of Sunny being a history teacher but then that awful You Tube “incident” got Sunny fired.
Now, Marsha has a lot more to worry about — like her daughter’s penchant for solving mysteries and encountering creepy killers.

Filigrees, Fortunes and Foul Play by Emily Selby

Katie is busy enough as a single mom with a series of dead-end jobs. She barely has time for her passion-paper crafting.
But when one of her housecleaning clients turns up dead, stabbed with a paper crafting tool, Katie is in trouble.
She has her own ideas about who the real murderer is, but the lead inspector won’t listen.
Can she dig up evidence before another victim drops dead? Or will she take the fall for a crime she didn’t commit?

Mother’s Day (A Professor Molly Novelette)

Pregnant Professor Molly is battling morning sickness, a meddling mom, and the unwanted “help” of the Student Retention Office.
The last thing she needs on her to-do list is a murder.
But here we are.