A severed leg with no body? Check.
A disturbing lack of coffee? Check.
A murderer bent on revenge and a hot cop using her as bait? Double check.
Larklyn Davis moved to the small picturesque town of Barrow Bay, California, needing a new start on life. She found the perfect cottage house, almost the perfect distance from her ex-husband, and built the perfect stable for her dressage business. But when a severed leg suddenly appears on her front porch, her life takes a turn for the absurd.
As more clues pile up, and the killer not content to leave Lark alone, she’s forced to take things into her own hands. One problem: the hottest detective she has ever seen is convinced she is involved. Detective Brecken Wilson looks like he should be in a movie, not glued to Lark’s side, waiting for the other leg to drop.
There’s not enough coffee in the world for Lark to deal with this crime, the detective who stirs things she hasn’t felt in years, and a matchmaking town, intent on helping her find the happiness she doesn’t want.
About the Author
Annabelle Hunter is a stay-at-home mom and an avid fan of classic mystery shows and dressage. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and too many animals.
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.
A fatal hit-and-run in front of Savannah Webb’s glass shop proves to be no accident . . .
A highlight of Savannah’s new glass bead workshop is a technique called flame-working, which requires the careful wielding of acetylene torches. Understandably, safety is a top priority. But as Savannah is ensuring her students’ safety inside, a hit-and-run driver strikes down a pedestrian outside her shop. The victim is Nicole Borawski, the bartender/manager at the Queen’s Head Pub, owned by Savannah’s boyfriend Edward. It quickly becomes clear that this was no random act of vehicular manslaughter. Now the glass shop owner is all fired up to get a bead on the driver—before someone else meets a dead end.
Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter @CherylHollon.
Cat Latimer pursues a scone-cold killer who iced a top chef in a local bakery . . .
Cat has a full plate at her Aspen Hills Warm Springs Resort, as a group of aspiring cozy mystery authors arrives for a writers retreat. So when baker Dee Dee Meyer stirs up trouble by filing a false complaint with the health inspector against the B&B—all because she insists Cat’s best friend Shauna stole her recipes—Cat marches into the shop to confront her.
But Dee Dee’s about to have her own batch of trouble. Greyson Finn—a celebrity chef and, until today, one of Denver’s most eligible bachelors—has been found dead in her bakery. Cat’s uncle Pete, who happens to be the chief of police, warns her not to engage in any half-baked sleuthing. But as her curiosity rises, Cat’s determined to discover who served the chef his just desserts—before the killer takes a powder . . .
Ms. Cahoon has created a cozy vibe for both the town and for her large Victorian home turned retreat. Her setting is so inviting I wish I could find something similar to visit! ~Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder
Sconed to Death by Lynn Cahoon is a fun whodunit set in the small town Colorado. The characters are so well developed and formed a beautiful little family. ~Baroness’ Book Trove
Author Cahoon has a true talent for detail, making readers feel like a part of her stories. I know I always do. When I was finished, I felt like I had lived the experience of the story rather than having read it. ~Lisa Ks Book Reviews
A fun, well-written reading, with a good pace, brilliant dialogues, a well-developed storyline with lots of tracks and clues and a few twists and turns. ~LibriAmoriMiei
Each time a new character was introduced into the story, I was able to clearly picture them in my mind. The twists and turns had me second-guessing who the actual killer was. ~Literary Gold
This series has so many great elements to it that really makes it stand out. It’s the perfect blend of characters of all sorts, great food . . . writing tidbits, cute critters, and enough clues to (hold) it all together. ~Books a Plenty Book Reviews
.Wow! Lynn Cahoon has pulled all the stops out to give us a story that keeps you glued to the action from pretty much the first page until the last! ~A Wytch’s Book Review Blog
Sconed to Death is a cozy readers delight with a dead chef, an inquisitive writer, appetizing apple creations, and impish tabbies. ~The Avid Reader
Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She’s also the author of the soon to be released, Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A STORY TO KILL, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016.She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com
Giulia Driscoll used to say running a detective agency was the busiest job she’d ever had. Then the ghosts showed up, and she figured now she’s the busiest ever. This of course challenged the Universe to say, “Hold my beer.”
Today she’s running the agency, sleuthing on behalf of the ghosts, and being the mother of a two-month-old. At last she understands those 5-Hour Energy commercials.
The Universe then dropped two clients in her lap for Mardi Gras: a family greedy to find hidden money and the son of her least-favorite person, Ken Kanning of The Scoop. The positive: a date night! The not-so-positive: it’s a working date night. Driscoll Investigations is joining the big Mardi Gras costume charity gala to search for potential thieves. Kanning Junior will be at the party showing off his tame ghost.
The Scoop, a few hundred drunk revelers, a mercenary family, and a ghost who isn’t as tame as the kid thinks. What could possibly go wrong?
Did someone just hear the Universe say, “Hold my beer”?
About the Author
Alice Loweecey is a baker of brownies and tormenter of characters, Alice Loweecey recently celebrated her thirtieth year outside the convent. She grew up watching Hammer horror films and Scooby-Doo mysteries, which explains a whole lot. When she’s not creating trouble for her sleuth Giulia Driscoll or inspiring nightmares as her alter-ego Kate Morgan, she can be found growing her own vegetables (in summer) and cooking with them (the rest of the year). Website: aliceloweecey.net Facebook: facebook.com/GiuliaDriscoll Twitter: @AliceLoweecey Goodreads: Alice Loweecey
An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this latest Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author.
It’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend Ava. Carmela’s ex-husband Shamus rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus’ float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed.
Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe-member’s death, but as they dig deeper it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder….and Shamus seems less like a victim, and more like a suspect. Scrapbooking tips and recipes included!
Interview with Laura Childs, New York Times bestselling author
Laura, welcome back to Island Confidential! Can you tell us a little about the protagonist of Glitter Bomb?
Carmela Bertrand is smart, entrepreneurial, and owns a small scrapbook shop in the French Quarter. She’s loyal to a fault and quick to help a friend in trouble. Of course, this puts Carmela in incredibly dangerous situations. For example, in Glitter Bomb Carmela’s ex-husband begs her to help clear him as a suspect when a Mardi Gras float explodes and kills a hedge fund bigwig. With multiple (and dangerous) suspects, Carmela has to muster up her amateur sleuthing skills and run her own shadow investigation. How would you feel about Carmela if you met her in real life?
I’d love to hang out with Carmela – especially at Mardi Gras. I mean, what’s better than a week of parades, parties, beignets, and beads! And the food in New Orleans is to die for. We’re talking beignets, po-boys, crawfish etouffee, gumbo, pralines, and crazy drinks like hurricanes and frozen daiquiris. Let the good times roll and thank you, Carmela, for all those recipes you included in the book! Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
Let’s just say they progress. They get a little bit funnier, smarter, saltier, and outrageous as the books go on. Glitter Bomb is the 15th book in my New Orleans Scrapbook Mystery series, so the main characters, Carmela and Ava, are pretty much over the top by now. And, yes, it’s called a Scrapbook Mystery, but the scrapbook shop just serves as home base for a rip-roaring mystery that includes haunted cemeteries, a fashion show, sports car rally, party at the zoo, and hungry alligators. Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life – on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
Not exactly, but people who have been unkind to me in the past often find their names used for disreputable and annoying characters in my books. Excellent idea! So how realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
My New Orleans setting is extremely realistic. I try very hard to capture the raucousness of the French Quarter, spookiness of the above ground cemeteries, and primordial beauty of the bayous. Also, through friends who live in New Orleans, I’ve had the great fortune to visit the dens where the Mardi Gras floats are constructed, attend the Rex ball, and even march in a Mardi Gras parade. As someone whose day job is teaching, I’m well aware of the pitfalls and horrors of group assignments. Yet you and your coauthor, Terrie Farley Moran, seem to have a very productive partnership. Can you tell us a little about her?
Terrie is a consummate pro. She’s smart, witty, and immensely talented. Sometimes we work on a chapter together, sometimes we work independently and alternate chapters. Whatever the method, our words and ideas always mesh! What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
Worst advice would be to “write what you know.” If authors seriously did that there’d be no Harry Potter, Middle Earth, Star Trek, or Hunger Games. The best advice I’ve heard is to write every day – and work straight through. Don’t go back and revise a single chapter until your manuscript is completely finished. Chances are, when it’s done, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Okay, THEN you go back and punch up your work like crazy – really ratchet up the action and human drama, make your characters even more lovable or despicable.
About the Authors
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are: The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston. The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here! The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.
Short-listed twice for The Best American Mystery Stories, Terrie Farley Moran is delighted to introduce mystery fans to the Read ’Em and Eat café and bookstore, which debuted with Well Read, Then Dead. followed by Caught Read-Handed and Read to Death released in July of this year. The only thing Terrie enjoys more than wrangling mystery plots into submission is playing games and reading stories with any or all of her grandchildren.
Another Washington Whodunit from Colleen Shogan, author of the wonderful Calamity at the Continental Club!
It’s the height of campaign season, and instead of relishing newlywed bliss with her husband Doug Hollingsworth, Capitol Hill staffer Kit Marshall is busy with a tough reelection fight for her boss, member of Congress Maeve Dixon. Before Maeve and her staff–Kit included–leave Washington, D.C. to campaign full time in North Carolina, they have one last fundraising engagement.
On the iconic rooftop of a restaurant overlooking the Capitol and the Washington monument, Kit and her best pal Meg do their best to woo wealthy lobbyists for sizable campaign donations. Everyone’s enjoying the evening soiree… until a powerful K Street tycoon mysteriously tumbles off the rooftop.
Even with claims the fall must be suicide, Detective Maggie Glass and Kit aren’t so easily convinced foul play isn’t at work. While balancing Doug’s mid-life career crisis, Kit must spring into action to discover who killed the notorious Van Parker before Dixon’s candidacy sputters, even if it means investigating Meg’s handsome new beau, the victim’s conniving widow, and a bicycle advocate hell-bent on settling a long-standing grudge. When threatening note is left on Kit’s car, warning her to back off the investigation, she knows she’s closing in on the true story of what happened. Enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card!
About the Author
Colleen Shogan has been reading mysteries since the age of six. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American politics at Yale, George Mason, Georgetown, and Penn. She previously worked in the United States Senate and for the Congressional Research Service. She’s currently a senior executive at the Library of Congress, working on great outreach initiatives such as the National Book Festival. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Rob Raffety and their beagle mutt, Conan.
When a wealthy theater owner is killed by a falling art glass chandelier, glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell’s boyfriend, Detective Zachary Grant, quickly determines it was no accident.
Jax and her friend Tessa try to carry on with a charity fashion gala at the theater, but with only a few days before the big event, they have to scramble to keep things from falling apart. The emcee quits, and to make matters worse, Tessa’s daughters are suspects in the murder.
As the chaos unfolds, Jax discovers new suspects at every turn, including an edgy glass blower, an agoraphobic socialite, and a hunky former-cop-turned-actor. Can Jax piece together the clues to find the killer and uncover the dark secrets behind the victim’s family or will it be curtains for her? Enter to win a set of the Glass Bead Mystery Series by Janice Peacock (Paperback) (U.S. Only)
About The Author Janice Peacock decided to write her first mystery novel after working in a glass studio full of colorful artists who didn’t always get along. They reminded her of the odd, and often humorous, characters in the murder mystery books she loved to read. Inspired by that experience, she combined her two passions and wrote High Strung: A Glass Bead Mystery, the first book in a new cozy mystery series featuring glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell.
When Janice Peacock isn’t writing about glass artists who are amateur detectives, she makes glass beads using a torch, designs one-of-a-kind jewelry and makes sculptures using hot glass. An award-winning artist, her work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of several museums. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two cats, and seven chickens. She has a studio full of beads…lots and lots of beads.
Managing a fitness club café and collaborating on a cookbook with her grandfather are Val Deniston’s usual specialties, but she’s about to set sail into nearby Chesapeake Bay—straight into a murder case . . .
Since catering themed events is a good way to make extra cash, Val agrees to board the Titanic—or at least cater a re-creation of the doomed journey on a yacht. The owner of the yacht, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants Val to serve the last meal the Titanic passengers ate . . . while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But it is the final feast for one passenger who disappears from the ship. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Now Val has to reel in a killer before s’more murders go down . . .
Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes! Enter to win a print copy (U.S. only)
About the Author
Maya Corrigan blends her love of food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in a fictional historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first book in the series, By Cook or by Crook, was published in 2014. It was followed by Scam Chowder in 2015, Final Fondue in 2016, and The Tell-Tale Tarte in 2017.
Before taking up a life of crime (on the page), she taught university courses in writing, detective fiction, American literature, and drama. She won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mainstream Mystery / Suspense. Her short stories, written under the name of Mary Ann Corrigan, have been published in anthologies.
When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Her websitefeatures trivia about food and mysteries.
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.
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