Tag: Professor Molly

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The Musubi Murder #SampleSunday

The Musubi Murder

When local big-shot Jimmy Tanaka, “The Most Hated Man in Hawaii,”  pledges a huge donation to the College of Commerce, Professor Molly thinks her employer’s troubles are over. But then Tanaka disappears, and Molly’s bottom-line-obsessed dean tasks her with locating the missing mogul. As Molly explores ancient grudges and uncovers old scandals, she starts to fall for Tanaka’s competitor, the too-good-to-be-true Donnie Gonsalves. Donnie seems to like her for all the wrong reasons–and has a few secrets of his own.

Excerpt

The Student Retention Office had  come in to refurbish the classroom, but they didn’t repaint it or replace the rotted ceiling tiles or fix the broken blinds. What they did was transform the classroom into a “learning center” by removing all of the desks and installing round tables in their place. The idea was that there should be no single focal point in the room from which a professor could lecture. We were no longer to play the role of “Sage on the Stage,” but instead we were to be “Guides on the Side,” moving around the room to facilitate student discussion.

A few weeks after the Student Retention Office remodel was finished, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Engagement attended an ed-tech conference. Upon his return, we were directed to record our class sessions and post them online, so that students could watch them at their leisure. The problem was that we were “guides on the side” now, and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Engagement didn’t want to post hour-long videos of students sitting in circles talking. So we all had to go back to being “sages on the stage,” lecturing to the video camera, but this time we were cautioned to act as “facilitators of experience” rather than “providers of knowledge.”

We’re still stuck with the immovable round tables.

 

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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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One Blessed Event, two Giveaways: The newest Professor Molly mystery is here!

>>>Enter to win a paper copy of The Blessed Event on Goodreads<<<

But wait, there’s more…
>>>Enter to win a copy of any Professor Molly mystery in your choice of format<<<

The Professor Molly mysteries
Left to right: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct, The Musubi Murder, The Cursed Canoe, The Black Thumb, The Invasive Species, The Blessed Event.

 

The Blessed Event, a Professor Molly Mystery

You may wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, he was now my stepson.

Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawaii, working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband’s relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she’s married into–and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.
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The Blessed Event was nominated by readers and selected by Amazon’s editorial team via Kindle Scout, Amazon’s reader-powered publishing platform.

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