Author Life, Summer Style

/in , , /by

Author Life

By Lois Winston

I would have titled this blog post “What I Did on My Summer Vacation,” but I didn’t take a summer vacation. Hence, “Author Life, Summer Style.” Because, let’s face it, authors never really go on vacation. We’re always working because we view everything in our lives as fodder for the next book. Wherever we go, we’re pondering how the setting or the people we meet along the way might make it into a future novel.

Being someone who much prefers autumn and spring over winter and summer, I spent much of the summer cossetted in my air-conditioned office, writing the next Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. In the evenings, thanks to the modern-day marvel of streaming, I finally had a chance to watch various TV shows I never got around to watching when they first came out.

Author Life: Mysteries day and night

During the day, I typed away. Aside from catching Jeopardy! every night, evenings were mostly filled with mysteries. Those I can recommend include The Law According to Lydia Poet, a 3-season biographical series about the first woman lawyer in Italy. Although this was an Italian production, AI has improved dubbing to the point that if you didn’t know the series was dubbed, you’d never realize it.

Another historical series I watched was the first three seasons of Grantchester, originally on PBS and now on Netflix. I’m hoping the remaining four seasons will eventually show up on Netflix now that the series has ended. All seasons are available on PBS Passport, but my husband will balk at paying for another streaming service!

Other series I watched were The Closer (on Netflix); the first season of Dept. Q (on Netflix), which has been greenlit for a second season; Mare of Easttown (on HBO Max); and Broadchurch (on Netflix).

Author Life: A slight detour from mysteries

I took a side trip into non-mystery drama with Olive Kitteridge (on HBO Max.) I’d read the book years ago. If you’re looking for a depressing drama, Olive Kitteridge is it. I’m not sure why I watched it. I knew going in it would be a real downer, but it was an outstanding production with an amazing performance by Frances McDormand. Definitely worth a few hours of depressive TV.

Balancing the downer of Olive Kitteridge, I watched Wicked for Good, which I’d seen in the theater when it first came out. (I won’t admit to how many times I’ve seen it on Broadway!)

Author Life: Stepping out of my writer’s cave

Other than spending my summer writing and binge-watching, I did leave my writer’s cave for three days last month to attend Killer Nashville. This was the 21st anniversary of the writers’ conference, and now that I’m living outside of Nashville, it’s held in my backyard. Well, not literally, but if August wasn’t so hot and humid in middle Tennessee, I could walk to the event.

In addition to catching up with old friends, making new ones, and meeting in person other writers I’ve known online for years, I was on four panels, listened to pitches from unpublished authors, took part in an ask-the-author round-robin, and gave a solo PowerPoint presentation on “Goal, Motivation, & Conflict: The Three Essential Building Blocks of Every Novel, Synopsis, Pitch & Back Cover Copy.”

Author Life: A 3-Pete!

The highlight of this year’s conference was what happened during the awards ceremony. For the third year in a row, I won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Comedy, this time for Seams Like the Perfect Crime. And the cherry on the top? The book was also named 2nd Runner-up for Best Book by an Attending Author!

All in all, not a bad summer.

What did you do this summer? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery or Empty Nest Mystery.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com. Sign up for her newsletter to receive an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery.

A Barn That Won’t Sag; A Story I Can’t Hear

/in , , , , /by
A Barn That Won’t Sag; A Story I Can’t Hear

Several years ago, I enrolled in a charcoal sketching class. I loved the simplicity of creating and bringing an image to life with shades of black and gray—seeing the face of a young girl staring back at me; a black-crowned night heron perched on a creek bank, waiting for a meal to swim by; a moored rowboat bobbing in the water.

Learning to project a 3-D image onto a 2-D sketch pad was challenging.

In time, I got the hang of using light and shadow to create a 3-D effect, but in detailed sketches, it didn’t always work for me. It was as if my brain were stuck in a 2-D world and refused to budge. The good thing about sketching with charcoal is that you can erase easily with a soft, kneaded eraser. So I would sketch, erase, sketch, erase, and hope something would happen.

I shared an atelier with my art teacher and several other artists.

After a couple of hours of sketching, we’d stop to evaluate each other’s work. But on occasion, I had the studio to myself, sometimes for an entire afternoon. I loved the solitude, but I often needed the other artists in the room to push me when I was stuck.

One day I tried unsuccessfully to draw the sagging roof of an old barn from a photo I’d taken. I’d sketched and erased so many times that I’d worn a hole in the paper. Something had gotten lost between my eyes and my hand. I placed a clean sheet on the easel and sketched the barn’s framework, but still couldn’t capture its sagging roof. Then I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I relied on my sense of sound, imagining the wind blowing through the rafters, rattling the loose shingles, and creaking the old hay loft door. I drew a few lines and imagined my hand pushing into the paper as if I were pushing the roof down.

The imaginary sounds grew more intense, and when I opened my eyes, the 3-D image I’d envisioned leaped off the paper, revealing a barn with a roof about to cave in.

That’s how it is with writing sometimes. I know what I want to write, but the words don’t always come. When they do, they feel flat and forced. I need them to jump off the page and become a 3-D image, or, in this case, a visual story. So I write, delete, write, delete. When nothing happens, I realize what I’m doing wrong. I’m not listening. I’m not letting my characters tell the story. Like hearing the old barn come alive in that quiet studio, I have to be quiet to hear my characters talking to me.

I have to remember that I’m writing their story, not mine.

I have to close my eyes, let go, and surrender to these imaginary people.

I have to trust that they will keep talking.

After fifteen published books, two on the way, and three more in the works, my main characters- Sydney Lockhart, Kate Caraway, PI Ted Kendrick, Inspector Wiggy, and Police Chief Toni Hejl- never let me down.

Kathleen Kaska writes three award-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series, the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series, and the Classic Triviography Mystery Series. She wrote The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book. She founded The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. Her blog post, “Growing Up Catholic in a Small Texas Town,” is on her website.

Her latest Sydney Lockhart mystery, Murder at the Faust, has just been released! It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at your local bookstore upon request.

Latest Release

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop

Kobo

Book Game of Scones in front of cathedral

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book – Game of Scones

/in , , , , , , /by

Book Game of Scones in front of cathedralI’m excited to join the Sisterhood of the Traveling Book tour and though Game of Scones has done some extensive traveling, the most recent trip was a little closer to home.  Last week, I attended a three-day CozyCon in St. Paul, Minnesota. This wasn’t a reader event but rather an author intensive and so most of the time was spent indoors. However, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and after hours there was a little time to explore.

I’ve been to the Twin Cities umpteen times but had never actually spent time in downtown St. Paul. It’s the capital of Minnesota and sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. The Mississippi isn’t as wide there as it is where it runs along the side of Iowa but it offers some high bluffs and great views.

The Cathedral of Saint Paul sits on Cathedral Hill and overlooks downtown. The cornerstone was laid in 1907 and the first mass was held in 1915. It’s the third largest Catholic cathedral and the sixth largest church in the United States. The only National Shrine dedicated to the Apostle Paul in North America, a stone relic from the tomb of Saint Paul was given to the cathedral in 2009.

We stayed at the beautiful and historic Saint Paul Hotel which was both beautiful and charming. And with its downtown location, there were so many fun restaurants within walking distance as well as a park nearby with whimsical sculptures of Charles Schultz characters.

Schroeder and Lucy sculpture

Charles Schultz was born in Minneapolis but grew up in St. Paul. I’ve included Schroeder and Lucy here but there were also statues of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Marcie and Woodstock, and Peppermint Patty.

The conference itself was amazing and as it focused on cozy mysteries there were lots of great discussions among the attending authors. So I have returned home with a ton of knowledge and an extensive list of books to add to my to-be-read pile. Though “pile’ may be underselling it a bit…

While St. Paul itself was amazing, my favorite part of the get-together was the people. And thankfully there were lots of breaks with opportunities to get to know each other and share our individual author journeys. It was good to get home and get back to finishing up the next book in the Sugar and Spice series, but it also felt like we could have kept going another three days.

Veggie SnackOne of my favorite snacks for one of our breaks was this little vegetable bouquet. It was in a small glass (probably a juice glass) with veggie dip in the bottom and a baby carrot, a pepper strip, and a broccoli floret. Isn’t it cute?

And I’m definitely stealing that idea for the next party I host. Who knows, maybe it will even end up in a book. Speaking of which…

I’m excited to share book five in the Sugar and Spice series with you, but in the meantime Game of Scones is currently free in all ebook formats so if you haven’t read it please check it out and then it can add to its travels.  And if you’ve already read it, please share the special offer with a friend! Here’s the link: GAME OF SCONES

 

photo of Mary Lee Ashford

Mary Lee Ashford is the author of Game of Scones, Risky Biscuits, Quiche of Death, and Night of the Living Bread from Oliver Heber Books. She is also half of the Sparkle Abbey writing team. Mary Lee is a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and a public library champion. Prior to publishing she won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is the founding president of Sisters in Crime -Iowa, a member of MWA, and Novelists, Inc. She lives in Iowa with her family and her feline coworker, Zoey.

She loves to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Or if you want to be sure you know about events, specials, and that next book, sign up for her newsletter.

Presidential Humor…

/in , , , , , , /by

This post is dedicated to the fearless leaders of our country who have wittily (or not) contributed memorable public statements to be celebrated on National Presidential Joke Day.

Yes, it’s a real thing that comes around every August 11 to commemorate attempts at humor coming from the mouths our Chief Executives, past and present.

Funny, Not Funny?

Although humor was invented millennia ago, the inciting incident for this celebration actually occurred in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was about to launch his regular weekly radio address to the nation. As he frequently did before the broadcast went live, he warmed up his voice with something humorous. Only this time, the feed was already live.

“My fellow Americans,” he intoned in his best Presidential voice, “I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.”

Scrambling to avoid the unleashing of a real-life War of the Worlds, news outlets removed the remark before their broadcasts aired, but it remained on the recording for posterity. It is said that Reagan’s poll numbers dipped for a time after word of his oopsie got out, but at least the Kremlin recognized a joke when they heard it.

George W. Bush was funny without even trying, as evidenced by the several books of humor written about his gaffes.

His speeches even gave birth to a new literary term, Bushisms, that refers to his frequently error–prone speech. Examples include “They misunderestimated me,” and the classic, “Is our children learning?” He was given a Lifetime Achievement award in 2008 for “services to gobbledygook”  by the Plain English Campaign.

Going back in time, we have Herbert Hoover, who once quipped, “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” Not sure I’d laugh at that one.

Jokesters in Chief

The best humor, seems to me, comes from presidents who know how to laugh with their audience. Abraham Lincoln was a true quipster. Once accused of being two-faced, Honest Abe is said to have replied, “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

Bob Dole, who wrote a book about Presidential humor (or lack thereof), cited the reason for losing his bid to be Vice President as this: “I didn’t show enough leg.”

In modern times, presidents leaned more and more on speechwriters to insert humor where needed.

At his last White House Correspondents’ dinner, the beleaguered Bill Clinton said he felt sorry for Republicans because they only had seven months left to drive him out of office.

“So little time, so many unanswered questions, he quipped. “For example, over the last few months, I’ve lost ten pounds. Where did they go? Why haven’t they presented them to the independent counsel? How did some of them wind up on… the host of Meet the Press?

If you tuned in to the video of the latest Correspondents Dinner, you might wonder if the current occupier of the White House employed writers at all, or if he was simply putting his own riff on the sterling prose they’d dutifully prepared for him. Based on the facial expressions and body language of his writing staff and other attendees, they  looked like they’d been stricken with food poisoning.

Some presidents just aren’t born jokesters. According to Bob Dole, while  Founding Father John Adams was known as lacking a sense of humor, he was “a sharp-eyes satirist.” But his son, John Quincy Adams was “often cranky and full of insults.”

Several writers have written about dealing with their employers’ public utterances. Liz Carpenter, who spent her White House years as Lady Bird’s secretary told this story about Lyndon Johnson. after his writers sent him what he considered too “highfalutin” because it contained several quotations by Aristotle. According to Carpenter, Johnson snorted, “Those folks don’t know who Aristotle is,” where upon he replaced the attribution with “as my dear old daddy used to say to me…”

I have a feeling there were some head-shakes and slapped foreheads in the Writers’ Room when the staff heard that one.

Which President do you think was the funniest?

 Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism. She later served as the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted as a New York Times “Notable.” Her Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and laced with touches of romance, heart, and humor.  Available on Amazon or to order through your favorite bookseller.

Photos are official White House images

 

Authors Never Graduate

/in , /by

Sparkle Abbey

Summer has ended, and the new school year is about to start.
But for authors, school is never out of session. In fact, authors never graduate.

 

Many authors are continuously in search of the next best craft book, workshop, or webinar. We certainly enjoy honing our craft. We especially enjoy lively discussions with fellow writers, people we respect and whose work we admire. We’re endlessly working to elevate our storytelling.

But it’s not just our craft where we need to expand our knowledge. It’s also learning and re-learning the ever-changing landscape of marketing, social media, discoverability, and how to keep readers coming back. It seems like we’re constantly testing what’s working in marketing and what’s not.

And then there’s AI.

AI has completely changed the landscape of writing, publishing, and marketing.

To use AI or not to use AI.

For those who choose to use AI, how will you use it? Editing, plotting, suggestions? Marketing strategies and tactics? How much time do you invest in a new tool that’s still evolving?

And for those who choose not to use AI, it’s already here, and we still need to stay up to date on what’s going on.

Then there are the AI ‘detector’ programs you may have heard of, such as GPTzero.me, Scribb, Text Defender. These highly ‘trained’ programs claim to detect how much of a submission was written by a human versus AI. It’s been in the news lately due to a two million dollar deal that was recently canceled over AI claims. That’s still being sorted out. But the bottom line is some tools are flawed, and some are downright wrong. So, more education.

Mystery author Donna Andrews decided to run her first book, Murder with Peacocks, through a couple of programs. We won’t spoil the results. You’ll have to check out her report to see how that turned out, but we will say…we weren’t shocked. Check out her Facebook post here.

Keeping yourself educated is never-ending when

it comes to marketing. What worked today won’t necessarily work tomorrow.

AI has transformed marketing and discoverability, too. Keywords and comparables, genre-morphing. Readers using AI shopping assistants to find book recommendations.

 

And just when we update all our book descriptions, reformat our “keywords,” and master the new “system” of discoverability, the new system is six months old, and we’re back to evaluating what’s working and what’s not.

Authors can never graduate. We’re lifelong learners, and so we’ll keep going “back to school” whether it’s learning more about the writing craft or what’s happening in the publishing industry.

But don’t worry! It’s all worth it as long as we get to continue to keep our readers entertained and moved by our storytelling.

 

sparkle and abbeySparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series.

They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on social media or contacted via their websites:

Sparkle Abbey: Facebook  Website

Mary Lee Ashford: Facebook  Instagram  Website

 

Paws, Whiskers, and Witnesses: Why Animals Are at the Heart of Cozy Mysteries

/in , /by

Today, we’re joined by cozy mystery author Jacqueline Vick, author of the Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries.

There’s a long tradition of animals playing important roles in mysteries—especially cozy mysteries—and readers never seem to get enough of them. Why is that?

Illustration Courtesy of Pixabay

Consider these beloved series:

  • Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who . . .mysteries
  • Marian Babson’s cat-centric mysteries
  • Spencer Quinn’s Chet & Bernieseries
  • Rita Mae Brown’s Sneaky Pie Brownbooks

Even Agatha Christie used Bob, a wired-haired fox terrier, in Silent Witness.

Each author uses animals differently. Braun’s cat, Koko, nudges reporter Jim Qwilleran toward the truth with subtle clues. Babson’s cats are often part of the mystery but remain on the sidelines. Quinn’s lovable dog Chet narrates the story, while Brown’s Sneaky Pie is a full-fledged detective.

Since the animals play such different roles, their popularity can’t simply be explained by what they do in the story.

I think the answer is much simpler.

Dogs, cats, birds, horses, and even the occasional turtle are there for us through good days and bad. They listen without interrupting. They never criticize our life choices. (Well, dogs don’t. Cats absolutely do.) They somehow know when we need comfort, and they often repay our affection with the kind of quirky behavior that makes us laugh out loud.

Illustration Courtesy of Pixabay

Most of all, they represent safety, loyalty, and home.

That sense of comfort is a perfect fit for cozy mysteries. Even while a murderer is lurking about, the presence of an animal reminds us that we’re visiting a gentler world—one filled with friendship, humor, and hope.

When I created the Frankie Chandler Mysteries, I decided to turn the usual mystery-animal formula upside down.

Instead of making the animals detectives, I made them witnesses.

Frankie Chandler, an animal behaviorist and reluctant pet psychic, receives clues from animals who have seen the crime. The catch? They don’t communicate in words. They share impressions, images, emotions, and memories filtered through an animal’s perspective.

Illustration Courtesy of Pixabay

As you can imagine, that can lead to a few misunderstandings.

In Barking Mad at Murder, Frankie spends much of the book baffled by a clue from a golden retriever. She only understands it after ending up flat on the floor and suddenly seeing the room from the dog’s point of view.

Every animal experiences the world differently, which means every mystery requires a different approach. That also means a lot of research.

So far, Frankie has worked with dogs, cats, a Fiji crested iguana, a chicken, a goat, a cockatoo, a pair of gerbils, and even a white tiger. In my latest book, Giddy Up for Murder, Frankie teams up with two very different animal witnesses: an American Bashkir Curly horse who saw the crime and a service dog who may hold the key to identifying the killer.

My readers seem to enjoy meeting a new animal in every book, and I love figuring out how each species would interpret the clues they observe.

So now I have a question for you:

If you could choose any animal to witness a murder, what would it be? I’m always looking for ideas for Frankie’s next case. (Seriously. Leave your pick in the comments.)

While you’re ruminating over your favorite furry or feathered friend, I’ll settle into my armchair and read about Lois Winston’s Catherine the Great, The Dog Formerly Known as Manifesto, and Ralph, the Shakespeare-Quoting Parrot—pets who are definitely in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries for comic relief.

Giddy Up for Murder

A Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mystery, Book 9

Pet psychic Frankie Chandler saddles up for murder in the 9th Frankie Chandler mystery. America’s 250th anniversary Revolutionary War reenactment was supposed to mean muskets, tricorn hats, and enough colonial drama to keep the locals busy for a weekend. Instead, the most unpopular man in Wolf Creek ends up dead in the middle of a historical battle, and the only witness is a horse with a vendetta against someone who couldn’t have committed the crime.

Buy Link

 

 

~*~

Jacqueline Vick writes The Frankie Chandler Mysteries about a woman who, after faking her psychic abilities for years, discovers animals can communicate with her. Visit her at www.jacquelinevickbooks.com.

Biscuits and book cover of Risky Biscuits book

Coffee Shops & Books plus a #giveaway for June

/in , /by

by Mary Lee Ashford

photo of interior of coffee shopI love coffee shops and so when one of my favorite local coffee shops asked if I’d do a pop-up book signing in the shop, how could I resist?

It was a busy Saturday morning. They made biscuits. I brought books.

Different waves of people came throughout the morning. Some people with their kids. Some with their pets. One guy carried a beyond adorable miniature dachshund in a sling, talking to it as he stood in line.

A lady with two young boys had her hands full as she waited to give her order. One of them leaned against her legs while the other twirled her long skirt like a maypole – wrapping himself up and then unfurling himself to scare his brother.  I had two boys and I’ve been there.

“Lady,” I thought to myself. “You’re going to need a really big coffee.”

The downtown Farmer’s Market was going on so some came with flowers and vegetables tucked in bags. People with their pets and produce. Families meeting up over coffee. Friends on a Saturday outing.  Biscuits and book cover of Risky Biscuits book

There was also a 5K going on (my husband was running that) and we weren’t far from the finish line so that brought another wave of people.

A lady stopped by to look at my books and we talked scone recipes and travels. A few readers of my series stopped by to ask when the next book will be out. Sign up for my newsletter, if you’d like to be notified when that happens.

Of course, I also had to have a Honey Bee Latte, which is my favorite from their coffee menu.

All in all, it was a wonderful time and a great kick off to June and summer events. Which speaking of…

Did we mention that The Stiletto Gang is doing a Summer Book Bonanza Giveaway?

Details are below:

Enter to Win the Summer Book Bonanza #Giveaway!

WHERE: sign up at https://www.thestilettogang.com/home-giveaway/

WHEN: June 1 – 30, 2026

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: July

 

Graphic of all books included in the giveaway.

Grand Prize Winner receives… 9 E-BOOKS

Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun by Lois Winston

The Second Shot by Bethany Maines

Murder in the One Percent by Saralyn Richard

The Body Business by Gay Yellen

Skeletons in the Attic by Judy Penz Sheluk

House of Rose by T.K. Thorne

Night of the Living Bread by Mary Lee Ashford

Deadly Recall by Donnell Ann Bell

With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying by Debra H. Goldstein

Two runners up will receive 3 e-books and may select from the list above.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book featured image

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book

/in , , , , , /by

Cozy Mystery One Taste Too Many on an ipad at a coffee shopToday’s travels bring us to…  Debra Goldstein!

Debra Goldstein is one of the Stiletto Gang’s steering committee and a dedicated writer with a slew of cozies under her belt. This month, book one of her Sarah Blair Mysteries visited a Tacoma, Washington coffee shop for some cozy reading and tea.  To check out this delightful recipe-filled mystery check out One Taste Too Many.

A Cozy Delight

One Taste Too Many

For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder!

Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty-eight, Sarah Blair reluctantly swaps her luxury lifestyle for a cramped studio apartment and a law firm receptionist job in the tired hometown she never left. With nothing much to show for the last decade but her feisty Siamese cat, RahRah, and some clumsy domestic skills, she’s the polar opposite of her bubbly twin, Emily—an ambitious chef determined to take her culinary ambitions to the top at a local gourmet restaurant . . .

Sarah knew starting over would be messy. But things fall apart completely when her ex drops dead, seemingly poisoned by Emily’s award-winning rhubarb crisp. Now, with RahRah wanted by the woman who broke up her marriage and Emily wanted by the police for murder, Sarah needs to figure out the right recipe to crack the case before time runs out. Unfortunately, for a gal whose idea of good china is floral paper plates, catching the real killer and living to tell about it could mean facing a fate worse than death—being in the kitchen!

Includes quick and easy recipes!

BUY NOW: https://amzn.to/3N5fGU0

 

Community, the Plot Twist We Really Need!

/in /by

by Sparkle Abbey

There’s something to be said about the welcoming world of a cozy mystery. While the sleuth is almost always someone we can root for and the stakes are high (murder anyone?), a cozy community can feel like home.

In cozy mysteries, the community is its own character. The sleuth is surrounded by friends, neighbors, and familiar faces who play a role in the unfolding story. The community is what moves the plot forward and develops relationships. It should pull in the reader and keep them invested. Not just in solving the mystery, but in the lives of the characters.

And perhaps that’s why cozy mysteries resonate so strongly with readers. They reflect something we all crave in our own lives: a sense of belonging.

Community can also raise the emotional stakes. When something goes wrong, and it always does, it doesn’t happen to strangers. It’s someone close to the sleuth, or at least in their circle. It’s the motivation to solve the puzzle.

In real life, community plays a similar role. It’s the network of people we rely on: friends, family, colleagues, neighbors. Those who care and support us.

A community gives us a place to share our pain, celebrate our victories, and navigate life’s challenges. It reminds us that we’re not alone.

At their core, cozy mysteries are more than just an engaging puzzle. They are a reflection of a world where people care about each other and look out for one another.

Or maybe, it’s the world we want to know.

And maybe that’s the real magic.

sparkle and abbey

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series.

They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on social media or contacted via their websites:

Sparkle Abbey: Facebook  Website

Mary Lee Ashford: Facebook  Instagram  Website

 

Going Home

/in , , , /by

By Leslie Wheeler

Three years after our parents died, my sister and I finally sold our childhood home. Giving up a place with so many happy memories was hard, but I believed we had to do it. Houses are meant to be lived in, and neither my sister, nor I, nor our children wanted to move in.

When I drove away, I didn’t know if I’d ever return. But I did in my dreams, shortly after I left. In those dreams, my parents were still alive and living in the house, though even in the dream world, I knew they were dead and shouldn’t be there. I realized that even more than my parents’ deaths, the sale of the house marked the end of my childhood and that made me sad.

Fast forward to the present day, and I revisited the house under happier circumstances when I used it in my mystery novel, Wildcat Academy. In the book, the main character, Kathryn Stinson, was born and raised in Southern California, as I was, but now lives in New England, as I do and have for many years. She returns to California to attend the funeral of a family member and stays at the house where her mother, who has remarried, now lives.

I went on the plane with Kathryn and shared her alarm when turbulence shook the plane, making it seem like “a paper airplane caught in a twister.” Fortunately, we landed safely at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), as I had so many times in the past on trips to visit my parents after I’d moved away. Like Kathryn, I was overwhelmed by the maze of interconnecting freeways that had to be navigated to arrive at our destination. But finally, we reached the house in Pasadena, “a rambling, mid-century ranch with shingles and lots of glass windows and doors” on a hill overlooking the Arroyo Seco and the Rose Bowl with the purple-tinged San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Kathryn and I sat in lounge chairs by the kidney-shaped swimming pool, catching the last rays of the sun. Later, we had dinner with her family on the patio, and went to bed soon afterward, because we were both tired from the trip. But we both woke up at the witching hour of three in the morning. And since neither of us could get back to sleep, we tiptoed down the long, dark hall from the bedroom area to the kitchen with a flashlight to guide us, like thieves in the night.

In the kitchen, we made ourselves mugs of hot milk laced with molasses. This was an old family remedy for sleeplessness, which I still resort to, though without the molasses. And there in the kitchen, to our surprise, Kathryn’s mother joined us and she and her mother had a long overdue heart-to-heart talk. It was the kind of talk I wished I’d had with my own mother but never did. Still, I was glad Kathryn and her mother were able to share their innermost thoughts and feelings.

Kathryn and I stayed at the house for two more days. Most of our time was spent preparing for the funeral, but we still managed to take a walk in the neighborhood up Linda Vista Avenue past the fire station, then the large white building with a red brick roof where I’d gone to elementary school, and finally the small flat-roofed structure that housed the Linda Vista Public Library, which I’d frequented when in school.

When it was time to leave, I felt a twinge of regret, but mostly I was glad for the opportunity to revisit my childhood home and the surrounding area. I lived every moment of the visit intensely as I was writing it, and even now as I’m reading this, I’m smiling.

Readers, have you gone ever back to your childhood home or some another place that was important to you in dreams or fiction? If so, what was it like?

Wildcat Academy

A Berkshire Hilltown Mystery, Book 4

When Boston library curator Kathryn Stinson visits the Berkshires with her mother and other family, she doesn’t expect trouble. But that’s what happens when her stepsister’s teenage son, a student at a private academy, is found dead beneath a zipline—a device he feared. As suspicions swirl around his death, Kathryn is drawn into a tense search for the truth. Was it a tragic accident, or something more sinister? With resistance from the academy and locals alike, she must navigate family dynamics and hidden tensions to uncover secrets that some will do anything to protect.

Buy Links

Kindle

Paperback

Books2Read

An award-winning author of books about American history and biographies, Leslie Wheeler has written two mystery series, the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries and the Miranda Lewis series. Her mystery short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Best New England Crime Stories series, published by Crime Spell Books, where she is a co-editor/publisher. Leslie is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, serving as Speakers Bureau Coordinator for the New England Chapter of SinC. She divides her time between Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Berkshires, where she writes in a house overlooking a pond.

© Copyright - The Stiletto Gang