Eight Things I Didn’t Realize About Starting a Second Series

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Welcome guest blogger James M. Jackson! Jim is a terrific author, editor, publisher, teacher, and friend. Congratulations on your new series. May it rival Seamus McCree’s success! Best wishes, Paula Gail Benson 

By James M. Jackson

James M. Jackson

Tomorrow marks a milestone I’ve been working toward for months: the official publication of Niki Undercover, the first book in my new “Niki Undercover Thrillers” series.

After publishing eight novels and two novellas in my Seamus McCree series, I thought launching a second series would be straightforward. Back in May, the timeline seemed generous—Book 2 (Niki Unleashed) releases November 11, 2025, and Book 3 (Niki Unbound) follows in 2026. How hard could it be, given Book 1 just needed a final polish and Book 2 one more draft?

Turns out I should have consulted my fellow Stiletto Gang authors first. The non-writing work required to launch a new series caught me off guard. Here are eight lessons I learned the hard way.

  1. Your Brand Must Evolve (Whether You’re Ready or Not)

My tagline “Thrillers with a twist of financial crime” perfectly captured what made the Seamus McCree series unique. But Niki’s world doesn’t revolve around financial crime, which meant my carefully crafted brand had to go.

The visual brand needed an overhaul too. Seamus’s lighter colors and outdoor scenes reflected his good-guy nature and rural settings. Niki demanded something darker—she’s more domestic thriller territory.

After brainstorming with my newsletter readers, I landed on “Justice-driven thrillers with brains & bite.” The process was more emotionally challenging than I had expected. Letting go of a brand you’ve built over years feels like losing part of your author identity.

  1. Title Strategy Becomes a Chess Game

I’ve always called myself “the poor man’s Sue Grafton.” While she used the alphabet overtly (A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar), I took a subtler approach with Seamus: Ant Farm, Bad Policy, Cabin Fever. Readers loved the pattern.

For Niki, I wrestled with Niki Un________ as the framework. Should I continue with the alphabetical approach? It looks nice on a bookshelf by maintaining series order, but ultimately, I decided that constraint would box me in. Sometimes the best title strategy is the one that serves the story, not the shelf.

  1. Spinoff Series Are Continuity Nightmares

Here’s where things got complicated. My self-imposed rules created complications:

  • Stories occur in real-time and real places.
  • Characters age naturally.
  • Niki appears in several Seamus novels.
  • Shared characters cross between series.
  • The first two Niki novels happen before the most recent Seamus books.

This meant maintaining both internal consistency within the Niki series and external consistency with existing Seamus books. My ad hoc approach to creating a series bible meant I spent countless hours recreating character timelines and fact-checking details across both series.

The backstory challenge was equally tricky. Longtime readers know Niki well, but newcomers meet her fresh. I had to satisfy both audiences without confusing the new readers or boring the faithful fans.

  1. Established Characters Don’t Step Aside Gracefully

For over a decade, Seamus McCree has commanded center stage. Even in multi-POV novels, he dominated at least 75% of the narrative. But in Niki’s series, he’s supporting cast.

In early drafts, Seamus tried to steal every scene he entered. The man has presence; I’ll give him that. During rewrites, I had to establish new rules: no Seamus POV scenes, and he only appears when he can teach Niki something unique or raise stakes in ways only he can.

Learning to sideline your protagonist is harder than creating new characters from scratch.

  1. Beta Readers Need Fresh Eyes

For Seamus books, I recruited beta readers from my newsletter subscribers, mixing series veterans with newcomers. But since attracting new readers is a primary goal for Niki’s series, I needed predominantly fresh perspectives.

I partnered with Pigeonhole, paying them to provide an early draft of Niki Undercover to fifty readers who’d never encountered my work. Pigeonhole serialized the novel into ten daily segments, allowing real-time feedback and reader discussions.

I found the process very useful. Early feedback revealed that my opening scenes presented Niki as too harsh. While she can be tough, that’s only one facet of her personality. I rewrote those crucial first chapters to show her full complexity.

Unfortunately, Pigeonhole closed before Niki Unleashed. Fortunately, I could use newsletter subscribers who hadn’t read the first book to test whether the sequel stood alone.

  1. Your Website Architecture Crumbles

Adding another series to a Seamus-centric website wasn’t just about updating a book list. The entire user experience needed redesigning.

Potential readers interested in Niki needed different entry points, navigation paths, and information than Seamus fans. Reading order becomes crucial. Character introductions require separate approaches.

Since I hadn’t thoroughly updated the site in years, I simultaneously tackled modern web protocols. After countless hours, I’m finally approaching the finish line on the complete redesign.

  1. Cross-Promotion Is a Full-Time Job

Most readers never visit author websites. They discover new books through “Also By” pages in the books they’re already reading. For each new Seamus book, updating these pages was simple—add the new title to the end of the list.

Adding a second series required reformatting these pages. With eight novels, two novellas, four boxed sets, and multiple retailers, I’d forgotten how time-consuming it is to update and upload each version to the correct platform.

Each format (paperback, eBook, audiobook) needs updating across multiple retailers. Multiply that by ten books, and you’re looking at more than 100 uploads.

  1. Your Author Bio Lives Everywhere (And I Mean Everywhere)

I made the rookie mistake of not maintaining a master list of where my bio appears. Forgetting to update a few bios for a new Seamus book was annoying but survivable—at least people knew about the series.

But failing to mention the Niki series anywhere would be catastrophic.

Every book’s back matter needed updating. Each retail site has different word count requirements, necessitating multiple versions. My website, social media profiles, guest blog bios, and writing organization profiles all needed refreshing.

The scope was massive. Author bios lurk in more places than you realize until you’re frantically trying to update them all.

The Reality of Modern Publishing

In a mythical world, exceptional writing would be enough to attract readers. Quality would speak for itself, and much of these eight tasks would be unnecessary busywork.

In the real world, marketing isn’t optional. Every step I’ve outlined—and many more—is crucial for a series launch to succeed.

As Niki Undercover officially releases tomorrow, I’m both exhausted from the preparation and excited for readers to meet this complex, driven character I’ve grown to love.

Wish Niki and me luck.

Short Biography:

After earning earning a B.S. in Mathematics with minors in Education and Psychology, Jim worked for thirty years as a consulting actuary and earned an MBA from Boston University. He retired early to pursue fulltime writing. Among his work is a nonfiction book on bridge for intermediate players, One Trick at a Time: How to start winning at bridge; the Seamus McCree series that to date consists of eight novels (Ant Farm, Bad Policy, Cabin Fever, Doubtful Relations, Empty Promises, False Bottom, Granite Oath, and Hijacked Legacy), two novellas—Furthermore and Low Tide at Tybee—and several short stories; and the Niki Undercover Thrillers, an offspring from the Seamus McCree novels. Characters in both series age in real time and the two series share some characters. The first two novels of the Niki Undercover Thrillers—Niki Undercover and Niki Unleashed—take place before Granite Oath, and the last, Niki Unbound, occurs after Hijacked Legacy. Jim blogs with WRITERS WHO KILL and his website is Home Page of Author James M Jackson.

Guest Author M.E. Proctor Bops into Historical Fiction Waters

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Bopping in Historical Waters

By M.E. Proctor

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archeologist. I had romantic notions about digging in the Valley of the Kings, excavating the ruins of Troy, or following Percy Fawcett in his search for the lost city of Z—David Grann’s book had not been published yet or I would have known that was a no-no … the critters … yikes.

Adventure books contributed to my vocabulary (quirky), grasp of world geography (off the beaten track), and crossword cracking (obscure). They also developed a long-lasting interest in history. To this day, these are the bookshop shelves I go to first. Logically, I should write historical fiction instead of contemporary crime.

I know why I don’t. The problem is twofold.

First, I’m an impatient obsessive. It’s not as contradictory as it sounds. A few months ago, I wrote a piece for an anthology. The story takes place in 1640 C.E. in Ireland. I spent two months hopping from one rabbit hole to the next, gathering documentation, deeper and deeper. All for what ended up being a 6,000 words story. That’s the obsessive in me. Imagine what would happen if I decided to write a book. My impatient self shivers at the thought. Forty months of research? Before writing the first line? The historical fiction writers reading this will probably say that it isn’t that bad, that once the material is assembled the sailing is smooth, or that I need to be more focused, more organized in the search.

That’s where my second problem kicks in. I’m curious. If something smells good in that rabbit hole, I’ll go for it. What happened in that place a hundred years before, or a hundred years later? What about this character? I don’t picture historical research as an academic pursuit. To me, it’s the most tempting of candy stores, a place of delights where I want to pitch my tent and stay. I might never put a line on paper.

And that’s why I will never write a historical fiction book.

Yet, Bop City Swing is out in the world.

I was tricked.

Russel Thayer contacted me last year and suggested we write a short story in collaboration. We had both published pieces set in California in the 1940s and 50s, classic crime, inspired by the ‘noir’ movies we both love. His recurrent character is gun-for-hire Vivian, nicknamed Gunselle, and I had stories with SFPD homicide detective, Tom Keegan. Let’s bring them together. We didn’t think it would turn into a book.

I didn’t consider 1951 ‘historical fiction’. It isn’t a hundred years old—the marker for antiques—and women’s skirts didn’t sweep the floor, a visual cue that says ‘costume drama’.

Russell and I talked about plot and locations, decided to build the story around a political assassination, didn’t know what would happen next, and started writing.

The need for research became obvious right away. We needed an election year in San Francisco. That set the date, 1951, when incumbent mayor Robinson ran for a second term. We also needed a realistic scene for the crime and chose the Palace Hotel, still standing downtown. A stroke of luck delivered period-accurate floor plans. We didn’t know it yet, but these plans would be critical for the plot. We also gathered city maps and photographs.

Compared to my excursion to the 17th century, none of the work done for Bop City Swing was time-consuming, and the rabbit holes were few. Because we let the plot and the characters dictate the story. When we bumped into an anachronism or a historical impossibility, we adjusted the narrative. Minor modifications: change of address, different music selection. Ironically, the trickier part was shedding some of the language flotsam movies left behind. In the final draft, period slang and hardboiled expressions that leaned too much into Chandlerian back alleys were cut. They’re period-correct, but 2025 readers might blink.

Bop City Swing is neither an homage nor a pastiche, its ambition is just to be a damn good crime story. Historical? Maybe.

Bop City Swing

San Francisco. 1951.

Jazz is alive. On radios and turntables. In the electrifying Fillmore clubs, where hepcats bring their bebop brilliance to attentive audiences. In the posh downtown venues where big bands swing in the marble ballrooms of luxury hotels.

There the story begins, with the assassination of a campaigning politician during a fundraiser.

Homicide detective, Tom Keegan, is first on the scene. He’s eager, impatient, hot on the heels of the gunman. Gunselle, killer for hire, flew the coop, swept away in the rush of panicked guests. They both want to crack the case. Tom, because he’s never seen a puzzle he didn’t want to solve, no matter what the rules say. Gunselle, because she was hired to take out the candidate and somebody beat her to it. It was a big paycheck. It hurts. In her professional pride and wallet.

Buy links

M.E. Proctor was born in Brussels and lives in Texas. The first book in her Declan Shaw PI series, Love You Till Tuesday, came out from Shotgun Honey, with the follow up, Catch Me on a Blue Day, scheduled for 2025. She’s the author of a short story collection, Family and Other Ailments, and the co-author of a retro-noir novella, Bop City Swing. Her fiction has appeared in Vautrin, Tough, Rock and a Hard Place, Bristol Noir, Mystery Tribune, Shotgun Honey, Reckon Review, and Black Cat Weekly among others. She’s a Derringer nominee.

Website: www.shawmystery.com

Substack: https://meproctor.substack.com

 

 

Russell Thayer’s work has appeared in Tough, Roi Fainéant Press, Mystery Tribune, Close to the Bone, Bristol Noir, Cowboy Jamboree Press, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place Press, Revolution John, Punk Noir Magazine, Expat Press, The Yard Crime Blog, and Outcast Press. He received his BA in English from the University of Washington, worked for decades at large printing companies, and lives in Missoula, Montana.

The Secret to Her Success

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I’m delighted to welcome a remarkably prolific author to the Gang as our guest today. Pamela Fagan Hutchins and I met early in our writing careers. Since then, she has published upwards of 30 books, mostly novels (award-winning romantic mysteries, a couple of children’s books, and some non-fiction, too). Lately, she’s been turning out some modern tales of Western adventure.

The secret to her success? To my mind, it’s that she spins new tales faster than a bullet train, and that her stories engage readers with heart and humor.

Here is her latest OMG work schedule, in her own words:

I’m lucky that I write fast, type fast, and no longer have kids at home or a job outside of writing. I also believe that writing is something you can get more efficient at over time.

After thirty-two novels and seven nonfiction books, I’ve had a lot of practice!

But I am firm about sticking to set writing hours and setting word and page count goals to keep me focused. I eliminate most distractions, and I reward myself frequently… lots of snacks!

Way back in 2020, my agent challenged me to write Big Horn, the Jenn Herrington Wyoming mystery that ultimately won me a publishing contract with Hachette UK’s Bookouture. But my editor wanted me to change it substantially or write a different book. I was happy with Big Horn just how it was. I opted to publish it myself and write a Detective Delaney Pace novel for Bookouture.

Two things happened. First, Big Horn slayed and kept slaying for two solid years. Meanwhile had to write three Delaney Pace books and one Patrick Flint family adventure mystery during the year after Big Horn came out. And move to Denmark for my husband’s work. Then Bakersfield. Then France. Have two foot surgeries. Welcome my first two grandkids.

Ya know—life stuff.

Despite Big Horn having had the best release of any book I’d ever written—better than Delaney Pace did, originally, although it’s picked up a lot of steam!—I did not get the follow-up book out for 18 months. In indie publishing terms, that’s a century. And I had a heck of a time pulling myself out of Delaney’s and Patrick’s worlds and back into Jenn’s.

But I’d already outlined five follow-up books while I was writing Big Horn. So, the book I rolled out next was Walker Prairie. It had the planned plots and subplots and the same gritty-but-kinda-cozy feel which some people love.

Between the time I outlined Walker Prairie (2021) and when I wrote it (2024), I acquired two Alaskan Malamute sled dogs, Willett and Sibley! They seemed like the perfect lighthearted addition to Jenn and Aaron’s world, so I wrote them in, and just like in real life, they proceeded to WOO and HOWL and JUMP AROUND until they’d pretty much hijacked the book. The plot remained the same, but the adventure elements surrounding the climactic scenes changed to feature two beautiful, often-naughty, and occasionally terrifying FLOOFS (my term for fluffy goofs.)

So, whether you pick up Walker Prairie because you’re dying to read about or continue with Jenn, her veterinarian husband Aaron, her legal associate Kid James, and Jeremiah Johnson (the loveable skunk), or because you love gritty-cozy romantic legal thrillers, or Wyoming mysteries, or just love books with FLOOFS, I am delighted that the wait is over and Walker Prairie is finally here.

And I love the book! You can get your copy here:

USA Today bestselling author of the Detective Delaney Pace series / Host of Crime & Wine / Silver Falchion Best Mystery Winner

Published by Bookouture/Hachette UK and SkipJack Publishing

Thanks for stopping by, Pamela!

Gay Yellen’s writing career began in magazine journalism. She served as the co-writer/editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), a New York Times “New & Notable.” The success of that book led to her first romantic mystery, The Body Business, Book 1 of the Samantha Newman Mystery Series. The Body Next Door soon followed, and The Body in the News in 2023. The series has won multiple awards, including a Readers’ Favorite Mystery / Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem 1st Place / InD’Tale Crowned Heart for Excellence / Silver Falchion Finalist/ and an American Legacy Best Cozy Award. https//:GayYellen.com

Donnell Ann Bell

What I Learned When My House Burned Down

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I had a post all ready for this month’s blog. Then I opened my friend’s newsletter. After I read something that I consider much more poignant and timely, I asked if I could share. Please welcome Barbara Nickless to The Stiletto Gang. ~ Donnell

Author Barbara Nickless

Friends have called to ask if I’ve been triggered by the fires in Los Angeles. In short, yes. It’s an unsettling fact that more people than ever live in fire-prone areas known as wildland urban interfaces. With L.A. on everyone’s mind, I want to share what I learned when my home of twenty-two years burned down in a wildfire.

When I lost my home in Colorado’s Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012, I went—in the space of hours—from being a middle-class, tax-paying suburbanite to one of the shell-shocked homeless. Overnight, I found myself needy, helpless and so bone-deep tired I suspected a solid year of sleep wouldn’t fix it. Like anyone grieving or in pain or simply raw from the public weight of it all, what I wanted was the one impossible thing: to go home.

I passed through the classic stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Some stages, like anger, were brief. Others lingered for years, depression and bargaining looping back in unwelcome refrains. Denial reappeared, too, a kid poking her tongue in the place where there used to be a tooth, surprised by the emptiness.

But tragedy’s sharp-edged gift is that it brings unexpected growth. Pain reshapes us, expanding our capacity for understanding and wisdom. Here are a few things I’ve learned—and am still learning—about loss.

  1. Losing your home isn’t about karma or offending God or not packing well or living in the wrong place. It’s just life, and life is capricious.
  2. Do your best to eat regularly. Exercise. Go to bed at a reasonable time. As soon as you can, resume your regular pleasures—TV shows, books, coffee with friends, NPR on the radio. If you don’t yet have a TV or books or a radio, go to a friend’s house.
  3. When you start to run down that mental list of everything you lost, stop.
  4. Take comfort in knowing you may go the rest of your life without having to purge your closets. In a land where public storage is a multi-billion-dollar business, this is no small thing.
  5. When a friend complains about his junk drawer, smile and ask, “What’s a junk drawer?”
  6. Aunt Matilda’s bean pot. You hated it. Now it’s gone. And you don’t even have to lie about it.
  7. You have more friends than you realize. The ones who show up at the door of your hotel/rental/friend’s house/car (God bless you) with hiking boots or plates or a set of towels might not be the ones you expected. Tell them you love them.
  8. In fact, tell all your friends you love them. Life is capricious (see above). Don’t wait.
  9. You cared more about those stupid love letters and track ribbons and dorky high school pictures of yourself in big hair and platform shoes than you realized. That says wonderful things about your capacity for humor and self-love.
  10. Your mother will forgive you for losing her mother’s pearls. Your father will forgive you for losing his WWII pilot’s jacket.
  11. A home—not a house—is about emotional resiliency. Put your energy there. Have dinner with your family as often as you can. Kiss your loved ones morning and night. Listen to your kids when they want to talk. And if you are lucky enough to still have a mother, return her phone calls.
  12. It’s okay that you’re not okay. One day you’ll catch yourself laughing, and you’ll realize you’ve made it through the worst.

My heart goes out to everyone who lost their homes in L.A. If you want to take action, here’s how you can help:

  • Give to World Central Kitchen, which is providing meals to communities in Southern California.
  • From the Red Cross: “Help people affected by wildfires in California in 2025 by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word CAWILDFIRES to 90999 to make a donation.”

About Barbara’s latest release: 

The Drowning Game has been named Best Book of 2024 by WRBH Reading Radio. “Although a difficult decision with so many good books, the winner of the 2024 WRBH Writers’ Forum Book of the Year Award is Barbara Nickless for The Drowning Game.” A huge thank you to the Writers’ Forum on WRBH!

“Ms. Nickless continues to be one of our best action/mystery writers. Her deep dives into her subject matter and smooth narratives always guarantee a great experience. Following Nadia down the twists and turns of international industrial espionage and spy craft is a thrilling ride, made more enjoyable by the interior monologues and richly drawn characters. More, please.”

–Amazon Reviewer

photo of author Winter Austin

Special Guest: Winter Austin

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by Sparkle Abbey

Today we welcome our friend and fellow Iowa author, Winter Austin! We have some questions for her but before we get started with those, Winter, please share with our readers a little bit about yourself. 

photo of author Winter Austin

I wear many hats; Author, Veteran’s Wife, NG-Army Mom, Awesomest Aunt Ever, Goat & Cattle Wrangler, Fluffy Velociraptor Herder, Dog Mom, and All-Around Butt-Kicker. I’m a long-time resident of the Midwest, mostly living in Iowa, with a decidedly strong lilt to Southern. I’m a self-taught sous chef and darn good customer service representative with a tight hold on my need to be sarcastic or blunt—it’s a struggle, let me tell you. My husband and myself both grew up farm kids, but the military consumed most of our married lives. We had four kids who are all in their twenties now and doing us proud. We’re now settled into the empty nester lifestyle, but I’m trying to drag my husband back into the farming life.

Thanks, Winter. And now to our questions…

What started you on your writing journey? Have you always wanted to write? 

I’ve known from an early age I wanted to be an author. The book and author that cemented it was The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. When I read Farley’s bio and learned he was published in his early twenties, I wanted to do that. I couldn’t get published during my twenties, but my thirties saw it come to fruition. I wrote all the time, nonsense stories, a full western by hand in pencil, and a lot of fan fiction. I leaned toward mystery and suspense in my stories. After the birth of my twins, I got serious about being published. Spent many years learning the craft, how to create plot and conflict, and eventually had to learn how to balance suspense with romance—something I was never very strong at writing but managed to pull off. It’s been nearly 12 years since my very first book was published, and now I’m crafting some long desired storylines.

What types of books do you write? And why did you choose that genre or sub-genre? 

I’m writing in the mystery/suspense genres in the sub-genres of police procedurals/crime fiction.

These genres have been my schtick for decades, going back to my first story that landed me a coveted spot to go a young writer’s conference in fourth grade—a mystery. I do think I can blame my parents for always having some crime/cop/mystery show on while I was growing up that fed into my wild imagination and stories.

What’s your favorite part of writing? 

Creating the characters. I love making people so opposite of myself. I do find I layer in my favorite personalities and characteristics of some of my closest friends and family members into secondary characters in my books, but I always make my female leads women I sometimes wish I could be.

And what’s your least favorite part? 

The actual writing, especially on days when I just don’t want to write. I love writing, I love the whole process, but when the words and the ideas just refuse to come, it makes me wonder why I ever thought this was a good idea.

How much planning do you do before you start a book? 

My process would drive the majority of writers and authors crazy. They claim there are no true pantsers, but I beg to differ, I’m the shining star of a true pantser. I start with the germ of an idea, but it’s so riddled with holes, I don’t know if it’ll ever work. In the last 6 books I’ve written, I have had no clue who the actual antagonist is and what their motivations for committing their despicable acts. Then comes the agony of getting the opening scene down, the inciting incident to propel the story forward. After that, it’s a free-for-all, no kidding.

Where do your very best ideas come from? 

The shower or driving. No kidding. The very places I can’t use a computer to get the scenes and dialogues down, but where the best ideas come. Sometimes I’ll take a break from whatever I’m in the middle of and catch a nap. There have been times where I’ve come awake and realized how things tie in, or why something in a scene I just wrote gave me the final piece of the puzzle I’ve been scratching my head to figure out.

But the plot ideas tend to come from real life events. I just have to find a way to put my own spin on them.

What part of writing is the most difficult for you? Characters? Conflict? Emotion? Something else…? 

Action scenes. No kidding. I always have to rewrite those scenes 3 to 4 times before I get them just right. The actions of the characters and the reactions to situations have to make sense and have to work right. I don’t think I’ve written a novel yet without a fight scene or a gun battle of some kind. If I shoot or injure my main characters, I must make sure it’s not something that in real life would actually be fatal, and that’s hard. You can only get away with shooting your MC in the fleshy part of their leg before it gets old.

What’s next for you? Tell us about your next book and when it will be out. 

I’m finishing up the first and roughest draft for the first book in my newest suspense series. My publisher and I finalized a title and series title recently and The Stiletto Gang readers get the honor of being the first to know. The series will be called A Bounty of Shadows. Book 1 is Ride a Dark Trail. I get to play around in a modern take on an Old West style of story with my ever-present strong female lead. This book is set to release August of 2025 and I can’t wait. Neither can my editor. When I pitched her the idea of a female bounty hunter she jumped all over it. It took us a bit before we nailed down a story idea that my publisher Tule liked and here we are. Beta readers are already singing praises and they’re getting the worst draft ever on it.

That sounds awesome! Can’t wait to read it.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story with us and the Stiletto Gang readers. 

book cover for A Requiem for the Dead

Here’s Winter’s most recent release A Requiem for the Dead, a Benoit and Dayne Mystery. 

And readers if you want to know more about Winter and her books, please visit her website: Author Winter Austin

You can also find her on social media in these spots:

Facebook

Instagram

BookBub

Goodreads

Author photo of Barbara Barrett

Special Guest – Barbara Barrett

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by Sparkle Abbey

Today we welcome long-time friend and fellow mystery author, Barbara Barrett to the blog. She is chatting about her latest release, Murder on the Court, which is the second book in her Unscripted Detective series. But first she shares a bit about the television series Parenthood and why she found it to be a great study in character development.  Take it away, Barbara…

Author photo of Barbara BarrettComments on Parenthood

I watch a lot of television. Even while I’m writing. Bad habit I developed as a teen doing homework. I don’t apologize. I learn a lot from the medium. Recently, I binged Parenthood, which originally aired from 2010-2015. I’m hooked on the Braverman family: the Baby Boomer parents, their four kids and significant others and their offspring. They spoke their minds, sometimes on top of each other; they meddled in each other’s lives; and their love for each other got them through the worst life had to offer.

Fortunately, I was by myself when I watched the finale in the sixth season. It tore me up.

Each character was well-defined and different from the others. Some were likeable. A couple (the father and one of the daughters) I wanted to shake some sense into when they inserted their opinions into the others’ lives. One experienced breast cancer, and her story took me back twenty-two years to my own experience, especially the part about losing her hair.

I’ve been justifying the time spent with this family by telling myself it was an incredible study in character development, which a writer can always use

What have I learned that I can share with you?

  1. Even the characters I considered most likeable had their down days, their weak points.

This is probably the most powerful lesson learned because it challenges the reader to revise the opinion they’ve already formed about a character. It can be jolting, because we all like our heroes. We don’t like to see them do or say anything negative, but these are the actions and qualities that make them human. And that is the bottom line in character development.

  1. Conflict occurs when a character assumes.

Some characters didn’t even realize they were stepping out of bounds when they assumed they knew best what another character should do. Assumptions were further ramped up when the character doesn’t even realize they were interfering. For the writer, though, situations like this are ripe for exploiting human problems dealing with each other.

  1. Conflict occurs when a character acts unilaterally.

Sometimes a character not only assumed they knew best, they acted on that opinion without asking permission or checking with those affected. In these instances, as the reader we know trouble is on the horizon. These situations raise the suspense as we wait for the next shoe to fall.

  1. Even the less likeable characters had their good points, and when those emerged, the story became all the more compelling.

Just as I was ready to write off a character that didn’t appeal to me, they did something nice, something I didn’t expect. That surprise forced me to reevaluate how I felt about that character. Readers like to pigeonhole characters because that helps understand those characters, and positive actions we weren’t expecting for us to reconsider those pigeonholes.

  1. The most everyday, innocuous event or condition generates different responses.

The husband came home from work early because he wanted to surprise his wife recovering from breast cancer with a gift. But all he succeeded in doing was to throw her off her routine, catching her in her most vulnerable moment when she thought she was alone. So she took offense at the gift and he didn’t understand. He came home early. She wasn’t ready to see him. And out of the best of intentions came conflict. And conflict builds interesting, memorable characters.

Great character insights! And here’s a little bit about Barbara’s background and an overview of Murder on the Court, Barbara’s latest book. 

Barbara Barrett writes the Unscripted Detective Mystery series. Murder on the Court, which is out now, is the second book in the series. She has previously written the Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries series (seven books) and the Mah Jongg Mystery series (nine books). She has also published eleven contemporary romance novels and two novellas. Degrees include a BA from the University of Iowa and an MA from Drake University. She previously worked for the State of Iowa HR system. She resides in Iowa and Minnesota. Married, she has two adult children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Cover for Murder on the CourtMurder on the Court

No good deed goes unpunished, as television star Marla Dane learns the hard way. The recently fired TV detective, trying to figure out her next move at her sister’s Minnesota condo, reluctantly agrees to sub as Water Girl at a weekend pickleball match. Which makes her the first suspect of many when the team captain turns up dead.

Eloise Wallace, owner of a local PR company, will never receive the title Boss of the Year. She’s dragged her staff, her old college roommate, and even her ex-husband and ex-employees onto her pickleball team. No wonder their success on the court is so sad. They all have reasons for wanting her dead, and Marla and former cop Rex Alcorn are enlisted to figure out who poisoned her.

As Marla’s sister Kitty distracts them with a new obsession, pie baking, Marla and Rex find their suspects crusty and evasive. The victim excelled at making everyone around her miserable, so what did the killer have to gain by staying in her life — or ensuring her death? The answer may be more toxic than either of them bargained for.

Murder on the Court is available at

Amazon

Kindle

BN

Kobo

Google Play

Apple Books

Thanks for joining us today, Barbara. We loved Murder on the Court and we look forward to reading the next installment and finding out what Marla is up to next! 

Bad Boy from Winona Kent

Guest Blogger: Winona Kent

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Winona KentWelcome to Winona Kent!

The Stiletto Gang welcomes Winona Kent as our guest blogger today as she celebrates the upcoming release of her musical mystery Bad Boy. Winona Kent is the current Chair of the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime-Canada West. She lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband, and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants, many of which were rescued from her apartment building’s compost bin after being abandoned by previous owners.

CLIMBING PRIMROSE HILL

Most of my Jason Davey stories take place in England. Jason himself is English, it’s where I was born, and it’s the country I’ve always been happiest writing about. So when I flew over to London in 2022, I knew there were a few locations I really had to visit—not just for old time’s sake, but for practical research for my next mystery, Bad Boy, which was then in its earliest planning stages.

Even if you don’t recognize Primrose Hill’s name, I guarantee you’ve seen it in countless films and tv episodes. Every time a character ends up in a place that offers a high-up panoramic east-to-west view of London’s church spires and skyscrapers, 95% guaranteed, they’re standing (or sitting) on Primrose Hill. (The other 5% are probably at Parliament Hill, which is a little bit further to the north, on the edge of Hampstead Heath.)

Not uncoincidentally, I spent the first three years of my life in a flat which is an eight-minute walk from Primrose Hill. My mum used to wheel me there often, in my pram and then in my push-chair. After we moved to Canada, I kept faint pictures of it in my mind (I’m apparently one of those exceptional people who can remember back to when they were aged two, and occasionally, even earlier.) And each time we returned to England to see relatives, there was that obligatory pilgrimage to reinforce those memories.

No Ashes Here

My mum died in 2021 (aged 95). The primary purpose of my visit in March 2022 was to scatter her ashes. I won’t tell you where in London my sister and I left a small part of her, because, while not technically illegal, it is very highly discouraged. I will add that we had a little ceremony that involved a blanket (to sit on, and also a handy cover); some gin (mum’s favourite tipple, good for encouraging absorption into the ground); lots of handfuls of tufted grass; and several startled earthworms.

There is a place in Bad Boy, near the end, where Jason has the opportunity to scatter the ashes of a dearly departed friend. I thought about sending him to the same spot where my sister and I nearly drowned the worms, but thought the better of it, and (spoiler alert) sent him to Level 72 at the top of The Shard, instead.

Kite Flyers, Bike Riders, and Macaws

It’s quite a steep hike up the paved path to the summit of Primrose Hill (64 metres, or 210 feet). On the day we visited, there were people flying kites, a few kids on bikes, and there were two guys exercising three brilliantly coloured red, blue and yellow macaws. I’d never seen macaws up close before—they’re immense!—and apparently these ones are quite famous—if you pop onto YouTube you can see videos which feature them. They’re entirely free-flying, but they don’t ever abandon their owners. They always come back. We asked how this could be, and were told that they knew who was going to be feeding them their dinner.

I thought, how absolutely marvellous. The top of Primrose Hill in London’s probably the last place in the world you’d expect to see huge tropical birds flying around free. And, since I was in the middle of researching Bad Boy, I wondered if I might include them—as well as the bike riders and the kite flyers—in the story.

Of course, I did. And in quite a spectacular way, too. In the novel, Jason finds himself at the summit of Primrose Hill, following clues which will, presumably, lead him to a collection of stolen manuscripts by the well-known British composer, Sir Edward Elgar. There’s a bit of subterfuge and some clever diversions (after all, there’s a nasty Russian who’s also after the collection, as well as a notorious Soho crime lord). And those macaws prove to be highly effective when chaos is called for.

Chalk Farm Murderer?

Oh, and I also managed to work in the block of flats—and, indeed, the individual apartment—where I spent my first three years, just up the road from Chalk Farm tube station. Different chapter and no macaws. Just a beautiful art-deco lobby in a posh building constructed in the 1930s, with a porter guarding the front door, and an inscrutable woman living upstairs who may or may not be a murderer. She’s highly connected to London’s musical past, anyway…a fact which isn’t lost on Jason, who is, himself, a professional guitarist with a permanent gig at a Soho jazz club—and an amateur sleuth, on a bespoke basis only, when his skills are called upon to solve just such a mystery.

Bad Boy from Winona KentNext from Winona Kent…

Bad Boy, Book 5 in The Jason Davey Mysteries, is released on September 26, 2024. You can read the first two chapters on my website: http://www.winonakent.com/badboy.html and you can find it on Amazon (ebook and paperback) here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001KDWQ9E

 

The Stiletto Gang wishes Winona Kent the best for her new release!

Remember to check out books from the Stiletto Gang as well on the Our Books page: https://www.thestilettogang.com/books/

 

 

How My Muse Revealed Protagonist’s History with Flashbacks & Dreams

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I knew I’d be out of pocket today so I invited fellow author Kassandra Lamb to guest blog. Kassandra has departed from her amateur sleuth series to write police procedure. Further, I don’t think I’ve ever met a more helpful muse!  Thanks for joining us, Kassandra~ Donnell 

I am a pantser, which means I write by the seat of my pants. No outline, just a basic story idea, and I sit down and see what pours out onto the page. When I started writing Book 1 of my newest series, I didn’t even know my protagonist’s back story.

I only knew two things. One, a successful Maryland homicide detective would be snatched out of her comfort zone and dumped into a new job as Chief of Police in a small Florida city. And two, her first big case would be a serial killer.

I actually knew very little about Judith Anderson (who was a secondary character from my Kate Huntington mystery series)—other than she was a workaholic, no-nonsense cop who had a lot of integrity.

So imagine my surprise when this happened as she and one of her detectives are making a death notification to a victim’s next of kin…

Detective Jacobs rang the sister’s doorbell, then rapped knuckles against the door.

I jerked.

            Two burly county cops on the porch, the afternoon sun beating down. “Is your mother home?” Me, a scrawny teenager, staring at them, my throat so tight I couldn’t talk.

I shook my head slightly, brutally shoving the memory away.

Jacobs’s back was rigid. Had he picked up that I’d had a brief flashback? More likely, he was bracing himself for the task at hand.

Wow, I was as shocked by this little flashback as my protagonist was!

But I was a psychotherapist for 20 years, specializing in trauma recovery, so I quickly realized that Judith had some demons in her psychological closet. And they were being stirred up by the insecurity of being in a new and challenging situation.

I was quite familiar with the way that flashbacks and dreams often reveal more about such demons. But what was this flashback about?

I only had a vague idea at that point. I knew in my gut that her mother was dead. But was she murdered?

The dream Judith had a few chapters later wasn’t much help…

            The dead woman on the floor got up, as she sometimes did. “Are you hungry? I’ll fix you a snack.” She walked toward the fridge, and I sat at the tiny kitchen table.

            My long legs barely fit under it. She called it our postage-stamp table.

            A buzzing sound. Was it the microwave?

Another buzz.

I opened one eye.

Then a quick flashback in Chapter 10 told me why Judith had little to no social life back in Maryland (in the Kate books)…

More warmth in my chest, offset by anxious butterflies in my stomach.

            Talk about mixed emotions.

Maybe Kate was a friend after all.

A mental flash of a dark-haired woman lying on a floor, seemingly asleep but not.

My chest constricted, the warmth gone. The anxiety prevailed. Letting people in was dangerous.

Then Judith has a lucid dream in Chapter 14 (lucid dream is psychobabble for one in which you know you’re dreaming), and I learned more about how the woman on the floor died…

It was one of those freaky dreams in which you know you’re dreaming.

            The woman lay crumpled on the floor.

            Here we go again, I thought in the dream.

            I walked slowly toward her, trying to convince myself that she was only asleep. But why would she be sleeping on the kitchen floor?

            I saw the pill bottle, empty on its side, and my heart raced.

            The woman raised her head and stared at me.

Okay, that was new. She’d gotten up before and acted normal, but this penetrating stare was a new development.

            Her mouth opened and a mechanical voice came out. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

            It wasn’t my fault,” I said, in a quavering teenager’s voice.

            “You could have saved them,” the mechanical voice said.

            A phone rang.

            My mother stood up and walked to the kitchen wall phone. She picked up the receiver and said, “Hello.” But the phone kept ringing.

I jerked awake. My cell phone was ringing.

When I was writing Book 1, I hadn’t really thought through whether or not Judith would have a love interest, but my muse was a step or two ahead of me (as she often is). Judith meets the sheriff of the adjoining county in Chapter 20…

A rotund man in a khaki uniform and matching Stetson stepped out of the driver’s side of the lead cruiser—a stereotypical rural sheriff with graying hair and a bushy mustache.

“This here’s county jurisdiction,” he said as he approached where I stood.

“I know that. That’s why I called your department.”

The man opened his mouth, but another voice interrupted. “I’ll take it from here, Deputy. Why don’t you join in the search?”

“Harumph.” The rotund man huffed away.

A slimmer, taller man, mid-forties—also in a khaki uniform—stepped forward, hand extended. “Sheriff Sam Pierson, ma’am. You must be Chief Anderson.” His voice was a pleasant baritone.

I shook the hand, trying to hide my surprise. I, of all people, should know better than to make assumptions based on stereotypes. “Good to meet you, Sheriff.”

“Call me Sam.” He gave my hand a slight squeeze and let it go.

I hesitated, then said, “Judith.”

He raised an eyebrow, and I figured it wouldn’t be long before he tried to call me Judy.

He looked around, slowly shaking his head. “A serial killer’s one hell of a welcome to Florida for you.”

Sam never, ever calls her Judy, and over the next 2 books, he slowly but surely worms his way at least partway past her defenses.

But then, in Book 4, Felony Murder (my most recent release), Judith keeps seeing Sam around town, talking to various women. He swears it’s a doppelganger, someone who looks like him. As this issue is coming to a head, Judith is distracted by a flashback during a phone conversation.

“Judith, are you there?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.”

Should I ask him if he was in town earlier?

            No, the answer came back. Too quickly.

Was that my old distrust bubbling up? Or something else?

My mind flashed to my father coming home from work, and me, as a teenager, hiding in my room and listening for the timbre of his voice. Was he jovial or pissed at the world? And if I couldn’t tell, should I go out there? What if I said something that would set him off?

Not that he’d ever gone after me.

“Judith?” Concern in Sam’s voice still, but more strident.

My insides tensed. A flash of my father’s arm high in the air, his hand fisted. My mother cowering…

I can’t deal with this right now.

“Sorry, I’m kinda distracted. I need to go.”

And toward the end of this latest book, a dream helps Judith sort out her feelings about her stepmother, her father’s second wife…

            The dead woman was lying on the kitchen floor, the pill bottle beside her. She slowly rose and turned toward me. “You really should be nicer to her.”

            “Sheez, Mom, not you too.” The voice was that of a peevish teen. “That’s what Dad’s always saying.”

            “She’s doing the best she can.”

            “But she’s the one who took Dad away from us.”

            “Not you, darling.” Tears pooled in my mother’s eyes. “Only me.”

An annoying buzzing sound interrupted my thoughts.

The buzz came again, followed by a ping. I opened one eye.

I’m starting to have some fun with these dreams and flashbacks my muse keeps producing, and I’m loving how they reveal Judith’s back story and psyche…little snippets erupting from the deeper layers of her consciousness.

Now that I think about it, it makes sense that my muse would be fond of such devices, since all three—flashbacks, dreams and muses—reside in the subconscious mind.

I wonder what will pop out in the next book…

About Felony Murder:

All is not as it seems in Starling, Florida…

A phone call from a desperate teen, awaiting trial for felony murder, spurs Chief of Police Judith Anderson to re-open the case of a drug deal gone wrong. But her investigation finds more questions than answers. How did the white gang members involved end up with sweet plea deals, while the Latino kid with no record is charged with felony murder? Meanwhile, attempts on the mayor’s life and glimpses around town of her lover with various women divide Judith’s attention and trigger her old demons of distrust.

 

About the Author: Kassandra Lamb has never been able to decide which she loves more, psychology or writing. In her youth, she had to decide between writing and paying the bills. Partial to electricity and food, she studied psychology. Now retired from a career as a psychotherapist and college professor, she spends most of her time in an alternate universe with her characters. The magic portal to this universe (i.e., her computer) is located in Florida, where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her.

She is the author of the Kate Huntington mystery series (about a psychotherapist as amateur sleuth), the Marcia Banks and Buddy cozy mysteries (about a service dog trainer and her mentor dog), and the police procedural series, The Co.P. on the Scene Mysteries, plus a guidebook for novice writers, Someday Is Here! A Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing Your First Book. She also writes romantic suspense under the pen name of Jessica Dale.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

WEBSITE: https://kassandralamb.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/kassandralambauthor

INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/kasslamb/

PINTEREST:  https://www.pinterest.com/kassandralamb/

BOOKBUB PROFILE:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kassandra-lamb

GOODREADS:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5624939.Kassandra_Lamb

 

Photo of author Sharee Stover

Welcome Special Guest – Suspense Author, Sharee Stover

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by Sparkle Abbey

Photo of author Sharee StoverToday we’re thrilled to have a special guest stop by, friend and fellow author, Sharee Stover!

We have some questions for you but before we dive into those, please tell our blog visitors a little bit about yourself.

Hi all!  I’m extremely grateful to be joining you today. I’m a Colorado native transplanted to the Midwest. I joke that I was dragged down Interstate 80 by law enforcement. All true, since my husband was a Lieutenant for the State Patrol, (now retired). In all seriousness, I came willingly for the sake of love to live out my very own happily ever after with him and have never looked back. We have three amazing kids and a brand-new grandbaby. I write full-time alongside our newly rescued German Shepherd, Maverick. My husband and I love the outdoors. We enjoy long daily walks with Maverick as well as regular weekly runs together. In fact, we just completed our first family 5k run! It was a blast. Our youngest daughter plays violin in the youth symphony, so we spend a lot of time driving to and from those rehearsals and practices. Downtime for me includes crocheting and of course, reading (although I love audiobooks and true crime podcasts as well).

And now to our questions.

What started you on your writing journey?

I initially began writing with the intention of documenting my mother’s life story. She is a South Korean war bride, and her story is incredible. After ten years, I’m still working on the book, and I promise myself regularly that I really will finish it someday soon. However, the shift from non-fiction to fiction came after I attended a fiction writers bootcamp about fourteen years ago. I learned a ton and it started me on my journey to hone and write fiction.

What do you write? And why did you choose that genre or sub-genre?

I read mysteries, suspense, and romantic suspense so the transition to writing those genres was natural for me. I love the intensity of a deep who-done-it mystery, combined with nail-biting suspense, and the thrill of falling in love. I write heavy on the suspense because it’s my favorite component. I believe in keeping my stories authentic, especially in regard to police procedures. Having my own subject matter expert at home is a huge benefit. Solving a crime, investigating the case, and taking down the villain are my favorite parts of the story. Add in romance with a hunky hero, and it just doesn’t get better than that.

What’s your favorite part of writing?

Writing is my dream come true and I try to never take for granted the joy of doing it. Even on the hardest days. Brainstorming ideas is so much fun because it’s a blank slate to create characters, drop in clues to the mystery, solve the crime, and develop the hero and heroine’s personalities. If ideas just present themselves without my having to hunt them down or research for them, that’s even better. I enjoy editing because I at least have words to work with and expand on. I love writing about brilliant dogs who help solve the case too!

And what’s your least favorite part of writing?

By comparison, the final edits are a double-edged sword because it’s time consuming and can be frustrating. Especially if my weasel words are taking over the page and I’m having to kill them repeatedly.

How much do you plan before you start a book?

I am a plotter to the max because I need a detailed synopsis to keep me on track as I write. I spend several weeks creating that, as well as deep character development before I ever start writing the story. I require a solid mental visual of the story and characters that translate on to the page. I use programs like One Stop for Writers as well as a physical storyboard with sticky notes to plot out scenes and chapters. I also enjoy research which includes field trips to locations for my books and talking to experts like forensic specialists.

Where do your very best ideas come from?

True crime stories or forensic developments give me the best ideas. For me, the story almost always begins with the crime.

What part of writing is the most difficult for you to write? Characters? Conflict? Emotion? Something else?

Ugh. Conflict is a constant battle for me, especially in romance. Keeping the suspense high while establishing a strong reason for why the characters cannot be together that will sustain the story is tough.

What’s next? Tell us about your next book and when it will be published.

Book Cover for Her Duty Bound DefenderMy current release is Her Duty Bound Defender, and it’s book two in the Mountain Country K-9 series. Here’s the back cover blurb.

Threatened and falsely accused…She’ll need this K-9’s protection.

Only seconds after widowed mother-to-be Naomi Carr-Cavanaugh is rescued from two masked gunmen, she’s accused of multiple murders. Detective Bennett Ford believes he’s finally apprehended the Rocky Mountain Killer—until Naomi is attacked again. Now she must rely on Bennett and his K-9 partner for protection. But with threats closing in, she’ll have to prove her innocence first in order to stay alive…

The Mountain Country K-9 series is comprised of ten Love Inspired Suspense authors working on a continuity story while also developing each individual book. It’s a great exercise in cooperating with other authors as we must keep communication a priority to sync the storyline and characters. The book released on April 23, 2024 in print, ebook, and audiobook.

 

Up next is the second book in my Heartland Fugitive Task Force series, Guarded by the Marshal, releases September 24, 2024. Here’s the back cover blurb: Book Cover for Guarded by the Marshall

Tracking a fugitive…and shielding an infant.

When police chief Dani Fontaine gets an emergency call, she never expects to be ambushed by gunfire—or to find her friend’s abandoned baby. Now Dani must keep the child safe, while evading assailants and investigating a leak in her department. And that means working with Deputy US Marshal Beckham Walsh, the man who almost destroyed her career. Protecting a child while searching for stolen weapons becomes more perilous at every turn. And with a target on their backs and multiple suspects, it could be their deadliest mission yet…

The cover is amazing with a super hunky hero. Who doesn’t love that? The story is about the Heartland Fugitive Task Force commander Deputy US Marshal Beckham Walsh reuniting with his first love, chief of police, Danielle Fontaine. They’re pitted against each other with Dani defending her evidence technician accused of stealing Beckham’s case evidence. And of course, there’s a brilliant canine included in the story.

Here’s a bit more about Sharee’s background:

Author Sharee Stover with dogColorado native Sharee Stover lives in the Midwest with her real-life-hero husband, three too-good-to-be-true children, and a ridiculously spoiled dog. A self-proclaimed word nerd, she loves the power of the written word to ignite, transform, and restore. She writes Christian romantic suspense combining heart-racing, nail-biting suspense, and the delight of falling in love all in one. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Sisters in Crime. Sharee is a triple Daphne du Maurier finalist, winner of the 2017 Wisconsin Fabulous Five Silver Quill Award, and her debut, Secret Past, won Best First Book in the 2019 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Awards. She is also a Publisher’s Weekly Best Selling author. When she isn’t writing, Sharee enjoys reading, crocheting and long walks with her obnoxiously lovable German Shepherd. Visit her at www.shareestover.com.

Thanks for visiting The Stiletto Gang, Sharee! 

If you’d like to find out more about what Sharee is up to next, here are links to join her newsletter and how to find her on social media:

 

‘Tis the Season with Catriona McPherson

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With Sparkle Abbey‘s Special Guest Catriona McPherson

Is HOP SCOT a seasonal romance? I’m going to say yes. Okay Lexy and Taylor are already engaged when they go to Scotland to let him meet the parents, the rest of the regular cast are all coupled up already, and there’s a mouldering semi-skeleton bricked up in the basement.

BUT –

A. after writing about a Scot out of water in California for five books, this time I get to write a Christmas love letter to Scotland.

And B. there’s an actual romance. Honest. You just need to keep reading. I don’t think I meant it to happen but who doesn’t love a Christmas love story? I know I do and I even love some of my favourites the way you love an elderly flatulent cat, or your beloved aunt’s terrible cooking. Tell me what you think of my list and let me know what’s on yours.

 

White Christmas Movie photo with characters from the movie.

5. WHITE CHRISTMAS

No bad cooking or feline flatulence here. In my opinion, this is the best Christmas film of any type and the best musical too. I watch it every year. When I was a wee girl, my sister Wendy and I thought Judy (Vera Ellen) was perfection, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) didn’t belong in a film because she looked like our mum, Phil (Danny Kaye) was weird, and Bob (Bing Crosby) was an old man. Now I think Judy needs a good meal, Betty is impossibly gorgeous because she looks like our mum, Phil is a poppet and Bob . . . yeah, he’s still an old man. And the plot is bonkers and Betty’s gloves in the nightclub scene look like she stole them from a welder. But it’s joyous for all that and I wouldn’t change a thing. Even the titles are beautiful.

 

Book cover for The Christmas Bookshop

4. THE CHRISTMAS BOOKSHOP

Jenny Colgan’s romance about a misfit girl who goes to stay with her annoyingly perfect sister in Edinburgh and transforms the fortunes of a struggling bookshop in the Old Town might have been written especially for me. I adore Edinburgh and bookshop settings (Quiet Neighbors was mine) and, in case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m partial to Christmas too. The follow-up is just out. I’ve told Santa. Incidentally, the one-star reviews of this on Amazon.com are hilarious – mostly concerned with the shocking bad language. I really hope none of these disappointed readers ever goes to Scotland! They’re in for a rude (literally) awakening.

 

The Holiday movie with photos of Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black.

3. THE HOLIDAY

This the first of my love it or hate it favourites. My mum and dad watch this film (in which KateWinslet (Iris) and Cameron Diaz (Amanda) house-swap between England and LA) like I watch White Christmas. When they persuaded me to join them one summer – that’s significant, I sat stony-faced throughout its run-time. Then I watched it again at the right time of year and found it absolutely charming. Jack Black is a riot, the London office is convincing even if the commute to the Cotswolds is nonsense so the LA film-industry stuff might be accurate too, Eli Wallach steals the whole film (from Jack Black!), the two little kids are among the least sickening screen moppets ever, and the rest of it is pretty people doing silly things. What’s wrong with that? At Christmas-time, nothing at all.

 

A Castle for Christmas photo of Cary Elwes and Brooke Shields

2.  A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS

Now, if you can take THE HOLIDAY and not throw stuff at the telly, it’s time to move on to this instant classic, from 2021. Sophie (Brooke Shields) is a novelist, who has found success in a publishing world that bears not the slightest, glancing similarity to the real one. So she goes to Scotland to stay in a castle. Of course. The castle is owned by a duke (Cary Elwes) who is broke, grumpy and not interested in a new woman. Guess. What. Happens. But the thing is it doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter, either, that the Christmas decorations at the castle would have bankrupted even a rich duke. It almost doesn’t matter that Cary Elwes’s Scottish accent is worse than Star Trek and his own, real accent is exactly what a Scottish duke would sound like. The village is cute. The knitting club that meets (every day, apparently) in the pub is adorable, and Sophie’s tartan Vivienne Westwood ballgown is every bit as gorgeous as Betty’s fur-trimmed dress at the end of White Christmas.

 

Single All the Way

1. SINGLE ALL THE WAY

And finally we find ourselves at the most-advanced level of seasonal disbelief suspension with this Hallmark-adjacent hokum squarely in the Guess. What. Happens. sub-genre. I am glad I put in the training and can love it without trying. Here’s the deal. Peter (Michael Urie (him off Ugly Betty)) and Nick (Philemon Chambers) are just friends, who share a flat in LA. Got that? They’re just friends. But Nick is tired of his loving family, back in New England (flannel alert), nagging him about being single, so they decide to pretend that they’ve got together as a couple and go east for Christmas. Guess. What. Happens. Ah, it’s lovely. Jennifer Coolidge and Kathy Najimy play the mum and aunt, the mayor’s wife from Schitt’s Creek is a sister and, speaking of Schitt’s Creek, the whole story takes place in a small town that’s homophobia-free. Nick’s a children’s writer in a publishing world that bears not the slightest . . . And so we have to think that being a florist/plant nursery specialist is probably tougher than it looks here too, but come on!

 

 

Photo of author Catriona McPherson with a Santa hat on.

Merry Christmas and, like I say, let me know what you’ve got on your list that I need to add to mine.

~ Catriona

Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. She writes preposterous 1930s private detective stories, realistic 1940s amateur sleuth stories, and contemporary psychological standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes  modern comedies about the Last Ditch Motel in a “fictional” college town in Northern California. HOP SCOT is number six in the series. Catriona’s books have won or been shortlisted for the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Lefty, the Macavity, the Mary Higgins Clark award and the UK Ellery Queen Dagger. She is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.

 

We’d like to thank Catriona for visiting today. What a fun look at Christmas and some seasonal favorites! We love the Last Ditch series and have already ordered our copy of Hop Scot, but just in case you haven’t, stop by her website for more info: Catriona McPherson

And we’d like to add our own Happy Holidays to you all.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season with peace and good cheer as we head into the new year!

~ Mary Lee & Anita aka Sparkle Abbey