A Calvin Watters Mystery/Thriller, Book 5

Guest Mystery/Thriller Author Luke Murphy

/in /by

Today we welcome Mystery/Thriller Author Luke Murphy to The Stiletto Gang.

From Shawville to Port Hope: Finding Inspiration in Small-Town Life

Writers are often asked where their ideas come from. The truth is, inspiration can come from anywhere, in many forms—a conversation, a news article, a memory, or a place that never quite leaves you.

For my newest novel, Dark Horse, some of that inspiration came from growing up in Shawville, Quebec.

While the fictional town of Port Hope, Mississippi, bears little resemblance to Shawville on the surface, both communities share something important: the feeling that comes from living in a small town where everyone knows everyone.

In small towns, people know your family. They know your history. News travels quickly. Sometimes, so do rumors. There is a strong sense of community, but there is also a sense that everyone has stories they don’t always share.

Those dynamics fascinated me as a writer.

One of the early scenes in Dark Horse involves the discovery of a body along a trail. While the story itself is entirely fictional, the setting was inspired by memories of walking home from school along the Cycloparc PPJ route in Shawville.

Like many kids growing up in the Pontiac, and going to the high school in Shawville, I walked that trail that led down into town, and explored the surrounding area. But like many familiar places, it took on a different character after dark. What seemed ordinary in daylight could feel mysterious at night.

That contrast stayed with me.

When I began writing Dark Horse, I wanted to capture that feeling—the sense that beneath the surface of an ordinary community, secrets can exist unseen.

Port Hope became the perfect setting.

The town in the novel is fictional, but the atmosphere was shaped by years of living in a place where relationships run deep and people know far more about one another than they might admit.

At the heart of the story is Calvin Watters, a former football star turned private investigator who arrives in Port Hope to investigate the murder of a young woman. What he discovers is a town struggling to keep its secrets buried.

Like all fiction, Dark Horse is a product of imagination. But the emotions, observations, and experiences that helped create it were very real.

Growing up in Shawville gave me a lifelong appreciation for small-town life—its strengths, its challenges, and the stories that exist behind closed doors.

And in many ways, those experiences helped bring Port Hope to life.

Dark Horse

A Calvin Watters Thriller, Book 5

Guilt brought him there…

Port Hope, Mississippi—a town soaked in old sins and quiet hatred. Beneath the town’s tranquil charm lies a web of corruption, greed, and racism that stretches from the sheriff’s office to the church pews. Port Hope is a place where secrets rot beneath the surface and justice is often bought or buried.

…the truth might destroy him.

When the sister of his former teammate is found murdered, former football star Calvin Watters finds himself in the heart of the Deep South—to find justice no one else seems willing to seek. The local police are more interested in cover-ups than clues, and the townspeople have made it clear: Calvin is not welcome.

Calvin must navigate a community desperate to protect its image—even if it means silencing the truth. In a town where everyone claims to be righteous, who’s really pulling the strings—and how far will they go to keep their sins hidden?

Buy Link

~*~

Luke Murphy is the author of eight novels, including the Calvin Watters mystery-thriller series. He grew up in Shawville, Quebec, and draws inspiration from small-town life and the people who call those communities home.

Guest Post: Susan Van Kirk on The Powerful Gift of Words

/in , , , , /by

Visiting us today is bestselling author Susan Van Kirk. Susan and I were first introduced to one another by Lourdes Venard of Comma Sense Editing. This would have been in 2013, maybe 2014. Both Susan and I had written first manuscripts and we were filled with dreams of eventual publication for our cozy masterpieces. The dream came true for both of us, though we’ve both had a few bumps along the way (getting “orphaned” when our publishers closed shop being one of them). Knowing there was someone there to understand what we were going through, from those early edits on, knowing we could vent (and it would stay between us)…that’s powerful stuff.

But here’s the thing. Susan is also a former educator and she’s just released Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life).  Take it away, Susan:

The Powerful Gift of Words

Sometimes gifts are returned to you in unique ways, often using words as their vehicle of choice. The universe has a way of doing this when you least expect it.

Since my first book came out sixteen years ago, I’ve written ten mysteries. However, my first book was a memoir about my forty-four years in classrooms. I recently revised it and launched it into the reading world again. Called Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life), it consists of fifteen true stories written as creative nonfiction.

Before becoming an author, I was a single parent of three and a public school teacher. When my last child was a summer away from starting college, I went back to school for a master’s degree at the University of Illinois. I moved there for three summers, sublet an apartment, and finished my degree at age fifty. It was the first thing I’d done for myself since I’d married almost thirty years earlier and eventually divorced.

I took a course called Reflective Teaching, a course meant to help educators consider deeply the answer to this question: How did their beliefs and values influence their teaching? On one of my papers, my professor wrote a note saying, “Your writing has a wonderful voice, and your stories are incredible. Have you ever thought about writing a book?”

Well, no, Professor, I hadn’t, but her words stuck in my brain, and several years later I wrote my memoir. Her remark had given me a gift, one I’ve enjoyed over these sixteen years.

After the memoir came out, I received a letter from a former student who’d read it. In part, it said this:

“You know, I grew up in a family that loved me but had few expectations for me. My mother’s only requirement was that I graduate from high school. The fact that I brought home As and Bs was a bonus for them. My seven older siblings sure hadn’t. Anyway, since they were happy, I never learned to push myself…Now here I sit, working my way through a PhD program, planning to become a college professor.

“For years, I have held on to a memory of being in your English class. You assigned us to groups and had us ‘teach’ the class. None of my group members wanted to be the one who actually spoke. So, I stepped up and did the teaching. I clearly remember you writing the words, ‘you should be a teacher’ on my paper when you graded it. At the time, I didn’t think I would truly be good at teaching others. In reality, you apparently saw the flicker of a passion within me that I did not self-identify at the time. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything but teaching. I thank you for this gift.”

I tell this story not to brag, but to illustrate that the universe sometimes does work in unique ways, and words are the powerful tools it uses.

About the book

When Susan Van Kirk drove into little Monmouth, Illinois, in 1968—straight out of college, with her teaching degree in hand—she thought she was ready to teach English and speech to high school students. She didn’t realize she would both teach and be taught by a town, a school, and the students who entered her life. A veteran of forty-four years of public high school and college teaching, Van Kirk will take you on a passionate and unforgettable journey through one teaching life. Meet her students and experience the events that molded a rookie teacher into a veteran. This montage of stories covers the years 1968 to 2008; they describe her early fears about classroom discipline, plots to overthrow “the rookie,” handling drug overdoses, the devastating first student death, and a challenge to a major Kurt Vonnegut book in her classroom.
Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life) is a second edition, and Van Kirk has added a new introduction plus updated material about where the students from the stories are now. These fifteen stories are incredible, inspiring, and filled with what makes us human. Find the book.

Susan Van Kirk

About Susan Van Kirk

Susan Van Kirk is the author of six Endurance Mysteries beginning with Three May Keep a Secret. Her standalone mystery, A Death at Tippitt Pond, was followed by the Art Center Mysteries: Death in a Pale Hue, Death in a Bygone Hue, and Death in a Ghostly Hue from Level Best Books. The third book of the trilogy was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Paranormal Mystery of 2025. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and is past president of the Guppy Chapter of SinC. Find her at susanvankirk.com.

 

Guest Author – Eva Shaw, Ph.D.

/in , /by

Where do original ideas come from?

Eva Shaw, Ph.D, author of Jane Won’t Quit

 

In addition to being a mystery writer, I’m a writing instructor, teaching remotely through Gale Courses/Education to Go, I thrive on mentoring emerging writers.  It’s fun and serious business.

As we all know, words have power and can encourage.  And scar.  Hence, I take great care with this responsibility with these budding authors and with the words I use.

Recently, a student asked, “Where do ideas come from?”

I hesitated and then blinked a dozen or 15 times.  Since this is remote learning, they didn’t hear my scream: “Holey guacamole, what do I say?”

This was the first time, in the years I’ve been teaching adult learners, that I’d been asked this question.

Truth be told, I never thought about it.  They just happened to enter my brain as tiny seeds and when tended, watered, weeded and grow to harvest.  (Can you tell I’m an avid gardener???)

But from where do they come?

I had to take Coco Rose for a long walk before I could wrap my head around this.  Here are my thoughts.

Original ideas are clobbered together from our experiences.  They’re what we read, see, talk about, smell, eat, turn our backs on, and hash out with friends.  We pull the tiny “seedling” ideas from reading, conversations, arguments, teachers, education, career, lovers, kids, pesky coworkers, friends.  From out in the crazy world and these confusing times.

They come barging into our lives dragging baggage, pain, joy, sorrow.  Memories.  The good and bad of it are thrown in the blender of life in 2026.

Not too long ago I visited a friend.  Opening the door, he was on the phone, so I waved and waited.  Then he said with shock edging his voice and to whomever he was talking: “Wait.  Don’t ever let her know you have that information.”  I knew at once that was an idea I’d have to use.  It may just be the first line in my next mystery.

Sometimes our ideas come from what we know for sure.  However, what if we don’t know much or anything about a possible idea?

Best-selling author Sebastian Junger explains away a hurdle many emerging and published writers face.  He writes in the afterword of the The Perfect Storm: “Writers often don’t know much about the world they’re trying to describe, but they don’t necessarily need to. They just need to ask a lot of questions. And then they need to step back and let the story speak for itself.”

He’s telling us, while we might not understand everything, we can trust the creative process.  I believe he’s also saying that if a weird idea pops up, give it a chance.  It could work.  Why don’t we do this often enough?  Fear throws us under the bus.  Yet, the more often we take these writing “detours,” the more interesting and entertaining our writing becomes.

When writing original ideas, we pretty much know where we want it to go, most of the time, and what we want to happen.  Then we start.  Ideas evolve, plots change, characters tell us the direction the story should head and to take Mr. Junger’s advice, we step back and let the story speak for itself.

I hope this quote from one of my favorite authors encourages you to do what you do: Write.

“Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.” ~ Carl Sagan

© Eva Shaw, 2026

Jane Won’t Quit

Pastor Jane Angieski never quits—especially when vulnerable children are at risk. When a scandal inside a powerful Las Vegas megachurch exposes a sinister trafficking ring, Jane’s search for justice collides with Captain Frank Morales, a protector who knows she’s in danger. Attraction sparks, trust doesn’t. As powerful enemies close in, Jane and Frank must uncover the truth before the city’s darkest secrets bury them both.

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/4uR14J2

 

***

Eva Shaw, P.h.D with her dogEva Shaw is the author of the romantic suspense Jane Won’t Quit (Varus Publishing, 2026) and the ghostwriter of dozens of published books.  She teaches creative writing through Gale Courses/Education to Go and lives, with rambunctious Coco Rose, in Carlsbad CA.  Reach Eva at www.evashsaw.com and follow her @evashawwriter

Behaving Badly: Out of the Drawer

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Dear Stiletto Gang Readers: I am so proud to know today’s guest. Read on; I have no doubt you’ll understand why. ~ Donnell Ann Bell  

Out of the Drawer

By: Rochelle Staab

Author Rochelle Staab

Most every writer keeps one or more unwritten novels somewhere in a drawer/file/box, waiting, hoping for the enthusiasm to finish. Most drawer stories wait forever. Some resurface then fizzle again. My new novel, Behaving Badly, spent ten years in the drawer before the escape. Inspiration didn’t reappear overnight. Unwittingly, my personal journey away from writing, fed into the story and setting and made me a better writer.

After a series cancellation and my frustration in trying to please an editorial team who liked me but not the ideas I pitched, I decided to write what I really wanted to write: noir set in depression/prohibition-era Los Angeles. Using a working title of Above the Fold, I created a gritty, recently widowed female crime reporter who chased front-page headline stories about crime and corruption in 1930s Los Angeles without the convenience of a cell phone or a computer.

I loved the idea. Like so many women who found and claimed their power through the 1920s into the 1930s, my heroine had guts. Tess—my protag’s name has always been Tess—had a character profile, a supporting cast, solid research, and a complicated abduction plot involving a silent screen star lookalike.

Seventeen chapters in, Tess claimed her ground. I deflated. My agent gave me a mediocre response when I pitched a historical noir mystery featuring a female reporter. I feared the same reaction from my editor. I needed to shake off rejection and self-doubt and do something to make me feel good about myself.

Rochelle Staab and hiking buddy Barbara Beck at Escondido Falls, Malibu, California

I had always felt less than because I didn’t have a college degree, something I knew I had the power to fix. I enrolled in the local community college to see if I had what it took to erase my insecurity. My major would be English, because, you know, writer? But a required history class seduced me. One more, and I became a history major. I graduated and moved on to Cal State Northridge to complete my credits. I read primary sources; I wrote essays about world history. I formed opinions. Despite being the oldest history major at CSUN, I did a summer internship at the Autry Museum. I built a blog on the history of chocolate and co-wrote a video about the history of Los Angeles State Historic Park. Without planning, the classes I took, like the history of Weimar Germany, added context to the world surrounding Tess. My Sunday hikes around L.A. gave me a sidewalk-up familiarity (setting!) with Los Angeles infrastructure during the city’s growing years, the city Tess lived and worked in.

During my last semester at CSUN, I had a casual conversation with an acquaintance at my gym, a man who read hard cover novels on his daily stationary bike routine. I told him I wrote three books. A week later I spotted him reading my first book, Who Do Voodoo? on the bike. Seeing him turn the pages of my book fired a spark. I wondered if I would ever have the courage and creativity to write another novel.

Two weeks before I graduated with Honors, the gym guy and I had dinner. He asked what I would be writing after I graduated.  Just so I could call myself a writer and still believe it, I told him about Tess, my 30s reporter. That night I opened the “drawer” in my computer and figuratively pulled out Tess and what soon became Behaving Badly.

I started editing the seventeen chapters I wrote ten years ago and fell in love with the story all over again. Worried about failing Tess one more time, I logged my daily word count but without specific goals. From then on, each day when my gym friend asked how the writing was going, I had an answer. I found my pattern. Editing the seventeen chapters gave me courage. From there, I tried to write a new chapter each week, building the rest of the story without pressure or deadline. My friends smiled at me with that patient “will she ever finish the damned thing?” look. Twenty-eight chapters later, and a much richer story, Tess tied up some loose plot ends, and I typed THE END.

I had promised myself that if my agent still didn’t like historical noir ten years later, I would take charge of my writing future, self-publish Behaving Badly, and reclaim my agency. When he told me that the historical fiction genre had no audience, and perhaps I should write about hiking instead, our gracious parting made me a publisher.

A chance meeting with another author while on a basement tour of speakeasys in downtown L.A.—where else would authors bond?—led to a self-publishing conversation. He offered to school me. I took him up on it, followed the process, commissioned a cover, formatted the document, and within weeks uploaded Behaving Badly to Amazon. The feeling of publishing my own book exhilarated me.

On April 30, Tess and Behaving Badly debuted at #14 on Amazon’s Depression History of the U.S. chart and hit #10 the next morning. Today Amazon named Behaving Badly the “Top New Release” in Depression History of the U.S. Tiny category, but fitting, I think, for a historian, noir mystery author and publisher with her 1930s drawer novel.

Never give up, fellow writers. Never give up.

About the Book:

In 1932 Los Angeles, crime has no consequences

Recently widowed crime beat reporter Tess Hammond turns grief into purpose when her editor assigns her a seemingly small missing-teen story that balloons into murder, corruption, violence, and white slavery in Depression-wrought, Prohibition-era 1932 Los Angeles. As the search for the young woman leads Tess from an underground speakeasy to a Poverty Row studio, from Hollywood Boulevard nightlife to a gambling ship at sea, she encounters a world of mobsters, corrupt cops and, eerily, the chain of duplicity and corruption that cost her detective husband his life and almost ends her own.

About the Author: Rochelle Staab is a Los Angeles mystery writer, avid hiker, trail blogger, and historian with a deep background in the radio and music industry. She returned to the writing community in 2026 after a seven-year hiatus to earn a BA in history with an emphasis on America and Los Angeles. Using Mother Nature as a tour guide, Rochelle has blogged about over 300 different hikes in the mountains, urbs, and burbs of Los Angeles, exploring L.A. from the ground up. Rochelle’s fourth novel, BEHAVING BADLY, the first Tess Hammond historical noir mystery novel set in 1932 Los Angeles, released in May 2026.  ~ https://rochellestaab.com/

Guest Noir Mystery Author M.E. Proctor

/in , , /by

Noir Mystery Collaboration

By M.E. Proctor

A few days ago, a friend posted a picture of New York in the 1940s, all neon and jazz clubs with big names on the marquees, accompanied by this caption: I want a time machine! Ah, to be able to go back in time to see legendary performers on stage … Don’t we all have these kinds of fanciful thoughts? Like traveling to 1889 to see the Eiffel Tower go up and hear people complain that it ruins the view. Or a day trip to catch a chariot race in Rome. Was it really like in Ben-Hur, and did they have snack vendors?

Alas, the technology isn’t there yet …

But I would argue that we have the next best thing in easy reach.

I’m not talking about the corny AI renditions of ‘life in the days of yore’ that proliferate worse than kudzu on every social media platform. Have you noticed that everybody looks suspiciously neat and clean and the cars are all shiny?

That’s also one of my movie pet peeves, by the way. The jalopies without a speck of mud … (I guess the car collectors wouldn’t let Hollywood borrow them without a guarantee of white-gloved treatment.)

I’m interested in a different kind of virtual time machine. Every time I open a book, I embark on a trip to a different place or a different time. Fiction or nonfiction, my mind provides the soundtrack and the image reel. I might even catch a whiff of a scent or a hint of a taste.

For example, as I write this, I vividly remember the beginning of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. She took me to Putney in the year 1500. Her writing gave me a front row seat. Imagine how Hilary felt when she was writing the book, totally immersed in the times. I’m convinced she breathed the same air as Thomas Cromwell. She definitely traveled in time, without a flux capacitor.

Russell Thayer and I experience the same extraordinary feeling when we jump back seventy-five years to create trouble for our two favorite characters—Vivian Davis, aka Gunselle, a professional assassin (Russell’s creation), and Tom Keegan, my San Francisco PD homicide detective.

Our first writing collaboration, Bop City Swing, was published last year. That story revolved around a political assassination in 1951. The book was barely in the hands of the publisher when we decided to have another go at it. Tom and Vivian were playing well together; they deserved another walk in the spotlights.

Russell and I play well together, too. We’re comfortable with the way we build a narrative, through a mix of late night brainstorming sessions and improvisation on the page, supported by reams of documentation. We know all the good gin joints and dance clubs. We have maps, stacks of photographs, favorite cars. We know the price of a cup of coffee and what music plays on the radio. Most of all, we are comfortable with the two main protagonists and their complicated relationship.

If a Train Leaves San Francisco at Noon on Friday, May 2, 1952 …

For our second collaboration, Kansas City Breakdown, Russell chose the setting. He’d spent some time in KC and wanted to relocate Tom and Viv to Missouri. An interesting challenge. The stack of background documents grew. New maps, new photographs. New rabbit holes. Train schedules, in particular. How do you get from San Francisco to Kansas City in 1952 and how long does it take?

Flying is too expensive, driving takes too long, and there’s no direct train connection. San Francisco to Sacramento. Then Reno. Salt Lake. Change trains in Cheyenne. Head to Denver, arrive in Kansas City Union Station. Two days on wheels. A lot can happen. We had so many ideas and ended shelving them all. NeitherTom nor Vivian took that train. She was on another one and he found a clever way to beat her to the destination. Plots have a tendency to do that. They’re good at throwing curve balls.

I suspect a jaunt in a real time machine would meet with the same kind of unpredictability. You might not land exactly in the right spot or at the right time, like in one of my favorite books, Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book: Kivrin, a historian, travels to the 15th century. She’s prepared (or thinks she is). She wears the right clothes, she’s learned the language (but surprises are in store), and she knows the geography. The problem is that she misses the date mark and arrives as the Black Death marches across the land. Ouch.

Virtual time travel is a lot safer. I’ll let my fictional characters deal with the turbulences. Tom and Vivian look pretty relaxed on the book cover of Kansas City Breakdown. Don’t let it fool you. These two are a pair of very cool customers.

Kansas City Breakdown

May 1952

Mobsters, molls, and muscle are meeting in Kansas City to carve out territory, make deals, assert influence. They come from Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Detroit … By plane, by car, and, in the case of mid-level heavy Mike Abati, by train from San Francisco. The FBI sees an opportunity. A chance to get close to the man, gather information, and have eyes and ears on the conference. A honey trap.

Tom Keegan, San Francisco PD homicide detective, knows the right woman for the job. She’s smart and cool. Seductive. Fearless. A rare and fiery combination of brass and sass. Would she agree to put her life on the line? If her cover is blown, she’s dead. Besides, Vivian Davis, aka professional assassin Gunselle, doesn’t do favors for cops. But Tom is doing the asking and it makes Vivian’s heart beat a little faster.

The job isn’t all it appears to be. It comes with a side of betrayal. Because, after all, a girl has to look out for herself.

Buy Link

~~~

M.E. Proctor was born in Brussels and lives in Texas. She’s the author of the Declan Shaw detective mysteries (Love You Till Tuesday and Catch Me on a Blue Day), two short story collections (Family and Other Ailments and A Book to Live By), and two co-authored retro-noirs with Russell Thayer (Bop City Swing and Kansas City Breakdown). Her fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. She’s a Shamus Award and Derringer Award short story nominee. She can also be found on Substack.

Russell Thayer’s work has appeared in Tough, Roi Fainéant Press, Mystery Tribune, Bristol Noir, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place Press, and Literary Garage among others. His novels include Bop City Swingand Kansas City Breakdown, co-written with M.E. Proctor. Russell received his BA in English from the University of Washington, worked for decades at large printing companies, and currently lives in Missoula, Montana. You can find him lurking on “X” @RussellThayer10.

Head shot author Kari Lee Townsend

Special Guest Author – Kari Lee Townsend

/in , , /by

by Sparkle Abbey

Head shot author Kari Lee TownsendToday we’re excited to welcome Kari Lee Townsend, a long time friend and national bestselling mystery author, who is going to tell us a bit about her writing process and her latest project.

Welcome, Kari!  We met you at a conference many moons ago and have been friends ever since, but for our blog readers who may not know you, would you please share a little bit about yourself? 

Hello! I’m Kari Lee Townsend—an upstate New Yorker at heart, from the Syracuse area where the winters are snowy, the summers are gorgeous, and the small-town charm never stops inspiring my stories. When I’m not writing, I’m usually spending time with my family, spoiling my 3 Samoyeds, traveling to lakeside towns and cozy villages for “research,” binge-watching reality TV, or designing fun graphics and reels for my books. I love everything whimsical, magical, and atmospheric…and it tends to seep right into my writing.

Now to some questions about how you got started writing, your favorite (and not so favorite) parts of it, and your process. 

  • What started you on your writing journey?

I’ve always been a storyteller. Even as a kid, I carried notebooks around and scribbled scenes and characters whenever inspiration struck. But the real push came when my children were young. I wanted a flexible career that allowed me to stay home with them while still doing something creative and fulfilling. Once I wrote my first book, I was hooked. I knew I had found my calling.

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

I write paranormal cozy mysteries, fantasy cozy mysteries, suspense, contemporary women’s fiction, and romantic comedies—stories filled with heart, humor, friendship, and a dash of magic or suspense. I’m drawn to these genres because they combine everything I love: quirky characters, tight-knit communities, twisty mysteries, emotional journeys, and worlds where magic or intuition lingers just beneath the surface. I adore creating stories that feel comforting yet thrilling, with characters who grow, love, stumble, and triumph right along with the reader.

  • What’s your favorite part of writing?

I love the moment when characters start talking in my head and taking on lives of their own. Worldbuilding is another favorite—crafting towns like Wishville, Divinity, Clearview, or Coldwater Cove, with their festivals, secrets, magical systems, and unique personalities. And of course, I love the “aha” moment when all the clues and twists finally click into place. All my books take place in the Northeast with the four seasons.

  • And what’s your least favorite part of writing?

The first draft. I love having written…but the actual drafting can feel like pulling teeth some days. I’m also not a big fan of the technical side—formatting, timelines, and continuity checks—though they’re necessary to keep everything running smoothly, especially across multi-book series. I love connecting with readers, but promoting a book can be scary and hard.

  • How much do you plan before you start a book?

I’m a hybrid. I like to plot enough to know the big turning points, emotional beats, and the overall arc of the mystery, but I leave plenty of room for spontaneity. My outlines grow and evolve as I write; they’re living documents. I need the structure, but I also love discovering surprises along the way.

  • Where do your very best ideas come from?

Everywhere. Festivals, places I visit, random conversations, dreams, Pinterest aesthetics, documentaries, and little “what if?” moments. I’m constantly inspired by folklore, history, small-town quirks, and the idea that magic might be hiding in plain sight.

  • What part of writing is the most difficult for you to write? 

For me, it’s slowing down to write deep emotional beats—especially grief, trauma, or the darker layers of a character’s past. I also find the middle of a book to be the trickiest, because that’s where everything must escalate without giving away too much.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us today.

And readers, we very excited as Kari’s latest is something a little bit different. Both cozy and fantasy in all the good ways. 

Kari,  what can you tell us about the book? 

Cover for the book A Well Kept Secret

The Well-Kept Secret, the first book in my new fantasy-cozy mystery series set in the enchanting town of Wishville, Vermont. The story follows Lyra Wells—half human, half Dweller—as she discovers her true heritage while investigating the mysterious death of a local man near the centuries-old wishing well. The book blends small-town charm, sparkling magic, a hint of romance, and a twisty mystery with deeper secrets tied to the Dweller realm of Elarion. There’s a love triangle brewing, a memory crystal connected to Lyra’s missing mother, a talking cat, a cast of quirky locals (including the delightfully chaotic Wellies), and a fragile treaty between two worlds that might unravel at any moment. It’s cozy, magical, atmospheric, and full of heart—an exciting beginning to the Wishville Mystery series. Out now.

We’ve already the first book: “The quirky town of Wishville, a delightful amateur sleuth and a police chief who’s not sure what he’s stumbled into make for an enchantingly different whodunnit. And then there’s the talking cat. I was charmed and can’t wait for the next book!” ~ Mary Lee aka Sparkle

And we don’t have long to wait! Up next is book two in the series, The Well-Laid Trap. 

This time, a beloved physical therapist goes missing, and Lyra Wells—half human, half Dweller—must uncover the truth while balancing a crack in the ancient Veiled Vault, her complicated feelings for two very different men, her judgmental talking cat Vex, and the chaotic Wellies who always manage to make things interesting. It’s atmospheric, twisty, heartfelt, and full of enchantment. And it comes out January 20, 2026.

Book cover for A Well-Laid TrapIn addition to this new series, Kari also writes two other cozy mystery series and also writes women’s fiction and suspense as Kari Lee Harmon. She is one busy lady!

You can find info on all her books on her website at :  https://www.karileetownsend.com

And you can connect with her on social media at:

Facebook

Bluesky

Instagram 

BookBub

Kari, thanks so much for stopping by the blog!  Great to “see” you and we hope to see you in real-life soon. Maybe at a conference?  

Guest Author Patricia Crisafulli

/in /by

Today, we welcome bestselling and award-winning guest author Patricia Crisafulli. Her Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series launched in 2022 with The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor, followed in 2023 by The Secrets of Still Waters Chasm. Her latest in the series, The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery, released last month. Find her at www.FaithHopeandFiction.com.

The Traitor’s Map: A Mysterious Artifact That Never Was

By Patricia Crisafulli

I can picture the scene so clearly: sitting in a sixth- or seventh-grade classroom in northern New York State and listening as the teacher told the story of a map dating from the American Revolution. It was a spy map, showing all the hiding places along the Lake Ontario shoreline.

The cartographer had carefully recorded every stream, creek, nook, cove, and marsh along a craggy beachfront. Here was where the Continental Army hid its boats; there was where they concealed a cache of weapons. But in an attack of conscience, the mapmaker changed his mind and altered the depiction of the landscape to make it worthless to the British.

From my preteen years until now, I’ve held onto the memory of the Traitor’s Map. When I began writing the third novel in my Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series, I couldn’t wait to research this map—to uncover its provenance, perhaps even find a picture of it.

Except it doesn’t seem to exist. No map matches the story I’d been told so many years ago. In fact, there’s no mention anywhere of a purposefully inaccurate spy map dating from the Revolution (though plenty of accurate ones). Every time I Google “Traitor’s Map” all I get are descriptions of my own novel—The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery.

But trust me, the story of the Traitor’s Map feels like a memory of something so real, I can envision it clearly. And that’s a gift to me as a writer, making this artifact all the more authentic in my mind and I hope, in my novel.

The Story Behind the Artifact

As my protagonist, Gabriela Domenici—librarian, authenticator, and amateur sleuth—observes, artifacts are objects whose stories are waiting to be told. In fact, it’s the story that often makes an artifact valuable—who made it, owned it, cherished it, lost it, found it, stole it …

Each of my three mystery novels features an artifact. In the first book it’s a medieval cross; in the second, an early 19th century nautical schematic; and in the third, the Traitor’s Map. In the opening of The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery, Gabriela, who is also teaching a class at the community college, takes a group of students to the local maritime museum for a first-hand look at this artifact that needs authentication:

She turned to the map, which had been drawn in ink on parchment the color of autumn leaves. A heavy line showed the shoreline, with indentations for coves and inlets, and a few spits of land that jutted out into the water … As Gabriela scanned the map, her chest swelled with excitement and longing, a feeling she associated with the most compelling artifacts and documents she’d handled throughout her career.

Given that the Traitor’s Map is apparently completely fictional, I needed to invent its backstory. And so I came up with the tale of two brothers—Colonel Jacob Thorsen, a commander during the American Revolution, and his brother, Henry, a mapmaker and spy for the British. When Henry was captured, it was Jacob who condemned him to death for spying—no matter that the map he handed over to the British was worthless. Henry escaped and faded into the footnotes of history. Jacob became an even bigger hero in the Revolution and then the War of 1812.

Conflict, political intrigue, betrayal—a story as old as time. And the Traitor’s Map stands as a symbol of that deceit and deception—through the centuries and the generations. And it’s mysteriously linked to the murder of one of Gabriela’s college students who had his heart set on unlocking its secrets. The fact alone leaves Gabriela inconsolable, with feelings of guilt that, had it not been for her assignment, the student never would have been killed.

And what of my own backstory of an old spy map that apparently never existed? Perhaps one day I’ll find evidence of the Traitor’s Map that substantiates what I heard (or at least think I heard) all those years ago. In the meantime, my fictional artifact can stand as a proxy.

The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery

An Ohnita Harbor Mystery, Book 3

In this much-anticipated third book in the Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series, reuniting readers with beloved protagonist Gabriela Domenici, the smalltown librarian whose accidental sleuthing puts her on the frontlines of death and danger. At the heart of the mystery is the Traitor’s Map—a highly inaccurate spy map from the American Revolution. When Gabriela assigns the map as a research project to a group of college students, one of them is found murdered on the lakeshore—triggering a spiral of death and deceit that soon embroils Gabriela and the man she loves. The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery tells a riveting story that explores love, betrayal, murder, and a chance for redemption.

Book Cover with Easter Basket

Guest – Award-Winning Author – Catriona McPherson

/in , , , /by

Book Cover with Easter BasketToday we welcome back the lovely and uber-talented Catriona McPherson who has stopped by to share a bit about her soon to be released book, SCOT’S EGGS. Catriona is an Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Award-Winning Author.

And Kirkus Reviews says this book has it all: “a loopy, lovable Northern California crew … a baffling double murder … a brisk, clever whodunit”

We can’t wait to hear about this latest book in the Lexy Campbell Last Ditch series. Take it away, Catriona! 

As Scot’s Eggs opens, it’s Easter morning and Lexy is finding out – yet again – that she’s not needed on the nest.

I love writing the Monster-of-the-Week plots, each one more ludicrous than the last, but even more than that I love writing the long arc of the character development for the Last Ditch Motel crew. Especially Lexy. I had her falling in love at Valentine’s and then marrying at the Midsummer Solstice, so it would have made sense to have her pregnant at Easter, season of fecundity, effulgence and general burgeoning.

But these are comedies, so instead I’ve made her beginning to worry that she’s left it a bit late and it might never happen. What’s funny about that, you might be asking. Well, for a start, Lexy’s best friend Todd has no boundaries. Here’s a scene from early in the book. Lexy is in the shower and Todd is . . . visiting:

‘And . . . don’t get all uppity and start telling me I’m overstepping,’ Todd said, ‘but I don’t think you should assume it’s you. I’ve seen Taylor’s underwear. I mean, I tried to block it out for crimes against style but also it’s not healthy. So I’ve put some super-drapey satin boxers in his top drawer and removed the offending items. But still, you should send him to have a sperm test.’

‘He’s twenty-nine,’ I said. ‘I’m thirty-seven. And what on earth made you think I’d see this as over-stepping?’

‘Oh,’ said Todd. ‘Well, good. I just never know with you. But to your main point. Investigating your fertility is invasive and expensive. Given that your cycle is regular and you’re tuned into it, and given that Taylor can find out how his guys are after ten fun minutes with a magazine, it makes sense to dot that i first.’

‘And you’re basing the notion that my cycle is regular on . . .’

‘The fact that I gave you a link to an ovulation app months ago and you would have told me if it wasn’t.’

‘Right,’ I said, turning off the water. ‘No overstepping there.’

Also, I’ve got a lot of experience of infertility, and black humour was essential to counteract the hormones and disappointment. My God, those hormones. There was a time when my dad and I were taking exactly the same cocktail, he to treat prostate cancer and I to get to a baseline and let the doctors start with a clean slate. We were each as touchy and weepy as the other. If my mum and my husband hadn’t been able to laugh they’d have beaten us to a pulp and gone out drinking. In the end the treatment kept my dad healthy for over twenty years. Me? Nine rounds of IUI/IVF after which I had no kids and no money. See? Black humour is the only way.

But the thing I really needed jokes for was to do battle with people’s cluelessness. Some of it was kindly meant. “Get yourself a great big rose quartz crystal” was one I’ll never forget. “Okay,” I said. “And do I still need Neil? Or will the crystal do everything?”

“Oh my God, I get pregnant if he looks at me across the room!” was harder to believe came from a helpful place. How did I deal with that one? Once I said, “Ah well, nobody gets everything.” And then left them wondering what I thought they lacked. Another time when I said nothing at all in response to a near stranger gloating about her good luck and my bad, she followed up with “Sorry. I just say whatever I’m thinking.” “Not me,” I told her. “I’m not saying anything close to what I’m thinking, right this minute.” Someone else at the party choked on their drink trying not to laugh, which helped.

Isn’t it weird? The only other thing I’ve come across that makes people boast about their superior fortune is insomnia. Ever noticed that? If someone says they have trouble sleeping, it’s the cue for someone else to say, “Oh I’m gone as soon as my head hits the pillow. I could sleep on a knife.” It’s a wonder no one ever asks them to prove it.

Imagine if that happened with breast cancer. “I’ve just had a double mastectomy.” “Ho-ho, not me. Look at these puppies!” To quote Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, “People eat blood sausage, Rita. People are morons.”

But the most frequent clueless remark encountered when you’re childless not by choice is . . . Can you guess? I’ll give a clue. I seriously considered writing a little etiquette book called Yes, We’ve Considered Adoption. It was wild the number of women – always women – who truly believed they’d solved a fertility problem for me, five minutes after meeting me at a party or other event. I composed a range of responses:

“Adoption? Oh my God! You’re a genius. Excuse me, I need to go and tell Neil.”

“We did adopt once but they were ugly so we sold them.”

“We failed the screening process.”

That last one was particularly ideal if their children were running around. And you know what really stewed my prunes? If there were men present, the subject never came up. In fact, Neil has never been asked a follow-up question to the “Do you have kids?” opener in his jammy wee life. Hmph.

Anyway, I found it just as much fun to write Lexy’s conception woes as I thought I would. All I need to do now is toss a coin and decide whether it’s going to work out for her or if she’s going to go down the same road as me. I must admit, it wasn’t fun and chuckles right to the end. Maybe I’ll knock her up. It’s nice to be in charge, I must say.

A bit more about the book:

It’s egg-hunt season, but Lexy’s spending Easter hunting a killer!

Not even Cuento’s Easter bonnet parade can distract Lexy Campbell from fertility woes and missing tourists Bill and Billie Miller. The Millers’ vintage Mustang has been abandoned, its interior covered in blood.

Is this a double murder, and if so, where are the bodies? Why were the Millers spending the night in their car? Did they pitch up at the Last Ditch Motel only to be turned away? Are they really dead? Trinity for Trouble are on the case!

As they start to identify the guests staying at the motel the weekend before Easter – including a Goth and a barbershop singer on stilts – disturbing evidence comes to light. Can Lexy see though all the deception to unmask the truth and save the Last Ditch?

Reminder: The book comes out December 2nd but is available for pre-order now. 

Photo author Catriona McPhersonAnd bit more about Catriona:

Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. A former linguistics professor, she is now a full-time fiction writer and has published: preposterous 1930s private-detective stories about a toff; realistic 1940s amateur-sleuth stories about an oik; and contemporary psychothriller standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes modern comic crime capers about a Scot-out-of-water in a “fictional” college town in Northern California sneezedavissneeze.

Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.

For more about her and her books, check out her website at:  www.catrionamcpherson.com

 

How a Real-Life “Diamond Dog” Sparked CB Wilson’s Next Cozy Dog Mystery Series

/in , , , , /by

Guest post by CB Wilson

As the author of a long-running cozy dog mystery series, I’ve learned to keep my radar tuned for anything canine. I devour dog-related articles—not because I plan to use every tidbit, but because I know that one day, something will leap off the page and knock my socks off.

Sure enough, about a year ago, a reader emailed me a headline that stopped me in my tracks: Diamond Dogs. Real, live dogs trained to sniff out diamonds buried as deep as fifty feet underground. No kidding. My head nearly exploded with ideas.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Truth be told, I’m a bit of a blingaholic. Long before I started writing mysteries, I studied gemology and earned my degree from the Geological Society of America. I’ve always wanted to write about diamonds. I’d slipped a few into the Barkview Mysteries—lost stones popped up in books four, five, and six—but it never felt like enough sparkle.

Then came the article.

Imagine it: a dog that works like a living, wagging metal detector, sniffing out missing gemstones on a beach or in a park. Anyone who’s ever lost a diamond because of a broken prong knows the heartbreak. With a dog like that, you could make a fortune—or stumble into a world of secrets best left buried.

Within fifteen minutes, Glimmer the diamond-sniffing dachshund was born. Alongside her came a new heroine: a diamond investigator with a family history that includes a notorious jewel thief. Together, they stepped into a fictional Arizona mining town filled with danger, intrigue, and just the right amount of cozy charm.

That was the moment The Gem Hunters Mysteries took shape—a blend of sparkle, suspense, and of course, an unforgettable dog.

Because in my world, every diamond has a story … and some are worth killing for.

Glimmer, the Diamond Dog, is no ordinary dachshund. With her silky, long hair and sharp instincts, she has an extraordinary gift—she can sniff out diamonds buried deep underground. Serious and focused when on the job, Glimmer is the loyal partner of diamond investigator Taylor Hunter. Together, they unravel mysteries where every gem holds a dangerous secret. Fiercely devoted and brilliantly skilled, Glimmer proves that even the smallest detective can make the biggest discoveries.

Glimmer is an Influencer with her own social media on Facebook and Instagram. Follow Glimmer for a chance to win a signed book.

The Fire Diamond

Every diamond has a story… but some are worth killing for.

When Sunset Peak’s legendary Peak Diamond disappears during the town’s glittering centennial gala, Taylor Hunter knows one thing: this was no ordinary theft. As a renowned “Diamond Detective” and reluctant heir to a family legacy of jewel thieves, Taylor has solved high-profile cases around the globe—but this time, it’s personal.

The stakes spiral when a perfect replica of the diamond is found, a notorious diamond broker turns up dead, and her twin sister Hope’s fingerprints are discovered at the crime scene. With Sunset Peak’s future—and her sister’s freedom—on the line, Taylor must partner with the one man she swore she’d never trust: Police Chief Rocky Rockman, her ex-husband’s dangerously charming best friend.

Armed with her expertise, her sharp instincts, and Glimmer, her diamond-sniffing dachshund, Taylor races to unravel a tangled web of stolen gems, buried secrets, and hidden betrayals stretching far beyond her small Arizona town. But someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried—and if Taylor’s not careful, she could be their next target.

Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, The Fire Diamond is a fast-paced cozy adventure mystery where family secrets cut deep, small-town gossip hides deadly truths, and every diamond comes with a price.

~*~

Award-winning author CB Wilson began her writing journey with a childhood rebellion—after finishing a Nancy Drew mystery, she decided she could write a better ending.

A passionate animal advocate, she created the beloved Barkview Mysteries, blending her love of puzzles and pups. Her newest series, Gem Hunters, shines with adventure. Drawing on her Gemology degree from the prestigious Gemological Institute of America, CB weaves authentic sparkle into every page, featuring an extraordinary “Diamond Dog”—a clever Dachshund named Glitter who can sniff out diamonds fifty feet underground.

Her most creative ideas strike while horseback riding through Arizona’s desert trails. When she’s not plotting twists, CB enjoys pickleball and indulging her chocoholic side, convinced the best stories—like the best chocolate—are meant to be savored slowly.

Learn more about CB and her books at her website, where you’ll find links to her other social media.

What Do the Girls Have to Say About the Guy?

/in , , , /by

A Guest Post by Author M.E. Proctor

Ten years ago, when the character of Declan Shaw, a Houston PI, popped into my head, I didn’t give a second thought to the fact that I’d just committed myself to write, from a male perspective, what could become a series. It didn’t bother me. I wanted to try my hand at a detective story featuring in the main role a bruised romantic shamus, a classic updated for the 21st century.

I completed a first manuscript (full disclosure: that attempt will never be published; it was a trial run) and gave it to my husband. He’s a brilliant writer and my first beta reader. He said he enjoyed the story and proceeded to criticize it down to the bone. It’s good to have a fierce reviewer at home; once you’ve cleared that hurdle there’s nothing the world can throw at you that’ll make you flinch. He picked up two dialogue excerpts and commented: “A guy would never say that.”

Out of a 300-page story, I thought that was a pretty good score. It also made me aware of the stumbling blocks that our subconscious takes pleasure in throwing in our path. Note to self: Guys don’t giggle, unless they’re Tommy Udo and about to push a lady down the staircase. Not the mood I was going for … I fixed the dialogue and toughened it up.

We’re quite a few years later now. I have a ton of short stories under my belt, a retro-noir novella written in collaboration (Bop City Swing) where I take the part of the hardboiled cop and my writing partner, Russell Thayer, is in the female assassin’s head, and two Declan Shaw novels. Girls or guys, pumps or brogues, I’ll slip into the shoes the story calls for.

Except …

In Catch Me on a Blue Day, Book 2 of the Declan Shaw series, my PI gets very close and very personal with Isabel, a cute art gallery manager.

I’ve written quite a few seduction/sex scenes and I’m not new to the challenge, but the story required this one to jump higher in the temperature range than I’d gone before. I could have written it from Declan’s point of view—there’s another scene with Isabel in the book that gives him quite a kick—but for this particular one, I thought I could do more from the girl’s perspective. It’s a decision that changed the structure of the book.

The Declan stories are mostly told from his standpoint. Secondary points of view come into play, out of narrative necessity (for example, I put him in the ICU in Book 1, Love You Till Tuesday, and the plot couldn’t remain frozen for a week).

In this case, changing the angle to Isabel gave me an opportunity to put a different light on the main character, and reveal things about him that would never have surfaced otherwise. He’s a very controlled guy and she pushes his buttons so hard he loses his footing.

Next to Isabel’s star turn, I also gave voice to two other female characters who play a major role in the story. They form the other points of a triangle with Declan in the middle, in the crossbeams, and they balance the narrative.

The first one is Jean. She’s old enough to be his mother and would love to slip into a protective role. She does it, in a harrowing scene, and Declan accepts her help, but he remains reticent and unwilling to let her in too close. She sees herself as a nest builder, and he is a drifting soul. Their alliance can only be temporary.

The second one is Kate, close in age to Declan and Isabel. Fiercely independent, wary of emotional entanglements, and dealing with a troubled past. Her sister was murdered thirty years ago, a death that destroyed the family. Kate never knew the girl; she was only two at the time. She doesn’t open up to people easily, and her trust is hard to win. She’d like to see Declan as some noble defender, but he’s a bit wobbly.

Seen through the eyes of these three women, Declan’s character gains new dimensions.

I enjoyed trading his cowboy boots for Isabel’s sandals, Jean’s sensible shoes, and Kate’s wellies … for a little while.

Catch Me on a Blue Day
A Declan Shaw Mystery, Book 2

“For Ella and all the innocents slain by soulless men.”

It’s the dedication of the book on the Salvadoran civil war retired reporter Carlton Marsh was writing before he committed suicide.

A shocking death. Marsh had asked Declan Shaw to come to Old Mapleton, Connecticut to help him with research. He looked forward to Declan’s visit: “See you at cocktail time, a fine whiskey’s waiting.” They talked on the phone a few hours before the man put a bullet in his brains.

Now Declan stands in the office of the local police chief. The cop would prefer to see him fly back to Houston. He’s never dealt with a private detective, but everybody knows they are trouble. If only there weren’t so many unanswered questions around Marsh’s death … the haunting first three chapters of his book, and that dedication to Ella, a girl whose murder thirty years ago brought the town to its knees.

In Catch Me on a Blue Day, Declan is far from his regular Texas stomping grounds. He’s off balance in more ways than one, and the crimes he uncovers are of a magnitude he could not foresee.

Between the sins of an old New England town and the violence of 1980s El Salvador. And the links between the two.

Buy links

paperback

ebook

~*~ 

M.E. Proctor was born in Brussels and lives in Texas. She’s the author of the Declan Shaw detective mysteries: Love You Till Tuesday and Catch Me on a Blue Day. She’s also 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 anthologies and magazines like Vautrin, Tough, Rock and a Hard Place, Bristol Noir, Mystery Tribune, Reckon Review, and Black Cat Weekly among others. She’s a Shamus and Derringer short story nominee.

© Copyright - The Stiletto Gang