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Happy Valentine’s Day

by Saralyn Richard

 


Today is Valentine’s Day, and I hope you are spending
the holiday enjoying the people, places, and things you love most. As for me, I can’t help thinking of my most
cherished Valentine’s Day gifts over the years–you guessed it–books.


Unlike the more
traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, books don’t die in five days. They don’t
increase the numbers when you step on the scale. They don’t break or go out of
style.

Instead, they provide
hours of entertainment, improve the mind and spirit, offer topics for
discussion, and connect readers. Also, purchasing books stimulates the economy,
because so many different industries are involved in the creation, production,
and selling of books.

Romances aren’t the
only appropriate Valentine’s Day books. Most mysteries also include love in
their plots, sometimes as motives. Whatever your genre, take yourself on a love-ly
journey of the heart, and snuggle up with a great book!



Not ready to commit to
a deep relationship? How about having a blind date with a good book? You might
just fall in love!

 

Saralyn Richard is the award-winning author of the
Detective Parrott Mystery Series, as well as the standalone mystery, A
Murder of Principal, and the children’s picture book, Naughty Nana.
Her new mystery, Bad Blood Sisters, is up for pre-order and releases on
March 9. Check out Saralyn’s book events and subscribe to her monthly
newsletter for fun content at http://saralynrichard.com.

Love and Humor is in the Words

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Love and Humor is in the Words
by Debra H. Goldstein

Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. Cards and
chocolates are flying off the shelves; flowers are being delivered. Here and
there, on bent knee with ring in hand, there are even a few proposals of
marriage being offered and accepted. It’s nice, but sometimes, there’s fun to
be had at the expense of “love.” That’s exactly what I do in my upcoming Sarah
Blair book, Five Belles Too Many.

 

I will admit that my NY editor loved the book and I giggle
just thinking about different things in it. The premise of a reality show where
the prize is a perfect wedding is simple. The complications are that the story
is set in fictional Wheaton, Alabama and the wedding is being dubbed the
perfect Southern wedding. Although different vendors are vying to be chosen for
their invitations, flowers, food, and venue, the conflict comes from the
finalists.

 

There are five finalist couples, who each represent a
different segment of the population or

demographic. Being Alabama, there must
be a couple who pull for Alabama and another who are die-hard Auburn fans.
Mixing things up also requires a pure as the land couple (think Beverly
Hillbillys) and one with a more goth edginess. The fifth couple is the charmer,
though. That couple is Sarah Blair’s sixty plus mother, Maybelle, and her
friend, George, who is a decade older than Maybelle. If you’ve read earlier
Sarah Blair books, particularly Two Bites Too Many,
you know Maybelle is feisty and well able to care for herself; but, all belles
in the competition must have a chaperone.

 

That’s where Sarah come in. It seems silly to have a sixty
plus bride-to-be with two grown daughters chaperoned, but rules are rules. So,
twenty-eight-year-old Sarah is drafted as her mother’s chaperone. And that’s
where the fun and humor begin.

 

Although I may be prejudiced, Five Belles Too Many
was the most fun to write and one I think will keep you chuckling while also
enjoying the more serious plotline. Five Belles Too Many
will be published in June 2022 but is already available for pre-order.
One of the reasons I think I enjoyed delving into the reality show world was
that years ago, I was a Jeopardy contestant (and no, I didn’t have a streak
like Amy’s). Were you ever on a reality show?

Gay Yellen: Writing a novel is like…

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How do you describe what writing a novel is like? Here’s E.L. Doctorow’s version:

Some say writing is similar to riding a bike: you start out slow and wobbly, but then you get the hang of it. I take issue with that one. Writing my first book was a breeze compared to my third. So for me, writing is definitely not like sailing gleefully down the street on a two-wheeler. Another author likened it to making a puzzle: you create the pieces—characters, setting, plot, etc.—then fit them together in a complete story, thus solving the puzzle, too. There’s something to that, I suppose. I feel a touch of joy in simply working on a manuscript, even when my own puzzle has me stumped, until the moment when the pieces fall into place.

Here’s what one of today’s most popular writers says:

I agree with all of the above, except the bike analogy, because even now, on some days, it feels like I have completely forgotten how to write.

 
How about you, Gang? What’s writing like for you?


Gay Yellen writes the award-winning
Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:
The Body Business,
The Body Next Door
(available on Amazon)
…and, coming soon in 2022:
Body in the News

How the Resale Boutique Mystery Series Happened

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 By Debra Sennefelder

 

I’ve completed  SLEUTHING IN STILETTOS, the next Resale Boutique Mystery eaturing
fashionista-turned-amateur sleuth Kelly Quinn. She’s a hoot to write and
I’m so grateful that somehow, someway the nugget of her character
graced me one day allowing me to create (in my opinion) a fun,
multi-dimensional, strong female character.

 One question I get a lot is how stories and characters come to me.
Sometimes a story idea hits me as a character goes looking for a missing
dog and then finds the dog’s owner dead –murdered. Sometimes a
character idea hits me like I want to write about a food blogger.
Whatever the first spark of an idea, I think about all the what if’s and build a plot and populating the story with characters.

My plan was to submit the short story to an anthology.

For the Resale Boutique Mystery series, Kelly came to me several
years ago when I wrote a short-story on a snowy weekend. Back then Kelly
had a different name and was tracking down a missing dog only to
discover the dog’s owner dead – murdered. Five-thousand words later I
typed THE END and sent it off to my critique partner. My plan
was to submit the short story to an anthology. After polishing the
manuscript, I emailed it off and waited. And I waited some more. Then
the email came and I kind of wished I was still waiting. It was a very
polite rejection.

Yes, the rejection was disappointing, but I was busy with work and
writing a romantic suspense novel so I dusted myself off and moved on.
The short story remained in a file on my computer and in the summer of
2017 I pulled out the short story and revamped it for a proposal to send
to my editor at Kensington for a new cozy series.

Kelly got her new name and a new career and then the devastating news
her beloved grandmother had died. She then found out she inherited the
tired, old consignment shop she spent so much time in as a child before
leaving Lucky Cove to attend fashion school in New York City. I
continued plotting the story and filling Lucky Cove with its residents.

First up is Pepper Donovan. She’s been the only employee at the Lucky
Cove Consignment shop for over twenty years. She worked side-by-side
with Kelly’s grandmother and they became the closest of friends. Pepper
is having a hard time understanding why Kelly wants to change things in
the store.

There’s Kelly’s uncle, Ralph Blake. He was named the executor of the
estate by his mother. Ralph expected to inherit the shop, which sits on
prime real estate in Lucky Cove and would sell for a very nice sum.
Lucky Cove is a quaint Long Island town that’s not as flashy as the
Hamptons but still draws very wealthy and successful Manhattanites
during the summer months.

We also meet Ralph’s most-recent wife, Summer. She’s a
model-turned-Pilates studio owner and can’t understand why her adopted
hometown needs a thrift store.

Writing Kelly was a fun departure from writing Hope Early.

Luckily Kelly has her best friend, Liv Moretti, to lean on when
things get out-of-control when Kelly is dragged into a murder
investigation which begins with a psychic claiming one garment in the
shop was worn during a murder. Word spreads quickly in Lucky Cove and
business, which wasn’t good to begin with, plunges.

Writing Kelly was a fun departure from writing Hope Early, the
protagonist in my Food Blogger Mystery series. She’s in her
mid-twenties, whereas Hope is in her thirties. She doesn’t have the
comforting support of her family like Hope has and returning to her
hometown was the last thing she ever thought she would do whereas Hope
always knew she’d be back in the place where she started. What they
share is having their careers derailed, humiliating firings and a
deep-seated need to seek justice for those who can’t. Oh, and one more
thing, they each have a very cute guy that they heart. 

SLEUTHING IN STILETTOS will be out in winter 2022 but in the mean time if you haven’t read a Resale Boutique mystery, now’s a perfect time to dive into the series. 

 

 

 

 Debra Sennefelder is the
author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series.
She lives and writes in Connecticut. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking,
exercising and taking long walks with her Shih-Tzu, Connie. You can keep in touch
with Debra through her website, on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clicking Our Heels – Colors!

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Clicking Our Heels: Colors

Because our writings open a window into our souls, we
thought you’d find it fun to know our favorite colors and why each resonates so
much with our inner feelings.

 

Debra H. Goldstein: 
Blue. It makes me think of the sky and water meeting which is an
absolute moment of peace for me.

 

Lynn Chandler Willis: 
Red. It’s kind of a take-no-prisoners, bold, and assertive color.

 

Barbara J. Eikmeier: My favorite color is red. I once read
that a bedroom decorated in red will make your bare skin glow in lamplight, and
a red kitchen will make your guests feel hungry.

 

Donnell Bell:  Teal.
It has been since as long as I can remember. Teal and gray were the colors in
my wedding. You will find numerous teal accents in my house.

 

Lynn McPherson:  I
love pink and gold. Fun and pretty.

 

Gay Yellen: Earth tones, pastels if they’re not too sweet.

 

Bethany Maines: Probably purple or teal. But I’m a graphic
designer by trade, so I’m in love with all colors at the right place and time.

 

Mary Lee Ashford: Turquoise blue and I think it’s probably
related to my love of the ocean. I find the color so soothing and serene.

 

Shari Randall: I’m in love with the color of David Austin’s
Juliet roses – a soft and warm peach/coral pink. My daughter and I had similar
roses in our bridal bouquets.

 

Linda Rodriguez:  Red
and purple – can’t choose just one.

 

Anita Carter: I love purple. I also like red and blue, but
purple is my favorite.

 

T.K. Thorne: I am attracted to intense colors. Bright
yellow, like the deep yellow daffodils or black-eyed susans, has always been a
favorite (in fact I wrote a children’s short story once about the color yellow
that went missing), but the best is the blue of runways lights and police
lights. I have to make myself look away from the latter, especially when I’m
driving, because they mesmerize me.

 

Debra Sennefelder: I don’t have a favorite color. Though I
do tend to navigate towards blue for decorating.

 

Kathryn Lane: I love vibrant colors, purple, red, and
orange; yet when I glance around my living environment and my clothes – I find
a lot of blue, in varying hues from turquoise to navy. There’s a vibrant new
blue on the market, called YinMn blue, that has a chemical makeup of Yttrium,
Indium, and Manganese, making it stunningly bright.

Dru Ann Love: Blue – I associate freedom with the color
blue.

 

Saralyn Richard: Red. It’s the color of my stilettos!

 

Robin Hillyer-Miles: My favorite color is this greenish
color that I can’t describe. I only know it when I see it. A couple of years
ago I was in the car with my mom and I pointed to a building and told her that
it was my favorite color. She said that has been my favorite color since I was
three years old.

 

Lois Winston: Black – because it’s so slimming!

 

 

Why I Wrote Missing in Miami by Kathryn Lane

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Location is important in my novels, yet it is only the
setting. It does, however, dictate the type of story that can take place. By selecting
Miami and Havana,  I had to delve into
the creativity pool in my frontal cortex to select a topic bursting with
possibilities for a new and interesting storyline. A storyline that would
entertain readers and keep them guessing about the bad guys.

To be released on Amazon: eBook – Feb 23
Paperback Feb 21 

Stem cell therapy gave me a platform where I could build
an interesting medical angle and include medical tourism as a subplot, adding
the risks and rewards that such therapy can bring to those who undergo
treatment. Add then a teenager in need of stem cell therapy. When she disappears,
my protagonist, Nikki Garcia, is hired to try to find her.

Nikki calls on her husband’s expertise as a medical
doctor to help in the case. Of course, her boss, Floyd, is there to provide
access to law enforcement agencies and their information gathering. Bring in a
cast of characters, locations, and situations that Nikki must maneuver.

And the hunt is on!

At some point along the path of writing a novel,
something wonderous takes hold. I realize the magic is coming from somewhere
outside of myself, as if the characters are directing the story. And they
always make it better!

The twists and turns
of a mystery novel are my favorite part of writing. I hope you will also find
it fun to follow the labyrinth Nikki must travel in Missing in Miami.

 

***

Happy Lunar New Year!

NOTE: If you’d like to
write an advance review, contact me at KathryLaneAuthor@gmail.com and I
will send you a free copy of Missing in Miami through Book Funnel. The review
needs to be posted on Amazon on February 23, the day of the eBook launch. In
the review, you can mention that you received an advance copy of the novel to
write a review. If you also wrote a review on BookBub and Goodreads, I’d
appreciate it so much! Thank you to my Stiletto Gang friends who have already told
me they will write a review!! 😊

A Brave Thing—by T.K. Thorne

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Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
    Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        new places, new ideas,
           and old wisdom.

 

 

 

 

My daughter recently posted this on Facebook.  

Dolly, I did a brave thing. During the pandemic, I started painting. That wasn’t
brave, because nobody was looking over my shoulder pointing out my
mistakes (the paintings did that!) 
But I really wanted to contribute
something to the Pulpwood Queen Book Club’s silent auction for the Pat
Conroy Literary Center. So here’s the brave thing—I did a “Low Country”
painting and gave it to the silent auction.

It started out very ugly. (A good lesson for the drafts of our novels.) I was thinking that I might have to just throw it away and start over, but I decided I was having fun and just kept going. (Another lesson for writing.)

When I paint, I am often drawn to go “visit” the project while passing the studio (library/book storage/printer/extra-closet room).  As a painting dries, the colors lighten and the perspective changes. One night, I made my normal stumble to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Drawn to the studio on the way back to bed, I looked at the painting in the dim light of the hall nightlight and insanely decided the color of the water wasn’t right. 

You have to understand, I am fortunate to find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night (and the morning, for that matter.) Not bothering to sit, get my glasses, or turn on decent light, I grabbed a brush and started “fixing” it. 

The next morning, I braced myself to look at what I had done, certain it would be a disaster.

Amazingly, it looked okay.

When the painting was finished, I was happy with it. Then I panicked, realizing to meet the deadline, I  had to send a photo in to the auction. (A familiar panic, as it happens with every manuscript when I hit “send” to the editor.) I stalled as long as I could and then, with great trepidation I sent it. 

It was received kindly. But how else would polite people react? We praise a child’s art efforts no matter how primitive and stick it proudly to the refrigerator. The few friends, sister, amd hubby with whom I had shared my attempts had been encouraging. But this was different. People who don’t know me were going to be looking at this, and I didn’t think they would want to pay to stick it on their refrigerator.

I berated myself:  You’re a writer, not a painter.  What were you thinking?

The auction was for a good cause and was open to the public, so I did my duty and posted it on Facebook with an invitation to the auction. I told myself the worst thing that could happen was that no one would bid on it and no harm would be done. I’d just go back in the closet as an artist and continue painting just because I loved doing it.

The response on Facebook was immediate: 

To say I was blown away by the warm and excited comments is an understatement. In spite of the fact that I am a Writer (took a long time and several books published to own that word), it slowly bloomed in me that perhaps I could be an Artist too. Tears repeatedly came to my eyes that so many people thought what I had created was beautiful. Some of them were “real” artists. At that point, it really would not have mattered if no one bid on it.

However, they did. In fact, there was a bidding war! The executive director of the Center said he “thought there was going to be a bloodbath over it.” It received the highest bid of any item (and there were great things there).

When you finish a book, there is a certain sadness, a letting go, a goodby to the characters you have lived with for months, sometimes years. Tomorrow, I will put my little painting in a box and send it away to a stranger who lives on the other side of the country. I am happy/sad. 

I wonder if all joy has an element of sadness. The joy of seeing a child grow up and go off into the world mixes with the sadness of losing something precious. The joy of accomplishing a goal mixes with the sadness of having accomplished it. The joy and sadness of creating . . . and finishing. 

Many wise people have said this better: It is not the destination that brings us happiness, but the journey. 

Speaking of which, I think I will finish this blog and go start another painting . . . .

“Low Country”

T.K.Thorne is a retired police captain who writes Books, which, like this blog, go wherever her curiosity and imagination take her.  More at TKThorne.com.

The Story Behind the Story, Part 2

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Original Paperback Cover

By Lois Winston 

I began my writing career penning romance and romantic suspense before I segued into mystery. These early novels hold a special place in my heart because two of them were my first published books. They also represented the beginning of what would become a trademark of sorts for my books, whether romance or mystery, and that is my use of actual events as source material for my plots. I thought I’d devote some of my monthly spots on The Stiletto Gang this year telling you how some real-life events influenced my writing.

 

Back in October, I wrote a blog post about how an acquaintance’s not-so-perfect marriage led to my writing career and played a role in the development of Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception, my first novel and second published book. The plot of that book was also influenced by a news story unfolding at the time in a Philadelphia suburb not far from where I lived.

 

On April 29, 1997, Stephanie Rabinowitz, a twenty-nine-year-old wife, part-time attorney, and mother of a one-year-old, was found strangled in her bathtub. Her husband Craig at first claimed someone had broken into their home and murdered Stephanie.

 

The police weren’t buying it. They discovered Craig had massive debts, had cheated friends out of nearly a quarter million dollars, that his career as a latex glove salesman was bogus, and that he was racking up more than two thousand dollars a week at Delilah’s Den, a “gentleman’s club.” He also frequented prostitutes and bought $8500 worth of furniture for one of the Delilah’s Den dancers.

 

Although Stephanie earned only about $33,000 a year for her part-time legal work, the couple had $300,000 worth of mortgages on their home, which was valued at only $230,000 and credit card debt of $100,000.

 

Craig had also taken out a $1.8 million dollar life insurance policy on his wife. Confronted with the staggering evidence against him, Craig Rabinowitz pleaded guilty the day his trial was set to begin.

Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception is not about the Rabinowitz case. In some ways, Karl Pollack, Anastasia’s deceased husband in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, has more in common with Craig Rabinowitz than does Phillip Wadsworth, the deceased husband in Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception. However, the Rabinowitz case did get me thinking about…well, love, lies, and deception. But mostly lies and deception, and I ran with it, incorporating some aspects of the case as well as what I knew of the systemic Philadelphia political corruption of the time.

I’m currently writing the eleventh book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, and for the first time in one of my novels, I’m incorporating an actual unsolved crime that has fascinated me for more than thirty years. Stay tuned.

~*~

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

 

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Interview with a Literary Agent!

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By Lynn McPherson

I’m super excited to announce that I’ve found an agent to represent my work! Carol Woien from Blue Ridge Literary Agency. While I dig into initial edits, I thought it might be fun to find out more about Carol, and her journey to becoming an agent.

What is a literary agent?

A literary agent represents authors to publishers, helps build careers, negotiates contracts, and can also offer creative guidance such as book edits.

How, and why, did you become an agent?

I’m friends on Facebook with agent Dawn Dowdle, owner of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency. In one of her Facebook posts she mentioned that she’d hired an agent. I commented that I’d be interested in becoming an agent, too if she had another opening. She messaged me back, we talked, and here I am!

What are some of the most recent books you’ve read and enjoyed? Any all-time favorites?

So many! I love most all cozy mysteries, especially those by J.C. Eaton, Valerie Burns, and Leslie Budewitz. I’m also a big fan of psychological suspense by Shari Lapena, Ruth Ware, and the writing team of Greet Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. I also confess to loving Danielle Steel. All-time favorite? Daphne by Rebecca Du Maurier is certainly up there.

What do you look for in an author?

Patience, creativity, imagination, good writing skills, and flexibility. Did I mention patience?

Any querying tips?

Queries ideally should hover around 250 words. You need to get to the point quickly with your hook and pitch, and the obstacles your character faces. It’s okay to query several agents at a time, but make sure you personalize each query. Be professional.

What is on your #MSWL?

Cozy mysteries, romance, true crime, and suspense.

Where can we find you?

Carol Woien, Literary Agent 

https://www.facebook.com/carolwoien

Carol lives in Indiana with her husband. Under a pseudonym, she is the author of two previously published cozy mysteries.  She spends her free time reading, writing, at the beach or a pool, visiting with family, and avoiding math. 

Two Mini Anthologies

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by Paula Gail Benson

Woman’s World has two weekly features: 5-minute romances and 2-minute mysteries. Mystery Writers of America lists Woman’s World as one of its approved periodicals/webzines, which means that it meets “MWA’s professional standards of good business practice and fair treatment of authors” and that stories published in Woman’s World may qualify for Edgar Award consideration and applications for active MWA membership.  

During the holiday season, Woman’s World released anthologies of 40 romances and 40 mysteries. Available for $5.99, these compilations provide excellent sources to study the work Woman’s World editors are likely to accept.

In addition to some delightful reading, each anthology has information about where to submit stories.

Further information, analyzing the romance stories Woman’s World has published may be found in Kate Willoughby’s blog, Woman’s World Style.

John Floyd, whose mini mysteries often appear in Woman’s World, has provided tips for would-be submitters in his Sleuth Sayers posts A Woman’s World Survival Guide and 100 and Counting. His fellow blogger, R.W. Lawton, whose short story “The Road to Hana” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) has been nominated for an Edgar, also wrote about the process in Writing for WW and Other Magazines.

Looking for a new experience this new year? Why not read these anthologies and submit your own story to Woman’s World?