Making a return visit

by donalee Moulton

On June 18th the anthology Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense became available on store shelves, virtual and otherwise. Nestled in those 301 pages, you’ll meet private detective E.M. Montgomery. (You have to guess what the E.M. stands for.)

Em, as she’s known to friends and family, has now made an appearance in six short stories. This is both deliberate and inadvertent. She is continuing a trend that started with my first mystery short story—and taking it much, much further.

A few years ago, the Crime Writers of Canada put out a call for an anthology to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. The theme was cold in the broadest sense. I took the easy route and opted for sub-zero temperatures. My story, “Swan Song,” is set in Iqaluit in the Canadian arctic. Here temperatures often drop below zero. Fahrenheit.

Three judges commented on each entry, and all three remarked on how much they liked to read a story set in place they didn’t know much about. I knew a little about Iqaluit having worked there as a consultant over a period of five years. It occurred to me, and several of the people who read “Swan Song,” that fictional police chief Doug Brumal might have more than one case to solve. When I went to write my second short story, “Troubled Water,” I returned to Doug and the Iqaluit Constabulary.

And now there’s Em, a private detective in Halifax Nova Scotia. A call went out for humorous mystery stories, and I decided to create a new character and my first PI. In that story Em solves the murder of man who is an avid birder. Em starts her own life list, and each story is named after a bird including “Zebra Finch,” and “Belted Kingfisher.” (In Midnight Schemers, the title has been changed to more closely reflect the theme of the collection.)

I’ve discovered that bringing back characters lets you explore that character more as a person with peccadillos and personality, and not simply a means to solve a crime. It also means their friends, family, colleagues, and other human (and non-human) adjacents make return visits. A small world begins to grow one short story at a time.

In Em’s case, she’s coming back in a big way. I have a contract to write Cardinal, my first paranormal mystery. It’s part of a cross-Canada series, and Em is making her inaugural appearance as the main character in a book.

I can’t predict what characters will come back to life. They seem to dictate their own comings and goings. I now have three stories featuring a retired lawyer in New Orleans who sells sex toys. She’ll be back. I just had a story accepted featuring a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine. It’s unlikely she’ll ever solve a second crime. I have no idea why.

But I’ve learned to listen. They’ll let me know if their work is not done.

Rabbit Holes & Root Beer

Help! I’ve burrowed down another rabbit hole, and I’m stuck in a warren full of of too many possibilities. So deep am I into the research for my next book that I lost track of time. Which is to say, I almost forgot to write this post.

With no plan for what to post today, I turned to a holiday calendar for inspiration. Maybe this date in history would spark and idea. Boy, did it ever, though it sent me burrowing even deeper.

Turns out, today is National Black Cow Day. Curious as to why we should celebrate dark bovines, I clicked and learned that today’s Black Cow hoopla is all about a drink I’d always known as a root beer float—that delicious concoction of vanilla ice cream melting inside a tall, icy glass of root beer.

Okay, I thought, a fun subject, but not meaty enough to write about—until I read more, and discovered sassafras.

Sassafras is an incredibly fun word to say out loud. (Try it!)

It’s also the original ingredient in root beer, first marketed in America in the 19th century by Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires. But that’s not what kept me deep inside that rabbit hole.

When I discovered how important sassafras was to native tribes across the eastern half of what became America, I had to read on.

Here’s why: Attentive readers of my Samantha Newman Mystery Series may recall a mention in Book 3, The Body in the News, of the discovery of a possible ancient Native American campsite on Carter Chapman’s Serenity Ranch. With the idea of that as a plot point in the next book, I’ve been researching indigenous people who may have once inhabited the region.

Cornell Botanic Gardens

Who were these people? What did they eat? What tools did they use? Were they peaceful, or warlike? What might they have left behind at the campsite? I’ve already done a ton of research based on those questions, with more to go. And, to that, I now add this question: Did sassafras trees grow on their land?

Today I learned that every part of the sassafras tree was used by Native Americans from the east coast to west of the Mississippi into Central Texas. Roots from which root beer flavoring is derived were used as toothbrushes. An emetic made from bark was used in purification after funeral ceremonies. Leaves, rubbed onto bee stings, wounds, cuts, sprained ankles, and bruises, were thought to have healing properties.

Ground Sassafras/Cornell Botanic Gardens

Timber from the sassafras tree was used in construction, furniture making, and—when explorers learned of its utility— shipbuilding. By the early 18th century, sassafras became the second-most exported American product, right behind tobacco.

I could tell you everything I’ve learned about sassafras and the possible tribes who may once have hunted on what’s now Carter Chapman’s Serenity Ranch in my books, but I’m running out of time to get this posted.

Also, I have to get back to my research.

bittersoutherner.com

But I’ll leave the foodies among you with one more sassafras fact: its leaves were also dried and pulverized for use as a thickening and flavoring agent. If you’ve ever had true Cajun gumbo, you’ve enjoyed the flavor of filé, made from ground roots or leaves of the sassafras tree.

All of which makes me hungry for some gumbo right now. Maybe I’ll chase it with a few frosty swigs of a root beer float.

Happy National Black Cow Day to you, and may your day be full of fun adventures, down rabbit holes or wherever you roam.

Gay Yellen is the author of the award-winning

Samantha Newman Mystery Series including:

The Body BusinessThe Body Next Door, and The Body in the News!

Oops! After 15 Years I Killed My Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers Mystery Blog

By Lois Winston

Sometimes the universe sends you a signal. Last month, I received one. It began when I was uploading a guest post to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, the blog I’d created in 2010 because my editor wanted me to join Facebook, and I had refused. I told her I’d instead join Twitter and create a blog.

I rarely posted on Twitter and eventually closed the account, but I kept up the blog. It changed over the years. At first, I posted new content five days a week. After a few years, I reduced my blogging to three days a week, then once a week. I began having more and more guests because coming up with fresh content, even once a week, is time-consuming, and I also belong to two multi-author blogs. I blog once a month here at The Stiletto Gang and once every seven weeks at Booklover’s Bench. For the last year, I was posting once a month on Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers and hosting guests the other weeks.

Then one day about a month ago, I was uploading a guest post, and Blogger wouldn’t let me add the jpeg of the guest’s cover. I rebooted my computer. Multiple times with no success. I searched the Internet and found various reasons why the jpeg wouldn’t load. I tried other jpegs with no success, and after eliminating all the other suggestions, I tried the only one left. I deleted my cookies. Suddenly, I could no longer get onto my blog dashboard, even after signing in.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Google, leaning heavily toward the hate. Google doesn’t play well with my Mac. Never has. And, of course, it’s impossible to get human help from Google, especially for Blogger, which they stopped supporting years ago. Did I want to waste more hours, days, even weeks trying to get back into my blog, knowing the chances of success were infinitesimal? I’d already wasted hours, the result being that the initial minor problem had grown to a major one. I also wasn’t about to pay a tech expert hundreds of dollars, only to have him or her fail as well.

Maybe the time had come to bid a fond farewell to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. The fact that I wasn’t panicking about losing my blog, told me this was an option I should consider. Maybe Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers had run its course after fifteen years. All good things must come to an end. Would anyone even notice or care? Do I care? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t. Instead, I was looking forward to the time it would free up in my writing schedule and my life.

So, fare thee well, Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. I bid you adieu as you take your place in the huge expanse of dead blogs floating around somewhere in cyberspace.

Have you stepped away from some or all social media, either intentionally or inadvertently? Were you upset or happy about it? Post a comment for a chance to receive a promo code for a free audiobook download of one of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

~*~

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

Picking a Pen Name

What’s in a Pen Name?

I recently have had the opportunity to submit to a dark romance anthology.  For those that don’t know dark romance could be defined as a subgenre of romance that explores the messy, complicated, and sometimes twisted side of love and relationships.  Dark romance is not my usual genre.  A lot of the “morally gray” heroes in the genre just sound abusive to me and I wouldn’t let my heroines date them. However, I did have an idea that was a great fit for the anthology.  So, I’ve decided to dip my toe into the dark and spicy waters of dark romance, and that means… it’s time for a pen name.

Why?

Because when my regular readers pick up a book with my name on the cover, they expect a certain tone—witty banter, action-packed plots, and swoony but emotionally stable romantic leads. And let’s be honest, they probably expect fewer, uh, bedroom scenes. The story I’ve written for this anthology is not that. It’s darker, moodier, and yes, much steamier.

In other words, it’s not your grandma’s fantasy romance. Unless your grandma is extremely cool and into antiheroes with tortured pasts.

Won’t Readers Be Confused?

That’s where the pen name comes in. It’s not about shame or secrecy—far from it. In the modern publishing world, pen names are tools. They help readers know what kind of story they’re getting into. Think of it like walking into a bakery versus a steakhouse. You love both, but you don’t want to order a croissant and get a ribeye. Or vice versa. (Although now I’m imagining some kind of buttery, flaky steak pastry and… I digress.)

The reality is, many authors use pen names to differentiate genres. Nora Roberts writes futuristic crime as J.D. Robb. Leigh Bardugo has her dark academia under her real name but uses a different approach for middle grade. It’s not about misleading anyone—it’s about making the reader experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible. So when I say this new name is the “spicier alter ego of Bethany Maines,” I mean it. It’s the same voice, same storytelling love, but focused on a different emotional and sensual frequency.

Now, picking a pen name is surprisingly difficult. Do I want something evocative and moody? Something a little edgy? Or maybe something just plain fun? I’ve already ruled out “Anastasia Ravenblood” (a little too much), but “Eva Steele”? Maybe. The options are endless—and honestly, a little overwhelming.

So here’s where you come in.

Help Me Choose!

I’d love your input! I’ve created a short (really short—like, blink and it’s over) Google Form where you can help me pick the perfect pen name. No personal data collected, no sales pitches, just your honest opinion and a chance to weigh in on this next creative adventure.

And don’t worry—I’m not abandoning my usual stories. I’m just branching out. Think of this as Bethany Maines… after dark.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and I can’t wait to introduce you to my mysterious, smoldering, slightly unhinged pen name persona.

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on TwitterFacebookInstagram, and BookBub.

To find out more about books from the Stiletto Gang check out our BOOKS PAGE!

 

Nixing the Crime Scene (Part 2) The Ladder Fiasco

Nixing the Crime Scene (Part 2) the Ladder FiascoDonnell Ann Bell

By Donnell Ann Bell

Last month on my day to blog I talked about a broken coffee cup handle that led to my spilling coffee all over my carpet. Nixing Crime Scene Cleanup as a Career | The Stiletto Gang  I made light of that accident because though cosmetic, no harm was done. Today, I want to continue the saga because the accident that followed, e.g. the cleanup of said carpet and surrounding walls, was no laughing matter.

I’ve always been a “do it myself” kind of person. I clean my own house because I’ve learned that if I hire someone, I clean it before the housekeeper comes anyway. So, when I saw all the coffee that had splattered off onto my newly painted walls, I thought, well, this isn’t the great room with its twelve-feet ceilings, this was the master. The ceiling was only nine feet and the floor wasn’t tile, it was carpet.

Off I went to get our seven-foot ladder from the garage. I climbed the ladder, went up and down several times and completed the task with no problems. On the last fateful descent, however, I wrongfully assumed I was closer to the floor. Big mistake! I estimate I must have been closer to two or three feet off the floor.

I remember thinking when I landed, Thank God for the carpet because I could have been hurt far worse. When I hit the ground, it knocked the breath out of me, and as I lay there with my body parts screaming, I remember thinking Okay, I don’t think anything’s broken. But in the upcoming hours and days, I would discover bruises on my left butt and arm that were in a word Shocking! I’d never bruised so badly.

When I called my friend to complain, she said, “Oh, you didn’t count the rungs!!”

I did not. That was my second mistake. My first mistake was doing it in the first place without anybody home. As age creeps up on me, I’ve been in denial. I thought I was competent and in relatively good shape. You know that old saying about “Assuming,” though.

Source Vecteezy Free Graphics

I could have saved myself plenty of embarrassment and not blogged about my stupidity. But from what I’ve learned, I’m lucky to be here, and I want to share if it prevents another from making a similar mistake.

Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury and death all over the world.

  • There are more than 300 ladder-related deaths and over 130,000 emergency room visits related to ladders each year.
  • Ladders were the main cause of 161 fatal work injuries in 2020.

March is National Ladder Safety month. I wish I would have known and paid attention.

For anyone who will climb a ladder in the future, here is a vital link that talks about Safety First and the Three Point Contact rule when ascending or descending a ladder. Here is a great blog about the 3 Points of Contact  3 Points Of Contact Rule Of Ladder Safety

From the blog’s opening . . .The rationale behind this rule is that it ensures stability and minimizes the risk of falling off the ladder. Maintaining three points of contact distributes your weight more evenly. . . . I hope everyone who reads my blog about ladders will take a moment to study this blog and its in-depth information.

I will also add to this information to do as my friend suggested. Count the rungs when you’re going up and going down.

Everything a writer does is all material. However, this isn’t something I’m glad I experienced firsthand. Accidents happen, but this one could have been so easily avoided.

 

 

 

Nixing Crime Scene Cleanup as a Career

Donnell Ann BellBy Donnell Ann Bell

My day started out well. My alarm went off; I rose without hitting the snooze button and had an hour to get to my destination. I was organized and ahead of schedule, I even had time for a cup of coffee!

Coffee brewed; I poured it into my favorite mug (a cup given to me by my daughter years ago). In fact, the cup was so ancient, my husband had glued the handle once, and except for a tiny fissure in the porcelain, you barely noticed the flaw.

By now if you’re following this woeful tale, you can guess what happened. I hadn’t even taken a sip when I entered my bedroom and the body of the cup fell away, leaving me with nothing but the handle. There was no crack, no warning. I was surrounded by silence, a twelve-inch puddle at my feet, and coffee soaking my carpet.

Great. The clock was ticking. I had some place to be, but my carpet! I wet a towel, squeezed Dawn onto the fabric, dropped to my hands and knees and commenced scrubbing. This was going to stain. Still, it could’ve been worse. The stain, though large, was limited. I’d clean up the rest when I got home.

Can you spot the coffee cups in the picture? That’s where the cookie crumbled…I mean the coffee spattered!

A limited stain? What was I thinking? Oh, I’d done an adequate job of cleaning the mess I made on my carpet. What I hadn’t noticed was that in my rush to get out the door, the coffee wasn’t restricted to a circular spot on the floor. Suddenly, I felt like a detective entering a crime scene who discovers blood spatter. All right, the evidence caking my walls wasn’t red; it was  Seattle’s Best with a dash of creamer. But it had spattered! Everywhere I looked I saw coffee! An additional stain on the carpet, streaks on the wall and the baseboards. Droplets hurled from the cup had even made it onto the fireplace wall and the ceiling.

When my coffee cup fell from my hand, the distance to the floor was maybe three feet. There was no significant energy involved–no projectile(s), no brute force. Yet, look how far that liquid spread.

In Citizens Academies, I’ve studied pictures of blood spatter and the grotesque coverage of mattresses, headboards, additional furniture, floors and walls. So much goes into an investigation and the crime scene is just the beginning. Detectives and crime scene analysts must decipher and analyze these scenes to determine the timeline, how the suspect entered, where they stood in the attack, what type of weapon was used, e.g.(baseball bat, knife, gun, etc.) and so much more. Particularly when families demand justice, and the victim(s) aren’t alive to share.  Here’s a website I found that provides a good explanation. https://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/blood/how.html

It’s no secret that many of the things I experience in life, I write about. I found the physics behind the dropped cup so interesting. Especially since it’s applicable to my genre of crime fiction. I know one thing is for certain after cleaning up my mess. I prefer writing about crime scenes as opposed to working them. And after the coffee incident, I’m also nixing crime scene cleanup as a career.

 

 

Does it need a trailer hitch?

Quote from Bookshelf.com about Elevator Ride featured in the book trailer of this post.A Trailer & More

Recently, I’ve been working on some marketing items including a book trailer for Elevator Ride from my Valkyrie Brothers series. Creating a book trailer is a challenge! It’s like condensing the soul of an entire book into just a minute or less of video magic. The first hurdle? Finding the perfect way to visually represent the story, oh, and also do it in a way that I can either afford or can do myself.

We Have the Technology

Then there’s the creative juggling act. Music, voiceovers, text, and pacing all need to work together harmoniously. Too dramatic? It feels cheesy. Too subtle? It risks being forgettable. Finding that balance is like trying to walk a tightrope in gale-force winds. And don’t forget the tech side! Editing software, sourcing content, and tweaking everything to perfection can be daunting. And while I have picked up some skills editing videos, they aren’t necessarily skills I wanted to have! But I do like having the ability to put some basic things together.

What’s New

This time I worked with a new voice over talent who was looking to see if voice over was really something she could or wanted to do.  It was fun to work with someone new and help them explore their talents.  I liked what we accomplished and I hope she ends up pursuing vocal work.  Here is the result of our collaboration.

Are Trailers Worth It?

In our social media driven world, having video as part of the marketing package is increasingly important.  People and search engines react positively to video.  It can’t be the only thing in the marketing arsenal but it does mean that more marketing avenues are open to me. So while it might be hard work, it does have a positive impact.

And here’s the silver lining: when it all comes together, there’s a magical sense of accomplishment. A great book trailer isn’t just an advertisement; it’s an invitation to readers to dive into a world they didn’t know they needed.

Want to see some of my other book trailers?  Check out my book trailer page: bethanymaines.com/book-trailers/

About the Valkyrie Brothers Series

The Valkyrie Brothers trilogy is a laugh-packed series of connected romantic mysteries starring the Valkyrie Brothers–Rowan, Forest, and Ash–as they struggle to find love AND stay alive in Seattle.  LEARN MORE: https://amzn.to/3XEL9id

Learn more about other books from the Stiletto Gang: www.thestilettogang.com/books/

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on TwitterFacebookInstagram, and BookBub.

 

Time for a Change?

There are two kinds of people in this country: those who love Daylight Saving Time, and those who don’t.

There’s a third group, I suppose: those who can’t decide, even though the reality of it has been around for nearly sixty years.

The U.S. tried it twice before, during World Wars I and II, in an attempt to minimize the use of artificial lighting and save fuel for the war effort. That exercise likely lay the seed for its permanent adoption by Congress in the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

And yet today, not all states have approved the legislation. 

Both Hawaii and Arizona (except for the real estate owned by the Navajo Nation) remain on Standard Time year-round. Meanwhile, 20 states have passed laws or resolutions aiming to stop the time change. However, they cannot implement the change without approval from Congress.

The debate lingers on, like an all-day hangover.

Among those in the DST camp: Golfers. The sport’s aficionados are practically ecstatic when the clock rolls back. Earlier evening hours increase playing time on the links, and players tend to hang around the clubhouse longer in the evening, buying drinks and food. Caddies, country clubs, and public courses alike make more money.

So, good for golfers. Not so good for other businesses. It pretty much killed the drive-in movie business. Remember them?

Staying neutral? The nappers.

As a consolation prize to those who still need more sleep this week, there is National Napping Day, first declared in 1999 by a married couple who sought to promote the benefits of a daytime snooze. (No word on whether they napped together or apart.) It’s no coincidence that it falls on the heels of our mandated clock regression.

Nappers are apparently unfazed by the time change. It’s a fact that mid-afternoon naps have been an integral part of most cultures for centuries. In many countries, businesses still close for two afternoon hours, prime time for a little “afternoon delight,” which may or may not include a nap.

Nappers point to numerous studies that tout a 10-20 minute nap as the most effective way to combat midday fatigue. Improvements in alertness, productivity, and mood—along with decreased stress—have all been shown to improve with this type of snooze. There are even guidelines for how to nap productively. Some claim that a pre-Daylight Saving Time nap can avoid any post-time-change blur.

However…

On the other side of the debate are the grumblers, who offer a multitude of objections, such as:

Why try to mess with Time? Mother Nature brings us longer sunlight hours every Spring and Summer without all the fuss and bother of DST. Why force us to reset our non-digital devices in March, only to change them again every Autumn? And where’s the romance in an evening soirée that takes place mostly in daylight? It’s too confusing, and darn it, people hate taking their children to school in the dark!

Also, even though habitual nappers think they have the time-change-induced mind fog licked, napping can leave a person feeling groggy after waking, which makes it harder to get anything productive accomplished for the rest of the day. And it may lead to nighttime insomnia—possibly with regret over things you could have accomplished instead of sleeping.

Which side of DST are you on? For, against, or somewhere in the middle?

Gay Yellen’s award-winning 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 Samantha Newman Romantic Mystery Series.

 

 

 

The Secret to Her Success

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