FEATURED AUTHOR: LYNN CAHOON

It’s October in South Cove, California, and the locals in the quaint resort seem to be happily pairing off in the lull before the holidays. Everyone, that is, except for Jill Gardner’s elderly aunt, who just dumped her besotted fiancé—and she won’t say why.

When Jill hosts a talk at Coffee, Books, and More on the topic of elder abuse, all that’s really on her mind is lunch. But the topic hits close to home when she discovers Aunt Jackie has been getting mysterious calls. Jill’s certain the caller is a con artist, of course, but her feisty aunt claims to understand this, though she’s still shaken—and Harrold’s still heartbroken. Who’s behind the scam and why was her aunt targeted? When a volunteer from the Senior Project is found murdered, Jill’s detective boyfriend is on the case—and it soon becomes clear no one is safe when a caller from beyond becomes a killer in their midst. 


Book Details:


Title: Memories and Murder

Author: Lynn Cahoon

Genre: cozy mystery 


Series: Tourist Trap series, book 10


Publisher: Lyrical Underground (November 11, 2019) 


Print length: 182 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours




Ifs



Q: If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
A: I want to do all the jobs. LOL. But my best job ever was working for a non-profit. Could I be a grant writer? Or does that break the rules?


Q: If you had to do community service (or already do volunteer work), what would you choose?
A: I’d love to do my community service in a library. Shelving books, helping others with research.

Q: If you could meet any author for coffee, who would you like to meet and what would you talk about?
A: My first reaction is Stephen King to talk about my writing career and what I could do. But I would probably be smarter to talk to Robyn Carr about career. I’ll save my coffee time with Stephen to Fan girl.


Q: If you could choose a fictional town to live in what would it be and from what book?
A: Thunder Point, Oregon. I love that town and its inhabitants. 



Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
A: A little cottage within walking distance of the coast. Maybe Oregon, maybe OBX, maybe California.




Ands



5 things you love about writing:
    •    finding the story
    •    developing characters
    •    making familiar settings change as I want
    •    seeing my book on shelves
and
    •    people talking about my characters as friends, like I do


5 things you love about where you live: 

    •    herons on the water
    •    get to see deer
    •    close to a lot of fun activities
    •    history on every corner
and
    •    close to a lot of NASCAR tracks
 

5 things you never want to run out of: 
    •    chocolate
    •    potato chips
    •    contacts
    •    fish
and
    •    time


5 favorite foods: 
    •    French fries
    •    fish
    •    chocolate covered pretzels
    •    potato soup
and
    •    pumpkin cheesecake


5 people you’d like to be stuck in a bookstore with:
    •    Stephen King
    •    Robyn Carr
    •    Neil Gaiman
    •    JD Robb
and
    •    Jim Butcher

Whats

Q: What’s your all-time favorite place? 

A: OBX, North Carolina


Q: What’s your all-time favorite memory?

A: Watching the silver Christmas tree change colors.


Q: What’s your all-time favorite movie?

A: Sleepless in Seattle or One Magic Christmas.


Q: What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

A: People not being nice.


Q: What’s the loveliest sight you’ve ever seen? 

A: There’s a cove on the lake in McCall, Idaho. The water was beautiful, but the stillness of the area almost made me cry.


Q: What’s your favorite thing to do? 

A: Get lost in a story.


Q: What’s your favorite ice cream? 

A: Vanilla.


Q: What’s one thing you never leave the house without?

A: My phone now.


Q: What book are you currently working on?

A: New series – light paranormal cozy mystery. 


Q: What’s your latest recommendation for:
Food: Smoked chicken pasta.
Music: Luke Bryan or Keith Urban.
Movie: I’m enjoying The Guardians of the Galaxy.
Book: Atomic Habits.
Audiobook: Jim Butcher’s Dresden series.
TV: Supernatural – so sad it’s ending.
Netflix/Amazon Prime: I really liked the chef shows.

Q: What books do you currently have published?
A: I have sixteen in the Tourist Trap series, three in Farm to Fork, soon to be six in Cat Latimer and several series under Lynn Collins – my romance pen name. You can find all my books at www.lynncahoon.com or www.lynncollinsauthor.com.  












Award-winning NYT and USA Today best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon,  pens several cozy mystery series. The Tourist Trap series is set in central coastal California includes nine, soon to be ten, novels with six holiday novellas. She also pens the Cat Latimer series (set in Colorado) available in mass market paperback. The Farm to Fork mystery series is set in her home state of Idaho. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and three fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com


Connect with Lynn:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

Buy the book:
                                                Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Apple  |  Kobo

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A CHAT WITH LYNN CAHOON'S CAT LATIMER

ABOUT THE BOOK

Cat Latimer’s Colorado bed-and-breakfast plays host to writers from all over. But murder is distinctly unwelcome . . .

To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar—and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding.

Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man’s been found dead in a hot tub—and Christina shows up crying and covered in blood. Now, between a murder mystery, the theft of a rare Hemingway edition, and the arrival of a black-clad stranger in snowy Aspen Hills, Cat’s afraid everything’s going downhill . . .

ABOUT CAT LATIMER

Cat Latimer grew up in Aspen Hills, Colorado. When she went off to Covington College, she wanted to write the next Buffy the Vampire series. Since the English Department didn’t offer a popular fiction course, she decided to get her master’s degree and teach one instead. After moving to sunny California for personal reasons, Cat returned to open the Warm Springs Writing Retreat in the historical Victorian she owned with her now deceased husband. Cat also pens a popular young adult paranormal series.

INTERVIEW WITH CAT LATIMER

Cat, how did you first meet your writer, Lynn Cahoon?
Lynn created me on a long drive to Idaho during the summer of 2014. She’d had a lot of success with The Tourist Trap series and Jill Gardner, so she wanted to pitch a series set in a different area, with different problems. I believe I win in the setting department. Aspen Hills is big enough to have everything I need, yet small enough I don’t get lost in the city.  And you can’t beat the year-round outdoor activities. 

Anyway, I’m getting off track. She pulled together my life and backstory, and the first book where I appear, A Story to Kill, was born September 2016. It takes a long time to bring a book to life.

Want to dish about Lynn?
Lynn’s cool. She’s fun when we can get her away from the writing. I worry about her sometimes because it seems like she’s always working. But as I’ve told many of my retreat guests, every writer’s process is different. I’d love to have her come visit me and Shauna during one of our retreats.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Seriously, I blame my ex-husband. If he hadn’t become my ex, there would have been no need to open Warm Spring’s Writers Retreat. I wonder sometimes if my life would have changed at all if he hadn’t taken on that second job that made the dominos fall. Would I still be teaching? Would I be an author? Or would it have been too hard of a road to walk with a full-time job?

I could do without the murders that seem to happen around me though.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
Well, there’s this part with martial arts, kidnapping, and a stone gnome or two. I think that scene was really funny. At least at the end.

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
I’d love to move Mrs. Rice from the house next door. She’s such a busy body. Everyone knew that Seth had kissed me for the first time since we were teenagers the day after because she was watching us from her living room window.  And she has a gossip phone tree. Don’t people have anything better to do with their free time? What about watching NCIS? Why can’t I have a nice neighbor?

Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?
Absolutely not. I’m very happy with my life. I have my books which seems to be doing well in sales. Of course, you never really know what’s going to happen tomorrow.  That’s one of the reasons I talked Shauna into opening Warm Springs Writers Retreat with me. Financial cushion. I have the house of my dreams, again. And a pretty cute boyfriend who seems to enjoy spending time with me.

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
What’s the weather like outside?  I love to snow ski. And water ski. And hike. And Seth just bought a cool side-by-side which is like a mini jeep. We have fun trail riding. Or just get lost in a book

Tell us about your best friend.
Shauna is my best friend. I met her in California and it was good to have a girlfriend you could talk to about anything. She’s been in some sticky relationships so she helped me through the dark times. And she’s fun. Now that she’s part of the retreat, I feel blessed that she’s such a great cook. The cookies, muffins, and more she makes for our guests are so much better than store bought. The girl could open a restaurant, but she assures me she likes running the hospitality side of our monthly retreat.  



What are you most afraid of?
Depending on someone and having them betray you.  I guess I’m really not over the way my marriage ended. Moving to sunny California gave me lots of time to walk and think. I’m not sure I could trust someone so completely again.



What’s your author’s worst habit?
Taking on more than she can get done. The girl’s always got a bright and shiny floating around her head, waiting to be written. I keep telling her, it’s all about me. Well, me and that California chick, Jill.

Describe the town where you live.
Like I said, Aspen Hills is amazing. I grew up here. We walked in the woods as kids, partied there as teenagers, and when I went away to college, I went to Covington. Which I could walk to from my house. The Colorado lifestyle is easy going and active. I love introducing my retreat guests to my little bit of heaven here, nestled against the mountains and filled with forested areas. And if you need big city for anything, Denver is just a couple of hours north.

Describe an average day in your life.
When the retreat is in session, I have no average day. Whatever the guests need or want is my priority.

The other three weeks, if I’m writing, I hole up in my office and write until Shauna makes me come down for meals. And if it seems right, Seth and I might go for a walk to grab an ice cream or play a few rounds of pool down at Bernie’s.  If I’m not writing, I do everything else that I ignored while I was writing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the New York Times and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She also pens the recently released, Cat Latimer series. A Story to Kill, book 1, came out in mass market paperback September 2016.

She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com



Connect with Lynn:
Website  |  Blog  |   Facebook  |   Twitter  |   Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  | Kobo  

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FEATURED AUTHOR: LYNN CAHOON

ABOUT THE BOOK

The food truck craze has reached the charming coastal town of South Cove, California, but before Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More — can sample the eats, she has to shift gears and put the brakes on a killer.

Now that Kacey Austin has got her new gluten-free dessert truck up and running, there’s no curbing her enthusiasm — not even when someone vandalizes the vehicle and steals her recipes. But when Kacey turns up dead on the beach and Jill’s best friend Sadie becomes the prime suspect, Jill needs to step on it to serve the real killer some just desserts.

Murder on Wheels
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (February 2, 2016)
Paperback: 198 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1601834201
E-Book ASIN: B00XSVSCHQ

INTERVIEW WITH LYNN CAHOON

Lynn, do you have a writing routine?
I goal for 2,000 words a day, 10,000 words a week. I get up early and write, then try to finish up at night after dinner.

Do you write every day?
If I’m on deadline and/or I’ve blown off other days when I should have been writing. So mostly, yes.

What do you wish you’d done differently when you first started the publishing process?
Listened to the advice of branding and only publish in one genre. Right now I have cowboys, witches, a medical romance, and of course, my cozy mysteries. But honestly, I don’t know what story I wouldn’t have written. Each one has added to my maturity as a writer.

How often do you read?
Every day when I drive into work. I’m a big audio book fan!

I am too. Love them. What do you think makes a good story?
It’s characters who you care about. With the Tourist Trap series, I feel like I’m going home every time I start writing the next book. I like catching up and seeing what’s going on in their lives.

What five things would you never want to live without?
Flavored sparkling water (Dasani Black Cherry is my fav); contacts; unlimited supply of books; notebooks; yoga pants.

Name one thing you’re really good at and one thing you’re really bad at.
I’m really good at planning. Event planning, process management – I’m your girl.  I’m bad at the networking thing. I want to like everyone, I just want to like them on my time and in my own way. It’s an author thing . . .

What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do?
Is there ever nothing to do? I’m always looking for time. I guess I’d make cookies. Or finish a quilting project. Or maybe clean my office.

Do you give your characters any of your bad traits?
My inability to diet.

What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Puff pastry that I bought to make an appetizer with. It may or may not go bad before I use it.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
Never give up, never surrender.

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
This is easy, the central library in Indianapolis. When the zombie apocalypse comes, that’s where I’m holding up. They have a fiction reading room that’s lovely. A fire place, and a glass atrium where we can grow crops inside.


If you had a talk show who would your dream guests be?
Diane Keyton, Oprah, Miranda Lambert, Caroline Kennedy, and Tina Fey.


How do you like your pizza?
Full of fresh veggies. Minus the olives. 


Oh, we'd get along great! What are you working on now?
As you read this, I’m deep into writing the second book in The Cat Latimer Mystery series. Cat, my heroine, runs a writer’s retreat in a Victorian mansion in a small Colorado college town. Love this setting and my cast of characters. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015.

She's also the author of the soon to be released, Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A Story to Kill, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016.

She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies.

Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

Connect with Lynn:
Website  |   
Blog   |   
Facebook  |    Twitter    |   Goodreads  

Buy the book:
Amazon  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED AUTHOR: LYNN CAHOON

ABOUT THE BOOK

Jill Gardner — owner of Coffee, Books, and More — has somehow been talked into sponsoring a 5k race along the beautiful California coast. The race is a fundraiser for the local preservation society — but not everyone is feeling so charitable . . .

The day of the race, everyone hits the ground running . . . until a local business owner stumbles over a very stationary body. The deceased is the vicious wife of the husband-and-wife team hired to promote the event — and the husband turns to Jill for help in clearing his name. But did he do it? Jill will have to be very careful, because this killer is ready to put her out of the running . . . forever!

INTERVIEW WITH LYNN CAHOON

Lynn, tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
Killer Run, like all the Tourist Trap mysteries, is a standalone within a series.

All of the books are set in South Cove, California, the best little tourist trap on the central California coast. The town folk include people you love, people you love to hate, and a few additions with each book. Guidebook to Murder won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction this year.

Where’s home for you?
Right now, I’m living in a historic river town on the Mississippi river. I love the small town atmosphere and the proximity to my job along with various shopping areas.

What’s your favorite memory?
I must have been pre-school as we moved out of this house by the beginning of third grade, but the front closet had an entrance to the crawl space below. The thick iron handle was recessed into the floor. I remember sitting in that closet and making up stories about how it was a portal to another land.  


What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
The difference between writers and authors is determination. They keep getting back up when they get knocked down. This may not be your time, but it only takes one editor to love your book. All the rest is luck. Julia Quinn said in her keynote at #RWA15 this (or a version of this) – “You can’t please everyone, every time.”

Do you have another job outside of writing?
Currently yes. I license and title vehicles for a leasing company here in St. Louis. Not the most exciting work, but I get to play with my imaginary friends a lot while I’m working.  

Would you rather be a lonely genius, or a sociable idiot?
Like most authors, I’d take the lonely genius. I do like my time alone because, let’s face it, if you’re thinking about your story, you have your characters to keep you company.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
Never give up, never surrender. I just attended the annual Romance Writer’s convention and in different forms, I must have heard that sentiment daily at sessions.

How did you create the plot for this book?
I’m a pantser, but I go into the book knowing a few things. Like for Killer Run, I knew they were going to sponsor a run, that Jackie was going to be more active in the sleuthing part (Jill needs to keep an eye out on that one), and that a new business was being added to the mix.

I love finding out new and interesting things about my town and the people who live there. Harrold, the owner/operator of The Train Station is going to throw the gang a big curve. 

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
The middle of the book. Any book, every book. There’s a story called The Phantom Tollbooth and it talks about the Doldrums . . . I feel like I’m lost in that mythical country every time I hit halfway and my mind starts playing tricks on me.

That's where I am right now! What are you working on now?
Starting this week, I’ll be returning to South Cove for Tourist Trap #7. I signed a three-book contract extension at the beginning of 2015. So happy the readers are enjoying Jill and the South Cove gang because it means I can keep writing the series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon is an Idaho expat. She grew up living the small town life she now loves to write about. Currently, she’s living with her husband and two fur babies in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. Guidebook to Murder, Book 1 of the Tourist Trap series won the 2015 Reader’s Crown award for Mystery Fiction.

Connect with Lynn:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

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Featured Author: Lynn Cahoon

About the book:

The tourist town of South Cove, California, is a lovely place to spend the holidays. But this year, shop owner Jill Gardner discovers there’s no place like home for homicide. . .

As owner of Coffee, Books, and More, Jill Gardner looks forward to the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. But when the mayor ropes her into being liaison for a new work program, 'tis the season to be wary. Local businesses are afraid the interns will be delinquents, punks, or worse. For Jill, nothing’s worse than Ted Hendricks--the jerk who runs the program. After a few run-ins, Jill’s ready to kill the guy. That, however, turns out to be unnecessary when she finds Ted in his car--dead as a doornail. Officer Greg assumes it’s a suicide. Jill thinks it’s murder. And if the holidays weren’t stressful enough, a spoiled blonde wants to sue the city for breaking her heel. Jill has to act fast to solve this mess--before the other shoe drops. . .

Interview with Lynn Cahoon

What’s the story behind the title If the Shoe Kills?
It’s a Cinderella reference. The new store in town is a glass shop and has a glass slipper on the sign. I love the idea of Cinderella getting all feisty and taking care of business.

If the Shoe Kills is the third in the Tourist Trap Mysteries. Tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
The Tourist Trap Mysteries follow my amateur sleuth, Jill Gardner, and her adventures in South Cove, a small tourist town on the central California coastline. I love building this town as the stories build and learning more about the friends and enemies surrounding Jill. Each book can be read as a stand-alone. My publisher released three books in the series this year, and I’m contracted for three more next year.   

Do you have another job outside of writing?
I do have a day job. I’m in administration for a large St. Louis leasing company. So if you need to know how to tag or plate your car in Georgia or parts of Canada, I’m your girl.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?
I adore Aunt Jackie. She says what’s on her mind, no matter who’s around to hear. And she’s living her life, even with the challenges she runs into during the story. Sometimes I wish I was more like her.

One of your characters has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?
Oh, this is a great question. For the WIP, (Tourist Trap #5) the victim would chose something up close and personal, like a blade, since I was totally messing with their livelihood and life. I don’t think this person would take kindly to the threat.

With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?
Stephen King (Nuff said.)
Rachel Ray (And hope we have access to a fully stocked kitchen.)
Laura Bradford (My BFF)
Robyn Carr (I’d love to pick her brain on writing.)
Bob Mayer (So he could help me career plan.)

What song would you pick to go with your book?
If the Shoe Kills is a holiday book, happening just before Thanksgiving, so I should pick "Over the River," but I believe the feel is more with the Christmas carol, "Oh Holy Night." Mostly due to the re-birth of one of the characters. The hymn reminds me of hope and the chance of a new day for a new choice.

Who are your favorite authors?
Stephen King, Harlan Coben (Can I add him to the bookstore group too?), Robyn Carr (LOVE her Thunder Point series.) I’m developing a reader crush on Joe Hill too which is a dilemma on loving both a father and a son. Oh, and Jim Butcher.


What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?
Currently I’m listening to Harlan’s Stay Close. In paper, I’ve got several started including Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, Elizabeth Lynn Casey’s Remnants of Murder, and Lori Wilde’s The First Love Cookie Club. And a few more I’ve got opened and started somewhere around the house.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
On my desktop in my office, first thing in the morning. But that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, so now I write anywhere I can and anytime. Except I’m an early to bed kind of girl, so my brain is mush after 9.

What’s your favorite memory?
Watching the light wheel change the color of the silver Christmas tree in the first house I remember. I began to story-tell at a young age, hanging out in the hall closet where there was an entry to the crawl space below. I believed it was a portal to another world. 

What do you love about where you live?

I live in a historic river town on the Mississippi. I love living near the water and cross two rivers to get to my day job. I love the history that surrounds me every day, but I’m particularly fond of the road filled with antique shops where I love to wander.


Have you been in any natural disasters?
One earthquake so far.

How did you meet your husband?
I met my current spouse in a bar. His girlfriend and my boyfriend (at the time) were on a dart league together. So while they played, we talked. I liked him from the first time we talked, but the thing he did for me was make me question my tendency to settle in relationships. I wasn’t in love with the guy I was dating, and, I wanted to be in love. So I broke it off with the first guy, and a few months later, fate brought us back together. We’re going on fifteen years together now.

If you could only keep one book, what would it be?
Illusions by Richard Bach. Or Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.

You’re published by eKinsington. How did you find them, and how long did your query process take?
I love this question because I’m the poster child for Never Give Up, Never Surrender. I’d had Kensington written on a note card for years because they accepted unagented submissions and published cozy mysteries. I sat in on a couple panels at RWA Nationals the last time it was in New York City and really liked some of the editors. I shopped Guidebook to Murder to a bunch of agents for a couple years with no bites. Then, I found the index card on my desk. I submitted and forgot about it. A few months later, I got an email from my editor asking if I’d thought about a second book in the series. I sent her a partial, and by April of 2013, I had a contract in hand.

What are you working on now?
Book #5 of The Tourist Trap series where Jill and the town sponsor a fun walk/run on The Mission Trail.

Other books by Lynn:

Guidebook to Murder
Mission to Murder

About the author:

USA Today and New York Times best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon is an Idaho native. If you’d visit the town where she grew up, you’d understand why her mysteries and romance novels focus around the depth and experience of small town life. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. She lives with her husband and four fur babies.

Connect with Lynn:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon author page

Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble