FEATURED AUTHOR: SHELLY FROME

ABOUT THE BOOK

For tour guide Emily Ryder, the turning point came on that fatal early morning when her beloved mentor met an untimely death. It's labeled as an accident and Trooper Dave Roberts is more interested in Emily than in any suspicions over Chris Cooper's death. For Emily, if Chris hadn't been the Village Planner and the only man standing in the way of the development of an apartment and entertainment complex in their quaint village of Lydfield, Connecticut, she might have believed it was an accident, but too many pieces didn't fit.

As Emily heads across the pond for a prescheduled tour of Lydfield's sister village, Lydfield-in-the-Moor, she discovers that the murderer may be closer than she thought.

Book Details:

Title: The Secluded Village Murders

Author: Shelly Frome

Genre: Cozy mystery


Publisher: BQB Publishing (September 1st 2018)


Print length: 339 pages


On tour with: Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH SHELLY FROME

Q: Shelly, what’s the story behind the title of your book?
A: The secluded villages are, in point of fact, the sister villages of Litchfield, Connecticut and Litchfield, U.K. As it happens, at one time they exchanged visits and my late wife covered the festivities for the regional Connecticut paper.

Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I spent my formative years in Miami, Florida.

Q: What’s your favorite memory?
A: My favorite memory is seeing my wife for the first time on the grounds of the Green Mountain Theater in Vermont.

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
A: To put aside everything people have tried to foist on me and trust my inner voice and experience.

Q: What do you love about where you live?
A: Surrounded by and nestled in the Blue Ridge.

Q: What is the most daring thing you've done?
A: Taking off for the Mexican border in an unknown roommate’s MG as he tells me he’s on parole after holding up the same New Mexican town Billy Kid escaped from holding a saw-offed shotgun.

Q: Yikes! What’s one thing you wish your younger writer self knew?
A: That I had the makings of an incurable storyteller.

Q: What makes you nervous?
A: Some upcoming trial or cause for tribulation.

Q: What makes you excited?
A: A prospect that might have untold possibilities.

Q: Who are you?
A: A former New York starving actor and a professor emeritus of dramatic arts at the University of Connecticut.

Q: If you could only save one thing from your house, what would it be?
A: My goldendoodle Baxter.

Q: What’s one of your favorite quotes?
A: “All art is the result of having been in danger. Of going as far as one can go and beyond.” -Rilke

Q: What’s your favorite line from a book?
A: “The world breaks everyone. Some are strong in the broken places.” Hemingway

Q: Is your book based on real events?
A: The attempt of a rapacious developer from New Jersey to destroy a verdant high meadow adjacent to my home in order to build a condo complex.

Q: Who are your favorite authors?
A: Hemingway, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, James Lee Burke, Ray Bradbury, P.D. James.

Q: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing?
A: When crime writer Donald Westlake declared that my Hollywood novel Tinseltown Riff was captivating.

Q: What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing?
A: Someone said my saga centering on a drifter was pretentious. Since I had put my whole heart and soul into it, I finally just discarded the notion.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: A crime story with the working title Miranda and the D-Day Caper.

EXCERPT FROM THE SECLUDED VILLAGE MURDERS

Picking up speed, she passed the rows of Victorian houses with their pilastered front porches and attached shutters in homage to last century’s Colonial Revival. She’d grown up here, always lived here except for college and her transatlantic jaunts. But at this moment, her village might as well be a scattering of old photos.
Before she knew it, the rain was beating down harder, her wiper blades barely able to keep up. Among the nagging questions flitting through her mind was how could Miranda Shaw have suddenly gotten wind of her leaking roof? Or did somebody just put her up to it, to get Chris rushing pell- mell in the rain so he would...
Emily eased her foot off the pedal, barely able to see through the downpour. She switched the wipers on high and kept her eyes on the road, intent on avoiding an accident.
Minutes later, she pulled into Miranda Shaw’s place at a slow but steady crawl. As she reached the circular drive, straining her eyes through the thwacking blades, she peered up two stories above the stone archway.
There she caught sight of the familiar gangly figure climbing higher toward the peak of an eight-sided turret. At a point where the grayish-blue slate, copper flashing, and a mullioned window merged, the figure suddenly became a shuddering blur.
Emily honked her horn, blasting as loud as she could. But it was too late. The figure flopped over and slid down the turret, glanced off the aluminum ladder and toppled like a broken doll.
***
Excerpt from The Secluded Village Murders by Shelly Frome.  Copyright © 2018 by Shelly Frome. Reproduced with permission from Shelly Frome. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of crime novels and books on theater and film. He is also a features writer for Gannett Media. His fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown Riff, and Murder Run. Among his works of non-fiction are The Actors Studio and texts on the art and craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. Moon Games is his latest foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Connect with Shelly:
Website  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

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FEATURED AUTHOR: NANCY WARREN

ABOUT THE BOOK

Vampires who knit

A troublemaking witch

Who killed Granny — and is she really dead?



At a crossroads between a cringe-worthy past (Todd the Toad) and an uncertain future (she's not exactly homeless, but it's close), Lucy Swift travels to Oxford to visit her grandmother. With Gran's undying love to count on and Cardinal Woolsey's, Gran's knitting shop, to keep her busy, Lucy can catch her breath and figure out what she's going to do.



Except it turns out that Gran is the undying. Or at least, the undead. But there's a death certificate. And a will, leaving the knitting shop to Lucy. And a lot of people going in and out who never use the door—including Gran, who is just as loving as ever, and prone to knitting sweaters at warp speed, late at night. What exactly is going on?



When Lucy discovers that Gran did not die peacefully in her sleep, but was murdered, she has to bring the killer to justice without tipping off the law that there's no body in the grave. Between a hot 600-year-old vampire and a dishy detective inspector, both of whom always seem to be there for her, Lucy finds her life getting more complicated than a triple cable cardigan. 
The only one who seems to know what's going on is her cat ... or is it ... her familiar? 

First in a new series of paranormal cozy mysteries with bite!

“A terrific read - witches, vampires, knitting and a great plot. What more could you ask for?”***** 5 star review by Krystyna, Amazon reviewer.

Book Details:


Title: The Vampire Knitting Club

Author’s name: Nancy Warren

Genre: Paranormal cozy mystery

Series: Vampire Knitting Club, book 1

Publisher: Ambleside Publishing (October 4, 2018)

Print length: 218 pages

On tour with: Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Stitches and Witches, Vampire Knitting Club book 2
Crochet and Cauldrons, Vampire Knitting Club book 3

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH NANCY WARREN

Things you need in order to write: My computer, an idea!, my 15-year-old border Collie, Max, at my feet.
Things that hamper your writing: Noise (this includes music. How writers can work with music is a mystery to me). Feeling like I have too much to do.

Things you love about writing: The freedom to create my own schedule, to work in sweats and the joy of creating something new.
Things you hate about writing: The second draft, AKA the poo draft. When the right word won’t come.


Things you never want to run out of: LUSH lavender body cream, Yorkshire Gold Tea, wine.
Things you wish you’d never bought: Those expensive jeans I knew were too tight and I thought I could lose a couple of pounds and fit into . . . 


Favorite foods: Chocolate, wine, cheese and bread: the major food groups.
Things that make you want to throw up: Liver, anything that ends in ‘wurst’ which is the perfect name for that stuff.

Favorite beverage: Champagne.

Something that gives you a pickle face: Kombucha. I try, I really do, because I know it’s good for me, but that stuff is nasty.

Favorite smell: Lavender.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Sometimes when I’m hiking a young guy will pass me and he’s put on heavy men’s cologne which is supposed to cover up his sweat smell, I guess. Well, it doesn’t and the combination of BO and cheap cologne nearly makes me throw up.

Something you’re really good at: Croquet, and I used to be a killer ping pong player. Not sure if I still am.

Something you’re really bad at: Knitting. Which is unfortunate as I’m writing a series about a knitting club! I’m learning, but knitting is much harder than I thought.


Something you wish you could do: Sing and dance like a Broadway star.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Iron.


Last best thing you ate: Recently? It was these amazing cream pastries in France.

Last thing you regret eating: That second cookie after dinner last night.

Things to say to an author: I am so mad at you! I was up until two reading your book and then I had to call in sick because I could not put it down!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I have a great idea. How about if I tell it to you, you write it and we’ll split the profits! Closely followed by, ‘You should write a romance about my friend. She’s been married fifteen times!’

Favorite places you’ve been: Bath, Oxford, Venice, Matera, the Great Barrier Reef, the Inca Train in Peru, Paris, Sedona, San Francisco, and too many more to name . . . 

Places you never want to go to again: Barcelona. I know people love it, but to me it’s too crowded, and I was nearly robbed by a pick pocket.

Favorite books: Pride and Prejudice, anything by Jane Austen, anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Books you would ban: Any book (nearly always written by a male author) where women are portrayed as weak and useless. Grrrrr.

Favorite things to do: Hiking, reading, traveling, live theater.

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Accounting, most housework.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I’ve hiked some mountains that I wasn’t sure I could summit and then stood at the top feeling like I’d conquered the world.

Something you chickened out from doing: Sky diving. I wanted to but was too scared.

The last thing you did for the first time: I tried Kombucha.

Something you’ll never do again: Drink Kombucha.

READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE VAMPIRE KNITTING CLUB




One

Cardinal Woolsey’s knitting shop has appeared on postcards celebrating the quaint views of Oxford, of which there are many. But when a visitor has tired of writing ‘wish you were here’ on the back of pictures of the various colleges, the dreaming spires, and the dome of the Radcliffe Camera, a cozy little shop painted blue, brimming with baskets of wool and hand-knit goods, can be so much more inviting.

My grandmother Agnes Bartlett owned the knitting shop and I was on my way to visit after spending a very hot month at a dig site in Egypt visiting my archeologist parents.

Gran was always ready to wrap her warm arms around me and tell me everything was going to be all right. I needed comforting after discovering my boyfriend of two years Todd had stuck his salami in someone else’s sandwich. I referred to him now as my ex-boyfriend The Toad. I was thinking about Gran’s wisdom, her hugs and her home made gingersnaps, when I started to feel as though cold, wet fingers were walking down the back of my neck.

My wheeled suitcase clanked and rattled behind me along the cobblestones of Harrington Street as I looked around, wondering what had caused the heebie-jeebies.

The October day was chilly and crisp and, in the mid-afternoon, the street was busy with shoppers, tourists and students. Church bells chimed three o’clock. When I glanced ahead, I saw my beloved Gran. She wore a black skirt, sensible shoes and one of her hand-knit cardigans, this one in orange and blue. She was walking with a glamorous woman in her sixties whom I didn’t recognize. I thought Gran looked confused and my hackles immediately rose. The glamor puss was holding an umbrella over Gran’s head, even though the day was dry and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
I waved and called, “Gran!” moving faster so my suitcase began to bounce.

I was sure they saw me, but as I sped toward them, they veered down a side street. What on earth? I lifted my case and began to run; though my case was so heavy it was more of a grunting stagger.

“Gran!” I yelled again. I stopped at the bottom of the road where I’d last seen them. There was no one there. A dry, shriveled leaf tumbled toward me and from a window ledge a small, black cat regarded me with what looked like pity. Otherwise, the street was empty.

“Agnes Bartlett!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I stood, panting. The side street was lined with a mixture of half-timbered cottages and Victorian row houses, all clearly residential. Gran hadn’t popped into a shop and would soon emerge. She was visiting in one of those homes, presumably. I wondered if it belonged to her friend.

Well, there was no point standing there. I’d go to Cardinal Woolsey’s and wait for Gran there. Her assistant, Rosemary, would be running the shop and I could let myself into the upstairs flat and unpack while I waited for my grandmother to return.

I retraced my steps, but when I reached the entrance to the quaint shop and tried the door, it didn’t open. I tried again, pushing harder, before my other senses kicked in and I realized that no lights were on inside.

A printed sign hung on the windowed front door. It said, “Cardinal Woolsey’s is closed until further notice.” At the bottom was a phone number.

Closed until further notice?

Gran never closed the shop outside her regular closing days. And if she had, where was her assistant?

I stood on the sidewalk that feeling came again, like cold fingers on the nape of my neck.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 


Nancy's a USA Today bestselling author of more than 60 novels. Nancy's originally from Vancouver, Canada, but she tends to wander. She currently lives in an 18th century house in Bath, England where she loves to pretend she's Jane Austen, or at least a character in a Jane Austen novel.

When she's not writing, she's hiking, skiing, traveling or sipping wine. She's appeared on the front page of the New York Times (when her book, Speed Dating launched Harlequin's NASCAR series), has been a clue in a crossword puzzle (National Post, Canada), and she's been a finalist for the RITA award three times, honored by Romantic Times Magazine and often shares her love of writing in her popular workshops.

Connect with Nancy:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:

Amazon

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FEATURED AUTHOR: LORETTA MARION

ABOUT THE BOOK

A family patriarch’s dying proclamation, an enigmatic disappearance, and a century-old curse converge in the shadows of a majestic home on Cape Cod’s craggy coast.



Thirty-seven-year-old painter Cassandra Mitchell is fourth-generation to live in the majestic Battersea Bluffs, a brooding Queen Anne home originally built by her great-grandparents, Percy and Celeste Mitchell, and still standing despite tragedies that have swept the generations. Local lore has it that there was a curse placed on the family and the house is haunted, though opinions are divided on whether it's by malicious or benevolent spirits. Cassie believes the latter―but now she stands to lose her beloved home to mounting debt and the machinations of her dream-weaving ex-husband.



Salvation seems to arrive when a nomadic young couple wanders onto the property with the promise of companionship and much-needed help―until they vanish without a trace, leaving behind no clue to their identities. Cassie is devastated, but determined to discover what's happened to the young couple...even as digging into their disappearance starts to uncover family secrets of her own. Despite warnings from her childhood friend, now the local Chief of Police―as well as an FBI agent who pushes the boundaries of professionalism―Cassie can't help following the trail of clues (and eerie signals from the old house itself) to unravel the mystery. But can she do so before her family's dark curse destroys everything in its path?



Book Details:


Title: House of Ashes

Author: Loretta Marion

Genre: Mystery (with elements of paranormal and romance)

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (November 13, 2018)

Print length: 336 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours


ALSO BY LORETTA MARION

The Fool's Truth   (Fall 2016)
The Fool's Truth is a twisty tale of mystery and suspense with whispers of romance. Desperation, dark secrets and danger emerge when Cordelia Richmond and her toddler daughter become stranded in the backwoods of Maine where she’s taken in by a witch-like hermit living off the grid. The book has received the following awards: Finalist in two categories (Mystery & Suspense) IAN 2017 Book of the Year Awards, Honorable Mention New England Bookfest, Literary Titan Gold Book Award. 

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INTERVIEW WITH LORETTA MARION

A few of your favorite things: My favorite things have never been actual things. I count myself lucky to have THE BEST friends, a great husband, a wonderful mother who is sadly no longer with us, and many devoted canine companions throughout the years.
Things you need to throw out: I have too many shoes, purses, clothes in general. My closets need a major purge!


Things you need in order to write: Peace and quiet. A nice view is always inspirational.
Things that hamper your writing: Clutter. A loaded to-do list. Noise–Even music (except for light classical).

Things you love about writing: Spending time with my characters. Escaping into another place and time.
Things you hate about writing: Deadlines!

Easiest thing about being a writer: The writing!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Although I’m proud of my writing, I find it very difficult to tout it to others. Therefore, book promotion is a challenging but necessary part of the publishing process.


Things you love about where you live: It’s near the water. There are many opportunities for outdoor activities: biking, hiking, kayaking. The history of the community is interesting. There’s a quaint downtown walkable from my home.
Things that make you want to move: Winters!


Things you never want to run out of: Peanut butter, cheese, bread, nuts…yep, it’s all food! Oh, and wine. Boring but true…water.
Things you wish you’d never bought: There are quite a few clothing items hanging in my closet with the tags still attached to remind me it’s no bargain if you never end up wearing it.


Favorite foods: See above for things I never want to run out of and add dark chocolate and pasta to the list. And I love almost all vegetables – except lima beans.
Things that make you want to throw up: Lima beans.

Favorite music or song: Too many to pick just one, though “This Old Heart of Mine” by the Isley Brothers and remade by Rod Stewart is up there. Love the classic rockers like Petty, Clapton, The Beatles, Moody Blues, Chicago, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, CST&Y, CCR, Jackson Brown, Bowie, Dylan, Springsteen, Rolling Stones. I think I may have failed this question.
Music that make your ears bleed: Not a fan of rap.

Favorite smell: Tressor (my perfume). Old Spice (my husband’s aftershave).

Something that makes you hold your nose: Gin.

Something you’re really good at: Remembering faces and names.

Something you’re really bad at: Geography – though I do love to travel!


Something you wish you could do: Something creative or artistic like painting, playing music or singing.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Swear – not that I do it often.


Things you always put in your books: Pets, Small towns, a female protagonist, a mystery of some sort.

Things you never put in your books: Gratuitous sex or violence

Things to say to an author: I loved your book! How do you come up with those great story ideas? You’re my favorite author! You had me guessing until the very end.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Writing is such a nice little hobby for you. (Definitely killing them off in my next book!)

Favorite places you’ve been: Almost anywhere in New England and Canada. California wine country. Big Sur. Alaska & Hawaii. Favorite European cities I’ve been fortunate to visit: Paris, Florence, Budapest, Prague, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
Places you never want to go to again: Camping.


Favorite books (or genre): Too many! I love mysteries, the classics, women’s fiction, humor.

Books you would ban: None!


Favorite things to do: Walking – almost anywhere – through the woods, along the shore, in a vibrant city, through a quaint small town. Traveling. Spending time with friends. Writing.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Dusting – fortunately my husband is a fantastic duster!

Most embarrassing moment: Too many – ha!
Proudest moment: I initiated a Legacy Story program for hospice patients when I was a volunteer. It was the most meaningful experience of my life and where my desire to write a novel had its beginnings.


Biggest lie you’ve ever told: That I was allergic to lima beans.
A lie you wish you’d told: Can’t think of one.


Best thing you’ve ever done: Quit smoking – YAY! (many, many years ago)
Biggest mistake: Starting smoking (I was young and foolish – and it was very hard to quit!)


The last thing you did for the first time: Flew on a 747 – I’d always wanted to, but never had the chance until recently.

Something you’ll never do again: Unless I absolutely must…fly in a helicopter.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR 


A true bibliophile, Loretta Marion’s affection for the written word began in childhood and followed her like a shadow throughout her life as she crafted award winning marketing and advertising copy and educational brochures. When not whipping out words on her laptop, she is traveling, enjoying outdoor pursuits, or is curled up with a delicious new book. Loretta lives in Rhode Island with her husband, Geoffrey, and their beloved Mr. Peabody, a sweet, devoted and amusing “Corgador” (Corgi-Labrador cross).

Connect with Loretta:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Books-A-Million  |  Indiebound

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FEATURED AUTHOR: ELLEN BYRON

ABOUT THE BOOK

USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron is back at it with fan-favorite plantation B&B owner Maggie Crozat in a fourth installment of the Cajun Country mysteries. 

Southern charm meets the dark mystery of the bayou as a hundred-year flood, a malicious murder, and a most unusual Mardi Gras converge at the Crozat Plantation B&B.

It’s Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana―and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B―the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to Laissez les bon temps rouler―but there’s beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras. 



Maggie Crozat is determined to give the stranger a name and find out why he was murdered. The post-flood recovery has delayed the opening of a controversial exhibit about the little-known Louisiana Orphan Train. And when a judge for the Miss Pelican Mardi Gras Gumbo Queen pageant is shot, Maggie’s convinced the murder is connected to the body on the bayou. Does someone covet the pageant queen crown enough to kill for it? Could the deaths be related to the Orphan Train, which delivered its last charges to Louisiana in 1929? The leads are thin on this Fat Tuesday―and until the killer is unmasked, no one in Pelican is safe. 



A simmering gumbo of a humorous whodunit, Mardi Gras Murder is the fourth piquant installment in USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron’s award-winning Cajun Country mysteries.

Book Details:


Title: Mardi Gras Murder

Author: Ellen Byron

Genre: Cozy mystery

Series: Cajun Country mysteries, book 4

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (October 9th, 2018)

Print length: 304 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH ELLEN BYRON

A few of your favorite things: My rescue dogs and all my gorgeous needlepoint. Especially the Christmas ornaments.
Things you need to throw out: Pretty much everything else. Our house could be on that show, Hoarders, these days.


Things you need in order to write: My fingers and a computer.
Things that hamper your writing: The Internet and… the Internet.


Things you love about writing: The magic of coming up with a great plot twist or a truly unique turn of phrase.
Things you hate about writing: Having to tear myself away from Facebook.

Things you love about where you live: My neighbors! I live in the Hollywood Hills, and five of us gals power-walk at least one night a week. We call ourselves the West Donas Walkers because our neighborhood is nicknamed the Donas, and we’re on the west side of it.
Things that make you want to move: Typical Los Angeles complaints: terrible traffic and self-involved people. Also, I love rain and desperately miss is.

Words that describe you: Funny, loyal, pragmatic, driven, honest, questioning, passionate, caring, emotional.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Annoying, impatient, neurotic, stubborn, self-centered, opinionated, procrastinator.

Favorite foods: Chocolate, pasta, pizza, jambalaya, cake, gumbo, all kinds of meatball soups.
Things that make you want to throw up:  Coffee and cilantro. I despise them both. I have to rinse out my mouth if I accidentally eat either of them.

Favorite song: “Get Down Tonight,” by KC and the Sunshine Band. I consider it the best pop dance song ever written and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
Music that make your ears bleed: Heavy metal and anything by Drake. He is ALWAYS off key!

Favorite beverage: Unsweetened iced tea.

Something that gives you a pickle face: Sweetened iced tea – or any sugary drink.

Favorite smell: Night-blooming jasmine.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Tar.

Something you wish you could do: Dance en pointe in ballet. A dream of mine I never realized.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Spend money!

Something you like to do: Dance.

Something you wish you’d never done: Roll stop signs. All the tickets I’ve ever gotten – except for one speeding ticket – have been for rolling stop signs.

Last best thing you ate: Rum raisin cake. I was testing a recipe that will go into the fifth book in my Cajun Country Mystery series. Thumbs up for me, it came out great!

Last thing you regret eating: Rum raisin cake. It totally demolished my Weight Watchers points for the day.

Things you always put in your books: Recipes.
Things you never put in your books: Gory violence or torture of any kind. Yuck!

Things to say to an author: I love your series! 

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: You’re shorter in person than I thought you’d be.

Favorite things to do: Read, dance, needlepoint, hang with family and/or friends, wine-taste, just plain drink wine.

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Cleaning my house.

Things that make you happy: My doggies and my family, when everyone’s in a good mood. Also, see my list of “favorite things to do.”
Things that drive you crazy: People who would rather be right than happy.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

Plantation Shudders
Body on the Bayou
A Cajun Christmas Killing



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellen Byron authors the Cajun Country Mystery series. A Cajun Christmas Killing and Body on the Bayou both won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery and were nominated for Agatha awards in the category of Best Contemporary Novel. Plantation Shudders, was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards. Mardi Gras Murder launched October 9th. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing.

Connect with Ellen:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Instagram

Buy the book:

Amazon  |  
Barnes & Noble  |  Bookbub

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FEATURED AUTHOR: CAROLYN LAWRENCE

ABOUT THE BOOK

After the shocking death of her sister, Lily's life is shattered as she returns to her family's small hometown of Dacre, Georgia, to raise her socially awkward nephew Finn. But then a television show comes to town. When the lead actor Dutch Sturgess takes an interest in Finn's acting ability, then Lily herself, many around town are not happy. Especially Eli Bradley. Things quickly turn sour when the paparazzi uncover the secret Lily buried with her sister becomes front page news and unknowingly exposes the painfully abusive childhood Dutch tried to leave behind. The only comfort they have is with each other, but their bond will be tested when Eli and his brothers decide to make trouble for them. Lily and Dutch will take on a centuries-old moonshining feud with the Bradley boys, unsure if the town–and their love–can survive.



Book Details:


Title: The Mess We’re In

Author: Carolyn Lawrence

Genre: Romance


Series: The Dacre Anthology


Publisher: Carrick Press (August 14, 2018)

Print length: 258 pages

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH CAROLYN LAWRENCE


A few of your favorite things: I have a strong passion for ancestry and history, which runs rampant in my books. There is something romantic about digging into the dirt of the past and seeing what you find. I also enjoy sewing and cosplay. I just like creating. It doesn’t really matter what it is, as along as I am creating something.
Things you need to throw out: Those clothes I’m probably never going to fit into anymore, which are sadly out of date. 


Things you need in order to write: Music. I really don’t like writing without some music on. And a cold root beer.
Things that hamper your writing: My cats. I love them, but they really don’t like sharing the attention. 


Things you love about writing: The creation of a whole other world. You have the ability to design something, create something from scratch and play the ultimate chess game with the characters as you develop the story. There’s something rewarding about being able to do so. Also, I like the unknowing of it. While we might have control of the creation, the action seems to come from characters and we very rarely know exactly what is going on. It’s an adventure for the writer as much as it is for the characters.
Things you hate about writing: Sitting. I need a new chair. I really don’t hate anything but the sitting.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The writing. And the editing. I love editing. 

Hardest thing about being a writer: Being taking seriously, I suppose. Everyone thinks it’s just so easy to write; you just sit down and do it. But to write well takes skill and mastery which no one really seems to want to acknowledge and that is discouraging because you end up with statements like “I’d write a book if I had the time” hurled at you. We don’t have the time either, but we make it. That’s why we’re writers.


Things you love about where you live: It’s the South and I do love my South.
Things that make you want to move: Pollen. I’m allergic to everything that blooms here. And the traffic.


Things you never want to run out of: Toilet paper. Is that too obvious? Sorry I’m practical.
Things you wish you’d never bought: I really can’t think of anything? Probably yet another 6 pack of root beer. I really need to stop.


Words that describe you: Practical, intellectual, sarcastic, know-it-all, moody, introverted, funny, creative, observant.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Know-it-all, moody, distant, snobby,

Favorite song: "Heart and Soul" by T’Pau.
Music that make your ears bleed: Probably anything pop today.

Favorite smell: Jasmine and lemon (though not together)
.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Vanilla, pumpkin spice things, the obvious pungent though natural smells which come with daily life.

Something you’re really good at: I’m odd in that I’m good at a lot of things. If I put my mind to it, I can master just about anything. So can anyone else. You just must be willing to try.

Something you’re really bad at: I cannot, for the life of me, dribble a basketball. 


Something you wish you could do: I wish I could speak Gaelic.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Honestly, nothing. I love learning and everything I learn has a practical value in life.

People you consider as heroes: Gwendolyn Brooks is probably my biggest hero, because I had the privilege of meeting her in high school, and she was very encouraging of my writing. 

People with a big L on their foreheads: I dislike people who don’t understand boundaries.

Favorite places you’ve been: Jackson, Wyoming and Moffat, Scotland.

Places you never want to go to again: Meridian, Mississippi, but there’s a story there. 

Favorite books: Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Huckleberry Finn, anything by Flannery O’Conner and Edgar Allan Poe.

Books you would ban: Most books have an audience, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from them, but if it is poorly executed then I would ban it, like Stephanie Meyer or E.L. James (which is my opinion, they are), but again, there are people who like them, so I would never say ban them, because I would rather see people reading. I just won’t read them.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Stephen King, JK Rowling, Guillermo del Torro Evangeline Lily and Lou Diamond Phillips. They are all very inspirational to me.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Probably everyone, because I’m an introvert and if it consists of putting pants on, I’m usually a no.

Proudest moment: Publishing my book and handing it to the people who helped give me the courage to publish it. Pure joy for me.
Most embarrassing moment: I do embarrassing things all the time. There’s no particular moment which is more embarrassing, but then again, I don’t really get embarrass by what I do. My friends on the other hand . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Lawrence is a writer and an instructor in Georgia. She holds a BS in Communications, a Masters in Humanities and a Doctorate in Education. She teaches Humanities, American Literature, Perspectives in Humanities and Film Studies.


Connect with Carolyn:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads



Buy the book:

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GUEST POST BY: ABIGAIL KEAM

ABOUT THE BOOK



Josiah joins an amateur thespian group that puts on plays in quirky places like public parks and crumbling antebellum mansions. It is a way to socialize, and Josiah feels lonely when her friend Hunter stops calling. Since the new play is being staged at Hunter’s ancestral home Wickliffe Manor, Josiah sees this as a win-win situation. She gets to have fun and remind Hunter that she is still alive and kicking. Hint. Hint.

What could go wrong? Everything!

Hunter ignores the acting group including Josiah, and it doesn’t help when the leading lady, Madison Smythe, drops dead on Hunter’s antique Persian rug. To make matters worse, Franklin, Hunter’s brother, is arrested for her murder!

Josiah does the only thing she can. She sends an S.O.S. to her daughter Asa to investigate the murder. Asa must also discover why a love note from Hunter was found in the dead woman’s coat pocket. Josiah is ready for romance, but she doesn’t want to fall in love with a cheater . . . and possibly a murderer!

Book Details:


Title: Death by Drama


Author: Abigail Keam


Genre: Cozy mystery


Series: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery, book 11


Publisher: Worker Bee Press (July 24, 2018)


Print length: 228 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours



 GUEST POST BY ABIGAIL KEAM

Readers ask me how I get my ideas for the Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series, which is about an amateur beekeeping sleuth. I get them from a variety of sources. One is dreams. I sometimes dream my plots. Other storylines come from the headlines. Death By Bridle, Death By Drama, and my soon-to-be released Death By Stalking are based on true events. I change the names and some of the events, but the stories are basically true. 

In all my novels, I try to be as factual as possible. To understand the culture in the Bluegrass, you have to understand the past. As Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” That is why I weave history into the mystery storyline. I love history, and I think my readers enjoy reading Kentucky’s fascinating history as well.  Kentucky is not called the “dark and bloody ground” for nothing.

The one thing I try to do for my readers is write an enjoyable mystery. If they learn about honeybees and some history, I’m happy, but I want them to have a good time. I try to make Josiah witty, fun, and naughty.  I do consider my novels dark cozies because I write about serious subject matters such as spousal abuse, but I hope I write them in such a way that it does not come across as preaching. I want the readers to finish my mysteries with a light heart, and I will continue to write about Josiah, my heroine, as long as readers want to enter her world through the written word. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abigail Keam is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author who writes the Josiah Reynolds Mystery series about a Southern beekeeper turned amateur female sleuth in the Bluegrass.

Her first mystery novel, Death By A Honeybee, won the 2010 Gold Medal Award for Women’s Lit from Reader’s Favorite and was a Finalist of the USA Book News-Best Books List of 2011.
Death By Drowning won the 2011 Gold Medal Award for Best Mystery Sleuth from Reader’s Favorite and also was placed on the USA Book News-Best Books List of 2011 as a Finalist.

Miss Abigail is also an award-winning beekeeper who has won 16 honey awards at the Kentucky State Fair including the Barbara Horn Award, which is given to beekeepers who rate a perfect 100 in a honey competition.

A strong supporter of farmers’ markets and local food economy, Miss Abigail has taken her knowledge of beekeeping to create a fictional beekeeping protagonist, Josiah Reynolds, who solves mysteries in the Bluegrass. While Miss Gail’s novels are for enjoyment, she discusses the importance of a local sustainable food economy and land management for honeybees and other creatures.

She currently lives on the Kentucky River in a metal house with her husband and various critters. She still has honeybees.

Connect with Abigail:

Website  |   Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Pinterest  |    Instagram  |  YouTube
  

Buy the book:

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FEATURED AUTHOR: TRICIA L. SANDERS

ABOUT THE BOOK

An unwelcome visitor, an unrequited love, and a dead body create chaos in a middle-aged woman’s plan for a productive summer.

Despite a looming divorce, an empty checkbook, and a struggling cleaning business, Cece Cavanaugh is determined to land on her own two feet. Adamant about staying a safe distance from the handsome detective who has her fantasizing about violating the morals clause in her prenuptial agreement, Cece dives headlong into her work.

Even though she has no free time to spare, Cece finds herself guilted into cleaning a hoarder’s home. Her discoveries in the condemned house are too shocking to ignore. Diamond-laden pachyderms, a secret cache of money, and a dead body lure Cece into launching an investigation that places her in direct contact with the one person she’s desperate to avoid--hunky Detective Case Alder.

With clues in hand, Cece runs down leads and eliminates suspects one by one. Her conclusion and brave accusation put a friend’s life in peril forcing Cece to hatch a plan to outsmart the killer. A daring move could either save Cece and her friend or lead to their demise.

Book Details:


Title: Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn

Author: Tricia L. Sanders

Genre: Cozy mystery

Series: The Grime Pays Mystery series, Book 2

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing, LLC (October 24, 2018)

Print length: 250 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH TRICIA SANDERS


A few of your favorite things: My family, old photos, flamingos.
Things you need to throw out: Old clothes, clutter, everything in my basement (I hate to throw stuff away, so I always put things aside that I can recycle. Only I never find the time to turn them into something else.)


Things you need in order to write: Laptop, music, iced tea (unsweet, no lemon).
Things that hamper your writing: Too many ideas and not enough time, noise, laundry
.

Things you love about writing: Making stuff up, creating characters, building relationships.
Things you hate about writing: Editing, marketing, talking about myself.

Things you love about where you live: Four seasons, my friends, my writing group.
Things that make you want to move: My daughter doesn’t live here, I hate single-degree temps, live too far from civilization.


Things you never want to run out of: Iced tea, clean underwear, gas (in my car).
Things you wish you’d never bought: An oak entertainment center, 1992 Dodge Dynasty (in 1992), a boat (we never used it, and took a beating when we finally sold it)
.

Favorite foods: Anything Mexican, pizza, a good salad.
Things that make you want to throw up: Anchovies, beets, oysters.

Favorite music: Country music.
Music that make your ears bleed: Heavy metal (is that still a thing?).

Favorite beverage: Iced tea (unsweet, no lemon).

Something that gives you a pickle face: Grapefruit juice.

Favorite smell: Lilac (the real deal flower, not fragrances that are imitation lilac)
.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Farts.

Something you’re really good at: Photography
.
Something you’re really bad at: Singing
.

Something you wish you could do: Play piano.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Play clarinet. (Like why would I need to know how to play a clarinet.? Bad move, Mom!)

Something you like to do: Sit on my patio and watch the sunrise.

Something you wish you’d never done: Ate a persimmon that wasn’t ripe.

People you consider as heroes: People who are charitable and give of themselves and their time.

People with a big L on their foreheads: People who put down other people.



Last best thing you ate: Scallops at my favorite restaurant.

Last thing you regret eating: A lemon bar. It was okay, but not spectacular, and I ate the whole thing.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A hug from my daughter, to rescue a dog, to see an old friend.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Reality TV, frozen pot pies, dirty dishes.

Things you always put in your books: Sassy women, best friend relationships, iced tea (I’m addicted)
.
Things you never put in your books: Graphic sex, raw language, demons.

Things to say to an author: I wrote a review for your book
.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: When are you going to get a real job?

Favorite places you’ve been: Kenya and Tanzania, Venice, Santorini
.
Places you never want to go to again: Mexico.

Favorite genre: Women’s fiction, cozy mysteries, suspense, anything by Harlan Coben
.
Books you would ban: Badly edited books.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Harlan Coben, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright
.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone who wants to discuss politics, or anyone who abuses their position to hurt/destroy other people.

Favorite things to do: Photography, writing, traveling, watching the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball
.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Dishes, cooking, housework.

Things that make you happy: My family.

Things that drive you crazy: My family.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Rode in a hot air balloon over the Maasai Mara
.
Something you chickened out from doing: Tubing down a river in Belize. (I didn’t really have the opportunity to chicken out. The event was canceled due to weather, but I was not looking forward to doing it and would have chickened out if it hadn’t been canceled.)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tricia L. Sanders writes cozy mysteries and women’s fiction. She adds a dash of romance and a sprinkling of snark to raise the stakes. Her heroines are humorous women embarking on journeys of self-discovery all the while doing so with class, sass, and a touch of kickass.

Tricia is an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, so don't get between her and the television when a game is on. Currently she is working on a mystery series set in the fictional town of Wickford, Missouri. Another project in the works is a women's fiction road trip adventure.

A former instructional designer and corporate trainer, she traded in curriculum writing for novel writing, because she hates bullet points and loves to make stuff up. And fiction is more fun than training guides and lesson plans.



Connect with Tricia:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Pinterest  |   Newsletter Sign Up



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BOOK 1 IN THE SERIES:
Murder is a Dirty Business

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