Sherlock Holmes was created in 1887, and for over one hundred years generations of fans have loved him. We’ve read his books. We’ve watched his movies, and we’ve seen how people reimagined him.
Today let’s look at some of his most famous quotes.
“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people do not know.” The Adventures of the Blue Carbuncle
And this might be one of my favorite quotes:
“Only one important thing has happened in the last three days, and that is that nothing has happened.” The Adventure of the Second Stain.
November 1 is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It’s fun and exhausting, and it’s a great way to get your story written. The goal is 50,000 words in thirty days. To make your goal, you need an understanding family. Because they may come home at night and feel like nothing has happened. And really, who has time to focus on mundane things when you’re in your writing cave for NaNoWriMo?
If you’re also participating, look for me on the NaNoWriMo site. We can cheer each other on.
I’ll be writing The Con, the second book in An Organized Crime Cozy Mystery series. Happy November!
I’ve also got my Post-it notes, pens, vision board, and my loose plot outline ready. I’ll be writing The Con. It’s the second book in An Organized Crime Mystery series.
I’m ready to write as soon as November 1 gets here.
Heather Weidner has graciously joined us today to talk books and holidays. Thanks, Heather. Let’s begin talking holidays.
Heather, what are some of your holiday traditions? Do you have a favorite holiday?
I love all the holidays, but Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are probably my favorites. I have so many wonderful holiday memories. My grandmother and I would always put up her Christmas decorations on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it was always a magical, fun time. (Back then, that was early for holiday decorations, but she’d be right in style today.)
Do you want to share a recipe?
This is a quick (and delish) one that’s perfect for holiday gatherings. It’s from my new mystery, Christmas Lights and Cat Fights.
Triple-layer Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
1 package of brownie mix (20 ounces)
1 cup of cold milk
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 ½ cups of Cool Whip
½ cup of dry roasted peanuts, chopped
1 package of vanilla instant pudding
½ cup of powdered sugar
3 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
Directions:
Bake brownies in 13×9-inch pan. Follow the package directions. Beat milk and pudding mix with a whisk for 2 minutes. Add peanut butter and sugar. Mix well. Refrigerate until brownies are completely cooled. Spread pudding mixture over brownies. Microwave Cool Whip and chocolate on high for 1 minute. Stir every 30 seconds. Spread over pudding. Sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Why’d you decide to write a Christmas cozy?
Each of the Jules Keene Glamping mysteries are set in the season after the previous book. Christmas Lights and Cat Fights fell during the winter months, and the holidays were a perfect backdrop for a cozy. Fern Valley is planning weekend holiday festivities to bring tourists to the quaint town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The town sparkles with all the decorations and lights. Everyone is excited about the festivities. What could go wrong?
And if you like Christmas all year, check out my Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. My amateur sleuth, Jade Hicks, owns a Christmas shop in a little beach town in Virginia.
What did you do to get in the mood? Did you decorate your office with Christmas decorations?
I love Christmas, and I go a little crazy sometimes. I put up five trees last year, but I love all my ornaments, and it’s such fun to theme the trees by room. I have gold/silver/white tree, a toy tree, a purple tree, a blue and silver tree, and a peacock tree that goes in my Florida room.
We watch holiday movies and shows while we decorate. (And this is going to start a discussion about whether or not it’s a Christmas movie, but I always watch Die Hard in December. Other favorites are the classic 70s and 80s cartoons and A Christmas Story.)
Did you play Christmas music? Do you have a playlist for this book? If so, what’s on it?
I love holiday music (after Thanksgiving). I like to celebrate the holidays in order. I always have music on, and the holiday songs add to the festivities. I love all kinds of music, but I’m an 80s girl, so “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is always a favorite.
Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
When it comes to side characters, Rosalie Spielman knows what she’s talking about.
Welcome, Rosalie!
Who are your favorite characters to read in books? Mine are often the endearingly kooky side characters who spice up (or impede) the main character’s journey. And, perhaps not surprisingly, they are the most fun to write.
Character ideas come from lots of places. For my Hometown series, the main character, Tessa Treslow, is a retired Army officer, so not far from me and my family, same as Aunt Edna. Their hometown, New Oslo, is closely based on my birthplace of Troy, Idaho. As for the side characters, some play to stereotypes, like Jessie St. John, the town cougar, and Becky, the hairstylist. Some are a conglomerate of people I’ve known over the years, like the “old coots” who sit on the bench outside the historical society, Hank and Hollis. And some add fun and sparkle to the town, like the Prunn sisters.
A new side character I brought into Murder Comes Home, the third of my Hometown Mysteries, is Deeda. She’s introduced as a femme fatale but reveals herself as more later. The idea for Deeda came after a road trip with my daughter, where she played a YouTuber/Podcaster for us to listen to as we drove, Bailey Sarian. Bailey shares obscure stories of “dark” history and true crime in an entertaining or down to earth manner that makes it fun to learn these less-known facts. (Some of her topics are not exactly G-rated, so proceed with caution if you look her up.) I loved her persona, and in my mind, Deeda the History Diva, host of Deep Dive with Deeda, bloomed. Like Bailey Sarian, Deeda shares obscure history with her subscribers, and does it in an engaging way.
In Murder Comes Home, Deeda becomes a pretty important character, one who holds the key to the sub-plot mystery, and perhaps the main mystery as well. She just might become a regular in the series, so stay tuned!
Thanks, Rosalie. We’ll be sure to stay tuned.
Friends, Rosalie and I have the same agent and we first became friends online. After we met at a conference, we became true friends.
Rosalie Spielman is a mother, veteran, and retired military spouse. She was thrilled to discover that she could make other people laugh with her writing and finds joy in giving people a humorous escape from the real world. She writes for the multi-author Aloha Lagoon mystery series and her own Hometown Mystery series.
She currently lives in Maryland with her husband in a rapidly emptying nest. For more information on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter, go to http://www.rosalie-spielman-author.com, follow her Facebook page (Rosalie Spielman author) or Instagram (Rosalie.Spielman). Rosalie strives to provide you a cozy escape…one page at a time.
7 November 2023: #3 in the Hometown Mysteries, Murder Comes Home
**Gemma Halliday Publishing is donating a portion of the presales to a veterans’ charity, the Disabled American Veterans, or DAV.
US Army retiree Tessa Treslow and her Aunt Ednaput their auto restoration business on hold to host an “American Pickers”-style TV show, hoping their trash might be treasure to fun their new business. But not only do the pickers come with cameras and likeable stars, but a murderer…
Chris Romeril is my guest today, and we’re talking chocolate and cozies. Take it away, Chris.
Who loves chocolate? I can’t pinpoint the first time I experienced the bliss of eating chocolate, but I’m sure I was quite young. A life without chocolate after experiencing it seems almost, cruel. And yet, I had an acquaintance years ago who had willingly given it up. It may have been for a good reason, like giving up something for Lent, but for the love of all things holy, why chocolate!
It’s October and we all know how this month will end. Most of us will be eating a huge quantity of little bite size chocolate bars. Can these ridiculously tiny miniatures that have gotten smaller each year even be called bars anymore? Now, I don’t want to come across as a chocolate snob, but truth be told, I am one. There are definitely a few chocolate bars I indulge in occasionally, but mostly I save myself for some good quality chocolate. Over the years I have developed a taste for the type of chocolate only found at fine chocolatiers.
Locally, my favorite shop is Chocolate Lethbridge, a purveyor of quality chocolate from the best chocolatiers in the world. I’ve been indulging in their award-winning Bernard Callebaut chocolates for over twenty years and I’ll take ten of their chocolates over a bag full of trick-or-treat surprises any day. It was Chocolate Lethbridge’s chocolates that helped inspire the idea for the Killer Chocolate Mysteries. While the chocolates in the series are all named after poisons, they do not actually contain any poison, at least not at the point of sale. Nor, might I add, do any sold by Chocolate Lethbridge.
As I write this blog post I am in Mexico where chocolate’s 4,000-year history began. It’s here the first cacao plants were found and turned into chocolate drinks used in rituals and as medicine. I often say my consumption of chocolate is medicinal. Who hasn’t had a bad day and used a bit of chocolate to soothe the soul in the evening? Chocolate is a part of almost every workday for me, as well. During most writing sessions I allow myself a piece of good-quality dark chocolate. I love the smooth, rich, bitter taste of chocolate with a high quantity of cocoa solids. 85% to 95% is my favorite as it gives it a multilayered experience.
In A NUTCRACKER NIGHTMARE twin sleuths, Alex and Hanna, own a book and chocolate shop. Hanna is in the process of creating a new bonbon for a local chocolate competition in Whitefish, Montana. Bonbon is the term now used to describe a confection with a hard molded chocolate shell filled with things like nougat, creamy caramel, ganaches, and fruit. Since writing this series, I have had to learn the art of making bonbons. After studying many recipes, and watching tutorials (thank you Bernard Callebuat), I started creating my own recipes and testing them. You’ll find them in the back of the books in the series.
Finely crafted bonbons and truffles are not going to make their way into any Halloween trick-or-treat bags in my neighborhood. Those bags will be filled with those mass produced chocolate bites made by well-known brands. These are not inherently bad, but they simply don’t compare to fine chocolate. I’m not suggesting you give up your favorite Nestle or Cadbury chocolate bar, but the next time you pass by a real chocolatier’s shop, go in and try one of their bonbons. Be prepared, one chocolate may cost you upwards of two dollars, but in my opinion it’s worth it.
Ideally, take home the chocolate and in a moment of peace and calm (no kids allowed), may be with a little quiet background music, perhaps Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2, Op.9, take a bite. Feel it on your tongue. Let the nuances of flavor release in your mouth. Savor it. This experience should tell you whether you are a chocolate snob. Are you forever ruined for a cheap(ish), mass produced convenience store chocolate bar, or did you shrug your shoulders and think, I don’t get it? If you are in the latter category, congratulations and enjoy your Halloween candy, but if you are in the former, welcome to my world.
Perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs, when twin sisters Hanna and Alex help out at the local high school reunion, volunteering takes a turn when they find a former classmate’s dead body.
Hanna and Alex, owners of the Murder and Mayhem book and chocolate shop, are busy preparing for the Harriston High School’s reunion weekend. Neighbors will connect with old friends and perhaps try to avoid old foes. One person no one can avoid is Kyle, the former star quarterback, who is busy using his entire playbook to try and score with Hanna, even threatening her if she doesn’t play nice. At the reunion, Alex glimpses more drama than nostalgia as insults are flung around like a football at a Friday night game. The party is put on hold when Alex finds the dead body of none other than Kyle himself, bludgeoned to death by a nutcracker that the sisters admired earlier in the night.
Hanna quickly becomes the prime suspect—someone saw her slap Kyle in the face at the reunion dance. She’ll need her sister, their sleuthing canine, Watson, and their old friends and colleagues to help break this case wide open. While looking through old yearbooks and taking a stroll down memory lane, Alex uncovers a few secrets about Kyle, now, it seems like everyone had a motive to kill him.
But when the suspects start becoming the victims, Alex and Hanna know that they can’t melt under the pressure—they must find the killer before they become just another yearbook memory.
Christina Romeril is the author of the Killer Chocolate Mystery series. The series is set in Montana at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, one of her favorite places to visit. She and her husband live a few hours away in a small village in Southern Alberta. When Christina isn’t writing she loves to hike in Waterton Lakes National Park, or just hang out there eating gourmet hot dogs and ice cream. Christina is a former banker and the daughter of German immigrants. Any similarity between her family and her fictional characters is purely coincidental. You can find out more about her at https://www.christinaromeril.com
You can also connect with Christina on social media at these links.
Fall is here and it is the perfect time to curl up with a good book! I have partnered with Celebrate Lit for a giveaway just for you to build up that fall TBR pile!
Here is your chance to win 35 books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books for yourself in Celebrate Lit’s Bring on the Fall Giveaway.
Today is the first day of the Bring On the Fall Multi-Author Giveaway.
Want to know more? These are the books included in the giveaway.
Weeding Out Lies by Jackie Layton
Forever Music by Hope Toler Dougherty
The London Rose: A Regency Romance by Rosanne E. Lortz
Living Secrets by Sylvia Baumgartner
One Wonders by Luana Ehrlich
Lost and Found by Suzanne Woods Fisher
PrayerWalk: Becoming a Woman of Prayer, Strength and Discipline by Janet McHenry
Honor by Angela D. Shelton
Generations Deep by Gina Birkemeier, LPC
Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing by Lisa Howeler
Across the Shores by Kelly Goshorn
Chiseled on the Heart: A Christmas Legacy Novella Collection by Cynthia Roemer
Winter’s Ravage by Elaine Marie Cooper
The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater by Jaime Jo Wright
Bentonsport: A New Chapter by Lisa Schnedler
The Cry: Poems of Mourning Sickness by Tiffany Vakilian
A Love for All Seasons by April Kidwell
The Doors of Rome by Ruth Douthitt
The Peaceful Valley Wounded Soldiers Anthology by J. Carol Nemeth
I’m so happy to be on Jackie’s blog today. We ‘met’ in a writing critique group many years ago. Her writing is so vivid that I can still pictures scenes she wrote over ten years ago.
I’m the last person who should be giving decluttering advice but as an expert clutterer I do have some insight to share because dealing with clutter is a real issue for many of us. At our house it started with the catch-all- counter closest to the front door. Everything we didn’t know what to do with ended up there. Organize it and days later it’s back to a hodge podge of this and that. After time we began to tolerate it and that’s when the clutter bug got out of hand.
But take it from me, management is key. After almost thirty years of marriage, we had to resort to a large storage shed to store and organize the overflow clutter. There is one thing that helps me when the clutter around me is overwhelming and that is writing cozy mysteries. Book two of the Ghost Town Mysteries series, Homicide at High Noon came out last month and the third book, Showdown at the Saloon, will be here in early 2024. I’ve had so much fun writing this modern-day story set in an old west ghost town.
Elevator pitch: Money is missing from the gold mine and Lily is a suspect! The company auditor is determined to prove her guilty but turns up dead making Lily a murder suspect too. Will Lily find the missing money and the killer before they set their sights on her…
I walked into my office this morning and cringed. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks promoting Clutter Free and brainstorming a new book. It didn’t occur to me that my desk had gotten out of control.
This would require fortification, so I made my second cup of coffee then got to work. I filed marketing notes, moved paperwork not related to the new book, and threw away unnecessary items.
I kept a few notes on the new book, and I decided shifting my laptop to the left might make it easier to take handwritten notes on my right. I also have two new history books to keep nearby. So for now, I have my computer, sticky notes, pens, and reference books close by. This may only last a day, but for this rainy morning, I feel organized and ready to write.
Dana Mentink suggests we “use those little tags on the bread bags to label your electric cords that way you never I accidentally unplug the wrong one! “
Thanks, Dana.
Rose Kerr, author of Death on the Set, also shared a tip.
I use timers to help me get organizing tasks done. You can get a lot done when you focus your attention for fifteen minutes!
Start small, think of a drawer, not a closet and work your way through the kitchen or pantry. This works for almost any project.
Thanks, Rose!
I’m going to try these tips, and I’d love to hear about your organizing tips. They may even end up in a future book in An Organized Crime Cozy Mystery series.
I hope you’re able to join the fun, and there will be a giveaway. I’ll share social media links or look for Just Read Tours, starting September 11. https://justreadtours.com/
This is your opportunity to learn about Kate Sloan, Clutter Free, and maybe collect an organizing tip.
Curious about the giveaway? I’m giving away TWO books, a polka dot shopping bag, and $10.00 in Starbucks gift cards.
And this seems like a good opportunity for an announcement. Clutter Free is now available in paperback and ebook at your favorite sites.
Jackie Layton 