Some Behind the Scenes Secrets...

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I love finding Easter eggs (surprises hidden by the developers) in software and bloopers in films. Here are a few secrets from my mysteries that you may not have known about…

In the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, I often named police, waiters, EMTs, lawyers, and other minor characters after some of my favorite pop culture folks. You’ll see some 80s rockers and 70s TV characters serving some amazing dishes or keeping law and order.

In the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, Jules themes the vintage trailers and the tiny houses. Her special décor ties in with the camper like the 1947 Robin Hood Trailer that is decked out in honor of its namesake, the 1959 Sunliner Caravan that sported a posh pink Barbie fashion design in honor of the year that the camper and the doll debuted, and the 1953 Redman New Moon, decorated in honor of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball’s movie from the same year, The Long, Long Trailer. The tiny houses all have a book or author themes and fun amenities like a revolving bookcase or a reading nook for the guests to enjoy. These are named for Beatrix Potter, Bram Stoker, A. A. Milne, and L. Frank Baum. (And I may have been watching The Tiger King at the beginning of the pandemic when I wrote Christmas Lights and Cat Fights.)

I am a huge 80s pop culture fan. Jules is named for Demi Moore’s character in St. Elmo’s Fire. Her last name is a tribute to all the women who wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. Jake is named for Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.

In the Pearly Girls Mysteries (May 2024), the bigger-than-life Chihuahua (at least in his own mind) is named for the one and only Elvis. The four “Golden Girls” who help Cassidy with her event planning business (and her love life) are named for my grandmothers, great-grandmother, and my grandmother’s best friend. And the handsome new bartender in town is named after Austin Butler (who recently played Elvis). I know, there’s a pattern here.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Daphne Silver

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I’d like to welcome Daphne Silver to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: Ideas or energy. Unfortunately, I have seemed to run out of the energy part already.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Shoes that hurt and don’t have support, even if they are cute

Things you need for your writing sessions: A laptop and being left alone, even in a busy cafe or place

Things that hamper your writing: People talking to me, which is slightly ironic because I’m a big extravert.

A few of your favorite things: So many books, especially the first edition Edgar Allan Poe I gave my husband.

Things you need to throw out: my maternity clothes. My kiddo is 7 years old already.

Words that describe you: Creative, enthusiastic, generous of spirit

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Bombastic, talkative, speaks before thinking.

Favorite foods: Pizza, dark chocolate, paneer makhani

Things that make you want to gag: Mint, coffee, red meat

Favorite smell: Vanilla, gardenia, tea rose

Something that makes you hold your nose: canned tuna

The last thing you ordered online: Winter gloves

The last thing you regret buying: Pillow covers instead of pillows

Things you’d walk a mile for: My family

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: My family

Things you always put in your books: Unexpected history factoids

Things you never put in your books: Graphic gory violence

Things to say to an author: I can’t wait to read your book!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Why do you waste your time writing?

Favorite places you’ve been: Italy and Ireland

Places you never want to go to again: Middle school

Favorite books (or genre): Cozy mysteries

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror, unless they’re for my husband

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Painting. I was a painting major in college.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Learning a new language. I don’t have any linguistic abilities.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: The missing bejeweled covers to the ancient Book of Kells

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I’m not as daring or smart as my heroine Juniper Blume

About Daphne:

Daphne Silver is the author of the Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. She’s worked more than twenty years in museums and has the great fortune of being married to a librarian. When she’s not writing, she’s drawing and painting. She lives in Maryland with her family. Although she’s not much of a baker, she won’t ever turn down a sweet lokshen kugel.

Let’s Be Social:

http://daphnesilver.com

http://facebook.com/daphnesilverbooks

http://instagram.com/daphnesilverbooks


#WriterWednesday Interview with Gerald Elias

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I’d like to welcome author and musician, Gerald Elias, to the blog!

Things you need for your writing sessions: Imagination, something to write with, coffee, and a window to stare out of when my brain goes blank.

Things that hamper your writing: Distractions, lack of ideas, no coffee, and thoughts of pastrami.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Promotion, marketing, learning how to brag about my work without sounding like I’m bragging.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Conjuring up the words –– sometimes even the right ones –– to create entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking stories.

Words that describe you: Willing to dive in, ethical, organized, hardworking.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Rash, insistent, too goal oriented.

Favorite music or song: A Mozart piano concerto, Schubert string quintet, or a Bach violin sonata.

Music that drives you crazy: Bad Christmas music arrangements (which means just about all of the new ones), and just about anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Something you’re really good at: Playing music, talking at public events about music and writing, cooking (especially Italian).

Something you’re really bad at: Mountain climbing. I get dizzy too easily, and it scares the crap out of me when I look down and feel like I'm going over the edge. (Gulp.)

Last best thing you ate: I slow-cooked a brisket in the oven for 6 hours. It was so tender you could cut it with a fork. I’m drooling as I write. (Let me know if you want the recipe. It's amazingly easy.)

Last thing you regret eating: That last bite of brisket, leaving my plate with nothing left on it.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Exercise, fresh air, relaxation, a nice view, and especially if there’s a beer or coffee at the end of the mile.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People talking nonstop about their health issues, i.e. “the organ recital.” Also, loud music, but that would be okay if it covered up the “organ recital.”

Things you always put in your books: Quirky and engaging characters, plot twists, and humor.

Things you never put in your books: One-dimensional characters, gore, gratuitous sex, or endless details about weapons of mass destruction.

Things to say to an author: Go for it! Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! Enjoy the journey, whatever the destination.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Let me at least put up a good fight while saving a damsel in distress, and then leave a nice epitaph.

Favorite books (or genre): Thrillers by John le Carré, mysteries by Walter Mosley, Donna Leon, and Dick Francis, and adventures by Patrick O’Bryan.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Books on self-help, financial advice, pseudoscience, and The Art of the Deal.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Mozart and Fani Willis.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone who says they’ll vote for Donald Trump.

Favorite things to do: Go outside, write books, play music, drink coffee, and most of all, be a hands-on grandpa.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Filling out tax returns, but I don’t think the IRS will accept running through a fire or eating bugs as an excuse.

About Gerald:

Gerald Elias leads a double life as a critically acclaimed author and internationally recognized musician.

His award-winning Daniel Jacobus mystery series, beginning with Devil’s Trill, takes place in the dark corners of the classical music world. Murder at the Royal Albert, the eighth and most recent installment of the series, was described as a “clever, pacey entry” by Publisher’s Weekly. The audiobook version, featuring excerpts of live performances by the Boston Symphony and the author himself, received praised from AudioFile Magazine “as an altogether delightful listen.”

Elias has also penned two standalone novels: The Beethoven Sequence, a chilling political thriller, and Roundtree Days, a Jefferson Dance Western Mystery, which was a 2023 Silver Falchion Award finalist. His musical memoir, Symphonies & Scorpions, was the subject of his 2019 TEDx presentation. His essays and short stories have been featured in prestigious journals ranging from The Strad magazine to Coolest American Stories 2023. He has just signed a new deal with Level Best Books for two new mysteries, Murder on Vacation and Wild Horses.

A former violinist with the Boston Symphony and associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, Elias has performed on five continents and has been the conductor of Salt Lake City’s popular Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber orchestra series since 2004. In 2022, he released a groundbreaking recording of the Opus 1 violin sonatas of the Baroque virtuoso-composer, Pietro Castrucci, on Centaur Records.

Elias divides his time between his home on the shores of Puget Sound in Seattle and his cottage in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, savoring the outdoors and maintaining a vibrant concert career while continuing to expand his literary horizons. He particularly enjoys winter, coffee, cooking, travel, watching sports, and being a hands-on grandpa.

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gerald.elias

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliasBooks/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geraldelias504/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerald-elias-6a67a0157/

Website: www.mysteriesandmusic.com



It's That Time of Year Again...

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Every December, I get in my Marie Kondo mode. Out with the old and in with the new. I always dread the cleanup, but it feels good to start the new year with a clean desk (even if it’s only temporary). Here are some of my organizational to-dos that help me get ready for the new year.

  • I clean up my desk. It’s not as bad as the picture, but it’s cluttered. I always end up with tons of sticky notes all over the place.

  • I put all the contacts in my database and all the appointments on my calendar.

  • My photo collection always needs attention. I archive all of the current year’s photos to my external hard drive.

  • It’s also time to clean up the email files and my saved documents. Don’t forget to clean out the Sent and Trash, too. The old stuff takes up space.

  • And it’s tax time. I always procrastinate on the task of pulling all the tax information together. I set up files for the current year and close out the old one.

And if I’m still in an organizing mode, I might get around to the closets. (Or maybe not)

Happy New Year. I hope you have a safe and productive year.

What are you planning to do to get ready for 2024?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey

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I would like to welcome Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of:

Breakfield - Chardonnay wine and stories

Burkey - time and family

Things you wish you’d never bought:

Breakfield – That trampoline in the backyard next to the cliff.

Burkey – A new car with the first book published and those 4” heels

A few of your favorite things:

Breakfield – Harley Road King motorcycle, my dogs, WWII book collection

Burkey – Families with crazy schedules, puppies, and travel

Things you need to throw out:

Breakfield – Nothing, I might need everything.

Burkey – Those 4” heels, everything else I donate

Things you need for your writing sessions:

Breakfield – Coffee.

Burkey – quiet and morning are best

Things that hamper your writing:

Breakfield – bathroom breaks.

Burkey – phone calls, text, and puppies wanting outside

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Breakfield – finding just the right word.

Burkey – Finding the problems before the editor and not enough time

Easiest thing about being a writer:

Breakfield – Lots of words to use.

Burkey – Lot of ideas

Words that describe you:

Breakfield – Handsome and svelte.

Burkey – Tenacious, determined, and sometimes too nice

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:

Breakfield – Too generous with praise.

Burkey – Stubborn

Favorite foods:

Breakfield – Pizza

Burkey – broccoli, mushrooms, and chicken.

Things that make you want to gag:

Breakfield – Eggplant pizza.

Burkey – Lima beans

Favorite music or song:

Breakfield – Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.

Burkey Til You Can’t by Cody Johnson

Music that drives you crazy:

Breakfield – Country.

Burkey – Opera (I simply can’t hit those notes)

Favorite smell:

Breakfield – Smell of a pretty lady all dolled up for a night out.

Burkey – Baking bread

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Breakfield – That same lady after a really hard workout.

Burkey – Sour milk

Something you’re really good at:

Breakfield – Lying.

Burkey – Working hard when I believe in the goal

Something you’re really bad at:

Breakfield – Telling the truth.

Burkey – Putting up with nonsense and liars

Last best thing you ate:

Breakfield – Elk bratwurst sausage.

Burkey – Scrambled eggs with onions and mushrooms

Last thing you regret eating:

Breakfield – Jimmy’s Chinese #31 with shrimp.

Burkey – Peppermint bark ice cream – but I couldn’t find the plain.

About Breakfield and Burkey:

Breakfield, is a 25+ year technology expert in security, networking, voice, and anything digital. He enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. He also enjoys wine tastings, wine-making, Harley riding, cooking extravaganzas, and woodworking.

Burkey, a 25+ year applied technology professional who excels at optimizing technology and business investments for customers worldwide with a focus on optimized customer experiences. She writes white papers and documents with a marked preference for fiction.

Together they create award-winning stories that resonate with males and females, young and experienced adults, and bring a fresh new view to technology possibilities today https://www.EnigmaSeries.com.

#WriterWednesday Interview with W. L. Hawkin

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I’d like to welcome author W. L. Hawkin to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite thing that you always make time for: reading a good book

The thing you’ll always do just about anything to avoid: reading a contract or procedure

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: silence so I can hear my voices

Things that distract you from writing: noise and activity

The thing you like most about being a writer: I’m never bored.

The thing you like least about being a writer: Having to sell books.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: toilet paper

Things you never put on your shopping list: tempeh (made from fermented soy beans. Bleh)

The coolest thing you’ve bought online: a case of my own books

The thing you wished you’d never bought. A vinyl canopy cover that came without a stand and could not be returned

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: a veterinarian

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: teach a classroom full of people. I thought I’d die the first time I had to do this.

The funniest thing to happen to you: I was playing fake baseball on a diamond with my daughter and our border collie. She fake-pitched. I fake-hit and ran full tilt toward first base. The border collie ran in front of me and hit me and I face-planted in the dirt. I thought she was going to die laughing while I was trying to pick dirt out of my nose.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: I stood beside a man flashing himself at the fourth level elevator parking at Toronto Pearson Airport. I didn’t notice until I got in the elevator that IT was out. Then I tried to report him.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Alan Thicke (I sang with him on a beach in Jamaica.)

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Valerie Harper (Rhoda from the Mary Tyler Moore show.) I weighed about 100 pounds and she was tinier that I me.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: My husband started reading again after your first book. Now he wants the rest of the series.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: How do you get away with writing LGBTQ books? My reply: What are you asking me?

The best job you ever had: Aboriginal Education Coordinator

The worst job you ever had: Aboriginal Education Coordinator

The one thing you cook/bake that is better than a restaurant dish: Indian Spiced Rice with Red Lentil Dahl

The one thing you cooked/baked that turned out to be an epic disaster: a cod chowder (yuk)

About W. L.:

W. L. Hawkin writes the kind of books she loves to read from her home in the Pacific Northwest. Because she’s a genre-blender, you might find crime, mystery, romance, suspense, fantasy, adventure, and even time travel, interwoven in her stories.

If you like “myth, magic, and mayhem” her Hollystone Mysteries feature a coven of West Coast witches who solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods. The books—To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, To Kill a King, and To Dance with Destiny—follow Estrada, a free-spirited, bisexual magician and coven high priest as he endeavors to save his family and friends while sorting through his own personal issues.

Her standalone novel, Lure: Jesse & Hawk (2022) won a National Indie Excellence Award, a Gold Reader’s Choice award from Connections E-magazine, a Crowned Heart Review from InD’tale Magazine, and placed as a finalist in The UK Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Lure is a small-town romantic suspense story set on a Chippewa Reservation in the American Midwest near the fictional town of Lure River.

As an intuitive writer, Wendy captures what she sees and hears on the page, and allows her muses to guide her through the creative process. In an upcoming book, Writing with your Muse: a Guide to Creative Inspiration, she explains her writing process and offers tips and techniques to help writers get their words on the page.

The Giving Season

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We are smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, and I’m still wondering where June and July went. It’s been crazy busy here, but I’m trying to enjoy the holiday season. I took a minute to reflect on gifts as I was standing in the check-out line at Target (No, I don’t do self-check-out. I get the worst customer service.) I was thinking about the things I’d given over the years.

When my nieces were little, (much to the dismay of my BIL), I gave the girls a karaoke machine. I was the aunt who didn’t give practical gifts. I bought the flashy splashy outfits and shoes that mom wouldn’t normally buy. I also gave them a photo book each year. (Thank you, SnapFish. I no longer have to pull out the scrapbooking supplies.) When I moved out after college, I didn’t have that many pictures from my childhood, so I made the decision to give them a photo book with their yearly highlights. They’re all grown up now, and I got to make a wedding book this year.

Now that all the nieces and nephews (and their spouses) are awesome adult human beings, I struggle with what to get them. I don’t get to shop in the hot pink toy aisle or chase after Ninja Turtle or Power Rangers action figures anymore. I’ve kinda turned into the giftcard-giving aunt. This year, I did find something fun, and I hope they like it. Funko Pop (I am such a fan of their pop culture figurines.) had an offer to create your own one-of-a-kind character. Here are the ones that I had made for Stan and me. His holds a camera and a pickleball paddle. I have a bottle of poison and the skull of my enemy. (You can see why we’re such a match.)

My parents, grandparents, and extended family always made the holidays special and magical. I love the LiteBright, the Easy Bake Oven, my sparkly blue bike with the streamers, the bright orange ride-on Corvette, all the Barbie gear, and my first brand new car. Stan and I got a puppy once for Valentine’s Day.

The gifts are awesome, but the time with family and friends is the best. I hope you and yours take the time to share each other’s company and to make some new memories this season.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Kalee Boisvert

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I’d like to welcome Kalee Boisvert to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: My kids, Starbucks, McDonald’s or just French fries in general, books, watching Real Housewives, and yummy smelling candles.

Things you need to throw out: Items that have accumulated in the dreaded “junk drawer,” also probably some expired food in the cupboards and fridge.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My chai tea latte with coconut milk, a creativity meditation, and my bed (where I do my writing).

Things that hamper your writing: Having my phone nearby, having my email open on my computer, and sleep deprivation (I have two little ones).

Hardest thing about being a writer: Sitting down and just getting started.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing down the random ideas as they come to you (making sense of how they will fit into what you are writing is the hard part).

Words that describe you: Empathetic, Introvert, Kind, Funny, Disciplined, and Driven

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Perfectionist

Favorite music or song: Empowering female artists – Taylor Swift and Beyonce, and “Under the Sea” sung by Sebastian the Crab in the Little Mermaid.

Music that drives you crazy: Country

Last best thing you ate: Sushi from a new spot.

Last thing you regret eating: Pizza (probably because I ate a slice too many)

The last thing you ordered online: Baby diapers and wipes (love that Amazon)

The last thing you regret buying: Another black hoodie (I probably should have opted for another color.)

Favorite places you’ve been: Tokyo, Paris, London, Disneyland

Places you never want to go to again: Disneyworld (sorry but Disneyland is definitely better)

Favorite books (or genre): Thrillers, and romance. And for Non-fiction – spiritual, business, and personal growth.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Cookbooks (I have accepted my inability to cook).

Best thing you’ve ever done: Become a mom

Biggest mistake: Dating before doing inner work on myself

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That my book felt like they were having an uplifting conversation with a friend.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: That there were too many dating references in my money book (I’m single so what can I say!)

About Kalee:

Kalee Boisvert has been in the financial industry for over 15 years, but her love of money started very young. Growing up in a single parent household, she watched her mom struggle with finances and wished there was something she could do to help. She also realized that she needed to find her own way to save and earn if she wasn’t going to allow her circumstances to define her. And so, her own journey into financial literacy and wealth management began.

To further her efforts supporting financial literacy, Kalee had two books released in 2023 – a children’s picture book called MoneyWise Mabel’s Bursting Bank, and a non-fiction book called Make Money Your Thing! Which aims to build confidence and empower people in their financial lives.

Let’s Be Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaleeboisvert

Twitter: https://twitter.com/boisvertkalee

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaleeboisvert

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaleeboisvertwealthandwellness/

Book Make Money Your Thing! https://www.amazon.ca/Make-Money-Your-Thing-Design/dp/1738670287