Cover Reveal: THE MOVIE-TOWN MURDERS

THE MOVIE-TOWN MURDERS, final book in the Art of Murder series, is now listed for preorders on Amazon--and only Amazon.

That doesn't mean the book will be launched in KU or anything like that. It means, I'm simply getting my ducks--i.e, my Amazon preorders--in line. The book is listed for June 2021, but I'm assuming it won't take me that long to write. Frankly, I'm terrified of missing any more deadlines, but preorders are kind of vital to my financial success, so this is my compromise.

I'm listing preorders (for now only on Amazon) at a reduced price, and pushing those release dates out a year. That gives me plenty of breathing space. I will be listing the books everywhere shortly, but it's not an urgency because I'm really not writing much at the moment. GULP. Maybe we take a second out on our house. Maybe I pull myself together in time. I just don't know. I don't like knowing. But hey. That's our life right now, right?

IT'S NOT JUST A JOB, IT'S AN ADVENTURE.

ENYWHOOO. The wonderful Johanna Ollila did the cover--she's done all but the first cover in the Art of Murder series--and I think it's gorgeous!

You can read more about the book here.

Audio Release: BLIND SIDE & MURDER AT PIRATE'S COVE

New in Audio:

BLIND SIDE (Dangerous Ground 6). FINALLY.

Adrian Bisson returns to complete the series.

It’s a good problem to have: more business than they can comfortably handle on their own.

But with resources already overstretched, the last thing former DSS agents and newbie security consultants Will Brandt and Taylor MacAllister need is another client—and the last thing Will needs is for that client to turn out to be an old boyfriend of Taylor’s.

Sure, Will has always known Taylor had a wild past, but he was kind of hoping he’d never have to sit down and have a beer with it. But golden boy Ashe Dekker believes someone is trying to kill him, and Taylor is determined to help, no matter the cost.

It’s a bit of a jolt to have Taylor for once totally disregard his feelings, but Will is equally determined that “the cost” won’t be their relationship—or Taylor’s life.

Available through Audible, Amazon, et al.

Also new--well, newISH--in Audio:

MURDER AT PIRATE'S COVE (Secrets and Scrabble 1). 

Matt Haynes is narrating what I plan on being an eight book series. In fact, he's just completed work on SECRET AT SKULL HOUSE. Granted the way Audible is moving these days, it could be three months before the book goes live. :-D 

Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, Scrabble champion, and guy-with-worst-luck-in-the-world-when-it-comes-to-dating, is ready to make a change. So when he learns he’s inherited both a failing bookshop and a falling-down mansion in the quaint seaside village of Pirate’s Cove in Rhode Island, it’s full steam ahead!

Sure enough, the village is charming, its residents amusingly eccentric, and widowed police chief Jack Carson is decidedly yummy (though possibly as straight as he is stern). However, the bookstore is failing, the mansion is falling down, and there’s that little drawback of finding rival bookseller—and head of the unwelcoming-committee—Trevor Maples dead during the annual Buccaneer Days celebration.

Still, it could be worse. And once Police Chief Carson learns Trevor was killed with the cutlass hanging over the door of Ellery’s bookstore, it is.

Available through Audible, Amazon, et al. 

WHAT I DID ON MY PANDEMIC VACATION

Since I'm having trouble staying focused creatively, I've been trying to catch up on a bunch of other things--I'm taking more audio titles wide, I'm doing more print single titles through Amazon, I'm outlining and charting books for the backside of this year and the front side of next year. Trying to be productive as best I can.

I'm also forcing myself to do a few things that I typically don't do. Live interviews, book readings, zoom chats.

I thought you might enjoy checking out a couple of those efforts. ;-)


Here's the interview I did last weekend for the Gay Mystery Podcast with Brad Shreve.

And here's The Thrilling Detective Website's Noir at the Bar (I read from Snowball in Hell)

Thank you so much to everyone who turned up for the Noir at the Bar. I wasn't sure about the protocol, so I was backward about giving a shout-out to anyone, but I appreciated it so much. So great to look out and see your names and faces and scenic backdrops. NEXT TIME I WILL DO BETTER.

Cover Reveal: BODY AT BUCCANEER'S BAY

Again, although this is going to pop up on Amazon with a publishing date of SAME TIME NEXT YEAR, that date will almost certainly move forward.

Here we have BODY AT BUCCANEER'S BAY (Secrets and Scrabble 5)

Cover Reveal: SCANDAL AT THE SALTY DOG (Secrets and Scrabble 4)

As you may have noticed, I was having trouble hitting my deadlines even before the pandemic (wow, that is still such a WEIRD phrase, isn't it?) and because I heavily rely on preorders, losing that option at Amazon is painful.

I mean, it all evens out in the end, and preorders actually cut into your sales rankings, but I've become so dependent on those big chunks of cash in the beginning of the book's life cycle that I'm kind of afraid to go back to selling the old way.

Right now Amazon is showing some humanity and restoring preorders to those of us--which turns out to be a lot of more authors than I had imagined (and is it wrong to be relieved by that?)--having trouble creating on cue right now. So while I've got my preorders back--and not knowing what the future holds--I'm hedging my bets and listing several books for preorder WAAAAAAAY out there. As in for this time next year.

Will it really take me until the end of May 2021 to write The Movie-Town Murders? I don't think so. I sure hope not! But life--as well as art--seems uncertain right now. So I'm just guaranteeing myself a few preorders over the coming year, just in case.

Which is a long way of saying, DON'T FREAK OUT OVER THESE DATES WHEN YOU SEE THEM. I'm not really going to give up writing for a year. I'm just extending those lead times as long as I can. I can push them forward without penalty--and I will!--but pushing them back is where the trouble begins.

Anyway, here's one of the new covers for the Secrets and Scrabble series. This one is for SCANDAL AT THE SALTY DOG.

It's Twelve O'Clock Somewhere

In the name of research for the Secrets and Scrabble series, I've been trying to create a cocktail called the Upside Down Pirate--and I'm having mixed results. (No pun intended.)

It started out as mix of Pineapple Upside-Down Martini and a Wrecked Pirate. Basically, I'm trying to sub vodka for rum and add blue curacao to the PUD (which is one of my all-time favorite martinis).

I think the secret might be cake flavored syrup? Or would that be too sweet?

Anyway, it's Friday night and I'm about to Zoom my bestie, and therefore it is cocktail hour. The SO is going to grill fake brats while we drink and catch-up. Drinks, a nice meal--he brought me roses the color of "bittersweet." It's a summery evening, but not warm enough for a night swim. Life goes on, and it's good. Different, but good.

I hope you're having a lovely evening--and will have a delightfully socially distanced weekend.

OH. Here's my recipe so far!

Ingredients

2 parts spiced rum

1 part coconut rum

2 parts pineapple juice (OR--tonight--I'm experimenting with coconut-pineapple juice)

Splash Blue Curacao 

Splash of cake-flavored syrup (IS THIS A MISTAKE???)

Fresh Pineapple garnish

Maraschino Cherries garnish

Instructions

Add 1 cup ice to a shaker.

Add the rums, Blue Curacao, juice and syrup. Shake well. Pour in a martini glass. Garnish with pineapple and cherries.

Five Binge-worthy Television Shows

A lot of my fiction is inspired by real life crime. Not that I lift cases wholesale, but I'll pick a murder from here, a motive from there... But there's nothing like a familiarity with true crime to teach you how often real life has to be toned down to create believable fiction.

Since so many of us are still stuck home with 57 channels and nothing on (I'm assuming you've already seen Tiger King -- SHE DID IT, SHE TOTALLY KILLED HER HUSBAND!!!!!)  here are some of my favorite true crime documentaries, guaranteed to keep you entertained, and possibly amazed at the perfidy of your fellow humans.

The Imposter - I've recced this film a few times on this blog BUT YOU STILL HAVEN'T WATCHED IT, HAVE YOU? It strongly influenced my own Stranger on the Shore, although it's quite a different story. This one is sad and creepy and completely fascinating.

Don't F**k with Cats - The hunt for an internet troll turns into something very different and alarming for a team of online amateur sleuths. WARNING there's some truly disturbing cruelty to animals in this, but it's well worth watching (although I advise closing your eyes at those scenes).

The Jinx - HE DID IT, HE TOTALLY KILLED HIS WIFE!!! The documentary of the case that the Ryan Gosling film All Good Things is based on. This is another weird and creepy story that will have your scalp prickling when you're not actually gasping out-loud.

Soaked in Bleach - SHE DID IT, SHE TOTALLY KILLED HER HUSBAND!!! Documentary/Docudrama exploring the possibility that Courtney Love murdered Curt Cobain. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is persuaded by investigator Tom Grant's conclusions, but he makes a credible and convincing witness, in my humble opinion.

Amanda Knox - I CAN'T TELL IF SHE DID IT!!! Previous to watching this film, I didn't have much of an opinion about this case. I like to assume the police usually get it right, though familiarity with true crime docs have shaken that innocent confidence. This was a really alarming example of what happens when investigators go in with their minds already made up.

Do you have any fave documentaries you want to rec to our viewing audience? ;-)

The OFFICIAL Secret at Skull House Blog Tour! ;-)

I rarely do blog tours for book releases but hey. Everything old is new again, so just to kind of spread the word a bit, I'm doing a tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours for Secret at Skull House!

I'm REALLY out of practice with this stuff, so I'm not even sure if I offered giveaways or prizes. OOPS. Maybe I should have? Maybe at the end of the tour I'll give something away here--like I'll do a drawing from everyone who commented on every stop along the blog tour?
What should I giveaway? Hmmm. I'll have to think of something fun that can be global without involving a lot of packing or shipping.


But anyway! The book is live and I'm really happy about that.

Oh. I read in a review that the next installment is not out until next year. GULP. WHAT DOES THAT REVIEWER KNOW THAT I DON'T? SOMEONE TAKE MY TEMPERATURE. I'm actually working on the next installment now. I'm not setting it up for preorders, but that doesn't mean it's not coming out this year--I'm not setting anything new up for preorders for the foreseeable future. At least, not at Amazon.

I'm planning EIGHT of these books by the way. So...yeah.

I also read in ANOTHER review that cozy is a new genre to me. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Wait. What??? YOU LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT YOURSELF IN REVIEWS.  So no. Actually,  this is a homecoming for me. I cut my mystery writing teeth in the mainstream cozy genre.  I had reasonably successful cozy series with both Pocket and Berkeley.  I was a Mystery Guild Alternate Selection, for chrissake. And I am really loving writing cozy again. FOR NOW. I'm not giving up the FBI thrillers or the angsty standalones or my beloved bewitched and bewildered series, but I do find cozy is what works for me right now. It's...comforting.

But cozy is not for everyone. (Well, nothing is for everyone.) And that's okay. These are not going to be hugely romantic, although there is a slow but definite romantic arc. They are not going to be hugely angsty. They are not going to be hugely suspenseful. They are not going to be HUGELY ANYTHING because the whole point is to be light and diverting and reassuring that all is still well with the world. 

EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT.

Nah, I'm kidding. I hope.

Anywhoooo. Here's the tour--and thank you so much to everyone taking part in it!

May 2

kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours

Maggie Blackbird

May 3

Never Hollowed By The Stare

ISM Books   - REVIEW #1

May 4

Lukten av trykksverte

Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'  

May 5

Hurn Publications  

All Things Dark & Dirty

May 6

Ilovebooksandstuffblog  

A Pinch of Bookdust

May 7

La libreria di Beppe

Character Madness and Musings 

May 8

Phoebe's Randoms

Love Bytes

May 9

Scrupulous Dreams

May 10

The Book Dragon

May 11

Books a Plenty Book Reviews

nanasbookreviews

May 12

Craving Lovely Books

Midnight Book Reader

May 13

Books all things paranormal and romance

Books, Authors, Blogs

May 14

The Book junkie Reads . . .

Celticlady's Reviews

May 15

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee   

Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed

May 16

A Wonderful World of Words

May 17

Twisted Book Ramblings

May 18

Maiden of the Pages

Dragon's Den

May 19

Luv Saving Money

May 20

A Bookworm's Journal

Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read 

May 21

Readeropolis  

Inside the Insanity

May 22

Pen Possessed  

T's Stuff  

May 25

Girl with Pen  

Sylv.net

May 26

Insane Books

The Bookshelf Fairy

May 27

My Fiction Nook

Book Corner News and Reviews  

May 28

The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'  

Musings From An Addicted Reader  

May 29

eBook Addicts

Bedazzled By Books  

May 30

4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼

Teatime and Books    

May 31

Bayou Book Junkie   - REVIEW BOTH

❧Defining Ways❧

June 1

Drops of Ink   - REVIEW BOTH

Sapphyria's Book Reviews  

June 2

Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author

Cranky TBC   - REVIEW BOTH

ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ

New Release SECRET AT SKULL HOUSE

THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE.

Wait. That was me. All last week.

But it is done, and it is live--except at Kobo, where I will try to get it uploaded today.

SECRET AT SKULL HOUSE: AN M/M COZY MYSTERY (Secrets and Scrabble 2) is now available most everywhere.

It's light and fun and hopefully provides a couple of hours of comfort and amusement. I *think* it does all that? And maybe a bit more?

BLURB:

Ellery Page is back—and in hot water again!

Unlike everyone else in Pirate’s Cove, Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, reigning Scrabble champion, and occasionally clueless owner of the village’s only mystery bookstore, is anything but thrilled when famed horror author Brandon Abbott announces he’s purchased legendary Skull House and plans to live there permanently.

Ellery and Brandon have history. Their relationship ended badly, and the last thing Ellery wants is a chance to patch things up—especially when his relationship with Police Chief Jack Carson is just getting interesting. But then, maybe Brandon isn’t all that interested in getting back together either, because he seems a lot more interested in asking questions about the bloodstained past of his new home than discussing a possible future with Ellery.

What is Brandon really up to?

Ellery will have to unscramble that particular puzzle posthaste. Because after his former flame disappears following their loud and public argument, Ellery seems to be Police Chief Carson’s first—and only—suspect.

You can read more on my website. :-)

You can buy it pretty much everywhere--and yes, it is coming in print and audio! Absolutely.

BUY IT:

Amazon

B&N

Smashwords

iBooks

Google Play

Kobo 

Oh! And the audio for the first book is currently available! 

COVER REVEAL: Mystery at the Masquerade

So hey. I have no idea what book is coming next after Secret at Skull House. I have so much admiration for those writers who are inspired or energized to keep writing through a pandemic. But hey, then again, it's not MY first pandemic.

KIDDING.

It's probably not any of our last pandemics. But that's kind of a dark thought for a gorgeous sunny morning. So let's let that go.

Mystery at the Masquerade is coming this year, although, again, I have no idea when. I'm not bothering to list it as a preorder yet. Not least because I'm about to lose preorders at Amazon--Bell, Book and Scandal has been pushed to October. And even that is fingers-crossed.

But anyway, here's what I'm kinda sorta working on soonish maybe. ;-)

Happy Easter!

Now that I'm past the age of Easter bunnies and egg hunts--and my nieces and nephews are past the days of Easter bunnies and egg hunts--Easter has mostly meant a celebration of spring and family.

Usually my family would be getting together today for Easter dinner. There would be drinks and talk and more talk and more drinks and a very delicious dinner. We all live about five minutes from each other, so it is beyond weird not to be able to be together today.

The SO and I haven't prepared an Easter dinner in years--actually, never. My middle sis does Easter. My youngest sister does Christmas and Christmas Eve. I do Thanksgiving and 4th of July. But today we're cooking. And today we're resting and relaxing and focusing on being grateful for all that we have--and not dwelling on what we don't. We are keeping a good thought for the spring.

I hope you have a lovely day, whether you celebrate a particular holiday or not, and that the spring brings you a bundle of joyful days and happy moments.

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

Actually, I LOVE rainy days.

That said, right now I feel better when it's warm and I can swim. I go for walks with the SO and the dogs every couple of days, but I find it stressful because the SO does not--in my humble opinion--keep enough social distance between us and anyone we happen to meet. He lets the dogs put things in their mouths THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUTTING IN THEIR MOUTHS. He does not understand the point of a retractable leash.

In short--hahahahahahaa (sorry but Spenser is currently chasing his tail in front of me...  He's started doing this again, although he's now six months old and should really know better).

Where was I?

Oh. Right. It's stressful going for walks with the SO. That's the long and short of it. It was easier when it was warm enough for me to swim and I was working my tension out that way.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I have the SO and the dogs to keep me company--and presumably they feel the same. Actually, the SO even said so the other night. "If I have to be in quarantine with someone, I'd choose you."

And they say romance is dead. :-D

I'm worried but not unduly. At least, I don't think it's undue. There's plenty to worry about. But so far we are healthy. There are, as of this moment, 79 cases in our city. Which means that's more like 700, but that's out of a population of 475,000. We have enough food, we have a lifetime supply of fiction, we have streaming services, we are warm and comfortable and so far still able to pay our bills (fingers crossed).

I'm still having trouble working. I can't lie. It's really hard to focus. Really hard to write light-hearted, fun stories about mystery and romance. But it would probably be harder to write something serious. It's not about the work itself, it's about the level of concentration required to create what amounts to a dream state for other people. Because when you get down to it, that's what fiction is. You are creating a dream for others to live in for a few hours. Whether you're a "good" writer or a lousy writer, it demands an incredible amount of extended focus to do that. Right now I have the attention span of a five-year-old during a fire drill.

I'm okay with the isolation. Up to an extent. I mean, I'm a writer so I'm used to working at home, I'm used to being chained to my desk. But I'm also used to walking with my sister and having coffee a couple of times a week, I'm used to getting massage for my back and wrists, I'm used to having my dad over for lunch and a movie (he's really, really struggling with this enforced stay-at-home-order). I'm used to being able to go out for the occasional dinner or to grab something at the market or to meet a friend for lunch... NOT THAT I DO THESE THINGS A LOT. But I could. That's the difference. :-D

I discovered Zoom the other day! The SO did a Zoom get-together for some book-world friends, and I joined in. It's pretty cool! So I think I might do Zoom with my Patreons? I have to figure out the logistics, but it seems to have real possibility.

What else? I tried out Instacart this week! That's a wonderful service. The SO was going out to grab whatever we needed in the way of fresh produce and dairy, and I started to panic because he's high risk. So, to his disgust, I tried out Instacart and it's great. Even so, I couldn't stop him from running out to get celery this morning. HE CAME BACK WITH BAGS OF GROCERIES AND THEN ADMITTED HE HAD TRIED TO GET WATER AND HAD ALSO GONE TO THREE OTHER STORES.

*sigh*

He brought me flowers, which I suspect is his method of keeping me from yelling at him.

It was only partially successful.

Anyway, God bless the essential workers who are keeping us all glued together. Granted, some of us are better glued together than others.

I'm trying not to watch the news, but here I am watching the news again...

(LOL. Does Trump really expect us to rejoice that he's managed to keep oil prices high? :-D Given the profit margin of oil companies? I'm sorry, I just can't cry too much over the idea of an oil company executive having to take a smaller bonus. Because that's what it's really about. They're not going to preserve jobs. They never do. It's always about the profit margin. ALWAYS. Speaking as a former evil corporate overlord. It's always about the PROFIT margin. Let me reiterate: profit MARGIN.)

But I don't want to veer into politics today. It's Good Friday and I'm grateful to be alive and healthy--and grateful that my loved ones are still alive and healthy. SO I HEAR. I'm grateful for many, many things. Really, in the big picture, California always needs rain, so even the rain is something to be grateful for.

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on grooming because... Well, no more facials, no more hair salon, no more nails, no more... Did you know there's a whole world of beauty blogging??? I have learned many interesting things. Like how to perm my eyelashes. Yeah, I'm not kidding!

Anyway. The books are coming along. Slowwwwwwwwly but surely.

I'm reading a lot of vintage mystery right now. What does it say that WW2 seems more comforting than current events? Here's what I've got on my nightstand.

How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? What are you reading?

Love in the Time of Cholera

OR choose your pandemic.

It's true. Crisis really does bring out the best--and worst--in people. Which is why it's good to watch the news, but you have to guard against overload. California has now been locked down since March 19th, and glued-to-the-television is kind of a default.

At first I was watching the presidential briefings, but my screaming and cursing was terrifying the dogs, so I now skip them entirely. I know I'll be watching the recap all evening long as news commentators try to make sense of things like...the government shipping PPE to warehouses WHERE VENDORS WILL THEN SELL THOSE ITEMS FOR PROFIT TO THE VARIOUS STATES--OR EVEN OVERSEAS. 

Yeah, you got that right. That much-needed PPE might not even stay in the States if overseas bidders can pay more.

Jesus Christ.

Nothing like making a profit on pandemic.

So, yes, CLOSE YOUR EYES, BABY...

Not to politicize things, but politics are kind of why we're in the fix, we're in.

I'm writing, but it's slow going. It's much easier to tackle stuff like audio compilations and sorting through old manuscripts and reformatting books.

That said, Secret at Skull House will come out at the end of this month. Haunted Heart: Spring will come out probably mid-June. And Bell, Book and Scandal is being moved to the fall, likely Halloween.

According to Amazon--whose preorder policy was apparently designed by a disgruntled schoolmarm (IN MY DAY WE DID OUR HOMEWORK ON TIME OR WE GOT A PITCHFORK IN OUR BACKSIDE!!!)--all my preorders have now been canceled. I can't tell if that's accurate or not. I can still see the pre-order numbers, but that could just be a record of what was there. Maybe if you pre-ordered Secret at Skull House, you can check to see if your order is still live.

They did sort of make allowances for COVID19, but not really. They'll waive the losing-preorders-for-a-year penalty ONE TIME ONLY, but if you've got a number of pre-orders stacked (as I do) it doesn't actually help. Once you miss a deadline, it's the domino effect. Whatever. Amazon wants authors to do pre-orders, but they're so inflexible and impractical in their set up, that I'm actually okay losing them. I compared numbers year to year, and it turns out the years I had pre-orders were no higher in earnings than the years I didn't.

HOWEVER, that cancellation does create a huge inconvenience for readers who think they've ordered the books, think they're coming any minute, and then find out their order was deleted. I'm truly sorry--I did speak on three separate occasions with Amazon, and they just won't budge.

On the bright side, if you pre-ordered elsewhere--or you're in my Patreon group--you're covered.

OH. On the OTHER bright side, Bank of America finally figured out the mysteries of my personal checking account. OH. BUT NOW THEIR WEBSITE WON'T ALLOW ME TO UPDATE MY BUSINESS ACCOUNT INFO. hahahahahahaahaha. I mean... Honest to God. You have to laugh or you'll start hitting your head against the wall.

But I mean, the good thing about a pandemic is it really puts all this other nonsense into perspective. So far my family is still healthy. So far we have a roof over our heads. So far we have enough to eat. So far I have a job. (A job I love.) So far we can pay our bills. It's one day at a time.

In fact, in some ways, it's weirdly relaxing to know you CAN'T go anywhere, can't do anything but stay home and deal with all the things there are to deal with in your own backyard.