Tag Archive for: mystery

Will the Real Kate Davidson Please Stand Up?

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by Sparkle Abbey with Tracy Weber

Today we’d like to share a guest post from our friend and fellow dog-lover, Tracy Weber.

Take it away, Tracy!

I’m delighted to be here today with The Stiletto Gang, this fabulous group of authors. Most of you probably don’t know me. I am, after all, fairly new to the writing business. My first mystery, Murder Strikes a Pose was published this past January.

Long before my book arrived at your local bookstore, my mother
received a personal laser-printed copy of the manuscript. Of course she told me
she liked it.  What self-respecting
mother wouldn’t? One of her comments caught me off guard, however.

“I’m not very far into the book yet. I just reached the part
where you found the body.”
“Mom,” I replied, a little concerned. “You do know this is fiction, right?”
Let me assure you, I have never found a body near my yoga
studio—or anywhere else for that matter. And although a part of me exists in
every character, my books aren’t autobiographical. Still, people often tell me
that they see me in my yoga teacher sleuth, Kate Davidson. So, for the record,
here are some ways Kate and I are similar—and different.
Similarities
1
        1. We both
own yoga studios in Seattle.
Kate and I both teach yoga in the
Viniyoga tradition, and we both prefer it to other, more strenuous, types of
yoga. Although we both own small neighborhood yoga studios, mine (Whole Life Yoga)
is dedicated to the Viniyoga lineage. Kate’s (Serenity Yoga) offers a mixture
of yoga classes and styles.
        2. Kate
and I both have body image issues.
Kate and I are both short, and we
both have “normal” body types (whatever that means). But when we look in the
mirror, we see the “before” image in a Jenny Craig commercial. We’re working on
that.
3      3. Kate
and I both live with a horse-sized German shepherd.
Kate fosters Bella, the German shepherd
in the series; I own a German shepherd named Tasha. Both of our dogs have Exocrine
Pancreatic Insufficiency, will weigh over 100 pounds when full grown, and have,
shall we say, “quirky” personalities. But in spite of their issues, Kate and I
would be lost without them.
4      4. Neither
Kate nor I are perfect yogis, but we keep trying.
Occasionally a reader tells me that
Kate isn’t believable as a yoga teacher. She’s not thin enough, emotionally well-balanced
enough, or flexible enough. I’m not a typical yoga teacher, either. Kate can’t
do advanced yoga poses; neither can I. Kate wants to live according to yoga
philosophy but often fails. So do I. If Kate’s not a realistic yoga teacher, then
I’m not either. Hopefully my yoga students won’t figure that out any time soon.
Here’s Where We’re
Different:

1      1. I’m
not afraid of commitment.
Kate has what she terms “relationship
ADD,” meaning she can’t stick with a relationship for more than a date or two.  I, on the other hand, seek commitment. Just
ask my husband. I pestered and goaded and hounded him for three years before he
finally gave in and asked me to marry him.
2      2. Kate
and I had different childhoods.
Kate was raised as the only child
of a single-parent Seattle cop. I grew up with both of my parents on a dairy farm
in Billings, Montana. Kate’s a city girl through and through. I’m a farm girl
who has taken root in the city.
3      3. My neuroses
are different than Kate’s.
I’m as neurotic is the next yoga
teacher, but I’m neutral to facial hair. Kate has a very real phobia called pogonophobia.
Being near a man with a beard makes her feel anxious, itchy, and subtly
nauseated, which really sucks for her since she has a crush on Michael, the
bearded owner of Pete’s Pets, the pet store near her studio.
4      4. I
adore dogs to a fault.
Kate likes animals, but she never
wanted one of her own. I, on the other hand, yearned and planned and plotted
for over ten years before my husband gave in and agreed to adopt our German shepherd.
And unlike Kate, I knew that cute little fur ball would be the love of my life
the moment I laid eyes on her.
To be honest, personality-wise, I’m think I’m closer to Rene,
Kate’s best friend: a plotter, a jokester, a prankster, a conniver. Unlike
Kate, I don’t throw coffee mugs at the heads of little old ladies, and it’s
pretty rare for me to yell at anyone.

I’m too busy plotting murder.

Tracy Weber is a certified yoga teacher and the founder of
Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, where she current­ly
lives with her husband, Marc, and German shepherd, Tasha. She loves sharing her
passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. When she’s not writing, she
spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sip­ping Blackthorn cider at
her favorite ale house. Murder Strikes a Pose is her debut novel.  You can connect with Tracy on her website or on Facebook. 




Thanks for visiting The Stiletto Gang, Tracy. What a great post! The only way Caro and Mel, the cousins in our Pampered Pets Mystery Series, are like us is their love of animals and their choice of coffee drinks. Other than that…uhm…not so much.

Tracy has offered to give away a copy of her book to one lucky reader who leaves a comment. So, please leave a comment below for a chance to win! We’ll do a random drawing from all the contributors and announce the winner right here tomorrow. Good luck!

A smorgasbord of replies

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It’s that time of month again when I have no idea what to write or talk about. Instead, I posted a status on my Facebook page seeking help for topic ideas and what you see below is a smorgasbord of replies.

First Mystery
The first mystery book I read was Encyclopedia Brown and I read every book in the series. Believe it or not, I’ve never read an Agatha Christie book. I did read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I enjoyed the television show as well. Reading mysteries is like solving a puzzle and you know how you smile and jump for joy when you place the last piece of puzzle, that’s the joy I have when I figured out the mystery and watch how it all came about.



Why I do what I do?
It all started with my emails to author saying I love their book; thanks for writing it and when’s the next one coming out. The more I read and enjoyed the books, the more these emails went out. One day I read the same book twice and that’s when I decided to write my thoughts and put it online for my enjoyment and as a journal of the books I read. My musing was not a “review” site then, nor is it now. It’s just a short (okay, sometimes it’s longer than I intended) paragraph on what I thought of the book. I also keep a database of ALL the books I read as not all books are mused. In the beginning I gave ratings, but someone commented that my rating wasn’t worthy of what I gave it. Hello…it’s my thoughts and not everyone is going to like a book the same way I do, so I stopped rating books on my blog. Word of mouth is a powerful promotional tool and I wanted to share the books that I read with my friends and this was the perfect way to do it.

How did I get a monthly post on the Cozy Chicks?
After reading several of my book musings, I was invited to do a monthly post highlighting the Berkley and other publisher’s books that I’ve read. I had some reservation because I knew that I could not write a “proper, standardized” review, but that was not a concern to them, so after some thoughts, I accepted the role and I do enjoy it because I get to bring books to readers who might not have seen the books listed elsewhere. My first Dru’s Cozy Report was on August 15, 2010 and featured “Death in Show” by Judi McCoy, “Maid of Murder” by Amanda Flower and “Death by Diamonds” by Annette Blair.

How did I come up my monthly feature “A Day In The Life?”
I would post a musing 3-4 times a week on my blog and I recall that I had a vacation planned which I took and while away, there was nothing new on my blog. I’ve learned that if you don’t have fresh content on a daily basis, you can lose readers and since my blog was still in its infancy, I had to come up with something to keep readers interested and coming back and that is when I came up with my feature. I always wanted to know what a protagonist’s day was like and just that snippet gives you some insight into the character and the book. I’m having so much fun reading all that the characters have to say and I hope my readers are too. This is another way of introducing characters and their book that otherwise they might not have known about since there are 1,000+ books published a day in the U.S. and U.K. combined. My first featured post was by Nora McFarland on August 8, 2011.

Chocolate
Several years ago, we went to a chocolate and wine tasting event and it was fun, but the lady who was leading it had me laughing as she kept says cacao and only 70% chocolate will do. I am not a fan of dark chocolate; I prefer milk chocolates. One of my favorite candy bars are Kit Kat, Snickers, and Hershey kisses. It’s no wonder my preferred hot beverage is hot chocolate.

Fangirl moment
One of the best fangirl moments was at my first Malice when I was invited to dinner with the Cozy Chicks and other cozy authors. Talk about going to heaven, I was in my glory or as I often said “I was in my element.”

When was the last time you sought help to jump start a conversation, blog or your work in progress?

Check out dru’s book musing here or on Facebook.

What I’ve Been Up to in the Writing World

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I’m a great believe in not putting all of your eggs in one basket. This belief comes from experience. I’ve had two publishers die, three close their doors, dealt with three crooked publishers, had agents who did nothing and I truly mean nothing (when I asked to see rejection letters was given one after 4 years of my thinking the agent was busily working for me).

Because of that past history, at the moment I have three publishers.

My Rocky Bluff P.D. series is published by Oak Tree Press, a small independent publisher. The latest book in that series is Dangerous Impulses. I’ve already written the next one and my critique group is hearing it (and critiquing it) chapter by chapter. Next I’ll have it edited before I send it off.

My Deputy Tempe Crabtree series is published by Mundana Press, also an independent publisher, but much larger than OTP. The next book is called Spirit Shapes and should be available in early fall. I don’t have a cover yet–but I am busily working on a blog tour for October.

The previous book was called Raging Water. I’ll soon be planning the next one.

In the meantime, I’ve been rewriting and editing some older books for Kindle. No, I’m not doing them myself, just don’t have time right now. I’ve gone with a brand new ebook company for these. They approached me and I thought, heck why not.

The first one out, and only .99 is Deadly Feast. It had another life another a different title. That publisher is no longer in business and rights reverted back to me. None of that publisher’s books were on Kindle.
Deadly Feast is a mystery and began as a Deputy Tempe Crabtree tale–however when I was through, I knew it wasn’t Tempe so I changed the main character and the setting, but Tempe fans will recognize some similarities.

And then, I sent them what I call a YA Christian horror–Deeds of Darkness, and it now available for Kindle too. It is a very scarey tale and the young heroine is a Christian. This was written a long time ago, so I had some updating to do, but It was fun. Though the book does have witches in it who cause all kinds of havoc in the small town of Yokut Springs, the cover is more sensational than the content of the story.

It is a great story for Halloween.

And last, I am editing and updating yet another horror novel–this one for adults–with Christian overtones and really scary. It’s called Cup of Demons.

And that’s what I’ve been doing lately.

Marilyn

When Mystery Meets Romance

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I write traditional mysteries with a darker edge. I don’t
write romantic suspense, much as I enjoy reading it when done well. I write
mysteries with a strong female sleuth, Skeet Bannion, who has no time for men,
except as colleagues, friends, and relatives, who’s protective of her freedom
and doesn’t want to sort out the messy entanglements that romance and sex bring
with them. Skeet prides herself on not being a cowboy cop who’s always taking
stupid chances, so what’s she doing falling for a bad boy? Talk about taking
stupid chances!

What is all this romantic mess that walked in and tangled up
my current WIP? Skeet’s practical and sensible, and she learned a hard lesson
in the failure of her marriage to a charming, flirtatious hunk. She prefers to
keep her heart under lock and key. So how did this dangerous, probably criminal
mercenary slip into its inner recesses?

As a reader, I prefer my mystery straight. A little sexual
tension maybe, but let’s keep the focus on the important thing here, which is
finding the killer. As a writer, I prefer the same. Yet, in my last Skeet
Bannion book, Every Broken Trust, a minor
character walked in and decided he liked Skeet and would become a major
character—and to my shock, Skeet developed an attraction for him that she’s
done everything but drop a nuclear bomb on to destroy, all without effect. Now,
in the WIP, Every Hidden Fear, Skeet
is losing ground in this battle against this new guy who’s probably going to
rip her heart out. How did this happen?

Yes, there’s a murder to solve and a killer to catch. Yes, there
are innocent and not-so-innocent people to save. Yes, Skeet’s as busy as ever
with no time for silly attractions. Yet, there they are, staring into each
other’s eyes and breathing heavy. It’s enough to make anyone sick.

Like most authors, I have to stay true to my characters and
honor their choices. But honestly! Yes, he did look kind of hot when he showed
up in the last book, all kitted out like an assassin, ready to rescue Skeet
from danger. Of course, Skeet wasn’t having any of it, thank you very much. She’s
quite capable of rescuing herself and any number of others from danger and did.
So why didn’t he just go away?

Such are the dilemmas authors face.

Do you like romance mixed in with your mystery? Do you
prefer to keep them separate? What do you think of characters who take over and
grow beyond what they’re supposed to be? 
And would you fall for a dangerous guy
with a classified background and a nice sense of humor who looks kind of like
Johnny Depp?

Whodunit? Me!

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by Bethany Maines

On my recent trip to Iceland we were watching the BBC
channel in the hotel room before going to bed (the entertainment value of the
Icelandic Shopping Network could only last so long) and I caught a fun segment
about the British Library which is showing an exhibit called Murder in theLibrary: An A-Z of Crime Fiction. The exhibit looks at the development of the
whodunit genre and features the “10 Commandments” of Monsignor Ronald
Knox. 
If you haven’t looked up the good Monsignor’s rules they
basically consist of some guidelines to prevent the author from pulling
solutions to a problem out of thin air and keep a story based in reality.  The rules hold up pretty well even over
80 years after being written – except for that one about the Chinamen.  I’m not really sure what that rule was
attempting to accomplish, but we’ll hope that it wasn’t as racist as it
sounds. 
Anyway, once I returned home I did a quick google on the
exhibit and found an interesting article that covered the rules and posed the
question: Is the Whodunit dead? Has the reading public moved on to thrillers,
true crime and procedurals?  Is the
Whodunit now a passé relic of an older time?
Well, I have to say that if I took a survey of the authors
on this blog that the answer would be a definitive, “No!” The Whodunit is alive
and well on the Stilletto Blog – whether it’s Joelle Charbonneau’s roller
skating heroine cleaning up a small town mysteries or Maggie Barbieri’s college
professor solving murders with the help of a handsome NYPD homicide detective –
our gang write crimes that get solved.
It’s my personal theory that books, like music, no longer
have one mainstream genre that is overwhelmingly popular. The world has more
readers than ever and that allows readers to pick the specific genre that
appeals to them.  The Whodunit may
no longer be THE thing to read, but I don’t think it’s being read any
less.  In fact – I’m about to start
reading a new one today.  

Why I Write About Cops and Cops’ Families

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With #9 in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series coming out, it’s probably time for me to once again explain why I have the audacity to write about police officers and their families since I’ve never been in law enforcement nor did I grow up in a law enforcement family.

What I do have is many relatives and friends who were or are police officers.

My uncle was in the LAPD, a motorcycle cop for a long while, then a detective. When I was growing up, a neighbor was a police officer and I babysat his children.

Our first house was in a neighborhood filled with policemen and their families. We partied with them, I had coffee on a regular basis with their wives, and our kids played together.

My youngest daughter married a policeman. He loved to tell me about his adventures and he took me on my first ride-along. My granddaughter married a deputy. A grandson is a police officer in Aspen.

Several  years ago I joined the Public Safety Writers Association. Most of the members are in some form of law enforcement and I’ve become friends with many of them.

I liked to read police procedurals, though most of the policemen I read about didn’t have much resemblance to the police officers that I knew. I decided I’d like to write mysteries about police officers and their families, showing the kind of men and women that I knew. I wanted to show how what happened on the job affected the families and what happened with the families affected the job.

Like all writers, I’m an observer and a listener. I’ve used what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series along with a generous dose of imagination.

In my latest, Dangerous Impulses,
an attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer
Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara
Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder
of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers
jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

 



Buy
link: http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

Undying Love in Lottawatah

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Love is in the air? Brianna’s not so sure. Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the psychic from Lottawatah. Read an excerpt from UNDYING LOVE IN LOTTAWATAH
 
***
Chapter 1
 
The first valentine I ever received
was from Charlie Riggins in first grade. It read, and I can still quote it in
its entirety. “Roses are red, Violets are blue, I don’t smell, but you
sure do.”

Needless to say the romance was over.
My only regret was that I had given him my genuine fake three dollar bill that
my great-uncle Sy had given me for Christmas that year. Needless to say I wasn’t
too fond of Sy either since even at the age of six, I knew there weren’t any
three dollar bills in circulation.

Anyway, my Momma always told me that
Valentine’s Day was a made-up Hallmark holiday and I shouldn’t get swept up in
the commercialization, yadda, yadda, yadda. To be honest, I often tuned out
when my mother would get on her high horse about these issues. And let’s be
honest, the woman absolutely expected a card and an increasingly expensive
present when the made-up holiday of Mother’s Day popped up every May.

But I was trying to tamp down my
expectations about Valentine’s Day and my main squeeze, Deputy Cooper Jackson.
He’s not what I would call gift-imaginative. My Christmas present had been a
bottle of J Lo’s Miami Glow perfume and I wasn’t sure what the message was
since I immediately remembered that Charlie Riggins had made a comment about my
smell too. Besides this cologne was a mixture of Pink Grapefruit, Coconut
Water, Passion Fruit, Heliotrope, Sheer Amber, Crystal Musk, Vanilla Orchid and
Blonde Woods, so essentially I was going to smell like a fruit bowl. His other
gift was a new toaster oven because he likes English muffins in the morning and
my toaster has two settings, light and burnt.

So like I said, I didn’t have high
hopes for Cupid’s Day. And yet, it was less the pink frilly card that had me
worried and more the deadline I had set for myself., After six months, I was
still hanging around Lottawatah, Oklahoma, and it was time for me to figure out
if I was staying or firing up Matilda, my motor home, and hitting the high
road. I thought I’d make a decision by the first of the new year, but then had
resolutely, pun intended, decided that Valentine’s Day was the drop-dead
deadline for the move it or lose it decision.

I was still muddling over the do I or
don’t I question, when a quick glance at the clock almost made the decision for
me. If I was late for my job at Pearl’s Soak & Spin one more time, I’d be
unemployed and would almost certainly have to hit the road in search of gas and
food money. Lottawatah’s economy, if it ever had one, had crashed long before
the rest of the nation. Jobs, as Miss Pearl had reminded me, didn’t grow on
trees. Although logging wasn’t out of the question if push came to shove.

I grabbed my coat and dug my hands in
the pockets for my gloves, and came up empty. I frantically looked around what
is lovingly called the living room in Matilda (also known as the dining room,
kitchen, and driver’s seat), when I remembered that I’d left them the previous
night at Cooper’s apartment.

Mutt Jeffrey, the gravel-voiced host
of the morning drive show, had already cheerfully informed me that it was going
to be “downright cold” today. Mutt is happiest when the weather is at
its worst. I had to walk a mile into town to get to the Soak & Spin, and
wasn’t looking forward to frozen fingers when I remembered an old pair of
gloves that had belonged to my Great Aunt MaryEllen. They’d been passed down to
my grandmother, MaryEllen’s younger sister. I don’t have many memories of my
grandmother, except she had a gap between her two front teeth and could whistle
loud enough with them to summon a cab from the next county. I’d tossed most of
the old clothes, keeping only a few mementos in an old shoe box. I’d stored the
chocolate brown, elbow-length cashmere gloves in Matilda’s glove compartment. I
had dreams of someday owning a dark mink coat to wear with them.

I pulled them on, flung open the door,
and stepped out into the frigid Oklahoma air. A gust of wind nearly blew me
over.

“Where’s your hat? Your brain’s
gonna freeze.”

I did a full 360 before I caught a
glimpse of her. At first I thought it was Grandma, but ghosts usually appear as
they did at death. Which is why wearing good clothes when you kick the bucket
is always a plus. No this wasn’t Grandma, although she had the same gap-toothed
smile. Guess orthodontia wasn’t a big priority during the Great Depression era,
judging the date from the clothes. This was a woman about 60, wearing a
brown-checked coat, felt cloche hat, and I’m pretty sure, a pair of brown
cashmere gloves.

Crap. Hello ghost of Great Aunt
MaryEllen. She’d died in the early ’80s, hit by a cab while crossing the
street.

“Don’t be getting any dirt on
those gloves. They’re genuine cashmere, you know. Harry Grady brought them to
me from the French Quarter in New Orleans.”

Ghosts don’t seem to be affected by
the cold. MaryEllen was leaning casually against Matilda, looking like she had
all the time in the world for a chat.

“Think you could walk with me.”
I motioned for her to follow. “I’ve got to get to work and I’m betting you
have something you need to tell me.”

Don’t they all? Why on earth, pardon
the pun, was Great Aunt MaryEllen, dead more than 30 years, picking a freezing
winter day, with me late for work, to show up?

My name is Brianna Sullivan. I’m a
psychic. My limited talents include communicating with ghosts, finding lost
objects and people, and an occasional success with water well witching. I’d
never planned on making a career of this woo woo stuff, but a girl’s gotta eat.

 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah – trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 – I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 – A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)

Romances
Love Lessons – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

A Slice of Cake!

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February is the month of love but we like our love stories served with a large slice of mystery. How about you? Start your week off right with something sweet, but not too sweet – sample an excerpt from MURDER TAKES THE CAKE

***

 
“Live turkeys or frozen ones?” Mac frowned at JJ. It
didn’t sound like much of a case. “Have I mentioned we should be aiming
for jobs that pay actual cash?”

“Live turkeys. And there’s money with this one.”

There were a lot of turkeys in the nation’s capital, but very
few with actual feathers. “Live turkeys? Are you sure? In D.C.?”

“They were the backup team for the guys headed to the White
House to get pardons.”

“Why would someone pay to find them?” He laughed. “Especially,
if they were the second string. My fee would be more than what they are worth.”

“It’s not only turkeys that are missing.”

“JJ, do you want those fries some time today? Let’s hear
the whole story, but make it quick.”

“The turkey farmer’s employee, stock truck, and wife are
all missing.”

“And?”

“And the contents of his savings account–$400,000 and
change. He’d just sold some land. Needed the money to invest in some spin-off
business.”

“A turkey spin-off business? What? Gobbles in a Can?”

JJ narrowed her eyes and remained silent.

“Okay. Missing employee, truck, wife, turkeys, and money.
What’s our client the most interested in finding?”

JJ grinned. “The money of course. And the turkeys…but only
if you find them before Thanksgiving, which means a rush job. He didn’t seem
too broken-up about the wife or the truck.”

“Must have been an old truck.” Mac sighed. “Okay.
We’ll do it. Give Edgar a call. He’s been wanting to get his hands dirty on a
job. He won’t admit it, but I think since Elinor’s sudden death, he’s been
lonely. Tell him to interview the farmer, neighbors, anyone who knew the wife,
and any acquaintances of the hired hand. He can do it over the phone.”

“So we’re officially taking the case? He’s offering a
turkey and 5% of whatever we recover.”

“Yeah, we’ll take it. The cash, not the turkey. Something
already smells funny.”

“You’re still thinking about the turkeys.”

Mac chuckled. “Besides them. If you’re running off with the
boss’s wife and a whole lot of money, why bother to haul around a load of
smelly birds? Tell Edgar to make sure the two disappearances aren’t just a
coincidence. And get the farmer to sign a contract.”

They both turned as the bells on the office door jingled.

A tall woman with red hair and an even redder leather bomber
jacket walked in.

“Uncle Mac! Surprise!”

“Bridget!” Mac wasn’t too surprised to see his
goddaughter. He knew she was coming home this week for the holiday and to work
on wedding plans. Plus, Jeff had mentioned the Thanksgiving dinner invitation
again to him the day before, trying to get him to humor Kathleen and leave
Whiskey at a kennel for the occasion. Now it appeared Bridget had been given the
mission. The issue of abandoning his dog for the day aside, he’d really rather
stay home with a six-pack of beer, take-out from his favorite pizza place, and
a football game on his new flat screen television. “Whiskey and I are a
team. I’m not leaving her behind even for a plateful of your mother’s candied
sweet potatoes.”

“Good to see you too.” Bridget gave him a hug. “You
don’t have to come to dinner. I’ll eat your share of sweet potatoes. And
pumpkin pie. But I do need something from you.”

“What?”

“You can’t tell my father.”

“I already don’t like the sound of this.”

“Someone is trying to kill me.”

 

 

 

Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback 
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Dog Was Doing What in the Bathroom?

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From the cat who literally swallowed the canary (and then threw it up on your aunt’s antique Persian rug) to the dog who ran away, we at the Stiletto Gang put our collective heads together and thought: what could be better than walking down memory lane with thoughts of some of our favorite–and not-so-favorite–pets? Join us for the next two weeks as we reminisce about the animals we loved and those who loved us.

by Bethany Maines

If you’re friends with me on Facebook then you know of my
picture-snapping obsession with my dog Kato.  He’s a two-year old Lab Rottweiler mix with a belief that
people-chairs are really dog beds and that dishwashers are where we put the
silverware to be licked. We named him after Inspector Clouseau’s surprise
attacking valet, so that we could yell, “Kato, now is not the time!” whenever
he jumps out at us, which he does frequently. My friends, acquaintances, and
frequently strangers are forced to listen to my “hilarious” dog stories and
occasionally shown the “baby” photos on my phone.  Yes, I’m that “pet parent.”  I try not to be, but my dog is just that darn cute.  (See photographic evidence below.) 

However, it occurred to me, as I tried to integrate a dog
into my latest manuscript that pets are rather like the bathroom in most books
– they never get mentioned. That is, unless they’re important to the plot line
or they ARE the plot line (see The Cat Who…
series by Lillian Jackson Braun). Both bathrooms and pets are important
features of everyday life. Pets require feeding and water and are generally
greeted immediately upon entering a house, as well having a host of other
little ways of integrating themselves into their owner’s lives. Bathrooms, for
obvious reasons, are visited multiple times a day and usually have their own
attendant routines of make-up, showering, and dressing. But both rarely rate a mention in most
books. What gives?
Well, like all the strangers I accost with my Kato stories,
most readers probably just aren’t that interested in the heroine’s pet. And
really, who wants to spend that much time with a protagonist in the restroom?
And of course, with space at a premium, it’s a bit hard to justify giving
paragraphs of space to the pet while the plot languishes about looking for a
little attention. But is a well-written story with a fast moving plot mutually
exclusive with pets and bathrooms? 
Can’t a character blurt out, “I have to pee,” when faced with shocking
news? Can’t the dull routine of feeding the dog, feed a characters wish for
excitement and adventure? Why should the pets and restrooms not at least get
the recognition they deserve for being a meaningful part of our lives?
All of which makes me want to write a story that takes place
in the bathroom… with a dog. I just need a plot and some characters and I’m
golden.

Good Grief in Lottawatah

/in /by

Excerpt from
Good Grief in Lottawatah
Vol 8
Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series

Chapter 1 –
“The Dead Make a lot of Noise.”

In case you missed the front page story in Friday’s Lottawatah Herald or didn’t visit the
Shear Artistry Hair Salon on Saturday or failed to listen to local radio host
Mutt Jeffrey’s call-in segment this morning, let me tell you the big news that
has this small Oklahoma
town abuzz – I’m engaged to Lottawatah Police Detective Cooper Jackson.

Yes, engaged to be married. I know, you never thought I’d make
such a big commitment. Frankly, I’m a bit stunned myself. And before you can
ask, no I’m not pregnant. Cooper proposed to me while I was in the hospital in Tulsa, recovering from a
gunshot wound I received in early November. Granted I was on heavy drugs at the
time and the memory of actually saying yes to his offer of marriage is still a
little fuzzy, but I’m sure this is the right decision. I’m almost positive.

“Brianna? Is that you? Come on back to my office, I’m on
hold with a casket supplier.”

I realized I was standing just inside the Myers Funeral Home,
the door chime still ringing. Today was the first day of my new job. Doc Joseph
Myers, mortician, fisherman, and as needed, coroner was my new boss. I had no
clue what my employment entailed. Of course I’ve spent most of my life without
a clue. I’m Brianna Sullivan and I’m a psychic. And yes, I should have a clue.
And no, that’s psychic spelled with an “ic” not an “o.”

***

It’s noon now. I’ve been on the job four hours. Okay,
three-and-a-half since I was late. Cooper dropped me off at his friend Denny’s
garage. My vintage Mustang convertible was road worthy–barely. Denny had been
working on the car off-and-on for almost a year. The good citizens of
Lottawatah had finally chipped in and paid my outstanding balance at the garage
as sort of a reward for my actions in finding a missing child or maybe as a
reward for exposing a murderer in their mist. Either way, I was happy to have a
second set of wheels to drive around town. My other mode of transportation is
Matilda, my 30-foot motor home. I love Matilda but I don’t like driving her
around Lottawatah. Right now she’s parked out at Lake Eufaula
and I stay there when I’m not keeping Cooper company at his apartment in town.

Doc Myers, who said he had already made a house call (yes,
that’s what you think it is),  showed me
around the funeral home before he left for his regular Monday lunch at Tiny’s
with his Lodge buddies. I’m not sure which Lodge or even if there really is a
Lodge anymore since I think this lunch has probably been happening since before
I was born.

But back to my job-I was given a nice desk, a chair on rollers
that spins, a phone with two lines, and a desktop computer that I haven’t yet
figured out how to turn on.

Doc told me my title was director of sales and public outreach.
As far as I can tell that means I answer the telephone, take messages, and
serve coffee and Kleenex to family members when they come in to pick out
caskets and make funeral arrangements.

“Good Morning, Myers Funeral Home. How can I help
you?”

“Are you going to the apartment during your lunch hour to
walk Leon?”

“Hello to you too, sweetheart. Is the magic already
gone?”

“Brianna, I’m at the scene of a three-car pileup with a
fuel spill. I don’t have time for magic.”

“Yet you took the time to worry about Leon‘s bladder. I’m touched.” Leon
was the bulldog I had inadvertently inherited. He has a grumpy disposition, a
sensitive digestive tract, a penchant for chewing on leather couches, and I was
devoted to him. Cooper less so.

“Right. Just take care of your dog. I don’t want any more
accidents to clean up,” Cooper said. “And don’t forget to call my
mother and set up a dinner.”

I hadn’t forgotten. I was hoping something would happen to
prevent me making that call. Maybe a natural disaster. Hey, we get a lot of
those in Oklahoma.
Last year there were two ice storms, a blizzard, a flood, three tornadoes, a
drought, and then 60 one-hundred degree days in a row. Just when I thought I’d
experienced all that Oklahoma
had to offer; last month there was an earthquake that knocked down an old brick
tower in the Miner’s Memorial Park, located in the center of Lottawatah. Odds
were that something else would happen if I could just delay making that call.

“Cooper, there’s a lot of static on the line. I didn’t hear
that last part. See you tonight!”

“Brianna, call–”

Okay, yes, I admit it. I hung up on him. He doesn’t understand
that my relationship with his mother is unpredictable. A couple of months ago,
she really hated me. Then hate sort of morphed into grudging tolerance. When I
was in the hospital, she was very kind. I thought we were really bonding. Then
the engagement happened and Sassy Jackson chilled up fast.

“Could I get a moment of your time?”

Startled, I glanced up. The elderly man in front of me was polite,
but not alive.

“Do you have an appointment?” Okay, I knew the answer
to that question before I asked it but really, I was going to have to set some
boundaries or the walk-ins would run me ragged. And of course there was Leon‘s
bladder to consider.

“My viewing is tonight and I wanted to warn you that my
wife and my brother will probably get into a shouting match if you don’t keep
them separated. He thinks she only married me for my money.”

“How long have you been married?” I was guessing he’d
married a younger woman and his family hadn’t approved.

“Fifty years come June,” he answered, sitting down
uninvited on the chair in front of my desk. “But my brother isn’t one to
change his mind. He’s been waiting for Emma to leave me, so he could say I told
you so.”

Fifty years was a long time. I don’t know if I could conceive of
living with Cooper for fifty years. What would we find to talk about after all
that time?

“I’ll make a note for Doc.”

Before I even finished my sentence he was gone.

I grabbed my purse and the set of keys that Doc Myers had given
me. I had an hour for lunch and about a dozen personal errands to run. I didn’t
have to be psychic to understand that having an 8-5 office job was going to
interfere with my normal routine.

Just before I walked out the front door, I stuck my head in the
three viewing rooms and let everyone know that I’d be back by one.

According to Doc, the viewings were generally set from 3 to 7
pm. Doc assured me that he’d handle the after-5 stuff. People in Lottawatah ate
early and liked to be home in front of their television or in bed before it got
dark. So the evening visitors were few and far between.

Today, although it was barely noon, there was already quite a
crowd gathering in one room. I could try to run them off, but these visitors didn’t
pay much attention to clocks, policies, or locked doors.

Not only the living attend funerals.

__________________


Zoned for Murder – Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Sullivan Investigations Mystery – e-book series
Murder Off the Books Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords