Tag Archive for: Sparkle Abbey

Summer Is Perfect for Shorts!

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 by Sparkle Abbey

Here in the Midwest we’re finally seeing some regular summer weather but most of this summer has been hot, hot hot!

So no matter what your style vibe is, it’s truly been the perfect weather for shorts. 

We’re probably apt to flash a little less leg in our choices. 

Mostly because after a year of going nowhere and working inside, we not only don’t have any tan lines – we don’t have any tans at all. 

Caro and Mel, the heroines in our Pampered Pets mystery series would undoubtedly be much more daring And, after all, they do live in Laguna Beach. 

So, we’re thinking they’d have great stylish choices in shorts. 

How about you? Do you wear shorts? 

And, if so, what’s your favorite style? 

And by the way, since we’re talking short, summer is also the perfect time for short reads. We’ve been reading some of the award nominated shorts stories. Something quick for the deck or the beach or even for a road trip. So, we’re loving great novellas and short stories! And we’ve also just released our very first short – PROJECT DOGWAY. 

Here’s a little bit about it. 
Canines are on the “catwalk” at this Laguna Beach dog fashion show—a heartworm awareness fundraiser—where former Texas beauty queen and currently-not-speaking-to-each-other cousins, Caro and Mel, are in attendance. When award-winning show beagle, Shadow’s, owner drops dead from eating a deadly scallop ceviche, the cousins find themselves embroiled in much more than a fashion “faux paw.”
Project Dogway is available on all ebook platforms: 

Watch for our next short, coming soon! Any guesses on what Caro and Met will be up to next? 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook,and Twitter their favorite social media sites. 

Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

summer scene with books

Summer time and the livin’ was easy…

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 by Mary Lee Ashford

Summer time and the livin’ was easy… so goes the song.

Here it is – already the first of July and here in the Midwest we are definitely feeling the heat of summer. And the humidity…

I can’t even imagine what it’s like for some of you who are seeing triple-digit temps. I’m thankful every day that my air-conditioning is working and that I’m not relying on a fan like we did when I was a kid. 
Because I grew up in a very small town, my summers were mostly spent hanging out with friends and reading. 
When I think of summers growing up, I think of the sweet tea that my mom would steep in a pot on the stove and then cool and pour over ice.  In my mind I can smell the green grass that cushioned the blanket in the backyard where I’d park myself for hours with the latest book I’d checked out from the library. A comfy spot and usually a  radio along for a little background music. Now, I’m dating myself, aren’t I? 
Different summers, different tastes in reading but always the backyard and a book. One summer I devoured Trixie Belden books. Another time it was Nancy Drew. My mom was an Agatha Christie fan and one summer I started on her collection of mysteries. 
There were chores to do, of course. But in retrospect, life really was pretty slow and easy. Not much rushing about. Time for really diving into a good book. 
What memories come to mind for you when you think about your summers growing up? Were you busy with activities or were your summer days slow and easy like mine? Any favorite reads come to mind? 
Leave a comment below and on Friday, I’ll draw a name to receive a fun summer bag and a copy of my most recent book, Quiche of Death. (Or if you already have that one, thank-you for that, and we’ll figure out a different one.) 
Mary Lee Ashford is a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and supporter of public libraries. In addition to writing the Sugar & Spice mysteries series for Kensington Books, she also writes as half of the writing team of Sparkle Abbey. Prior to publishing she won first place in the Daphne du Maurier contest sponsored by the Kiss of Death chapter of RWA. 
She’s the founding president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa and loves encouraging other writers. Mary Lee has a passionate interest in creativity and teaches a university level course on the topic. In her day job, she is a Deputy Chief Information Officer, and is happy to answer technology questions but probably can’t fix your computer. She resides in Iowa with her husband, Tim, and Zoey the cat. Her delights are reading and enjoying her family, especially her six grandchildren. Her family has come to terms with the idea that plotting murders is a frequent topic at family gatherings. 

Quiche of Death – Book 3 in the Sugar & Spice series

When editor
Sugar Calloway and baker Dixie Spicer went into business creating cookbooks,
they found a sideline as amateur sleuths. Now a bitter family grudge could
leave a fatal aftertaste…

At Sugar & Spice Community Cookbooks, the
friends and business partners have secured a tasty new commission: producing a
cookbook for the Arbor family. The Arbors have made their fortune in quiches,
and Sugar and Spice have been invited to a weekend gathering where all the
siblings, along with crusty matriarch Marta, will be in attendance. But it’s
soon clear that this trip will come with a hefty slice of drama.

Theo, the only grandson, arrives with his flaky
fiancée, Collette, who quickly stirs up trouble . . . and is found dead the
next day. As the investigation unfolds, secrets—and recipes—are shared, and
Sugar and Spice realize just how messy and murderous the situation may be. As
another family member falls ill, can they solve the case without getting egg on
their faces . . .and a target on their backs?

Amazonkindle Apple Google Kobo Nook

A Story is Feelings

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by Sparkle Abbey

One of the many advantages of a
writing team is that you always have someone to talk books with. While we tend
to read the same types of books, we don’t always read the same authors, so our
chats are a great way to discover the-book-you-didn’t-know-you-needed-to-read.

Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova
from Pexels

During one of our hours-long book
conversations, the topic of award-winning books came up. There was one book that
we had both recently read, that we agreed was really well written, had a great
plot, good twist, interesting characters, but left us. . . .unfulfilled. After
a deep dive into what we loved about it, we realized that neither of us had become
one hundred percent invested in any of the main characters. Anita likes to call
that “imprinting.” By that, she means the character whose emotional story
is being told is firmly impressed into her mind in a way that she strongly
connects with them.

Don’t misunderstand, that bestseller,
award-winning book we were discussing it’s NOT a bad book. We’re still talking
about it. We’re just talking about the plot twists and the great writing. But
for us, it wasn’t a book that either of us devoured, willing to stay up all
night to finish knowing we’d be blurry-eyed, and sleep-deprived the next day.
So why not?

The conversation turned to an
excellent craft book (who doesn’t love a great book on writing?)


by our dear friend,
Cheryl St. John, called Writing
With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and
Compelling Novel.  If you’re a
writer and have not read this book, read it. It will change the way you write. One
of the many amazing takeaways from Cheryl’s book is found on the first page of
the introduction. Cheryl writes, “Probably the most important concept I’ve
taken away from any book on writing is from Dwight V. Swain’s Techniques of the
Selling Writer: A story is feelings.”

So much power in four words. A.
Story. Is. Feelings.

Emotions come from the inner
conflict, the fight within the characters themselves. When done well, those
feeling are strategically woven throughout the story in a way that the reader can
“imprint” on the character. As the reader we must know what happens next because
we’re emotionally invested in the characters—good, bad, or fatally flawed—and
the story those characters are telling.

That’s what we were missing. We didn’t
know which character to imprint on, so we didn’t connect to any of the characters
on a deeper level. A great lesson for us to apply to our writing. Also, it
reminded us that it’s probably time to reread Writing With Emotion, Tension,
and Conflict.

If you’ve recently read a book that
kept you up all night, tell us about it in the comments. We want to know!

Sparkle Abbey is
actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the
national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as
well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder.
(But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and
can be found on Facebook, and Twitter their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want
to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Happy Mother’s Day to the Moms Whose Kids Have Paws

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 by Sparkle Abbey

Today we’re wishing an early Mother’s Day to all the moms out there and especially to the moms whose kids have paws!

We know they may not always tell you but the dogs and cats and other animals that you walk, feed, and care for in so many way, love you to the moon and back. 

Though the namesakes of our pen name, Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abby (Anita’s dog), are now gone, they were such a big part of our lives. We miss them every day. (Please don’t get us started or we’ll have to tell  you the story of  how with the help of the lovely Catriona McPherson, we left a whole panel, and most of the audience, in tears at a conference a few years ago…) 

However, we also want to share that we do have some other furry rescue pets in our lives now. Zoey (ML’s cat) and Sophie (Anita’s dog) have their own unique and very definite personalities. And, in fact, they had a little get-to-know-you meeting on the deck last week.

Here’s the thing. We can’t imagine our lives without our pets. And we’ll bet that your pets can’t imagine their lives without you. So, let us speak for them and with a “woof” and a “meow” wish you an early happy Mother’s Day! 

We’d love to hear about your furry kids! 

Please feel free to share in the comments.

Mary Lee, Anita, Zoey, and Sophie aka Sparkle Abbey 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook,and Twitter their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Welcome Kathleen Kaska!

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by Sparkle Abbey

We’re thrilled to share that Kathleen Kaska has joined The Stiletto Gang group and will
be blogging on the first Friday of the month starting tomorrow! So we thought we’d
take this opportunity to introduce the award-winning mystery author and learn more about her. 

Q: What do you write?

I write mysteries: mainly cozies, but also traditional
and police procedurals, and some nonfiction. I like to try different styles of
writing.

I write the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the
1950s. This is lighthearted and humorous in the style of Janet Evanovich’s
Stephanie Plump series. Each book takes place in a different historic hotel. I
also write the Kate Caraway Animal Right’s Mystery Series. I just finished a
hardboiled detective mystery set in 1945 Manhattan and am halfway through a
zany British detective story set on the North Cornish Coast.

Q: What got you started on your writing journey?

I knew I wanted to write mysteries but didn’t know how
to start, so I joined the Austin Writer’s League, now the Writer’s League of
Texas, and started taking creative writing classes. I collected how-to writing
books, subscribed to writer’s magazines, and joined a critique group. In doing
so, I tried my hand at different things. Travel writing, articles about
education (I was teaching at the time), and even became the editor of a local
wildlife organization’s newsletter.

Within a short time, I was asked to be a staff writer
of an outdoor adventure and fitness magazine. A textbook publisher contacted me
to contribute to middle school science textbooks. This didn’t help in writing
mysteries, but I knew I had to start somewhere. Breaking into the world of
fiction writing, and getting published, was not going to be easy, so I started
with nonfiction, writing three mystery trivia books. I landed an agent, and all
three books sold. Only then did I start writing my own mysteries.

Q: Are you a “spoiler” and read the end of the book
before you finish it or do you read cover to cover?

I’m a cover-to-cover reader. I read slowly, often
rereading my favorite passages. If I miss the meaning of a sentence, I read it
over until I understand. I read from the perspective of a reader and a writer.

Q: Did you have a favorite author as a child?

I wasn’t an avid reader as a child until I read The Island of the Blue Dolphins, followed
by The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Then I picked up Agatha Christie. Little did I know that I’d eventually write a
book about Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie.

Q. What do you do to unwind and relax? Do you have a
hobby?

I’m a runner and put in several miles every week. This
is my quiet, contemplation time where I work out plot issues in my novels and
design scenes and conversations between my characters. I am also a birder and
enjoy being outdoors with my friends and family. My passion for birds led to
the publication of the biography, The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The
Robert Porter Allen Story (University Press of Florida).

Q. What are you working on now?

This year will be a busy, exciting year. I’ve started a
new mystery series, I’m just barely into it, and I have a publisher eager to
see it when finished. I have another publisher who’s interested in picking up
and reissuing my Sydney Lockhart series. And I hope my third Kate Caraway
mystery will be released by the end of the year; that’s a big hope.

One of my mystery trivia books, The Sherlock Holmes
Quiz Book, was picked up, updated, and reissued on November 1, 2020. 

I have podcast interviews coming up in the next few
weeks. My website lists the podcast interviews and YouTube interviews,
scheduled in the next few weeks, as well as previous events.

Where can readers connect with you?

http://www.kathleenkaska.com

https://twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor

http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska

https://www.instagram.com/kathleenkaska/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-kaska-942aa511/ 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/178776.Kathleen_Kaska 

https://www.pinterest.com/kathleenkaska/_saved/


Connect with Sparkle Abbey 

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Pinterest | Amazon | Goodreads


About Kathleen Kaska

I’m a Texas gal. Except for an eighteen-month hiatus living
in New York City after college, I lived in the Lone Star State continuously for
fifty years. Since then Texas has been hit and miss—a little hit, but a heck of
a lot of miss. There was a time when I thought I would happily die in Austin,
Texas. But circumstances and
weather—especially weather—changed that. Now I spend most of the year on
Fidalgo Island in Washington State with a view of the bay and the mountains.
When I get homesick, my husband and I listen to Willie Nelson. Soon we are
dancing the two-step, imagining we are at our favorite honky-tonk in Tokyo,
Texas where the mayor is believed to be a dog. Who wouldn’t miss that?

I write the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney
Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Classic Triviography Mystery
Series, which includes The Sherlock
Holmes Quiz Book, which was updated and released by Lyons Press on November
1, 2020. My Kate Caraway
animal-rights mystery series includes Run
Dog Run (2017) and A Two Horse Town
(2019). Eagle Crossing is scheduled
for release in 2021. On my website, you can also find my Five-Minute Writing
Tips and blog posts about publishing, marketing, birding, and quirky things
that come to mind.

 

Eat, Drink and Be Murdered

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by Sparkle Abbey

What is it with food and mysteries?

In some mysteries, food is front and center like Sparkle’s, uhm, Mary Lee’s, Game of Scones or Risky Biscuits. But even if the theme isn’t food-related like in our Pampered Pet mysteries, food and drink play an important part because of what food, and interactions involving food, tell us about people.

You’ll often find our main characters, Caro and Mel, at their favorite coffee shop, the Koffee Klatch, chatting with Detective Malone, Betty Foxx, or even sometimes a suspect. And what someone chooses to eat or drink, and how they enjoy their food tells us a lot about the character. 


Is it a fancy coffee and a tasty treat? No-fuss black coffee? Do they stop and savor their selection? Or grab something to go? 
 
Do you notice what people are eating in the books you read? What do their food choices reveal about the characters?

In honor of Valentine’s Day we wanted to share a fun, pink drink we discovered while perusing the Food Network’s website for some inspiring recipes our character might want to try. The Queen of the Rodeo was inspired by the fabulous Dolly Parton!

Queen of the Rodeo – From Food Network

Shake 2 ounces vodka, 1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur, 3/4 ounce each lime juice and grapefruit juice, and 1/2 ounce pomegranate syrup in a shaker with ice. Strain into a glass, garnish with a lime wheel, and dust with edible pink glitter.

*If you’d like a non-alcoholic version, leave out the vodka and substitute cherry syrup.


Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 


They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

How to Meet Those Yearly Goals Everyone is Talking About

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by Sparkle Abbey

We love the fresh start of a new year! With 2020 in the rear-view mirror, a fresh start has never felt more important than it does right now. We are strong believers that our present path doesn’t have to determine our final destination but can represent where we started. And we’re starting with a clear vision of what we want out of 2021.

For those of you who have followed us, you know we LOVE to set goals. Not just writing goals, but spiritual, health, personal, financial, and career goals, too. We’ve talked about the importance of setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) in the past, so this time we’d like to share some tips that help us keep on track with achieving our goals. Because honestly, setting the goal is the easy part. Following through is a challenge.

 1.       Write Them Down

We do mean, write. There’s something to be said
about handwriting your goals that helps you visualize what you want to accomplish.
And if you’re like us, without writing them down, you’re bound to forget by the
end of the month. When you see those goals in writing it helps you focus. There’s
a fascinating article about the
psychology of writing down goals that explain the relationship between writing
down goals and achieving them better than we can. Take a quick minute and check
it out.

2.      
Tell Someone

It’s all about accountability. Share your goals with
someone. We all need a cheerleader in our corner to motivate us to keep going
when we’re tired or discouraged.

3.      
Do Something Every Day

You’ve heard the saying before, “How do you eat an
elephant? One bite at a time.” It’s similar to meeting your goal. You meet goals
by taking one step at a time. For a financial goal, that can be as simple as
putting $1 a day into an envelope, or instead of buying that latte, Venmo that money
to your savings account. If it’s a fitness goal, schedule a twenty-minute
meeting with yourself to take a walk. You get the idea.

4.      
Accept That You Will Have A Setback

Hey, life happens. All you have to do is remember 2020.
Enough said. When you have a setback, readjust and don’t feel guilty about it. The time you spend feeling guilty is time you could have spent towards reaching
your goal.

5.      
Check-in

Remember when we said to tell someone? This is where you check-in
with that person or persons and hold yourself accountable. What did you do to
get yourself closer to your goal? What worked? What didn’t? Maybe they can
offer some advice if what you’re doing isn’t working the way you had
envisioned.

6.      
Celebrate Your Successes

When you reach that goal, make sure you take the time to
celebrate. Rewards, big or small, will help you stick to your goals. Pro tip:
don’t let the reward set you back from meeting other goals. If you’re trying to
improve your fitness and diet, don’t celebrate your new promotion or
outstanding book sales on a couple of margaritas. Maybe have a vodka with club
soda and a squeeze of lime. Just sayin’.

We hope these tips work for you. Now go forth and conquer 2021. We believe in you!


Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Turkey pileup on aisle 10!

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 by Sparkle Abbey


Like most of the
world, we “canceled” our traditional Thanksgiving gathering. Instead, we celebrated
with only the family members we lived with, which was 2-4 people, and Zoomed
with the rest of the family.  And while the
size of the turkey was reduced from the typical twenty-two pounds to a paltry
ten pounds, one of us doesn’t know how to cook a Thanksgiving meal for less than
10 people. So we were left with a pileup of turkey, ham, stuffing, glazed carrots,
green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, corny cornbread, and
rolls. What to do with all that leftover food?

The truth is, you
can only eat so many boring ham or turkey sandwiches, right? Eventually, even
we have to get creative and transform those bland leftovers into something we want
to eat. Plus, we need room in the fridge
for Christmas cookies and fudge. After a quick Google search, we actually found
a couple of recipes we liked, that was not only super easy to make but pretty
quick to throw together. Sorry, we didn’t take any photos of our actual dinners,
but we promise the meals were delicious!

Enjoy!

Easy Shepard Pie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chopped leftover
    turkey
  • 1 cup gravy
  • 1/2 cup frozen
    mixed vegetables
  • 1 cup stuffing
  • 1 cup mashed

Directions:

  1. Preheat over 350 degrees.
  2. Grease two
    ramekins with cooking spray.
  3. Combine chopped
    turkey with gravy.
  4. Layer equal
    amounts of ingredients in each ramekin in the following order:

        Turkey and gravy
        Frozen vegetables
        Stuffing
        Mashed potatoes

  5. Place ramekins
on a baking sheet, place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes
slightly brown.

Serve warm.

 

Turkey Tortellini
Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive
    oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped
    sweet onion
  • 1/4 cup thinly
    sliced celery
  • 1/4  cup thinly sliced carrots
  • 1 teaspoon minced
    garlic
  • 3 cups turkey stock
    or chicken broth
  • 2 cups chopped or
    shredded leftover turkey
  • 1 (9-oz.) pkg.
    refrigerated tortellini of your choice
  • 1 (5-oz.) pkg. fresh
    spinach
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher
    salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black
    pepper
  • Shaved Parmesan
    cheese

 

Directions: 

  1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high.
  2. Add onion, celery, and carrots; cook, stirring
    often, until vegetables begin to soften, 8 to 10 minutes.
  3. Add garlic. Stir for about 1 minute.
  4.  Add turkey/chicken stock and cooked turkey, and
    bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes.
  5.  Add tortellini, and simmer until tortellini are
    cooked per directions on the package.      Usually 6-7 minutes.
  6.  Stir in spinach, salt, and pepper. Remove from
    heat. Top each serving with shaved Parmesan cheese    .


Leftover Ham & Cheese Brunch Bake

Ingredients: 

  • 10 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt & pepper 
  • 4 cups of cubed bread (Crusty bread, like French bread works best.)
  • 8 ounces of chopped ham
  • 1 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (Can be regular cheddar or white cheddar.) 

Directions:  

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, thyme, & garlic powder.
  3. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
  4. Butter a large baking dish. Add bread and top with ham and cheese. 
  5. Pour egg mixture over the top.
  6. Bake until eggs are cooked through – approximately 45 to 55 minutes. 
  7. Reserve a little of the thyme for garnish and add it before serving. 

Note: The bake is even better if you make it the night before, cover with foil, and refrigerate overnight

Here are the links to the original recipes:

https://www.today.com/food/sandra-lee-uses-thanksgiving-leftovers-make-shepherd-s-pie-t200150?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/turkey-tortellini-soup-greens


Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 


They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

We Hear Voices

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 by Mary Lee Ashford

I recently came across this article that addressed a study of an interesting phenomena. The study looked at the idea that Most Authors Can Hear Their Characters Speaking to Them.

It was noted that Alice Walker while writing The Color Purple was often visited by her characters. Sometimes choosing their own actions. And other well-know authors such as Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian) said they felt sometimes held hostage by their characters. 

This particular study, done by researchers at Durham University, surveyed authors attending the Edinburgh International Book Festival in two different years. The intent was to look at just how common the phenomena is for writers. What do you think the results were?  I’d be very interested in hearing from some of the other Stiletto Gang authors as well as other writers as to whether you hear your characters.

As for me, although I’ve long argued that the author directs the story, I confess I do sometimes hear from my characters. Often when I’m attempting to send them in a direction that fits me but doesn’t fit them. Caro in the Pampered Pets series, and Sugar in the Sugar & Spice books are both far braver than me. They are much more likely to insert themselves into other people’s business. Their backgrounds are not mine. And truthfully, I’m much more of an armchair detective. I don’t see myself chasing down a murderer. But that’s the fantasy, right? The characters we write about (or read about) are not us. Sometimes they have to remind me. 

Back to the study – the researchers found that two-thirds of the authors they surveyed hear their characters voices. And 61% feel their characters at times act differently that what the author has planned for them.  Interesting. 

So what’s going on? Are we delusional? Having hallucinations? Too much caffeine? The study’s lead, John Foxwell, a postdoctoral research fellow at Durham, says that what the authors who were surveyed describe is less hallucination and more like “inner speech.” Inner speech is what most of us experience when we think verbally and some of us are more aware of it than others. 

In conclusion, though this was a small sampling, Writers Inner Voices and it’s companion study, Readers Inner Voices, did come to some interesting conclusions and there are some additional studies being done around inner speech as well as imagination and the senses. So stay tuned! 

So what do you think? Writers, do you hear your characters? Do they sometimes act independently? And readers, do you hear the characters as your read them? I’d love hear your thoughts! 

Mary Lee Ashford is a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and supporter of public libraries. In addition to writing the Sugar & Spice series for Kensington, she also writes as half of the writing team of Sparkle Abbey. She is the founding president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa and a member of SinC, MWA, and Novelists, Inc. She loves encouraging other writers and connecting with readers. More info here: www.maryleeashford.com

The latest book in the Sugar & Spice series is QUICHE OF DEATH which is currently a special deal at Kobo for $2.99. 

10 Things We Love About Fall

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 by Sparkle Abbey


It’s hard to believe it’s already September and one of the top ten
words of 2020 is “quarantine.” Like many of our fellow Stiletto Gang authors,
we’re also on Zoom overload, longing to meet friends at our favorite
restaurants, and mourning the end of summer vacations—mostly because we didn’t
have a vacation. 

As unpredictable as 2020 has been, we’re going-with-the-flow
and preparing ourselves for an anything-can-happen type of Fall.

Here in Iowa, most days are still warm days, but there was a short
preview of the cooler days to come. We can’t image an Iowa Autumn without lawns
blanketed with crisp, colored leaves, long-sleeved flannel shirts, and all
things pumpkin spice. And our yearly flu shots.

So instead of thinking about our lost summer vacations, we thought
we share 10 Things We Love About Fall.


  • Writer’s retreats (We have faith they will happen again!)
  • Crisp weather
  • Cozy oversized sweaters
  • Homemade apple desserts
  • Colorful scarves
  • Candy corn
  • Carving pumpkins
  • Thanksgiving
  • Pumpkin spice EVERYTHING
  • The best-scented candles. Apple spice, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, and Cinnamon Chai

What about you? What are some favorite things you like about Fall?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

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