Tag Archive for: Sparkle Abbey

Summer Reading

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by Sparkle Abbey

Though we know it’s not quite summer, here in the midwest it’s been feeling a lot like summer lately.

And after a particularly cold and awful winter, we are more than ready to break out the lawn chairs, lemonade, and, sandals.

As the longer days of summer approach, we’ve also been looking forward to some time to sit in the shade and read.

We’re seeing summer reading recommendations pop up in our social media feeds and emails. Harper’s Bazaar has a list of the 17 Best Summer Reads 2019 and Publisher’s Weekly offers the Best Books of Summer 2019 list. And the lists go on from Barnes and Noble’s Summer Reading List to the independent bookstore’s Indie Next Summer 2019 Reading Group Recommendations.

And while many of those books sound like great reads, we know with everything else going on that we’re not going to get to as many books as we’d like this summer, so we’re going to have to prioritize. Maybe you can help us with that. We’d love to hear your recommendations.

What’s on the top of your reading list for this summer?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka 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 neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 

Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.

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

#WalkAroundThingsDay

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by Sparkle Abbey

We’ve survived the second most brutal Iowa winter in history. We’ve also sprung our clocks forward, managed to escape April Fool’s Day unscathed (we wish we would have thought to keep all of our Amazon boxes for an April Fool’s prank!), and are ready to celebrate National Walk Around Day. Never heard of it? That’s okay, we hadn’t either. Living in Iowa, we’re used to walking around snow piles, icy parking lots, and Grand Canyon-sized potholes so it seemed like an excellent National Day to talk about.

We conducted a little research about Walk Around Things Day. . . .and by “a little,” we mean there wasn’t much information to find. We did learn the day can be celebrated literally and figuratively.

In the literal sense, one can take advantage of the day to benefit your health. Up your activity by walking your dog around the block or walking around the office building. Make sure you complete a full circle otherwise you haven’t actually “walked around” anything.

As for figuratively, if you’re looking for a reason to procrastinate on dealing with a work situation or an uncomfortable conversation, today is a valid excuse to put it off for another twenty-four hours. Living in the Midwest-nice culture, it’s not uncommon for people to “walk around” difficult conversations. You wouldn’t want to hurt your co-worker or neighbor’s feelings, would you? Which is probably why, as writers, we love to explore characters who tackle their problems head-on, who are unafraid to express their opinion, and speak before thinking.

We plan to celebrate the day both figuratively and literally. What about you?

Oh, one last thing. In our research, we discovered Sunday is National No Housework Day. Shouldn’t National Walk Around Things Day come after No Housework Day? Just a thought.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka 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 neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 

Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.

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

Where Do We Get Our Ideas?

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by Sparkle Abbey

People often ask authors where their ideas for particular books come from. And though it’s quite different from author to author, one thing we’ve discovered from hanging out with other authors is that most have no problem coming up with ideas for stories. In fact, most of us have far more ideas than we’ll ever have the time to write. Story ideas are everywhere.

Writers are innately curious and so a news story, a magazine article, even an obituary can spark a thought that turns into a possibility. The writer imagination is off and running and wondering what if. The news of the day may be a big fire at a local business. It could have been faulty electrical wiring, but the writer wonders what if it wasn’t. What if there’s more to the story? What if the fire was actually a cover-up?

Also writers are by nature observers. Yes, that’s us sitting quietly in the corner of the room or the park. That couple holding hands while their body language says there’s something else going on. What’s their story? The three girls in a whispered conversation whose foreheads are almost touching. What secrets are they sharing? The elderly woman with her purse clutched tightly on her lap who keeps checking her watch. Who is she waiting for? And the guy in a dark suit that looks oddly out of place. He’s too quiet. Is he an undercover cop? Perhaps a spy?

Or wait maybe the elderly woman is the spy. Would that be a great twist? The guy in the dark suit could be headed to a job interview. We imagine the three teen-aged girls in ten years. Will they still be friends? Still sharing secrets? What if they lose touch with each other? What if they don’t?

See how it works? There is drama everywhere, and secrets, and stories. As writers we are sponges for the bit and pieces that are story sparks. We get to bring those stories to life and give them twists and change them around. Ideas are everywhere. 

Now that you know how it works, the only thing to remember is when you’re having a conversation with a writer, and they get that far-away look, that there is a good chance they have spotted a potential story across the room and they’re already coming up with ideas. Or the other possibility is that something you’ve said has been the spark, and you’re the story idea.

Writers, is this how it works for you? Have you come across an interesting story spark that you’ve yet to write? Readers, how about you? Have you come across an idea that you thought would make a great story?

Do tell…


Sparkle
Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka 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 neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found
on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 


Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.


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

Crimes of Passion

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by Sparkle Abbey


We have a confession. February, the month of love, bring us thoughts of hearts, flowers, and. . . murder.

Over the past few years, with the growing popularity of true crime podcasts, American’s are gobbling up true crime stories like discounted Valentine’s Day chocolates at Walgreens. Who’s not listening to the wildly popular podcast My Favorite Murder? There’s even a Netflix show called, Murderous Affairs — “True crime stories of lovers and spouses driven to kill.”

Obviously, love and murder go well together. Why? Maybe because both involve passion, an emotion so strong it can push someone over the edge. Thriller writer, John Lescroart

once said there are 14 motives for murder, but he summarized them as love, lust, lucre, and loathing.

As a motive for a crime of passion, love and murder are clearly a great match. However, in addition, love also often becomes a part of the storyline for the characters solving the mystery. It’s no accident that popular crime shows often feature a love interest. Love is a common human experience. Almost everyone can relate to it. Love motivates our decision making. In fiction those decisions are mostly bad, which only amp up the tension, keeping us on the edge of our seats.

A lingering glance over a dead body, repressed romantic feelings during a serial killer investigation, a confession of love when two people are convinced they are about to die, only to be denied when both people survive—reasons that keep us watching our favorite shows, episode after episode.

So what do you think? Do you like a serving of love with your mystery? Or would you rather keep the hearts and flowers far away from your crime fiction?


Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series set in Laguna Beach. Their series features former Texas beauty queen cousins, Caro, a pet therapist and, Melinda, a pet boutique owner. The most recent installments (book nine) BARKING WITH THE STARS and  (book ten) THE DOGFATHER continue Caro and Mel’s murder-solving adventures.

New Year Promises

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by Sparkle Abbey

Happy New Year from us to you! Since it’s the beginning of a new year everyone’s talking about resolutions. We’d have to say it appears that there’s a bit of a divide on whether they’re a good thing or not.

On the one hand the beginning of a new year seems like the perfect time to take stock and see how you’re doing. It’s a fresh start, a clean slate, and perhaps good time to set some goals.

But according to U.S. News and World Report 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail by February. Wow. We’re optimists but even we realize those are really terrible odds. We can see why this January some are just saying “no” to resolutions.

Psychology Today recently published an article on the Four Common Reasons Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail. The article is a great read, so please check out the whole thing, but in short the main reason we fail is that our goals aren’t clear. That makes sense to us. The best type of goal is a very specific one. We’ve all heard of SMART goals, right? The letters stand for: Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Realistic-Timely.

Turns out the research mentioned in the article covers some of the other parts of the SMART acronym. Another piece of the puzzle is that change is hard and we don’t always take the time to figure out the best path. So maybe rather than just jumping in, we should figure out where we’re going and understand that slow and steady (and one track) can win the race.

Another point made in the article is that it’s easy to get discouraged and so we need to look at whether our goals are realistic. As we go forward we may need to make adjustments. We love this recent blog Practical Resolutions by Hank Phillippi Ryan at Career Authors. Hank’s advice involves Writing (a lot), reading (a lot), and also things like listening, respect, patience, perseverance, and getting better.

When it comes down to it, that last one is really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Getting better. So, whether your goals involve writing more, reading more, eating healthier, or getting more exercise, you can always get better. And you can start on January 1st or some random Tuesday in May. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start!

We like to write our goals down as a reminder of what we’re focusing on. And we enjoy working with SMART goals, but like everything else you have to figure out what works for you. We’re all made differently and motivated differently. Some people, like our friend Holly Jacobs, picks a word for the year. We love that idea! Check out Holly’s Word for 2019.

What are your thoughts? Do you set goals at the beginning of a new year? Do you pick a word or a thought to focus on for the year? Or are you in the anti-resolution camp? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series set in Laguna Beach. Their series features  former Texas beauty queen cousins, Caro, a pet therapist and, Melinda, a pet boutique owner. The most recent installments (book nine) BARKING WITH THE STARS and  (book ten) THE DOGFATHER continue Caro and Mel’s murder-solving adventures.

But here’s some great news, if you’ve not yet started the series (or would like to share the series with a friend) the first book, DESPERATE HOUSEDOGS, is currently on sale for 99 cents in all ebook formats!
Amazon

Living Under An Assumed Name

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Guest Post by Mary Lee Ashford

Huge thanks to Linda Rodriguez who very kindly offered me her spot this month to talk about my new identity and my new series. Thanks, Linda!

You know, I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a secret identity. An assumed name. Perhaps a name that’s mysterious and dangerous sounding. And now I have one, an assumed name that is. Only it’s not very dangerous sounding and it’s definitely not something I want to keep secret.

We’re all familiar with pseudonyms or the fancier term, nom de plumes. However, I never imagined when I started writing that I’d have more than one pen name. Initially I assumed I’d write under my own name. Instead I have two pen names: Sparkle Abbey, where I’m half of a writing team, and now also, Mary Lee Ashford, where I’m writing a new cozy mystery series for Kensington Books/Lyrical Press.

I’m so excited about this series and it has been such a joy to write on so many different levels. First off, I’ve read culinary mysteries for years and jumped at the chance to try my hand at one. Also, this series is set in a fictional small town in the midwest and it’s been fun to be able to put into the books all the things I love about small towns.

Additionally, for me, it’s always about the characters. That’s where it all starts. So I’ve loved the opportunity to develop Sugar Calloway and Dixie Spicer, the not-to-be-stopped ladies who drive the story. Sugar and Dixie have each had some things in their lives that didn’t turn out exactly as planned. (Haven’t we all?) They are both ready to start a new chapter and are well on their way but then…life throws another curve ball and suddenly they’re in the midst of a murder investigation. (By the way, if you’re reading this and you’re a writer, Linda Rodriguez has a fabulous book on characters: Plotting the Character Driven Novel.)

Here’s a little bit more about the first book, GAME OF SCONES,  which just came out this week:

After losing her job as food editor at a glossy magazine, Rosetta Sugarbaker Calloway—aka “Sugar” to friends—isn’t sweet on accepting defeat and crawling back to her gossipy southern hometown. So when she has an opportunity to launch a community cookbook business with blue-ribbon baker Dixie Spicer in peaceful St. Ignatius, Iowa, she jumps at the chance to start over from scratch.

But as Sugar assembles recipes for the local centennial celebration, it’s not long before she’s up to her oven mitts in explosive threats, too-hot-to-handle scandals, and a dead body belonging to the moody matriarch of the town’s first family. With suspicions running wild, Sugar and Spice must solve the murder before someone innocent takes the heat—and the real culprit gathers enough ingredients to strike again . . .

The second book in the series, RISKY BISCUITS, will be out in July of 2019. And I’m working on book three right now so stay tuned for more news on that!
GAME OF SCONES is available at all your favorite places to buy books: 
If you’d like to stay in touch with the new me (and I hope you do) please visit my website MaryLeeAshford.com and sign up for my newsletter. 
You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and I have tons of tasty recipes on Pinterest. #GameOfScones #RecipesToDieFor #SugarAndSpiceMystery
Again, thank-you Linda for inviting me to step in on your day to introduce my new series…and my new identity. 

The Next Big Thing

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by Sparkle Abbey


Everyone has dreams and aspirations. We certainly have big dreams! But why do some people achieve their dreams and others struggle? We believe it comes down to one word—action. We strongly believe setting goals, creating a plan, and working hard creates success. You’ve probably read a blog or two by us about goal setting. We love goals! They give us a clear picture of what we want and help us map out how to get there.


All of our writer friends know that as 2018 comes to a close, we will kick off 2019 with new goals and an action plan to turn those new Sparkle Abbey dreams into reality. It never takes long for someone to ask us, “What are you working on now?” We love that question for a number of reasons—to test new titles, to talk about the newest Sparkle Abbey project, and to talk about our individual projects.


Game of Scone CoverAh, yes. . . . Individual projects. Maybe you’ve heard that Sparkle, aka Mary Lee, has been diligently working on her own cozy mystery series under the name of Mary Lee Ashford. We are thrilled to announce that book one, Game of Scones, debuted this week!



It’s the first in a new series called the Sugar & Spice mysteries and we think you’ll see some similarities to our Pampered Pets books  – cozy, twisty, and with a dollop of humor. 


The publisher, Kensington Books/Lyrical Press describes it like this: 

As co-owner of Sugar and Spice Cookbooks, Sugar Calloway has seen simple confections bring friends together and spark fiery feuds. Except this time, the recipe truly is to die for . . . 


We hope you’ll check out Game of Scones and celebrate with us the realization of another dream. And as 2018 comes to a close, we wish you much success as you work toward your own goals in 2019. 

Special Pricing!


Also one last piece of fun news: Raiders of the Lost Bark, book eight in our Pampered Pets series is on sale for 99¢ in all eBook formats. 


Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo iTunes




Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets–Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). If you want to make sure you’re up on all the Sparkle Abbey news, stop by their website and sign up for updates at sparkleabbey.com.

Friends and Sidekicks

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by Sparkle Abbey

In life and in fiction, sidekicks and friends are important.

In fiction, authors use sidekicks and friends to give insight about the main character. That insight helps us, as readers, understand more about who that characters is and what makes them tick. While you can know quite a lot about a character through their actions, it’s the friend or sidekick who sometimes provides perspective and/or relief, but always adds dimension to the protagonist.

Whether it’s Watson to Holmes or Jeeves to Bertie Wooster or, if you’re a Hallmark Mysteries fan, Dani to Jennifer (Garage Sale Mysteries), we develop our view of the main character through the eyes of these sidekicks and friends.

In our books, we’ve had some fun with unusual sidekicks. Our readers love Diana Knight, the former star of the silver-screen turned avid pet advocate, who is Caro Lamont, our pet therapist’s, best friend. And we constantly hear from readers of the series who can’t get enough of Betty Foxx, our pet boutique owner, Melinda Langston’s feisty senior sidekick. Betty always adds her own view of things to the story!

Both play some role in solving the mysteries in our books, but they also provide insight into the two cousins’ thinking and their motivations. Something that would be much harder without them, and much less fun. At times they also, much like real-life friends, provide support or keep the cousins accountable.

How about you? Do you have any favorite fictional sidekicks or friends, either books or movies? And, if so, we’d love to hear what you especially like about them.

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They’ve chosen to use Sparkle Abbey as their pen name on this series because they liked the idea of combining the names of their two rescue pets – Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog).

The Dogfather, book #10 in the series, is just out. Here’s a little bit more about the book:

Who knew the world of designer purses could be such a dog-eat-dog business?


When a local, designer handbags store owner is found dead, the police first believe it’s an unfortunate accident. But the evidence doesn’t lie. Before you can say “wiseguy,” Bow Wow Boutique owner, Melinda Langston’s, former fiancé and undercover FBI agent, Grey Donovan, is the prime suspect.


Now the two are working side-by-side to prove Grey’s innocence— nothing personal, just business. Or is it? Suspects are piling up, family secrets are exposed, and no one is who they appear to be, including Mel’s newest employee. Time’s running out. Mel better sniff out the killer before she and Grey end up sleeping with the fishes.

Also, if you’d like to keep up-to-date on Sparkle Abbey news, stop by the website and sign up for their newsletter.

Highway to Friendship

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By Sparkle Abbey
We love to travel. Whether it’s just the two of us, with our critique group, or with our husbands, we love the adventure that lies ahead.  We’ve traveled together by plane and car. We’ve been to Illinois, New York, California, Washington DC, Michigan (on accident), Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, and Texas to name just a few states. We’ve hopped in the car for book signings, writing conferences, for personal vacations, and even a couple spur-of-the-moment road trips to work out plot problems.
Not only does our traveling together strengthen our relationship, it strengthens our writing. We’ve explored cozy small towns and bustling metropolitan areas, soaking in the cultures, smells, sounds, and rhythm of the people to color our stories with relatable details and memorable characters inspired by real life.
We’ve brainstormed our best titles on an airplane—Fifty Shades of Greyhound and The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo. We’ve stuffed 300 individual dog treats into tiny cellophane bags for conference giveaways, created detailed marketing plans, all while jotting down notes on the conversations we’ve “accidentally” overheard during a lunch stop at the Cracker Barrel, (they have the best restrooms). For us, travel inspires creativity and helps us focus. We especially love it when we have those famous “ah-ha moments.”

When traveling with someone for twenty years (yes, that means we started traveling together since we were twelve), you not only can you finish each other’s sentences, but you can communicate an entire conversation with a single look. You know each other’s entire routine before bed, how they like their coffee in the morning, and when they’re ready for morning conversation—no real talking before the first cup of coffee. You each know when the other needs their downtime or just a trip to Starbucks.
Traveling with a best friend, you know you’ll find adventure. Swimming at midnight. Dinner with an Elvis impersonator. A Rod Stewart sighting. Nonstop talking to the point you’ve lost your voices. And best of all, permission to act silly. Never judgment, just someone you trust to join in on the fun!
Now we’re planning to take a cruise together with our husbands. Who knows what mischief we’ll cook up on a ship?  We can’t wait to find out!

What about you? Do you have someone you enjoy traveling with? What do you like about traveling together?

We also have some exciting news to share! Book 10, The Dogfather, will make its debut September 21st!

It’s available now for presale. 
About The Dogfather –
Who knew the world of designer purses could be such a dog-eat-dog business?

When a local, designer handbags store owner is found dead, the police first believe it’s an unfortunate accident. But the evidence doesn’t lie. Before you can say “wiseguy,” Bow Wow Boutique owner, Melinda Langston’s, former fiancé and undercover FBI agent, Grey Donovan, is the prime suspect.

Now the two are working side-by-side to prove Grey’s innocence— nothing personal, just business. Or is it? Suspects are piling up, family secrets are exposed, and no one is who they appear to be, including Mel’s newest employee. Time’s running out. Mel better sniff out the killer before she and Grey end up sleeping with the fishes.

5 Reasons to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

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By Sparkle Abbey
Comfort Zone
noun
“The level at which one functions with ease and familiarity”-Merriam Dictionary
  
Have you ever felt stagnant, like your treading water? Have you thought that it was possibly time to get out of your comfort zone? But what does it really mean? In a nutshell – doing something you don’t feel comfortable doing. To push yourself to do something you wouldn’t normally do.
Habits are comfortable, but can they lead to limitations if we don’t test ourselves in small or big ways. Here are five reasons why you should break out of your comfort zone. 
  1. It’s probably not at as bad as you think—when we are afraid to try something new or different, we tend to think about the worst case scenario. Instead of thinking about what could go wrong, think about what could go right.
  2. You grow – Trying something new, whether you succeed or not, causes growth. Build on those experiences.
  3. Each time you step out of your comfort zone, the next time gets easier – Success breeds more success. Enough said.
  4. You get out of your way – You know that saying, you can’t see the forest for the trees? Sometimes we can’t see what we can accomplish because we’re too afraid to try. Get out of your way.
  5. It can change your life – If you don’t take risks how will you ever truly know what you’re capable of?

As a writer, stepping out of the comfort zone could mean tackling a longer novel, writing about a topic that has a deep personal meaning, writing about what you don’t know, trying a new plotting technique, taking an in-person craft class, or public speaking.

In your day-to-day life, getting out the comfort zone could mean ordering a new dish at your favorite restaurant, taking a different route to work, spending time by yourself without your cell phone, enrolling in a personal growth class, volunteering, trying a new sport, or becoming a mentor.
Pushing yourself out of the comfort zone is hard. It won’t be painless. You’ll likely have to face a self-defeating behavior—fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionism, etc. If you don’t stretch yourself, you’ll miss out on life experiences, achieving goals, and turning your dreams into reality.

Are you ready to take a risk and do something that will make you feel uncomfortable? We promise it’s worth the challenge.