Book Spotlight- Halloween Scare by Maggie Sefton

We are just over a month until Halloween and today's spotlight will take you to Colorado with Kelly Flynn and the gang. Maggie Sefton's book Halloween Scare was released on October 28th 2014. Getting into the Halloween fun with this great read.

File Size: 1322 KB
Print Length: 28 pages
Publisher: Margaret Conlan Aunon w/a Maggie Sefton (October 28, 2014)
Publication Date: October 28, 2014
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC





Halloween Scare
A Kelly Flynn eShort

Hello, Readers—This is a "short" short story which I'm calling an eShort featuring the cast of characters in my popular Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries. The characters have started sending me these scenes from what I call "Kelly World," so I decided to capture them on paper and offer them to readers. HALLOWEEN SCARE takes place right before and during that fun and candy-filled Autumn family event. I hope you enjoy this eShort.



About the Author:

First, a little biographical information as introduction: Born in Richmond, VA, I grew up in Northern Virginia in Arlington, close to Washington, D.C. I attended university and received a Bachelor's degree in English Literature & Journalism, married, and started my family there. All four of my daughters are grown and established in careers of their own and are literally scattered around the globe. I now reside in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with two very demanding dogs.

I suppose if I were being completely honest, I'd have to admit that I always knew I was a born to be a writer. I spent my childhood with my nose in a book and loved writing. But as I grew older, my life got much busier. Like so many of us, I never could find the time to write the stories and characters that kept appearing in my mind. So, I talked myself out of it. After all, raising a family and attending Business School in Accounting was difficult to juggle, particularly when I decided to become a CPA.

Still, the characters and their stories kept coming—trying to get my attention when I'd take my early evening workout run or while driving or planting flowers. I'd shove them away, pleading no time to listen. If they complained loudly enough (some characters are feistier than others), I'd jot down short scenes on notepads and toss them in a folder. Then, I'd insist they return to the Queue—that place in my imagination where my characters waited, some more patiently than others. They'd sulk and complain, of course. Sometimes the surlier ones would elbow their way up the Queue. Survival of the fittest, I figured.

Finally, I decided I had to start writing these stories. The Queue was getting pretty darn crowded—and noisy. Since I'd come from a long line of Virginians and absolutely adored history, I started writing historical novels. This allowed me to indulge a secret passion: library research. Yes, I'm one of those strange people who loves disappearing into the stacks with books piled around me. Since I had no shortage of historical characters waiting their turn in the Queue, I indulged myself, creating a Musketeer swashbuckler, a sweeping Medieval saga set in 12th Century England, a turn-of-the-century American family saga complete with Robber Barons, struggling Irish, and corrupt politicians, a post-Civil War western historical, as well as historicals set in Colonial Virginia and early Frontier America.

It was during those years that our family moved to Colorado, and I was able to network with vibrant writers' groups at last. I began my apprenticeship in the craft—networking with the other writers, attending conferences and seminars, and joining critique groups, studying, writing, critiquing, and submitting. The focused effort paid off, and my Western historical, ABILENE GAMBLE, was published by Berkley in August 1995.

My life took a sideways turn at that point (as did the historical market), and I used that opportunity to take a new look at my fiction. I discovered something interesting. No matter what time period my historicals were set in or the length of the novel, two things were always present. First, there was a mystery at the heart of the story, sometimes more than one. And secondly, I killed a lot of people. Heck, I managed to kill off more people in one historical romance than in most amateur sleuth murder mysteries.

I figured that was probably a clue, so I began to study the mysteries that I'd grown up loving as well as the new mystery writers who had come onto what was clearly a lively and changing mystery scene. New characters appeared immediately and elbowed their way to the front of the Queue. I didn't need any further encouragement and jumped feet first into writing mysteries. Since I was starting a new career in real estate at the time, it was no surprise that the first amateur sleuth who walked on stage was a real estate agent. Again, time was in short supply, but I finished that novel in 2002 and sent it off to my agent. It sold and is now available as an ebook.

The story of how I came to write the Kelly Flynn Mystery Series is completely different. Meanwhile, I'm having a great time writing about Kelly and her friends. Kelly has a knack for poking her nose where it doesn't belong, so I figure she'll keep me busy following her around while she unravels clues as well as her latest knitting project.



Find out more about Maggie and all of her books by visiting her website:

http://www.maggiesefton.com/

Author Spotlight- Sally Goldenbaum

Happy Tuesday! This week's author spotlight goes out to the lovely Sally Goldenbaum. Sally is the author of the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series.

The Long...

Life.....It's been a meandering, interesting journey that began in Manitowoc, WI, a town on the shores of Lake Michigan. There my father built ships, my mother stayed home, and my sisters, brother and I lived an easy small-town life. After high school, I moved to St. Louis (college); then Bloomington, IN (graduate school); and several other places along the way to where I am now. Jobs included working in public television (with Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood just down the hall); teaching Latin, creative writing, and philosophy; and very early along that journey, living in St. Louis as a Catholic nun. A checkered past, of sorts.


After marrying a nice Jewish man whom I met in graduate school (my mother always said she had named me Sarah for a reason), a job brought us to a small town (Prairie Village), attached to a big city (Kansas City) and the home we still live in.

And it was here that my writing life took root.

The seeds to writing a novel—-or rather 'finishing' a novel—were planted in a sandbox in a park, not far from our Prairie Village home. It was there I met another newcomer to the area, Adrienne Staff, a woman who would become a life-long friend. While our children played together in the sand that day, I learned that not only was Adrienne as hungry for friendship as I was, but both of us loved to read and write and had drawers filled with unfinished novels. In no time at all we decided that perhaps the key to finishing a novel (at least, in our case) was to write a book together. A match made in heaven--a nice Jewish girl from New York and an ex-nun--certainly a pair with diverse experiences to spare! We'd hold one another to the task and we would complete a book and rid ourselves of the awful unfinished novel curse.

And so we did. Soon after finishing our first book, we found our wonderful agent, Andrea Cirillo, and went on to publish a dozen or more novels together.

Years later friendship again played a huge role in my publishing life—this time in the person of Nancy Pickard (The Scent of Rain and Lightning author), who invited me to help her with a mystery she was working on. Nancy turned a blind eye to the fact that I had never written a mystery—and together we sat and drank coffee and talked and wrote and rewrote, examined red herrings and twists and turns, and talked some more. And we finished the mystery.

After that, I was hooked! Now not only had I always loved to read mysteries, now I loved to write them, too. How fortunate I was to have learned from a pro—and then to have lucked into my first mystery series, The Queen Bees Quilters mysteries.

Three mysteries later, my life took another turn: my first grandchild! And along with baby Luke was born a new mystery series, The Seaside Knitters mysteries. (Grandchildren....knitting....it was meant to be.) Luke's parents live in a charming seaside town on Cape Ann, just north of Boston. A perfect place for a mystery series. And a perfect place for the series' author to visit OFTEN—to research plots, check out life on the dock, eat lobster—and to watch Luke, his sister Ruby, and his baby brother Dax grow and thrive.

And more grandchildren followed right here in Kansas City (now in Decatur, GA). Atti, Julian, and Sebastian. All together there are now six amazing little people who fill our lives and hearts and keep me writing mysteries.

It's a good life.



Find out more about Sally and all of her fantastic books over at her website. 

http://www.sallygoldenbaum.com/

First in a Series- Death by Cashmere by Sally Goldenbaum

Happy Monday! I love series that are about knitting and this week's First is just that. Death by Cashmere (A Seaside knitters mystery series) by Sally Goldenbaum.

Series: Seaside Knitters Mystery (Book 1)
Paperback: 307 pages
Publisher: Obsidian (April 7, 2009)
Language: English



Readers can't help but get entangled in this USA Today bestselling series.

Now in trade paperback-the new mystery series that spins a yarn about knitters and murder in a seaside village.

Not long after Isabel "Izzy" Chambers opens up a knitting shop in the sleepy fishing town of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, a diverse group of women begins congregating each week to form the Seaside Knitters.

Izzy raises some eyebrows when she rents the apartment above her shop to Angie Archer, whose reputation for loose behavior and a quick temper has made her unpopular with many locals. But could any of them have wanted her dead? Angie's body is discovered drowned in the harbor, her long red hair tangled like seaweed in a lobster trap.

An official investigation rules the death an accident. There are speculations of too many whiskey sours, a slippery wharf, a dark night...But Izzy and the Seaside Knitters smell something fishy. When several strange incidents occur above the shop, the women decide to take matters into their own hands. But before long, their small-town sense of security is frayed, and the threat of more violence hangs over this tightly knit community...


About the Author:

Sally Goldenbaum was born on the shores of Lake Michigan, in Manitowoc, WI, to a homemaker mother and a ship-building father. Although she now lives in landlocked Prairie Village, KS, her longing for lakes and the sea is satisfied in part by writing the USA Today best selling Seaside Knitters Mystery series, set on Cape Ann, MA.

Visit her website at sallygoldenbaum.com
or her Facebook author page--https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sally-Goldenbaum/27082346139?ref=hl

What's New? Knit Your Own Murder by Monica Ferris

What's new? Happy Friday! Here is what is new and coming to a book store near you on August 2nd. Knit Your Own Murder by Monica Ferris.

Series: A Needlecraft Mystery (Book 19)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley (August 2, 2016)
Language: English




In the USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries, Betsy Devonshire has her hands tied between running her needlework shop and turning her sharp eye for deduction to solving crimes…

The Monday Bunch and other local knitters are participating in a fund-raising auction to save a community center, creating a growing pile of stuffed animals and toys right in front of the auctioneers as the audience bids. Among those contributing the most knitted goods is temperamental businesswoman Maddy Hanover—who keels over halfway through the event After she is pronounced DOA, an autopsy reveals that Maddy had been poisoned. But how? And by whom? One of the prime suspects is her ruthless business rival Joe Mickels, who lost a bitterly contested property bid to Maddy.

When Mickels pleads his innocence to Betsy, she reluctantly believes him. But if Betsy is going to uncover the real murderer’s identity, she must first untangle the knots Maddy made in her relationships throughout her life…



About the Author

Monica Ferris is the USA Today bestselling author of the Needlecraft Mysteries (Darned If You Do, The Drowning Spool) as well as several mystery series under various pseudonyms. She lives in Minnesota.

Crafty Thursday- Knitting

This month's Thurday's are all about authors who write cozy mysteries with crafts. Today's book was just released on May 3rd. Murder at Lambswool Farm ( A seaside knitters mystery) by Sally Goldenbaum.
Do you knit or crochet?  If you do, What are on your needles now? Have you always wanted to learn?

Late summer blooms in beautiful Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, and while a harvest thrives, Izzy Chambers Perry and the other Seaside Knitters will need to cast on their sleuthing skills to save a local farm. Unfortunately, finding a killer can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. . . .


Seaside Knitter Birdie Favazza has long loved knitting, but lately she’s taken on a new challenge—making a family farm operational again. With help from friends, Lambswool Farm is now up and running, with thriving crops and grazing sheep. In addition, the farm will host rustic, six-course prix fixe dinners plated by local chefs and served on a gorgeous restored harvest table, decorated to perfection with colorful knitted vegetables crafted by Izzy Chambers Perry, her aunt Nell, and the other Seaside Knitters.


But on the night of the first meal, everything spins out of control when one of the guests, Seaside Harbor’s family physician, becomes fatally ill. It seems that behind Dr. Alan Hamilton’s friendly bedside manner was a man with enemies and secrets.


Soon the town is gossiping and pointing fingers at all possible suspects—including the women at Lambswool Farm. Now the Seaside Knitters must join together to uncover the truth in Dr. Hamilton’s complicated past—and restore peace to town and country alike.


About Sally:

Life.....It's been a meandering, interesting journey that began in Manitowoc, WI, a town on the shores of Lake Michigan. There my father built ships, my mother stayed home, and my sisters, brother and I lived an easy small-town life. After high school, I moved to St. Louis (college); then Bloomington, IN (graduate school); and several other places along the way. Jobs included working in public television—with Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood just down the hall; teaching Latin, creative writing, and philosophy; and very early along that journey, living in St. Louis as a Catholic nun. A checkered past, of sorts.

After marrying a nice Jewish man whom I met in graduate school (my mother always said she had named me Sarah for a reason), a job brought us to a small town (Prairie Village), attached to a big city (Kansas City) and the home we still live in.

And it was here that my writing life took root.

The seeds to writing a novel—-or rather 'finishing' a novel—were planted in a sandbox in a park, not far from our Prairie Village home. It was there I met another newcomer to the area, Adrienne Staff, a woman who would become a life-long friend. While our children played together in the sand that day, I learned that not only was Adrienne as hungry for friendship as I was, but both of us loved to read and write and had drawers filled with unfinished novels. In no time at all we decided that perhaps the key to finishing a novel (at least, in our case) was to write a book together. A match made in heaven--a nice Jewish girl from New York and an ex-nun--certainly a pair with diverse experiences to spare! We'd hold one another to the task and we would complete a book and rid ourselves of the awful unfinished novel curse.

And so we did. Soon after finishing our first book, we found our wonderful agent, Andrea, and went on to publish a dozen or more novels together.

Years later friendship again played a huge role in my publishing life—this time in the person of Nancy Pickard, who invited me to help her with a mystery she was working on. Nancy turned a blind eye to the fact that I had never written a mystery—and together we sat and drank coffee and talked and wrote and rewrote, examined red herrings and twists and turns, and talked some more. And we finished the mystery.

After that, I was hooked! Now not only did I love to read mysteries, I loved to write them, too. How fortunate I was to have learned from a pro—and then to have lucked into my first mystery series, The Queen Bees Quilters mysteries.

A couple of years and three mysteries later, my life took another marvelous turn: my first grandchild! And along with baby Luke was born a new mystery series, The Seaside Knitters mysteries. (Grandchildren....knitting....it was meant to be.) Luke's parents live in a charming seaside town on Cape Ann, just north of Boston. A perfect place for a mystery series. And a perfect place for the series' author to visit OFTEN—to research plots, check out life on the dock, eat lobster—and to watch Luke, his now five-year-old sister Ruby, and his brand new brother Dax grow and thrive.

And more grandchildren followed right here in Kansas City. All together there are now six amazing little people who fill our lives and hearts and keep me writing mysteries.

It's a good life. 

http://www.sallygoldenbaum.com/

Blog Tour- Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell

I am thrilled to be on this blog tour. Delivering the Truth( A Quaker Midwife Mystery) by Edith Maxwell. Released on April 8th, 2016.

Series: A Quaker Midwife Mystery (Book 1)
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Midnight Ink (April 8, 2016)
Language: English



Synopsis


Quaker midwife Rose Carroll hears secrets and keeps confidences as she attends births of the rich and poor alike in an 1888 Massachusetts mill town. When the town’s world-famed carriage industry is threatened by the work of an arsonist, and a carriage factory owner’s adult son is stabbed to death with Rose’s own knitting needle, she is drawn into solving the mystery. Things get dicey after the same owner’s mistress is also murdered, leaving her one-week-old baby without a mother. The Quaker poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier helps Rose by lending words of advice and support. While struggling with being less than the perfect Friend, Rose draws on her strengths as a counselor and problem solver to bring two murderers to justice before they destroy the town’s carriage industry and the people who run it.

I love books set in this era.Set in Massachuttes,with a cast of characters that bring you into the history of the town and era. The history of it is amazing and the story is so captivating you will be hooked from the start. With not one but to murders Rose is overwhelmed but knows she needs to do what she can to solve them and bring some peace to the town. I enjoyed every minute of this book and look forward to the next one.

Bumps in the Road
Thanks for having me over, Shelley!


Every writer experiences bumps in the road. We’ve all had rejections, from agents, from editors, from readers. My path to the release of Delivering the Truth hasn’t been all smooth sailing, either.

I got the initial idea for the series as I was walking to church, which for me is an historic Quaker Meetinghouse in my town of Amesbury, Massachusetts. It’s 176 years old, and John Greenleaf Whittier was on the building committee. My town is full of other historic buildings, too, and I’d read about a fire in 1888 that burned down many of the world-renowned carriage factories. A story popped into my head about a Quaker mill girl who solves the mystery of who set the fire. I didn’t experience any bumps with that short story – it almost wrote itself, and was published in a Level Best anthology: Stone Cold: Best New England Crime Stories 2014.

Then the setting and characters of the short story didn’t want to go away. I sent the story to my editor at Kensington and said I was interested in writing a new series. First bump: he said he didn’t think my seventeen-year-old mill girl Faith Bailey was a strong enough character to carry a series.


Okay, I could handle that. I invented Faith’s twenty-four year old aunt Rose, an unmarried midwife and also a Quaker, who can go places – women’s bed chambers – and hear secrets police officers can’t. Rose seemed like a perfect protagonist. Her sister, Faith’s mother, has died the year before, and Faith’s father invites Rose to live with the family (five children in all) and use the parlor as her office and bedroom. I wrote a proposal for a three-book series, including the first three chapters of the first book, and sent it off to my editor.


And he declined. Bump number two! I was, of course, very disappointed. I have two contemporary mystery series with him but it appeared I was going to have to diversify publishers,because I really wanted to keep living in 1888. So I wrote the first book anyway. I couldn’t NOT write it. I sat with the manuscript, polished it, had it independently edited, and got a rave review from Kathy Lynn Emerson, a multi-published historical mystery author.


Fingers crossed and heart thumping, I sent the book and a revised proposal to my agent. He circulated the proposal and included the fact that the first book was already written. It wasn’t long before we got an offer. No bump there at all. Since the offer was from Midnight Ink, an awesome mid-sized press in Minnesota, who has a great team and offered an advance, I happily accepted. Then all I had to do was wait a year and a half for this week to finally roll around. The book has had largely glowing reviews so far, and if I come across something negative – well, you can’t please everybody. And I’ve already turned in book two, Called to Justice, which will be out a year from now. May all roads have so few bumps!


Readers: What bumps in the path have you encountered? How do you scale them and keep going?


Book blurb: For Quaker midwife Rose Carroll, life in Amesbury, Massachusetts, provides equal measures of joy and tribulation. She attends to the needs of mothers and newborns even as she mourns the recent death of her sister. Likewise, Rose enjoys the giddy feelings that come from being courted by a handsome doctor, but a suspicious fire and two murders leave her fearing for the well-being of her loved ones.

Driven by her desire for safety and justice, Rose Carroll begins asking questions related to the crimes. Consulting with her friends and neighbors―including the famous Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier―Rose draws on her strengths as a counselor and problem solver in trying to bring the perpetrators to light.

Bio: Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and the Local Foods Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries (as Maddie Day), and the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries (as Tace Baker), as well as award-winning short crime fiction. Her short story, “A Questionable Death,” is nominated for a 2016 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. The tale features the 1888 setting and characters from her Quaker Midwife Mysteries series, which debuts with Delivering the Truth on April 8.

Maxwell is Vice-President of Sisters in Crime New England and Clerk of Amesbury Friends Meeting. She lives north of Boston with her beau and three cats, and blogs with the other Wicked Cozy Authors. You can find her on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, and at her web site, edithmaxwell.com.


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What's New? Murder at Lambswool Farm by Sally Goldenbaum

What's New? Murder at Lambswool Farm (A Seaside Knitters Mystery) by Sally Goldenbaum. This is the Eleventh book in the series.

Series: Seaside Knitters Mystery (Book 11)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: NAL (May 3, 2016)
Language: English



Late summer blooms in beautiful Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, and while a harvest thrives, Izzy Chambers Perry and the other Seaside Knitters will need to cast on their sleuthing skills to save a local farm. Unfortunately, finding a killer can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. . . .

Seaside Knitter Birdie Favazza has long loved knitting, but lately she’s taken on a new challenge—making a family farm operational again. With help from friends, Lambswool Farm is now up and running, with thriving crops and grazing sheep. In addition, the farm will host rustic, six-course prix fixe dinners plated by local chefs and served on a gorgeous restored harvest table, decorated to perfection with colorful knitted vegetables crafted by Izzy Chambers Perry, her aunt Nell, and the other Seaside Knitters.

But on the night of the first meal, everything spins out of control when one of the guests, Seaside Harbor’s family physician, becomes fatally ill. It seems that behind Dr. Alan Hamilton’s friendly bedside manner was a man with enemies and secrets.

Soon the town is gossiping and pointing fingers at all possible suspects—including the women at Lambswool Farm. Now the Seaside Knitters must join together to uncover the truth in Dr. Hamilton’s complicated past—and restore peace to town and country alike.


About the Author

Sally Goldenbaum is a sometime philosophy teacher, a knitter, an editor, and the USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels. Sally became more serious about knitting with the birth of her first grandchild and the creation of the Seaside Knitters Mysteries, which include Trimmed with Murder, A Finely Knit Murder, and Murder in Merino. Her fictional knitting friends are teaching her the intricacies of women’s friendship, the mysteries of small-town living, and the very best way to pick up dropped stitches on a lacy knit shawl.

Leading Ladies of Mystery- Kelly Flynn

This is one of my favorite leading ladies. Kelly Flynn makes her debut appearance in Knit One,Kill Two( knitting Mystery) by Maggie Sefton. Are you a fan of this series?

Mass Market Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Berkley Book; English Language edition (June 7, 2005)
Language: English



Kelly Flynn—29, tall, slender, chin-length dark brown hair, athletic, loves playing sports but her demanding and stressful job as a corporate CPA keeps her working long hours in the office. No time for sunshine or softball until—she returns to her childhood home in Northern Colorado for the funeral of her beloved aunt. Kelly's heartbroken. Aunt Helen was the closest thing to a mother Kelly ever knew. Fortunately, the knitters at the nearby yarn shop are eager to befriend Kelly and help her discover the truth behind her aunt's tragic death.




About the Author

Maggie Sefton is the New York Times bestselling author of Knitting Mystery series (Berkeley Prime Crime). Her debut knitting mystery, Knit One, Kill Two, was named an Agatha Award finalist in 2005. Sefton was born in Richmond, Va., and grew up in Arlington, Va. She is a former certified public accountant, and now resides in Fort Collins, Colo. Visit the author online at MaggieSefton.com.