Island Confidential: Christmas

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Perfect pairings: Book + souvenir gift ideas

If reading a book is like taking a vacation, why not include a souvenir? The Musubi Murder + The Maritime Club A mystery and a matching mug! The Maritime Club isn’t terribly fancy, but nothing in Mahina is fancy. The weather-beaten little clubhouse is perpetually in need of a new paint job. The bill of fare … Continue reading
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New Series and Character Interview! Slay Bells, a Christmas Village Mystery by T.C. Wescott

Tonight, in Christmas Village, a killer is stirring.
from New Series and Character Interview! Slay Bells, a Christmas Village Mystery by T.C. Wescott

New Cookbook Nook Mystery: Wreath Between the Lines by Daryl Wood Gerber

The Agatha Award–winning author of Pressing the Issue returns to the Cookbook Nook, where Jenna Hart is busy decking the halls and ducking a killer . . . The holidays are Jenna Hart’s favorite time of year, but just as she’s decorating the Cookbook Nook for all the festive events, her imperious older sister makes … Continue reading
from New Cookbook Nook Mystery: Wreath Between the Lines by Daryl Wood Gerber

The Killer Christmas Sweater Club: A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery by Terry Ambrose

When murder strikes in Seaside Cove, bed-and-breakfast owner Rick Atwood is asked to help find the killer. But this will not be an easy case to crack. Not only did the killer contaminate the crime scene, but there are suspects all over town. And they all received the same Christmas sweater from the victim.
from The Killer Christmas Sweater Club: A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery by Terry Ambrose

Murder in Her Stocking (A Granny Reid Mystery) by G. A. McKevett

Granny Reid takes the reins back thirty years to the 1980s—back when she went by Stella, everyone’s hair was bigger, and sweaters were colorful disasters. But murder never went out of style . . .
from Murder in Her Stocking (A Granny Reid Mystery) by G. A. McKevett

New Christmas Thriller and #Giveaway: Let Her Go by D.J. Adamson

Murder. Betrayal. Love Gone Wrong It is three days before Christmas when Lillian Dove comes across Dr. Conrad standing out in front of his house, covered in blood. When going inside the house to help other members of his family, she finds his wife killed, his son seriously injured, and his teenage daughter, Peyton Clayton, … Continue reading
from New Christmas Thriller and #Giveaway: Let Her Go by D.J. Adamson

Spotlight and Giveaway: A Stitch to Die For

Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday … Continue reading
from Spotlight and Giveaway: A Stitch to Die For

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles (A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery): Interview with Author Leslie Budewitz

Erin is one smart cookie, but can she keep the holiday spirit—and herself—alive till Christmas? In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy’s Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily has turned […]
from As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles (A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery): Interview with Author Leslie Budewitz

New from Ellen Byron: A Cajun Christmas Killing

>>>Enter to Win a hardcover copy of A Cajun Christmas Killing (plus swag)<<< Maggie Crozat is back home in bayou country during the most magical time of the year. In Pelican, Louisiana, Christmastime is a season of giant bonfires on the levee, zydeco carols, and pots of gumbo. Except, this year, the Grinch has come […]
from New from Ellen Byron: A Cajun Christmas Killing

New First in Series: A Christmas Peril (A Theater Cop Mystery)

>>> Enter to win a print copy (U.S. only) <<<When Edwina “Sully” Sullivan’s life imploded, she left behind her job on the police force and her unfaithful husband to start a new life as the general manager of her hometown theater, the Cliffside Theater Company. For five years, she focused on budgets instead of crimes […]
from New First in Series: A Christmas Peril (A Theater Cop Mystery)

The Type of Presents That Bring The Most Happiness

Material purchases can bring as much happiness as experiential ones, but in time-release form.

The finding is fascinating because until now studies have suggested that experiential purchases are superior.

Experiential purchases include things like holidays, concert tickets or visits to a spa.

Material purchases, though, can provide just as much pleasure in the long-run, the new research suggests.

For the study, people were asked to keep track of their levels of happiness five times a day over two weeks.

The study compared the effects of material purchases, like portable speakers and coffee makers, with experiential purchases, like tickets to a hockey game or a weekend ski trip.

The results showed that experiential purchases provided short intense bursts of pleasure which tended to fade away.

In contrast, material purchases brought repeated smaller doses of happiness over the weeks.

However, when people looked back at their purchases six weeks later, it was the experiences that gave them more satisfaction.

So, perhaps experiences still have the edge.

Mr Aaron Weidman, the study’s first author, said:

“The decision of whether to buy a material thing or a life experience may therefore boil down to what kind of happiness one desires.

Consider a holiday shopper deciding between tickets to a concert or a new couch in the living room.

The concert will provide an intense thrill for one spectacular night, but then it will end, and will no longer provide momentary happiness, aside from being a happy memory.

In contrast, the new couch will never provide a thrilling moment to match the concert, but will keep the owner snug and comfortable each day throughout the winter months.”

The study was published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science (Weidman & Dunn, 2015).

» Read on PsyBlog

Still Looking for a last-minute gift? How about THE CASE OF THE DEFUNCT ADJUNCT ?

Filed under: PsyBlog, Science Tagged: Christmas, Gifts, happiness, Holidays, Jeremy Dean, PsyBlog
from The Type of Presents That Bring The Most Happiness

THE SILENCE OF THE CHIHUAHUAS

Pepe, aspiring P.I. Geri Sullivan’s muy clever Chihuahua, has stopped talking. But why now, with Geri’s best friend Brad missing and her ditzy sister in grave danger? Geri’s lost without Pepe’s dogged detective work, especially when a client of Brad’s expires under very murky circumstances.

Luckily, Pepe turns out to be an excelente blogger, and his nose for clues soon has the detective duo chasing down leads. But they’ll have to put a bite on crime quickly, because danger’s afoot – and it’s making tracks in their direction . . .

Waverly Curtis is the joint pseudonym for mystery writing team Waverly Fitzgerald and Curtis Colbert.

Curt Colbert is the author of the Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins mysteries, a series of hardboiled, private detective novels set in 1940’s Seattle. The first book, Rat City, was nominated for a Shamus Award in 2001. A Seattle native, Curt is also a poet and an avid history buff. He is the editor of Seattle Noir, a collection of crime stories published in 2009. He was a judge for the Edgars in 2008 and is a member of the Mystery Writers of America. Curt and his wife, Stephanie, live in a Seattle suburb under the thrall of their cat, Esmeralda.

Waverly Fitzgerald is the author of three historical romances set in Victorian London under the name of Nancy Fitzgerald. Ever since her first novel was published in 1981, she has been teaching writing classes for adults at various venues including the UCLA Writers Program, the University of Washington Extension, and regional conferences. She currently teaches at and works for Richard Hugo House, the literary arts center in Seattle. Waverly also writes non-fiction, and has published a book called Slow Time: Recovering theNatural Rhythms of Life. She lives in an apartment in the heart of Seattle with her daughter, Shaw, and Shaw’s Chihuahua, Pepe.

Waverly and Curt met in a writing class in the late 1980s and have been working together ever since. Curt took Waverly’s novel writing class while he was writing his first novel. Waverly was his writing coach while he wrote his trio of historical mysteries set in Seattle. For about a year, they worked on twin novels in which Waverly’s protagonist, a female P.I. appeared as a sidekick in Curt’s novel about a hard-boiled Vietnam vet and vice versa. When Curt came up with the idea of a mystery featuring a talking Chihuahuanamed Pepe, Waverly asked if she could help and the collaboration began.

Pepe is an eight-year old Chihuahua, adopted by Waverly’s daughter Shaw when he was a puppy. He likes stuffed toys, especially if they squeak. He hatesthe rain, which is unfortunate since he lives in Seattle. Like his namesake character, he hates being dressed up and thinks he is much bigger than he is. Unlike his namesake, he has a sweet disposition and doesn’t talk much, but he does have his own Facebook page.

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Quieres a good campus murder mystery? PREORDER THE CASE OF THE DEFUNCT ADJUNCT

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Filed under: Author Interviews, Buy Tagged: Author Interviews, Christmas, cozy mystery, Dickens, Writing
from THE SILENCE OF THE CHIHUAHUAS

Author Interview on Amy Metz’s Blue Million books

You have a day job . . . how do you find time to write?

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?

What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing?

Read the interview at A Blue Million Books

Win two signed books and a Bayside Made in USA Mahina State t-shirt

PREORDER THE CASE OF THE DEFUNCT ADJUNCT

~~3.99~~ .99 introductory price

Filed under: Adjunct, Author Interviews, Christmas, Frankie Bow, Giveaways, Higher Ed, Kindle Worlds, Writing Tagged: Amy Metz, Blue Million, defunct adjunct, Indie Authors, interview
from Author Interview on Amy Metz’s Blue Million books

Preorder now for 99 cents: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct

A forbidden kiss. A death in plain sight. And the faculty meeting’s just begun.

Forced to attend the Student Retention Office’s summer retreat, Professor Molly Barda brings her game of buzzword bingo to fend off boredom. But when the lecherous Kent Lovely, Mahina State’s one-man hostile work environment, collapses face-first into his haupia cheesecake, the afternoon goes from dull to disastrous. Now Molly has to fight to keep an innocent out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

The Case of the Defunct Adjunct is the spoiler-free prequel to the Molly Barda mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in remote Mahina, Hawaii. If you like Dorothy Parker, Sarah Caudwell, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy this tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics. Preorder it now, and start reading on December 1.

To celebrate, I’m giving away signed copies of The Musubi Murder and The Case of the Defunct Adjunct, along with a USA-made Bayside brand Mahina State University t-shirt in M, L, or XL. Enter today!

CLICK THE MUSUBI TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

Filed under: Adjunct, Author Interviews, Buy, Christmas, Frankie Bow, Fun, Giveaways, Preorder Tagged: Christmas, cozy mystery, gift, Holidays, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, promotion
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In memory of Joyce Levene: Author interview and giveaway, A Dickens of a Murder

Christmas at Canterville!

Lisa Wellman and Simon Canterville are surprised to find a dead man on their roof in the midst of rushing to open the Canterville Book Shop in time for the holidays. And not just any dead man – Ebenezer Hart – the man who opposed the book shop opening in Olde Town, Portsmouth, Virginia.
What might be more surprising is when Daniel Fairhaven – Lisa’s ex – turns up at the door of the three-story Victorian house to head the police investigation. She hasn’t seen him in years but the sparks start to fly as soon as they are in the same room together.

Simon and Lisa are obviously the best suspects for the murder. Each of them had something to gain by Hart’s death. Then an attempt on Simon’s life throws that theory into a tailspin.
But the biggest surprise yet comes when the ghost of Charles Dickens turns up to help Lisa with the murder investigation – and writing the mystery novel she has been working on for years.
Without a doubt, Daniel and Dickens in Lisa’s life means trouble. And there’s still the matter of trying to get the book shop open with a killer on their heels.

Joyce and Jim stopped by to chat about their first Canterville Book Shop mystery, A Dickens of a Murder.

Q: Can you tell us what the book is about? How did you come up with the idea?

A: A librarian/mystery writer moves into a haunted house to become a partner in a book shop.
That was our original idea. But filled in a little more it reads like this:

I’m not sure how we came up with the idea. We were in Olde Town doing some research and looking at the old houses there and we thought, wouldn’t that house make a great book shop? And what if it was haunted? And what if the owner’s name was Simon Canterville, like in the Canterville Ghost (one of our favorite stories) and the woman who was helping him was also an ex-librarian (because she’d know so much about books) and a mystery writer? I guess that was it.

Q: Tell us about Charles Dickens; why did he pick Portsmouth, VA, to manifest himself, and what does he think of it?

A: We think he chose Portsmouth because he’s from Portsmouth, England. But it could be the affinity the house has with books, which we will be exploring in the future when other writers pay a call on Simon and Lisa. We think he likes it, from what he can see from the house anyway. It reminds him of a place he might have lived in.

Q: How does your collaboration work? Does one person outline and the other fill in? Do you take turns writing chapters? Each person has one hand on the keyboard? How do you do this?

A: We have our computers networked together – which means we can see each other’s screens as we write. Jim used to work as a network admin at Bank of America. After we have our synopsis sorted out so we both know what each of us has in mind, we sit down to write, telling each other the story across the desk as we type it in until we have a rough draft.

For instance – I might say, “She goes outside and the car is there.” And Jim says, “The car can’t be there because he took it last night, remember.” And I say, “Really? I don’t remember that. Are you sure?” And he says, “It doesn’t matter. There’s a bus.” And so on.

Q: What kind of research did you do? Did it involve food at all?

A: Absolutely no food was involved in the researching of this book. It isn’t a culinary mystery. There is tea and coffee and a few daily meals but nothing foodie. We researched Charles Dickens, Portsmouth, VA, ghosts, starting a bookstore, and French dueling pistols.

Q: Are there characters with whom you particularly identify?

A: Joyce: I like Lisa. She lost her mother earlier in the year and is facing her first Christmas without her. She’s propelled herself into this new venture and quit her job as a librarian as a direct result of her mother’s death. It seems like something I might have done.
Jim: I like Simon Canterville. He’s very eclectic and knows what he wants. Also he’s kind of rich. I like that in a man.

Q: You’ve published over seventy novels and hundreds of articles. What is your secret to being so productive? Can you give us one or two tips?

A: Definitely one of our secrets is having two people. The only thing we do together is actually writing the book. We split up for promo, web work, formatting, everything else. That is a huge labor saver. Jim is in charge of mailing off the books and stuff that I give away in contests. You get the idea. Imagine if someone could always be there to do half of your work. You’d get more done too.

Q: What’s next?

A: Glad you asked. Our favorite question! In December the first book in our Christmas Tree Valley Mysteries, Murder Fir Christmas, will be out. It is set in the world of our Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mysteries (writing as J.J. Cook) and our protagonist is a wildlife officer.

Also in December is the third book in our Biscuit Bowl mysteries, Fat Tuesday Fricassee.
In January is the fourth book in our Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade mysteries, Sweet Pepper Hero.
Thanks for having us here!

ENTER TO WIN!

Joyce Lavene passed away Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at her home. She was 61. Joyce and Jim were married 44 years, and since 1999 they’ve written award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. Their collaboration resulted in more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. Jim and the rest of the family appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts.

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