Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours–A Stewed Observation

September 29, 2018September 28, 2018 bmary82222 Comments

I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author Karen C. Whalen and her new book A Stewed Observation. This is the fourth book in her A Dinner Club Murder Mysteries Cozy series.

A Stewed Observation (A Dinner Club Murder Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
The Wild Rose Press, Inc (August 6, 2018)
Print Length: 214 pages
Digital ASIN: B07DYVWHFY

Purchase Links:
Amazon The Wild Rose Press iBooks

This was a fabulous read with characters that were well developed. I definitely want to read more of this series.
~A Chick Who Reads

Readers will get a taste of Ireland, literal and figurative . . . A good read . . .
~Here’s How It Happened

The Gourmet Dinner Club travels to Ireland to enjoy Irish cuisine while staying at a medieval, ivy-covered castle. Jane Marsh hopes Dale Capricorn will ask her to marry him at this romantic dream destination. But her plans are put on hold when the elderly castle owner becomes violent, a club member restrains him, and he collapses and dies.

The police believe the mysterious death is murder and begin to suspect one of the club’s members. Dale leaves for home on a business emergency, and as the lone single gal in the club full of couples, Jane is thrown into the company of Griffin O’Doherty, the handsome Irishman who stands to inherit the castle.

Jane must prove her friend’s innocence by solving the crime. Which of the sweet-tempered Irish could be a callous killer?

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Karen C. Whalen is the author of a culinary cozy series, the “dinner club murder mysteries.” The first four in the series are: Everything Bundt the Truth, Not According to Flan, No Grater Evil, and A Stewed Observation. The first book in the series tied for First Place in the Suspense Novel category of the 2017 IDA Contest sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America. Her books are similar to those written by cozy authors Jessica Beck and Joanne Fluke. She worked for many years as a paralegal at a law firm in Denver, Colorado and has been a columnist and regular contributor to The National Paralegal Reporter magazine. She believes that it’s never too late to try something new. She loves to host dinner clubs, entertain friends, ride bicycles, hike in the mountains, and read cozy murder mysteries.

Author Links
Website – http://karencwhalen.com

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/whalenkarenc

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/whalenkarenc

Twitter – https://twitter.com/whalenkc

GoodReads– https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15891729.Karen_C_Whalen

When did you know that you wanted to be an author? What things, if any, influenced that decision?

I wanted to become a writer at about the same time I learned to read. Most writers will say they’ve always wanted to write because of their love for reading and books. Nothing original about it. That’s always how I’ve felt, too.

With so many cozies being written today, what makes your books stand out from the crowd?

A lot of lawyers are writers because people working in the legal field work with words. I was a paralegal, so my protagonist is a paralegal with a little different perspective than a lawyer. I bring the investigative skills of a paralegal into the story. Also, the plots revolve around a dinner club group. There are many culinary cozies with a professional baker, such as the donut shop mysteries, the cookie shop mysteries, and the wine and cheese shop mysteries, but my cozies are for people who are not professional cooks. So, I guess my cozies are for the layman, the one who isn’t an attorney or an expert baker. Anyone can imagine themselves in the shoes of my protagonist.

Do you work from an outline or plot or do you just see where the characters take you?

A little of both. I use a plot board and a ten-to-twelve page outline, and then the characters take it from there. The parts of the story I love the most are the ones written by my characters—the scenes that are created off the board and those that depart from the outline.

Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you do anything special to get those reviews?

I don’t read all the reviews. I usually read the first ones when the books are released and I rarely respond to them. I do send out ARCs (advanced reader copies) in order to generate reviews.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t settle for less. Go for what you want.

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Do you think that the cover plays an important part in someone buying your book(s)? Who designs your book covers?

Yes. My covers are designed by Kim Mendoza, one of the artists who designs covers for The Wild Rose Press.

Please give us an insight into your main characters. What do you think makes them special?

In the dinner club series, amateur sleuth Jane Marsh is always game to try new things now that she’s in the empty nest stage of her life, including joining an exclusive dinner club. Stumbling across dead bodies has also developed into one of her hobbies. Using paralegal skills honed at her job in a Denver law firm, she knows how to conduct an investigation. But her suspicious mind collides with her trusting nature as she stirs up trouble while serving up one dinner party after another.

What have you learned about yourself since becoming an author?

I have a creative side that is clamoring to show itself. My mind takes off into this other world I’ve created and I enjoy spending time there.

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Do you write full-time or part-time?

Full time.

What do your plans for future projects include?

The idea for a new series is brewing in the back of my mind, but it’s still in the conceptual stage.

What do you think the hardest part of writing is? What is the easiest?

Finding the time is the hardest. Distractions are a time-suck. The easiest thing is to imagine what my main character is doing at any given moment and how she would react to situations if she were in my shoes. The characters can dominate my thoughts at times.

What type of books do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?

Cozy mysteries, of course. Jessica Beck, Joanne Fluke, M.C. Beaton, Leslie Meier, and the all-time queen of cozies, Agatha Christie.

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What is the one thing you would like your readers to know about you?

I’m married to a wonderful, supportive man. We have two grown sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren who are my world.

Do you have anything specific you would like to say to your readers?

I love to hear from my readers and I especially love the recipes they share with me. Those recipes often find their way into my books.

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How can readers discover more about you and your work?

Website: http://karencwhalen.com

Blog:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whalenkarenc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/whalenkc

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/whalenkarenc

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Karen-C-whalen/e/B01MRL8Q70/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15891729.Karen_C_Whalen

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To enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway, click on the link below:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/02887792765/?

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

September 17 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW

September 18 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – GUEST POST

September 19 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

September 20 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

September 20 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST

September 21 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

September 22 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

September 23 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

September 24 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW

September 25 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

September 25 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

September 26 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

September 27 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW

September 27 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

September 27 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST

September 28 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST

September 29 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

September 30 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

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Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours–Assault and Beadery

September 29, 2018September 28, 2018 bmary82222 Comments

I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author Mollie Cox Bryan and her new release Assault And Beadery. This is the fourth book in her A Cora Crafts Mystery series.

Assault and Beadery (A Cora Crafts Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (September 25, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1496716442
ISBN-13: 978-1496716446
Digital ASIN: B078QM4V66

Purchase Links – Amazon B&N IndieBound Kobo BookBub

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All of Cora Chevalier’s dreams are coming true. Since moving to Indigo Gap, North Carolina, the busy crafting maven has been blessed with a great boyfriend, a lovely home, and a booming craft retreat business. But on the eve of her first Crafty Mom’s Escape Weekend, tragedy strikes again in Indigo Gap. This time, it’s curtains for Stan Herald, the disagreeable director of the local theater group, who’s murdered on the opening night of their new production. Worse, Cora’s friend Zee is accused of the crime.

Cora is determined to prove her friend’s innocence, but Zee’s mysterious past is making that difficult. And with a list of suspects longer than a double spool of satin cording, getting a bead on the real culprit won’t be easy. With her friends Jane and Ruby at her side, Cora must string together the clues and solve Stan’s murder before the killer gives an encore performance.

Includes crafting tips!

Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of the Cumberland Creek Scrapbooking mystery series and the Cora Crafts mystery series. She is also author of two cookbooks, the regional bestseller Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies and Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley. An award-winning journalist and poet, she currently blogs, cooks, and scrapbooks in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Scrapbook of Secrets was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Visit her on the web at molliecoxbryan.com.

Author Links

Website – http://molliecoxbryan.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/molliecoxbryanauthor

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/molliecoxbryan/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/molliecoxbryan?lang=en

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When did you know that you wanted to be an author? What things, if any, influenced that decision?

I’ve always been a storyteller, even before I could write. The process of becoming an author was a long process of first becoming a journalist, poet, and then figuring out that what I really wanted to do was write fiction. The stories I wanted to tell were best suited for fiction.

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With so many cozies being written today, what makes your books stand out from the crowd?

My books have a bit of an edge. They are not graphic in anyway, but they definitely go up to that line. Also, my books sometimes deal with issues you don’t see in a lot of cozies—like domestic abuse, drugs, human trafficking.

Do you work from an outline or plot or do you just see where the characters take you?

For my cozies, I just go where they take me. Sometimes that means some rewrites. But usually it works out.

Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you do anything special to get those reviews?

I have an ARC reading crew and they receive advanced copies of my books in hope that they review them. I do check over the reviews to see if my team is actually reviewing.

I never respond to reviews, even though I might want to! Readers are entitled to their opinion. It does worry me when I see that a reader has taken something I’ve written completely out of context. But ultimately I think that’s my fault because I didn’t write it well enough for there to not be a complete understanding. So it means that I have to work harder.

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What advice would you give to your younger self?

To pay attention to your own voice, to not let so many others to tell you what you should be doing.

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Do you think that the cover plays an important part in someone buying your book(s)? Who designs your book covers?

My publisher (Kensington) does my covers and I think they do a great job with them. Yes, I think the covers key readers into the type of book it is. Cozy readers look for a certain kind of cover.

Please give us an insight into your main characters. What do you think makes them special?

Cora used to be a counselor in a women’s shelter, but she developed an anxiety disorder and needed to quit. In the meantime, she started a craft blog because she recognized how crafting helped many of the women she counseled. Sot the craft retreat was an outgrowth of all that. She has a moody cat named Luna.

Jane is Cora’s best friend and partner in the business. She’s a single mother recovering from an abusive relationship and is overprotective of her daughter, London. She’s a gifted potter and had an international reputation and has won awards.

Ruby is an older woman who came with the property. She was grandfathered in with the sale. She lives in the gardener’s cottage and is an herbalist. She can be a bit contrary. As the series moves forward, she is an asset to the business and becomes a partner.

Do you write full-time or part-time?

Right now, I have a full-time day job, so I’m writing in the morning and during the weekends. But it doesn’t feel part-time. 😉

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What do your plans for future projects include?

Next year, I’m launching two new series. One is a cozy series—The Buttermilk Creek Mysteries, which are set on a micro dairy farm in the Shenandoah Valley (where I live.) the first book in the new series is “Christmas Cow Bells.”

The other new series is there Classic Movie Star Mystery series. The first book is “The Jean Harlow Bombshell.”

What do you think the hardest part of writing is? What is the easiest?

The easiest is coming up with the stories. I have so many ideas I’ll never be able to write them!

The hardest part is having the confidence and gumption to continue when so many factors tell you not to. Sometimes it’s a very subtle message from someone or something in your life that your writing isn’t important enough for you to spend the time you need to do it. Other times it’s that your books aren’t selling well enough to earn your keep.

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What type of books do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?

I do read some cozy mystery authors. Some of them are my favorites. But I have so many friends in the community that I don’t want to point out my favorites. So I’ll mention some of my favorite non-cozy authors.

My favorite series is the Fiona Griffiths Series by Harry Bingham.

My favorite book that I’ve recently read is A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline.

I adore Deanna Raybourne and Susanna Kearsley. I’ll read anything they write!

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