Rosie Genova, author of Murder on the Steel Pier, a Tess Mancini Time Travel mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce us to the Steel Pier in Atlantic City.
Welcome, Rosie. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
In Murder on the Steel Pier, main character Tess Mancini traverses time to land in 1955 Atlantic City. In that era, the Steel Pier was the entertainment centerpiece of AC; there were two movie theaters, a water circus that included the famous diving horses, several entertainment venues, and exhibitions such as the one sponsored by General Motors. Live acts from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones played the Marine Ballroom at the end of the pier—which happens to be the spot where the corpse of the murder victim is found.
The Steel Pier as it would have looked to Tess.Photo by Ed Kanouse, courtesy Kent Kanouse, via Flickr
I’ve had great fun going down dozens of rabbit holes in my research for the story, deliberately mixing real and fictional characters and locations. Part of that research included a trip to AC, where I visited the public library to learn about their digital archives, and of course, made a pilgrimage to the modern Steel Pier. Today’s Steel Pier is primarily rides, shore amusements, and boardwalk food. Its centerpiece is the majestic Wheel, a 227-foot structure which looks out over the Atlantic with amazing ocean views. (So I hear. Rides scare me!)
Rosie on the modern Steel Pier.
Standing out there, I could almost superimpose the image of the old Steel Pier over its modern counterpart—without the time portal, of course! Today’s AC has been given over to the casinos, but if you pay close attention, the ghosts of Atlantic City’s heyday still linger.
What vacation spots have particular memories for you? Has it changed over the years?
Thank you for sharing this with us, Rosie, and good luck with Murder on the Steel Pier, the first book in the Tess Mancini Time Travel mystery series. Readers can learn more about Rosie Genova by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Bookbub pages.
The book is available online at the following retailers:
About Rosie Genova: Proud Jersey girl Rosie Genova is a multi-genre author. Her work includes a Jersey shore cozy series, The Italian Kitchen Mysteries, and The Tess Mancini Time Travel Mysteries, set in 1955 Atlantic City. She is also the author of standalone suspense and a couple of rom-coms that presently live in her computer files (but are longing to be released into the wild). A former teacher and journalist, Rosie’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of publications, including Entrepreneur magazine and The New York Times. The mother of three sons, Rosie still lives in her favorite state with her husband, too many dusty antiques, and a charming mutt named Lucy.
Allie Pleiter is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about the ingredients that make up One Sharp Stitch, the first novel in the Nimble Needle mystery series.
Welcome, Allie. Let’s get started, shall we?
I love that I get to combine my two favorite things—crafting and writing—in my work as a cozy mystery author. It pleases me when readers say they’ve discovered a craft through the descriptions in my books. It’s great to meet the challenge of taking something as visual as needlepoint or knitting and translate it vividly into the written word. Much like culinary or pet-themed stories, I think the coziness of craft makes for the perfect counterbalance to the sharp edge of a murder mystery.
ONE SHARP STITCH is no different. Our heroine Shelby Phillips finds herself re-immersed in the world of her mother’s needlepoint shop when her graphic arts career comes to a halt thanks to a corporate buyout. She’s grown up surrounded by all the color and texture of Nina’s Nimble Needle,but she had left it behind for a slick city life.
As our story opens, Shelby thinks she is in for a boring month watching over the shop while Mom and Dad take a month-long RV vacation. With such an empty schedule, she’ll have lots of time to dive back into the stitching her mother loves so much, and perhaps re-ignite her own love for the craft. It will be nice to rediscover her passions for color and art.
All of those pleasant ideas disappear when one of Shelby’s old schoolmates turns up dead. Now, instead of stitching gorgeous colors onto canvases, Shelby finds herself unraveling curious clues to solve how Kat died. While everyone—including the town police chief—considers the death an terrible accident, Shelby is not convinced. She feels compelled to investigate, hoping to find justice for the old friend she was never very nice to in school. The small group of stitchers Shelby gathers quickly becomes a corps of amateur sleuths. There’s Shelby’s unbearably perfect sister Jessica, Deb who runs the coffeebar in town, young and enthusiastic Cherie, and the handsome local mechanic Jake. Is Jake more than a stitcher and sleuthing teammate? The possibilities are certainly there.
Of course, no cozy mystery would be complete without a cast of lovable secondary characters. Here in Gwen Lake, the NYAGs fit the bill. The “Not Your Average Grannies” do a fine job of busting the stereotype of old ladies in rocking chairs doing needlework. In fact, crafts like knitting, needlepoint, and embroidery are enjoying a huge resurgence among young people. I hope ONE SHARP STITCH appeals to the “maker” generation just as strongly as the traditional cozy readers. The NYAGs have no shortage of opinions, no fear of gossip, and no hesitation to match-make. They offer great comic relief—and no small amount of sass—to Shelby’s efforts to fit in, run the shop, and solve the mystery.
Then there is Nabbit the cat. He shows up one night on Shelby’s balcony and declares himself at home. Shelby feels like a bit of a stray herself these days, so they get along fine. He makes a great sounding board for ideas, good company on a long sleepless night, and just the right dose of aloof cuteness for which cats are known. His unusual name comes from a needlepoint tool called a Snag-Nabbit. I saw the name on the tool while wandering my local needlepoint shop, and I instantly knew I had the moniker for Shelby’s animal companion. Sometimes character names take a long search. Other times, they drop right into your lap in your local needlepoint shop!
Quirky, heartwarming towns are another staple ingredient of cozy mysteries. Yes, Gwen Lake has loads of the requisite small town charm. Still, it has a few oddities that are not only funny, but endearing. A yacht club hundreds of miles from the coast? Odd traditions involving gold coin necklaces? I guarantee you, you have never visited a town with the unique quirks of Gwen Lake. I wish I could tell you where these unique ideas come from, but I never like to analyze it too much—it’s part of the magic of writing for me.
Our final ingredient is a series. One book is fine, but readers love knowing they’ll make many return trips to stories, characters, and settings they love. I’m delighted to report that ONE SHARP STITCH is the first in a series from Kensington. I can promise you that Shelby will be solving mysteries in Gwen Lake for several books to come. TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS will follow next year, with a THREE book coming after that. And if I have my way, we’ll keep going on up the numbers as far as we can! Do join me, won’t you?
Thank you for sharing this with us, Allie, and good luck with One Sharp Stitch, the first book in the Nimble Needle mystery series.
About Allie Pleiter: An avid crafter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four books at a time. The bestselling author of over sixty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-plus year career with over 1.8 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers. She lives in the Charlotte area with her husband and the world’s most adorable dog.
Jacque Rosman, author of Murder Off U Street, the latest novel in the Academic Mom mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.
Welcome, Jacque.
Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.
MURDER OFF U STREET is the second installment in the Academic Mom Mysteries series, following the debut novel MURDER IN GEORGETOWN. The series is planned as a five-book collection
Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?
The idea originated years ago while working in a police department as a counselor for Victim Services, where I witnessed how certain victims could be easily overlooked or dismissed by law enforcement.
Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?
A couple of subjects weave throughout the book. The central one stems from my police department experience—how certain victims can be dismissed by law enforcement. Another explores work-life balance, particularly how mothers, even those with careers, shoulder countless caretaking responsibilities. I wanted to create a character who breaks free from this routine by engaging in something as thrilling as solving mysteries.
How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?
My main character serves as one of my alter egos😊, sharing many similarities with my real life. Like her, I’m a social work professor with two children—a son and daughter—living in Northern Virginia. The key difference, of course, is that I’m not an amateur sleuth.
How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?
While I have intimate knowledge of Northern Virginia, having lived in both Alexandria and Arlington over the last 20 years, I haven’t lived or worked in DC where much of the series is set. However, I frequently visit the city for cultural events and dining out, and when our children were young, we were there almost every weekend, taking advantage of the various amusements for kids.
What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?
Medical research is essential for crafting authentic mysteries, allowing me to accurately portray how a victim might die. Though these are traditional mysteries, I deliberately maintain a restrained approach when it comes to graphic details—you won’t find excessive gore in my pages.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?
You won’t see the ending coming! This mystery is crafted primarily for women readers who will relate to a protagonist balancing multiple roles in her life.
Thank you for answering my questions, Jacque, and good luck with Murder Off U Street, the latest book in the Academic Mom mystery series.
Readers can learn more about Jacqu Rosman by visiting the author’s Facebook, Goodreads and LinkedIn pages.
The novel is available at the following online retailers:
About Jacque Rosman: WhenJacque Rosman (Jacqueline Corcoran) isn’t crafting whodunits, romances, or textbooks, she’s navigating her own commute through four states to her professor job, dealing with her rescue chihuahua’s separation anxiety, and embracing, like her amateur sleuth, the beautiful chaos of family life with her husband and two children outside Washington D.C. MURDER IN GEORGETOWN and MURDER OFF U STREET kicks off the Academic Mom Mysteries, bringing readers a relatable humorous heroine who solves crimes between grading papers and making dinner.
Cassidy Jamison is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Murder Strikes a Chord, the first novel in the Pearly Girls mystery series.
Welcome, Cassidy. Let’s get started, shall we?
Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too. Hi, I am Cassidy Jamison, and I own Celebrations at Ivy Springs, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It’s an event planning service with lots of amenities for any occasion. The property has an amphitheater for concerts and events, a serenity garden, and a glamped up barn for indoor events. In Murder Strikes a Chord, my team is hosting the Groovin’ through the Decades concert series that stars the popular band from the 1970s, the Weathermen. This story is the first on that Heather recorded about all our adventures. It’s the first in the Pearly Girls Mystery series.
Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too? Heather does a good job of recording what goes on her in Ivy Springs. I love my job and my team. When I inherited the property from my grandmother, her friends, the Pearly Girls, stepped in to help me run the business and plan events. They are a hoot. They’re all retired, and they get in way more trouble than I do. My team is made up of Aileen Roberts, a former elementary school teacher, Kate Carlson, a former nurse, Ruthanne Carmichael, a former accountant, and Roxie Matthews, the fashion plate of the group who has a reputation around town as a cougar.
How did you evolve as the main character? I used to be in marketing in Washington, DC. I returned home when my grandmother passed away. I decided to continue her business, and I moved into the top floor of the old farmhouse. It’s my business offices downstairs, and my apartment is on the second floor. I share my place with Elvis, my black and brown Chihuahua mix.
Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them? The Pearly Girls take every opportunity to play match maker for me. They think someone my age needs to have more fun. They have tried to fix me up with any eligible guy in the tri-county area. I think I can do just fine at finding my own dates. In this story, I have several prospects, and everyone will have to be patient and see which one I choose.
What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story? I love living in the valley, surrounded by the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. The property has so much history. The serenity garden with its koi pond is probably my favorite spot. It has a perfect view of the mountains. We use it for weddings and celebrations. But the property also has a cave on the property, and rumor has it that my family used it for its bootlegging activities during Prohibition.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book? I was thrilled to land the concert series, featuring the chart-topping band, the Weathermen. And the Pearly Girls were over the moon to finally meet their favorite rockers from the 1970s. I was hoping the concerts, showcasing music from a variety of eras, would help me bridge some generation gaps with the gals.
When Elvis and I found lead singer Johnny Storm dead in the koi pond in the serenity garden, it created a media frenzy, and not the kind I ever wanted. I had to solve the murder before the curtains close on the concerts and my business.
Thank you for answering my questions, Cassidy, and good luck to you and your author, Heather Weidner, with Murder Strikes a Chord, the first book in the Pearly Girls mystery series.
About Heather Weidner: Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.
Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, and Crimes in the Old Dominion, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
Leslie Karst, author of Waters of Destruction, an Orchid Isle mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce us to Hawai‘i Island as he knows it.
Welcome, Leslie. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
An Armchair Aloha!
I received a review from Booklist of the first book in my Orchid Isle mysteries, Molten Death, which called it “part murder mystery, part vividly evocative, colorful sketch of Hawaii and its history, geography, tradition, culture, food, language, and people,” and concluding that “[a]rmchair travelers and mystery aficionados alike will find it entertaining.”
I was pleased, not simply by the favorable review, but also because one of my primary purposes in writing this series has been to do exactly that: introduce readers to my beloved Hawai‘i Island. And in the newest book, Waters of Destruction, that continues to be my intent.
I’ve lived on the “Orchid Isle” half-time for seventeen years and have been visiting since 1990, and over that time I’ve grown to appreciate how very special a place it is for so many different reasons. First, there’s the fact that the Big Island is home to eight of the thirteen total climate zones that exist on earth, from humid/tropical on the lush windward side of the island to polar/tundra atop the frigid slopes of Maunakea. So no matter whatever is your pleasure climate-wise, you’re bound to find it here.
Second, there’s the unique geology of the island. The presence of two active volcanoes (three, if you count Hualālai, which looms over the tourist town of Kailua-Kona and last erupted in 1801—just yesterday, in geologic terms) is, for me, one of the most compelling aspects of living here. It’s an island still being formed—a living, breathing place where fissures open and spill forth steam and hot lava, where new land is continually being created. And if you ever get the chance to actually witness that hot lava, I can guarantee it’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.
Yours truly at the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption
Hawai‘i’s volcanoes have influenced the local culture since the arrival of the intrepid Polynesians who made the long voyage from the South Pacific to the archipelago by outrigger canoe some eight hundred years ago. Not surprisingly, living on an island where at any moment your village could be inundated by molten rock resulted in a society whose dance, chanting, song, and religion have historically been focused on the power behind that awesome force. And even today, residents of the Big Island are extremely respectful of the volcano goddess Pele, with her streaming hair of fire.
There are also, of course, all the attractions one finds in glossy tourist magazines: azure waters flanked by both white- and black-sand beaches; rainforests bursting with eye-popping ginger, heliconia, and orchids; coconut palms swaying in the gentle trade wind breeze; and coral reefs populated by tropical fish in a host of psychedelic colors.
And then there’s the food. Oh, my. Seared ahi tuna with a sesame-furikake crust; smoky, succulent kālua pork with papaya chutney; kalbi beef ribs in a teriyaki glaze; macadamia nut-encrusted mahi-mahi; and of course fresh mangoes, pineapples, papaya, breadfruit, apple bananas, lychee, jackfruit, starfruit, the list goes on and on.
So if you want to take a trip to the Big Island without leaving your living room, you can find all of the above (including recipes!) in Waters of Destruction and Molten Death—along with engaging mysteries that my protagonists, Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen, undertake to investigate when they swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions.
Aloha!
Thank you for sharing this with us, Leslie, and good luck with Waters of Destruction, the latest book in the Orchid Isle mystery series. Readers can learn more about Leslie Karst by visiting the author’s website and his Facebook, Bookbub and Goodreads pages.
The book is available online at the following retailers:
About Leslie Karst: Leslie Karst is the author of the Orchid Isle mysteries Waters of Destruction and Molten Death, of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari mystery series, and of the IBPA Ben Franklin and IPPY award silver medal-winning memoir, Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. After years waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock band, she decided she was ready for a “real” job and ended up at Stanford Law School, then returned to school to study the culinary arts. Now retired from the law, Leslie splits her time between Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California, spending her days writing, cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock.
Daryl Wood Gerber, author of Essence of Foul Play, an Aroma Wellness mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to share with us how she keeps it all straight.
Welcome, Daryl. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
I write a number of different mysteries as well as standalone suspense novels, plus now I’ve ventured into romance. How do I keep all the stories straight? Good question.
When I’m writing any of my novels, I work with an outline that is specific to the story and/or series. I have a “cast list” so I know the names of all the characters and their professions or relationship to the protagonist. I create a complete description guide to all the characters’ personalities and, in most cases, what they look like, their age, what kind of car they drive, whether they have pets, and where they live. It can be intense. When I write a new book in a series, I add to this “character description guide.” After all, characters grow over the course of a series.
If I receive edits on another book I turned in months ago while I’m writing a new book, I set the current book aside and spend an entire week with the book to be edited. Believe me, that’s when I really need my notes and outline. I review them to refresh my memory, because, to be honest, after six months, I’ve put the story out of my head, and the new story is taking all of my concentration. Think of it like separating out your high school friends from college friends and your family from your in-laws. You need to compartmentalize them or you’ll go bonkers. At least I know I will.
I began writing when I was an actress. I wrote screenplays hoping to star in them. Yeah, that didn’t happen. But the craft helped me understand how to construct three to five acts, how to amp up turning points, and more. One tool I learned while writing screenplays was establishing the location and time for each scene. Example: Interior – High School Class room – Day This informs the director and crew where and when and what to set up for each shot. I continue to use this format when creating an outline for my novels. Here’s an example of how my outline begins:
Chapter
Location/time/day
Characters
Action
Clues
1
Wellness spa Monday a.m.
Emma Nana Lissa Vivi (the cat)
Emma screams when an entire room of meditation bowls explodes
Not sure yet. TBD
2
Etc…
As I write, I modify the outline. After all, a road map is only a road map. It’s not set in stone. One can take a different route to get to the same place. In a screenplay, it was easy to lift a scene and move it forward or backward. I do that now in my novels. This scene belongs earlier . . . this one later. All it requires is copying and pasting.
Yes, there are times I get confused. I have been known to write the wrong protagonist’s name in a book. Usually, I find these mistakes during edits. It’s a challenge for sure, but I’m blessed to have deadlines to meet and characters to craft.
I love the writing process. Love it.
Thank you for sharing this with us, Daryl, and good luck with Essence of Foul Play, the latest book in the Aroma Wellness mystery series. Readers can learn more about Daryl Wood Gerber by visiting the author’s website and. her Facebook, Bookbub, Instagram, YouTube and Goodreads pages. Readers can also follow her on BlueSky (@darylwoodgerber.bsky.social).
The book is available online at the following retailers:
About Daryl Wood Gerber: Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, Aroma Wellness Mysteries, Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense novels, including the well-received The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, andthe popular Aspen Adams trilogy. Daryl has published a standalone Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays, and her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies.Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
Marcy Blesy, author of Murder Movie Club (Murder on a Monday), a Monthly Murder Movie Club mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us a bit about her writing and her cozy mystery series.
Welcome, Marcy. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
Hello! My name is Marcy Blesy, and I am the author of the Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series. Books 1-8 are out now with Book 9 coming in June. I’ve also completed the three-book series: The Ghost Texter Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series.
As a fan of Murder, She Wrote and cozy mysteries, I began writing my own cozies a couple of years ago and have fallen in love with the genre and the readers who love it, too. Cozy mystery readers are the kindest, most supportive readers! The Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series features a 39-year-old woman who flees the problems in her life by running off to visit her parents in their snowbird retirement community in Arizona. Little did she know she’d find even more drama when she discovers a dead body, adopts a puppy, and learns to date again after twenty years!
In the Ghost Texter Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series, a frazzled kindergarten teacher is sent a text message from her jerk of an ex-boyfriend asking for help in solving a murder of their former high school lunch lady. The problem (besides the fact that Kasper is a jerk)? HE has been dead for five years!
My newest series is The Monthly Murder Movie Club Cozy Mystery Series. The first book is called Murder Movie Club (Murder on a Monday) and was just released on February 21st! Book two comes in March. Here is the blurb:
Murder: best served with popcorn. That’s the mantra for the members of the Monthly Murder Movie Club at The Northwoods Movie Theater. Every month, this eclectic group of northern Michigan residents gather to watch a murder mystery movie on the big screen. After stopping the projector in the middle of the movie, the members gather to discuss the crime and suspects, each making a whodunit pick before resuming the movie. The hairdresser with the scissors?The jilted lover with poison?
But nothing is normal on this Monday morning when the club members find the ticket-taking popcorn maker John E. Cash in the lobby of the theater, deader than any actor in their beloved movies. Using their unique talents and eccentricities, the Monthly Murder Movie Club members work collectively to solve the crime before the Northwoods Police force does. Members strive to protect the reputation of their beloved theater–and to protect their Monday meetings–because what each member is discovering is that there is so much more to their Monday club than a good old-fashioned murder mystery.
Found family, new friends, and murder investigations!
I love writing cozy mysteries. I love starting with an idea, deciding how I want the story to end, and jotting down lots and lots and lots of notes along the way. My favorite is creating a visual whodunit organizer where I put the victim’s name in a circle with lines drawn out representing each of the suspects. I then add motives for each of them to keep the reader guessing. Sometimes, I even change the murderer along the way! What power I wield in my fingertips. LOL
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about my writing and my cozy mystery series!
Thank you for sharing this with us, Marcy, and good luck with Murder Movie Club (Murder on a Monday), the latest book in the Monthly Murder Club mystery series. Readers can learn more about Marcy Blesy by visiting the author’s website and. her Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads pages.
About Marcy Blesy: Marcy Blesy is the author of over thirty books including the popular cozy mystery series: The Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series, a hilarious misadventure in amateur sleuthing. Her adult romance mystery series includes The Secret of Blue Lake and The Secret of Silver Beach, set in Michigan. The Ghost Texter Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series, featuring a sleuthing kindergarten teacher in Michigan was recently released. Children’s books include the best-selling Be the Vet series along with the following early chapter book series: Evie and the Volunteers, Niles and Bradford, Third Grade Outsider, and Hazel, the Clinic Cat.
Marcy enjoys searching for treasures along the shores of Lake Michigan. She’s still waiting for the day when she finds a piece of red beach glass.
Marcy is a believer in love and enjoys nothing more than making her readers feel a book more than simply reading it.
S.K. Golden, author of The Socialite’s Guide to Sleuthing &Secrets, a Pinnacle Hotel mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to share with us how multi-level marketing leads to murder in her latest book.
Welcome S.K.. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
Have you ever found yourself sitting in a friend’s living room, nodding along as she demonstrates a gadget you never knew you needed – until now? And before you know it, you’re halfway convinced that everyone else needs this gadget too, and you could make some serious money telling everyone about it?
In this day and age, I’m willing to bet almost all women in America have, at some point, either attending or been invited to, a friend’s home to learn about their new business venture. They’re having a bunch of people over so they can demonstrate some new utensils. Or maybe your friend is having a makeover party and she’s doing everyone’s make up at her home. Or she’s found skincare that means she never has to wear makeup again and guess what? She can sell it to you, too. Maybe its jewelry – rows and rows of it and each piece five dollars or less. Maybe your friend has gotten really big into fitness and they’re inviting you to attend a workout class that they’re leading.
Whatever you’ve been invited to, the end is the same: you, too, can sell the product, just like your friend. Isn’t it easy? You throw a party and people come! You post online, and people click the link. You go live on social media, and people clamor to be the first to buy. Your friend who convinced you to join is your mentor, and you are in her direct sales line, which means she gets a commission from every sale you make. And if you convince others to join, you’ll start earning commissions from their sales, too.
This style of business is called multi-level marketing. MLMs have been around since the 1920s but, the at home party came about some thirty years later, thanks to a woman named Brownie Wise, who we will talk about a little later.
I had friends who joined MLMs over a decade ago, though I didn’t know what they were called. I just knew they were suddenly, intensely concerned with skin care. They’d found a wonderful product, and if you joined their team, you could buy the product at a discount and maybe even make some money by selling it to other people. They were gifted expensive bags from their “boss” and were invited on cruises. I never bought the product or joined the team, because, well, I have so many kids and they were young, and I was busy. Plus, the price seemed too steep for skincare when I was in my late twenties/early thirties and having fine results with drug store products.
I still use CeraVe.
In 2017, I don’t even remember how now, I became aware of a podcast called The Dream and whew, boy. Did I fall into a MLM related rabbit hole. Since then, I’ve read books about MLMs, subscribed to YouTube channels that only discuss MLMs, and watched documentaries about MLMs. I just knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a multi-level marketing team was a prime setup for a murder.
A fictional one, of course. I write mysteries. I’m always on the lookout for murders. The other day, I was cleaning my oven, and, anyway, the mind wanders to if I could murder someone in my oven or I’d need a gas oven to do that. But that’s beside the point. In an MLM, the likelihood that you will lose money is high. Super-duper high, if you want to get scientific. Close to 99% of people never turn a profit. (Don’t get me wrong, the people who do turn a profit make BANK which is the allure of this business structure. Want to get rich quick? It could happen to you!) And when it’s your friend who talked you into joining? Who cost you money? Well, the plot basically writes itself.
I created my own multi-level marketing company for my book, The Socialite’s Guide to Sleuthing and Secrets. Set in the 1950s, it’s the heyday of the Tupperware party. Which brings us back to Brownie Wise.
Brownie Wise did not invent Tupperware, Earl Tupper did. Tupper was having trouble selling the plastic containers, and Wise realized there was potential in home demonstrations. Show women how they worked, and the women would buy them. This was a smashing success. The Tupperware parties were considered social events and post-war housewives found a way to earn money while staying at home. Wise was even the first woman on the cover of Business Week. Now, she was fired by Earl Tupper in 1958 (Rumor has it, he was jealous of her success – typical) but her legacy lives on today. As I stated earlier, I’d bet every American woman has been invited to a social selling event at some point in their lives, whether it was makeover you won, or a free workout class, or an in home demonstration on a special cooking instrument.
Thanks to Brownie Wise, MLMs and at home demonstrations still thrive today – giving authors like me plenty of opportunities for betrayal and murder. Fictional, of course.
Thank you for sharing this with us, S.K., and good luck with The Socialite’s Guide to Sleuthing & Secrets, the latest book in the Pinnacle Hotel mystery series. Readers can learn more about S.K. Golden by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads pages.
The book is available online at the following retailers:
About S.K. Golden: S.K. Golden writes cozy mysteries and crime capers. Born and raised in the Florida Keys, she married a commercial fisherman. The two of them still live on the islands with their five kids (one boy, four girls — including identical twins!), two cats, and a corgi named Goku. Sarah graduated from Saint Leo University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Administration and has put it to good use approximately zero times. She’s worked as a bank teller, a pharmacy technician, and an executive assistant at her father’s church. Sarah is delighted to be doing none of those things now.
T.C. Lotempio, author of A Side Dish of Death, the latest novel in the Urban Tails Pet Shop mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.
Welcome, Toni.
Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.
A SIDE DISH OF DEATH is number five in the Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries. It focuses on Shell McMillan, a former Hollywood actress whos relocated to Fox Hollow Connecticut after she inherits her late aunts’ pet shop. She, her former co-star Gary Presser, and her cats, Purrday, Kahlua and Princess Fuzzypants, find a lot of dead bodies out in Fox Hollow!
Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?
I have gone to dinner theatres where you had to solve a murder to win a prize and I thought that would be a good plot for a book.
How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?
Most of my characters are based on people (or pets) that I know. On occasion I’ll base it on a news story – for example, the first Nick and Nora mystery is loosely based on Natalie Wood’s drowning. Do I have favorite characters? That’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is LOL. I confess, though, that I do have favorites in each series. In the pet shop series it’s Gary. I find it fun to write him.
How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?
I always try to visualize the book I’m writing as a movie. That definitely helps with character development, location, etc.
What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?
Lots and Lots of Google!
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?
Only that I hope they enjoy what I write! And I’ll continue writing as long as everyone keeps reading!
Thank you for answering my questions, Toni, and good luck with A Side Dish of Death, the latest book in the Urban Tails Pet Shop mystery series.
Readers can learn more about T.C. Lotempio by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook page.
The novel is available at the following online retailers:
About T.C. Lotempio: While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She and her cat pen the Nick and Nora mystery series originally from Berkley Prime Crime and now with Beyond the Page Publishing. They also write the Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries and the Tiffany Austin Food Blogger Mysteries, also available from Beyond the Page. A new series, Cozy Bookshop Mysteries, debuts from Severn House in July.
Amber Royer, author of Vanishing into the 100% Dark, the latest novel in the Bean to Bar mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.
Welcome, Amber.
Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.
Vanishing into the 100% Dark is the eighth book in the Bean to Bar Mysteries series. In the series, Felicity Koerber moves home to Galveston, Texas to open a bean to bar chocolate business on the historic strand – only to have to solve a murder that happens at her grand opening party. In addition to solving mysteries throughout the series, she has been putting her life back together after suffering tragic loss. Her business has offered her an opportunity to build a community and make new friends, and she heals enough to be ready to find a new love interest.
Vanishing into the 100% Dark takes Felicity and her friends halfway around the world in the first book in the series set outside of Galveston. (Though technically, the third book takes place on a cruise ship that briefly reaches international waters.) This one sees Felicity invited to a chocolate festival in Tokyo, where she is to give a class on bean to bar chocolate making. One of the recurring characters tagging along with her is Chloe, a teen Youtuber whose jerk-face cat has bought her a measure of fame. Obviously, when she finds out that local Youtubers are being offered a part in a monster movie, she wants to participate. Which puts Chloe in the position to become a main suspect when a stunt man is killed, and the police hold her passport. Felicity is Chloe’s chaperone for the trip, giving her an extra measure of motivation to solve the crime before she and her friends are scheduled to return home.
Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?
Honestly? I was reading a book by one of my favourite authors where the protagonist finds a phone in a trash can. It was a fun story, but I couldn’t help but think about how I’d take that setup in a completely different direction.
I was recently in Japan, lecturing aboard a cruise ship, and I realized just how much I was relying on my phone when my husband and I – in a situation very similar to what Felicity is dealing with the Vanishing’s opening – needed to call a friend to find out where in the airport she was going to meet us. Unlike Felicity, we were able to make the connection with no further incident. I had her get her phone pickpocketed by a guy who later turns out to be a stunt man working on the movie Chloe wants to be in.
I wanted this mystery to have an extra layer of complexity to go along with the “super-mystery” setting taking characters half way around the world from where I usually write them. So the idea of the body vanishing was a fun trope that I couldn’t resist playing with. Felicity’s fiancé’s reaction, along with who does and does not believe her, gives me a lot to work with.
Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?
For the series: Felicity’s craft chocolate making and growing her business is a consistent part. I am something of an accidental chocolate expert. My husband and I were asked to do several presentations for our local herb society, back when we lived closer to Fort Worth. One of those became our cookbook, There are Herbs in My Chocolate. This happened near the time I was invited to speak on a cruise ship sailing to the Dominican Republic, where I visited a cacao plantation for the first time. When I saw a cacao pod, my brain immediately compared it to a Nerf football, and I wrote a sci-fi novella about a bunch of characters on a spaceship all trying to get their hands, claws or paws on a cacao pod to get the unfermented – aka growable – beans inside. They were throwing the pod and racing up staircases and darting inside elevators. I later developed that piece into Free Chocolate, a much more thoughtful and complex novel – that still supposes chocolate is the most important thing in the universe. I met so many chocolate makers and cacao farmers researching and marketing those books, that when I wanted to start a new project, it was a no brainer to have a craft chocolate maker sleuth.
For this book: When we go to the movies, my husband and I like to visit Alamo Drafthouse, because they do a half hour presentation before each movie that somehow relates to it. We went to see The Fall Guy, and the presentation was a montage of clips from everything from the Burt Reynolds Stuntman movie to a documentary about Jackie Chan. It hit my movie-lover’s brain just right for a movie to become a big part of Vanishing into the 100% Dark.
How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?
When I start writing, I have a few things in mind about a character – maybe a name or an occupation. Descriptions usually come in a way that matches the character’s voice, either in dialogue or in narration. If the character is going to be important, and I don’t instinctively get a feel for who the person is, I will do some exercises from the viewpoint of that character. Typically this involves character interviews (take the character into a white room and ask upsetting questions to see how the character reacts and what she values) or what-choice-would-this-character-make dilemma exercise (put the character in an uncomfortable or ethically difficult situation and see how he responds). It’s weird, but when forced, you can get your characters talking, from their viewpoint.
My favourite characters to write are the side characters with big personalities. There’s a blogger in The Bean to Bar Mysteries who starts out in Grand Openings Can Be Murder by rashly accusing my protagonist of being the killer. In the first two books, Felicity sees him as a nemesis. But in the third book, after he gets accused of being the culprit and turns to Fee for help, she starts to see him more sympathetically. (As did I, once I figured out that he, like me, is adopted.) Now it is to the point where readers ask me for, “More Ash!” My husband, who is my alpha reader, gets excited for “Ash chapters.” I love writing characters who grow in sympathy like that. There’s so much more to them than a reader gets to see on first encountering them. I see characters that are unlikable on the outside but endearing once you get to know them often cast as leads in K Dramas and other long-form series. That’s because it takes time to peel back the layers. I am grateful that readers are sticking with this series long enough for me to do that.
A fan-favourite character that I put in the Chocoverse books was also a secondary character. Chestla is an alpha-predator leopard woman who is a warrior with a tragic past. But she is also heartbroken that most people keep their distance, while her greatest desire is to be invited to a local party. She is, at times, comic relief.
She’s completely larger than life. Even though they are very different characters, so is Ash. I have a ton of fun writing them – but I don’t think they would make good protagonists. They shine so bright in the time they are on the page, it would be hard to sustain for the length of a book – or series – without them starting to feel either cliched or tiresome. That’s why I have fun writing protagonists like Felicity. She’s a bit steadier, but she still has a sense of humor and finds herself in some wacky situations.
How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?
It’s all about the details. Writing Galveston is easier because I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years. I know what parking is like on the Strand, and where to get good coffee. I’ve changed the names and particulars of a lot of businesses (often combining several into one place), but landmarks such as Pleasure Pier are present in the series and named.
Vivid writing appeals to the senses. If you put a character onto the beach, it can’t be just a generic beach. What is the temperature? (Galveston can get cold and windy in the winter.) What does the sand feel like? (Sand comes in such a variety of textures and colors.) What seabirds frequent the area? Is there a specific smell to the breeze? What are tar balls? Is it jellyfish season? What are the flowers growing up against the seawall called? Filling in all those blanks can put a reader right where they need to be to feel like they’ve visited that beach alongside the characters.
What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?
It depends on what is happening in that particular book. For instance, I did a lot of research into octopuses and sea turtles for 70% Dark Intentions. We even went down to Padre Island to attend a sea turtle release. I’m planning to have an upcoming book in the Bean to Bar Mysteries series involve a subplot about the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, so we just visited Port Aransas (a bit down the coast from Galveston) for their Whooping Crane Festival.
Vanishing into the 100% Dark is a bit different. It’s set in a foreign country. I’ve visited Japan a couple of times, and my husband and I do community service work for the Japanese community in Dallas. We’ve watched a decade’s worth of mystery-themed anime and Japanese dramas – not to mention most of the Godzilla movies. When I recently lectured aboard a cruise ship with ports in Japan, I researched Japanese mysteries, the history of journaling in Japan, poets, Zuihitsu literature and more. It feels like little bits of all of that went into my book, some of the passive research I absorbed just by being places or experiencing media.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?
There’s a lot here that touches on social media. Felicity ends each book by setting up and taking a photo for her Instagram with the people who changed her life over the course of that book. She meets characters who blog, have YouTube channels, and teach on-line.
Pretty much everything I write also has sweet/clean romantic subplots. The Bean to Bar Mysteries has a love triangle in the first few books, but Felicity does make her choice, and by the time you get to Book 8, she is engaged. This is a second romance for her, so she is taking her time.
The mystery in each book is self-contained, and I try hard to include enough context surrounding repeating characters or events that happened in previous books that you can follow along easily, even if it is the first book of mine you’ve read.
I hope you enjoy getting to know Felicity and seeing her grow and heal throughout the series.
Thank you for answering my questions, Amber, and good luck with Vanishing into the 100% Dark, the latest book in the Bean to Bar mystery series.
About Amber Royer: Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach. Her workbook/textbook Story Like a Journalist and her Thoughtful Journal series allow her to connect with writers. Amber and her husband live in the DFW Area, where you can often find them at local coffee shops or taking landscape/architecture/wildlife photographs. They both love to travel, and Amber records her adventures on Instagram – along with pics of her pair of tuxedo cats. If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes, of course!
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