The holidays are here, and everyone is bustling and hustling around getting ready for the big day. Why not take a little time to yourself and enjoy one of the new cozy mysteries available for December? Or even better, buy one or a few for great gifts for your reading family and friends. The Diva Cooks a Goose Krista Davis (A Domestic Diva Mystery #4) Berkley (Prime Crime), $7.99 A Scrooge steals presents right from under Sophie Winston’s family Christmas tree. Then her sister-in-law’s father show’s up with a diva girlfriend just a month after his separation. More than one person is thinking of committing a merry murder—until it actually happens! With many under suspicion for the deadly deed, can Sophie find the murderer and restore the Christmas spirit before it’s too late? Mistletoe and Mayhem Kate Kingsbury (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery) Berkley Trade; $14.00 This holiday season there’ll be murder under the mistletoe at the Pennyfoot Hotel… As friends, family, and guests gather at the Pennyfoot Hotel to share the joys of the season, Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her staff are hustling and bustling more than ever. Cecily’s friend Madeline arrives with her new baby and adds a…

As promised last month, here’s some more scoop from MileHiCon in Denver. Fantasy tends to come in series, and while some series just keep getting better, others drop off. How does an author keep a series going and keep it interesting? Several authors of successful series discussed this at the convention. One issue series authors face is how to bring up recap material to remind readers of what happened in previous books or of anything else they need to remember about how this world works. M.H. Bonham, author of the Swords of Destiny series, said that even in the first novel in a series, characters have a history and a backstory that the author has to deal with. In later books, that backstory may be what happened in the earlier books, but authors can deal with it the way they would any character history or backstory — without an info dump. Carrie Vaughn, author of the Kitty Norville series, said she tries to show the effects of what happened previously without necessarily going into explanations. “To me, the sign of a great book is when you can pick up a later book in the series and be interested enough to…

Awhile back, in the course of a fairly long series for Steeple Hill Love Inspired, I introduced some Amish minor characters, wondering what my editor would say about that. She responded, “You know that Amish thing? Do that more.” So, since I’m in the habit of saying yes to editors, probably in reaction to all those years when they were saying no to me, I agreed. It wasn’t difficult to write about the Amish, since my family is of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and I’ve spent my life in rural Pennsylvania, where the Plain sects are very common. I also have several friends who grew up Plain, and I welcomed the opportunity to showcase that world in my fiction. Why is Amish fiction so popular? That’s the million dollar question. Based on the letters I receive from readers, I’d say that the books help feed a longing for a simpler lifestyle. Haven’t you ever wished you could get rid of the constant pressure and demand for interaction posed by e-mail, Facebook, cell phones, twenty-four hour news channels, and all the rest? The books allow readers to visit a society which gets along very nicely without all those things. It’s also a…