How the ‘Olive Grove Mystery Series’ Came to Fruition With Brief Backstory about Southern Olive Farming Truth be told, the idea for my cozy mystery ONE FOOT IN THE GROVE, first in Berkley Prime Crime’s Olive Grove Mystery Series, began with my literary agent, John Talbot. I was putting the finishing touches on another cozy mystery proposal when John called to say that he had a great idea for a cozy, did I want to give it a go? There were just two caveats, he said. First, I needed to have a proposal ready for him to submit to editors within a couple of weeks. Secondly, I needed to let him know within a few hours whether or not I’d take-on the project, or he’d contact another author. He explained that the series geared for the “culinary” cozy sub-genre featured a premise about “olive oil” with a California setting. Each book would include recipes. Of course I jumped at the opportunity! Still, the project was riddled with issues for me. For one, John’s idea for the California setting – where land and climate lend themselves perfectly for olive farming – was particularly problematic. An East-Coaster all my life, I’ve only…

How Beloved Pets Inspire My Cozy Mystery Characters I never use names of any specific real people in my stories, However, I do use the names of some “real” animals and beloved pets from my life. People who know me understand that – for better or worse – I’m a bit of a pet “magnet.” At one time, I owned more than 40 horses and ponies! Although the horse-count has gone down, today, my son, husband and I still care for a smaller number of horses, as well as goats, chickens, parrots, ducks, dogs, and cats. Moreover, during my lifetime there have been sheep, gerbils, hamsters, mice, koi, goldfish, box turtles, and even an 18-year-old newt. We’ve purchased pets. We’ve adopted pets. We’ve found pets. Pets have found us. Some of these animals were born into the family. Some came to us as orphans or babies. Others, like many of the feral cats we’ve taken in (and had spayed and neutered), have been full-grown and even quite aged. Regardless, throughout the years we’ve forged many unique and emotionally rewarding relationships with these endearing creatures. It seems fitting that one day a few years ago, after the loss of one of…

When I got the contract for my first short story publication with Guideposts, I was thrilled. And then it hit me. I had an M.A. in creative writing, years of teaching experience, and several yet-to-be-published novels under my belt… and no idea what I was doing. So I started with what I knew. The characters. In “The Christmas Thief,” I wanted to show that people are not always who they seem, and everyone has a story. That sounds trite, I know. But as storytellers, I truly believe it’s our job to challenge to craft characters that surprise the reader, and perhaps more importantly, characters that challenge the reader. This story highlights a homeless man who was once materially successful, and the pastor of a fancy church who does not react to the homeless man quite as you’d expect. I tried to dig deep into the question of what it means to live on both sides of the church walls. As I found my main character searching for hope, I realized the story was coming alive because the character had. So here’s what I learned! Give your character a compelling setting from which to thrive. I write southern fiction, usually southern…

My father taught me many valuable lessons. As an immigrant, he came to this country with an abundance of hope and very little capital. Yet, he was able to achieve great things. He once told me when I chose to read a book, I was choosing an experience instead of merely passing the time. He went on to say that stories broadened our horizons, fueled feelings of compassion for others, and in general made us better people. He said there was some kind of magic in books that couldn’t compare to anything else. I remember crying after I read THE GIVING TREE by Shel Silverstein as a child. I cried my eyes out for a freaking tree! Now, if that isn’t powerful magic, I don’t know what is. I believe the deceased are never really gone. Not if they loved someone. Then they left a mark that will carry forward. As long as we have stories to share, their memory lives. So, I share with you these things my father taught me, knowing his story lives on. He encouraged a passion for reading. With each book, I got lost in amazing worlds, rich with quirky characters and unique settings. This…

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a HUGE Star Wars geek. Several of my favorite heroines come from this series of movies and the old Expanded Universe books and comics: Rey (from the new movie), Princess Leia, Mara Jade Skywalker (who first appeared in the Timothy Zahn books in the 1990s), Jaina Solo (who also is a Timothy Zahn contribution to the series), and many others. I even think the heroine from the prequel series, Padme Amidala (until her character is murdered by her creator) is a strong woman. See, I’m a geek, but I digress. The universal thing these women have in common is their ability to overcome hardship and not just survive, but become even stronger. They are leaders, even if they don’t know it. Some of my favorite heroines from books are Claire Fraser from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Scarlett O’Hara from GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell, Cat Crawford who is the half-vampire spitfire from Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. I could go on, but these heroines will do. None of these woman wanted to do anything heroic. They were all living their lives when life turned inside out and upside down. When Claire is…

Jan Drexler is the descendant of Anabaptists who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s and then migrated west. She’s started a new series, Journey to Pleasant Prairie, that is based in part on her own family’s history in migrating west. Join us in a conversation with Jan as she talks about the series and the first book, HANNAH’S CHOICE, which is out now. Your ancestors were Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren. Did this ever cause controversy within your family? I’m sure the controversy was there, but it was before my time. Most of my Amish ancestors moved to the more liberal Amish Mennonite church during the Great Schism in the Amish church in the late 1800’s, and from there to Mennonite and German Baptist Brethren churches. One of the reasons I started writing was to explore that time of division. As I study my family’s genealogy, it is apparent that the schism didn’t only cause churches to split, but divided families. Parents and children, brothers and sisters all found themselves on one side of the divide or the other. My stories came about as I tried to explore how that would affect a family and the close relationships within the community….

I’d venture to guess that every avid reader, and most average readers have come across an error or six in the books you’ve read over the years. Some errors you probably forgave for the sake of the narrative, but others may have been the kind of howlers that ruined the whole story for you. For the author the whole process of being edited can be disconcerting. My most recent novel, THE PEACOCK THRONE, is a Regency adventure story with spies, and treasure, and high intrigue. It is just releasing from Lion Fiction a new-to-me publisher based in England. The editing process was even more rigorous than I am used to. Here are some of the things the editors questioned: Chocolate. Specifically, did they have chocolate candies in England at the time, or simply drinking chocolate? Answer: Contrary to conventional wisdom among regency fans, chocolate candies were available. In Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789, culinary historian Barbara Ketcham Wheaton cites a 1750 cookbook that specialized in desserts: “There are also some chocolate candies: the still familiar diablotins — flat disks of bitter chocolate, thickly sprinkled with nonpareils, chocolate “olives” (which we call chocolate truffles),…

Are you as distressed as I am that Downton Abbey will soon be ending FOR GOOD? (sob) Given the world-wide popularity of the show, there are surprisingly few books set in the Edwardian era that incorporate the upstairs-downstairs, love-interest and drama that make the show so engaging (to say nothing of the yummy fashions.) But, in an attempt to offer solace, I’ve gathered a few volumes which segue in and beyond the period of Downton, in which one may take refuge after the glorious series images fade—ending with a tantalizing treat coming soon from series creator Julian Fellowes that you won’t want to miss! THE MEMORY OF LOST SENSES Buy THE MEMORY OF LOST SENSES: Amazon.com | Kindle| BN.com| iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR We’ll begin with a book that incorporates some “Country House Mystery” elements, Judith Kinghorn’s THE MEMORY OF LOST SENSES. When a mysterious countess moves into a large country house outside her English village in the summer of 1911, Cecily Chadwick is thrilled and tantalized. Soon, stories begin to circulate about the countess’s wealth, husbands, lovers, and…

In the first book of my new Dangerous Type mystery series you’ll meet Clare Henry and her grandfather, Chester. Chester opened his shop, The Rescued Word, back in the 1950s. Along with repairing typewriters, Chester had a vision: he wanted to save all kinds of words, including those in books. He decided to learn how to repair books, bring them back to their original glory. This included mastering how to reprint badly damaged and unsalvageable pages. Back in the 1950s there were no personal computers that might help with this task. Besides, it would have gone against Chester’s ways to use something like a computer to repair an old book. He wanted his own printing press, and he wanted one of the best. Of course, owning an original Gutenberg press would have been out of reach, so he decided to build his own – a perfect Gutenberg replica. A quick look back in time – clay tablets were probably the first books. From there, books took on many different forms with their pages being made of things like papyrus, bone, wood, silk, and parchment. Paper was invented in China around the first century A.D. For a time during the dark…

A few years ago, I was in a slump. My writing career was starting to take off but my personal life was anything but exciting. I was working at home, most often in my pjs, writing around the clock, and leaving any remaining time I had left in the day for my husband and son—and if you’re a parent, you’ll realize it was my son who got the majority of that time. I was tired, uninspired, unhealthy, and it was beginning to show. But then something happened … a character named Stevie Sinclair started to speak to me! She also had lost her sexy, lost a bit of herself, and she was desperate to get it back. And so began our journey to figure this thing out together. The result? A book called DIRTY LITTLE LIES and a new me—a healthier, happier, more positive and productive me. In my steamy little novel, Stevie goes on a hot and hilarious adventure that helps her rediscover herself, and I tell you, readers responded. And this week, I’m so happy to bring Gabe Shannon, Stevie’s dreamy hero, to the forefront of the series with a new novella about his journey titled DIRTY. I…