Kym: Welcome back to the Cozy Corner, Lynn! Lynn: It’s so nice to chat with you again. 🙂  With three working series, you are one busy woman! What keeps you on track the most? I do a lot of planning. A. Lot. I use Asana to track the projects – like writing a book. Or planning my release. It sets up dates to check in as well as gives me check list inside each project to backward plan the process. I have a google/phone calendar (as well as a day job online calendar) and I’m good at blocking out big things. Like deadlines.  And releases.  The other thing is I’m not afraid to re-plan/re-organize if things go sideways. (Like a few months ago when a novella took me twice as long to write as it was planned for. New series, I needed more time but I hadn’t planned for it. The good news is I had some free writing time that I could move somethings around.  Since book 4 in the Tourist Trap Mysteries, you’ve done two novellas in-between each full-length book. That alone is an incredible pace without sticking your other two series into the mix, and you’re the…

They were always there for you, books, like a small pet dog that doesn’t die. – Ian Sansom, THE CASE OF THE MISSING BOOKS Books are my life. In addition to spending time either reading or writing about books, I have worked in various libraries for years, and even met my husband while we were both working at our local library. Books about books – specifically stories about librarians, and people who collect books, or work in bookstores – are a favorite sub-genre of mine. Then there are books that take characters from classic works of literature and put them in the role of amateur sleuth. As I’m a huge fan of mysteries, I love combining these types of characters and themes with the quirkiness of a cozy mystery. The results can be delicious. He was sick of the excuses and the lies. He was tired of the evasions and the untruths, of people refusing to stand up and speak the truth and take responsibility for their own actions. It seemed to him like yet another symptom of the decline of Western civilization; of chaos; and climate change; and environmental disaster; and war; disease; famine; oppression; the eternal slow slide…

I met one of my favorite cozy authors this past fall. Lynn Cahoon is as entertaining in person as she is on the page and I just had to hit her up for another interview. Check out why Lynn can make the pages keep turning for her readers! Kym: The last time I interviewed you at the Cozy Corner, you had one series and you were starting on your second. Now, you have three mystery series all going at once plus two romance series under Lynn Collins. How do you keep track of the different characters, their quirks, series businesses, and locations? Lynn: Keep track? I’m not sure I do. I’d love to say I have an extensive series bible that has all the characters, their likes, their hair color, when they came into the series, etc. I should have a series bible. But honestly, I do a lot of seek and find in the prior books to make sure I’m remembering things right. And, if I’ve timed it right, I’ve just read the last book in the series for copy edits or page proofs when I start the next one. Kym: We finally met in November at the Kensington…

As an author, there’s nothing more gratifying than meeting readers who take interest in and appreciate your writing. As a reader, there’s nothing more fascinating than meeting your favorite authors, then being introduced to more authors whose work is new to you. As an author who reads religiously, the combination of those two things is heaven…especially when the event is hosted by an indy mystery/thriller bookstore like the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona! That’s what last weekend was for me. Pure bliss. A meeting of mystery authors from my publishing house that had stars shining down on it. I got to sit behind the scenes and chat with fascinating individuals who bring the world of mystery to life with their intriguing experiences. And after that, we got to meet readers and chat about our writing and just life in general. You never know what stories will come forward. Like the author who went out target shooting in the desert with a bunch of men she barely knew…and then she stuck one of their guns in her rib cage because she wanted to be able to describe the feeling in her book! Now there’s a story that could quickly be turned…

Guest writer: Rebecca Adler First, a big howdy to y’all from Texas. Second, a big thanks to the lovely Kym Roberts for this opportunity to share all the exciting new cozy releases hitting the shelves of your local and virtual bookstores during the month of July. As a heat wave blazes its way across the country this week, I encourage you to declare your independence from the humdrum of work and responsibilities. Stake out those well-deserved hours, minutes, or even moments, of relaxation and repose by engaging your problem-solving skills in one of the most enjoyable ways possible—by reading a delightful cozy mystery. Whether you choose a title from a beloved author, discover a new favorite series, or both, this week’s new releases will make you glad you asserted your right to relax and solve a wonderful whodunit. THE CORPSE AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE by Carola Dunn Daisy Dalrymple Mystery #23 A casual outing to the Crystal Palace in London takes a mysterious and murderous turn in The Corpse at the Crystal Palace, the latest mystery in Carola Dunn’s beloved Daisy Dalrymple series. April 1928: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is visited in London by her young cousins. On the list of…

The last homework assignment has been completed. The last drive line has been driven. And the last school bell has rung…until August. Mom’s across America are breathing a sigh of relief— until next week when they have to scramble to entertain the bored kids. I have a few mysteries for you to enjoy during the short window of unabashed joy your kids are experiencing from the freedom of school responsibilities. For those teachers out there, enjoy the silence—you deserve it! ROCKETS’ DEAD GLARE by Lynn Cahoon Tourist Trap Mystery As sunny South Cove, California, gears up for their annual Fourth of July celebrations, a local murder threatens to kill the fireworks . . . South Cove’s local businesses are up in arms after volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason threatens to shut down anyone who doesn’t comply with the fire code. But when Barry schedules a training burn in an old abandoned barn, he is the only one who doesn’t come out alive. Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—smells murder in the ashes. She’ll have to work quickly to nab a killer with a short fuse—or else everyone’s holiday will end with a fizzle . . . Mystery Woman Sleuth…

Winter is peeking around the corner in most parts of the nation but here in sunny Florida, fall is just another growing season. We’ve already produced quite a few lemons from our tree and I’m ready to start digging in the dirt again to see if we can grow more tomatoes and peppers for my husband’s yummy salsa. Cozy mysteries about organic planting and farms always appeal to me when I’m planting (or even thinking about planting) as they offer me tips, encouragement, and an entertaining mystery in the process, particularly long-running series that make me feel like I’m sitting down with old friends for a cup of tea. One of the first cozy mysteries I remember reading that featured gardening was THYME OF DEATH by Susan Wittig Albert. Long before going healthy and organic was popular and you could find a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s in almost every major city, the heroine, China Bayles, appeared on the scene as a high-powered attorney who left her job to open an herb shop. China has her own garden next to her store, Thyme and Seasons Herb Company, and it’s a place I’ve enjoyed visiting off and on over the years…

IF THE SHOE KILLS is set in the days just before Thanksgiving. Like Jill Gardner, my amateur sleuth, I stress about the upcoming holidays. Will the turkey be done? Will it be dry? Does Uncle Leo like ham better than turkey? Should we serve both? This year, I’m adding in a medical procedure so I’ll be out of commission for a few days mid-November. Which adds to the stress as I can’t do the cleaning, cooking and shopping I enjoy. But I’ve decided to think of my limitations as a forced take care of Lynn time.  J So let’s chat about strategies to make the holidays a soothing time rather than a stressful time. Add in your favorites too. Here are my top five must do’s – Schedule only the things you want to do. I know, family responsibilities may take you places where you just don’t want to go, but for the other things, do you have to say yes to every invitation? Chose the ones you enjoy, do a few required events, and the rest, politely decline citing prior commitments. They don’t need to know your commitment is a planned evening at home watching the Charlie Brown special….