Who doesn’t love maps? Sure, they can be confusing, puzzling, and downright impossible to fold, but the adventures they hold are amazing. When I saw the latest release by Peng Shephard, THE CARTOGRAPHERS, I had to check it out. It’s a little bit adventure, a little bit mystery, and a whole lot of intrigue and fun. Peng is definitely a writer you want to keep on your list of go-to of authors, so of course I had to invite her to sit down with us at the Cozy Corner and find out how her heroine, Nell Young, came to life.   Kym:  Welcome to the Cozy Corner, Peng! Peng: Thrilled to be here!   Kym: Maps, I love maps! The art of map reading has been lost on the youth of today thanks to GPS giving them directions and that’s why I loved the premise of your latest release, THE CARTOGRAPHERS. How good of a map reader/folder, are you? Peng: Pretty good, although I definitely got a lot better during the writing of this novel! I spent a lot of time looking at one map in particular, the map which the book is based on—by the time I finished writing the manuscript, I knew the…

by Debbie Wiley Books have been part of my life for as long as I remember. Even before I could fully read on my own, I remember my grandmother reading to me and listening to books on record albums, following along with the words in the accompanying book. Everyone knows the last two years have been tough, but for this reader, it’s been worsened by a reading slump. Instead of turning to books for comfort, I’ve watched a lot of mindless television, much to the chagrin of my husband. Fortunately, a few recent reads have really jumped out at me and tugged me into the storylines, snapping that reading slump into tiny pieces! One of the tricks often cited to break a reading slump is to reread old favorites. My twist on this is to read authors I’ve loved over the years. CURSE OF SALEM by Kay Hooper perfectly fit the bill! Not only have I loved Kay Hooper’s books dating back to the 1980s when she wrote category romances, but I’ve also faithfully followed her Bishop Special Crimes Unit series, devouring them as soon as I could get my hands on each new installment. CURSE OF SALEM returns to the town…