Are you a good juggler?

As I sit here working on a panel topic (Marketing) for the Cape Fear Crime Festival this weekend, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to write, keep up with two blogs of my own, visit other blogs, arrange signings and conferences, update my web site, and....oh, yes! My family needs some attention as well. I'm curious about how you guys juggle the list of things we're all told we need to do each day, or at least every few days. Leave comments in the link below and someone will win a free copy of Just North of Luck, the second Logan Hunter Mystery.

Cape Fear Crimefest

I attended the Cape Fear Crime Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina February 4th and 5th. The orginial Crimefest came to a halt about four years ago and Joyce and Jim Lavene along with Judy Nichols resurrected the event. The Lavenes, Judy, and I are all members of The Carolina Conspiracy, the brainchild of Joyce and Jim. We travel all over the two Carolinas having fun, talking about writing, and signing copies of our books.

It was a pleasure to see so many of the CC members and to meet new folks, both readers and writers. I was especially delighted to meet fellow Dreamspell author, Linda Lovely. She's quite a trip! I appreciate all the work that went into planning and implementing the event, and special thanks to Two Sisters Bookery and New Hanover County Library for their parts. I hoped to see more readers there. That was my only disappointment. I hope we continue to have the Crimefest and spread the word so that more writers and yes, many more mystery readers, will attend next year.

Jim Lavene with me during the social:

Karen McCullough and me:

Linda Lovely, another Dreamspell author, with me at Cape Fear Crime Fest:

 Pal, Lynette Hampton, a fellow Carolina Conspirator with me at CFCF:

M.K. Graff with me at social:

A grand time was had by all!

Kathleen Delaney's Murder for Dessert

Kathleen Delaney, author of Murder for Dessert, has dropped by to answer a few questions. Welcome back to the blog, Kathleen.

What inspired Murder for Dessert?

I wrote the book while I was living in Paso Robles, CA., the central coast’s wine country. As a real estate broker, I had some experience in the wine business, representing both buyers and sellers in the sale and purchase of vineyards and wineries. Plus, my daughter managed all the special events for one of the area’s best known wineries and had arranged many “dinners with the wine maker.” They always seemed perfect to those attending them, but behind the scenes—well, things sometimes got a little hectic. That’s what got me started.

Who's your favorite character?

 That would have to be Ellen’s Aunt Mary. She’s a woman in her early seventies who manages all of the fund raisers for charity in their small town, her favorite is rummage sales. It pleases her to see all those items with perfectly good use left in them go to someone who can use them instead of ending up on the trash pile before their time. And if something doesn’t sell and it’s close to her size, well, it goes home with her. It makes for some strange outfits, but she’s oblivious to such petty details. She’s a warm, wise person without a shred of vanity

Please give readers a synoposis of the book.

Ellen McKenzie and her fiance’, Chief of Police Dan Dunham, are on their way to the very upscale Harvest Festival Dinner, hosted by Ellen’s niece, Sabrina and her husband, Mark Tortelli. They are seasoned winery professionals. What could go wrong?

New to Silver Springs Winery, the Tortellis have been worried for weeks that their jobs depend on the success of this event, and the reputation of the guest chef hasn’t helped calm their nerves. Otto Messinger is noted for his temper tantrums. Ellen is hoping he’ll keep himself in check. Dan is hoping the Tortellis, who have been staying with Ellen for a month, will triumph and soon find their own place to live.

Tonight’s guest list seems to include everyone who has ever had a feud with Otto, a fact the chef is thoroughly enjoying. The dinner progresses, a little shaky but without disaster.

Then it’s time for dessert. But where is Otto?

Are you writing another book?

Murder Half Baked is the next book in the Ellen McKenzie series. It is scheduled to be released late this spring. This time, Ellen and Dan are to be married on New Years Eve and Ellen is overwhelmed with wedding invitations, guests arriving for Christmas and staying over for the wedding, a gift of a wedding cake Ellen hates, and a new real estate client. Grace House, a home for troubled women, needs a larger facility and Aunt Mary volunteers Ellen’s services to get the old one sold and find them a new one. Ellen reluctantly agrees, but then the elderly doctor who tends to the Grace House residents is found beaten to death in the cemetery and all clues seem to point to someone connected to Grace House itself. Only the house burns down and all its residents come to stay with Ellen and Dan. Is one of them a murderer? Will her house be burned down as well? Most importantly, will all of Grace House residents still be with her on her wedding day? Ellen needs to help Dan solve this one, and fast.

And Murder for Dessert is available on Amazon, through Poisoned Pen Press, and by special order through most book stores. Unfortunately, or fortunately, most independent bookstores are sold out. It is, however, up on Kindle. The first two Ellen McKenzie books, Dying For A Change and Give First Place to Murder are available through my web site and will also be up on Kindle by the end of this month. I will post the release date of Murder Half Baked just as soon as I get it, but it will be late spring, early summer. Check the website often.

Speaking of dessert, you submitted Old fashioned Applesauce Cake for the Killer Recipes book, a project that benefits cancer research. Tell us about it.

It truly is an old recipe. My mother made it when I was growing up and I made it for my children as well. It’s a great snacking cake, goes into lunch boxes or on picnics easily, and can be made with wheat or unbleached flour. I was delighted to contribute it to your wonderful cookbook. It especially pleases me that the proceeds go to fight cancer. As a breast cancer survivor, it is a cause dear to my heart.

Got events coming up?

The next event will be in February, at Cape Fear in Wilmington, NC. I will be on a couple of panels and will have books available for purchase.

I'm planning to attend as well. I'll look forward to seeing you.
You can learn more about me by visiting my web site www.kathleendelaney.net. I will be making changes to it in the near future, one of which will be the posting of a new short story or article once a month. The first one will be up the beginning of December and is entitled “Fire” a spooky little tale that came to me while I was driving down the side of a mountain that had recently burned. I’d love to have people visit and always encourage comments. I also blog with Creatures and Crooks and have a new one up. Check it out.

Thank you, Susan, for this interview. The questions have been great and fun to answer.

Nice to have you back, Kathleen. I'll see you at Cape Fear Crime Festival! Folks, Kathleen's books and Killer Recipes would both make excellent gifts. Remember that proceeds from the cookbook are donated to The American Cancer Society to help kill cancer in our life time. Have a Merry CHRISTmas and a wonderful New Year.

Harol Marshall's Holy Death

My guest today is Harol Marshall. Welcome, Harol.

Who is Harol Marshall?

I have a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, and spent twenty years in academia where I wrote numerous articles and research proposals that brought in over $7M to my university. I’ve been writing fiction for four years and in that time have produced five novels and over thirty short stories. My most recent novel (a political thriller written under a different pen name), was a finalist in the Don Knotts Silver Bullet Award contest this past summer. I have two published mystery novels: A Corpse for Cuamantla, and Holy Death. Two of my short stories published this year (neither are mysteries) include: Growing Up With Pigs on page 72 of the January issue of Southern Women’s Review
(http://www.southernwomensreview.com/issue_010110.pdf), and Our New Thing, in the Oct. 1 issue of The Cynic Online Magazine (http://www.cynicmag.com/feature.aspx?articleid=3580). I’m awaiting publication of two other completed novels (sequels to the first two), titled: Unholy Death, and A Corpse for the Matadora. I conducted field research in the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala, the setting for my Corpse series. I grew up in New York State, but now live in Greensboro, North Carolina with my physicist husband, four cats, and an overflowing garden.

What or who inspired you to write?

My love of reading began when my middle school librarian introduced me to Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason novels. Both my parents were avid readers and I come from a story telling family. My father, the Deputy Chief of Police in my hometown, entertained us daily with stories of life on the force, and my British mother introduced me to English cozies. I’ve wanted to write since high school where I had a great English teacher, and for a while I majored in English in college. Despite changing majors in order to become more employable, I credit my Freshman English professor (Wild Bill Wylie, who loved my short stories) for inspiring me to write.

Tell us a little bit about Holy Death and A Corpse for Cuamantla.

Holy Death is the first novel in a series about Private Investigator Pauline (Polly) Isabel Berger and her ex-husband, Hollywood Detective Johnny Birdwhistle. When Polly decides on a new career as a Private Investigator, she envisions her days spent trailing two-timing husbands and wives around Hollywood. Instead, Cinda Mae Bradbury, a local stripper, hires Polly to find out who poisoned her boyfriend at the last two Santa Muerte Sunday masses. Polly knows about the Santa Muerte (Holy Death or Saint Death) cult, a Mexican spin-off of Catholicism, but doubts Cinda Mae's conclusion that Saint Death is trying to kill her good-looking boyfriend in order to sleep with him in heaven. Polly's investigation spirals out of control as she works on the murder case with her ex, Johnny Birdwhistle, a detective third grade in the Hollywood Police Department.

A Corpse for Cuamantla is the first in a series of mysteries set in central Mexico. American antrhopologist Anna Merino travels to the State of Tlaxcala to carry out field research for her PhD dissertation. Living alone in her advisor's fieldwork house and adjusting to the culture and language take their toll. The stress and intrigue ratchet up when Anna finds herself involved in a murder by inadvertently filming the murderer while documenting the village of Cuamantla's Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Knowing her life is in danger if the murderer realizes she holds the key to his identity, Anna enlists the help of two attractive men who eventually become rivals for her affection--Commander José Cortez, Head of the Homicide Division of the Tlaxcala State Police, and Miguel Menéndez, Director of the Primary School Anna is in Mexico to study.

Do you have a favorite character that you can tell us more about?

Of course! My two favorites (one from each book) are P.I. Polly Berger. She’s so the opposite of me – brash, outspoken, and very quirky (as are all the characters in the Holy Death books). And she has a real smart mouth. I get a kick out of her. As for the Mexico series, my husband claims I’m in love with Commander Cortez and maybe I am. What’s not to love about the guy?

Are you currently writing another book?

I’m currently about 20,000 words into the third Mexico novel, A Corpse for Cortez. In this book, I’ve sent Anna back to the States to defend her dissertation, and I’m not quite sure at what point I’m bringing her back to Mexico. We’ll see. I kind of like having Cortez to myself. J In addition, I’m working on formatting my first two books for Kindle.

Where can readers purchase your books?

Online at Amazon, or from my website (for signed copies), or they can be ordered through any bookstore. I’m hoping to have them available on Kindle (for $2.99) by mid-December.

Where can we learn more about you?

On my website: http://www.harolmarshall.com .

You submitted a recipe for my cookbook, Killer Recipes, called Flipped-Out Adirondack Flapjacks. I can hardly wait to try it. Is it a family recipe?

Yes, it is a family recipe. I grew up in upstate New York and we vacationed in the Adirondacks. One summer, my father came across a local cookbook with this recipe and we all loved it. It’s from the Mirror Lake Inn on Lake Placid and the secret to the deliciously light pancakes is to separate the eggs, beat the whites stiff and fold into a thin batter. If you’re using a pancake mix instead, add a tad more milk and an extra egg (separated and beaten).

Since all proceeds from Killer Recipes sales are donated to cancer research, do you have a personal reason for helping with the project?

I do have a personal reason for helping with this project. My mother died of cancer at the age of 83, after having fought off several bouts of various cancers beginning at the age of 29. I appreciate the work you put into this book for a very good cause. And thanks for the interview! It was fun.

Harol, it was a pleasure. I didn't realize you also earned a doctorate. I hope to see you at Cape Fear Crime Festival in Wilmington in February.