Tag Archive for 'Mainly Murder Press'

Call for SOS! 8 Ways to Help Sink or Swim Sail Toward the Bestseller List

Published on May 28, 2011 in Reality Show Rundown. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’ve organized an entire Reality Show Rundown month on my blog as a way to get the word out about my mystery novel Sink or Swim. In the book, which is available in gift quality trade paperback from Mainly Murder Press and in multiple bargain e-book formats, Cassidy Novak loses the hit game show Sink or Swim and returns to her normal life as a personal trainer, only to find a stalker and danger awaiting her. The book should appeal to mystery fans, romantic suspense fans, reality show fans, and anyone looking for a fun beach read this summer. I would greatly appreciate any help with spreading the word about the book. There are some quick and easy things that you can do that would help a great deal.

1. Visit the Sink or Swim Amazon page and click the Amazon like button just beneath the title at the top of the page. Then you can hover the mouse across the like button, where you’ll find links to tweet the page and share it on Facebook.

2. Visit the Barnes & Noble page and click the Facebook Like button to the right of the book cover.

3. Like and share the book trailer on You Tube. The video is short and fun, set to the song “Every Breath you Take.”

4. Ask your local library to order the paperback version of the book, which you can tell them is available from Ingram with the ISBN 978-0-9827952-2-4. Sometimes, patrons can request that the library order a book right through the library web site. Do you belong to a book club? Suggest the book to your club. My web site contains discussion questions for both of my adult novels.

5. If you’ve read the book or think others might like it, mention it on online sites such as reality TV show message board forums, Amazon customer forums, and groups on Goodreads, Library Thing, and Shelfari. If you’ve read the book, please consider leaving a short review at any of the retail sites or book-sharing sites.

Want to read two sample chapters of Sink or Swim? Download the free mystery short story Laundry Day and the Stacy Juba Mystery Sampler. Click on the cover for download information.

6. I have share icons for Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and many other social networks in my right sidebar if you click on the + sign above the Follow Me on Twitter logo. Please use it to share my Sink or Swim page and some of the contestant interviews being published during my Reality Show Rundown Month. You can find the contestant interview schedule and links to the posts (which will be added as they become available) here.

7. Sink or Swim is included on an Amazon Listmania list of reality-TV show themed novels. If you follow this link for the Amazon Listmania Reality TV Show-Themed Novels List, you’ll see a small envelope on the top right where you can share the list with friends. If you click on it, you can email the list, or share it on Facebook or Twitter. Please do so to help other reality show fans discover the books.

8. Want to read two sample chapters of Sink or Swim? Get the free download of my mystery short story Laundry Day, which also contains an author interview, two sample chapters of Sink or Swim, and two sample chapters of Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. You can get the free download information here, then spread the word to others about how they can download a fun free read.

Thank you for helping to create some buzz!

Sink or Swim 6: Meet Imogene Duckworthy from Choke

Published on May 20, 2011 in Sink or Swim Reality Show. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Today’s contestant on the fictional reality game show Sink or Swim is Imogene Duckworthy, 22, of Saltlick, Texas, a character from Kaye George’s mystery novel Choke, just released from Mainly Murder Press. Here’s a recap of the rules: the three literary characters with the highest number of unique commenters to their post will be chosen as winners at the end of the year, so be sure to leave Imogene a comment. Here are her answers to the Sink or Swim 6.

1. Tell us about the book or series you’re from.
Kaye George has taken it upon herself to tell my story, and I’m glad she did. Ever since my dear Daddy got shot and killed, when I was eleven, I’ve wanted to be a PI. Mother was so upset about it, she told me many times she doesn’t want any child of hers to be a detective. But Daddy was a police detective and I’m studying to be a Private Eye. That’s entirely different.

2. What is something about yourself that no one else knows?
I should be mad at him, but I wish I could find the trucker that got me pregnant with my daughter, Nancy Drew Duckworthy. It’s not that I want to sleep with him again or anything. No, I’d like to thank him for giving me such a precious little girl. Part of the reason I want to be a PI is so I can learn how to find him. Don’t tell Mother!

3. Tell us about an unusual job or hobby that you’ve had?
Mother says it’s unusual for a young child to go around solving cases. Like when Mother and I were at the mall in Dallas, Christmas shopping, and my shoelace was untied on the escalator. My shoe got stuck at the top, but I kicked it off. The guy behind me fell over my shoe–and me–and all the stuff he had shoplifted fell out of his coat. The mall detective thanked me.

4. What is the strangest or most exciting thing that has ever happened to you?
Busting up the meth lab when I was twelve! I wanted to make the microwave work faster, so I took the cord apart while Mother was working. When I put it all together with tape and plugged it in, this bright blue light flared up outside with a big POP. Well, somehow, that made a meth lab in the next block blow up. Two of the criminals survived and got arrested–because of me!

5. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
That’s easy! First I’d get myself my own car and Mother could have the van whenever she wants. Then I’d buy us a double-wide (we’re in a single-wide now) and me and Drew would each have our own separate room. Maybe there would be two bathrooms, too. Mother would probably make me donate some to the Saltlick Public Library.

6. Please tell us your author’s name and web sites.
Her name is Kaye George and her web page is at http://kayegeorge.com/. She’d love for you to peek in.

For newcomers, this on-line “game show” is inspired by the mystery novel Sink or Swim.

My 7-Part Novelspot Series on the Writing Journey

Published on May 15, 2011 in General News. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Novelspot, a neat web site for writers and readers, invited me to participate in one of their special features – Behind the Scenes, in which authors share their writing journeys in seven short installments. They publish one post each day for an entire week. I was really thrilled with how it turned out and invite you to check out this serialization that relates the ups and downs of my fiction-writing career. Intense shyness, my bout with hypothyroidism, rejection, teenage success, agents, hitting rock bottom with my novel career, winning the William F. Deeck Malice Domestic Grant, and finally breaking into the publishing game for keeps – I shared it all and I hope readers and writers will find my story inspiring.

You can start with Part 1 and then click Forward to read the rest of the posts.

Part 1: Childhood Roots – The focus is on my childhood and high school writing days – the role my painful shyness/selective mutism played and how I was very uncomfortable with the writer label in high school.

Part 2: Face-Off- An Early Success – I talk about getting my young adult novel Face-Off – written in high school study halls – published by Avon Books at age 18.

Part 3: The Long Drought – Unfortunately, getting Face-Off published didn’t help me in the least as far as selling a second book. I write about living (and writing) in the dorm and dealing with rejection as I struggled to find my niche.

Part 4: Finding Hope Then Hitting Rock Bottom – I became a journalist, started writing mystery novels and found an agent for my fiction, but three years later, the agency contract ran out and I was exhausted from undiagnosed hypothyroidism.

Part 5: The Malice Domestic Grant – I felt as if I’d hit rock-bottom with my novel-writing career, until I won the William F. Deeck Malice Domestic Grant presented at the Agatha Award ceremony.

Part 6: Back in the Game – Finally, three publishing contracts from Mainly Murder Press, a web site, and taking control of my career!

Part 7: Here to Stay – In conclusion, why did I choose to write as a child and why do I still write today as an adult?

Spring Blog Carnival Stop/ Giveaway for 2 Copies of Kate George’s California Schemin’

Published on April 30, 2011 in Sink or Swim Reality Show. 100 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Thanks to everyone for entering! The winners were Lora and Betty!

Welcome to the Spring Blog Carnival, sponsored by Pure Imagination, Reading Angel, Candace’s Book Blog, and The Book Swarm. During this giveaway hop, different blogs are hosting booths. Each booth has a fun challenge for you to do to enter their giveaway. More than 200 blogs are hosting giveaways for this fun event. (you can access the other giveaways via clicking any of the above links.)

While you’re here, please feel welcome to download my brand new, hot off the press, short mystery story Laundry Day for free on Smashwords, about marriage gone awry. Then at my stop, you’re invited to attend a “taping” of the mock reality show Sink or Swim, which is a regular feature on my blog. For newcomers, this on-line “game show” is inspired by my mystery novel Sink or Swim. In the on-line version, authors can enter their characters as contestants. Today’s contestant is Bree MacGowan, 30, of South Royalton, VT, the protagonist of Kate George’s mystery novels Moonlighting in Vermont and the brand new California Schemin’. Two lucky commenters will win paperback copies of California Schemin’. This giveaway is open in the U.S. Deadline is midnight on May 8th.

Here is how to enter. Please note that you must leave a separate comment for each entry.
1. Leave your name and email address in the comments.
Bonus Points:
2 Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs +1 for each.
3. Subscribe to Kate George’s blog. +1 (and check out her Spring Blog Carnival Contest!)
4. Follow Kate on Twitter. +1
5. Follow me on Twitter. +1
6. Tweet this post or share on Facebook. +1 for each share. (Share links in upper right sidebar)

Remember, leave a separate comment for each entry and leave your email address at least once. But first, I hope you’ll stay for a few minutes to enjoy Bree MacGowan’s contestant interview for the fictional reality show Sink or Swim, coming at you live from the Spring Carnival.

1. Tell us about yourself and the book or series you’re from. My name is Bree MacGowan, and I’m featured in a series about some wild incidents in my life. The two currently available are Moonlighting in Vermont and California Schemin’ by Kate George. I don’t think Kate would be writing about my life at all, except that dead bodies keep dropping into my life. Without the bodies who would want to read about a small town Vermont girl who can’t keep a boyfriend? You can find both books at Mainly Murder Press or Kate’s Amazon.com author page: http://tinyurl.com/4fh33v7 .

2. What is something about yourself that no one else knows?
When I was in high school, I used to skinny dip in the White River. I take it back, one other person knows that; Beau Maverick used to follow me down there hoping to catch a peak. So what does no one know? Sometimes I let my dogs sleep in bed with me because I’m still afraid of the dark.

3. Tell us about an unusual job or hobby that you’ve had?
When I was in college, I used to drive Mercedes cars from Canada into the United States for an auto importer, That was until one of the other couriers was caught with a trunk full of drugs. She swore she didn’t know about it, and I believed her. After that my dad made me quit.

4. What is the strangest or most exciting thing that has ever happened to you? Besides the dead bodies? A skunk once took up residence in one of my dog beds on the porch.

5. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
Remodel the farm. Build a new horse barn. Get another dog.

6. Please tell us briefly about your author and list web sites.
www.kategeorge.com is Kate George’s web site and blog. You can also find her on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com and a couple of other places.

Click the picture to download this short story free on Smashwords as a PDF or in the ebook format of your choice.

Sink or Swim Book Release – Where Reality TV Turns to Murder!

Published on January 5, 2011 in General News and Sink or Swim Reality Show. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’m excited to announce that it is the official launch week for the trade paperback edition of Sink or Swim! Mainly Murder Press is now featuring the book on its web site at a 20 percent discount off the cover price. You can also find it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. For a full selection of retailers, please visit my store. If you buy or read the book, then be sure to stay tuned to my blog on February 8-10 as you can receive extra entries in a contest that I’ll be holding. Several of my author friends will be generously giving away print books and e-books to help celebrate the launch and anyone who emails me their receipt at that time or shares their favorite part of the book will receive bonus entries.

I’d describe Sink or Swim as a cross between a romantic suspense novel and a cozy mystery. In fact, a few years ago, it finaled in the St. Martin’s Press Malice Domestic Contest for the Best First Traditional Mystery. As a matter of fact, my first book Twenty-Five Years Ago Today finaled in that contest also, but I’m glad that I ultimately wound up with Mainly Murder Press as my publisher for both novels.

Although Sink or Swim has a reality TV show hook, I want to stress that you don’t need to be a reality show fan to enjoy the book. In fact, the reality show scenes are over by Chapter 2, but they provide a great catalyst to set the story into motion. Personal trainer Cassidy Novak has gained fame for starring on the hit reality show Sink or Swim. Not only does she lose and have to walk the plank, but upon returning home, Cassidy discovers she is being stalked. As her former competitors get killed off, Cassidy refuses to play by the stalker’s bizarre rules. She’s also being shadowed by photographer Zach Gallagher, who has been assigned to capture her personal moments for the local newspaper. She wants to trust Zach, but fears he may not be as nice as he seems. When the stalker forces a showdown, Cassidy must walk the plank again – this time for her life.

Please visit my Sink or Swim page for a book trailer, excerpt and reviews – and please use the share links in the right sidebar to help me to spread the word about the release!

25 Years Ago Today: Midlife College Student Finds Her Niche

Published on November 29, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest today, fellow Mainly Murder Press author Sharon Love Cook. Sharon is the author of the recently released A Nose for Hanky Panky. The setting, Granite Cove, was inspired by Cape Ann, where she grew up. Sharon got her first newspaper column at age 16 and currently writes a long-term humor column for a local paper. A cartoonist, sometimes standup comic, and mystery writer, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and herd of cats. Here’s what Sharon was doing 25 years ago.

SHARON: Like many women at midlife, I went back to college, joining the ranks of “nontraditional” students. Each day brought new challenges, such as Algebra and staying awake at 8 a.m. Fitting in was a problem as well. The student lounge was filled with kids half my age, their music blasting from speakers.

Finally, after weeks of sitting in my car between classes, I decided to stretch my boundaries. An English major, I’d submitted a story to the campus newspaper. When it appeared in print, I submitted another. Eventually, after going back and forth to the office, I got to know the newspaper staff. Seeing a need, I offered to help with the typing. Plus the cold weather had arrived and I was tired of sitting in my car with the heater running. This was 25 years ago. Adult Student Services (ASS) and other programs for nontrads had yet to arrive.

Eventually, after several of my stories and cartoons had appeared in print, and having become a regular at the newspaper office, I was appointed Arts editor. My fellow staff members were the ages of my own children. Although we ate together in the cafeteria, I was not, alas, included in their Spring Break plans. Not that I cared. I was an editor, my name engraved on a plastic plaque. No more huddling in my car between classes, feeling like a misfit. Now I had a title, a place to go, and duties to occupy me. I had arrived!

When someone pointed out I was the “oldest editor in the newspaper’s history,” I chuckled–and later plotted how to get even. Thus I wasn’t amused when a student came into the office and thrust a sheaf of hand written pages at me. He’d done a study on ways to improve the campus police. When I informed him I was an editor, not a typist, he looked around the room, impatient. “Where’s the editor in chief?” I took his manuscript, promising it would be routed through the appropriate channels. First stop: the receptacle at my feet.

Ah, the joy of being a decision-maker! I chose who got to appear in my pages–and I never rejected myself. Sometimes, in fact, I’d be so taken with a piece I had written, I’d scribble “Excellent!” across the top. Unfortunately this practice spoiled me when years later the rejections trickled in. Nonetheless, for the two years I was editor, my work always found a home.

For more information, visit Sharon’s web site. Check out A Nose for Hanky Panky on Amazon and at Mainly Murder Press. It’s Midnight in Granite Cove and the sea clams are the only things open. Not only is the village an unlikely spot for murder, the victim–too perfect for mere mortals–is the last person one would expect.

25 Years Ago Today: ‘Lead Poisoning’ Author J.E. Seymour

Published on November 11, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my fellow Mainly Murder Press author J.E. Seymour. J.E. lives in a small town in seacoast NH and has had short stories published in three anthologies of crime fiction by New England writers – “Windchill,” “Deadfall,” and “Quarry,” in Thriller UK Magazine, and in numerous ezines, including Shots, Mouth Full of Bullets, Beat to a Pulp and Shred of Evidence. J.E.’s first novel, “Lead Poisoning” was released by Mainly Murder Press on November 1, 2010. J.E. is the markets coordinator for the Short Mystery Fiction Society and a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Here’s what J.E. was doing 25 years ago today.

J.E.: Twenty-five years ago I was running a horse farm. The long hours didn’t allow for much other than sleeping and eating along with the riding and teaching, but I started squeezing in time to write. I’d been secretly writing fiction for years, without showing it to anyone.

But that summer, twenty-five years ago, I showed one of my students a bit of a story I’d started, about an escaped prisoner hiding in a culvert under some railroad tracks. She loved it. I didn’t show anybody else my work, until five years later when I started taking writing courses at college. One of my professors encouraged me, and I submitted my first piece of fiction and got my first rejection.

It was another five years before I began submitting crime fiction, getting more rejections. But about that time, I finally finished the story that started with the escapee in the culvert. It became a novel, “Stress Fractures,” and I got an agent. She sent it out to publishers and got more rejections. The agent dropped me. I wrote another novel, with the same character. Got another agent. Finally sold my first short story to a webzine, although I didn’t get paid for it. Dumped my second agent.

Wrote another novel, same character, “Lead Poisoning.” Sold more short stories, getting actual money for some. I rewrote “Stress Fractures” and tried getting another agent. No luck. Went through the same process with “Frostbite.” Nothing. Still sending out short stories, I started working on the fourth and fifth in the series. I also garnered eighty rejections from agents on “Lead Poisoning.”

I decided to try small presses. I knew I didn’t want to self publish, but it didn’t look like my dream of hitting the big time was working out either. A small press looked like a good compromise. Mainly Murder Press picked up “Lead Poisoning” and it came out November 1st, twenty-five years after I first envisioned the character.

The moral of the story, if there is one, is that you have to stick with it if you want to be a writer. It’s a slow process. It takes persistence and patience.

For more information about J.E.’s writing, visit her web site. Check out Lead Poisoning at Mainly Murder Press and on Amazon. Things go wrong when a fugitive mob troubleshooter retires to New Hampshire with his family.

New Books, Blog Interview and Award

Published on November 9, 2010 in General News. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Lots of news to report! I should be receiving galleys and a cover for my reality show-themed mystery novel Sink or Swim any day now. Although the official trade paperback release date is Jan. 1, it’s possible that it could be available on Amazon in time for Christmas. Stay tuned for updates.

In the meantime, Six Great Books is featuring an interview with me about my road to publication. Kristin Battista-Frazee, who is marketing her amazing book Daughter of Pornography to publishers, conducted the interview. Kristin and I have something in common besides a love of writing – our husbands were roommates at FSU. Go Seminoles! Stop by the interview and check out the Six Great Books blog.

I’m also happy to report that I recently signed my third contract with Mainly Murder Press for the publication of my young adult/adult crossover novel Dark Before Dawn, tentatively scheduled for release in January 2012.

Dawn Christian has been psychic since she was seven years old and has always considered herself an outcast. Even her own mother discourages her talent, so Dawn has kept her abilities quiet and feared a lifetime of loneliness. When she gets involved with a fortuneteller and two teenage girls who share her mysterious perception, Dawn finally belongs to a group. As her intuition strengthens, so does Dawn’s self esteem. However, when she learns her new friends may be tied to two bizarre murders, she has an important choice to make – continue developing the talent that makes her special, or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her.

Finally, thanks to Patricia Stoltey for honoring me with the Irresistible Blog Award. I’d like to pass on this award to some classy bloggers: Kaye George of Travels With Kaye, Lesley Diehl of Another Draught, a blog about beer, mystery and writing, and how the three come together, and Kristi Petersen Schoonover of kristipetersenschoonover.com. Keep up the good work, ladies!

25 Years Ago Today: Talented New Mystery Author And Music Industry Insider Loni Emmert

Published on August 30, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome Loni Emmert, one of my fellow authors at Mainly Murder Press. Loni and her sister P.I. Barrington, California natives, fell in love with New England during fall vacations in Maine and New Hampshire, which became the settings for their brand new co-authored mystery Button Hollow Chronicles #1: The Leaf Peeper Murders.

Loni has spent the last 25 years working in the music industry and writing press releases and magazine articles. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and writes articles on writing, reading and other related topics.

Congratulations on the new book! Tell us, Loni, what do you remember from 25 years ago?

LONI: Twenty-five years ago today, I was a newbie in the music industry working at the fabulous Island Records on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Many hats were placed upon my head as our office was busy and small, all of which provided vast and varied learning opportunities for which I am forever indebted.

My favorite duties were working backstage at concerts for our artists including U2 and Robert Palmer (RIP) and handling artist relations, radio promotion and marketing tasks. I was extremely young and dumb, but those were some of the best times of my life even though there was a lot of work and some stress. Better to be anxious because you have to take a call from Bono than because someone in the drive-thru wants a burger.

Even as a novice I understood the enormity of having the opportunity to meet and work closely with so many incredibly talented musical artists. I’ve remained in the music industry ever since – long live rock.

If you’d like to ask Loni a question, please feel free to leave a comment. Visit her web site to find out more about her books. Also check out her new mystery novel on Amazon and at Mainly Murder Press.

Life in idyllic Button Hollow, New Hampshire, is beginning to unravel for Sheriff Jeff Ramsey. A series of suspicious deaths has the elderly members of the volunteer Citizens’ Brigade up in arms, and their zealousness is complicating the Sheriff’s already intricate investigation. His personal life is also threatened when his wife receives a tempting job offer in Boston. As Jeff attempts to solve Button Hollow’s mysterious crime wave and protect the Citizens’ Brigade members from themselves, he learns that beautiful fall foliage cannot hide the corruption that lies close to home, and protecting his beloved town’s citizens may prove easier than saving his marriage.

25 Years Ago Today: Cozy Mystery Author Suzanne Young

Published on August 23, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 29 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome fellow Mainly Murder Press author Suzanne Young. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, then you’re in for a treat with Suzanne’s mystery novel Murder By Yew.

“More than 25 years ago,” Suzanne was born and raised in New England. She has worked as a writer, an editor, a computer programmer and a business analyst since earning her degree in English from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. A resident of Colorado for more than 30 years, she is a member of Denver Woman’s Press Club, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime, as well as a graduate of the Arvada (CO) Citizens Police Academy.

Suzanne’s protagonist, Edna Davies, from Murder by Yew is answering the question: What were you doing 25 years ago?

EDNA: Twenty-five years ago today, I was 43 years old. I had been feeling melancholy all day which is unusual for me. I needed desperately to talk to my husband Albert. He always knows just the right thing to say to cheer me up, but this particular evening, he had called from the hospital to say one of his patients had gone into labor and he had a feeling it would be a very long night.

I tried reading, but nothing held my attention, so I finally had to acknowledge the reason for my funky state of mind – early onset empty-nest syndrome. My oldest child, Mathew, had graduated from high school in May and Diane’s thirteenth birthday was next week. Grant and Starling, my youngest, were only six and five, respectively, but they were growing up so fast, my head was spinning. My first born was leaving home for college in four days. Where had the time gone?

It was close to midnight when I finally went to bed. Unable to sleep, I picked up a book and began to read. The next thing I knew, Albert was gently pulling the book from my hands. As he reached across me to turn off the bedside light he said, “We had twins tonight, Mother.” Thinking how nice it was that all my children were out of the diaper stage, I immediately felt better.

To read more about Edna’s current escapades, visit Suzanne’s web site. Check out Murder By Yew on Amazon. When her handyman dies of taxine poisoning, Edna Davies, amateur herbalist, becomes the prime suspect. Nearly certain that she hadn’t concocted a poisonous potion and desperate to save herself from arrest, Edna taps into strengths she never before realized she possessed. Shunned by the townsfolk, questioned by the police, and threatened by thieves, she follows the clues of a forty-year-old disappearance to capture a killer.

And, be on the lookout for the second Edna Davies mystery, Murder by Proxy (February 2011), when our heroine attempts to find a missing person. Grant Davies may know where his friend can be found, but he isn’t talking; and a New York matron is dying to leave her grand-niece a multi-million-dollar fortune….

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