Books-n-Kisses

Guest Post

by Maia Chance

When people ask me where I got the idea for Snow White Red-Handed, I’m not sure where to start.  I can say with certainty, however, that the entire Fairy Tale Fatal series began as a self-indulgent, irresponsible project.

Yes.  Call it Escape from Academic Drudgery.  Charge me as guilty for writing an entire novel as a way to procrastinate on my homework.

This is what happened: I’ve always been fascinated with fairy tales, so when I had the chance to pick my texts for a freshman comp class I was teaching, I decided to use fairy tales and fairy tale criticism as a way to help my students learn to write about literature.  So I had fairy tales on the brain, big time.  The next thing I knew, the fairy tale stuff had cross-pollinated in the back of my mind with the nineteenth-century American literature texts I was reading in preparation for my PhD qualifying exams.  Louisa May Alcott, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman . . . yeah.  How the heck does that crowd mix with fairy tales?  But the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.  I’ve always loved stories with outsider protagonists, and a Yankee girl in the Black Forest sounded like a book I wanted to read.  So I decided to write it.  Kind of for fun.  And as a way to procrastinate on grading student papers and chewing through that pesky PhD reading list.

Once I got started writing and researching Snow White Red-Handed, other things worked their way into the story.  Some of them are personal.  For instance, my heroine Ophelia Flax is a variety hall actress, and one of my great-grandmothers was a singer on the variety hall stage.

Other personal ingredients are the Baden-Baden and Heidelberg settings.  When I was in college, I spent two summers in Heidelberg working as an orchestral violinist in Heidelberg’s Castle Festival, and I traveled a couple of times to Baden-Baden on my days off.

Baden-Baden has a simply amazing thermal spa, by the way, if you aren’t averse to getting whacked on the rear after your scrubbing has been completed by a muscly attendant.  Seriously.   I was enchanted by the area, and it evidently left its mark on my imagination.  I even have a recurring dream of hiking to a castle inhabited by elves, hidden on a mountain above Heidelberg.  There is a story to that, and no, it doesn’t involve a psychotherapist.  Although maybe it should.

Another personal inspiration: I’ve always had a secret crush on the composer Johannes Brahms, and Brahms spent a lot of time in Baden-Baden.  In fact, even though the hero of Snow White Red-Handed, Professor Penrose, is British, I picture him like the young Brahms, plus spectacles.

Okay, so I had this amazing setting that I’d always been in love with, a hero who looks like the young Brahms, and the fruitfully absurd concept of a practical Yankee variety hall actress who finds herself in the patently impractical land of German fairy tales.  Add a castle, a murder, and a cast of shifty characters, plus a hapless friend for Ophelia by the name of Prue, and off I went.

There were times, I’ll admit, when writing Snow White Red-Handed seemed like a lot more work than just doing my homework and grading my students’ papers, by golly.  The historical research was time consuming, though once I found Mark Twain’s two travelogues The Innocents Abroad and A Tramp Abroad, things got smoother.  Getting my characters’ speech to sound historical without confusing twenty-first century readers was also tricky (fingers crossed that I pulled it off).  Oh, and then there was the little issue called the mystery plot.  Tangled, indeed.

In the end, though, Snow White Red-Handed almost miraculously turned out as that book I’d wanted to read: an unexpected, frivolous, magical, adventurous, and romantic romp.  I am so delighted that Berkley Prime Crime picked up my Fairy Tale Fatal series, and I hope readers will enjoy escaping into the mysterious woods of the nineteenth century as much as I did.

About the Author:

Maia Chance writes historical mystery novels that are rife with absurd predicaments and romantic adventure. She is the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal and The Discreet Retrieval Agency series, and her first mystery, Snow White Red-Handed, will be released in November 2014 by Berkley Prime Crime.

Maia is a candidate for the Ph.D. in English at the University of Washington. This means that the exploits of Fairy Tale Fatal’s heroine, variety hall actress Ophelia Flax, were dreamt up while Maia was purportedly researching 19th-century American literature and fairy tale criticism. The Discreet Retrieval Agency series was born of Maia’s fascination with vintage shoes, automobiles, and cocktails combined with an adoration of P. G. Wodehouse and chocolate.

Upcoming titles include Come Hell or Highball (St. Martin’s Press, 2015) and Cinderella Six Feet Under (Berkley Prime Crime, 2015). Maia lives in Seattle, where she shakes a killer martini, grows a mean radish, and bakes mocha bundts to die for.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, she’ll need more than a bit of charm…

1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady’s maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White’s cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead—poisoned by an apple—the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.

To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, she’ll have to break a cunning killer’s spell before her own time runs out…

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Jennifer’s Review of Snow White Red-Handed

Review (3.5 Stars):  Miss Ophelia Flax has lost her job as an actress but quickly pretends to be a maid to secure a position with an American family. On arrival to her new employer’s home, they discover a miniature castle on the property with what appears to be dwarf-like remains.  Before they have a chance to truly evaluate the situation, Ophelia’s new employer ends up dead as a result of a poisoned apple with Ophelia’s best friend as the prime suspect.  Now, Ophelia must find the clues with the help of a handsome young professor to save her friend from a not so happy ending.

This series shows a lot of promise and I loved the idea of weaving Grimm fairy tales throughout the murder mystery. Ophelia was a smart and entertaining character and I loved how resourceful she was in trying to protect the well-being of her best friend.  I loved the historical aspect of this mystery and I’m looking forward to seeing where Ophelia’s relationship with Professor Penrose goes in the next book.  Interesting start of a new series and I have high hopes for the next book, Cinderella Six Feet Under.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Snow White Red-Handed. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by November 20th, answer me this question in the comments:

What is your favorite fairy tale?

ON BORROWED TIME

By Jenn McKinlay

Sometimes I feel desperately guilty.  ON BORROWED TIME is the fifth book in the Library Lover’s mysteries and in her quest for the truth, my amateur sleuth, library director Lindsey Norris has been close to death numerous times not the least of which were being frozen and blown up.  How can I not feel guilty for subjecting her to such horrific events?

Then again, if she wasn’t such a curious sort, the mysteries would never happen, she’d just turn things over to the police and that would be that.  The thing is, I used to be a librarian and by and large we are a terminally nosy bunch.  Our entire life’s work is based on ferreting out information, anything from obscure Shakespeare quotes to why the rabbit’s foot is considered lucky to how to start a small business, so naturally if a murder were to happen in our midst we would feel compelled to solve it.

For balance, I try to give my characters something positive in their life.  In Lindsey’s case she has a close group of friends, a crafternoon group, with whom she shares food, a favorite book and a craft.  She also has a dog named Heathcliif who was found abandoned in the library book drop but has become her loyal companion.  And lastly, she has the potential for a real romance in her life, assuming the man she is interested in can prove to her that he can handle a relationship.

This assuages some of the guilt but not all of it.  When a character rattles around in your head for a few years, you get attached.  I never thought it was possible but go through a few murders together and the bond is strong.  I would like nothing more than to marry off my characters and let them ride off into the sunset without a care, but life doesn’t really work that way, does it?  There is always a mix of good and evil, right and wrong, happy and sad.  Besides if there were no more crimes there would be no more books and then I’d really miss my ladies.

In ON BORROWED TIME, available on Nov 4th, I really put Lindsey through the wringer.  Yes, more guilt but I think the story was worth it and I hope you do, too.  Here’s a snippet of the book so you can see what I mean:

Loving a good cup of coffee runs in the family for Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris. But when her brother, Jack, a consultant for a coffee company, goes missing, her favorite beverage becomes a key clue in a dangerous mystery.

Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend, Captain Mike Sullivan, and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling playboy brother takes precedence over all.

Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. But as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman, it’ll take the help of both her library book club—the crafternooners—and her eager-to-please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water…

I hope you enjoy reading ON BORROWED TIME as much as I enjoyed writing it.  For more information about me or my books, you can go to my website www.jennmckinlay.com or find me on Facebook or Twitter.

Happy Reading!

Jenn

 About the Author:

Jenn is the New York Times bestselling author of several mystery series. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets and her husband’s guitars.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Loving a good cup of coffee runs in the family for Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris. But when her brother, Jack, a consultant for a coffee company, goes missing, her favorite beverage becomes a key clue in a dangerous mystery.

Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend, Captain Mike Sullivan, and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling playboy brother takes precedence over all.

Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. But as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman, it’ll take the help of both her library book club—the crafternooners—and her eager-to-please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water…

Amazon/B&N

Jennifer’s Review of On Borrowed Time

Review (4 Stars): I love small town mysteries and the Library Lover’s mystery series is one of my favorites.  Lindsey and her staff are preparing for the holidays when she gets an welcome yet unexpected visitor, which she knows is a sure sign of trouble.  Lindsey’s brother, Jack, appears on the doorstep of the library and before Lindsey can find out why he is there, a dead body is found and her brother mysteriously disappears.  To find answers and hopefully clear her brother’s name, Lindsey searches for clues and finds that her brother is involved in something that could put them all in jeopardy.

On Borrowed Time was a thrill-ride of a mystery that is perfect for fans of the series.  I adore Lindsey and her character is always fun to spend time with.  Each book gets more entertaining than the last and I loved the international aspect of this story, which kept the mystery engaging and fresh.  Such a charming series and I can’t wait to see what these characters will be up to next.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of On Borrowed Time. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by November 15th, leave me a comment below:

Guest Post

by Diane Vallere

I have fond memories of playing in fabric stores when I was young. My mom is an excellent seamstress, and often took my sister and me on trips to Levine’s, our local fabric store, to pick out patterns for new dresses, curtains, pillows, or pajamas. She’d drop me by the tables of pattern books where I’d spend hours flipping through the pages, admiring the fashionable sketches and dreaming of the possibilities. As I got older, I would wander the aisles and pick out interesting prints for clothes that I made myself.

Fabric stores are like bookstores to me. I can’t walk into one and not come out with a package. There are no better places to fritter away time! So when the idea of a cozy mystery series set in a fabric shop came to mind, I knew it was the perfect way to combine two passions. I imagined an old fabric store like the one I used to play in, one that had been around since the fifties. What treasures might be hidden inside: dusty vintage fabrics in a stockroom, new old stock of buttons, pattern books from decades past, forgotten packages of bias tape, or thick bolts of polyester double knit? Or maybe a hint of an unsolved mystery?

SUEDE TO REST, the first book in the Material Witness Mystery Series, opens with Polyester Monroe (so named because she was born inside of the store, on a bed of polyester!) standing in front of the fabric store that she’s inherited. What should be a simple transaction involving her signature on a couple of documents gets complicated when Poly decides to go inside and experience the world where she grew up one last time. She doesn’t expect to feel so connected to the store, especially since she doesn’t feel nearly that connected to the job she holds in Los Angeles. She also doesn’t expect to find a dead body in the parking lot the day after she arrives. It seems Poly  has a choice: stay in San Ladrón and learn the truth about the small town’s secrets, or sign away her ownership of the store and go back to life as she knows it.

I sometimes think there is a part of all of us that wants a chance to get away from our everyday life. Inheriting the fabric store is a wakeup call for Poly. It throws her life into disarray and makes her think about whether or not her life is headed the right direction—and question what exactly is the “right” direction for her.  Not that long ago, I had my own wakeup call and asked myself the same questions. That’s when I changed career paths and moved from Texas to California (where SUEDE TO REST is set). The move was scary–especially for someone who likes to plan everything! I could have stayed where I was, and I could have moved back to Pennsylvania, where I’m from. Instead, I chose the unknown door number three. The move brought new opportunities to my life and, while I haven’t had to contend with any dead bodies, I did think a lot about that somewhat spontaneous decision when writing Poly’s story. So far, things have worked out pretty well for me.

I wonder how they’ll turn out for Poly?

About the Author:

I’m the daughter of a seamstress and a scientist, so naturally I like fashion, fabric, and figuring things out (though at times it feels like I’m the love child of Edith Head and Spock). In my spare time I daydream about owning a time capsule midcentury modern ranch. I spent over twenty years in the fashion industry, where I was lucky enough to travel the world for runway shows, shoe markets, and lingerie fairs. Now I’m lucky enough to stay home and write!

I’m a Pennsylvanian at heart, but currently live in Southern California, where I’ve set my upcoming Material Witness Mystery Series. The first, SUEDE TO REST, debuts in November 2014.

My other series include the Style & Error Mysteries, featuring crime solving fashionista Samantha Kidd, (set in my childhood hometown of Reading, PA), and the Mad for Mod Mysteries, featuring Doris Day-loving interior decorator Madison Night (set in Dallas, TX).

I am represented by agent Jessica Faust of Bookends Literary Agency, and when I’m not working on a manuscript, I’m blogging with my fellow Mysteristas. I belong to a whole bunch of awesome organizations (Sisters in Crime, MWA, ITW, IBPA, and, of course, the Guppies!), though my favorite is the Sisters in Crime chapter I’m the president of: SinC Los Angeles.

Website

With her career as a dress designer in shreds, Polyester Monroe is looking forward to a fresh start. But as it all unfolds, the pattern to a new beginning looks a lot like murder.

When Poly Monroe was little, she loved playing in her family’s textile store. But after a fatal family tragedy, Land of A Thousand Fabrics was boarded up and Poly never expected to see the inside again. Now, as inheritor of the long-shuttered shop, she’s ready to restore the family business.

However her two new kittens, Pins and Needles, aren’t the ones causing a snag in her plans…

Not everyone wants Poly back in San Ladrón, especially a powerful local developer pressuring her to sell—and leave town fast. But even when the threats turn deadly, she’s not ready to bolt. Because Poly is beginning to suspect that the murder behind the shop is tied to a mystery in her family’s unsettled past that she’s determined to solve before her own life is left hanging by a thread.

Amazon/B&N

Jennifer’s Review of Suede to Rest

Review (4 Stars): This book was a perfect combination of great characters, a thought-provoking mystery, a strong heroine and two adorable kittens, which made this an enjoyable read for me.  Poly found herself involved in a mystery as soon as she set foot in her family’s business and someone desperately wanted her to sell the business and leave town.  She quickly had to figure out who was behind all this before she became another victim on this killer’s list.

Poly was an interesting character who loved fabrics just as much as her family did and saw that this was more of an opportunity to do what she wanted instead of going back to the boring dead end job that she left behind. I loved the writing style of Ms. Vallere and couldn’t wait to see what happened next to Poly while she was visiting San Ladrón. I also liked meeting the secondary characters especially the members of the senior patrol and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Poly in the next book.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Suede to Rest. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by November 10th, please leave a comment for Ms. Vallere below: