Maggie Pill Mysteries

As you might have noticed, I don't post much when I have nothing to report. Just my philosophy, but I see no point in writing about nothing. 

  First, here are the answers to the quiz in my May newsletter. A.         26 Letters of the Alphabet B.          7 Wonders of the Ancient World C.          1001 Arabian Nights D.         12 Signs of the Zodiac E.          54 Cards in a deck (with the Jokers) F.          8 Planets in the Solar System G.         88 Piano Keys H.         13 Stripes on the American Flag I.          32 Degrees at which Water Freezes J.           18 Holes on a Golf Course K.         90 Degrees in a Right Angle L.          200 Dollars for Passing ...

  Raining Cats and Cats , the second book of the Cats & Crimes series, released on June 19th. I wrote about it everywhere I could think of...except here. Not sure how I could forget my oldest networking tool, but I did. So just in case you missed it in all the other places, here's the way to get your copy, no matter which distributor you order from: https://books2read.com/u/mK7JAV The e-book and print version haven't yet linked on Amazon. I'm working on that...sigh...

 The second book of the Cats & Crimes Mysteries is with the editor, so I had time to think about covers and such. Before I forget, we chose Esmeralda as the new cat's name, and we'll call her Esme for short. Thanks to all who made suggestions. Somewhere, I have the name of the person who suggested Esme, and she will get a free copy of the book when it's available. Now, as for the cover. Please tell me what you think, because I can ask for changes if something doesn't look right.

 I try to blog monthly, and the "experts" advise blogging weekly. Yeah, right. No way is my life that exciting or my advice that critical to world peace. I will say that CATS AND CRIMES is doing well. I've had compliments on the cover and the characters, particularly the cats. If you're getting desperate for Christmas gifts and you have a mystery/cat lover on your list, buy it HERE . On the philosophical side, I've been considering why cozies are so popular. I think there are several reasons: they're funny, they're not scary, and, possibly most important, the bad person gets punished in the end. We live in a world where the guilty get away with far too much. (No, I don't believe it's worse now than it was before. We just get it shoved in our faces all day, every day.) The guilty have often escaped punishment with their money, their fame, lies and deceit, and, for whatever reason, the inaction of the rest of us.  But in a cozy, some amateur with not...

  About four years ago, my sister and I went out to lunch, and while we ate Chinese, we talked about my books. She said, "I think you need to write a crazy cat lady series. She could solve mysteries and the cats could be the fun part." I agreed that was a great idea. We both loved cats (though she loved every animal she ever met), and over our lifetimes we had lots of fodder for cat personalities, from barn cats to house cats to shelter cats. But I was in the middle of the Sleuth Sisters series, so the idea went on the back burner. When my sister died suddenly a few months later, I promised myself, "I'll write at least one crazy cat lady story someday, just for her." Enter CATS AND CRIMES. My protagonist, Lorilee Riley, has multiple cats, who sometimes help her and sometimes hold her back, but every pet owner understands that. The book releases on November 15, so I thought I'd do a series of posts on the cats who inspired the cats...if that makes sense. Cat ...

 Let's start with the question, and you can think about it while you read about the next Maggie Pill book. Which commercial makes you shout at your TV (or at least want to)? As to books, Cats and Crimes is with the content editor. I'm working with a new one, and she likes sending a few chapters at a time, so I correct my work in spurts, looking at her suggestions, taking notes, and changing the text. We're up to Chapter Eighteen (of 33). When that's done, it goes to the copy editor for more changes. When I've made them, it will be time to fit the MS into all the little boxes publishing requires. Amazon wants some things, like a "live" table of contents. Draft2Digital doesn't need that because they make one for me. Print books differ just enough between the two to make life miserable for a few days. My husband knows to tread quietly when I'm trying to make the covers fit into the different programs. I'm planning to have it up for pre-order by m...

Here are the answers to the newsletter quiz. If you don't get my newsletter, sign up for it! The NEWS in the newsletter is that THIRD CRIME'S THE CHARM releases on April 4th. HERE is the link to it on all major book-sellers' sites.

   I was having lunch last week when a woman stopped to tell me that CUTEST LITTLE KILLER is my best book yet. I found a review on Amazon with this as its clincher "It's great. I loved it." I'm not sure if those people know how much that helps an author out. We work for months, even years, on a book. We ask for input. We hire editors. We polish and re-read. When it's finally out there, we wonder if it's good enough. Even the best writers of the day admit to asking themselves, "Is this the book that will sink my career?" If you've had success with a former series, as I do with the Sleuth Sisters, it's tempting to stick with the "safe" choice, writing more of the same. But while I enjoy each book and series I've written, I always come to a point where I want to try something new. Cutest Little Killer is quite different from the Sleuth Sisters. That could cause some to look elsewhere for their next read, but readers must at some p...

 I have a friend who always answers, "About 5'6"." For me the question is often, "Are you working on a new book?" Silly question! It got more specific on election day. When I was done voting, an acquaintance asked when the next book will come out. I thought if she was wondering, so might others.  Cutest Little Killer will be out on July 14th. That's e-book and print, unless something strange happens. They'll be on Amazon and available for bookstores to order.  Audio takes longer, but it will happen too. Still haven't made the final cover decision, so weigh in if you have a preference!

     To be honest, the path of least resistance for a writer is to keep churning out her most popular characters in book after book...like the Sleuth Sisters Mysteries. I had fun with Barb, Faye and Retta for years, and they're still my best sellers. Then my sister died, and suddenly the series wasn't fun anymore. The last book was written but not finished editing when the news came, and each time I had to read it again made me sad. How could those sisters have each other when our trio was now a duet? I decided to put the series on a shelf and try something else.   The people in our trailer park in Florida had for some time encouraged me to write mysteries in a similar setting. In condos and trailer parks all over the southern United States, residents come together for a few months each year from many different places. They live in close proximity, in small spaces. And they're retired, which means lots of free time. The old adage says, "Idle hands are the devil's w...

  The second Trailer Park Tale is available for pre-order everywhere I can manage it. So far I only have an Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HJHQ7D5 . I'll add the links to B&N, Kobo, etc. when they're available. This one continues the adventures of four couples in a Florida Over-55 RV park and, as advertised in the title, there are two crime threads. First, Ron & Julie are asked to see if they can pin down which man living at the park might be the guy who murdered two people back in 1967. While they're working on that, rumors circulate that someone's peeping in trailer windows at night. Of course there are humorous interactions between characters: husbands and wives, neighbor to neighbor, and senior citizens against the world. Shopping for lingerie, getting a confused old man to his doctor's appointment, and dealing with a guy who believes aliens run the government are everyday occurrences for the residents of the Beautiful Bird Over 55 RV Park.  ...

Preorder HERE Do you and your spouse disagree on *Who decides if the room temperature is "comfortable"? *What the car seat/mirrors/steering wheel placement should be? *Where things should be kept? *When it's time to go home from a party? *Why tomatoes need/don't need to be refrigerated? These and other spousal questions will be addressed in the Trailer Park Tales Mystery Series. What the Sleuth Sisters Mysteries does for relationships between sisters, this new Maggie Pill series does for spouses, making those little irritations funny by revealing their universality. (if that's not a word, I just laid claim to inventing it). Set in an over-55 RV park in Florida, Trailer Park Tales begins with Once Upon a Trailer Park.     Home Is Where the Trailer Is Beautiful Bird RV Park is a haven for snowbirds coming to Florida in the winter months as well as the home of permanent residents. Everyone is shocked when a corpse is found on the property ...