Amy Grundy chats about her Copper Ridge Mystery series

  

Welcome to mystery writer Amy Grundy!

I was born and mostly raised in North Carolina, until I moved with my family to Texas. I met my husband here in TX and we have been happily married for over 43 years. We live in the Houston area with our dog Oy, and 4 cats, Niko, Cholula, Rorschach and Echo. I am fortunate to have both my children Heather and Jason and my grandchildren, Giselle, Angel and Isabella all living nearby. After working over 26 years in the nursing field, I retired in 2019. Now I enjoy writing full time. I didn’t start writing cozy mysteries until the spring of 2019 and my first book Murder Down the Hill was released mid – May 2020. Since then, I have released books 2 through 6 in the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Actually, writing was something I never thought I could do. My husband was the person who first encouraged me to try my hand at writing cozy mysteries. I have since discovered that I really enjoy writing and the process of creating characters and their stories.

 

Website: www.amygrundy.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmyGrundyAuthor/

Instagram: [http://www.instagram.com%3eamygrundyauthor]www.instagram.com>amygrundyauthor

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/review/list/110874076-amy-grundy

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Amy-Grundy/e/B088X27KLH

 

Tell us about your life outside of writing.

         When I’m not writing I enjoy spending time with my kids and grandkids. (which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like these days, due to covid.) I have always loved reading, thrillers, true crime, traditional mystery and cozy mystery books. Besides reading, my hobbies include working on jigsaw puzzles, playing sudoku and running. I didn’t start running or participate in my first half marathon until I was 52 years old. This just goes to show you that it’s never too late to start a new hobby. Currently I have completed 7 full marathons, 1 ultra-marathon, 1 duathlon and numerous half marathons. And let’s not forget, I always enjoy a good cup of coffee, cappuccino or latte.

 

Do you have a work in progress?

         Yes, currently I am working on Murder At the Manor. This is book 10 in the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Unless I change my plans, this will be the final book in that series. Who knows maybe sometime down the road, I’ll come back and write another follow-up seasonal story.

I am also working on out lining and creating the characters for my next series which will be based around a botanical garden.

 

What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?

         Alright, I’ll be honest, the most difficult part of the story for me to write is a love scene. When I say love scene, this is only a character kissing her love interest. You’d think this would be easy for me, since I’ve been fortunate enough to be happily married and in a loving relationship for so long. And yes, we met in high school. Maybe I have trouble writing the romantic scenes because I was raised in a private family or maybe that’s just me being insecure with my writing…

 

What sort of research do you do for your work?

         I do research various parts of my stories. The amount of time I spend researching did surprise me when I first started. Whether it’s a google search about poisons, (and yes there have been many) or talking to a friend who may have specialized knowledge in a certain area. I have a friend who is a former deputy sheriff. She answers my questions when necessary. Also, I suppose I’m a visual person. I have created significant backgrounds for my characters, which helps me determine things like how would they feel in certain situations, what are their likes and dislikes, what kind of clothes they would wear. So, I do a lot of searching for just the right photos. As I develop these characters, I find pictures of them, their homes, the town, their pets, clothing for special occasions. I find it easier writing if I have a picture of what I am trying to describe. This helps me to develop a believable character.

 

Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author who inspires you?

           Agatha Christie – especially the Hercule Poirot books

           Dorothy Gilman – the Mrs. Pollifax series

Lillian Jackson Braun - the Cat Who series

My other favorite authors include Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Kelley Armstrong, Hugh Howey.

I have also recently discovered Steve Higgs. So far, I have only read one of his books in the Patricia Fisher Village Mysteries, but reading his book, made me want to be a better writer. His writing moved the story along and kept my attention. It made me want to become a better writer, and believe that I could.

 

Was there a person who encouraged you to write?

         Definitely, my husband. I never ever would have considered writing a book. In fact, writing wasn’t something that I ever thought I could do. That’s what other people did, not me. I especially didn’t think I could ever write good dialog. He did a little exercise with me while we were in the car together. It was on how to build a story, starting with a single person, then make one decision, then another. He showed me how to build a story one step at a time. It just made me realize that I didn’t have to have the whole story in my head before I began. I just had to get started and then the details would come. He was right and I found out that I really love writing and creating characters.

 

 

Murder on the Stage, A Copper Ridge Mystery - Book 5

Published August 2020

 

Copper Ridge is about to get hit by a storm and a stray cat has decided to take up residence at Emily’s little Craftsman bungalow. Luckily Emily takes her in before the first snowflakes begin to fall.

When the snowstorm turns into an all-out blizzard, Emily, Maggie and Mrs. Smithers become trapped inside the old historic and possibly haunted Gage Hotel. To make matters worse, Emily has started to see ghosts, specifically the ghost of Mr. Gage.

As the storm of the century rages outside, the bodies begin to fall inside. There is nowhere to go and everyone is trapped in the hotel with a murderer. Could the killer be the entitled socialite or someone from the theater group?

Can Emily put the pieces of this latest puzzle together before the roads are cleared and the killer slips away?

 

Read Murder on the Stage, the fifth installment of the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GZK3KW6

 

Murder Down the Aisle, A Copper Ridge Mystery – Book 6

Published September 2020

 

Wedding bells are ringing in Copper Ridge and it’s time for the ‘I do’s.’

Emily and Maggie work hard to make sure everything is set for the big day. The flowers have been ordered and Claudette has made a beautiful wedding cake. Maggie even makes sure Emily has picked out the perfect dress for the day.

But when someone turns up missing, will the wedding go on? More importantly, where did they go?

Things continue to deteriorate when Emily discovers a dead body at the wedding. How could this be happening on the brides most important day? One minute the guests are having a good time, the next police investigators have swarmed the building.

Was the killer the jealous ex-girlfriend or someone else? Will Emily be able to solve this murder?

 

Read Murder Down the Aisle – Book 6 of the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K84RKGC

 

Judy Penz Sheluk shares her new box set for her Marketville Mystery Series

 

 Special Welcome to my first Wednesday Writer, Judy Penz Sheluk!

Not only do I know Judy from Crime Writers of Canada, I've also had the pleasure of reading several of her novels as well as her soon to be released Where There's a Will! I have to say I'm a big fan and honored that she has joined us today!

A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of two mystery series: the Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries. Her short crime fiction appears in several collections, including The Best Laid Plans and Heartbreaks & Half-truths, which she also edited.

Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves as Chair on the Board of Directors. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com.

What would you say are your strengths as an author?

I research every small detail in my books. And when I say every small detail, I mean it. In my current work-in-progress, there’s a scene set at Toronto City Hall on New Years Eve, 2008. I fact-checked the weather conditions for that night (cold with blizzard-like conditions) and wrote that into the story.

I attribute this obsession (because that’s what it is) to spending the 15+ years as a journalist and magazine editor. But my background also makes me very comfortable with contacting strangers who are experts in their field, and knowing the right questions to ask, and I’m certainly not opposed to grilling my family. In A Fool’s Journey, for example, all three of my nieces were invaluable resources. Niece Ashley for her in-depth knowledge of tattoo parlors, Rebecca, a social worker, for her insights into parenting styles, and Leah for the perfect setting for a gallery in Burlington, where she lives. I suppose you could say my biggest strength is in building a world for my characters to live in.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?

When I’m working on a new project, I try to write every day, seven days a week, holidays included, and if I’m not writing, I’m researching or editing what I’ve already written. But in between projects, when I’m getting ready to launch a new book, and I’m mired in marketing, blog tours, and social media blitzes, I tend to take a break. That might last as long as a month, but never longer, because I crave writing the way someone might crave chocolate or potato chips. As for a strict routine, nothing could be further from the truth. If it’s a nice day in the summer, I’ll golf in the daytime, and (maybe) write for an hour or so in the evening. If it’s a rainy or snowy day, I might work for 10 or 12 hours straight. But no routine, that’s a creativity killer for me. I can’t even participate in NaNoWriMo because having to write 1,666 words a day (or any set goal) makes it seem too much like work.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

If someone had told me, in July 2015, when my debut novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, came out, that five years later I’d have five (soon to be six) published novels, not to mention my own publishing imprint and the anthologies, I would never have believed it. So, I don’t know where I’ll be five years from now, but I hope I’ll still be writing and loving it. I’d also like to take a course in playwriting at some point. We’ll see.

If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

I always answer this question with a quote from Agatha Christie: “There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?

That they stayed up all night reading, that they couldn’t wait to recommend it to a friend, or to their book club, or simply that, they forgot about their own worries, if only for a little while.

What are you working on now?

Two novels: a standalone suspense and the prequel to Skeletons in the Attic, set in 1976 and told from the perspective of Callie Barnstable’s mother, Abigail. Both are in the early stages of development, as I’ve been getting ready to launch Where There’s A Will, book 3 in my Glass Dolphin series, for November 2020 release. But I am really keen to dig into both. For the prequel, I’ll probably have to reread Skeletons. It’s been five years since I wrote it and I’m sure there are small details I’ve forgotten. Wouldn’t do to get those wrong!

 

The Marketville Mystery Series: Books 1-3

Calamity (Callie) Barnstable never dreamed that one day she’d be solving cold cases in the small town of Marketville, but that’s exactly where life has led her. Turns out, she’s got a flair for digging up the truth—even when the truth wants to remain firmly in the past.

The first three books in the bestselling Marketville Mystery series, now available in one collection.

Skeletons in the Attic (Book 1):

Calamity (Callie) Barnstable isn’t surprised to learn she’s the sole beneficiary of her late father’s estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town of Marketville with one condition: she must move to Marketville, live in the house, and solve her mother’s murder.

Callie’s not keen on dredging up a thirty-year-old mystery, but if she doesn’t do it, there’s a scheming psychic named Misty Rivers who hopes to expose the Barnstable family secrets herself. Determined to thwart Misty and fulfill her father’s wishes, Callie accepts the challenge. But is she ready to face the skeletons hidden in the attic?

Past & Present (Book 2):

It’s been thirteen months since Callie inherited the house in Marketville. She solves the mystery, but what next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto?

She decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations. It’s not long before she gets her first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone—least of all Callie—could have predicted.

A Fool’s Journey (Book 3):

In March 2000, twenty-year-old Brandon Colbeck left home to find himself on a self-proclaimed “fool’s journey.” No one—not friends or family—have seen or heard from him since, until a phone call from a man claiming to be Brandon brings the case back to the forefront. Calamity (Callie) Barnstable and her team at Past & Present Investigations have been hired to find out what happened to Brandon and where he might be. As Callie follows a trail of buried secrets and decades-old deceptions only one thing is certain: whatever the outcome, there is no such thing as closure.

Buy links:

Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DMZT5BN

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-marketville-mystery-series

Apple: http://books.apple.com/us/book/id1525090221

 

 

Kathleen Marple Kalb talks about A Fatal Finale and A Fatal First Night

 

Welcome to Writer and Radio Announcer, Kathleen Marple Kalb!!

Kathleen Marple Kalb grew up in front of a microphone, and a keyboard. She’s now a weekend morning anchor at 1010 WINS New York, capping a career begun as a teenage DJ in Brookville, Pennsylvania. She worked her way up through newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, developing her skills and a deep and abiding distaste for snowstorms. While she wrote her first (thankfully unpublished) historical novel at age sixteen, fiction was firmly in the past until her son started kindergarten and she tried again. She, her husband the Professor, and their son the Imp, live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

What would you say are your strengths as an author?

Creating characters that become readers’ friends and people they care about. The whole reason I started writing series mysteries, after reading them for most of my life, is that I love spending time with the characters in my favorite series. And, after a career of writing news headlines, I’m also good at the occasional very memorable, often slightly snarky, line. A favorite example from A FATAL FIRST NIGHT: Ella, speaking of one of her vile stage-door admirers: “…holding out a bouquet of red roses in hands with a distinct and disturbing resemblance to charcuterie. Small sausages.”

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?

Every day. But routine is just a fantasy for me. I’m a weekend radio news anchor, weekday mom, and now, virtual elementary teaching assistant, which means that I write whenever I have five minutes and a flat surface for the laptop. My only rule: one project per day. I don’t want to find myself writing Ella Shane in someone else’s voice.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully well into the Ella Shane series, with a second successful series underway too. I’ll write the Ella books as long as people keep reading them…and I have a few other ideas, including a contemporary series set at a small Vermont radio station, inspired by my first on-air job.

If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

Do. The. Work. Everything else flows from that. Get your manuscript in the best possible shape. Learn and follow the rules for querying and submission. Know how to present yourself and your work to the greatest advantage. Don’t ever give anyone a reason to weed you out. And most of all, don’t give up. You may have to move on to a new project, or try a new approach, but if you quit, you’ll never know what you could have accomplished. (Said the woman with 200+ rejections for the two failed projects before the Ella Shane series.)

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book? 

I love these characters…and I want to keep coming back and spending time with them.

What are you working on now?

The next Ella, among other things. Let’s just say that Ella and her readers will get exactly what they’ve been hoping for, in the last way they expect it to happen. I’m also working on other mystery series ideas. Plus, in September, I started a series on Channillo: ON THE SIDE OF THE ANGELS is my guilty pleasure project, the (very darkly comic) tale of a nice suburban mom who is also an assassin. New chapters every Monday: https://channillo.com/series/on-the-side-of-the-angels/

WHERE TO FIND ME:

Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalbMarple

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/

     A FATAL FINALE (out now!) introduces swashbuckling Gilded Age diva Ella Shane, best described as part Beverly Sills, part Anne of Green Gables, and part Errol Flynn. Ella, an Irish-Jewish Lower East Side orphan made good, is singing Romeo when her Juliet dies onstage. The girl’s cousin, a genuine British Duke, comes to New York to investigate and immediately insults Ella – who schools him in a fencing match. Soon, Ella, her “confirmed bachelor” former boxing champ cousin Tommy, and the colorful cast are looking for a killer…and the Duke is hooked.  No spoiler (just tease!) it all culminates in a catwalk duel with the killer – with Ella handling swordplay while the Duke waits in the wings.

BUY: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727237/

    FATAL FIRST NIGHT (coming 4/27/21) opens with a murder in Richard III’s ressing room after the premiere of the Ella Shane Opera Company’s new production, The Princes in the Tower.  Ella and friends aren't at all sure about their colleague's guilt -- even though it seems obvious. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Hetty MacNaughten has finally escaped hats to cover a sensational murder trial. Before it’s over, the cast will have to sort out several interlocking mysteries, welcome an unexpected visitor…and find another Richard III. Will everyone survive to the final curtain? 

PREORDER: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727244/a-fatal-first-night/

 

Escape with A Writer Turns One!

September 29 is the 1^st Birthday of 

Escape with a Writer Sunday!!

Thank you to all of you who have trusted me to share your work with the world!

 In honor of the big day, I’m making a couple of tweaks.

1. It is now called Escape with a Writer

2. I am booking authors for Wednesdays as well as Sundays!!

Please be sure to message me for availability and follow on the following facebook pages:

Escape With A Writer: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatoreditor

Diane Bator, Author: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatorauthor

Hope to chat with you soon!!  

Diane

 

Victoria Dowd has released her first novel The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder!

Before we get started, I have two things I'd like to say. 

1. I had the great fortune of reading The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder! If you are an Agatha Christie fan or a lover of "locked room" mysteries, you'll absolutely enjoy Victoria's style of writing. She's updated the genre for today's audience and kept me engrossed and guessing until the end. Her descriptive writing style had me highlighting sections of text just to savor them. The entire old mansion setting evoked just the right feel for a murder during a book club retreat.
2. Please read to the VERY END of this interview for a special surprise.

That's it! Welcome to author Victoria Dowd with her debut novel "The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder."

 Victoria is a crime writer and her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, is published by Joffe Books. It’s the first part of a crime series that is modern take on the classic murder mystery with lots of dark humour.

Victoria is also an award-winning short story writer, having won the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction in 2019 awarded by Go Gothic. She was runner up in The New Writer’s writer of the year award and her work has been short listed and Highly commended by Writers’ Forum. She was also longlisted for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition and has had short stories published in various literary journals and magazines. Victoria also writes the non-fiction series Adapting Agatha about adaptations of Agatha Christie novels. She is originally from Yorkshire and, after studying law at Cambridge University, was a criminal law barrister for many years before becoming a full-time writer.

What would you say are your strengths as an author?

I’d say I’m pretty diligent. I like to keep as organised as possible and, as a writer of whodunnits, I plan meticulously. I have masses of notebooks and files filled with research and a very big pinboard covered in maps, photographs and a lot of red string. In some ways, it does look like I’m planning a murder! I go over the details again and again, making sure there are no plot holes and that everything fits together like a perfect jigsaw.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?

I write Monday to Friday, every day for about five hours. I try to take weekends off unless I have edits that need to be finished and sent back. I am quite strict about that otherwise I just wouldn’t get it done. I never usually write after about 6pm, particularly since I may well have had a glass of wine by then and the writing is absolutely awful after that!

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully, as the writer of a successful series of crime novels and, who knows, maybe someone will make them into a TV series! Now that would be marvelous. Like most writers, I’ve imagined who’d play each role and all the settings!

If you could offer one piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

Stick at it! Just keep going and write as much as you can, as often as you can. Do it for the love of writing and write what you love. Don’t write what you think other people will like, write what you have a passion for. I adore Golden Age detective fiction so that’s the genre I write in. But I also love ghost stories and the supernatural so I write short stories in that genre. Don’t send anything out to people until you’re absolutely happy with it and it’s finished. Make it the best thing you’ve ever written until you just think it can’t be any better. That might be more than one piece of advice!

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?

It would be about the quality of the writing. If people say it is beautifully well written, I’m a very happy writer, because, after all, that’s what it’s all about.

What are you working on now?

I’ve just finished writing the second book in the Smart Women series. It’s called The Smart Woman’s Guide to Survival and follows the women who survived at the end of the first book. They decide they weren’t particularly good at survival so set off on a Bear Grylls’ style survival weekend to the Outer Hebrides. When they are shipwrecked on a deserted island, the murders begin. Is it one of their group or was someone, or something, there already? I like to play with the classic whodunnit scenario and put unusual people in unusual settings. I think there’s a bit of everything in there this time, fear, humour and the all important murder mystery to be solved. I’ve absolutely loved writing this one! It’s been fantastic fun taking the characters on further and getting behind why they act in the extraordinary way they sometimes do. I’m just waiting for the edits to come back so I can get to work on those and, my favourite part, seeing the cover art! I love watching the ideas and words come to life and finally form into a book. It’s an absolutely magical transformation and a very special moment when you finally see the finished book. I can’t wait!

Website link: https://victoriadowd.com/

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaDowdAuthor

Twitter: @victoria_dowd

Instagram: dowdvictoria

THE SMART WOMAN’S GUIDE TO MURDER

A faded country house in the middle of nowhere.

The guests are snowed in.

The murders begin.

Withering and waspish, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother’s book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother’s chagrin. Joining them are Mother’s best friend, Mirabelle, Aunt Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog Mr Bojangles. It doesn’t matter that they’ve read Gone Girl three times this year already, this retreat is their chance to escape bustling suburbia. But someone has other ideas.

A body is found in the grounds.

Is a lone killer hunting them? Or has one of their own group embarked on a killing spree?

What they need is to stop sniping at each other long enough to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again.

What they need is a guide to survive.

A GOLDEN AGE COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY BROUGHT BANG UP TO DATE

Funny and shocking in equal turn, Victoria Dowd's brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, Liane Moriarty, Faith Martin, Frances Lloyd and Stuart Turton.

Link to buy book: https://geni.us/smartwomanvictoria

AND NOW FOR THE SPECIAL BONUS!!

Victoria was absolutely thrilled to be asked to give a reading of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder on BBC Radio Devon and chat about writing, Agatha Christie and her favourite place - Burgh Island. 

Here’s the link. She appears exactly 30 minutes in. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08mld3h?fbclid=IwAR2SVgWALsn1Yp_Y8FS8kCM-BKC32kx42dSysPSEaUILt_quHeR1YeL4mcM