#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--COLUMBUS DAY ARTWORK

Engraving of Christopher Columbus by Johann Theodor de Bry, 1595

Today is Columbus Day, sort of. Traditionally, Columbus Day was celebrated on October 12^th, the day Christopher Columbus first set foot in the New World, even though he believed to his dying day that he had discovered a westward route from Europe to India. (Which, by the way, is the reason why Native Americans are wrongly called Indians.) Anyway, because we Americans so love our 3-day weekends, we now shift Columbus Day around to provide us with one each year.

Graphite and watercolor painting of "Land Discovered by Columbus" by JMW Turner, circa 1830-02

Once upon a time it was believed Columbus “discovered” America. That’s what we were taught in school. Now we know there’s documented evidence that the Vikings preceded him by about 500 years. In addition, there’s circumstantial evidence that Portuguese and English fishing vessels crossed the Atlantic back in the 1300s.

"Landing of Columbus" by John Vanderlyn,
commissioned by Congress for the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in 1836 

Also, did you know that Columbus never set foot on mainland North America? He never made it past the Bahamas. No one knows for sure exactly where he first landed. He called the place San Salvador. Historians later identified it as Watling Island, but some scholars suggest he actually landed on Samana Cay. On His second voyage he landed near Dominca in the Lesser Antilles, his third landing was Trinidad, and his final voyage landed him on Martinique. (source: "Columbus, Christopher." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.)

Portrait of a man said to be Christopher Columbus
by Sabastiano del Piombo, 1519

So there’s been lots of discussion over the years about whether or not we should celebrate Christopher Columbus, especially given the reports of how he treated the indigenous people living on the islands he claimed for the Spanish crown. However, he is a legendary figure in both our history and our art, as evidenced by the work featured on today’s blog. No matter how you feel about the man and his place in history, you can certainly admire the art he inspired.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR TERESA INGE

Teresa Inge grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Today, she doesn't carry a rod like her idol, but she hot rods. Combining her love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and a novel. Learn more about her and her writing at her website.

Why is research important to location?

I love it when I start a new mystery. This usually means a road trip where the story takes place to research the setting. 

When researching Corked for Murder” in Virginia is for Mysteries, I toured Williamsburg Winery and took pictures of oak barrels, machinery, and asked lots of questions. But as the wine flowed so did my ideas when a bridal party entered the tasting room. One woman in the party was inebriated and inspired a drunken bridesmaid that "corked" the murderous plot in my story.

On another trip, I visited the historic Cavalier on the Hill hotel in Virginia Beach to research “Guide to Murder.” 

When I arrived, I noticed a hotel tour guide. This inspired me to write a murder about a tour. I then explored the hotel to determine the murder location. I also learned that doorways had lower heights during the 1930’s and people were not very tall. A great tip for creating characters.

But what should authors do when they cannot visit a location?

Start with a Google map. Learn the area’s main corridors and population. Research the general history, culture, seasonal changes and weather conditions. Check out historical societies and museums to expand your knowledge. You’ll be surprised what you learn before you start writing your story. When writing the play “Murder on the Lafayette,” I based it on two brothers who grew up on the Lafayette River in Norfolk. During my research, I learned the river was originally named Tanner’s Creek so I gave the brothers the last name Tanner and viewed maps of the river in the 1800’s.

Since research is vital for an accurate setting, take time to obtain the knowledge you need for your readers. The more you know, the more comfortable you’ll be when writing about different locations.

Virginia is for Mysteries

Virginia may be for lovers, but to nineteen authors, Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II. The anthology of nineteen short stories, set in and around the Commonwealth, features Virginia landmarks and locations such as Virginia Wine Country, the Poe Museum, Luray Caverns, Colonial Williamsburg, the Great Dismal Swamp, Nimrod Hall, the Barter Theater, and Mill Mountain, to name a few.

The stories transport readers across the diverse backdrop of the Old Dominion to a unique and deadly landscape, filled with killers, crooks, and criminal.

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GUEST AUTHOR MABRY HALL ON ANTIQUE #BLING

Mabry Hall created Annalee Wyatt, 18 Karat Cold Mysteries' bling-bedecked sleuth, out of her love of antique jewelry. She gets a vicarious pleasure when Annalee buys, sells, and sometimes wears the beautiful pieces of jewelry she would love to have for herself. However, she's quite happy to leave the murders to her fictional creation and lives a quiet life in Louisiana, not far from the imaginary town of Berryville and Annalee's Goat Hill Farm. Learn more about Mabry and her series at her Facebook page.

I have a love for antique jewelry that far outstrips my ability to purchase it, but I get a ridiculous amount of entertainment from shopping and wishing.

When confronted with a display case, I’ll admit that my initial reaction is usually, “Pretty sparkly things!” As I scan the items, something special inevitably catches my eye and prompts me to ask for a closer view. Sometimes I feel an inexplicable rush of sentiment that my imagination chalks up to a touch of happiness left by the original recipient. There’s an added thrill if the piece is engraved with the initials of its long-forgotten owner.

I might ask to see an engagement ring, or maybe a beautiful brooch or necklace. Was the diamond starburst worn on the shoulder of a fringed Flapper dress? Did it cast a rainbow of sparkles when the owner did a wild Charleston? If I had a spare $20,000 to purchase it, would it look as good on a T-shirt for my weekly Target run? Probably not. Back in the case it goes.

As long as no one is behind me waving a credit card, the salesperson is usually happy to let me browse to my heart’s content. I always ask questions. “How old is this piece? Is it rare? Is it signed? Do you know who owned it?” I’ve picked up a lot of my knowledge through these conversations. You cannot do a one-to-one comparison of an old piece to a new one. The workmanship is different, and the older stones have not had the tricks done to them that are common now. The gem color will be natural, not heat-treated to intensify it. Be prepared to see gold in unusual karat values, or paired with other metals, such as intricately worked silver. You might even find something made of steel, or the latex substance called gutta percha.

If I see something I really, really love, I ask for a card with the item’s description. That card may stay in my purse for weeks, where it will jog my memory and either produce relief or regret that I didn’t buy the item. Once in a great while, I bite the bullet and buy the bling. I’ll even allow my husband to purchase it for a gift if I can wait that long.

Since my actual purchase to desperately want ratio is so lopsided, I’ve had great fun inventing an antique jewelry dealer who can buy whatever she wants, wear it a few times, then sell it for a profit. If Annalee Wyatt gets involved in a few murders along the way, it only emphasizes how seriously some of us take our accessories.

An Engaging End, An 18 Karat Cold Mystery

18 Karat Sold? Or 18 Karat Cold? Antique jewelry dealer Annalee Wyatt recently moved from Houston to Goat Hill, her family’s ancestral farm in Louisiana. Okay, admittedly she knows jack about farming and makes her living selling expensive baubles, but she’s returned to her roots and wants everyone, including the citizens of nearby Berryville, to be as enthusiastic about it as she is. Her goal of acceptance gets a boost when the scion of an old family pays her big bucks for an engagement ring. When his intimidating mother invites her to attend the ceremony, she really feels like she's made it. Unfortunately, "Happily ever after" turns into "Happy never again" when the young bride shockingly dies at the wedding reception.

Soon Annalee is dealing with a grieving, hostile groom and unpleasant accusations regarding her honesty. Though there seems to be no way to prove her integrity, Annalee can’t afford to give up. With the help of her hunky cattle-rancher neighbor and the town book club, she sets out to solve the mystery that threatens her reputation. It comes as a nasty surprise to find that her life is in jeopardy, too!

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GUEST AUTHOR AND HISTORY JUNKIE GWEN MAYO

Civil War Army Field Surgery Kit

Gwen Mayo is passionate about blending the colorful history of her native Kentucky with her love for mystery fiction. Interesting fact: Gwen was a brakeman and railroad engineer from 1983 - 1987. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

Confessions of a History Junkie

One of the definitions of a “junkie” is a person who gets an unusual amount of pleasure from or has an unusual amount of interest in something. For me, that something is history. Thanks to the Internet, I can indulge my passion any time I please. I have a list of sites longer than my arm, but as wonderful as the web can be, nothing replaces an up close look into the past. 

My spouse and I have spent many happy days looking for towns that no longer exist. Some of those towns wind up in stories or blog posts. My historical wandering brought the White House cookbook from the Lincoln administration into my possession. A trip to the Walter Reed Medical Center Museum let me get a good look at the Civil War Union Army Field Surgery Kit. That piece of history turned up in one of my Nessa Donnelly mysteries. I also spent a lovely summer researching the history of Kentucky bourbon.

Mary Todd Lincoln's Family Home 

I know history isn’t considered a sexy topic, but it can be. Lexington, Kentucky has a historic home that was once owned by Mary Todd Lincoln’s family. The same house was later Jenny Hill’s Bawdyhouse. Belle Brezing, Lexington’s most famous madam, lived there for a couple of years before buying her own house. 

Still, when I talk about my favorite pastime, I get a lot of eye-rolls. Kids who hated memorizing dates for a history test often grow up to be adults who think history is boring. Why wouldn’t they? Their only exposure to history has been a bunch of dull facts delivered by a teacher with no real interest in the subject.

History, real history, isn’t the dry facts of an event; it is a group of individual stories that narrow an event to only one outcome. History is made up of hundreds of ‘what if’ stories. For instance, would the outcome of WWII have been different if Hitler had not taken a sleeping pill before the Allies landed on Normandy’s beaches? The question opens a whole range of alternate histories. Our reality is that Hitler slept until noon, and Field Marshall Rundstedt did not get the support he requested. The history of the world may have turned on a sleeping pill.

Concealed in Ash

Former Pinkerton Agent Nessa Donnelly has nearly forgotten life before trading in her skirts for her brother's suit. She's left her impoverished past behind to become Kentucky's most prominent detective. Now a charred body discovered in the ashes of the Phoenix Hotel, and its connection to the schoolmarm who has charmed both her and Doc Haydon, threatens her house of lies.

Rival forces are threatening to pull the city apart as the murder ignites old hatreds. Klansmen attack a local police sergeant with family ties to O'Brien. The vigilante Red Strings steal O’Brien’s body from Doc Haydon’s basement and murder a policeman. The arrest of a colored boy sparks racial violence. Nessa’s investigation uncovers O’Brien’s involvement in the Red Strings and a multitude of other motives for his murder.

The lad had ample reason to murder O’Brien, but his benefactor, the quirky inventor Professor Percival Pettijohn, is certain of his innocence. Nessa is tempted to ignore his pleas until she discovers that Pettijohn's assistant is the grandson of her beloved housekeeper.

Nessa refuses to choose between protecting Mary Katherine and saving Beulah’s grandson. Instead she, Haydon, and Pettijohn put their lives on the line to find the real killer and stop the violence.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR KATHY AARONS AND IRISH CREAM #GANACHE

Kathy Aarons is the author of the nationally bestselling Chocolate Covered Mystery series. Research for the series was such a hardship: sampling chocolate, making chocolate, sampling more chocolate, and hanging out in bookstores. Learn more about Kathy and her books at her website. 

Being a Chocolatier is Not for Wimps

When I started writing the Chocolate Covered Mystery series, I had no idea how to make chocolates. Luckily for me (and the readers), I didn’t have to create the recipes myself. I was able to use my local chocolatier’s recipes. Isabella Knack, owner of Dallmann’s Fine Chocolates, was a wonderful resource not just for recipes but also for insight into the life of a chocolatier.

All of what she taught me went into the character of Michelle Serrano. The long hours of creating products and running a small business with all the complications of suppliers, employees and customers. The crafting of new recipes and taste-testing on (what had to be) enthusiastic volunteers. The balance of work, family and life. The challenge and joy of matching customers to their favorite truffles.

Of course, I had to test all of Isabella’s recipes (a nice perk!) to ensure that they worked.

Over the course of three books, I’ve become a little better at making truffles, even though they’ll never be the pieces of art that Isabella creates. It’s easy to understand why someone would make this a career – just the scent of melting chocolate alone is worth all of the work.

And how fun it must be to give other people so much happiness in one little bite!

The following recipe is in Behind Chocolate Bars, the third book in the Chocolate Covered Mystery series. It was one of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever tried – simpler than it looks and totally amazing to taste.

(I visited Isabella in her kitchen and the attached photo is the finished product of this recipe, although she didn’t use premade molds. Those fancy truffles are the result of air-brushed melted chocolate.)

Irish Cream Ganache (yields 100 pieces)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Heavy cream

1/4 cup Glucose syrup

1-3/4 cups Dark chocolate

4 tsp. Butter

2 T Irish Cream

Premade chocolate molds – available at candy shops and online

Combine the heavy cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes.

Using a spatula, stir the mixture in small circles of the bowl until it emulsifies.

Stir the soft butter into the ganache until it’s incorporated. Add the liqueur, stirring until the mixture is homogeneous.

Pipe into premade chocolate molds. Chill

Behind Chocolate Bars

Double, Double-boil, and Trouble…

Best friends and business partners Michelle and Erica have a monstrous to-do list as they prepare for the annual West Riverdale Halloween Festival. Their shop, Chocolates and Chapters, will have a booth at the event, where Michelle will serve spooky delights while Erica displays an assortment of spine-chilling books. Thank goodness the teenagers from Erica’s comic-book club are chipping in to help. But one of their volunteers winds up in trouble after a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house—with the teen’s superhero key ring close by.

The teen swears he didn’t do it, but he’s obviously hiding something—leaving Michelle and Erica with a witch’s cauldron of questions. Soon they discover that the dead woman was tricking a whole bunch of people out of more than just treats. Now these two friends must go door-to-door if they hope to unmask a killer…

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR R.V. REYES

Raquel (R.V.) Reyes is a writer living in Miami. She interviews other Florida Authors on her blog, Cozy in Miami. Learn more about Raquel at her website. 

Rebellious Dollhouses

When I was young, my mother and grandmother were VERY into dollhouses. Of course, they each said their dollhouse was for me. And yes, I had the freedom to re-arrange the furniture and bendable porcelain dolls, but these dollhouses were like antique stores with petit-point oriental rugs and sterling silver tableware. By the time, I was a teenager I wanted nothing to do with miniatures. There would be no more glued together fingers for me. I was done assembling things. Think Ikea but with worse directions and microscopic screws.

Then I had my own child. She got a dollhouse all her own but the sturdier, play-scale kind. Plus, she got to play with “my” old dollhouse when visiting my mother. The tradition continued until my mother died of ovarian cancer. When I dissolved her estate, there was no place in my life for a six foot long dollhouse. We donated it to the local history museum but still my daughter was heart-broken.

After several years of mourning, I came out of my fog and suddenly my heart ached for a dollhouse. The Internet is a marvelous thing. I searched and found plenty of miniature shops online. The possibilities were limitless. I could build or buy it built. But, there was no room for a fifteen-room colonial in my little townhouse. The only display space I could clear up was on top of a waist-high bookshelf. And then an email arrived--- 2 for 1 townhouse kit special. Perfect! I bought them, one for me and one for my, now, teenaged daughter. We both instantly knew what we would do with our two-room townhouse kit. Neither of us wanted anything traditional. We wanted something fun and rebellious to match our personalities. She chose to make hers a Victorian curiosity parlor with jellyfish in jars, books about poisons, and animal skulls. I made mine a feminist cafe and bookstore.

You can see the process if you start at the beginning of my tumblr blog. Since then I’ve made a Kit Tea Café. 

Jeweler’s Mark

Gigi Santos, wedding ring designer and diamond appraiser, is looking forward to her ten-year high school reunion. She is trying to be a better, less gossipy person, but Lourdes, her BFF since forever, has not matured past teenage pettiness. Cover boy–handsome Detective Carlos Garcia comes into the picture to investigate a year-old burglary at Gigi’s jewelry business. They flirt, and sparks fly. Gigi is sure she will have him on her arm as her reunion date. That is, until her BFF becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the reunion's organizer. Gigi knows Lourdes is innocent and she is determined to prove it. When Gigi’s sleuthing puts her and the people she loves in danger, Detective Garcia tries to keep her out of harm’s way. But she wants a date, not a hero. Will Gigi and Carlos dance under the Miami moonlight? Or will fake diamond rings send them all to jail? Find out in the first of the Love and Diamonds mysteries.

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GRACIE ELLIOTT IS BACK IN A NEW MYSTERY

Today is the official release day for Literally Dead, the second book in author Lois Winston's Empty Nest Mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Gracie Elliott and her college professor husband Blake. The series was inspired by my love for the classic Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, but my take on the husband/wife duo employs a modern spin.

Gracie and Blake were first introduced in Definitely Dead. Gracie is a textile designer whose career has been outsourced to a Third World nation. She’s also lost her pension, and she’s desperate to find a new career that will not only prevent her and Blake from spending their retirement years living above an auto repair shop but allow her time to pen her future bestselling romances—not that she’s actually finished a book yet.

Fast-forward to Literally Dead, and Gracie has indeed completed her first contemporary romance. She’s even won a writing competition that awards her with attendance at a weekend writing conference in New York. The book opens with Gracie experiencing the ultimate fan girl moment as she enters the lobby of the hotel and finds it swarming with many of her favorite authors.

However, Gracie soon realizes she’s stepped into a romance vipers’ den of backstabbing, deceit, and plagiarism. Luckily, she finds a friend and mentor in bestselling author Paisley Prentiss.

Hours later, when Gracie discovers the body of Lovinia Darling, the Queen of Romance, in the hotel stairwell, she’s not convinced her death is an accident. Too many other authors had reason to want Lovinia dead. Ignoring Blake’s advice to “let the police handle it,” Gracie, aided by Paisley, begins her own investigation into the death and quickly discovers romance has never been so deadly.

Literally Dead is now available as both a paperback and an ebook.

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