GUEST AUTHOR MARGO BOND COLLINS ON RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE

photo by Peter van der Sluijs

Multi-published author Margo Bond Collins teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters. Learn more about Margo and her books at her website and blog.

Running for Your Life

A few years ago, I started running as part of my exercise routine. I don’t really like it, exactly. I’m not especially good at it. I tend to be better at the stretchier kinds of exercise—yoga and such. But I’ve discovered that running is kind of addictive. I like the meditative state I can reach when I finally hit my stride, and the way that running gives me time to let my body do its thing while I spend some quality time up in my head. Many of my plot problems get worked out when I’m running. So it’s perhaps not surprising that Elle, the heroine of my latest release, Legally Undead, would also take up running.  In her case, though, she is literally running for her life:

Graduate courses in history don’t prepare one for running away from a vampire. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to the gym. “Out of shape” was an understatement. He caught up with me easily, just as I reached the corner of the nearest building. I felt his hand brush the back of my neck, felt his fingernails--claws? something sharp--dig into the top of my back.

With a final burst of speed I didn’t know I had in me, I rounded the corner into a pool of light. And ran smack into a man walking out the door.

I think “bowled him over” might be an accurate description. He’d been carrying a stack of books, and they went flying everywhere as he and I went down. I think I skidded across him and rolled to a stop--I know I ended up flat on my back on the concrete apron in front of the door, staring up at the sky, just in time to see Greg do some complicated flip over me.

And like many of us who come to running out of a desire to live a longer, healthier life, she overdoes it a bit at first, and has to come to terms with the fact that becoming a real runner takes time—especially for people who begin life as exercise-phobes:

I turned over, ready to spring out of bed, and instead rolled up into a groaning ball. I hurt all over. Every single muscle. My arms felt like they’d been pulled halfway out of their sockets. My neck was stiff, my calves felt like they were contracting up into my stomach somewhere. The sheets scraped against my battered knees like sandpaper.

From now on, I vowed, I was going to hit the gym every single day. If I was really going to continue to live, I needed to be able to get away from vampires that attacked me, and that meant being able to move. Quickly. And reliably. If I couldn’t trust my body not to go into the fetal position when I tried to move it, I wouldn’t survive long.

Although she doesn’t keep her vow to go to the gym every single day, she does manage to survive—even if she has to keep running longer than she ever anticipated!

So what do other exercise-phobes do to overcome a reluctance to hit the gym (or the track)?

Legally Undead

A reluctant vampire hunter, stalking New York City as only a scorned bride can.

Elle Dupree has her life all figured out: first a wedding, then her Ph.D., then swank faculty parties where she’ll serve wine and cheese and introduce people to her husband the lawyer.

But those plans disintegrate when she walks in on a vampire draining the blood from her fiancé Greg. Horrified, she screams and runs--not away from the vampire, but toward it, brandishing a wooden letter opener.

As she slams the improvised stake into the vampire’s heart, a team of black-clad men bursts into the apartment. Turning around to face them, Elle discovers that Greg’s body is gone—and her perfect life falls apart.

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GUEST AUTHOR CLEA SIMON ON THE CARE AND FEEDING OF CATS

Clea Simon is the author of fifteen mysteries in three series, two of which – the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries and the Pru Marlowe pet noir – are ongoing. Her most recent books are Grey Howl, the seventh Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery, and Panthers Play for Keeps, the fourth Pru Marlowe pet noir. Learn more about Clea and her books at her website. 

Hi folks!

I’m thrilled to be a guest on Killer Crafts and Cozies, but I’m afraid I’ve got a problem. You see, I write what are nominally cozies – the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries certainly are, although my Pru Marlowe pet noir mysteries have a bit more edge – but they contain neither crafts nor recipes. Don’t get me wrong, my characters like to eat (well, Dulcie does – Pru prefers to drink). And they all have special skills: Dulcie is a graduate student, so she’s an ace at any research you would like her to do, particularly if it involves a late 18^th Century manuscript. And Pru is great with animals – though the fact that she can understand what they are thinking, how they see the world, does give her an unfair advantage. But neither of my heroines are handy with a needle and thread or shears or trowel, nor do they share recipes.

What both Dulcie and Pru share is a love for the animals in their lives, particularly their cats. And so it seemed like maybe I could put that to use – maybe craft a cat toy for my own Musetta, one my fictional feline companions (Dulcie’s rambunctious tuxedo cat Esmé and Pru’s curmudgeonly tabby Wallis) would also enjoy.

I’d like to say that I got out my scrap bag and sewing kit. That I whipped together a little mouse-shaped figurine, stuffed it with catnip, and let the hijinks begin. Only it didn’t work that way. For starters, for reasons I can no longer remember, it seems I have been hoarding ribbon as well as cloth in the scrap bag, and between that and the loose threads, the bag was such a tangled mess that I barely managed to extract one decent-sized piece of denim before shoving the rest of the mess to one side of the kitchen table. Then I discovered that someone – I’m not saying who – appears to have chewed through a corner of the bag of high-test organic catnip that my gardener friend Tinuviel sent me from her yard in Maine, leaving me with less than a tablespoon of the herb. Potent or not, that’s not enough to stuff a mouse. Also, new glasses or not, threading a needle has gotten harder with time. Wasn’t the point of aging that my horrible nearsightedness would finally be countered by farsightedness? Isn’t it unfair that now I have both?

Anyway, I finally got the needle threaded when I realized that the tangled glob of scraps and ribbon had disappeared. And when I ducked down to see where it had fallen, I lost the needle. Had to be on the table, still, right? So I started looking  – maybe it got into the remaining scraps – when I see a paw, white, fuzzy, reaching up. Reaching around. And soon enough, the catnip bag – chewed but still fragrant – disappeared, too.  First things first: I found the needle, buried safely in that one remaining scrap of denim. Only by then, the thread had pulled out. Luckily for me, by this point, Musetta had abandoned the tangled ribbons – as a responsible pet person, I know how much havoc ribbons can cause when eaten – and was busy disemboweling the catnip bag with her rabbit-like hind feet. And it hit me: I don’t need to make a toy to entertain the cat. I’m her toy, and all my crafts attempts are merely games.

Sometimes, the best skill to learn is when you’ve been mastered.

Panthers Play for Keeps--A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir

When Pru Marlowe takes a dog for a walk, she doesn’t expect to find a body. But Spot, a service dog in training, has too good a nose not to lead her to the remains of the beautiful young woman, and despite her own best instincts, Pru can’t avoid getting involved. The young woman seems to have been mauled by a wild cat – and Pru knows there have been no pumas in the Berkshire woods for years. And while Wallis, Pru's curmudgeonly tabby, seems fixated on the idea of a killer cat, Spot has been sending strange signals to Pru’s own heightened senses, suggesting that the violent death was something more than a tragic accident. As motives multiply, a cougar of a different sort sets her eyes on Pru’s sometime lover, and another woman disappears. With panther panic growing, Pru may have to put aside her own issues – and her own ideas of domesticity – to solve a savage mystery.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR HEATHER HIESTAND COOKS A PORK STIR FRY

Heather Hiestand wrote her first story at age seven and went on to major in creative writing. Her first published fiction was a mystery short story, but since then it has been all about the many flavors of romance. Learn more about Heather at her website and blog. 

I love to cook and bake. My Redcakes series has a reputation as a “foodie” romance series, but when it came to writing the third book, I had to dig a little deeper. Why? Because this is my hero who is done with Redcake’s Tea Shop, which is where the first two books are set! Gawain Redcake served in the British army in India, but is forced home when he is injured during battle. His father gives him a job in the accounting department so he can learn the family businesses – he’s the only surviving son of the family after all – but he hates it. Gawain is a man who wants to make his own way in the world. Of all my Redcakes books, this is the one that couldn’t be about the cake. Now cake is pretty personal to me, so I had to think about what other foods have such resonance.

I learned some of the basics of Indian cuisine when I became friends in high school with a family who had moved to the United States from Pakistan. That’s when my love of curries, flatbread and fabulous vegetable dishes was born. Today I’m sharing with you an easy curry recipe. Once you mastered the basics of this fabulous dish, please look online or in cookbooks for a huge variety of curry dishes. Read the recipes carefully. Curry can be a quick-to-make dish or very time consuming.

Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb pork tenderloin cut into paper-thin slices

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 yellow onion thinly sliced

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 lb trimmed green beans

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt to taste

Shredded Parmesan cheese to taste

Crispy onions (such as Fresh Gourmet brand)

Preheat oven at 425 degrees

After slicing the pork, rub it with the vinegar, salt and turmeric. Heat oil in a large pan and fry the onion and ginger until softened. Add the cayenne and the pork. Stir fry about 15 minutes until the pork  is tender and cooked through.

Toss your green beans with olive oil, garlic and salt, then place in a roasting pan on parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes, then top with parmesan cheese and crispy onions to taste. Serve immediately for best flavor!

You are probably wondering why Indian food would become so important in His Wicked Smile. Gawain loves it, for one reason, because he served in India during his army days, but also, it’s because I’m dragging Gawain away from the aristocratic bride he so desires and am unleashing an entirely new type of love interest for him.

Enter widowed, half-Indian Ann Haldene, a provincial innkeeper and trained healer whose mother was once an Indian queen. She and Gawain meet when she serves him an expertly prepared meal at her inn. She offers to massage his battle-damaged body, a service she is trained for as part of her healing arts, but neither of them is prepared for the erotically charged results. Or the baby that comes nine months later.

Ann is many things. A woman who loved her murdered husband, a woman who lost a baby, a talented, lonely person in her twenties who craves sensual contact. She’s also a gifted cook, and one thing the Redcakes can appreciate is good food. While Ann considers herself almost entirely British, the food of her childhood and her mother’s kitchen connects her to the exotic past she has no memory of.

Whether you read His Wicked Smile as a standalone or as part of the larger Redcakes series, I hope you enjoy Gawain’s journey to love with my feisty Ann!

His Wicked Smile

Some temptations are impossible to resist, even for a bakery heir…

Ann Haldene is the most beautiful woman Gawain Redcake has ever seen. A gifted healer who soothes his battle-scarred body like never before, the widow’s touch has a powerful effect on him. It’s no wonder the rugged Redcake heir forgets his quest for a society bride during one passionate night in Ann’s arms. But once he learns she is pregnant with his child, he searches for her, intent on giving her his name, if not his heart….

Ann is shocked by Gawain’s proposal, mostly because he has not uttered a word of love. For the sake of their baby, she accepts, even knowing that Gawain dreamed of marrying to secure a title and all she has is a severed royal Indian bloodline. Now the new bride faces her greatest challenge: showing her husband that their union is more powerful than pedigree—and love is the ultimate reward….

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR AND SEAMSTRESS QWILLIA RAIN

Qwillia Rain wrote her first romance in middle school and hasn’t looked back. Learn more about Qwillia at her blog/website.

Costuming with Qwillia Rain

The old adage: “Write what you know” never really appealed to me because there’s so much you can actually learn without have to “experience” it first. For the most part, though, writing what I knew was what I did when I penned my romantic suspense novel, In A Lover’s Silence. The main character, Wynne Smith, works in Anchorage, Alaska as a bill collector, yet she also works part-time in the costume shop of the theatre department at the university she attends. These are key elements to the beginning and conflict in the book.

To Wynne, the search for a serial killer begins and ends with a pattern. Much like mysteries, sewing is all about patterns and putting the pieces together. The part of costuming for Wynne is the alterations she often has to make to get the costume to fit the actor wearing it. In that same manner, she steps outside the box (and goes against direct instructions) to find alternate avenues to identify the killer

In her world, one size doesn’t fit all, and even if the size of the pattern matches the size an actor wears, it doesn’t mean that particular pattern won’t need adjustments. Beyond the sewing aspect, Wynne’s connection to the actors, students, and the university itself, figure into the investigation. Thus, allowing the reader to experience Anchorage in ways many tourists do not.

It’s ironic (or maybe not) that I formerly learned how to sew (gotta love home economics classes) around the same time I first began writing romance novels – I was 12. I’ve come a long way from my first attempts – both sewing and writing – and I’ve even added to my sewing résumé – purses and totes. Again, it’s all about the patterns.

One day, Wynne and her sexy Deputy US Marshal may return (my mother still hasn’t forgiven me for the ending), but for now, Wynne’s story can be found exclusively at Amazon.

In A Lover’s Silence

Alaskan bill-collector Wynne Smith has a problem. Actually, she has two. The first is sexy, six-foot, Deputy US Marshal, Seth Vassar, fresh off the plane from Dallas, Texas and looking for answers to a five-year-old murder investigation. The by-the-book marshal doesn't take no for an answer any more than Wynne likes to let a puzzle go unsolved.

Which leads to her second problem. A serial killer intent on making Wynne pay for destroying his next work of art.

Now Wynne has to guard her heart against a man she knows is going to leave her while she tries to keep one step ahead of a maniac.

In a game this deadly, her only hope lies In A Lover's Silence.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR RAYNE E. GOLAY

Today we welcome back mainstream and literary author Rayne E. Golay for a game of 20 Questions. Learn more about Rayne and her books at her website and blog.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

During the Finno-Russian war when I was a little kid, we suffered shortage of most everything. Books were a luxury. We had the Bible and a couple of books my grandparents and my mother took turns reading. There were also two or three child-appropriate picture books my mother read to me so often that I knew them by heart. As a little girl, I came to understand the difference between the spoken and written word. This together with the book shortage, instilled in me the urge to write so nobody would have to go without books. The urge to write novels came after I read Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. It was a kind of ah-ha moment: I can write books like that.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

Much, much too long. While The Wooden Chair, my first novel, made the rounds of agents, I self-published Life is a Foreign Language. It took a while before The Wooden Chair found a publisher.

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Hybrid (see above.)

Where do you write?

At home at my desk. From time to time, weather permitting, I move to the lanai and write by the pool.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

My motto is: “Silence, genius at work.” Even soft Baroque music distracts me.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

My twenty-five years as addictions counselor are a treasure trove for characters and storylines. The protagonist, Leini, in The Wooden Chair is a composite of two women I counseled. I like to situate my stories in places I know with some alterations to suit the time and the characters. My own life is private, but I use my experiences. As I love to describe my surroundings, I often use a camera to take a shot of a flower, a tree, a waterway. Some of these find their way into my stories when I describe a landscape or set the mood for a scene.

Describe your process for naming your character?

An interesting question. I don’t know that I have a process, per se, but names are important. In Life is a Foreign Language, my male protagonist is Michael because to me the name evokes a masculine, sexy man. The female protagonist is Nina; she’s French, and the name is easy to type.

In The Wooden Chair I never struggled with the names; Leini named herself, it seems. When she meets the man she’ll marry, he introduces himself to her as “Arnaud William Gardet, Bill for short.” Here, again, the name just “happened.”

When I was outlining my WIP, my late husband so liked the story, he named every character, and I haven’t seen a reason to change any of them.

Real settings or fictional towns?

Real settings, places familiar to me.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

In The Wooden Chair, Leini twines a lock of her hair when she’s in thought or upset, not very quirky, but characteristic of her. Her mother Mira chain smokes. In Life is a Foreign Language, Nina tends to tear up a lot, which isn’t very quirky either.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Me? I always fiddle with something like a small piece of paper or a little twig. My fingers are never still.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Without a doubt Pat Conroy’s Beach Music. For the psychotherapist that I am, the characters are wonderfully complex, dysfunctional and unpredictable. The relationship between father and daughter is beautiful. The settings both in Rome and the States are so vivid they jump off the pages.

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

Everyone? I can’t think of a single thing I wish I could do over. I’ve had a remarkably rich and varied life, really beyond my wildest dreams.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Two peeves: child abusers, and people who are disrespectful, judgmental of others.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

My husband, lots of drinking water, and books, books, books.

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

In my late teens, I had a summer job in a travel agency as a ticketing clerk. In those days, tickets were written by hand. It was a dumb way to spend a summer, being bawled out for mistakes of which I made a lot, and the pay was ridiculously paltry.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

This is a difficult one. There are so many I’d call the best book. It’s something that changes with age and experience and expectations. A book I really love, that moves me, is Herman Wouk’s The Language God Talks. Despite it’s title, it’s more about philosophy and science than religion. Abreast with this one is The Lawgiver, also by Herman Wouk, about his failed attempts to write the story of Moses. 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean!

City girl or country girl?

A bit of both.

What’s on the horizon for you?

A trip north to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 100^th birthday! Very exciting. After that, three weeks in Geneva, Switzerland, to visit my children, and to Finland to see my brother, his family and my two wonderful cousins. I’ll also attend Public Safety Writers Association’s conference in Las Vegas this summer. A cruise later in the year. Among all this coming and going, I’ll write, of course. It’s such a given part of my daily life, I don’t always think of mentioning that I write.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

The Wooden Chair will be published as trade paper back later this summer, for which I’m very happy and look forward to marketing in a different way than I’ve done with the e-book version. My WIP is soon getting ready for my publisher to look at.

The Wooden Chair

Throughout her childhood and teenage years, Leini suffers both physical and emotional abuse from her mother, Mira. Set in Finland during the Finno-Russian war, the story starts in 1942 when Leini is only 4 years old. With time, Mira’s abuse of Leini turns to neglect and emotional abuse, manipulating her young daughter to have surgery to correct a lazy eye. Leini undergoes the operation, much against her will. The procedure fails with dramatic consequences for Leini.

Years later, married to a wonderful man, Bill, a mother herself, Leini is determined to break the pattern of abuse with her own children. With the help of a psychiatrist, Leini works with determination to heal from the abuse and leave the past behind. She struggles through past painful memories to grow into a nurturing and loving parent and wife, a successful professional. Her victory would be complete if she could forgive Mira. Will she be able to reach that point?

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TRAVEL TO THE BAHAMAS WITH GUEST AUTHOR LILY BISHOP

Lily Bishop writes romances about strong, smart women and the men who love them. She has been writing since she first learned to type on a Royal manual typewriter, and she hasn’t stopped. Her first novel, No Strings Attached, was released last May. She hopes to release the second in the series, Under His Protection, in July. Learn more about Lily and her books at her blog. 

Traveling to the Bahamas

In the past few years, my family and I have been fortunate enough to travel to the Bahamas and several other islands in the Caribbean. The Bahamas is an island nation composed of over 700 islands. I’m primarily going to talk about Nassau. If you take a Caribbean cruise, Nassau is a favorite stop for many of the cruise lines. In addition, located just across a bridge, Paradise Island is the home to Atlantis, a resort known for its water parks and lazy river.

I’d like to tell you about Nassau through pictures.

Cruise Ship Stops

On the cruise ship, we chose to not pay for the Atlantis excursion that would give you access to the water park. Instead, we rode a water taxi to the island, walked around the straw market, and walked through the casino and public areas of Atlantis.

If you are on a cruise, tired of being cooped up on the ship, and want to do something fun with your kids, you may want to consider paying for the Atlantis add-on. The water parks are top-notch. Not only are the water features and rides, fun, the resort water park is designed like Aztek ruins, and the whole operation was very classy.  

If you are more interested in historic Nassau, most cruise ships offer add-on tours of the area. For example, Carnival offers an excursion providing a tour of the area for $50.  This includes such stops as the straw market, Fort Charlotte, Robert “Bob” Marley resort, and the Buena Vista Estate, home of the John Watlings Distillery. 

Atlantis Resort

Having visited the Bahamas on a cruise, I was skeptical when friends of ours wanted to spend an entire week at Atlantis. The Atlantis resort offers many things to make a stay there more affordable, including airfare credits, dining plans, and roomy and spacious rooms. We had a king-sized bed with two rollaway beds for our kids and still had space.

It was a great week. The resort was fun, and the resort fees included the water park and free movies at night. The casino also had live entertainment in the evenings.

The lazy river (at top of blog) snakes around the resort. The lazy river has rapids in it, and it was fun. You could ride it in a double tube or single, but don’t forget to apply the waterproof sunscreen, especially to the top of your feet. Floating around for an hour-and-a-half can result in a serious sunburn, as I found out. There are also areas for all age kids, including a wet and wild play fort.

In addition to the water park, my husband played golf, and we enjoyed walks around the marina to watch the large yachts docked there. There are many sea habitats, and an aquarium designed to look like the ruins of Atlantis. (insert Atlantis man picture here)

We did not stay in the famous “bridge suite”, which some report is worth $25,000 a night. For a look at what you can get for $25k a night, you can take a virtual tour here. Yes, the bridge suite is in the bridge connecting the two towers. 

If you need a babysitter or just want an adult night out, the resort sponsors supervised kid activities for an add-on fee. Other activities include interacting with dolphins, sea lions, and stingrays, and snorkeling.

If you are tired of the resort, many local cabdrivers will provide you with a narrated tour of Nassau or you can contract with a local tour company. You can also take boat tours to some of the nearby islands to see some of the other sights.

I found Nassau to be one of the friendlier islands that we toured. At the Atlantis, we actually hired one of the waiters to take us around the island in his van. He was very knowledgeable, and we received an inexpensive tour. The week we were there, the Barefoot Bandit was being arraigned in court, and we saw some of the photographers camped out for that. We did not, however, see the actual Barefoot Bandit.

Inspiration

Walking along Atlantis’ marina gave me the inspiration for many of the scenes in my novel set on a yacht. I spent a lot of time imagining what it would be like to be out in a ship that small in the open ocean. I’ve been on the big cruise ships, and I’ve been in smaller boats closer to short, but never a small vessel in the open ocean. It was neat to see how some of the “other half” live. At the time, my son was nine, and he became enthralled with the ships, promising me one day that he will have a yacht like that. I just smiled and said he would have to let me ride in it.

No Strings Attached

Laura Todd attends a conference in Las Vegas and meets Fox Thornton, a consultant to the hotel industry. Far away from her normally quiet life, Laura is swept away by her strong attraction for Fox. They both know the score, and neither expects to see the other again. After their hot weekend, circumstances bring them back together in Miami, where Fox is investigating a suspected embezzlement and Laura is the prime suspect. Can their brief romance rekindle in the real world, where suspicions and misunderstandings lurk behind every corner? Will their no-strings-attached affair evolve into a strong relationship, or is it destined to stay in Vegas?

Currently, No Strings Attached is on sale for 99 cents through the end of June.

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DECORATING WITH JEANIE--PAINTING TIP

photo by Yocto

Are you planning a bit of painting this summer? Many of us who weathered the recent horrendous winter and waterlogged spring are about to grab paint cans and paintbrushes to touch up exterior sections of our homes that took hits during the last few months. Or you might be tackling your entire house. For me, it’s my front porch, steps, and back deck. Others will be devoting time to a bit of freshening up interior walls with new coats of paint.

If you’ll be joining me in the paint bucket brigade, here’s a handy tip to avoid paint drips running down your brush and onto your hands when you need to hold your brush in a vertical position:

Cut a small slit in the plastic lid from a can of coffee. Poke the paintbrush handle through the slit. The plastic lid will catch those drips and keep your hands clean.