FALL CELEBRATIONS: A CONTEST, AND GIVEAWAYS OF FREE BOOKS!

I’m writing this from DC, and across the street, leaves are beginning to turn. Gosh, do I ever love this time of year. The colors outside are jewel-toned. The days are less humid, and the nights are a cool temperature.

WIN A GOURMET AUTUMN CANDY BAR

Americans call this season “Fall” which is short for the “fall of leaves,” but Brits call it “Autumn.” Pumpkin-flavored everything is on the shelves, but only for a short while, as we enjoy the bounty of our harvest. A couple of weeks ago, in the Seattle airport, I sampled fabulous chocolate bars made by the Seattle Chocolate Company. My favorite was the Choc-o-Lantern, which had a subtle cinnamon and spice flavor. Yum! In fact, I’m going to send one of these to a lucky commenter, so don’t forget to leave a comment below. (I’ll pick someone on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at ten p.m. EST, and announce the winners in the comments under this blog post on Wednesday, Sept. 27.)

SHARING PLANT 'STARTS' 

Yesterday, I made vegetable soup in the slow cooker. Getting out the slow cooker is always a sign of cool weather. Another sign is the changing of floral displays. Mums are in season, and I really miss the mums I grew back at our house in St. Louis. If you pinch mums back all summer, they spread out into huge pillows of riotous color, pink, yellow, orange, magenta, and gold. I remember how my mother and her friends used to share plant stems, roots, and seeds with each other. Everybody's garden was a gift from a friend or a neighbor. Does anybody still do that today?

HEALTH BENEFITS OF THIS SEASON

Fall is terrific for cuddling up with a loved one. The journal Perception reported that men find women more attractive during the cooler months. Personally, I think it’s the pumpkin I dab behind my ears. LOL Babies born during the fall months are more likely to live to be 100, according to the Journal of Aging. That means that my husband will live to be a centenarian.

THE JOY OF FARMERS' MARKETS

Did you know that apples in the grocery store can be as old as 12 months? HGTV Magazine says so. If you get the chance to buy apples from a farmer’s market, you’re in for a treat. The flavor is entirely different with all sorts of subtle hints. My husband and I love to go to the Vienna, Virginia, farmer’s market on Saturdays. Each visit I buy a bouquet of flowers: zinnia, cockscomb, marigolds, and asters. They last for at least a week, looking perky in their Mason jar. The apples I get there are fabulous.

HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE FALL?

How do you celebrate Fall? Remember, I’ll choose one lucky person on Monday, Sept. 25, and send that person a Seattle Chocolate Company candy bar!

GRAB THESE KIKI BOOKS AT A DISCOUNT

I’m feeling particularly thankful this fall. I just re-released Make, Take, Murder: Book #5 , the 6^th book in my Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series, and Amazon responded by creating a series page. That means it’s now easier than ever for people to read my books in order. Hurrah! I’m reaping the harvest for my efforts. This Wednesday and Thursday only, Ready, Snap, Shoot: Book #6 will be available for only 99 cents. So, mark your calendars and check Amazon.com on Wed. and Thurs. (27 and 28 of September).

GET MAKE, TAKE, MURDER FOR LESS THAN A BUCK

Make, Take, Murder  is 99 cents today (Sunday) because I'm running behind putting in the price change and it usually takes 24 hours for Amazon to make an adjustment. So if you don't have it, grab your copy now!

LOAD YOUR E-READER WITH THESE GREAT FREE READS

I'm one of 33 authors who are giving away books in a special Mystery Giveaway Promotion that started yesterday and runs through September 30. All you have to do is go to the link and load up on the books you want to read. How cool is that?

  https://books.bookfunnel.com/free_mystery_thriller/qp3np827nk

COMMENTS?

Will you take advantage of this offer to find a new favorite author? Are you celebrating the season? Have you ever traded "starts" of plants with friends? Have you read Make, Take, Murder? Are leaves changing where you live? Let's get this party started!

The Winners--and Another Contest

Last week I offered to give away six copies of Make, Take, Murder to six lucky blog commenters. To choose the winners, I used a random number generator.

Here they are: Sharon M Dru Judy C Sarita Colleen SarahA Please send me your postal addresses (email me at JoannaSlan@aol.com) and I'll pop the books in the mail to you. If the spirit moves you, I'd love to have you post a review.

Do reviews help readers decide which books to buy? I don't know. Usually I read the book reviews in the newspapers and online, but I don't know that the reviewers' opinion matters as much as the information about the book. I think that Make, Take, Murder is my best effort so far. In fact, I'm having a hard time turning loose of Ink, Red, Dead because Make, Take, Murder hit a high-water mark in the series--and I want every book to be better than the last.

As many of you know, I try to include topical themes in my books. Make, Take, Murder involves domestic violence, but it also traces the roots of an abusive relationship. Kiki's daughter Anya and her friend Nicci are hanging around at the mall, when they bump into an older boy. Anya has a crush on this guy. He knows it. To impress his friends, he teases Anya and says something inappropriate and demeaning. I won't tell you how it ends, because that would spoil it for you, but Anya learns not to tolerate such disrespect.

In Ink, Red, Dead, I tackle the relationship between parent and child. How can we honor our mother and father when they are no longer logical or lucid? What do we owe an aging parent? How do we balance being responsible caregivers and taking care of our own needs? It's a tough series of questions, so my writing time REQUIRES a lot of long walks on the beach. Yep, that's my thinking time, the solitary moments when I wonder how each of my characters will deal with the challenges I've given her. I also ponder how I can make the situations realistic without tipping into melodrama.

CONTEST

Make, Take, Murder is the PERFECT beach read. You can win your own copy--plus a "Beach in a Bag"--by guessing where I was when I took the picture at the top of this post. If no one gets it right, or if multiple people get it right, I'll go back to the randomizer and pull a winner. So...dear readers, where was I when I snapped that photo? What is a "Beach in a Bag"?

 I'll show you next week.

Win a Copy of Make, Take, Murder

Although the official release date is May 1, I already have preview copies of the newest Kiki Lowenstein Mystery--Make, Take, Murder.

Even better the book already has its first Amazon review. The reader gave it 5 stars and said, "The mystery was wonderful."

Kirkus Reviews has said, " Kiki’s adventures (Photo, Snap, Shot, 2010, etc.) are a cut above the usual crafting cozies...the characters are so well-developed that each installment leaves the reader yearning for the next."

And Library Journal writes, "VERDICT--This author’s craft mysteries are topically relevant and chock-full of side stories." But I'd love to hear what YOU think.

So I have six copies of Make, Take, Murder to give away. All I ask is that if you like it, please consider writing and posting a review. How can you win? Comment! I'll randomize the comments and pull six winners.

Wondering if it's your cup of tea? Here's the back cover copy:

Dumpster diving for her lost paycheck is definitely the low point of Kiki Lowenstein's day--that is, until she finds a severed leg thrown in with the trash. Who'd toss a body part in the garbage outside the scrapbook crafts store where Kiki works?

Accompanying the grisly "gift" is a creepy computerized voice message, a warning to the store's "rich and snotty" female shoppers. Kiki soon discovers that the leg belonged to Cindy Gambrowski, a customer with a tyrannical and violent husband--who's now harassing Kiki. Combing through Cindys' scrapbook projects for hidden clues, Kiki tries to find the killer. Was it a crime of marital malice, or did someone else beat Cindy's husband to the punch?

What's Next for Kiki Lowenstein

I've been thinking ahead about Kiki and her life. I told my editor I'd planned out the next two books, and she seemed a little surprised.

Now that the galleys for Make, Take, Murder are off my desk and in the capable hands of the final proofreading team, I'm back to working on Book #5--Ink, Red, Dead. For me that means cranking out 2,000 words a day. For some that might seem like a lot. For others, too little. But for me, that's about right. I have a day-by-day outline that I'm working from, so that's my roadmap.

Along the way, I work out the glitches that inevitably come. The "how do I get so-and-so in position to do such-and-such" sort of stuff. The set up, the payoff, and the clues.

Years ago, a famous author was visiting at the St. Louis Public Library. I went to hear said author, since I am a fan of that person's work. During the question and answer portion, I held up my hand. "How do you work in your clues? As you go or do you go back and revise to put them in?"

Famous author stared at me as if I were a very big palmetto bug. (Cockroach for the non-Floridians!) "Only amateurs worry about clues," said Famous Author.

What a put down! I wanted to slink under the chair and disappear.

I personally try to work the clues in along the way. I think it makes the book read more smoothly. Of course, I will still need to go back and revise. I start each day by revising the work from the day before. That helps me keep the voice and the rhythm going.

Today while I walked the beach--that's my path to the beach in the photo above--I realized some minor point that I have to fix in the big climax. Minor? Hmm. I've come to think that anything I can do to produce a better book isn't minor. It's my job.

By the way, I bet most of my author friends have an activity that helps them think through problems. Maybe my blog sisters will share what techniques work for them....

Love Shouldn't Have to Hurt--Fighting Domestic Violence One Book at a Time

I've been working on the galleys of the fourth book in the Kiki Lowenstein series--Make, Take, Murder. The theme of this book is domestic abuse. I drew on a situation I heard about when I lived in Illinois. A prominent man was abusing his wife, and because the town was small, other professionals helped keep that dirty little secret. Eventually, the woman started shoplifting. I believe it was a way to call attention to herself and embarrass her husband.

I don't know whatever finally happened. I hope someone helped her. I hope that someone reached out to her.

With that as the starting point for this book, I really wanted my efforts to make a difference. One in every three women in our country will be the victim of domestic abuse in her lifetime. Battering is the major cause of injury to women ages fourteen to forty-five.

There are many good women's shelters in this country, but I have long made donations to Lydia's House. Friday, after working all day on Make, Take, Murder, I sent them a check for $500. More will come as the book is published and I make some royalties. When I talked to one of the staff at Lydia's House, I acknowledged that $500 isn't a lot of money. She told me, "The fact you are calling attention to the problem, and to our organization is worth more than you know."

I sure hope so.