New Cover

Here's the new cover for Privy to Murder. It will be out this month and I love the cover and model. I also created a fan page on Facebook. Haven't managed to create a like button yet but will figure it out. In the meantime, go to
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Privy-to-Murder-by-Carol-Shenold/301713779887800

Like us please

Playing on the White Strings

Last summer I attended a harp workshop. In addition to listening to, and playing lovely harp music, the workshop took place in the middle of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. While I listened to and played all kinds of Celtic music, anywhere I looked, was a mountain to watch, paint, photograph or just enjoy.

One exercise I learned in the harp group involved playing on the white strings only. You see, on a harp there are red strings, blue ones and the white. I discovered this: if everyone in the room plays on the white strings only, no matter what they played, every tune harmonized with the other. Wow. How fun is that?

Of course, after a while, you realize this is not something you want to do all the time. Why? Because there are no longer any surprises. Where are the contrast, unexpected notes, and conflict?

I’m guilty of doing that in my writing. Sticking only to the known and not ever branching out to the unknown with your writing is like playing on the white strings. It’s fun for a while, but pretty soon you may feel as if you are missing something. It’s time to try the colored strings, even if it is intimidating, and you’re afraid of failure.

If you write romances, branch out to mysteries. If you write nonfiction, why not write a short story? Poets, creative nonfiction might be the perfect genre for you. Never get stuck in a rut, try the new scary thing. What if you fail? You learn and stretch and go on to other things.

Come on, get off those white strings, and take a risk.

Don't Give Up!

Don't give up. Writing is hard and takes concentration. I've been letting life get in the way of my writing and my concentration. Time to get things under control.

Some things on my list include:

Finish the galleys for "Privy to Murder" re-release in print. Yay (Anxious to see the new cover.)

Read my BFF's WIP, can't wait.

Promo etc (Not my fave but necessary or none of my peeps will know what's up.

Then for me, paint and play music because I need to do that.

Anyone with great promo tips? Feel freee to share. Comments and tips will put you in the running for a print copy of the new "Privy to Murder."

Onward and Onward and Prize!

I'm doing new things and setting new writing goals.

First news, Dan Case, from AWOC publishing is acquiring "Privy to Murder." It will have a brand new cover for it's re-release. Can't wait. It will be available as an e-book on Kindle and Nook and as a soft cover print book from AWOC Books.com.

So I'm revising and editing Privy once more.

Then I'm going to rev-up the revisions for "Fairy Dust" so I can send it to Carina.

After that I'll attack Museums are Murder, see what sales are with Privy and Edit "Bloody Murder" for re-issue.

In September I'll be going to a Celtic Festival in Colorado for a Harp class, should be so fun, girl friends too-wine and gossip and cool weather. What an idea.

I'll keep you posted. In honor of the re-issue, one commenter will win an electronic copy of the original "Privy to Murder."

News and Views

All kinds of things going on here.

I have the rights back for my Tali Books and Fairy Dust.
Doing a re-write on Fairy Dust and submitting it to a new publisher.
Have a short fantasy running around in my head.
Working on a new Tali Cates short mystery.
Deciding what to do with the novel length Tali Cates books. Kindle? Look for another publisher? Do I need to make them sexier or beef up the romance??

Lay-off potentials making me evaluate whether or not I could stay home, write, fit in some nonfiction since that is where the money comes from at the moment.

Even just a part-time job would let me write more. Everything always comes down to finances. Have to pay bills.

So, I'll keep you posted. How do you handle major career-life changes? They stress me out. I like the familier but maybe it's time for me to take a leap.

New for Tali, Mail Drop

Sara Sain John and I share a table.

AH, a victim (customer.)

Good news! I'm starting a new Tali Cates mystery, "Murder Most Fowl."
I will keep you posted when it's done and where to get it. This one will be shorter, 20 to 30,000 words. I love writing short and tight.

It deals with Murder of course, both the fowl and human kind. Should be fun. Wolves in north Texas.

I attended a book signing last Saturday. (See pictures above. Sara Saint James and I shared a table. Then we had lunch with other writing friends and had good food as well as wonderful conversation. Leaving the restaurant for 106 degree weather was not as fun. Couldn't touch the steering wheel or car door.

Mystery Blog Tour- Anne K. Albert

Introducing Anne K Albert and her yummy looking mystery.

Bio: Anne K. Albert has taught high school art, sold display advertising for a small town weekly newspaper, and worked for a national brand water company, but now writes full time.

A member of the Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and married to her high school sweetheart for more than a quarter of a century, it's a given she'd write mystery and romantic suspense.

When not in her home office, she enjoys traveling, visiting friends and family, knitting, crocheting, and of course, reading.

Carol - What are your favorite books to read?

Anne - The same kind I like to write - cozy or gentle mysteries and romantic suspense stories. I can’t resist a puzzle to solve, a handsome hero, spunky heroine, and a happily-ever-after. It’s also very important to me that the villain gets his comeuppance in the end. Plus, I prefer that all morbid details, harsh language, and intimacy to be ‘off stage’. For that reason you won’t find any of those in my stories.

Carol - What did you hope to accomplish with your books?

Anne – All I’ve ever wanted to do is entertain the reader. If I can provide a fast paced story, bring a tear to their eye and a smile to their face, well, that’s all the better!

Carol –How would you describe your books to someone who has not read any of your previous novels? Anne - My stories chill the spine, warm the heart and soothe the soul – all with a delightful touch of humor.

Carol - Tell us about your book.

Anne – FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL is set the week before Christmas when the stress of the holidays is enough to frazzle anyone’s nerves. Tensions increase when a close friend begs Muriel to team up with a sexy private investigator to find a missing woman. Forced to deal with an embezzler, kidnapper, and femme fatale is bad enough, but add Muriel’s zany yet loveable family to the mix and their desire to win the D-DAY (Death Defying Act of the Year) Award, and the situation can only get worse.

Here’s an excerpt:

My cell phone blared from the confines of my purse. I dug to retrieve it, and then picked up. “Hello?”
“Muriel,” Aunt Val said. “Come home. Quick. I think I accidentally killed someone.”
“What do you mean ‘accidentally’?” Frankie accelerated, steering the Envoy into the outside lane of highway 290 and zooming past everything in sight. Including a police cruiser.
“How should I know?” I said. “Val hung up before I could ask for specifics.”
“She’s at your house?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
I checked the rearview mirror for flashing lights. “Slow down. You’ll get a ticket.”
“You’re more worried about a traffic violation than the fact you’re aunt just killed somebody?”
“She thinks she killed someone. Big difference.”
“Right.”
Ten minutes later, we arrived in my driveway. The Christmas lights I’d put up that morning stretched the full length of the front of the house and twinkled on the snow-covered shrubbery with wild abandon. I might have been impressed with my handiwork if not for Val and Big Boy standing guard beside the garage. In the shadows, I saw a body at their feet.
I climbed out of the Envoy and dashed to their assistance. Problem was I had no idea what to do. Dead bodies were new to me. As were missing persons, kidnappers and ransom demands. But I was learning. Fast.
“Are you okay?” I asked, as Frankie joined me.
“I’m fine.” Reigning Big Boy in by his collar, Val toed the body that lay face down in the snow. “Don’t know about him, though.”
“What happened?”
“I took Big Boy out for his evening constitutional. Got as far as your driveway, noticed you’d put up some lights and stopped to admire them. Then, I spotted someone crouching by the side of the garage. I figured he was a burglar, so I let Big Boy loose and, well, one thing led to another.”
“Such as?” Frankie knelt down to examine the body.
“Big Boy lunged at him. I thought he’d tear the guy to pieces. Turns out all he wanted to do was sniff his crotch. You know how dogs are.”
Yeah. We knew.
“Anyway, this guy wasn’t all that obliging. He tried to push Big Boy away. Big Boy pushed back. Then the guy fell backwards into that drift and I think he hit his head on Muriel’s gnome. See?” She pointed to a mound of snow. “It’s right there. You can see the top of its head. It’s the ugliest gnome I’ve ever seen.”
Frankie looked up at me. “You’ve got a gnome?”
“Gargoyle. And it’s supposed to be ugly. To ward off evil spirits.”
“Doesn’t ward off thieves or burglars,” Val pointed out.
Frankie placed his middle finger on the man’s throat. “He’s alive.”

Carol - Where can readers get a copy of your book?

Anne: (I’LL LET YOU ADD THESE LINKS, J) It’s available in e-book format now at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Incense-and-Muriel-ebook/dp/B004CLYDRO/
Barnes and Noble, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Frank-Incense-and-Muriel/Anne-K-Albert/e/2940011142123/ Smashwords, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30192
or from my publisher, Vanilla Heart Publishing. http://www.vanillaheartbooksandauthors.com/ The print edition will be released in July 2011.

Thank you so much, Carol, for hosting me on this stop of the Murder We Write Blog Tour. I’d like to invite readers to visit my website http://www.AnneKAlbert.com/ or my main blog http://anne-k-albert.blogspot.com/.

If they drop by my Muriel Reeves Mysteries blog http://muriel-reeves-mysteries.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment mentioning this interview, I’ll enter their name in a draw to win a pdf copy of FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL. I’ll announce the winner at the conclusion of the tour, sometime during the week of August 22, 2011.