Graduations and Deadlines and Freakouts...Oh My!

TROUBLE IN THE TAROT by Kari Lee Townsend
Sunny Meadows dishes on her author...

My author, Kari Lee Townsend, needs a week at the spa. Or maybe even just one day. At the very least, she needs a cup of tea.

You see, her first born is graduating from high school in 2 days!

She's happy and excited for him, but a little sad too. That's why she's been throwing herself into planning his party and writing her books.

She has people coming in from out of town, so the party is in 4 days. Poor Kari is so overwhelmed. Her husband is out of town and will only be home for the graduation and party before having to fly out again. She had no idea there would be so much to do, and she has to do this 4 times!

I keep telling her I read her future, and it will all work out in the end. The part will be a huge success, she WILL meet her deadlines because we're  not going anywhere, and her son will be happy and love his new adventure.

Thank goodness Mitch and I haven't made it that far in our relationship yet because after all this, I just might think twice about having children. Okay, so maybe just one :)

Well, I'm off. Kari's starting to freak out again. Time to pull her down from the ledge. Toodles!

To find out more about Kari and all of her books, check out www.karileetownsend.com

Greetings from Carlie

by Dr. Carlie Stellan, veterinarian and pet reality show host in the Pet Rescue Mysteries by Linda O. Johnston

I’m pleased to be Lauren Vancouver’s guest blogger today here at Killer Characters. 

For those of you who are familiar with the Pet Rescue Mysteries, you’ll know that not only am I the veterinarian to whom Lauren takes pets residing at her wonderful shelter HotRescues for all their health needs, but I also have my own TV reality show called “Pet Fitness” on the Longevity Vision Channel.  Lauren seems to get involved in a lot of situations that sometimes mean she winds up solving murders.  I admire her but am just as glad to observe what she’s up to without getting involved... most of the time.

I admire Lauren even more for her work in saving animals.  She’s been very busy this year with both kinds of work, and I applaud her.

 

 

One of her most recent adventures was chronicled in an e-novella called NONSTOP SPANIELS that was just released this month.  I particularly like it since the background theme involves NKLA--No Kill Los Angeles--an initiative of Best Friends Animal Society.  They’re trying to get all animal shelters in the Los Angeles area to become no-kill and have quite a few members now.  As a veterinarian, I realize that no-kill is a dream.  I sometimes have to help very ill animals cross over to the Rainbow Bridge to end their suffering.  But I champion the idea of saving shelter animals from being killed for any other reason than major health issues. 

Too bad a person was murdered in NONSTOP SPANIELS, but at least it was someone who questioned what NKLA was all about.  And I’m glad Lauren got involved since the police seemed to think that someone very much involved with saving animals--a volunteer at HotRescues and more--was the killer. 

Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I have to get back to work at my clinic, the Fittest Pet Veterinary Hospital.  Thanks for stopping by.

But please do leave a comment if you have any ideas about how best to make more shelters as wonderful as HotRescues, and as no-kill as possible.

That wouldn’t be a werewolf, would it?

A chat with Dulcie Schwartz, from the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries by Clea Simon, the latest of which, Grey Dawn, is out now from Severn House.

“The carriage rocked, buffet’d by the Wind as it climbed, the steaming Horses wide-eyed in frenzy, as she clutched the leather seat. Heart-throbbing, she willed the coachman on, the panick’d steeds to greater efforts. Outside, howled the Wolves…”

“Excuse me? Sorry, I didn’t see you there. Yes, please, have a seat. Just move those papers. I should be grading those anyway. They’re due by…. What day is it? Never mind, just put them on the floor.

Of course, I knew you’d be dropping by. I meant to neaten up, but I was caught up in my reading. I’m Dulcie, Dulcie Schwartz, you see, and this is the book I’m writing my thesis on. Or, okay, I should be writing my thesis on. It’s called “The Ravages of Umbria,” and it was written around 1795. Yes, it is exciting.  Thank you for saying that. A lot of my colleagues think that it’s a waste of time. Then again, a lot of scholars think that books like these, the first generation of Gothic novels, were silly. Probably because they were written by women – and were mainly read by women  – and they are full of adventures and romances and ghosts and ghouls. And, well, recently, wolves.

What? My own life? Quite the opposite, actually. I’m a grad student. So is my boyfriend, and so are most of my friends. Well, except for Mr. Grey, though I’m not sure how you’d define him.  Mr. Grey? No, he doesn’t have a first name. You see, he’s a cat. Or, well, he was a cat. Now he’s, well, whatever he is. I guess you could call him a ghost, only that sounds kind of silly, too.  Doesn’t it? At any rate, he’s my friend. He visits, and he talks. Yes, we have a cat, a real cat: Esmé. And, yes, she talks to me too, sometimes. Only please don’t tell anyone that. It’s bad enough that I’m writing about a Gothic novel. I don’t want everyone to think I’m living in one, too.

Except for Chris, my boyfriend. He knows. He has to, really, now that we’re living together. He’s a computer science guy, but he sort of understands what I do. At least, he’s supportive, which is more than I can say about some of the folks in my own department. Like my thesis adviser, Martin Thorpe. He thinks I’m wasting my time – and his. Chris doesn’t. But things have been weird with Chris lately. He’s always worked nights. We’re both broke, so it makes sense for him to take the overnight shifts in the computer lab. Only, he’s been forgetting things lately. And disappearing. And now I keep hearing something, and I can’t help but think of those wolves…

He couldn’t be a werewolf, could he? What do you think?

A note from Clea Simon: Welcome back, Killer Characters! Dulcie’s visit was delayed while you got back on your feet, but she’s been busy, too. Her sixth outing, Grey Dawn, was published on June 1 and won a starred review from Publishers Weekly. I just turned in her seventh, which I hope will be published early next year. I also write the Pru Marlowe pet noir mysteries. You can read more at my home site, http://www.cleasimon.com.

Reagan Summerside here with thoughts on Father’s Day.

Mamma was a single parent since I was two and daddy went boar hunting with some good-old-boys from the Oglethorpe Club, a bottle of Johnny Walker Red and never lived to tell the tale.

Over the years Mamma escalated from conservative lawyer who named her one and only child Reagan, to Judge Guillotine-Gloria, feared by lawyers and criminals. So you can see that my first-hand accounts of the day are limited.

But then I got thinking… Dads come in all shapes and sizes and varieties into our lives not just of the biological sort. I have Auntie KiKi and Uncle Putter who now live next door to me all my life lived just around the block.

Their house wasn’t just my auntie and uncle’s house, you see, their house was the house I’d grown up in as much as my own. 

With mama being a working single parent and KiKi and Putter having no children I was pretty much joint property. I knew which steps in their place creaked, which windows stuck and which toilet handle needed a good shake to flush.

I was sort of joint custody between Mamma and Auntie KiKi and Uncle Putter and Uncle Putter was my dad in many ways. He had the patience of a saint when teaching me how to drive a car, the good judgment to tell me not to marry Hollis Beaumont the Third…though I did anyway, and the Zen of Buda in times of crisis.

So my question to you on this amazing Father’s Day is do you have a second dad in your life? A teacher who helped you along? An uncle like my Uncle Putter?

Have a wonderful Father’s Day and remember all those special guys in your life who have been there for you.

Hugs, Reagan Summerside

  

You Either Love it or. . .

By Willow Vanderling from Thread and Buried by Janet Bolin

A friend invited me to bring my dogs, Sally-Forth and Tally-Ho on an unleashed nature walk on her farm.  It’s not really a farm any more, she’s let it grown up over years, and has meadows and woods. While the dogs romped around, the friend stopped and looked down. She had a funny smile on her face.

I followed her glance A sprig of asparagus was growing among the weeds beside our feet!  She reached down and snapped it. That began us on a treasure hunt. Before long, she had a fistful of the green goodies growing wild, leftovers from long ago when someone grew asparagus nearby. She said the birds spread the seeds.

She also said I had to stay for supper…

I did. Because we’d snapped off only the tender tops of the stalks in the field, we didn’t have to snap it again. No pesticides or herbicides were used on it, either, so all she did was wash the asparagus and pop it into the microwave for a few minutes. The stalks were thick, tender, sweet and juicy. A feast!

Finding it was fun. I suspect she knew all along where to look. We also heard a frog and saw lots of birds, including a bald eagle. What about you, what have you discovered on nature walks?

You can read about how Willow solves a murder in the new Threadville Mystery, THREAD AND BURIED, available from these booksellers. Check out the first chapter here. Janet Bolin’s first Threadville Mystery, DIRE THREADS, was nominated for both an Agatha Award for Best First novel and for the 2012 Bony Blithe Award. The second in the series, THREADED FOR TROUBLE, was nominated for the 2013 Bony Blithe Award. Her third mystery, Thread and Buried, is available at these booksellers. Visit Janet at facebook and twitter.

One of today's commenters will be chosen at random to receive a copy of THREAD AND BURIED.

What Goes Around, Comes Around ... Or Does It?

by Pearl Lee Gates
from The Cakes of Wrath (4th in the series, available for pre-order now)
A Piece of Cake Mystery by Jacklyn Brady

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Well hello there, y'all. My name is Pearl Lee Gates. Yes, I know it's a ridiculous name, but it's not my fault. It's certainly not the name I was born with. Or even the names of my first three husbands. Nope. Mr. Gates was husband number four, and I'm stuck with the name until I tie the knot again, which I'm sure will happen soon enough. Men are just naturally attracted to me. It's a blessing--and a curse.

But that's not why I'm here today. I'm here because I'm staying, temporarily, in New Orleans with my cousin Frances Mae Renier. You probably know her as Miss Frankie, and I'm sure you think she's just the smartest thing on the planet. Everyone does, you know. She's always come across that way, probably because she's just sure she is the smartest thing around.

God knows I love her. She's family, after all. But she's . . . well, she has a tendency to be a bit bossy, if you want to know the truth. Not that I'm talking bad about her. Bless her heart, I'm sure she doesn't mean to stick her nose in where it doesn't belong. She just can't seem to help herself. It's been a problem her entire life. All I can say is, she's lucky I'm a lady. A less refined woman might have been tempted to express her opinion.

Now here's the thing: Frances Mae has corralled her daughter-in-law -- that's Rita Lucero, y'all -- into giving me a job at Zydeco Cakes. The two of them expect me to work like a common laborer, and they don't even care that I might ruin my manicure! What Frances Mae has done is wrong on so many levels I can hardly wrap my mind around it. I know it sounds harsh, but maybe if Rita was a little more understanding about what I'm going through, she might not have run into so much trouble.

Frances Mae would laugh at the idea of karma, and I'm sure Rita would too. So I'm here looking for back-up. Do you believe that what goes around, comes around? That we reap what we sow in this world?

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Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of ARSENIC AND OLD CAKE (#3 in the series). The winner will be chosen by random drawing and announced tomorrow, so check back then to see if you're the winner! 

Peggy Lee interviews Maggie Grady

Peggy Lee from the Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries
By Joyce and Jim Lavene
www.peggyleegardenmysteries.com 

interviews Maggie Grady from the Pie in the Sky Mysteries
By Ellie Grant
www.elliegrant.net 





(Peggy) I spent a day at a poison plant symposium in Durham, North Carolina  a few weeks ago. I stopped in at this wonderful little pie shop right off the campus of Duke University. The pie was fabulous! And such choices: Bountiful Blueberry, Delia's Deep Dish Cherry, Clara's Coconut Cream. Needless to say, I had a slice of pie, and took some home with me for Steve too.

I started thinking I could help Maggie, who is a wonderful young woman, with a problem she's having. Maybe this brief interview will make a difference.

Q. (Peggy) - You and your aunt run Pie in the Sky, don't you?

A. (Maggie) - That's right. I've been gone for ten years but I'm back now. My Aunt Clara and Uncle Fred started the pie shop forty years ago. I worked here through high school and college. I dreamed of going to New York and finding a great job. Then my world came crashing down.

Q. (Peggy) - What happened, Maggie?

A. I was charged with embezzling some money, which wasn't true. I came home basically with the shirt on my back. My aunt, who is more like my mother since my parents were killed when I was a child, was wonderful. She never thought I was guilty or said I-told-you-so.

Q. (Peggy) - But now something else has happened, hasn't it?

A. (Maggie) - Yes. My boss from the bank I worked at came to find me in Durham. He said he knew I wasn't guilty and could prove it. Unfortunately, he died before he could tell anyone else. Now the police think I murdered him because he fired me.

Q. (Peggy) - That's awful. If you could tell people something that would help them see you in a different light, what would it be?

A. (Maggie) - It would be that I had nothing to gain from Lou's death. There is someone else, higher up, that was guilty of stealing the money. I don't know who it is, but you better believe I'm going to find out.

Good luck, Maggie! I hope it works out for you!

Peggy Lee's newest garden mystery is A Thyme to Die
By Joyce and Jim Lavene

Maggie Grady and her Aunt Clara will be featured in PLUM DEADLY, coming out September 3rd from Gallery Books!

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of BOTH books to celebrate the return of Killer Characters! First comment up, wins!