Tag: cozy mysteries

Behind-the-Book: 5 Facts About Truth or Die

Behind-the-Book: 5 Facts About Truth or Die

Admittedly, book six in The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Truth or Die, doesn’t have a lot of secrets. It was a nice, polite book that cooperated with me from the start. But that’s not to say I didn’t make any changes, or that it didn’t have any challenges. Today, I’m sharing five tidbits about Truth or Die. 1. The idea to jump ahead a few months came while writing Misfortune. From Cliffhanger to Misfortune, Belinda and Bennett’s story spans just a few months, basically one summer. By the time I wrapped Misfortune, I knew I wanted to jump ahead with the next […]

Show Off (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

Show Off (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

A short story featuring characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. Belinda bobbed around in the gentle waves rolling toward her favorite beach in Portside. The sun was in full swing, the ocean providing needed relief from the heat. After baking on the beach for a little while, she was more than happy to take the plunge into the chilly water. Other beachgoers followed suit, and Belinda watched some teen boys nearby splashing around, goofing off for the girls who were still on shore. After glancing over at Bennett, who floated near her, she splashed him in the face. He […]

New Release: Truth or Die (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Six)

New Release: Truth or Die (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Six)

Book six in The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Truth or Die, is available today! While summer fades away here in Massachusetts, Belinda & Bennett are heading into it as a new case arises – and questions about their future. Spring is in the air, and Kyle has come home. With a surprise. Belinda never thought she’d see the day that a murder investigation would be a welcome distraction. But when Kyle’s return from Australia isn’t the reunion she expected, trying to figure out why a young woman wound up dead in her family’s pool turns out to be a way […]

Cakewalk (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

Cakewalk (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

This story features characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. How much more determination would it take to get that dog to do what Belinda wanted? “Pull the cart, you big oaf,” she said with hands on hips to the sad-eyed beast who panted up at her. The shaggy brown and black dog was hitched up to a lightweight wooden cart filled with cupcakes. Belinda was experimenting with an idea for a party Cake Diva was catering. Her cousin’s friend had even agreed to lend her dog for the job. But it would only work if Rixton cooperated. A breeze […]

Clean Break (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

Clean Break (A Belinda & Bennett Short Story)

A short story featuring characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. The first thing Belinda did after her twin brother, Kyle, left was clean his room top to bottom. He’d taken most of his possessions with him on his sailing excursion to Australia, so his bedroom was as stripped down as it was going to get. No clothes on the floor. No change splattered on top of the dresser. No bed linens sagging off one corner. It was the perfect time to deep clean. After stripping the bed, Belinda threw open the windows that faced the side of the driveway. […]

Behind-the-Book: The Inspiration for Misfortune

Behind-the-Book: The Inspiration for Misfortune

One of the most thrilling parts of writing a book is when you get THAT idea. The one that gives you butterflies all over the place and makes you want to drop everything and start writing. And when you’re writing a series, this feeling can be especially important to keep the romance alive for your characters and setting and, well, for you. Going into the fifth book of The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, I knew I wanted to take a different approach to keep it fresh for readers and for me. In the end, two main things became inspiration for […]

14 Fun Short Stories

14 Fun Short Stories

Sometimes when I’m working on one of my books, I’ll get ideas that are cute or fun or interesting, but they don’t fit in the context of a book. And almost every week, my sister and I do a writing exercise together. These regular practice sessions keep my writing gears nimble, and sometimes produce ideas I can use in a book, but a lot of the time it’s just for fun. So partly for those reasons, I started taking some of those snippets and character moments and fleshed them out into short stories. It was something fun to post on my blog for readers and for me! The number […]