Interview with C.L. (Cindy) Ragsdale

 

Interview with C. L. Ragsdale

 

 

1) Tell us a little about yourself. Well the "C" in C. L. is for Cindy, never mind the middle name (but it's not what you think). I'm a California girl, and am husbandless, childless, and petless. In other words I mostly get to do what I want when I want, unless God has other plans, then I do what He wants. Sooner or later. Sooner would have been better. When I'm not writing I'm usually reading, knitting, crocheting. All in all, I'm pretty boring and I like it that way. My characters get all the excitement I can handle.

 

2) Tell us about your most recent book/or the book we are focusing on.  The Wooley Weegie is the sixth book in my Christian Cozy Mystery Series, The Reboot Files. These books are Scooby Doo style mysteries with humor, dubious hauntings, monsters and are worked in with an actual non-murder mystery. This particular monster was a story told by my Dad (yeah that's where it comes from). Here's a brief description of the plot:  Reporter Irene Waters and her cameraman Troy Stenson are on the campus of an exclusive private school hunting a local legend called The Woolly Weegie for an episode of their TV show. At least that's what the locals think. In reality, for once they have been sent on an actual investigative story to uncover an alleged academic cheating ring. But just when they think they have escaped the weirdness that usually accompanies their stories, weirdness comes looking for them when The Woolly Weegie comes pounding on their door. Literally.

 

3) Why did you choose this particular genre?  I love puzzles, word games, mysteries, you name it. But not just to solve. I dissect them. If I fail to solve them I go back and figure out where I went wrong. Also the cozy mystery crowd adopted me, as I was a writer without a genre when I first started.

 

4) What was your journey to publication like?  When I reached a certain age (hey you've seen the gray hair) I decided that since I always wanted to be a writer, I would actually sit down and write a story all the way through. Not just bits and pieces as I had been. After doing some research, I decided that because of various factors I would self-publish. So in 2011 I published my first book of The Reboot Files, The Mystery of Hurtleberry House.

 

5) What is a couple of your favorite books and what are you reading now?  The Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis and The Hound of The Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Currently I'm into the old detective novels (like over a hundred years old) and am reading The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet, a detective story by Burton Egbert Stevenson.

 

6) What are you working on now and can you give us a little peek inside?  Well I have three projects in different phases of development. The first one coming out in 2015 is the first in a series called The Law of The Lands entitled Wonderful Loses Its Head. A cozy mystery (really) of which involves a Mexican-American policewoman named Inez Ariana Castillo Medina who ends up being assigned as The Sheriff of Fairytale Land (she's not sure who she upset to get stuck with this job). In the course of her duties she'll have to keep the peace between the various "lands" by solving mysteries that could prove to have serious consequences if she doesn't. They are a high strung lot in "the lands". The first mystery is finding out what happened to The Queen of Hearts of Wonderland who has disappeared. No, it's not that Queen of Hearts. Inez will be helped with the mystery solving by her "posse" which includes her Deputy, a fairy named Twinkle, her Abuela (well you can't have a single girl going off all be herself away from her family now can you?) and a very large blue dragon named Percy. Yeah I do cozy mysteries kind of different.

 

7) What advice would you give authors who are on their own journey to publication?  Keep in mind writing is not just about writing. It's formatting, marketing, proofreading and editing. Whether you're traditionally published or go Indie you will be doing a lot of work that's not writing. Also, write what you love, don't try to follow a trend, because they change too fast to follow and you won't have any fun. Writing should be fun because that's why writers write.

 

8) Do you have any books or websites that have helped you with your writing that you could share with us?  Well technically it's not a website but I got a lot of help from other authors on Goodreads. These are people who've been there and have learned along the way and are willing to share their experience.

 

9) Is there anything you'd like to tell us we haven't covered?  Thank you to all readers who took a chance on an unknown writer. Also, to my fellow authors who gave me advice where I really needed it. But mostly thank you to The Lord who gives me these crazy stories that somehow seem to work as entertainment and sharing the Gospel.

 

10) Please let us know where we can find you on the web.  You can find me on my blog, Short Stories and Tall Tales at:  www.shortmysteriesandtalltales@blogspot.com

My Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale/219184744858421

My Amazon.com Author Page:  www.amazon.com/C.L.-Ragsdale/e/B004VJ3DJ6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1418262909&sr=8-2-ent

Twitter:  @clragsdalebooks

Email:  clrwritesbooks@gmail.com

 

THANK YOU CINDY FOR COMING AND VISITING US AT SLEUTHS AND SUSPECTS!

 

 



 

 

Interveiw and Giveaway with Tina Whittle

I'm happy to introduce you to Tina Whittle. Tina and I were on a panel together at "Mystery Goes South" in Atlanta, GA. We both write cozy mysteries that incorporates history into the story. Tina has been gracious enough to give away one of her books. You must be a follower of the blog, leave a comment and leave your email address so we can contact you. Let's get started on learning more about Tina.



1. Tell us a little about yourself.
   Well, I’m a full-time mystery novelist living and working in Southeastern, Georgia. I’m a wife and mom; I love reading and writing and almost all things Southern (the food and the language and the people, yes, the choking hot summers, not so much). I share my lap with a neurotic Maltese named Cloud and my backyard with four bossy chickens named Pansy, Maleficent, Onomatopoeia, and Chicken Whittle. My research interests are varied – neuroscience, SWAT procedures, the American Civil War – but my favorite kind of learning is hands-on (which is why you’ll find me at Writers Police Academy every year.
    
2. Tell us about your most recent book/or the book we are focusing on.
   I write the Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series, which is an amateur sleuth traditional mystery series. The series itself is based in Atlanta, but for the most recent book – Blood, Ash and Bone – I moved the action to Savannah, where Spanish moss, cobblestones, and ghost stories soak the atmosphere. There’s kissing, bickering, and clue-finding as Tai, the owner/operator of a Confederate-themed gun shop,  and Trey,  her ex-SWAT corporate security agent boyfriend, look for a priceless Civil War artifact and instead find stalkers, moonshiners, unreconstructed rebels, alligators, wolves, KKK Grand Dragons, snipers, bikers, buried treasure and a ruthless killer. You know, just another day in the Deep South.
    
3. Why did you choose this particular genre?
   They say that romance is the genre of emotion, sci-fi the genre of ideas, and mystery the genre of justice. Real life, unfortunately, is a more tattered reality. Mystery allows readers – and writers – a way to experience a world where order is restored, and the good guys win (at least most of the time). I especially enjoy an amateur sleuth novel, because I get to pretend that someone like me (okay, someone a little more adventurous) might actually be able to solve a crime.
    
4. What was your journey to publication like?
   Arduous. I’m glad, though; that gave me a chance to practice two important skills – patience and detachment – that have become crucial to my career now. Submitting (and all the work that comes along with it, the research and querying) is a job in its own right. I had to learn to balance that part of being a writer with the actual, you know, writing. And now, I have to balance PR and promotional work with actual writing. So I also learned balance and perseverance. I am grateful now for the rejections too – they taught me to understand the difference between the kind of critical feedback that is useful, and the kind I need to ignore.



 

1. What is a couple of your favorite books and what are you reading now?
   I’m reading your book, Terror on Tybee! I love Southern mysteries, both the ones that let me explore new ground and the ones that return me to familiar territory. For me, the past is like an undiscovered country, so I enjoy historicals of all stripes. I just finished a fabulous romp through Victorian London in Wicked Little Secrets by Susanna Ives, and I am waiting for my advanced reader copy of Dark Places of the Earth by Jon Bryant, a non-fiction account of the slave ship Antelope and the Savannah court trail – argued by Francis Scott Key himself – that set the legal precedent for the Amistad case. And I’m steady working through Neuroscience For Dummies.
    
2. What are you working on now and can you give us a little peek inside it?
   I am having the most fun with my current work-in-progress, Deeper Than The Grave (set for release in November 2014 from Poisoned Pen Press). It’s the fourth in the Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series, and it’s got two intertwined mysteries (one during the 1860s and one during the present time) both involving a set of unusual bones. Plus this is the book where my  characters’ complicated romance reaches a crucial make-or-break-it stage. For this book, I’ve been researching forensic anthropology, skateboarding, blacksmithing, the I-95 drug corridor and – believe it or not – what would happen to Atlanta during a massive traffic-jammed, blizzard-induced shutdown ( I claim NO responsibility for what happened in January – I write fiction. Pure fiction).
    
3. What advice would you give authors who are on their own journey to publication?
   Only this, that most obvious and repeated of aphorisms – it really is all about the journey. They say if a butterfly isn’t allowed to break out of its cocoon all by itself, it won’t have the strength to fly. Such is the same for writers. The pre-publication jungle is a place of pain and frustration and disappointment, but it is the training ground for patience, perseverance, and the ability to hold on to what matters to you most. It thickens your skin even as it opens your heart. And in the middle of all the nonsense, you create what will be your practice, your meditation, your Zen – sitting at the keyboard, clearing space for your art. Be in that present moment with it. It will be your life preserver, I promise.
    
4. Do you have any books or websites that have helped you with your writing that you could share with us?
   When you need to remember why you’re doing this – reconnect with your Muse, your God, your Divine Inspiration, your Creative Spirit – I cannot recommend The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron heartily enough. It lives by my writing chair. Also on that note, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, which is practical, mystical, gritty and incandescent all at the same time. In terms of mystery writing specifically, I am constantly telling people to get this book -- How to Write Killer Fiction: The Funhouse of Mystery & the Roller Coaster of Suspense by Carolyn Wheat. I haven’t found a better book on writing the genre, everything from plot to character development to how to tell if your book is a mystery or a thriller (there’s a difference). And in terms of websites, Dan Harmon (he who writes the brilliantly subversive sit-com Community) spins the archetypal Hero’s Journey into a circle, demonstrating that plotting isn’t a linear start-to-finish process, but rather a grand cycle that begins where it ends, and that by understanding that, you can plot almost anything just by filling in the eight stations of the Story Circle (you can find Dan’s highly entertaining and somewhat salty explanation of all this (Die Hard! Werewolves! James Bond!) at the Channel 101 website: http://channel101.wikia.com/wiki/Story_Structure_104:_The_Juicy_Details
    
5. Please let us know where we can find you on the web.
6. Several places actually. My main cyber-home is at http://www.tinawhittle.com – here’s where you’ll find my appearance schedule, news and reviews, plus links to sample chapters and short stories featuring my mystery-solving duo. You can also find links to blogs, including The Fascination Files (http://tinawhittle.blogspot.com/) and The Mojito Literary Society (a blog I share with four other genre writers at http://themojitoliterarysociety.blogspot.com). You can also find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tina.whittle) and Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/tinawh) and my protagonist has her own Twitter (her handle is @Tai_Randolph).

Interview and Giveaway with Deborah Malone by Deborah Malone

It's time for an interview with one of my favorite writer's - moi'.  If you leave a comment telling me your definition of a cozy mystery and are a follower of this site then you could be the winner of your choice of one of my books "Death in Dahlonega" or "Murder in Marietta."


 

Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release “Murder in Marietta?”

     Trixie and Dee Dee head off to Marietta, Georgia for another assignment. They visit the Marietta History Museum where they spend the night to see if they can sight the resident ghosts. Sometime during the night a murder takes place in the museum and the director, Doc Pennington, is put on the suspect list. He asks Trixie and Dee Dee to help him find the real killer. Nana takes a larger role in this book and she won’t disappoint you with her antics.  All of this together makes a recipe for murder and mayhem.

Update:  My third book in the Trixie Montgomery series “Terror on Tybee Island” should be out in December.

 

What inspired this book?

     I’ve always loved to read so I think it was natural that I’d transition into writing. Mysteries have been my genre of choice since I was a young girl and loved to read Nancy Drew.  Cozy mysteries are one of my favorites and Ann George has been a big influence on my writing. As for writing Christian Fiction – Margaret Daley’s books were a big influence.

 

How did you know you were called to write?

     I’ve always wanted to write, but while I was writing my manuscript I wrote it as a secular book. While I was writing it I was thinking I’d like to write it in a manner that wouldn’t be offensive. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as “Christian fiction.” I had finished the manuscript when I read one of Margaret Daley’s books and went to her website where I ‘discovered’ Christian fiction. I couldn’t get enough. I joined ACFW and began to study how other writers wrote their books. I went back and rewrote my manuscript as Christian fiction.

 

 

Are you a panster or do you outline?

     I’m definitely a panster. I have a general outline on how I want the manuscript to progress, but that’s it. Then I might do a general outline for each chapter, but none of it is done in detail. Now after I’ve written a chapter I will go in Microsoft One Note and detail the chapter so I can keep up with my characters, timeline, setting, etc.

 

How long have you been writing?

     I started writing seriously in 2001 when I started writing for “Georgia Backroads” a historical magazine. I am still writing for them. I started on my book in 2002, but life got in the way and so I came back to it around 2009/10.

 

Tell us something silly about you.

     My friends and family could probably answer this better than me. The one thing I can think about is that I love to sing – but I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. So I sing in the car with the windows rolled up and the radio/CD’s going to cover up my singing.

 

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

     There aren’t any deep messages in “Murder in Marietta, but there is a theme of forgiveness and faith. For the most part I hope I make someone laugh and take them away from the stresses of real life for just a while. I want them to have some laugh out loud moments

 

What is your favorite season?

     Spring

 

What project are you currently working on?

     My third book in the Trixie Montgomery series “Terror on Tybee Island” should be out the first of December. Trixie and Dee Dee along with Nana and Trixie’s mama Betty Jo have gone to Savannah/Tybee Island, Georgia for a vacation. Of course they are going to have to help someone find a killer. My next book in the series is “Chilled in Chattanooga.”

 

What has been your most challenging experience writing a book?

     I don’t think I can list just oneJ  Learning the craft/rules of writing was a big curve for me. Then there is the editing. Then there is submitting to publishers. And then when you are finally published you think you are home free – not! Then there is the marketing. It seems there are always new challenges to learn in writing and publishing a book.

 

What is your favorite color?

     Blue

 

What is a fond childhood memory?

     I have many fond memories, but one that stands out is when my grandmother bought me a horse. My parents weren’t able to afford one so she chipped in to help and one Christmas they surprised me. Boy was I surprised.

 

What book are you currently reading?

     I just finished “Honored Redeemed” by Loree Lough.

 

Links for books: www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

 

Links where you can find Deborah:

www.deborah-malone.com

www.deborahsbutterflyjourney.blogspot.com

www.sleuthsandsuspects.blogspot.com

www.cozymysterymagazine.blogspot.com

 

 

: Deborah Malone’s first novel Death in Dahlonega, finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Category Five writing contest! Deborah was also nominated for 2012 Georgia Author of the Year in First Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine “Georgia Backroads.” She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in “Tales of the Rails,” edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of the Georgia Writer’s Association as well as Advanced Writer’s and Speakers Association. As a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writer she has established a blog where she reviews Christian Fiction.  

 

 

 

 

 

Interview and Giveaway with Nancy Jill Thames

CONGRATULATIONS

VERONICA!

Please welcome my friend Nancy Jill Thames author of the Jillian Bradley Mystery Series. She has graciously offered one of her ebooks as a giveaway along with her interview. Without further ado lets get to the interview.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.       Tell us a little about yourself. My dad was in the Air Force so we traveled and moved around a lot. I lived in places like Casablanca, Morocco, Valdosta, Georgia and Las Vegas, Nevada, which gave me a sense of adventure. I’m just an average housewife who loves to entertain, or used to. Now that the kids have flown the nest, I decided to finish a book I’d started writing years ago, “Murder in Half Moon Bay” and do a series – just for kicks. I needed a needed a creative outlet. I have a degree in music and love playing classical piano but one can’t play the piano all day! My faith in God has led me all my life and He’s been so faithful. Traveling with my husband on his business trips gives me the ideas to base my books on.

2.       Tell us about your most recent book/or the book we are focusing on. Book 6, “Waiting for Santa” was written to preserve our Christmas family traditions. I also wanted Jillian to fall in love and remarry. Although she does fall in love, it’s with two suitors – one from Book 2 “The Ghost Orchid Murder” and the other from her home town in Clover Hills. The ending is a cliff hanger. And again, Teddy helps find a clue that leads to the murderer.

3.       Why did you choose this particular genre? Actually, truth be told, I got bored with reading the same author over and over. Ten years ago, I wasn’t aware of any other cozy authors except for Agatha Christie. I’d read all 80 of her books, two or three times each and believed I could come up with a sleuth, settings and plots. And I did.

4.       What was your journey to publication like?

I tell people if you want to publish a book, go to CreateSpace on Amazon.com and follow the yellow brick road. Because I didn’t know anything about publishing, I simply learned by doing. It started with doing a blog posting a chapter a week for “Murder in Half Moon Bay” until a local paper got wind of it and did an interview about me. After that, I raced to get it finished and published it 7 months later. I laid out a plan to publish a book every 6 months for 4 years until the series was complete.

5.       What are a couple of your favorite books and what are you reading now? Loved “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “The Poisonwood Bible” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy. Just finished “The Hunger Games” and I’m currently reading “The Princelings of the East” by Jemima Pett.

6.       What are you working on now and can you give us a little peek inside it? “The Ruby of Siam” is a mystery taking place in London. Jillian’s art dealer fiancé has planned a lovely destination wedding, but when she winds up with a stolen necklace and a promise to keep from a dying man, things get interesting!

 7.       What advice would you give authors who are on their own journey to publication? Get some seed money for a great editor and formatter – I use Rik Hall who is fabulous. CreateSpace is a great self-publisher to use or start your own llc. Write the book using critique partners, send it to beta readers for input, rewrite the book, pay a content editor to give you feedback, rewrite the book again, pay a proofreader to edit for typos, and pay someone to do a dynamite cover. When it’s PERFECT, get about five great reviews from other authors and work up a launch promotion. After you’ve done all that, upload your file to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Nook, Kobo and Smashwords. CreateSpace puts it for sale on Amazon.com. Then the real work begins. Posting, tweeting, blogging and emailing the fire about your book while appearing to be casually making comments mentioning your masterpiece. You also want a great bio and book blurb to generate interest in what you’ve written.

8.        Do you have any books or websites that have helped you with your writing that you could share with us? I think the best ones are “Dollars & Sense” by McCray, Scott, and Thompson and The Writers Guide 2 E-Publishing Blog are the best two sources I know. The last one’s blogger has sold over 100,000 books so far.

9.       Is there anything you’d like to tell us we haven’t covered? As my husband keeps telling me, just write good books. Books that you would like to read. Easy to say – difficult (but not impossible) to do.

10.   Please let us know where we can find you on the web. My web site is my blog. http://www.nancy-jill.blogspot.com.

Thanks for having me over Deborah!

 

 

 

 

 

TO BE ENTERED FOR A COPY OF "WAITING FOR SANTA" PLEASE"

 

1) Sign up for posts by email

 

2) Sign up as a follower or be a follower

 

3) What part of Nancy's interview did you find interesting?

 

 

 

 HAPPY READING!

 

 

 

Interview and Giveaway with Linda Kozar

LADY JO IS OUR WINNER!
CONGRATULATIONS, JO!

Interview Questions/Sleuths and Suspects Blog

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a multi-published author. My agent is Wendy Lawton with Books & Such Literary Agency. My husband Michael and I will celebrate our 24^th wedding anniversary this year and we have two lovely daughters in college. Our oldest graduates this year! Besides writing, I enjoy painting in oil and sometimes watercolor and acrylic. Also I love to bead and do other crafts when I have the time. I’m getting pretty good with making my own pie crusts—building success on many failures. (Some of my piecrusts were as solid as sheetrock).

 

2. Tell us about your most recent book/or the book we are focusing on.

My most recent book is Strands of Fate, the first in a series written by different authors for the Creative Woman Mystery series. www.creativewomanmysteries.com

Right now I’m working on another (inspirational) historical gothic romance. The first is complete, proposal as well and is in my agent’s hands.

 

3. Why did you choose this particular genre?

My mystery series, “When The Fat Ladies Sing” is out on Kindle via Spyglass Lane Mysteries and I’m also working on another mystery series. Strands of Fate, was a work-for-hire, with the characters, setting, etc. already patterned out for me.

4. What was your journey to publication like?

I started out working for local newspapers, though I’d always wanted to write a book. I made that decision in second grade. The process of writing a book can be so daunting! Which is why I was able to talk myself out of it for a while. But then I quit the newspaper and decided it was time--now or never. The first book I worked on was a nonfic and I sent it out with a lot of newbie chutzpah after attending a writer’s conference. But it went to three different pub boards! It was rejected of course—mainly because I didn’t have a name for myself. Soooo, I shelved it and turned my attention to fiction. I wrote part of a book, though I wasn’t sure where I was going with it. Then I took a writing challenge from one of my crit partners, Marian Merritt, to write “X” number of words a day. I finished writing the book, which turned out to be a mystery, in two weeks. On a whim and a prayer, I sent a query to Editor Susan Downs (Heartsong Presents—Mysteries/Barbour Publishing) and she was interested! That’s how my first book, Misfortune Cookies, made it to print. I also received a contract for the second book in the series A Tisket, A Casket. A month after the first book came out in print (Nov. 2008) , the mystery line was cancelled by the publishing house.

In 2010, I received a contract from Howard/Simon & Schuster for a book of devotions titled Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (released in Dec. 2011).

Then, a year later, the mystery line was revived! I was told that the second book (which had to be renamed), would make it into print (August of 2011) and I was thrilled. They were even interested in a third book. However, a few months before Just Desserts was released, they cancelled the Hometown Mysteries line as well. THEN, in 2012, the MacGregor Literary Agency decided to ePublish the entire mystery line (for those authors who chose to participate), under Spyglass Lane Mysteries. So that in a nutshell, is the history of my mysteries and other books.

5. What are a couple of your favorite books and what are you reading now?

I am a big fan of gothic mysteries. My favorite book is Rebecca. I just finished The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson—loved the homage to Rebecca. I’m reading The Orchid House now and enjoying it and will soon move on to another book.

6. What are you working on now and can you give us a little peek inside it?

The book my agent is shopping now is called Alligator Pear. Here’s the blurb and a few lines from the book:

Beautiful young artist Fleur D’Hemecourt returns home to the family estate in post WWII New Orleans to attend the funeral of an aunt, and meets Louis Russo, the young man she once had a crush on, now a promising young attorney home from the war. But a sudden series of accidents and near misses convince the two that someone is trying to take Fleur’s life before she inherits the estate on her twenty-first birthday. Her Uncle Bernard, a man of flamboyant vice, is her guardian and would profit the most from her demise, though the foreboding home on St. Charles Avenue hides even darker secrets that begin to surface, painting shadowy images of family, friends and the man she dares to love. 

(From Alligator Pear—by Linda Kozar)

Family and friends of the deceased gathered like black clouds before a storm. Near the gilded ironwork cross at the entrance to Saint Louis Number One, they whispered prayers, consoling one another. But discreet voices faded to reverent silence as the priest approached, followed by a young acolyte bearing a crucifix.

Breathless and flustered, Fleur D’Hemecourt paused to smooth her dress and hair, tousled from the hurry-scurry carriage dash. Young and attractive, her honey-hued curls bounced along the curve of her elegant shoulders as she inched ahead to take her place with the immediate family.  But all heads turned in response to the sudden arrival of the hearse, its roof festooned with a pleasing array of saffron-colored lilies, red roses and fragrant jasmine. (From Alligator Pear—by Linda Kozar)

7. What advice would you give authors who are on their own journey to publication?

If you are on the road to traditional publication, get yourself a thick hide. Learn how to handle one rejection and persevere to the next one. Be patient. Be bold. Be stubborn. Study to show yourself approved (as the Bible says) and praypraypray. But these days, there are other options. Indie publishing is an option many authors are taking advantage of. It is just as attractive to traditionally published authors because of the monetary return and creative control. Decide which route is best for you or be open to both.

8. Do you have any books or websites that have helped you with your writing that you could share with us?

I have a page on my website with those writing resources “For Writers,” and I invite your readers to visit my website for that info. I update it regularly. Here’s the site: www.lindakozar.com

9. Is there anything you’d like to tell us we haven’t covered?

Most writers I know start out journaling or writing poetry, but if you are really serious about getting published, you’ll have to take a step beyond that and put yourself out there. Decide what you want to do and do it. It’s very difficult and frankly, not marketable to publish a book of poetry unless you indie pub it. Is that your goal? Or do you want to write a book? Decide if the book in your heart is fiction or nonfiction and then start writing. Learn as much as you can about the craft of writing. Read what other writers write. Join a critique group. Go to writing conferences and dream big!

10. Please let us know where we can find you on the web.

I co-host a radio show on the Red River Writers Network on BlogTalk Radio, once a month (3^rd Thursday) called Gate Beautiful. We interview four authors per show, from NY Times Bestsellers to Debut authors and industry professionals.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/gate-beautiful/ GATE BEAUTIFUL RADIO SHOW ARCHIVES

Readers can find me on Facebook where I have a regular Page and Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/linda.kozar?ref=tn_tnmn FACEBOOK PAGE

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-P-Kozar/90297523228 FAN PAGE

www.lindakozar.com WEBSITE

http://bookishdesires.blogspot.com Bookish Desires

http://babeswithabeatitude.blogspot.com Babes With A Beatitude

http://acfwwritersonthestorm.blogspot.com/ Writers On The Storm/ACFW Chapter

 

To win a three ebook(Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket and Dead As A Doornail)set of Lindas cozy mysteries please:

1) be a follower or become a new follower

2) leave your email address

3) sign up for blog posts by email

4) tell us what your favorite mystery genre is

 

 HAPPY READING!

 

 

 

Giveaway of "Death in Dahlonega" by Deborah Malone

CONGRATULATIONS TO

 

LADY JO WINNER OF

 

DEATH IN DAHLONEGA

 

I thought it was time to do a giveaway so here goes. I'm offering a signed copy of my cozy mystery "Death in Dahlonega" as a giveaway, just follow the instructions below!

 

 

 

 

How to enter:

 

1) leave a comment and tell us what is your favorite kind of mystery

 

2) be a follower or sign up as a follower (on the right side)

 

3) follow by email (at the top)

 

4) leave an email address so we can contact the winner

 

 

HAPPY READING!

 

 

Author Bio: Deborah Malone’s first novel Death in Dahlonega, finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Category Five writing contest! Deborah was also nominated for 2012 Georgia Author of the Year in First Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine “Georgia Backroads.” She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in “Tales of the Rails,” edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of the Georgia Writer’s Association. As a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writer she has established a blog where she reviews Christian Fiction.