Guest Post

Guest Chick: Daryl Wood Gerber

Hi, Ellen here, and I am so happy to welcome back my pal Daryl Wood Gerber to the Chicks. Today she shares how how a hobby inspired her new series. (Wait until you see her magical cover!) 

Playing with Fairies – My New Hobby

“Are you kidding?” I said to my inner voice. “You want me to play with fairies while I write a story?  And make fairy gardens? And dig and plant and make mud pies and have fun?”

“Yes,” she said. “And while you create, I want you to believe.”

“Believe?”

“In magic.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

But then I started writing the first Fairy Garden Mystery, and something happened to me. I felt lighter. Freer. I was playing again. I learned that fairies were imps. And they love to read. And they love the sound of wind chimes. Who knew?

Writing has always been a journey for me. I’ve learned about cheese and cookbooks and French food, and now, I’m learning about fairies and gardening and magic.

What got me started on this new hobby? Well, I couldn’t come up with a new twist on a foodie mystery. “Been there, done that,” my inner voice kept saying. I listen to her often, obviously. And then one day, I went to the Renaissance Faire and met a woman who made fairy gardens, and I fell in love with the craft. I started making miniature gardens and investing in fairy figurines—I’m quite addicted, just ask my kids—and then one day, a lightning bolt struck me. (Only figuratively. I’m fine.) I thought, what if a fairy was a sidekick in a mystery? I’d read lots of mysteries with witches, ghosts, and gargoyles as sidekicks. Why not a fairy?

When my sweet Fiona showed up on the page, it was a done deal. Here she is in my very first fairy garden.

FAIRY

She had sass and spunk and, well, I simply fell head over heels for her. Courtney, my protagonist, loves her, too, which makes my inner voice quite happy.  She is not creative when she’s not happy. I must constantly appease her.

So, I’m playing with fairies and having fun with a new hobby and an entirely new mystery series.  I hope my readers will have fun, too.

By the way, there are all sorts of groups on Facebook featuring fairy gardens if you’re interested in getting started.

Readers, do you believe in fairies?

ABOUT: Fairy garden store owner Courtney Kelly believes in inviting magic into one’s life. But when uninvited trouble enters her shop, she’ll need more than a sprinkling of her imagination to solve a murder…

Since childhood, Courtney has loved fairies. After her mother died when she was ten, she lost touch with that feeling of magic. A year ago, at age twenty-nine, she rediscovered it when she left her father’s landscaping business to spread her wings and start a fairy garden business and teashop in beautiful Carmel, California. At Open Your Imagination, she teaches garden design and sells everything from fairy figurines to tinkling wind chimes and trickling fountains. Now she’s starting a book club tea.

But the light of the magical world she’s created inside her shop is darkened one night when she discovers neighboring dog-grooming business owner Mick Watkins dead beside a fountain. To make matters worse, the police suspect Courtney of the crime. To clear her name and find the real killer, Courtney will have to wing it. But she’s about to get a little help from an unexpected new friend . . .

BIO: Agatha Award-winning Daryl Wood Gerber writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries as well as the new Fairy Garden Mysteries and also the French Bistro Mysteries.  As Avery Aames, she pens the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. Daryl also writes the Aspen Adams novels of suspense series plus stand-alone thrillers. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line!

Buy links:

http://bit.ly/A_Sprinkling_Of_Murder_preorder

http://bit.ly/SprinklingofMurder_BN

Visit Daryl at:

WEBSITE: http://www.darylwoodgerber.com

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/darylwoodgerber

INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/darylwoodgerber

 

60 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Daryl Wood Gerber”

  1. Congratulations, Daryl, on the start of a new series. Since I LOVE culinary mysteries, I have devoured your Cookbook Nook and Cheese shop mysteries. I also have enjoyed reading some of your thrillers.

    I have never heard of a fairy garden but I agree the fairy garden and teashop setting sounds intriguing and magical. I have read lots of books dealing with magic, paranormal and/or witches, but not one that focused on fairies.

    Do I believe in fairies? Magic, yes but I had never really thought about the existence of fairies.

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  2. Congrats on the new series, Daryl! I’ve seen a lot of fairy gardens (and gnome gardens) recently. They are all so cute.

    Some days I believe in magic and some days, well, let’s just say belief comes a bit harder. 🙂

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  3. I love the cover of your new book, Daryl! I wouldn’t say I believe in fairies, but I also don’t mind reading about them. I have enjoyed your other series and am happy to see you have a new one.

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  4. Daryl, yes I believe in all sorts of magic, good and evil.
    I am so excited for this series. Genius! My daughter totally believes. I got her a fairy door for Christmas last year, right when a magick shop was going out of business.
    I think she will love this series. I will have to get two copies, one for me and one for her.
    And research this fairy garden phenomenon.
    Thank you for keeping this reader happy!

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      1. It’s this little for (about 3”x5” or so) that you put up against anything for fairies to use as a portal to be able to enter our world. Up against a bookshelf, Tree, wall, anything . I will post a picture of it on tammys Facebook page as soon as the disgusted wakes up

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      4. Leslie, sadly no. Because according to the movies, dogs AND people can use doggie doors (I.e. Ferris Bueller). Fairy doors can only be used by fairies.

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  5. Congratulations on your new series, Daryl! I had a chance to read an advance copy and absolutely loved your darling fairies and how magical you made the story!

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  6. Huge congrats on the new series, Daryl! It sounds so fresh and fun. I’m not sure I 100% believe (sorry, Tink), but maybe I will after I read the first book! I edited the movie tie-in books to Fairy Tale: A True Story back in the 90s, re: the Cottingley Fairies. So cool that Sir Arthur Conan Doyke was involved (and Houdini).

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  7. Congrats on the upcoming new release, Daryl! Wishing you many, many sales. As for believing in fairies, I like the motto, “Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

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  8. PS I love the idea of setting up Fairy gardens…but our basement is filled with Christmas village pieces and the hubs would KILL me.

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  10. Like Lisa, my first thought upon reading the beginning of this post was of Peter Pan telling Wendy and her brothers that they have to believe in fairies in order to fly. (“Lovelier thoughts, Michael!”)

    I’m way too pragmatic and skeptical to believe in fairies, but I do believe in the magic of books, and am so excited for you and your new series, Daryl! Yay! Congrats! And thanks so much for stopping by the Chicks today to let us help celebrate the new release!

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  12. I love the little fairy gardens I’ve seen online. What a great idea for a series! Congrats, Daryl, and thanks for visiting with the Chicks today!

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  16. Welcome, Daryl, and congratulations on the new series!

    I’ve loved fairy gardens since being introduced to them by my daughter’s friend. I’m not sure if I’m a true believer in fairies, but I’m a big believer in you and the magic of your writing!

    Thanks for visiting, and sending fairy and book dust your way.

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  17. Ohmygosh … that IS a great cover! I love fairy gardens. Our garden center here in town has a huge one and I make a beeline for it every time I’m there. I turn into a 6yo girl around it.

    Best of luck with the new series!

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    1. Becky, where is “here”? I’d love to check out you garden center. I turn into a little girl around these things, too. But I’m surprise by how many men/guys are into it, as well. It’s not just a girl thing. I think it’s the joy of feeling like a child. ~ Daryl

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      1. I’m in Colorado, the Denver metro area. Come visit! Oh, and it’s funny you mention the man thing. Hubs and I have a cool stump from a cherry tree that died and it was his idea to do a bunch of fairy doors on it. We haven’t yet, but soon!

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  18. Congrats on the book, Daryl! Your first fairy garden is such a delight to behold!

    Ever since I went to see a Peter Pan play as a kid and clapped for Tinkerbell to revive, there’s been a special place in my heart for fairies. I even like seeing fairy doors on trees when I walk around the neighborhood.

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