Guest Post

Guest Chick: Nancy Cole Silverman

The Chicks are so happy to welcome back Nancy Cole Silverman, whose third Misty Dawn mystery just launched. Take it away, Nancy!

When Ellen asked me if I’d like to blog about the release of my new Misty Dawn book, The House of the Setting Son, I jumped at the chance. Then I thought, rather than write about what inspired me to write the book, I’d take a survey. After all, I’m launching the third book in the midst of a pandemic, and it’s not something easily ignored.

So here goes.  I’ll get to the book in a minute, but first, I have a few questions.

Has anyone else whose been socially distancing discovered now that their work-a-day world has changed, that they’re doing things they thought they might never do?  Like baking bread, writing letters longhand, or picking up the phone and reconnecting with friends and family?

There is no doubt the coronavirus has changed the way we socialize, and many of us have been forced to adapt. I know I have.

For instance,  I recently planted a victory garden. Something I’ve never done before and didn’t think I had room for in my backyard.  But I somehow managed to squeeze a couple of tomato plants in between my rose bushes, along with some basil, cucumber, and eggplant.  My husband calls me Farmer Nan. I know very little about farming or gardening, and when everything ripened at the same time, I went door-to-door with my basket of extras and shared them with neighbors.

I even started making bread. And not just bread, but according to my Julia Childs’ cookbook—which up until the pandemic I had barely cracked—the artisan variety with all kinds of seeds, sundried tomatoes, and onions. My husband loves it, and so do I.  Forget counting carbs—we’re in lockdown here—and those extra corona-five pounds that’s managed to creep onto my body—are a matter of survival.

But who’s to notice.

My girlfriends and I all kid that if the virus continues, we may never get out of the house to go shopping again. And besides, at our age, no matter what garment we buy, we may never get our cost-per-wear out of whatever we purchase.

I miss parties. Movies. And meeting girlfriends for coffee. Most of all, I miss going out to dinner with friends.  But we’ve adapted.  My husband and I now do social-distance outdoor dinners with virtual hugs—nobody touches—instead, we pantomime a big squeeze and try to remember what it was like to once hug someone.

We recently had two couples over for dinner.  That means I set three tables.  All six feet apart.  Used paper plates. Different serving utensils for each table and everyone brought a covered dish.

Yes, it’s a different time, and writing and launching a book during a pandemic has its challenges.  When I started the Misty Dawn Mysteries, I was looking for escapism. I wanted to write something light that would make me and my readers feel a sense of joy. Steve Steinbeck (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine critic) referred to them as “…charmingly entertaining…” and asked if I had been channeling Thorne Smith, the creator of the old TV show Topper.  Perhaps I was.  Misty Dawn’s sidekick is Wilson Thorne, a shade, and the series is a trilogy that should be read in order.  I hope my readers enjoy it as much as I did writing them.

When this is all over, I plan to propose a National Hug Day.

How about you? What have you done you didn’t expect to do during these unusual times?

Bio: After twenty-five years in news and talk radio, Silverman retired to write fiction. In addition to her short stories, Silverman has two series with Henery Press, THE CAROL CHILDS MYSTERIES, featuring a single-mom whose day-job as a radio reporter often leads to long nights as a crime-solver, and the MISTY DAWN MYSTERIES, centered on an aging Hollywood Psychic to the Stars, who supplements her readings working as a consultant to LAPD and the FBI. Silverman lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a thoroughly pampered standard poodle.

Synopsis: When Misty Dawn, the former “Hollywood Psychic to the Stars,” receives a phone call in the middle of the night, she knows it can’t be good news. Dorine Witherspoon, an actress and former client is in town for the opening of her touring musical and tells Misty the show’s leading lady, Cassie Marx, has disappeared, and the understudy had to go on for her on Opening Night! Misty immediately suspects foul play and when she and Wilson, Misty’s psychic shade, arrive at the theater the next morning, they discover LAPD’s Detective Cesar Romero meeting with the cast and crew. Events on both sides of the veil take a dark turn when Romero asks Misty off the case, and Wilson appears out of his depth with ghosts who want nothing to do with him. Death, close calls, and forces on both sides of the veil threaten to undo Misty and destroy her relationship with Wilson unless she can find Cassie and restore order to the show.

PURCHASE LINK

 

24 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Nancy Cole Silverman”

  1. So appreciated your sunny post this morning, Nancy! It’s all about the positive attitude, right? And huge congrats on the pub of your third Misty Dawn—it sounds great! I, too, have taken up gardening—well, if you count tomatoes on the deck and a box of sprawling herbs we share with the chipmunks. Sometimes while I am weeding I imagine how I might have been toiling on the frontier in the 1800s. Probably on my knees shaking up a bunch of dirt like Scarlett O’Hara and plotting how to catch the next stage back to Boston.

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  2. Congratulations, Nancy, on publishing the third book in this wonderful series. I’ve enjoyed reading the first two very much and look forward to reading this one. Who knew that I would be such a fan on paranormal mysteries. I know you planned to write three in the series, but I hope you’ll write more.

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    1. Thank you so much. I decided to make the Misty Dawn Mysteries a trilogy because I’ve got another big project on my desk I want to get to. But I loved working with Misty and Wilson, and I do mean working with them. They met me at my keyboard every day and virtually wrote the story for me.

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  3. I’m working from home, which I never thought I’d do. I’ve actually come to like it, and I don’t miss my “commute.” I use the term loosely since half an hour across town isn’t bad compared to what others do here in LA. But I’m going to miss the freedom of working from home when I am back in the office.

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    2. I love the idea of National Hug Day! The first week of the pandemic, I reorganized my mountains of plastic lids and containers, filling two giant bags with ones I don’t need anymore. I’m so glad I did this I can’t tell you. We also went through ten years of awards screeners I received as a member of the WGA. That’s it re: pandemic projects.

      Oh, and I drink wine almost every night. I had way more self control pre-pandemic.

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  4. Thanks for being here today, Nancy! Congrats on your latest Misty Dawn book! (I really like your trilogy graphic, especially the cute teapot.)

    As for these pandemic days, I’ve taken to growing veggie scraps (ex: scallions) in water. And I’ve also cooked a lot more from scratch, such as making my own tortillas from flour and frying up tortilla chips. I’ve also baked bread–with the help of a machine.

    I would love a National Hug Day in the future.

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    1. Scallions! I love scallions and I recently learned I could be growing them on my kitchen counter. Thanks for the reminder.
      When this ends, lets launch this National Hug Day…and I don’t mean virtual. I’m old enough to remember Hands Across America. Do you? If not click the link below. I think it’s time.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_Across_America#:~:text=Hands%20Across%20America%20was%20a,across%20the%20contiguous%20United%20States.

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  5. Nancy, it’s always such a pleasure to have you here! Congrats on the latest Misty book. Please keep writing them! It’s such a wonderful series.

    As for pandemic pastimes, I’ve done a smattering of gardening, which has been glorious. Despite our notoriously unfriendly growing climate, we have been enjoying the modest fruits of our labor. In fact, we’re making zucchini bread today, which combines another newish favorite: baking!

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    1. At the mention of Zucchini bread, my stomach growled. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve got one eggplant growing but it’s too small to do much with yet. I suspect if I really had to rely on my gardening skills, we’d starve.

      Take care and stay well.

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  6. Let’s hear it for National Hug Day! Or better yet, WORLD Hug Day!

    Robin and I have also been hosting friend for cocktails and dinner in our back yard (though not so much with all this smoke–ugh). And I’ve been gardening, writing (yes, remember that?), and cycling (again, not so much of late, with all the smoke).

    Congrats on the third Misty Dawn book–yay!! And I’d say a comparison to Topper is pretty darn cool!

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  9. Nancy, congrats on the new release! Love this series — and we always enjoy it when you visit the Chicks! I’ve done all kinds of things (most not very productive) to avoid writing lately. I admire your discipline — and your victory garden!

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