Guest Post

Guest Chick: Lorie Lewis Ham and a giveaway!

We’re so happy to have Lorie Lewis Ham visit us today! If you don’t know her from her books, you surely know her from her Kings River Life Magazine or the Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, both a treasure trove for readers. And if that’s not enough, today she’s also giving away an ebook copy of either of her books to one lucky commenter!

My current mystery series is set in the Tower District in Fresno, California. The Tower District is the arts and entertainment district of Fresno and provides an artsy, quirky and fun setting for my series.

While my series is fairly new—the first book “One of Us” came out in 2021 and book two “One of You” came out this summer—my love affair with the Tower District has been going on for some time. I was first introduced to it when I was in my late teens and a friend was in a local theatre production. This was my first taste of live theatre and I was hooked. I also became hooked on the Tower as I discovered it was a place full of the arts, restaurants, cool coffee shops, and history.

However, it wasn’t until 15 years ago that my love got the chance to grow beyond just heading to the Tower to see a show. Through the theatre program at my kid’s school I met someone who lived in the Tower and who became a very dear friend. We would walk all over the area enjoying the great food, coffee, getting to know the interesting and primarily creative people who live there, and walking along the streets lined with homes that had so much more character than you would find in newer areas of town. It is an area that is brimming with diversity, acceptance, and creativity.

This love continued to grow after I started an online magazine called Kings River Life and we started covering a lot of the theatre and events that take place there. While covering those local events, I realized that I wanted to share my love of this place with others and decided to set my new mystery series there.

Here is a quote from my latest book that reflects some of the wonder of this place-

I had come to love the Tower. Walking down the street felt like being transported back in time thanks to the incredible architecture. I read online most of the houses were built between the 1920s and the 1950s. Each home had the kind of character only houses built before the 1960s had. The streets were lined with tall trees, and even the sidewalks had character with their random cracks and unevenness.

I feel like the Tower District has had a part in shaping who I am so I am thrilled to be able to share this place with others. While I am not able to live in the Tower, whenever I go there I feel like I am home—I hope you will too. The Tower District will always have a special place in my heart.

Readers, is there a place that may not be well known to others that has a special place in your heart? Drop a comment for your chance to win a copy of one of my books!

Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California and has been writing ever since she was a child. Her first song and poem were published when she was 13, and she has gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper, and publish 7 mystery novels. For the past 14 years, Lorie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, where you can hear an excerpt of her book One of Us, the first in a new series called The Tower District Mysteries. Book 2, One of You, was released in June of 2024. You can learn more about Lorie and her writing on her website mysteryrat.com and find her on Facebook, BookBub, Goodreads, and Instagram @krlmagazine & @lorielewishamauthor.

Secrets, gossip, theatre, mystery writers, and murder! A Halloween Mysteryfest. Or is it a murderfest? One author murdered, others attacked. Is the killer writing their own murder mystery in blood? It’s a mystery set in the historic Tower District—Fresno’s dining, arts, and entertainment hub.

Universal Buy Link https://books2read.com/u/m0eWAy

44 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Lorie Lewis Ham and a giveaway!”

  1. I like my home town in MA. When I was a kid there was nothing to do there but now there are all kinds of restaurants and businesses that I want to visit when I am able to go back and visit. Thank you so much for this chance at your giveaway. pgenest57 at aol dot com

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    1. We can go together, Liz! I’ve never been to Fresno, but it sounds like my kind of place.

      Thanks for popping in today, Lorie! Always a pleasure to hang out with you. Congrats on the book and all your other ventures!

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  6. I love local theater! Everyone knows of NYC’s famous Broadway theater district, but off Broadway and local theaters don’t have a district of their own like the Tower District. A few years ago I discovered a theater company that puts on 3 plays a year in the basement of a church and have been enjoying their performances ever since, also introducing friends who now attend the plays with me. My daughter-in-law in Seattle creates sets and costumes for local theater, just as in NY the theaters are spread out throughout the city and not in a special district. I look forward to reading about the Tower District in your books and, maybe, visiting it in person some day!

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  8. I didn’t know this area of Fresno existed and now I really want to visit it! You describe it beautifully.

    An area in CA that’s dear to my heart is one that’s pretty well-known already for its beauty: Cambria. We used to go every holiday season when my parents visited, then my dad passed away and my mom got too old to travel. (Sadlyl she passed in January.) But last year, we reinstated the visit after a nine-year break and I’m so glad we did. We’ll be going again this year from 12/27-30. The minute we get off the 101 and onto 46W, I’m in scenery – and winery! – heaven.

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  9. Being a theater lover, I always look forward to visiting local, off Broadway, and Broadway theaters (or the equivalent depending on the city). Been by the tower once, but never to the extent you write about. look forward to exploring it more.

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  10. I haven’t been to Fresno since I was a kid (and all I remember is going to the zoo, where they had a really cool monkey island). But the Tower District sounds wonderful! I was curious about its named so looked it up–how cool that it’s named after the Tower Theater!

    As for places special to my heart, Coconut Island here in Hilo, Hawai’i is my favorite spot on the Big Island. It was also my mom’s favorite spot, and when she found out I was setting a scene in MOLTEN DEATH there, she was worried that it would become overrun with tourists as a result. If only, lol!

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, Lorie, and thanks so much for all the work you do for our beloved crime writing community!

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  12. I love the Tower District in your stories, Lorie! One of my favorite locales is Broad Ripple Village here in Indianapolis. It’s got it all-dining, shopping, and entertainment. And it’s only a few minutes away from my house! Cheers!

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  16. The Tower District sounds wonderful! Both Cleveland and the Twin Cities have terrific theater programs. I saw a play at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and rode down the elevator ater the play with one of the stars. I am sure many of you will remember Linda Kelsey from the Lou Grant Show. She was very friendly. Some people regard the Midwest as flyover territory but they just don’t know what they are missing. This is Sue Leis commenting.

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  17. So happy to have you hanging out with us, Lorie, and for introducing me to the Tower District! My great-grandparents lived in Fresno, but I’ve never been. Now I have more reasons than ever to visit!

    Thanks for being here and for all you do. ❤️

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  18. The Tower sounds like a lovely place to hang out. I really liked the number of pets in the book – always a great addition, and you didn’t just have dogs or cats. I look forward to more Tower books.

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  19. We love San Franscico, and we are so sorry for what is happening to it these days. In the 1990s we went there every November to an Art Deco show that was fantastic for six years or so in a row. We bought great stuff, stayed at the Beresford Arms Hotel, ate great seafood at Scoma’s and Fior d’Italia, the best and oldest Italian Restaurant in Washington Park. We rode the streetcar daily, bought art in the park, took a tour of Alcatraz, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and then took a float plane over it and a boat trip under it. We were surprised by a guy behind a shrub near downtown that jumped out at us. I had a Rottweiler on top of a trash can put his paw on my head for a photo. He and his owner lived in their car right there. We bought Vargas limited edition prints at San Francisco Art Exchange. I went to the Castro Theatre (my father managed theatres in our hometown in Texas) to get to see it. I got in the lobby, but a movie was going on, so I did not get to see the inside of the theatre beyond the lobby. We toured the Paramount in Oakland, and it was incredible. We went to Sausalito also. We ate in Chinatown at the restaurants that the locals ate at, learned about Dim Sum along with Brandy Ho’s. We traveled to Sausalito, Muir Woods and up to the end of the Russian River and down to Carmel by the Sea where we discovered The Blue Dog art by George Rodrigue. So many other memories. We did so much and so much more than I mentioned in those few short years. We would still be going if SF did not have all of these problems now. Your book sounds great.

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  20. Hi Lorie, thank you so much for visiting Chicks today–what a fun post! Your love for Fresno definitely comes through, as it does in your books. I have never been, but would love to visit, especially the Tower District. I’m not sure I have a lesser-known “favorite” place, but I make regular visits to my old neighborhood in Brooklyn (was just there at Thanksgiving) and a beach I used to walk with my dad in Sanibel, FL.

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  22. My bad! I thought that you said Frisco, but you said Fresno. I haven’t been there but I am going to read your books so I can say that I know it. I love all of the smaller towns in California and the districts that make up the cities. Thanks for being so gracious and not correcting me.

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      1. Well, I was talking about a favorite place as you said, but I was so excited that you wrote one that I got carried away. Thank you and I will enjoy your books. Will there be more than two?

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  25. I know this place is well known but I used to love going to visit Gatlinburg TN. One of my first dates with my now husband we went and visited Gatlinburg. We just walked downtown looking at the Christmas lights and ate at a local resturant. Later he proposed there and a year later we got married at a small chapel near Gatlinburg. We then stayed in a cabin there for our honeymoon. Its changed a lot since then but I still love that place. I dont get to visit as much now and it so much more busier now.

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