Today we Chicks are excited to welcome fabulous debut author Shelly Jones and their just-pubbed mystery PLAYER ELIMINATION, set in the world of–board games! Lisa enjoyed meeting Shelly in person at a recent New England Crime Bake, and we know you’ll all want to get to know them, too. Shelly is also offering a great giveaway–a signed paperback of PLAYER ELIMINATION and cute swag–to one lucky commenter! ***UPDATE: Shelly’s winner is Linda Herold! Congratulations, Linda!***
A Trusty Notebook and Those Little Grey Cells
by Shelly Jones
Ah September. A month that, for some reason, every year makes me (and Green Day) wistful and nostalgic.
I have always loved the “back to school” season. I love buying new school supplies, strolling through store aisles in search of funky folders, colorful pens, and fresh dry erase markers that don’t smell but will hopefully last an entire semester (fingers crossed). And notebooks. So many notebooks. Even if I have a zillion at home, unused, ready to go, I still need to buy new ones as soon as there’s even a hint of chilled, autumn air.
My childhood bedroom has a row of black and white composition notebooks lined up on the desk. I have spiral notebooks and pocket-sized notebooks. Notebooks on my side table, on my office desk, in my purse and bookbag, even tucked away inside coat pockets that I rediscover as the seasons change. I have anything from notebooks that cost forty-nine cents to leather bound notebooks from family members who thought I’d like them (not fully understanding the pressure to write something worthy of something so fancy). Does anyone else skip the first page of a notebook because somehow that crisp, blank beginning is too intimidating? No? Just me?
When I’m not writing, I’m teaching (or grading), and vice versa. I’m about to begin my tenth year in my position as a college professor at a small technical college near the Catskill Mountains (though I’ve been teaching for nearly twice as long). More and more I find parallels between being a teacher and being a detective.
As an educator, I have to be a keen observer, to read the room, to read my students. Some inquiries (Are they bored? Do they understand the material?) are typical. Increasingly, though, as my students’ lives become more complicated (certainly more so than my sheltered existence at 18 years old…), I have to look closer, observe them more carefully. Is the student who walked in late checking her phone because her dad has a doctor’s appointment she’s worried about? Is this one disengaged because his stomach is growling? Is this student fighting with a roommate? Is this one working two jobs so he can send money back home to his family? So often we might see the action (walking in late, not paying attention, being on their phone) without seeing the bigger picture, the larger context.
More and more, I wait, take a beat, reserve judgement before leaping to conclusions. I use “my little grey cells” (a la Poirot) and get more information so I can approach students with kindness and curiosity first.
After all, as Poirot says in The ABC Murders, “If the little grey cells are not exercised, they grow the rust.” And so mine will be put to use once more this September as I step back into the classroom, stay curious, and learn from my students.
Readers, how are you a sleuth in your own life and what do you observe? Are you a fan of notebooks? Comment below for a chance to win Shelly’s awesome giveaway prize!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS: ***UPDATE: GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED. SHELLY’S LUCKY WINNER IS LINDA HEROLD!***
A signed, paperback copy of Player Elimination, a bookmark, a keychain that reads “Read more books”, a little notebook that looks like a library card catalog, a pen that reads “Just one more chapter,” and a set of brown/gold dice. We’ll post the winner’s name on Monday both here in Shelly’s post and on our Chicks Facebook post. Good luck!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
She loves to play games, but not when it comes to murder…
Wren Winters is a businesswoman on a mission, juggling an alumni event for a rising game designer while keeping her late husband’s retail store alive. With RSVPs pouring in and her cranky landlord threatening to bulldoze her shop for high-rise apartments, Wren’s plate is full—but she’s no stranger to overcoming challenges. From economic slumps to vandalism and vicious online rumors, Wren has always found a way to persevere. But nothing could prepare her for what she finds one fateful morning: her landlord murdered, her store turned into a crime scene, her only employee under suspicion (and hiding something), and a missing piece from an unreleased game. Now, with her store’s future hanging by a thread and the stakes higher than ever, Wren must channel her puzzle-solving skills like never before. Can she and her friends follow the clues, clear her employee’s name, and crack the case before it’s game over?
BUY LINK: https://tulepublishing.com/books/player-elimination/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shelly Jones is a professor by trade and a nerd by design. Woefully introverted, their pockets are full of post-it notes and their head is full of (unsaid) witty comebacks and un-won arguments from years past. When they aren’t grading papers or writing new cozy mysteries, Shelly can often be found hiking in the woods or playing a board game while their cats look on.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Website: https://shellyjonesauthor.com/
@shellyjonesauthor on Instagram
@shellyjones.bsky.social on Bluesky
Chicks on the Case 
Shelly, thank you so much for visiting with us today. Congratulations on the release of PLAYER ELIMINATION. It sounds so fun. I’m looking forward to reading it. Also, thank you for being an educator, and for being so kind and patient toward your students. Regarding my penchant for playing detective, there’s a possibility I may enjoy observing my neighbors and studying their habits — although there’s an equally strong possibility I will deny this, if asked. LOL! Best wishes for continued great success!
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Ohhh, same. I hope I don’t come off as the nosy neighbor, but let’s just say I’m the “aware” neighbor. I’m often taking walks in the neighbor and spotting cats in the windows (and then rewalking that same route days later looking for the same cats). Neighbor’s garbage bins are about to fall into the creek due to high wind? I’m on it. For a long time I had an elderly neighbor who I kept an eye on. She was 101 and living alone (her daughter lived down the road). She took her daily walk through my yard and I always watched to make sure she made it back home (which she thankfully did).
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I live in a very small, rural area so there’s not much to “investigate,” and everyone already knows everyone else’s business anyway…. But it is fun to think about what someone might be doing elsewhere.
Loving the game theme of the book!
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The “everyone already knows everyone else’s business anyway” is always a fun dynamic. The surrounding area here is very rural. I have helped “investigate” the case of the missing chickens…neighbor’s chickens flew the coop and we were able to find them. Phew!
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I guess a couple months ago I heard how someone reported a Peeping Tom- turned out to be the city guy checking water meters. Bet that was awkward! We figured it must have been a new resident that didn’t know.
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Your book sounds really fun and interesting, but then so does your day-to-day job! Love your approach to your students. Wish more teachers did! My sleuthing seems to revolve around trying to understand why the drivers around here behave the way they do! I do love imagining what people are really talking about when I hear just a snippet of a conversation in a restaurant or while people are on their phone and I only hear their side of the conversation.
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Oooh, the one-sided eavesdrop is always fun! When I teach creative writing I have my students eavesdrop on conversations in public spaces (cafe, library, elevator, etc.) as a lesson in realistic dialogue. They usually enjoy it as an exercise!
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Welcome, Shelly and congratulations! In my “day-job,” I’m a technical writer for a software company. So I get my fill of investigation by trying to decipher software engineer notes and clicking buttons in applications to find out what they do so I can write something useful and coherent for the user manuals.
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Oh, technical troubleshooting and figuring out “whyyyy is this doing that?” is always fun. And requires keen investigation skills! You’re a digital detective!
When I was a grad student I had a part-time job running reports for a university’s alumni office (e.g. pull a list of all the alumni living in X city who have given Y money in the last three years – so they could do a mailing or tell them about an event, etc.). I always enjoyed coding the request and then puzzling over why it didn’t work or why someone was pulled when I didn’t think they should be and digging into the data to discover the solution.
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I am a commercial property manager, so I have plenty of opportunities to “investigate” when there is an issue at a building that doesn’t have an obvious explanation. As for notebooks, I admire “fancy” notebooks but tend to use plain old 6″ x 9″ steno notebooks for work. Thank you for the generous giveaway! I am putting your book on my Goodreads TBR.
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Your job sounds perfect for a cozy mystery protagonist. Property manager goes to check out a building…oops, finds a body. Now they’re an amateur sleuth solving the case!
Thanks for the Goodreads support!
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Congratulations on your debut, Shelly! I work in healthcare compliance, so I have to conduct investigations from time to time. It’s not nearly as exciting as cozy mystery sleuthing. LOL
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I imagine healthcare compliance investigations must get complicated (and maybe sadly less cozy than I’d hoped they might be). Good thing we have opportunities for escapism! 🙂
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Thanks for being here, Shelly! Congrats on your book! I also love notebooks, but sometimes those little ones don’t give me enough room for brainstorming.
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The little ones are great for ideas while walking or waiting for a doctor’s appointment. Especially when you get that perfect sentence blossoming in your mind and want to get it written down. But you’re right: they aren’t ideal for far-reaching brainstorming.
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Congratulations on your book release, Shelly! Love notebooks. The only investigating I did was researching the expenses reported by various departments for the hospital’s monthly financial statement.
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Ooh, but that could be another great possible clue for a crime! I could imagine someone digging into expense reports and something doesn’t compute…money laundering? Bribery payments? Hmm…something is afoot!
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The book sounds great and I love reading new to me authors!
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That’s very kind! We like being read! 🙂
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I have always been a sleuth with a love of notebooks. I keep one notebook on travels, one on Christmas present ideas, one on quotes and things in my life that touch me, many of lists of my collectibles, and so on. I love mysteries. I love to solve mysteries. I love to read mysteries. I love to watch mysteries. I many times figure out whodunnits. I too was a teacher for 38 1/2 years from teaching Junior High English, Art, Computer Science in 1980 to 7th graders, Texas History, and producing the yearbook. Then I went to High School teaching English, Art, AP Art History, Journalism, Speech, sponsor of an Art Club, director of art painting sets for school dramas, and putting out the school newspaper. It all began when I used to set up a classroom in my bedroom when I was young with a roll top teacher’s desk and chair, a bell to ring to start and end class, chairs filled with my stuffed animals for students, along with their notebooks with answers in them. You are right about getting to understand your students–their emotions, their personalities as well as their understandings. They are all mysteries that need to be solved. In recent years, I have followed my maternal grandfather in the family genealogy. He did it the hard way–traveling to graveyards, newspapers, relatives, courthouses, etc. He published our genealogy in 1952. Then a son and next a daughter of his (my uncle and aunt) continued on with it until their deaths and they started looking into their mother’s (my maternal grandmother’s) genealogy. I have had it a bit easier because we have the internet, Ancestry, newspapers online, find a grave, relatives online, photos online, etc. But I have delved even deeper into my father’s family, more on my mother’s, my husband’s family, and three best friend’s family genealogy. In fact, I wrote an article on one friend’s father for an online hometown newspaper, and she loved it and said that she learned things about her own father that she never knew from my article. I have also learned things that I never knew and wish they were still here to talk to them about them and find out more. They have all learned things and seen things that they never had seen or known. It is a good feeling to figure things out. The other day on FB, someone I don’t know wrote about finding a necklet in a box made for it, with a receipt and a love letter from someone to her grandmother Rose in 1943. It was signed by a James and that was not the name of her grandfather who Rose married in 1945. She had never seen it and wanted to find out more. I took the information she gave and found some info for her. I wish I could do more with that story. Keep on writing mysteries and writing in notebooks.
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Thanks so much for sharing this. Genealogy is a great investigation – and kudos to your family for putting in all that work to uncover your history. That’s amazing! I’ve always wanted to find out more about my ancestors, but the breadcrumb trail ended at an adoption. Keep up the search!
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When I was homeschooling, I found myself investigating lots of things with my kids. Now that they have graduated, I find myself drawn to other things like trying new recipes. There are truly different seasons in your life.
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Discovering new recipes and new passions is a great way to investigate! During the pandemic, my husband went *all in* on bread making: rolls, sour dough, overnight bread. I definitely didn’t complain! Yum.
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Board games, especially Scrabble and Yahtzee, are favorites of mine. Your novel sounds intriguing; thanks for the opportunity to win it (print books are the absolute best prizes)! I tend to write my lists on pads of paper or backs of envelopes and don’t much use notebooks. Most of my guessing is about what my family wants for dinner or where I set something down.
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Mary: too real! Why is “what’s for dinner?” perpetually a mystery? In addition to notebooks, I am a sticky note fiend – usually for to-do lists and reminders (in addition to my calendar reminders).
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So sorry to be chiming in so late but you, know….Bouchercon.
I’m a big fan of beautiful notebooks, but have a really hard time actually writing in them. As you say, the pressure of writing something worthy of something so fancy!
Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, and congrats on “Player Elimination”–it looks terrific!
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Thanks for chatting! I am having some Bouchercon FOMO right now as I see folks post their schedules and signings. Hopefully next year! It’s a little tricky time for me because the semester just started (and there was some major imposter syndrome about going to such a big con). Hope you have a wonderful time!
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My preorder just arrived (so no need to enter me in the giveaway, although I do love the swag). I’ve been playing a lot of games recently, so I’m really looking forward to it.
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Thanks so much for pre-ordering! I hope you enjoy it. My motto is: read more books, play more games! 🙂
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I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who gets excited about school supplies! I love blank books so much that I have more than i could fill in a lifetime. Congratulations on your debut novel!
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Thank you! Oh yes, school supplies are amazing. We have a huge supply closet at work that I try not to raid regularly…but sometimes just stand there gazing into shelves of binders and clips and steno pads and highlighters. There’s something about the possibility of it all that gives me an endorphin high.
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I am a retired teacher, mother, grandmother, so I think I am a pretty good sleuth. I love journals, notebooks, pens, and stickers! Congratulations on your book!
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Oh yes, moms and grandmas have built-in detective skills: from what’s bugging a kiddo to what do they want for their birthday? Moms know. 🙂
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Thank you!
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Congratulations on your new release!! Love the cover (blue is my favorite) and the story sounds intriguing!!
As a kid, even in high school, I had mixed feelings about new school year.. I was excited to get new stationery and book bag (it’s actually like backpack) yet nervous about meeting new teachers and classmates.
Wow! I can relate to your sleuthing skills with your students —teaching often feels like detective work. Thank you for being such a caring and dedicated teacher! I am a teacher’s aide, and I work with students with exceptional needs. I stay especially attuned to their emotions and mental well-being.
I’m living in a senior community, and I walk with my 90ish years old neighbor about 3 or 4 times a week. She knows a lot of the residents here, and we will stop at this house, then that house to chat with them.. Guess what? I always pick up plenty of interesting—sometimes juicy—stories just by listening and observing. Then my curious little head starts to work on theories and investigative activities. – Emily
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This sounds like the *perfect* beginning to a cozy mystery…innocent chatting and gossip in a closed senior community…then suddenly you find a body while doing your normal walk. Feisty 90 year old helping fill in the gaps with backstory history (“you didn’t know the Johnson’s son was adopted in the 60s? Everyone knows that!” “We always suspected Mr. Shaw had an affair. He was away on business. A lot. Leaving Gladys by herself.”).
Write those theories down! 🙂
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Hi Shelly, my profuse apologies that I’m late to the party! Yes, I too am at Bouchercon, but I’ve been having internet issues in addition to the mayem. But thank you for your wonderful post and visiting us at Chicks. Can’t wait to find out who your winner will be–and congrats again on PLAYER ELIMINATION!!!
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Thanks so much, Lisa! I hope you have a killer time at Bouchercon! 🙂
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