It takes some effort to drag oneself out of bed on the first workday of the new year. But an e-blast from Left Coast Crime made it much easier for a few of our Chicks. Congratulations to Ellen and Jen for Lefty nominations in the category of Best Humorous Mystery and Leslie for a Best Mystery Novel nomination! And congratulations to all the nominees… For … Continue reading A wonderful start to the New Year…
Season’s greetings, beloved readers! We wish you and yours the happiest of happy holiday seasons and a bright New Year. We’re bringing you our annual Chicks as Babies or Children holiday post – with some new additions! We’ll be back on January 5th for another year of fun posts! Leslie Karst Ellen Byron Lisa Q. Mathews Vickie Fee Cynthia Kuhn Jennifer J. Chow Patricia Sargeant/Olivia … Continue reading Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!
One of the things I love most about living in New York City for the past 24 years is that you have an eyewitness view to the past, the present, and the future. Continue reading Guest Chick: L.A. Chandlar
My love of Advent calendars is well-documented on social media, as evidenced by this photo of last year’s partial haul and yes, you read that right… My love/passion/obsession for this holiday tradition started when I was a kid. Every year, my mother bought a sparkly paper calendar that came from Germany. It looked like this one… As I got older, I generally sought out one … Continue reading Happy First Day of Advent Calendars to All Who Observe
Crescent City Christmas Chaos, the fourth book in Ellen’s award-winning Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, launches today. We’re thrilled for her! About the book… It’s Christmas. It’s cozy. It’s culinary. It’s chaos! It’s the fourth book in this fabulous mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron. Have yourself a merry little . . . murder? Ricki James-Diaz … Continue reading Happy Book Birthday, Ellen Byron!
We Chicks have created – and continue to create – a vast array of characters. We think we know them pretty well. But sometimes a character is more fun to write than we thought they’d be. Today we share the characters we didn’t expect to enjoy writing as much as we do. Lisa Q. Mathews I think I knew as soon as Gladys Rumway appeared … Continue reading Chick Chat: Characters can surprise you!
Ah, the upside of writing series set in beautiful location. I thought that today, I’d share a little backstory on what inspired my Golden Motel Mysteries and how it led to two glorious vacations, I mean research trips, to Cali’s Gold Rush Country. If you drive 4-5 hours west from this spectacular view, you’re at the Pacific Ocean. I love this state! In the late … Continue reading The Perks of “Research”
It’s release day for Solid Gold Murder, the second in the awards-shortlisted Golden Motel Mysteries, a series inspired by Ellen’s prior life as a sitcom writer. Read on for the synopsis… Dee Stern’s Golden Motel promises a tranquil getaway for outdoor lovers in the scenic Californian village of Foundgold. But when Dee accidentally triggers a modern gold rush, she suddenly turns her peaceful retreat into … Continue reading Happy Book Birthday, Ellen Byron!
My second Golden Motel Mystery, Solid Gold Murder, launches on 7/29 – hello, shameless plug! I like to try something new in terms of promotion with every launch. I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a map of the fictional locations in my series, so I connected with mapmaker extraordinaire Rhys Davies and put him to work. The first step was determining the … Continue reading Mapping out Gold County
It’s been a week since I returned from this year’s Malice Domestic convention and I’m still on a high from it. Malice felt exceptional this year. It’s like it got its con battery recharged and reached 100% positive energy. There were a ton of first-time attendees representing a wide range of ages. There were even more guys than usual, which added just the right touch … Continue reading Malice Memories – and a Misconception
Howdy, all! I noticed a blank space on our calendar, so I’m swooping in to share that Kensington is running a Goodreads Giveaway for 100 copies of the trade paperback edition of A Very Woodsy Murder from now through May 11. You can click here to enter. Good luck and have a great weekend! I’ll be back on Monday to share some memories of last … Continue reading A Goodreads Giveaway from Ellen
Greetings from New Orleans, where it’s Carnival Season. That’s right, Mardi Gras is one day – Fat Tuesday – but the partying in NOLA starts on the Epiphany, January 6. (Technically, partying is a year-round event here, but I’m talking MG specifics.) When hubby Jer learned this, he said, “Let’s not go for the actual day, when it’s insane there. Why not do the week … Continue reading Mardi Gras Paradin’, Ellen Style
Chicks on the Case 