And the Winner is . . .
A couple weeks ago I posted a message about a contest. I now have a winner! It’s
Lori Y
Lori, send me an email:
casey@caseydaniels.com
And let me know which of the Pepper Martin books you’d like. There’s a blurb about each on my website:
www.caseydaniels.com
Since I’m also Kylie Logan, author of “Button Holed,” you can also choose that book.
Thanks, everyone, for playing along!
Birthday Wishes
Yesterday was my birthday, and in my opinion, a person can never be too old to make a wish as she blows out the candles on her birthday cake, or in my case, birthday cupcakes.
Last year, my birthday wish came true. I wished I would find a literary agent who liked my writing and believed that I could write mysteries both for the mainstream and inspirational markets. That wish was granted in a big way in March when my fantastic agent signed me.
A few months later, she sold two mystery series for me, one to a mainstream publisher, Penguin/NAL, and one to an inspirational publisher, B&H. Those sales and everything else she’s done for my career is more than any wish I could create. I’m so grateful and am looking forward to another year of wonderful surprises.
Of course, not all birthday wishes come true. However, the handful that do keeps us wishing.
This year’s wish? Sorry, I can’t tell you, or it might not come true.
More news
I’ve had the rights back to Intent to Sell for a month or so, and now I’ve officially decided to put it out myself for the 4th edition! I hope to have everything in place before Sleuthfest, which takes place in March.
Intent to Sell: Marketing the Genre Novel is the only how-to book on the market to navigate the needs of a genre author in promoting and selling copies of their work. The 4th edition will have a new chapter on social media and how best to work with the new on-line aspects to marketing.
I wrote this book in 6 weeks in the summer of 2001. It’s amazing to me that it’s still in print and still selling well 11 years later. This new edition hopefully will help new authors throughout the next few years as the industry continues to change.
I’ll have the new cover up in a couple of weeks, along with purchasing information.
Jeff
Good week
Wow, this has been a great week for my writing. I am always happiest when I’m busy and at the moment, I seem to be busy on all fronts. I’m working on editing the Gardner biography, doing paperwork to prepare for the EQ biography, and running a blog tour for myself. It’s all a lot of fun.
I am currently revising enough of the Gardner book to send pages to New York for review. It’s time consuming, and I have to say that fact checking is one of my least favorite things to do. I currently have about 450 pages of facts to check, so it’s not fun. I did manage to secure some much needed rights for the biography this week, which takes a load off my mind. Now I can focus on just the book for a few days. I have 4 days off at the moment (a snow day, and MLK Day bookending the weekend) and plan on editing until my red pen runs dry — I already ran through one pen, which should tell you something.
I’m already collecting materials for the next book. I have been contacting libraries and universities about their collections of correspondence and books regarding Ellery Queen. Those papers are scattered to the four corners of the country, so this will be a bit more involved.
Plus I’ve been getting blogs ready for the latest blog tour. I’m talking about the current biography, the future biography, and what exactly I do when I write a biography. Today’s stop is with Heather Webber, LBofM blogger emeritus.
Jeff
New and Improved . . . Finally!
Who said it would be easy to get a new website up and running?
Well, actually, that’s exactly what a lot of people told me when I announced that my old website (as much fun as it was) was getting stale and needed updating.
“No problem,” so many of my friends said. “Piece of cake. Web designers are everywhere.”
Oh yeah?
Nearly a year into the search for someone who could re-design the site at a price that didn’t make me scream, I am happy to say I finally have a new, updated website.
Hurray!
Stop by:
www.caseydaniels.com
There’s a button there for sending an email to me, and if you do that before next Saturday, January 21, you’ll be entered in a contest to win one of my Pepper Martin mysteries. In your email, just let me know which of the books you’d like. You can check them all out.
On my new website.
January, New Beginnings
This might sound strange, but I love January. It’s one of my favorite months because it symbolizes a new year with new beginnings. I love nothing better than a fresh start and am happy January is able to deliver. I began each new year thinking, this year will be better than the last one. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong, but I am always hopeful.
In 2012, I have two new releases coming out. The first is Murder in a Basket, the sequel to Maid of Murder, on February 8th, and the second is the debut of the brand new Appleseed Creek Mystery Series. The first novel, A Plain Death, will release on July 1st. By the summer, I will be able to call myself a multi-published author, which is a dream come true.
Of course, not everything about January is great. There is the weather to contend with. Happily, it’s been unseasonably warm and snow-free in northeast Ohio. Of course now that I’ve said that, we will have a blizzard.
I hope your January is full of new beginnings too.
In early February, I will be sending out the latest edition of my biannual e-newsletter with exciting news about the year to come. If you’d like to sign up, just send an email to authoramandaflower@gmail.com.
New Year, New Book!
Happy New Year!
I can’t think of a better way to kick off a new year than with a new book. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the publication of “Wild, Wild Death,” book #8 in the Pepper Martin mystery series.
I’m always excited about sharing one of Pepper’s adventures with readers. After all, she’s the world’s only private investigator for the dead. That means there’s always something interesting (and possibly dangerous) happening in Pepper’s life, and always a ghost tagging along for the fun.
This time, it’s a trip to the great Southwest with long-dead Wild West star Chester Goodshot Gomez along for the ride. You see, Pepper’s been downsized from her job as a tour guide in a historic Cleveland cemetery, and she’s got some time on her hands and is looking for a little excitement. It’s a perfect example of Be Careful What You Wish For, when an odd package arrives along with a ransom note. Cute and scruffy paranormal investigator, Dan Callaghan, has been kidnapped and if Pepper doesn’t bring Goodshot’s bones to New Mexico–and fast–the kidnappers say he’ll be killed.
Of course, in Pepper’s world, kidnappers are the least of her problems. Figuring out what to wear to a body-snatching is the first. After all, she’s convinced she’s going to end up getting caught, and she wants to look good for her mugshots.
“Wild, Wild Death” takes Pepper to New Mexico and southern Colorado, a part of the country where I’ve spent some time. Like me, she’s bowled over by the beauty of the area, and intimidated by its wildness. If that was all she had to think about, it wouldn’t be a bad little get-away, but once she arrives, the bones gets stolen, and bodies start dropping like the desert temperature once the sun goes down.
Pepper has to deal with kidnappers disguised as aliens, a too-hot-to-handle Pueblo police chief and one clever murderer–one whose idea of boot hill has nothing to do with Jimmy Choo.
If this !&%# program would allow me to post a cover photo, this is where it would go. Since it’s telling me our image browser doesn’t exist, I can’t do that. Take a look at the Amazon or Barnes & Noble sites to see the wonderful cover of “Wild, Wild Death.”
PS–if you live in the Pittsburgh area, I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble, South Hills Village Mall, this Saturday, January 7 from 12-4 as part of the Women Read/Women Write event. Stop by and say hi!
Resolutions
It’s that time. It’s the last post on LBofM for 2011, and boy am I glad. It was a tough year for me, starting off in March with the neck issues that stretched until – well, now. The neck is healing nicely, but the hip is still giving me issues. On the bright side, that means more time for me to read and write; however, I’m not a big fan of pain and the fatigue that goes with it.
So for the last post of the year, it seems incumbent upon me to dredge up a few resolutions for 2012. Of course, if the world ends as supposed by the Mayans, all bets are off. I’ll be on the beach, drinking a martini, and reading a Golden Age book when we go.
But presuming that a long dead culture (and a John Cusack film) cannot precisely pinpoint the end of the world as we know it, I’ll be doing the following:
1) Finish the Gardner biography. That’s an easy call. I’m currently polishing 100 pages to send to NY and the agent. The need to finish it up is obvious, given that Robert Downey Jr. has done me a huge favor by bringing the spotlight on Perry Mason again. I’m nearly done, so I don’t think it’s a major stretch to do so.
2) Start the next biography. Since we’re on the cusp of a new year, I feel I can tell you that my next biography will be Ellery Queen. For those of you know me, I don’t think that comes as a huge surprise. I have wanted to do this book for a few years now, and my love of Queen books goes all the way back to high school.
3) Focus! If I had one word to sum up what I want to do in the next year, it comes down to this. I need to focus on the things that matter. My family, my job, my writing goals. It’s fun to play Sudoku and read everyone’s Facebook statuses, but in reality that gets me nowhere closer to what I need to be doing.
To celebrate, we always boil up some cabbage for prosperity in the new year – does anyone else do this? I’d love to hear about your customs and resolutions for the New Year.
Happy New Year!
The best to you and yours for a safe, healthy and peaceful new year!
Christmas Reads
Amidst the wreaths, shopping, and Christmas specials, I always take time out at this to read some holiday mysteries. These books are like old friends, books I’ve read on a regular basis since I was a teenager, and now they’re a tradition with me.
First is always, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas. Granted it’s a bit bloody, but it does have a British family Christmas replete with puddings and Boxing Day traditions. I also read The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, which of course deals with the thick puddings that are nothing like our own sweet chocolate varieties.
Ellery Queen’s The Dauphin’s Doll, which is in Calendar of Crime (based on an EQ radio play) is also another fun read for the holiday.
And of course, there’s my own Canine Christmas, which contains 15 stories of crime, the holidays and man’s best friend. I hope that you make it a tradition for you as well.
Happy Holidays to all.. Jeff
