What a Season!

Dear Readers,

It’s been several weeks since Madness in Christmas River came out, and I think I’m finally just now beginning to recover from the writing/editing process! It’s been quite the journey (Madness was an apt title for the book!), but I’m pleased to be on this end of things and to be heading into a brand New Year full of new possibilities and new books.

I’ll be writing more blog posts in the days ahead, but I just wanted to write a little something to express my gratitude to all of you who have bought any or all of the books in the Christmas River Cozy Mystery series. I’m so happy to be able to write them, and I hope that they have brightened up your winter just a little bit J. Thank you, as always, for your support!!!

Here’s to a magnificent 2014!

MM

Thanksgiving Cheers

It's Thanksgiving morning, and let me tell you, I'm pooped!

Mostly because I spent all day baking pies yesterday for this evening's big feast. I don't know how Cinnamon does it day in and day out. Making pie is a time-consuming, intensive endeavor. But it sure is worth it.

This year, I made a sour cream pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust, along with a pear quince pie with a maple oatmeal crumble topping. I'm excited to see how they turned out tonight!

While I was baking last night, I have to admit that I did break into the whiskey to make myself a pre-holiday cocktail (I think I deserved it after all that work :). It turned out pretty tasty! Here's the recipe. I think it would be just as at home on the Christmas table as it would on the Thanksgiving table.

The Sophisticated Turkey
(Makes 1 drink)
Ingredients:
1 shot of Wild Turkey whiskey
1 shot of pomegranate juice
2 shots of cold apple cider

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, and shake until icy cold. Strain into sugar-clove rimmed martini glass, and serve. Enjoy (because you deserve it!)

For the sugar-clove rimmed martini glasses: Mix a pinch of clove and 1 tablespoon of sugar together on a plate. Use a lemon slice to moisten the edge of a martini glass. Dredge the edge in the mixture until coated.

Thankfully, my other family members are taking care of the rest of the meal today, so I can kick up my feet and enjoy the day!

Also, FYI, I'll be posting a cover preview for Madness in Christmas River next week, so watch out for it!

Hope you're all having a wonderful Thanksgiving out there!!!

MM

Madness in Christmas River Reminder!

Dear Readers,

I just wanted to drop a reminder that the third installment of the Christmas River Cozy Mystery series, Madness in Christmas River, will be available the first week of December on Amazon. This one will be the perfect Christmas read as well being that the story takes place entirely in the month of December! Also, a box set featuring books 1 through 3 will also be available on Amazon next month.

For those of you who want an email reminder when Madness in CR hits digital shelves, please sign up for my new book mailing list (if you haven't already), which you can find by clicking HERE or at the top of the sidebar of this blog.

Thanks again to everyone who's downloaded my books, written reviews, and helped support me as an author over the past year. It means so much! :)

Also, this photo is of an ornament that I picked up today while out and about that was just too cute to leave behind in the store. Even though Christmas is still a little ways off, I'm already in full-on holiday mode. Can't wait for the most wonderful time of the year!

MM

Autumn Afternoons

I just love this time of year. The cold evenings and soft warm days, the leaves changing into candy apple reds and cider yellows, the pumpkins on porches... the scary movies. Autumn is something special. 

This post will be short -- mostly just some pictures showing you what I've been up to other than writing the third book in the Christmas River series this past month: taking lots of photos of the changing leaves, decorating plaster skulls, and making a very messy and very tasty Boston Cream Pie. And just FYI, Madness in Christmas River, the follow-up to Mayhem in Christmas River, will be out by Dec. 1. Which, if you think about it, is really only a few short weeks away :). But in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy every dancing leaf, every glowing jack-o-lantern, and every black and white horror movie classic you see this season!
MM

Music from Christmas River, Track 3

Happy September!

As I’m looking at the calendar, I’m both shocked and terribly excited to see that the Christmas season is really just a matter of months away. Maybe I’m jumping the gun just a little bit (it is still technically summer after all) but things do go quickly this time of year. As a writer of Christmas mysteries, that’s both very exciting and very nerve-wracking!!! Lots and lots of work to do between now and Christmas, but I’m looking forward to getting into the spirit of things.

I’m currently working on Madness in Christmas River. The new book takes place during the month of December. It’s fun being back in Christmas River during the Christmas season. This season promises  plenty of snow, lights, ornaments, delicious pie, and of course… madness!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you one of my very favorite Christmas songs for this edition of Music from Christmas River. For me, when it comes to Christmas songs, it just doesn’t get any better than Dean Martin’s album A Winter Romance. When I was writing Murder in Christmas River, I had this album playing over and over in the background. My favorite song from the collection is Canadian Sunset. That intro just makes my heart melt every time!

A beautiful song that’s easy to appreciate -- even when you’re in the middle of an 80-plus degree day at the end of summer J

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Labor Day!

Deadwood, Dogs, and Book Updates

Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I suck at social media. I’m always trying to stay on top of my blog and twitter accounts, but here we are two months since my last blog post. Eek! I’m not going to promise anything, but I’ll try to avoid such long hiatuses in the future!

In the meantime, I've been up to some fun things. I visited my sister and her fiancé in Denver (and their large, crazy and cute Great Pyrenees puppy, Liti), and then we took a trip to Deadwood, South Dakota where I had just the best time living out all my Western dreams. I won $60 at the blackjack table in Kevin Costner’s casino, sipped whiskey in the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot, and climbed up to the famous Mt. Moriah Cemetery. It was a grand, grand time J. I've also been brewing up some beer of late, and I must say, my latest batch of cherry stout turned out tasting a bit strange. But so far it hasn't poisoned anyone, so it has that going for it at least.

But, like all good things, my short stint of “Megcation” (as I like to call it) came to an end. Lately I feel like I've been living in the newsroom, turning around stories left and right. However, I've also made a point to continue writing what I really love writing: my cozy’s. I've been staying up late at night making some good progress on my upcoming books. 

Madness in Christmas River, the third installment of The Christmas River series, will be released this November in time for Christmas. But before that, I’m going to release a new cozy mystery series in the fall. All I’ll say is that the new book is going to be a perfect read for the autumn, and that I’m very excited about it! It should be available by late September, so stay tuned for more updates.

Last of all, I just want to say thank you to those of you who have downloaded my books, written reviews for them, and signed up for the mailing list. Not to get all sappy on you, but writing these books has been such a fun journey for me, and I owe you all a lot of thanks for that. When I’m having a tough day in the newsroom and I see that somebody signed up for the mailing list, or posted a review on Amazon – it gives me such a boost! So thank you, thank you, readers!

So with that, I’ll say that I’ll try to keep the blog more current. I’m going to revive my Music from Christmas River posts, and hopefully get a few more pie recipes going. And in the meantime, stay tuned for more updates on my upcoming books.

Hope you’re all having a lovely summer so far!

MM