Friday Faves

Friday Faves 10/1/21

Happy Friday and happy October! It’s been a whirlwind of a week juggling the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO while writing another book, managing life stuff and finding the right balance of playtime with Connie – it’s getting cooler here and she’s full of energy. In many ways I’m so happy it’s Friday while I feel release week slipping away. It’s hard to describe what release week feels like…maybe I can. Imagine Christmas day, the first day of a new job and celebrating a milestone birthday all rolled into one so all those accompanying emotions ebb and flow with bursts of emotional waves hitting with bouts of exhaustion. Yeah, good times. And I wouldn’t change a thing. In fact, I’m looking forward to the release of BEAUTY AND THE DECEASED in December.

My faves this week include a podcast, a Instagram account that always makes me smile, the workout of the week, a favorite YouTube channel and my current read. Ready? Let’s get started.

My faves this week include a podcast, a Instagram account that always makes me smile, the workout of the week, a favorite YouTube channel and my current read. Ready? Let’s get started.

Podcast: Resting Witch Face. It’s October, so I’m all about spooky, hocus, pocus. This is a new podcast to me and I listened to their Salem Witch Trials episode.

Instagram: Heresyourmonkeycontent. In January while scrolling Instagram I stumbled upon a funny monkey video. Well, that led me down a rabbit hole. There are a lot of funny monkeys out there! Anyway, I discovered a few accounts that I now followed. One of them featured George, a nine year old Capuchin monkey, and I hooked. Sadly, he passed away. Time passed and his family brought home a baby Capuchin named Nash. So. Stinking. Cute. And, the story of their rescue Pit Bull, Journey, is heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Workout: Get Healthy U’s Core Connection. Thirty minutes and I got some cardio with core work. Not too shabby.

You Tube: Hot & Flashy. I discovered this channel a few years ago and it’s one of my regulars. Because I’ve been so busy since the beginning of September, I missed a few of her videos. I had time this week to catch up with Angie while sipping a cup of tea.

My current read: Hide In Place by Emilya Naymark. This is the first book of the author’s I’m reading and I’m about seventy pages in and I’m hooked.

Do you have a fave this week you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.

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Food Blogger Mysteries, Food Blogger Mystery Series

Release Day Continues…

It’s a couple days after release day and it’s still all good! And a little bit crazy as I’m trying to juggle writing a new first draft, finalize a project for my agent and take care of life things. Oh, there’s also Connie. The weather is cool and she’s full of energy. There’s been a few games of tug of war with a sock between my work sessions.

Since Tuesday, I’ve received emails and messages and comments about THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO. I’m so grateful for all of them. There are also reviews being shared and I thought I’d share a few of them. Here’s one.

If you haven’t gotten your copy of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO, no worries! It’s available at your favorite retailer.

Food Blogger Mysteries, Food Blogger Mystery Series, New Book Releases, New Releases, Uncategorized

THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO RELEASE

Well, it happened. THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO released yesterday. And like every other release day, it was a busy 24 hours. And I loved every minute of it. From answering reader emails, posting on social media, checking on my blog tour stops to doing a live Zoom event with five other amazing authors also celebrating book birthdays, I was all over the place. And I even got my car an oil change! Yep, the glamorous life of an author. 🙂

Yesterday was also National Neighbor’s Day. How fitting that the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO fell on that day because Hope is dealing with a particularly cantankerous neighbor, Birdie Donovan. In fact, Birdie is circulating a petition to force Hope to move from their street. Now, this doesn’t sit well with Hope, who loves her neighborhood and her restored farmhouse. She’s not moving any time soon and she lets Birdie know just that. Unfortunately, that conversation happens in public and it’s captured on video, which goes viral. That’s pretty bad, right? Well, it gets worse for Hope. To find out how much more worse, you’ll need to pick up your own copy. 🙂

Yesterday I also got to celebrate my book’s birthday with five other cozy mystery authors and had the pleasure of joining in on a panel discussion about our books. To check out that video, click here to be directed to YouTube. And be sure to check out their books! Now’s the time to stock up on cozy reads.

Cozy mysteries are perfect for gift giving. Wouldn’t it be great to mark some gifts off your list?

HERE COMES THE FUDGE by Nancy Coco

Fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy never expected her maid of honor duties to include clearing the groom of murder . . .
 
THE BODY OF A CRIME
 
It’s late spring on picturesque Mackinac Island, Michigan.  Allie is prepping her Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop for the start of the tourist season and her best friend Jenn’s wedding. But when Jenn’s fiancé Shane, a crime scene investigator on the island, misses a dinner date, the two friends go looking for him. Led by Allie’s bichonpoo Mal into an alley, they come upon Shane standing over a body with a bloody knife in his hand. Shane won’t say what’s happened, just tells them to call 911. As the CSI is taken into custody by his colleagues, including Allie’s beau Rex Manning, the fudge maker vows to prove her friend’s fiancé is not a killer—before the ceremony turns into a jailhouse wedding . . .

MURDER OUTSIDE THE LINES by Krista Davis

Includes A Front and Back Cover for You to Color!

With Halloween just around the corner, the fall colors in Georgetown are brilliant. As manager of the Color Me Read bookstore, coloring book creator Florrie Fox has arranged for psychic author Hilda Rattenhorst to read from Spooktacular Ghost Stories. But the celebrity medium arrives for the event in hysterics, insisting she just saw a bare foot sticking out of a rolled-up carpet in a nearby alley. Is someone trying to sweep murder under the rug? Florrie calls in her policeman beau, Sergeant Eric Jonquille, but the carpet corpse has disappeared without a trace.
 
Then in the middle of her reading, Hilda chillingly declares that she feels the killer’s presence in the store. Is this a publicity stunt or a genuine psychic episode? It seems there’s no happy medium. When a local bibliophile is soon discovered missing, a strange mystery begins to unroll. Now it’s up to Florrie and Jonquille to expose a killer’s true colors . . .

MURDER AT THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKE OFF by Darci Hannah

Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewellis ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe . . .
 
With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever—winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition . . .
 
Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake‑off, and she’s not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone’s stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead—and covered in crumbs from Lindsey’s signature cookie!
 
Solving a murder was never on Lindsey’s wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she’ll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit.

WREATHING HAVOC by Julia Henry

There’s nothing like autumn in picturesque Goosebush, Massachusetts, but beneath the season’s sun-dappled foliage, Lilly Jayne and her Garden Squad must investigate a shadowy murder mystery after a theater owner’s sudden death sows as much drama behind the scenes as on any stage…
 
Lilly Jayne typically spends the harvest season baking festive pies and crafting colorful wreaths to enter in the library’s annual fundraising contest. But this year, autumn opens on a somber note when beloved local theater owner, Leon Tompkin, dies unexpectedly. His memorial sets the scene for a mini reunion of The Goosebush Players’ best and brightest alumni, including Hollywood star, Jeremy Nolan…until someone plucks Jeremy from the spotlight, permanently.
 
Now, as dedicated theater volunteer, Scooter McGee, falls under suspicion, Lilly and her Garden Squad must spring into action. They quickly discover a cornucopia of potential suspects in Jeremy’s murder. Was it an embittered ex…or a jilted lover? A rival thespian…or an overly ambitious artist? Lilly rakes through the piles of clues, but if she doesn’t uncover the real killer soon, more than autumn leaves will be dropping in Goosebush…

MURDER CAN FROST YOUR DOUGHNUTS by Rose Pressey

he ghost of an Elvis impersonator has got psychic painter Celeste Cabot all shook up . . .
 
Celeste has pulled up in her pink Shasta trailer, aka mobile art studio, to the Sevier County Fair in the mountains of eastern Tennessee to sell her paintings. A highlight of the fair promises to be the celebrity impersonation contest. But the low point is when Celeste and her floppy-eared white Chihuahua Van (short for Van Gogh) find an Elvis impersonator in his trailer doing a great impression of a corpse, clutching a doughnut in his hand.
 
Seeking a vision to solve the crime, Celeste paints her own Elvis portrait—and suddenly the ghost of the Elvis impersonator appears. They say fools rush in, but with the help of this spirit, Celeste sets out to find the real killer among all the fake celebrities. It’s now or never, because there won’t be time to tell the killer: “Don’t be cruel.”
 
Includes tips and recipes!

THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO by Debra Sennefelder

Food blogging is turning Hope Early into a household name. But the dead body down the block makes her a #1 suspect . . .
 
It seems everyone loves Hope’s blog these days, and she’s busier than ever volunteering to help other women create their own paths to success. So she’s shocked when a neighbor petitions to run Hope right out of her small Connecticut town! Set in her ways, apparently Birdie Donovan doesn’t like the chaos Hope’s sleuthing creates, the police activity and crime scenes, and it’s happening way too often lately. Eager to make amends, Hope bakes Birdie a batch of her best muffins. The delicious treats might have smoothed things over—until Hope discovers Birdie dead in her gazebo the very next day . . .
 
Now instead of worrying about holding on to her beloved home, Hope is trying to stay out of jail. Because suddenly she’s the lead suspect in the case. Not even her boyfriend, Police Chief Ethan Cahill, is promising he can clear her name, much less discuss the investigation with her. It’s up to Hope to get to bake new ground on the case before the lifestyle brand she’s created—and her whole life—crumbles . . .

Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

Pets

And then came Connie

A couple of months ago I sat down with a cup of coffee and scrolled through my blog posts. All the way back. I was looking for some inspiration because I really wanted to get back to writing regular posts. It felt like the more time I was away from regularly blogging, the harder it was to write a post. That seemed odd to me since I have been able to write 80,000 word plus novels. Yet a 500 word blog post stymied me. Go figure. So I thought a look back to when I was regularly writing blog posts might help me get back into that groove. Well, what I realized was that I never wrote about Connie joining our family. Well, I’m going to do that now.

If you haven’t met Connie yet on social media, here she is. Connie came into our lives after a rough four months. Our beloved Susie passed away unexpectedly over the Memorial Day week. She was fifteen. Then four months later, Billy passed away. He was fourteen. Our hearts were broken and our home was so quiet. Then Connie came and it hasn’t been quiet since. And she was exactly what we needed.

Within two months of her coming home, I enrolled her in puppy school. There she learned the basics, met her best friend, Maura (they still have play dates) and got her diploma.

Connie has a lot of energy and she loves a good game of tug of war and ball playing. She’s also curious, so I love taking her places like a local garden center that has animals. She always rides shotgun in her booster seat.

She loves holidays (probably because there’s always a new toy for her) but she’s also a hard worker, so much so that she’s been promoted to my office manager. The girl keeps me on task. 🙂

In June, Connie celebrated her second birthday and in a few weeks we’ll celebrate two years of her joining our family. She’s still a ball of energy and she’s a bit of a ham in front of the camera and doesn’t mind wearing a hat. 🙂

While Susie and Billy will always be in our hearts, Connie has carved out a place for herself. Do you share your life with a pet? Leave a comment below sharing something about your best buddy.

Food Blogger Mysteries, Sunday Chat

Sunday Snippet

No, the coldness inside of her just sat there, expanding with every minute that passed, and it hurt.

“This is perhaps my favorite book in the Food Blogger Mysteries so far. I’ve enjoyed watching, author Debra Sennefelder, flesh out and grow her cast of characters. Characters I both love, and love to not like. They are layered with wonderful, and not so perfect layers. She truly is a gifted writer.”
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

THE CORPSE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

☑️Mystery with recipes
☑️Small, New England town
☑️Twenty year old cold case
☑️Adorable dog

***Blurb***

Food blogger Hope Early takes on a cold case that’s heating up fast . . .

Building on her recipe for success with her food blog, Hope at Home, Hope is teaching her first blogging class at the local library in Jefferson, Connecticut. She’s also learning about podcasts, including a true-crime one called Search for the Missing, hosted by Hope’s childhood friend, Devon Markham. Twenty years ago on Valentine’s Day, right here in Jefferson, Devon’s mom disappeared and was never found. Finally Devon has returned to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother—and she asks Hope to help.

The next day Hope discovers Devon’s apartment has been ransacked. Her laptop with the research on her mother’s cold case is missing, and Devon is nowhere to be found. When her friend’s body is later discovered in a car wreck, Hope is convinced it’s no accident. Clearly, Devon was too close to the truth, and the cold-blooded killer is still at large in Jefferson. Now it’s up to Hope to find the guilty party—before the food blogger herself becomes the next subject of another true-crime podcast . . .

Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

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