Launch Month

--by Linda O. Johnston

It's October--launch month for my new Superstition Mystery Series! 

I have been writing for quite a while, and LOST UNDER A LADDER, the first in the series, is far from being my first published novel, but it's different and new and I'm very excited about it. 

Why write about superstitions?  Why not!  Not everyone considers himself superstitious, but even so most of us will knock on wood or cross our fingers to try to bring ourselves good luck.

My protagonist Rory Chasen is an especially dubious person.  She never considered herself superstitious--but then her fiance walked under a ladder and died shortly afterward.  Was his death a result of walking under a ladder?  She needs to know--and so she goes to Destiny, California, which is centered around superstitions, to try to find out.

There, she launches herself into a new life, a new career as the manager of a pet boutique instead of being an assistant manager at a chain pet supply store.  LOST UNDER A LADDER is something new for her, too--especially when she finds herself having to solve a murder.

Me?  Well, I solve murders a lot.  That's what a cozy mystery author does--although I also create them first.  But this series is new in several ways to me.  It takes place in a small, fictional town instead of Los Angeles.  It includes a lot about dogs, yes, as my other mysteries do, but it also centers around something else: superstitions.

This series is also my first for Midnight Ink, although I do have a second series to begin with them next year, the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries. 

I enjoy trying something new, especially when it comes to my writing.  My fingers are crossed (of course!) that this launch, in addition to being fun, and busy because of all the blogs and other promo I'm doing, is the harbinger of a well-received new series!