Monday, January 22, 2018

Tumbles, Broken Bones, and Book Launches



Today's blog article will be short and sweet. I recently took a tumble which resulted in me falling on my shoulder and breaking my collarbone and multiple places. In the long run, I will be just fine. In the short run, typing with one hand is a little problematic. But I wanted to share the great news about the launch of my 5th Downward Dog Mystery, Pre-Meditated Murder. Reviews so far are fabulous, and I hope you give the book a try.
 
If you happen to live in the Seattle area, I would love it if you came to see me in person. Please join me in celebrating my book's birth at the Edmonds Bookshop on Saturday, February 3, from 1 to 2 p.m. I'll be giving real-life hugs, signing books, and generally having an awesome time.

The rest of the book launch for Pre-Meditated Murder is going on as scheduled, and the reviews from my first blog tour are pretty fabulous. I've copied the below from the tour host’s page at Great Escapes Blog Tours. Check out the page at this link and enter the Rafflecopter drawing for a free copy of the book.
 
These characters are realistic, fun, smart, determined and very centered most of the time. I love the role Bella plays in each mystery. ~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
 
Starting and ending with romantic surprises, this yoga-centric novel takes the reader to unexplored locations on a roller coaster emotional run. ~Laura’s Interests
 
PRE-MEDITATED MURDER is a compelling read. Expectations of love are challenged and explored in this multilayered mystery. ~Cozy Up With Kathy
 
Okay, I just totally fell in love with this book!…  There is quite a bit of drama, a captivating investigation, and a heart-wrenching finale that kept me hooked until I ran out of pages to read. ~Books a Plenty Book Reviews
 
I love this series. I never expected that Michael had a secret wife. I’m not sure I liked that twist, but I couldn’t stop reading. I just had to find out how it would all end. I was completely engrossed in this one. ~Socrates’ Book Reviews…
 
I loved Rene, Kate best friend, she is brave, funny and I would love to read more about her! ~Varietats
 
That's all for now. Much love to all of you, and I hope to see some of you on February 3rd.
 
Tracy
 
PS--Want your very own copy of Pre-Meditated Murder? It's available now  in e-book and paper back copies everywhere!

Check this link for some local ideas. http://tracyweberauthor.com/buy_premeditated.html

Thursday, January 11, 2018

How Hard Is It to Turn a Tide?

Edith here, gearing up for the release of Turning the Tide, Quaker Midwife Mystery #3. 


Actually, I don't think it's possible to turn an oceanic tide. It's not a little boat. It's not even a giant ocean liner or tanker. Our earth's ocean tides are mighty gravitation-powered forces. They come around more or less twice a day, with two high tides and two lows. The moon influences them. The weather influences them. We dinky humans have no effect, unless on a grand climate-change scale.

Don't trust me on this, though. I write novels, not science articles. But I'm pretty sure it's true. So why would I name a book if turning a tide isn't even possible?

The story opens at a meeting of the Amesbury Woman Suffrage Association a few days before election day in November 1888. We now know this was more than thirty years before women got the vote by the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US constitution in 1920. But that didn't mean women weren't already protesting and lobbying for the right to express their opinions at the ballot box.

Gradually, inexorably, women were turning the tide of opinion toward allowing half the adult population to vote. In the same way as with the movement to legally enfranchise African-American men, Quakers were in the forefront of the women's rights movement. Midwife Rose Carroll joins forces with other Amesbury suffragists in this book, and her mother - a well-known activist for the cause - comes to town to stand in solidarity across from the polls on election day, as does Elizabeth Cady Stanton herself.

I'm so excited that this book will reach the reading public in three short months! In the meantime, I have five advance reader copies itching to reach the hands of avid fans. I'll give one away to  a commenter here today.

Readers: Do you vote? If not, why not? What do you think of when you exercise your right, not even a century old, to mark that ballot or pull that lever, whether in a local election or to name the next leader of the country?


Agatha- and Macavity-nominated author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the popular Country Store Mysteries and the new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. 

She is president of Sisters in Crime New England and lives north of Boston with her beau, two elderly cats, and an impressive array of garden statuary. She blogs at WickedCozyAuthors.com, KillerCharacters.com, and midnightwriters.blogspot.com. Read about all her personalities and her work at edithmaxwell.com

Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy New Year!


by Linda O. Johnston

Yikes!  This post just sneaked up on me.  The first Monday of the month is also the first day of this new year.

This will be short since I'm still celebrating.  Plus, I'm still dealing with deadlines--nothing unusual about that. 


But I'm looking forward to an exciting and fun new year of writing and reading and family time (including my dogs, of course) and more.  I also look forward to more interaction with the Midnight Ink team and other MI writers.  Good bunch of people, and I hope the new year is great for all of them!


Do you have plans for today?  This week?  This month?  This year?  January is a good time to work on all kinds of plans.  I've got lots in mind, and I suspect you do, too. 


So... Happy New Year!  I hope you have a wonderful 2018.  And beyond, of course.  Plan well, accomplish much, read and write a lot, and above all else, have fun.




Linda O. Johnston is currently writing the Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries for Midnight Ink.  Her most recent one was Bad to the Bone, and the next in the series, Pick and Chews, will be a May 2018 release.