Happy Monday, Ladies ~

I’m in countdown mode with four days and a wake-up until we leave for our first-ever cruise. On Friday, we fly to San Diego, where we will spend the night, along with the large group of friends we’re traveling with, in a trendy hotel.

We board our Holland America cruise ship on Saturday afternoon, then set sail for Cabo San Lucas. You may remember that I finished “Chaos in Cabo” in Cabo while on vacation last year, then published the book in December. At the time, I had no idea that we’d be vacationing on a Mexican Cruise this year, but I’m thrilled to be returning to Cabo with “Chaos in Cabo” in hand.

One of the friends I’m traveling with is lovingly called the “Queen Bee” because she’s always coming up with interesting ways for us to have fun. During this trip, she came up with the idea of our group wearing matching T-shirts with funny sayings. She picked this saying for me: “Most likely to be writing a book.” I mean, how appropriate is that?

Since Randy and I vacationed in Cabo last year, we decided to join the group for a day cruise on a luxury sailboat with the possibility of seeing whales. I love being on the water and am excited to have a picture taken of me with “Chaos in Cabo” in front of the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, which is featured on the cover of my book. I’ll be able to see from the sailboat the old, abandoned building on top of Mt Solmar, where my villainess makes a life-changing decision. We will sail by the section of beach where Antonio has a boat waiting, and he makes his escape. And the sea route will take us by “Lover’s Beach,” where Amado first proposed to Socorro. I love that I’ll be able to relive these important places in my book, experiencing them now after I know the roles they played in “Chaos in Cabo.”

After our day in Cabo, we set sail on the Sea of Cortés at night, and then we will wake up in La Paz for our second port of call. We’ve never been to La Paz, but I’ve always wanted to visit the charming Mexican town. And as luck would have it … the sixth book in my Mexico Mayhem series is “Lucky in La Paz.” I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, but I always start with a title after I’ve decided on the location of the next book. Next comes my first-draft storyline, defined by three taglines: A perfect paradise. A rocky reunion. A cavalier crook.

And of course, every good storyline needs fabulous characters, which in my case means a Hero, a Heroine, and a Villain. For this book, I’m bringing back three previous characters: FBI Agent Christopher Temple, DEA Agent Jade Mendoza, and Jade’s mother, the elusive Sarita Garcia. Oh, what fun awaits them!

Since I’ve never been to La Paz, I’m taking myself on a tour of the town to do research for my book. Randy says he’s on board so long as we can do some of the research from a cantina to two.

Once we sail away from La Paz, we travel farther north into the Sea of Cortés and stop in our final port of call, Loreto. We’ve also never been to Loreto, but the town has been on my radar for about five years, and we were planning to fly there for a future vacation. And, you guessed it, book five in my Mexico Mayhem series is “Lost in Loreto.” I’ve already started writing this book and am over the moon knowing I’ll be able to visit the places I’ve Googled and used as locations in the book. Once again, Randy and I will walk the streets of Loreto, soaking in all the culture and sights. “Lost in Loreto’s storyline has these taglines: A missing wife. An intriguing romance. A clever abductor.

As with all my Mexico Mayhem books, I advance at least one character from the previous book and am bringing Detective Javier Pérez to Loreto after leaving Cabo with a broken heart. As the Hero, he will be forced to work with his brother-in-law as they look for Javier’s estranged wife, Gabriella. He also finds himself helping attorney Skarlet Quinn, who, as the Heroine, tries to clear her ex-fiancé of abduction and murder. And, eventually, Javier will have to outwit Arlo Najar, a cunning and determined Villain.

Obviously, I am excited and feel blessed to have the opportunity to visit actual cities featured in my books. And bonus, I’ll be able to write off part of my vacation as marketing and research.

Four days and a wake-up… geez … I’d better go pack my suitcase!!!

Happy Writing, Ladies ~

I have signed up for four book selling events this spring, and I’m looking for more. I absolutely love doing these events. I haven’t branched out to the outdoor ones yet, but I’m sure I will eventually.

I like meeting people. I like talking about my books. Even though I’m an introvert, when I’m talking about books, whether mine or someone else’s, I lose my shyness and enjoy every minute of it. I’ve found that most people love talking to authors. It seems strange to me, because I am an author, that most people I meet at these events have never met one before.

I’ll never forget my first fan girl moment. I drove seventy miles to meet Mary Higgens Clark. She was one of my favorite authors. I stood in this long line that ran around the inside of the bookstore and out the door, for an hour, waiting for my chance to meet her and get her to sign my book. What a thrill!

My first impression of Mary was that she was tiny and very charming. My only regret was I didn’t have a camera with me that day. That was back before cell phones, and you had to carry your camera with you. I remember being so jealous because the girl behind me in line did have her camera and Mary was gracious enough to agree to a picture with her.

My next fan girl moment was with Tony Hillerman. I wasn’t a huge fan back then, but my best friend was and we waited in line for a long time to get his autograph. He was delightful, and my friend was practically swooning when we left. I have since read some of his books and know why my friend was such a fan.

I’ve also had some very disappointing meetings with authors. One big name (really big name!) author I met was not personable. He acted like he didn’t want to be there. The bookstore had set up a question-and-answer time with him, and he was curt and acted like it was beneath hm to answer our questions. Was he just shy like so many authors are? I don’t know, but he could’ve been nicer. He went on to sell millions of books and if I mentioned his name, you would recognize it immediately, but he didn’t make a good impression on me. I guess his books are so good, and they really are, that people overlooked the fact that he really wasn’t a nice person.

Another author I met whose books I loved turned me off because she was so unapproachable. It was at a mystery conference, and she had a posse around her to keep her safe (I guess) from her rabid fans. I was so disappointed because I really loved her books. She later came out and said some scathing remarks about people who thought differently than she did, and I quit reading her books. Did she miss me dashing to the bookstore to put down my money for her book when it first came out? No, not at all, but even though I loved her stories I didn’t like her at all.

Most of my experiences with my book signings have been positive, but I don’t think anyone gets by without someone who wants to pick your book apart. One woman came to see me at an event just to tell me that she was angry at the way I’d ended the last book. She was very loud and her face was red as she shook her finger at me. And I had one woman get hold of me online to tell me that she thought there was a misspelled word in one of my books. She said she always noticed misspelled words and was sure I would want to know that she found one in my book. My first thought was, only one? 😊

But those encounters are few and far between, thankfully, or I would probably never step outside my house again! Most people I meet are wonderful. They are so excited to meet you that it’s very humbling. I’ve had several people tell me they’ve never met a real author before, and I’m thinking, I’m a real author? LOL

My philosophy for book signings or giving talks in front of a room full of people is, fake it till you make it. I put on my smiling face and do my best to be pleasant to everyone. I was even nice to the lady who screamed at me because the book didn’t end the way she thought it should. Do I sweat a little at each event? You bet I do! But the positives far outweigh the negatives.

My goal for each event is to make one new reader or one new friend. I’m doing my best to grow my readership. One of the hardest things for me is cold calling on bookstores. I really hate to do that. If you have a way that makes that part easier, please let me know. My challenge for this year is to get at least one more bookstore to carry my books.

by donalee Moulton

• Cardinal is a paranormal mystery set in Nova Scotia — part of the Paranormal Canadiana Collection. It builds around the story of Catherine McIntosh, a little girl who died on April 23, 1889, one month short of her ninth birthday. Many believe Catherine is still with us today, and if you visit her grave in Pictou County, as I did, you will see the tumble of wonderful gifts people have left in her memory. Catherine introduced me to another world, and her story is the heartbeat of the book, my first paranormal mystery.
  
• Private Detective E.M. Montogomery also makes her first book-length appearance in Cardinal.  (Can you guess what E.M. stands for?) The Halifax-based investigator has previously appeared in eight short stories, which have been published in anthologies and magazines across Canada and the U.S. When I was thinking about a main character to interact with Catherine and find a missing flesh-and-blood woman, Em emerged as the frontrunner. Below she meets her client for the first time – and learns this case will not be business as usual.

Day One

Saturday, April 25^th

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Gord Gillis is 62. He’s a retired firefighter. He looks like a 62-year-old firefighter, I think. Now admittedly, I have no idea what a 62-year-old firefighter should look like. Except he should look like Gord Gillis.

It’s a circular argument, and it’s giving me a headache. This is the stage in the client interview where the private detective, that would be me, leans back, nods, makes soothing sounds, and shakes their head in sympathy. I learned this technique when I was a cop with the Halifax Regional Police, and it has served me well as sole owner and employee of Bold Pursuit, although, at the moment, there is no boldness or pursuing required. Just a lot of nodding.

Gord needs to get his fear out before he can move on to dealing with that fear. Which is why I am sitting at a table in the Easy Street Diner sipping a now-cold decaf coffee. And nodding. It’s time to move on. I lean forward and give Gord’s hand, the one hugging his mug for dear life, a sympathetic pat.

“Nell sounds wonderful,” I say.

“Ms. Montgomery, you have to believe me. She would never leave me.” Gord says this emphatically. A hint of spittle makes its way to the corner of his lips. A hint of uncertainty travels with it.

I give Gord’s hand another gentle pat. I tell him to call me Em, like we are old friends enjoying an early morning chat. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Tell me everything you know. Even the tiniest detail can be helpful.”

Gord has a lot of details, and in the end, very little information to help me locate his missing wife. Nell went to Pictou, about a two-hour drive from Halifax, on Monday. She’s trying to find a brother she didn’t know existed until her mother died a few months ago. The deal was Nell would visit the newspaper office, the library, and the genealogy centre. She also intended to talk to the locals to see if any of them knew anything about her brother. She was also going to have lunch with a former colleague from the RCMP.

“It was a long shot, but Nell felt she had to go.” Gord picks at his napkin, turns and looks out the window. “She said he was family. You don’t turn your back on family.”

“Someone did,” I point out softly.

Gord brings his eyes and his attention back to the table. “Nell’s mother died in January. MAID. She had stomach cancer and opted for an assisted death. That gave her time to get her affairs in order.”

I wait. Unburdening takes time. I also learned this when I was a cop. It’s Interrogation 101. Gord plucks at his napkin. He is reminding himself he is not sharing family secrets; he is helping to find his missing wife. “Nell’s father got a girl pregnant when they were both sixteen. We’re not sure what happened to the baby. All we know is the baby was a boy, and he was born in the spring of 1955.”

Gord returns to plucking the napkin, or what is left of it. “It sounds so silly when I say it out loud, but we thought that might be enough to find him. Pictou is small, like 3,000 people small. And Nell had to try.”

It’s clear I’m heading to Pictou, and I’d like to get under way as quickly as possible. Gord will have to be nudged. I reach over and take the napkin away from him. I wad it in a ball and toss it on my plate. “What makes you think Nell is missing?”

Gord reaches for what is left of his napkin. He looks down at the shredded paper. Finally, he looks up at me. “The ghost.”