Category: cozy mystery

Guest Blogger ~ Lois Winston

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Don’t Measure Yourself Against Another Writer’s Yardstick

By Lois Winston

My critique partner thinks I’m an organized person. When she told me this, I laughed. Like Santa, I make lists and check them, not twice, but multiple times. For instance, I have a list on my phone of items I need to pack for trips, but every time I go away, I invariably wind up forgetting to pack at least one of those essentials and need to find the nearest Target.

I walk into my office to do something, get distracted, and forget to do what I came in to do. Is it age-related? Possibly. I’m the first to admit I’m not as young as I used to be. But if I’m honest with myself, this isn’t a recent development. It’s occurred for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to my childhood. A touch of ADHD? Perhaps. Or maybe I just have an overactive imagination and so much going on in my brain that the less important things get pushed to the side.

Nowhere is this more evident than in my writing. I often can’t remember the names of all the characters in my books. Or the titles. However, I’ve been writing for more than thirty years, and most days, I can’t remember what I ate for dinner last night. So how can I be expected to remember all those characters’ names from books written decades ago? Then again, twenty-four novels, five novellas, and several short stories in three+ decades isn’t that much. It’s not like I’m Nora Roberts or James Patterson, knocking out three, four, five or more books a year. (I wonder if they remember all their characters and titles.)

When it comes to sitting down to write, I’m a pantser, not a plotter. Plotters are far more organized, but the few times I’ve tried plotting a book, I became bored with it, deleted the outline, and started over with either the barest bones germ of an idea or maybe only an interesting opening sentence. Rarely more than that. Pantsing is what I do. Trying to write like someone else is counterproductive to achieving an end result that I will be proud to release into the world. Plain and simple: Plotting just doesn’t work for me.

Like readers of mysteries, I want to be surprised. If I already know the who, what, where, when, and why of a story before I write the first sentence, I’ve eliminated the surprise. Writing becomes drudgery, and I know I’ll be letting my readers down. Readers are savvy. They can tell when an author is phoning it in, and when that happens, they toss the book aside.

This is not to say that pantsers are better writers than plotters. They’ve simply found a different path to The End. One that works for them. I wish I could be a happy plotter. Plotters probably don’t write themselves into corners as often as this pantser does. However, I’ve learned plotting is not an option for me. I’m unhappy when I plot, and it shows in my writing. I imagine a diehard plotter would be equally unhappy if forced to sit down and start writing without a clue.

In life, there’s never one right way that works for everyone. The same is true for writers. You can’t measure yourself against another writer’s yardstick. No two brains work the same way. We all learn differently. We each bring unique experiences and knowledge to our writing. Every writer takes a personal path to creating a novel. We all need to find the path that works best for us.

We all choose paths as we go through life. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, have you found the paths that works best for you? Post a comment for the chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any available Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery or Empty Nest Mystery.

Embroidered Lies and Alibis

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 15

A Stitch in Time Could Save a Life…

When Anastasia’s mother Flora is offered a free spa vacation from Jeremy Dugan, a man connected to her distant past, Anastasia and husband Zack suspect ulterior motives. After all, too-good-to-be-true often spells trouble. Their suspicions are confirmed when the FBI swoops in to apprehend Dugan. However, Dugan isn’t who he claimed to be, and his arrest raises more questions than answers.

The Feds link Dugan to a string of cons targeting elderly single women across the country, but his seemingly airtight alibi leaves investigators stumped. Then, shortly after his release on bail, he’s kidnapped. A certain segment of New Jersey’s population is known for delivering deadly messages, and the FBI believes Dugan received one of them.

Meanwhile, bodies begin showing up in the newly created public garden across the street from Anastasia and Zack’s home. With two baffling crimes, no clear suspects, scant evidence, and every possible motive unraveling, both the FBI and local law enforcement are once again picking Anastasia’s brain. This time, though, her involvement is far from reluctant. Will she stitch together enough clues before she or someone she loves becomes the killer’s next victim?

Craft project included.

Find Buy Links here.

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at www.loiswinston.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter to receive an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery.

Guest Blogger ~ DeAnna Drake

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When the Sidekick Steals the Story—and the Readers
by DeAnna Drake

Every mystery writer starts out knowing exactly who the main character is supposed to be.

We spend hours shaping her voice, refining her backstory, and placing her at the center of every twist and turn. She’s the one asking questions, following clues, and ultimately restoring order to a world that’s slipped just slightly out of balance.

What we don’t always expect is who our readers will fall in love with.

In my case, it wasn’t the sleuth. It was the cat.

Not just any cat, of course, but a talking cat.

When I first introduced a feline companion into my cozy mysteries, she was meant to be exactly that: a companion. A touch of charm. A quiet presence curled up nearby while the investigation unfolded. She added warmth, a hint of whimsy, and just enough personality to make the world feel a little kinder.

At least, that was the plan.

That first cat was Aneksi—an immortal talking kitten who once walked the halls of Cleopatra’s court before finding her way into the modern world. With her calm, observant nature and a perspective shaped by centuries of experience, she brought something unexpected to the Purr-fect Relic Cozy Mystery series from the very beginning.

Even then, I didn’t realize how important she would become.

Readers, however, had other ideas.

They wanted to know everything about her, and then some. It started with a few comments. Then emails. Then more emails that all circled back to the same question:

When would we be seeing more of her?

At first, I smiled and took it as a compliment. Of course they liked her. I liked her, too. But she had a role to play, and I thought I understood what that role was.

It turned out readers had a much bigger vision.

As the Purr-fect Relic series grew, so did Aneksi’s role. And then something happened that took both the story—and reader enthusiasm—to another level.

In the third book of the Purr-fect Relic series, Aneksi met her long-lost sister, Kheppy. The moment they shared the page, something shifted. Readers immediately connected with their dynamic—the contrast between Aneksi’s quiet wisdom and Kheppy’s sharper, more outspoken nature—and their enthusiasm for the pair sparked an idea I hadn’t anticipated.

A spin-off series.

Kheppy stepped into a starring role in the Laguna Bay Midlife Witch Cozy Mysteries, bringing her distinct personality—and her strong opinions—into a new setting filled with new characters and new mysteries to unravel.

And it all began with a cat I thought would stay in the background.

What I came to understand through this process was both surprising and, in hindsight, entirely natural.

As authors, we begin with a vision of the story we want to tell. We map out characters, arcs, and outcomes. We know who the hero is supposed to be and how the journey is meant to unfold.

But the best storytelling doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

When I started paying attention—really paying attention—to how readers were responding, something shifted. Their enthusiasm for Aneksi, their curiosity about her world, and their excitement when Kheppy entered the story opened doors I hadn’t even realized existed.

Following that thread didn’t just change the direction of the series. It changed the way I approached my cozy mysteries.

It made the stories richer, more layered, and more connected to the people reading them.

Just as importantly, it made a difference beyond the page. Reader engagement grew, and the connection between story and audience deepened in ways I hadn’t expected.

In the end, I came to understand something simple but powerful: paying attention to those reactions can reveal where a story wants to grow.

Sometimes the characters we think are supporting players are the ones carrying the story’s deepest spark.

I may have started the story, but listening to my readers helped it become something more.

Candy, Cauldrons, and a Corpse (Laguna Bay Midlife Witch Cozy Mystery Book 1)
by DeAnna Drake

A spellbinding Halloween cozy mystery with a talking cat, small-town secrets, and midlife magic.

Boo Boudreaux’s Halloween Boo-tique in quirky Laguna Bay has seen its share of trouble—but nothing like a rival shop stealing her customers and threatening her chance at the Top Haunt Window Contest.

When that rival turns up dead—face-down in a witch’s cauldron—all eyes turn to Boo.

With her reputation on the line, Boo must rely on her instincts, her loyal friends, and her opinionated talking cat to clear her name.

But as she digs deeper, Boo uncovers dark secrets beneath Laguna Bay’s sunny charm, and realizes some ghosts refuse to stay buried.

Can she unmask the killer before she becomes the next target?

BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVH89JXP

DeAnna Drake writes cozy mysteries powered by magical cats, tea, and a touch of whimsy. She is the author of the Purr-fect Relic Cozy Mysteries and the Laguna Bay Midlife Witch Cozy Mysteries, and enjoys sharing bonus scenes and cozy extras with her readers on Substack. https://deannadrake.substack.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DeAnnaDrakeWrites

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/deannadrakeauthor

Too Much Imagination?

~ patyjag ~ 4 Comments

Writing has always been therapy for me. A way to put my vivid imagination to good use instead of making me fearful and worried.

Early in my married years, when my hubby was a truck driver, my imagination would play scenarios in my head about things that happened to him while he was driving. Or if my parents were coming to visit and they were late, my mind would jump to all the tragic things that could have happened.

Once I started writing, sitting down nearly every day and putting my imagination to work writing stories, I rarely envision harm coming to people I know anymore.

What does happen is that my mind is constantly finding ways to bump off people in my mystery books. Ways that are unusual or that are everyday things that can become deadly. I haven’t asked other murder mystery writers if they do the same thing. I need to do that the next time I’m at a conference.

My latest was an innocent trip to the local theater group to watch the play “Oklahoma!” I had been toying with going, and then a friend said the Elgin Opera House put on the best plays, that most of the actors were actually people wanting to get into the field, and used the Opera House as a way to pad their résumés.

So I called my daughter, who lives halfway between the Opera House and me, to ask if she wanted to go with me. She said yes and I purchased the tickets online.

I have driven by the Opera House a hundred or more times, but I’ve never been inside the historical building built in 1912. We parked and entered the building, purchasing water and popcorn before finding our seats in the balcony section. I was impressed by the tin ceiling, the sloped seating, and the excellent sound. Very historical looking. The chairs were a bit hard, even though they were padded. I’m pretty sure it was the old wood shaving stuffing that had been packed down over decades of use!

We were a little bit early and entered the balcony from the top, found our seats, and took in the surroundings. After visiting and talking about the stage and my daughter having been in the building before, when her daughter was in a play, we decided to use the restroom before the play started. I stayed seated as my daughter went to use the facilities. The balcony didn’t have any lights on. The light came from down below on the stage. My daughter doesn’t like heights,. She came back from the restroom and said she didn’t like walking along the edge of the balcony to go to the door leading down to the restrooms.

I laughed at her and said, at least it wasn’t as high as the Church tower we’d climbed up to in Holland. Then I went down to walk along the balcony railing. It came to my knees, and the walking area between the railing and the front row seats was maybe 24 inches. I stopped to look down at the seating below and felt a little dizzy from the darkness above, the light below, and the sense that I was tipping toward the railing.

I continued on and then as I came back, the idea hit me that having a character be at the opera house for a play and seeing a person fall from the balcony would make a good start to a murder mystery. And as I sat in the balcony watching the play, more and more scenes flashed through my mind.

At the end of the play, when the spectators in the balcony had left, I sat in the front row and envisioned how someone could orchestrate an accidental fall.

So stay tuned for book three in the Cuddle Farm Mysteries. The death at the beginning of the book may or may not have been an accident! 😉

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Guest Blogger ~ Greta Boris

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The Lighter Side of Death

Greta Boris

It was March 19, 2020, and I was in San Diego at the Left Coast Crime Convention. I was just leaving my first (or maybe second) panel discussion when an announcement came over the loud speakers. The conference was being cancelled. The governor had just shut down the state. I grabbed my bags and headed for home.

During lockdown a lot of authors shut down just like the country. Their stories dried up. They were too distracted by the pandemic and all it’s accompanying fears to write.

Not me. Writing became my sanity.

There are two basic ways people deal with difficulties. Some are internal processors. They need to sit quietly and think things through. This is the kind of person I wish I was.

I am the second kind, however. I’m an external processor. Often, I don’t really know what I think about things until I get them out of my brain into the atmosphere.

Thankfully for my husband, I’m also a writer. Talking works, but so does writing. It’s saved our marriage. He can only handle so much of my mental meanderings.

Anyway, back to 2020. I was sure, like the rest of you, that this whole pandemic thing would be over in a hot minute. As the weeks of isolation dragged on, however, I realized I was going to have to do something with the growing fear within.

At the time, I was wrapping up book five or six of a seven book psychological suspense series now titled The Almost True Crime Series. It’s written as a if its a true crime podcast with each book representing one season of the show. My podcaster, Molly Shure, delves into the minds of the killers, trying to understand the “whys” behind the crimes. This is a topic that fascinates me, but it’s a little on the dark side.

In the middle of COVID, with all the darkness that it brought, I felt the need for something lighter and brighter. Being the kid that did NOT pull the covers over my head when something went bump in the night, I knew I had to tackle the current zeitgeist head on. I had to find the lighter side of death.

Coincidentally, my daughter had recently introduced me to a YouTube channel—The Ask a Mortician Show. Caitlin Doughty, an actual mortician, was funny and real and so, so interesting. She tackled topics like embalming procedures for people who’d died in various gruesome ways, strange burial rituals from around the globe, and why green burials were the wave of the future.

She, I thought, would make an excellent amateur sleuth. But how or why would a mortician be privy to things the authorities weren’t? By the time she got her hands on a corpse, medical and law enforcement professionals would have already investigated if an investigation was warranted.

Then, I remembered a conversation I’d had at the salon back in the good old days when we were allowed to groom ourselves. A stylist told me about another stylist who moonlighted in mortuaries doing hair for the dead.

What if my character got a request to style a deceased client for that client’s funeral? What if she discovered a hitherto unknown talent when she did? What if she could feel the final emotions or sensations of that person when she touched their hair? And what if the person demanded justice by haunting my main character until the murderer was exposed?

That had legs. I had an interesting protagonist with an interesting gift, a reason she would know things the police and coroner wouldn’t, and most importantly, a reason for her to encounter lots of dead people. No shade on Miss Marple, I love those stories, but the murder rate in St. Mary Meed was hard to swallow.

Thus To Dye For, book one in The Mortician Murders was born. I’m currently writing book nine in Imogene Lynch’s story. She’s found more than a gift and a slew of murderers. She’s found family, a legacy of power, an arch enemy in the Orange County Medical Examiner, and an evil cult she must ultimately confront. She’s also found love with Greener Pastures Mortuary’s hunky night watchman, Elmore Leonard Brown, who later in the series becomes an Orange County Sheriff.

The Mortician Murder world has been a respite for me from the tumult of the 2020s. The scary things Imogene has braved have helped me face my own fears during COVID and beyond. Through her, I’ve discovered a secret weapon—laughter. As hyperbolic as it might sound, writing this series has taught me that embracing the lighter side of death helps to diffuse the power of darkness.

Viva la Cozy Mystery!

To Dye For – A Ghostly Mortician Murder

Death is Permanent. Unless It’s Not.

Imogene’s client has an unusual request. The only problem? She’s dead.

Hairstylist Imogene Lynch agrees to do a simple, if creepy, favor—styling the hair of her favorite client for her funeral. Things take a chilling turn when the body refuses to stay still. Either Imogene is losing her mind, or something far more sinister is at play.

Determined to untangle the mystery, she joins forces with the mortuary’s infuriatingly handsome night watchman. What do they uncover? Turns out her client’s death, like her hair color, wasn’t exactly natural. And worse—she’s not the only victim.

Someone is thinning out the population of Liberty Grove, and if Imogene isn’t careful, she’ll be next.

For fans of reluctant heroes, ghostly mysteries, and murder with a side of dark humor.

Buy link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WG2SVDC

Greta Boris is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Mortician Murders, a ghostly mystery series, and The Almost True Crime series, stories of psychological suspense. She hails from sunny Southern California, where—based on her books, which are all set there—things are darker than you’d expect. 

She’s also a popular workshop instructor with books and online courses on a variety of writing topics.

Author Links:  http://gretaboris.com and  https://www.facebook.com/greta.boris

Guest Blogger ~ Seren Star Goode

~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

Why I Write Cozy Mysteries — A Beach Walk Answer

On foggy mornings along the California coast, the world feels suspended.

The horizon disappears. The ocean and sky blur into one soft gray. Even the familiar curve of the shoreline looks different, as if something has shifted overnight.

Those are my favorite mornings to walk the beach.

After a strong swell, the tide leaves behind driftwood, kelp, and the occasional glint of something unexpected. I look for sea glass. At first, it’s easy to miss — a cloudy fragment half-buried in sand. But once you learn to spot that soft glow, you can’t unsee it.

Mystery writing feels like that.

I write cozy mysteries because I’m drawn to what hides beneath ordinary life. A marina on a bright afternoon. A small-town festival. Neighbors chatting on a front porch. On the surface, everything looks steady. But if you stand still long enough — you’ll notice tension, history, secrets.

Mystery readers understand that instinct. We read to uncover. To test our suspicions. To follow currents that weave through waves.

For me, the cozy branch of the genre offers something I love: community. In a small coastal town like my fictional Ocean Wood, relationships overlap. Loyalties complicate things. A crime doesn’t just affect one person; it ripples outward. That emotional web gives a mystery weight without turning it bleak.

My protagonist, Amanda Warren, arrives in town trying to rebuild her life. She carries loss. She’s not looking for trouble, but it keeps finding her. Each case she investigates is about justice, yes — but it’s also about steadiness. About putting the pieces back together.

And then there’s Grok.

Grok is a very large, very opinionated Maine Coon cat who may — or may not — have abilities that defy easy explanation. Some readers meet him expecting whimsy and stay for the sharp observations. Cats notice everything. They watch quietly. They sense shifts before humans do. Grok often catches emotional truths before Amanda does.

Writing him is a way of honoring intuition — that small internal nudge that says, something isn’t right here.

Whether you prefer hardboiled detectives or classic puzzles, that feeling is universal in mystery fiction. The tightening awareness. The moment when a clue lands differently. The fog beginning to thin.

On the beach, when I find a piece of sea glass, I always pause. It began as something whole — a bottle, perhaps — broken and tossed aside. The ocean didn’t erase its past. It reshaped it. Edges softened. Surfaces turned luminous.

That’s what draws me to this genre. Mystery is about disruption, but it’s also about restoration. Order doesn’t return untouched; it returns altered, wiser. In my most recent release, Monterey Bay Malice, chaos erupts at a seaside festival, and the crime cuts through friendships and reputations. Yet by the end, what matters most is not just who did it, but how the community stands afterward.

I don’t write cozies because I want to avoid darkness. I write them because I’m interested in what survives it.

Readers don’t turn to mysteries because they love crime. They turn to them because they love discovery. They love that moment when the scattered details align. They love the sense that someone — whether a detective, an amateur sleuth, or a watchful cat — was paying attention.

Fog eventually lifts. The tide recedes. That’s how finishing a mystery feels to me. Something once scattered has taken shape. The surface is clear again.

That’s why I write the genre I do.

Because beneath even the calmest shoreline, there are stories waiting to be uncovered.

And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they shine.

Monterey Bay Malice, the latest installment in the Amanda Warren Cozy Animal Mystery Series, strikes a deadly note when a music festival organizer is electrocuted onstage. As sabotage ripples through the seaside town of Ocean Wood, Amanda and Grok—her 35-pound psychic Maine Coon cat—must uncover the truth before celebration turns to catastrophe

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FVWFN352

Free story in the series: Kerfuffle at the Border https://dl.bookfunnel.com/bjbbxrovgs

Seren Star Goode writes coastal cozy mysteries set along California’s Monterey Bay. Her Amanda Warren series follows a reluctant sleuth, a close-knit community, and a very large Maine Coon cat named Grok who may be the smartest one in town. When she’s not plotting fictional murders, Seren can often be found walking the beach in search of sea glass, where many of her story ideas begin.

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