Tag Archives: authors

Once Upon a (Cozy) Mystery

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I grew up with mysteries. So did my children and my parents. For my mother, they were radio shows. In my day, it was the black and white TV show Perry Mason that brought our family together. For my youngest daughter, it was the NCIS series. Now, TV mysteries are whatever’s the latest movie on Netflix or Hulu, I guess.

Build your own favorite Cozy Mystery Box Set Project!

Fast forward to the next millennium and I’m actually writing mystery stories! I love it. Not only can I leave out the gory and scary parts if I want to, but I can also make my hero or heroine someone besides a cop.
I’m not the only one who likes Cozy Mysteries featuring Amateur Detectives. Five of us got together and blended our favorite themes and locales to come up with a new collection for our readers. MURDER IS SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY: DIEHARD DAMES AMATEUR DETECTIVE SERIES BOOK 2 has authors from around the English-speaking world (although our Canadian author, Susanne Matthews, is fluent in French).

Kids, neighbors, old ladies, and a black bear cub: who can help solve the murder?


I lived in Alaska for a long time, so I based my story there. The locals fascination with flowers and rush to get them up and blooming in the short growing season is part of my story. The dandelion on the cover? It’s there for a reason. The goofy guy all wound up about a loaf of bread? Yeah, he’s part of the murder mystery, too. NEVER A DULL MURDER features the gang from previous Arlie Undercover stories. Come along and see what happens when Arlie has more helpers than he wants.

Who’s the sharpest Girl Friday around? Stella James!


From the upper Midwest of the USA, Denise Devine brings one of the sharpest Girl Fridays ever to the aid of her Private Detective stepbrother in SHOT IN THE DARK. Meet Stella James. She’s burdened with the task of rescuing her tall, dark, and classically handsome stepbrother. The guy’s ego is bigger than his brain and it soon gets him a free vacation at the county jail when one of his female clients ends up murdered – in his bed. Can she save him from relocating to the slammer on a permanent basis?

Can teenagers solve the mystery before someone else is hurt?


Come to Maine with Canadian Susanne Matthews as your guide. PROVE IT! When high school senior Liam ignores the threats to stop running, he’s left for dead by a hit and run driver. When his friend investigates, he goes missing. Now it’s up to Hannah to find the missing boy and whoever is responsible for his disappearance before they strike again.

Dogs and Dames to the rescue!


The Pacific Northwest is home to Nancy Radke, the author of the Trahern Western Pioneer stories. She’s left the Nineteenth Century behind and updated her story with a Twenty-first Century sheriff who meets up with a sharp but lovable local lady. Sometimes help solving a mystery comes with curves and other times with four paws. Will the new sheriff be smart enough to accept the lady and her dog’s assistance in searching for the farmer’s eight-year-old son?

Try out a Regency-Romance-Time Travel Cozy Mystery from our English author, Katy Walters!


Last but not least, we reached across the pond to bring Katy Walters into our box set. A bit of romance, a twist of time travel, a whole lot of women’s lib, plus the murder of the talented chief librarian make for an interesting scenario in A DUKE’S BINDING LOVE.

Get comfortable with an Authors’ Billboard Box Set: All Free to read with Kindle Unlimited.


Feel free to bounce around the set. If you’re more of a Regency Romance fan, start with the last book first. Looking for something a little silly? Start with my book (Louie’s a lovable hoot!). Available to read for free with Kindle Unlimited or only #99cents.

They didn’t start out to be heroes

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What’s a hero? Are people destined to be courageous, ready to step up to danger, protect others or their pets or property? At what age does it begin? Or does it ever show up? Are muscles necessary or will innovative ideas work, too?

Small acts of compassion are the beginning. Stephanie Queen came to her fellow authors with the idea of creating a box set filled with heroic romances. One hundred percent of the sale proceeds would go to Ukrainian Refugee Relief. The response was fantastic. Within hours, eleven more ladies joined the venture, donating their time and skills to the project. All are my heroes of the female persuasion – selfless and generous.

Depending on how much this set earns, we have at least three different vetted organizations that will receive 100% of the earnings.

BUY NOW! This fabulous collection of twelve stories by twelve authors is a limited-time release…and a terrific bargain, too!

Here are the authors, titles, and quick synopses of the stories included:

Stephanie Queen – The Beachcombers: Ex-special ops legend Dane Blaise never wanted a partner, but he owed the governor. Working alongside gorgeous Scotland Yard detective Shana George to find a missing heiress would either drive him crazy–or get someone killed… And now the human traffickers have their sights on Shana.

Desiree Holt – Rogue’s Return: Transitioning from being a SEAL to civilian life was tough enough without romance bumping in.

Zoe Dawson – Ruckus: Seal Team Alpha: Gratitude for saving her takes a back seat to falling for the alpha male who’d risk everything to see her safe.

Stacy Eaton – Mission: Believe: The wounded warrior and the idealistic doctor join forces to overcome physical and emotional odds to build a better environment for returning soldiers.

Suzanne Jenkins – A Greektown Wedding: What does a lawyer using a cop as a beard, a beautiful detective in love with a member of the SWAT Team, and a guy with a broken heart have in common? A Wedding!

Tamara Ferguson – That Incredible Kiss: After ten years apart, will unveiling their families’ dark family secrets heal Two Wounded Hearts?

Dani Haviland – One Arctic Summer: Sparks and sutures fly as the Inupiat medico and brash college student work together in America’s most northern city. Twenty years later, would the magic still be there?

Patricia Rosemoor – Rescuing the Virgin: Will the young American woman’s special skills help him bring down the human trafficking ring he’s been after for so long?

Susanne Matthews – The Tigress: There’s a new villain in New Orleans and Detective Ellie Taggart wants to take him down alone. Multi-talented Steve Cassidy insists he can help. Will their feuding – and desires – get in the way?

Christina Tetreault – Born to Protect: Sixteen years ago, he disappeared from her life. Now, he’s the only one who can protect her.

Two Bonus Stories:

 Mimi Barbour – Special Agent Francesca: This special agent flies her own plane, drives like a maniac & jumps at the chance at real undercover work. Nothing scares her except for one thing… MEN.

Suzanne Eglington – High Priority: Gun-toting Tiffany is convinced she’s always right. She was born wealthy, but her hero self has no time for materialism. She was in control until a stop for cat food changes everything.

Available on Amazon, Nook, Apple, Kobo, and Google Play.

Humorous Lessons from Home-schooling

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Do you recognize any of these Words of Wisdom? Whether you’re sixteen or sixty, these HOME-SCHOOLED lessons are still heard today, a generational gift from ages past. Here are some of the topics and their one or two-sentence lessons.

1. TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
“If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”

2. RELIGION.
“You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

3. TIME TRAVEL
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

4. LOGIC.
“Because I said so, that’s why.”

5. MORE LOGIC.
“If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me”

6. FORESIGHT.
“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

7. IRONY.
“Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”

8. The science of OSMOSIS.
“Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”

9. CONTORTIONISM.
“Just you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”

10. STAMINA.
“You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”

11. WEATHER.
“This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”

12. HYPOCRISY.
“If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times, don’t exaggerate!”

13. The CIRCLE OF LIFE.
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out…”

14. BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
“Stop acting like your father!”

15. ENVY.
“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”

16. ANTICIPATION.
“Just wait until we get home.”

17. RECEIVING.
“You are going to get it from your father when you get home!”

18. MEDICAL SCIENCE.
“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”

19. ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception)
“Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?”

20. HUMOR.
“When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

21. HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”

22. GENETICS.
“You’re just like your father.”

23. ROOTS (Ancestry).
“Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”

24. WISDOM.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.

25. JUSTICE.
“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

If you’d like more humor, check out these sets, including the latest CUTE BUT CRAZY: UNIQUE AND UNPREDICTABLE. NINE fresh Romantic-Comedies by some of your favorite Authors’ Billboard ladies (including me. Wink, wink).

Word Spinning on the Road!

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Last weekend, my husband and I took a day trip (from Oregon) to Washington. He was driving, so I figured I’d work on the two novellas I have due in March. Of course, my brain split focus and distracted me with ideas and scenarios for a third story! The more the merrier, I guess.

I opened a file (turned to the first page of notebook paper in my dollar store binder) and started entering data (writing with pen). When my inspiration evaporated, I fast-forwarded (dog-eared a dozen pages or so) and wrote the title of my next WIP (Work In Process), automatically date stamping, titling, and page numbering each sheet.

I realized a few interesting things during the trip. First, my cursive writing has degenerated. I could barely read it! I switched to printing. Not too bad, but not neat and consistent as it was in high school or my early invoice-writing days. I think typing has atrophied the fine motor skills required to produce the round and rhythmic script my elementary school teachers worked so hard to get me to master.

After penning my first blast of ideas on paper, I did something I had to laugh at. My ring fingers automatically reached down to hit control and s keys at the same time: the shortcut to saving a file. Not a keyboard in the truck other than our smartphones, but my well-conditioned (experienced?) brain wanted to make sure data wasn’t lost. Backing up my work? That would have to be a quick snapshot of each page, just in case I lost (as in misplaced) the in process manuscript before transcribing it to Word and saving in Dropbox.

And that’s how this author writes on the road.

How about a sweet romance with a surprise ending? Check out THREE ARE ONE, part of SWEET AND SASSY BRIDES.

 

Looking for a few great books for this weekend? I have loads of stories Free to Read with Kindle Unlimited or you can download one or both of these Single Daddy Club stories by Donna Fasano. I’m curious to know if Team Jason is more popular or do readers favor Team Reece. Either way, once you’ve finished reading, remember to write a review: the best way to thank an author and let her know what you like about her work.

*Remember: Book Bites are always FREE! Enjoy the first chapter of scores of stories by The Authors’ Billboard writers. A comprehensive list of books is here but the books are also available on Nook, Kobo and Apple.