Happy Birthday Author Lynn Cahoon

Today is author Lynn Cahoon's birthday and to celebrate I am dedicating my morning tea and today's post to her. I have been very lucky in this journey to have the pleasure of "knowing" authors through their work and social media, so when I am gifted a copy of their work to have on my table it truly means something to me. Lynn has been a wonderful and generous author/supporter of mine and it is a delight to have her books on my table. I hope Lynn you have a wonderful day today.
Earlier this September, A Story To Kill, a new series, book one came out. This one is set in Colorado and was a book I could not put down. If you would like to read my review please click here. 

Lynn also writes a series I love and have exclusively on my kindle app.

Her Tourist Trap Series is a great one, set in California and full of fun surprises and mysteries from book one to seven this series just keeps getting better and better!

Click here to learn more about the series written by Lynn Cahoon and start enjoying these fantastic cozies for yourself! 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a birthday author cozy review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

My Witches Tea Party and A Bit of Halloween Decorating I Have Been Doing...

It is now close enough to Halloween for me to share a bit more about my Witches Tea Party that is coming up on October 26th, it is on line and you are invited. In celebration with Kathi Daley I am participating in a week long event October 23-31st on Facebook. With the 26th being my day to take over the hosting duties for the day. I have invited a few of my author friends who have agreed to join me and do fun games as well as giveaways through out the day. This is the first year and the first time I am doing something like this so I am hoping you will all pop over and say hello at some point during the party!
 To join the event you can click this link and you can join it now, I will remind you to pop over and visit on the 26th.

While we are getting ready for the on line event I am also getting ready for Halloween at my own home. I am particularly excited to share how well I think my outside tea area turned out this year! I was hoping to make it look like two ghost witches where having tea (How Paranormal Cozy Mystery of me I know). I think that I have achieved that with the use of floral wires and a few accessories from the dollar store, what do you think?  A few of the dogs in the neighborhood along with people approaching my front door have been spooked so I think I have done a good job!

My eight year old son and I set to work Saturday morning to transform the front window bench into a "store front' type window display. I think the orange twinkle lights are my favorite part.

Now for photos from my last few Witches Tea parties...

The last two summers I have hosted a witches tea in August at my home, Octobers tend to be a busy wet time here on the West Coast and to avoid the nasty weather and get some fun outside shots I host the party in August just before school heads back. I frame a photo of the tea each year and I love how these professional photos turned out. My friend and photographer Karolina Wojciak has a way at capturing the magic of the moment! The photo above is from this year and below last years.

I have some really fun friends who come out to enjoy a cup of tea and an afternoon of dress up fun!

Growing up I loved watching Bewitched and while other young girls may have wanted to become princesses, I pretty much was the opposite.

Many years ago I fell in love with the photo shown above which is widely speculated to be just a gathering of older Welsh women, but I prefer to refer to it as a Witches Tea party. I always wanted to recreate the photo and now it is an annual and growing event!

Here is a more casual photo with out Karolina's magic and all my guests big and small. I will be sharing more of my Witches tea party photos, crafts, memes and ideas during the October 26th event, I hope you will come join in the fun!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery event! I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Crepe Factor and Cup of Tea & A Cozy Chat With Terrie Farley Moran

Today I am thrilled to share about Laura Child and Terrie Farley Moran's newest collaborative release Crepe Factor, a Scrapbooking Mystery.  I was very pleased to receive book 14 ahead of the October 4th release and today I am pleased to share with you a bit about the book and the conversation I had with Terrie Farley Moran about the writing process. But first a few thoughts about the book...
Reading Crepe Factor I was whisked away to the holiday winter market and was enjoying myself right away, as if I was one of the girls, then a particularly horrifying experience for the reader and the girls as they witness the last few moments of a mans life! Springing into action and against her better judgment Carmela is torn between interfering and putting her relationship with her boyfriend on the line to help out an old flame with lots to gain. This was a very interesting mystery and a great addition to the series.

The holidays are a busy time for scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand—but not so hectic that she doesn’t have time to enjoy browsing the booths at the Winter Market with her best friend Ava. The last thing the ladies expect to see is a lurching man stabbed by a serving fork, dying in front of them.
 
The victim is loathed restaurant critic Martin Lash, who posted his scathing reviews on the Glutton for Punishment website. And the prime suspect is New Orleans restauranteur Quigg Brevard—who was seen giving the critic a tongue-lashing minutes before someone stuck a fork in him. An old flame of Carmela, Quigg asks for her help, which does not please her current beau, Detective Edgar Babcock, to say the least.
 Before her relationship is the next victim, Carmela needs to find a murderer who had no reservations about punishing the culinary curmudgeon...

KMOT: What was the collaborative process like?

TFM: Collaborative writing is stimulating because you always have a buddy to help move the work along. Laura Childs is the team leader because the Scrapbooking series is hers. I am fortunate that Laura has a clear vision and direction for each book. Once the process starts we email chapters back and forth. If I have missed a step, Laura is quick to pick it up and make a suggestion. I will confess that in the writing CREPE FACTOR, I became enamored with pinwheels, and I decided to have one of Carmela’s classes make large pinwheels. Laura vetoed it as too simple a project for the class and for the readers. But I am planning on making red and green pinwheels this Christmas with my grandkids, so the idea was not lost!

KMOT: How does the collaborative writing process work?

TFM: I think every writing team has their own unique process. In our case, Laura Childs writes a long and detailed outline (running about one hundred typewritten pages). Besides delineating the plot line, Laura’s outlines include descriptions of people, places and things, snippets of dialogue, ideas for crafts, etc. I take her outline and flesh it out into novel form and then Laura does a substantial re-write so that the voice of the story is not altered by my participation.

KMOT: What do you think makes the series such a popular one? It is clearly more than a scrapbooking mystery!

TFM: I agree it is so much more. There are lots of themes in the series: mystery, scrapbook crafts, friendship, romance and let’s not forget the backdrop of the fascinating city of New Orleans and the naturally beautiful surrounding waterways and bayous. As an extra treat, Carmela Bertrand, owner of the Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter, and her friends enjoy food, lots of food in the best restaurants and in quirky little places. It is New Orleans, after all.

KMOT:What do you think it is that makes Carmela such a strong character?

TFM: Laura has always referred to this series as a cozy-with-an-edge. And I think Carmela’s personality proves that to be correct. We have to look at Carmela’s history to find how her nuggets of strength grew. She was married to Shamus for a while and his wealthy, upscale family, especially his domineering mother, pushed Carmela to conform and by her very nature, Carmela pushed back. Then when Carmela discovered that Shamus was a philanderer, she tossed him and struck out on her own. The fact that she opened and runs a successful business and has formed and sustained many close personal relationships, while solving a murder or two (or a dozen!) proves she is true to her own personality in spite of any adversity that came her way.

KMOT: What do you want fans of the series to know?

TFM: I would like the readers to know that both Laura and I are immensely grateful for the love and support they show to Carmela, Ava, Babcock and all the characters that populate the series. In return our goal is to produce enthralling scrapbooking stories for many years to come.

To order your own copy of Crepe Factor from Amazon please click here. 
To learn more about Terrie Farley Moran please click here.
To learn more about Laura Child's and this series please click here. 
Thank you all for joining me here today for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. Also much thanks to Terrie for joining me here today and allowing me to share a bit about the writing process with my readers.

The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum by Kirsten Weiss

If you follow me on Social Media you may know that on Saturday night I received The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, by Kirsten Weiss from my swap partner on Elfster. We do these swaps a few times a year where there is a theme and your partner picks something from your wishlist to send to you. This is the first time I have ever gotten an ebook for my Kindle App. I put this book on my wish list a few weeks ago after seeing it on Lisa K's Book Reviews. I fell in love with the cover and when I read the book intro (see below) I knew I wanted to read it! I was thrilled, setting, plot, characters, and mystery were so well written and I hated to put it down. While this story may not appeal to everyone it appealed to me, a paranormal cozy set in a paranormal museum attached to a tea room and three best friends along with a ghost detecting cat, hook line and sinker this was a book for me. I can not wait to read another book in this series and I hope I don't have to wait long!

When Maddie Kosloski’s career flatlines, she retreats to her wine country hometown for solace and cheap rent. Railroaded into managing the local paranormal museum, she’s certain the rumors of its haunting are greatly exaggerated. But then a fresh corpse in the museum embroils Maddie in murders past and present, making her wonder if a ghost could really be on the loose.

With her high school bully as one of the detectives in charge of the investigation, Maddie doubts justice will be served. When one of her best friends is arrested, she knows it won’t be. Maddie also grapples with ghost hunters, obsessed taxidermists, and the sexy motorcyclist next door as outside forces threaten. And as she juggles spectral shenanigans with the hunt for a killer, she discovers there truly is no place like home.

While the lighting doesn't always work well with my Kindle app/ ipad books I still love having these fantastic reads on my table.
To order your own copy of The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum by Kirsten Weiss from Amazon please click here. 
To learn more about Author Kirsten Weiss please click here. 
Thank you so much for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Key To A Murder An Antique Hunters Mystery By Vicki Vass

The last book I read in September was Vicki Vass' Key To A Murder. This was book 4 of her Antique Hunters Mystery series and I am thrilled to share my review  with you today.  This series is a favorite of mine and it centers around two best friends who are in their 40's, who have a blog, a booming antique business and a whole lot of trouble staying out of precarious situations. What I love most about this series is the connections that each character makes, that you truly feel involved  and connected to not only the story but the characters and the finds they make. Their highs and lows, good fortune and catastrophe truly feel like your own. I felt swept up in the emotions of the characters and like I had just spent time with old friends in the end. Great mystery, adventure and fun antique treasure hunting in this story and series.

A mysterious woman appears on the doorstep of Great Aunt Sybil’s Attic in the middle of the night. Owner Anne Hillstrom lets her in, only to have the woman die in her arms. With no final words, and only an old lantern clutched to her chest, the dead woman provides Anne and her partner CC precious few clues to discover her murderer or why she spent her last moments in their antique store. The two Antique Hunters search for clues, finding themselves entangled in a centuries-old mystery leading them to a cemetery in Ireland where a ghost from the past has left them a cryptic message, and a killer has left them no choice but to discover his identity before he kills again. On their journey, the two best friends encounter antiques, romance and the key to a murder. Key to a Murder is the fourth book in the Antique Hunters Mystery series.

Even my wonderful cat and reading partner Squirrel gets excited when I sit down to read the Antique Hunters Mystery series, she knows from page one the the end she has a comfy spot to curl up and I wont move! I could not put it down!

I adore this series and this cover too! To learn more about Vicki Vass and her series please click here.
To order your own copy of Key to a Murder from Amazon please click here. 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Sofie Kelly's Paws and Effect

Tuesday I finished Paws and Effect by Sofie Kelly. This Magical Cats Mystery is out October 4th and is a great read. If you are new to the series this is book 8 and the magical cats Hercules and Owen look just like my own cats adding to the fun of the series for me. Sofie Kelly writes a great mystery in Paws and Effect with an exhilarating climax as well as very well written chapters that keep you caught up in the excitement. I thought this was a well though out mystery and crime of passion. The cats were also outstanding in the book and this cat lover was thrilled.

Kathleen is excited to meet three old pals of her beau, Detective Marcus Gordon, while they visit charming Mayville Heights on business. But the reunion is cut short when one of the friends is killed—and the evidence points toward Marcus as the murderer.  Though it seems she doesn’t know all of Marcus’s secrets, Kathleen is sure he’s no killer. With his suspect status sidelining him from investigating the case, it’s up to Kathleen and her feline partners-in-crime to find whoever is framing Marcus—and make sure the good detective hasn’t found his last clue.

To order your own copy of Paws and Effect from The Book Depository with free shipping,  Click here.
To order from Amazon please click here. 
Learn more about the series and Sofie Kelly by clicking here. 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy review I would love to here from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup September 24th- October 1st

Welcome to October from my table to yours....

October 1st how does that happen so quickly I swear it was just July 2 minutes ago. Today is the release day of Andi Cumbo-Floyd's book Discover Your Writing Self. The reason I share this today is this summer I took Andi's course and felt it was tremendously helpful. I learned so much about myself and writing this summer. Andi had me looking at things I never considered and I felt that I grew personally and improved as a writer while taking the course. I am very pleased there is now a book out so that not only can I review the exercises but so that I can recommend it to anyone who ever wanted to learn about writing. Click here to learn more.

Thursday felt like Christmas with the unexpected and wonderfully exciting arrival of Vicki Vass' book Key to a Murder, this is an Antique Hunter's Mystery and one of my favorite series! I am so thrilled to have it on my table and to review soon! Best part is you can read along with me as this book is already out and you can order it on Amazon by clicking here.

Wednesday Carrie Doyle's book Death on Windmill Way arrived, I have yet to read this book but love the look and feel of it!

Great covers and a fun series Laura Child's book with Terrie Farley Moran also arrived earlier this week much to my surprise and delight as well. I am currently reading this October 4th release now and will share my review with you all very soon.

Magical cats seemed to be a theme this week with Sofie Kelly's book Paws and Effect on my table along with Kathi Daley's Count Catula!

Both cozy series have very intuitive cats and brilliantly written mysteries with characters and cozy settings that can not be beat!

Also I invite you to save the date as Kathi Daley Books is hosting a Halloween Spooktacular Event October 23-31st. I am very pleased to be taking part and hosting a Witches Tea on Wednesday October 26th along with some fun giveaways and visits from a few author friends I hope you will come and join us on Facebook for the day and the entire event! Join in by clicking here.

We also had some lovely visitors to British Columbia where I live this week, I had my own tea party to celebrate The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children stopping by.

Congrats to Robin Coxon winner of the Denise Swanson book Murder of a Cranky Catnapper giveaway.
I feel so very blessed to have you all join me for this week in review and I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com