Did You Know? A Cup Of Tea, A Cozy Mystery And Food For Thought

I read this on Facebook recently and it spoke to me. Most people have no idea what it is like to be an author and or how much they make. I was curious myself. After a few years of reading, reviewing and connecting with many authors, I always wondered why they all seemed to have day jobs, burned the midnight oil on Facebook and still managed to turn out their stories and series.  I know that so many of these authors give their hearts and souls to their writing and when you look at this meme you realize just how little of the "pie" authors really get.

How can you help an author? 

Order, Read, Review, Repeat.

Ordering or requesting a book for borrowing from your library is great but if you really want to help an author I can not stress enough about how important it is to review each book. Your review can be a few short words, such as "loved it" or "can't wait to read the next one" or even longer and more thoughtfully written. Each review counts and really does help make a series succeed.

Do you pay for your own books?

I have been getting this question a lot lately so I want to clear things up. I buy almost all of my books. Except for 5 books on this table and 6 others not shown I have bought every one of these books.
I have been writing and reviewing books for a while now because I love it. I do not expect anything for free. Recently I have been very lucky to have been selected to read advanced reading copies of books, all of which I have pre ordered. That means yes for some of these I will have duplicate books, which I will donate to my local library or save for my own Tiny Library when it is finally built and installed. My wonderful uncle has said he is making me one but he lives 3,000 miles away and we see each other if I am lucky once a year. I still am hopeful my own library will come to fruition and I will stack it with these books. I don't cancel the pre ordered books even if something has been sent to me to review.
Why don't you do give away's of your extra copies of your books?
 Honestly the cost of mailing one paper back book from Canada even with in Canada is $9.99 currently. This is the main reason I use the Book Depository, shipping is free. It costs more then the cover price of the book to mail a book with in Canada at the moment.

Other questions I often get asked are Do you get paid to review books?  The answer is no, I don't.

Did you get paid to write for Kathi Daley, Amanda Cooper or Terrie Farley Moran's books?
I have recently had some success having things I have written published in a few series. No I did not get paid for my contribution. Yes I ordered my own copies of the books that have items I wrote published in them. I feel it is an honor to have been included. I am touched by the friendships I have made through my work with cozy authors street teams, Facebook groups and my own reviews and photos.

I welcome all your questions even this one I get more often then you would think.
If you don't get paid for it, why do you do it?
 The answer is because I enjoy it, the reading, the connecting and the joy of doing it makes me want to continue.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Join The Save Our Cozy Movement

Today I wanted to let you know about a Movement in the Cozy Community to try to help save several of our favorite cozy series and their authors from being cut from the publishing house Every single Berkley and NAL author is in jeopardy,of having their series canceled or cut short.  PRH (penguinrandomhouse.com) is the publishers of so many of our favorite series. I understand that they feel they will sell more copies of fewer books by culling their authors and series. 

There are ways you can help if you feel so moved. You could write to them and express how much these series and authors mean to you.  It is my hope that your emails help revive PRH's interest in keeping more cozies.

 You could also speak with your local libraries about ordering more cozy mysteries for your own community. Pre-ordering books also makes a huge difference. Connecting with your favorite authors through social media and their own websites will help you to know if they have books that are coming out. I am hoping that squeezing an extra cozy or two into your monthly budget helps us all not to loose the wonderful work of so many authors. 

Review and share your reviews of the books you have read, Amazon, Good Reads, The Book Depository trust me it makes a difference!

There are groups you can join to discuss cozies and one near to my heart is called Save Our Cozies click here to learn more about this group.

To recap, how you can help save a cozy series, 

1 Order

 2 Review

3 Email Penguin Random House by clicking here asking them to reconsider culling their cozy section

Thank you.

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 

Friday Morning Musings

A later post today then I had planed I am sorry for that. This very wet west coast morning I come to you from my outdoor tea table. I had a long and not very restful night last night and felt the need to be outside this morning.

My ever constant companion for tea sat guarding my table as I set out to read. The dogs that did pass by were sternly stared down from Squirrel's trusty perch.

I hope that today's post helps inspire you to carve just a few minutes out of your day for yourself, and a constant companion. Cheers from my table to yours.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Traveling Teacup In Boulder Day 2...

As I am traveling I am reminded of just how glad I am to have brought my own tea kettle, teacup and saucer and a selection of my favorite teas. Being this far from home and sharing a room with 4 of my favorite people sometimes requires the simple familiar comfort of home and a bit of liquid sanity.

I am so looking forward to visiting Celestial Seasonings Tea Company while I am here in Boulder hopefully tomorrow, I am enjoying the little comforts of home in my room and in the breakfast area downstairs. I am reading Joyce an Jim Laveen's Give em' Pumpkin To talk about and sipping my favorite tea, wrapped in a lovely throw blanket this hotel offers its guests.

When I am down stairs some people stare, some people inquire and some people just sit and wonder why bother?...I can say simply because it is important to me and if  something is important you make a point of making sure it happens. Taking tea, reading books and finding comfort is important to me, Doing so in as enjoyable a way as possible makes the tea tastes its very best.
So my tea tip for you is if you are traveling bring some of the comforts from home. They may break get lost or they may survive and you will thrive. But do make a point of trying the local tea shops, blends and brands that are offered locally! Oh and when driving across 5 states in one day, stopping to order tea, get the bag on the side and use your own familiar blend rather then the stale half opened tea bag from Mcdonalds.....
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Mystery today. I look forward to sharing more of my fun finds and reviews with you again tomorrow.
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

Take Joy Wherever You Go

Today take joy wherever you go, it can be contagious, become an epidemic, one we all so desperately need. It is not hard find if you know where to look nor expensive to acquire or to give away.
Find Joy in your day, Opportunities in your life and say Yes to happiness. Start small or go big.

Begin at home, take time for yourself, use the good china, take it out of the cupboard and dust it off, you are worth it. Light a candle take that extra breath. Read. Write. Share and drink tea if you feel so moved to. Try something new, take a risk, pay a compliment, hold your tongue, smile and nod...
  Feel it, live it, share it.

Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Mystery today. 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

Yard Sale Beauty, $2 Teapot Find!

My friend Lori was at a community yard sale this past weekend and she picked me up a tea set she new I would like for $2.

This lovely container revealed a stunning bone china tea pot, over sized teacup where the pot can rest and a large saucer!

The teapot is beautifully decorated and I love the design.

One of my favorite types of tea cups are those that have a pattern on the inside lip of the cup. I love how it matches!

This is such a lovely find and here is the info on the bottom of the box. 

I would love to rescue every teapot and cup and saucer set I find however I find I am met with to many questions about the amount of teapots already in my possession....

Karen's A Cup of Tea And A Cozy Mystery Tip #1 -Things never to ask a woman:

Her age. Her bra size. How many books she may have. Why do she may need another, How many tea sets she owns or how many tea cups in her collection...it is rude to do so, unless a true intervention is required. **Disclaimer as I do not need an intervention (really I don't). I use all the teapots, sets, cups and saucers in my collection. If there is a book in my house I have read it and it is now a trophy and no I am not yet ready to let go. I will own up to my age, I will own up to my bra size but you would be hard pressed to get a straight answer on the amount of books, tea sets and cups and saucers in my possession.  

Thank you for joining me for my new cup of Tea/Tea pot post and my Tea and Cozy Mystery Tip. The mystery of today's post shall remain the amount of items in my personal possession related to tea...

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