Uncategorized – Mystery Deb

A GOLD SATIN MURDER A Casey Holland Mystery Novella by Debra Purdy Kong

I’m delighted to be visiting Charles French’s blog today, where I discuss how this novella differs from earlier Casey Holland mysteries. Please drop by!

charles french words reading and writing

I am very pleased to feature Debra Purdy Kong, a wonderful writer, and her new novella!

A Gold Satin Murder

How does this story differ from earlier Casey Holland mysteries?

The topic of crime and criminal behavior has always interested me. I studied the subject in college and graduated with a diploma in criminology years ago. After writing six full-length mysteries in my Casey Holland series, however, I began to feel mired in the darker side of human nature. So, I decided to write a fun, uncomplicated whodunit where the characters weren’t quite as sinister and twisted as in earlier novels, except perhaps for the killer. I also wanted to try a novella because I really enjoy writing and reading stories in the 15,000 to 40,000 words range.

I’ve read plenty of funny cozy mysteries but writing a shorter book with humorous elements proved to be challenging. Just when I thought I had the…

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Welcome to the Newest Casey Holland

I have the great pleasure of appearing on Jacqui Murray’s wonderful blog today. Today’s topic is about setting, where I showcase Vancouver’s West End. This is the location for A Gold Satin Murder. Thank you Jacqui, and for all the wonderful comments from your readers.

This is launch week for A Gold Satin Murder, next in Debra Purdy Kong’s Casey Holland Mystery series. I am honored to be part of the launch group to spread the word. Today, Debra will share behind-the-scenes info about the settings for this wonderful book:

Vancouver’s West End: Diverse, Quirky, and Gorgeous

As Jacqui demonstrates so beautifully in her books, settings are crucial in a novel. It’s certainly true for crime fiction. Because I love Vancouver and lived there for several years, I set my Casey Holland mysteries in Vancouver and the surrounding municipalities. I now live in one of those municipalities, Port Moody, which is about a half-hour drive from the city.

Vancouver is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and mountains to the north. Inlets surround much of the downtown core and there’s plenty of green space in between. Like many cities, the diverse demographics…

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A Gold Satin Murder

I’m delighted to be starting my blog tour on Darlene Foster’s wonderful blog. Please check it out!

Darlene Foster's Blog

The launch date for Casey Holland #7, A Gold Satin Murder (a novella) by Debra Purdy Kong is on Thursday, September 8^th. I love this series and am pleased to have fellow Canadian author, Debra Purdy Kong, here as a guest to tell us more about her latest book. Check out the other books in the series here

With six published full-length mysteries in the Casey Holland series, why write a novella?

Members of my writer’s group asked me this question when I brought the first few pages for feedback. The answer is that I wanted to stretch my creativity with this series. Although the earlier Casey Holland mysteries do have lighter moments, they are serious stories. I decided to switch the focus to a fun, light story with serious moments. To do this, I needed to create an uncomplicated plot and fewer characters. Since this is still…

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The importance of recognizing our own self-worth — Where on Earth is Francine?

Thought some of you would find this thoughtful and poignant post of interest, and perhaps relatable. Thanks to Jane and her Robby Robin’s Journey blog, for sharing this piece on recognizing our own self worth.

Robby Robin's Journey

These are fragile times. People have endured unprecedented challenges and restrictions on their movements and social interactions for two years and counting, and for many, many people it will take a long time to recover. In the past 24 hours, two articles have shown up in my news feed that just wouldn’t have been there before our time with COVID.

On CBC online (Canadian Broadcasting Corp): Anxiety, depression, loneliness at highest levels among Canadians since early pandemic: survey … Nearly 1 in 4 respondents said they needed — but could not access — mental health support last year.

From the Globe and Mail: Why loneliness is a serious and growing problem among seniors.

It’s not just seniors who are grappling with these issues. And the reasons and circumstances vary. But the constraints of the pandemic has severely impacted people’s ability to lead full, rewarding lives.

A few days ago a…

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How I Spent My Break

If you’re looking for free mystery and suspense novels, I have one more BookFunnel promotion I’m taking part in this summer. This one ends on August 1^st and there are nearly seventy authors participating. My Casey Holland mysteries, Deadly Accusations (#2) and Beneath the Bleak New Moon (#3) are also free, but only through BookFunnel’s newsletter campaign till Aug. 1. You can find the whole roster of books HERE.

I’m not sure that writers truly ever stop writing, even while on holiday, but I sort of managed it. I didn’t look at my urban fantasy for eight days, which became kind of difficult after four or five days. The thing is, when your mind is relaxed and all is quiet, ideas pop up.

This is how I found myself working on characters and an outline for the paranormal mystery I’ve mentioned in the past. It was great fun exploring ‘what-if’ concepts and creating characters. It was even more fun coming up with ideas for monsters. I’m trying to stay away from old familiars like vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, at least with this book. Creating monsters is a whole new challenge in my writing life, but I’ve read a couple of good books on the topic.

Speaking of reading, I read a terrific how-to book called Mastering Your Mystery by Cheryl Bradshaw. She goes through the basics of writing a crime novel, but takes it further in the second half of the book by offering helpful advice on marketing, publishing, and promotion. I especially liked that she went the extra mile to provide a list of awards and competitions to submit to, and a list of sites to help promote your work. Although I’ve read my share of how-to books, I always find that reading these books sparks ideas for current projects.

Last, but definitely not least, I spent a great deal of time with little Ellie, who’ll soon be one year old. Last week, she learned to crawl up a couple of steps and had her first ‘swim’ in the lake with her mom and dad. I’m always amazed by the astonishing changes during a child’s first year of life, and can’t wait to see what the next year will bring.

She’s hold a favorite new toy, a bowling pin.

So many ways to spread the joy of reading

Jane has picked up the I Read Canadian thread and offers a great list of other national days, plus a list of Canadian authors on her blog. Check it out!

A Different Kind of Christmas

Well, it’s almost Christmas, and I hope you’re all doing as well as you possibly can. Christmas at our house will certainly be different this year. My daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter will be celebrating with us via Zoom. My son, who lives with us, will hook up my laptop to our big screen TV so they’ll be as close to us as possible. If luck, we might be able to get my brother-in-law in Ottawa to Zoom in with us as well.

I’m still cooking a turkey and enjoying some wine, and gift unwrapping. I still feel excitement and joy by the holiday season and am heartened to see people doing so many generous things to make the holidays a little better for others.

Today, I’m sharing some photos that represent some of my December. First up are three of my favorite tree ornaments. The chandelier and First Nations design are gifts from my sister who usually brings me a new ornament every year. The pink flamingo was purchased from the gift shop at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where we took my mom for her 75^th birthday just over a decade ago. This will be our second Christmas without Mom, and I still miss her very much.

But we’re also overjoyed to spend our first Christmas with Ellie. This photo was taken on Dec. 10^th, after she’d been to the doctor for her checkup and vaccines. She’s now 4-1/2 months old.

It snowed in our area on the first official day of winter, which is kind of cool. When you’re retired and don’t have to drive to work every day, you appreciate snow a little more.

Taken two days ago. There’s little snow left.

To those who celebrate, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! And happy holidays everyone!

Canada’s most closely guarded secret: October is Women’s History Month

I came across Jane Fritz’s incredible post and wanted to share. I had no idea that October was Women’s History Month in Canada. Not one person in the media has mentioned this, as far as I know, and I watch several news channels everyday.

Robby Robin's Journey

OK, all of you readers who are Canadian women, raise your hand if you knew that October is Canada’s Women’s History Month, so almost over? I’m not raising my hand, or at least I wouldn’t have a few days ago. I came across it inadvertently while meandering around the Internet (where I spend a great deal of my time, I admit).

I have to ask: why have a Women’s History Month different from March (when the more well-known International Women’s Day is celebrated) if you’re not going to promote it? Once you know it exists, you can find a little information, but just a little. According to a post on the government’s Status of Women website, “in 1992 the Government of Canada designated October as Women’s History Month, marking the beginning of an annual month-long celebration of the outstanding achievements of women throughout Canada’s history. Women’s History Month includes International…

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Puzzling Promotion Possibilities

If you’re an author, you’ve probably received numerous emails from people who want to sell their services for social media blasts, blog tours, press releases, and other things. Reviewers, jacket designers, and proofreaders have also invited me to purchase their services for a wide range of prices.

These aren’t all scams, but it does take some digging to determine which ones are legitimate and/or useful and which are not. The Writers Beware website is helpful, but it doesn’t cover everything, so I often do my own research.

Lately, I’ve been inundated with emails inviting me to list my books on promotion sites. Some of these offers are free listings while others come with a price tag. A few sites give you an option for free or paid listings, depending on how much visibility you want.

Here’s what I’ve found with a quick search. All of the sites below want me to set up an account, which I’m not prepared to do right now. The emails I’ve received suggest that these are the best book promotion sites in 2020, which is likely subject to opinion. I have started a basic search and most of these sites list featured, standard, or basic listings, likely dependent on the price.

Giobooks.com – offers different levels of visibility, so assuming it provides both free and paid

Bmibooks.com – has a startup fee starting at $10.00

Olto.App – has a free and paid options

BookswiFi.com – again offers a varying price range.

Bestreads.app – invites you to share your amazon purchase link for free

Reactbooks.com – little info is given about this site without registering

Wordlikes – charges $15.00 for one year

I’m sure that several of you have also received similar emails. Have any of you tried these book promotion sites or do you think it’s a waste of time? Do you use any specific sites for your books? Honestly, you could join a new site every day for a month and still not have covered them all. If I get enough responses, I’ll share them with you, plus other searches I plan to do over the next couple of weeks.

Guest Appearing on J.P. McLean’s blog

I’m delighted to appear on J.P. McLean’s blog today. The topic is Writing Before and After the Pandemic, which turned out to be a more complex issue than I envisioned.

As I considered ramifications for contemporary fiction writers, issues kept cropping up, so it seemed more straightforward to use The Blade Man as a reference point. You can find the piece HERE, and please have a look at J.P.’s wonderful urban fantasy novels. She’s another terrific British Columbia author. Thanks!