Susan Coryell, Author of Red, Red Rose
Happy holidays to all! Give a big welcome to Susan Coryell, author of Red, Red Rose, first cozy mystery/Southern Gothic in the Overhome
Trilogy.
Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Susan, tell us a little about yourself and writing Red, Red Rose. Thanks for joining us!
What inspired this particular story?
A RED, RED ROSE is the first cozy mystery/Southern Gothic in the Overhome Trilogy. I was inspired to write it after viewing an old plantation property in Virginia rumored to be haunted. The other two novels evolved from there.
What secret do you use to blast through writer’s block?
If I feel unmotivated to write, I usually take a break—meander down to my dock to enjoy the lake view. If I am STUCK, I usually keep writing. I may delete a lot next day, but at least I have words on paper.
Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why?
Ashby Overton is my favorite character because she matures from a self-centered big city girl into a loving and caring family woman rooted in historic authenticity of the Old South. In the first book she is a twenty-something in search of self. BENEATH THE STONES finds Ashby five years later starting a writing career, planning to marry, and the owner of the family estate. NOBODY KNOWS culminates as Ashby, now thirty, faces such adult situations as marriage problems, career identity, and inclusion of extended family in need.
What inspired you to write?
I was born a writer. Actually, I think it is in my DNA as my grandfather was a published poet and two of my sibs are also published. All three of my children are authors and a few grand kids are already showing signs of writer-hood.
How long have you been writing?
I cannot remember a time when I did not write. I began with poems and diary entries, short stories and film scripts and moved on to novels.
What do you want your readers to take away from your books?
I feel theme is very important for quality literature (yes, I am an English major and a 30-year career English teacher). The ghosts that haunt my Overhome Trilogy are representative of the horrors of slavery that will forever prey on the minds and souls of Southerners. My writings contain multiple themes: the importance of family; the healing power of nature; the culture in the South as we deal with hard-felt, long-held ideals that clash with modernity.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I have always been physically active, even though reading and writing consume much of my time. I love yoga, kayaking, golf, boating, swimming and walking for exercise.
You’ve got a time machine, a cloak of invisibility, and one hour. Where would you go, and what eavesdropping would you do?
Without any doubt, I would go back to the 1600’s in England and sit in a seat at the Globe to watch a Shakespearean play and observe the other theater-goers. The best of all possible worlds would be to meet the Bard and try to fathom what he was all about.
Now what’s Red, Red Rose all about?
20-year-old Ashby Overton travels to her family’s historic estate in southern Virginia to spend the summer, hoping to unearth her ancestral roots and the cause of a mysterious family rift. Overhome, an imposing mansion, is an idyllic setting for Ashby, the aspiring romance writer. From her first night in her room in the oldest wing Ashby feels an enfolding presence, a force she never sees, only feels. Candles light themselves, notes from an old lullaby fall from the ceiling, the radio tunes itself daily. And roses meant for Ashby appear in unlikely places—a symbol of love? Or something dark, deep and evil? The summer leads Ashby on a suspenseful, sometimes terrifying journey as she navigates centuries of family strife along the puzzling parameters of the spirit world.
Can we have a peek between the pages of Red, Red Rose?
My reaching fingers brushed across a grainy surface and crumbling powder dusted my fingertips. Instantly, I recognized the metallic smell of rusting screens. I knew then I must be on the ancient screened porch tucked between the wings of the house, the crumbling porch with the antique rocking chairs. The ancient part of the house, reached only by the door in the keeping room. The music had led me here. Again the strains wafted over and around me, holding me captive as I stood, shivering, gazing at the dim light of my flickering candle.
The music stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Struggling to clear the cobwebs of sound spinning in my brain, I took a deep breath and looked around. I sensed rather than saw a movement in my periphery. When I turned I became aware of one of the rocking chairs. Gently, so as to be barely perceptive, the chair rocked itself back and forth as though someone invisible sat in it, enjoying the languorous, rhythmic motion. Rocking, rocking, rocking, without any sound of all.
Someone or something had led me here to witness it. Led me with the music. I had the evidence. On the decaying cane seat lay a single fresh rose just out of the bud.
A Red, Red Rose: http://a.co/0eoAvPC
About the Author, Susan Coryell:
A career educator, Susan Coryell has taught students from 7th grade through college-level. She earned a BA degree in English from Carson-Newman College and a Masters from George Mason University. She is listed in several different volumes of Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in Teaching. Coryell belongs to Author’s Guild, Virginia Writers, and Lake Writers. She loves to talk with budding writers at schools, writers’ conferences and workshops. Her young adult anti-bully novel EAGLEBAIT is in its third edition for print and e-book, updated with cyber-bullying. EAGLEBAIT won the NY Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age,” and the International Reading Association’s “Young Adult Choice.”
A RED, RED ROSE, first in a cozy mystery/Southern Gothic series, was nominated for a literary award with the Library of Virginia. BENEATH THE STONES, the sequel, was released in April of 2015. NOBODY KNOWS, the final novel in the Overhome Trilogy was published October, 2016.
A MURDER OF PRINCIPLE is under contract with The Wild Rose Press and will release in spring of 2018.
The author has long been interested in concerns about culture and society in the South, where hard-felt, long-held feelings battle with modern ideas. The ghosts slipped in, to her surprise.
When not writing, Ms. Coryell enjoys boating, kayaking, golf and yoga. She and her husband, Ned, love to travel, especially when any of their seven grandchildren are involved.
Please visit Susan Coryell’s website: www.susancoryellauthor.com and her blog: www.susancoryellauthor.blogspot.com or contact her on Facebook and Twitter.
Amazon Links:
A Red, Red Rose: http://a.co/0eoAvPC
Beneath the Stones: http://a.co/fVIowQ8
Nobody Knows: http://a.co/aoXACMd
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Red, Red Rose!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Cozy Mystery, ghosts, history, Overhome Trilogy, Red Red Rose, Southern Gothic by Tena Stetler with 41 comments.
Misty Simon Author of Cremains of the Day!
Happy holidays to all! Yep, the holidays are upon us. Give a big welcome to Misty Simon, author of Cremains of the Day, A Tallie Graver Mystery, released on Halloween 2017. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets see what Cremains of the Day is all about. Thanks for joining us!
There’s no reverse on the hearse . . .
For Tallulah Graver, marrying wealthy Waldo Phillips seemed like the best way out of the family business, the Graver Funeral Home. But when her marriage falls apart and Tallie is left with next to nothing, she turns to cleaning houses to make ends meet. As humbling as it is to tidy the mansions of the snobby socialites she used to call friends, at least she doesn’t have to be around dead bodies. Until . . .
She discovers one of her employers lying in a closet with a knife sticking out of her chest. This unpleasant shock seems to be part of a web of weird experiences: Tallie’s friend Gina’s shop is broken into, her ex is stun-gunned where it hurts the most, and now she’s receiving flowers from the dead woman. Granted the deliveryman is handsome, but seriously, that’s enough to cast a pall over anyone’s day. Now Tallie needs to dig deep to clean up this mess—before she finds herself in a grave situation.
You can find Cremains of the Day at Kensingtonbooks, Amazon and Barnes&Noble, to name a few.
A peek between the pages of Cremains of the Day.
Severely caffeinated from the sweetness and caffeine of the whoopie-pie latte and stuffed with homemade cruller, I dropped off my plate at the counter and waved on my way out. With that, I trotted across the road to the brick monstrosity standing next to the local fire station where I had essentially grown up.
It wasn’t a house, but a business with a discreet plaque letting everyone know it was first opened in 1910. My family had been running the business since then. It was a point of pride for my father, but a bone of contention between us.
My one brother had chosen yard maintenance along with general handyman work and the other was a funeral director like my dad, destined someday to take over the family business. Which had left me free to marry Waldo and make babies, according to my mother.
Except now the marriage was over, my mother had no grandbabies, and my father was hinting very heavily that I should come work full-time for him and my brother. Which was not going to happen if I could in any way avoid it.
He kept promising me a raise if I’d step up to full-time, but I was having none of it. With my wages here, my wallet was tight, but I had wanted to keep out from under my parents’ rule. So, I’d made the tough decision to take on cleaning my former friends’ houses to supplement my income.
As I walked into the brick tunnel covering the driveway, I counted the days until I could be done with the cleaning jobs and concentrate solely on filling out reams of paper work to run my own business. Too many at this point to be happy, but it was better than nothing.
And, despite the fact I’d once gotten trapped in a coffin in the basement, I didn’t mind living with the other, better memories to be had at the family business. At least my dad had let me rent the small apartment above the parlor.
Long ago, my grandfather had lived up there with his whole family. When my parents had married, my mother had nixed that idea before it even entered my father’s mind. Living above dead people wasn’t my dream come true, either. However, I couldn’t ask for better or quieter neighbors.
I strolled by one of the two hearses my father had on hand as I got myself into funeral mode. The behemoth cars were all black with silver scrollwork, very tasteful and beautiful in their own way, but they weren’t for everyone.
As lovely as they were, it had been traumatizing to have to take my driver’s test in one of the big boats. Most likely, the Department of Motor Vehicles employee at Penn DOT had been scarred for life too, since shortly after the momentous event he became a clown in the circus that had come through the next town over.
I barely made it through the door before I was hit by the whirlwind that was my mother.
“Hi, baby! How was your day? The bathroom’s all ready for you, sweetheart. I know how hard it is to clean all those floors. I don’t understand why you do that when you could just as easily have taken a loan from me. You shouldn’t have dish-water hands when you used to direct the help.”
Karen Graver was in fine form today as she rambled on, trailing along behind as I went through the side door and straight to the office and bath in the back of the building. She must have been waiting at the door, which wasn’t unusual even if it was unnecessary.
It was the same litany every time: Why didn’t I let her help financially? Why did I have to make things so much harder for myself? Why was I a working stiff instead of sitting in the lap of luxury? Why hadn’t I provided her with at least one grandbaby to dote on since my brothers were probably never going to settle down?
About the Author:
Misty Simon loves a good story and decided one day that she would try her hand at it. Eventually she got it right. There’s nothing better in the world than making someone laugh, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband, daughter and three insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel or three. She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at misty@mistysimon.com
www.mistysimon.com
www.thewholeshebangsite.wordpress.com
Twitter: @MistySimon
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Cremains of the Day.
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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Cozy Mystery, Cremains of the Day, MIsty Simon by Tena Stetler with 1 comment.
Halloween is Murder by Carolyn Arnold!
Join our Halloween Spooktacular! Give a warm welcome to Carolyn Arnold, author of Halloween is Murder, eleventh book in the McKinley Mysteries released today on October 3, 2017. Happy Book Birthday!
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter or my world famous Pumpkin Spice cookie from the plate. There’s also hot apple cider on the counter. Now and let’s find out about Halloween is Murder, Book 11 in the McKinley Mysteries.
My Review of Halloween is Murder!
Halloween is Murder is a spooktacular holiday tale, with lots of tricks and treat and an intriguing cast of characters. Sean and Sara McKinley own a PI Firm. After a reporter does a segment on their Halloween haunted house charity fund-raiser, the reporter turns up dead. Sara convinces Sean to take on the investigation. The skeletons they turn up searching though the reporter’s proverbial closet will surprise you.
I enjoyed Carolyn’s quirky characters set in a back drop of the tough news reporting industry and my favorite holiday — Halloween. If you like your murder mysteries served with a dash of romance and humor, you don’t want to miss Halloween is Murder.
5 stars in my haunted Halloween sky!
That’s what she told herself anyhow. She’d lost count of how many times she’d
called them, but she had always met with a busy signal. And there it was again…
One could be certain that the station had plenty of rollover lines, so it had
to be other people calling in about Chloe’s death, too. Other crazy people like
her wanting answers. At least, she was sure that Sean thought she was crazy,
but she had a niggling sensation in her gut that they needed to look into
Chloe’s death.
were surrounded by murder wherever they looked and wherever they went. Even
when they were supposed to be relaxing on their honeymoon, a case had found
them. And the inclination to view any death as suspicious was embedded in her
psyche from years working as a homicide detective with the Albany PD. Sure,
Chloe could have died from natural causes, an accident, or even suicide, but it
was also just as likely that someone had caused her death intentionally. To
quiet her mind, Sara had to find out which scenario applied to Chloe. And if
her calls weren’t making it through, there was another route she could take.
that she had the habit of leaving her computer on most of the time. She brought
up an Internet search engine and typed in Chloe’s full name and Your Source.
This brought up pages of results. The first entry was a post from the
television station entitled, DEATH OF LOCAL REPORTER CASTS DARK CLOUD OVER
ALBANY. Sara clicked to open the link.
she was no closer to knowing what had happened to Chloe. There was no cause of
death listed, but rather, the piece read like an obituary with a recap of
Chloe’s career accomplishments and brief mentions of her personal life—she had
a sister and had died single. That was it. Somehow it seemed like a sad
summation of a twenty-five-year-old woman’s life that had been cut so short.
There was so much that Chloe had yet to experience, and Sara hoped that Chloe
had at least known romantic love at some point in her life. Sara
returned to her search results and clicked on many of the other links, but they
were more or less copycats of the statement Your Source had published.
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Carolyn Arnold, Cozy Mystery, Halloween is Murder by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
Camping a Recipe for Summer Treats & Reads
My hubby, our dog, bird, turtle and I love to trade the jungle of civilization for a few days of paradise relaxing in the cool quiet of a Rocky Mountain campsite with a mesmerizing book and evening campfire. That’s my idea of Summer Treats and Reads. Okay, let me qualify what camping is to us. We have a fifth wheel trailer with all the creature comforts required, left tent camping behind a long time ago. LOL
Favorite camping areas in Colorado are: Rocky Mountain National Park a stones throw from Estes Park is a great hiking and biking destination. Twin Lakes in the Pike & San Isabel National Forest is wonderful for kayaking and mountain biking. Both these areas are dry camping, no services but with a generator or solar panels you are all set.
Another fun place is Steamboat Lake, a Colorado State Park, the kayaking is good, hiking with your furry friend is excellent. Electrical is available on some sites. Not far away is Pearl Lake, nice kayaking area, lots of wildlife early morning or around dusk. No motorized boats allowed. It’s also primitive/dry camping but there are several sites large enough for a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer.
These are just a few of the exciting camping area’s in Colorado. Last week we enjoyed a fun filled vacation at Lake Vallecito which I detailed in the prior post.
Mueller State Park is close and a great weekend trip to the mountains. Cheyenne Mountain State Park is centrally located for visiting all the Pikes Peak Region has to offer and is open all year around. It is usually our final destination of the season. The park offers full hookups, tent pad and campfire ring on each site.
Now for the Treats: Chocolate Cherry Dumpcake Recipe. Quick and easy.
2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling
1 package (about 15 ounces) Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake mix or your favorite Chocolate Cake mix.
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 X 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Spread the pie filling in prepared pan, top with cake mix only, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. pour butter over top, covering cake mix as much as possible.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Make 12 to 16 servings. Now for just my husband, myself and a couple of friends, we cut this recipe in half and use a 9X9 inch baking pan or a cast iron dutch oven. Yummy!
For Reads: Obviously, I’d like you to check out my books,
A Demon’s Witch, Charm Me (its on sale for .99), A Witch’s Journey. Otherwise, The Wild Rose Press has lots of wonderful authors with a wide variety of books. I like cozy and regular mysteries, paranormal romances books categorized as fun reads. I’m not into thrillers or weepy books. Happily Every After and feel good novels are what I read, anything else, I can get by turning on the television or internet and I don’t call that entertainment. Just me.
Please visit the other blogs listed below for fun, games and prizes. To be entered to win the $10.00 Amazon gift card I’m giving away, like my facebook page and sign up for my quarterly newsletter on my webpage at https://www.tenastetler.com. Winner will be drawn at random and notified at the end of the blog hop. Also the author’s of The Wild Rose are giving away a Kindle Fire as a grand prize. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter below. Good Luck! See you next time with tales of the unexplained. Got your attention now! <giggles maniacally>
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out all the fabulous writers and their blogs
in the SUMMER BLOG HOP below!
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2.
RV Memory | Visit blog
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3.
Tricia Schneider | Visit blog
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4.
Anna Durands Spunk & Hunks | Visit blog
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5.
Judy Ann Davis Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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6.
Spicy Summer Treats with Mia Downing | Visit blog
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7.
Linda Nightingale. . . Wordsmith | Visit blog
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8.
Jana Richards – Journeys with Jana | Visit blog
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Summer Memories of books well read @ Peggy jaeger. com | Visit blog
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Summer on Cape Cod ~ Kathryn Knight books | Visit blog
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Summer Fun at the Beach, with Katie OSullivan | Visit blog
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I Believe Ill Go Canoeing – C. B. Clark | Visit blog
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Summertime Love is Sweeter with. . . Frozen Mango? @ Kimberly Keyes blog | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Summer Treats Blog Hop @ Brendas Blog | Visit blog
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15.
Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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16.
Midsummer Magic on the Isle of Skye! | Visit blog
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My Guilty Summer Treats from Lori Sizemore | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Hywela Lyns post for the WRP Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats & Reads | Visit blog
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Camping is a Recipe for Summer Treats and Reads | Visit blog
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22.
The Snarkology | Visit blog
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23.
Summer Survival Tips @ Nitty Gritty Romance | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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25.
Nell Castle – Summer of the Sweat Lodge | Visit blog
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Myth, Magic & Wonder Susan Edwards, Breathing Life into the Past | Visit blog
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Romance with Spice, Sydney St. Claire | Visit blog
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Author Kat de Falla | Visit blog
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Anni Fife. Exciting new author of Steamy Romance with Irresistible Heroes | Visit blog
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Summer Vacation, Victorian-Style, AND a Giveaway | Visit blog
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Wildfires, Monsoons, and Mojitos – Author Susabelle Kelmer shares how she keeps cool in a climate that is on fire! | Visit blog
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Casi McLeans recipe for Hot Reads and Cool Treats | Visit blog
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Cool Summer Reads: Jeannie Halls Romantic Suspense Blog – Where Hearts Tremble From More Than Attraction | Visit blog
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Summer treat – Adult Slushie | Visit blog
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How to Rediscover the Magic of Bicycling | Visit blog
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Charlottes Tips on How to Stay Cool in HOT New York City | Visit blog
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Caryn McGill | Visit blog
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Views: 1
Posted in Camping, For Fun, My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged Anne Hillerman, Authors, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Chocolate Cherry Cake recipe, Cozy Mystery, Lake Vallecito, Molly Harper, Mueller State Park, Nancy Atherton, Pearl Lake, RMNP, Romance, Steamboat Lake State Park, Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop, The WIld Rose Press, Twin Lakes by Tena Stetler with 18 comments.
