Sunday, December 7, 2014

Mystery of the Month: A Deadly Christmas Carol




A Deadly Christmas Carol by Sharon Love Cook:

When sultry Dionne Dunbar is run down in the street one winter's night, Granite Cove Gazette reporter Rose McNichols is the only witness. Amid Christmas preparations in the New England fishing village, Rose alone is determined to discover Dionne's secrets. Who wanted the woman dead? Was it a member of her mediums circle… or one of her black book clients?

Granite Cove: 
Come for the chowder, stay for the murder . . .

Sharon Love Cook

I am what you might call a late bloomer. I got my BS at age fifty (the oldest campus newspaper editor in the college's history) and later got an MFA in writing. On the other hand, I started writing "professionally" at seventeen, a correspondent for the local newspaper's (Gloucester Daily Times) summer supplement. I also provided cartoons. Matter of fact, I illustrated the covers of my Granite Cove Mysteries, A Nose for Hanky Panky and A Deadly Christmas Carol. Last but not least, I am VP of Friends of Beverly Animals.

A little discourse about ADD:

As an ADD  adult, I have trouble keeping up with media basics. I took a course in Twitter and after opening an account, I posted once (something about Camp David, I recall) and abandoned it. I also had a gorgeous website that utilized my illustrations, created and hosted by a savvy webmaster. Someone told me I should do it myself, posting to my website, and that Wordpress was "easy." I fell for it and said goodbye to the webmaster (mistress) and went it alone. It's been over a year and I still continue to post yet nothing appears. The site is virtually frozen. I've abandoned it too, hoping it'll somehow be rescued. I also had a blog named after a character in my mysteries: Auntie Pearl. I stopped posting regularly and abandoned that--yet hope to resurrect it. 

I once confessed these failings to a woman who coaches artists, writers, etc. She said my biggest problem was time management. I think she's right. I was recently working on this post for Pat because the deadline loomed. My chair was uncomfortable and so I grabbed a pillow from the bed. I noticed the stuffing coming out of the pillow and so I went in search of needle and thread. I thought there was some matching pink thread in a tote bag downstairs and started looking through the collection of totes. I found some old black and white photos in one, pictures I'd thought were lost. I sat and looked at them. I knew my niece would love to see those photos and so I began writing her a note . . .

Needless to say, when I returned to my assignment, it was so late the computer had shut itself down in disgust. Thus I envy those who can focus and follow through. I thank Pat for her faith in me that I would get this post completed. Mercifully, I did, although I probably left things out. 'Twas ever thus . . . 


Author of the Granite Cove Mysteries, including A Nose for Hanky Panky, and the just-released: A Deadly Christmas Carol, available at bookstores and online. Visit my website: www.sharonlovecook.com

Sharon will select one person who leaves a comment to win a copy of A Deadly Christmas Carol.