Happy Release Day!

Grab your copy today!!

Emma Lee Raines sees dead people

Proprietor of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home, Emma Lee can see, hear, and talk to ghosts of murdered folks. And when her high school nemesis is found dead, Jade Lee Peel is the same old mean girl—trying to come between Emma Lee and her hot boyfriend, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, all over again.

There’s only one way for Emma Lee to be free of the trash-talking ghost—solve the murder so the former prom queen can cross over.

But the last thing Jade Lee wants is to leave the town where she had her glory days. And the more Emma Lee investigates on her own, the more complicated Miss Popularity turns out to be. Now Emma

Lee will have to work extra closely with her hunky lawman to get to the twisty truth.

Death Becomes Us Cozy Mystery Book Club

Before I started writing, which was in my mid-thirties, I belonged to a book club. We had so much fun. We'd show up, grab a drink and catch up with each other for the next twenty minutes while we wait on everyone to get there.

We had so much fun discussing the books and the anticipation of what book was going to be picked next. It was a lot of fun. But like a lot things....time, children, and life happened and our book club had a hard time meeting.

Writing is my full time job and I have a hard time finding time to read. It's been a challenge for me. I have to carve out one or two days a month to do nothing but read. Then what. . . .I want to discuss the book, but my two dogs, Charlie and Scooter, don't have much  to say.

Then it hit me! I wanted to start an online book club that featured cozy mysteries. I'm so excited with the interest. I decided to have it on Facebook. I know some people aren't on Facebook, but a lot are and it's such an easy place to be and come together as a group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/403108960079286/

If you aren't on Facebook, I beg that you join. It's easy and free! There is so much community over there and discussing books are one of them! We love books right?! Join Death Becomes Us Cozy Mystery Book Club on Facebook! We'd love to have you!

Do you belong to a book club? If so, what is your favorite thing about going? Leave a comment (with your email address) to win a $5 Amazon gift card! Winner will be announced on Friday!

Last week's blog winner is PENNEY!

Happy Thanksgiving

Since it's Thanksgiving week and we are all ready to stuff ourselves full of great food, I'm including a breakfast casserole I make ahead of time for Thanksgiving morning and let it cook while I start the Thanksgiving feast food. My kids and husband love it.

Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz.) of bulk ground sausage. I like a little spice to mine so I get a mild or hot sausage.

1 onion (chopped or you can buy a bag of the frozen already chopped)

1 red pepper (chopped or you can buy a bag of the frozen already chopped)

3-4 cups frozen square hash browns

2 cups cheddar cheese

3/4 cups Bisquick (I use gluten free Bisquick because Eddy is gluten free and it's the same measurements)

2 cups of milk

6 eggs

Optional black pepper

Directions:
I preheat my oven to 400
Spray a 3 quart baking dish ( 13 x 9 inches) with cooking spray
Over medium heat, cook the chopped onion and red pepper along with the sausage until the sausage is cooked with no pink. Drain the meat. Add the meat mixture, frozen hash browns, and 1.5 cups of the cheese in the baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the milk, Bisquick, eggs, and pepper (optional). Pour over the sausage mix in the baking dish.
Bake for around 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over top and bake another five minutes or until the cheese has melted. I'm a big believer in letting the food stand for 5-10 minutes after taken out of the oven. Enjoy!


What food are you looking forward to eating around your Thanksgiving table? Leave a comment to be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card.
Happy Thanksgiving!

You can find this recipe along with  many others in 

SCENE OF THE GRIND

BOOK 1

Pre-Order your copy of Scene of the Grind, the first book in a new coffee mystery, A KILLER COFFEE MYSTERY SERIES.



After a bitter divorce, Roxanne Davis (her friends, though few call her Roxie) has moved back home to Honey Springs, Kentucky where she's opened the tourist lakefront town's first coffee house, The Bean Hive. 


With the excitement of the Bean Hive opening and rush of business, Roxie is moving on with her life until she finds that one of her best customers, Lilia Walters, was found dead after eating one of Roxie's best-selling doughnuts after Roxie's aunt Maxine gave Lilia as a peace offering.


Gossip in Honey Springs is as hot at the coffee served at the Bean Hive and Roxie has to uncover who is behind the murder not only to save her shop, her aunt, but her life.

Happy reading!! ~ Tonya

Tonya Kappes

USA TODAY Bestselling Author has two Schnauzers, Scooter and Charlie!

Friend me on Facebook here. * Follow me on Twitter here.

Learn about my books here.

Congratulations to last week's blog winner Margaret Devine! Please email me Tonyak11@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

Head down, fingers moving and GO!

Have you heard of Nanowrimo?

National November Writing Month is what Nanowrimo stands for. 

Every year I look forward to this event every November. I write every day of the year. So it really shouldn't be a big deal if I participate in Nanowrimo, but it is!

There is so much hubbub for writers the entire month. 

The Nanowrimo website has links and writer's forums that get you motivated. Trust me, writing is a very lonely job. All day long I sit on my hinny and sit in front of my computer. It sounds like a lot of fun when in reality, it's difficult. You have to be disciplined to be a writer. 

I turn off my cell phone, I turn off social media, and I set the timer on my watch so it reminds me to get up and move. 

Mentally writing exhausts me.

My mind is always going with characters talking to me, deadlines looming, blogs to get written, readers to communicate with and there is literally no one to vent to about these things. Of course my husband is an amazing listener, but he still doesn't get it. He tells me, "you're living the life," only because I'm home and can do all the home things that need to be done.

I LOVE MY JOB! 

I'm not complaining. I'm only trying to show you just how lonely writing truly is. 

Nanowrimo is like a holiday for me. 

The website starts in October with guest authors, tips and tricks, even recipes to keep you writing. I guess most writers don't write every day. I do because I like a routine. They post inspirational videos! I love it.

During the month, Nanowrimo has a winners badge. How do you win? They provide you with a word count ticker. A novel by definition is a 50,000 word document/story. So in order to win Nanowrimo, you have to write at least 50,000. That's a little over 1,600/day. I'm used to writing between 3,000-5,000 words a day so it's not a problem for me to win the badge.

It's the bringing writers together once a year for a long month event is what gets me pumped. There is even a local meet up for writers who are participating and I love that! It's a month of inspiration that lasts me all year long.

What about you? Do you have something you look forward to every year that inspires you? Leave a comment and be entered to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Be sure to leave your email address in your comment. xo

Gratitude!

When I opened an email from a reader with the subject line GRATITUDE, I was flabbergasted she was sending me gratitude!

If you think about gratitude, what comes to your mind? I’m sure it’s different than what comes to my mind. Most readers don’t realize that you are the center of my world.

Of course I love creating all sorts of stories in my head and writing them down, but I never dreamed that anyone other than my own mother would want to read them.

It wasn’t until my husband looked at one of my favorite author’s novel did he inform me that he knew I could write one of those.

With those few words of encouragement, I began writing that night on what turned out to be a novel that would never see the light of day. Through persistence and thick skin, I finally was able to get my first novel, Carpe Bead ‘em, published.

If only one person bought that novel, I had fulfilled my dream of publishing. This made me a real author! And not only did one person buy it, over thirty-thousand copies sold in the first month Carpe Bead ‘em had been out. Quickly it shot to the bestsellers list and beyond.

I was beyond filled up with gratitude. You see, it’s not about money to me. It’s about connecting with readers and forming relationships with them. I have met my readers at conferences, for dinner, for dessert, and weekend retreats.

My gratitude is you, the reader.

You have a busy life just like me, I know~I have four teenage boys. And in today’s crazy world you take time out of your day to sit down and make time for my made up stories. This blows me away! And you make me a better writer! I write about family, love, and emotions. I take you on a journey that I hope fills you up with gratitude as much as I’m filled up by you.

What is something you are GRATEFUL for? 

Happy Release Day!

Grab your copy today!!

Bubble. . . bubble. . . 

Whispering Falls is abuzz with the new 

housing development and new shops 

popping up all over the magical 

village right before the annual All 

Hallow’s Eve celebration. 

Cures and trouble. . . 

June Heal’s intuition 

is on high alert and she just can’t shake 

that something bad is about to happen. 

Magic stirs . . . 

June finds Violet Draper standing over a dead body 

In the new pumpkin patch hours before it’s supposed 

to open for hayrides. 

And trouble doubles . . . 

Once again, June has to put her sleuthing skills to work 

and figure out who the real killer is before the new 

citizens pack up and move right back out of town. 

Password CrAzY!!

Oh my...One of our own Whodunit authors, Laura Bradford, had emailed me telling me that my email had been hacked. Immediately my heart sank. Not because I feared someone was going to send my hacker $5,000 to a secret account to get me out of jail in Tahiti, but the dreaded thought of trying to figure out a password and remembering it!

Every year I change my passwords. I keep them for a year and I have a place where I store them. This year was no different. When 2016 rolled around, I went through the dreaded password change. I'm not talking just blogs, Facebook, etc. . .I'm talking utility companies who I pay bills online, banking, all my blogs, websites, Goodreads, Amazon, Google docs, and many more. It's painful.

So when I got Laura's email, I groaned loudly because it's only FEBRUARY and I just started remembering the new ones without my notes that week! Not only that, but now the password gatekeepers of my email server said I have to have a capital letter, lower case letter, number and symbol. Symbol?? Now that's a new on to me and now I still can't remember my new password.

How often do you change your passwords?

If you haven't had to opportunity to read USA Today Bestselling novel, A CHARMING CRIME, now is your time! It's currently  FREE!

Maggie vs Tonya

Judge smacks the gavel on the desk to get order in the courtroom. On one side of the courtroom Author Tonya Kappes is preparing to defend the lawsuit Maggie Parks has filed against her. While Maggie Parks is on the other side of the courtroom.

Judge: Ms. Parks, please state your claim.

Maggie Parks: I’m here today for you to order Tonya Kappes to make my familiar an animal like every other witch out there.

Judge: What exactly did she make your familiar?

Maggie Parks: A 1965 red AC Cobra.

Judge: A car? A muscle car?

Tonya Kappes: Funny (she snickers under her breath).

Maggie Parks: See! She thinks it’s funny! It’s not funny. Everyone else in my FAMILY has an animal. My sister Lilith has a bird, Aunt Meme has an owl, and mama has a cat! I get a car?

Judge: Ms. Kappes, what do you have to say for yourself?

Tonya Kappes: It’s funny. Vinnie is a 1965 muscle car that is so jealous of Maggie’s suitors, including Mick Jasper the undercover agent for SKUL, the Secret Keepers of the Universal Law. He has to get in Maggie’s car sometimes during the investigation and Vinnie is so jealous of him. Mick is very cute and hot, if you know what I mean.

Maggie Parks: It’s not funny! Vinnie locks Mick in and drives crazy, zipping in and out of traffic, warming Mick’s seat until his pants are practically on fire. (Maggie tries to hide a giggle.)

Tonya Kappes: See, funny!

Judge smacks the gavel: I rule in favor of Author Tonya Kappes. She knows how to use her imagination to bring smiles to even the maddest of faces.

Maggie Parks darts out of the courtroom and all we hear is Vinnie squeal his tires.

What about you? What type of familiar would you want?

Spies and Spells
Spies and Spells Book 1
While Maggie waits for her Witchy Hour, she works at the family diner with her mom, aunt Meme and Lilith, her sister - all witches. Soon Maggie gets entangled with a mysterious handsome stranger, Mick Jasper, and his secret U.S. organization, SKUL. Has she found her calling?

Amazon

Caught me by surprise!

There is something I discovered about myself and it actually took me by surprise. 

Over the last eight years I've had two offices. The first one was in our old house and it was a living room that we never used. My Eddy had converted it to an office and even had custom built shelves put in along with a chalkboard and a very cool barn door. 

It was beautiful. Only one problem...I never used it! I kept my stuff in there but I ended up writing my novels while sitting in an overstuffed chair or in the corner of my comfy couch. 

Four years ago we moved to a new house. There was a great office on the first floor as soon as you walked into the house. I painted it, bought a new desk, a new chair, rug, curtains, and hung up my accomplishments. It was a cool office. One problem. . .I never used it. 

I  ended up doing a Feng shui of my home and added all that I needed to add to make the office more creative for me. I repainted, re-arranged, redecorated and all was beautiful. One problem. . .I never used it. I ended up curling back up on the comfy couch or siting in a chair in a small room that sits off of the kitchen. There is a black square cube where I sit my coffee. The top of the cube comes off and my Eddy joked about the cube being my office because I stuffed it full with all the things I needed while I was writing that novel. 

One day a couple of months ago Eddy suggested we move the basement laundry room up to the first floor where the office that I never use was located. There were a few other things that needed to be re-arranged for a big remodel we will be doing in a few years so the first half of the office was going to just sit empty while the other half became a nice new laundry room. 

During the remodel, I kept my desk in the first half in front of the window, which when it was my real office the desk sat in the corner of the back of the room. I would sit at the desk and talk to Eddy while he worked on the laundry room. I began to gaze out of the window at my water fountain and the flower bed. I started to get a feeling, an urge that I needed to write, right then!

It was as if my creative juices started to flow. The small half of the room was cozy, almost hugging me. Then it occurred to me. Everyday for the past eight years I had an office but I chose to write in a snug place like a small couch, a comfy chair or even in the back seat of my van. I was a little surprised. 

Over the past couple of weeks, the remodel has been completed. My laundry room turned out amazing and the small half  of the old office has been transformed into a small office until the big remodel in a couple of years and I've gotten so much writing done in there on the super humid days when it's just been too hot to go outside. 

I even get to look out at my fountain and watch the birds wash themselves. 

Is there a special place you love to hang out in your house?

Thank you to my Kappes Krew team for making awesome blog post suggestions. Cecelia Kelsey is the wonderful Krew member who suggested I blog on my summer produce. Thanks Cecelia!!

Be sure to check out Tonyakappes.com for upcoming novels and preorder links!

A CHARMING VOODOO               BETTING OFF DEAD             

RELEASE DATE:9/26                    RELEASE DATE: 8/29                

 A GHOSTLY REUNION

 RELEASE DATE: 12/27

Meet Laurel London!

 

Have you checked out my Laurel London Mystery Series? I hope you put her on your summer reading list! She's fun, sassy, southern, and has a heart of gold. Right now CHECKERED CRIME IS FREE ON KINDLE!

AMAZON

We all want to be different, so what is the one thing you wish I had done differently with you?

Laurel: You did make me sound like a thug, even though I really did do all those things. . .like hack the preacher's credit card and run it up by buying all those presents for the orphans. But the way I see it, I'm kinda like Robin Hood.

If you could have added something to the story, and I would have let you, what would that have been? Probably more fashion. I mean, I get it that I had to dumpster dive to find clothes as a kid, and that's probably why I want to shop more.

What do you love best about yourself? What do you like least? I like how I'm a go-getter. Just because I was fired from Porty Morty's didn't stop me from going to get another job. I just didn't realize it was going to involve a dead body. The least thing I like about me is my temper. I don't have a great handle on that. It gets me into a lot of trouble.

What part of the book was the hardest for you that I had to work through? Disappointing the people I love even though they didn't know it was for the greater good and catch a killer.

Checkered Crime:

Laurel London is one tough cookie. Orphaned and with one heckuva checkered past, she's grown street smart and no one is going to tell her different, even if it means getting tangled up with the wrong side of the law. After terrorizing Walnut Grove, Kentucky all her adolescent life, she's back and she's ready to go on the up and up. Make something of herself. Prove the citizens of Walnut Grove wrong and make them admit she's somebody.

But when mobster Trigger Finger Tony Cardozza jumps in the back of Laurel London's car mistaking it for a taxi, she's up to her ears in no good.

Recently fired and checkbook in the red, when Trigger offers to pay Laurel large wads of cash to drive him where he needs to go and keep her mouth shut, she's all in. That is, until FBI agent Jax Jackson jumps in the back of Laurel London's car threatening to take her to jail for her past crimes if she doesn't cooperate with the FBI by going undercover to help bring down the mob.

And so it goes...

I honestly can not believe my twins are heading off to college in a few months. Truth be told, I've been preparing myself for this  moment for some months now. For Christmas I made sure I bought them things they will need like a new laptop, new bedding, etc., that they will need to take with them because it was decided by them that they would go away from home.

That said. . . they turned 18 years old back in September. They are good boys and I've never had to police them or their activities. The only real control I had was over their checking and savings accounts. All I heard was "I can't wait until I'm 18", "When I'm 18...". When they turned 18, I started to treat them like grownups. I didn't transfer money into their accounts, I didn't wake them for school, I didn't take them to their dr appointments, I didn't do their laundry, I didn't pay for special nights out with friends and I didn't make their lunches for school. It was a big eye opener for them.

Now it's taken them FIVE months to say to me "yeah, I don't like being 18." Hahhaa!! They want to be treated as a grownup without the responsibilities. Not only that but guess who's name is back on their savings and checking account?! MINE!

I'm glad I gave them a good dose of what reality as an adult is really like because now they know they have to work extra hard for the education that they are paying for.

And so it goes. . .One has decided to stay home and go to college and live here. The other is still going away. It looks like I'm not going to be an empty-nester anytime soon.

Tell me about an experience you had with life lessons in the comments and I'll pick a winner for a Tonya Kappes Krew mini tote!

If you haven't had to opportunity to read USA Today Bestselling novel, A CHARMING CRIME, now is your time! It's currently  FREE for a limited time!

RELEASE WEEK!!

OMG! I still can't believe that it's almost the release of A CHARMING FATALITY!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because it's the seventh novel, not including the two short stories, in the Magical Cures Mystery Series. Who knew that my little witch and her familiar would take the mystery world by storm?!

AND....
the series has their own cookies made from them!
Check out Cooper's Cocoa and Cookies and order your June's Gems and Magical Cures Mystery Sugar Cookies today so you can enjoy them while reading A CHARMING FATALITY on Friday!!

FRIYAY!!

Friyay and giveaway winners!!

YAY!! It's FriYAY!!! Congratulations winners!! YOU have one week to claim your prize by emailing me through my contact page on my website.

Monday's winner of the garden fun pack: Mary Richardson
Tasty Tuesday Winner: Peggy and roman holiday cocktail!

Happy Forth of July!! Be sure to jump over to the Whodunit page on Facebook tomorrow. They are throwing one heck of a party!!!!

Tasty Tuesday!!

Thank you to everyone emailing me their fun recipes!
Since it's Fourth of July week, I thought I would share a fun cocktail!
It's a take on my old school favorite popsicle the BOMB POP!

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 ounces vodka
• 2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4-6 cups ice
• 4 ounces blue raspberry vodka
• 3 ounces cherry vodka

Instructions

1. To make a simple syrup, combine sugar and water and heat in a small saucepan until sugar dissolves. Cool completely in refrigerator.
2. In a blender add clear vodka, lime juice, 2 ounces simple syrup, and 1½ cups of ice; blend on high until it reaches a "slush like" consistency, adding more ice if necessary. Pour into a container and place in the freezer. Next, in the blender add blue raspberry vodka, 2 ounces simple syrup, and 1½ cups of ice; blend on high until desired consistency is reached, and pour into a container and place in freezer. Then, in the blender add cherry vodka, 2 ounces simple syrup, and 1½ cups of ice; blend until desired consistency is reached and place into a container and place in freezer.
3. Let chill in freezer until ready to use.
4. To "assemble" drink layers, spoon some of the blue in the bottom of a glass, then white, then red on top.

**For the non-alcoholic version: 
Replace vodka with Cranberry juice and replace blue raspberry vodka with blue gatorade and replace cherry vodka with cherry gatorade. 

Do you have a favorite cocktail drink?? 

Leave the recipe in the comment section and be eligible to be featured in my new cozy mystery featuring a bed and breakfast releasing in 2016!!

Livin' Off The Grid

Okay, I'm really not, but it's been fun growing our first vegetable garden!
Six years ago I had a wake up call after a physical. My doctor called after the blood results came back and told me I had high blood pressure and bad cholesterol was bad and good cholesterol was bad...all around BAD!

I come from a long blood line of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, heart transplant, artery disease, high blood pressure, brain aneurysm ...the list really could go on and on. Yep...I'm a walking time bomb.
My doctor was hoping it could be food related and what I was consuming. So instead of going on medicine right away, I went to a nutritionist.
Interestingly enough the nutritionist asked me to write down everything I put in my mouth for a week. My kids were much younger then and I would eat all their junk left overs like gold fish, fries, nuggets, anything!
After a week the nutritionist told me I needed to learn how to eat properly and sent me to Weight Watchers! Yep..you read that right! A NUTRITIONIST SENT ME TO WEIGHT WATCHERS!
Boy did it change my life!
Not only did I love going, I did learn how to eat properly and in the process lost over 38 lbs. My blood pressure and cholesterol became normal and it was GREAT! BUT I was spending so much money on fresh vegetables!
Six years later, I still go to my Weight Watcher weekly meeting and I've been Lifetime for five years. Now back to the blog title Livin' Off The Grid...

Eddy decided he wanted to try his hand at gardening! I was so excited for his little project only because I love salads and the idea of walking out my door and picking off a cucumber sounded great!
Guess what?
IT IS!!!

Everyday we head out to the garden and look to see what is growing and what needs to be picked. The lettuce tastes so fresh that I'm going to be really, really sad when the season is over and I don't have fresh lettuce! I'm going to have to go back to store bought lettuce! BOO!!!

Do you have a garden? Do you go to the farmer's market?
Let's talk about my idea of Livin' Off The Grid! Leave a comment to win this fun prize pack that includes a fun cup, hand sanitizers, garden gloves, and notebook!

Winner will be announced on Friday July 3rd!

Don't forget to spread the word about the upcoming release of A CHARMING FATALITY! 

In the meantime, you can continue catching up on the series with A CHARMING WISH, book 4 in the Magical Cures Mystery Series! It's on sale for ONE day only! 

IT's only on sale at Amazon (I'm so sorry), but you can always download the Kindle app on any device! Hugs and happy reading!!

FriYAY!!!

We made it!!!

I do a lot of giveaways, so on FridYAY, I'm going to be posting all the winners from all the platforms.
With each giveaway, you have ONE week to claim the prize.

Monday Giveaway: Kappes changing cups: JEN SCOTT
Tuesday Recipe: Susan P.
The share photo will continue until release day :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

My son, Austin, is in full college mode. Since my husband works out of the home and I'm home working (obviously my work travels), I'm putting the final college visit plans together. We are traveling a few places with over night stays since the lacrosse teams want to "talk" to us and show him around the campus. We are also getting ready for all the lacrosse camps he is doing this summer, starting next week!

What are you doing this weekend?
Let me know in the comments to win a Kappes mystery box!

Be sure to continue to share the photo!

Preorder today!
Kindle: http://amzn.to/1Lizrya
Nook: http://bit.ly/1ByliL6
iBooks:  http://apple.co/1J1QwtO
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1IbEiAg

Cover Snob

As an author, I want my story to be GREAT, FANTASTIC and strike a relationship with the reader so the reader will come back for more.

But the obstacle is how to reach that reader! 

When I first started out there was something that I knew I had to had in order to reach you. . .the reader. . .A GREAT COVER!!

I was a new author and who really wanted to take a chance on me? But I had a great cover with a pink dog on it.

Amazon

Cute right?? It still happens to be one of my favorite covers! I had gotten so many compliments on the cover, so I knew I was on to something.

After that, I spent just as much time on my covers with my cover artist as I had writing the novels.

The cover on the left is my
self published cover of
A GHOSTLY UNDERTAKING before I sold it to HarperCollins.
The one on the right is from my publisher, HarperCollins.
Amazon










I LOVE both of them and thrilled I have cover control/advice with my traditional covers. The latest novel in the Magical Cures Mystery Series, A CHARMING FATALITY, is A-DORABLE!

A CHARMING FATALITY will be released on July 10th! You can preorder your copy on all platforms today.

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1Lizrya
Nook: http://bit.ly/1ByliL6
iBooks:  http://apple.co/1J1QwtO
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1IbEiAg

In the meantime, you can share the below photo! Let me know where you share it in the comments below to be eligible to win! You can share more than once!!! 

Are you a cover snob? Do you judge a book by it's cover??

Traveling the Mystery World with My Characters – by Ritter Ames

I love being an author—I love sending my own experiences into a spiral and seeing how I can use the bones of the events to challenge my main characters. Especially when it comes to pushing the bounds in my Bodies of Art Mysteries series. The paces I put Laurel and Jack through—all in the name of saving art masterpieces—is a blast to write.

This series is my “running away from home” writing. The first book, COUNTERFEIT CONSPIRACIES, is mostly set in London, my favorite city in the world, and I use personal photos to find tricks and traps for Laurel’s world. See the skyscraper shots below? Notice the egg-shaped building on the far right? In a scene where my characters zip through London streets, trying desperately to escape the bad guys, Laurel mentions that skyline and building.

It’s called the Swiss Re building. Google using the search question “What is the London building that looks like a Faberge egg?” and you’ll find that hundreds (and maybe thousands) of people have googled the same exact question—like I did when we were there several years ago.

Just looking at pictures like these shots, taken from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral (yes, I climbed all 528 steps for a total of 365 feet—with a heavy day bag and 35mm camera), and the ideas start flowing. Look below, in the left shot of the Thames, and there’s the Millennium Bridge. The London Eye is in the shot to the right. Notice the lovely textural differences between the skyscrapers and the older buildings in all the pictures. London is so visually diverse, which is one of the reasons it makes a truly marvelous setting for a novel. Great locations like the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Gallery adds to the treasure trove.

And I don’t even have a shot of the curved glass skyscraper that could melt cars across the street (no, I’m not making it up). Nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie Skyscraper, the BBC did a story on it when a Jag was melted. Here’s the link: www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675 .

The latest release, MARKED MASTERS, ups the stakes, and my characters travel to Florence, Italy to pursue the baddies. I spent hours watching YouTube videos of the city and Tuscan countryside. It was tough, but someone had to do it. As in COUNTERFEIT CONSPIRACIES, the pace is fast, the twists are surprising, and Laurel & Jack keep everything spinning with their quick wits and witty dialogue. Here are some Florence shots used for inspiration. The buildings are cathedral complex views. The blue moon shot is the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio.

Book #3 in this series is coming soon. Fast pace, amazing artwork, plot twists at every turn, and sharp main characters who use snark and smart sarcasm to keep the dialogue fast and furious—that’s my Bodies of Art Mysteries. If this sounds interesting, the first book is on sale right now for 99 cents www.smarturl.it/CConspir, so both books can be downloaded for less than $5.

I’d like to take a minute here to thank the lovely Tonya Kappes for inviting me to guest post today (I’m as big of a fan of hers as you all are). Thanks so much, Tonya!

I spend way too much time on Pinterest, finding stuff to share about my books. You can wander my boards or follow me at https://www.pinterest.com/ritterames/  I love making new friends.

Something new—a group of my fellow authors and I are getting together to have a summer of giveaway fun. 

Check out the Contest Page at my website for more details and how to enter at: http://ritterames.com/contest-page-2/   We’ll have dozens of ebook giveaways, as well as a fabulous new Kindle Paperwhite in a Labor Day drawing.

Ritter Ames is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the Organized Mysteries series and the Bodies of Art Mysteries series. When she's not writing or brainstorming Ritter is usually trying to get her favorite yellow lab to stay out of the pond, or keep her grouchy black cat from trying to give the dog away on Freecycle. For more info check www.ritterames.com  Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/Ritter-Ames/e/B00I78AQEW, Facebook Author Page at www.facebook.com/RitterAmesBooks or follow on Twitter @RitterAmes