TASTY TUESDAY

I'm soooo excited about TASTY TUESDAY!

What on earth is this TASTY TUESDAY? Well.... I have a little secret. So criss-cross applesauce promise and poke a needle in your eye? Pinky swear?!

Okay!



I have a new mystery series coming out in 2016 that is a straight cozy! I don't have the dates yet, but I'll let you know when I do.



It's based on a woman who buys a bed and breakfast on the east coast. That is about all I can say *evil grin*
I want to start collecting recipes to use in the book and a possible cook book! You will get credit in the acknowledgements of course! It can be any recipe, including cocktails, coffee, desserts, meals, anything!


Every Tuesday, I'm going to post one of my own recipes. Each week, leave a recipe in the comments section and each week, I will pick a winner!






CHICKEN POT PIE
In Kentucky, we LOVE our pies....including meat pies. Here is a super easy pot pie recipe that my four boys absolutely crave!

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken
2- 8 oz cans of Veg*All
1 - 8 oz can of corn
1-8 oz can cream of chicken
2- 8 oz can chicken broth
2 cups Bisquick
2 cups 2% milk
1 stick of butter melted

Directions:
Preheat oven 450º
Cook chicken by boiling or in the crock pot.
In a large baking dish combine cooked chicken, Veg*All, corn, cream of chicken, chicken broth and butter.
In a mixing bowl combine Bisquick and milk.
Pour the Bisquick and milk mixture evenly over top of the chicken mixture. DO NOT MIX, just pour over.
Place in the over and bake for 20-30 mins or until topping is brown.

YUM!!

Confession time!

OKAY....It's the beginning of the week, which means new beginnings and time to make a confession.
 My name is Tonya Kappes and I LOVE emojis!!!!

I even love to use them at the end of sentences and not punctuation. I know it drives people crazy, but I can't help it. It just adds a little spice to my sentences and I think they are fun! I'm all about the fun!!!

Confession time! What silly confession do you have? One lucky comment will win a Kappes cup that changes colors!

What Pinterest Means To Me

Happy FRIYAY!!!

Yesterday's blog on journaling really made me think about Pinterest. I'm not sure if you "pin" but I do. In the beginning I used it to create vision boards for each book and a board about things that amused me. I have to admit that some of the 'pins' I was pinning on my amuse me board were not so nice and sometimes pinned with someone in mind *evil grin*
I KNOW! SO WRONG and so not me! In fact, those pins made me a little sad after I would pin one, making Pinterest a not so fun "social tool" for me.

I decided to take back my emotions! I deleted any and all negative pins and only focused on pins that made me smile from joy that bubbled deep in my soul or pins to make other people feel better about themselves. After I changed my attitude toward the pin and used it to feed my soul, other pinners started to follow those happy/joyful/uplifting boards. I have even gotten several messages about how they know they can go to any of my boards and click off feeling better than when they first got on!

Pinterest has kinda become my own way of journaling to the happy place in my life! I love life and I love to PIN!!

Do you pin? I have a public board I 'd love to add you to! Just comment to let me know you pin or not!! LOOK ME UP HERE!! 

HERE WE GO AGAIN. . .

Yep.... As you know I have been a blogger for many years but decided to stop a year ago. Why? Well, I was not sure how much the blog was working for me or if anyone was really paying attention to it. 

Here is what I learned from my hiatus:

1) I missed not writing this daily blog. It kept me writing, whether about everyday life or even just writing about what I was working on. Sometimes for an author, sitting down and actually writing is the hardest part. When you get into a routine of writing a blog post, it jump started my writing for the day. So here I am!

2) I missed the interaction between me and you! Writing is a very lonely activity. Of course I have all the fun characters fighting over time in my head, but it's not the same. I have gotten to know each and every one of you. I can tell you something about you when I meet you and I love that connection. It was the connection to you that got me writing in the first place. 

3) Where will we be if social media ever decided to change? I hear rumblings all the time about how Facebook limits what you see and that scares me. I literally have to get on THREE different devices to see everyone's status. I want to know if you are sick. I want to see your adorable grandchildren or children pictures. I want to know when your cat is being ornery or any fur baby for that matter! I want to know about you!

4) Blogging is sort of like a diary for me! YES! I kept a diary and journal all my life.

I will continue to have a READER OF THE MONTH! And be sure you are signed up for my newsletter. I publish TWO a month. The 2nd Tuesday of the month is a giveaway from a fellow author friend and the 4th Tuesday of the month is news, events, and upcoming fun stuff! Don't miss out and be sure to tell a friend! 

I will also be doing a lot of giveaways here too, just like always! YAY! I'm so glad to be back!!!

**GIVEAWAY of Kappes Messenger bag!**

Do you or did you keep a diary?? How did it help you??? 

Mayhem, Mystery & Murder!

You asked and I delivered! YAY!

I'm so excited to announce a fun get together weekend with you! I hope you check it out and decide to come. I already feel like I know you, but I want to see your face! We are going to have a lot of fun by starting off with a murder mystery train luncheon on the Old Road Dinner Train in Blissfield, Michigan, just over the border from Toledo, Ohio. That night we will have a fun pizza get together where my publisher HarperCollins/Witness Impulse has sponsored goodie bags full of swag from the Ghostly Southern Mystery Series! In the morning, we will be having breakfast together before venturing off to Barnes and Noble for a book signing of the newly released A GHOSTLY MURDER!
I hope you sign up today. Space is limited to only 40! 

Check out the train here! 

All the details are on my website. Click here to see accommodations and how to reserve your spot!

The Curse of being CREATIVE

I get emails from aspiring writers daily asking me how did I do it? Or how do I do it? Ira Glass from This American Life, one of my radio favorites, sums it up in a little over a minute!

A Ghostly Murder

YAY!! I'm so happy with the fourth book cover on the Ghostly Southern Mystery Series, A GHOSTLY MURDER!

Mamie Sue Preston was actually my Granny's maiden name and I love it so much, I knew I needed to use it in a novel. Plus Granny was a spitfire which Mamie Sue is too.

When my editor at HarperCollins ask me for my suggestions about a cover idea, I let them read the first chapter of the novel where Emma Lee is at the cemetery doing her job as the undertaker of Eternal Slumber and she hears the dinging of a bell. She glances over at an old gravestone. There is a bell on top with a string dangling down from it and the bell is ever so slightly rocking back and forth. 

Mamie Sue Preston was a hypochondriac and her tombstone epitaph says "I told you I was sick." In the old days people were accidentally buried alive due to various reasons like unable to detect a faint heartbeat. Finally they began putting bells on top of tombstones with a string attached. The string was fed into the ground and in the casket. If the person was buried alive, they were able to pull the string and ring the bell, signaling to the outside that they were still alive and get them out!

I thought it would be so funny for the story and cute for the cover. I'm thrilled they decided to use it!

You can preorder the first four novels in the Ghostly Southern Mystery Series today!!! 

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
HarperCollins
iBooks
Indie Bound

Let Them Walk!!!

Well....I have yet to reveal my true 2015 New Year's Resolutions. Everyone keeps messaging me on Twiiter, and Facebook or asking on Instagram what my New Year's resolution is because I keep asking them.

I'm not sure if I keep asking them because I'm holding out hope that I won't have to make mine and skirting the my issue, but here it is. . .LET THEM WALK and be joyful everyday for the good in my life.

In the past couple of weeks, I have seen so many Pinterest pins and status claims on various social media outlets that say in one form or another: 

In fact, I stopped pinning these pins and deleted them from my Pinterest account because in truth, these pins are only reminders of the person you are talking about. Lets face it, if you didn't feel like someone was holding you back or did you wrong, you wouldn't pin these types of pins. 
I'm not going to lie. I have had a friendship or two that I considered true friends that have come and gone over the past couple of years. I did try to keep the friendship but in the end it just didn't work out. Sometimes we are fighting battles we had no idea we were fighting. 



Can I get an AMEN?

What does this have to do with my New Year's resolution?

I'm learning to be JOYFULLY happy! Don't get me wrong. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my life. I love my family (fur babies included). I love my career. I love my readers. I love my friends. But I have really forgotten to look at my life and truly be present and thankful for the moment, the day, or even the next breath. 

This year. . .drum roll please. . . .drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

I have committed to do a Happiness Jar! Every night before I go to bed I recall ONE thing that made me really happy that day and I write it down, fold it, and put it in my Happiness Jar. So when "doubting Tom" creeps into my soul, I will put my hand in my Happiness Jar and pull out a slip of paper and read what feed my happiness on any particular day. This is my simple New Year's resolution that will help feed my soul and keep me creative on what is going to be an AMAZING year! Thank you for joining me. xo



How have your New Year's resolutions been coming along? 
Leave a comment and one lucky winner will win a Kappes Tote and A Ghostly Undertaking and A Ghostly Grave book jacket!

Best Witch Author 2014...Really??

WOW! I was notified by one of my male readers that I had been nominated for 2014 Best Witch Author of 2014 and I had made it to round 2! 

I had no idea I was even in round 1! And I'm so grateful! I love the fact everyone has made June Heal in the image of their own mind. I had never intended her to be considered a witch or even close. I had intended her and the good people of Whispering Falls to be more along the medium family. 

I have a very close friend who would be considered along the same lines of the Long Island Medium. She is amazing and gifted. She informed me of the differences between white and dark witches and she's my go-to gal for all things Magical Cures Mystery Series related. 

Truth be told....psychic (along the line of June and the gang) are a form of white witchery. I love this! June is good through and through. I'm thrilled beyond belief that my readers have lumped her in the witch category! I couldn't be happier!

If you are on Facebook and inclined to vote in the Best Witch Author Category, here is the link.

Again, thank you so much! I'm honored to be nominated!

Whispering Falls!

I'm so excited! For the first time EVER, A Magical Cures Mystery Series is on sale for .99!
Why?
Why not?
Whispering Falls is a magical place and I'm excited for all the new ereader owners to discover the mystery, magic, and love! 
Be sure to tell all of your friends about June Heal and the gang so they can catch up on all the happenings and mayhem in Whispering Falls before all the new books in the series are published in 2015!
#MAGICAL CURES #MYSTERY SERIES ONLY .99! 
AMAZON: http://amzn.to/177Ay3r 
NOOK: http://bit.ly/1BdBIFE 
#witch #books