Goodreads Giveaway: WEYCOMBE

Head over to Goodreads and enter to win 1 of 5 copies of WEYCOMBE, the latest release from G.M. Malliet!

Hurry! Contest is open October 3 - October 10, so enter now!

The Company You Keep by Shannon Baker

yep, I stole this from Inkspot...  it is Shannon Baker's post from last Wednesday.  But I couldn't not share it because I am so proud of the Inkers. 

 

The Company You Keep

What a great week to be a Midnight Ink writer. Actually, it’s way more than just a week but there has been an avalanche of good news crashing down recently.

Left Coast Crime conference, a gathering to celebrate mysteries that takes place in a different western city each year, announced finalists in their contest. What fun to see Midnight Ink writers on that illustrious list. Darrell James and Beth Groundwater are nominees in The Rocky category, which is a book set in the geographic area covered by Left Coast Crime. Jess Lourey is nominated for an award in the humorous category, The Lefty. And Catriona McPherson has a book in the Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery, for historical novels.

 

Can you say, “Wow!”

And then it gets better.

Kathleen Ernst recently won the LOVEY in the historical category at Love Is Murder in Chicago.

And drum roll, please…

Gin Malliet and (twice now) Catriona McPherson are up for Agatha Awards given by Malice Domestic.

Alan Orloff had an Agatha nomination in 2010.

 

And last year, Darrell James won a Left Coast Crime award, The Eureka, for a first novel.

Now it’s going to get dicey because I’m going to forget a whole ton of other good news. But let me mention that Vicki Doudera got a great review from the world’s snarkiest review site. I know Alice Loweecey and Lois Winston have posted some terrific reviews, as well.

I’m tickled for all the recipients. I imagine their glow and it makes me plum happy for them. I’ve met most of the writers I just mentioned and to a person, they are warm, funny, smart, generous and all around amazing specimens. I can only imagine the others are equally superior humans.

But, as Ayn Rand was ever-so-fond of saying, “There is no altruism.”

While I’m truly happy for these M’Inkers, I’m downright giddy for me.

My father always told me, “You’re known by the company you keep.” Yes, he was a wise man, but I don’t think he made that up.

I would be surprised if I ever win a prestigious award and Kirkus may always hate me. But someone, somewhere, at one time,(Terri) thought I wrote a book good enough to be included on the roster with these stellar writers.

That thought swells my chest more than the Miraculous Uplift bra I got from Victoria’s Secret.

By the time of my next Ink Spot post, my first book in the Nora Abbott Mystery series will have launched. Readers may love it or hate it. But for right now, for this brief moment, I get to revel in the success of my publisher and the fine writers they’ve accumulated and believe I am one of them. 

 

I am just so darned proud of Midnight Ink and all these folks. (And sorta proud of me, too.)

INKSPOT NEWS - August 18, 2012

Sale! Sale! Sale! Great news! Amazon has put the Kindle version of many Midnight Ink mystery books on sale from August 11 - 23 as part of its "August Big Deal" promotion. Move fast to take advantage of this special promotion, and please spread the word to all of your mystery reading friends!

Here are the titles available for a measly $1.99 during August 11 - 23:

C.S. Challinor's Murder of the Bride
Beth Groundwater's Deadly Currents and Wicked Eddies
J. B. Stanley's Stiffs and Swine
Terri Thayer's Old Maid's Puzzle

Here are the titles available for $1.99 only on August 24th, as part of Amazon's "Kindle Happy Anniversary Deal" promotion:

Sue Ann Jaffarian's Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini
Karen MacInerney's Dead and Berried
G. M. Malliet's Death and the Chick Lit
Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore's The Grail Conspiracy and The Phoenix Apostles

Also, on Saturday, August 25, 2012, from 9 AM – 4:30 PM, Midnight Ink author Beth Groundwater will present an “Engineering a Mystery and The Art of Dialogue Writing” Workshop at the Chaffee County Writers Exchange in the Meeting Room of the Sangre de Cristo Electric Association, 29780 US Highway 24, Buena Vista, CO 81211. There's still time to sign up to attend! Beth will sell and sign copies of her books after the workshop ends.

Summer ebook promotions - free ebook downloads

Free on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Sony ereaders for the month of June!

June Bug by Jess Lourey

This summer we are also planning free giveaways with Sue Ann Jaffarian, Cricket McRae and Deborah Sharp.  If the program goes as well as planned, we will probably continue into the fall.  :)  Each of these promotions will last for one month.

Discounted Price on Kindle

Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M Malliet   $1.99

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney  $1.99

Paper Scissors Death by Joanna Campbell Slan  $.99

This Kindle promotion only runs for two weeks

Happy reading everyone!  Keep checking back for more promotions and giveaways!!

Dame Agatha

Dame Agatha Christie.  The mother of traditional mysteries.  Just her name brings so many things to mind.

Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI.  http://www.auntagathas.com/  I've never actually been to Aunt Agatha's, but I've met and talked to owner Robin Agnew several times at conventions or thru the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.  I'm sure store is as wonderful as she is.

Then there is Malice Domestic http://www.malicedomestic.org/aboutmalice.html, a fan convention honoring the traditional mystery.  The attendees of Malice vote on and present the Agatha Awards.  I'll be there this year, along with a bunch of other Inkers.  We'll be cheering for all the finalists, but in particular, we'll be hoping our own Alan Orloff walks away with Agatha for Best First Novel.  Our past finalists for best first include Lisa Bork, G.M Malliet (winner), Joanna Campbell Slan and Karen MacInerney.

Of course, there are the characters Agatha Christie created.  My favorite is Poirot, particularly David Suchet playing that role.  One of my favorite customers at Booked for Murder had named her cats Tommy and Tuppence.

 


So what about you?  What do you think of when you think of Dame Agatha?  I bet it's not an lolcat!

PS - I will address the evolution of traditional/cozy mysteries in another post.

Inkspot News - March 19, 2011

Two Inkspot authors, Beth Groundwater and G.M. Malliet, will appear at the Left Coast Crime conference in Santa Fe, NM, March 24 - 27. Their panel appearances are:
Friday, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM, "Murder in the Great Outdoors", Beth Groundwater
Saturday, 1:30 - 2:15 PM, "Series & Standalones", G.M. Malliet.

In conjunction with her travel to Left Coast Crime, Beth Groundwater will conduct signings of Deadly Currents in Los Alamos, NM (Wednesday, March 23, 6:00 -7:30 PM at the Otowi Station Bookstore, 1350 Central Avenue) and Pueblo, CO (Sunday, March 27, 4:00 - 5:00 PM at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 4300 North Freeway).

A reminder: Keith Raffel (as writerkeith) sends out a Literary Quote of the Day each weekday morning via Twitter. For St. Patrick's Day, the quote was from Irishman James Joyce: "Writing in English is the most ingenous torture ever devised for sins commited in previous lives." Subscribe if you'd like!

Alice Loweecey returns to her old stomping grounds in Syracuse, NY. On Wednesday, March 23, she'll host a reading, conversation, and booksigning of Force of Habit at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Erie Blvd. East.

Inkspot News - November 6, 2010

Today, Beth Groundwater will be speaking and signing books at the Colorado Springs chapter of the American Association of University Women's (AAUW) annual Author Day luncheon to be held at the USAF Academy Falcon Club Dining Room, from 10 am to 2 pm. Other authors present will include Margaret Coel, Kathryn Eastburn, and Suzanne Young.

G.M. Malliet will be among twenty-seven (yes, 27!) Sisters in Crime chapter members with crime fiction published this year who will speak, mingle and sign their works at the Sisters in Crime/Chesapeake Chapter’s Nov. 6 meeting. Mystery Loves Company bookstore will be on hand to sell these authors’ works. The program begins at noon. Download the flyer to see a list of speakers and to register! (Free event.)

Inkspot News - October 9, 2010

Three Midnight Inksters will be appearing on panels or other programs at Bouchercon in San Francisco, October 14-17, 2010:

Thursday, October 14, 4:30 p.m. - The Most Deadly Species: Women Protagonists
Cornelia Reid (M), Tasha Alexander, Meredith Anthony, Larry Light, Ronald Tierney, Keith Raffel

Friday October 15, 11:00 a.m. - Continuous Conversation
Camille Minichino, Catherine Astolfo, Lou Allin, Kathleen Ernst, Cindy Sample, Cathy Pickens.

Saturday October 16, 3:00 p.m. - No One Would Ever Do That: The Concept of Plausibility in Mystery Fiction
Cathy Pickens (M), Sophie Hannah, G.M. Malliet, Diana Orgain, Stefanie Pintoff.

Come up after the panels and say hi if you're a reader of InkSpot! Also meet Midnight Ink authors at the booth in the dealers' room.

Finally, the Anthony Awards Brunch is on Sunday, October 17 at 10:00 a.m.  Midnight Ink author G.M. Malliet is a nominee for Death and the Lit Chick.

Inkspot News - June 26, 2010

Alan Orloff will be appearing at the American Library Association 2010 Annual Conference in Washington, DC, signing today in the Midnight Ink booth from 1:30 - 2:30.

Joanna Campbell Slan will be at the conference on Sunday, signing in the Midnight Ink booth on June 27 from 10 - 11 am, and at the Sisters in Crime booth from 11 am - 1 pm.

G.M. Malliet will also be appearing at ALA on Sunday, June 27. Her book signings will take place following the "Red Herrings" panel with fellow mystery writers Jane Cleland (Silent Auction), Sheila Connolly (Red Delicious Death), and Daniel Stashower (Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters) at 10 am; at the Midnight Ink booth at 1 pm, and at the Sisters in Crime booth at 2:30 pm.

The full signing schedule starting today for authors at the ALA Sisters in Crime booth is as follows:

Saturday 6/26
9 –11:
Maria Lima
10 –12:
Elizabeth Zelvin
Alexandra Sokoloff
11- 1:
Meredith Cole
12:30 – 2: 30:
Nancy Martin
1- 3:
Rebecca York
2:30 – 3:30:
Jane Cleland
Rosemary Harris
3 –5:
John Willis
Pat Summers
 
Sunday 6/27
9 – 11
Ellen Crosby
Sandra Parshalll
Alex Sokoloff
10 – 11:30
Hank Phillippi Ryan
11- 1
Joanna Campbell Slan
Libby Hellman
Peter Abresch
1 – 3
Sheila York
James Hayman
Donna Andrews
2:30 – 3:30
GM Malliet
3 – 5
Tom Kaufman
Cara Black
Monica Faeth Myers
Monday, 6/28
11 – 1
Debbi Mack
1 – 3
Marcia Talley
3 – 5
Pamela Samuels

InkSpot News - March 27, 2010

Beth Groundwater is offering a workshop today, 2:40 - 3:30 PM, at the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) College in Denver, CO on "The Dos and Don'ts of Planning and Conducting a Virtual Book Tour." She'll also be available during the conference for one-on-one sessions and to sign and discuss her books.

Also, Beth Groundwater's 2009 Five Star mystery book, To Hell in a Handbasket, is a finalist in the "Mainstream with Romantic Elements" category of the Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence Contest. To see the full list of finalist titles in all the categories, go here.

G.M. Malliet will be Julia Buckley's blog guest at Poe's Deadly Daughters on Monday, March 29.

Check out Deborah Sharp's radio commentary on Finding Old Florida ... and stepping in a cow patty. Don't forget to click on little speaker at upper left that says ''Listen Now.''

Alan Orloff will be appearing on Virginia This Morning on Tuesday, March 30, between 9 and 10 a.m. to talk about DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD. The show is broadcast on WTVR (CBS6) in Richmond, VA.

Inkspot News - February 20, 2010

Lisa Bork's FOR BETTER, FOR MURDER has been nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Congratulations, Lisa!

Keith Raffel is interviewed on Press:Here this Sunday, February 21 at 9AM (on the Bay Area's KNTV, cable channel 3). He discusses the suitability of Silicon Valley as a setting for mysteries and the factual basis of the characters in his bestselling SMASHER with NBC's Scott McGrew, NPR's Laura Sydell, and BBC's Maggie Shiels. To read Keith's comments on the interview and view the video clip, click here.

G.M. Malliet will visit Beth Groundwater's blog on Friday, February 26th. Come see what G.M.'s answers are to Beth's interview questions and feel free to ask your own in comments! G.M. is also interviewed by Oline H. Cogdill in the current issue of Mystery Scene Magazine.

InkSpot News - February 13, 2010

Deborah Sharp tries to top whoppers spun by her fellow authors in the Creative Writer (aka, Bald Faced Liar) Award. Did she REALLY take a Hot Bod title? Check out truth and fiction at her blog .

Beth Groundwater responds to Sue Ann Jaffarian and Keith Raffel's nominations for the "Creative Writer" blog award at her blog. Guess what's true or false about her!

On Thursday, February 18, from 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Beth Groundwater will join fellow Colorado authors Mike Befeler, Linda Berry, and Anne Randolph in a group book signing at the Montblanc Boutique, Cherry Creek Mall, 3000 East 1st Avenue #181, Denver, CO 80206. Beth will sign copies of her Claire Hanover gift basket designer mysteries, A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket, and her science fiction novella, The Epsilon Eridani Alternative.

Keith Raffel will be chatting with readers and signing books at Kepler's in Menlo Park, CA today, Saturday, February 13, from 10 to 1. What better gift for your Valentine than Dot Dead or Smasher? And after you have determined how well Beth lies on her blog, check out Keith's blog and see how much worse he does.

G.M. Malliet is interviewed by Oline H. Cogdill in the upcoming issue of Mystery Scene Magazine.

Inkspot News - August 9, 2009

G.M. Malliet's third book in the St. Just mystery series, Death at the Alma Mater, is now available for pre-order at Amazon. In this story, DCI St. Just investigates murder at St. Michael's College, Cambridge.

Breaking News: Agatha to InkSpotter G.M. Malliet

The winners of the Agatha Awards were just announced at Saturday night's Malice Domestic banquet and guess who picked up the laurels for best first novel? Our own G.M. Malliet for Death of A Cozy Writer. Terrific. Fabulous. Fantastic. Congrats to Gin!