The Story That Got Away

by Shannon Baker

I had this really great idea for a book. I mean, scorching hot. My daughter and I had occasion to hang out at Denver International Airport and we were struck by some bizarre and disturbing murals. My daughter happened on a website that went into detail explaining a conspiracy theory involving a One World Order group and bunkers below the airport to house the world’s elite in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

I was off and running. Following Internet rabbit holes revealed how extra-terrestrials or aliens from the center of the earth had various plans for DIA. The runways created a Swastika, the murals and other public art warned of biologic warfare. I gathered it all up, plotting, planning, creating a story that wound Hopi legend and belief in Sky People with DIA and stuff worthy of Trilateral Commission mythology.

I stuck Nora (the protagonist of the Nora Abbott Series) in the middle and plopped it all in Moab, UT amid polygamists and environmentalists. I’m telling you people, this was an amazing plot.

According to my editor, it was too amazing.

But, but, but…

She didn’t think it was a great idea to use theories that could easily be debunked with a minimum of real research and wondered if I might be opening myself up for lawsuits by claiming certain far-fetched stories as truth.

I’d written the whole book with the premise of Evil lurking at DIA as the central event. The entire plot was formulated from the seed planted the day we wandered around the airport. I began to examine the book with fresh eyes. If you didn’t know the starting point was the bizarre and unsettling DIA weirdness, how would you see the plot? What would be the most important elements?

There’s Nora, our protagonist and what she’s gone through in the previous two books to bring her to this point. She’s the executive director of an environmental non-profit. There’s her best friend, the woman who is producing a documentary film to advocate for expanding the borders of Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah. Nora’s mother, Abigail always wants to butt in and the books all deal with Hopi tribal history and legends.

When I boiled it all down, I discovered the DIA element was the least important in telling the story I had in mind. I pulled it out without disrupting an already crowded story line.

Other writers understand the way stories develop and morph from first idea to published book. I find it’s good to stay flexible, able to bend the original idea. If you’re like me and get stuck with a questionable premise, it’s great to unfold it and smooth out the crinkles to fold again.

The non-writers in my life are driven to drink (yes, they’d probably drink anyway) by this nutso process. I discuss plots with my favorite guy over cocktails in the hot tub. He’s often more vested in the original idea than I am and gets frustrated when I say casually, “Not anymore. I changed that.”

Eventually the books get made, messy process notwithstanding. What about you, what’s the best idea that you never wrote?

BTW- Tattered Legacy (without the DIA plotline) is available March 8th.

February Release Books Available Now!

Don't miss Midnight Ink's latest releases!

“Ross’ thoroughly entertaining debut combines smart details about the auction business with two engaging mysteries and a uniformly appealing cast.”

—Booklist (starred review) on Death and the Redheaded Woman

"Verne's mystery is a winner, with plenty of twists and turns, an intriguing heroine and an ending that shocks in more ways than one."

—Kirkus Reviews on Drawing Conclusions

“Lourey skillfully mixes humor and suspense . . . the characters are wonderful and wacky, and the mile-a-minute pace never falters.”

—Booklist (starred review) on February Fever

Now available from Midnight Ink, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indiebound, and your local bookseller!

Q&A with TJ O'Connor

This week, we sat down with TJ O'Connor, author of the Gumshoe Ghost mysteries. His latest book, Dying for the Past, was released last month.

Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?

TJ O'Connor: I first began writing when I was in the 5^th grade—that was about 1972. Holy crap, has it been that long ago? I wrote short stories and plays in class for my friends. I was caught one day by my teacher and he read one out loud—first to embarrass me. But everyone liked it and he ended up being a big supporter of mine all the way through high school.

MI: What influence have other authors had on your writing?

TJO: More than you could imagine. I first began to read ferociously in the fifth grade as an escape from a tough home life. It started with Mystery of the Witches' Bridge by Barbee Oliver Carleton, and then Gordon D. Shirreffs’ Mystery of the Haunted Mine. From there, I began reading every Hardy Boys mystery I could find. By the time I finished my third book, I knew I wanted to write. As I grew older and read more and more genres, authors like Agatha Christie, Robert Ludlum, Nelson DeMille, Raymond Chandler, and a long list of others influenced my love of mystery and thrillers. But it was a book by James Grady called Six Days of the Condor—a story about a CIA researcher being hunted by his own people—that made lead me into my profession in intelligence and anti-terrorism. From there, between my profession and my passion for writing, my entire life thus far played out. All thanks to some amazing authors.

MI: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

TJO: What I’m doing already—I’m an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and security operations.

MI: If you have a job outside of writing, what is it?

TJO: I’m an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and security operations. That, and a family of five kids, four kid-spouses, five grandkids, three Labs, and a host of others who appear in my house routinely for meals and movie-night.

MI: What is/are your favorite thing/s to do when you’re not writing or working?

TJO: That’s tough since I work and write collectively about 90 hours a week. But if I can steal some time here and there, I am an avid Harley Davidson rider, spend time with my grandkids and Labs, and love old movies. In fact, the old movies keep me up all hours of the night while I write notes and ideas for my books.

MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?

TJO: There are way too many to say favorite. So I’ll name those I’ve enjoyed the most over the years. (In no order of importance) In my youth were the Hardy Boys. DeMille’s John Corey; Christie’s Poirot; Earl Biggers’ Charlie Chan; Anthony Horowitz’s Christopher Foyle; and who could forget Scooby and Shaggy!

MI: Do you have a favorite murder case from a book (either yours or another author’s)?

TJO: Actually, two of my unpublished works, New Sins for Old Scores and Double Effect are my favorites. New Sins for Old Scores is a historical murder mystery with a paranormal twist. The murders of a WWII OSS Operative in 1944 and a Virginia BCI agent in 2014 connect the two stories—they collide with a historical subplot. In Double Effect, the detective-brother of Jonathan Hunter, an Iraq War covert operative, is murdered while tracking down a local street gang with ties to Middle Eastern terrorists.  Hunter returns to get answers about his estranged brother and lands smack in the middle of a series of murders and corrupt cops.

I love these two cases because so much of them comes from a Frankenstein soup of my life’s work. I stole bits and pieces of cases I worked on and cases my mentor worked on— he’s one of the last World War II OSS Operatives still alive.

MI: What was your inspiration for the Gumshoe Ghost mysteries?

TJO: A nightmare that plagued me for over twenty years. In the early 1990s, I was a government anti-terrorism agent serving overseas. While in Greece, I ran dozens of anti-terrorism operations. When I returned home, I started having a recurring nightmare that I was killed on an operation and returned as a spirit to help my partner solve my killing. Over twenty-years later, after telling my daughter about the nightmare, she encouraged me to write the story. I did—but only for them. Oddly enough, it turned out good—a fun, fast-paced murder mystery with a paranormal twist. And poof—I found an agent and Midnight Ink picked up a three-book series centered on this nightmare.

MI: Tell us about Tuck.

TJO: Tuck is about one-half me (not the dead part though) and one-half a mixture of all the things I think I wish I were. He’s a funny, sometimes sarcastic, but a driven detective who is killed in the opening pages of Dying to Know. He returns to solve his own crime, and in the process, learns that he has a very unique skill—he can connect with other murder victims form the past and commune with the living to solve their cases. He is a champion of cold cases—dead cold—and he helps the victims who’d been forgotten find a little cold-justice. He loves his beautiful, brilliant history professor wife, Angela—Angel—whom knows he’s around and works as his partner with the living—often times begrudgingly. And he’s got Hercule, his black Lab companion who is Angel’s protector and Tuck’s conduit to other characters in the stories. Tuck was never a student of history, but his stories always have a historical subplot and Tuck learns as he goes—both about the historical events surrounding the murders and about himself and the new murder cases. He’s finding out in Dying for the Past that his own family roots—he was raised in foster care and never knew his family—are filled with criminals, spies, vagabonds, and spirits.

MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.

TJO: I raise pure-bred Labs. Until a couple months ago, I had three Labs—Mosby, Maggie Mae,  and Toby. On Veteran’s Day, we lost Mos. He was 14 years and 3 months old. It broke my heart and continues to be a painful chasm. All three of my Labs—but Mosby the most—are the most gentle, intelligence, and loving creatures I’ve ever known; and perhaps ever will.

MI: If you don’t have a pet, do you have a favorite animal?

TJO: Our Labs allow us to have a self-centered cat who stalks them without mercy.

MI:What food could you live off of for the rest of your life?

TJO: I’m the chef in the family and love to cook. So whatever I can find in my pantry and frig I can whip into something pretty damn good. But if the zombies or Martians invaded us and I had a supply of peanut M & M’s, I could find the strength to fight back.

MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?

TJO: Anything Greek, French, or Italian. Like Greek tiropita or Coq au Vin.

MI: What is your favorite part about being an Inker?

TJO: Actually, it’s not about being an Inker so much as the privilege and luck of simply having my first of eight novels published by Midnight Ink. They gave me a start that I hope will flourish into many published novels to come. If that never happens, I’ll be thankful for Midnight Ink for allowing me to share Tuck, Hercule, and Angel’s cases with a few fans.  

Pick up your copies of Dying for the Past online and in bookstores now!

Farewell Is A Killer

By Tj O’Connor, author of Dying to Know, Dying for the Past, and Dying to Tell

 

As a mystery writer, death becomes almost cliché—at least, fictional death. It’s the heart of a story and everything surrounds it. We treat death as no more than a plot and the make-believe root of our writing lives. It’s easy to forget what death really is.

In real life, it’s truly a killer.

Saying good-bye is one of the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. It was no matter that it came at the end of a long, wonderful, and full life, either. It was still hard. Gut-wrenching. Sad.

I am generally a tough guy—not a muscled bouncer or martial arts Ninja—although in my past years I could be pretty tough, too. No, I control my emotions from others’ perception and choose to most often. Friends and family have thought me removed, even unfeeling at times. That’s not from a lack of emotion—no, not all—but from an ability to take those feelings and lock them up when it’s needed. Maybe it’s from years under an abusive father. Maybe it’s from my often tumultuous past life. Or, perhaps, it’s just my way of protecting myself.

But not with Mosby. Not when it was his time. I lost my way to the emotion-lockbox. My stone exterior crumbled to tears and pain—a weeping, trembling wreck. My boy—best friend and companion—was done. Mos, my 90 pound yellow Lab had reached the end of his 14-plus years and couldn’t go on. He had tumors, cancer, arthritis, and lord only knows what else—although you’d never know it. We cared well for him and up until the last week of his life, there had been little pain but for the arthritis in his knees. A few good meds and my carrying him up and down stairs whenever he wished took care of that. He repaid me with devotion. When not stalking me for a treat or meal, he was sleeping close to my desk or at my feet watching a movie. Never complaining. Never grumbly or irritable. Never far away. 

At the end, he was just done—his life was yesterday and there was no more to have. His body was failing and his dignity was nearly spent. His pure bred Lab companions—Maggie, the Chocolate, and Toby, the Black—were constant attendants. Toby walked at his side up and down the stairs whenever I was not near—gently pushing him against the wall to keep him from stumbling. Mags found me whenever the old boy needed something and I failed to noticed. He had raised them from pups and they were shouldering him in his last days.

People should have such compassion and loyalty. People should try to understand the love and devotion that Mos gave to everyone. I challenge you.

 

As a young dog, Mos grew up with five teenagers my wife and I raised in North Western Virginia. His favorite things were food, toys, family, food … and rules. If there was a rule in the house—for dog of child—he enforced it. If the boys were getting too rough around the basement pool table, Mos summoned me. If my cooking threatened to alert the smoke alarm, he barked a warning. If one of the other dogs were out of line, he sought their correction.

Except at Christmas time. Rules be damned.

 

Christmas with five teenagers was a free-for-all. And our kids always made sure they had a wrapped present for Mos and the others. And up until Christmas morning, they hid presents in their rooms out of sight and mind. Did you ever try to hide a dog toy from a Lab? Before Christmas Eve, Mos would have found each and every one of his presents and deftly opened them—so much for rules! One year, he opened my daughters closet door to dig beneath the family presents and retrieve his own. How? Because at an early age he learned to roll his nose between doorknobs and doorframe and open a door. How did he know which were his gifts and which were not? Practice.

His favorite game—other than eating—was hide and seek. One of my daughters, and later one of my grandchildren, often played with him often. She’d sneak away and hide, and within minutes, Mos had patrolled the house and sniffed her out. A bark, a pat, a treat, and he was on the chase again.  

Mos was the center of the family and for good reason. He played Frisbee with everyone. Stayed close for the beer pong and pool games. Was within arm’s reach of the grandchildren as they learned to walk and play. He even sat at the dinner table—yes, in a chair—to listen to evening banter and share in the laughs. But no responsibility was as important to him as being my co-author, office mate, late-night movie partner, and constant foot-warmer. Well, perhaps dinner-time taste-tester! Even at the end in my home office, Mos barked for me to help him move from wherever he was to wherever I was—that distance could be no more than feet. If that was in the basement gym, than damn the stairs and carry him down.

Mosby died Veteran’s Day—three months ago. It’s only been a short time and I still get up in the morning and step careful beside the bed for fear I might step on him. As I work in my den, his ashes are nearby beside a ceramic likeness and a photograph. It’s taken me these three months to have the clearness of vision to write these words. Yet, I cannot say good-bye. The starch of my emotions fail me with his memory so much that I cannot bury him—should we ever leave this home, I could never leave him behind.

What a sap. What a woosie boy. What a cry-baby! No—he earned every tear I’ve shed.

My only solace is that at 14 +, he did not go because of his ailments over the years that I lined up doctors to cure. He loved life and family and dinner and toys. He reveled in the love he received from all of us. His life had been so full, it could simply take no more. There was nothing more for him and he made room for another to find this home. In time—not soon—we’ll do that.

Life is like that. It gives and takes. I think you have to give first because when it takes, it’s too late to make up for the loss. You have to pay in advance. With Mos, we paid plus interest. I know he knew that. At the end, he found the strength to climb onto my bed—something he hadn’t done in over two years—and lay his head on my lap. He wanted me to know it was time ... and that it was okay.

Mosby’s his first love, Belle, passed this last week, too. Belle was Mos’ age and was my daughter’s dog. We got her thirteen years ago to be his companion while the family was at work. They grew up together and when my daughter married and moved across the county, Belle went with her. We, of course, had brought Maggie into the family by then. Like Mos, Belle succumbed to life. She was14 plus years, too, and had a full life. Losing those two so close together was devastating to us all. Strangely, one has to wonder if they were not supposed to be together. Dogs need companionship—perhaps here and there, too.

One can hope.

My current mystery series, The Gumshoe Ghost, has Hercule, a black Lab as a key character. Not because I wanted to fit into the cozy community or knew in advance having an animal was chic. I included Hercule because Labs are so much a part of my life that I couldn’t see my character nothaving one. In the future, the importance of a dog will have a new meaning.

I’m still surrounded by sweet, loving Labs (and another daughter’s Mastiff, too). They keep me company as I toil over my keyboard. They are a great comfort and as close to me as Mos ever was. Yet, no matter how close they are, there is still that void.

I hope it doesn’t leave too soon. Pain is a reminder of loss. I don’t mind keeping him around a little while longer—even if it’s painful. Nothing so important should be easily lost.

A lot of you will understand me having to commit this to words. For those of you who can’t—or who call me a silly man—you have no idea what you’re missing. Deep down, loss reveals something so amazing.

 Tj O’CONNOR IS THE AUTHOR OF DYING FOR THE PAST and DYING TO KNOW, available in books stores and e-books from Midnight Ink. His third paranormal mystery, DYING TO TELL, will be released January 2016. Tj is an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels. With his former life as a government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked around the world in places like Greece, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Americas—among others. He was raised in New York's Hudson Valley and lives with his wife and Lab companions in Virginia where they raised five children. Dying for the Past and Dying To Know are the first of eight novels to be published.  Learn more about Tj’s world at www.tjoconnor.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TjOConnor.Author

Focus on New Series

--by Linda O. Johnston

I've mentioned here before that I'm writing several novel series at the same time--four, to be exact.

Fortunately, right now, I'm able to focus on one of them, my Barkery and Biscuits series for Midnight Ink. 

That's because I'm just finishing up the edits on the first in the series, BITE THE BISCUIT, which will be a May release.  Plus, the next manuscript for which I'm under deadline will be number two in the same series, due on June 1.  I've been plotting it and have begun writing it.  So far, I don't have a working title, but I will.

It's unusual for me to be able to focus on one series like that.  The last manuscript I finished was for one of my Alpha Force paranormal romances for Harlequin Nocturne, plus I revised a proposal for a Harlequin Romantic Suspense.  And soon, I'll need to write my next Superstition Mystery for Midnight Ink.

Like most people, writers and readers alike, I multitask.  I've always done so, especially when I was formerly practicing law as a transactional real estate attorney.  Now that I'm not actively pursuing another profession, I'm a full-time writer.  But that doesn't mean that all I do is write.  For one thing, I still volunteer at an animal shelter.  And recently, I've become interested in a local political campaign and have done a bit of blog writing for a candidate I like. 

But plotting and writing is who I am.  I may go off on tangents, as most of us do, but I always get back to, and focus on, what's particularly important to me: creating and sharing stories I hope everyone will enjoy.

That's why I'm a writer.

Q&A with Gigi Pandian

This week, we sat down with Gigi Pandian, author of The Accidental Alchemist, a series debut released earlier this month.

Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?

Gigi Pandian: I’ve been writing since I was a kid (I wrote my first “novel” in elementary school and wrote plays and scripts in high school) but it wasn’t until 2007 that I began to take my writing seriously. That’s when my first novel, Artifact, was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant, a writer’s grant for unpublished traditional mystery writers. That was the first time I realized people outside my family and friends saw promise in my work, and that writing could be more than a hobby.

MI: What influence have other authors had on your writing?

GP: Elizabeth Peters has always been my favorite mystery novelist. Reading her Vicky Bliss and Amelia Peabody mysteries as a teenager inspired me to become a mystery novelist. Her books cleverly combine puzzling mysteries with romance, history, humor, and adventure. When I set out to write a novel, I knew that’s the kind of story I wanted to tell, but with my own unique spin.

I love writing short stories in addition to novels, and I generally write locked-room “impossible crime” short stories. My biggest inspiration for those stories was John Dickson Carr, who wrote during the Golden Age of detective fiction during the middle of the previous century.

There’s a wonderful book called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon that argues that anyone starting out in a creative field should emulate their favorite creators, because that’s how we grow into our own voice.   

MI: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

GP: Sleeping in :)

MI: If you have a job outside of writing, what is it?

GP: I’m the Creative Strategist at a non-profit organization. I studied both public policy and graphic design, so I work on visual messaging that tells complex stories in visually compelling ways. Yup, I’m lucky that I get to be creative all day!   

MI: What is/are your favorite thing/s to do when you’re not writing or working?

GP: Cooking, reading, traveling, and photography.

I cook most of my meals from scratch (which inspired one of the main themes in The Accidental Alchemist), give myself plenty of time to read each night before bed (how else would I have time for all the great mysteries out there?!), am always planning my next trip abroad (I caught the travel bug the first time I accompanied my anthropologist mom on a research trip to Scotland when I was 10), and I post my gargoyle photography and other mysterious photographs at www.gargoylegirl.com.

MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?

GP: Vicky Bliss, Elizabeth Peters’ historian heroine. She is brilliant, independent, and has fun-filled adventures traipsing across the globe surrounded by a wonderful set of friends.

MI: Do you have a favorite murder case from a book (either yours or another author’s)?

GP: I have so many favorites, so I’ll go with one of my recent favorites. Marisha Pessl’s Night Film. It’s difficult to characterize the book, but one of the big reasons I find Pessl’s atmospheric books so satisfying is that her endings are both completely resolved and also open to interpretation. They stick with you.

MI: What was your inspiration for the Accidental Alchemist mystery series?

GP: A combination of three things inspired the series:

1)      I’ve always loved gargoyles. I love mysteries, and gargoyles are so mysterious, lurking high above us on beautiful buildings.  

2)      A cancer diagnosis at 36 threw my life upside down. I wrote a draft of this book while undergoing chemotherapy, when the Elixir of Life was an especially intriguing idea.

3)      Learning how to cook from scratch inspired the culinary alchemy of the series. My particular cancer markers gave me some food restrictions, so I taught myself to cook. I loved teaching myself to cook. Transforming healthy foods into amazingly decadent meals by using a few simple techniques is culinary alchemy in my own kitchen.

 

MI: Tell us about Zoe Faust (and Dorian!).

GP: Zoe Faust is a centuries-old alchemist who accidentally discovered the Elixir of Life over 300 years ago. She can never stay in one place for too long, so for decades she’s been living out of a silver Airstream trailer as she criss-crosses the U.S., until she falls in love with Portland, Oregon, and decides to stay a while. She has a way with plants, and she grows healing herbs and vegetables. Even though she doesn’t age, she’s far from immortal, so she’s adopted a vegan diet to feel healthy as she lives on.

Dorian Robert-Houdin is a three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle who was once stone, but was accidentally brought to life by a French stage magician (“Father of Modern Magic” Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin) who didn’t realize the alchemy book he was reading contained real magic. Dorian is a food snob and secret chef, so when he leaves France to seek out Zoe for help, one of his biggest challenges is learning to cook decadent French cuisine with vegan ingredients. Spoiler alert: he succeeds in this culinary challenge!

MI: How does this series compare to your past works?

GP: All of my books are traditional puzzle mysteries that feature history, humor, and a touch of romance.

My first mystery series is the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series (Artifact, Pirate Vishnu, and Quicksand) featuring an Indian-American historian who solves present-day crimes linked to historic treasures related to India’s colonial past. Each of those books takes the characters from a home-base of San Francisco to a different foreign destination – so far Scotland, India, and France.

The Accidental Alchemist mysteries are set in Portland, Oregon, a city I fell in love with several years ago. The settings of the different series are at the heart of the stories, which is one of the things that gives each series a distinct voice.

MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.

GP: I don’t currently have a pet, but my favorite pets from my childhood were two huge lop-eared rabbits named Snug and Bug. Bug used to chase neighborhood cats out of our backyard.

MI: If you don’t have a pet, do you have a favorite animal?

GP: Does gargoyle count?

MI: What food could you live off of for the rest of your life?

GP: If coffee doesn’t count, I’ll go with oatmeal. You can’t go wrong with a comfort food that’s good for you, too.

MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?

GP: I cook most of my meals from scratch, so I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with my own recipes. At the back of The Accidental Alchemist there are three of my vegan recipes: Kid-Friendly Green Smoothie, Roasted Butternut Squash with Lemon Tahini Sauce, and Cherry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies.

I’ve also begun to post additional recipes on my website: www.gigipandian.com/recipes .

MI: What is your favorite part about being an Inker?

GP: All the great people I’ve met! From the support of the Midnight Ink staff to the friendships I’ve formed with other authors, it’s been an amazing experience. 

Get your copy of The Accidental Alchemist online or in bookstores now!

Liftoff Success!

I had a fabulous launch month, in a large part due to the many people who supported me. In today’s blog, I’d like to acknowledge my fabulous street team, Team Tracy. I’ve actually never met most of these people in person, yet they encourage me, help keep me motivated, and share news about my series. In other words, they help me, almost every day.

I always thought that writing would be a lonely, solitary activity, but man was I ever mistaken. Writing the Downward Dog Mystery Series has introduced me to a world of new friends that I would never have otherwise known. I don’t have space to share all of their photographs in this article, but trust me: My street team is filled with gorgeous, fun, kind people.

Let me introduce you to a few of them.

Who says cat's don't appreciate dog-related mysteries?
 Betty Davenport and Kato

Fellow author Sheri Levy, with Mulligan and Slater

Fellow mystery author Amber Polo chatting up a  gorgeous greyhound



James Haviland chilaxin with his dog Misty

Kim Tutt painting the town red with her beautiful smile

Margie Smith



Missi Svoboda borrowed a neighbor's dog, Bridget, to re-enact the cover. 
Note that the dog brought his own tennis ball to the occasion.

Nancy Perkins.  The brightest spot in the parade.

Shelley Giusti, book blogger extraordinaire!



Tracy MacDonald and German Shepherd Fiona.

This is only a small subset of the wonderful people I've met through writing this series.  I wish I could showcase them all. To each of you on my street team, and everyone else that has supported my work in some way, thank you.  I appreciate you more than you can ever know.

Namaste (The light in me honors the light in you.)

Tracy Weber

          

About Tracy:

My writing is an expression of the things I love best: yoga, dogs, and murder mysteries. I'm a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, WA. I enjoy sharing my passion for yoga and animals in any form possible.  My husband and I live with our challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha and our bonito flake-loving cat Maggie. When I’m not writing, I spend my time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at my favorite local ale house.

For more information, visit me online at http://tracyweberauthor.com/ and http://wholelifeyoga.com/