Greetings, Noters!
Another book release come and gone! I am thrilled that DM Me for Murder is officially out in the world, and I hope readers are having a blast catching up with Coco Cline and her friends. I’ll be hosting a special release-week episode of Lunchtime Live with Me, Sarah E. Burr on my Facebook page today to celebrate with you all. We’ll be having a mini book club, chatting about the characters, themes, and mystery that grace the pages of DM Me for Murder.
But the writing fun doesn’t stop there. I am deep in the trenches of the final Court of Mystery manuscript. It’s been bittersweet being back in Jax’s world. I’m definitely questioning if I’ve made the right decision to end the series, but ultimately, I know Jax has earned her happily ever after. Giving her that makes this process a joy (and much easier than I expected).
My guest this week knows the joys we writers experience.
Without further ado…
A Bit About the Author: Sandra Gardner is the author of seven traditionally published books: four novels and three nonfiction books. Gardner’s new suspense novel, The Murder Blog, was published by Black Rose Writing in December 2023. Her last two novels -- both mysteries -- Dead Shrinks Don’t Talk and Grave Expectations were published by Black Opal Books in 2018. A coming-of-age novel, Halley and Me, won the Grassic Short Novel Prize from Evening Street Press and was published in 2013. Her nonfiction books include Teenage Suicide (Simon & Schuster); Street Gangs (Franklin Watts); and Street Gangs in America (Franklin Watts). Street Gangs in America received a book award from the National Federation of Press Women. Previously, she worked as a journalist and was a contributing writer to The New York Times.
Sandra, it’s wonderful to have you on the blog. I look forward to learning more about you! To get things started, what book made you fall in love with reading?
A Child’s Garden of Verses (Robert Louis Stevenson) and collections of Fairy Tales. All when I was very young. By the way, I got my first library card when I was six.
The library is such a special place for a young mind. I remember being so astounded I could read all these books for free. What themes/lessons can readers look forward to discovering in The Murder Blog?
How a woman overcomes self-esteem issues, fears, self-doubts, and discovers her strength.
All very relatable topics, for sure! What’s one thing you know about your protagonist that your readers don’t?
That you never know what she’s going to do next! Actually, I myself don’t know what my characters are going to do next until they tell me.
Ha! That’s how our characters keep us on their toes, right? What was one of the toughest lessons you learned while writing this book?
This is the first mystery (or any novel) that I’ve written with multiple POVs. It’s a definite challenge, and I had questions about whether it was going to work in the end. Hopefully, it did.
It’s wonderful that you’re finding new ways to challenge yourself while writing. It keeps the process fresh, I’m sure. Is there anything you need for a successful day of writing?
Peace and quiet and no noise (I’m super sensitive to sounds). And no self-made distractions – always difficult to manage.
What book have you been recommending to people lately? Are there any must-reads you have to share?
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton and three novels by Amor Towles: A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway, and The Rules of Civility. A Gentleman in Moscow is a masterpiece of character depiction. These novels are the ones that come to mind – if I had a lot of time, I’m sure I could name many others that I just loved.
What wonderful recommendations! Noters, I encourage you to check these out, along with Sandra’s new novel, The Murder Blog, available on Kindle eBook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited!
The Murder Blog
After many years, a serial killer of young women is back again in upstate New York. Philomena Wolff, the host of a crime-solving blog, a psychic gravedigger, and her blog readers are determined to stop him-no matter the danger.
Philomena Wolff was 17, walking home from school with her best friend, when her friend disappeared, ending up as one of several young women abducted and murdered in upstate New York by a clever killer who eventually disappeared from the area.
Philomena was terrified that the man caught a glimpse of her when he took her friend. Many years later, young women have been ending up dead again.
Philomena, now an investigative reporter, hosts a crime-solving blog, "Who Killed Who?" With the help of her friend, a psychic gravedigger, her friend's boyfriend, a P.I., and the blog's readers, Philomena is on a mission to hunt the killer down. Her blog readers are with her, but so is the killer, posting vile notes and vicious threats on the blog.
Could the killer be the same one who murdered her friend long ago, trolling for more young women—and Philomena?