Cozy Wednesday with Author Heather Blake (Giveaway too!)

Posted on By Dollycas 92 Comments on Cozy Wednesday with Author Heather Blake (Giveaway too!)

cozy wednesday 2013 640Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

I am so excited to have Heather here today!!

Inspiration in the Strangest Places

By Heather Blake

heather webber blakeOften people wonder how I come up with story ideas. Sometimes there are no answers—the plots and characters are just stuck in my brain ready come out. Other times, I find inspiration from the news. I’ll hear something that starts me playing the “What if” game. What if one of my characters found that body… (That game is a lot of fun, by the way.) But as I was writing A Potion to Die For, a found inspiration in a place I never had before…

In one of my own characters.

a potion to die for NovemberLet me back up a bit. Originally Carly Hartwell, the main character in A Potion to Die For, was a white magic witch, a healer, who used potions made of herbal concoctions and some magical drops to heal the mind, body, heart, and soul. And when I first started this story, that’s all she was and that’s all she did. But I couldn’t help but feel that something, some element, a deeper layer, was missing.

the good bad and witchyAbout this same time, I’d received edits on a book I’d previously written, The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy, (the third book in my Wishcraft series). After I’d done the edits, one of the characters kept nagging at me. That character is an Emoticrafter, a witch who can feel another person’s emotions. I adore this character because of how he tugged on my heartstrings and made me feel for him. And after a day or so, I suddenly realized why I couldn’t get him out of my head.

What that character could do was exactly what Carly Hartwell needed, except I kicked it up a notch. I made her a full-fledged empath—she can feel a person’s emotions and their physical pain. She uses her gift to help find the exact potion to make that person better (and sometimes to solve crimes!).

With this final element in place, Carly Hartwell finally came to life. Fully layered.

As an empath, she’s compassionate yet guarded.

As a witch and healer, she’s magical.

As a woman, she’s deeply flawed, but oh-so-hopeful.

She’s complicated and unconventional. Loyal yet cynical. Feisty yet caring. Most of all, she’s utterly lovable.

She’s absolutely become one of my favorite characters, and I hope she’ll become one of yours, too.

 ~Heather

***

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber) is the author of more than a dozen mystery novels and has been twice nominated for an Agatha Award. She’s a total homebody who loves to be close to her family, read, watch reality TV (especially cooking competition shows), drink too much coffee, crochet, bake (mostly cookies), and occasionally leave the house to travel to the beautiful mountains in the northeast. Heather grew up in a suburb of Boston, but currently she lives in the Cincinnati area with her family and is hard at work on her next book.

Website: www.heatherblakebooks.com

FB: www.facebook.com/heatherblakebooks

Twitter: @booksbyheather

a potion to die for November
A Potion to Die For:
A Magic Potion Mystery
Brand New Series
Cozy Mystery
An Obsidian Mystery (November 5, 2013)
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451416308
E-Book File Size: 1979 KB
ASIN: B00C5Q47XI
goodreads-badge-add-plus

 

Welcome to Hitching Post, Alabama. A charmed little town that revolves around love and marriage. When a local soothsayer forecasts “Sunny with a chance of divorce” the entire town goes crazy and heads to Little Shop of Potions to get their love potions to make sure they stay hitched. Carly Bell Hartwell, the owner of the shop, rushes to beat the crowds and get her magical potions ready for her many customers.

Upon her arrival things quickly turn from magical to criminal as there is a dead man on the floor clutching one of her potion bottles. Now she is the prime suspect and she will be lucky if she can give her potions away.

 *In no time the murder investigation becomes a witch hunt—literally! Now Carly is going to need to brew up some serious sleuthing skills to clear her name and find the real killer—before the whole town becomes convinced her potions really are to die for!

Dollycas’s Thoughts
The whimsical characters that inhabit Hitching Post are just fantastic. You have Carly, the “good” hoodoo witch, who chooses to focus on the positive –  healing, love, marriage, happiness. Delia, her cousin, the darker, “not really bad”, voodoo witch who owns Till Hex Due Us Part and conjures more of the hexes with no concern of consequences. Both have the ability to feel other people’s emotions.

Then there is Carly’s mom who runs one of the local wedding chapels and who will do anything to drive the competing chapel out of business. Add in Eulalie, Hazel, and Marjie Fowl, Carly’s aunties or “The Odd Ducks” as the townsfolk call these 65 year old,  fraternal triplets, that never have  been married. They own 3 local Bed & Breakfasts. Two of which are very welcoming to tourists and the third will greet anyone trespassing on her property with a shotgun.

And for that necessary romantic conflict there is Sergeant Dylan Jackson, investigator for the Darling County Sheriff’s Office. He is also the man Carly almost married not once but twice! There are more wonderful townspeople to meet too. 

Heather Blake takes these characters and brews up a magical mystery that was a pure pleasure to read. Smart, funny, and clever with a touch of southern charm.  A truly extraordinary debut for this series!!

a perfect escape

5 STARFISH

Dollycas
Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

 

Thanks to the people at Penguin I have 3 COPIES to give away!

Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.

Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.

You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Leave a comment for Heather for 5 Bonus Entries !

If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End November 28, 2013 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

*FROM BACK COVER

Cozy Wednesday, Giveaways, Guest Posts, Reviews 2013

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Comments (92) on “Cozy Wednesday with Author Heather Blake (Giveaway too!)”

  4. I’ve read everyone of Heather’s books and adore her characters! I’ve just started A Potion to Die For and know I’ll love it as well!

  8. Good luck to all! I haven’t read any of Heather’s other books, so this would be one of the first books I read from her.

  9. I haven’t read this series yet although I have wanted to; now I am dying to. Thanks for the extra bit that makes the books more personal. I love the Nina Quinn books and will be working through your others as budget allows.

  10. Hi Heather, being a long time reader, fan, and hopefully friend, I’ve read, own many, and read all of the books you’ve published to date except for this new series. I look forward to enjoying it and hope I’m one of the three lucky winners.

    (Looking in crystal ball) I predict that this new series will hit the Sunday Times List.

  15. Heather, I absolutely loved your Lucy Valentine series, and can’t wait to read both your new series (Wishcraft and Potions mysteries.) Keep writing, and thank you for creating such delightful paranormal mysteries!

  16. Adding this for Laura who was unable to post here for some reason while I investigate 🙂

    : I couldn’t add a comment to your Heather Blake review for some reason (I strongly suspect my firewall at work!!!) but this was what I *wanted* to say! 😉

    I’ve been waiting for this book to arrive and I can’t wait to add it to my “Heather Blake collection”. I love following Heather on FB – we share a coffee addition 😉

    ~Laura

  21. I really enjoy your wish craft series, so I can’t wait to read your new series. Thanks for your hard work.

  22. Love this series – and since I already read this book too, can honestly say it keeps getting better!

  24. I am so excited for this new series! While I’ve read a dozen or more cozy books over the last 3 years, the first Wishcraft book blew me away. Until then I’d pretty much considered cozy mysteries to be rainy day reading, but I am officially a hardcore Heather Blake fan. I immediately bought the 2nd book in the series, even before I finished the first book. You’re writing and characters are as magical as anything contained with the series you’ve created and I thank you for making me view cozies as more than a cute distraction!

  26. I picked up lots of books at Philadelphia Science Fiction Convention. The one book dealer had a lot of cozies. I stocked up on new series and some books that I had not found in old series. This was one of the books I bought there.

  28. I have had the Wish Craft books in my to be read pile for a little while. Now I have more books to add. I better get going!

  32. Don’t enter me, but this is a great read. I’m loving Carly and all the other characters that inhabit Hitching Post.

  34. Enjoyed the review. Book sounds great and very interesting. It has me intrigued. Thank you for the chance of winning this giveaway and please enter my name.

  35. Heather, I absolutely love your books and I know that this book will be awesome. Lots of love my friend 🙂

  37. I haven’t read any of the author’s writing before. I do love a good cozy though and figure this series would be a great place to start! Thanks for the chance!

  38. Sounds great Ms Blake! Not sure I could pull off the role of an empath though. It’s hard enough feeling for yourself sometimes let alone everyone else. ^-^ Thanks for the great post ladies!

    1. Carly’s learned to cope with being an empath for the most part because she has a charmed locket that helps her turn “off” the gift. Otherwise, it would be too overwhelming for her to leave her house. Good luck with the giveaway!

  39. I have really enjoyed all of Heather’s heroines over the years, so if she says Carly is a favorite, then I can’t wait to read the beginning of this new series! Thanks!

  44. Thanks so much for sharing how your characters come to life. I’ve been wanting to read both the books you discussed; now I’ll have a deeper attachment to the characters when I do finally get to read them. It is always so wonderful to know how a writer processes thoughts in those complicated brains. I appreciate you sharing a part of that beautiful process with us.

  46. I love your books, Heather! 🙂 I can’t wait to read this one. I hope you have another Lucy Valentine book in the works. Write faster!

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