Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!!
I am super excited to welcome Jessie Crockett here today!!
Escape Artist
By Jessie Crockett
Readers all know the appeal of escaping into a good book. Vicariously living through the ups and downs of someone else’s romance or the heart pounding thrill of a chase you are conducting from the comfort of your armchair are amongst life’s keenest pleasures. Traveling to exotic places or even places in time are part and parcel of the delights readers’ experience.
Writers are the ultimate escape artists. We escape into our own stories and into our characters’ lives and loves, into their secrets as well as their dreams. When I read, I am transported into the heart of someone else’s creation and am thrilled to be along for the ride.
But when I write, it’s more like lucid dreaming. I feel as though the story is running through me and only occasionally do I remember I am the one holding the reins.
When I’m working I can see the scenes I am creating unfolding like there is a movie theater screen smack dab in the middle of my forehead. All the action plays out across it, all the dialogue comes through as loudly and clearly as if my ears were a high-end sound system. The air changes temperature and smells fill my nose. My books feature a lot of food and I can taste just what it is that my characters are eating. No matter where my body is actually located, the best parts of me are elsewhere stirring up trouble and having adventures.
Because I am always working, I’m always escaping. The keyboard is not the only place the magic happens. There is just so much out there in the world to be enjoyed, imagined and used as a source of inspiration. Even when I am going about the routine tasks of life I find myself slipping into other realms.
For instance, I very well might escape while squeezing mangoes for ripeness at the grocer. It occurs to me that there is someone in the world who picked those mangoes and I find myself imagining what her life is like. Maybe I give her a name and a beautiful singing voice. Maybe, I decide she is a secret agent using her job as a mango picker to infiltrate a fruit cartel bent on world domination. By the time I make it to the checkout line I’ve no idea how the rest of the groceries made it into the cart.
As the lazy days of summer come upon us I hope you have the opportunity to get lost in a great story, especially if it is one you sit down and write yourself.
~Jessie
Find out more about Jessie and her books on her webpage here.
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Maple Mayhem
(A Sugar Grove Mystery)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (July 1, 2014)
Published by The Penguin Group
Cover Illustration by Mary Ann Lasher
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425260203
File Size: 2048 KB
ASIN: B00HDMMFUQ
In Sugar Grove, New Hampshire, people are serious about their maple syrup—especially Dani Greene, whose family owns the Greener Pastures sugarhouse. But when murder disrupts the small-town sweetness, Dani pores over clues to draw out a killer…
Despite being a fourth-generation syrup maker, Dani isn’t stuck in the past. She’s starting a new agricultural cooperative that reduces costs for every syrup producer who joins. Everyone considers it a sweet deal except the die-hard curmudgeon Frank Lemieux—and when a saboteur starts targeting supporters, everyone suspects Frank.
But it turns out they’re barking up the wrong tree when Dani finds Frank murdered in his own sugarhouse. As the sabotage continues, she realizes that Frank was framed. With the help of her family, and a handsome official from the Fish and Game Department, Dani must catch the killer before another syrup maker kicks the bucket.
Recipes Included!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Things are getting very sticky in Sugar Grove and that makes for a fantastic cozy mystery.
Dani is right in the middle of another murder of investigation and the local sheriff is away on a cruise with Dani’s mother. He left Mitch Reynolds in charge. Mitch and Dani dated a few times and she does everything to avoid him. When her fabulous car, that she just got back from the mechanic, is vandalized he tries to ticket her for having broken headlights and taillights instead of being concerned about who wrecked her car. He is definitely in over his head when Dani finds Frank’s body. Of course, she becomes his prime suspect.
Jessie Crockett has created some truly wonderful characters, ones we love like Dani, her grampa, Piper, the owner of The Stack Shack and Dani’s best friend, Graham, the handsome Fish and Game Warden and Celedon, Dani’s sister who is doing anything she can to get Dani settled down and married. And those we don’t love so much like Knowlton and Mitch. I wanted to jump in the pages at more syrup over Mitch’s head more than once.
The mystery is top-notch and the dialogue is so well written. The perfect amount of humor and romance is blooming for more than just Dani. Her phone calls from her mother just cracked me up. I also enjoy learning all about making syrup and tapping the trees.
This is a fun and entertaining story for those of us who like our whodunits on the cozy side.
Thanks to the people at Penguin I have 2 copies to give away!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
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Contest Will End July 16, 2014 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.”
, comes out July 1. It will be one of the first books I grab as soon as it arrives!!