Cheryl Hollon on her first year as an author

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Liz here – so thrilled to welcome my longtime pal Cheryl Hollon to the blog. Cheryl’s series, the Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries, launched last year and has been super successful. Today she’s going to tell us all about her first year as a published author. Take it away, Cheryl!

It’s been an exciting first year as an author! Cheryl

I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. It was almost exactly one year ago that I appeared here with my very first blog – EVER! My first book, Pane and Suffering, was released on September 28, 2016, and now I have a series of three books publishsed. Amazing! The second book in the Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series, Shards of Murder, released on February 23, 2016, and now the third, Cracked to Death, is here.

So many wonderful things have happened, but the one thing that has remained constant and true – mystery authors and readers are angels. The discovery that readers truly enjoy visiting Webb’s Glass Shop in St. Petersburg, FL has been an unexpected delight.

Each book in the Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series highlights a particular skill within the broad category of glass art. Savannah Webb will teach and participate in each skill area exploring and expanding her knowledge of the craft, along with her assistant, Amanda Blake. As a subject matter expert consulting with the St. Petersburg Police Department, her close associations within the art community and the unusually keen observation skills of her apprentice, Jacob Underwood, combine to solve crimes. Edward Morris, boyfriend and the British owner of the pub next door, fills out the investigation posse with more than moral support accompanied by coffee and scones. The craft topics for the third book in the series are recycling, reusing, and upcycling glass.

CrackedThe cover art for Cracked to Death (Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery #3) is filled with wonderful items made from recycled bottles that have been fired in a kiln. After that they can be used to make cheese trays, clocks, wind chimes, or wall hangings. My favorite reuse trick with a beer bottle is to make a spoon rest. I have several in the kitchen and they definitely help keep drips off the stove and countertops. The beer bottles are easily cleaned in the dishwasher, so I have several.

My husband, George and I have a glass studio in a freestanding cottage behind our house and we enjoy making promotional gifts for my blog tours. For this book, I will be giving away all sorts of bottles.

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You can read more about Savannah in Cracked to Death, the third book in the Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries, published by Kensington Books. Available at your favorite book vendor on June 28, 2016.

About Cracked to Death:

When a treasure hunt leads to deadly plunder, it’s up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb and her trusty investigative posse to map out the true motives of a killer . . .

It’s the dog days of summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Webb’s Glass Shop proprietor Savannah Webb has an eco-friendly plan to help locals escape the heat–a recyclable bottle-crafting workshop taught by reticent store manager Amanda Blake. Turns out, the class is a bigger smash than expected, thanks in part to a pair of staggeringly old bottles brought in by snorkeler Martin Lane . . .

Linked to a storied pirate shipwreck, the relics definitely pique Savannah’s interest. But intrigue turns to shock when Martin’s lifeless body washes ashore the next morning, another glass artifact tucked in his dive bag. With cell phone records connecting Amanda to the drowning, Savannah must voyage through uncharted territory to exonerate her colleague and capture the twisted criminal behind Martin’s death . . .

Meet the author:

Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and her husband George design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks. You can visit Cheryl and her books at

http://www.cherylhollon.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Hollon-Writer/357992230995844
http://www.twitter.com/cherylhollon

Thanks for stopping by, Cheryl – and here’s to many more years as a published author! Readers, leave Cheryl a comment and congratulate her on surviving her first published year. 

Published by Cate Conte / Liz Mugavero

Cate Conte writes the Cat Cafe Mysteries and the Full Moon Mysteries. As Liz Mugavero, she writes the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, the first of which was an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. She lives in the Boston area with her rescue pals.

18 Thoughts

    1. Thanks Edith! It has been a very busy year — almost as busy as yours. You’ve got more series going than I have books published! I’m so delighted with the opportunity to write more books in the Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series.

    1. Thanks so much Ramona. George and I have been playing around in our studio for a long time. When your day job is engineering — you need an artistic outlet to keep from exploding. I think we’re doing it right.

    1. You were instrumental in getting this series off the ground. When I attended New England Crime Bake as an aspiring writer, I was lucky enough to snag a critique from you. It was warm, encouraging and the suggestions were right on the money. Thanks!

  4. Great to see you here again, Cheryl! I’m so happy for your success and delighted to know that three more books are in the works!

    1. Hi Sherry, I was a nervous wreck when it came time for the question of whether the Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series would continue. I haven’t even been published for a year yet. But in the end — it was all good news from the wonderful folk at Kensington Books.

  5. Congratulations, Cheryl! Isn’t the mystery community–readers, reviewers, writers–amazing? Makes you want to write more great books just to stay involved.

    1. Hi Barb! You are so right about the generosity of the mystery community. I very nearly wrote Science Fiction. Before I had finished the first chapter of a space opera, I attended my first Malice Domestic Mystery Conference and I knew that I had found my tribe.

    1. Thanks for your support — as Hennrikus and Hollon we were always scheduled one after the other in our New Author events this year. I’ve been honored to share these experiences with such a talented author and arts proponent.

    1. Thanks, Debra. I truly enjoy writing these books. I have a lot of fun and I think it shows.

  8. 3 books in one year? Wow! What a whirlwind. Congrats on book 3 coming out and signing for more in the series.

    1. Thanks, Mark. Reviewers like you are making a huge difference in the discoverability of new authors. Grateful doesn’t quite cover it. THANKS!!!

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