Welcome Author Meg Macy!

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by Barb, in Maine wondering if spring will ever come

I first met author Meg Macy at Malice Domestic, the place where so many good things happen. At the time, under the name D. E. Ireland, Meg and her writing partner Sharon Pisacreta had written a book featuring Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle as sleuths and were seeking representation. Why don’t you query my agent, I said–and the rest is history.

Now Meg’s back with a new series, the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear Mysteries. The first one, Bearly Departed, was released by Kensington Publishing this week. Cozy mysteries featuring teddy bears, how does that work, you ask? Meg is here with the answers.

Teddy Bears and Murder?

Who doesn’t love a teddy bear? They’re cute, cuddly, fuzzy, and sweet. The farthest thing from murder, right? But in my new Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear cozy mystery series, those cute, cuddly, fuzzy, and sweet teddy bears are involved – in a roundabout way, of course.

I first had the idea when I learned that the Chelsea Teddy Bear factory had moved out of Michigan to Missouri. Rats! I’d always wanted to take the tour and missed out. But fiction is second best to reality, and I figured the setting of a teddy bear shop and factory might be intriguing to cozy readers. So I got to work on a proposal and sample chapters; my agent shopped it around; lo and behold, I snagged a wonderful editor at Kensington. Wendy McCurdy loved the idea – but she wanted my book cozier. Cuter. Sweeter. After all, people love teddy bears. I’ve known that for a while, but I’m discovering just how deep that love goes from people excited to hear about my series and the first book, Bearly Departed.

How do the teddy bears feature in a murder mystery? Let’s just say that no bears were harmed (much) in writing the story.

But a cozy mystery wouldn’t qualify as such without a murder! Plus plenty of secrets that swirl around the characters, which makes my amateur sleuth, Sasha Silverman, work hard to prove her crotchety uncle innocent of killing the company’s sales rep. I can’t give away too many details without spoiling the plot. But I can tell you I had a blast ‘mixing’ together several small towns in southeastern Michigan, close enough to where I live, to create Silver Hollow and the Silver Bear Shop & Factory. Sasha Silverman has been managing the shop for seven years – her parents own the shop but are retired – since her divorce from a cheating husband. Her younger sister Maddie works in the office, and together they have to deal with small town gossip, a family crisis, plus staff problems while hosting the annual teddy bear picnic – it all adds up to plenty of adventure.

Bearly Departed is available on May 30th, 2017, from Kensington Books in trade paperback and e-book editions

About Meg Macy:  Award-winning mystery author Meg Macy lives in Southeast Michigan, close to Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Dexter — the area she chose for the setting of her new “Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear” cozy mystery series for Kensington. She is also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series; two books have been named Agatha Award finalists. Meg’s first published book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Best First Novel Spur Award from Western Writers of America. She’s a graduate of Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program. Meg loves reading mysteries, historicals, and other genre fiction, and also enjoys gardening, crafts, and watercolor painting.

Readers: Join us in congratulating Meg on her new series. Is there a teddy bear in your life, or in your memory?

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Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of twelve Maine Clambake Mystery novels and six novellas. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

40 Thoughts

  1. Congrats, Meg! What a fun premise. No teddy bears in my life I still have my old stuffed dog topsy. Best of luck with the series.

    1. Thanks, Edith! I had “Jerry” the mouse of Tom/Jerry as a kid. Didn’t get my first teddy until I bought Paddington at Harrods of London as an adult. But I love bears now!

  2. Thanks for having me today on Wicked Cozies, Barb! Love this group – such fantastic authors!

  3. Congratulations, Meg Macy, on your new cozy mystery series. What a unique premise for a murder mystery.
    I didn’t have a teddy bear in my life or memory, but I loved my Big Bird (from Sesame Street) stuffed animal as a child.

  4. Congratulations! I loved Henry and Eliza, so I am looking forward to this one.

    1. Aww, thanks! My writing partner Sharon and I will soon be working on Book 4 of Eliza/Higgins – after we each deliver our next cozies coming out next year.

  5. I’m so happy for you, Meg! I’ve had a lot of teddy bears over the years. I think my daughter ended up with one of them. Do you use some of the history of the teddy in your series?

    1. I did put a little in, and plan to weave a bit more in each book. Better than overwhelming the reader all at once. 🙂

  6. Congrats on the new book, Meg! I had a much lived, much bandaged teddy when I was little! Looking forward to reading this!

  7. The series sounds delightful! My eldest teddy bear is one I stole from the sister of a friend, whose house I was staying at on my first ever overnight. I think I was seven. Yes, I still have it.

  8. I, too, love the Henry and Eliza books. I”m looking forward to reading this series. I have a teddy bear on my bed which I’ve had from before I can remember and I’m 66. I still give him a hug now and then. My husband doesn’t see this as anything weird and my cats love to snuggle him. The bear, not my husband. Actually, they love to snuggle my husband, too!

    1. LOL – teddies do love to snuggle. Even with dogs and cats. 🙂

  9. I have many Build ABear bearseach with their own personality. Cant wait to read your book.

    1. Thanks! I have a Build-a-Bear too – that was neat watching it “made”…

  10. Hi, Meg, and happy book release!

    I had a stuffed cat when I was little, made from rabbit fur. I can still conjure up the smell of wet fur, more than six decades later. When my oldest daughter (now 46) was a baby I made her a Winnie the Pooh, Kanga and a little Roo that fit in her pouch, and Tigger. We still have poor old Winnie, made from dull orange cotton sweatshirt fleece, and squishier than ever, the dear.

    Meg, I sat at your table at Malice. Thanks again for the goodies! It was fun.

    1. Thanks – and I do remember you, Karen! That was such a fun night. Awww, how cute to made your daughter a Pooh, Kanga, and Roo, and Tigger!

  11. Book sound fantastic. Have a teddy bear that was given to my son for his first birthday by his great grandfather. Had it restored as it showed a lot of wear after 46 years. Looks great now.

  12. I love teddy bears and other stuffed animals! My childhood teddy bear was a big white bear wearing (I think) a Christmas sweater. I named him Hoagie ( to rhyme with Yogi Bear, who I loved) and carried him everywhere.

    I still remember the day my mom told me she shipped him to our relatives in the Philippines because I was too old to keep playing with him. Heartbroken. Absolutely heartbroken and furious. Pretty sure I was only 7 or 8.

  15. Great idea! Love those Kensington covers too! There have always been Teddy bears in my life. The first one I remember was white, named Boffin.
    .

    1. I love Kensington’s covers too – I can’t wait to see Book 2’s cover! Boffin sounds like a cute name.

  17. Do wish I could find the key to the dimension that does not require sleep so I could have time to read it.

  18. Congratulations on the book, Meg. Can’t wait to read it.
    I love teddy bears. I had dueling teddies when I was little. It seems that my two grandmothers, not knowing that the other was giving me for my 1st birthday, each got me a teddy. They were identical, except one was black and white and the other was brown and white. I slept with them, and they protected me from monsters and bad dreams, and eventually they accompanied me to college. They finally disintegrated when I was in my 30s.

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