Welcome Back — Alexia Gordon

GinnyJC you are the winner of Murder in G Major. Watch for an email from Alexia!

Sherry here and I’m so happy to welcome back Alexia Gordon! Look for a giveaway at the end of the blog! Execution in E (love the title) comes out on March 24th so there is time to preorder this book — the fifth book in the Gethsemane Brown mystery series. Here’s a bit about the book:

Romance is in the air. Or on the ’Gram, anyway.

When an influencer-turned-bridezilla shows up at the lighthouse to capture Insta-perfect wedding photos designed to entice sponsors to fund her lavish wedding, Gethsemane has her hands full trying to keep Eamon from blasting the entire wedding party over the edge of the cliff.

Wedding bells become funeral bells when members of the bride’s entourage start turning up dead. Frankie’s girlfriend, Verna, is pegged as maid-of-honor on the suspect list when the Garda discover the not-so-dearly departed groom was her ex and Gethsemane catches her standing over a body.

Gethsemane uncovers devilish dealings as she fights to clear Verna, for Frankie’s sake. Will she find the killer in time to save Frankie from another heartbreak? Or will the photos in her social media feed be post-mortem?

Thank you to the Wickeds for having me back as a guest.

Execution in E, the fifth book in my Gethsemane Brown mystery series releases on March 24. This time around, Gethsemane and friends have to deal with a social media influencer-turned-bridezilla who descends on Dunmullach with her entourage in search of Instagram-worthy wedding photos. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the groom-to-be turns out to be the ex-fiance of Frankie’s current girlfriend. They had a horrible breakup, one so bad, she becomes the prime suspect when the groom is found dangling from Carrick Point lighthouse.

I juggle writing mysteries with my day job, which requires a lot of travel. I spent sixteen of the past twenty-five weeks on the road for work. My most recent trip kept me away from home for over a month. During this time, I also had to promote my podcast, schedule guests, promote pre-orders for Execution in E, and consult with my agent on my next manuscript. As much as I love to travel, after all that, I arrived home exhausted. Like Gethsemane, I’m task/work-focused and sometimes I forget to take care of myself. I’m trying to do better. If I want to keep writing mysteries, I need energy to do so. So, I took a minute to stop and think what I could do to refill my mental well. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Get some sleep. My travels took me to at least six different time zones. Between that and crazy airline schedules, regular sleep went the way of the dinosaur. So, yesterday, I turned off my alarm and slept until I woke up on my own—twelve hours after I lay down. I felt more refreshed than I had in weeks.
2. Have a good meal. Eating well on the road is trickier than quantum physics. Between hotel restaurants and grab-and-go at the airport, my diet resembled a pre-adolescent’s. When I got home, too tired to cook, I ordered delivery. (Yay, delivery apps!) Okay, I confess, what I ordered wasn’t the most nutritious meal in the world but it was a meal I could sit down and enjoy at a leisurely pace. Being able to take the time to savor my food left me feeling full and satisfied.
3. Listen to music. As my travels were work-related, I spent most of my time in meetings and seminars. I spent my “down time” preparing for the next meeting or briefing. I didn’t have much time to relax without having to think about and plan for the next day. When I got home, I queued up the Spotify playlists and lost myself in the music. I felt calm and better able to focus.
4. Read a book—for fun. After more than a month of reading stuff I had to read, pulling up a floor cushion and opening a book I wanted to read felt close to heaven.

Share some of your self-care tips? What do you do when you need to recover from too much of anything or to keep yourself from running down? Comment for a chance to win a copy of Murder in G Major.

BIO: Virginia native, physician by training, author by passion, I write the award-winning Gethsemane Brown Mysteries­­. Book 5, Execution in E, publishes March 24, 2020. I’m a member of MWA, SinC, ITW, and CWoC. I blog at Missdemeanors.com and with the Femmes Fatales (femmesfatales.typepad.com/my_weblog/) and host the podcast, The Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon. Find me on social media (Facebook: AlexiaGordon.writer, Twitter: @AlexiaGordon, Instagram: DrLex1995) and visit my website (www.alexiagordon.net) to sign up for my newsletter.