Wicked Wednesday – the final one of August and our full moon theme – and we’re also celebrating Julie’s latest Garden Squad Mystery, Digging Up the Remains, which takes place near Halloween – yay Julie!
This year Halloween falls on a Blue Moon. What is a once in a blue moon event that you had in your life?
Julie: Thank you Liz! I’m so excited about Digging Up the Remains being released this week, in addition to the paperback edition of Haunted House Murder, with Barbara Ross’s Halloween novella and the paperback release of Edith Maxwell’s Murder on the Bluffs. I was reminded of a once in a blue moon event last week when I saw the trailer for the new Death on the Nile movie. Ten years ago I was part of a group that went to Egypt. It was a dream trip for me. I spent three days on a riverboat floating down the Nile. Yes, it was that fabulous. And yes, we saw the ship they used in the 1978 movie. A once on a blue moon adventure that I hope to repeat at some point in my life.
Edith/Maddie: So excited for you, Julie! Thanks for the shoutout. When I read “blue moon” I can’t help hearing Nanci Griffith singing, “Just Once in a Very Blue Moon,” a long-time favorite song. My once-in-a -lifetime blue moon event has to be when I completed the Boston Marathon in 1998. I trained hard just to finish (running with a charity number not as a qualifier), and it’s a personal accomplishment I can hang onto, especially since I know I’ll never do it again.
Jessie: Super congratulations, Julie on the new release! I know this series is so close to your heart! One blue moon event that sticks out for me was a weekend in October ten years ago on the coast of Maine. It was unseasonably warm all summer and the weekend ended up in the high nineties and sunny. My family spent the weekend at the beach swimming in the ocean and lolling on the sand. It has never been warm enough to do that comfortably in October since but I am looking forward to the next time!
Barb: Congratulations, Julie! I am so excited about Digging Up the Remains. I love Lilly Jayne and company. One blue moon event I remember vividly is this one. In 1988 we took our kids to DisneyWorld. We’d had a crazy and not all together pleasant year. We were all exhausted. One day, toward the end of the trip, we drove into the park and put our car in the parking structure. As we climbed down the stairs, I happened to look out and saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis taking off from its launch pad. We hadn’t planned it. Neither had NASA. The launch had been delayed from the previous day. It was just the right time, right place.
Sherry: Julie, I’m so thrilled for you. Dreams do come true. I’ve mentioned it before, but need to talk about it again as we celebrate Digging up the Remains. At the Malice Domestic banquet in 2005, Julie and I were seated randomly at the same table. I was moving to the Boston area that summer and didn’t know a soul. Julie, being Julie gave me her contact information, told me I needed to join the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and attend Crime Bake. That chance meeting had a ripple effect on my life: becoming friends with Julie, meeting the other Wickeds over the next couple of years, getting a publishing contract, becoming president of Sisters in Crime — all through a chance meeting. Love you, Julie. You’ve made my life better in so many ways. I’m so happy to celebrate you today.
Liz: So happy for you Julie! And I have to echo Sherry – meeting you guys through Sisters in Crime has been a series of awesome “blue moon” events, and my life is way better for it. It makes me happy to be able to celebrate awesome events like this!
Readers: What is your once in a blue moon life event?
Here’s a bit about Digging Up the Remains: A festive fall is in full swing in Goosebush, Massachusetts, but when a snoopy reporter is felled by foul play, it’s up to Lilly and her Garden Squad to spook out a killer . . .
Between hosting a haunted house on her lawn, serving on the town’s 400th Anniversary Planning Committee, and prepping for the Fall Festival’s 10k fundraiser, Lilly’s hands are full. She doesn’t have time for prickly newspaper reporter Tyler Crane, who’s been creeping around town, looking for dirt on Goosebush’s most notable families . . . until he’s found dead on the race route moments before the start.
An unfortunate accident? Or did Tyler unearth a secret that someone in Goosebush is willing to kill to keep? By planting nasty rumors and cultivating fear, Tyler sowed a fair share of ill will during his brief time in town. Weeding through the suspects will be thorny, but Lilly and her Garden Squad are determined to root out the autumnal assassin before the Fall Festival flops . . .
Halloween is a spectacular setting for a cozy mystery. Supernatural and spooky things are definitely in the air. Looking forward to celebrating with DIGGING UP THE REMAINS.
Blue moon moment? Meeting Edward Villella in 1985 and being hired as his administrative assistant when Miami-City Ballet began. That meeting allowed me to meet Princess Caroline of Monaco, Audrey Hepburn, Gavin MacLeod and others, and to travel with the troupe as acting company manager as they danced throughout the country.
Wow. What an incredible job.
It was – lots of great memories.
Wow! You ,use have some great stories. My hat is off to you. Company manager of a touring dance company is a bowl of spaghetti king of job.
It was amazing, but my hat was really off to the dancers. They are special, special, people.
Congratulations on the release and best wishes for great sales and reviews! Seeing the title of your Wicked Wednesday blog made my blue moment kind of a wow moment. Because a blue moon on Halloween only happens once every 19 years, I “cleverly” titled my paranormal short story “Once in a Blue Moon,” and it’s included in the Mobile Writers Guild HALLOWEEN PIECES anthology scheduled for publication this fall. The story has Gaelic references to the mystic samhain as well.
Moon cycles are so interesting. Congratulations on your story publication.
none that I can remember
Maybe one is coming up!
Congratulations, Julie! Talking my way into the BVI for New Year’s Eve, definitely a blue moon moment!
That will be lovely!
Congratulations on the release of “Digging Up the Remains”. It’s most definitely on my TBR list and can’t wait for the opportunity to read it.
My once in a blue moon is probably flying in a helicopter. I have a very real fear of heights. Believe it or not, it was my idea to take the helicopter ride over Niagara Falls. After I suggested it, I was petrified but already committed. Hubby told me I’d have great opportunities to take photos. So I concentrated on getting photographs of everything. So much so, that I have no recollection whatsoever of the actual ride. Can’t remember a things about it which is probably a good thing considering Hubby said we turned every which way but upside down. Since I don’t know that we would ever have that opportunity again or if I would be as careless as to suggest a ride, I figure it was a once in a life time thing. Shame I can’t remember any of it though. 🙂
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It sounds amazing, but I’d probably block out the memory too.
Congrats on the new release, Julie! Love the cover, especially the black cat!
My once in a blue moment goes back to October of 2008. Then candidate Barack Obama came to Indianapolis to speak at a rally. President candidates rarely visit Indiana, so it was a big moment. I took my kiddo Shea, who was twelve at the time. The weather was perfect, the crowd was huge, and we were even interviewed by a reporter for an article that appeared in the L.A. Times!
A truly once in a lifetime event!
I envy you that. How wonderful to have taken advantage of the opportunity.
A few summers ago, I rode in hot-air balloon, something I have always wanted to do. It. was in Egypt. Valley of the Kings. The whole trip was almost an accident. Long time friends were going, asked if we wanted to join them, we took a breath and said “yes.” Not in our plans but we decided to grab that adventure while we still had energy, health and funds. Nothing in life is certain.
That sounds amazing on all levels. I envy you that balloon ride.
I’d say getting to attend Malice was a once in a blue moon event, but I did do that twice in a row. Alas, I don’t think I will be making it back any time soon.
Congratulations on your New Release Julie, your book sounds like a great read and I love your book cover. When our 2 now grown adult children were in Kindergarten and in preschool, we took our family vacation in Oct. and we went to Mazatlan Mexico, well , we were caught over there in Hurricane Tico, needless to say that will be the last vacation my husband and I will have in Mexico. It was a lot of fun before the hurricane hit, but we did end up coming back home early.
Congratulations, Julie!! You know I love your books.
I have had so many once in a blue moon experiences, it is hard to decide which one to mention. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned being picked out of the audience at a concert in La Paz, Bolivia to dance with the lead singer on stage. I have no idea why I was picked, but it was a lot of fun.
Teachers are among those who notice a bit more chaos at the time of a full moon. I’d say this year’s Halloween will be extra-wild. My “blue moon” triumphs revolve around teaching. When I got my degree in 1972, we were told there would be no jobs; schools were RIFing as baby boom numbers dwindled and enrollments fell, so my first teaching position in 1980 was a miracle . . . of sorts . . . lasting only two years. Then a remarkable year traveling, teaching study skills in various states, ending in Jamaica. Then, 1983, finally, the district in which I spent 23 years with the BEST students. Storytelling was another “blue moon” accident, as my summer job in 1980 was at Downtown Day Care, and they sent me to a storytelling class. Each time I moved to older grades, I found out that no, they weren’t “too old” for stories, so it helped me enjoy 26 years of teaching. <3