Guest- Debra Sennefelder and a Giveaway!

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Jessie: In New Hamshire wondering if it is gluttonous to have purchased a 24 pound turkey for only for 5 people…

One of the nicest things about having participated in the Wickeds blog over the years are all the interesting people with whom I have had the chance to correspond over the years that likely I would not have without it. Debra is one of those people and I am delighted to welcome her here today! Take it away, Debra!

Thank you, Wickeds, for inviting me to guest host today. I’m thrilled to be back and share a little bit about my upcoming release, HOW TO FRAME A FASHIONISTA. It’s the third book in the Resale Boutique Mystery series.

I’m going to begin with a confession. Kelly Quinn, the fashionable sleuth featured in the series, is a bad influence on me. When I’m writing one of her books, I tend to do a little more shopping than usual. But I did get a great dupe pair of Golden Goose sneakers while writing the book. So, thank, Kelly. 

HOW TO FRAME A FASHIONISTA was a fun book to write, and I love it. There are four reasons why I love the book, and today, I’m going to share them. Ready? Good. 

 #1 – One of my favorite movies is The Devil Wears Prada, and one of my favorite characters is Miranda Priestley. So, when I decided to have Serena Dawson, the Dragonista of Seventh Avenue and Kelly’s ex-boss, show up in Lucky Cove, I knew it would be fun times. Not only is Kelly roped into helping when Serena is framed for murder, but she’s forced to face an embarrassing incident that happened at Bishop’s Department Store (where she worked as an assistant buyer) and finally get some perspective on it.

#2 – I’d been intrigued by the phenomenon of fitness gurus on YouTube. And particularly by one who had been involved in a scandal regarding her fitness program. In the book, I got to explore that scenario and ended up creating a sketchy infomercial producer.

#3 – While writing the book, I realized that I needed a deeper reason for Kelly’s uncle, Ralph Blake, to want her to sell the shop and leave town. It took a couple of days, but I came up with the reason, and it’s a doozy. He reveals a secret that threatens Kelly’s relationship with someone close to her. I love this twist, and so did my editor. 

#4 – Kelly doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to dating. Still, she has a boyfriend in HOW TO FRAME A FASHIONISTA. He’s the brother of the police detective Kelly often butts heads with. It’s a fun dynamic to write. However, in this book, Kelly starts to see some traits in her boyfriend she’s not pleased with, and she must decide about the relationship.

Readers: There you have it, four reasons why I love this book and why I think you’ll enjoy reading it. Since I’ve shared something, I’d like for you to share something about your holiday plans. The holidays will look a little different this year, so maybe you’re going to try something new, like baking (since most of us mastered banana bread in the spring) or homemade decorations. One lucky commenter will win an e-book edition of HOW TO FRAME A FASHIONISTA.

Bio: Debra Sennefelder loves to read – mystery books being her biggest passion. When she is not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and is a former food blogger. Born and raised in New York City, she now resides in Connecticut with her family and their slightly spoiled but adorable Shih Tzu, Connie. She is the author of the Food Blogger and Resale Boutique Mystery Series. 

Link to website: http://bit.ly/2lQwSNi

Buy Link: https://bit.ly/37jPc86

Blurb: 

Applying her Manhattan fashion sense to the sensibilities of a Long Island clientele, Kelly Quinn is setting new trends with second-hand name brand apparel—and finding killers with a deadly sense of style . . .

The fortunes of Kelly’s Lucky Cove Resale Boutique are sinking fast—literally, as the weathered roof of her grandmother’s old consignment shop springs a new leak with every rain. She hopes her latest client, overnight fitness and social media sensation Tawny Nicole, has enough valued and wanted items she can sell fast enough to keep her roof from crumbling down. 

When Kelly arrives at Tawny’s home to appraise her attire, she’s stunned to find Serena Dawson, “the Dragonista of Seventh Avenue,” there. The last time she saw her ex-boss was when Serena humiliatingly and publicly fired her from her New York City job. Now Tawny is married to Serena’s ex-husband and is caught in the crossfire of some unfinished divorce settlements. 

But when Kelly returns to Tawny’s the following day, she discovers her dead body—and Serena standing over it. Her former employer may be nasty and unrepentant, but she’s no killer—prompting Kelly to pick up the threads to try and find the real culprit . . .

Published by Jessie Crockett

Jessie Crockett wears a lot of hats, both literally and literarily. As Jessie Crockett she is the Daphne Award winning author of Live Free or Die and the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove series. As Jessica Ellicott she has received starred reivews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal for her historical mystery Murder in an English Village. As Jessica Estevao she writes the Agatha Award nominated Change of Fortune Mysteries. She loves the beach, fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.

50 Thoughts

  1. Welcome, Debra! The new book sounds like lots of fun – with twists. Our Thanksgiving will be a walk in the woods with my son and D-i-L, followed by pumpkin pie. Not what I’d like, but it’s better to be alive.

    1. Hi Edith. It sounds like you’re going to have a lovely Thanksgiving. After all, your day will include pumpkin pie! 🙂

  2. Congratulations on the new book Debra. I’m reading your Food Blogger series but haven’t read this series yet. Reading the article and synopsis does make me want to though.

    And for Jessie, I just wanted to point out that while there is only me in my house, a 24 pound turkey is what I would call a “good start”. If so much prep wasn’t involved, I’d eat turkey all the time.

  3. This will be my first year in many years that we are having Thanksgiving dinner at home. Will have to see if I still have it in me. My son when he was young used to pick out the biggest turkey he could find because he liked lots of leftovers. I did order 2 pies as I’m just not up to baking. My husband will be helping me cook too as I am disabled. Thank you for this chance at your giveaway!! pgenest57(at)aol(dot)com

  4. Congrats on the new book…I love this series. This Thanksgiving, my family decided not to have our regular dinner at my cousin’s. It will just be my nephew and me. I’m not a great cook, so I ordered an already-prepared meal and will fix a couple of family-favorite sides to go with it.

  5. Congrats, Debra! Our Thanksgiving is kind of scaled down – a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey – but now I think on it, we only had five people last year as well. My son unexpectedly wound up at home, so it doesn’t really feel like much of a change.

  6. As sad as it is to do so, our family will be keeping within our individual family groups this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We decided it was better to do that than risk spreading something unintentionally since it is a bit hard to have a family gathering centered around food and fun and be able to keep masks on the entire time. But, Christmas will involve video calls to show off our decorations and table settings!

  7. It will be a quiet holiday here with just hubby, myself and our little 16 year old furbaby. I’m sure we will decorate some but that too will be kept smaller this year. Since we both love to bake, I’m sure there will be ample goodies to enjoy, but with only two to eat them, that will have to be curtailed too or I’d not get through the door when we can finally get out and about. Weather permitting we will still be able to sit on the porch and enjoy our daily critter visitors. We will try to make their holidays a bit brighter by keeping the feeders filled and water containers full of fresh water.

    Although our traditions may be downsized this year our celebration for the reason for the season will just as big and strong as always. To be able to stay healthy, warm and fed is present enough for me this season.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  8. Thanksgiving here should be quiet since we won’t have any guests. I don’t plan to try anything new. In fact, I plan to do less cooking this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

  9. No one would call me a fashioning, but I love thrift & resale shopping! Look forward to meeting your characters.

  10. There will just 3 for dinner and since I am just getting out of the hospital we are ordering turkey dinner from Amish like resturant.

  11. The book sounds fabulous and I can’t wait to read it! We went to a fabulous restaurant last year for Thanksgiving and planned to go again this year. Instead we are picking up our meal from them. We have to pick it up on Wednesday and I’m wondering if we can resist or will be having our Thanksgiving one day early!

  12. Hi Debra, the book sounds wonderful. Devil is also one of my favorite movies – the word delicious comes to mind.

    Holiday plans, hubs and I are keeping close to home. It will be just the two of us this year, but I’m planning chicken (we were unable to get a salt-free turkey this year, the turkey farms were sold out – good for them, bad for us) and all the traditional fixings. Not sure about pie – any suggestions?

    1. Hi Kait, Thank you! I love pumpkin pie and apple pie for Thanksgiving. One idea I saw last year and I’ve been meaning to try it but haven’t yet, was to use prepackaged mini-graham cracker crusts (I got the Keebler brand) so that there are smaller servings of pumpkin pie or any type of pie. And, they look cute. Happy Thanksgiving!

  13. Welcome back, Debra. I also love The Devil Wears Prada. My husband and I will be on our own. We’ve decided to cook the turkey, etc, ahead so that we can have my favorite parts of Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day–leftover pie for breakfast and turkey sandwiches for dinner!

  15. Hi Debra,
    Congratulations on your new book.
    You just gave me four reasons to want to read this book!😁
    Sounds very good!!!
    Thank you for the giveaway and chance to win.

  16. The book sounds delightful! I, too, loved The Devil Wears Prada.

    This year we have canceled going to our family Thanksgiving as they will have a fairly large group that we don’t usually socialize with. Instead, we are having another couple over for a carne asada Mexican feast. The will bring their dog so she play with ours. After dinner we will have a walk, then wine and games. Of course we MAY have wine earlier too!

    1. Hi Jeanette, Sounds like you’re going to have a fun Thanksgiving and it’s great that you’re doing something totally different. Enjoy the wine! And hope the pups have fun visiting. Happy Thanksgiving.

  18. Hello Debra and Connie! Our fur children crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, but we get to enjoy our Grandcritters when we are together as a family. This year it will just be the two of us, but we do have friendly neighborhood kitties, squirrels and birds who come to our fountain for a drink of water and they keep us entertained while we do the dishes and look out our window over the sink. Thankfully, we have books to read and that makes every day a day to be thankful.

    1. Hi Judy, It’s wonderful that you have your grandcritters. Our pets are so important to our lives and it was so hard to lose our two Shih Tzus last year. But Connie has certainly filled that void ten times over! She’s a handful. Happy Thanksgiving.

  19. No big plans for Thanksgiving this year. I usually go to my Sister’s house in Michigan, but that’s off this year. Hopefully we can get together for Christmas.

  21. Since I’ll be alone, I’ll probably make a turkey leg or thigh with sides. I’m going to check the newspaper when they list what restaurants have for holiday meals and see if I want to get take-out. Looking forward to the new book. Stay safe and well.

  22. This book sounds like a Great read, Thank you for sharing about it. For Thanksgiving we will probably just spend it like we usually do , we will spend it with our daughter and her little family who live in our same town. Especially this year, when traveling isn’t advised, otherwise our son and his little family that live 6 hours away would be coming.

  23. Congratulations on your new book. I am fixing a smaller Thanksgiving dinner this year. We will still have all the trimmings. My Mom is home from a rehab center after seven weeks. My Dad lives close by. This is his first Thanksgiving alone. My stepmom died in March. He will be with us. It will be laid back and low key. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for sharing your talent.

  25. I’ll be roasting the 12# turkey I got at the food drop earlier this month, which, as there is only me here, should last for a while. I just need to remember to freeze most of it as soon as possible. The same goes for those doing a traditional big bird: DON’T wait until day three to do the freezing.

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