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All Good Things…

Ending a series is always hard on an author and most of us don’t like to talk about it. I’ve had a lot of readers reaching out and asking me when the next Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery would be out. Sadly Absence of Alice is most likely the last book in the series. While writing is joyful, publishing is a business and sometimes a tough one.

On the bright side – I have nine books—NINE—in a series. I loved writing them all, but especially love Absence of Alice. I feel like I get to go out on a high note. Readers have always said each book has gotten better and I can’t ask for more than that.

Let’s take a little waltz down memory lane. On a Monday morning in December 2012, Barbara Ross reached out to me saying that her agent, John Talbot, was looking for someone to write a garage sale mystery series for an editor at Kensington – Gary Goldstein. Would I be interested in giving it a whirl? I told Barb I had to think it over. While I loved garage sales, I’d never thought about writing about them. The next morning, I woke up and thought, why am I hesitating? Of course, I want to try.

Barbara connected John and I via email. He said he needed the proposal fast. I had no idea what that meant, but Liz and Barb, both sent me their proposals and by Friday I turned it in. John had a few tweaks and sent if off to Gary who had a few tweaks and then boom, we had a contract signed for three books. I will always be grateful to John and Gary for taking a chance on an unknown me.

Tagged for Death came out on December 2, 2014. I will never forget how I alternated between scared and excited. What if everyone hated it? What if there were trolls who trashed it? Would I ever be able to show my face again? Of course none of that happened and three more contracts for two books each followed. The team at Kensington is amazing and I’m so grateful I got to work with them. Here are the original sketches for the cover of Tagged for Death. I still remember how thrilled I was to see them:

I’m so grateful to everyone who reads my garage sale mysteries. So many of you took the time write me notes saying how they helped you through a hard time or made you laugh or that you loved the sense of community and the strong, compassionate woman Sarah was. I loved highlighting a little bit of what military life is like as a spouse and touching on the amazing history of the area around Bedford, Massachusetts.

I also have good news! The muse is still inspiring me and I have several projects in the works including writing the fourth book in the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries. A Time to Swill releases on July 27th! Three Shots to the Wind, the third Chloe Jackson book, is up for preorder and comes out on March 29, 2022! I LOVE the cover and the story–I hope you will too.

Here’s the cover copy: Chloe’s Windy City ex-fiancé gets blown away in the Florida panhandle…
 
DEAD EXES TELL NO TALES
 
Saloon owner Chloe Jackson appears to have a secret admirer. She’s pouring drinks at the Sea Glass Saloon in Emerald Cove when an airplane flies by above the beach with a banner reading I LOVE YOU CHLOE JACKSON. She immediately rules out Rip Barnett. They are in the early stages of dating and no one has said the L word. Then a bouquet of lilacs—her favorite flower—is delivered to the bar, followed by an expensive bottle of her favorite sparkling wine. It couldn’t be…
 
Sure enough, her ex-fiancé from Chicago has flown down to Florida for an accountants’ convention. But is he trying to mix business with pleasure and win her back? Unfortunately he’s not in a hotel conference room, he’s floating facedown in the lake next to her house, clutching a photo of Chloe. Who murders an accountant on a business trip—it just doesn’t add up. When Rip becomes the prime suspect, Chloe is determined to find the secret murderer. But if she isn’t careful, it may be closing time and lights out for her…

Readers: What do you think of the new cover? I’ll giveaway one copy of any of my books to someone who leaves a comment.

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