Cartoon of the Day: My Library

 

And my own Library:

SISTERS IN CRIME OPENS SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2023 ELEANOR TAYLOR BLAND CRIME FICTION WRITERS OF COLOR AWARD

Sisters in Crime is accepting applications for its tenth annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, a $2,000 grant awarded to an emerging writer of color. Candidates must apply by March 31, and the winner will be announced later this spring.

“The Eleanor Taylor Bland Award is a fabulous opportunity to both honor one of crime fiction’s accomplished authors and spotlight emerging writers of color, who deserve our support and often encounter publishing obstacles,” Jennifer J. Chow, Sisters in Crime Board President noted.

Named for the late, pioneering African American crime fiction author Eleanor Taylor Bland, the award is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. The winner may choose to use the grant for activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of their work. 

The no-fee submissions are open to any crime writer of color who has not published more than ten short works or two novels. More information is available at www.sistersincrime.org/EleanorTaylorBland

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Eleanor Taylor Bland was the author of fourteen book-length works of crime fiction  between 1992 and 2007. The books featured Marti MacAlister, a female police detective and an enduring and beloved heroine who went against the grain of stereotypes related to African American women in much of U.S. popular culture. Bland also published several works of short crime fiction and edited a collection titled Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African American Authors (2004).

Complete guidelines and the application can be found at www.sistersincrime.org/page/EleanorTaylorBland

Cartoon of the Day: Cats

 Happy Caturday!

Life is Sweeter with Chocolate… and Cozy Mysteries! Guest post by Sarah Fox

Foodie Fridays is Back! Today I welcome Cozy mystery writer Sarah Fox. Sarah is no stranger to foodie mysteries, having another series filled with mouthwatering food. Sarah has a new series, the True Confections Mystery series. Six Sweets Under, the first in the series, will be out this month.

SARAH FOX: LIFE IS SWEETER WITH CHOCOLATE ... AND COZY MYSTERIES!

Chocolate has been my favorite sweet treat for as long as I can remember, so it’s probably not surprising to people who know me that I’m now writing a cozy mystery series about a chocolate shop. However, a chocolate shop wasn’t the obvious choice to me when it came to finding a hook for my latest series. I knew that I wanted to write a cozy mystery set in a town with canals instead of roads and with cute cottages like those you might find in a charming English village. What I didn’t know was what job I wanted the main character to have. When chatting with my agent, she suggested a chocolate shop and I jumped at that idea right away (of course). That’s how I ended up with True Confections, a family-run chocolate shop in the picturesque canal town of Larch Haven, Vermont.

As I wrote Six Sweets Under, the first book in the True Confections Mystery series, I delved into deeper detail and came up with a variety of products that would be made by Becca Ransom, the main character, and sold in her family’s shop. I have fond memories of going to a small Vancouver chocolate shop called Lee’s Candies when I was little. We would get free samples of mint chocolate and leave with a bag of seconds, the chocolates that weren’t quite perfect enough to be sold at full price. Those little bags were full of surprises because they held an assortment of chocolates and you wouldn’t always know what you were about to bite into, only that it was likely to taste great.

Sadly, Lee’s Candies was destroyed by a fire years ago and that marked the end of the small business. These days when I buy seconds, they come from Purdys, my all-time favorite chocolate shop. Purdys calls them Almost Perfect Chocolates. In my True Confections series, I call them Misfits. Becca often packs several into a little paper bag to give to her lifelong friend Sawyer, now a police officer, whenever he stops by the shop. She always remembers to include something with peanut butter—his favorite.

Whenever it’s time to decide on flavors to showcase in each book in the series, I tend to choose my own favorites. Like Sawyer, I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, so I came up with a recipe for peanut butter pretzel truffles, which I’ve included in Six Sweets Under. The store also sells ice wine truffles (a product I love to buy from Purdys) and mint melty bonbons, which remind me of the mint chocolate I used to get at Lee’s. In future books, I hope to showcase seasonal flavors, like candy cane truffles and possibly apple caramels or something with pumpkin. Naturally, the taste testing stage is my favorite part of the recipe creation process.

I’ve often said that if books were food, cozy mysteries would be chocolate. After all, cozies are comfort reads and they make life sweeter. I hope that the details about the chocolates sold at True Confections will add a delicious note to the story and will make readers wish they could travel to Larch Haven and stop in at Becca’s shop for a free sample and maybe a few boxes to take home.

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Sarah Fox was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she developed a love for mysteries at a young age. When not writing novels, she is often reading her way through a stack of books or spending time outdoors with her English Springer Spaniel.

California Crime Writers Conference 2023

 Here's news on this year's California Crime Writers Conference. Don't miss this! 

Cartoon of the Day: Grammar