... which I hope is good luck for both my readers and me!
Thanks for inviting me to blog here again, Fresh Fiction. Since I last visited
in January of this year, I've had four books published:
TEACUP TURBULENCE, my last
Pet Rescue mystery for Berkley Prime Crime;
UNTAMED WOLF and
LOYAL WOLF, both Harlequin
Nocturnes in my
Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of
shapeshifters; and now...
LOST UNDER A LADDER, my
first Superstition Mystery!
LOST UNDER A LADDER is
being published by Midnight Ink. It introduces protagonist Rory Chasen, who,
with her adorable black and white spaniel-terrier mix Pluckie, visits Destiny,
California, a town where superstitions reign.
Why do they go to Destiny? Because Rory's beloved fiancΓ© Warren died a few
minutes after walking under a ladder, and she needs closure. And the only way
she can achieve it is to determine whether superstitions are real. Maybe.
Soon after they reach Destiny, Pluckie insists that Rory enter the back room of
the Lucky Dog Boutique. There, they find Martha Jallopia, the shop's owner,
lying on the floor. Martha is ill but conscious. She says she knows she is going
to be fine since black and white dogs are good luck!
As Martha recuperates, she twists Rory's arm to stay and manage the shop. The
town's police chief Justin Halbertson, who is close with Martha, also encourages
Rory to stay. Rory was the assistant manager of a chain pet store in Los
Angeles, so she's a logical choice. And does she agree?
What do you think!
Creating Destiny was especially fun. It caters to tourists, encouraging them to
learn a lot about superstitions while spending money at shops and restaurants
such as the Lucky Dog Boutique, of course, but also the Broken Mirror Bookstore,
Shamrock Steakhouse, Beware-of-Bubbles Coffee Shop, Heads-Up Penny Gift Shop,
and more, not to mention the Break-A-Leg Theater. Rory and Pluckie stay at the
Rainbow Bed and Breakfast.
The tourists also seek out good luck by avoiding stepping on the cracks on the
sidewalk while picking up the lucky heads-up pennies that seem to appear out of
nowhere. But they do have to try to avoid having a black cat walk across their
paths.
But Destiny isn't perfect. Of course there's a murder in the story. It is, after
all, a cozy mystery. The victim is Kenneth Tarzal, the author of the foremost
book on superstitions, The Destiny of Superstitions. When Martha becomes the
main suspect, Rory has to help clear her.
Pets? Superstitions? A mystery? They're all in
LOST UNDER A LADDER.
My fingers are crossed that lots of Fresh Fiction readers will pick up copies of
LOST UNDER A LADDER and
have fun reading it!
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