Autumn, or as many of us refer to it Fall, is my favorite time of year. The long hot days of summer give way to crisp cool days featuring colorful trees, bulky sweaters, wood fires, and pumpkin everything. I have a lot of fond memories of these magical days as a kid growing up. One of the benefits of living in Lake Tahoe is that the four seasons are predominant and distinct. As a child my parents made certain that we had traditions associated with each of the seasons.

 One of the things we used to do each year is to take a picnic to a campground on the river known as Snowshoe Springs. The water is usually low enough at this time of the year that those who are sure of foot can hop from one rock to another allowing you to make your way up the river. The campground closes after Labor Day which was perfect since there were very few people who bothered to park on the road and walk into the picnic area. My parents used to bring us to this magical location every October, rain or shine, and believe me there were a few years when rain was the order of the day.

Another thing we used to do every year is go down the mountain about 60 miles to a place known as Apple Hill. Apple Hill is an area in the foothills where you can buy apples and other fruit fresh off the tree or vine. They also hold a huge craft fair, and a favorite of my children and grandchildren, is the apple train that takes a loop around a man made pond filled with ducks.

 Another thing we do most every fall is visit the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center. The creek that runs through the property is used by native salmon who come home to spawn each fall. It’s hard to tell from this photo but some years there are so many fish in the water that it almost looks like you can walk across them. And of course the bears come to eat so there are frequent bear sighting during the salmon run.

And of course no autumn would be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out those very special pumpkins for Halloween night.

Comment below and tell me if you have or have had in the past any fall traditions. What are your favorites? I will randomly choose one comment to receive a $15 Amazon gift card. I will announce the winner on my Facebook page on 10/15.

Last weekend was a seriously fun but seriously long weekend filled with planes, trains, and automobiles. In this blog I will share my adventure.

Planes: We began our adventure by arriving at the airport in Reno Nevada ninety minutes ahead of boarding as a good passenger should, only to find that our flight had been delayed by two hours. Two hours! I suppose that in the grand scheme of things two hours is not all that much. We were scheduled to arrive in Saint Louis at around six p.m. We planned to rent a car and drive down to Jackson, hopefully arriving in time for a late dinner. Of course when your plane takes off two hours late it arrives two hours late, which meant we missed our connection. This resulted in our needing to be rebooked, so instead of a short layover in Salt Lake, we ended up hanging out in the Salt Lake airport for over five hours.

Oh and here is another fun fact. When we landed in Salt Lake the wheels touched down for just a second and then the plane accelerated and went back up into the air. On no this could not be good. Not good at all. I was seriously envisioning damaged landing gear and emergency landings when the pilot finally came on and made some sort of statement about being assigned a different runway and we’d need to circle for a bit. Not fun!

After we were safely on the ground I decided that I can be adaptable in spite of the fact that we’d missed our connection. My husband called ahead to the hotel and let them know that we were going to be late but still planned to show so please don’t give our room away, and then we decided to tour the airport before having a ridiculously expensive hamburger for dinner. We waited around some more, went for another walk, and finally around 8:30 we were booked on a connecting flight. We landed at around 12:30 a.m. and called ahead to the hotel to reassure them that we still planned to arrive that night and please don’t give away our room. Which brings us around to automobiles.

Automobiles: By the time we reached Saint Louis and got our luggage it was after one o’clock in the morning. As we climbed onto the shuttle to the rental car place I stupidly said in a glass half full moment of insanity that at least there wouldn’t be a line at the rental car place since it was literally the middle of the night. I was wrong. And we are not talking a short line – there must have been 30 people in line with one clerk. Long story short we were at Avis for almost an hour and a half. By this time it is three o’clock in the morning. We decided we were too tired to make the two hour drive to Jackson so we called the hotel to inform a very sleepy clerk that, in spite of our previous assurances, we were not going to make it that night, but we would, we promised be there the following day. We got a room at a motel next to the rental car place and slept for a few hours before continuing on to Jackson.

Trains: Although the flight to Jackson was grueling it was totally worth it. The train was awesome and it was so fun to meet so many of you all in person. I had such a good time and am super excited to be part of next years train as well.

Which brings us back to Planes. On the way home, after several days of fun, fun, fun, we arrived at the airport where our plane was on time and we did not have to wait. Shortly after boarding the pilot comes on and makes an announcement. He starts off with “I have good news and I have bad news.” Trust me this is not something you want to have your pilot say minutes before taking off. The good news was that the plane was expected to arrive ten minutes ahead of schedule, so yay. The bad news was there were storms across the nation so we could expect a bumpy ride for pretty much the entire 3 hours. Oh joy. So I settle in with a glass of wine and hoped for the best. It was bumpy but not as bad as the pilot made it sound.

We arrived on time and made our connection for the second hopefully less bumpy leg of our flight. We boarded early and settled into our seats which were in row 1. We could see and hear everything going on in the front and noticed that the flight attendants were discussing the fact that there were all these parts left on the counter in the galley. Parts? They took turns trying to get through to maintenance while the others continued to get everyone settled. Every now and then they’d meet up to discuss the situation and I could tell that they weren’t getting through to whomever they needed to get through to.

Finally a guy came on board who had an official looking vest. I began to relax. When asked about the parts that were just laying there, he answered that he had no idea what these extra parts were for and left. I watched in horror as they closed the door and the crew prepared for take off. Are you kidding me? We are on a plane which plans to cruise at 30,000 feet and there are spare parts on the counter and so far not a single person seemed to know what they went to or why they were there! I wanted to point out that waiting a few more minutes for maintenance wouldn’t be the worst idea but the flight attendants didn’t seem overly concerned so maybe spare parts are a regular thing? I’m sure a plane has a lot of parts and everyone knows that when you take something apart it is hard to remember where everything went. Right?

Anyway, we made it home without incident and I am gearing up for next years train. I hope you can join me. Here is a link to check it out. http://twodamesandatrain.blogspot.com/

Comment below and let me know if you’ve had any fun travel adventures. I will pick one comment to receive a $15 Amazon gift card.

Happy Friday everyone. I am in Missouri for the Tonya Kappes Mystery Train this weekend. I know a lot of you plan to attend as well and I am superexcited to meet everyone. Even if you aren’t planning to attend the train event we will be doing a book signing at the Cape Girardeau Barnes and Noble on Sunday at noon so please do stop by if you are in the area.

In other news, the Whodunit Group that I was previously involved with has disbanded. Six of us from the group joined together and created Cozy Characters, a new Facebook group where Tonya, Julie, Laura, Tracy, Lynn, and I can share our books and our lives with the readers we love. Here is the link to join if you haven’t already done so https://www.facebook.com/groups/1781437155457873/

The Pumpkins in Paradise Book Club is complete and I think everyone really had a lot of fun so I asked Jayme to do another book club in October. We decided to do a Zoe, Costume Catastrophe, which will run from October 17 – 20. Be sure to hop on over and join if  you haven’t already. Here is the link https://www.facebook.com/events/681756311980858/ 

And of course it wouldn’t be October without the Kathi Daley Books Halloween Spooktacular. This year the event runs from October 23 – 31 and I have invited seven Cozy Mystery Bloggers to each host a date. Each blogger has invited an all star cast of your favorite mystery authors who plan to entertain you with games, chats, giveaways, and so much more.  Here is the link to join https://www.facebook.com/events/1807306899516140/  

I will also be visiting Author Catherine Bruns release party for Burned to a Crisp on October 11. I will be doing my takeover from 4:00 – 4:30 Eastern Daylight Time so please plan to stop and say hi. I’m sure I’ll be giving stuff away. I always do. https://www.facebook.com/events/112914672498681/ 

And now for the commercial announcement. Kathi Daley books now has 10 Halloween Books. Five are new this October. For links to all my Halloween Books hop on over to my Halloween Page. http://www.kathidaley.com/halloween-page

Costume Catastrophe is on sale for $.99 beginning today. http://amzn.to/2d7mRKx

Count Catula is now available in both Kindle and Paperback. See why the reviewers are raving about this new Whales and Tails Mystery.

“The mystery is well plotted and the author did an excellent job describing the characters and their backgrounds. Multiple murders, tons of suspects, lots of hints and clues, and I surprised by the final reveal.”

“Kathi Daley has penned another well-written, fast paced, classic cozy mystery, with a tightly woven plot with a host of twists and turns that is perfect for Halloween.”

“I could feel the fall air and see the decorations in town. I love the authors descriptive style of writing. This is action packed, full of suspects and well crafted.”

http://amzn.to/2cXa5tZ

And now for the Giveaway. Comment below for a chance to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card. I will choose one winner on Saturday 10/1.

I will be in New Orleans attending Bouchercon when this blog posts. I’m excited to be participating on a panel this year and am super excited to meet both the authors and readers who I have gotten to know through Facebook and other social media. If you are in the area please do stop by. I would love to meet you in person. If you can’t make it to this event here is a list of other places I will be popping up in the following months.

Bouchercon – New Orleans – September 15 – 18
Mystery Train – Jackson MO. – Sept 30 – Oct 1
Book Signing Barnes and Noble – Cape Girardeau MO. Oct 2
Kathi Daley Halloween Party (Facebook) – October 23 – 31
Left Coast Crime – Honolulu Hi – March 16 – 19
Malice – Bethesda MD. – April 27 – 30

To be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card comment below and let me know where you would like to see me make an appearance.

Now that all the hoopla of the Countdown to Paradise Launch is behind me, what is coming down the pike?

First of all we are still mailing out books and prizes. We gave away most of the books pictured above and it takes a while to address and post all those envelopes so please be patient. We should have them all in the mail by Monday or Tuesday of next week.

We still have the Pumpkins in Paradise Book Club on the horizon hosted by the amazing Jayme Maness so be sure to sign up. https://www.facebook.com/events/1408072279209347/

Up next from Kathi Daley Books is Count Catula. Due to time constraints I won’t be doing a presale for this book but it will still publish in September as promised. I’m thinking around the 25th give or take.

After that is Candy Cane Caper – A Zoe – which will go on presale in a day or two. It will publish in October. There is a LOT going on in this book. Not only is the mystery sort of complex but there are all sorts of things going on in the lives of Zak, Zoe, Levi, and Ellie. You definitely won’t want to miss it.

After Candy Cane Caper comes The Cat Of Christmas Present in November. Like The Cat of Christmas Past it will involve a Christmas Mystery that is not a murder. Next Christmas I plan to do The Cat of Christmas Future to round out the set.

I am also planning to launch the new Rescue Alaska Series in December. I don’t have a cover to share yet but Jessica is working on it.

So now you are all caught up. Comment below and let me know what you would like to see from Kathi Daley Books in 2017 and be entered to win a $15 Amazon gift card.

On Tuesday September 6, 2016 I will launch my first traditionally published series with the reissue of the Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries books 1 – 6. I think it is fitting that I will enter this new era in my career during the month of September, as September marks the anniversary of my career as an author. On September 15, 2013, I published Halloween Hijinks on somewhat of a whim, and as they say, the rest is history.

 A year later, in September of 2014, I produced an anniversary edition of the book which is the Halloween Hijinks which is currently on sale today.

 I am really excited to embrace this new phase in my career. I love self publishing and will continue to do so with the majority of the series that I publish but I do think traditional publishing has something to add to my overall portfolio as well. I wasn’t sure if I’d like working with so many people all who want to have a say so in the final product of the book, but I have found the staff at Henery Press to be fun individuals who are easy to work with and generally want to ensure my happiness with both the process and the product.

I have an awesome launch party going on over at https://www.facebook.com/events/848072505336998/ Please do join us for games, challenges, and giveaways from now thru September 6.

We will also be doing a book club for Pumpkins in Paradise from September 19 – 22. Please join us for discussion, games, and prizes. https://www.facebook.com/events/1408072279209347/

To be entered to win your choice of the new Tj Jensen books, comment below. Winner will receive a paperback or Kindle copy – NON US Kindle only.

I include recipes in most of my series. I like to include a sampling of both recipes I have developed over the years as well as recipes contributed by readers. Two years ago I took some of the recipes and created this cozy cookbook which also includes graphics and a short story, and I am toying with creating another one if I can find the time.

If you like to cook I have two opportunities for you. First of all I have a Facebook group which is really a recipe exchange. Here is the link if you want to share recipes, either original or those you found online or in a cookbook, with other readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/752806778126428/ I do not print recipes shared on this page, as it is for the enjoyment of group members only.

I also accept submissions of original recipes from readers for consideration in self published books. The recipes must be original recipes or recipes modified from a printed recipe to the point that it becomes original. If your recipe is chosen you receive a signed copy of the book, your name in the acknowledgements section of the book, and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. It’s a fun and easy way to see your name in print. Simply email me at recipe@kathidaley.com. The recipe should be typed out on a Word document with standard font (New Times Roman or similar.) If you have questions about format just email me.

I’m including a fun fall recipe from the cookbook for you to try and enjoy.

Pumpkin Patch Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 16 oz. can pumpkin (2 cups)

½ cup water

3½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tbs. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. all spice

4 cups walnuts, chopped

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs. Add pumpkin and water and mix well.

Combine dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Add nuts.

Spoon into greased cupcake pans (or use papers). Bake at 350 degrees for 28–30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional):

¾ cup of butter, softened

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Whip all ingredients together and spread on to cooled muffins.

Enjoy!

Comment below and be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card.

It is my plan at this point in time to introduce a new series in December after the Halloween and Christmas Books for the existing series have been published. I have several new series that I have been toying with and even working on to some extent, but I have finally decided to write the series I have been talking about for quite a while, a spinoff of Alaskan Alliance, one of the Zoe Donovan stories that took place in the town of Moosehead Alaska. I’ve changed the name of the town to Rescue Alaska since I plan the tag line to be A Rescue Alaska Mystery. I’ve also changed some of the facts about the characters just a bit. In Alaskan Alliance Harmony lived with her friend Jake and in the new series she lives alone with a bunch of rescue animals including: five dogs, four cats, six kittens, eight rabbits, and a blind mule named Homer.

I’m going to state right up front that this series is very Zoe-like. I’m sure there are those who will notice immediately that the series has the ‘feel’ of the early Zoe’s.  The protagonist I have chosen to feature is Harmony, a twenty-eight year old sweetheart that works in Jake’s bar and volunteers with the search and rescue squad along with six other locals. Harmony is a kind soul who loves animals, and in the opening story, she is focused on finding the money to build an animal shelter in their small town.

Here is an unedited excerpt from my working draft:

“Ms. Carson do you understand what I am saying?”

Harmony looked at the storklike man across the desk and frowned. “You are saying that you cannot consider my grant application unless I have secured a facility.”

The man let out a long breath, sounding like a wheeze, which Harmony was sure was more of a sigh of relief. “Exactly. I do love your proposal to build an animal shelter in your town but our grant is designed to be used for ongoing operations. I’m afraid without a physical presence we really must move on.”

Harmony leaned over to pick up her eight year old backpack. “Yes. I understand. Thank you so much for your time.”

“Perhaps next year?” the man encouraged with a lopsided grin.

Harmony smiled in return. Granted it was a weak little smile that did nothing to conceal her feelings of defeat. “Thank you. I’m certain that we will be able to meet your criteria by the next application cycle.”

“We begin a new cycle on June 1. If you can secure a facility by that time please feel free to reapply.”

Harmony thanked the man and exited his office. She tried to ignore the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach and instead focus on the clickity-clack created as the tile floor came into contact with the two inch heels she’d bought for just this occasion. She knew that the shelter committee desperately needed the capital the grant would have provided, and without it, they’d need to rely on plan B, which even she had to admit, was really nothing more than a blindfolded shot in the dark.

Had she really been working on this for more than a year? Maybe it was time to throw in the towel and accept defeat. The idea of building an animal shelter in Rescue Alaska was a noble one, but the mountain of fundraising and paperwork that needed to be scaled in order to make this particular dream come true, seemed insurmountable at best.

Harmony dug into her backpack for the cell phone which rang just as she stepped out of the warm building into the bracing cold of the frigid Alaskan winter. She pulled the hood of her heavy parka over her dark hair before wrapping the bulk of her down jacket tightly around her small frame. When her best friend Chloe asked about the outcome of the meeting she was tempted to admit defeat and suggest they drop the project until she thought about the strays that littered the town without a safe haven during the long months of winter. Most winters, more died than lived. Harmony saved those she could but without a shelter to house the rescues there was only so much she could do.

From this point on Harmony and Chloe talk about a plan to get Harley (Pretty much Harmony’s Zak) involved. Harmony doesn’t want anything to do with the man but she has the animals to think about and he has the resources to make the shelter a reality so she agrees to work with him. During the course of the story they stumble onto a dead body and work together to find the killer.

Okay, like I said, this series is almost a clone of the early Zoe Donovan’s.  I almost didn’t write this series for this reason. There are a few differences. Harmony will be a volunteer at the animal shelter but she will have a different job and there will be a search and rescue aspect to it that the Zoe’s don’t have.  And it is set in Alaska, which is awesome as far as I’m concerned.  I have toyed with the idea of making Harmony older and a bit more jaded rather than the sweetheart that she is, but I’m not sure a jaded Harmony would work for me.

So what do you think? As you are reading this are you thinking “Been there done that” or are you thinking “Yay, a new and slightly different Zoe Donovan?”  Comment below with your thoughts and be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift card.

It’s RELEASE DAY for Costume Catastrophe. I’m super excited about this book. For one thing Zak and Zoe really are my favorites and for another Halloween is my very favorite holiday. And the cover, isn’t it adorable? Jessica Fisher found the graphic and came up with the concept so she gets ALL the credit for this one.  So what have Zak and Zoe got going on this Halloween.

Well first of all there is a murder. Isn’t there always?

Ellie is struggling with telling her huge secret to Levi who is still quite clueless.

Alex goes on her first date and papa Zak has a coronary.

And much, much, more.

Here is an excerpt from the opening:

“We could still go with the chubby pumpkin costume,” I suggested to my best friend, Ellie Davis, as I tried to help her squeeze into a sexy vampire costume that was never going to fit.

“I’m not chubby,” Ellie insisted as she stood in front of the full-length mirror in the dressing room of the local costume shop, sucking in her stomach.

“I know, but you are three months pregnant. This costume isn’t going to fit no matter how much you suck in your stomach.”

“If I go as the chubby pumpkin people will know. It’s the classic costume for pregnant women.”

“No one will know.”

“They will.”

“Okay, how about a ghost? We’ll just grab a sheet, cut out some eye holes, and you’ll be good to go.”

Ellie started crying.

Again.

I knew it was the pregnancy hormones, but seriously? If I was going to cry at every little thing when I got pregnant I was going to go back on the Pill before it was too late. Of course Ellie wasn’t just pregnant; she had a secret—a very big, life-altering secret she’d already kept much too long.

“Don’t cry; we’ll figure this out.” I tried for an encouraging tone. “We’ll keep looking until we find the perfect thing.”

“It’s no use,” Ellie sobbed. “I look like a whale. I’ll just skip the party and stay home. It’s really the only logical choice.”

“You’re not staying home and you don’t look like a whale. In fact, other than the tiny baby bump you don’t look any different at all. Still, it’s not going to be too long before even the baggiest sweaters fail to hide your secret.” I took Ellie’s hand and led her over to the little bench that ran along one wall. I sat down, pulling her down beside me. “You know I love you and you know I’ll do anything for you, but it seems to me that your current dilemma might serve as a hint that it really is time.”

“I can’t.”

“You can and you should. Levi has a right to know.” I referred to the baby’s father, my other best friend, Levi Denton.

Ellie took a deep breath. Then she let it out slowly. “I know. I’ll tell him. I promise. I just need to find the right time.”

“Now seems like as good a time as any.”

“No. Not now. He has the big game against Bryton Lake this week. I don’t want to distract him. I’ll tell him after.” Levi was the head coach for the Ashton Falls High School varsity football team.

I gave Ellie’s hand a squeeze. “Okay. I guess it can wait another week. But we really do need to find you a costume for the party. You mentioned a whale. You know, a whale actually might be the perfect costume.”

Ellie started crying again.

Good going, Zoe.

“How about we take a break? We’ll go get something to eat and maybe we can try costume shopping again another day.”

“Okay.” Ellie dried her eyes with the back of her hand. “I guess I am hungry.”

Now for the giveaway. Comment below to be entered to win one of three copies of Costume Catastrophe. Kindle or Paperback – winners choice – NON US Kindle only.

I have been so very buried in my to do list since returning home from my unplanned trip to Nogales Arizona for the Little League Regionals, that I have barely had time to come up for air. My body is feeling the long hours at the computer as aches and pains set in, and my mind is so overwhelmed that if you speak to me all you are likely to get in return is a grunt. The reality is that deadlines are deadlines and they don’t really care if an unexpected trip has thrown your schedule into chaos, so the best you can hope for is to plow through and hope for that light at the end of the tunnel.

I’d just completed one manuscript and sent it off to my editor and needed to begin working on another for a different editor when I realized I still needed to write my blog. I decided to write it real quick before I began my next project but of course my mind was totally blank. When I couldn’t come up with a subject after several minutes I decided to take a short break and go out into the yard and water my flowers.

Of course Echo was thrilled to be outdoors since I’ve been too busy to spend much time with him so once he got outside he began running around the yard, barking at butterfly’s, and rolling in the grass. He kept bringing me a stick which I’d take and absently toss all the while thinking about what I still needed to do that afternoon and how I could fit several smaller tasks into my already full schedule.

I caught Echo out of the corner of my eye as he was rolling down the hill on the far side of our property. When he reached the bottom he’d jump up and run to the top of the hill to roll down again. I suddenly realized that the sun was high in the sky, the temperature perfect, the flowers colorful, and it had turned out to be one of the most awesome days we’d had all summer. I realized that it had been weeks since I’d been fully in the moment, neither thinking of what lay ahead or what had just occurred.

Now I wish I could say that being jolted from the fog I’d been living in caused me to chuck my writing for the day and head to the beach, but deadlines are real and wait for no one. Still I can say that in that brief period of time, I allowed my mind to be fully present as I watered my flowers and watched my silly dog enjoy the everyday moment he’d captured and made the most of.

I love to hear from you all so comment below and be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card. Winner will be announced on 8/6.