Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Two Irish-Themed Stories from Maddie Day and Barbara Ross

Jenn McKinlay: Having just returned from Ireland myself, I can not tell you how happy I am to welcome -- Fàilte -- two of the  Jungle Reds fave mystery writers with their Irish-centric mysteries! Yay!

Hello to all. Maddie Day (then known as Edith Maxwell) and Barb (aka Barbara Ross) have traveled a lot of the same roads on this publishing journey. Our first books were published by small presses. Our first series with Kensington debuted in the same year. We’ve been blogging together over at Wicked Authors for nine years. We already knew each other from Sisters in Crime New England and the New England Crime Bake. And both of us have been mentored and supported by several Reds. 

 

And this month we have books with the same theme coming out on the same day. We’re giving away two each!

 

In Four Leaf Cleaver, by Maddie Day, a cooking competition on Saint Patrick’s Day at Robbie Jordan’s Pans ‘n’ Pancakes goes seriously awry.

 


 

In Irish Coffee Murder, a collection of novellas by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross, the holiday is Saint Patrick’s and the signature drink of the day is murder.

 



 

To celebrate, Maddie (L) and Barb (R) sat down at the (virtual) kitchen table to talk writing, research, mysteries, and series.



Maddie: Barb, y
our novella solves a cold case, a crime from the past. Have you written other cold cases in your Maine Clambake series? Is it easier or harder than having your protagonist evade a criminal lurking in the present?

 


Barb: In mystery novels, it’s not unusual to have a crime in the distant past informing a crime in the present. What’s different about this novella is there is no crime in the present. (Is that a spoiler?) Therefore I had to really work at maintaining suspense and keeping the reader interested in a very cold case. The novella length is part of what made that feasible.

 



Barb: Maddie, why did you choose to write about St. Patrick's Day?

 






Maddie: I usually come up with my own book idea, unless I’m asked to write a Christmas novella, for example. For this book, my (and Barb’s editor) at Kensington suggested I could do a cooking competition. Or, he said, “What about a St. Patrick’s Day theme?” I found the combination irresistible, so I did both! Batter Off Dead, the previous book in the series, takes place in July, but after that was “Scarfed Down,” a Christmas novella. A mid-March story slotted into book time perfectly.

 

Maddie: This is your fifth novella, and you've said before you like writing that length. Would you consider writing only novellas in the future? Why, why not?

 

Barb: I do love writing these 25,000 to 30,000 word stories. I’m writing one now to be published in the spring of 2024. (Red Julia Spencer-Fleming was part of a brainstorming session for this one.) I’m very lucky my publisher, Kensington, has offered me the opportunity to be a part of these collections of stories. However, I wouldn’t write only novellas for two reasons. 1) I would miss the opportunity to tell longer stories, And 2) getting novellas published outside the confines of these anthologies is very difficult.

 

Barb: This is the 11th book in the Country Store Mysteries. What do you find more challenging and what is easier when writing this far into a series?

 

Maddie: I’m writing book 12 now and have a contract through  book 13, which is kind of astonishing. What’s easier is that I know the world. I’m pals with my chef’s staff, hugely fond of her Aunt Adele, and adore Robbie Jordan’s husband Abe almost as much as she does. I know how hilly Brown County is and what fictional South Lick looks like. I love when it comes time on my rotation to write a new Country Store book so I can plunge back into that world and hang out with my imaginary friends.

 

As with any long-running series (looking at more than half the Jungle Reds right now), the challenges come in keeping the stories fresh. Making sure protag Robbie Jordan keeps changing and growing in her personal life and in her sleuthing. Finding plausible new people to murder and that Very Good Reason for Robbie to have to investigate. 

 

Maddie: Do you have Irish heritage? Or doesn't it matter for writing about an American holiday with little resemblance to actual Ireland? 

 

Barb: “Perked Up” takes place entirely in Maine, though Julia and friends do go on a roadtrip to the middle of the state while investigating the mystery. I knew next to nothing about the Irish in Maine and found a marvelous book, They Change Their Sky: The Irish in Maine, a collection of scholarly  essays edited by Michael C. Connolly. When we think of Irish emigration to the United States we tend to think of famine-driven immigration to big cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. But that is only a part of the story. Did you know the oldest surviving Catholic church building in the US is in Newcastle, Maine? (Next town on the coast from where the Clambake mysteries take place.) Still in use, Saint Patrick’s was built  in 1807 by Irish immigrants who became wealthy shipbuilders.

 

As for me, last summer in Dublin, I had a really fun visit with a genealogist at EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum. I have Irish ancestry, somewhat distantly, on both sides. My father’s great-grandmother, Eleanor Armstrong, was born in 1843 County, Armagh, now in Northern Ireland and my mother’s great-great-great grandfather was born in 1812 in Dublin.

 

Barb: How about your Irish heritage? What kind of research did you do to write this book?

 

Maddie: My maternal grandfather, Richard Flaherty, was a classic bullheaded Irish-American in San Francisco who didn’t speak to my mother from shortly before I was born until he died, as stubborn as ever and with a full head of dark hair, at ninety-four. He had twin brothers who didn’t speak to each other. On the other hand, one of those twin’s sons, my mom’s cousin Bill, is a sweet and devoted family man I’ve gotten to know a bit. I look forward to finally getting to Ireland sometime soon and digging more deeply into the Flahertys of my great-grandparents’ generation.

 

Unlike you, Barb, I didn’t dig too far into the Irish in Indiana, and my Maxwell family roots there are Scottish. For research, I adapted and tested lots of Irish-flavored recipes, and otherwise went full-on American interpretation of the holiday (except green beer). 

 

Maddie and Barb: Thank you to Jenn for hosting us! We hope you’ll all join us at the Wicked Authors blog every weekday, and find us at our web sites and on social media. We wish you happy Irish-styled reading.

 

Readers: What’s your favorite holiday to read about? Do you celebrate any obscure holidays nobody writes about? Do you have a St. Patrick’s Day tradition? We’ll each give away a copy of our new book to two commenters (that is two commenters, two books each).

 

In Four Leaf Cleaver, there’s no mistaking Saint Patrick’s Day at Pans ’N Pancakes, where  the shelves of vintage cookware in her southern Indiana store are draped with Kelly-green garlands and her restaurant is serving shepherd’s pie and Guinness Beer brownies. The big event, however, is a televised Irish cooking competition to be filmed on site. Unfortunately, someone’s luck has run out. Before the cameras start rolling, tough-as-nails producer Tara O’Hara Moore is found upstairs in her B&B room, a heavy cleaver left by her side. Now, not only does Robbie have a store full of festive decorations, she’s got a restaurant full of suspects . . .

 

In “Perked Up,” Barb’s novella in Irish Coffee Murder, It’s a snowy St. Patrick’s night in Busman’s Harbor, Maine. When the power goes out, what better way for Julia Snowden to spend the evening than sharing local ghost stories—and Irish coffees—with friends and family? By the time the lights come back, they might even have solved the coldest case in town . . .

 

Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the new Cece Barton Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and award-nominated short crime fiction. Day/Maxwell lives with her beau and cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her at EdithMaxwell.com, Wicked Authors, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media: BookBub,Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

 

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Barbara’s Maine Clambake novellas are included along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis in holiday anthologies from Kensington Publishing. Barbara and her husband live in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com, on her blog at Wicked Authors and on BookBub, Goodreads, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

 

92 comments:

  1. What's not to love about both of these books! I've always enjoyed St. Patrick's Day, and I'm delighted to have some great reading for it now. Edith, the Irish cooking competition sounds delightful. I used to look for somewhere local that was serving something Irish on St. Patrick's Day, but it doesn't seem our small town does that much. I love your cover for Four Leaf Cleaver, and I wish I'd ordered the paperback, but I got it on my Kindle so that I can adjust the letter size. Barb, with a snowy evening, ghost stories, and Irish coffees, your novella is bound to be fun. And, I never really stopped to think about when it's a cold case being solved you need to work differently to keep the suspense built up.

    Good luck to you both with your new publications! I think the St. Patrick's Day connection to going to go over big time.

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    1. These books both sound really fun and great!

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    2. Totally get what you mean, Kathy! I just realized that I have not seen decorated Christmas trees in any of the shops recently. Even before the pandemic, I rarely saw these in the shops. Once in a while I would see a book tree in a bookstore. The bank would have a Christmas tree.

      Diana

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  2. Congratulations, Maddie and Barbara, on your newest books . . . .

    My favorite holiday to read about? It’s a toss-up between Christmas and Easter, mostly because those are the two holidays most likely to include children in the story . . . and I do love having the wee ones included in the telling of the tale.

    We tend to celebrate all those special days that everyone else does . . . . somehow, Memorial Day seems to be one of those days that slip by without much storytelling.
    As for the obscure days, when our children were little, one of our favorite days to celebrate was for their half birthdays . . . .

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    1. Thank you, Joan. Half birthdays are a great way to add celebrations.

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  3. Congrats Edith and Barb on your new release. I enjoy reading holiday-themed cozies. They are fun, especially when they come out of season. No obscure holidays are separated.

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  4. It's so much fun to start the day with Edith and Barb at the front of the blog. I do love holiday themed books and there are plenty of holidays from which to choose. Christmas and Halloween are two very popular themes with certain predictable elements. They are perfect holidays for cozy mysteries. Also, the Fourth of July and Memorial Day are excellent settings for mysteries but not used nearly as often.

    Seasons and the weather that accompanies each one in a story's location, combined with a holiday theme, can create an irresistible atmosphere. That combination is my favorite; a snow storm, a hurricane, a heat wave. Several years ago in Connecticut, we had a snow storm on Halloween, followed by a freeze and huge power outages statewide. What a setting for a mystery!

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    1. We had that snowstorm on Halloween too, Judy! I featured a small-town Memorial Day parade in Mulch Ado About Murder, my fifth Local Foods mystery. I based a lot of the parade on the one in the real small town where I used to live.

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  5. I love that both of the books are finally available to the world at large!

    I read an advance copy of Four Leaf Cleaver and loved it. My review is over on Goodreads and it must've been halfway decent because Maddie/Edith used a pull quote from it in online advance hype and in her latest newsletter. That is always cool to see. I'm glad that there are at least two more books to come in the series (and hopefully many more after that). Oh and I have a copy on hold for me that I'll give to a friend of mine.

    I haven't yet read Barbara's story "Perked Up" but I do have a copy of the book and I'm looking forward to reading it as well.

    Thanks for the great double interview here today. I don't have a particular holiday that I enjoy most but given that most series that do write about a holiday end up with a Christmas theme, that is the one I probably read the most.

    My only St. Patrick's Day tradition is making sure I wear some T-shirt that has green as the primary color. Usually a Boston Celtics T-shirt..

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    1. I always have to scramble to find something green to wear, Jay, since it's not a color I own in clothing.

      Yes, it was a good review! I'm delighted you loved the book.

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    2. Jay, that is so cool about Edith pulling a quote from your review! Diana

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    3. Bibliophile/Diana - I always say Edith Rocks! But Edith is Cool works too!

      Edith, is there a reason you don't own any green clothing or just something that happened naturally?

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    4. Naturally. It's just not a color I gravitate to.

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  6. For St. Patty's day my husband (a lawyer) wears a large green soccer jersey that says, "Member of the Irish Bar" - it's one of my favorites.

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  7. Welcome Barb and Maddie/Edith! I can't wait to read these--funnily enough, my August book, A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS, takes place around St. Patrick's Day (which is crazy in Key West!) We were in Dublin a few years back and took a cab to the airport--the driver couldn't say enough about how much he loved going to Boston for St Patrick's Day. The natives all treated him like family!

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    1. I'm looking forward to your next book! A Flaherty second cousin came from San Francisco to Boston with a girlfriend for St. Patrick's Day about ten years ago - she was SO excited to experience it here.

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  8. EDITH & BARB: Yay, for two new Irish-themed mysteries from you both!
    I read an ARC of Four Leaf Cleaver last year and enjoyed it. And thanks so much for sending me a signed copy of the book, Edith!! I am thrilled that you used my suggested title for this book.

    My Byward Market neighbourhood has 4 Irish pubs, so they normally go crazy on St. Patrick's Day. I will miss it since I am in Tucson on March 17 for Left Coast Crime so I will have to see what they do there to celebrate.

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    1. GRACE: Congratulations! I loved that Edith used your suggested title for the book! Diana

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    2. Grace, that is so very cool that your suggestion became the actual book title! That's a nice feather to have in your #Booklife cap.

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  9. From Celia: WOW to you both, there’s nothing like waking up to Irish coffee and green beer! Big Congrats to you Edith and Barbara. Of course for me what better combo than a nice, tricky murder and lots of food. Robbie has my heart. She is so hard working, caring and wants all to go well in her world. As an immigrant English I love reading about other areas of the US that I haven’t been able to visit yet. Barbara here I am in Maine and still hoping to be invited to a beach clam bake though I’ve been to plenty in other locations. As for fav story holidays I have to vote for Christmas as it lends itself to all sorts of blind clue alleys, foid and fun.

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    1. Thank you, Celia. "A nice, tricky murder and lots of food" - that pretty much describes my series!

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  10. Congratulations to both of you Maddie/Edith and Barbara on your latest books! I enjoy reading Christmas-themed stories during that holiday season, especially if food and recipes are included.

    I thought the mash-up piece you both had on The Wickeds blog yesterday was super fun -- your two characters meeting in one story. Would you consider a full-on mash-up book? Maybe with a holiday theme?

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    1. Thank you, Amanda! The mash-up was a lot of fun. I doubt Barb and I will write a book together, but I did bring back Cam Flaherty, my protagonist in the Local Foods Mysteries, to solve a crime with Cece Barton, my new California wine bar manager, in a novella that will be out in September in the Christmas Mittens Murder collection. That was fun.

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    2. Oh that's great, Edith. Will be fun for readers, too!

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    3. The return of Cam will be fantastic to read about!

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    4. Agreed, it will be nice to read a story with Cam and your new protagonist Cece!

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    5. I had fun writing it! Cam now has a three-year old daughter and is married to state police detective Pete.

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  11. Congratulations Edith and Barb! I suppose any holiday could provide a setting and details for a good story, but Christmas is where my mind went--the darkness is already there--and the light as well.

    My twin, her boyfriend at the time, and I once tried to meet our other sister in Butte, Montana on St. Patrick's Day. What a crazy scene. We couldn't even get near the bar--green beer was flowing in the streets.

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    1. Good point about the darkness and light at Christmas, Gillian. And who knew Montana was so Irish?

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    2. Butte is an amazing place! The mines attracted Cornish, Irish and other miners from Europe. For awhile, I dated an Irish-Catholic guy who grew up there and he learned Gaelic from his grandma--and how to make Cornish pasties. Ivan Doig's book Work Song completely captures the spirit and history of Butte.

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  12. I do love a holiday themed book! Most of the ones I have are children’s books and I do still pull them out and read them just for myself. Alas, no grands to share them with this far. As for adult books, I have read many Christmas ones with a few Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentine ones. These St. Patrick’s Day ones are going on my list!
    We have a friend who is nuts about Groundhog Day. Each year he comes up with Groundhog lyrics for a different twist on some other familiar tune. Our youngest son’s due date was Feb. 2, so that year we got a shout out in Don’s song. His enthusiasm for the holiday has rubbed off on us a bit. It’s a bright spot during the long winters here in Minnesota.

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    1. I like the thought of elevating Groundhog Day, Brenda!

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  13. Love these! Great interview, Barb and Edith! Holidays/vacations already bring tension and drama to a story--a murder mystery just ups the quotient of possible mayhem! I don't think I have a favorite holiday--any time family and friends gather is a good time. But I've always enjoyed teaching the next generation to roll their r's on Saint Patrick's day as they proclaim "Me great-grandmother was an O'Bryan!" We're into the 'great-greats' now.

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  14. I enjoy Christmas-themed stories, and I don’t necessarily need to read them at Christmas. Things can get hectic around then. It’s relaxing to sit down and read a Christmas mystery when things have quieted down. (I like to watch Christmas movies in July!)

    When the pandemic came along. I fell behind on several favorite series, as I couldn’t concentrate on reading. I look forward to getting caught up with Edith/Maddie and Barb!

    DebRo

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    1. You have some great books ahead of you with the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Deb.

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  15. From Danielle: Congratulations Edith and Barbara on your new books themed around St-Patrick’s day !

    Like for you Edith, Robbie and company have become friends and I enjoy reading about them. I have no doubts that the festive atmosphere of the day , the menu, the competition and the interaction of characters will be satisfactory like a good meal.

    Barbara, I love your Clambake mysteries but never read one of your novellas. Your description of this one on the post tells me that I should enjoy it.

    I surely read lots of stories taking place around Christmas because there are so many but I love any story around a festive time.

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  16. Congratulations Edith and Barbara! What fun having you both here and talking about your new books. If I have any Irish blood it must be from so far back and now be so diluted it probably doesn't count. But like almost everyone else I'm still Irish for St. Patrick's day! I'd like to know more about Irish food. I do sometimes make Irish soda bread with a recipe I got here on JRW. It is so good! Will there be recipes in either of your books? I'm still looking forward to reading them, in any case.

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    1. My Country Store Mysteries always have recipes, Judi. Enjoy!

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  17. Welcome, you two! LOVED listening in on your chat--it's lovely to see how affectionate and supportive you are of each other. Let's see...you could do all the holidays in a book about a person who owns a holiday-theme store. (A holiday theme-store. a place where she sells things for holidays.) Hmm. Is there already such a thing? And how often, wonder, have Fourth of July fireworks (and the cannons on the Esplanade) drowned out gunshots? Hmm..

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    1. Hank, I noticed your last name is Ryan.

      Are you Irish? I have met Irish people who look like you.

      Diana

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    2. A holiday supply store would be a great cozy anchor, Hank! In the previous book in this series, Batter Off Dead, a murder did take place under cover of fireworks, but the town's summer Friday night ones, not on 4th of July.

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    3. I like the idea of a pop-up store as an anchor--those ones that appear prior to the holiday and disappear right after. Feels like Brigadoon.

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    4. OOHHH Brigadoon! YEs, exactly. Okay, dibbing it. Forget I brought it up. Erase your minds. It never happened....

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    5. ANd oh, Diana, no, not one bit of Irish. That I know of! (Ryan is an ex-husband :-)) xx

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  18. Edith/Maddie and Barb, welcome to JRW!!!

    Love reading about your Irish ancestry, Edith and Barb! I have Irish ancestors. My mom, who always thought her family were Mediterrean, was surprised to discover that she had Irish ancestry at two percent. My father has Irish ancestry amongst Scandinavian, German, Scottish, English, Welsh, and French/Dutch ancestry! I was Not surprised about my Mom because her father's grandfather looked like George Bernard Shaw! I asked my Mom how her Spanish / Portuguese ancestors would include an Irish ancestor? She thinks maybe an Irish emissary was sent to the south in the ? 7th century? Who knows? That is a mystery.....

    Favorite holiday to read about: Christmas. Yes, Christmas is my favorite holiday!

    Obscure or little known holidays? I loved the Japanese? Children's Day when I was a child. St. Andrew's Day and Robert Burns Day. St. Lucia's Day, which honors the eldest daughter in Scandinavian tradition. I am sure that there are many other holidays too. I often discover little known holidays when reading international novels.

    St. Patrick's tradition? In school, I remember a boy saying no one can pinch him for not wearing green because he had green eyes, I said I had green eyes too but I still got pinched if I did not wear green! I hate that tradition of pinching if you did not wear green! Good grief! My favorite St. Patrick's tradition is baking shamrock cookies. When I was at Catholic school, I remember the shamrock shaped cookies.

    AND I started a new tradition of reading Irish books on St. Patrick's Day! I look forward to reading Edith/Maddie's Irish book and Barb's Irish novella on St. Patrick's Day! A friend from University wrote a PhD paper (I cannot spell Disseration ) about Irish history/literature. She was one of the worker bees who helped put together a beautiful IRISH Book of Days. And I have a copy of that book.

    Great post today!

    Diana

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    1. Thank you! Kids can be so mean with that pinching stuff. I always hated it. Enjoy your St. Paddy's Day reading.

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  19. I like books set around Thanksgiving but I’ll read about any holiday sgiden at verizon(.)net

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    1. I need to write a Thanksgiving book sometime soon.

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    2. I have a book Fogged Inn and and a novella Scared Off that end at Thanksgiving, but I've never written a story about Thanksgiving. Hmmm...

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  20. So happy you both have books this week. I know I have English and Scottish roots, thinking there must be Irish there too. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's day! dfb030858@msn.com

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  21. I'm always happy to hear about writers based North of Boston. Enjoy the holidays!

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  22. St Paddy day celebrations are everywhere, aren't they? We used to walk down to one of the neighborhood bars and enjoy a Guinness and free swag. Ditto for Cinco de Mayo but substitute a Modelo Negra or a Bohemia for the Guinness. I love the craziness around Halloween, myself. With adults in costumes there is certainly opportunity for bad deeds!

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    1. I am not a fan of Halloween personally, but it certainly create plenty of opportunities for fictional mayhem.

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  23. You all know I'm a sucker for holiday-themed mysteries, and St. Patrick's Day is always a winner, isn't it? Maddie/Edith - I usually roll my eyes at pun titles, but "Four Leaf Cleaver" genuinely made me laugh out loud! And Barb, I'm delighted you're going to be doing more novellas. I think it's a form that has so many possibilities, as you point out in the interview today. (It's also the length I get to when I attempt short stories...)

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    1. Laughing. I always say my novels are too short and my short stories too long, so this is the perfect length for me.

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    2. Julia, that title is courtesy of our own Grace Koshida! I love it, too.

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  24. Big congrats, Maddie/Edith and Barb! I'm so looking forward to both of these stories and loved your dual interview! I do like holiday themed mysteries, and if I had to pick a holiday, it would be Christmas.

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    1. Christmas certainly has the most possibilities--and I'm guessing the most book sales. Looking forward to interviewing you next month.

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    2. Ooh, cool - Debs, are you going to Key West? If it's virtual, please let us know!

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    3. Barb, I'm so tickled you'll be interviewing me! Edith, yes, I'm speaking at the Key West Friends of the Library!

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  25. Love your books! Glad there are more coming.

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  26. Well, this was fun! I can't think of another St. Patrick's Day themed book I've ever read, so I'm looking forward to both of these.

    When I was in high school a teacher--a nun--asked everyone with Irish heritage to raise their hands. I didn't know for sure, but raised my hand, anyway. Sister actually singled me out to tell me I did NOT have Irish heritage.

    Well, the joke's on her. DNA tests say otherwise.

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    1. Wow - how did she think she knew everything about your heritage?

      Everybody - Karen helped me with a detail in this book and I mention her in the Acknowledgments!

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    2. Really? Which detail? I'd completely forgotten about it!

      My maiden name is German, and everyone in town knew my mother's family, which had a French name. But my paternal grandmother's family had Irish and Scottish roots.

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    3. You helped me find where restaurants would be reviewed in Cincinnati!

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  27. Congratulations on your books! I really like reading about Christmas gatherings and Fourth of July get togethers. I celebrate April Fool's Day every year because it was my dad's birthday and is mine as well.

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    1. What a fun holiday to celebrate - and much potential for mayhem, too.

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  28. Congratulations to both of you! I'll read about any holiday or tradition a writer cares to explore.

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  29. This post makes me so happy! Thanks for joining us today, Maddie and Barb! My Irish eyes are smiling :)

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  30. Lots of Irish and other Celtic ancestry for me, so St. Patrick's Day is always one to look forward to. It requires a good soda bread and perhaps a nip of Irish whiskey! I enjoyed your joint interview and loved the mash-up you did on your Wickeds blog. Any holiday is good for a story in my world. One that seems to be overlooked is one we in the Southwest relish, Cinco de Mayo. Lots of possibilities for a fun story there. Oh and since we are on a Southwestern theme, how about Dia de los Muertos? Now, that just cries out for a mystery! Look forward to reading both books soon. Thanks!

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    1. I love Cinco de Mayo! And my birthday is the day after Dia de los Muertos. It's been a favorite since I learned about it.

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  31. Congratulations on the books! I don't have a favorite holiday to read about or an obscure holiday. I don't even do anything special for St. Patrick's Day. Gosh, getting so boring in my old age.

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  32. I like reading about all the different holidays. Living in the Chicago, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. The Chicago River is dyed green, there's a parade, green beer and corned beef and cabbage. I always wear green on St. Patrick's Day and make corned beef and cabbage.

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    1. How amazing to dye a whole river green! And ... weird?

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  33. Well, St Patrick's Day is pretty special to me.I was born the day before .Eva Patricia anyone? My grandmother was born in Irishtown, in the NY Adirondack Mtns. We always celebrate St Patrick's Day with corn beef dinner & Irish Soda Bread. And we end the week celebrating our wedding anniversary. Always all in Lent too!

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