GETTING MY DUCKS IN A ROW by VM Burns

LUCY BURDETTE: Today I'm happy to bring back a friend from Mystery Lovers Kitchen, VM (Valerie) Burns. If you love comfort food with a southern twist, visit her on alternate Thursdays on our cozy foodie blog. But enough about food--today she's talking about big life changes, and how they made their way into her new book. Welcome Valerie!

VM BURNS: A year ago, I realized it was time. Time to make a change. Time to take a leap of faith. Time to quit the soul sucking day job and write fulltime. It was time I got my ducks in a row.

Ever since I came out of the closet and announced to the world that “I AM A WRITER.” I’ve met hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who all want to write. I never knew there were so many people who shared my dream. Sadly, most people never get beyond the dream stage. Some start writing, but never finish. Others finish a book, but are quelled by the cold realities of traditional publishing. It’s HARD. Even for those of us who are fortunate enough to land an agent and a traditional publishing deal, getting to the stage where you can support yourself as a writer, is almost impossible.

Why is writing fulltime such a challenge? The primary reason is that traditional publishing doesn’t provide a steady, regular income. The day job paid me every two weeks. Most traditional publishers pay royalties twice per year. And royalties are based on sales made six months in arrears. There are also things like taxes, insurance, and intellectual property that I needed to figure out. Thinking about all the things that I needed to do was overwhelming. I read books. I attended seminars. And I talked to people who were doing it. Ultimately, I came up with a plan (and a backup plan) which enabled me to take the leap. Giving up the safety of a regular paycheck along with health insurance felt like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. It was scary. But, it has also been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Getting off the corporate ladder isn’t for everybody. And for anyone who’s stuck in a soul sucking day job, I recommend doing your research before making that leap. Getting your ducks in a row may involve consultations with doctors, lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and therapists. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And sometimes, you may need to make small baby steps rather than giant leaps. As Samantha Washington says, “Life is too short, not to be happy.”

My journey to corral my ducks was the inspiration for the 11th book in my Mystery Bookshop Mystery series, Murder From A to Z. Whatever your goal is for organizing your ducks, don’t be afraid to put in the research and come up with a plan (or three). After all is said and done, you may ultimately decide NOT to jump out of that airplane, but at least you’ll have neat orderly ducks.

Most people think of making big life changes at the start of a new year like diets, exercise, and financial changes. Do you have ducks that you want to organize in 2026?

 

ABOUT THE BOOK: Nana Jo has volunteered her lawyer granddaughter, Jenna, to teach estate planning to retirees—with Sam providing her bookshop as the venue. But during the seminar, entitled Getting Your Ducks in Order, it quickly becomes clear someone’s up to Fowl Play. When elderly Alva Tarkington, accompanied by her niece, sits down for a consultation, Sam realizes the woman’s frequent blinking is actually Morse Code—S.O.S. The sisters get her alone, and Alva tells them she believes her life is in danger and must change her will . . .

Unfortunately, Alva is found dead the next day—seemingly from natural causes. But Nana Jo and the sisters suspect otherwise. In between penning her latest historical mystery, set in 1939 as England declares war on Germany and Lady Elizabeth Marsh pursues stolen paintings and a traitor, Sam teams up with the senior sleuths of Shady Acres to search for motives—beginning with Alva’s family. They soon learn not everyone is who they say they are, and someone is more than qualified to teach a class on cold-blooded murder . . .

Murder From A to Z releases on January 27th.

Valerie (V. M.) Burns is an Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, and Next Generation Award-finalist. Writing as V. M. Burns, she is the author of the Mystery Bookshop, Dog Club, and RJ Franklin Mystery series. As Valerie Burns, she writes the Baker Street Mystery series. She also writes the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series as Kallie E. Benjamin. In addition to writing, Valerie is an adjunct professor in the Writing Popular Fiction MFA Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Born and raised in northwestern Indiana, Valerie now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles. Connect with Valerie at vmburns.com.

The Weather Outside is Frightful! Please Check In!

 

Red readers! We've heard so much about the storm roaring across the country, please check in and let us know what it's like in your neck of the woods... Here are a few of our pix...

JENN: You don’t want to hear about my weather or that I’ve started my lemon harvest. 💛

RHYS: You call that a lemon harvest??

Meanwhile in Dallas, Deb's intrepid husband has been preparing for any and all disasters...

And Lucy has been waiting for news on a tiki boat cruise (so sorry)...

Julia: It's slightly warmer than projected this afternoon; it's gone all the way up to 16°! Still going to be bitterly cold for the next several days. I'm dreading the snow storm  - not because of any power outage, because it's projected to be so light it won't take any lines down - but because I never found a plow guy to replace my retiring one, so I have to shovel my whole driveway myself!

Hallie: Here… Very cold (12 this morning) and snow starts  tomorrow. Predicting 12-18” and lasts into Monday. My snow plowers have been great so far this year so fingers crossed. My car is tucked into the garage. Praying for no power outage. If that happens I have no backup plan.

Here's Hank's bird feeder over the course of the storm...

Lucy: This is a photo taken by Sarah Stewart Taylor in Times Square, NYC during a lull in the storm. She is supposed to be in Key West right now and we're all so disappointed!!

From Julia, still in Maine: The way to shovel very deep snow safely is to do it in steps. Literal steps! I shovel off the top few inches, then the next few inches, then the last of it. 

I read a fascinating piece of information about indigenous Inuit peoples - one of their techniques for surviving in the cold was to move slowly. When you go slowly, you don't get hot and sweaty, which then makes you feel colder. So I'm definitely using that technique!

And a final note from Debs on Monday afternoon: That is mostly sleet, with some snow on top. It may be Wednesday afternoon or Thursday before we can safely get out. I know all of you who have serious weather are laughing at us, but we don't have the infrastructure here to deal with much frozen precip. Only very major roads are sanded, no plows, etc. Schools and small businesses are still closed although some big corporate stores and supermarkets are opening today. At least our new car has all-wheel drive for when we do venture out!

Our house is still pretty cold downstairs, but I am enormously relieved that we didn't lose power!!!

Red readers, let us know--how did you make out with the weather?

Read This, Not That: What We're Reading at the Reds!

LUCY BURDETTE: If last month was a month for reading lighter holiday books, this month seems to be dedicated to books I haven't chosen, but received for Christmas and my birthday. I just finished the newest Richard Osman, THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTUNE. The same lovely characters are in play, so I’m not sure why it took me so long to get through it. Maybe the frequent switches in point of view derailed me? Anyway I did finish and enjoy it, but I will be glad for a rest before tackling the next one. I was in the process of deciding what to read next when my son and his husband sent me The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. This has gotten so much press that it was quite irresistible. I’m not very far along, so far not finding it gripping. It amazes me that no one expected this book to be a bestseller, but word of mouth has propelled it to the New York Times list! John bought me Megha Majumdar’s A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF, which I hadn’t heard of, but it too has gotten wonderful reviews so I will try it. And I am reading/listening to Ruth Reichll‘s Save Me the Plums. She is going to be our Friends of the Key West Library guest speaker in February, so I’m rereading and brushing up even though I believe I’ve read all of her books before.

(PS I’m now ⅔ of the way through THE CORRESPONDENT and I see exactly why people are pressing it into the hands of reading friends. How can a set of letters be so compelling? Evans has managed it!)

Your turn Reds, what are you reading or looking forward to reading?


HALLIE EPHRON: I started a book recommended as a “literary page turner.” Blurbs from huge names. And I could not get past the opening chapter – a prologue really. Containing words I had to look up. And familiar words used in unfamiliar ways. Writing that draws attention to itself. For readers made of sterner stuff than I.

And now I’m immersed in Ann Cleeves RAVEN BLACK. Cleeves does something I always recommend writers NOT do, which is tell the same scene from one character’s viewpoint; then retell it from a second character’s viewpoint. And of course like every “rule,” write well enough and you can break it. And Ann Cleeves breaks it brilliantly.

Sometimes being a writer handicaps me as a reader.

JENN McKINLAY: I just finished NO ONE WOULD DO WHAT THE LAMBERTS HAVE DONE by the brilliant Sophie Hannah and as I told her when I interviewed her the Poisoned Pen, I’ve never read anything like it. It is quite the page turner!

Next up I’m reading an ARC of WARNING SIGNS by Tracy Sierra for another event at the Poisoned Pen on February 24th. Her debut novel NIGHTFALLING was the pick for Jimmy Fallon’s spring of 2024 book club so I’m eager to read this one.

Other than that, I haven’t had time to read much as I’m on deadline per usual.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m in the middle of Marisa Kashino’s BEST OFFER WINS, a thriller about a woman who will stop at NOTHING to get the house of her dreams. It takes place in the DC area, where my sister is a Realtor, and some of the stories she’s told me make this book sound like non-fiction! Next up is THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS by Jennie Godfrey - sort of a cross between Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series and Billy Elliott. I know, that sounds strange, but it has a wonderful narrative voice.

Finally, I’m anticipating THE CORMORANT HUNT by Michael Idov, which is coming out tomorrow! I loved the first book in his trilogy, THE COLLABORATORS, and can highly recommend the series to any of you who like modern spy thrillers like Slow Horses.

No science fiction! I guess it’s been a slow month.

RHYS BOWEN: having been nurse and minder for John for the last month as well as doing edits on one book and copy edits on another I’ve had little time for reading. But I did enjoy the Restoration Garden, also a fun book about a walk across France. Now I’m starting a Single Thread which looks promising!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, do you know LJ Ross? She’s so famous in the UK, but not so much here. YET. Because her newest book IMPOSTOR will be released here soon, and it is so terrific! Set in a small town in Ireland, and the main character is an instantly-iconic doctor/profiler. Highly highly recommended. Really.

I am also reading Marisa Kashino’s Best Offer Wins, and enjoying it. And sometimes, they creep up on you. I had to read Meagan Church’s THE MAD WIFE for an interview, and I was initially so wary. But wow, it’s amazing. (MId-century housewife, very emotional and surprising.)

Oh, and finally, yes, Jenn, agree that The Lamberts is a tour de force! And Sophie Hannah is a genius.

Rats, I know this is too many, but have to add Tim Sullivan. I read THE CYCLIST, and was completely won over. A neurodivergent British DS, and done so beautifully! I promise you will love this series.

And getting ready for OUR BEAUTIFUL MESS in order to interview Adele Parks!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: An odd assortment here. The standout was AN UNSEEN WORLD by Liz Moore, which my daughter gave me for Christmas, insisting I read it ASAP because she loved it so much. I did, too! Fascinating, original, perfectly plotted, and impossible to accurately describe. You could call it a coming of age story but that doesn’t begin to do it justice.

I also read the latest in S.J. Bennett’s The Queen Investigates series, THE QUEEN WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, which was great fun. Now I’m reading a David Nicholl’s book called THE UNDERSTUDY–sooo English!--a romantic comedy about an actor who can’t quite make it. Next up is Lori Rader-Day’s BREAK YOUR HEART, which I’m really looking forward to. Oh, and I–probably insanely–ordered a hardcover copy of THE LONELINESS OF SONiA AND SUNNY by Kiran Desai from my local bookstore. It’s 688 pages and may break my wrists…

Reds, reds, what are you reading??