Celebrating a new book and more... with Debra H. Goldstein #bookgiveaway

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Today we are happily welcoming back that writer who's dangerous in the kitchen, Debra H. Goldstein, celebrating the launch of FIVE BELLES TOO MANY, her fifth Sarah Blair mystery. Today she's in a contemplative mood, looking at the milestones that life and a writing career can offer up to us.

DEBRA H. GOLDSTEIN: I lurk, but I read the Jungle Red Writers blog religiously. Consequently, like most of you, I’ve come to know tidbits of the various authors lives – including their families. I’ve rejoiced with them when a grandchild has a Bar Mitzvah, a daughter becomes a co-writer, a child reaches a new milestone, and been saddened when there has been a loss of a loved one.

Two things I’ve come to look forward to are the announcements of new books and new grandchildren. The fun from both of these is the anticipation of how this new being will grow, be accepted, and mature in today’s world. From the tidbits from this blog, we know some will turn out successful, some duds (okay, none of the JRW’s family members but maybe a book here or there), some empathetic, some hilarious. During the past few years, I’ve found myself in the same duo state of anticipation.

As you read this, know that it is but one of several blogs that will appear this week announcing Kensington’s “birth” of my new Sarah Blair mystery, Five Belles Too Many. It is the fifth book, but one of my favorites in the series. I loved the idea of writing a behind the scenes account of a television show filming five finalists, including Sarah’s sixty-plus-year-old mother, trying to win the perfect Southern wedding.

The time researching and prepping the book was fun, as was putting Sarah in the middle of everything by making Sarah her mother’s chaperone. As you can imagine, Sarah, the woman who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder, isn’t any better suited to being a chaperone.

My trepidation is whether the world of readers will see the humor in this situation the same way I do? Will they like the book? I can only hope (pray) the nuances of the different couples will engage readers and that they will feel I stuck the whodunit.

Similarly, I hope readers notice and are satisfied with the arc growths of characters with whom they already are familiar. Most importantly, will readers buy Five Belles Too Many? I don’t know. I can only contemplate how the book’s life will flow.

At the same time that I am agonizing over the birth and development of Five Belles Too Many, the stork delivered a baby to my daughter and son-in-law (because I write cozy mysteries, I can’t go into the details). From his fingers to his toes, this eight-pound thirteen-ounce, full head of dark-haired boy has won my heart.

Already, I’m anticipating how he will get along with his sister, whether he will tend to smile or frown, whether he will be geeky or an athlete, whether he will be tall or short, and what kind of man he will become. Each wish and dream I have for him is accompanied by a fear or question.

There isn’t much difference in how I feel about the birth of Baby Bear (his sister’s name for him) or Five Belles Too Many. Both share the miracle of coming to life, my anguish, anticipation, and the sense of joy they are giving me. OK, maybe I am a little prejudiced in Baby Bear’s favor for the long term, but in the short run, Five Belles Too Many is important, too.

For a chance to win a copy of Five Belles Too Many, tell me how you feel about new books in a series and your take on reality game shows.

Dangerous in the kitchen: Debra H. Goldstein

 HALLIE EPHRON: She's a judge who's hilariously funny. She writes cozy culinary mysteries but she's dangerous in the kitchen. She's the smart, award-winning author of the Sarah Blair mysteries ("Sarah, like me, is a cook of convenience who might be scorched if she gets too close to a kitchen.")

Today we are happily welcoming Debra H. Goldstein, sharing her love-hate relationship with the kitchen.

And by the way, her newest -- FOUR CUTS TOO MANY -- has just been published and she's giving away a copy to one lucky commenter.

DEBRA H. GOLDSTEIN: Before I was married almost thirty-eight years ago, my friends gave me a kitchen shower during which, because I hated the kitchen and cooking, they challenged me to identify what was in each of the gift boxes. Everyone got a good laugh when I pulled out a beautifully matched set of paper plates and napkins and someone quipped, “Oh look, she got her good china.” They were equally amused when I recognized the plastic box with the funny lid that could be rested on the counter upside down was a recipe box. It wasn’t that I’d known what the top of the box was for, but because there was a recipe card stuck in it reading: “Make Reservations.”

For thirty-six years, I adhered to that modus operandi. I even created a fictional character, Sarah Blair, who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder. Her specialty, like mine, is take-out or dishes made with prepared ingredients. Some of our best recipes are for Spinach Pie made with Stouffer’s spinach souffle, Jell-O in a Can, and stewed tomatoes that are simply heated canned peeled tomatoes.

Then, the pandemic hit. Although Sarah has continued making amusing recipes, I was forced to find my way to the kitchen at least three times a day. Pity my poor husband. In the past year, I have cooked us more meals than I prepared during the prior thirty-six years combined. There is no question that Joel eats at his own risk.

Rather than sharing another recipe with you today, I thought I would impart three important things I have learned this year:

1) If when you are trying to automatically clean your oven, you hear a pop and the digital timer on your stove changes from the time to reading F8, you have blown the computer brain. This can take up to two weeks for the replacement part to arrive and be installed.

2) F2 is the message your stove will send you when the oven catches fire. The flames will be bright enough that you won’t have to put the oven light on to see them. It is important that you are careful when putting out the fire. After the fact, when you’ve opened all the doors, turned on the fans, and the fire alarms in your house stop ringing, be aware that there may be soot not only in the stove, but because you turned on the fan to clear the air a bit, soot may migrate to the windowsill on the far side of the room from where the stove is located.

3) If the recipe calls for using a non-stick frying pan and a tsp of olive oil, make sure you use a tsp instead of a tbsp to measure the oil. More importantly, as you heat the oil, don’t add a drop more because you are afraid the pan doesn’t look sufficiently coated to prevent the protein you put in from sticking. Failing to follow the recipe as dictated will result in hot oil spattering on the stove top, counters, floor, and exhaust fan. The resultant mess takes longer to clean than sautéing the protein.

HALLIE: For a chance to win a copy of Four Cuts Too Many, do you have any similar kitchen tips or horror stories to share with Sarah and me? (I could write a treatise on the difference between a pint and a half-pint of cream: it's the difference between cheese pie and cheese soup.)

FOUR CUTS TOO MANY: Sarah Blair gets an education in slicing and dicing when someone in her friend’s culinary school serves up a main corpse in Wheaton, Alabama . . .

Between working as a law firm receptionist, reluctantly pitching in as co-owner of her twin sister’s restaurant, and caretaking for her regal Siamese RahRah and rescue dog Fluffy, Sarah has no time to enjoy life’s finer things. Divorced and sort-of dating, she’s considering going back to school. But as a somewhat competent sleuth, Sarah’s more suited for criminal justice than learning how many ways she can burn a meal.

Although she wouldn’t mind learning some knife skills from her sous chef, Grace Winston. An adjunct instructor who teaches cutlery expertise in cooking college, Grace is considering accepting an executive chef’s position offered by Jane Clark, Sarah’s business rival—and her late ex-husband’s lover. But Grace’s future lands in hot water when the school’s director is found dead with one of her knives in his back. To clear her friend’s name, there’s no time to mince words. Sarah must sharpen her own skills at uncovering an elusive killer . . .

Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series (Four Cuts Too Many, Three Treats Too Many, Two Bites Too Many, One Taste Too Many). She also authored Should Have Played Poker and IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories and novels have been named as Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Silver Falchion finalists. Debra serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America and is president of SEMWA. She previously was on Sisters in Crime’s national board and president of SinC’s Guppy Chapter.