New year, new goals, new tools – Lynn Cahoon

 Jenn McKinlay: January is shaping up to be a wonderful month for new mystery releases and I am thrilled to share them with you! First up we have A Fatal Family Feast the sixth book in NYT bestselling author Lynn Cahoon's sixth Farm to Fork mystery series. Foodies, rejoice and welcome, Lynn!                                        

Lynn Cahoon: Goal setting, scheduling, planners, online calendars and scheduling apps. I’ve done them all. Well, maybe not all, but enough of a sampling to know what works for me and what doesn’t. 

Since it’s the beginning of the year and a lot of us are doing resolutions and annual goals, I thought I’d talk a bit about where I started, what has worked, and what was a total fail (for me.) As with all ideas and products, your results may differ. 

My love of time management planners started when I worked as a trainer with Region IV. I’ve always been organized. I was the girl in my college class that had done all the assigned work for an ‘A’ in a self-directed class two weeks before the end of classes and ruined the chance for the curve for the rest of the class. When I worked for the state, I got a Franklin planner. In the leather case. I still have the planner and now it’s mostly my address book. Anyway, I read Covey’s First Thing’s First book and used it as my bible. When I started doing mystery shopping and running my own business, I used other planners as my record keepers. 

When I became a published author in 2014, I had more dates and projects to keep track of. Keeping a schedule with big projects like writing a book or working a launch required more than just a note in a daily planner. I started using an Excel writing schedule which lists my contracted deadlines and what I’m writing, when I need to start, when I need to finish, and when the book will release. I’ve got plans through 2024.

I still use a handwritten overarching sheet with the things on my desk now – this blog, writing the current book (and words left), cover work, self-publishing to do’s, and upcoming edits. It lives on my clipboard along with a monthly schedule where I get to check off things as I do them and keeps track of writer events as well as total words written for a month. I really like checking things off. 

The Asana system helps me plan out my future, just so I know what’s next on a project. 10K words a week means I can finish a book in around 7-10 weeks depending on if I hit my goals. It’s a big picture look at the writing life and has helped me be more realistic on what I can reasonably get done in a day/week/month/or year. 

My Google calendar keeps track of author events, birthdays, dog grooming appointments, doctor appointments, and also serves as a reminder to do marketing. Monthly newsletters, social media posts, joint author events on group pages, etc. 

Finally, I drill down to this week and today. I set three ‘goals’ for the week. One is usually – write 10K. Other goals could be writing blogs (like this one) or attending an author event. Or developmental edits. 

I know what I have to do today, tomorrow and the rest of the week to meet these goals. Most of the larger goals, like copy edits, are broken down into bite size pieces using the Eat the Elephant model. Some are just phone calls or quick to dos that drop off my list quickly. 

Things that haven’t worked? 

A bullet journal. I’m not artistic enough to make planning fun. The blank page taunts me and I wind up just copying the same format I could buy in a cheap dated planner. And save a lot of time. I think having another blank page in my life (as an author, I always have blank pages in the writing process) makes me brain dead. I hate to use up my decision-making brain power on something that isn’t story. 

Same with fun stickers and artsy stuff for my planner. One, I need room to write things because I always have something I need to write on a day. And two, I’m frugal. (Okay, cheap.) I hate to use a sticker when I might find a better use for it. 

I also can’tjustdo a digital calendar. On the other hand, I can’t onlydo paper calendars. I review all three of my calendars (Google/work/written planner) for events monthly. If it’s only on my digital calendar and I’ve taken the day off my computer, things get missed. If it’s only on my paper planner, I can get lost in the digital world, and miss appointments that don’t have reminders set. 

And we haven’t even talked about my annual plans that I keep on three different documents. I have my 2022 Goals, 2022 Schedule, and 2022 Writing plans. The goal sheet is things I want to do or be this year. The schedule is a month-by-month plan on what I can write/edit/author events/and real life plans. And finally, the writing plan is for all those I want to do someday plans. Like taking a class or writing in a new genre. Or writing a series that has been calling to me for years… 

Of course, my amateur sleuths are also big planners. If there’s anything of me that shows up as one of my sleuths habits, it’s my love of planning. 

Now that I’ve bared my love of planning/planners/and goal setting to the world, it’s your turn. What one planning tool do you use that keeps you in line?  

Lynn

I’m giving away an e-copy of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST to one lucky commenter. 

BUY NOW

A FATAL FAMILY FEAST.

Angie Turner’s Idaho restaurant, the County Seat, is the perfect site for a picturesque country wedding, but the party planning skids to a halt when the groom-to-be is implicated in a murder investigation…

When Angie’s best friend and business partner, Felicia Williams, picks the County Seat to host her upcoming nuptials, Angie wants it to feel like a family affair--especially since Felicia is set to marry the farm-to-fork restaurant’s talented sous chef, Estebe Blackstone. Unfortunately, the bride’s actual family is far less enthusiastic about the union. They’re pulling out all the stops to cancel the couple’s wedding, even arranging for a surprise visit from Felicia’s ex-fiancé (and her father’s current lackey). But when her ex is killed days before the ceremony and Estebe is framed for the crime, Angie and the County Seat crew must scramble to solve the murder and save the wedding . . .

 

Lynn Cahoon, author of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST, a farm-to-fork mystery, is a NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Kitchen Witch, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and soon to release, Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at her website www.lynncahoon.com

Magic by Lynn Cahoon

JENN McKINLAY: Can you feel it in the air?

Autumn is coming (please, God, it's like 100,000 degrees in AZ) 

and with it, my favorite reads arrive most of which will include 

some sort otherworldliness like today's guest's new series - A 

Kitchen Witch! Here to tell us more is the delightful Lynn Cahoon.

LYNN CAHOON: Magic.  

It’s my go to reading subject. I totally fell in love and bought into the idea of magic as a kid (Phantom Tollbooth – Wrinkle In Time, and as I got older, The Lord of the Rings.)  I love magic on television and movies (Bewitched, Charmed, The Magicians, The Librarians.) As I’ve grown, I’ve continued to seek out magical realism in all content forms like Harry Potter, Harry Dresden, and Practical Magic.) It’s my go to, feel good story. 

Magic is also my favorite subject to write. 

When I was offered a chance to bring Magic Springs, Idaho to life with my local Kitchen Witch, Mia Malone, I jumped at the chance. Why? Now that’s another subject. 

I think I liked the ability to have a secret power, like a superhero without the cape or tights. Witches have a history in our real world. The Salem Witch trials being our historical reference on the question of how we deal with differences.  The answer is not well.  

Going even farther back, healers were suspected of witchcraft by using plants and potions to care for patients’ bumps and bruises. I’m sure for some people, blood letting was a healing proposition, but for most of the patients, it just made them weaker.  By tapping into this rich history, being a kitchen witch, allows my main character, Mia, to help heal others as well as create amazing food to sooth the soul. 

In story, magic is a way for crisis to be averted. Or, if things go completely out of hand, you can use the Christmas wish theme (Family Man, It’s a Wonderful Life) to make things go back to normal for everyone but your main character. He or she has learned their lesson and will be a better person for it.  

It’s something I wish we had in real life. Like the easy button from the commercial. A way to take the bad and turn it into something good.  And with the world events that are occurring recently, that’s a button I wish I’d had. 

But since I don’t own an easy button, I’ll write my Kitchen Witch mysteries. The magic in the books isn’t used to solve the mystery. That would be a short book. All it would take was a session with the Ouija board and ask the question, “Hey, dead guy? Who killed you?” The board answers and case closed. 

In my worlds, using magic for personal gain is a no no. The goddess doesn’t like it when you try to invoke the easy button. Instead, magic for Mia and her grandmother is a way to support the world and their community.  Magic is part of their being. Mia’s love of cooking and her skill as a chef and caterer can be considered magic as well. 

Even in the real world.  So what’s your favorite magical book? 

Lynn

Pre-Order Now

CHILI CAULDRON CURSE

Releases August 25, 2020

Chili Cauldron Curse 

releases August 25th, 2020

New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon introduces a new heroine with her own special brand of culinary magic in this novella to introduce her Kitchen Witch series.

When Mia Malone’s grandmother asks her to take a week away from her restaurant job and come to Magic Springs, Idaho, she’s happy to oblige. Like Mia, Grans has witchcraft running through her veins, and life with her is never boring. Plus, the cause is a good one—helping Grans get the local food bank up and running again. But there’s an unappetizing surprise in store. While Mia is knee-deep in boxes of donated produce, she encounters the body of Dorian Alexander.

Dorian was a warlock, leader of the local coven. He was also her Grans’ new beau. There’s no potion that’ll make this trouble disappear. But if Mia wants to keep her Grans—now a prime suspect—from serving a spell in prison, she’ll have to unearth the real killer fast. . . .  

NYTand USA Today bestsellingauthor, Lynn Cahoon, writes the Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. The Kitchen Witch cozy mystery series will release in 2020. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

Real mystery stories from the folks who make them up

HALLIE EPHRON: I thought it was brilliant the moment I heard it: a collection of stories by mystery writers writing about real mysteries in their lives. When its editor Victoria Zackheim, approached me to contribute a piece, I knew exactly what real mystery I  wanted to write about. For decades I'd been puzzling over a dear friend's experience communicating with her beloved brother who'd tragically been killed months earlier. Writing about it was my own journey of discovery. Rhys wrote an essay for the collection as well, a fascinating piece about why she was destined to write about World War II. We're joined by an amazing roster of mystery writers.

I was especially thrilled to get a chance to work with Victoria, who's edited numerous wonderful anthologies.

The result, "PRIVATE INVESTIGATONS: Mystery writers on the secrets, riddles, and wonders in their lives" is just out this week and Victoria joins us.

Exciting news: the book is an Amazon BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH!

VICTORIA ZACKHEIM:  Dear Reds, I hope you and yours are safe, healthy, and out of harm’s way. And thank you, Hallie, for inviting me!

I’m just back from a 7am market run—love that one-hour, Seniors Only time slot—and was keenly aware when the guy at the meat counter wrapped my order…and he wasn’t wearing a mask. What to do? Cooking kills the virus, yes? When I arrived at the check-out area, I returned the package. Too careful? Is there such a thing?

This brings me to life’s mysteries, which we’re all quickly learning can…and will…appear at the most unexpected times. 

And, not so coincidentally, is a nifty segue into…

When I create an anthology and begin the process of editing the essays, no matter what their focus, I’m always driven into my own process of introspection. Whether the subject is body image or how we use humor to soften the pain after losing a loved one, the explorations of the authors launch me into my own journey.

Such was the case with Private Investigations: Mystery Writers on the Secrets, Riddles, and Wonders in Their Lives. I waited for the essays to arrive, expecting they would be fascinating. What I did not expect was that they would become a foot firmly placed in the small of my back, nudging and shoving until I was willing to look at my own life-changing mysteries. But…were they mysteries? Did these events shape me into the woman I am today?

The writers in this book have lived, are living, dramatic and life-altering experiences. Can I say the same? And honestly, what constitutes a mystery? Something that surprises? What about something that is the source of despair or joy? Falling in love, surviving illness, basking in the warmth of friendship. The expected and the serendipitous. Holding a newborn for the first time. For me, these are mysteries!

I remember sitting with my mother when she took her last breath. Nearly ninety, she had become increasingly angry that her final years were so difficult. An artist who could no longer paint, a political activist whose voice had been stilled, she felt locked within the walls of her home and her failing body. And then, finally, she was at peace. And still I struggled with the why of it. Oh, my complicated, brilliant mother. Who she was will always remain a mystery in my life.

In this collection, twenty exceptional mystery writers share their own personal secrets, riddles and wonders. Their…mysteries.

Let me offer a few examples. Hallie Ephron visits a spiritualist in the hope of understanding her friend’s claims to have spoken with her murdered brother. Sulari Gentill discovers an uncle in Sri Lanka whose existence was kept a secret, until she stumbles upon a family photograph. Rachel Howzell Hall is living her life balancing writing, family, and career, until a new word joins her lexicon: cancer. We often experience confusion and mystery when there’s violence in our lives. Connie May Fowler recalls her abuse at the hands of her mother, the social pressures she felt as a childless woman, and a recent illness that was frightening, yet reminded her of the kindness of strangers. Difficult experiences for all? Yes, but they persevered and thrived.

Life teaches us such varied lessons, some of which are cloaked in mystery, such as our quest for truth and how we respond to love and loss. This pandemic has certainly unearthed emotions—fears, questions about mortality, a new look at what matters in life—and is leaving many of us confused and on edge. Living in a time of war is frighteningly similar. And yet, at the same time, both pandemic and war remind us of our resilience and courage, even when we’re facing the unknown. 

As Rhys Bowen says in her essay about the human spirit in wartime, My world was filled with wonder, but also with change and uncertainty.

We often see mystery as we work to adjust to our place in the world. Ausma Zehanat Khan, an international human rights attorney, explores the mystery of her origins and her family’s long and complicated journey that brought her to America.

As you read these stories—I resist calling them essays, because the label suggests something impersonal, perhaps even cold, whereas these narratives are rich with warmth and intimacy, sharing and trust—you will hear each author’s voice, share each story. You might frown, sigh, laugh out loud. That’s the magic of personal essays: they’re so damn personal!

If a mystery is an enigma that we must unravel, then I have experienced many. As, I am sure, you have as well.

What are your personal mysteries? What have you seen, survived, and experienced that has made you who you are today? Perhaps the writers in this anthology will churn up old memories that make you smile, even weep. The point is, you will feel. And as you discover elements of yourself, you might also begin to understand how important all of us are…and the essential part everyone plays in this mysterious theater we call life.

Please share your mysteries! And above all, be safe and well!

HALLIE: What are your personal mysteries? Something that disappeared or was unexpectedly found? Something that happened that shouldn't have. Something you couldn't explain...

PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS edited by Victoria Zackheim,  published by Seal Press
In this thrilling anthology, bestselling mystery writers abandon the cloak of fiction to investigate the suspenseful secrets in their own lives. Contributors include Tasha Alexender, Cara Black, Rhys Bowen, Lynn Cahoon, Steph Cha, Jeffrey Deaver, Carole Nelson Douglas, Robert Dugoni, Hallie Ephron, Connie May Fowler, Sulari Gentill, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ausma Khan, William Kent Kreuger, Caroline Leavitt, Kristen Lepionka, Martin Limón, Anne Perry, Charles Todd, and Jacqueline Winspear.

Farm to Fork by Lynn Cahoon

JENN McKINLAY: I spent my childhood amidst the apple orchards and dairy farms of Litchfield County, CT. When I saw Lynn Cahoon bust out a fabulous farm to fork mystery series, I was all in! Here's Lynn to tell us more about it. 

Lynn Cahoon

LYNN CAHOON: I grew up in a household that thought eating out was getting four-for-a-dollar tacos on Taco Tuesday. The fact my mom had three kids still in the house when she married my step-father, made eating at home a much cheaper option. Especially since our new home was a 40-acre farm where my stepfather raised cows and had a knack for bartering our other meat. Some years we raised chickens, other times, we bought them at the store when they were twenty-five cents a pound. Mom had a huge chest freezer that always had some kind of meat, but boy, I got tired of steak.

Sunday dinner, which was served in the afternoon, was glorious. Chicken dusted in seasoned flour in a paper sack then fried in a cast iron pan filled with melted lard. Mashed potatoes with country gravy. A green salad, with iceberg lettuce and home-made ranch dressing. Corn we’d bagged and frozen the summer before. And always a dessert. Chocolate cake was my favorite.

Fast forward a few years and now Farm-to-Table restaurants are popping up all over. So I thought this was a perfect time to write about my home and open, fictionally, a farm to fork restaurant in the little town of River Vista, Idaho. 

The best thing about writing this series was I got to go home in my mind and make it kinder and softer. And I did a lot of research in the form of eating at as many farm to table restaurants as I could. I must have ordered fried green tomatoes in every southern state I visited over the last two years. And last year, when I was writing the third book, I went searching the streets of Ontario for poutine. 

You’ve probably guessed by now, I’m all about the food. 

If you’re from the southwestern Idaho area, you probably never heard of River Vista. Yet a lot of the landmarks I’ve used in the series are real. Like Celebration Park on the Snake River. Or Initial Point where years ago, they first laid out the boundaries for the new state.  

Even River Vista is modeled after my old home town. Although I had to change a few things. The drive-in where I used to eat fried fish and fries for lunch when I was in high school is still there. But I’ve played around with the other shops and sites in the town. But always, the real town is underneath the fictional town as I’m writing. 

What I hope I’ve caught with WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE and the just released, KILLER GREEN TOMATOES, is the feel of the area. The feel of a warm summer night sitting outside on the porch. The taste of farm fresh food on your plate. And the warmth of the people in a small town. Especially for newcomers. 

And if River Vista has tripled its homicide rate since Angie and her friend Felicia have moved back, it’s really just a coincidence. 

So, Reds and readers, what’s your favorite comfort food? 

KILLER GREEN TOMATOES, book 2 of the Farm-to-Fork mystery series released July 3^rd.  

The time seems ripe for success as Angie Turner opens her farm-to-table restaurant in her Idaho hometown—until her new tomato supplier is accused of murder and Angie has to pick the real killer . . .

To Angie, nothing tastes more like summer than her Nona's fried green tomatoes. Eager to add the recipe to the menu at the County Seat, she's found the perfect produce supplier—her sous chef Estebe’s cousin, Javier. Just one problem: ladies’ man Javier’s current hot tomato Heather has turned up dead, and he’s the prime suspect. Somehow, between managing her restaurant and navigating a romantic triangle between Estebe and Ian, the owner/manager of the farmer's market, Angie needs to produce evidence to clear Javier—before this green tomato farmer gets fried . . .

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER, book 1 of the series, won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction. She also pens the Cat Latimer series available in mass market paperback. SLAY IN CHARACTER releases 11/27/18. In 2018, she’s releasing the first two books of the new Farm to Fork series – WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE and KILLER GREEN TOMATOES. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com