Missing Inspiration by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: I am in the thick of writing proposals. This is the best part and the worst part of the writing process to me. Taking that kernel of an idea and crafting it into something that readers will love, always feels like landing at the base camp on Mount Everest. 

I love it when an idea comes out of the ether and fills my brain, taking over my every thought until I get the story down on the page. Unfortunately, this very rarely happens and it's much more likely to be an idea that goes nowhere, a notion that goes sideways, or a concept that tanks before it can become a fully realized PROPOSAL. 

One of the biggest challenges right now is that the industry is very saturated in romcoms and mysteries and what I hear repeatedly from the publishers and booksellers is that they want "the same but different". When I ask what they mean specifically, I am told that they don't know but they'll know it when they see it. As you can tell I have spent many an hour banging my forehead on my desk.

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When things seem impossible, I do look behind me and remember that PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA came fully formed while I sat in my car waiting for a Hooligan while the SPRINKLE WITH MURDER arrived almost by happenstance when everywhere I looked there were cupcakes and everyone I spoke seemed to be talking about cupcakes and I just happened to be looking for a fresh angle on cozy mysteries. 

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Since I am fresh out of inspiration, a very disconcerting place for me since finishing the cozy fantasy, I must ask both the Reds and the Readers, what do you do when your creative well is dry? Do you have a technique for kick-starting your brain or your creativity? In other words...HELP!

FONDANT FUMBLE -- Jenn's release day!

Today's the day! FONDANT FUMBLE is officially out!

 

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JENN McKINLAY: You know that old chestnut that we always ask authors -- where do you get your ideas? This book is probably the easiest time I'll ever have answering that question. It was five years ago (side note: sometimes we have to sit on ideas until they really take shape) and I saw a news story about two football players and a friend who bought a cupcake bakery franchise called Gigi's Cupcakes (another side note: Gigi's  used to be in Scottsdale and they were so good but I think the pandemic squeezed them out). 

Anyway, here's the full story on the football players and their friend from their website: The Cupcake Guys. 

Michael Griffin -- Brian Orakpo -- Bryan Hynson aka The Cupcake Guys

In short, three friends who met at University of Texas Austin always wanted to own a restaurant together. Two of the trio went on to play for the Tennessee Titans but the restaurant dream remained, except it rolled into cupcakes when they became aware of Gigi's Cupcakes, a Nashville bakery phenomenon started by Gigi Butler (who has a pretty great story as well), and they decided to buy a franchise. Brilliant, right?

How could I not use all of this football-cupcake story goodness for the plot of a mystery? It was five years in the making but it simply had to be done! And I have to say, I had an absolute blast writing this one.

Tell me, Reds and Readers, are you a football fan? 

Who's your team? If you could own a franchise what would it be?

Here's a picture that was my inspiration and below are the deets of FONDANT FUMBLE for anyone who wants to read them:

sweetdiscoveries.com

The Fairy Tale Cupcakes crew helps two professional football players in knead when the athletes are suspected of murder and their dream of opening a bakery is crushed, from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. They’re spending the off-season in Scottsdale working in Mel’s bakery, learning about the business and how to bake show-stopping cupcakes. The popular athletes bring a boom of customers to the store as football fans flock to see the friends mixing batter and piping icing.

Everyone’s excited the athletes are pursuing their dream of owning a bakery—except for those who fear the players will ditch football for fondant and retire early from professional sports. The angry naysayers include their team owner and Keogh’s sports agent, along with some very vocal fans.

When the owner of their team, the Arizona Scorpions, is found dead on the floor of their new bakery following an argument with Keogh, the pros become prime suspects. As the investigation heats up, Mel and the rest of the cupcake bakery crew must step up and prove their franchise owners are innocent before it’s game-over for the new bakers.

Cover Reveal! by Jenn McKinlay

 

WE HAVE SOME WINNERS!!!

Pat S, you are the winner of Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day's MURDER UNCORKED. Please send an email to edith@edithmaxwell.com

Alice, you are the winner of Kate Carlisle's $25 gift card to the Poisoned Pen Bookstore. Please email her assistant at jenel@jenellooney.com

JENN McKINLAY: Every time I think there is no way the art department can come up with a cover for my book, they prove me wrong. Yesterday, I shared the Vegas cover from the cupcake bakery mysteries and I think we can all agree, it is fabulous. Then, of course there was the time I was into Zombies...

And then there was a rodeo...

A beauty pageant...

A wedding...

Another wedding...

And a holiday mystery (which was just released)...

And now, well, what other setting could there possibly be?

FOOTBALL! Naturally.

Or as I like to say, "Are you ready for some cupcakes?"

This is a sneak peek as the book won't be listed with retailers until Nov 9th but I just couldn't resist sharing! How fun is this? It will be available in July 2024!

Now truthfully, I am out of ideas. Hit me, Reds and Readers (not literally), where/how/why/what should happen in the next cupcake bakery mystery?

SUGAR PLUM POISONED is available now!

 

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JENN MCKINLAY: Usually, the cupcake bakery mysteries drop every April or May, as reliably as the tide coming in...except this year. Because when I decided to write a holiday mystery a spring release just seemed silly. 

I mean I know some stores like to put up Christmas and Halloween displays at the same time (the SHAME!!!) and some places even start plugging the holidays in August (there should be laws against this, I'm just sayin') but to be honest having the cupcake mystery book come out in October after fifteen years of always releasing in May...it has me all kinds of messed up! I have no idea what day or month it is. I'm a hot mess, I tell ya. 

And, of course, publishing being publishing, my Christmas themed cozy mystery is out NOW weeks BEFORE Halloween. Every bit of me recoils in horror at this. Because I love Halloween and I do not like having my holidays get all mashed up. Santa riding a broomstick is just wrong. Okay, end of rant. 

It did get me to pondering which of these holidays do I prefer? I figured it would be Halloween hands down. I mean CANDY and dressing up, and CANDY and, frankly, less work and CANDY -- LOL. But I wanted to be certain so I took a Buzzfeed quiz (they have a quiz for everything) and it said...well, I'm not going to tell you...yet. Take it for yourself: QUIZ: Halloween vs. Christmas

All that being said, I suppose readers can buy their copy of SUGAR PLUM POISONED and wait until December to read it. I just know myself and when a new book in a series drops, I have to read it RIGHT NOW! 

How about you, Red and Readers? Do you devour books in a series as they drop or can you wait? And which do you prefer Halloween or Christmas or a different holiday all together? 

My quiz result said I enjoy both holidays equally. Hmm. I think this depends upon whether I've been naughty or nice ;-)

More about the book:

It’s Christmastime, and this holiday season, things are heating up for the bakers at Fairy Tale Cupcakes, in the newest Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

When up-and-coming singing sensation Shelby Vaughn arrives in town for two weeks of concert dates, she hires her old friend Angie and the rest of the bakery crew to supply cupcakes for the VIP guest lounge every night.

After overhearing Shelby in a heated argument with her manager, Mel is concerned, but she and the crew decide to make the best of their time working with the star. Just as the bakers fall into the rhythm of the job, Shelby’s manager is found dead, clutching a bit of fabric from a Santa suit and a cupcake. With the bakery crew and Shelby’s backup dancers all dressed in similar Santa costumes, it’s impossible to say who is the killer. When all suspicions lead back to Shelby, Mel and Angie stand up for their friend, determined to prove her innocence before she’s frosted for a crime she didn’t commit.

Are You Ready for Some Football? What We're Writing: Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: I mentioned last week that I was working on FONDANT FUMBLE (two NFL players buy a Fairy Tale Cupcake franchise and mayhem and murder ensue, natch) and I was reviewing my methods of murder. Now, of course, I'm in research mode and looking at cupcakes with a football themes. OMG, y'all, look at some of these brilliant cupcakes!

Nutter Butter Football Cupcakes

https://bakedbroiledandbasted.com/nutter-butter-football-cupcakes/

Chocolate Cupcakes with Reeses Peanut Butter Egg Footballs

https://www.momlovesbaking.com/easy-superbowl-football-cupcakes/

Chocolate Football Cupcakes with Coconut Grass and a Truffle Football (Vegan, dairy free, whole grain)

https://www.texanerin.com/chocolate-football-cupcakes/

Yes, writing this series is a real hardship. LOL. While these pictures and recipes do inspire, I'll be creating my own recipe for the cupcakes cobbled out of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. 

I have my own chocolate cupcake recipe that I like to use, but I am loving the green coconut, so that's a possible add. As for the football, the Nutter Butter ball is genius, so I might be tweaking that as well. I am definitely not someone who follows recipes exactly. I look at them more as guidelines to jumpstart my own creations. 

How about you, Reds and Readers? Do you follow recipes exactly or do you look at them more as suggestions? 

What We're Writing: Jenn is Cooking Up her Next Endeavor

 Jenn McKinlay: I'm working on a cookbook. Yes, me the one who doesn't cook (although I do bake). Crazy, I know!

My favorite bakery cookbook - inspired!

Now I know it sounds ambitious, but hear me out. The cupcake bakery mysteries have 3-5 recipes in each book and I'm writing the fifteenth book right now with a contract to go to sixteen. Yes, writing that mystery is my other project of the moment but it's in no shape to be shared as yet, so back to the cookbook.

After being asked for a cookbook - many many many times - by readers over the years, I decided okay fine. Because it is a rather big undertaking for a fiction writer, I divided the recipes from the (almost) sixteen books into two volumes so the first cookbook will have thirty-two recipes from the first eight books and the second volume coming out after the sixteenth book in 2024 will have the other thirty-two. This all came about rather organically when Christie Conlee, the personal assistant I hired to run the Facebook page, Tik Tok videos, host random giveaways, dream up promotions, and so on, turned out to be a home baker! How's that for kismet? 

We talked about it on and off for a year, and I had to clear the decks of my schedule so I could wrap my head around this endeavor, but it's finally happening!!!

Last fall, Christie went into a baking/photographing frenzy while I cleaned up the recipes. Now we have ISBNs, and we're on deck with Ingram Spark, while my cover artist, Lyndsey of Llewellen Designs, is working her magic on a cover for us. Yay!!! 

I'm pretty excited and we're hoping to launch the first volume on Sept 6th, 2022!!! 

To celebrate, here's one of the recipes from the cookbook. My very favorite cupcake - the Blonde Bombshell. 

Cupcake and photo by Christie

An almond-flavored cake topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkled with toasted almonds. 

 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened 

 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
 

2 eggs, at room temperature 

 1 1⁄2 teaspoons almond extract 

 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder 

 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
 

2 1⁄2 cups flour
 

1 1⁄4 cups milk 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar at medium speed, add eggs and milk, and beat until smooth. Beat in extracts. Add dry ingredients, beat until smooth. Fill cupcake liners 2⁄3 full. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Makes 24. 

 Frost with vanilla buttercream and sprinkle with toasted almond slivers. Toasted almonds: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts in one layer on an ungreased, shallow baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden. 

 Buttercream Frosting 

 1⁄2 cup solid vegetable shortening
 

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened 

 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
 

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
 

2 tablespoons milk 

 In large bowl, cream shortening and butter. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides of bowl often. Add milk, and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Makes 3 cups of icing.

So, Reds and Readers, have you ever considered publishing your own cookbook? 

**The winner of Lucy's A SCONE OF CONTENTION is Terrie Black! Please email Lucy raisleib @ gmail dot com to make mailing arrangements.

STRAWBERRIED ALIVE! Jenn's 50th book is released TODAY!

 

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JENN McKINLAY: 50!!! How crazy is that? A reader commented when I made the announcement, that my publisher should give me a car. I like the way they think! 

Aside from this being my 50th book, it's also the 14th book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. How is this even possible? I remember the day the idea for the series came to me. It was spring of 2009. I was still working as a part-time librarian and my coworker was getting married. We spent our entire shift on the reference desk debating cupcake flavors for her wedding cupcake tower—chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, cookies and cream...the options were endless. On the same day, my agent at that time posted to her social media that she always checked out the local cupcake bakery when she traveled. I thought this was a brilliant tip. And that evening, my son’s godmother texted me that we had to check out the new cupcake bakery that had opened up the street from my house because they sold shots of frosting. Yes, please! 

It occurred to me as I tried to sleep that night that this was the mystery series hook I had been seeking. I mean cupcakes and death, what’s not to love? 

So fun! Even so, I thought it would be a three book series, maybe five if I was lucky, and now, well, I just signed a contract for two more so we're going to sixteen, baby! I am gobsmacked! I absolutely could not have accomplished this without all of the amazing readers who took Fairy Tale Cupcakes and my wacky bakery crew into their hearts and I have to say I am so very grateful. 

Of course, because I'm me, I fret about how long a series should run. When should an author end it? When they have series fatigue? That seems like an obvious yes. Or do you just keep writing until the publisher pulls the plug? What do you think, Reds and Readers? When do you think is a good time to end a series? 

Now everyone has my permission to go buy a cupcake and celebrate the release of STRAWBERRIED ALIVE!

 

It's finally here: FOR BATTER OR WORSE!

Jenn McKinlay: Book releases never get old. It's always a thrill -- like having your birthday, Halloween, and the Fourth of July all mixed into on great glorious day! 

FOR BATTER OR WORSE is the 13th Cupcake Bakery Mystery -- 13th!!! -- which is remarkable mostly because when I started writing the series, I figured three books were about all I could get out of a mystery series set in a cupcake bakery. I've never been so delighted to be so very wrong.

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This particular book finds our amateur sleuth, cupcake bakery Melanie Cooper, attempting to marry her long suffering boyfriend/fiancé Joe DeLaura. Will they finally make it? Yeah, like I'm going to tell you. 

It also follows one of the supporting cast members, Oscar (Oz) Ruiz as he leaves the bakery to go out on his own and become the pastry chef at a posh Scottsdale resort.

Side note: I just read in the paper that Scottsdale is the #2 spot in the country for bachelor/bachelorette parties. We're right behind Nashville. So, there's some inspiration for another book.

The kitchen at my fictional Sun Dial Resort was inspired by the audio book Kitchen Confidential written and read by Anthony Bourdain. I had been listening to it at the gym while plotting out the mystery and the idea of setting my story in an Escoffier inspired brigade de cuisine style kitchen took hold and wouldn't let go. If you haven't read Bourdain's book, I highly recommend it. 

The inside look at the big kitchens in restaurants and resorts was fascinating. So many interesting people are chefs. Which makes sense because high pressure cooking for strangers is a weird occupation if you step away and look at it. The entire restaurant lifestyle is just so different. I worked as a waitress at Jimmie's of Savin Rock in New Haven (West Haven, technically) for a couple of summers in college. That's as close as I want to get to the high pressure restaurant biz, unless I'm a customer!

Now, because of my gym reading, poor Oz has a dust up with the executive chef and when the chef is found murdered with Oz kneeling beside him, Oz becomes suspect number one. Now Mel and Joe have to find the real killer before Oz's new career is put on ice.

If you want to chat more about it, I'll be live tonight at 8 PM EST on the indie Facebook: Fans of Jenn McKinlay page to celebrate the release of the book and answer questions! And I'll be at Murder by the Book on May 6th at 7 PM CST virtually with Mia P. Manansala and Terrie Moran Farley. 

So, Reds, what books have you read that inspired your mysteries? And readers, how much fact do you like with your fiction, because I have to say sometimes it is really hard to pull back on all of the research and just sprinkle the story with pertinent bits!

 

Caramel Crush

INGRID THOFT
It is such a treat to celebrate the publication of our own Jenn McKinlay's new book, Caramel Crush: The 9th installment in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series.  Jenn is the New York Times best selling author of five series and is releasing a stand alone at the end of May.  How does she write so much while dodging the dirty socks of her teenage hooligans and hanging out with her hubby's band?  She's either a wonder of time management or a whirling dervish, not to mention great fun with a terrific sense of humor.

Without further ado, here's Jenn to tell you all about Caramel Crush!

You’d think after nine books, I’d run out of ideas for having killings tied to baked goods. Yeah, no. Unfortunately, there are just enough crazy (read homicidal) people inhabiting this blue marble to keep me from running out of plots, motives, or incentives for my characters to do harm via cupcake or by baking related implement.

This latest installment was initiated by a simple online search for pictures of cupcakes. No, looking at their yummy frosted perfection never gets old and, yes, it frequently inspires. In this case, while doing my random search, I saw a picture of a batch of break up cupcakes with my favorite being the one that reads -- "It's not me, it's you" -- and the plot of Caramel Crush was fully formed in my head before I even saved the picture for reference.

Of course, I had to expand my search to see if the break up cupcake is a thing. It hasn’t taken over the world – yet – but I did note there is new baking craze afoot called the divorce cake. Now that we are firmly in middle-age, Hub and I have been watching a lot of relationships unravel around us. It’s not that hard to find a motive for murder in the suburbs – cheating, drinking, gambling, people freaking out because they feel old -- really, we’ve seen it all and now it appears to come with cake on the side. That is some consolation, I suppose.

Of course, from there I had to mosey along and see what other reasons there are for celebratory or conciliatory baked goods. I found several surprises such as being the fastest sperm, an apology cake for vomiting all over someone’s apartment and cat, and a celebration cake for losing one’s virginity. Sometimes the Interweb scares me!

In case you haven’t made a hobby of cake recon like me, here’s a link to one of my most favorite cake blogs to get you started. This particular post features mean but funny cakes because, apparently, you really can say anything with cake:

http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2014/12/15/top-12-mean-but-funny-cakes.html

For Caramel Crush, I stayed with break up cupcakes as my vehicle for murder and mayhem. Because while I wouldn’t enjoy being dumped, I might be more forgiving if there is cake involved, you know, until the cake is gone.

When a breakup via cupcake threatens to crumble their friend's life for good, Mel and Angie race to solve the murder as this New York Times bestselling series continues...

Love is in the air at Fairy Tale Cupcakes as Angie prepares for her wedding, but co-owner, Mel, is preparing for a breakup. Her old friend, Diane Earnest, is dumping her fiancé after discovering he’s only marrying her for her money. She wants Mel to personally deliver a batch of caramel breakup cupcakes to the louse and give her a play-by-play of his reaction.

When Mel finally tracks the man down, the look on his face isn’t the reaction she was expecting: he’s dead. After the police arrive and see the incriminating cupcakes, Diane becomes their prime suspect. If she hopes to taste freedom again, Mel and Angie must make sure the real killer gets their just desserts...

So, what about you Reds? Are you more forgiving with cake on the side? What’s the weirdest reason for cake you’ve ever seen?