Pumpkin Spice Peril is out TODAY!!!

Available TODAY AT 25% OFF in pbk and ebook formats!

JENN McKINLAY: I remember when my publisher accepted the title of this book, my editor said, "Your release date is in April, prepare for some pushback about pumpkin spice being in a title being released before September." 

Okay, I knew there were pumpkin spice haters -- to which, I say, "whatever" -- and I was duly prepared to defend my title to any and all. I was like, "Come at me, bruhs, with your pumpkin spice hatred." 

Clearly, I had no idea I was going to be releasing Cupcake Bakery Mystery #12 (We're at a DOZEN!!!) in the middle of a global pandemic and needless to say the haters have bigger windmills to tilt at than my modest cupcake based cozy mystery. I think this is most likely because no one has any idea of what day it is anyway. At this point, if someone told me it was September, I'd believe it. So, there's that. 

For me, a Pumpkin Spice Latte is something I enjoy once or maybe twice in autumn, when it's finally below 90 degrees here in the desert. It's like my love of the Shamrock Shake every March. The Hooligans and I live for those but we only have one or maybe two -- okay, they probably have five of six. It's a happy spring ritual that I don't really think that much about. 

But here's what I learned about the PSL (pumpkin spice latte), arguably the start of all things pumpkin spice, and the controversy surrounding it. Pumpkin Spice Lattes were unleashed to the world by Stabucks in August of 2003. The flavor peaked in popularity in 2014 but has become controversial because, as something enjoyed predominantly by women, it must be derided and mocked or so the people watching the controversy say. 

Given that I write cozies, rom-coms, and now women's fiction (all genres considered less than by the mainstream, because they are predominantly women centric - we won't even get into the fact that their markets are huge and they earn WAY more money than most other genres...ahem) this is territory with which I am quite familiar. 

As my friends Leah and Bea, from The Ripped Bodice Bookstore, wrote:

Read More:  Here

There was also this terrific piece from Vox: Pumpkin spice lattes — and the backlash, and the backlash to the backlash — explained: They talk about the life cycle of pumpkin spice, which has come full circle with people (women) pushing back and defending their choice of pumpkin laced coffee by saying (I'm paraphrasing here), "The world is on fire, let me enjoy my pumpkiny goodness in peace." 
I don't know about you, but I can totally respect that.

So, Reds and Readers, do you enjoy Pumpkin Spice (you knew I had to ask) and if not, what is a food you enjoy that is only seasonal?

Now here's A DOZEN cupcakes for you: Crazy, am I right?

How Two Non-Cooks Write Culinary Mysteries by Debra Goldstein and Barbara Ross

JENN McKINLAY: Today, two culinary mystery authors, Barbara Ross and Debra Goldstein, confess their lack of kitchen know-how on this edition of Jungle Red Writer's author confessions. Pull up a chair, kids, this is going to be good! Seriously, welcome Debra and Barb! We're delighted to have you with us. 

Side note: I am a baker but I don't enjoy regular day to day cooking, so I feel ya!

Barb: Debra Goldstein and I have discovered we have many things in common since we decided to do a joint blog for our books released on December 18. Debra’s book is One Taste Too Many, the debut in her Sarah Blair Mystery series for Kensington. (So exciting!) My new book is Steamed Open, the seventh in my Maine Clambake Mysteries. One thing Debra and I have in common is though both of us write culinary mysteries, neither of us is much of a cook.

Let’s go back to the beginning, Debra. How did your life evolve to make you a “cook of convenience,” as you so cleverly call it in your series?

Debra: Growing up, my mother made dinner between five and six p.m. My sister shadowed her in the kitchen while I opted to unload the dishwasher at five-fifteen, set the table at five-thirty, say “hello” to my dad at five-forty-five and come to the table after the six o’clock conclusion of Perry Mason. My sister learned to cook from scratch while I learned courtroom procedure and short-cuts that held me in good stead in my later career choice.

Barb: I’m laughing at the idea of you learning legal procedure from Perry Mason. I would have liked visiting your courtroom. So given all that, how did you come to write a culinary mystery series?

Debra:I love reading cozy mysteries (yours are some of the best!). When I decided I wanted to write, I thought about how cozy mysteries usually center around food or crafts – two areas in which I’m challenged. Somewhat frustrated, I realized there had to be readers who, like me, preferred bringing take-out in, making dishes using pre-prepared ingredients, or buying quilts, scarfs, and other already finished crafted items. When I researched and found recipes like Jell-O in a Can, I knew there was no shortage of material for a fun culinary cook of convenience mystery series. 

Considering your technical background and admitted reliance on your husband for recipe preparation, how did you come to write a culinary mystery series?

Barb: When my agent first brought up the idea of a series centered around a clambake, he characterized it as a culinary mystery.  I ignored him and wrote a proposal and sample chapters that didn’t include recipes. After all, if you’ve ever been to a clambake, it’s the same meal every time, and much of the meal isn’t practical to cook at home. Eventually, my agent caught on and made me put in recipes. By then I was too in love with the setting and characters to turn back.

Okay. So now we know you, like your main character Sarah, are a cook of convenience, how do you make readers’ mouths water when they read your book?

Debra: My first goal was to write a fun book that combined a good plot with recipes true cooks and cooks of convenience could both appreciate. Using my experience raising night and day twins, I opted to have my protagonist be a cook of convenience while her twin sister is a gourmet chef. This gave me the ability to introduce recipes, even for the same dish, all readers could salivate over. A good example is the contrast between Sarah’s Spinach Pie made with Stouffer’s Spinach Souffle and her twin’s farm to table version.

Seven books in a series is quite a feat – what workarounds did you use to keep readers’ mouths watering considering the limits of a clambake’s menu?

Barb: You’ve already alluded to my major workaround. My husband is a great cook. I decided early on that since most of them couldn’t come from the clambake, I would provide recipes from the other meals my characters ate in the course of the story. I tell my husband Bill the type and circumstances of the meal. He figures out the recipe, and then we taste test so I can describe it accurately.

What’s the most embarrassing/funny/crazy thing that’s happened as a result of the mismatch between your series focus and your own culinary shortcomings?

Debra: Last year, after writing about food, I got the brilliant idea to make matzah ball soup from scratch for our family Seder. While buying my ingredients, I grabbed a bag of Passover approved noodles. The day of the Seder, I spent all day bringing my soup to perfection. I tasted it and knew I’d nailed it. As the Seder service began, for an extra touch, I threw in the noodles. When we finally reached dinner, I removed the pot’s cover and watched the liquid whoosh away. Our first course was chicken flavored noodles sans soup. 

How about you? Most embarrassing moment?

Barb: Possibly the librarian who decided my husband and I absolutely had to cater her annual board meeting. I explained several times in several ways that Bill and I are not my characters Julia and Chris and she would surely regret her insistence.Or there was the panel I was on this year at Bouchercon. The moderator was a last minute sub, and she did a great job. Unfortunately, she’d prepared a whole slew of questions about cooking, and not one author on the panel was a cook. She was great, though, and it made for a very funny panel.

How about you, Reds and Readers, are you a culinary wizard or do you fake it 'til you bake it?

About the authors

 Judge Debra H. Goldstein is the author of Kensington’s new Sarah Blair cozy mystery series, which debuted with One Taste Too Manyon December 18, 2018. She also wrote Should HavePlayed Pokerand 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories, including Anthony and Agatha nominated “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,” have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Weekly.Debra is president of Sisters in Crime’s Guppy Chapter, serves on SinC’s national board, and is president of the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Find out more about Debra at www.DebraHGoldstein.com.

Barbara Ross is the author of seven Maine Clambake Mysteries. The latest, Steamed Open, was released December 18, 2018. Barbara’s novellas featuring Julia Snowden are included along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis in Eggnog Murder and Yule Log Murder. Barbara and her husband live in Portland, Maine. Visit her website at http://www.maineclambakemysteries.com

Good eating in Cleveland! by Kylie Logan

JENN McKINLAY: My only quality time in Cleveland was sitting on a plane in December while they de-iced the wings with a hose full of that orangey Gatorade looking stuff. But Kylie has managed to talk me into going back and eating myself silly. Here she is to convince you, too!

Kylie Logan: There’s a lot to like about my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio.

         For one thing our weather is (except for the notable exception now and then) pretty darned pleasant.  We don’t have earthquakes.  We don’t have to endure mud slides.  And though I’m no scientist, I’d say the chance of having a tsunami on Lake Erie are mighty slim.

         Don’t get me wrong, like all large urban areas, we have our share of problems.  But you know what?  Food isn’t one of them.

         Here’s the thing about Cleveland: back in the late 19^thand early 20^thcenturies when the country was booming and factories were begging immigrants to come to our shores and provide a cheap source of labor, a lot of foreigners came to Cleveland.  They worked in steel mills and in ship yards.  They powered our railroad industry and built our skyscrapers.

         They came from all over the world.  In fact, there is one area of town (a trendy urban neighborhood called Tremont) where there were 38 churches in a three-mile square section of the city.  Why?  Because the Poles there needed a church that spoke their language.  And so did the Greeks, and the Syrians, the Russians and the Hungarians.  All those people.  All those languages.  All that glorious food!

         Here on the North Coast, we’re still taking advantage of our culinary good luck.  Look online for Cleveland restaurants and sure, you’ll see stylish places like the ones run by Iron Chef Michael Symon.  But you’ll also see places that serve Ethiopian food.  And a French café in a carriage house.  The best Mexican food you can imagine can be found at the back counter of a grocery store. Within an easy drive of anywhere, you can satisfy food cravings for everything from German schnitzel to Middle Eastern hummus, pasta to pierogi.

         It’s no wonder that when I was looking for a hook on which to hang a cozy mystery series, I chose ethnic food.  Around here, it goes with the territory.

         The first book in the series was “Irish Stewed.” My husband’s family is Irish so in addition to featuring recipes in the book for things like colcannon (the fabulous mashed potato/steamed cabbage and kale we make in 50 pound quantities for the family St. Pat’s party), I also had the opportunity to explore the boisterous, fiercely loyal relationships that are so much a part of families with Irish roots.  In “French Fried,” I crossed the Channel and got to furnish a farmhouse in sweet French country style and cook a cassoulet that’s so easy, it has become one of our go-to meals.

         And now, the third book in the series has premiered.  “Italian Iced” gives me the opportunity to explore one of the favorite cuisines on the planet.  

         Of course there’s more to every mystery than just talk of food and the recipes included in every book.  In the case of the Ethnic Eats Mysteries, there’s the restaurant in Hubbard, Ohio where most of my main characters work, Sophie’s Terminal at the Tracks, a place that was down on its luck until my heroine, Laurel, decided to feature ethnic cuisine specials on the menu.  And there is murder, too, of course.  In “Italian Iced,” the victim is a friend from Laurel’s past, found frozen to death in the restaurant freezer. Talk about a cold case!

         Have no fear, Laurel and company will work things out.  And when they do, I guarantee, they’ll celebrate with the perfect ethnic food.

So, what about you, Reds and readers, what is your favorite ethnic food? Chinese? Italian? Polish? Mexican? Irish? Thai?

Kylie Logan also writes the League of Literary Ladies Mysteries, Chili Cook-Off Mysteries, and the Button Box Mysteries.

More about Kylie: So maybe you already know that I'm not just Kylie Logan, I'm also Casey Daniels and a few other writers, too. What's it like to have multiple personalities and the pen names to go with them? Well, I was once lucky enough to interview mystery great Elizabeth Peters for an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She writes under more than one name, too, and she described the experience perfectly, “If you're only one person,” she said, “you're boring!” 

And I guess I'd add to that—if you only write one mystery series, you're boring, too! Or maybe you're just not getting visited as often by the Idea Fairy. The only way to keep that particular critter quiet is to follow where those ideas lead and to date, they've led me to write three different mystery series under the Kylie name.

So who is Kylie? I'm a fulltime writer who has loved mysteries since I was a kid. My dad was a Cleveland Police detective, and he introduced me to Sherlock Holmes stories. He also gave me my first investigating experiences when on his days off, we'd pile into the car and hit the streets to look for stolen cars. When he retired from the force, Dad became the head of security for the Cleveland Public Library.

Crooks and books! I guess I come by my love for mysteries honestly.