I write sitcoms. I also collect cookbooks. by Ellen Byron

 Jenn McKinlay: Happy Sunday, Reds and Readers. I am absolutely chuffed to have our dear friend Ellen Byron here today! As always, she brings the laughs and today is no exception. Welcome, Ellen.

Ellen Byron: You’re probably wondering how the two disparate things in this blog post title are related. That answer is simple: each inspired one of my current mystery series. Why I’m bringing them up simultaneously is a bit more complicated. But I’ll get to that.

First, about the sitcoms. I spent twenty-five years working on them, along with my supremely talented TV writing partner. We were lucky enough to snag a seat at the writers table on some popular shows like Wings, Just Shoot Me, Still Standing, and Fairly Odd Parents. The photo is from my days on Wings. I blurred the images of the writing staff because one of my coworkers partly inspired the murder victim in my new book, A Very Woodsy Murder. (And no, I won’t tell you who!)

Comedy is notoriously ageist. One day on Just Shoot Me, a writer came into the room and declared, “Today is my thirty-sixth birthday. My career is over.” This really hit me because I was five years older than him. 

I used this moment, along with the ups and downs of my own career, as motivation for Dee Stern, the sitcom writer protagonist in my new Golden Motel Mysteries. Dee’s TV career is already on the downswing when she discovers that at the mere age of forty, she’s eligible for her union’s Longevity Committee. All signs point to a career pivot, so she buys an aged but charming retro motel in California’s Gold Rush Country, along with her first ex-husband turned best friend. They’re determined to succeed but it’s rough when their first guest is offed and Dee’s nemesis gives their hostelry the snarky nickname, “Murder Motel.”

Okay, now to cookbooks. For decades, my family owned a tiny cottage on Connecticut’s Bantam Lake. One of our favorite activities was antiquing in the historic and quaint northwestern Connecticut towns. One day, my brother and I wandered into a particularly cluttered antique shop and I noticed this book sitting in an open drawer:

I loved the cheery, period artwork and the way the recipes, culled from hotels across the country, turned the book into a sort of time tunnel back to the 1950s. I bought the book and became hooked on collecting vintage cookbooks. I’ve lost count of how many I have.

I translated my beloved hobby into the premise for the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, where Ricki James-Diaz runs Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop in New Orleans’ Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, a nineteenth-century Garden District mansion. Rick finds herself helping to solve murders that could doom her venture as well as Bon Vee, all while trying to solve the mystery of her own mysterious birth.

Why am I writing about two series in one post? Because I’ve had books in each of them release within six weeks of each other. A Very Woodsy Murder: Golden Motel Mystery #1, launched July 23rd. French Quarter Fright Night: Vintage Cookbook Mystery #3 will officially release on September 3rd. And I’m so excited about both releases that I couldn’t bear to pick one over the other. I hope you all face the same dilemma and solve it by reading both books!

To celebrate the double release, I’m offering a giveaway that pays homage to both books. It includes Stoney the Bear, official mascot of the Golden Motel Mysteries, and a vintage cookbook from my collection, along with swag.

Readers, have you ever been to Gold Rush Country or New Orleans? Comment to be entered in the giveaway.

BIO: Ellen is a USA Today bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico). A Very Woodsy Murder is the first book in her new Golden Motel Mystery series. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. Visit her at Cozy Mysteries | Ellen Byron | Author

ABOUT A Very Woodsy Murder… Dee Stern, a sitcom writer whose career is on the downswing, impulsively quits her job on the Kidz Channel sitcom “DUH!” and buys a rustic motel in a small California Gold Rush town at the foot of a national park. But Dee soon finds herself totally out of her element as both a motelier and an amateur sleuth when she discovers the  body of a guest straddling the property line between her motel and the national park. There’s nothing funny about murder. Or is there?

ABOUT French Quarter Fright Night… It's Halloween in New Orleans, and the staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum is setting up a haunted house tour for their visitors. But when flashy movie star Blaine Taggart and his entourage move into the mansion next door, gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz gets a fright of her own, especially after Bon Vee’s prop tomb becomes a real tomb for Blaine’s obnoxious assistant. As the Big Easy gears up for the Big Scary, it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets. Can Ricki reveal the shadowy killer before someone else becomes part of the Halloween horror show?

When Life Becomes a Sitcom by Jenn McKinlay

Sometimes life really does feel more like a sitcom written by Larry David (Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm) than real life. In my case, it happened at Bouchercon and guest starred Eriq La Salle (unbeknownst to him).

Opening scene: After enjoying pre-dinner cocktails/mocktails with this crew of miscreants (i.e. my plot group buddies and their spousal units)...

Don and Kate
Charlie, Paige, Jenn, and Chris (aka Hub)

...we made our way to the elevators to go to dinner. The doors opened and there was Eriq La Salle with another conference goer. Of course, everyone is super chill and says nothing but silence makes extrovert me itchy, so I felt compelled to tap Eriq's arm and say, "I loved you on ER."

He smiled and said, "Thank you."

Silence returned and then someone in my crew (I think) said, "ER? When were you at the ER? Why were you at the ER?"

Naturally, I felt compelled to explain, "No, he was on the show ER. You know, created by Michael Crichton, took place in an emergency room."

To which Eriq, looking at the floor, said, "Feeling really uncomfortable now."

I was confident he was joking and I was on a roll, so I kept going. "Remember? He played a doctor."

The crew chatted about the show amongst ourselves (okay, mostly me) for a bit until Eriq said, "I'm right here. You know I can hear you, right?"

We all laughed and Hub joked, "Sorry, as soon as the doors open, I'll get her out of here."

"Please." Eriq sent him a mock desperate look.

Of course, we thought that was hilarious. When the elevator stopped, I thanked Eriq for being so kind and he took my hand in his and said, "It was really nice to meet you."

Now this would have been a perfect meet and greet at a conference of 1700 attendees where I would most likely never bump into the same person twice, but we were living in a sitcom, so the story doesn't end there.

My friends teased me mercilessly and hilariously that after I accosted Eriq in the elevator every time he came into a room that I was in, he would see me and bolt. I joined in and when I saw Eriq across the book room, in the lobby, or at a Guest of Honor interview, I pretended to wave to him and then continued the pretense that he saw me (he didn't) and did a quick pivot to get away from me. All good self-deprecating fun! 

Now because I'm a slacker and a baseball fan, I dipped on the banquet and went to the Padres game instead (they won!!!). I also ate my body weight in hot dogs, tacos, ice cream, peanuts...you get the idea. (Hey, calories don't count at conferences especially when you're walking 18K steps per day)! After the game, Hub and I rolled back to our room and were ready for bed by 9:00 PM. Hardcore partiers, I know!

The banquet was still going, however, and I got a text from Paige telling me I couldn't go to bed because they had something for me. I waited for a bit but then texted back that I absolutely had to crash. I was thinking whatever goodie bag they had grabbed for me could wait. Paige then called (yes, actually called) and said, "Just come down to the main floor. Really quick. Trust me."

Y'all, I was in my pajamas! But I love my plot group besties so I put on pants and my baseball hat and threw on a sweatshirt over my jammie top and went downstairs. 

In short order the crew (Paige, Charlie, Kate, and Don) arrived, with the addition of Leslie Karst who was now in on the joke, and they handed me Eriq La Salle's book LAWS of DEPRAVITY. This cracked me up, because it was the perfect gift. 

BUY HERE

Then they told me to open it. Apparently, Paige and Charlie scored the book and then randomly bumped into Eriq (because, of course they did!). They asked him if he remembered the incident in the elevator to which he replied, "Oh, I remember."

Eriq very graciously signed it with Charlie's suggested inscription  "thanks for making me uncomfortable" which obviously made me howl with laughter. Truly, the best inscription I've ever received.

Now this really should be the end of the tale. Is it? No, of course, it isn't! While we were laughing and chatting on the far side of the hotel away from everyone, who should walk by? Yes! Eriq La Salle! What are the odds?!

I held up the book and yelled, "Hey, Eriq, thanks for the book!" 

He grinned and strode toward me and said, "Jenn, can you read what I wrote? I was running out of room."

I replied, "Oh, yeah, I can read it." We both laughed and then I said, "You know we have to take a picture now."

And he said, "Of course."

So we did. End of episode.

Sitcom Jenn and guest star Eriq - What a great guy!

Now, everyone, go buy his books!!! He has two out in the Martyr Maker series, Laws of Depravity and Laws of Wrath, with a third, Laws of Annihilation, on the way in October. 

So, tell me, Reds and Readers, have you ever found yourself living a sitcom or had a celebrity meeting that just went sideways -- in a good way? 

I Love Lucy Day

Jenn McKinlay: There is no doubt in my mind that one of the reasons I write comedy is because as a kid I was one hundred percent smitten with Lucille Ball and the I Love Lucy show in particular. 

So, it was amazing but not surprising to discover that today October 15th is National I Love Lucy Day! Woo hoo!!!

The writer in me learned so much about comic timing, slapstick humor, and quick wit by watching this show in reruns after school. But I also learned about the value of friendship, looking at life with an optimist's eye, and that humor really can get you through the darkest of days. Lucy was a role model for me then and now. 

Naturally, I spent an afternoon revisiting this classic show and there were so many iconic moments to choose from, but here are three of my favorites:

The Chocolate Factory

 

Stomping Grapes

Harpo Comes to Visit

What about you, Reds and Readers? What is your favorite I Love Lucy moment?

SITCOM DINNERS

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I don't watch sitcoms.

I don't mean that in a judgmental way. I grew up with The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was my parents' favorite show, and that was THE TV night in our house. (I think my dad was more than a little in love with Mary Tyler Moore...) Dinner on TV tables (remember those, anyone?) in the den. And I loved it.

But then, sometime in my teens, I discovered British comedy on public television, and that was it for American sitcoms. All in the Family--nope.  Frazier--nope. Drew Carey--nope. (I didn't know about Craig Ferguson then...my equivalent of my dad's crush on MTM.) Not even The Office for more than part of an episode or two. This is probably some great cultural failure on my part, and it certainly has left me out at the water cooler, but I just never seem able to stay interested.  I'm too plot driven, maybe, or I just like my humor either sillier or drier.

But I really like Michael J. Fox, so last week I tuned in to an episode of his new show.

It was sweet, and funny, but I thought I'd stepped into a time warp. At least half the scenes seem to have been shot with the family sitting around a perfectly set dinner table. First, it seems like such an American thing (although in the Dick Van Dyke Show they always seemed to be having cocktails in the living room)  and at least on short notice I can't come up with a single British comedy where the characters do that. (They're all down the pub...)

But even stranger was the fact that I couldn't think of anyone I knew who sat down at a  perfectly set dinner table every night. We're not total slobs at our house, mind you--we do set the table, and actually use serving dishes, but it's usually in the kitchen.  And we do use our dining room, but not on a daily basis.

So is this a peculiar American fantasy that has faded except on television? Dinner at the Cleavers with Ward and June?

Do tell, Reds and readers, where you have dinner at YOUR house.