Sweepstakes: Why I love them! by Jenn McKinlay

 Jenn McKinlay: My publisher is BIG on doing sweepstakes. They put together a smattering of authors they are about to unleash upon the world and offer up a collection of their titles for a prize. My books have been included with everyone from Charlaine Harris to Kristan Higgins. Pretty great, right?

But what I love most about it is that in this new world order, where there are no conferences, it's one of my few opportunities to meet other authors as we join forces to promote our work through the sweepstakes. And this Detective Starter Pack crew is exceptional so now I get to share them with you!

Detective Starter Pack sweepstakes! The sweepstakes is running September 15—September 25 and one entrant will be selected to win the featured books, as well as a murder mystery game! 

Enter here: https://bit.ly/3yxG247

Today just happens to kick off this sweepstakes, so I thought I'd introduce my fellow sweepstakes authors by asking them to tell us what they find most difficult about writing mysteries, so here they are to tell you.

 

What's the hardest part when writing a mystery?

Jennifer Hawkins: For me, it’s making sure the motivations on the part of the murderer are believably intense, and also something the reader can, maybe not sympathize with, but will have some emotional resonance with.

Olivia Blacke: Writing a mystery is like trying to solve a crossword puzzle without any prompts. Once you’re able to fill in all the blanks, you have to make sure that the puzzle you’ve created is challenging enough that people who can solve it feel like they’ve had to work for it, but with enough clues that it’s fair. My goal is that at least some people think they know whodunit early in the book, then make them keep second-guessing themselves until the big reveal, but I want the majority of readers to get to the end and realize that the answer was obvious all along, but they missed it.

Jennifer J. Chow: I think it's finding the balance between giving too much info while also making the mystery puzzling for the reader.

Jenn McKinlay: The middle, always the middle, no matter the genre. I hate middles. But, also, with mysteries, I struggle with trotting enough suspects across the page. I have discovered for a mystery, it really is a case of the more the merrier.

So, how about it Reds and Readers, what do you think the hardest part of writing a mystery is?

ORDER NOW

 One of BookRiot's Best Upcoming Cozy Mysteries for the Second Half  of 2021!
When murder follows Mimi Lee to her romantic island getaway, she     puts on her best sleuthing hat with her sassy cat in tow in this  adventurous cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow.
 Mimi Lee just found an extra perk to being a pet groomer at Hollywoof  (other than cuddling animals all day long, that is). Pixie St. James, one of Mimi’s clients and the investor behind Hollywoof, has offered her and her boyfriend, Josh, a getaway at her vacation home, nestled on beautiful Catalina Island. With the island just outside of Los Angeles but still far enough from the hustle and bustle, Mimi, Josh, and their cat Marshmallow (who, of course, wouldn’t be caught dead in a dingy pet hotel) are excited for their relaxing stay.
 
That is, until Pixie’s last renter, Davis D. Argo, turns up dead. Mimi and Josh’s romantic getaway immediately turns into an enormous buzzkill, especially when Pixie asks Mimi for help. The police suspect Pixie, and Mimi knows a thing or two about wrongful allegations. Mimi figures it couldn’t hurt to snoop a little since she’s already there, and soon discovers that a valuable item is missing. Except Pixie isn’t the only one in the neighborhood who has been robbed. There is something strange happening on the island, and Mimi won’t stop until she finds out what it is.

ORDER NOW

A charming tea room owner and her excitable talking corgi will need to work together to bring a killer to heel in this delightful cozy mystery. 

For ex-accountant Emma Reed and her beloved corgi, Oliver, opening Reed’s Classic Tea & Cakes in the idyllic village of Trevena in Cornwall has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.  Her cakes are popular, she has a host of wonderful new friends, and even a potential new romance.  There’s even time left over for plenty of long country walks with Oliver, who is not only the cutest corgi on record (at least to Emma), he happens to talk (at least to Emma).  What could be better?   

How about being asked to help cater the local Daphne DuMaurier literary festival?   

But when the festival organizer is found dead and foul play is suspected, Emma, Oliver and their friends are plunged deep into a poisonous mix of village jealousy, family tension, money troubles, and secret love affairs.  Emma quickly realizes it’s up to her and her intrepid corgi to discover a canny killer whose bite is worse than their bark.

ORDER NOW

Amateur sleuth Odessa Dean is about to discover the only thing harder than finding her way out of an escape room is finding an affordable apartment in Brooklyn in this sequel to Killer Content.

Odessa Dean has made a home of Brooklyn. She has a fun job waiting tables at Untapped Books & Café and a new friend, Izzy, to explore the city with. When she's invited on a girls' day out escape room adventure, she jumps at the chance. It's all fun and games until the lights come on and they discover one of the girls bludgeoned to death...

The only possible suspects are Odessa and the four other players that were locked in the escape room with the victim. She refuses to believe that one of them is responsible for the murder, despite what the clues indicate. In between shifts at the café, Odessa splits her time interviewing the murder suspects, updating the bookstore's social media accounts, and searching for the impossible--an affordable apartment in Brooklyn.

But crime--and criminally high rent--waits for no woman. Can Odessa clear her and Izzy’s names before the police decide they're guilty?

ORDER NOW

Spring has sprung in Briar Creek, but it is not all sunshine and roses, in the newest Library Lover's Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of One for the Books.

Spring is livening up Briar Creek after a long, cold winter, and newlyweds Lindsey and Sully could not be happier. Even though the upcoming mayoral election is getting heated, everything else in town is coming up daffodils...until a body is found.

Ms. Cole, a librarian and current candidate for town mayor, is shocked when she opens her trunk to discover a murder victim who just so happens to be a guy she dated forty years ago and the founder of the baking empire Nana's Cookies. As the town gossip mill turns, a batch of rumors begins to circulate about Ms. Cole's rebellious youth, which--along with being a murder suspect--threatens to ruin her life and her budding political career. But Ms. Cole is one tough cookie who will not go down without a fight.

Has the campaign for mayor turned deadly? It is up to Lindsey, Sully, and the rest of the crafternoon pals to see how the cookie crumbles and figure out who is trying to frame Ms. Cole for murder and why.

Now go enter the sweepstakes! GOOD LUCK!!!

You're a Winner!

"You can't win if you don't play."
state lottery advertisement

JAN: I've run a contest on my website ever since I put up a website, but for the first time, one of my contests was advertised on a popular online sweepstaks website and I received hundreds of entrants. Some of these entrants appear to be semi-professional contest enterers. They have screennames like Winsbig or Sweeps5000. This amazes me.

Here's why.I've realized that I'm actually afraid of most contests. In fact, one of the first screenplays I ever wrote was a comedy about a woman whose life was ruined by winning the Downy Flake Donut sweepstakes. And A Confidential Source was about how gambling can ruin your life. So deep down, I clearly have some sort of fear about the consequences of easy money. A Catholic thing? A Polish thing? Who can tell?

But it could also be a journalist thing. Because I've written about so many swindles, I don't trust anyone. I'll buy a raffle at a local fundraiser, but anyone who offers me any kind of prize by mail, phone or Internet, I don't trust. I can't tell you how many three-day cruises to the Bahamas and free IPODS have passed me by. In reality, these people want to sell me a time share or want my email address. What's so horrible about that? Still, I marvel at my fearless entrants. But how about the rest of you? Am I the only sweep-a-phob out there? Or has everyone else won their free laptop, and turned into a real player (pronounced play-AHS if you are in New England)?

RO: The only contest I've entered in recent memory was the Al Blanchard contest, (I didn't win, but the lovely and talented Pat Remick did, so I didn't feel so bad) but other than that, I'm just not the contest type. I don't buy lottery tickets either. I don't want anything, I have too much stuff already.

Now that I think of it, Pat turned me on to the Erma Bombeck humor (writing) contest a couple of years ago. I didn't win that either. That's it. I'm done.

JAN: Well I'm off to print out my list of contest entrants and draw a name from a hat. Although I eschew contests myself, it's awful fun to inform people that they are winners..