MY FULL CIRCLE JOURNEY

 by Korina Moss

Some of our WWK members at Malice Domestic

‘Tis the season for Malice Domestic, an annual mystery fan convention that takes place in Bethesda, MD the last weekend in April. 

My Agatha Award for Cheddar Off Dead

This conference has a special place in my heart because it’s where I get to meet readers who love mysteries as much as I do, hang out with my writing friends, and get to know some of my author idols. It’s also where I won an Agatha Award for Best First Novel for Cheddar Off Dead and was nominated the following two years for Best Contemporary Novel for Case of the Bleus and Fondue or Die. Being among the writers I admire in those categories and being recognized by the mystery community was an honor.

Selling and signing at the Little Falls Cheese Festival

As every published writer knows, behind the fun stuff like accolades and meeting readers, lies the hard work of writing and marketing your books. I keenly felt the pressure of having my first series published by an imprint of Macmillan, a big-5 publisher, along with then having to launch a new book every six months. By book six, I was pretty burnt out. 

Event poster and my books on display at Barnes & Noble 

When the series ended, I couldn’t imagine jumping into another book or series right away. However, I wanted to remain in the mystery writing community while my muse decided when to resurface. So about 16 months ago, I shifted my focus from cozy mystery author to freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy mysteries. I enjoy the work, and I get to revel in my clients’ successes: finding agent representation, receiving publishing contracts, and independently publishing their mysteries. And at this year’s Malice Domestic, I get to cheer on one of my clients whose book has been nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. (In February, it won the Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery from Left Coast Crime.) 

Adrian Andover's lauded debut mystery

Expanding my role in the mystery community has been a balm for my burnout. Witnessing the determination and excitement of new writers has reminded me of my writing roots. It’s taught me to set aside the business aspects of being a published author to get back to what really matters—creating a story I want to tell.

Readers & Writers: If you’ve been to a mystery writers conference or convention, what has it done for you? If you haven’t, what would you hope to get out of it?

If you’re attending Malice Domestic, please find me on Saturday, April 25th at 2:00 PM on the panel titled Served with a Side of Murder: Food-Related Mysteries, with fellow authors Mary Lee Ashford, Jennifer J. Chow, Raquel V. Reyes, and moderator Debra Klein. I’ll be featuring my sixth book, Bait and Swiss. At 4:00 PM, you can find me in the book seller’s room signing my Cheese Shop Mysteries.

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series, which includes the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, as well as two novels short-listed for Best Contemporary Novel. Listed as one of USA Today’s “Best Cozy Mystery Series,” her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy mysteries. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

GREETING THE AGATHA-NOMINATED AUTHORS FOR BEST DEBUT NOVEL

by Paula Gail Benson

On Wednesday, April 9, we had a virtual visit with the authors nominated for the Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel. Today, we are pleased to welcome the debut novelists, whose work covers an amazing range of characters, cultures, and time periods. Here are the nominated books and their authors:

Jenny Adams

A DEADLY ENDEAVOR by Jenny Adams (After returning home to Chicago from California where she has spent years recovering from influenza, Edie Shippen discovers her childhood sweetheart is engaged to her twin sister and that young women are disappearing. Edie teams with the brother of a missing girl to investigate)

HOUNDS OF THE HOLLYWOOD BASKERVILLES by Elizabeth Crowens (Young private detectives Babs Norman and Guy Brandt try to solve the celebrity dognapping of Asta, the dog from The Thin Man series, in order to collect a large reward)

GHOSTS OF WAIKĪKĪ by Jennifer K. Morita (An out-of-work journalist and the homicide detective who broke her heart must find out who murdered the land developer for whom the journalist has been hired to ghostwrite an autobiography)

THREADS OF DECEPTION by Elle Jauffret (After a devastating accident, defense attorney Claire Fontaine seeks to return to working as a caterer in Southern California, only to find her client dead)

K.T. Nguyen

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID by K.T. Nguyen (A thriller where a first-generation Vietnamese American artist must confront nightmares of the past and the present)

Each of the debut authors was kind enough to answer the following question:

EACH OF YOUR PROTAGONISTS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLE TO OVERCOME. WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION TO WRITE THIS NOVEL AND IS IT THE FIRST OF A SERIES?

Many thanks to them for some fascinating insights into their craft!

JENNY ADAMS: The inspiration question is always a really tricky one for me to answer. Personally, I deal with chronic migraines and an anxiety disorder; when I was drafting the book that became A Deadly Endeavor, I wanted to write a main character who shared these challenges, and I knew I wanted to set it in Philadelphia. These two facts (and Edie in a dumbwaiter) are perhaps the only aspects of the book that remained unchanged between the first draft and published version; it initially was a YA paranormal romance, then an adult paranormal romance, and eventually morphed into an adult historical mystery over many, many revisions! Edie, as a character, appeared in my head like a freight train and really took over the story. Gilbert as a narrator was a later addition, and he morphed from medical student to doctor to coroner, and he was a much tougher character to write. I’m proud of the evolution of the book, even if it is so very different from the book I thought I was writing!

Edie and Gilbert, my protagonists, live in 1921 Philadelphia, and certainly have their share of challenges–in the opening chapters, you learn that Edie’s childhood beau is engaged to her twin sister, and Edie deals with anxiety and chronic migraine as a lingering side-effect of her brush with the 1918 influenza. She decides to reinvent herself as an independent young woman…despite the fact that across the city, young flappers are going missing. Gilbert, meanwhile, is a widowed single dad dealing with his own demons–in his case, shell shock from his time in World War One. He’s deeply devoted to his family, despite his internalized shame and reliance on morphine to keep his flashbacks at bay. When Gilbert’s sister goes missing, they find themselves working together to find her…before the killer terrorizing Philadelphia does.  A Deadly Endeavor is the first book in the Deadly Twenties Mysteries - the second book, A Poisonous Silence, releases on May 6!

Elizabeth Crowens

ELIZABETH CROWENS: Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles is the first of a series I have with Level Best Books. My protagonist, Babs Norman, a former actress-turned-private eye from the 40s, was based on my best friend. If she were still alive, she would’ve turned 102 this year. Among the many hats I’ve worn in the entertainment industry, at one point I was an independent consultant providing men’s and women’s vintage clothing and textiles to fashion designers in both the garment industry and for film, theater, and television. I had met my inspiration for “Babs” at a vintage clothing show many years ago. Her husband had just passed, and since I was one of the few dealers in New York who also had a significant inventory in menswear, she invited me to look at his wardrobe. To make a long story short, I ended up selling $10,000.00 worth of his clothing and mine to the wardrobe department for the Ridley Scott film American Gangster starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, and Josh Brolin. Babs and I became instant friends, but somehow we felt we were also kindred spirits.

Over our decade-long friendship, she shared the most interesting stories of her colorful life, and she expressed her interest in having me write her memoirs. I had to be honest and tell her that unless she was famous or notorious, memoirs were the hardest to sell. Then one day, the idea suddenly came to light. What kind of books did she read? Mysteries. What shows did she watch on TV? Law & Order, NCIS, Murder She Wrote, Turner Classic Movies, a mystery series on PBS, or an animal show on Animal Planet or NatGeo Wild.

So, I approached her with the idea of taking her stories and turning her into a fictional actress, frustrated with show business, and who became a PI. My friend was a former actress, but she never was a private eye, but she loved I was taking artistic license with the concept and gave me her blessing. Then I got her estate attorney, made it legal by drawing up the paperwork, and told her that’s how I’d memorialize her. I only wish she were still alive to know that my first book in that series, Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, which she inspired, is up for the Best First Novel in the Agatha Awards.

ELLE JAUFRETT: My inspiration for this novel came from wanting to explore how people react differently to accents and speech impediments, and the stereotypes we carry about identity. My protagonist suffers from foreign accent syndrome, which causes others to mistake her for a French tourist rather than an American citizen. Through her journey, I wanted to examine deeper questions: Does an accent make you more or less American? How much of our identity is tied to the way we speak?

The story is about a former criminal attorney turned private chef who desperately needs to solve a murder to save her best friend's wedding to a soon-to-deploy Marine. She's invested heavily in catering this wedding, hoping it will launch her new culinary career, making the stakes both personal and professional. While she's racing against time to identify the killer and clear the crime scene (which happens to be the one-of-a-kind historic venue for both the murder and the wedding reception) of police tape, she's simultaneously struggling with her own internal battle—the frustration of constantly having to prove her American identity despite her French accent.

Yes, I'm excited to say this is the first in a series that will continue to follow our protagonist as she solves crimes while navigating the challenges of her unique condition. The second book in the series, Cosplayed to Death, comes out November 11, 2025.

Jennifer K. Morita

JENNIFER K. MORITA: I was originally inspired to write a mystery with an Asian American reporter many years ago when I was covering local government for a community newspaper. I was reading Jan Burke, Naomi Hirahara, and Sujata Massey at the time, and each of their characters had something that really spoke to me. Somehow Maya got into my head. It was years before I got serious about writing my book, and by then the newspaper industry had changed completely.  Ultimately, the downfall of newspapers became Maya’s obstacle and helped shape Ghosts of Waikiki.

I have several ideas for more Maya Wong books, so I’m hoping it will be a series.

K.T. NGUYEN: Like me, my protagonist Anh Le "Annie" Shaw experiences obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). After the death of her mother, the disturbing intrusive thoughts swirling around in Annie's brain begin to manifest themselves in real life. My personal struggle with OCD inspired the premise of You Know What You Did: "if thoughts could kill." 

BIOS:

JENNY ADAMS has always had an overactive imagination. She turned her love of books and stories into a career as a librarian and Agatha Award-nominated novelist. She holds degrees in Medieval Studies and Library Science from The Ohio State University and Drexel University. She has studied fiction at Johns Hopkins University and is an alumna of Blue Stoop’s 2019 YA Novel Intensive and the 2021 Tin House YA Workshop, and was a 2021 PitchWars Mentor. Jenny currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with family, though her heart is always in the City of Brotherly Love. Her website is Jenny Adams – historical mystery author.

ELIZABETH CROWENS has worn many hats in the entertainment industry, contributed stories to Black Belt, Black Gate, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazines, Hell’s Heart, and the Bram Stoker-nominated A New York State of Fright, and has a popular Caption Contest on Facebook. Awards include: MWA-NY Chapter Leo B. Burstein Scholarship, NYFA grant, Eric Hoffer Award, Glimmer Train Honorable Mention, a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, two Grand prize, and six First prize Chanticleer Awards. Crowens writes multi-genre alternate history/time travel and historical Hollywood mystery in Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel (mystery), and Bye Bye Blackbird, its sequel. Her website it www.elizabethcrowens.com

Elle Jauffret

ELLE JAUFFRET is a French-born American writer, former criminal attorney with the California Attorney General’s Office, US military spouse, Claymore Award finalist, and Agatha Award nominee. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry described her debut novel, Threads of Deception, as “a powerful, complex, and compelling mystery,” and USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan called it “a smart and fresh new voice.” Elle is an active member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She lives in Southern California with her family, along the coast of San Diego County, which serves as the backdrop for her Suddenly French Mystery series. You can find her at https://ellejauffret.com or on social media @ellejauffret.

Former newspaper reporter JENNIFER K. MORITA believes a good story is like good mochi - slightly sweet with a nice chew. Her debut mystery, Ghosts of Waikīkī, won the 2025 Left Coast Crime Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery and has been nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. It’s about an out-of-work journalist who reluctantly becomes the ghost writer for a controversial developer. When she stumbles into murder - and her ex - she discovers coming home to paradise can be murder. Jennifer is a writer for University Communications at Sacramento State. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and two teenage daughters. When she isn’t plotting murder mysteries or pushing Girl Scout cookies, she enjoys reading, experimenting with recipes, Zumba, and Hot Hula. You can reach Jennifer at www.jenniferkmorita.com.

K.T. NGUYEN is a former Glamour magazine editor. Her debut psychological thriller YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID has been nominated for Lefty and Agatha Awards. The Seattle Times called the novel "a swirly, tangled hair-raiser...as sinister as it is emotional." It was selected as a People Magazine Best Book of April 2024 and named a Best Mystery and Thriller Book of 2024 by Elle, Parade, and Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. K.T. enjoys practicing Krav Maga, rooting for the Mets, and playing with her rescue terrier Alice. A graduate of Brown University, she lives just outside Washington, D.C. with her family. Her website is K.T. Nguyen Suspense Thriller Books.

Bad Dates, I've Had a Few: Or, Writing Inspiration Is Everywhere

 A Guest Post by Barb Goffman

Writing inspiration can come from anywhere. The news. Overheard conversations. Or, as in the case of one of my 2024 stories, a long-ago bad date. I'm talking about my story “The Postman Always Flirts Twice.” It was published in the Down & Out Books anthology Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy: Thirteen Tales of Murder, Mystery, and Master Detection. The book’s cozy mysteries are all written by winners of the Agatha and/or Derringer awards, and my mailman story is now a finalist for the Agatha Award.

You may be wondering about my story's title. Maybe you’re guessing that since The Postman Always Rings Twice was noir, I changed Rings to Flirts because Flirts sounds cozy. Not so much. I chose my title because it is fun and because it is much catchier than The Postman Pressured Me Into a Date.

Say what?

To steal from Sophia on The Golden Girls:

Picture it. Indiana. Summer 1994. 

I had my first full-time job as a newspaper reporter. My apartment complex had all the tenants’ mailboxes in one spot near the complex entrance, along with two newspaper boxes, one for each of the two—two!—dailies that small city had back then.

One day I stopped to get my mail while the postman was finishing filling the mailboxes. He started to chat. I’ve never been a fan of small talk, but I participated for a minute or two. The social niceties, you know. Then he glanced at the mail in my hand.

“I know your name from somewhere,” he said.

Wondering if I was being punked, I said, “Yeah, from the mail.” And I pointed at the envelopes in my other hand.

“No. That’s not it.”

So I nodded at one of the newspaper boxes. “I’m a reporter. You probably saw my name in the paper.” Back then, before everything was online, a lot more people read newspapers—on actual paper.

“No. That’s not it.”

I shrugged. “Well, those are the only ways I think you’d have heard my name. See ya.”

As I turned to go, he said, “Would you like to have dinner sometime?”

I offered him an uncomfortable smile. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.”

“Aw, come on. You gotta eat.”

That was true. But I didn’t have to eat with him. I shook my head.

“You sure? It’s just one dinner.”

Maybe it was his tone. Maybe it was my imagination. But I suddenly thought, if I don’t go on this date, I may never get my mail again. I was in my mid-twenties, nowhere near as assertive as I am now. And back then, all your bills came in the mail. I needed my mail. So, reluctantly, I said yes. We agreed to meet the next evening at that hot spot of romance, Denny’s.

All of you who love meet-cutes are probably thinking the dinner must have been wonderful. Sparkling conversation, love in the air, the beginning of happily ever after.

Dream on.

The conversation was forgettable. The food was … Denny’s. And the only future I was looking forward to was getting home.

As the meal wound down, he said, “What would you like to do now?”

It wasn’t even 8 p.m., but I yawned and said I was going to have to call it a night. I had to get to work early the next morning. You’d think my meaning was clear. Subtle but clear.Not interested. And maybe it was, but he was determined to go out swinging.

“How about if I come back to your place and give you a massage?”

I may have wanted my mail, but I didn’t want it that badly.

I thanked him for my burger, went home—alone!—and called my best friend to fill him in on the date. When I got to the bit about the massage, his outraged voice boomed through the line. “If that isn’t a sex invite, I don’t know what is!”

In the end, I never heard from my mailman again, thankfully, and my mail kept coming. Now, all these years later, I put the experience to good use in “The Postman Always Flirts Twice.” If you read it, you’ll recognize some of the details. It’s a whodunit about love, family, and friendship. Someone murdered Hazel’s mailman and hid his body in the woods behind her cul-de-sac. Desperate to point the cops in another direction so they don’t look to closely at her, Hazel starts her own investigation—focusing on her neighbors.

I had fun writing this story, and I am delighted it has been so well received by readers.

Circling back to the beginning of this blog, if you’re wondering if it’s a good idea to mine your past for story ideas, yes, it is. If you’re wondering if I killed my mailman, no, I did not. 

With the caveat that I write fiction, that is my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

In advance of Agatha Award voting at Malice Domestic at the end of April, all five nominated stories are available online for free reading. Click here: https://www.malicedomestic.net/agatha-awards/copy-of-agatha-nominations. The five short story titles link to pdfs.

If you would like to buy Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy, check with your favorite indie bookstore. You also can buy the book from:

• The publisher (buy the trade paperback and the ebook is included). Click here.
• Barnes & Noble. Click here.
• Amazon. Click here. 
• Amazon UK. Click here. 
• Amazon Canada. Click here.
• Kobo (ebook only). Click here.

Thanks to editors Gay Toltl Kinman and Andrew McAleer for including "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" in the book, and thanks to Writers Who Kill for allowing me to join you all today.

And now a question for you all: Have you ever had a bad date whose details are begging to be shared? Believe me, we all want to know. Here is your chance!

Barb Goffman  www.barbgoffman.com

Current Agatha Award finalist for "A Matter of Trust," from Three Strikes—You’re Dead! Read it here on my website. Or if you prefer to read a PDF, click here.

Current Agatha Award finalist for "The Postman Always Flirts Twice," from Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy. Read it here.

Current Derringer Award finalist for the anthology Murder, Neat

SPRINGING INTO AN EXCITING MONTH by Korina Moss

 Mother Nature wakes everything up in springtime, which invariably rejuvenates me too. And I’ve got an exciting month ahead. 

First up, I’ll be traveling to Bethesda, MD for the Malice Domestic fan convention, which you’ve been hearing about from some of the other Writers Who Kill members. I love getting to spend three days with friends (authors, influencers, and fan-readers alike) who I don’t usually get to see the rest of the year. Meeting writers I admire, seeing so many books for sale and feeling the enthusiasm, particularly of the fan-readers and new writers, is invigorating. It’ll be especially exciting attending the Agatha Awards banquet where my latest book, Fondue or Die, is nominated for Best Contemporary Novel alongside books by fellow nominees Connie Berry of Writers Who Kill, Ellen Byron, Gigi Pandian, and Ann Cleeves. (See Paula Benson’s latest WWK blog post “A Visit with the Authors of the Agatha Nominated Best Contemporary Novels.”) It’s an amazing group of women. Wish me luck! 

I’ll barely be recovered from the long weekend when my next book, Bait and Swiss, releases. (If you’re going to Malice, you’ll get to buy it first!)  This one features cheese and chocolate, so have snacks at the ready! Want to know a little more about Cheese Shop Mystery 6?

It’s been almost two years since Willa Bauer opened Curds & Whey in Yarrow Glen, and both cheesemonger and cheese shop are thriving in the Sonoma Valley. While Willa doesn’t eat chocolate, it’s true that life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get. Unfortunately, life’s latest curveball is that Willa’s ex-fiancé and ex-best friend—the reason for her chocolate aversion—are opening a chocolate pop-up shop across the street. By the end of the shop’s first day, the town’s newest reporter is the victim of death by chocolate. And it’s not long before tourists are too afraid to shop in town until the killer is caught. Willa’s ex wants her to be Swiss Congeniality, solve the case, and save the day. As much as Willa wants to hit him with the nearest cheese wheel, she can't stop herself from saying yes. To save Yarrow Glen, Willa and Team Cheese have some work to do.

Readers: What fun or exciting things are coming up for you this month? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, which includes multiple Agatha Award nominated books for Best Contemporary Novel and the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Listed as one of USA Today’s “Best Cozy Mystery Series,” her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

TAKING THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE

 by Korina Moss

When I began writing my fifth Cheese Shop mystery, Fondue or Die, I had one thought – to make things easy on myself. For once, I was going to choose the path of least resistance. You see, I’d just finished writing book 4, Case of the Bleus, which was anything but easy. I’d written it with two mysteries in one book—a murder mystery and a cheese mystery. It was a fun idea, but intersecting the two plotlines for the denouement’s reveal was more difficult than I’d anticipated. Let’s just say, there was a lot of hair-pulling to get it done just right and on deadline. It was worth it when my readers loved it, and it was eventually short-listed for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel last year. But when I’d turned it into my editor, overwhelmed and burnt out, I was determined that my next mystery was going to be simple, straight forward, and with much less hair pulling. 

My initial sketchy outline for Fondue or Die kept to my promise. However, the more the story took shape, the more that straight line began to curve and twist and circle back again. It quickly became clear that my new project had become my latest problem child. I couldn’t help it – the plot twists and complications that make my books more difficult to develop are the very things that also make them more exciting to write and more satisfying for readers. “YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF!” I repeatedly yelled throughout the eight months of writing, revising, and hair pulling. 

So it was with a great deal of gratification—not to mention astonishment and of course, gratitude— that I received the news that Fondue or Die is a finalist for this year’s Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. I’m humbled to see it alongside fellow nominees: A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry (who is also a member of Writers Who Kill), A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian, A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron, and The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves.

The awards banquet will take place on April 26th at the Malice Domestic Fan Convention in Bethesda, Maryland. If you’d like to attend, more information can be found here. 

Readers: Have you ever attended a mystery conference or convention? Would you like to? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, California, which includes multiple Agatha Award nominated books for Best Contemporary Novel and the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery Series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a freelance developmental editor and book coach specializing in cozy mysteries. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

2024 (and 2025) News from Debra H. Goldstein

 2024 (and 2025) News from Debra H. Goldstein

In 2024, my five book Sarah Blair series, about a woman who is more frightened of the kitchen than murder, ended. I was previously orphaned by two publishers. First, after writing 2012 IPPY winning Maze in Blue, a mystery set on the University of Michigan in the 1970’s. Then, following publication of Should Have Played Poker, a Mah Jongg related book about a young lawyer looking for the truth when her mother comes back into her life, gives her a mysterious note, and dies hours later. What I’d learned from being orphaned was that I had to write something new. 

So, I did. Unfortunately, the book I wrote didn’t sell – probably because it belongs in the bottom drawer of my dresser. At that point, finding myself somewhat depressed and needing to provide more caregiving attention to my husband, I concentrated on writing short stories.

Seven short stories appeared in 2024 and eight are already accepted for anthologies and periodicals that will be published in 2025. I’m proud of all my stories, but if you are going to Malice Domestic, I hope you’ll consider making one of your five short story nominations, “You Can’t Kill the Cat,” which appeared in First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, edited by Teresa Inge and Heather Weidner. It is a perfect cozy story dealing with the impact a cartoon cat has on two marriages. Above and below are graphics the wonderful Gabriel Valjan designed for that story and one for possible Bouchercon Anthony nomination for “Just Four Minutes to Get Even” from Dark of the Day: Eclipse Stories edited by Kaye George.

What I’m most excited about will be available in February! Jay Hartman’s White City Press, a division of Misti Media, LLC, is releasing a collection of my early short stories. Many of them were finalists for awards, including Agatha, Anthony, and Derringers. Keep an eye out for the print and e-book, not to mention the cover reveal. If you like stories that take an indirect look at human nature through crime fiction, I’ll be happy dancing at the opportunity to share these literary crime tales with you.

 

MALICE DOMESTIC, WHERE WRITERS' DREAMS COME TRUE

 By Korina Moss

As I begin to prep for my trip to Malice Domestic in less than two weeks, I’ve been thinking about all the dreams that I’ve realized there. Malice Domestic is a three-day fan convention/ conference in Bethesda, MD, attended by hundreds of authors and fans alike. It celebrates the traditional mystery, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. (Hence, the name for the Agatha Awards voted on by Malice attendees and handed out at the awards banquet.)

This will be my third year attending, and boy, I never imagined what amazing experiences this conference would bring me, or how many of my dreams would be realized. If you’re a mystery writer – published or not yet published—who might be hesitant to attend, let me tell you what can happen if you go:

You can meet your favorite authors.

You can connect with other writers and readers.

You can finally meet your online friends in person.

You can meet booktubers and book bloggers. 

You can make new friends.

You can learn interesting craft tips from author panels.

You can discover more about your favorite authors. 

You can find new authors whose books you’re dying to read.

You can discover publishing tips and inside scoop.

You can buy too many books and get them signed.

You can get free swag.

You can be on an author panel (sometimes with authors you used to read when you only dreamed of getting published).

You can introduce readers to your books.

You can meet readers who love your books.

You can find out you have fans!

You can dine with your editor. 

You can be nominated for an Agatha Award!

You can win an Agatha Award!

You can discover how incredibly nice and supportive the mystery writing community is.

You can get inspiration you need to keep going.

You can feel you belong.

Writers Who Kill at Malice Domestic, 2022

Agatha Award Nominees, Best Contemporary Novel

This year’s Malice Domestic marks it’s 36th year and takes place on April 26-28th. I was honored to win the Agatha Award last year for Best First Novel for Cheddar Off Dead. I’m honored to be nominated again this year for Best Contemporary Novel for Case of the Bleus, alongside my fellow nominees Ellen Byron, Annette Dashofy, Tara Laskowski, and Gigi Pandian. 

For more on me and my fellow nominees, go to Leslie Budewitz’s blog post, “And The Nominees Are…”

For more on Malice Domestic, go to MaliceDomestic.net. For more information on my Cheese Shop Mystery series, go to korinamossauthor.com.

Readers: Have you ever been to a writers' convention or conference? How was your experience?

THE WRITERS' CONNECTION

 by Korina Moss

Connection. That’s what good books are about, aren’t they? You connect with a fictional protagonist and their circumstances. They become someone real to you, often times long after you’ve read the last page. How many times have you stayed up late, racing toward the end of a book, only to dread it when you finally get there, because that’ll mean the book is finished? This is why cozy mystery series are so popular. What could be better than the opportunity to be back with “old friends” you loved from a prior book in the series as they maneuver through a whole new and exciting set of circumstances? 

As important as the plot is to a cozy mystery, the connection readers feel with the characters doesn’t come from the mystery solved. It’s the human connection—our protagonist’s plight, their quirks, and their vulnerabilities—the stuff our readers can relate to. The traits our characters possess that we hope to have in our real-life friendships is what makes them likable and worth returning to read about book after book. 

As an author, a connection is also what I try to achieve off the page. I’m a cozy mystery writer, but I’ve been a cozy mystery reader for over thirty years, long before my own series was published. So although the marketing aspect of my profession is time-consuming, it’s also a lot of fun, because I get to interact with other people who love reading cozies too. Although our foundation is our love of mysteries, we connect on other levels beyond books. Same with my connection to others in the writing community. I thrive on authentic relationships. My mindset is never one of selling to readers or networking with authors. It’s about having an authentic connection. 

When I was honored last year with the Agatha Award for Best First Novel for Cheddar Off Dead, it was the validation I needed that I’d begun to make that connection I’d been striving for in my books and within the mystery community. And this year, being fortunate enough to be nominated again for an Agatha Award, this time for Best Contemporary Novel for Case of the Bleus, makes me believe that connection is holding strong. I’m so looking forward to the Malice Domestic fan convention in April where the awards banquet will be held. After all, what’s better than being back with old friends? 

Reader: What makes you return to a series or an author? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series (St. Martin’s Press) set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, CHEDDAR OFF DEAD and the current nominee for Best Contemporary Novel, CASE OF THE BLEUS. Her books have been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. For more information about Korina and her books, and to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.