In Memoriam
Joyce Lavene
The world lost a gifted writer and a wonderful woman with the sudden death of Joyce Lavene.
Joyce was no stranger to Cozy Up With Kathy having visited numerous times with gust posts and interviews. In fact, just the other day I sent her some questions for her upcoming visit to promote A Dickens of a Murder, a brand new series for the Lavenes. Although I never met her in person, I know she was thoughtful and generous, helping fellow writers and spending time with readers. A massive influence online, Joyce welcomed readers to her Facebook pages and threw wonderful parties.
Joyce has left us with an amazing number of wonderful books, written with her husband, Jim. I was first introduced to their writing years ago when I read Pretty Poison, the first book in the Peggy Lee Gardening Mystery series. I loved that series and was thrilled when they recently brought Peggy back. One of my favorite series of all time is their Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery series, written as J.J. Cook. I also adore their darker series The Taxi for the Dead Paranormal Mysteries. Such gifted writers with amazing ideas, they just kept coming up with great new series-I was thrilled when they announced two new series: the Canterville Book Shop Mystery series (come on, a book shop where the owners are visited by literary ghosts? How marvelous is that?) and the Christmas Tree Valley Mystery series, a spin off from my favorite Sweet Briar Fire Brigade series. These are just some of the wonderful series penned by this amazing couple, whether they wrote as Joyce and Jim Lavene, J.J. Cook, or Ellie Grant.
Joyce may be gone and her absence certainly felt, but we can easily see her again for she lives on in the words she wrote and the books she created. While I will miss her interviews and chatting with her during her online parties, I can still visit with her. All I need do is open up one of the many books she gave us and read her work. She will be right there with me again.
I hope you'll leave a comment sharing any memories you have of Joyce, or your favorite book or series that she penned.
I was absolutely devastated when I heard she passed away. I loved all of her series the most recent book I read was Looking For Mr. Good Witch. She was an amazing woman and an extremely talented author. I will miss her sense of humor and her great posts.
ReplyDeleteI am still in shock. She was a friend to everyone she knew through Facebook and beyond. I loved the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade series and everything else that she wrote. She will be missed but will live on in her wonderful books.
ReplyDeleteI just got a chance to sit down and start to get to know her this past August. You've penned a lovely sentiment. I'd often that this of actors, that when they're gone, we can still spend time with them. It makes sense that she lives on in her books. Hugs. A sweet tribute, Kathy.
ReplyDeleteI recently exchanged emails with Joyce after one of her contests. A contest to select cat names for Dickens of a Murder. One of my cats' names - Maggie Mae - was chosen. It is great feeling. And, her interest on how she got her name was sincere. I enjoy reading all of their series. I am greatly saddened by her death. Her good and gentle spirit will live on in many stories.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tribute. I got to meet Joyce at Malice two years ago and she was such a lovely person. So warm and welcoming as if we had known each other for years. I have since gotten to know her on Facebook, we would chat often, and she would visit my blog often as well. I will forever miss her she brought joy to my life and some how knew when I need it. The books they wrote are amazing . She was a remarkable and lovely lady.
ReplyDeleteLike you the first book I read was Pretty Poison. I was hooked . I have read every book that they have ever written. I will miss Joyce, she helped me through 2 really tough times in my life. She will always live on in my heart and her books. Love and prayers to Jim and the family.
ReplyDeleteLike you the first book I read was Pretty Poison. I was hooked . I have read every book that they have ever written. I will miss Joyce, she helped me through 2 really tough times in my life. She will always live on in my heart and her books. Love and prayers to Jim and the family.
ReplyDeleteThough I never met her, we occasionally corresponded for Killer Characters business and she was a wonderful woman. She will be missed *so much* by her readers, and *deeply* by her family.
ReplyDeleteI was just heartbroken when I saw the post that she had passed. She was just so larger than life I as an author, the most reachable to her readers. I looked forward to reading her posts every morning, she would comment and ask about your day, share posts from my FB page. She just made you feel as if you were best friends and knew you her whole life. I don't know of any other author that connected with their readers as much as she did. The first book I read was " A Timely Vision" the Missing Pieces series. I loved it and immediately started finding their others books. I think one of the saddest things as a reader is that their are so many paths that we won't be able to wander because of her passing.
ReplyDeleteAs a big fan of cozy mysteries, I was a Facebook friend of hers and also attended some of her online parties. I even won a book recently from them, Looking for Mr. Good Witch, their latest one. I also was introduced to them when the Peggy Lee gardening series first came out. I discovered it at the library. A good series with Shakespeare the Great Dane. The Ellie Grant pie series was my favorite and very cozy.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed their giveaways and also won print copies of two Peggy Lee mysteries. These were the newer ones that they self published so I was happy to get them, as I don't do e-books and the library wouldn't have these.
I had hoped that they would've been able to go on writing for many more years. Joyce was only 61. I heard of her death on the day it happened when I saw a post on the right side of Facebook. I was saddened and kind of shocked.