I'm celebrating a milestone birthday today so Leslie Budewitz is taking over the blog. Leslie writes the Food Lovers' Village Mystery series. As the Cookie Crumbles is the fifth book in the series and was released just 2 days ago!
Why Writing A Book is Like Being on a Diet
by Leslie Budewitz
Reason #1: You can only start on
Monday. Everyone knows that. If you start on Tuesday, or heaven forbid, Friday
at noon, you’ll just mess up the cosmic calendar. You’ll think it’s a Thursday
in December In Real Life, when it’s really a Wednesday in June, because it’s
December on the page. You’ll grab your coat before leaving the house when it’s
80 degrees out, because you left your characters shivering in a pickup without heat
on the backroads of western Montana in the middle of a snowstorm. You’ll be
sure you already made dinner and show up in the kitchen after a full day of
work expecting to eat, only to find the cupboards bare. You’ll have to order
pizza instead, and you know what that will do for your diet.
Reason #2: You’ve got to deal with the
saggy middle. Because of the pizza. And because writers sit a lot. It can be
almost impossible to figure out what your characters do next. What new problems
to throw at them. By a certain point in the tale, you’ve become fond of them,
and we don’t want to make people we like suffer and get mired in the muck. Take
them—and yourself—for a walk. Ask them questions and listen to the answers.
What are they thinking, who are they upset with, what would they do if cops and
calories were no objection. With any luck, while they’re telling you how to
track down the killer, they’ll also tell you about a great new invention: the
zero-calorie potato.
Reason #3: Both go better if you set
realistic goals and keep from comparing yourself to other people. Two pages a
day may be your two pounds a week. Alas, some days, you may feel like you’ve
gained it all back. Stick to the plan, and before you know it, you’ll have a
scene, a chapter, a complete manuscript—and you’ll need new pants!
Reason #4: At the two-thirds mark, you
will get a better idea. You will be absolutely certain that the pineapple and
brown rice diet is the one for you, and you absolutely must, right this minute,
start that novel about the man who sets fires in order to make work for
firefighters. Don’t do it! See Reason #3.
Reason #5: Remember why you’re doing
this. Because you’ve wanted to tell this story for even longer than you’ve
wanted to lose the extra weight and feel better about yourself. Because
achieving your goal will lower your blood pressure and lighten your heart and
your step. Because we are the stories we tell ourselves.
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As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles (A Food Lovers' Village Mystery)
by Leslie Budewitz
About the Book
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Midnight Ink (June 8, 2018)
Paperback: 288 pages
Erin is one smart cookie, but can she keep the holiday spirit—and herself—alive till Christmas?
In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy's Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily has turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin.
When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he's been robbed, fingers point to Merrily—until she's found dead, a string of lights around her neck. The clues and danger snowball from there. Can Erin nab the killer—and keep herself in one piece—in time for a special Christmas Eve?
Includes delicious recipes!
About the Author
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician, and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model, and avid bird-watcher.
Purchase Links Amazon B&N BookBub Kobo
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for being part of the book tour for "As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles" by Leslie Budewitz.
ReplyDeleteI already loved this author but reading and laughing all the way through her Why Writing A Book is Like Being on a Diet made me realize again why I love her books. <3
Adorable cover! It just makes you want to celebrate Christmas all year long.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Leslie your post had me laughing and shaking my head in agreement. When out into perspective, writing a book can be very much like being in a diet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting me, Kathy, and Happy Birthday! Merry Christmas, too, while we're at it. And thanks, Kay and Sue, for your comments -- and for joining in the holiday fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good cozy.
ReplyDeleteFun post. Happy Milestone Birthday to Kathy, and congratulations to Leslie on the new book. aut1063(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI liked the description of the book. Sounds like a book to get me in the holiday mood. Also, I'm sure there are some good cookie recipes included.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway. Sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteFun post. And looks like a good book.
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised when I came and saw you Leslie hosting that was such a nice thing! Thank you for the chance to read a Christmas book in June I love reading them all year and a print book also! So glad that you came to take over.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy cozies so much. Thanks so much for this opportunity. BTW your picture looks so much like a niece of mine.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cozy I would enjoy reading! I love Christmas cookies!
ReplyDeletemarypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
Merry