I'm pleased to welcome Heather Weidner back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Heather writes the Jules Keene Glamping Mystery series. Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs is the fifth book in the series.
Kathy: In Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs Fern Valley is having its first teddy bear and toy festival. I love teddy bears, stuffed animals and toys, I don't care that I'm an adult of mature years. What about you? Is this an event you'd like to attend?
HW: I would definitely attend. I have collected teddy bears for years. I have bears in all the main rooms of my house.
Kathy: Do you still have stuffed animals and toys? Do you buy new ones for yourself?
HW: I do have a lot of stuffed animals and toys. I kept some of my favorites from my childhood, and I’m glad I saved them. My nieces had a blast playing with the “classic” toys. I still collect teddy bears, and I add to the collection every so often (usually when I find something cute or a souvenir from one of our trips).
Kathy: Paranormal investigators are also on hand to investigate local haunts. Do you believe in ghosts?
HW: I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one, but there are a lot of people who have. I live in Central Virginia, and there are lots of battlefields and cemeteries around, and all have lots of good ghost stories to go with them. (I once worked at a company in downtown Richmond that was built near the old state penitentiary. When they were building the office next door, they had to stop construction because they found paupers’ graves from the old state prison. It was also very close to the location of a civil war prisoner of war camp and a civil war munitions factory.) I have coworkers who swear that they’ve seen evidence of ghosts nearby, such as lights and faucets going on and off when no one was around.
Kathy: Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
HW: Not that I know of. I’ve had a couple of times when I had a really funny feeling about a relative or friend being in trouble, and when I called them, they were experiencing an emergency situation. I’m not sure if that counts as paranormal or not.
Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?
HW: I’m in a mystery writers’ group that brings in experts in a variety of areas. One had a presentation on paranormal explorers. They explained what they did (and didn’t do) and showed us some of the tools they used. It was really interesting.
Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Jules?
HW: As of today, there will be nine books in the series. I’m currently working on book 8. (Here’s a secret about book 6. The Idiot, Jules’s ex-husband, shows up, and he gets himself mixed up in a murder investigation.)
Kathy: When it comes to writing I understand there are 2 general camps-plotters, who diligently plot their stories, and pansters, who fly by the seat of their pants. Are you a plotter, a panster, or do you fall somewhere in between?
HW: I am a plotter. I work in IT, and I love my project plans and spreadsheets. I still have a day gig, so my writing time is limited. It helps me to do a detailed outline before I start writing. I am able to finish a manuscript faster if I have plotted out all of the details, plots, and subplots.
Kathy: Authors are required to do a lot of their own marketing, especially for a new release. What's your favorite part of marketing your work? What do you dislike about marketing?
HW: This is so true. I really like social media. I love connecting with readers and other writers. I have to manage my time though to make sure that I’m not spending all my writing time marketing. Being a writer is a lot of work (not all writing-related). It is worth it, but it does take time to make sure all bases are covered.
Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?
HW: This year, book two in the Pearly Girls came out. Book four in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries launches next month, and book six in the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries comes out this fall. All three are cozy mystery series with very different sleuths.
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Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs: A Jules Keene Glamping Mystery
About Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs
Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Setting - Virginia
Publisher: Level Best Books
Publication Date: December 9, 2025
Print Length: 244 pages
The town of Fern Valley, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has overdosed on cuteness for its first teddy bear and toy festival. Adorable bears have taken over every inch of the town, and Jules Keene can barely keep up with all the guest check-ins at her glamping resort. To add to the fun, a team of paranormal investigators set their sights on her vintage trailers and the new treehouse as they investigate the local haunts. It quickly becomes evident that things aren’t all sweet and cuddly when someone absconds with collectible toys. Then, to make matters worse, Jules and her friends trip over something not so other-worldly at an abandoned motel during a paranormal investigation. The very real corpse is the prickly vendor who raised a ruckus about his stolen merchandise and the weird things that were afoot in the cozy, one-stop light town. Jules has to calm frayed nerves and solve the mystery before there are any other thefts or grisly murders.
About Heather Weidner
Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, and Crime in the Old Dominion, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook. She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill. Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a crazy Mini Aussie Shepherd named Cooper.
Author Links:
- Website and Blog: http://www.heatherweidner.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/
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- BlueSky: Heather Weidner (@heatherweidner.bsky.social) — Bluesky
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- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8121854.Heather_Weidner
- Amazon Authors: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HOYR0MQ
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HeatherBWeidner/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-weidner-0064b233?trk=hp-identity-name
- BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-weidner-d6430278-c5c9-4b10-b911-340828fc7003
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyBjyB0zz-M1DaM-rU1bXGA?view_as=subscriber
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1
- Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Bookshop.org
Thanks so much for the fun interview!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by!
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