RIP in Reykjavik - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome A. R. Kennedy to Cozy Up With Kathy today. A. R. writes the Traveler Cozy Mystery series. R.I.P. in Reykjavik is the second book in the series and will be released May 19, 2020.

Kathy: Naomi heads to Iceland in the second Traveler Cozy Mystery. Why choose Iceland?

ARK: I love Iceland! I’ve been three times. It’s a great first international vacation. It’s a short flight from the East Coast of the US. It’s an amazing country with an interesting history and culture with beautiful scenery.


Kathy: In R.I.P. in Reykjavik we learn that traveling with family can be murder. Have you traveled much with your relatives?

ARK: I’m an only child so there could never be a sisterly vacation like in the first book in the series, Sleuth on Safari. My mother and I have traveled domestically several times together. I’ve had a passport since I was 17 but my mother just got her passport a few years ago.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

ARK: They’re fun!


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

ARK: Yes, I have another mystery series, The Nathan Miccoli Mystery series. I also have a stand alone romantic suspense novel, Saving Ferris. Saving Ferris is a story that makes us consider what, exactly, pets mean to us. If you love dogs, you will love this book!


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

ARK: Naomi travels the world, while navigating difficult relationships with her travel partner of a family member, while solving a murder.

The Nathan Miccoli Mystery series starts with Gone But Not Missed, where Nathan searches for the kidnapped Lillian and her miniature schnauzer Laude. With no jurisdiction, no resources, and no witnesses, he is compelled to obsessively take up the case.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

ARK: Picking a favorite character is like picking a favorite child!


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

ARK: My love of travel is my inspiration. I hope my series inspires others to travel. And, if they cannot travel, I hope they feel like they have taken the journey with Naomi.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

ARK: I wanted to share my stories.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

ARK: Stephen King, Steigg Larson, Erik Larson, Agatha Christie


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

ARK: I’m a huge a baseball fan! And I miss it terribly. I usually attend over 20 games a year and I watched every game my team plays.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

ARK: Milk, Oreos (Double Stuffed!), Coca cola, The makings of a PBJ — Peanut butter (Smooth only!), jelly (strawberry only!) and bread (Wheat usually!)


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

ARK: Yes. I’m currently writing book 3, Undone in Uluru, where Naomi travels with her father. Future travels will be with her Nan to Israel and with her brother (destination plans to be confirmed at a later date.)


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

ARK: It gets the stories that are bouncing around in my head out onto paper.

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R.I.P. in Reykjavík: A Traveler Cozy Mystery by A R Kennedy

About R.I.P. in Reykjavík

R.I.P. in Reykjavík: A Traveler Cozy Mystery 

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series 

Independently Published (May 19, 2020)  

Print Length: 149 pages 

Traveling with your family can be murder. One wedding party + one estranged mother = another vacation that goes array for Naomi.

 

Naomi is off on another international vacation. She thinks traveling with her mother will be the most difficult part of her trip until she meets the rest of the tour group—a wedding party. It only gets worse when she finds the groom dead. Everyone’s a suspect on her Icelandic tour of this stunning country.

About A. R. Kennedy

 
A. R. Kennedy lives in Long Beach, New York, with her two pups. She works hard to put food on the floor for them. As her favorite T-shirt says, ‘I work so my dog can have a better life’. She’s an avid traveler. But don’t worry. While she’s away, her parents dote on their grand-puppies even more than she does. Her writing is a combination of her love of travel, animals, and the journey we all take to find ourselves.  

Author Links Website – Amazon – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – BookBub –  

Purchase Link – Amazon

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Spotlight - A Premonition of Murder

I've been having a lot of detailed dreams lately, so I thought I'd shine a spotlight on Mary Kennedy's most recent Dream Club Mystery. A Premonition of Murder is the third book in the series and was released in June.

From the back cover:

An elderly Southern heiress's nightmare becomes a real case of murder in the latest Dream Club Mystery from the national bestselling author of Dream a Little Scream.

When Abigail Marchand, Savannah's famously reclusive heiress, invites the Dream Club ladies to lunch at her Beaux Reves mansion, Taylor and Ali hope for an invitation to join the distinguished Magnolia Society. But Abigail has a more pressing concern: a recent dream that seems to foretell her death,

Ali reassures Abigail that there are many ways to interpret a dream, but at the next meeting of the Dream Club, their discussion is cut short by a call from Detective Sam Stiles. She's at Abigail's mansion, where the elderly woman appears to have been pushed to her death down a flight of stairs. Now Taylor, Ali, and the Dream Club need to catch a killer before someone else is laid to rest.

Spotlight - Tea Time with the Cozy Chicks

I'd like to shine a spotlight on a book published earlier this month, Tea Time with the Cozy Chicks. The book is not a mystery novel, but rather a cookbook combined with articles about tea and tea parties. The book is a combined effort of the Cozy Chicks: Ellery Adams, Lorraine Bartlett, Duffy Brown, Kate Collins, Mary Kennedy, Mary Jane Maffini, Maggie Sefton, and Leann Sweeney

From the back cover:

The Cozy Chicks realized that tea was such a perfect complement to cozy mysteries that we decided to write a book about it. Not only does Tea Time with the Cozy Chicks have delicious recipes, but it also includes themed tea menus, fascinating articles, fun facts, curious quotes, and helpful hints on how to host the most memorable tea parties ever! And for an extra treat, a few of us have included excerpts of our work as well! Read, cook, drink tea, savor, and most of all enjoy!

The Wild and Wonderful World of Dreams - Guest Post & Giveaway

The Wild and Wonderful World of Dreams
By Mary Kennedy

Anything can happen in a dream. You can take on a new persona, explore lands both real and imaginary and have adventures worthy of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. Since dreams are not subject to time and space constraints, you can share a plate of marrons with Marie Antoinette (“Let them eat cake!”) one night and be part of the first space mission (“Houston, we have a problem.”) the following evening.

But what are we to make of the strange dream images that flit through our minds as we sleep? They seem so real while we’re experiencing them, and sleep studies reveal that our bodies react to dreams with real-life physical stress. Are you climbing a mountain in your dream or swinging from a zip line like Angelina Jolie? Your blood pressure may soar, your heartbeat may rachet up a notch and your chest may feel tight. If you awake and take a few deep breaths, everything will return to normal in a few minutes.

On the other hand, what if you’re dreaming of lounging in a meadow, taking in the sweet scent of honeysuckle as you thumb through a book of poetry? Your body will show signs that you are indeed, at rest. Your heart rate will rachet down and your breathing will become slower as your mind enjoys this respite from the cares of the day.

In any case, it’s fun to explore our dreams and what they really mean, as the characters in the Dream Club do. The members like to think that they are uncovering clues to solving murders in Savannah and they seem to have had some success. They combine intuition with solid sleuthing skills and some dream work. But do clues from their dreams really solve crimes? Is it luck, or coincidence or a combination of the two? I leave it to the reader to decide.

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Mary is offering a giveaway! One person can choose a copy of Nightmares can be Murder or a dream catcher. To be eligible simply leave a comment on this post about dreams. Do you remember yours? Do you have recurring themes? Leave your comment, along with your e-mail address no later than 11:59pm Tuesday, August 4, 2015.

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Mary Kennedy is the author of over forty novels and has made the BookScan, Barnes and Noble and Publisher’s Weekly best-seller list. She is a psychologist in private practice on the East Coast and lives with her husband and eight neurotic cats. Both husband and cats have resisted all her attempts to psychoanalyze them, but she remains optimistic. You can visit her at www.marykennedy.net or the Cozy Chicks, where she blogs every Saturday. www.cozychicksblog.com

http://www.marykennedy.net -visit Mary's website.
Nightmares Can Be Murder, the first in The Dream Club Mysteries, http://tinyurl.com/kloqok3
Be Mary's Facebook friend https://www.facebook.com/mary.kennedy.948
Follow Mary on Twitter https://twitter.com/marykennedybook
Link with Mary on Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10658765&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Mary blogs every Saturday with the Cozy Chicks. http://www.cozychicksblog.com

Review - Nightmares Can Be Murder

Review

Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy
The First Dream Club Mystery


In Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy, Taylor Black has returned to Savannah to help her sister, Ali, and Ali's struggling business, Oldies but Goodies, a candy store that specializes in old fashioned candies. It's not all sister bonding or marketing though. Ali, always intrigued by the unconscious mind, has created a dream club. Taylor, who doesn't believe in dream interpretation, is nonetheless persuaded to join Ali and her friends as they discuss each others dreams and their possible meanings. While enjoying Ali's homemade treats, Persia tells the group that she dreamt a man was murdered and described the scene. Imagine everyone's shock when the local Lothario (who Ali once dated) if found dead-just as the man in Persia's dream.

Are the answers to the mysteries of the universe simply locked in your subconscious mind? Do dreams hold the key? I've always been fascinated by dreams and dream interpretation. I may not be a pure Freudian, or Jungian, for that matter, but their takes on the subject are simply fascinating.

In Nightmares Can Be Murder, dreams seem to be supplying clues as well as insight into the recent murder. Members of the dream club have been asked to think about the victim in order to hopefully dream of him and reveal clues to his murder. Sure enough, the group members dreams reveal many details-some of which certain members wish were left undiscovered.

Mary Kennedy is off to a great start with her Dream Club Mystery series. A cast of unique characters with hidden, and not so hidden depth, cute cats, a burgeoning re-romance, and above all, a well crafted mystery make Nightmares Can Be Murder a mystery lovers dream!

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy. This book is the first in the Dream Club Mystery series and was released just last month.

Taylor Black has returned to Savannah to help her sister, Ali, and Ali's struggling business, Oldies but Goodies, a candy store that specializes in old fashioned candies. It's not all sister bonding or marketing though. Ali, always intrigued by the unconscious mind, has created a dream club. Taylor, who doesn't believe in dream interpretation, is nonetheless persuaded to join Ali and her friends as they discuss each others dreams and their possible meanings. While enjoying Ali's homemade treats, Persia tells the group that she dreamt a man was murdered and described the scene. Imagine everyone's shock when the local Lothario (who Ali once dated) if found dead-just as the man in Persia's dream.

I'm enjoying my trip to Savannah and am eager to learn more about the people who live there, and their dreams. I've always been interested in dream interpretation and love that it is a theme to a cozy mystery. I'm also craving some button candy!

Dreaming with Mary Kennedy & Giveaway

I am so very happy to welcome Mary Kennedy to the blog today. Mary and I are kindred spirits and I can't wait for you to learn more about her! Mary has a new mystery series coming out, the Dream Club Mystery series. The first, Nightmares Can Be Murder, will be published September 2nd.

Kathy: Setting is very important to a story. Your new series is set in Savannah, Georgia. How did you choose this location?

MK: There's something wonderful and mysterious about Savannah. You have the feeling that anything can happen there and I figured it was the perfect setting for a Dream Club.


Kathy: Allison dreams of running an old fashioned candy store. I could get in trouble in her shop; rock candy, candy buttons, marshmallow ice cream cones, root beer barrels, Charleston Chews, satellite wafers...Do you have a favorite old fashioned candy?

MK: I love licorice! When I was researching the book (what fun!) I discovered all kinds of delicious licorice, everything from peach to pineapple.


Kathy: I've always found the study of dreams and dream interpretation interesting. I wish I could film my dreams, sometimes they're even better than TV. Do you often remember your dreams?

MK: I do, and I always advise people to keep a notepad by their bed. If you wake up in the night, just write down a word or two about any dream you remember. Even a fragment helps, and maybe you can reconstruct the dream the next day.


Kathy: You've written a non-fiction companion to the series, Dream Interpretation. Can you tell us about this guide?

MK: It's only 99 cents on Kindle and all profits go to a wonderful animal rescue group, the Wayne County Humane Society in Lyons, NY. it's one of the few shelters in the country that rescues farm animals as well as domestic pets.


Kathy: How has your work as a clinical psychologist helped in your writing?

MK: It's made me more conscious of body language and speech patterns. It helps when I'm writing "tags" for a character.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

MK: It was a pretty natural progression. I'd written dozens of middle grade novels and young adult novels. They all were written in the first person. And I love to write humor, and I adore mysteries, so it seemed like a logical step.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

MK: I'm re-releasing three of my Penguin YA's this summer with new covers and new titles and adding a sequel to one.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

MK: The Dream Club is about a group of Savannah women who meet once a week to analyze their dreams, eat some delicious pastries and solve a murder or two! The Talk Radio Mysteries is about a psychologist who closes up her Manhattan practice to move to sunny Florida and become a radio talk show host like "Frasier." And she solves a murder in every book (like Jessica Fletcher). My agent sold the series to Penguin-Random House with five words: "Frasier meets Murder She Wrote." The two YA series are Hollywood Diaries and South Beach Tales. Hollywood Diaries is about a girl from a small New England town who finds herself starring in a Hollywood movie and later becomes a teen correspondent for an entertainment magazine. South Beach Tales are about a Miami beauty who learns that life in fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be. They'll be on the website in the Fall.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
MK: I love Lola in the Talk Radio Mysteries, she's mid-fifties and a B-list actress still waiting for "her big break." I did modeling, acting and television news writing before turning to novels, so I know exactly how she feels.


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

MK: I had a dream about a place where people could talk about their dreams--seriously! I thought, "It would be like a book club and the same people would meet every week, but instead of talking about books, they'd analyze their dreams. And then I thought, "Whoa--it would be even better if they solve a murder or two!"


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

MK: Someone offered me quite a bit of money to write a YA. That's exactly what happened. I'd worked as a copywriter for a rock radio station, and then written TV news for a CBS affiliate and I thought, "Why not?" It was a bit of a challenge because I'd just accepted a job as PR Director for a travel company the very same day and I only had 8 weeks to write the book. But it was for a Big Six publisher and they offered me money, so I said yes and signed on the dotted line!


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

MK: Oscar Wilde, Woody Allen, James Patterson and Janet Evanovich.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

MK: Currently reading Cliff's Edge by Carolyn Hart. It's set in first century Rome and is fascinating. Also reading Book Clubbed by Lorna Barrett and Never Tell by Alafair Burke.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

MK: My main (and very pricey) hobby is cat rescue. I love all animals, especially cats, and have 8 rescued (and highly neurotic) indoor cats. I've done my best to psychoanalyze them, but have failed miserably. They'll just have to be "charming neurotics." It's surprising how many writers are animal lovers. I support about ten animal charities and I donate all my speaking fees to a cat welfare group.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

MK: Dolphin-safe, water-packed tuna fish (for the cats). Gourmet salmon in tomato sauce (for the cats.) Fancy Feast (obviously for the cats) and CD vet food (again, for the cats.) I bet you're beginning to see a pattern here.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

MK: I hope to continue both the Dream Club Mysteries and the Talk Radio Mysteries,along with the two young adult series I've revived.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

MK: Meeting readers from all over the country, either by e-mail or social media the occasional book signing. I recently wrote a funny blog on The Cozy Chicks about some rather disastrous book signings. The Cozy Chicks are a group of seven "cozy" mystery writers and we take turns blogging each week. You can read it here. http://www.cozychicksblog.com/search/label/Mary%20Kennedy And I did a sequel the following Saturday, More Book signings from Hell.


****** UPDATED ********You now have more time to enter! *****************

Mary has generously offered a signed ARC of Nightmares Can Be Murder to one lucky reader. In order to qualify all you have to do is leave a comment here by Thursday night, July 31, 2014 at 11:59 pm EST telling us about your dreams. Are they vivid? In color? Do you remember them? Would you like to learn more about them? I'll use random.org to pick the lucky comment. Be sure to leave your e-mail address as well, so that I'm able to contact you should you win!


For more information about Mary and her books, check out the following links:

http://www.marykennedy.net -visit Mary's website.
Nightmares Can Be Murder, the first in The Dream Club Mysteries, available as pre-order right now! http://www.amazon.com/Nightmares-Murder-Dream-Club-Mystery/dp/0425268055/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397658929&sr=1-1&keywords=nightmares+can+be+murder+by+mary+kennedy
Be Mary's Facebook friend https://www.facebook.com/mary.kennedy.948
Follow Mary on Twitter https://twitter.com/marykennedybook
Link with Mary on Linked In  http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10658765&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Mary blogs every Saturday with the Cozy Chicks. http://www.cozychicksblog.com