A Visit from Snoop Steckle

We have a special guest at Cozy Up With Kathy today. Snoop Steckle is here from the pages of the Brilliant Minnesota Mystery series by Julie Seedorf. The Discombobulated Decipherers is the second book in the series and was released last month.

 

Shh, don’t tell Jezabelle Jingle I am here if she calls. I locked her in the basement of her bistro before I hopped on over here for an interview. I know you were expecting Jezabelle for the interview about her life in Brilliant, Minnesota, but what kind of a reporter would I be if I didn’t steal her thunder? My name is Snoop Steckle and I am the ace reporter for the Brilliant Times Chronicle.

I moved to Brilliant about eight years ago. I thought I would lead a quiet gentle life reporting in a small town but did that happen? NO! Brilliant has hidden secrets and Jezabelle and her neighbors keep me busy following them so I can try and get the scoop on their activities.

First they formed the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors. They were a little upset with me when I snapped a picture of the bunch cutting up a floor to see if they could find more clues to the murder and puzzle they were working on. It got them arrested so then they wouldn’t give me the time of day.

They solved that murder and things seemed quiet for a short time but it’s almost Christmas and Ernest the elf got himself murdered. Hank Hardy, our police chief, instructed Jezabelle, Lizzy, Phoebe, Mr. Warbler and Miranda Covington to disband the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, so what did they do? They reorganized and now they call themselves the Discombobulated Decipherers. They think the name change will throw Hank off while they investigate the new murder.

The Decipherers didn’t count on me snooping around trying to get the scoop. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan on getting caught up in the subterfuge either and it almost got me killed.

There’s more going on in the staid Brilliant town then meets the eye. Jezabelle has a secret admirer who is sending her weird gifts. Phoebe is not as flirty as usual but she sure is crabby and she keeps hanging around the stable making remarks about the shepherd when she is not flirting with Santa.

Our town is filling with strangers because it is also time for the Christmas Pageant. I happen to think it is the perfect time for another crime.

You might think I am little shallow and only out to get a story but I really like the residents of the Penderghast neighborhood. I know deep down they are good people, but good people harbor secrets and I am not called the snoop sleuth for nothing.

Whoops, here comes Jezabelle and her lips are kind of pursed in a... a... well, I’m not going to wait around to find out. Remember I wasn’t here, so make sure you ask Jezabelle some questions because she and the Discombobulated Decipherers are investigating the elf’s murder — but you didn’t hear that from me, and make sure you don’t tell Police Chief Hank Hardy. I trust you to keep our secret and if you don’t...I guess you don’t. Snoop Steckle signing off.

*************************************************************************

 

The Discombobulated Decipherers: A Brilliant, Minnesota Mystery  

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series  

Self Published (November 21, 2017) 

Print Length: 195 pages

It’s Christmas in Brilliant, Minnesota, and Brilliant is known for its glitzy Christmas traditions. A world-renowned Christmas pageant, the town square decked out with Santa’s Village and a live nativity scene bring visitors to Brilliant each year. Just as the tourists arrive, Jezabelle Jingle and her mystery writer friend, Miranda, find the body of Ernest the elf dead and wrapped in a bundle of Christmas lights in the town square. Is Ernest part of a new holiday puzzle the Discombobulated Decipherers need to solve? Or is dead Ernest part of a bigger plot? Will Jezabelle decipher the clues so Brilliant can celebrate Christmas in peace? Or will Jezabelle be the next gift-wrapped box under the village tree?

About the Author:

As human beings, we are always a work in progress. From birth to death we live, hurt, laugh, cry, feel, and with all of those emotions we grow as people, as family members, and as friends. I am a dreamer and feel blessed to have the opportunity in my writing to pass those dreams on to others. I believe you are never too old to dream and to turn those dreams into a creative endeavor. I live in rural Minnesota and I am a wife, mother, and grandmother.

I have worn many hats throughout my lifetime such as working as a waitress, nursing home activities, office manager and finally computer repair person eventually owning my own computer repair business. I never forgot my love of writing and quit my computer business in 2012 after signing a contract with Cozy Cat Press for Granny Hooks A Crook, the first book in my Fuchsia, Minnesota Series.

Adding four more books to the Fuchsia Series, adding a new Brilliant, Minnesota Series and writing a column for local newspapers feeds my writing creativity.

I also dabble a bit in watercolor painting and hope to eventually add pictures to my children’s book series, Granny’s In Trouble.

Oh, and did I tell you I like to be a little bit silly.

Author Links:  
Website: http://julieseedorf.com  
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author  
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/julieseedorf  
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/julie_seedorf  
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/julieseedorf  
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/julieseedorf  
Sprinkled Notes Blog: http://sprinklednotes.com  
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JulieSeedorf  
Merchandise from my books: https://www.zazzle.com/hermiony  
Purchase Link - Amazon

The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors - Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on Julie Seedorf and her Brilliant Minnesota Mystery series. This series, of which The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors is the first, is currently being re-released.

Cover blurb

The Brilliant Brothers founded Brilliant Minnesota, and then they disappeared. The residents of Brilliant didn’t know the brothers left a puzzle needing to be solved. A chain of unexpected present-day events shakes up the Penderghast neighborhood of Brilliant: Mr. Warbler hanging between floors after stepping through a hole cut in his floor by a floornapper, then a dead body in Annabelle Avery’s empty house. To the dismay of Police Chief Hank Hardy, Jezabelle Jingle and her quirky neighbors form their own sleuth group under the guise of the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors to solve the puzzle before any of them end up in pieces or—worse yet—dead. Will they be able to figure out if the same person who is causing the mysterious happenings is also Jezabelle’s secret admirer, or is another mystery unfolding to complicate their investigation? Is the entire town in danger of a pernicious puzzle waiting to be solved?

A word from Julie

As human beings, we are always a work in progress. From birth to death we live, hurt, laugh, cry, feel, and with all of those emotions we grow as people, as family members, and as friends. I am a dreamer and feel blessed to have the opportunity in my writing to pass those dreams on to others. I believe you are never too old to dream and to turn those dreams into a creative endeavor. I live in rural Minnesota and I am a wife, mother, and grandmother.

I have worn many hats throughout my lifetime such as working as a waitress, nursing home activities, office manager and finally computer repair person eventually owning my own computer repair business. I never forgot my love of writing and quit my computer business in 2012 after signing a contract with Cozy Cat Press for Granny Hooks A Crook, the first book in my Fuchsia, Minnesota Series.

Adding four more books to the Fuchsia Series, adding a new Brilliant, Minnesota Series and writing a column for local newspapers feeds my writing creativity.

I also dabble a bit in watercolor painting and hope to eventually add pictures to my children’s book series, Granny’s In Trouble.

Oh, and did I tell you I like to be a little bit silly.

Contact Links

Website - https://julieseedorf.com/

FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/JulieSeedorf

Purchase Links

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Seedorf/e/B009WAAANQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Julie+Seedorf?_requestid=319999

Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=Julie+Seedorf&search=Find+book

Granny Hooks a Crook: An Interview with Julie Seedorf

I'd like to welcome Julie Seedorf to the blog today. Julie writes the Fuschia Minnesota Mystery series starting with Granny Hooks a Crook.

Kathy: With a culture so focused on youth do you feel it's important to shine a light on older people?

JS: I do feel it is important to shine a light on the older generation but in a more positive way. What I mean by that is that it seems when you get to be a certain age some of society tends to shed a negative light on getting older, and there are so many positives to aging too. Senior citizens aren’t the broken, decrepit people that we are portrayed. Not all Senior Citizens spend their day in rocking chairs and sitting in front of the television ready to hit their life alert button.


Kathy: Why do you think Senior Sleuths are popular? Or do you think that they're not popular?

JS: I am surprised at all the Senior Sleuths out there. I don’t know how popular they are with the younger generation; although I do know there are many young people that are laughing with Granny while reading my book. It is possible that Senior Sleuths are popular because their characters are in books that are clean books. Most books that have older people as the detective, use good language and don’t have a lot of gore and violence. They are daring and at times very funny. It is possible that some of us would like to recapture the daring personality of our youth or some of us still have it and we can relate to those nosy Nellie sleuths. Plus, if we ever see ourselves in the characters it means we have learned through the years to not take ourselves so seriously and find the humor in our age.


Kathy: What makes Fuschia, Minnesota the perfect location for a cozy mystery?

JS: Fuchsia is unique. The rules governing Fuchsia are different than normal communities. It is a laid back and quirky town. In our real lives we are all so structured by rules and ordinances that guide how we have to live. We once had a purple house in my real life community. It was scandalous to have a purple house. There are ordinances for everything and everything has to fit a code or HOA regulations. Fuchsia has the opposite type of code. Houses aren’t the same urban box, storefronts in Fuchsia must conform opposite of what our main streets are, they must each be different. Fuchsia supports individuality and because of it, it is the perfect place for unique, strange and cozy goings on.


Kathy: Granny has interesting choices in nightwear. Will you share your favorite bedtime attire, or lack thereof?

JS: Boswella Wrinkle Cream. Did I mention I just bought bright pink snow boots? You can use your imagination.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

JS: Fate, I actually didn’t know what cozy mysteries were. I was reading them but didn’t know it or didn’t pay attention. One day as I was reading a mystery I happened to look it up online. Cozy mystery was in the description. A light bulb went on in my head because it was structured like the book I had written. That is when I knew that what I was writing was a cozy mystery. I had been reading many of them, but I hadn’t paid attention to what they were called. I hadn’t planned on writing one.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

JS: I do. I have been writing a column called “Something About Nothing” for area newspapers for over seven years. I am working on a book with my columns because I have asked by my readers. I also have a young reader’s series called the Granny Is In Trouble Series with my grandchildren, and the first one published is “Whatchamacallit? Thingamajig?” I have a play with music in the works, about a Bridal Shop and, what the characters mother calls her, “a spinster” Bridal Shop worker. Also for many years I wrote Lenten Services and Children’s Christmas programs for churches. I also write articles with the “Everyone Has A Story” theme for a newspaper.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

JS: Granny leads a secret life in the small, unique community of Fuschia, Minnesota. It’s not just her all junk food diet, multiplying pets, or her shocking bedtime attire that makes Granny one in a million, no, Granny is an undercover cop.


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

JS: Granny is the central character in my Fuchsia, Minnesota series. She is my favorite character. I didn’t realize it as I was writing this book, but Granny is partially my mother. Granny may seem far fetched, but my mother at the age of 90 still crawled on her roof to patch it. She tried to rent cars when she no longer had a license. Still could use a chain saw, table saw and could lift more than a much younger person at her age. She was tough, she had grit, she was a little cantankerous and I can see her doing many of things Granny is doing and Granny is a lot younger than my mom. My mom would have ran rings around Granny. And my mom gave me a run for my money just like Granny is doing to her children. My mom, like Granny, was very mischievous.


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

JS: I didn’t. I started writing and this is what the product became.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

JS: I call it a whisper or a push from above. It happened on a whim. The cozy book I was reading was by Cozy Cat Press. It reminded me of my writing. I looked them up, and sent a query. They asked for the manuscript. I had some rewrites and they offered me a contract. Again, it was a whisper, spur of the moment, no thought involved occurrence.


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

JS: J.K. Rowling, Catherine Coulter, Barbara Johnson, Patsy Clairmont.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

JS: Don’t Cry Over Killed Milk , A Damon Lassard Dabbling Detective Mystery - by Stephen Kaminski.


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

JS: Reading, Writing. Stained Glass, Computer Art, and Water Color Painting. I like anything creative. I am always trying something new.


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

JS: Pickled Turkey Gizzards, Dill Pickles, Wine, Granola Bars


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

JS: I am currently working on the second book in the Fuchsia, Minnesota Series, and the second book in the Granny Is In Trouble Series. I also have another mystery series started that is set in a neighborhood of quirky neighbors and Victorian Houses that harbor many secrets.


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

JS: I lose myself every day in creativity which gives me a break from the real working world. Also, I love meeting so many new and inspirational people such as the other authors from Cozy Cat Press.





Want to learn more? Check out these websites:

Webpage: http://www.julieseedorf.com

Goodreads: Julie Seedorf

Twitter:julieseedorf@julieseedorf

Blog: http://www.sprinklednotes.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sprinklednotes

Column: http://www.albertleatribune.com