Street Teams

Gone are the days of publishers taking care of the marketing needs of authors. For years writers have had to promote themselves, which can be difficult as there is only so much one person can do, especially as that one person may also have a full time job and still needs to write! Now, however, an author doesn't have to do it all on her own-enter the street team.

I'm not sure who coined the phrase, but a street team is a group of fans who work to promote a certain author. Before there were official street teams fans were already talking about their favorite books and authors, recommending the ones they loved. The advent of social media made spreading the word easier and authors decided to let their fans get even more involved. Members of the team are given promotional items to give out and are asked to talk up the books which are being released. In this way people all over the country are spreading the word and getting people involved. After all, word of mouth is the best form of advertising out there!

As a cozy mystery blogger I look to promote as many authors as I am able. I joined a blog tour group to bring a larger selection of writers to the attention of my readers. I've also reached out to favorite authors and some have even reached out to me-that's always exciting! Facebook has also opened up ways to promote and help authors. This blog has its own Facebook page, as do many other mystery blogs. Many street teams have their own pages. In addition to their own Facebook page, some authors join forces and have group pages. Members of these groups (most of which are closed, secret groups) perform the same duties as street team members, basically celebrating and promoting the work of these authors. I belong to a few of these groups. I am also an official member of 3 street teams, one of which was just formed this past week!

I'm curious-how many of you are street team or secret group members? Do you belong to just one, a few, or many? How did you get involved? Were you invited? Do you blog as well? I'll leave you with a little icon that shows my membership in one of my street teams-one that is not a cozy mystery team. I love this little icon and am proud to be a Grimlet.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Death of a Mad Hatter by Jenn McKinlay. This book is the second in the Hat Shop Mystery series and was released just last month. England, hats, and a touch of Alice in Wonderland-what's not to love? I loved the first book in this series (Cloche and Dagger) and am enjoying this one just as much!

Scarlett Parker and her cousin, Viv own and run the London hat shop left to them by their late grandmother, Mim. When a very dysfunctional family wants them to design hats for an Alice in Wonderland themed charity tea, they can't help but get involved-and when Scarlett finds the male heir, the very unpleasant male heir, dead, they get even more involved.

A Fond Farewell to a Favorite Beatle

 A fond farewell to a favorite Beatle

By Sally Carpenter

For my guest post I want to share some photos and thoughts on the passing of George Harrison on November 29, 2001. While I love all the Beatles, George was my favorite and the one I turned to for “comfort music” when I needed a boost.

At the time of George’s death I was living in Los Angles (the San Fernando Valley) and I heard that fans had turned the Beatles star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame into a memorial site. I wanted to pay my respects so that weekend I took the subway to Hollywood (traffic in Hollywood is often congested and parking is hard to find and expensive). I didn’t know the star’s location so I started at one end of the Walk of Fame and kept going.

The walk, consisting of the stars embedded in the sidewalk, stretched for many blocks along Hollywood Boulevard and also onto the side streets. The Beatles star is at the western end of the walk at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue (each Fab also has an individual star at 1725 Vine Street, north of Hollywood Boulevard, but that spot probable didn’t have enough room for fans to gather). The stars for The Beatles and Elvis Presley are both on a grassy island in the middle of the street! Those are the only two stars in this location, a place of honor for the kings of rock.

I used the marked crosswalk to reach the star. The entire island was buried beneath a mountain of mementos left by fans—candles, photos, flowers, messages, a copy of the LA Times announcing George’s death and even a guitar. Only a portion of the star was visible. The items partially covered Elvis’ star (I’m sure he didn’t mind).

A number of people were standing vigil on the island. One man was seated and singing and playing a guitar. I took photos and then left a note, a guitar pic and stick of burning incense.

The first photo shows only a small amount of the fan tokens. The second picture is of some posters with heartfelt messages left at the site.

Then I headed east to the other end of Hollywood Boulevard (a long walk!) where one can see the Capital Records Building (in case you don’t know, the building was designed to resemble a stack of records). Capital, of course, was the company that released The Beatles’ music in America. As you can see in the third photo, the American flag atop the roof flew at half-mast in mourning and the top of the building was draped with black bunting. What a nice gesture from the folks at Capital.

On Sunday afternoon a public memorial service was held at the Greek Theatre. I meant to attend but for various reasons did not go. The day was overcast with light rain, a change from LA’s usual sunshine. But I was glad all over that I managed to get to Hollywood and joined dozens of other Beatles lovers in showing my affection for a musical giant.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Tempest in a Teapot by Amanda Cooper. This book is the first in the Teapot Collector Mystery series and was just published this month. Sophie Taylor spent many wonderful summers with her grandmother in Gracious Grove, a small town in the Finger Lakes region of New York. When her restaurant in New York City fails she returns to help her grandmother and her Victorian Tea House. Sophie's childhood friend, Cissy, is getting married and although Cissy's grandmother, Thelma Mae, is a nasty woman who has a long standing grudge against Sophie's grandma, Cissy wants her bridal shower to be held at their tea house...which is next door to her own grandmother's competing one.

Things in Gracious Grove aren't quite as peaceful as the time spent here during her teens. Once known as Phil the Pill, Cissy's brother is still a ne'er do well, who wants to bring liquor to the dry town. (It was quite surprising to see that Gracious Grove is dry as the Finger Lakes is premier wine county.) There are other prickly characters as well. The biggest surprise (so far) comes at an engagement party for Cissy and her fiance held at La Belle Epoque, Thelma Mae's establishment. Sophie hears a scream and runs over only to find the mother of the groom writhing on the ground amidst cupcake remains. Yes...it's murder!

Amanda Cooper is also known as Victoria Hamilton. You'll want to check out all of her mysteries!

Who is Jacqui Lane? Plus a Contest

I'd like to welcome Jacqi Lane to the blog today. Jacqi Lane is actually the writing team of Jacqueline Corcoran and Lane Stone. Together they write the Doggy Day Spa Romantic Suspense Mystery series. The first of which, Maltipoos are Murder, was just published May 27th.

Kathy: You write as a team. How does that work? Does one person work more on the plot while the other writes the actual words?

JL: We plot the books together but have primary responsibility to do the rough draft for certain books each. Then the other one will come up behind and fill in spots, make things logical, straighten out plot points, read for consistency, that kind of thing. That’s what we’re trying to do anyway. We went through a lot of drafts with Maltipoos are Murder. Lane must have done three and I did a couple with our editor reading it in between.


Kathy: I was pleased to read that both Cara and Cole have rescue animals and I understand you are involved in local rescues. How did you begin?

Lane: Maltipoos are Murder is dedicated to A Forever Home. I started volunteering for them after reading about them in a newspaper article. This weekend I’ll be working on a fundraising project. They operate on a shoestring and save a lot of dogs.

Jacqui: I was looking to adopt a dog, and Lane told me about A Forever Home. I signed up to foster with them to look for a potential adoptable dog in the meantime. Our first dog, Tina the Chihuahua, we adopted within a matter of days. This past summer we fostered a Corgi/Lab mix mom and her four puppies. My daughter is still talking about those puppies nearly a year later!

Kathy: Cara Rogers has Percy, a deerhound mix while Cole has a lab mix named Delilah. Do you have dogs?

Lane: Abby is a standard schnauzer. She tweets as Abby, the Menopause Dog, (https://twitter.com/TheMenopauseDog) She’s not a rescue. We’re not anti-breeder by any means. I do hate puppy mills and I don’t think backyard breeding is a good idea.

Jacqui: We have Tina and two rescue cats.


Kathy: Is La Maison de Chien based on a real dog spa? Have your dogs ever been to a similar facility?

JL: Abby has such a luxurious life! Two of my friends decided that when they die they want to return as “Lane Stone’s dog.” She goes to Olde Towne Pet Resort in Alexandria, VA for swimming lessons, agility classes and sometimes to board. And, yes, I leave her spending money. Much of our spa is patterned on them. For regular day care, she goes to Your Dogs Best Friend, also in Alexandria. She boards there because they have cageless boarding. Both facilities are staffed 24-hours a day, which is important to me. In Atlanta she goes to “day camp” at Camp Bow Wow in Duluth. Camp Bow Wow has “camper cams” and Olde Towne Pet Resort has pet cams.

Kathy: The Doggie Day Care series is called a romance mystery series. Why did you choose to combine the genres?

JL: We both come from a mystery background, so it was becoming involved with Entangled that caused us to do the cozy mystery romance, where the romance was about 60% of the book. So the credit goes to Entangled with the creation of this new genre.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

Lane: I like reading mysteries because the reader is so involved. You’re uncovering clues and solving the crime right along with the sleuth, usually an amateur sleuth. The setting is a small community – say, Middleburg, VA.

Jacqui: I like reading books with a plot and books by women authors, so cozy mysteries are a natural here.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

Lane: I’m working on a nonfiction book about Polish nuns who saved the lives of several Jewish girls in the Holocaust.

Jacqui: I have written over a dozen textbooks in my field, three self-help books, and I branched out from mysteries by writing a steampunk novella that’s coming out with MuseItUp soon. Currently, I have almost finished a middle grade historical paranormal inspired by Agatha Christie.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

JL: Doggie Day Spa Mysteries: When Veterinarian Cara Rogers moves to Middleburg, Virginia, it’s not puppy love she finds. She wants her old life back, but police detective, Cole Sampson, wants a future with her. Can a murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting?

After Maltipoos are Murder, we will have Death and Dachshunds and Assassins and Alaskan Malamutes and an as of yet untitled fourth book in the series.

Tiara Investigations Mysteries: Three former Georgia beauty queens run a successful detective agency. They haven’t told their husbands so they have to meet their clients at the local Cracker Barrel.


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

JL: Some of the supporting characters are, if we do say so ourselves, very funny. There’s royal watcher Emma; the self-promoting and paranoid Reverend McInerney; and Cara’s attorney, conspiracy theorist, Michael Pritchett.


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

JL: We’ve already talked here about the cozy mystery/romance genre, dogs and the doggie day spa, and these were some of our inspirations. For our setting, we chose Middleburg, Virginia. First, a cozy mystery, by some of the conventions of the genre, has to be placed into a small setting, like a small town or village. Second, Lane and I both live in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., so we wanted a setting close by that we were somewhat familiar with and that we could visit. Finally, Middleburg is not just another small town. It’s well-known for being a hunt and horse area, and is attractive and upscale (see http://www.middleburgonline.com/).


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

JL: From the time we started writing, we always wanted to be published, and, in fact, for this particular work, we sold the series to Entangled on the basis of the first three chapters and a proposal outlining the first three books.


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

Lane: Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, E.F. Benson

Jacqui: Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, L.M. Boston, C.S. Lewis


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

Lane: I read the Man Booker short listed books every year. Just finished The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m in three books clubs – two of them specialize in mysteries – and they take up a lot of my reading time.

Jacqui: I am reading the latest Joan Hess Claire Malloy mystery, and Eckhart Tolle’s The New Earth.


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

Lane: I love to play golf. And I’m a “Jane-ite,” which is an über-fan of Jane Austen. In July, I’m going on a JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) bus tour in England.

Jacqui: I do spin and yoga classes, and like to hike. We’re taking a summer vacation to Yellowstone this summer (I’ve never been), so there should be plenty of hiking there.


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

Lane: 1% milk, grapes, lettuce and carrots – because they are Abby’s favorite treat. She looks like she’s smoking a cigar when she trots off with it in her mouth.

Jacqui: coffee, cream for the coffee, fixings so I can make my own bread (I don’t like store-bought).


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

Lane: I’m working on the third book in the Tiara Investigations mystery series, Foreign Affairs. and we are writing Dachshunds and Death.


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

Lane: Making people laugh. That’s the highest compliment a reader can pay me!

Jacqui: Translating real life into stories and some kind of structure, meaning, and order.


For more information check out these links:

Author Website: http://jacquilanebooks.com/
Author Twitter:  http://twitter.com/JacquiCLaneS
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacquCorcoraniLaneStone






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Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading a manuscript of my dad's memoirs, Nine Decades; The Life and Times of a Boy from Buffalo by Louis J. Kaminski. My dad has led an interesting life and would always tell some great stories. After he suffered a stroke several years ago, he was at loose ends during his recovery. I badgered him to start writing his memoirs. I was disappointed that my Aunt Bert had died and her stories died with her-I didn't want that happening with my dad. Lo and behold-he actually took my advice and has been working on his memoirs for the past few years. He just finished his first book-dealing with his childhood. He gave me a copy of the manuscript for my birthday and asked me to read it and to see if I think it's possible to be published. He's already working on a sequel his life in music.