Happy New Year!

My best wishes to you and yours. Here's to a safe, healthy and peaceful new year!

Announcing . . .

Call me superstitious (I’m not really, just careful), but I didn’t want to say anything until it was officially official. Now that I have my contract in my hot little hands, I can finally announce the sale of a new mystery series!

It’s called the League of Literary Ladies and is set on South Bass, the biggest of the Lake Erie islands. Main characters are three neighbors who are "sentenced" to be a book discussion group by a magistrate who’s tired of hearing their complaints against each other and convinced they need to sit down, talk, and get to know each other.

There’s more to the concept, of course, but I’m going to keep the details secret. At least for now. I can tell you that book #1 is tentatively titled "Mayhem at the Orient Express" and that it looks like it should hit shelves summer, 2013.

I can also say that I’m thrilled to have an excuse to visit the islands. Haven’t been there for a couple years, but you can be sure that once the ice breaks up on Lake Erie this coming spring, I’ll be jumping on the ferry and heading over to dig into South Bass Island history, and its secrets. I sure hope that one particular winery is still open, the one with the lovely front porch and the excellent sangria. Served in pitchers.

Ah, the things authors must endure for their art!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Wishing you a joyful, peaceful day. Join me in boycotting those retailers who are forcing their employees to work on the holiday. Bet you won't find any executives behind those cash registers tomorrow!

A Blast From the Past

Actually, it’s more like 11 blasts from the past.

You see, last week, I sent off the first 11 books I ever wrote to Amazon to be digitized and put up on Kindle.

An interesting exercise. First of all, I had to find copies of the books. Yes, I had them all, but gathering them took a little digging. After all, the first book I published will be (gulp!) 20 years old this coming February.

That done, I turned to a project my agent asked me to complete. Send her a list of all the books and include:

Title
Genre
Author’s Name on Cover
Comparable Authors
A Blurb About Each Book

And again, it sounds easy, but it definitely wasn’t. A blurb about each book? After all these years, I didn’t even remember character names, much less what each book was about. I skimmed, I read, I even looked up reviews online. Some of the stories floated back at me through the mist. Others, I barely remember at all.

That project done, I turned to covers. Choose a template, choose a color, choose an image.

Whew!

The books–eight historical romances and three young adult horror--are going to be part of Amazon’s White Glove Program, and I’m eager to finally see them available.

Maybe one of these days, I’ll even get a chance to read them. I wonder what surprises await me!

Attention Buckeye Readers!

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but it’s the first week of November and that means this Saturday is Buckeye Book Fair.

Not familiar with the event? It happens every year in Wooster, Ohio on the first Saturday of this month, a literary/book fair that features nearly 100 authors and many more eager readers.

Buckeye is Ohio’s premier book event and the location is perfect, just about mid-way between Cleveland and Columbus. Festivities start at 9:30. There’s plenty of parking, plenty of books, and authors who are eager to meet and greet readers.

I'll be there in both my personas, as Casey Daniels, author of the Pepper Martin mysteries, and as Kylie Logan who writes the Button Box mysteries.

Stop by if you can! For more information, check out the link at:
http://buckeyebookfair.com/

Happy Halloween!

Racing out to do a speaking gig at Kent State University, but before I go, wanted to make sure to stop by and wish everyone a happy Halloween!

No secret, it’s my favorite holiday, and my house decorations show it. The place is done up to the spooky nines with all my favorite orange, black and purple things. I’d show you pictures if it wasn’t for the fact that we just had a hideous computer problem that was made even worse by a tech who obviously was in over his head and wouldn’t admit it. Haven’t found my picture files yet, and can’t download any new ones. We’ll get there. Just need to figure out this part of the equation ourselves!

I was thinking about the holiday the other day and wondering why I like it so much. Near as I can figure, it all goes back to those old days when I was a kid and would trick or treat throughout the neighborhood. Back then (no dates given), parents didn’t have to come along with kids. We were free to roam on our own, and being out after dark with a group of friends . . . I think there was something about the freedom of doing that that makes the holiday stick in my mind.

I remember that days before, we’d get together and map out our route. And that night, I clearly remember just itching for it to get dark so we could start on our way. I’d always trick or treat with my best friend who lived across the street. Sometimes, my cousins would come along, too. My grandmother lived just a few houses down from me, and they’d show up to show off their costumes, then we’d head out, a herd of children sometimes with our costumes hidden under winter coats!

We didn’t care. Halloween was a great night to explore and to imagine. It was far less intense then. There were no Freddy characters waiting to jump out at you from the dark. No blood. No gore. It was a time of witches and ghosts and goblins and it was all innocent fun.
These days, we live on a street with no sidewalks and no one comes around trick or treating on Halloween. But I still remember the days. And the freedom of walking around in the dark, dragging the candy bag.

Happy Halloween!

Life Imitates Art

I don’t remember when I first realized how much I love cemeteries. It may have been back when I was a kid and walked to my piano lessons every week. There was no piano teacher in my immediate neighborhood and I walked about thirty minutes to get to my lessons. At the time (and no, I won’t say when it was!), no one worried about a kid out on city streets alone.

My route took me by a city cemetery, and I remember looking through the iron fencing around it and thinking how peaceful the place seemed. I never ventured inside, not because I was frightened, but because I didn’t know anyone who was buried there.

I did visit other cemeteries, of course. One of my grandmothers dragged (and I use that word appropriately) us with her once in a while to clean up the graves of long-gone ancestors. I remember walking to that cemetery, too, and packing a lunch to take along. Food was probably the one way she knew she could keep us quiet and bribe us to help her work!

What I do remember very clearly is when this vague interest in burial grounds blossomed into a full-blown obsession. It will be 11 years this coming Halloween. It was a Sunday, and somehow, I found out that a local trolley company was doing a day-long tour called "Stones and Bones."

Yup, a cemetery tour.

I was fascinated by the history of the cemeteries we visited, and grateful to finally have a chance to stop in at some city cemeteries that are not safe to travel in alone. I loved hearing about the art and the architecture, about the symbolism found in headstone carvings and the hints of family history that can be found in the names and dates etched for all eternity into the stone.

In the last 11 years, I’ve made good use of my cemetery interest. My Pepper Martin mysteries (written as Casey Daniels) involve a cemetery tour guide and over the years, I’ve gotten to know a couple of the local foundations that work to preserve local cemeteries. Recently, it all came full circle. You see a couple weeks ago, I hosted a tour in a historic cemetery.

It was called Killer Cleveland and on the tour, I took groups of visitors around to "meet" the victims and perpetrators of some local (and very old) homicides. It was a gray and gloomy afternoon (how appropriate) but our intrepid tourists showed up anyway and hiked along with me through the battered headstones. At some of the graves, I told the stories of the macabre murders. At others, re-enactors took over and played the roles of victims–and murderers.

It was a great day, and I know we helped spark an interest in local history. I also know that somehow, the Universe has been pushing me all these years, nudging me to this place where I am more involved in something I find fascinating.

As for that cemetery I used to pass as a child, it’s still there and I’ve visited a time or two. These days, I actually go inside!

My Kind of Town!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Something educational? Interesting? A little off the wall?

If you’re in northeast Ohio, I’ve got the perfect solution! It’s the Killer Cleveland tour at Cleveland’s historic Woodland Cemetery, this Sunday, October 2.

Join us for a look at the lives and tragic deaths of nine murder victims. We’ll visit their graves, talk about the who-dun-it of each case, and even tell a few ghost stories.

There are two tours scheduled, one at 1 pm and the second at 3, and I’ll be hosting and taking groups of visitors around from gravesite to gravesite. At some of them, I’ll be telling the sad stories. At others, costumed re-enactors will help visitors learn about the victims and the perpetrators.

The tour is sponsored by the Woodland Cemetery Foundation and they’ll have raffle prizes (including a basket of all the Pepper Martin mysteries), refreshments and some surprises along the way.

For more information, check out:

http://wcfcle.org/


On a side note, I’m celebrating week three of "Button Holed" being #5 on the Barnes & Noble mystery bestseller list. Thank you, readers, for making the numbers so good!

Another One Bites the Dust

It seems these days, Wednesdays are sneaking up on me.

That might be because life is so busy. Just this week, I participated in a cemetery re-enacting event, had coffee with a dear writing friend and helped her brainstorm a new project, had two visits from Sears (a fridge, and we’re on #3, don’t even get me started with that!), had lunch with a former editor, attended a friend’s neighborhood association spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

In between all that, of course, I’ve been writing. Or at least trying. I also read over the galleys for "Wild, Wild Death," Pepper Martin mystery #8 which will be released on January 3.

The galley stage is a funny thing. By this time, an author’s already sent in a manuscript, an editor’s read it and offered comments/criticisms/revision ideas. A copy editor has seen it, too. The CE is the person who is charged with looking for inconsistencies (like does the hero have the same color eyes on page 276 as he does on page 3–yeah, yeah, laugh, but it happens. It’s hard to keep this stuff straight!). Once the copy editor has seen the manuscript, the author gets it back one more time.

This is the moment to make any substantial changes and to look over the things the CE has suggested. I’ve been lucky lately, I’ve had a terrific copy editor whose caught some small but important details that needed tweaking.

Then an author sends the manuscript back.

And all gets quiet.

At least until about four months before the book is set to publish.

That’s when the galleys arrive. At this stage, the book has been typeset and the author is seeing what essentially looks like a book that’s been flattened and copied. This is the time for looking for typos, and for only those changes that are absolutely, positively so important, they must be handled. Why? Because every publishing contract I’ve ever signed specifies that at this stage, if an author changes more than 10% of the total words, the author pays to have the book re-typeset. This makes sense, of course, since given the chance, most authors I know would tinker forever.

For me, the galley stage is also the last time I’ll read my book. I have never, ever read one of my books after it’s published. I’m too afraid I won’t like it. Or I’ll find typos. Or I’ll decide the whole thing is just incredibly silly and I never should have bothered.

Clever person that I am, I do all that in the galley stage. The good news is that I enjoyed "Wild, Wild Death." I haven’t seen it in quite a few months, and I’d forgotten most of what happens. A lot of it surprised me. A lot of it had me wondering how poor Pepper would ever get out of whatever trouble she was in. But she did. I did.

The book is done, and I won’t read it again. But I know it’s ready for the world to see!

Mark Your Calendars!

I’ve got a couple things for northeast Ohioans (or anyone who would like to visit the beautiful North Coast) to keep in mind:

This Sunday, September 18, is the Meet the Neighbors event at Cleveland’s historic Monroe Street Cemetery. This year’s neighbors are all people who were somehow involved in the Civil War. Walk the grounds of this beautiful cemetery and meet a neighborhood boy who joined the Confederate army, a local abolitionist, two cousins who were killed in battle, an army surgeon, and more. The neighbors will be portrayed by re-enactors who will tell their stories and help us learn some history along the way.

It’s always a great event, and this year’s is extra-special. My writing students at the Brecksville Center for the Arts wrote four of the scripts! I wrote the fifth script and along with them, I’ll be a special guest.

Tour start at 2 and the weatherman says Mother Nature is going to cooperate. For more information:

http://www.mscf1841.org/events.html


Mark your calendar, too, for the launch party for my newest mystery, "Button Holed." It will be on Thursday, October 6, from 5-8 at:

Something Different Gallery
1899 West 25th St.
Cleveland

If you can’t be there and would like a signed copy of "Button Holed" or any of the Pepper Martin books, give them a call: 216-696-5226

On Sale Today!

It's Tuesday, September 6, and "Button Holed" is officially on sale.

Here's what one reviewer has to say:

Button Holed is absorbing, clever, crisp and finally not another contrived mystery with crafts tossed in as a diversion.

Brava Logan for creating a protagonist who is authentic, bright, enthralling, fun, innovative, and strong – it has been a long time coming for an amateur sleuth to pull off so many empowering attributes and you did it in style! Stand back and watch the copycats swoop down on Logan’s imaginative series, but always remember she is the groundbreaking pioneer in this genre.

Not everyone is lucky enough to not only have more than one personality, but to be able to celebrate it. That’s what I’m doing today because in less than a week, a new alter ego of mine if going to be making her first official appearance.

She’s Kylie Logan, author of the Button Box mystery series. Book #1, "Button Holed," hits store and virtual shelves this coming Tuesday, September 6.

It’s been an interesting road to publication for Kylie and it all started, quite simply, because I like buttons. As Josie Giancola, the heroine of the new series comments, buttons are little bits of history, and tiny works of art. They say something about a person’s style, and that person’s social class. Many antique buttons display incredible workmanship, dazzling jewels and even say something about a wearer’s love life; back in the nineteenth century, it was fashionable for young ladies to have a photograph of their beau put on their coat buttons!

Still, I never thought about actually writing a mystery series about buttons until a couple years ago when I visited Ann Arbor, Michigan. I’d just finished lunch at a charming coffee shop and I was alone on the front porch, sipping coffee and knitting, when a couple sat down at the table next to me. There are a couple operative words in that last sentence, namely, alone and next to. You see, they decided to pick that very moment to break up.

I listened to it for ten minutes or so and honestly, I expected them to apologize. After all, there was no doubt I could hear everything they were saying. They didn’t. Instead, they went on and on and I’d had enough. I gathered up my knitting and went next door to an antique shop.
What I didn’t know until I opened the door was that it was an antique shop that specialized in buttons.

Thousands and thousands of buttons.

I was in heaven, and the nice lady who owned the place was only too happy to tell me stories and answer my questions.

It was that encounter that gave me the idea for the Button Box mysteries. Josie owns an antique button shop, too, though hers is in a Chicago brownstone. It’s there that she meets a famous actress who’s come to Josie for the buttons she’ll put on her wedding gown when she marries a European prince. And it’s that actress who is murdered in the shop. When Josie’s cleaning up, she finds an unusual button–one she knows didn’t come from her collection.
As for those multiple personalities of mine . . . readers who enjoy the Pepper Martin mysteries by Casey Daniels can expect much the same light and airy reading experience and (hopefully!) the same sort of humor and intricate plotting. However, there are no paranormal elements in Kylie’s books as there are in Casey’s.

I’m counting down the days and looking forward to next Tuesday. I guess if I ever run into that breaking-up couple again, I owe them my thanks!

Because Kylie is a new person, she has her own email. You can contact her at:

kylielogan@rocketmail.com

Or find her on Facebook. She is also working on setting up a blog. In that sentence, the operative words are working on. Casey Daniels, who is also not very good at technology, would approve.