In getting ready for the heatwave starting today and going all weekend long, I realized it's going to be hot!
So I decided to come up with a "hot" contest :-)
TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES comes out in 13 days!!!
I am unbelievably excited for people to read this series. We, as authors, put so much blood, sweat, and tears into the work we do. That's why we go a little crazy when our books finally hit the shelves. Like Liz said, it's scary as hell. We know not everyone is going to like our books, but we hope at least some do. After all that work, the last thing we want is for a book to fail. So I raise my glass to you and make a toast: Here's hoping mine doesn't!
Okay, now onto the contest time. I just handed CORPSE IN THE CRYSTAL BALL in to my editor. I loved writing that book just as much, if not more, than book one. So now it's time to move on to book three, TROUBLE IN THE TAROT. The "trouble" is, I have no idea where to begin with this one. So I thought I'd reach out to all of you and see if any of you could spark an idea for me. What do you think book three should be about?
I will give away one signed copy of TEMPEST to the commenter who comes up with the best book idea for me :-) Even if I don't use the idea, but it sparks my creative juices the most, you will win!
Here are the blurbs for books one and two:
TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES
Sunshine Meadows is a big city psychic who moves to the quaint town of Divinity, NY to open her fortune telling business in an ancient victorian house, inheriting the strange cat residing within. Sunny gives her first reading to the frazzled town librarian and discovers the woman is going to die. When the woman flees in terror, Sunny calls the police, only she's too late. The ruggedly handsome, hard-nosed detective is a "non-believer." He finds the librarian dead, and Sunny becomes his number one suspect, forcing her to prove her innocence before the real killer can put an end to the psychic's future.
CORPSE IN THE CRYSTAL BALL
When fortune teller Sunshine Meadows helps the police find a missing person, her vison is crystal clear. Only, she never could have predicted the corpse in the crystall ball would be hunky, hard-nosed Detective Mitch Stone's ex-girlfriend or that he would be the number one suspect. Can he put his pride aside while she clears his name this time? Only the future knows for sure...
TROUBLE IN THE TAROT
What should this plot be about? Think TV blurb. I don't want to know who the killer will be. I just want to know who dies, etc. It doesn't have to be a perfect blurb, etc. Just what do you think in general this one should be about?
In book one, Sunny is the main suspect. In book two, Detective Mitch Stone is the main suspect. In book three, I want Sunny's Granny Gert to be the main suspect. I just don't know who dies and why they would think it's Granny.
Granny is a hoot. A bit naive, but a sweet, lovable, spunky old lady (she's 79) who shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a car. She visits Sunny in book two and will now be a regular character. She has pristine white hair from having Scarlet Fever at 16, and has had the white hair ever since. She has snappy brown eyes full of mischief. She wears old aprons she hand made because she recylces and reuses everything. She even makes hideous bow-ties and keeps dressing up the cat, Morty. She carries around her wooden spoon and has the perfect "cookie" for everything. And she uses an old orange pumpkin cookie jar with a missing lid, so she covers a plate in foil and uses that as the top. She finally has money from her deceased husband, but she's old school from the depression age and hates banks. She keeps a lot of her money in shoeboxes under the bed still. She has a strict schedule she sticks to. Monday cleaning, Tuesday laundry, Wednesday ironing, Thursday baking, Friday goes to salon to have hair washed and set. She plays bridge, is in a sewing circle, and has more of a social life than Sunny does. And finally she thinks Captain Walker (who's in his sixties and near retirement)is the bees knees.
So tell me, what kind of trouble did Granny get into? Any ideas at all? I just need a spark, people. I know you haven't read the book yet, but think regular small town characters (I already used the librarian, but there's still cookie cutter characters like the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker...and bankers, restaurant owners, etc.) or even new characters I can add.
The possibilities are endless so bring them on, people. My mind is wide open, but empty as hell, so help me fill her up and get her done ;-) The contest will runn all week and I will announce the winner on next week's Kari's Kave blog on Wednesday.
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43 comments:
Are your creative minds working yet? Mine isn't, so help an uthor out.
Any ideas?
Bring them on, people! And good luck to you all :-)
When Sunny's prediction makes the local bartender reconsider her relationship with her mean-spirited boyfriend, he threatens Sunny in Granny's presence. When he's found under the wheels of granny's car, Sunny must discover which of his unsavory friends, or disenchanted townsfolk, removed this blot on the local community using granny's car.
LOL that's hillarious, Mare! Especially since Granny failed her road test 4 times and finally passes in book 2. She now drives a big white cadilac the same shade as her hair, and when everyone sees that sucker round the bend, they run :-)
You rock.
In order to keep up with the rising taxes on her home, Granny plants a few marijuana plants in her cellar and specializes in "brownies." Her bakery booth in the front of her yard brings in a a wild cast of characters.
Chuckle, giggle, snort....Marla....that's a riot! And I have such a visual right now :-)
You guys have already got my mind buzzing with ideas. I'm loving this!
How fun!! I love Granny already! I'm sold sold sold on all of these books and the ones you haven't even written yet!
I'm thinking Grannies special "cookies" are found at the scene of the crime on a rare plate that is worth a fortune! She swears she found it....but was she really a part of the team that was responsible for the museum heist years ago??
Dah dah dahhhhhhhh
;)
Best wishes,
Nancy
OMG! Nancy and I were semi on the same wave length. I think something in Granny's cookies is to blame which fingers her as the #1 suspect. But what if the victim is someone from her sewing circle? Someone who was jealous that Granny has become so popular with the other ladies because she's so new in town. Maybe everyone loves Granny's quilting designs better, or even Granny beat out the woman at the county fair! Hmm...not sure but I think cookies and sewing circle.
OMG Nancy, that is awesome! You guys are soooo good at this.
Granny's nemesis from high school returns to town--lifted, botoxed, and dressed to the nines with flame red hair. She and Granny have competed since they were kids--for school prizes, athletic trophies and...men. When Fiona sets her cap for Captain Walker, Granny is furious. Alas, Fiona winds up dead--poisoned by one of Granny's cookies.
*She sounds like my grandmother who went white at 30 from scarlet fever! And when she drove down the street, people jumped back onto the sidewalks or pulled waaay over.
What about having Gran become a semi regular at Sunny's favorite bar, she meets some older gentlemen there... That could be the starting point so that the bar owner and the bar tender can get their cameo appearances in right at the start?
Granny crashes into the sherrif she has the hots for and continues to nearly stalk him with the cookies as a mea culpa. When he gives some of them to his "lady" friend, she ends up dead from some kind of poison, something found in a household...like the cop's BP medicine..or better yet, his Viagra. Then Granny and the cop..and the rest of them have to work together to solve the crime. Of course, you could have a zillion funny scenes with gramma trying to seduce the poor guy even though she thinks he might be a killer.
Oh that's fabulous, Meg/Peg :-) I have so many scenes running through my head. You guys are giving me enough ideas for several books to come!
This is awesome!
Ohhh, I like that, too, Nora. Love the bar and the people who run it :-)
I can see something to do with Granny's cookies, too, Barb.
And Liz I'm laughing my a** off! The cop's viagra is priceless :-)
how about the regular cleaner brings a helper in who finds some of the cash ... and they end up dead IN Granny's house with the stolen money on them?
Granny enlists Sunny to do Tarot readings for the town fair; but when Sunny sees a bad future for the butcher, and he then turns up with a meat cleaver in his back in Granny's back yard, things don't look so good for Granny, or for Sunny, either. Sunny must figure out what happened, and why the butcher was in Granny's back yard, before both Sunny and Granny are arrested.
Lucy Phelps, the pretty and young new hairdresser, has moved to town and bought the old Hanson place. As Granny is getting her hair done one day, she discovers Lucy likes to quilt and invites her to join the sewing circle. However, when Lucy joins, she lets slip about an old diary she found in her attic while moving in, which contains the dark secrets of several prominent ladies in town, including a few in the sewing circle. Blackmail follows shortly after, and Granny is one of Lucy's victims. Soon Lucy disappears, only to reappear in Granny's garden with the Fool (Tarot Card) atop a garden marker over her buried body.
Maybe Granny used to read Tarot cards but put that aside years ago when she gave a reading that predicted the death of someone she cared about. Her sewing circle convinces her to do a reading--just for them, telling her that that they think what Sunny does for a living is ridiculous. Her predictions for them start to come true, as one by one the sewing circle members disappear--except for Granny. Sunny and Granny have to use the cards together to find out what happened to them.
How about bring the land swindler back in book 3. Use him somehow to tie up that loose end.
These are all awesome!
You guys are truly amazing :-)
I have book material for several books to come! Yippee!!!
We know we're amazing. At least I know I am
Maybe Granny taught Sunny at an early age how to read the cards. But, Granny has some powerful skills that she has never shared with anyone. Sunny discovers a whole new side to her grandmother, creating concern as to what else she doesn't know.
Another idea-have some kind of relationship between Granny, the cat and a cold case unsolved murder in the house
Maybe Granny's bridge club is participating in a fundraiser for the local animal shelter and they need a "tarot reader". Since her granddaughter is a psychic, Granny is coerced into the part. She's still carrying a grudge against the new member of her sewing circle for insulting the quality of her aprons, so Granny gives the woman a dire reading, and the woman is found dead.
Hee hee...these are great, too!
Granny enters her cat Morty in the "household pets" division of the local cat show. Granny asks Sunny to predict if Morty will win but Sunny sees death for one of the contestants. Granny gets in a cat fight with the owner of the champion feline. When the cat owner loses one of her nine lives, the paw of suspicion points to Granny. And when the killer purses Sunny, the psychic escapes by a whisker. How's that for a great 'tail'?
OMG Sally you're a hoot! That was so freaking funny :-=)
Sally's idea would be interesting except Morty doesn't belong to Granny but to Sunny
I'm seeing Granny joining a senior citizen group and they decide to put on a festival. She convinces Sunny to do Tarot readings and tries to get her rival for her new squeeze convinced that "he" is not who she thinks he is. When the cards predictions come true...
Marsha C.
Granny's old high school sweetheart visited but the sewing circle ladies are competing for his attention making granny jealous, Of course one winds up dead and guess who is suspected?
Love it, Kari:) Okay, I'll play. Since book one is about Sunny and book two is about Mitch, I'm assuming there's an eventual matchmaking game afoot. Since Granny's schedule is impossibly busy, she feels guilty about neglecting Sunny, and brings her some of her fabulous cookies. Unfortunately when she arrives at Sunny's place, Sunny is running late and there's an irate tarot client waiting.
Granny, ever helpful, gives the client a reading, giving the client the impression she's Sunny. And though Granny doesn't know a tea leaf from a Death Card, she nails it.
Holy cow you guys rock. These are all such awesome ideas. I cannot WAIT to start book 3!
Only now I"m gonna need the help of my fellow M&M's to choose a winner. You seriously have some amazing ideas.
How about if Granny is finally convinced to put at least part of the money in the bank. However she has an argument with the bank manager and walks out without depositing the money. Later the manager is found dead and near by is a show box similar to the ones Granny uses to keep her money in.
I'm glad I don't have to choose which idea to go with. They all sound so great.
Yet another great idea! Thanks Elaine.
Granny gate crashes a cat show with Morty all dressed up as a vampire and gets kicked out by a "proper lady cat judge". Later that day, "PLCJ" ends up face down in the kitty litter.
Captain Walker should be the one who dies. Granny and Captain Walker get into an agreement at one of their card games.
Granny wakes up in the morning and finds him dead in her house with his hands in an empty shoebox, and all of her money gone.
He’s been stabbed in the heart with her wooden spoon.
But granny has a sudden case of dementia; she remembers nothing, heard nothing and has no idea how he got there.
It’s a start, hope it helps.
Kim
Argument not agreement. Darn spellchecker!
Argument not agreement. Darn spellchecker!
So, who's the contest winner Kari
People still have all week, so I will announce the winner on this wed blog :-) Good luck all, it's going to be a tough one.
At least I don't have to worry about winning since I've already got a copy
Just in case you haven't checked the new post, I want to let you know here as well who the winners are. You guys gave me such fabulous ideas that I will use parts of in several books, but for the sake of the contest I chose a winner and a runner up, and I will give them both a signed book.
Meg London/Peg Cochran is the winner and Silverhearts7 is the runner up.
Please email me your address at karileetownsend@gmail.com so I can mail you your signed books. Hope you enjoy them :-)
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