Guppy lunch, pics, and contest win at Killer Nashville

Hey Everybody! I had a blast at #KillerNashville and have a ton of pics to share. First up, though, is my amazing contest win. My Aug 2013 release from Five Star Publishing, DIME IF I KNOW, which is book 3 in my Cleopatra Jones series, won a Silver Falchion Award for Best Novel: Cozy/Traditional. I am delighted, awestruck, and humbled by this placement. Thank you to everyone who loves this story as much as I do!

                    

 Due to volunteering, critiquing, panels, and the contest win, I didn't get to too many other panels. I did catch the tail end of the New Author Panel and saw nearly all of the Using Forensic Psychology to Craft Believable Characters. I hope to get around to writing up my Forensic Psychology notes in a few days. Mostly what I have to offer are Guppy Lunch photos, so here you go! With many apologies to folks whose names I've missed!!!

Bill Hopkins sees from a different perspective

Sharon Hopkins, Cyndi Pauwels, and Carolyn Mulford

Bill Hopkins, Marjorie Brody, Debra Goldstein

Carolyn, Michael, Sharon, Cyndi

..., Kaye George, center, Carolyn Mulford right

Lisa Alber, ..., Michael Guillebeau, Lisa Wysocky, Amy Denton

Cyndi Pauwels, Ken Vanderpool, Bill Hopkins

Debra Goldstein and her buds, Kay Kendall and Marjorie Brody

And more photos of KN folks...

Maggie with Clay Stafford, organizer and founder of KN

Deni Dietz, acquiring editor at Five Star for my Dime If I Know

Kay Tyler with Sharon Hopkins

some of my registration buddies!

Kay Tyler, Maggie, and Sharon Hopkins

Maggie and Beth "Jaden" Terrell

Maggie with Stacy Allen

Stacy Allen gets the pic

Don Bruns joins the band for a number!

And lastly, my two panels.

Building Characters panel: Frankie Bailey, Maggie, David Burnsworth, Neil R Howard, and panel leader Michael Sears

Exploring the Human Condition. Mike Tabor, Maggie, Sallie Bissell, and Jamie Mason. I led this one.

That's about it, picture-wise for me. It was so fabulous seeing everyone at the conference. Killer Nashville is one of my favorites!

Please join me for the release of my romantic suspense, ROUGH WATERS, this Friday, from 6 to 9 p.m. on Facebook. The addy is: https://www.facebook.com/NewReleaseParty

The ebook is available for pre-order on Kindle and the print book is already available at Amazon and The Wild Rose Press. Buy links for Rough Waters: Kindle and Print Book

That's all. Hope to see everyone on Friday at the Virtual Launch Party. Lots of prizes offered!

Maggie Toussaint
www.maggietoussaint.com  

Malice and the Stew Pot

Whenever I make stew, I'm guilty of not following a recipe. I brown the meat, then submerge it in broth with some Vidalia onions and whatever veggies I have on hand. Then I simmer it until done and serve the thickened comfort food over wheat toast, brown rice, or grits.

I thought of stew as I was casting about for my blog title this week. I have different and diverse topics to include, so I hope you find these tidbits something yummy to digest!

The first item in the stewpot, so to speak, are my pictures of Malice. I didn't take a surfeit of photos this year. In fact, only 4 survived the cutting room floor, and one of those wasn't as crisp as I liked.

I'm shown here during a conference break with three of my dearest writing pals. I'm all the way left with my fabric "Guppy" boa still wrapped around my neck. Sitting beside me is author Nancy J Cohen who is a fellow member of Booklover's Bench. To her right is author Barbara Graham. Barbara is a great roommate and we enjoy going to conferences together, even though she lives in Wyoming and I'm in Georgia. And to the far right is my best-ever critique partner, Polly Iyer. She always looks like a million dollars.

I attended Nancy's panel on Saturday morning. Moderator Debra Goldstein did a great job of keeping everyone on the topic of social issues. Nancy spoke about using the Prepper Movement in her book. Preppers are the group of people that think the end is near so they encourage stockpiling necessities.

Barb's panel was interesting too. It was about a business related to the sleuth, and in her series, the business is a quilt shop. Barb has mystery quilts in each of her books - all part of her devious plan to get us to read every page of every book!

Barb and I slipped away from the conference on Thursday afternoon. We're shown here out and about on the Mall - see the faint Washington Monument between us? We walked the length of the Mall, after touring an art museum, and got swept up in a deportation rally. Glad the protest was peaceful. And hey, I took a selfie!

I should have snapped more pics at the conference, but in truth, I forgot! I didn't take my camera along this year, and I wasn't in the mindset of taking pics with my phone, which is how these few shots were taken. I missed everything on Friday due to being under the weather, but I rallied for the Saturday and Sunday sessions.

I also attended the Banquet (very fun) and the Poison Lady's talk. I found out a good bit about native and not so native plants and toxicity. Definite material for a future book!

The panel I was on (no pic here, but I've shared one on my FB page from Nancy's camera.) was all about paranormal sleuths. Everyone else on the panel had a ghost for a sleuth. My sleuth saw ghosts, which was different, but no one seemed to hold that against me. Several people from the packed room said the panel discussion was very entertaining, and I am happy to have been a small part of that. And I thank author Carolyn Hart for being a big name and drawing such a crowd to our session!

In other news, reviews are coming in for GONE AND DONE IT. One of the latest is from Romantic Times, which stated the mystery was multi-layered and wildly exciting. Yes! I love reviews like that. If you've read GONE AND DONE IT, I'd be honored to have you post a review online.

Available at Amazon in print and ebook and in print at Barnes and Noble

Here's a snip of a recent review from MyShelf reviewer Linda Morelli:  "Gone and Done It is the best mystery I've read in a long time. The paranormal aspects were realistic and Maggie Toussaint’s plot was engrossing, with plenty of twists and surprises to keep me hooked. I definitely want to know who – or what – the secret watcher is and can't wait to read the next release to find out." Read the full review: http://www.myshelf.com/mystery/14/goneanddoneit.htm

And its official. My next book, romantic suspense ROUGH WATERS, will release August 29 from The Wild Rose Press. Yay! I have a release date. Now I need to find some advance readers. Anyone listening? I have electronic arcs to send out as the time approaches.

Also, the Booklover's Bench May contest continues until May 18. Click on over to enter the contest, where a $25 gift card, ebooks, and a chance to have a character in a book named after you are up for grabs. http://www.bookloversbench.com/contest/ 

Please join me on Wednesday, May 14 at http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/ for a look at how I came to write a ghost story.


Thanks for joining me in sampling my Stew Pot of tasty news.

Maggie Toussaint
Have you LIKED me on Facebook? http://www.facebook.com/MaggieToussaintAuthor

Announcing the debut of my first paranormal mystery!

Release Day - Today, April 18, GONE AND DONE IT hits the marketplace. 

I am delighted to be debuting a new mystery series and a new sleuth! Baxley Powell stars in this dreamwalker series. She's a single mom barely making ends meet in a small southern town by petsitting and landscaping. When her father steps down from his title as county dreamwalker, Baxley has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Not only does she have to become familiar with her various, er, skills, but there are unwritten rules about what she can do on the Other Side, not to mention the shady characters who are determined to trick her and wreak havoc among the living.

Before you know it, Baxley finds not one, but two burial sites, the last one being very recent. Worse, the evidence points to Baxley. She needs all the help she can get, in this world and the next, to prove her innocence.

Early Reviews for Gone and Done It are in:

"A brisk plunge into the paranormal" Kirkus
"Wow! I couldn't put this book down once I started it!" Lori Mitchell Myers
"A unique style and likable characters" Joyce Lavene aka JJ Cook
"Loved this new series" Sherry Troop
"I very much enjoyed this book" Denise Zendel
"Paranormal fans will enjoy this ghostly whodunit" Paula Adams
"I loved it and couldn't put it down" Monica Pulliam
"I found myself captivated by the characters and the story plot" Robin McKay
"A book readers won't want to put down until the last word is read" Jacqueline Seewald

Ready to get your copy?
Links for Hardcover: Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Link for eBook: Kindle

Nancy J. Cohen and I are having an online party today because we share the same launch date! Click on over to join us on Facebook where the cyber-champagne is flowing and the prizes are FUN! New Release Party

Be sure to ask your librarian to order Gone and Done It for your library so everyone can enjoy it! Much obliged!

Take care and happy reading!

Maggie Toussaint
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PS There's still time to enter the April Booklover's Bench contest. A $25 gift card and 6 ebooks are up for grabs. Contest ends at midnight on April 18, so don't delay! http://www.bookloversbench.com/contest 

Amazing Trifecta

I'm blown away, and I hardly know which event to report first. On any given day, I would have been thrilled with any one of these occurrences, but the tide surged and I got three goodies at once!

There is no equitable way to showcase my news, so I'm going in chronological order of my awareness of them. This in no way detracts from the importance of anything. As I say, I'm OVER THE MOON about all three of these things.

AMAZING EVENT #1

My romantic suspense, HOT WATER, won the EPIC eBoook Award for Romantic Suspense. I was up against stiff competition, and I'm honored that this book got the nod. Thanks to Sharon Buchbinder who graciously accepted the win for me in San Antonio. Her book OBSESSION was also a finalist in the same category and a darn good book. The Wild Rose Press rocks! Thanks also to my editor Laura Kelly for all her encouragement and nudging.

(It was very difficult to photograph this clear, reflective award. The best spot turned out to be on top of the hot water heater, so there's the pipe in the background...)

If you haven't picked up your copy of HOT WATER yet, its in ebook and print at most online book places. A cop and an arson investigator are hot on the trail of a serial arsonist!  Hot Water on Kindle  Hot Water on Nook

AMAZING EVENT #2

I have a cover reveal for my next romantic suspense, ROUGH WATERS. Cover artist Kim Mendoza did a great job of capturing the essence of the story with her artistic treatment.

ROUGH WATERS will release in the not too distant future through The Wild Rose Press. It's about a florist and an ex-SEAL searching for stolen treasure. This story is set in my fiction town of Mossy Bog, conveniently located on the Georgia coast. There's action. There's adventure. And the clock is running out...

AMAZING EVENT #3

Kirkus reviewed my upcoming paranormal mystery release, GONE AND DONE IT. Here's a snip of the review:

“A landscaper uses her psychic powers to solve murders old and new . . . the last thing she wants is to unearth an ancient skeleton right where she’s supposed to plant a weeping cherry tree. The unfortunate discovery brings her job to a grinding halt . . . as Baxley moves closer to taking over her father’s role as county dreamwalker, her waking life is threatened by a murderer who’d prefer not to be caught. Toussaint takes a break from her Cleopatra Jones series for a brisk plunge into the paranormal.”

GONE AND DONE IT will release on April 18 and is available for pre-order on Amazon and B&N. The price is right!

 

GONE AND DONE IT (Dreamwalker Series #1)

Baxley speaks to the dead in her dreams.

BUY NOW at Amazon or  B&N

And, as luck would have it, of the 42 authors vying for 23 spots at Malice-Go_Round, not only was I lucky enough to land a spot, my name was picked first. I should've bought a lottery ticket this weekend!

Thanks for sharing in my good fortune. Having family, friends, and fans like you make it all worthwhile!

Maggie Toussaint

who is quite literally walking on air