Contest & Blogging News for Tempest in a Teapot

Q&A with Cozy Up with Kathy
Curious about any of my series, maybe even what happens to Jaymie Leighton in the next Vintage Kitchen Mystery? I hint!!!
http://cozyupwithkathy.blogspot.ca/2014/06/welcome-amanda-cooperaka-victoria.html

Q&A with Read Your Writes!

This was so much fun... thank you to Kim at Read Your Writes! If you want to know more about Tempest in a Teapot, drop in! BTW, I love how she formatted this... it's so pretty, and I love the extra little graphics she has used!

Contest Links

Lori's Reading Corner!
http://www.lorisreadingcorner.com/2014/06/guest-post-with-giveaway-tempest-in-a-teapot-by-amanda-cooper.html

Come meet Sophie Taylor at Dru's Book Musings, and enter before June 9th to win a copy of Tempest in a Teapot!

 http://drusbookmusing.com/2014/06/05/sophie-taylor/

Come see me at Fresh Fiction, where I'm talking about Writing From Memory! Chances to win a prize package!

Fresh Fiction: Writing From Memory

And I'm also at Mystery Lovers Kitchen, where I'm sharing my non-recipe for the World's Best Coleslaw!! And another GIVEAWAY! This one running through Friday!

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen





Hello, my lovelies!! I'm so pleased to be launching my new series, The Teapot Collector Mysteries written by Amanda Cooper (that's me!) and I'll be doing a couple of weeks of promotion.

As I appear on blogs, and we run contests for a prize package including the book, I'll be linking them here!

Also... in case you didn't know... for the months of June and July Killer Characters will be running a massive two month blow out Cozy Reads of Summer contest! We're each giving away prizes on our own day, but you have to check it out and comment EVERY day to be eligible for that day's contest!

So... Watch This Space! See you soon!

Real-Time Blogging

For me, reading a new mystery series is often as much about the people as the mystery... I like to follow them from book to book and learn about their lives as well as try to solve mysteries with them.

So, in light of that, I'm experimenting at Killer Characters over the next few months... follow Jaymie Leighton in real time as she lives her life in the months leading up to the launch of my first Vintage Kitchen Mysteries book, A Deadly Grind, in May of 2012.

My characters blog on the 21st of every month... find out what happens next on December 21st! I'm not sure if she'll be blogging, or if someone else will step in and blog for her.
Killer Characters: http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/11/winds-of-november.html

Sum-sum-summertime!

Why does time seem to fly so quickly in the summertime? I can't believe my last post was July Fourth... incredible.

Summer and vacation go together so well, especially for us northerners. Summer is fleeting, and we want to make the best of every moment. Over at Killer Characters, Jaymie Leighton (from my Vintage Kitchen Mystery series) is musing on the perfect summertime destination for someone who lives in a tourist town. So I thought I would offer a poll... I'm curious... what is YOUR ideal summertime vacation spot?

Let me know!!! And if I haven't offered you the right answer, leave me a comment!

Poll results:

Where is your ideal summertime vacation spot?

New Killer Characters post: The Glorious Fourth!

Hi all... I'm deep in final edits for Bowled Over, Book Two of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries series, and it covers the Fourth of July. I'm looking up vintage potato salad recipes, and my characters are watching fireworks, among other things, soooo... you will understand this next bit!

Come on over to Killer Characters today, where Jaymie Leighton discusses the different way Canadians and Americans celebrate their countries' birth!

http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/06/planning-for-glorious-fourth.html

Animals in Mysteries

I've read a lot of mysteries over the years, and among them have been hundreds that feature animals as characters. Dominant among these are cats and dogs, of course, but cats seem to have the edge in cozy mysteries.

I wonder why? Personally, I do love both dogs and cats, but have two cats right now. I'd love to have a dog, too, but they just seem to take more work than cats. Dogs have to be walked; cats, not so much. And maybe that explains one of the reasons cats are so common in mysteries. Cats can be there in the story when you want them, and mysteriously glide away when you don't. I always wonder what happens to the animals while the protagonist is out solving crimes; are they lonely? Does she have a dog walker for the pooch? Maybe that's just me and my hyper-sensitivity to responsibility.

Anyway, when I started to create the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series, I decided that Jaymie would have one of each, Denver the tabby, and Hoppy, the Yorkie mix. I'd love a Yorkie, and maybe someday I will get one.

What made me think of this was Avery Aames blog entry today, over at Killer Characters. It is from the viewpoint of Rags, Charlotte's cat, and I love that! Check it out: http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/06/rags-from-cheese-shop-mystery-series.html

But first... because I'm curious... take my poll, to the right of this blog entry. What do YOU think of animals in mystery novels???

New Post at Killer Characters! Meet Jaymie Leighton.

Today, over at Killer Characters, check out Jaymie Leighton - star of my upcoming Vintage Kitchen Mysteries series with Berkley - as she talks about her obsession with vintage cookbooks, and shows off a cover of one!

http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/05/old-cookbooks-old-recipes.html

Miss Valetta Nibley, Spinster and Town Snoop

Over at Killer Characters today you will meet Valetta Nibley, pharmacist and town snoop with a heart of gold, from the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series.

Valetta is one of those characters that you don't realize, as you're writing away, how much they are sneaking into your heart. I don't think I even noticed at first how she's keeping an eye out on those she cares for. She's a Mama Hen with no chicks, and her 'snoopiness' is really just her way of caring.

Drop in and tell me what you think of small towns!

http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/04/spinsters-small-towns-and-friends.html

Good news all around!

I have some great news to share.

First and foremost, I suppose, is that I do have a publication date for the first book of the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series. But it seems so far away!!! May 2012. Sigh.

But the second piece of news will help me while away the time. I am excited to announce that I have been invited to join the group over at Killer Characters, a great blog with posts from all the characters out of cozy mysteries!! Jaymie Leighton, the star of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries has already had an entry; I guested at Killer Characters. But now I've been invited as a member, and the first post, from Jaymie's older sister, Becca, is on Monday! I'll post the link when it is up.

I'll be back...

Update: Ooooops!!! My face is red... actually, a shade of cerise. I mispoke on the date for my first blog entry as a 'Killer Characters' member. Becca's post will be up on MARCH 21st, not today!

Back to waiting... and writing! No holiday for cozy writers, you know.