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The only thing possibly more exciting than launching a new series (Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop!), is breathing new life into a former beloved series, one prematurely cut short due to matters that were beyond your control. What am I talking about, you ask? Why, my first foray into the world of cozy mystery writing, The Very Cherry Mystery series. It's coming back, and I'm celebrating with Whitney Bloom's signature cherry inspired dessert. You guessed it, her famous Deconstructed Cherry Pie!
Most of you might not be aware of this, but before Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop there was the Very Cherry Mystery Series. I had tried my hand at historical fiction, and loved it, but after having a hard time selling my 3rd novel, I decided to write something totally differed. I wrote a cozy mystery. Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies was first cozy mystery I had ever written, and I enjoyed writing it so much that I thought I had finally found my calling as an author. Thanks to my agent, I was lucky enough to sell a 3-book deal to a mystery publisher called Midnight Ink. Yay! I naively thought. I'm back, and I'm writing about cherries! (Oh yes, there was a lot of celebrating this new milestone, mainly in the form of cherry baked goods. See recipes section for reference.)
I was writing cozy mysteries, and I had just published two Very Cherry Mysteries with Midnight Ink--with a 3rd in the works--when I was told that Midnight Ink was closing it's doors. What did this mean for me? Well, that 3rd book I was working on had to be set aside. The publisher wouldn't publish it, and because I was new to the cozy mystery genre, it was doubtful any publisher would pick up my cherries series. That's when I started writing Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop, and fell in love with Beacon Harbor! Then, one year after Cherry Scones & Broken Bones came out the rights to both cherry mysteries returned to me. This means that the publisher can no longer legally sell them, and if I wanted to sell these books again I would need to come up with a new cover, new typesetting, and re-edit the thing, because they don't give you that final edited manuscript back! It's a tall order, and a daunting one. However, I felt very strongly that the Very Cherry Mystery series deserved a second chance. And I was blessed with a talented friend who shared that vision with me.
I'm extremely lucky to have a friend like Robin Taylor. Not only is Robin insanely talented, but she was excited to take on this Very Cherry Mystery Series with me and help make it available again to readers. This meant that both of us had to do some brainstorming. We also had to tackle new skills, like learning new technology, getting better with old technology, and figuring out how one publishes a book on Amazon! For those of you interested, Robin Taylor was the inspiration for one of Whitney Bloom's besties, Tay Robinson. See how I did that? I just changed up her name a bit. I even included her super-adorable, food-loving, humungous cat, Izzy. Robin, who shares her home with her husband and four adorable, furry friends, also spends a good deal of her time volunteering her talents with her local animal shelter. Oh yes, they know how lucky they are too!
Well, Robin is every bit the genius her Very Cherry cozy mystery counterpart is. Even more so, because she created this amazing cover for me, got the manuscript Kindle ready, and launched the ebook! We've even re-booted our publishing imprint, Piffle & Bombast! Stay tuned, Cherry Scones & Broken Bones Kindle edition is coming soon, and I can't wait to see the cover for that one!
If you'd like to make your own decadent deconstructed cherry pie, and I highly suggest that you do because it's delicious, you can find the revised version of the recipe in the Kindle edition of Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies, or you can print a copy of the recipe here.
If you haven't read Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies, now's the perfect chance to do so--before book #2 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series comes out in October. The best part is Cherry Pies & Deadly Lies is only $2.99 in the Kindle store! Want to read this delicious, fun-loving mystery?
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Happy reading & happy baking!