Still Knife Painting (+ Giveaway)

There’s just something about cozy mysteries that draws me back time and time again and today I have a new book to share with you. I’m delighted to be a part of author Cheryl Hollon’s Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for her latest release, STILL KNIFE PAINTING, the first installment in her Paint and Shine Mystery series.

As part of the tour Miranda Trent, owner of Paint & Shine (an adventure tours business), joins us to tell us a little bit about what’s going on.

Still Knife Painting
by Cheryl Hollon

* Cozy Mystery
* 1st in Series (A Paint & Shine Mystery)
* Publisher: Kensington (June 30, 2020)
* Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
* ISBN-10: 1496725247
* ISBN-13: 978-1496725240
* Digital ASIN: B07W8VL149

Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia—until she stumbles across the trail of a killer . . .

After inheriting her uncle’s Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky—smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest—Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking.

To Miranda’s delight, Paint & Shine is a total success—until someone kills the cook. As the town’s outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda. Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts. Miranda will have to prove her innocence before she’s moved from farmhouse to jail cell faster than she can say “white lightning” . . .

Now please join me in giving a warm welcome to Miranda. Welcome, Miranda.

Hello. I'm Miranda Trent, owner of Paint & Shine. Thanks, Mason, I am so pleased to be a guest here at Thoughts in Progress. My brand-new business specializes in adventure tours set the Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky. My clients paint a picture and then sample a traditional southern meal paired with moonshine. I've been back in Kentucky for a few months now and the business is kicking off pretty soon, now.

Do you speak two languages? I do. One for my friends up in New York City where I nearly starved to death as an artist, and one language here at the family farmhouse in Wolfe County, Kentucky.

It is not as weird as you think. You see, my mom and dad were both born in Kentucky, but they moved up to Dayton, Ohio, right after I was born. So, I grew up with a plain Midwestern speech pattern. Pretty much broadcast radio with a flat accent and cheerful tone.

But my summers were spent in my mother's childhood farmhouse with my grandparents at first, then when they passed, with my mother's brother, my Uncle Gene. I loved those summers in the fresh, wild, pastoral, lazy, time of no time Kentucky highlands. When I was there, I learned a slow, drawl that used entirely different words.

I didn't see the issue until I went to New York and heard a million different versions of American English. I chose to stick to my Midwestern ways, but I revert to a drawl as soon as I step foot in the farmhouse.

Do you or do you know someone who speaks with more than one accent?
I enjoy this kind of research. It helps me relax after a stressful day dealing with problem clients and construction issues. Especially when the cocktails connect so strongly with my family. I feel closer to my beloved late Uncle Gene when I'm mixing up a moonshine cocktail. it gives me a great deal of comfort.

Miranda, thanks for joining us today and sharing this background with us. I like the idea of speaking two languages the way you do.

For those who aren’t familiar with author Cheryl Hollon, let me share some background with you.

Author Cheryl Hollon

Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India.

Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks.

Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.

Still Knife Painting can be purchased at the following sites:

Amazon, B&N and Kobo

Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Have you ever taken part in an adventure tour like Miranda conducts? Doesn’t it sound like fun?

Be sure to follow along with the tour to find out more about Cheryl and Miranda by visiting the following bloggers. Don’t forget to enter the wonderful giveaway.

June 29 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 29 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 30 - The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST

June 30 - The Book Decoder – REVIEW 

July 1 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT

July 1 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

July 1 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

July 2 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW

July 2 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

July 3 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT

July 3 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

July 4 – OFF

July 5 – Cozy Up with Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 5 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 6 – Diary of a Book Fiend – REVIEW

July 6 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 7 – Brianne's Book Reviews - REVIEW

July 7 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST

July 8 – Thoughts in Progress – CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

July 9 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW

July 10 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW

July 10 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 11 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

July 11 – Here's How It Happened – GUEST POST

July 12 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST 

July 12 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 13 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST

July 13 – La libreria di Beppe - SPOTLIGHT

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