Wednesday, July 8, 2020

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:


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 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 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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4 comments:

  1. I think that many of us speak different dialects of our mother tongue. And how I wish I had other languages as well.
    Thank you for yet another enticing introduction.
    And the very best of luck to Cheryl.

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  2. What a great setting for this series, Mason. And I hadn't thought of painting and painting classes as a context for a cozy series, but I can see how it would work really well. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Hi Mason, Thank you for supporting cozy mysteries with this wonderful site. During this time, virtual tours are all I'm taking. Cheers, Cheryl

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  4. I can relate to the Midwest speech pattern. I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. Now I live in Atlanta. People think I have an accent because I don't have a drawl. LOL!

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.