Dabbling in Crime, Halloween and Blogiversary

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Oh, my what a day this is for many throughout the country are celebrating a holiday. Here at Thoughts in Progress, we’re celebrating several things – the scary Halloween holiday, my thoughts on a book releasing tomorrow, and another year blogging.

The tradition of Halloween sometimes gets a bad rap when people do terrible things in celebration. But overall I think of Halloween as a fun time for young and old alike. It’s a time for children to dress up and get way more candy than they need to eat. It also a time adults can dress up and pretend without everyone thinking they’re silly.

It seems in the past few years more and more adults are dressing up and having Halloween parties, which I think is a cool thing. I mean, just think of all the scary murder mystery stories that can come from those events. And while stores are already decked out in Christmas decorations, more and more homes are decorating for Halloween and the fall season.

I know many don’t like Halloween at all and think it’s an evil time. I’m not going to talk religion with you and argue the pros and cons of it. I just like to think of today as a fun day for everyone to dress up, eat lots of candy, and not anything serious. So, I’m wishing everyone a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Next let me tell you a bit about a book that is being released tomorrow by author Shelly Reuben. It’s a fun book and I hope you’ll be sure to drop back by on Nov. 10 when Shelly will be visiting us.

◊ DABBLING IN CRIME: Death of the Violinist and Other Stories by Shelly Reuben

◊ Paperback: 230 pages

◊ Publisher: BookBaby (November 1, 2016)

◊ Language: English

◊ ISBN-10: 0988418142

◊ ISBN-13: 978-0988418141

SYNOPSIS:

          During the period when Shelly Reuben was investigating arson as a private detective, she came across individuals and events that tantalized her mind and touched her heart. Add to that a vivid imagination and an indelible belief that, even if virtue does not always triumph, it will eventually manage to hobble, stumble or stride across the finish line—and you have these eleven stories.

Originally published in The Forensic Examiner and The Evening Sun. Within the pages of Dabbling in Crime, meet: • Dante No-Last-Name-No-Middle-Initial, a throwaway kid hiding under a music school staircase, with a damaged heart and the talent of a virtuoso violinist. • Wealthy, beloved Jimmy Lillyjohn, burned to death on the top floor of his mansion after a lighted cigarette falls from his fingers onto his lonely mattress. • Mountainous, mean-spirited Hilda Pomfrey, who bullies everyone in her sphere, including her tree-loving, milquetoast husband Herb. • Honorable Police Chief Joseph Steinbeck, who reluctantly participates in a library event, and is almost murdered when he is checked out as a “Human Book.” • Prosecutor Edward Nygh, who hides evidence of arson to convict the wrong man • Nygh's reluctant assistant who travels through time to revisit her past.

“There are people who are skeptical about human nature and people who have a deep trust in human nature. And a great number of people somewhere in between. How does real life deal with these different kinds of people? This question is just one of the many interesting problems which are reflected in Dabbling in Crime, Shelly Reuben’s new collection of short fiction.” Albert Ashforth. Author of The Rendition and On Edge.

This is a book that is hard to describe in just a few lines. It’s more of one of those books that you have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate. It’s not a difficult book, but one that speaks to you on several levels.

Author Shelly Reuben leads you up the ladder of suspense only to quickly pull it out from under you with her skillful twists and turns. When I finished the first story, I felt like I'd been up that ladder and then crashed. Just when you know you’ve got something figured out, Reuben kicks the legs out from under you and you’re looking at things in a totally new direction.

Her characters are well-developed, colorful, and likeable. The characters have the traits of people you know or wished you knew in person. Each story is unique and delightful in its own way. Filled with humor and mystery, the stories are captivating. Once you start reading, it will be hard to put it down.

I truly believe she can write in any genre/style she wants. Her stories are a siren's call you can't resist.

Dabbling in Crime: Death of the Violinist and Other Stories by Shelly Reuben, BookBaby, @2016, ISBN: 978-0988418141, Paperback, 230 Pages

FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this book was sent to me by the author. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.

Now we come to another year of blogging. WOW! If someone had told me back in 2009 that blogging would become such a big part of my life, I would have said they were crazy. I didn’t know anything about blogging, the internet, and very little about computers. I wish had I known or could have even imagined where blogging would take me when I wrote that first post on Oct. 31, 2009.

Had I known I would have probably put more thought into the blog theme and gotten one that I could do more with. At this point, I shudder to think what it would be like to change themes. Overall I guess I’m happy with the name and the theme. I do need to do some work with it and make it a bit easier to load and less clutter.

The thing I’m most thankful for (other than authors Elizabeth Spann Craig and Alice Alfonsi aka Cleo Coyle encouraging me to start the blog) is YOU – the one that is reading this right now. The support I have gotten from readers and authors who visit this blog is amazing. Y’all are awesome! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Mere words cannot express how I feel.

Through your support I started my own virtual book tour business in June of this year – MC Book Tours. It’s fun and exciting working with authors to promote their books and with bloggers spreading the word. Thank you again for being my blogging friends.

I hope everyone has a great start to their week, a safe and happy Halloween, and a wonderful day. I’m going to close with the same puzzle I used in that first post so long again. Are you celebrating Halloween? Are you dressing up for the holiday? Want to share your favorite Halloween memory with us?

A Stitch to Die For, Halloween, Special Day {+ Giveaway}

Today’s post has a lot going on as I’m delighted to be participating in the book blast for author Lois Winston’s new cozy murder mystery, A STITCH TO DIE FOR; it’s Halloween here in the states; and it’s been 6 years since I stepped into blogdom.

As part of the Great Escape Virtual Book Blast for A STITCH TO DIE FOR, Lois is hosting an awesome tour-wide giveaway. Please see the end of the post for more details.

*Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, Book #5
*Paperback, 240 pages
*Publisher: Lois Winston (July 7, 2015)
*ISBN: 13: 78-1940795300

Here’s a brief synopsis:

      Ever since her husband died and left her in debt equal to the gross national product of Uzbekistan, magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack has stumbled across one dead body after another—but always in work-related settings.
      When a killer targets the elderly nasty neighbor who lives across the street from her, murder strikes too close to home. Couple that with a series of unsettling events days before Halloween, and Anastasia begins to wonder if someone is sending her a deadly message.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Author Lois Winston

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. 

Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. 

For more on Lois/Emma and her writing, visit her website and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. Follow everyone on tsu, Pinterest, Goodreads, and Twitter. Sign up for her newsletter HERE. 

A STITCH TO DIE FOR is available at Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play. 



You can find out more about this charming story by visiting the following blogs that are participating in the book blast.

October 29
Minding Spot
Michele Lynn Seigfried's Blog
Babs Book Bistro
readalot
Cozy Up With Kathy
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too !
A Blue Million Books
Frankie Bow
Book Babble
Shelley's Book Case
Tea and a Book
Griperang's Bookmarks

October 30:
Community Bookstop
Girl with Book Lungs
Kaisy Daisy's Corner
Mallory Heart Reviews
Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews
Musings and Ramblings
THE SELF-TAUGHT COOK
deal sharing aunt
Laura's Interests
Brooke Blogs

October 31:
Sapphyria's Book Reviews
Books Are Life - Vita Libri
Thoughts in Progress
Christa Reads and Writes
Jane Reads
Teatime and Books
Queen of All She Reads
StoreyBook Reviews
Read Your Writes Book Reviews
Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ……

Today is a day filled with superstition and celebration for all ages throughout the U.S. 

Halloween is one of those love/hate holidays that has been the topic of debates for many years. While some see it as a celebration of evil, others see it as a time just to dress up and have fun. Some see it as a celebration for children only, while others see it as a celebration of all ages. It seems more and more are decorating for Halloween each year. Here again, some do it with a scary theme, while others go more for happy ghosts and goblins.

Halloween has a long history and much is written about it. Each year I think businesses are realizing more and more the monetary aspect of the holiday with the sale of costumes (for youngsters and adults), decorations and especially candy.
However you celebrate or don’t celebrate Halloween, I hope you have a wonderful day.

SIX YEARS ….

It’s so hard for me to realize it’s been six years since I took my first step into blogdom and found all of you amazing people ….. my friends. Mere words cannot express the how much each of you mean to me and how much I appreciate all the support you have shown me throughout these years.

While I try to keep to a schedule, life has a way of changing things around sometimes. Through this, y’all have always been so understanding.

Currently I am visiting with my best friend in Texas. We haven’t had the opportunity to spend any time together in about 20 years. For this reason, my blogging will be a bit scattered over the next few weeks. Please bear with me if I don’t visit with you for a while. I will be back in full force before too long.

I can’t say THANK YOU enough for the wonderful response y’all have given Thoughts in Progress during these past years. Y’all encourage and inspire me in more ways than you will ever know.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This tour-wide giveaway is for either an eBook or paperback of A STITCH TO DIE FOR or ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in the series. It will be the winner’s choice of which book they receive.

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient.

Thanks again for visiting with me. Be sure to check out the giveaway below and have a wonderful holiday (or just day). Y’all are the best!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Halloween … It’s Been 5 Years

Ghosts, witches, goblins, and more..oh my! Today is the day adults get to act like kids and kids are supposed to get candy, candy and more candy.

For those of you celebrating Halloween today, I hope it’s a day of fun and great treats. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

I’ve noticed more and more adults are getting into the Halloween spirit dressing up, hosting parties and not feeling guilty for consuming yummy sweets. I enjoy seeing youngsters dressed up in all sorts of attire enjoying themselves.

This past Sunday evening our church held a fall festival and the youngsters (as well as some adults) dressed up. Since we live about a mile from the church, we agreed to be the turnaround spot for the hay ride. They also wanted to stop a few minutes for a devotion before heading back to the church. I thought what’s a hay ride without hot chocolate, so I suggested we serve it before the devotion.

This was a Sunday School project so how bad could it be? Then I learned the festival was an open event. There would be at least 50 to 75 on the hay ride. There was no way to make hot chocolate one cup at a time.

As luck would have it, I had a huge canister of Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa. I finally decided to make three separate large broilers of hot chocolate (it had to be made with milk) and poured it all into a large coffee urn we borrowed from a local fire department.

When all was said and down, we served hot chocolate and sugar cookies to over 100 youngsters (and adults) arriving on four wagons throughout the evening. We even had one cup of hot chocolate left when the evening was over. It was hectic, but great fun.

It’s Been 5 Years …..

Have you been wondering what the five years is all about? Well, five years ago on this date (Oct. 31st) I wrote my first blog post.

Sometimes I can’t believe it’s been that long and other times it seems like it’s been longer. I would have never imaged that I would have so many delightful followers and charming visitors. I am truly blessed to have y’all in my life.

I have meet so many amazing authors and fellow readers throughout the years and unfortunately a few have been taken from us. I’ve also discovered so many intriguing books that I could start my own library.

The enthusiasm around blogdom may go up and down but the friendship I’ve made is something I miss when I have to be off line. In that regard, I want to say a huge thank you again to everyone for your kind words of comfort and sympathy during the recent passing of my mother-in-law. I’m still trying to get into a new ‘normal’ routine while continuing to help care for my 98-year-old father-in-law. I thought I would have more time (or at least as much time) to visit blogs and do my reviews, but I keep running into new things that have to be done. Just know I deeply appreciate each and every one of you.

I hope everyone has a HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you have any suggestions and/or recommendations you’d like to see made here in the coming year, share them in the comments. Be sure to have lots of candy on hand for the trick or treaters.

Halloween, Blogiversary, The Boy in the Snow, and a Giveaway

Today’s post, like many I’ve had lately, is a mixture of various things that at first glance have no connection with each other. At the same time, all things I will tell you about today do interact sort of like Six Degrees of Separation.

First, for all of those throughout the U.S. – young and old alike – who are celebrating today…HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

This day of fright and candy lends its self to so many books and movies featuring mysteries, thrillers, and even comedies. It’s a day youngsters get treats for playing pranks and adults get to dress up like kids again and revisit a bit of their own youth.

Wonder what will be the most popular costume this Halloween? Are you dressing up and if so, as who or what? Do you have a fun Halloween story you’d like to share with us? Well, I’m wearing my witch’s hat today so HAPPY TRICK OR TREATING to all.

Next up, a blogiversary. Today (Oct. 31^st) marks four years since I ventured into the wonderful, zany world of blogging. I can’t believe it’s been that long, but I can believe I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing. This is my 1,349^th post. WOW, where has the time gone?

I have meet such wonderful readers, authors, book promoters, publicists and publishing representatives throughout these years that it’s overwhelming. I can’t say THANK YOU enough to all the amazing people who visit this blog. Y’all are truly awesome. I could ramble on for weeks and never completely express my appreciation to everyone. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for your support and feedback.

Now for the main focus of this blog, a review (and a giveaway) of a new crime thriller, THE BOY IN THE SNOW by M.J. McGrath. Thanks to Laura and the fine folks at Penguin Group, I have 2 print copies of this intriguing book to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for the details.

THE BOY IN THE SNOW by M.J. McGrath

Reaching for a throw to ward off the chill, I realized I had been captivated not only by the story but also by the setting in author M.J. McGrath’s latest novel, THE BOY IN THE SNOW.

In this second Edie Kiglatuk mystery, McGrath has cast the Alaskan setting as much a character as her protagonist Edie. Her vivid descriptions brings the setting to life placing the reader in the middle of the snow and cold Edie calls home.

Half-Inuit Edie Kiglatuk is on her way to help her ex-husband Sammy in his bid to win the famous Iditarod dog sled race when she gets a bit sidetracked. Lead by a spirit bear, Edie discovers a dead infant in a small wooden box in the forest.

Officials believe the death has something to do with the Dark Believers, a sinister offshoot of a Russian Orthodox sect since it was discovered on their land. However, Edie doesn’t see it that way as she believes there’s more to it.

Meanwhile, the office of Alaska governor is up for grabs and the election is heating up. The last thing Anchorage Mayor Chuck Hillingberg wants is Edie’s discovery made public.

THE BOY IN THE SNOW is a gripping mystery that will have you clinging to the edge of your seat. The story flows smoothly and at a quick pace. The twists keep you guessing as painful secrets aren’t revealed until the last few pages.

McGrath has developed realistic and likable characters. She has given them strengths, but also faults and worries that readers can relate to. An eye for detail, McGrath surrounds the reader with the Alaskan territory, its people and ways.

This is the second installment in the Edie Kiglatuk Mystery series, but can be read as a standalone. Make sure you have a cup of hot coffee and a blanket handy as you immerse yourself in the tranquil beauty of Alaska and this enthralling tale. 

The Boy in the Snow by M.J. McGrath, An Edie Kiglatuk Mystery, Penguin Books, @2013, ISBN: 978-0143124146, Paperback, 400 Pages 

FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
This giveaway is for two print copies of THE BOY IN THE SNOW. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only.

To enter this giveaway, please send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win The Boy in the Snow.” Your message should include your name and mailing address. The deadline to enter this giveaway for a chance to win a copy of THE BOY IN THE SNOW is 8 p.m. (EST) on Friday, Nov. 8.

Well, it’s been a long post today but I bet you’ve figured out the common connection these three things have in common --- books. Do you see any other connections? Thanks again for stopping by today and every day. Y’all are THE BEST!!

It’s That Time Again

Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s been a year since I wrote a similar post. You see, today is the third anniversary of Thoughts in Progress.

Three years ago on Oct. 31, 2009, I wrote my first post and began my adventure into blogdom. It has been a fun and wonderful journey. I have found great books to read, listen to and share with y’all.

And that’s the best part - I have gotten to know some amazing and delightful people through blogging. Mere words can’t express how grateful I am for the friendship and support each and everyone of you has shown me. Y’all continue to visit even though I’ve been limited in my ability to visit with you. I am eternally grateful. I am also thankful for those who follow this blog through all the different means.

While the blogging is a great way for me to express myself and my thoughts, I also want to make Thoughts in Progress a place you enjoy visiting time and time again. For that reason, I’m always open to suggestions for changes to the layout and the blog content. If there’s something you’d like to see or not see here, let me know in the comments. If you prefer, drop me an e-mail and share your thoughts.

Looking at other blogs I’ve tried to include a number of things I hope are enjoyable and/or helpful. I’ve added a list to my sidebar of the wonderful publishers and their links who graciously provide materials for me to review. I’ve also added the various blog tour promoters I’m associated with and their links. If I’ve left someone out, please let me know as this is a work in progress.

I try to highlight the books of authors guest blogging during the month with the slideshow, as well as providing a calendar showing when the authors will visit. Since most of the blog tours are now featuring banners, I’ve though about also including a slideshow just highlighting the banners. Do you think the banners displayed on the sidebar with a link to the tour promoters would be better? Or no banners at all? Readers and authors tell me what you’d like to see.

Another question for you. Are buttons important? I know a lot of bloggers have buttons that are quickly associated with their blog. If buttons are important, what image would make the best button for Thoughts?

Before I forget, today is the last day to access Riffle from this link. I hope you will check it out and join me there.

Again I want to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU for your support of Thoughts in Progress. It’s been a fun three years getting to know y’all and I look forward to the coming year to see what new adventures we can share together.

For those celebrating today - HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Hope everyone has a safe and fun time trick-or-treating and gets lots and lots of chocolate.

I also hope all our blogging buddies on the East Coast are safe and warm. Sending prayers and hugs to those involved in Superstorm Sandy.
 
I hope y’all will join me tomorrow to leave more about author Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest installment in her Elm Creek Quilt Series, THE GIVING QUILT. I leave you with a virtual hug, a glass of your favorite beverage, and a sincere THANK YOU!