Our featured writer today is our very own Jennifer Schiff. (Her nym is J.) Two books in one year! Let’s give her a warm welcome!
If you would like your talent featured in Authors in Our Midst or Artists in Our Midst, send me an email message. Don’t be shy! I have no more Artists or Authors posts in the queue, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to be featured.
A MOCKTAIL FOR MURDER post for Balloon Juice (September 2024)
Hello again, fellow Balloon Juicers!
First of all, a big THANK YOU to every one of you who has purchased one or more of my books – and my Sanibel calendars — over the last seven (!) years. My book sales and sanity took big hits from Covid and then Hurricane Ian. And it’s been the support of my readers—and communities like Balloon Juice, which I have been reading since 2007—that has kept me going. So, thank you. Now onto business!
As I wrote in my last post, I’ve had a busy year, writing and publishing TWO books, the second of which just came out. It’s called A Mocktail for Murder. And as the title suggests, it’s a murder mystery.
The book features the amateur sleuth from my Sanibel books, reporter Guin Jones. However, I wrote it as a standalone/sequel to those books, which you don’t have to have read to enjoy. You just need to like a good mystery or books that take place in New York City, where this one takes place.
In this book, Guin’s new husband is accused of killing his ex-wife, the founder of a new mocktail business (think Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel), but he swears he didn’t do it. Unfortunately, the police and a lot of other people don’t believe him. So investigative reporter Guin, who is now a business reporter for the FTFNYT, takes it upon herself to find the real killer and put him or her on ice.
With a cast of questionable characters (and some cute cats and dogs) and several twists and turns, A Mocktail for Murder will have you guessing whodunit until the end! (Or I hope it will!)
You can find Mocktail and my 13 other books on Amazon* (in paperback and for the Kindle), B&N Online, BAM, Bookshop, and in select bookstores. And if your bookstore or library doesn’t carry my books, they can order them for you via Ingram Distribution.
For more info about my books and me, visit Shovel & Pail Press and follow the Sanibel Island Mysteries page on Facebook.
*I know a lot of people hate Amazon, but they pay me the biggest royalty. (Ingram, the company that prints and distributes books to bookstores, is run by a bunch of TN Republicans who pay indie authors like me a pittance. But they are the only way I can get my books into bookstores and libraries.)
WaterGirl
Welcome back, Jennifer! Let us know when you get here. I just had a friend drop by, so I will be MIA for a bit.
Maxim
Congratulations on the book! Have you looked into Kobo Books as another outlet?
J.
@Maxim: I hadn’t heard of Kobo. I’ll look into it. Thanks! 🥰
J.
@WaterGirl: More proof that Trump ruins everything. Now no one will see or care about this post.
KatKapCC
Ooh, this looks like fun! Glad to have it on my radar — I’ll add it to the nightstand stack :D
J.
@KatKapCC: Thank you! 🥰
Jeanne
Oh I am thrilled. I loved all your books and was hoping you would continue to write even after the hurricane. These are books I reread and give to friends as gifts!
eclare
This sounds great! I’ll see if my library has it. If not, I’ll check into Amazon.
WaterGirl
@J.: Then we’ll run it again next week. :-)x
J.
@Jeanne: Thanks so much for reading my books! This one is a bit darker or grittier than my others. (Did you read Finding Gemma Lovegood, my contemporary romance? That one is my current favorite. 😊)
J.
@eclare: If they don’t have it, you can ask them to order it.
J.
@WaterGirl: Thank you. ❤️
SuzieC
@J.: Love dark and gritty. Bought it for my Kindle. I am accumulating books for a trip to Ireland so will need to read on the plane and in my hotel room after a long day of Irish tourism!
J.
@SuzieC: Thank you so much for purchasing it! It’s not that dark or gritty — just darker/grittier than my Sanibel mysteries. Wanted to make that clear. So if you are looking for something really dark or a thriller, return MOCKTAIL.
P.S. I love the Murder in an Irish… series by Carlene O’Connor. Fun mysteries.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Your books have such a nice sense of location, Jennifer. Do you hear from readers about that? I think it’s engaging
eclare
@J.:
I put an inter library loan request in, if that doesn’t work, I’ll suggest that they order it. I’d love to buy, but I need to be careful with my spending right now.
J.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thank you! I hear that all the time. The problem is, my readers just want me to write about Sanibel–and a Sanibel that doesn’t exist anymore. And I can’t do it. Worse, I get readers who love the early Sanibel books dissing my later and non-Sanibel books. The problem of writing about a real place and writing out characters people love. Sigh.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@J.: But this book sounds very New York! That’s good too. I suppose not for the Sanibel Island folks.
KatKapCC
@J.: Fans in any area of art can kind of be pests about change. I imagine as an author, you don’t necessarily want to keep writing about the exact same thing every time, and yet people want what they like and don’t want to try new things. Which is baffling to me!
Jeanne
@J.: I will be ordering both today!!
J.
@Jeanne: Thank you! 🥰
kalakal
Welcome back and congratulations on the new book. Looking forward to reading it
J.
@kalakal: Thank you! 🥰