Blogging again! Jeri Westerson is back at it and invites you...

HALLIE EPHRON: I still remember my first "encounter" with Jeri Westerson. She'd come out with her first (hilarious and mystifying) medieval mystery and was showing up at talks in full knight's regalia.

Since then, having written a myriad of mystery subgenres (Medieval, Tudor, Sherlockian, LGBTQ, Historical, and Paranormal!), she's checking in with us today with a look back and a look ahead...  where old is new again.

JERI WESTERSON: Many years ago in the early 2000s, before social media became the behemoth it is today—for better or worse—I, like many other authors were told to have a blog.

Agents and editors wanted authors and would-be authors to get an online presence. No longer could authors dwell in the shadows to sell their books. They had to be a “personality”. A commodity that the reading public could get to know. No more J.D. Salingers.

I thought about what I could do. I wasn’t yet published as a book author, though I was a freelance journalist for two local dailies and several weeklies in southern California. I didn’t want to write another “my journey to publication” blog. Those were a dime a dozen. I wanted something more interesting, something that could possibly raise my profile, so when the time came that I did get published, I might just have a ready-made audience.

So I got myself a domain name of “Getting Medieval” and decided it would be, more or less, a magazine of history and mystery.

And I’d throw in some interviews, not just of authors, but of swordsmiths, people competing as knights (yes, it’s a sport), and historians who would talk about their various subjects of expertise.

It was, of course, the interviews that put me on the map. And I would advertise those in particular to the bigger blogs out there that posted about crime writing and writers.

In fact, this strategy proved so successful, that when I went to my first Bouchercon with my agent who took me under his wing and introduced me to various Important People in the biz, that a lot of people recognized my name from my blog.

Now that’s what I’m talking about. That’s paying your dues and nose to the grindstone and a bunch of other metaphors.

As a matter of fact, the formula worked so well, I even had a blog for my LGBTQ mystery series, the Skyler Foxe Mysteries

And another one for my character Crispin Guest in the medieval mystery genre, done in first person as my character.

And then I was invited to be a part of the group blog Poe’s Deadly Daughters (now defunct) with several other female mystery writers, each taking our own week.

So that was FOUR blogs I was writing.

I was younger then. Had more energy.

After some years of success with my Crispin Guest Medieval Noir mysteries getting published and nominated for awards, it seemed to me that social media was the way to go to promote myself, and I decided to stop blogging and give up that domain name. I slowly weened myself from all those other blogs since I simply did not have the time to do it anymore.

Fast forward to today. Facebook was my biggest media platform. It was even paying me for “engagement”. I never got into Twitter, and I used Instagram and TikTok sporadically. Then with the most recent election, fascism came to corporate America, and Facebook was no longer a safe place to be, what with the rules of civility gone out the window, a directive from the top of that corporation.

That meant bye-bye any Meta products like Facebook and Instagram (and bye-bye engagement money).

TikTok and Twitter were never my jam so they were easy to dump. I migrated to Bluesky which is a much healthier place to be, but it’s not the same kind of engagement one used to have on Facebook.

And then it occurred to me. It worked once. Why not try blogging again?

So here I am. Back to the old formula of interviews, and I started with longtime friend and colleague Gary Phillips. Who doesn’t like Gary Phillips? He and I had both served terms as president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America, I have done several stories for the wide variety of anthologies he has edited, and we’re both from the same part of L.A.

Next I asked James R. Benn , the bestselling author of the Billy Boyle WWII mystery series. And then it will be my narrator for my audiobooks (still to post). And who knows where it will go from there?

Sprinkled in between are articles on history from the two genres of historical mystery I currently write, the Tudor era and the late Victorian era (for my Sherlockian pastiche series An Irregular Detective Mystery where a former Baker Street Irregular takes up the mantle of detective).

There will be author guest blog posts coming up as well, and I’m looking forward to that from my author friends out there.

It’s a case of everything old is new again. But hey, here on Jungle Red Writers, they’ve been going strong for years. It’s a good idea to take a leaf from their book and squeeze myself back into the blogosphere. Why not? The water’s fine. Come to http://jeriwesterson.com/blog/ to get started.

HALLIE EPHRON: We're thrilled to welcome Jeri (back? back again??) and boy we so agree: that "old interview" formula still works for us.

Today's question: When you hop over and check out a new-to-you blogger, what are you looking for?

Welcoming back Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day and Scone Cold Dead

 HALLIE EPHRON: Once again it's our pleasure to host Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day and celebrate the release of Scone Cold Dead, her thirteenth Country Store Mystery.  

Welcome back, Edith! What a great cover! Seems like only yesterday...

EDITH MAXWELL: Thank you, Hallie. I’ve made appearances here at Jungle Reds from the start. Hallie also hosted me back in 2015 for the release of book #1, Flipped for Murder. In “How the Heck Did we get to Indiana?”, I explained how I arrived at the perfect setting for my first series written as Maddie Day.

I was honored to have Hank endorse the book, and I helped launch it at that year’s Magna Cum Murder conference in Indianapolis, birthplace of many a Maxwell including my father. 

For those readers who haven’t been with me for the whole journey, I thought I might recap the series for you.

• Flipped for Murder #1 October 2015
• Grilled for Murder #2 May 2016
• When the Grits Hit the Fan #3 March 2017
• Biscuits and Slashed Browns #4 January 2018
• Death Over Easy #5 July 2018
• Strangled Eggs and Ham #6 July 2019
• Christmas Cocoa Murder #6.5 Sept 2019
• Nacho Average Murder #7 July 2020
• Candy Slain Murder #8 Oct 2020
• No Grater Crime #9 Sept 2021
• Batter Off Dead #10 March 2022
• Christmas Scarf Murder #10.5 September 2022
• Four Leaf Cleaver #11 January 2023
• Deep Fried Death #12 December 2023
• Scone Cold Dead #13 April 2025

In the first book, Robbie Jordan has finished fixing up the rundown country store she bought in Brown County Indiana, and she’s opening the doors to Pans ’N Pancakes, her breakfast-and-lunch restaurant in the store, for the first time. A couple of days later a murder victim is found with one of Robbie’s cheesy biscuits stuffed in her mouth, and Robbie’s future is suddenly in peril.

Leapfrog to Book #3, When the Grits Hit the Fan, takes place during a snowy winter while Robbie is working on renovations upstairs to make a few bed and breakfast rooms. A man found dead in an ice fishing hole is Robbie’s next case, and later in the book Robbie and her new boyfriend Abe are attacked during an ice storm in a remote cottage in the woods.

For that release, which coincided with the release of one of my Quaker Midwife Mysteries, Julia and Hank did a fun interview with Edith and Maddie, and for my launch party, Maddie and I interviewed each other.

Four Leaf Cleaver features a St. Patrick’s Day competition in Robbie’s store – and murder. When I crowd-sourced a title and Grace Koshida suggested Four Leaf Cleaver, I knew I had a winner. I promptly wrote a cleaver into the story.

Jenn hosted me for the release of Biscuits and Slashed Browns.

Debs hosted me for a joint celebration when No Grater Crime released, along with Alyssa Maxwell and her new book – even though we’re not related! Robbie has the first death from poisoned food in her restaurant and gets to work fast to find out who is trying to sabotage her business. The book ends happily with her marriage to Abe O’Neill.

In Batter Off Dead, the murder of a senior citizen eerily echoes one in the past, and both are linked to police Lieutenant Buck Bird, now a good friend of Robbie’s. Julia was sweet enough to host me but horrified to hear that I write into the headlights without benefit of a plot!

Fast forward: And now #13, Scone Cold Dead. A man’s body is found dead on Aunt Adele’s sheep farm, and it turns out to be someone she knew long ago. But was he murdered? Another mysterious stranger shows up in town. The bank manager has a history with the corpse, as well.

Robbie spies a face looking out from the second floor of an abandoned brick farmhouse. Adele becomes oddly tight-lipped about everything, even when the police want her to talk. In this book, Robbie is weeks away from giving birth. She tries not to put herself and her baby in danger – but she has to clear Adele’s name and get to the bottom of the mystery.

I’m grateful to have shared so many releases here. Thirteen books in ten years is a good long run for a series, and Robbie and Abe now have a newborn. I’ve made the decision to let her go on out top. Yes, I’m ending the Country Store Mysteries. You’re hearing it here first.

My deep apologies to ardent fans of the series (sorry, Jay!), but I’m at the stage of my life when I don’t want to work quite as hard. My publisher wanted to continue the Country Store Mysteries, which made the decision even more difficult.

Still, I have shifting personal priorities (one of whom is named Ida Rose), and they’re important to me. Also, nobody wants a series to go stale for readers or author. I wanted to end it while I still loved creating the stories.

I’ll still be writing the Cozy Capers Book Group series and the Cece Barton Mysteries, plus short stories and possibly a new project or two, and I hope you’ll check out my other series if you haven’t already.

Thank you to all my followers who fell in love with Robbie and the South Lick gang. I often receive messages or comments asking for the next book and saying they miss their favorite characters. I know I’ll miss Adele and Samuel, Buck and Corrine, Danna and Turner, Abe and Sean and Freddie, not to mention Birdy, Maceo, and Cocoa – and Robbie. Who knows, maybe a few of them will pop up in a short story somewhere.

Readers: Do you have a favorite book or character in the Country Store series? Or tell us about a series whose ending made you sad.

BOOK GIVEAWAY! Edith is giving away a signed copy of SCONE COLD DEAD to two luck commenters.

In Scone Cold Dead, country store and café owner Robbie Jordan is just weeks away from giving birth, and it seems Robbie and her husband, dad-to-be Abe, aren’t the only ones grappling with anxiety. A stranger is causing a stir in town and Robbie’s Aunt Adele appears unusually preoccupied at the baby shower. But when someone finds a body in the ram field on Adele’s sheep farm, it’s Robbie’s turn to be worried. Especially after Chief Buck Bird uncovers a troubling link between Adele and the possible murder victim. Robbie has no choice but to knit the clues together and solve this mystery before anything else gets flocked up . . .

Spring sprung yet in your neck of the woods??

 HALLIE EPHRON: Here in New England we have “sprung ahead” so daylight is breaking at around the time I am waking and signs of spring abound!

A pair of downy woodpeckers are doing their darndest to make a dent in my brick chimney. Cardinals are back and proclaiming wallah-ballou from the rooftops. A flicker is drilling for worms between the stones in my patio. A house finch (with a bright red head) is singing from the top of a maple tree in front of my house. And I’m bidding a fond farewell to the darling little juncoes (snow birds) that have literally flocked to my garden all winter.

My yard is shaking off winter doldrums. Carpets of blue scilla are popping up everywhere, and some have hopped the fence and are colonizing in my neighbor’s garden. The little clump I planted at Jerry’s grave is blooming.

Sedum, which will bloom in October, are starting to poke their tidy succulent heads heads out of the soil.

What’s happening in your neck of the woods that says: Spring has sprung! Or maybe not so much...

JENN McKINLAY: Spring came and went and we’re back to summer here in AZ! It was 99 degrees the other day. Hoo boy! I’m hoping the heat slows its roll. Summer is long enough out here. But my vegetable garden is busting out, so I am very happy!

RHYS BOWEN: I’m with Jenn! Just when I was loving spring it was suddenly summer and 99 degrees. I had to switch from heating to air conditioning. I think it’s back to more normal temps next week but if it stays like this it’s back to California for me.

Lucy Burdette: Spring in Key West is not subtle! We have the bright red royal Poinciana trees, yellow, or pink plumeria (which also smell lovely), and what my sister calls yellow rain. This tree has delicate bright, yellow flowers that rain down onto the sidewalk. Also, the orchids that have been tied to various palm trees seem to burst into blossom this time of year. Here’s one from my neighbor.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: In one word: ducks! They are back, and Flo and Eddy are as adorable as ever. 

Also, spring brings the opening salvos in the humans vs. squirrels/rabbits skirmish over the tulips–who will prevail? We are spreading Rabbit Scram like mad. Sorry bunnies, you are so cute, but our hosta and tulips are not bunny salad. Grrr.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: The squirrels are very helpfully turning our flowerbeds for us, Hank. But I can't say a bad word about them since Rick has tamed one of them. He's named her Tikka and she eats peanuts out of his hand. As annoying as the digging up of things is, I have to admit she's pretty cute.

Spring is springing in full force here in north Texas, although it seems a couple of weeks later than is normal for us. Last night we moved the big plants back outside, and today I'm off to hit the stores for Boston ferns.

I bought tomatoes last weekend so hopefully we will get those in this next week, as well as getting new plants in the deck and patio pots.

The roses are all thick with buds and the Climbing Old Blush (always the earliest) has a bloom or two. The bridal wreath is blooming, the Japanese maples have leafed out in brilliant scarlet.

There will be something new every day now–and so many chores and projects! The gorgeous pots and hanging baskets I brought back from Round Top will need to be repotted into bigger containers. Here's one of the pots with the Japanese fishing float that was my fun find at the show.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m experiencing just the opposite of Rhys and Jenn here in Maine - just as I was enjoying the first signs of spring, The Old Crone of Winter came back for another go-round! We have four inches on the ground and more sleet and freezing rain in the forecast.

The few song birds that already arrived are very quiet today - probably wondering why they weren’t still in the Carolinas!

I did get out yesterday afternoon while it was nice and warm and started my annual spring task of picking up all the branches that fell over the winter. I have two enormous trees in the front of the house, and it amazes me how many deadfalls they have over the course of a year and still keep right on leafing out.

As for other signs of spring… sigh. I’m visiting friends in the Hamptons in a week and a half; I’m hoping the landscape is more hopeful there.

HALLIE: It should be super-springy week after next in the  Hamptons!

Now over to you! Is spring bursting out, limping along, or in hiding in your neck of the woods?