It's really a mystery why so many people stand in those lines the day after Thanksgiving. It's an even greater mystery because I used to be one of those standing in line. Why did I do it? For the great deals, of course. And I have to be honest... I really did like waiting in line and talking to other crazy folks in line willing to do the same thing! What I found to be particularly interesting, is what folks usually stood in line for. Electronics. But there was always the surprise. One year it was socks! I have aged some since my first race through the electronics department at Walmart, and perhaps I've gotten a little bit smarter. I now shop online for those deals, and you probably do too! To add flavor to the occasion, I wanted to let you know that my suspense Mystery, Scrambled, will be up for FREE TODAY ONLY! That means if you are like me and want to stay home to miss the rush, you may also want to put your feet up and do a little reading.
Notice anything different? I would love to hear your feedback on the new cover! Just share your thoughts below! Happy relaxation and shopping online!
Today and tomorrow I will be offering my eBook, Scrambled, for free. If you haven't read the Susan Cramer Mystery series yet, now is the time! Scrambled has received mixed reviews, and I'd like to hear yours. Expect twists and turns, red herrings, mounting questions, and an amateur detective that's new at the job. Scrambled is a clean read, and many teens have enjoyed the book.
Would you rather listen to the audio? Listen here for a taste!
Good news! Scrambled, the first book in the Susan Cramer Mystery series, will be out very soon in audio! Lauren Holladay, my narrator for this book, has been working hard to get it completed before Christmas and we're almost there! If you haven't begun Scrambled yet because you're not a reader type, or you simply don't have the time to sit and read and would prefer listening in on my mystery series, it's about that time to get the audio of Scrambled.
Just finished the first draft of Over Easy, book 4 in the Susan Cramer Mystery series! What that means for you? It's time for you to pick up books 1, 2 and 3!
Book 4 will be out in the Spring of 2017, and there's not a moment to lose!
Oh, that blissful chore that needs to be done before the beta readers take over! Yes, I am in full swing of editing my third mystery, "Hard Boiled." And yes, it should be out in the spring. And yes, I go to bed, my eyes just a bit more sore than usual. But it's all worth it! I don't have a cover yet, but that's also in the works. Expect something with a black background. The eggs will probably be sitting on a black plate; one of them will be cracked. You know how it goes. Anyway, expect to be reading the third installment of the Susan Cramer Mystery Series soon!
Yesterday, I announced that I will be at the Relay for Life - American Cancer Societyevent today at 6 p.m., and I announced that some of my books will be at a discount.
Here they are:
Both of my mysteries typically run for $12.98 online, but at tomorrow's event they will be $10, saving you almost $3 a book!
Amazingly, in-between all of the fun I'm having with my grandchildren this summer, I've had some time to work on my mystery. Yes, even during the screams and running around and out-and-out crazy fun that only grandchildren can bring.
In Hard Boiled, which will be released in September of 2016, expect Susan to get involved in yet another strange mystery. I won't share the details here - especially because some of you may be reading books one and two - but suffice it to say that Susan has returned from her Hawaiian cruise only to find one of her family members dead.
The police say it was suicide, but Susan knows better. Why? Because she knows this particular family member better.
I'm at the Simple Treasures Gift Show today and tomorrow. Show closes tomorrow at 6 p.m. I would love to see you if you can make it out! In the meantime, enjoy these!
Today, I'd like to introduce you to Susan Cramer. She's the main character in my first cozy mystery, Scrambled.
Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you
are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)
My name is Susan Cramer and I've just left my husband for a better life. My husband and I had been struggling to have a child, and my days were spent working retail while he sat at home. Let's just say I hoped for a better life. I live on the east coast, and hoped by moving in to the old hotel and starting my life again as a maid, at least I'd be able to save enough money to go on vacation. But something terrible happened and I'm afraid I won't be leaving here either for awhile.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
What spare time? I hate to complain but I'm either cleaning or trying to solve the mystery. I guess I need to tell you, there's a man named John at the hotel who really wants to date me. What would he say if I told him I was still married?
What is your favorite color and why?
Probably yellow. I say, probably, because eggs are my favorite food (check out the answer to question 4) and because I also like other colors equally well depending on my mood.
What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?
My favorite food is eggs. I use them as my quick pick me up whenever I am stressed or feeling down. I burn them, too. Sorry, but it's just part of my personality.
What would you say is your biggest quirk?
Cooking eggs when I'm stressed :) I also think that most folks don't change their name or pretend to be a detective when they're really not.
What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most,
and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.
I wish I just had one antagonist. There's the guy who is trying to date me, and then there's the creepy guy upstairs named Mr Humphrey and the other one named Mr. Davis, with the wandering eyes. And then, of course, there's the sweet and not so sweet Mrs. Martha Boaz. And we can't forget Childs, the owner of the old hotel, who starts all of the trouble.
What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if
anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?
That would have to be Brianne and Oscar, the two children who live across the street from the Hotel Camaro. Though I have just met them, there seems to be a small connection that I want to grow. Sure, Martha is a friend, sometimes, but she's too up and down for me to really consider her a full-time buddy.
What one thing would you like readers to know about you
that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?
I am hurting. Sure, I put out a fairly tough exterior, but I really want to be happy. I'm saving my money for a vacation, and I hope one day to find a good man who loves me for who I am and who wants to work with me in growing our relationship. My husband, Bob, never seemed able to do that.
If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about
yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?
Sometimes I just want to sleep in. Forget the detective work for awhile. It would be nice to just cook up some eggs when I'm not stressed, or be alone for a bit, without someone banging on the door who needs me.
Ask me any question. I've always wanted to know what a
character thinks about writers like myself. I'll answer the question at the end
of this interview.
Why did you write Scrambled?
Great question (he, he). I have always been a Nancy Drew mysteries fan, and the day came when I was asked to write a story in college using five particular words. I should have kept the words (they would have been fun to re-read) but as turned out, Chapter 1 of Scrambled was born. This same chapter would later win a $500 award from the Mystery Writers of America.
***
Thank you, Susan!
Learn more about Susan and Kathryn Jones at this site!
Yes, I'm scheduled for another book signing! If you missed it yesterday, there's still TODAY!
This one will be at the Kearns Senior Center, 4851 West 4715 South from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5. There will also be some terrific booths selling handcrafted boutique items.
If you missed the Simple Treasures Gift Show this year you really missed out!
I did some selling (sold out completely of my mystery novels) did some trading (it's a great thing to do when you're a vendor) and pretty much wore myself out! But I met some great people, and shared some great things (you never know when you'll be discussing something OTHER than books) :)
Six months later a
thought occurred to her that the fat man had been the catalyst; her last straw,
her wake up call.
“Are you open?” the man had asked. His voice had been deep and yawning like
the Grand Canyon.
“Of course.” She looked up. The man was fat—even more endowed than her
own husband who’d gained a mere seventy pounds since their wedding day 20 years
ago. Fat oozed like soft butter from his
great waistline. His black and white checkered
shirt, though buttoned, gaped to his belly, revealing a matted mass of
hair. She tried not to stare at it. The word “pig,” came to mind.
“Did
you find everything all right?” she asked.
“Just
ring me up,” he growled, scratching his unshaven face. “I have an appointment.”
If
someone had said, ‘Make a wish, Susan,” she would have wished for freedom in
that moment—freedom from the customer, and all those to follow; freedom from
her horrible job and marriage, freedom from unavailable friends and broken down
cars. She would work a bit somewhere
else, and then travel to some exotic location.
Perhaps Paris or Hawaii…
“Miss!”
Susan
felt the crisp dollar bill in her hand.
“Sorry, sir,” she said, handing the disgruntled customer his
change. She watched his back-end leave
the store. Blubber, bump. Blubber, bump. Blubber, bump…
It
was the fat man who had finally given her the courage to take care of herself
for the first time. Perhaps it was not a
conscious choice, but it was definitely a choice. She left work that day never to return, got
on a bus, leaving her rotten car in the parking lot—her fat husband wondering
where she’d gone. She hadn’t looked
back.
Occasionally,
like today, when the hotel lights burned deeply into her skull, and her eyes
felt heavy from the tasks of serving, she would remember. The terrible times when she tried to get
pregnant. His anger about her job, or
the way she folded his underwear. She would think about the way he spoke to
her; hardly, and then, harshly, as if the words he had meant to say to her long
ago needed to come out now in one heated rush.
Also, the short
moments of tenderness—her broken-down heap of a car that had still managed to
get her to work, the doughnuts and candy bars that always made it into the
kitchen cupboards and then quite naturally were fed by him into her open
mouth—because he always shared what he bought for himself. All those moments that made her life one with
him. And now she was left with an aloneness she couldn’t begin to understand.
“Jenny?” The pounding on Susan’s front door made her
blink. She would never get used to her
new name even if she lived to be a hundred years old. She stood, walked to the solid piece of wood
called her door, and peered wearily out the keyhole even though she didn’t need
to.
“What
is it this time, John?” Tonight, John
seemed to be wearing some sort of pullover sweater and blue jeans. His short, red hair was combed down the
middle, and splayed to either side like the opening entrails of a fish. She might have laughed if she hadn’t cared
for him. He was the dorkiest man she’d
ever met, albeit the nicest.
“Cup
of sugar?” She could see the white cup
held eagerly in his left hand. He pushed
it forward to the keyhole.
“I’m
tired tonight.”
She
removed her eye from the keyhole, wondering if he blushed. He always turned red whenever she spoke of
anything having to do with sleep, or darkness, or her new down comforter. She wasn’t sure why unless certain words
created in him a desire for something he would never get from her. Was it her
imagination, or could she feel him going red beyond the door? And he was probably grinning too, now that
he’d managed to breathe a little more evenly.
“Come
on Jenny.”
“Oh, all
right.”
The dead bolt
cracked heavily, the double set of chains flicked to the sides of the heavy
door, and she turned the knob of her upstairs room. The Hotel Camaro, once a manor in Walnut Hill, had
plenty of solid wood even where it didn’t seem needed—above her bed, on one of
the walls in the living room, even above her head on the carved cornices seen
throughout the building. Everything
reeked of oldness and renovation—though change would probably not happen in her
lifetime—if ever. The owner, Carter
Childs, held his money like a tight fisted kid with his only penny; except
Carter had many pennies though he told everyone otherwise. The tramps who lived at the hotelwere
a continuous reflection of the future of the hotel and its’ lower than life
standards.
John smiled. His slightly yellow teeth reminded Susan of
the eggs she had boiling on the stove.
“You don’t mind
getting the sugar yourself?”
“No problem. But are you sure you want eggs?” She could hear his large feet clunking to the
pantry as she stirred the boiling eggs with a spoon.
Yes, the egg bomb
incident. How could she forget? What had she been doing? Oh, yes.
Carter wanted to see her, an overflowing toilet in room 10, he’d
said—John’s room. And she’d left the
boiling eggs on the stove. When the eggs
exploded an hour later she was finishing with the water overflow mishap and had
just re-entered the hallway. Carter was
beyond angry when he heard. Her hotel
room smelled like rotten eggs for days and she’d spent weeks walking outside
and breathing in the musty city of Southern Philadelphia before permanently returning to
her room.
“You do look
tired.”
John had the sugar
in his white bowl, but like always, he was not returning to the door. “What can I do?”
“I just need some
sleep.”
John blushed. “Okay,” he said, looking for a place to sit
on the old brown couch—her only couch in the very sparse room.
“You’d better go.”
“Maybe I can
help.”
“You promised.”
John rolled his
large blue eyes. “I know,” he said, “but
you need someone.”
It had taken Susan
six long months to trust John with a few facts about her life; others she had
made up to cover her identity. Her real
name was one of them. That she’d never
been married was another—a sure fire mistake she would later see more
clearly. Perhaps John would have been
less interested in her if he knew she had simply run away from her
husband. She wondered what he would
think of her if he knew of her shallow thoughts of him that had created this
mess in the first place. She wondered if
he’d understand that all of her thoughts weren’t shallow, that there was
something else she never spoke of with anyone, the surest reason for her
departure. Was he searching for
her? Would she turn on the television one
day only to discover her face on the small screen? Or would he be grateful? Was he pleased that she had left him? Would he want to find her simply to file the
divorce papers? She wondered how long it
had taken before he’d discovered she was missing. She was glad they had no children, but only
for this reason; no family that would be missing her.
Except her mother
of course; her father was dead, and her sister in Virginia.
Kate would have a fit, perhaps even look for her for awhile, and then
she’d get caught up once more in the corporate life and forget all about
her. Just like when they were kids and
the doll collection was replaced by fake dollar bills and glittering coins
purchased as a set from the grocery store.
Kate would later become a teller, and then she would work her way up the
company from Payroll Manager to Director of Human Resources. In addition to bossing all the bossing people
around, she would get her degree in management, leaving Susan behind to take on
the menial jobs.
Susan would never
attend college, would marry the first man who even took a look at her—her
husband, Bob, and they would try to have children—without success of
course. In the end, they would sit
together, watch T.V. and he would eat and feed her what he’d bought.
Nothing stuck on
her bones. But with him, it was almost
like, by getting fat, he was getting pregnant instead of her. At first she’d joked about it. And then the joking made him watch television
alone in the basement, sneak food at odd hours, and make excuses for his sorry
life.
Susan turned to
look at John. He had been silent for an
unreasonable amount of time. “Sorry,”
she started and then realized he was gone.... -Book one of the Susan Cramer Mystery Series
"Susan Cramer was desperately in need of a vacation, but not at the expense of another dead man."
A leisurely vacation turns deadly when an old man falls dead at Susan's feet on the cruise ship Aloha.
Was she some sort of death magnet?
Maybe so. Maybe not.
One thing was for sure. Through the lies, secrets, and surprises to be discovered on board and off, Susan will learn at least one important thing, and this thing called "love" will be something she wished had never followed her out to the high seas.
"I loved Scrambled. There are so many twists and turns in this fantastic debut mystery and it left me on the edge of my seat! Susan is a interesting character, and I like that the author gave her a bit more depth with a fascinating back story. No she's not a regular amateur sleuth in a small, cozy, sweet town. I do think a lot of readers will relate to her and definitely be back for more." "Ms. Jones does a great job of throwing out red herrings and getting you as the reader completely distracted. That doesn't happen that often to me. This is borderline action mystery." "In this novel, Kathryn Elizabeth Jones brings to life complex characters in a mystery where you can never be sure who to trust. The twists and turns are fantastic. Susan is not your normal amateur sleuth but many readers will relate to her. The author has a unique voice all her own. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series. A very enjoyable read." "I could relate to Susan wanting something more out of life and going looking for it. I like that the setting for the story was an apartment building where there is an opportunity to introduce the reader to a lot of different personalities. I loved to hear about their lives and their quirks. It brought the story alive for me. I also loved that the book kept me guessing on who to trust the whole time. Just when I thought I had it figured out something would change and I would have to rethink it. I get bored easily with the usual predictable books out there." "This novel is a fun read when you want to curl up with a book and enjoy a light and fun mystery. It is creative in its simplicity and a must read when you aren't in the mood for a mystery that takes a wipe board and markers to keep all the details straight! I enjoyed the play on eggs as well as the quirky and unique characters." "This story with all its twists and turns will have you at the edge of your seat and not wanting to put the book down. You might also be craving scrambled eggs in the end." Learn more about Scrambled
