The Corpse in the Gazebo (A Food Blogger Mystery)
by Debra Sennefelder
About The Corpse in the Gazebo
The Corpse in the Gazebo (A Food Blogger Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting - Connecticut
Publisher : Kensington (September 28, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496728939
ISBN-13 : 978-1496728937
Digital ASIN : B08RWQYH54
Food blogging is turning Hope Early into a household name. But the dead body down the block makes her a #1 suspect . . .
It seems everyone loves Hope’s blog these days, and she’s busier than ever volunteering to help other women create their own paths to success. So she’s shocked when a neighbor petitions to run Hope right out of her small Connecticut town! Set in her ways, apparently Birdie Donovan doesn’t like the chaos Hope’s sleuthing creates, the police activity and crime scenes, and it’s happening way too often lately. Eager to make amends, Hope bakes Birdie a batch of her best muffins. The delicious treats might have smoothed things over—until Hope discovers Birdie dead in her gazebo the very next day . . .
Now instead of worrying about holding on to her beloved home, Hope is trying to stay out of jail. Because suddenly she’s the lead suspect in the case. Not even her boyfriend, Police Chief Ethan Cahill, is promising he can clear her name, much less discuss the investigation with her. It’s up to Hope to get to bake new ground on the case before the lifestyle brand she’s created—and
her whole life—crumbles . . .
Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!
My Journey to Publication by Debra Sennefelder
I’ve always wanted to be an author. I fell in love with writing when I was in elementary school and wrote short stories. One, in particular, was about a serial killer stalking the woods. I think that story was influenced by the fact that I’d wanted to go camping with my girl scout troop, but my parents said no. They had their reasons. I think a little girl had died while camping somewhere the year before, and perhaps they knew their daughter too well and knew she’d hate camping. Whatever the reason, I got an idea for a mystery set in the woods and wrote it. Fast-forward to my teen years when Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel wrote mega-sellers and appeared on morning news shows. Their lives looked so glamourous. I remember even thinking about what it would be like to have an assistant!
By the time I went to college, my reading had taken a backseat, and I was focused on classes and then getting a job. What came next was getting engaged and planning a wedding along with a move to another state. After settling in Connecticut with my husband, I started reading again, and two of my new favorite authors were Mary Higgins Clark and Joanne Fluke. And then I began to write. I wrote a mystery that, looking back at, was a cozy mystery. I purchased a copy of Writer’s Market and made a list of agents and editors that accepted unsolicited manuscripts. The manuscript was promptly rejected by all of them. Looking back, I’m very grateful for that. Neither the manuscript nor I was ready for publication.
I spent the next few years writing as a creative outlet. Then we moved and settled in an charming town where I connected with a published author. I joined a writer’s group and set my sights on writing romantic suspense. After all, it had been a romance writer’s group. I went to conferences and took courses on writing. Then I got burned out. Rejection after rejection made me wonder if I could continue pursuing publication. I needed a break. At that time, blogging was becoming a thing, and I started a blog. I enjoyed it. Especially the fact that I could write what I wanted when I wanted, and how I wanted. It was blissful. But I missed writing fiction. So, in 2014 I dipped my toes back into fiction writing and met my critique partner. Weekly, we exchanged our newly written pages.
In 2015, I had a video call with my critique partner after getting back a chapter from a romantic suspense manuscript I had been working on. Her comments were brilliant, as always, and her words were encouraging. She saw something in that manuscript, yet I wasn’t feeling it. Something was missing, something that I wasn’t connecting with. I loved the heroine and the hero. I loved the plot. I loved the small town I’d created. So, I couldn’t understand why I didn’t love the manuscript. After our talk, I set the manuscript aside and spent a few evenings baking instead of writing (back then, I had a day job). By the weekend, I had an idea. I was going to write a cozy mystery.
The next thing I had to do was decide what the amateur sleuth did for a living. Bookstore owner? Yarn shop owner? Petsitter? I spent less than ten minutes on this exercise. I wanted to write a culinary-themed mystery series, and the sleuth would be a food blogger. I knew I could draw from my experience as a food blogger, and having her be self-employed from her home meant she had a flexible schedule to track down clues and suspects.
In a matter of days, I wrote the first three chapters and sent them to my critique partner. It was
nerve-racking waiting for her feedback on those pages. Would she love them? Hate them? Tell me that I hadn’t a clue of what I was doing? So, I went into our next video call on pins and needles. Turns out, she loved the pages and said that I had to write the rest of the book.
Thrilled with her response, I wrote a complete outline and spent the rest of the year writing the manuscript. A year later, I had signed with an agent, and by Thanksgiving, I had a three-book contract with Kensington. Now I’m celebrating the release of the fifth book in the series, and I’m so excited. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here with you today to share my story to publication with you. It may seem that things had fallen into place quickly, but my path to being an author had been decades in the making.
Thank you for visiting with me today as I celebrate the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO.
P.S. I still don’t have an assistant. Well, I do have a writing companion/officer manager. She’s Connie, our two-year-old Shih Tzu.
About Debra Sennefelder
Debra Sennefelder is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery.
Her first novel, THE UNINVITED CORPSE (A Food Blogger mystery) was published in 2018.In addition to writing the Food Blogger mystery series, she writes the Resale Boutique Mystery series. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.
Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in retail and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Her writing companion is her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu, Connie.
Author Links
Purchase Links - AMAZON - BARNES & NOBLE - KENSINGTON - KOBO - GOOGLE - INDIEBOUND
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Loved the review with the author, thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by!
DeleteDebra Sennefelder