Hallopalooza - Halloween Blog Scavenger Hunt Hosted by The Stiletto Gang

Welcome to Hallopalooza! You've arrived at Stop #3 in the contest being sponsored by The Stiletto Gang.

- quoting Evelyn David.

Do you have plans for Halloween? How about an on-line mystery Scavenger Hunt with free prizes?

On Oct. 30, 2009 at 8 AM, the 1st Annual Stiletto Gang Hallopalooza begins. Or at
least we hope it's going to be an annual event. Everything depends on you, our
readers!

What is Hallopalooza? It's an on-line mystery scavenger hunt. Twenty-three
of the best, most interesting, coolest blogs on the net have agreed to participate. There will be lots of great prizes! Lots of fun! Lots of clues!

Yes, clues. The Stiletto Gang has written a short story - did I mention it's a murder mystery - just for the event?

How do you play?

Let's start with when you play - the Scavenger Hunt starts at 8 AM Eastern on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. It ends at 5 PM Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. Winners will be announced at noon eastern on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.

What are you hunting? A killer! Okay, really you'll be hunting clues to the killer's identity and motive. You will move from blog to blog reading the mystery and gathering clues. Each blog will give you a link to the next blog in the Scavenger Hunt line-up.

You will start at The Stiletto Gang, then move to the next blog. There are 23 blogs in the chain. The winner is not the one who finishes first, just the one who finishes by the deadline with the correct answer. So you can come and go as you please during the three days of the event. Go Trick or Treating! Toilet paper a house! Party with goblins and witches! Then come back and celebrate with us.

What are the prizes? The Stiletto Gang is offering a grand prize of a $50 U.S. gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice - on-line or bricks & mortar. If you're not in the U.S., we'll send you an Amazon gift certificate and let you figure out how to use it.

If more than one person qualifies for the Grand Prize, then all winners will be put into a drawing for the $50 gift certificate. Runners-up will win an autographed book from a Stiletto Gang author, including Evelyn David's new book, Murder Takes the Cake. We will award up to a maximum of ten books. If there are more winners than books, we'll have a drawing among the Runners-up for the books.

And, here's the special part - you can win prizes on the individual blogs during the hunt too! The participating blogs will have contests/drawings for great stuff! Autographed books, promo items, and other "I won! I won!" things to make all your friends envious.

There is no charge to play or win. You don't have to buy anything. You just have to participate, solve the mystery, and tell us about it using the comment feature on The Stiletto Gang blog site or by sending an email to the Stiletto Gang at stilettogang@gmail.com.

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Happy Halloween! Here's your clue, and the link to the next stop. Then, continue reading to discover my giveaways for this event. Have Fun and Good luck!




Meanderings & Muses – post #3 http://meanderingsandmuses.blogspot.com/



"And you are?" Milla was conducting her second interview in the well-appointed kitchen of Millionaire G. Winston Howard. The young twenty-something woman sitting across from her was athletic and over six foot tall. Her long blonde hair hung in a braid down to the middle of her back. She was dressed like an old fashioned zookeeper; beige pit helmet, khaki shorts and vest, black knee socks.



"Alana Carter. I take care of the mansion grounds and the conservatory."



Conservatory! That was the word Milla had been searching for earlier. Carla Jordan had been killed in the Howard conservatory, not a plain old greenhouse.



"You found the body at what time?" Milla had the details in her notes but she wanted to hear about the discovery directly from the gardener.



"Just after 2:00 a.m."



"You make a habit of going into the conservatory at that time of night?"



"No. My date and I had wandered out by the pool. We saw a light. The conservatory was off limits to the guests. Mr. Howard owns some very expensive, fragile specimens. He'd blame me if someone got in there and damaged anything."



"What did you see when you entered the conservatory?"



The gardener looked towards the kitchen door, then lowered her voice. "I saw

Mr. Howard. He was talking with someone."



According to Fletcher's notes, this was information the gardener hadn't disclosed in her first interview with the police. "You saw him with Miss Jordan? The victim?"



"No. I only found Carla, uh Miss Jordan, after they left. When I saw that it was

Mr. Howard in the conservatory, I stepped back outside and waited. When they left, I went in to turn off the lights and lock the doors. That's when I saw the body."



"Who was this other person? The one talking to Mr. Howard?"



The gardener shook her head. "I don't know. He or, I guess it could have been a tall woman…he was wearing a long black, hooded cape with a witch's mask."



Next Clue Location: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/


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In celebration of Hallopalooza I'm giving away one book to one lucky winner. In Their Blood by Sharon Potts. Winning is simple. Leave a comment here WITH your email address. I'll email the winner the evening of Nov. 1. Have fun!!

Gumshoe Moms by Evelyn David

Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett.

Marian, who lives in New York, is delighted to be attending her third Malice.

Rhonda, who lives in Oklahoma, attends vicariously. They are the authors of the Sullivan Investigations series.


Murder Off the Books was published in 2007.


Murder Takes the Cake made its debut at Malice on May 1, 2009. Please visit their website at http://www.evelyndavid.com


Gumshoe Moms

In honor of Mother’s Day, we thought we’d pay tribute to those fictional amateur sleuths who are Moms. We’d send each a virtual breakfast in bed, some roses, maybe a hand-made card or two from their offspring.

But as the two halves of Evelyn David went through the list of popular female protagonists, it became abundantly clear that parenthood and sleuthing don’t mix. Yes, our own protagonist, Rachel Brenner, has Sam, a freshman in college.

But sad to say, Sam’s not a particularly attentive son, so we wouldn’t bet on him calling 1-800-Flowers anytime soon.

But then we got stuck trying to find Moms who are detectives. Miss Marple, the darling, was most decidedly childless. So too are Jessica Fletcher, Pam North, Nora Charles, Stephanie Plum, Kinsey Millhone, and Annie Darling. The list goes on and on. These women may have significant others, perhaps share home and hearth with dogs and cats, but no kids.

To be fair, it’s not that there are many detective Dads either.

Playing detective means following the clues – whenever and wherever they lead.

But if you have to worry about finding a sitter before you can confront a suspect or track down what turns out to be a red herring – then the story may go off into different directions. We’ve yet to hear a detective on a stakeout agonize over getting two dozen cupcakes ready for the PTA bake sale (although word to the wise: Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins are a perfectly fine substitute for homemade goodies).

And yet, motherhood is probably the best training for being a detective short of going to the FBI Training Academy at Quantico. Think about it. A good mother is:

(1) A master at noticing details.

a. Personal grooming defects: She knows exactly the number of hours since last tooth brushing and whether or not a shirt was worn one day or three.

b. Odd odors: The super sniffer can detect a soiled diaper and 10-day-old leftover pizza under the bed without entering the room.

c. Identifying physical characteristics and clothing: She can accurately estimate the height, to the quarter inch, of the subject, as well as the exact color, style, and price of the criminals' outfits.

(2) Great at detecting lies and interrogating suspects.

a. Moms can find the inconsistencies in a subject's retelling of events with laser-like accuracy.

b. With a well-practiced stare and guilt-infusing declarations, experienced mothers can elicit confessions ranging from minor transgressions to multiple counts of murder.

c. Mothers have a wide-ranging social network with lots of "snitches" from which they can obtain rebuttal evidence.

(3) Appreciative of long, quiet, hours spent alone on stakeouts.

a. After creating Halloween costumes for multiple kids, most moms have plenty of outfits for disguises.

b. After years of staying up with sick babies, mothers have enough patience to maintain a 24-hour surveillance without getting bored or nodding off.

c. After filling day planners with detailed school events, music lesson schedules, and overlapping medical appointments for the brood, keeping good, legible stakeout notes with timelines on one suspect is a breeze.

Happy Mother's Day to all the fictional and real mothers out there. Maybe next year you'll be wearing gumshoes and a dark trenchcoat in a whodunit of your own.

The Sisterhood Award

I am delighted and honored to have recently received not just one Sisterhood Award nomination, but two of 'em! This is an award from bloggers, to bloggers, in recognition of a blog spot which shows great attitude and/or gratitude.

Both came from women I not only like, but also admire. Being a part of their world has brought me a great deal of joy, and to have Meanderings and Muses recognized by them is quite gratifying. Thank you to Carol Murdock, who writes the ever so lovely blog, The Writers Porch. And a big thank you to Kelli Stanley, who somehow finds the time in between writing great novels of historical noir - the first of which, NOX DORMIENDA (a long night for sleeping), is an award winning, beautifully written novel already in its third printing, to also write a blog.

Keeping with the tradition of paying it forward, by the rules shown below, herewith are my nominees (wonder women all), and the directions:

IF YOU ARE A NOMINEE, PLEASE GO AHEAD AND....
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog, or sending them an email.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

And my nominees are:

1. Julia Buckey's Mysterious Musings
2. Sam Hoffer's My Carolina Kitchen
3. Maggie, Marilyn, Rhonda, and Marian's The Stiletto Gang
4. Patti Abbott's pattinase
5. Sandra, Darlene, Julia, Liz, Lonnie and Sharon at Poe's Deadly Daughters

Waiting for Spring, and Where I'll Be . . .

Hey!

Busy week at work here in Boone, but at least the weather has warmed up some - Hooray! I know it's only a temporary thing - it is, after all, only February. big sigh. But this is the time of the year I start pouring through gardening catalogs that have started arriving in the mail, and search on-line gardening sites. Some of them are impossible to resist. I always picture having a gorgeous flower-filled yard; color as far as I can see. Sadly, that is just not gonna happen. What we do have, thanks to Donald, who is the person who does most of the gardening at our house, is beautiful. Our peonies never fail to make me smile. The hostas get so huge here they're kinda scary. I'll do some gardening and weeding - but I'm not as fond of playing in the dirt as Donald is. Nor am I as good, or as patient, with it all. For one thing, living in the mountains presents a certain problem with digging - every small hole you attempt to dig brings forth huge rocks and boulders. Pretty daunting, and I'm pleased with what little bit of color we have been able to bring forth against the odds. The winters here are long, so when those first hardy little spring flowers start showing their stuff, I am a happy woman.

I dream of a steep bank full of day lilies, and wishing our bank where Donald planted an awful lot of day lilies a few years back got a bit more sun so they would spread a little more quickly than they have so far. Like Molly Weston's! I'm thinking a drive down the mountain to her family's place, Weston Farms, in Garner might just be on our list of places to go this spring. We'll see.

In the meantime - Valentine's Day is coming up. I'm thinking a pretty pot of tulips sitting on my kitchen table might be just the thing. And another pot in the sunroom, and maybe even one in the bedroom. Can a girl have too many flowers sitting around the house? Methinks maybe not.

Friday I'll be stopping by to visit with my friends at the Stiletto Gang Blogspot. I don't know if you'll remember this, but those gracious women are partially responsible for Meanderings and Muses. My first ever blog experience was with them last July. Little did I know where that little piece about my efforts in quitting smoking would lead. I must say, I am happy and having an awful lot of fun on this little journey thus far.

I hope you'll drop by Friday to say hey to me and to the rest of The Stiletto Gang - they are a very cool group of women who also happen to be pretty terrific writers. Their mission is to bring mystery, humor and high heels to the world. Now how much better can it get than that??! See you Friday!

And . . . . don't forget! Next week's Meanderings and Muses guest is Mary Jane Maffini. I'll have her piece posted Sunday (2/15) afternoon or evening. Mary Jane and I are going to be roomies in Indianapolis for Bouchercon this year. Roomies are fun, but she and I won't be borrowing one another's clothes - the woman is perfectly adorably teeny! Teeny!

Why I'm Here, and Ta DA! - Introducing the Meanderings & Muses 2009 Dream Team

I have a cold.

I hate colds.

It would be so easy to fall into “poor pitiful me” stuff, and I’ll admit to a little of that, but honestly? Whining gets on my nerves, so I try awfully hard not to do it. ‘Course, I don’t always succeed, but dang - what can be more fun sometimes than an all-out wailing, poor, poor, pitiful me party, complete with a gallon of ice cream and one huge spoon while dressed in your favorite jammies. Boy howdy.

O.K. - two spoons.

Donald has the same cold and is fighting the pity party thing right along with me.

But. As tempting as it may be, I just can’t be pititful right now. Anyone who has been graced with the kind of support and friendship I have this week couldn’t dare allow themselves to fall into pitidom.

After years of not understanding the world of blogging and swearing it wasn’t for me, when I step back and take a look at where I am now, it makes my head swimmy. Not only am I writing a blog, I have what can only be a blogger’s dream team lined up to play with me for the whole of next year. Take a look at this list on the left - Gloriosa.

A lot of you are going to remember me saying I was not a fan of blogging. Talk about eating your words - oy. Though, I must say, in this particular instance, I am happy to do so. But. HOW did I get here, especially with this tremendous group of people agreeing to do guest spots at Meanderings and Muses, along with a group of people who have written me asking that I continue blogging after I wrote a couple of pieces, just because they enjoy what I have to say? How on earth did this happen?

Well, for one thing Meanderings and Muses wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Robin and Deborah who have written me with ideas and suggestions they want me to write about. They have shown a level of support and encouragement that has floored me, but as it happens, they've provided just the push I guess I needed to do this. I just didn't know it.

And I can tell you for sure it wouldn’t have happened without a group of people who need to remain nameless because it’s a VERY secret society. A group gathering almost daily on the internet to chat, gossip, support one another in a myriad of activities, and occasionally get irritated with one another. They’re the group of people who tapped my desire to write these pieces you’ve seen and will continue to see here. It a group I love without bounds.

Oh, O.K. - one name I gotta give up.

Earl Staggs. Or as you’ve seen me refer to him all over the internet; “Earl Darlin’.” Earl is one of my favorite people on God’s green earth. He’s also one of my favorite writers. He’s a master. If you haven’t read his short stories, you’re missing out. If you haven’t read his MEMORY OF A MURDER, gracious - what ARE you waiting for??

Additional reasons I'm here include that very first invitation to blog from Evelyn David at The Stiletto Gang (Thank You, Rhonda and Marian!), with follow up invites from JT Ellison at Murderati, and Rob Walker at Acme Authors, and Patti Abbott for her Friday's Forgotten Books. Thanks, guys - very much. More than I can say.

As for the guests you’re going to find here next year, as you can see they include writers who are well known, writers who are on their way to becoming well known, and some who are just getting started, bloggers, readers and mystery fans. If there’s one common thread, besides being lovers of books and words, its that each and every person you see here as a guest will write something that will touch you in some way. It might make you cry, or laugh, possibly anger you, or just make you think. Remember please, that it will not necessarily be an opinion that matches mine, but the very thought of censoring what someone says disgusts me as much as I’m sure it does you. It might be a light and fluffy piece about cooking or what someone did on their summer vacation, or it might be hard and tough. It might just be something they have on their mind and want to share or get off their chest. That’s what I’ve discovered blogging is all about. A sharing in which the writer invites others to participate and give back. An exchange of words, ideas and/or feelings in which things get tossed around and back and forth.

That’s another part of the puzzle of how I came to start Meanderings and Muses. I gave in and actually started reading blogs as I would hear about them. I swore I didn’t have time to do this - and really, who does? There are a beezillion of them out there. But as you browse your way through them you come to realize that while they’re not all for you, some of them are touching you in some way and you find yourself going back for more. Or they’re providing one place in which to give you information you’re interested in - such as one of my all time favorites; Sarah Weinman’s “Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.”

There are several which have me captured, and I’ve added them here as a permanent part of Meanderings and Muses with links so that you can all get to them quickly. And will add more as I discover them, so send me recommendations, please! I don’t read them all every day, but I always know that when I do settle down for a day of catching up on things, they’re there and I’m going to enjoy them. They’re just like books in that some writers will appeal to you, while others will not. Its no surprise that some of my favorite blogs are written by some of my favorite writers. Over time, I am no longer surprised that some of them are written by people I’ve never heard of. Voices that may never find their way to the New York Times Best Seller list, or be the recipient of one of the awards given out at writer/fan conventions. And you know what - that’s not the goal for many of these writers. That does not, however, diminish their writing skills in any way. Not one iota. You know this to be true. So take a minute and take a peek at some of the blogs I have listed here and possibly discover a new voice you’ll enjoy.

What has evolved from the early days of blogging is that there are many bloggers who have a dedicated following. I know, for instance, that when I drop in at “Murderati” to see what any of those wonderful people (GREAT writers, every one!) have to say, the chances are that I’m going to run into the same folks leaving comments most days. They have become an integral part of the group. Seeing their responses is as interesting, and as important, as the original post. And what’s become obvious is that while we agree on a lot, there are things we’re not going to agree on. The interaction that then takes place is just like it would be if it were happening in the real world. A quick little snappy retort, some hurt feelings, some apologies and some making up. I find this phenomenon immensely intriguing.

So, I hope you’ll continue watching this spot. I can’t promise you there will be something new and exciting here every day - actually I can promise you that there won’t be! I have a job, and I have Donald and Harley, and I have to read (a LOT) or I get grumpy. One little tidbit I really do want to share (I'm a pushy old thing sometimes, you know). Women out there reading this who are not married. This is some good advice, people - listen up!! Make sure, please, if you do decide to marry, that you marry a man who makes you laugh. And if he can make you laugh every single day of your life for over 22 years like Donald Barley has me (well - O.K. - not "every" day, but a gracious plenty of 'em), you'll be able to handle whatever curves life throws at you.

So.

On January 12th one of my favorite people, a very good friend and an excellent writer, Pat Browning will kick off Meanderings and Muses, 2009. Mark your calendars and come see what she has to say and chat with her a bit. She wrote the book FULL CIRCLE, which has just been re-released under the title ABSINTHE OF MALICE. Its terrific! If you’re a member of the community of DorothyL, you’ve seen me and a bunch of other people rave about Pat's book.

Then dear friends, stick around. I can promise you a year filled with people you’ll enjoy. I know the schedule you see here will be changing, so keep your eye on it, please.

Which brings up a point. Emails and announcements. I know I’ve been sending out a lot of emails while this project has been getting off the ground. If you’re like me, they’re not really always appreciated. So tell me if you want your name removed from the mailing list. You are not going to hurt my feelings - I promise.

Happy Holidays, all!