Gossip Can Be Murder!!

I'm so excited this week. Gossip Can Be Murder is finished and available for all those readers who've been asking about a new Charlie book.

It's been a very long three years since the last one (Obsessions Can Be Murder) and I've felt bad about the delay. Many factors. I've had a change of publisher, got my rights back from the old one, and began to make all my previous titles available in the new ebook formats, like Kindle, iPad, and Nook. It's been labor intensive, but a great learning experience for me and something I've thoroughly enjoyed doing.

Just because I haven't had a new book published in awhile, it doesn't mean that I haven't been writing. I've been busy! I'm currently writing both another Charlie Parker book, which should be out in late 2010 or early 2011, plus I am developing a new mystery series. This one features a character that you will meet in Gossip Can Be Murder. She's Samantha Sweet. Sam breaks into houses for a living. But she's really a baker with a magical touch, who invites you to come to her delightful pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets. I hope to have Sam's first book complete by the end of this summer and I will be letting you know the very minute it is available.

There is more in the works but I shall save that news. More later....

I want to take a moment to thank all my readers who have been so patient in waiting for a new Charlie book, for everyone who has stopped me at the grocery store or the post office to ask when a new book would be coming along. It's your loyalty that has kept me going. And I am SO very grateful to the thousands of mystery fans out there who have helped put my books onto the Amazon Kindle bestseller lists multiple times in recent months. You are awesome! Thank you!

Happy reading,
Connie
PS: Visit my website and sign up for my mystery newsletter to get contest announcements, signed books, and other goodies! 

Tough Time for Independent Bookstores

This week, three independent bookstores in the Indianapolis area announced that they will be closing. It's especially sad news for me, since one of them is The Mystery Company, owned by a good friend, Jim Huang. He is co-founder of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association and was co-chair of Bouchercon (the biggest annual mystery convention) last fall. He started his career at Spenser’s Mystery Books in Boston in 1987, and owned Deadly Passions Mystery Bookshop in Kalamazoo, Mich. from 1992-2000. I met Jim years ago at Bouchercon and regularly caught up with him at mystery conventions and events over many years. What a great supporter of the mystery genre he's been!  At least he isn't getting out of bookselling altogether. I understand he's taking a job with a college bookstore in Ohio. Good luck, Jim!

Last summer, my hometown indy, The Corner Bookstore also closed. It's really hard to watch it happen. Appears that online selling is the wave of the future, as even the large chain stores are struggling these days. At least, I'm happy to see that people are still reading--my own book sales have actually increased quite a bit with the new e-reading devices like Kindle and Nook. I'm very grateful to all my fans for that!

Writing and promoting!

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited to hear back from my many friends and writing students about their new endeavors for 2010. There are some great novels in the works! I'm currently working on an editing project, along with a couple of others, so that has been fun.

Of course, once you've written and carefully edited that book the next step is to get it published and then to promote it. You may decide to take the traditional route of finding an agent and/or publisher and then going on the road to promote the book once it's published. Or you might publish your own or, at the very least, get your book out there in e-book format.

Anyway, I've recently received a terrific book on the most effective ways to promote a book and I want to share it with you. (This is, of course, done with the permission of the author!). And the best news is that it's free! You can download the ebook here.

Enjoy the free book and best of luck with all your writing endeavors!
Warm regards,
Connie Shelton

Amazon.com bestselling author of the Charlie Parker Mystery Series

and Publish Your Own Novel: The Proven Quick Start Way to Write Your Book

How early does holiday shopping start?

I don't know about you, but I seem to want to start my holiday shopping earlier each year. There's just something nice about having it done early, plus I avoid the crowds at the malls and the traffic that seems to be such a part of the whole rat-race. It could also be that, because we head South in the winter, I'm more at ease having gift shopping as one more thing crossed off my list.

This year I've been getting really excited about electronic books -- e-books-- and I got my own Kindle e-book reader earlier this fall. I'm loving it!  So, that made me think that I should get all of my own books formatted and submitted for e-book publication. Although it's taken me some time to proofread all those old manuscripts and get them ready, I'm thrilled to say that all 11 of my Charlie Parker mysteries are now for sale in this format!

The newest one is Holidays Can Be Murder (which, incidentally, is available in both paper and e-book), and I was happy to be able to offer this one just in time for the Christmas season. It's a novella that I wrote several years ago for my editor at Worldwide Mystery and they included it in their annual anthology for their book club members. Since most other readers had never seen it, this seemed like the ideal time to bring it out again, as a stand-alone book and let people know about it. I'm including them as little hostess gifts and stocking stuffers for my own friends and family. If you'd like to do the same, here are links directly to the Amazon pages where you can find them.

Holidays Can Be Murder (book)

Holidays Can Be Murder (Kindle version)

So....for all you early (or not-so-early) holiday shoppers, I hope I've given you an idea that can help shorten your shopping list---at least a little bit!

Have a wonderful autumn and winter!
Warm regards,
Connie Shelton

www.connieshelton.com

Busy summer!

I am so jazzed right now--have had a really busy summer!  Three Charlie Parker mysteries are now available for Amazon's Kindle e-book reader (check often, new titles are being added all the time) Find them here. They will soon have all eleven titles.  I got my own Kindle a month or so ago and I just love it!

And.... I signed a recording contract with Books In Motion so they can make audio books of four of my titles. If you love unabridged audio books, you can find my titles here . Right now, they have just a couple of the books, but they will be adding the new ones very soon.

And then..... the most exciting news, I think, is that I've got a new Charlie mystery ready in time for Christmas. It's called Holidays Can Be Murder, and I've published it in a cute paperback version (and also for the Kindle), just in time for Christmas.

As the description on the cover says.... "It's a New Mexico Christmas. The lights are strung, the luminarias are set along the sidewalks. Treats are abundant and Charlie Parker is getting ready for her mother-in-law's holiday visit. But there is trouble in the neighborhood and when death shows up--right next door--Charlie's bright, festive plans suddenly take a turn for the dark."

This little book will be a fun holiday read for yourself, nestled in on those chilly winter days, and it's also a great stocking stuffer idea for anyone you know who loves mysteries. It's available right now on Amazon or through my CreateSpace e-store page. Check them out!

So now the fun of summer is over, the leaves here in northern New Mexico are brilliant gold, and we are starting to think of the beach as the weather turns colder and the snow begins to fly (twice already!). I'll keep you posted on what's going on in our lives!

Have a beautiful autumn and a wonderful upcoming holiday season!
Connie

What's been happening in 2009?

Wow--somehow this year is just sneaking away from me!

We traveled all of last winter and I still managed to write a new manuscript. I will definitely keep you posted as I get further word on who will be publishing it, and when.

Last summer I spent a great deal of time working on a new writing course that I'm teaching. I originally developed the concept for Novel In A Weekend several years ago, based on the workshops and conference presentations I did for such a long time in the 1990s. The idea is that we spend two intensive days working on plot, characters and setting and by the end of a weekend we have a fully developed outline and a first chapter. Within 4-6 weeks, my students can have a finished first draft of their novel if they follow the program. I'm happy to say that the initial reviews on the course have been fantastic.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about writing a novel can check out the course information by clicking here. Follow the link for the Free Report and you can subscribe to my series of free fiction writing tips as well.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on my Charlie Parker mystery series and hope to have exciting news about that very soon!

Enjoy your summer,
Connie Shelton