Ellen Jacobson & Poisoned By The Pier

My bloggy friend Ellen Jacobson has a new release out today!!!

This is a fun cozy mystery filled with quirky characters - both human and animal. I really enjoyed it!!!

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Poisoned by the Pier Now Available!

Poisoned by the Pier, the third book in the Mollie McGhie Cozy Sailing Mystery series, is now available in ebook, paperback, and large print.

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play

When Mollie's husband signs the two of them up for an extreme diet, she's not amused. When someone ends up poisoned by a cake, things get even worse.

While she tries to identify the killer, Coconut Cove’s annual boating festival is in full swing. In between getting ready for her first sailing race and cheating on her diet, Mollie and her cat, Mrs. Moto, uncover clues, interview suspects, and do their best to avoid rutabagas.

Can Mollie nab the killer before someone else is poisoned?

If you like quirky characters, adorable cats, and plenty of chocolate, you'll love this cozy mystery. Pick up a copy of Poisoned by the Pier and laugh out loud from the first page to the last.

New to the Series?

If you're new to the series, you might want to start with Murder at the Marina. Now's the perfect opportunity as the ebook is on sale for 99c/99p for a limited time.

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play

About the Author

Ellen Jacobson lives on a sailboat with her husband and an imaginary cat named Simon. When she isn't working on boat projects or seeking out deserted islands, she writes cozy mysteries and sci-fi/fantasy stories.

Connect with Ellen on her Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Blog

You can also sign up for her newsletter for updates about new releases, current projects, sales and promotions, and other fun stuff.

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If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you'll love this one. Cats, dogs, quirky characters, intriguing setting and plot - it's got it all!

How about you? Do you enjoy cozy mysteries? Ever sailed on a boat? Ever tried a wacky diet?

IWSG & Waffles ... sort of

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

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The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre,Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

July 3 question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?

Good question!!

For the most part, my characters are not a whole lot like me, but there are some similarities.

Many of my characters overthink things and second-guess themselves. This is definitely like me! It makes for fun reading in a story, but can sure make for some uncomfortable situations in the real world. I have to make sure characters aren't too waffly in the story as that can be annoying to the reader! Wish I could stop the waffling in real life though... 😀

How about you? Do you tend to write characters who have at least one similarity with you? Do you like reading about characters who have something in common with you? Any other second-guessers out there? Anyone else in the mood for waffles?

WEP Challenge -- Etoile

Cyla might never have seen a chick, or even an egg, but now she knew why they’d worked so hard to get out of those shells.

This tiny room wasn’t much larger than her bunk, and it felt like it was shrinking. The walls were covered in controls she didn’t understand. Wasn’t allowed to understand.

The explosions had stopped, but Darra hadn’t answered his link.

She’d snuck out to explore when Etoile had shaken so hard, Cyla had been tossed through an open door into this room. Darra would be so annoyed. She wasn’t supposed to leave their room without him—ever—and now she was trapped.

Cyla stood up and pressed the rectangle closest to the door, but nothing happened. Where was Darra? Why wouldn’t he talk to her? How was she supposed to get out?

Darra had told her red meant danger, so she didn’t want to press those controls. Black or blue?

She tried her link again, but when Darra didn’t respond, she pressed the highest button she could reach beside the door. Symbols flashed on the screen, but she hadn’t been taught symbols yet. Too young. Too dangerous.

A siren shrieked and Cyla ducked to cover her head. The steady shriek changed to a pattern. Three long, three short, three long bursts. A pause then repeat. Something else she hadn’t learned.

Etoile shuddered, sending Cyla crashing into one wall and then another. And another.

Battling tears, she steadied her hands against the sides of the room and pushed to her feet. She had to get out. Find Darra.

While Etoile lurched, Cyla tried pushing button after button. The only response was symbols on the screen. The door remained locked. She pounded her fists on it, calling for help.

Another jolt sent her flying and she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

“Darra!”

The shaking continued, but Cyla gained her feet again and used her fists to slam all the non-red buttons she could reach. Nothing.

More controls sat higher than her head but there was nothing to stand on. Those had to be the ones. Cyla jumped and managed the first one. More symbols.

Screaming her frustration, she jumped again and again, slamming her fists into the wall.

The familiar hiss of doors opening had her smiling through the tears, but the door remained closed in front of her. A higher-pitched siren joined the other, this one screeching in short, repeated bursts.

A frigid wind rushed in behind Cyla and she tried to turn even as the wind wrapped around her and yanked her with it.

Away from her hiding place.

Away from Etoile.

Away from Darra.

She’d pushed the red button.

This story is part of the WEP/IWSG challenge. Check the link to find all the details and check out the other entries. It's fun to see how differently people interpret the challenge!

How about you? Any stories you're working on about being trapped? Anyone else feeling like a freed bird now that the nice weather has arrived?

IWSG & Picking Favourites

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

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June 5 question: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

I love so many genres - both for reading and writing!

I've been immersed in the world of nonfiction recently getting ready to publish Dancing With Dementia. It holds a huge part of my heart because it deals with my family and how dementia has affected all of us.

Nonfiction is a different beast from fiction and it's had its own set of challenges and joys.

Because it's consumed my world for the past few years, it's definitely my current favourite genre. Writing a deeply emotional subject is obviously not easy, but writing it with the purpose of helping others makes it easier to do.

I'm looking for early readers for Dancing With Dementia. If you're interested, send me an email (jemifraser@gmail.com), let me know in the comments, or sign up for my newsletter over in the righthand sidebar of the blog. (The newsletter will be for all my writing, not only the nonfiction.) Thanks!

Once this book is out and about, and I start focusing on my romance stories again, I'm sure that genre will zoom back into my favourite spot!

How about you? Do you switch up your favourites depending what you're working on? Anyone interested in an early copy of Dancing With Dementia?

News News

Dementia has been part of our family for a few years now. My sister and I are first-generation Canadians and we didn't have an older generation around for us to see the differences between normal aging and dementia.

As a writer, one of the ways I process things is to write about it. The result is Dancing With Dementia which I plan to publish sometime this summer.

I've got a YouTube channel coming up too that will be filled with Quick Tips that help people dealing with Loved Ones in the early stages of Dementia. I've also got another blog set to go that is focused on Dementia.

In preparation for stepping out into the publishing world, I've created a newsletter signup. You'll find the link in the right sidebar of the blog. -->

I promise I'll only send out newsletters for new releases and sales. I'm not a spammy type person so there will definitely not be an overload of newsletters.

The newsletter will focus on all of my writing - Nonfiction, Romance, Short Stories. My Bloo Moose Romances aren't too far off in the future.

I'm also looking for early readers for Dancing With Dementia. More info will be in the newsletter or you can let me know in the comments or via email (jemifraser@gmail .com) if you're interested in being an early reader. I'm hoping to be able to have a few honest reviews ready to go by launch date.

So, that's my news - what's up on your end?
Any tips & hints for setting up my newsletter? I'm using MailChimp and I'm mostly getting it! 😀

Where's Jemi?

Hi everyone!

I'm over at the WEP blog today talking a bit about how I started writing shorts 

and a bit about my whole writing journey.

I hope you'll pop on over and say hi!

IWSG & The Power of Story

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

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May 1 question - What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Great question!

One of my earliest memories of the power of the written word was when I read Little Women.

Major Spoiler Directly Ahead!

In the book, one of the characters, Beth, dies. It was the first time I'd read about the death of a character. It was the first time fiction ripped into my soul and cracked my heart.

Devastated, I sobbed, raced through the book, and started it again.

Maybe this time, Beth would be okay.

I was obviously pretty young - young enough to hope that the words might have magically changed, that this character I loved would live.

Not sure I ever looked at fiction the same way again. The power of story continued to lure me, but I kept one eye on the author, wondering what choice he or she would make. And why.

How about you? Do you remember that first tragedy that you read?The first book that broke your heart?