Sunday Signing in Breckenridge and a 5-Star Review!

Along with my two appearances on Saturday in Monument, Colorado, and Glendale, Colorado tomorrow (see post below), I will be signing copies of my latest release, A Basket of Trouble, and my other books, at The French Kiss boutique in Breckenridge, Colorado on Sunday. I'll also be handing out my sleuth Claire Hanover's "Tips for Making Perfect Gift Baskets." The full details are:

Sunday, December 1, 2013, Noon – 2PM
Signing by Local Mystery Author Beth Groundwater
The French Kiss
226 South Main Street, Breckenridge, CO 80424  

And, I just received a wonderful 5-star review for A Basket of Trouble from Lori Caswell on her Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book blog. Read it HERE!

Mystery Writing Advice From Moi

As part of my on-line promotion activities for my November release, A Basket of Trouble, the critically acclaimed third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series, I am visiting Savvy Authors today. I wrote an article about "Engineering A Mystery" which describes all of the essential ingredients for the basic recipe that makes my mysteries a tasty treat for readers. I hope the article will be of interest to both mystery writers and readers. Please take a look at it HERE, and leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

On-line and In-person Events for the Release of A BASKET OF TROUBLE!

Today I am appearing both on-line and in-person to promote the release of A Basket of Trouble, the third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series. My on-line appearance is at the Savvy Authors blog, with an article about "Engineering a Mystery," that I hope will be informative for both mystery writers and readers. Please check it out!

My in-person appearances are taking place in Colorado Springs, CO, today, the setting for the book. Here's where I'll be:

Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 10:00 – 12:00 AM
Visit with Mystery Book Club, public welcome
Briargate Community Library
9475 Briar Village Point, Suite 100, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Signing
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
795 Citadel Drive East, Colorado Springs, CO 80909 

I hope to see some Colorado Springs friends and readers at these events!

On-line Excitement for A BASKET OF TROUBLE

In conjunction with the November 8th release of A Basket of Trouble, the critically acclaimed third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series, I am visiting some blogs this week. Yesterday, Jessy Randall on the Hey, There's A Dead Guy in the Living Room blog interviewed me. Find out about the worst job I ever had and more!

Today, my amateur sleuth, gift basket designer Claire Hanover, is visiting Dru Ann Love's blog, Dru's Book Musings, to talk about a stressful day in her life. Both she and I will answer questions from mystery readers there, and Dru Ann is running a contest for a free autographed copy of A Basket of Trouble, drawing the winner's name from among those who leave a comment. Good luck!

Also, a few days ago, A Date With a Book blog posted a very complimentary and detailed 4-star review of A Basket of Trouble. I hope you'll go over there and read it!

Finally, unrelated to this release, but to my other 2013 release, Fatal Descent, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures series, Colorado Country Life magazine selected the book as a Recommended Read for 2013!

Release Day for A BASKET OF TROUBLE!

Yippee!! Today is the official release day for A Basket of Trouble, the third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series. It takes place in Colorado Springs, CO, and features horseback riding and hippotherapy. Follow the link for the book blurb, reviews, excerpts, discussion questions, and "buy me" links.

A Basket of Trouble has hit ALL FOUR of the big 4 review publications (Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly)!! Only one other release of mine has hit all four, and that was the first in a series, Deadly Currents. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with the reception that A Basket of Trouble is receiving from reviewers so far. Just to whet your appetite, here's a pull quote from the latest review by Library Journal:

"Groundwater’s third series entry (after To Hell in a Handbasket) is an action-packed cozy that successfully weaves in her small business and disability awareness."
  -- Library Journal, November 1, 2013

A Basket of Trouble is widely available in bookstores (If it's not on the shelf, order it!), libraries (If it's not on the shelves, request it!), and from on-line retailers, including: Indie Bound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and direct from the publisher, Midnight Ink. Do you have any mystery readers on your holiday gift list? This book, and the first two in the series, A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket, might be perfect for them. If you'd like signed bookplates or business cards to go with your gifts, contact me at my website, and I'll arrange to send them to you.

I'm visiting a number of blogs next week to promote the book, and I'll post links here to those guest articles as they go live.  In the meantime, here are a couple of recent interviews with me (the first one was posted yesterday) that were done for the release:

Lisa K's Book Reviews

The Big Thrill 

I'm also still visiting the Barnes and Noble mystery book club through Saturday and responding to reader questions there, and my Goodreads Giveaway contest is still running until the end of today.

I hope you'll celebrate this release with me by lifting a glass of your favorite beverage and wishing me luck. Buying a copy for yourself wouldn't hurt either! ;-)

Library Journal Weighs In With a Great Review for A Basket of Trouble!

A Basket of Trouble, the third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series, officially debuts on November 8th, though many retailers already have the book in stock and are shipping copies.

A Basket of Trouble will be publishing a review for A Basket of Trouble in their November issue today that ends with the following pull quote:

"Groundwater’s third series entry (after To Hell in a Handbasket) is an action-packed cozy that successfully weaves in her small business and disability awareness."
  -- Library Journal

That means this book has hit ALL FOUR of the big 4 review publications (Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly)!! Only one other release of mine has hit all four, and that was the first in my other series (RM Outdoor Adventures), Deadly Currents. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with the reception that A Basket of Trouble is receiving from reviewers so far.

And, please check out my interview that was published today in The Big Thrill on-line magazine put out by the International Thriller Writers! The interviewer has some very interesting questions for me to answer. Go HERE.

Editing a Galley Proof

I'm over at Inkspot today, the blog for Midnight Ink authors, talking about editing the galley proof for my November book release, A Basket of Trouble, the long-awaited third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series. My main concern is that A Basket of Trouble be a fun and exciting read. Hopefully no readers will be pulled out of the story by stumbling across a typo, spelling or punctuation error in the final book. Have you been pulled out of a story recently by such an error? Tell me about it in a comment there!

A Day in the Life of Mandy Tanner and An Enthusiastic Review and Giveaway

Today, Mandy Tanner, the whitewater river ranger/rafting guide protagonist of my RM Outdoor Adventures series (and recent release book 3 in that series, Fatal Descent), is visiting Dru's Book Musings to talk about a day in the life of a whitewater rafting guide. I hope you'll stop by the blog HERE and ask Mandy (or me) a question. Whitewater rafting guides work VERY hard for very little money, especially on multiday river trips. I hope reading about Mandy's typical day will give you a little more respect for what your whitewater rafting guide does for you. After taking that roller coaster ride through the rapids, be sure to give your guide a big tip!

Also, the book review blog, Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book has given Fatal Descent a very enthusiastic 5-star review HERE. She's also giving away her review copy to one commenter, so leave a comment to enter the contest!

Release Day for FATAL DESCENT!!

Today is the official release day for FATAL DESCENT, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures series starring whitewater river ranger/rafting guide Mandy Tanner. Follow the link for the book blurb, reviews, an excerpt, discussion questions, and "buy me" links. I hope you'll celebrate the release with me by lifting a glass of your favorite beverage and wishing me luck. Buying a copy for yourself wouldn't hurt either! ;-)

A Booksigning, A Review, and Two Interviews

Today I am at the Socrates' Book Review blog, where Yvonne reviewed my new release, Fatal Descent and interviewed me, posing some interesting questions. I hope you'll stop by there and leave a comment or a question of your own for me!

Also, a feature article/interview with me appears in Scene section of the Summit Daily News today. You can read the article on-line as well as in the print newspaper.

Tomorrow, Saturday, June 8th, I will have my first book signing for Fatal Descent, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series starring whitewater river ranger/rafting guide Mandy Tanner. The signing will be from 3 - 5 PM at the Next Page Bookstore, 409 Main Street, #101, Frisco, CO 80443. It will take place during the Ten Mile Creek whitewater races weekend and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Gore Range chapter of Trout Unlimited. I hope to see many readers there!

Release News for TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET

Yesterday was the official release date for the trade paperback and ebook editions of To Hell in a Handbasket, the second book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series. The active link takes you to my website, where you can read the book's blurb, reviews, and excerpts and get a list of discussion questions you can use if your book club decides to read and discuss the book.

In honor of the release, the New York Journal of Books posted a positive review yesterday that includes the statement, "This book will keep the reader turning pages until the very satisfying end." Follow the link to read the whole review. I'm very excited about it!

Also in honor of the release, an interview with me appeared yesterday on the Shimmerfall blog. Go read it and enter the contest! My interview there is one of many mystery author interviews that are being done to celebrate the Mystery Most Cozy group’s 10th anniversary.

Lastly, I am a guest today at Cozy Mystery Book Reviews with an article about "Mothers and the Daughters Who Leave Them," an important subplot in To Hell in a Handbasket. The review site is also posted their review of the book today. I hope you'll stop by and read both my article and the review!

To Hell in a Handbasket is widely available in bookstores (If it's not on the shelf, order it!), libraries, and from on-line retailers, including: Indie Bound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and direct from the publisher, Midnight Ink. Do you have any mystery readers on your holiday gift list? This book, and the first in the series, A Real Basket Case, might be perfect for them. If you'd like signed bookplates or bookmarks to go with your gifts, contact me at my website, and I'll arrange to send them to you.

Interviews, interviews, interviews!

Every time I release a new mystery book (as I did Tuesday with Wicked Eddies), I receive a lot of requests for interviews. Many have appeared on-line recently. The interviewers ask different questions, and I try to vary my responses to similar questions, so I hope you'll read them all and find them to be interesting. Please let me know in a comment here if I say anything that surprises you!

International Thriller Writers featured me in their The Big Thrill webzine. Read the interview HERE.

My whitewater river ranger sleuth, Mandy Tanner, was interviewed on the Killer Characters blog HERE.

I was interviewed on the Inspiration Forum HERE.

I was interviewed by B.R. Stateham HERE. 

And lastly, this isn't an interview, but I applied the "Page 69 Test" to Wicked Eddies and reported on the result (which was VERY interesting) HERE.

More interviews are coming up, so stay tuned!

Today is the Official Release Date for Wicked Eddies!

Today is the official release date for Wicked Eddies, the second book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series. Yee-haw!

Whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner rides the waves again, this time while patrolling the upper Arkansas River in Colorado during a fly-fishing tournament. And wherever there's competition, there's the chance for tempers to flare, for cheating to occur, and even for murder! But there was also something darker going on in the life of Howie Abbott, the fisherman whose body Mandy discovered in a riverside campground with an ax in his neck!

"Once again, Groundwater, mixing mystery with outdoor adventure, comes up with an excursion that will please most comers."
-- Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2012

I hope you'll join in the excitement by purchasing your own copy of the trade paperback or ebook from your local bookseller or favorite on-line retailer!

April Appearances

I'm reading an ARC (advance reader copy) of a book that will be coming out soon from a big-name Colorado author with one of the huge New York publishers. On the backs of ARCs, publishers often list the promotion campaign planned for the book. This one had the usual stuff that we all do--blog tour; Goodreads giveaway; outreach to the author's community via website, Facebook and email newsletter contacts; media interviews; etc.

It also included a 6-city book tour.

Well, la-de-dah, I thought. Wouldn't it be nice if my publisher sent me on a 6-city book tour for the early May release of Wicked Eddies, the second book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series. Then it struck me. I'm sending myself on one--and more! I'll be back east for a week visiting Hampton/Newport News, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Then I'll have book events in Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado, as well as in many small communities throughout the state, including Frisco, Salida, and Monument. Finally, in October, I'll be at the Bouchercon mystery fan conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

I'd love to see some of my blog readers at these events. The Appearances page of my website is always the best place to check for up-to-date information on where I'll be when, but for my blog readers, I thought I'd let you know where you can find me in April and early May. Please come and say hello if you live nearby. Here goes:

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Pikes Peak Writers Conference

Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel

5580 Tech Center Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 5:30 – 8:30 PM

“Series Writing for the Organizationally Challenged”

Dinner Meeting of Chesapeake Bay Writers

Rivers Inn Restaurant

8106 Yacht Haven Rd, Gloucester Point, VA 23062

Friday-Sunday, April 27-29, 2012

Malice Domestic Conference

Hyatt Regency Hotel

One Bethesda Metro Center (7400 Wisconsin Ave.),

Bethesda, MD 20814

Monday, April 30, 2012, 4 – 8 PM

Festival of Mystery

Greek Orthodox Social Hall

12 Washington Ave, Oakmont, PA 15139

At both of the conferences and the festival, the bookstore is open to the public, as are the signing rooms. For instance, at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, you can stop in the conference bookstore from 4:30 - 5:15 PM to catch me signing copies of my books there after my panel.

The Telling Detail

It's my turn to blog at Inkspot today, the blog for Midnight Ink authors. I talk about the telling detail and how authors work to craft those tiny descriptions that distill the essense and emotion of the item being described into a thing of beauty. Please read the post, and if you have a favorite example of the use of "telling detail," would you share it with the rest of us in a comment? Thanks!

Editing a Galley Proof

Last weekend I posted photos from my vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico, and I said that while I was there I also did some writing work: editing the galley proof for my upcoming May release, Wicked Eddies, which will be the second book in the RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series starring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner.

What is a galley proof? It is the final layout document of a book, with everything positioned exactly on each page, that will be sent to the printer. The proof is sent to the author before it goes to the printer, so the author has one last chance to scour the book for errors and eliminate them. So, I went to work pouring over every page and scrubbing them clean. By the time I finished, I had created a six-page file of about 140 change requests.

What kinds of change requests? Most were small one word or one punctuation mark changes. For instance, in dialogue, I leave contractions with "had" and "would" as contractions, but in narrative, I prefer to spell them out, especially when it's a little unclear whether "she'd" means "she had" or "she would." I found some of those contractions in narrative and changed them. Also, in dialogue, I allow characters to leave out the "of" in phrases such as "all the boats", because we all do that naturally. However, in narrative, I want the "of" to be there, so it would read "all of the boats."

There were such changes as a comma that should have been a period or vice versa, a word that should have been plural and was missing an "s", changing "extra" to "additional" because there were already two other "extra" words in the paragraph, and so on. And, on re-reading, I decided that some of my sentences were too long, and I split them up into two.

One of the larger changes included writing a Dedication, which had been left blank in the galley proof. Another was making sure that real-life organizations were listed by their correct name, such as "Pueblo County Coroner’s Office" versus "Pueblo coroner’s office." And I had mistakenly called the "Chaffee County Sheriff's Office" a department instead of an office a few times.

A couple of times, I rewrote sentences, mainly to put the phrases in cause-effect order or time-sequence order. However, I was very careful to make sure that any rewrites wouldn't change the pagination of the galley proof, that they were about the same length as the original text. Inserting or removing a paragraph is a big no-no at this stage, because that could have a trickle-down effect that would cause multiple pages to be completely re-done.

Lastly, during the same vacation, I was reviewing an ARC of Dr. D.P. Lyle's upcoming release, More Forensics and Fiction, Crime Writers' Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered. In that book, he explains that water in the lungs is not definitive evidence of drowning in and of itself if a victim's body is left submerged more than twelve hours. This is because the lungs passively fill with water as the air seeps out. Instead, debris or organisms from the body of water in which the victim is found must also be found in the victim's lungs to say death was caused by drowning. So, I made a small change in dialogue about my drowning victim's autopsy to address this. Thank you, D.P. Lyle!

Even though my editor and I have both done a thorough review of the galley proof, I'm sure some small errors or typos will remain, much like the river debris in my victim's lungs, to show that yes, we are human and we make mistakes. I sure tried my best, though, to make Wicked Eddies as perfect as I possibly could. Now, the matter is out of my hands. It will be up to the readers to let me know how well I did!

Promoting a Re-Release

On Inkspot today, the blog for Midnight Ink authors, I talk about my plans (including a book giveaway contest!) to promote the trade paperback and ebook re-release of A Real Basket Case, the first book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, which was released in hardcover in 2007. I ask Inkspot readers for suggestions of other ways I can promote a re-release. I'm looking for activities that are fairly inexpensive and that won't take a lot of time away from my writing schedule for Cataract Canyon, the third book in my RM Outdoor Adventure series. I'd love to see some out-of-the-box suggestions there, so please stop by and leave a comment for me!

A Double-Nickel Birthday Gift!

I'm celebrating my 55th birthday this week at Inkspot today, the blog for Midnight Ink authors. I'm sharing some great news--the best present an author can receive--and sharing my good fortune with a contest. Check it out!

Final Proof of A REAL BASKET CASE

Last week I finished reviewing the final proof for the paperback/ebook re-release of the first book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, A Real Basket Case. This new release is being published by Midnight Ink and will be out in November.

You'd think that with two editions already published, the hardcover and large-print, that no changes would need to be made. How wrong you'd be! Here's where I marked changes.

First, the author blurbs. It's been almost five years since I originally requested them. The hardcover edition was released in spring, 2007, and I obtained the blurbs in late 2006. Those authors have gone on to publish more books and some have attained or re-attained New York Time bestseller status. So, I changed the blurb attributions to reflect their recent accomplishments.

Second, there's the copyright or "verso" page--you know, the one with all the small print gobbledygook. I had to correct the reference to the press that produced the hardcover version and check that the proper book designer, cover artist, etc. were listed.

Third, the dedication page. Previous editions didn't have one, and Midnight Ink gave me the option to include one. I decided to take them up on their offer and wrote a dedication. To whom, you might ask? It's a secret! ;-)

Fourth, the acknowledgements page. I rewrote most of this, primarily to list and thank those hard-working folks who toiled on this new edition. I also shortened and summarized my thanks to those who helped with the hardcover edition, because, well, they're thanked profusely there.

Fifth, the text itself. My new copy editor at Midnight Ink found a few things that she thought should be changed, and I agreed with the changes. Then I found a few more on my read through the whole book (which, by the way, was a pleasurable exercise, since I hadn't lived through Claire Hanover's first adventure in five years). Lastly, I found a formatting error that had been introduced in the new version. Yes, these were all small changes, but ones that I think will improve the product.

So, my feedback to the editor has been sent, and that was my last chance to make changes. Let the printing begin! And I'm on to my next writing task ...

Part Two of My Experiences at FIBArk

Yesterday, I blogged about being the Honored Guest or VIP in the FIBArk Parade in Salida, Colorado, last weekend. I'll continue talking about the festival, and my participation in it, today and tomorrow. First and foremost, FIBArk's reason for existence is whitewater races.

Freestyle events award points based on the paddler's ability to do tricks and maneuvers in a river hole or standing wave. Below are photos of two standing board paddlers in a freestyle event.



Slalom racing requires paddlers to negotiate a course of gates, poles hung three feet apart and suspended above the river, through the Whitewater Park in downtown Salida. Below are two photos of kayakers going through slalom gates, followed by a cataraft paddler aiming for a gate. In my mystery, Deadly Currents, my whitewater river ranger paddles a cataraft, so this photo gives you an idea of what one looks like. The fourth photo shows slalom gates across the river and also shows how high the water is, washing over the riverside sidewalk.





Also, FIBArk was the venue for the 2011 U.S. Wildwater National Championships. Below is a photo of two kayakers pushing hard to get a good start in the wildwater race. Notice the slim, sleek shape of the boats, which are built more for speed than maneuverability.


The festival also hosts its signature race that it began with 63 years ago, the downriver, which is a 26-mile long-distance marathon paddle to the finish line. Below is a photo of the start of the raft downriver race.


Over time, many other activities have become part of the festival, including a carnival with games and rides for the children, food stands, musical performances, foot and bike races, and more. Below is a photo of a line of food stands, followed by two of the Amphitheater in Riverside Park, the music venue.




Last but not least are two photos of Lisa Marvel, the owner of The Book Haven bookstore, and me manning our book signing table for Deadly Currents across the street from Riverside Park and in front of the very popular Boathouse Cantina.



Tomorrow, I'll post photos of some of the creative and wild entries in my favorite FIBArk event, the Hooligan Race. You'll also see some interesting crashes. Be sure to check back!