Have you ever wondered what your favorite authors are doing when they aren't writing those wonderful cozy mysteries that we love so much?

Do they have other jobs, hobbies, hidden talents?

Now you can find out!

Stop by the blog on Thursdays for delightful guest posts from our amazing authors! 

They're going to be sharing all sorts of things that they do when they're not writing.

Today's special guest author is 

Tonya Kappes

Tonya is the author of the wonderful 

Magical Cures, Divorced Diva, Laurel London, Olivia Davis Paranormal, Ghostly Southern, Spies and Spells, and Kenni Lowry mysteries, as well as the Blossom Bay Story series.

So, what does Tonya do when she's not writing?

When I'm Not Writing....

 Dancing My Way To Sanity

Day and night the characters in my novels live in my head. Sometimes they are louder than others and sometimes they fight for my time. At times I truly talk back to them or help them come up with a new way to tell another part of their story.

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago did I decide that it wasn’t healthy sitting around all day and talking to my imaginary book friends. I decided it was time to get off my keister and try to get some exercise, you know, get out of my head for a while. I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and laughed when I remembered the saying: there are two things that never lie, yoga pants and young children.

Man, I was wondering if I was a little late to the exercise party as I stood there in those tight, very tight pants. But I did it. I went to Jazzercise. Now….if you don’t know what Jazzercise is, it’s a dancing exercise class. There is much more to Jazzercise than dance. They have several different classes to choose from like strength training, a fusion class, an interval class, a yoga ball class and a personalized class. This threw me for a loop. I didn’t know which class to take so I decided on the original Dance Mix class.

I went and I couldn’t believe how many people were there and different ages. There was a ten year old little girl there with her mom and a women in her eighties. They were all so welcoming and I signed up the first day.

I continued to go every single day for six months! Every day! I was addicted. I was addicted to how much energy and how good I felt afterwards. Everyone became instant friends. I’ve made such wonderful friends and gone through parents being sick, children growing up and graduating, to moving out. It’s a true family.

Now that I’m back on deadline for the next Kenni Lowry Mystery Series book and the next Ghostly Southern Mystery Series book, I have to limit my Jazzercise to five days a week until deadline is over!

In fact…if you ever come to my Jazzercise class, it’s not unusual to see me jump on the stage for a song or two with the instructor!

What do you do for fun or your day off?

Thanks Tonya. 

I would join your Jazzercise class in a heartbeat if I lived closer. I somehow think we could get each other laughing harder than dancing!

You can thank Tonya by reading and reviewing her books!

Magical Cures Mysteries

Divorced Diva Mysteries

Laurel London Mysteries

Olivia Davis Paranormal Mysteries

Ghostly Southern Mysteries

Pre-order now

Release date: December 27

Spies and Spells Mysteries

Kenni Lowry Mysteries

Pre-order now

Release date: June 14

Blossom Bay Story series

So many wonderful titles! 

Which one peaks your interest?

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

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clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

The Cozy Times is working on late breaking news!

Times editor (me), is working hard to bring the news to you. 

So, today I bring to you

Way Back Wednesday!

With thanks to Mr. Peabody and his boy, Sherman

I have taken the Way Back Machine to 

October 14, 2014 

to bring to you a review of one of my all time favorite books, featuring my childhood hero, and if I'm to be honest, my hero still today...

Nancy Drew!

Enjoy! 

NANCY DREW

THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew's keen mind is tested when she searches for a missing will.

They say you can’t go home again. I don’t know who “they” are, but they’re wrong. When I held this book in my hands, it felt like home. When I opened the book, I felt like a child again. When I read the first line, “Nancy Drew, an attractive girl of eighteen, was driving home along a country road in her new, dark blue convertible,” I was home, and I was a little girl again. The memories flooded into me so fast, I smiled and teared up at the same time. I was back with my idol, Nancy Drew. And you know what? I still want to grow up to be just like Nancy.

I drank in THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK like I had been dying of thirst. I suppose I was really. A thirst for those old feelings of adventure. The ones that I thought so many cozy mysteries had quenched. Don’t get me wrong, cozy mysteries are my oasis in life. They bring me shelter and nourishment. They are the cooling rain in the middle of a vast desert. But Nancy Drew? Well, reading Nancy Drew again was the tall glass of ice water I have been craving.

Now that I have expressed those oh so deep feelings, let me get to my review.

THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK was wonderful from page one until the end. I truly enjoyed riding along with Nancy as she found herself involved in her first case.

Reading the interactions between Nancy with her father, Hannah her house keeper, and the wide cast of characters she meets and befriends in the story, was great fun. As a girl, Nancy’s kindness was the first thing that drew me to her. And she holds that same appeal to this day. 

While Nancy was working so hard to help the families that stood to benefit from her finding the clock, she found herself in many dangerous situations. I really like that she didn’t always get herself out of them. She had no problem with yelling for help. Had no problem taking help that was offered. This made Nancy not only heroic, but human.

Sure, the times have changed. They have even changed for Nancy. The edition I read has been updated and changed from the original, first edition story from 1930. Yet that makes no difference. I still find Nancy Drew to be timeless.

If I had a daughter, I would encourage her to read this entire series. I do however have a niece, and when she is old enough to read at this age level, I will be proud to buy her, her very first Nancy Drew book, THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK. As a matter of fact, it would be fun to buy her not only “my” Nancy Drew, but to buy her the more recent series that have followed. She and I can read those at the same time and both learn how the story of the world’s favorite female detective has grown and still lives on!

I strongly encourage anyone with a young girl in their lives to introduce them to the world of Nancy Drew books. After all, once you have her hooked on those, you’ll have someone to pass all your cozies on to! 

Who says you can't go back again?

I've been working on rebuilding my Nancy Drew collection for a while now. When time allows, I will be featuring more Nancy reviews, and I find myself very excited to do so! 

I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Want to follow my blog? 

Click on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page!

BOOK TOUR

I'm so excited to be the first stop on the blog tour for 

author Lynn Cahoon

and her new book

TEA CUPS AND CARNAGE

Book 7 in the Tourist Trap Mysteries

The quaint coastal town of South Cove, California, is all abuzz about the opening of a new specialty shop, Tea Hee. But as Coffee, Books, and More owner Jill Gardner is about to find out, there's nothing cozy about murder . . .

Shop owner Kathi Corbin says she came to South Cove to get away from her estranged family. But is she telling the truth? And did a sinister someone from her past follow her to South Cove? When a woman claiming to be Kathi's sister starts making waves and a dead body is found in a local motel, Jill must step in to clear Kathi's name--without getting herself in hot water.

Includes an excerpt from A STORY TO KILL, Lynn Cahoon's BRAND NEW series

It’s a Man’s World…

Or at least that’s what they say. I’m Jill Gardner, owner and semi-manager of Coffee, Books, and More, the only coffeeshop/bookstore in South Cove. If you’re looking for refreshments, it’s either us or Diamond Lille’s down the street next to The Train Station. It’s not a real train station, Harrold, who may be my new uncle someday, sells model trains there. Although I think he spends more time working on his model of South Cove than marketing and selling. He says the town model is marketing since it draws in customers. 

I think it’s an easy way to justify playing when you’re supposed to be working.

Kind of like what I do when foot traffic is slow and I dive into a book instead of working on accounting or ordering or anyone of the multitude of tasks my aunt lists on her daily to do sheet that shows up by the cash register right before opening each day. 

She’s pushing me to become more involved in the actual management of the shop. I want to say, like I did before you came and took over? But I’ve bit my tongue several times. And she’s right, there have been a lot of process improvements since she took over. I’m thinking about going back for my Masters in Business Administration this fall. But maybe that’s another stalling tactic from real work. Either way, Aunt Jackie played the guilt card about how she’s not going to be around much more.

I’m assuming she’s talking about retiring and taking cruises for her golden years. Or maybe Harrold’s ready to put a ring on it and whisk her away to a life of leisure. All I know is she better not be talking about the BIG RETIREMENT. I don’t know what I’d do without the woman.  Just don’t let her know that.

I guess I should be getting ready for the business-to-business meeting tomorrow. We have a new business owner attending. Kathi Corbin is an ex-beauty queen turned entrepreneur.  The construction crew is still working on the renovation of the building across the street. I can see the progress or lack of, through CBM’s front window. Kathi’s a friendly sort. She’s always out talking to the construction workers, handing out glasses of what I assume is sweet tea since the girl oozes Southern charm.

I never was that kind of girl. Upfront and in your face, if you wanted something from me, you had to spell it out. I guess I missed the class on getting your way via flirtation. I believe our new resident, Kathi, could write a book on the subject. 

Anyway, I’m sure she’ll fit right in. Especially with the mayor and the guys at the table during the business meeting. I just hope she won’t alienate the women before we get a chance to know her. I believe in supporting strong women business owners. It just might be a little hard to stomach. Kind of like when I had to invite the owners of Designer Dud’s to join the committee. Sherry King was Greg’s (my current boyfriend) ex-wife.

Gotta love a small town where everyone has secrets. 

Maybe that’s why Kathi moved to South Cove. I guess only time will tell. Thanks for stopping in for coffee and a chat.

Jill

**********

*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****

Winner will be chosen after March 10 

at the end of the tour

Check out the great prize and enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post. 

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.

www.escapewithdollycas.com

MY REVIEW

The Tourist Trap Mysteries gets better and better with every new installment!

I knew this series by author Lynn Cahoon was going to be one of my favorites when I read book one, GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER. The characters, the setting, the theme of this series are, quite simply, a joy to read.

TEA CUPS AND CARNAGE introduces another new shop to the town of South Cove. Housed in what was once a bank, the Tea Hee tea shop seems to fit in perfectly with the other wonderful shops in town, even if something doesn’t seem quite right about Tea Hee’s owner, Kathi…not that the men of town notice. They’re too busy ogling her. What? Nope! You have to read it for yourself to see if Kathi is a welcome addition, or a taste of bitter tea. ;-)

All of the returning characters are back and better than ever. They really are growing, and Ms. Cahoon is adding new dimensions to each one with every new book.

A solid, fast moving mystery, TEA CUPS AND CARNAGE is a fabulous tale of secrets, lies, murder, and more! Trust me, once you take a sip of what Lynn Cahoon has to offer, you’re going to be begging for seconds, and thirds, and…!

You’ll also find an excerpt from, A STORY TO KILL, book one in an exciting new series from Lynn Cahoon!

About the author

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She's also the author of the soon to be released, Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A STORY TO KILL, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. 

Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway