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 

Vicki Delany

aka

Eva Gates

Vicki is the author of the wonderful 

Year Round Christmas Mysteries.

Vickie writing as Ava is the author of the excellent Lighthouse Library Mysteries. 

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

When I’m Not Writing...

My Trip to Vietnam

By Vicki Delany

Being a writer is, I have found, more than a full time job. I sometimes think I’m working all the time.  I write outlines and proposals, I write my books (I have 23 published so far), I edit them. And then I edit the edits, and check the proof-readers’ copy. And begin the whole process again, sometimes before the first round is even finished.

And then there is all the other stuff – travelling and promotion and research. Blog posts and guest blog visits, FB posts, newsletters and contests, bookstore and book club visits, book signings, luncheon talks or giving workshops, travelling to conferences. Plus hours of research and long research trips.  

Oh, did I mention I am the current President of the Crime Writers of Canada. That’s got its own workload too.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining (well, maybe just a little bit).  I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, and that’s the joy to me of this late-in-life (well, not too late) career. As soon as I am not having fun anymore, I’ll stop doing it.

But even as much as I enjoy the writing life, it does seem sometimes to be all of my life.

So I recently took a long vacation that had nothing at all to do with writing or promotion.

I went to Vietnam for eighteen days. I went on an organized tour, and loved every minute of it. The places we visited were fascinating, the people on the tour were all great, and the guide was fun and knowledgeable and charming.

Why Vietnam? A couple of people I knew who are very well traveled said they loved it there. The country is only just opening to tourism in a big way, so everything isn't yet overrun by tourists, but the tourist accommodations and facilities are top-notch.

I flew into Hanoi, and spent two days before my tour began, just wandering the city (map in hand) by myself. It was fascinating, the Old Quarter in particular.  With the tour we went to the famous Ha Long Bay and stayed overnight on a boat, then took the overnight train to the former imperial city of Hue, and a bus to Da Nang and then to Hoi An, a totally charming city on the ocean. We then flew to Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by the locals) and traveled to the Mekong Delta which we toured by boat.

Just being in those places, the names so well known to us of a certain age, gave me a wonderful feeling. The county is peaceful (we barely saw a cop the entire time we were there) and apparently prosperous. Things can change, and peace can come.

I hope you enjoy my pictures. 

Eva Gates is the national bestselling author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin Random House, set in a historic lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The third book in the series, Reading up a Storm, was released on April 5, 2016.  Eva is the pen name of Vicki Delany, one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers, author of the Constable Molly Smith series from Poisoned Pen Press and the Year Round Christmas Mysteries from Penguin Random House.

Find them at www.vickidelany.com. Facebook:  Vicki Delany & Eva Gates (evagatesauthor) and twitter: @vickidelany and @evagatesauthor

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Writing as Vicki Delany

Year-Round Christmas Mysteries

Book One

Book Two

A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...

It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn. 

But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods. 

When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...

Available for pre-order

Release date

November 1, 2016

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Writing as Eva Gates

Lighthouse Library Mysteries

Book One                                     Book Two

Book Three

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Also Writing as Vicki Delany 

Non-Cozies

RAY ROBERTSON MYSTERY Series

CONSTABLE MOLLY SMITH MYSTERY Series

KLONDIKE MYSTERY Series

 And quite a number of stand alones!

Vicki on Amazon

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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