Second Choices

 

My guest today is Nancy J. Cohen, award-winning author who writes romance and mysteries. Her popular Bad Hair Day series features hairdresser Marla Shore, who solves crimes with wit and style under the sultry Florida sun. Several titles in this series have made the IMBA bestseller list, while Nancy’s imaginative sci-fi romances have garnered rave reviews. Her latest book, and tenth in her mystery series, is Shear Murder from Five Star. Coming next is Warrior Prince, book one in her new paranormal series from The Wild Rose Press. Active in the writing community and a featured speaker at libraries and conferences, Nancy is listed in Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers, and Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets.

 

SECOND CHOICES   

How many of you wish you could have made another choice in life, whether of a mate or a career or another aspect of your existence?

We’re always making choices since there’s no straight path for any of us. Life consists of choices like branches of a tree or a fork in the road. Multiverse believers might even state that you exist in multiple dimensions, having taken all those different routes.

 In Shear Murder, my tenth Bad Hair Day mystery featuring Florida hairstylist Marla Shore, weddings are the theme, although you could say second choices are a huge part of this. Marla is engaged to Detective Dalton Vail when she attends her friend Jill’s wedding as a bridesmaid. At the reception, Marla discovers the matron of honor dead under the cake table. Is the bride as innocent as she seems?

 Jill has given everyone the impression that this is her first marriage. However, an earlier slip of the tongue by the victim makes Marla wonder if Jill has purposefully mislead her. What secret is Jill harboring that she wanted her sister, the matron of honor, to keep? Could it be that a second choice is involved here, one that Jill doesn’t want to smudge with reminders of her past?

 Marla’s upcoming nuptials will be her second marriage, and she has nothing to hide about it. She’s overjoyed to devote her life to Dalton and his teenaged daughter, Brianna. Letting go of her past hasn’t been easy. For years, a tragic event that occurred when Marla was nineteen scarred her against having a family of her own. She’d married the attorney who helped her get through that ordeal, but she ended up divorcing him. Dalton has given her a second chance at happiness.

 She’s helped him as well. Grieving over his dead first wife, he hadn’t changed a thing in his home when she met him. Gradually, her love helped him move past his grief to embrace the future.

 All of these characters have a second chance at love. Marla atones for her mistakes, realizing she’s a good person and still has much to contribute. She becomes a better person, making wiser choices as she matures.

 Making a second choice often means letting go of past baggage to leap ahead and grasp new opportunities. Whether it’s a career move, a love interest, or another aspect of life, we’ve all made these choices. I went from being a clinical nurse specialist to a novelist.

What second choice have you made?

 

Shear Murder

Who knew weddings could be murder?  Hairstylist Marla Shore is weeks away from becoming a bride herself when she walks down the aisle as a bridesmaid at her friend Jill’s ceremony. Things take a turn for the worse when the matron of honor ends up dead, the cake knife in her chest. Now what will they use to cut the cake?

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Comments

[Nancy Cohen]

Thanks for having me here, Camille. I'll look forward to people's comments.

[Allison Chase]

My husband and I are both from New England, and at one time we both thought we'd always be a pair of Nor'easters. Moving to Florida was definitely a second choice brought on by multiple reasons, but we quickly learned just how adaptable we are and now consider ourselves true Floridians. So for us second choices are about change and adaptability and always keeping an open mind. It's about adventure, too! And I'm looking forward to reading Marla's latest adventure! Congrats on the release!

[Camille Minichino]

Hi Allison. New England will always be my first choice, though I'm "stuck" in CA! Glad you're more adaptable than I am!

[Diana Layne]

I've always enjoyed your bad hair day books, good luck!

[Nancy Cohen]

Allison, you're lucky Florida agreed with you. I lived for a year each in Boston and San Francisco before finally settling here. Now I've been a resident over 30 years.

[Nancy Cohen]

Diana, thanks for stopping by and leaving your kind remarks!

[Susan Shea]

Welcome to LadyKillers, Diana! Sounds like a fun book.

[Liz]

Reminds me of Streisand's "Second Hand Rose".

[Jenny Milchman]

I have heard a time or two that it was time for a second choice, plan B, in other words. "Isn't your list too specific--no one will fulfill all those." Or, "How long can you go on not earning any money and just writing?"

Interestingly, not long after I responded by trying to persevere on my chosen path, plan A would come to pass. I'm not sure what that suggests.

[Sharon Ervin]

Great premise for a murder mystery. These ladies make me a little nervous.

[Camille Minichino]

Thanks so much for visiting the LadyKillers, Nancy, and best of success with your series.

[Nancy Cohen]

Jenny, that's an interesting take on the subject. We've all wondered about our chosen career path as authors, and just when we are ready to give up, along comes a new option that keeps us in the game.

[Nancy Cohen]

Camille, thanks again for having me!

[Rosalie]

The type of story that makes you think whether you're on your first path or second or beyond .. like in sailing when the wind changes direction and you keep adjusting toward your destination.