 Mary Anna Evans |
 Michael Black |
 Priscilla Royal |
 Susan Shea |
 Camille Minichino |
 Penny Warner |
 Diana Orgain |
 Hannah Jayne |
 Rita Lakin First Friday |
 Sharan Newman Third Friday |
 Staci McLaughlin |
 Mysti Berry |
by Diana Orgain
For me mysteries have always been about the puzzle. From childhood, I always enjoyed a good jigsaw.
and the rubic
Then came the sudoku
The next logical step was the logic puzzle, of course.
So how could I not love to write a great puzzle?
Why do you love reading mysteries?
by Diana Orgain
I don't usually post about books, but this one is special. A must read. If you like Medical Thrillers (and who doesn't?) You have to read Sin & Bone.
In a return appearance, RN Gina Mazzio (BONE DRY, 2003) is working on the eve of her wedding when takes her final Ob/Gyn telephone advice call of the week. A deadly serious male voice says, “She’s all cut up.”
The police, the hospital administrator, and even her fiance, Harry Lucke, insist it was a crank call, some sicko.
Gina doesn’t buy it, particularly after the same man calls her at home with the same plaint. She pursues the incidents, soon linking the caller to a series of nurse disappearances.
Instead of a wedding and honeymoon with Harry, she is drawn into the illicit, dangerous black market trade human body parts.
SIN & BONE is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Please welcome our guest, Chrystle Fiedler. If you want to catch up with Diana, please visit her at www.dianaorgain.com
First of all I’d like to thank the LadyKillers for having me as a guest on their blog! I’m here to talk about my new book DEATH DROPS: A NATURAL REMEDIES MYSTERY that features Willow McQuade, ND, a naturopathic doctor who specializes in natural cures. When her aunt Claire is murdered, Willow takes over her health food store Nature’s Way Market & Cafe and sets out to solve the crime with a hunky ex-cop. Not only is Death Drops a fun cozy mystery it also has over 2 dozen natural remedies you can try at home. You’ll find everything from yoga to meditation, from vitamins to herbs and homeopathic medicines.
You may be wondering why write about natural remedies? Well, when I was growing up my mother practiced natural cures such as tea bag baths for sunburn, homeopathic remedies for colds and allergies (she even had her own homeopathic kit), arnica oil for sprains and bruises and, of course, chicken soup with garlic was always a staple. I knew that natural remedies worked and became a believer. This interest became the thread that would run through my entire career as a writer.
So, after I graduated from Boston University with a degree in communications, I dabbled in various vocations including advertising and television production (Designing Women, Evening Shade, Early Edition) in Hollywood, I became a journalist specializing natural health. I’ve written about natural cures for Natural Health, Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, Vegetarian Times, The Health Monitor Network and was the Good Nature columnist for Remedy magazine.
In 2009 I followed my interest in natural remedies into non-fiction. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Remedies (Alpha, 2009), was followed by Beat Sugar Addiction Now! (Fairwinds Press, 2010 4th printing), and the Beat Sugar Addiction Now! Cookbook (Fairwinds Press, 2012) both with noted holistic physician Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. and The Country Almanac of Home Remedies (Fairwinds Press, 2011) with herbalist Brigitte Mars.
So it was only “natural” that when it came to fiction, I’d focus on natural remedies too. In 2011, my life-long dream came true when Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster bought my natural remedies series.
Now, I’m looking forward to sharing Willow’s (and my) passion for natural remedies with readers. Since it’s cold and flu season I thought these cures would be most helpful:
1. Vitamin C and zinc. Vitamin C stimulates your immune system to fight that cold. Take 1000 mg. (to bowel tolerance) up to three times daily to shorten the duration of a cold. This is confirmed by over 30 studies that were analyzed by the Cochrane Database Systematic Review in 2004. Zinc, especially in the form of lozenges helps prevent viral replication of the cold virus in the throat by stimulating T-cell response. Stay under 50 mg. daily.
2. Elderberry can minimize the duration of flu symptoms including chills, headache and respiratory infection. According to a 2004 study published in The Journal of International Medical Research, when people were given elderberry syrup, (the brand name is Sambucol), 90% felt better after just three days! Elderberry syrup is also delicious! Take a dose every couple of hours you are awake when fighting something off. Decrease as you improve.
3. Drink two teaspoons each of apple cider vinegar and honey in a cup of hot water three times daily to break up mucus congestion. Diluted lemon in hot water or berry juices can help relieve fever.
4. Soothe a sore throat with a nice cup of licorice root tea. It eases irritated mucus membranes and stimulates the immune system.
5. Soaking in a hot bath is good for colds and flu. Draw a bath and add a cup of Epsom salts and 7 drops of essential oil of eucalyptus or ginger to promote sweating release of toxins. You can also sip some diaphoretic herbs in the tub such as elder flower and ginger. Afterwards dress warm and rest. Feel better!
If you have a medical condition check with your doctor before using these natural remedies.
About Death Drops: A Natural Remedies Mystery:
Dr. Willow McQuade, N.D., a twenty-eight-year-old naturopathic doctor specializing in natural remedies, has decided to take sabbatical and visit her Aunt Claire, the owner of Nature’s Way Market and Cafe in idyllic Greenport, Long Island. But the idea of rest and relaxation is quickly forgotten when Willow arrives from a morning meditative walk to discover her Aunt Claire dead in the store, a strange almond-like smell emanating from her mouth and a bottle of flower essences by her side.
Despite her Zen nature and penchant for yoga, Aunt Claire had a knack for getting into confrontations with folks. An activist, she held weekly meetings for different causes every week in the store. The police want to believe the death is accidental—but Willow thinks she may have been poisoned.
Things get worse when Aunt Claire’s valuable recipe for a new natural age-defying formula, Fresh Face, is stolen during a store break-in, and an attempt is made on Willow’s life. Desperate for a way out of the mess, she turns to a handsome young cop Jackson Spade. Together the two set about solving the case the natural way—through a combination of hard work, common sense, and a dose of luck.
Praise for Death Drops: A Natural Remedies Mystery
“With a terrific premise and an interesting topic Fiedler’s debut shows promise.” Library Journal
Death Drops is a gem! Entertaining, informative, and with a mystery that had me completely baffled! – Gayle Trent, author of Killer Sweet Tooth
"Fiedler's absorbing mystery is an entertaining debut, featuring a likeable menagerie of characters, filled with natural remedies, with all of it unfolding on Long Island's idyllic East End." Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, author of the national bestseller Liberating Paris.
“An engaging investigative thriller…an enjoyable whodunit.” The Mystery Gazette
Chrystle Fiedler is the author of DEATH DROPS: A NATURAL REMEDIES MYSTERY (Gallery Books/Simon and Schuster) which will be published on February 21st 2012. I’m also the author of the non-fiction title THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO NATURAL REMEDIES (Alpha, 2009), co-author of BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW! (Fairwinds Press, 2010), currently in its fourth printing, the BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW! COOKBOOK (Fairwinds Press, 2012) and THE COUNTRY ALMANAC OF HOME REMEDIES (Fairwinds, 2011). Chrystle's magazine articles featuring natural remedies have appeared in many national publications including Better Homes and Gardens, Natural Health, Vegetarian Times and Remedy.
For a chance to win a free copy of DEATH DROPS: A NATURAL REMEDIES MYSTERY, post a comment with your answer to this question: What is your favorite natural remedy?
by Diana Orgain
I'm going off-topic today to post about technology tools that I find help me.
I always get asked the question, “How do you find the time to write?” My standard answer is "I make the time," which is true. However, I do have some cool tech tools that I love and help my productivity. Here are a few favorites:
My absolute favorite is that I am here it's the Iogear Mobile Digital Scribe. It’s a wireless pen.
You can write on any paper you like, you simply attached the reciever at the top of the paper and write. The reciever stores your notes on it's little chip and then you hook it to your computer via USB. You can import the notes as image or you can have the software that comes with the pen translated your writing into text.
I love this because I enjoy writing longhand, especially for first drafts. Somehow it frees my mind and I can write more stream of consciousness. And one of the best feature is that it's portable.
A second technology tool that I love is my mini recorder
It's also portable and I can dictate my scenes into it when I drive. Or when I am pacing around my house. I then upload the files to my computer and use Dragon software to transcribe.
Gotta love that!
Do you have a technology that you love? I’m so envious of those with Iphones and iPads. Tell me what features it might have that I could use or if you have technology tricks that can help others be more productive.
by Diana Orgain
It's 2012!
This is the time of year when everyone makes their resolutions -
I asked Bobby (2) what his resolution was - no kidding he answered, "Bobby happy."
Tommy (4) said, "Uh...um...I'm going to be good. Yeah. I'm going to be a good boy." (then immediately his eyes shifted toward the couch and he used it as he own personal trampoline.)
Carmen (8) listed a bunch of things she was going to "win" - she is very competitive.
Below are a few recents snaps of the kids - you can tell me who you think will keep they're resolutions....(Personally, I'm betting on Carmen and Bobby - Tommy...good? Hmmm - we'll see. Right now I have to put the cushions back on the trampoline..un, I mean couch.)
Now it's your turn - I want to hear your New Years Resolutions!
NEWS
The Next Topic: GENESIS
When you think Genesis, do you think of...
or...
or...
or...
or (especially if you are a writer)...
Join us this coming week when the LadyKillers tackle the topic of GENESIS.
“Not much,” she’d likely answer.
Dorothy Parker, as you may know, was a writer and poet who came to fame in the Roaring 20s in New York. She was as well known for her clever wisecracks as for her writing. (Even if you don’t know her, you’ve probably heard something she said or wrote, such as “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses,” or “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.”)
Mrs. Parker was a charter member of the Algonquin Round Table, which was a group of like-
minded writers, editors and critics who met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel. The group became famous for their funny quips and insults, so much so that the hotel manager installed a round table placed at “center stage” of the hotel’s restaurant, as a draw for more patrons.
Their form of social media was just that: social. Imagine having the time every day to break for a couple hours to have lunch with your funny, intelligent friends? They didn’t post witty replies on Facebook. They said them face-to-face, such as the time Dorothy Parker was asked to use the word “horticulture” in a sentence: “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.”
For my part, I’ve imagined Dorothy Parker as not only a wisecracking writer but also as a sleuth in the Algonquin Round Table Mystery series. The second book, YOU MIGHT AS WELL DIE, pictures the clever Mrs. Parker trying to find out why an artist apparently committed suicide. Along the way, she encounters magician Harry Houdini, debunks a séance, and avoids the amorous advances of coroner, all the while doing her best to pay her bar tab at her favorite speakeasy—not to mention trying to get a kiss from her close friend Robert Benchley.
Hard to imagine she even had time to do any writing, much less social networking.
But then again…
Come to think of it, Dorothy Parker and the members of the Algonquin Round Table would have been masters of social media. They’d have taken to it like wolves to a caribou carcass. Their quick quips would have perfectly fit the 140-word limit of Twitter or the short format of Facebook. Just imagine Dorothy texting such bon mots as, “That woman speaks eighteen languages and can't say No in any of them,” or “Time doth flit, oh sh#t.” Or imagine Robert Benchley tweeting, “The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.”
Oh, think how much we missed! If only someone had invented smartphones back in the 1920s—what a load of laughs we’d have by now!
J.J. Murphy hopes you’ll network socially at www.roundtablemysteries.com and www.facebook.com/RoundTableMysteries.
