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Celebrating Womens History Month 3 Longest Running Ladies

Here at Midnight Ink Headquarters, we find that the best way to celebrate Womens History Month is to talk to our authors whose books feature strong female protagonists. Every day this week, return to this blog to find out more about the ladies portrayed in our various series and stand-alone releases this year!

Sue Ann Jaffarian

Sue Ann Jaffarian is the author of the Madison Rose, Ghost of Granny Apples, and award-winning Odelia Grey mystery series. Her books have been lauded in The New York Times and optioned for television. In addition to writing, Jaffarian works full time as a paralegal in Los Angeles and is widely sought after as a humorous motivational speaker. Visit www.sueannjaffarian.com to learn more about the author. 

1. Since I�m a middle-aged, plus-size paralegal myself, I already had certain character traits and career information to draw upon, making it easier to kick-start the series;
2. I felt the mystery genre was already full of women who could run 5 miles and still shoot  the label off a beer bottle while it teetered on a fence. Odelia is an ordinary woman with no super powers or talents;
3. I felt middle-aged women were under-represented in the genre, and plus-size women definitely were. I wanted to show the mystery reading community that a fat mature woman could be smart and sexy and intuitive. She didn�t always have to be the chubby friend who watched the purses while her friends had a good time.

In book after book, Odelia is constantly called upon to dig deep inside herself and pull out strength and courage she didn�t know she possessed to help people and to keep herself and her loved ones out of danger.  This is especially true in A Body To Spare (November 8, 2015) when her mother�s life is in danger and Odelia herself is the center of the investigation. A Body To Spare also explores one of her more puzzling relationships with someone on the wrong side of the law.

When asked in interviews to sum up the character of Odelia Grey, I say:  She doesn�t see the world through rose-colored glasses, but through Groucho Marx glasses.

Jess Lourey

Jess Lourey is the author of the Lefty-nominated Murder-by-Month mysteries set in Battle Lake, Minn. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Loft, and a founding faculty member of Mystery Writers of Americas MWA University. Lourey resides in Minneapolis, where she is a professor of writing and sociology. For more information, visit her online at www.jessicalourey.com. 

Mira James is flawed, authentic, and constantly evolving. Those qualities make her strong, but they also make it hard for her to relax. In February Fever (February 8, 2015), she comes face to face with a childhood fear, juggles a long-distance relationship, has to solve a murder on a speeding train, and loses someone very close to her. Her greatest strength�her ability to find the humor in even the darkest situation�is put to the test like never before in the 10th book in the Murder-by-Month mysteries.

Kathleen Ernst

Kathleen Ernst is an award-winning author, educator, and social historian. Her past work as an Interpreter and Curator of Interpretations and Collections at Old World Wisconsin inspired the Chloe Ellefson mysteries. The series won the Lovey Award for Best Traditional Mystery (The Light Keepers Legacy) and the Anne Powers Fiction Book Award (The Heirloom Murders). Visit her online at www.kathleenernst.com. 

Chloe is the curator of collections at Old World Wisconsin, a large living history museum where I used to work.  She has survived personal loss, and derives some of her inner strength from the long-gone women she discovers through her work.  Countless women in the 19th century managed to cope with challenges and problems that are almost unimaginable today.  Their stories are inspirational.

In Death on the Prairie (October 8, 2015), Chloe and her sister Kari set off on a road trip to explore Laura Ingalls Wilder homesites.  Personal revelations (and a murder or two) challenge Chloe�s relationships with Kari, and with her cop-boyfriend back home.

Sheila Webster Boneham

Sheila Webster Boneham is the author of the Animals in Focus mystery series. Drop Dead on Recall, the first in the series, won the Dog Writers Association of America Maxwell Award for Fiction. Like her protagonist, Boneham shows her dogs in various canine sports and has founded dog rescue groups. Her nonfiction books have also won awards from teh Dog Writers Association of America and Cat Writers Association. To learn more, visit her online at www.sheilaboneham.com or www.writersandotheranimals.blogspot.com. 

Fifty-something and long divorced, animal photographer Janet MacPhail loves her pets, her home, her family and friends, and�just to complicate her life�Tom Saunders. Janet is a blend of the many terrific women I�ve met through the dog, cat, and horse worlds�exhibitors, trainers, breeders, rescuers, therapy-dog volunteers, advocates, pet owners. She is devoted to her animals, gutsy (have you ever faced a flock of stampeding sheep?), compassionate, funny, and determined to be her own woman while loving and being loved. In Shepherd�s Crook (October 8, 2015), she finds herself once again pulled into a murder investigation even as she makes other life-altering decisions. Let�s face it�the second half-century of life isn�t for wimps!

Return to this blog tomorrow to hear about the serie-ous (and sassy) protagonists!

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Celebrating Womens History Month 2 The Ladies of 2015 Series Starters

Here at Midnight Ink Headquarters, we find that the best way to celebrate Womens History Month is to talk to our authors whose books feature strong female protagonists. Every day this week, return to this blog to find out more about the ladies portrayed in our various series and stand-alone releases this year!

Gigi Pandian

Loretta Ross

In real life, some of the strongest women I know are also some of the kindest. It was this realization that helped to define my female main character, Wren Morgan. Her strength comes from kindness and a desire to care for those she cares about.

Our main character in Murder on the Bucket List (July 8, 2015) is Francine, based on Tony�s mother (Liz�s grandmother) Frances. Frances grew up in a very poor family in Terre Haute, Indiana during the Depression. She was the oldest child. When she was ten or eleven, she was put to work picking berries for a landowner during the summers, day after day in the hot sun. Her income was necessary to help her family survive. When she reached her teens, her parents wanted Frances to quit high school and work full time, but knowing she needed an education to get a better job, she worked long hours after school as a soda jerk until she graduated. Her determination is honored in our stories. 

Deirdre Verne

Deirdre Verne is a mystery writer, college professor, and an active college blogger. A writer for the millennial crowd, Verne regularly delivers straight-forward and often hilarious advice on her college blog. Prior to teaching, Verne worked in new product development for Time Inc., representing the magazine titles Fortune, Money, and Parenting. Visit her online at www.deirdreverne.com. 

I�ve been a rule follower my whole life and according to my mother, I was the easiest child to raise. I never strayed from the path, I did well in school, I got the right jobs and then I raised my own family.  If this was the start of a novel, you�d probably put the book down and so would I. That�s why I created CeCe Prentice, an unconventional, off-beat, Dumpster-diving freegan who thrives on challenging the rules. Although she does and says as she pleases, her higher power is the environment. Sure, she steps on toes along the way, sometimes even her own, but the socially conscious CeCe genuinely cares about the world and those closest to her. And when people mess with that world? Well, you can find out how far CeCe strays from the path in Drawing Conclusions (February 8, 2015).

Amanda Flower

Amanda Flower is an academic librarian and the Agatha Award-nominated author of Maid of Murder, the Appleseed Creek Mysteries and the India Hayes Mysteries. She also writes the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries under the name Isabella Alan. Visit her online at www.amandaflower.com. 

Kelsey Cambridge is a single mom and the director of Barton Farm, a living history museum thirty minutes south of Cleveland, Ohio. Like all single moms, she is strong and does everything for her son. Her dream is to preserve history for all children, and she took the job as Barton Farm�s director because of her love of Ohio and American history. She is determined to help the struggling Farm succeed so that future generations can learn from the past. She brings new ideas, like a Civil War re-enactment, to the Farm, but not everyone embraces those ideas, as in The Final Reveille (May 8, 2015).

Tracy Kiely

Tracy Kiely is the author of the Elizabeth Parker Mysteries for Minotaur Books. Murder with a Twist is her Midnight Ink debut.

My character Nicole �Nic� Martini is a modern-day twist on Dashiell Hammett�s iconic detective, Nick Charles. Like her predecessor, Nic is a former NYC detective who has married into wealth. Husband Nigel shares Nic�s wit, quickness, and love of a �dirty Martini.� In Murder with a Twist (May 8, 2015), the couple is in NYC for Nigel�s cousin Audrey�s birthday party. Unfortunately, Audrey�s shady husband is missing. Nic reluctantly agrees to find him and quickly realizes that there are darker forces at play. Nic�s tenacity and innate sense of justice lead her to seek the truth, even if that truth ruins Nigel�s family.

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Celebrating Womens History Month 5 Serie ous and Stand Alone Women

Here at Midnight Ink Headquarters, we find that the best way to celebrate Womens History Month is to talk to our authors whose books feature strong female protagonists. Every day this week, return to this blog to find out more about the ladies portrayed in our various series and stand-alone releases this year!

Maegan Beaumont

Maegan Beaumonts longtime love of action movies inspired her to begin writing stories of her own. Carved in Darkness, the first Sabrina Vaughn Novel, was a Suspense Magazine Best Debut of 2013 and a Library Journal Debut of the Month. Beaumont is a member of Sisters in Crime. Visit her online at www.maeganbeaumont.com.

Mark Stevens 

Mark Stevens worked as a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, The Rocky Mountain News, The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour and The Denver Post. He now owns his own public relations firm. Stevens is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the Colorado Authors League. Visit him online at www.writermarkstevens.com.

Laura DiSilverio

Catriona McPherson

Catriona McPherson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and is the author of critically-acclaimed stand-alones for Midnight Ink, including: Anthony Award-winning and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013, As She Left It; Edgar-nominated The Day She Died; and Come to Harm. She also writes the Dandy Gilver historical mystery series (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books). McPherson is the president of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America. Visit her online at www.catrionancpherson.com.

Like Etsuko, Mariko and Yuko, my office-mates at Edinburgh University in the nineties, and like me in America now, Keiko Nishisato in Come to Harm (May 8, 2015) is thousands of miles from home in an alien culture.  It�s hard  to know how much of what seems suspicious is just unknown. Maybe she�ll settle down in this little Scottish town and get used to the people she has met there, or maybe those people really are harbouring dark secrets and she really is in deep trouble. Crucially, Keiko knows�her mother has taught her�how to be a �good girl�. It�s the perfect disguise.

In The Child Garden (September 8, 2015), Gloria Harkness is the single parent of a profoundly disabled teenaged son. She lives alone in an isolated farmhouse near his care home. Many people would look at Gloria and see tragedy, but she feels lucky. She is lonely though and her life is a quiet one. So, when a childhood friend reappears, she doesn�t question why. And then, when adventures offer themselves, she plunges in. What I love about Gloria is her sense of life�s possibilities and her dawning belief in herself. She�s bookish, imaginative and very kind. If I knew her in real life I�d want her as my friend.  




Thanks for celebrating Womens History Month with us!

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Celebrating Womens History Month 1 The Cozy Protagonists

Here at Midnight Ink Headquarters, we find that the best way to celebrate Womens History Month is to talk to our authors whose books feature strong female protagonists. Every day this week, return to this blog to find out more about the ladies portrayed in our various series and stand-alone releases this year!

Linda O. Johnston

Tracy Weber

Kate Davidson is a yoga teacher who suffers from unfortunate�and often embarrassing�anger management issues. She�s smart, fiercely loyal, and independent to a fault. Her strengths, when unchecked, become her weaknesses.  She�s so independent that she doesn�t accept help; she�s so loyal that she helps others when it would be smarter not to; she firmly believes in the ethics she teaches, even when she fails to live up to them. Kate interests me because she makes mistakes, falls flat on her butt, and gets back up again.  Isn�t that the true definition of courage?

Kate faces many challenges in A Killer Retreat (January 8, 2015), including being the primary suspect in a murder investigation. But her biggest challenge is always getting out of her own way. Kate�s a work in progress, but she�s growing!

Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco

Steve Hockensmith is the author of the Tarot Mysteries (Midnight Ink), the Edgar-nominated Nick and Tesla mysteries (Quirk), and the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies novels Dawn of the Dreadfuls (Quirk) and Dreadfully Ever After (Quirk). His bookHolmes on the Range (Minotaur Books) was a finalist for the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel. Visit him online at www.stevehockensmith.com.

Lisa Falco received her first tarot deck at the age of eight years old. She holds degrees from both Northwestern University and Cal State University Northridge. She is also the author of A Mothers Promise for Illumination Arts.

It was Lisa�s idea to write about a female tarot reader who helps her clients through the cards. I [Steve] added Alanis� dark back story�that she was raised by a sociopathic con woman�and made her the series� skeptical, wisecracking narrator. So Alanis is a hybrid: spiritual yet worldly, well meaning yet cynical. That blend makes her a complicated character�and one who refuses to conform to the limits (be unthreatening, be �nice�) that are sometimes imposed on female protagonists. In Fool Me Once (August 8, 2015), Alanis is trying to balance those opposing sides of herself, and it�s not only difficult . . . it�s deadly!

Maddy Hunter

Maddy Hunter draws inspiration from disastrous vacations that have spanned three continents to fuel her Passport to Peril Mystery series. The first six titles are available from Pocket Books; books seven and eight are available through Midnight Ink Books. The first in the series, Alpine for You, was an Agatha Award finalist and a Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. Hula Done It?, Pasta Imperfect and Top O� the Mournin� were named to the Independent Mystery Bookseller�s Association bestseller list. For more information, visit www.maddyhunter.com.

Emily Andrew Miceli leaped from my imagination as a fish out of water who trades in her stage-acting career for that of a tour escort for Iowa seniors. I thought her misadventures abroad with her quirky companions might be amusing. What I didn�t know was that despite a barrage of life-altering setbacks, Emily really likes herself, is incredibly resourceful, and has a kind heart. These qualities are what make her strong. The challenge she faces in From Bad to Wurst (December 8, 2015) is to nab a killer while being distracted by nonstop emergency room visits, psychic disharmony, and musical disasters. Uff-da!  

Return to this blog tomorrow to hear from our new series authors: Gigi Pandian, Loretta Ross, Elizabeth Perona, Deirdre Verne, Amanda Flower, and Tracy Kiely!

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Celebrating Womens History Month 4 Serie ous Women

Here at Midnight Ink Headquarters, we find that the best way to celebrate Womens History Month is to talk to our authors whose books feature strong female protagonists. Every day this week, return to this blog to find out more about the ladies portrayed in our various series and stand-alone releases this year!

Linda Joffe Hull

Maddie Michaels is the wife of TV financial guru Frank Finance Michaels. When he loses all their money in a Ponzi scheme, she reinvents herself as bargain shopper/coupon clipper Mrs. Frugalicious to save the family from financial ruin. Luckily, Maddie is able to look at the dire situations she faces with humor and optimism.  In her latest adventure, Sweetheart Deal (November 8, 2015), Maddie is in Mexico finding deals on destination weddings and timeshares. When faced with both murder and the maddening issue of playing happily married for her new reality show, The Family Frugalicious, she does so with her trademark pluck.

Sallie Bissell

Sallie Bissell is the author of the award-winning Mary Crow mystery series. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, she graduated from Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) and now resides in Asheville, North Carolina. Bissell is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Visit her online at www.salliebissell.com.

Mary Crow was born because I find people who bridge different cultures fascinating. Mary�s half-Cherokee, half-white. She works in an urban, male-dominated American legal system; yet she was raised in the mountains, in the more matrilineal traditions of the Cherokees. The murder of her mother devastated her, but ultimately led her to become a take-no-prisoners criminal prosecutor. Over the years, though, she�s realized that guilt is not often black or white, but gray. In Judgment of Whispers (September 8, 2015), new evidence reopens an old murder case and reawakens rumors that have never died. Mary must find the truth amid some horrific innuendo.

D. A. Keeley

D.A. Keeley has published widely in the crime-fiction genre and is the author of six other novels, as well as short stories and essays. In addition to being a teacher and department chair at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, and a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Keeley writes a bi-weekly post for the blog Type M for Murder. Keeley divides his time between Massachusetts and Maine. You can learn more about the author and series at: www.dakeeley.blogspot.com or on Twitter @DAKeeleyAuthor.

Peyton Cote is a single mother and a top-flight US Customs and Border Protection agent. I love writing her for many reasons�she�s dedicated, tough, and smart -- but she also struggles, like any single parent, to balance her work and home lives. Her strength is founded upon her childhood: she was raised in the farming community where she now works, and she knows what it feels like to lose it all�her family did; they lost the farm, literally. This offers both internal struggle and great empathy when dealing with the people a border patrol agent typically deals with, those individuals desperate to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. These conflicts are never more apparent than in Fallen Sparrow (June 8, 2015), where Peyton�s past (in the form of a long-lost friend) collides with her duties as a CPB agent, and the teacher of her son, who has just been diagnosed with dyslexia, is smack dab in the middle of it all. 

Nina Milton

Nina Milton has been publishing short stories and children�s books for thirty years. She has won many literary competitions, including the Crossroads Competition, Kent Festival Prize and the Wells Literary Short Story Competition. Milton holds her Masters in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. Milton, a Druid, drew from her background to create the realistic depiction of shamanism presented in the Shaman Mystery series. Visit Milton online at www.kitchentablewriters.blogspot.com.

As a hard-knock kid, Sabbie Dare knew she was different�she saw through the veil that hides other planes of existence. 

Now she has a shamanic therapy business, she�s still facing trouble because clients bring danger with them. 

In Beneath the Tor (December 8, 2015), a friend dies after a night of dancing, and Sabbie investigates the abusive emails the bereaved husband receives. Sabbie can�t resist untangling this mystery, using confused help from the spirit world, but to get closer to the truth, she must penetrate the deranged mind of a killer, whose madness is taking down innocent victims, one by one.

Return to this blog tomorrow for our final round-up, including: Maegan Beaumont, Mark Stevens, Laura DiSilverio, and Catriona McPherson!

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