Tag Archives: books

The Chaotic Hype Awards: Good Clean Fun… Mostly.

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If you didn’t already know, I’m spending most of my social media time on TikTok these days. There’s something about the platform that appeals to the actor in me, and I have more fun on that platform than any other.

Right now, I’ve been nominated for the Chaotic Hype Awards! This is a crazy annual awards event hosted by BookTokker @chaosandbooktalk. I’m in two categories: Best Mystery Author (as McKenna Dean) and Most Likely to have an Alphabet Agency Watching Them (as MK Dean). The competition is FIERCE and needs to be thinned out. Help a mystery writer out? You can vote in the awards here (and not just mystery: romance, voice actors, reviewers and more)! 

Here’s a little sample of the fun we’ve been having…

 

@mk_dean_author The Chaotic Hype Book Awards will be announced a week from today: February 10th at 7 pm EST with @Chaos and Booktalk 📚 You can only vote once so choose wisely! Lynx to the voting can be found in the clicky place in my personal biography! #mysterywriter #mysterytok #ginnyreesemysteries #chaotichypeawards2024 #chaotichypeawards #dundundun #bookbesties #hypegirlsquad ♬ original sound – MK Dean Cozy Mystery Author

Barking All the Way (A Ginny Reese Holiday Novella) is now available!

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It’s here! Barking All the Way (A Ginny Reese Holiday Novella) is now available!

The bummer is that, at the moment, Amazon is not showing Barking All the Way either by title search, author name, or series name. The only way you can find it is with a direct link. I would LOVE it if you could help me spread the word! Drop me a comment here below telling me where you’ve shared the link and I will pick 3 people at random to win a $10 Amazon GC!

House-call veterinarian, Ginny Reese, is determined to embrace the spirit of the season this year. Maybe it’s because she’s lost a good friend, or because fate has been kind to her, and she wants to give back to the community. Maybe it’s because spending more time with Sheriff Joe Donegan, her ex-boyfriend, has her feeling like she’s living in a Hallmark movie. Either way, she’s planning to get into the holiday spirit if it kills her.

And it just might. There’s a Grinch in town, committing petty robberies and vandalism, but the crimes seem to be escalating. Can Ginny, with the help of her trusty German Shepherd, Remington, nab a thief in time to save Christmas for everyone, including herself?

Recipes included! (I know, I’m not a great cook, but trust me, these are tested and proven recipes!) Look, I made these! Aren’t they adorable? The recipe is in the book!

Melting Snowmen Cookies

Contest ends December 12, 2023. Winners announced here!

Halloween fun: Help me name the next Ginny Reese Mystery!

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This past weekend, I participated in an outdoor book signing at a dog agility trial. Makes sense, right? Dog lovers will adore the Ginny Reese Mysteries! As a matter of fact one competitor advised a buyer not to start reading An Embarrassment of Itches until after the event was over because she’d started it the night before and stayed up far too late to be at her best for the competition. What better endorsement than that? Even though I did feel a little guilty…

All weekend long, I was fanning myself in 80 degree weather and slathering on sunscreen, but now, only forty-eight hours later, it’s only 43 degrees and we’re under a freeze warning for tonight. I made bread and potato soup this morning, have a fake fireplace playing on YouTube, and some light jazz playing in the background while I work on a Ginny Reese holiday novella. I still need a title for it, so I thought we could play a little game.

This pet and holiday themed mystery features a Secret Santa mixup and is focused on a Christmas caper as opposed to murder. Drop your suggestion in the comments and if I select it, you’ll receive an acknowledgement as well as a little gift package from me. I’ll also choose three people at random from the comments to win a $10 Amazon gift card–and we can all use that for the holidays, right? Contest ends Nov 15th because I have to have a title by then! Be sure to share this with your cozy mystery loving–and dog loving–friends!

 

 

June is Audiobook Month! Celebrate with a Chance at a Gift Card!

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Did you know June was audiobook month? I didn’t until recently! I love audiobooks–the right pairing between narrator and story is magical. All this month, N.N. Light’s Book Heaven is celebrating audiobook month by spotlighting a series of authors (including me) who have audiobooks out. You can enter to win a chance at a $75 Amazon gift card! You’ll find the entire schedule at the link above.

 

Check out the link here and be sure to check daily for the featured spotlight. You may just find something you have to have! An Embarrassment of Itches (Ginny Reese Mysteries Book 1) narrated by Jillian Yetter, will be spotlighted on June 26th, so keep your eye out for that. But you don’t have to wait until then to start collecting entries toward the grand prize. Go check it out now! 

A Corpse in the Condo (Ginny Reese Mysteries Book3) Coming Soon!

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If you follow my newsletter (on the rare occasions I send one out), you know that I’ve made changes to my brand, streamlining it to my paranormal romance/mysteries and cozy mystery. I did this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that when most people think “paranormal romance”, they think powerful alpha male and fated mates, that sort of thing. I get it–but that’s not exactly what I write. It’s more Bringing up Baby meets WH-13. Peggy Carter meets Q and works at The X-Files.

My first love has always been cozy mysteries (which is why all of my romances have some sort of mystery as a subplot), but up until recently, I didn’t think I was capable of writing a clever, funny cozy. The enthusiastic response An Embarrassment of Itches (Ginny Reese Mysteries Book 1) received convinced me to keep writing, and now cozy mystery is my main jam. It doesn’t mean I won’t finish the Bishop’s Origin series (I adore these characters and I want to see their arc through), but it does mean the Redclaw Security series has been shelved, and there are no current plans to expand that part of the universe for now.

In the meantime, I’m pleased to announce the upcoming release of A Corpse in the Condo on June 1st! (There’s been a slip up and the print version is already available if you absolutely cannot wait) Ginny finds out the hard way that trying to pair a business trip with patching up a relationship with a snarky sister can rapidly go south–especially when they find a corpse in the condo Ginny has inherited. With a fortune in artwork gone missing, and a hurricane bearing down, it’s up to Ginny, Joe, Liz, and of course, Remy, to solve the crimes before all the evidence is washed away.

Does the Dog Live? I need to know!

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I don’t know about you, but I always get a little anxious about books and movies that have animals in them. It’s the one time I’ll skim ahead in my reading: to make sure an animal sidekick is still alive at the end of the book. There are books and series I’ve had to stop watching because of the emotional punch of losing a pet.

I make heavy use of the website doesthedogdie.com to screen my entertainment because that particular kind of loss is triggering for me. The website describes itself as “crowdsourced emotional spoilers for movies, TV, books, and more”. It even has a subcategory rating for when things look bad for the animal companion but turns out okay. I get my friends and family to screen material for me as well. I have an emotionally demanding day job; I don’t need to be crushed by my entertainment too!

Which is why I am so pleased to be part of this promotion: The Dog Lives! 24 mystery and crime fiction stories where the animal sidekick, furry or feathered, is guaranteed to survive! As soon as I heard about it, I knew it was the perfect promotion to join!

I’m offering The Dog Days of Murder (Ginny Reese Mysteries Book 2) as a runup to the release of A Corpse in the Condo on June 1, 2023! You can pre-order Corpse now!

While you’re at it, in order to take advantage of many of the author services on BookBub, I need hit 1 K followers. My M.K. Dean account could use some love! Follow me there? If you’re an author, I’ll follow back!

In the meantime, grab your free mysteries and enjoy this spring weather!

Why I’m not at Malice Domestic…

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I’m sad to say that after planning over six months for this weekend: timing a new book release, ordering and making swag, purchasing table display setups for book signings, taking time off work, making travel arrangements, and in general looking forward to this weekend SO MUCH… at the last second, I had to cancel.

About 48 hours prior to leaving for Malice Domestic, I began getting sick. First time in three years. I still mask in public. I was one of the last holdouts to stop masking at work. Even though I tested negative for Covid/Flu/Strep, I had a wicked sore throat and cough. This wasn’t something I wanted to give to anyone else. The responsible thing to do was cancel the trip.

Man, did that sting. I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to attending my first Malice! To meet up with my cozy mystery peeps! Connecting with online friends, meeting fans, promoting the new book. Heck, getting out of the same old, same old routine. Going someplace different and having some new experiences. I needed to get away.

But I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone else, so I canceled. About the time I would have been on the road driving to Malice, I developed some worrisome symptoms and had to make a second trip to the doctor. According to the doc, the symptoms are not that uncommon with Covid, and there’s a possibility of a false negative test. So yeah, doubly glad I stayed home.

I’ll confess, I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. I had this lovely weekend planned that I was desperately looking forward to and now I’m sitting in a bathrobe with a cup of hot tea waiting until it’s time to take my next round of cough medicine. A Corpse in the Condo (Ginny Reese Mysteries Book 3) is slated to come out June 1, and I’d intended to make myself known to a whole host of new fans. I’d decided to host some lives on TikTok to make up for missing out on Malice, and then I turned out to be too sick for that too.

But there’s always next year for Malice Domestic, and in the meantime, A Corpse in the Condo is available for pre-order. Also, apparently, I can’t take advantage of certain BookBub features until I reach at least 1K followers, and my M.K. Dean account could use some love. Follow me there? If you’re a fellow author, I’ll follow back!

 

Pre-order the new Ginny Reese Mystery: A Corpse in the Condo!

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When I came here to make this post, I was shocked (and embarrassed) to realize I hadn’t made a single post this year!

We’ll have to do better than that. Though, to be fair, when you’re flat out working as hard as you can at the day job, trying to finish a new book in a series, attempting to keep up with social media, learning how to do marketing campaigns and advertising, and so on and so on… yeah. Some things fall through the cracks. Particularly when it doesn’t feel as though you have anything new to say!

But it looks like I neglected to tell everyone that An Embarrassment of Itches won a Best Indie Book Award for Cozy Mystery! I can’t believe I forgot to post about that here. I certainly posted enough about it on my TikTok account! (Edit: I found mention of it in my last post just before Christmas, but it doesn’t come up on a website search for some reason, so I’m leaving this mini-brag in…)

I’m also thrilled to announce that the newest Ginny Reese Mystery, A Corpse in the Condo, is now available for pre-order on Amazon and at these retailers! Release date June 1, 2023.

Blurb: Vacations are supposed to be fun, but when veterinarian Ginny Reese combines a trip to a coastal island to check out an inherited property with patching up her relationship with her sister, things quickly get out of control.

First there’s a corpse in the condo. Then a fortune in artwork goes missing. The lead investigator is a publicity hound, and there’s a hurricane bearing down. To top it off, Ginny’s former boyfriend, Joe Donegan, believes the police are looking at her for insurance fraud and murder.

With the help of her friends and her trusty dog, Remington, it’s up to Ginny to find the paintings and the killer before the storm wipes everything away.

I’m really looking forward to this release! Stay tuned, as I have more news to announce and will be planning some giveaways as the release date gets closer… 

Rosanna Leo’s Darke Passion (Dark Paranormal Investigations Book 1)

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I am THRILLED to be part of Rosanna Leo’s cover reveal for Darke Passion! I adore her contemporary romance Handymen series. If you’re not familiar with Rosanna, she writes both contemporary and paranormal romance. Her novel A Reluctant Attraction, Handymen 3, is one of Oprah Daily’s 50 of 2021’s Most Anticipated Romance Novels.

I love her Handymen series to pieces. Not only are her characters compelling and their attraction off the charts but she also deals with such weighty subjects as PTSD and trauma in a realistic and healing manner. So you can imagine my excitement over the Darke Investigations series!! I can’t wait to read Darke Passion!

Check out the link on Goodreads to find out more about this exciting new series! A trio of ghost-hunting sisters? Check. A grumpy non-believer who owns a haunted B&B? Check. A sinister presence that threatens everything they hold dear? Check and double check! *grabby hands* Make note of it because you’re going to want to pre-order when it’s available!

Release Date: March 21, 2023

Pre-order starting Feb 7, 2023

Follow her on Bookbub here: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rosan…

From Toronto, Canada, Rosanna occupies a house in the suburbs with her husband and their two sons, and spends most of her time being tolerated by their cat Sweetie. When not writing, Rosanna works for her local library, where she is busy laying the groundwork to become a library ghost one day.

Connect with her at www.rosannaleoauthor.wordpress.com.

So with no further ado, feast on this gorgeous cover by Kelly Martin of KAM Design. 

I love it! How about you??

 

Mystery Loves Democracy Auction…and You’re the Winner!

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I’m so excited to be a part of this terrific auction to raise money for the Mystery Loves Democracy Auction Sept 18th through Sept 24th (starting at 12 noon today PST, 3 pm EST)!

Here’s a direct link to one of my packages: Ginny Reese Mysteries Gift Package 

I’ve participated in similar auctions for voting rights and women’s rights run by romance organizations, so I’m thrilled to find a cause to support as a mystery writer! From the Mystery Love Democracy website: 

We’re crime fiction writers, fans, and friends who believe all eligible voters deserve to have their voices heard. The funds we raise will support Fair Fight Action in their nationwide efforts to combat voter suppression.

I’m donating two Ginny Reese Mysteries gift packages (limited to Continental US residents only). Here’s a description of the gift package:

It’s Diagnosis Murder meets All Creatures Great and Small when house-call veterinarian Ginny Reese and her dog Remy discover that life in a small town isn’t always cozy. Sometimes it’s downright deadly.

These gift packages will include signed, print copies of the first two books in the Ginny Reese series, along with individualized bookmarks, pens, and assorted swag, as well as a sneak peek at the first chapter of book 3 in the series.

M.K. Dean is the new pen name of award-winning author McKenna Dean, as she dives into the world of cozy mysteries. She likes putting her characters in hot water to see how strong they are. Like teabags, only sexier.

I do hope you’ll check out the auction! You have to see this list to believe it! There’s something for everyone’s budget, whether you’re a reader or a writer of mysteries and crime thrillers! You can bid on having a character named after you, books and gift packages, gift cards, Zoom meetings and consults with some of the biggest names in the business, brainstorming with authors on your WIP, manuscript critiques, beta reads, sessions with a psychologist (for plotting that complex character), an animal communication session, embroidered quotes from literary figures and more! Really something for every mystery lover and proceeds going to support voter’s rights. It’s a win-win for everyone!