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More Promotion – Including Romance by Linda O Johnston

May 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as cozy mysteries, For a Good Paws, Linda O Johnston, Malice Domestic, The Ripped Bodice

I’m writing this post early since I’ll be in Bethesda, Maryland, for Malice Domestic from May 2 through 5—and this post will be up on May 6. And now For A Good Paws, my fifth Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, is officially available. As I’ve mentioned, For A Good Paws is the last mystery in the series—and my last published novel from Midnight Ink, which is going out of the publication business. Sad—but still enjoyable to have a new mystery published!

Since I’m writing this before I leave for Malice, I can’t tell you how much fun I had, but you can be certain I did have a lot of fun. For one thing, I’m scheduled to be on a panel called Paws on the Case: Pet Related Mysteries. For another, I’ll be joining some fun writers at the dinner table for the Agatha Banquet, including others who write about dogs and other pets! And I also hope to be getting together with some former Midnight Ink authors and the former editor, too.

This month I will also be out there promoting romance fiction. First, I’ll be one of the authors attending Romance Authors Day at the Anaheim Public Library on May 18. Later, I will be on a panel of three at The Ripped Bodice, the only store dedicated strictly to romance, on May 23, along with Sheila Roberts and Meg Tilly.

Oh, and by the way, since you obviously read the Slice of Orange blog, you most likely saw my interview by Jann Ryan a couple of days ago. Jann has been a wonderful friend for many years–and she’s the one who introduced me to Romance Writers of America and its Orange County Chapter quite a few years ago!

So, Happy May everyone. Hope you read a lot—and enjoy it.

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For A Good Paws by Linda O. Johnston

April 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, Cozy mystery, For a Good Paws, Linda O Johnston

For a Good Paws | Linda O Johnston | A Slice of Orange — Preorder Here

May will be a good month for me. It’ll see the publication of For A Good Paws, my fifth Barkery & Biscuits Mystery. It will also be a difficult month, since For A Good Paws is the last mystery in the series. The series has been published by Midnight Ink, which is going out of the publication business.

I’ve enjoyed writing the Barkery & Biscuits series and have also enjoyed promoting the books. As I mentioned last month, I’ll soon be attending a couple of mystery-oriented conferences, Malice Domestic and California Crime Writers. I’ll also be signing at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. And I’ll be doing whatever online promotion seems appropriate.

But all the time, knowledge that there won’t be any further Barkery books remains in my mind. At least I’m not planning any, since I can self-publish, or perhaps find another publisher to pick them up, but don’t have any plans for either at the moment.

And—hey! Here I am at A Slice of Orange. Maybe you’d be interested in picking up a copy my last book in the series. It’s a fun series, after all—about Carrie Kennersly, a veterinary technician who buys a bakery and turns half of it into a barkery to sell the very healthy dog treats she’s created. Oh, and did I mention that it’s a cozy mystery series? Carrie and her friends keep tripping over dead bodies, and she has to figure out whodunit to save herself and them.

Okay, I know A Slice of Orange also features romance novels. Which is fine with me. I’m currently writing four new novels for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

More mysteries in my future, too? I hope so. But meanwhile, help me say goodbye to my Barkery series, will you? Any suggestions?

In any case, it’s been fun.

Linda

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Conferences Rock by Linda O. Johnston

March 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as California Crime Writers Conference, California Dreamin' Conference, conferences, Linda O Johnston, Malice Domestic, RWA National Conference, Writing conference

Writing conferences rock.

Mostly. Whether you’re a writer or reader or both, I can recommend that you attend one or several each year. You can learn a lot—and have fun doing it.

This year is one of my busy ones for conferences. Since I write both romances and mysteries, I belong to a lot of writing organizations and attend conferences that specialize in both.

This year, I’ll be attending Malice Domestic, featuring mysteries, in May, in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Romance Writers of America annual national conference in New York City in July.

In addition, I’ll be at the California Dreamin’ conference held by local Southern California Romance Writers of America chapters in April, and California Crime Writers, held by local Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime chapters in June. These two conferences are both held every other year locally to me—and they’re always the same year!

beach chair with an umbrella and Title California Dreamin' A Conference for Writers

So, this is one of those years that I’ll attend four conferences. I enjoy doing that, partly because it’s a wonderful way to network both with other writers in the genres I love and with readers, too, who attend.

Sometimes I participate by giving talks or being on panels. Not so much this year, although I think I’ll be on a panel at Malice.

There are a lot of other conferences, too, that I sometimes attend. Some of the mystery-oriented ones that I’ll miss this year are Left Coast Crime and Bouchercon, both excellent conferences—but I unfortunately can’t attend them all!

And yes, in between all of those conferences I need to get some writing done. Travel now and then with family. Attend local chapter meetings of some of those organizations. And, of course, take care of my dogs.

So it appears that 2019 has started out busy and will only get busier.

And you? Do you attend book-related conferences? Which do you like most?

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The Joys—or Not—of Editing by Linda O. Johnston

February 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, editing, For a Good Paws, Linda O Johnston, Midnight Ink, mysteries

The Joys—or Not—of Editing

I’m currently in the process of reviewing and responding to the copy edits for For a Good Paws, my fifth Barkery & Biscuits Mystery for Midnight Ink. The process they use is a bit more complicated than many publishers I’ve dealt with recently since it involves making notes about things to change and not just redlining a clean version. It takes more time, but it’s really not so bad.

I’m a bit emotional about this one anyway, since it’ll be my last mystery for Midnight Ink because the publisher is sort of closing–at least not buying any more books, although they may continue to market existing ones for a while. So far, I haven’t requested my rights back and probably won’t immediately.

Will I do more Barkery mysteries? I’d need to get at least some of my rights back to do that, and I’ve got other ideas to work on first–so I’m not sure. But if not, I’ll miss them!

These days, I’m sitting at my computer a lot working on those edits, which are due soon. Recently, we’ve had a lot of rain, so sitting at my computer is a good place to be. Since I’m in LA, I didn’t experience the Polar Vortex first hand but I’m sending hugs to those of you who did. We have family near Chicago, so I got to hear some fairly scary stories—but all came out of it okay. Hope that’s the same with you and yours as well.

And yes, the year marches on. No, it’s not March yet, but it is almost Valentine’s Day. So hug your sweeties, stay warm and dry—and read, write and/or edit some good books!

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Happy New Year!

January 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as cozy mysteries, happy new year, Linda O Johanston

Happy New Year!

If the rest of this year is anything like the beginning, I’m in trouble! Oh, it’s been fun, but with family things still going on and my working on writing something I still probably shouldn’t talk about much, it’s been so busy that I haven’t kept track of what day or date it is as well as I ought to.

As a result, this post–which is late thanks to my current mind set–will be short and hopefully sweet. I’m already pondering the couple of published novels I should have available this year, and the first will be my last Barkery & Biscuits novel, the fifth in the series, called For a Good Paws, which will be published in May. As with my Harlequin Nocturnes, the publisher, Midnight Ink, is ending.

But there’s always more to come. I’m already working on a couple of things including the one mentioned above, and one will also be out in 2019.