Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for A Calculated Whisk (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery) by Victoria Hamilton. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
A Calculated Whisk (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery)
by Victoria Hamilton
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A Calculated Whisk (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
10th in Series
Publisher: Beyond the Page (September 21, 2021)
In the new Vintage Kitchen Mystery from the author of Cast Iron Alibi, Jaymie Leighton is confronted with two murders and the threat of danger far too close to home . . .
When a woman living under a cloud of suspicion for her husband’s death comes to vintage kitchen collector Jaymie Leighton with a mysterious request, she’s not sure whether, or how much, to get involved. The police believe they have new evidence of foul play in what was initially ruled an accidental death, and the woman’s terrified they’ll try to pin the crime on her. Before Jaymie can decide whether to help her, though, the woman’s found murdered in the woods near Jaymie’s cabin.
Still unsure whether the woman was truly innocent in her husband’s death, Jaymie decides to get to the bottom of both murders. But as she digs deeper into the couple’s past and discovers a tangled array of long-buried wounds and family secrets, Jaymie begins to sense that danger is still lurking in the woods near her home. With a killer on the loose and her family in danger, Jaymie must uncover the culprit before she loses all she holds dear, including her own life . . .
Includes a vintage recipe!
Guest Post: Writing the Novel…Fast
Ten years ago a momentous event happened in my professional life. I had been writing professionally for a long time, twenty-plus historical romance (with mystery subplots, on occasion!) and paranormal romance novels and novellas, most published.
Then – miracle of miracles – I achieved my professional goal of signing a contract for a contemporary mystery novel, Vintage Kitchen Mystery #1, A Deadly Grind. It came out in May of 2012. And now, in 2021 Vintage Kitchen Mystery #10 is being published, just 9 years after the first.
From that start, that first mystery, I started writing fast and furious. In the 9 following years I have written and published 22 mystery novels (20 cozy traditional and 2 historical) as well as editing and sometimes rewriting a couple more. At the same time I have kept up with social media and promotional tours, writing umpteen blog posts and updates. If I think about it too hard I get a headache.
How is it possible? Once upon a time I thought if I could get one mystery novel – just one! – published I’d be forever happy, and now there are many. I’m so fortunate. I thank my lucky stars every day…
And yet… there are many authors more prolific than I am. Some write three, four, or even more novels a year. Some can turn out a full length mystery novel in just two months.
How is that possible?
I’ll tell you how; first of all, you have to be that kind of writer. Not every writer is fast, and that’s okay. But if you are that kind of writer, it comes down to having a burbling fountain of good ideas, an organized and quick writing method, and the discipline to sit every day and write, without fail. It takes dedication to not overthink while writing, to move forward every day, content in the knowledge that whatever is wrong can be fixed in the rewrite.
I’m making it sound so easy, like anyone can do it. But in truth writing fast like that is not for everyone. And if you’re a writer who is struggling through the seventh edit of your first book take heart; as you write every day, your writing will get faster. Your writing will get smoother. We learn by doing. I learn something new from every single book I write.
But in the meantime, do I, a kinda mid-fast writer, have any pointers to speedier writing?
I do, methods it has taken me a while to learn.
1 – Plan ahead! You may be a plotter or a pantser (a plotter plans the whole novel before writing; a pantser flies through the novel writing by the seat of their pants) and there is no right or wrong way. But it helps to at least try to plot out the book.
I am, like many writers, a hybrid of the two. I try to plot out the whole book – I really do try – but the plotting/planning part can be boring and the writing part is fun so inevitably I will be about two thirds of the way through plotting, get bored, and start writing, promising myself I’ll go back and plot the rest another day. Yeah, right. Note to self; stop lying! And so inevitably I get two-thirds of the way though writing the book and get bogged down and discouraged. If I had a plan, I think to myself, I’d do better.
I have actually stuck it out before all the way through a plan and it did help keep me from the mid-point bog-down. You’d think I’d learn. I’ll try again with the next book, but I’m not making any promises.
2 – Be organized! This is especially helpful if you know you are writing the first book of a series. I was not organized and have made mistakes over the years… hair colors, names of minor characters, backstory, etcetera. I finally wised up and now for each series have an Excel spreadsheet of characters, recurring and otherwise, with their age, height, hair color, eye color, job and a bunch of other columns like education, what books they appear in, etc..
If I’d only thought of that in the first place…
It saves headaches and heartaches. It would save more for me if I was assiduous about filling in new details from each subsequent book, but… I falter and I’m not as organized as I could be. You can do better.
Another way to handle this is to write detailed bios of each character, a kind of getting-to-know-you for fictional characters. This can even help you think of plot twists.
Another tip? While you are writing, keep a document with a table on which are the chapters, length of each, as well as what day of the week the action occurs. Doing this will keep you from changing seasons or skipping days.
And finally…
3 – Be prepared to be bad. I mean it. Your first draft will be as holey as Swiss cheese. Plot holes so big a Mack truck would fall in. I have even skipped ahead a few chapters and written the end, then filled in the middle the next time through. Whatever gets you there is your best method.
Above al, don’t give up. Writing is hard; don’t ever think it’s easy, even for those of us who write quickly. There are days when I feel like beating myself over the head with my keyboard, but…
…but even on those days, even when I drag through my daily quota of words (Oh yeah; I forgot to mention that tip. I have a daily quota of words I seldom let myself leave the computer without achieving. My daily number is not your daily number. Figure out what that means for you, and try to stick to it, whether it’s a hundred, five hundred, or two thousand words a day.) … so, where was I?
Oh yes… even when I drag through my daily quota of words and feel like every one of them is crap, even the ands and buts, it’s the best job in the world. I strongly advise you try it out.
About Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Hamilton is the bestselling author of several mystery series including the national bestselling Vintage Kitchen Mysteries and Merry Muffin Mysteries. She does, indeed, collect vintage kitchenware and bake muffins. She also writes the Lady Anne Addison Historical Mysteries. Victoria drinks tea and coffee on writing days, and wine other times. She crochets (a little), paints (a little) and reads (a lot). A solitary being, she can be coaxed out of her writing cave for brownies and cat videos.
Victoria started her writing life as Donna Lea Simpson
You can find her online at:
Website: http://www.VictoriaHamiltonMysteries.com (Sign up for her newsletter for all the latest!)
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaHamilton
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MysteryVictoria
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysteryauthorvictoriahamilton/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/598635.Victoria_Hamilton
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/vintagekitchenm/_saved/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Hamilton/e/B007T7LGAU
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo
Enter the giveaway
A Calculated Whisk TOUR PARTICIPANTS
September 17
Novels Alive – GUEST POST
This Is My Truth Now – REVIEW
StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 18
The Avid Reader – REVIEW
FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
September 19
Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 20
Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 21
Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
Thoughts in Progress – SPOTLIGHT
September 22
My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST
I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
September 23
Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
September 24
Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT
Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT
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Looks like a fun book.
Thanks for the contest.
Cannot wait to read it.
Thanks for having me, Christy! Hope you all enjoy the book.
Thanks for stopping by! I’m sure we will love it!
I would love to read and review this sounds so good! I like the cover also.
This sounds like a fun read and I love the cover.
This looks like an amazing read! Thanks for sharing!