High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs | Author Guest Post

Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery)

by Laura Childs

High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
29th in Series
Setting – South Carolina
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (March 4, 2025)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

When a wedding is tragically averted by the death of the bridesmaid, Theodosia is determined to prove that it was murder in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series.

Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are tapped to cater the elegant wedding of Bettina and Jamie. Theodosia and Drayton are setting up when they hear a crash from the greenhouse. Shockingly, they discover that part of the roof has collapsed trapping a bridesmaid and the groom. He will pull through but the bridesmaid is no more. Theodosia is convinced it was murder.

INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!

Author Guest Post: Laura Childs on Buckling Down
and Writing your Novel

You want to write. In fact, you’ve started umpteen short stories or novels. But something’s holding you back. Or perhaps you get twenty or thirty pages in and come to a screeching halt, not sure where to go with your story. Hey, it happens to almost every writer at one time or another. Fact is, editors at major publishing houses have been burned so many times by writers who banged out an amazing thirty pages then got stuck, that they now require writers to submit a complete manuscript.

I know that probably sounds a million miles from where you are now. So okay, take a deep breath and let’s figure this out. Because everyone is creative. And you are certainly creative. You have a story to tell and a deep desire to tell it. So here’s what you need to do. You need to start by writing out the basic gist of your story in a couple of paragraphs (think of it as the proverbial elevator test). When you think you’ve got the essence of your story, expand that paragraph to a few pages. Start digging a little deeper with your story or theme, and adding a few characters. You see what we’re doing now? We’re starting to outline. And that’s the snap-crackle-pop method that going to propel you to the end of a finished novel.

Now take those few initial pages and start to expand them. Make sure you have a distinct beginning, middle, and ending. A book, after all, is much like a three-act teleplay or movie. In the first few chapters (or maybe even chapter one) you drop your bombshell opening that sets the hook. You want to grab your reader by the throat and get them salivating for more. Then you need to ratchet up your story even more, adding additional characters and a subplot or two. Don’t be afraid to write lots of dialogue and draw upon your own experiences – what’s important to you is probably just as important to your reader as well. Use your own unique voice and be authentic. Work to build an emotional connection that will keep your reader skimming the pages.

If you’ve gotten this far, you probably know how your novel is going to end. But that doesn’t mean you need to foreshadow it to your reader. Go ahead and throw in a few “darkest before dawn” scenes. Drag your protagonist through hell. Make your protagonist suffer and almost give up. And make your antagonist – the bad guy or girl – as nasty, crooked, and devious as possible.

Now you need to write your whiz-bang ending. Where love is finally found, the world is saved, the enemy is finally defeated – or whatever works for your particular novel. Another thing. Realize, please, that your novel isn’t going to magically unfold by itself. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. You’ll have bad days, tons of doubt, and times you want to rip up the pages and walk away from it. But please don’t. Because, like I said earlier, you’re creative. And if you have a story to tell and a yearning to tell it, then you really are going to be compelled to write this novel.

And one more thing. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you don’t have talent, that you’re too old, too young, not smart enough, or way too inexperienced. Never ever let the turkeys get you down. You can do it and you will do it.

Best of luck!
Laura Childs

About Laura Childs

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fundraising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that takes place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.

Laura’s Links:   Website –  Facebook 

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenquinRandomHouse 

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High Tea and Misdemeanors TOUR PARTICIPANTS

March 4 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

March 4 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST

March 5 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT

March 5 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

March 6 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

March 6 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

March 7 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

March 7 – Wine Cellar Library – SPOTLIGHT

March 8 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

March 8 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

March 9 – The Mystery of Writing – AUTHOR GUEST POST

March 10 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW

March 10 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

March 11 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

March 11 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

March 12 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

March 13 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

March 13 – Wine Cellar Library – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 14 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

March 15 – The Plain-Spoken Pen – REVIEW

March 15 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

March 16 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

March 17 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT

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