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It's June, darlings, but we are diving headfirst into fall because that's just how publishing works, and also because fall is my favorite season and I refuse to apologize for it.

In this episode, The Tech Guy and I talk about why fall has become such a dominant season in books (genre mashups! cozy everything! readers simply demanding it!), and then I get to do my favorite thing: tell you about what's coming.

First up is A Fall to Remember, releasing September 1st, a sweet, low-spice cozy rom-com set during Half Moon Bay's real (and genuinely massive) pumpkin festival. I'll tell you the whole story behind it, including the viral "accidental influencer" video that helped inspire the premise, and the heroine, Miranda, who never asked to become internet-famous but did anyway. This one will also be my very first book with sprayed edges!

Then there's The Pumpkin Vice Café, book 23 of the Bakeshop Mystery series, releasing September 29th in trade paperback for the first time. Lance is hosting a big event, the event planner doesn't make it to the end of the chapter, and Jules is once again pulled into solving a murder alongside all your favorite Torte regulars. I'm also kicking off a bake-along starting in July, working through a recipe from every single book in the series, leading up to the release.

And I saved one surprise for the end: a third fall book is coming in the Novel Detectives world. A Murder at Midnight releases October 13th and follows Annie and Fletcher as a group of ghost hunters takes over the bookstore for an overnight investigation with, of course, a body to solve along the way.

All three books are available for pre-order now!

Links:

• A Fall to Remember — https://amzn.to/4fTeX4E
• The Pumpkin Vice Café — https://amzn.to/448kldK
• A Murder at Midnight — https://amzn.to/4uNmPsj

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Got writing questions? We've got answers. In this episode, The Tech Guy and I dig into the questions that land most in our inbox, starting with a great one from a writer, Matt, in Cleveland, about how to structure and set scenes in a cozy mystery. From there, we cover coaching availability, what makes the Mystery Series Masterclass work, plotting vs pantsing, traditional vs. indie publishing, querying agents, writing genre mashups, and whether authors really have to be on social media. The Tech Guy has some thoughts on that last one. Tune in, darlings, and keep those questions coming!

Mentioned in this episode:

Mystery Series Masterclass – https://courses.elliealexander.co/

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We're coming to you live from Leavenworth, Washington—the real-life Bavarian village from the Sloan Krause Mystery series! While I was busy signing books at A Book for All Seasons, The Tech Guy was hard at work "researching" the local breweries. In this special on-location episode, we talk about what it's like to write about a real place, why I return in different seasons for inspiration, and I answer your most-asked Sloan questions: Is she coming back? What about audiobooks? Do you need to like beer to love the series? Grab a pint (if that's your thing) and a warm pretzel and listen now! 🍺🥨

Links to places mentioned in this episode:

Leavenworth, Washington: https://leavenworth.org/
A Book for All Seasons: https://abookforallseasons.com/
Icicle Brewing: https://iciclebrewing.com/
Blewett Brewing: https://www.blewettbrew.com/

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In this episode of Reality Writes, I'm sitting down with The Tech Guy to talk about the book trends shaping what readers are buying, collecting, and obsessing over right now. We cover cover art cycles, the love-hate relationship with movie tie-in covers and glossy finishes, the return of box sets, the stunning (and sometimes messy) world of sprayed edges, hidden Easter eggs under hardcover dust jackets, chapter illustrations making a beautiful comeback in adult fiction, and the growing world of special editions, cookbooks, graphic novels, and escape rooms expanding beloved series.

Loved this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, drop your thoughts in the comments, and if you have book trends we didn't cover — we want to hear them!

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You asked, and I'm answering! This week on Reality Writes, The Tech Guy and I are pulling straight from my overflowing inbox to tackle the baking questions I get most often from you. Am I a professional baker? Do I test every recipe? Can you swap almond milk for whole milk? We're also talking about foodie fiction beyond cozy mysteries, the dream of a Bakeshop Mystery cookbook, and why Jules probably needs to add more salads to the menu. Tune in, grab your favorite sweet treat, and let's get into it!

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Have you ever wondered what really happens between the book an author planned to write and the one that ends up in your hands? In this episode of Reality Writes, I'm pulling back the curtain on one of the most surprising — and honestly, sometimes terrifying — parts of the writing process.

The truth is, even the most thorough outline is really just a starting point. Once you're deep in a draft, characters start feeling more real, threads reveal themselves, and sometimes the story you thought you were writing turns into something completely different. And that's not a failure. That's actually a sign it's working.

In this episode, we dig into:

• Why mid-draft plot changes are a feature, not a bug — and why I tell my writing students to expect them
• How to track structural changes so nothing falls through the cracks
• The real meaning of "kill your darlings" (Tech Guy finally learned what it means)
• Why sample chapters at the back of a book are never quite final
• What happens when the killer changes — and you have to rebuild every thread
• The biggest manuscript overhaul I've ever faced (hint: it involved a 2027 book, and I basically gutted the whole thing)

Whether you're a writer navigating your first draft or a reader curious about what goes on before a book reaches you, this one's for you.

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Independent Bookstore Day is April 25th—and we're kicking off the celebration early! 📚

In this episode of Reality Writes, we're sharing everything you need to know about why indie bookstores are so much more than just a place to buy books. From the ongoing comeback story of independent booksellers across the U.S. to the very personal ways these shops help create community, connection, and discovery—this one's a love letter to your local bookstore.

We cover why the in-store experience is so desirable, the awesome economic impact of shopping local, how indie booksellers have become a third space for readers, why pre-ordering from your local shop is a triple win, and how to support indie bookstores online through services like bookshop.org and Libro.fm even if you don't have one nearby.

Plus, The Tech Guy completes his Dungeon Crawler Carl collection courtesy of Beach Books in Seaside, OR, and I share my upcoming appearances at Copper Bell Books in Ridgefield, WA, on Thursday, April 23rd, and Vintage Books in Vancouver, WA on Saturday, April 25th, Indie Bookstore Day!

Love indie bookstores as much as we do? Drop your favorite shop in the comments. We want to know where you love to browse and start building a list of shops to visit! And, if you haven't subscribed yet, hit that button so you never miss an episode of Reality Writes.

Happy reading, darlings!

Links:
Bookshop.org
Libro.fm
Copper Bell Books
Vintage Books

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A man staggers into a detective agency covered in blood with no memory of the night before and...

The Tech Guy and I go spoiler free on a brand-new cozy mystery, A Death In The Dark, the latest entry in my Novel Detectives series (a spin off connected to the Secret Bookcase Mysteries), then pull back the curtain on how the story came together in a very specific place: a six-hour road trip with a my runner son as my brainstorming partner.

We also get practical about the publishing side, including why the ebook release lands before the paperback this time and what a big US print run means for local bookstores. If you’re a reader who loves series order, new releases, and behind-the-scenes context, we keep it clear and friendly without giving away the twists.

For writers, we talk about how to plot a mystery novel from a single “glimmer” of an idea, how asking what-if and why questions generates suspects and motives fast, and why research matters even when most of it never makes it onto the page. We even touch on dialogue and grammar, because sometimes writing “wrong” is exactly how you make characters sound real.

Subscribe for more writer-ish and bookish chats, share the show with a friend, and leave us a rating or review so more book lovers and writers can find Reality Writes.

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