Thanks to DL Fernandez for his great review of my instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery.
About:Nancy J. Cohen
Website:
https://nancyjcohen.com
Profile
Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won a Readers' Favorite gold medal, placed first in the Chanticleer Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Nancy’s instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery, was nominated for an Agatha Award. A featured speaker at libraries, conferences, and community events, she is listed in Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers, and Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets. When not busy writing, she enjoys fine dining, cruising, visiting Disney World, and shopping.
Posts by Nancy J. Cohen :
Plotting Murder Among Friends
Join our imaginary conversation in a restaurant between two mystery writer friends:
Writer A: “I need to kill somebody while they’re getting a facial.”
Writer B: “How are you gonna do it?”
Writer A: “I’d like to use poison.”
Writer B: “You can’t involve the beautician. That would be too obvious.”
Writer A: “I know. What if my victim has one of those mud masks applied, and she has to lie there with a towel on her face for ten minutes or so? The beautician might leave for a few moments, at which time somebody can come in and smother the woman?”
Writer B: “Smothering works, but it doesn’t use poison. What if the killer taints the mud instead?”
Writer A: “Then the beautician would have to wear gloves when applying it so she wouldn’t be affected.”
Writer B: “How long do you want the victim to take to die? You’ll need the poison to be fast acting if she’s dead when the aesthetician returns.”
Writer A: “Yes, it should be quick. I have a book on poisons at home. And I don’t want it to be immediately evident to the cops that the woman died from unnatural causes.”
Strange Male Voice: “Are you talking about us, ma’am?”
Writer A and B glance up. Two policemen are standing by their table.
Cop A: “You’ll need to come to the station, miss. The customer in the next booth says you’re planning a murder.”
Writer A glances at their nosy neighbor. “We’re mystery writers. I’m talking about my next book, Fatality by Facial. Here, have a bookmark.”
Cop B: “No kidding? You know, I’ve always wanted to write a mystery. How do you get published? Do I need an agent?”
Writer A and B abruptly get up, pay their tab, and leave after exchanging bemused glances.
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So if you were the plotting partner, how would you suggest doing the deed?
Hanging By A Hair Top Pick Review
Here is one of the early reviews in for Hanging By A Hair, #11 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries coming in April from Five Star.
Night Owl Reviews Top Pick—5 Stars! 
http://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Reviews/Merrynoelle-reviews-Hanging-By-A-Hair-by-Nancy-J-Cohen
The twists and turns will keep you guessing to the end and just about the time you think you have it all figured out she surprises you by steering you away with another clue. The author is always keeping you guessing as to where the story will lead you next. Ms. Cohen has just joined the list of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading the other books she has written. I hope you find Hanging by a Hair as great as I did.
Marla Vail, owner and operator of the salon Cut N’ Dye, and her husband, Detective Dalton Vail a homicide investigator, moved into Palm Valley recently following their recent marriage. They are attending their first Home Owners Association meeting when Dalton stands up to the Board president, Alan Krabber, for breaking the association rules after forcing another resident to comply with one Alan himself was breaking. After the meeting the man makes a suggestive offer to Marla within Dalton’s hearing followed by some very bigoted and derogatory remarks and Dalton loudly puts Alan down. Unfortunately for Marla and Dalton, Alan was their neighbor and a bigot and religious fanatic. To say life has its trials and tribulations in Palm Valley is an understatement.
The following day Alan hires someone to erect a fence and plant some trees. The problem is that he is having the fence put on the Vail’s side of the property line and is planning on planting trees whose roots will quickly grow into the pipes of their sprinkler system. After another loud shouting match between Dalton and Alan, which was heard by neighbors, Dalton threatened to go to the zoning board regarding Alan’s lack of property survey, building permits, and the workers’ failure to have a business license. The following day Alan Krabber is found dead, hanging from his second story banister railing. Dalton is removed from the case and neighbors are quick to tell the police of Dalton’s confrontations with Alan and the heated words they exchanged. Dalton is one of many named a person of interest. How on earth was such a vile man elected president of the HMA board?
Suddenly their quiet community is a hotbed of liars, thieves and a murderer who has not finished. Marla must be careful as she tries to prove to her husband’s new partner that he had nothing to do with the murder of Alan. The killer is watching and Marla is starting to become an unwanted nuisance that needs to be permanently removed. The body count is rising and Marla is finding more suspects every day. Can she figure this out, prepare the first Seder in their new home, cope with her mother and her on again, off again relationship with her crass and obnoxious boyfriend, and all the drama going on at the Cut N’ Dye?
Hanging by a Hair is the latest in the Bad Hair Day Mystery series, but is written in such a way you can easily read as a standalone novel. Not so good for me is the fact I fell in love with Marla and Dalton and their extended family and friends. Now I need to get the other books in the series to see if they are all this fascinating. The characters in the book are very well developed and balanced with enough good and bad traits to make them believable. Nancy Cohen has provided numerous clues, both blatant and subtle, to keep you invested in the story. 
—Night Owl Review by MerryNoelle
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Book Blurb for Hanging By A Hair
Marla’s joyous move to a new house with her husband, Detective Dalton Vail, is marred by their next-door neighbor who erects an illegal fence between their properties. When Dalton reminds the man of the local permitting laws, tempers flare—and worse, the neighbor is found dead the following day. Dismayed when Dalton is removed from the case due to a conflict of interest, Marla decides it’s up to her to find the killer. Can the intrepid hairstylist untangle the clues and pin down the culprit before he strikes again?
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/gv5ldn9uw7I
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18351891-hanging-by-a-hair
Preparing for a Conference
How long does it take to prepare for a conference? Soon I’ll be heading to SleuthFest in February, Lake County BookFest in March, Malice Domestic in April, the Florida Library Association Convention in May, and Mystery Writers Key West Fest in June.
It can take me several weeks to get ready for each event and another couple of weeks to decompress and get caught up upon my return home. That’s a lot of time lost, not to mention money for gas, lodgings, registration fees, promo materials, etc. However, it’s time and money well spent from the benefits you receive by meeting other authors, booksellers, fans, and industry personnel.
Conferences necessitate a lot of preparation, especially if you’re going as a speaker. Aside from determining your particular goals for this event—i.e. attending specialized craft sessions, learning about new publishing options, meeting editors, making new author friends, greeting fans—there’s the physical prep. Here’s a checklist of things to consider.
- Prepare for your talks. If you’re a panelist, it can be easier because you might not have to do much prep other than jotting down some notes about the points you want to get across. Moderator-run panels in general mean more work for the moderator but less work for the panel guests, unless you are each expected to present your material for xx minutes.
- If you are conducting a workshop on your own, you’ll need to compose or update your material and get copies made of handouts.
- If you’re speaking on different topics, assemble each handout in a separate manila envelope to keep them organized.
- Order business cards unless you have them already. Consider updating them with QR codes or with your social network URLs.
- Design, order, and pack brochures, bookmarks, and/or postcards about your books. Bring along display containers so they don’t get strewn across the tables.
- Design, order, and pack swag for the promo tables or goody room. These are items such as magnets, pens, door hangers, candy, and other giveaways.
- If you are driving, toss a box of extra books into your trunk in case the on-site bookseller doesn’t get your books in time or is unable to obtain copies of a particular title.
- Bring a checkbook in case the bookseller offers to sell you leftover stock at a discounted price.
- Pack a book or two to display at your presentations and panels.
- Consider giving a couple of books away at the Q&A sessions for your talks.
- If you’re donating a raffle basket, either get your materials to the coordinator ahead of time or bring the basket prepared and ready to go.
- Bring a signup sheet for your newsletter to put out at signings.
- Print out the conference workshop schedule and highlight your appearances. List these on your website and other online sites and include these papers in your suitcase.
- Bring a highlighter along so you can go through the conference schedule and mark sessions you want to attend.
- Print out contact info for friends you want to meet at the conference.
- Decide which outfits to wear to the different events. Business attire for daytime, dressier clothes for evening? Don’t forget matching shoes, handbags, and jewelry.
- Determine what gadgets to bring along: iPad or Laptop? Kindle or Nook? Camera to take photos for your blog? Charging devices?
- Pack a notebook to take notes. Later, write blogs about the sessions you attended to share your knowledge.
- Include Sharpie pens for signing books and ballpoint pens for note taking.
- If you belong to a professional writing organization, bring along chapter brochures to hand out to potential members.
And the countdown begins. What else would you add to this list?
Building Reader Loyalty
Barbara Vey was the guest speaker at the February 2014 meeting of Florida Romance Writers.
As Contributing Editor for Publishers Weekly, Barbara Vey brings readers and writers together with her popular Beyond Her Book blog. An avid reader as well as a blogger, Barbara spoke about how authors can build and retain their readership.
“Think in terms of one reader at a time,” she advised listeners. Here are her pointers for gaining and retaining readers. Any mistakes in paraphrasing or interpretation are mine.
Find a common ground with your readers and form a community. How can you do this? By branding yourself. Be consistent with your brand. Use your author name and brand for everything.
“You are your product. You are a business. Act like it.” Avoid religion, politics, or anything controversial so you don’t alienate people.
“Be prepared when you go out in public. Carry copies of your books, bookmarks, and business cards. Talk to people everywhere, i.e. restaurants, bookstores, airplanes, the supermarket. Ask folks what they like to read, get a discussion going, and then mention you’re an author.”
“Visit and comment when people mention you online in tweets, posts, etc. Show that you have noticed and are paying attention.”
If you get a good review or a reader makes a positive comment on your work, be polite and say “I’m so glad you enjoyed my book. Thank you.” But don’t go near a negative reviewer.
Be seen on Goodreads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. Talk about fun and interesting things rather than your books all the time. On Facebook, focus on your Author page and not on your personal page.
For unpublished writers, “the time to start marketing is before you publish your book.”
Re advice others will give you: “Listen to what people say and then pick what applies to you.”
“Be yourself. Talk like you’re talking to friends. Be friendly, ask questions, reply and retweet.”
Don’t have someone else do your posts and lie about it. If you have an assistant, for example, have them identify that they are posting on your behalf. Don’t let them pretend to be you.
Use hashtags during TV shows, sports events, elections etc. and tag people with the @ symbol.
Don’t use foul language or talk politics/religion, or you’ll always offend someone.
Map out your plan of action for the day and do what needs to get done.
“Follow people who are fun and who say interesting things” to learn what they do.
Comment. Like. Share. If you Like someone’s FB post, you’ll keep seeing their posts in your newsfeed.
Help each other out. Link to websites in blogs when you mention someone. Everyone MUST have a website. Make sure your About page shows something interesting and unique about you.
Post daily, share yourself, and ask readers their opinions.
“Giveaways are huge.”
Promote others. If you promote them, they’ll promote you. Barbara especially loves the romance community because “everyone helps everyone else.”
If you build your community, readers will come and they will stay.
“If you want to be successful, consider this a career.”
Tell people about your writing and let them make the decision about what they read. Don’t make assumptions, like a guy won’t want to read your book. You never know what will appeal to someone.
What do Readers want?
“Series that pull you in so the characters become like your family.”
“Respect for the reader.”
“Consistent writing.”
“Authors must have a warmness, or at the very least, politeness.”
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An avid reader, Barbara consumed a book a day before taking on the glamorous life of a roving reporter. Traveling all over the United States to 
conferences from Romance to Thrillers, Mysteries to Horror, Historicals to Comic Con, Barbara has even broken through the barrier into the entertainment industry by covering Red Carpet Events and interviewing the likes of Richard Dean Anderson, Joshua Jackson, Joss Whedon, Chris Evans and others. But her love of Romance keeps her grounded while she offers readers a place to step away from life’s daily trials to take a positive journey through the world of books.
Website: http://barbaravey.com/
Blog: http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/beyondherbook/
Reader Events: http://www.readerevents.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbaravey
Twitter: @BarbaraVey
If you’re a reader, what do you want from an author?
When Your Characters Torment You
Characters can torment you, the writer, for a variety of reasons. Secondary characters may want to have their stories told. Main characters might whisper in your ear to tell their tale. And when you’re in the midst of spinning your web of deceit, the characters live within your head, unwilling to let you go.
Silver Serenade is an example of main characters who wanted their story to be heard. Rookie assassin Silver Malloy and desperate fugitive Jace Vernon are both after the same man, terrorist leader Tyrone Bluth. Silver’s assignment is to kill the man while Jace needs Bluth alive to prove his innocence. For Jace—a diplomat turned desperado and a crack pilot—bigger political issues are at stake that could lead to galactic war. For Silver, the issue is personal. Tyrone’s Marauders destroyed her family and her research. Revenge fills her heart, and she’s vowed nothing will stop her from her goal. Forced to team up in their pursuit, Silver and Jace realize that when they catch Bluth, one of them must yield.
These characters whispered in my ear to tell their tale until I couldn’t ignore them any longer. They’d been the subject of my option book after I wrote four scifi romances for Dorchester. As the market for futuristics took a dive, Dorchester turned down this fifth title. Years passed, and the cycle came around. Paranormals and its various subgenres made a resurgence. I finished Silver Serenade and sold it to The Wild Rose Press. Finally, their story was done.
Now I’m in the throes of torment again. I am fifty pages away from finishing Peril by Ponytail, my twelfth Bad Hair Day mystery. When I go to bed at night and when I wake up in the morning, the characters are swirling in my head. What’s going to happen in the next scene? Am I considering all the angles? Could I be forgetting to follow through on one of the suspects? Did I remember to have a funeral service for the first victim? What about his wife, who stands to gain a substantial inheritance from his death? Did we examine this motive in the course of the story? How will Marla and Dalton find their way through the maze of underground tunnels in the mine scene?
And always, there’s the underlying anxiety—Will I have enough to reach my word count?
I am driven to finish this story. The characters won’t let me have any peace until we’re done.
Does this happen to you?
Poison: Friend or Foe?
Poison: Friend or Foe?
At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City is an exhibit called The Power of Poison. First we entered a section on Poison in Nature, where plants and animals may use poisons as a natural defense. For example, the golden poison frog from the Chocó Forest is highly toxic. It almost looks like a porcelain figurine until you see it breathing. Native humans use the frog’s toxin to make poison darts. This poison stops nerves from transmitting impulses. But don’t fear frogs; this particular species gets its toxicity from the diet it eats, likely beetles.
Plants have natural defenses, too. Think about poison ivy or other plants you touch that cause an allergic reaction. And some plants are so toxic that even the smoke from burning them can be harmful. So how can some animals eat toxic plants and not feel the effects? Howler monkeys eat toxic leaves, but they also eat clay that binds poisons.
The next section describes Poisons in Myth & Legend. Snow White, the witches of Macbeth, Emperor Qin, and the Mad Hatter are displayed. The latter doubtless got its name because hat makers were exposed to dangerous mercury levels during the manufacturing process. Some poisons can mimic death, hence the legend of Snow White and also Romeo and Juliet.
Villains & Victims talks about famous people like Cleopatra. How did she really die? And was Lucrezia Borgia an infamous poisoner like her reputation claims? Who are some famous authors who employed poisons in their tales? Agatha Christie mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter are some of the stories mentioned.
Detecting Poison has a live demonstration. We moved past this to sit at the interactive displays at Poison by Accident to solve a mystery at three stations as to what had accidentally poisoned each victim. A family pet, a British sea captain named Captain Cook, and an owl were the victims. Clues were in sight for you to detect through observation at the scene. I got all three correct!
The most interesting section was Poison for Good to find cures for diseases. For example, a drug made from a Gila Monster’s venom is used to treat Type II diabetes. While yew tree needles can be deadly, a chemical found in the bark helps provide an anti-cancer medicine. Research is providing more treatments and hope for future cures.
Visit http://amnh.org/poison to learn more about the role of poisons in nature, human history, medicine, myth and legend.
View all the photos here: http://fw.to/00nuTlP
New York City: The Food
New York City: The Food
You can’t go to New York City without experiencing some of life’s best dining. The first night, we ate at the Fig and Olive. For appetizers, we got a bowl of olives and a mushroom dish that was heavenly. Our main meal was salmon with side dishes that were fairly meager. Don’t expect big portions here. The restaurant was crowded so we were glad we’d made a reservation.
Friday morning, we ate breakfast at Carnegie Deli. My daughter had a smoked salmon platter with a bagel and I had a boloney and egg omelet.
After spending half the day at the museum, we ate lunch at one of the Le Pain restaurants where you get served. We got like an appetizer platter of cheeses and such and nibbled from it for our meal.
Friday night was dinner with the mystery writers’ gang at Sammy’s Noodle Shop.
Saturday, I dined alone with the MWA folks at Bobby Van’s Grill. The filet mignon and side dishes were excellent.
On Sunday, we grabbed a bite to eat on our stroll to Rockefeller Center, shared a hot dog from a food vendor on Broadway, stopped in to the Hershey store to buy chocolate to bring home, checked out the Cellar at Macy’s, and had lunch in Lord & Taylor.
Their tomato soup was delicious, and it paired very well with a grilled cheese sandwich. Again, we were too weary and burdened down by our heavy coats to want to shop. I hated that part when I lived up north: dressing for the cold weather and dying from the heat when you went inside. I love the South, where you can run outside in short-sleeves for most of the year.
We bought croissants and Danish at Grand Central Station and a piece of chocolate layer cake at the Strip House to bring home.
Temptation abounds with the best looking pastries in New York wherever you go, cupcakes and crumb nuts (square donuts), fresh breads, and more. You could get fruits and vegetables at many of the markets, but I think we do better in Florida in this regard, at least in winter. I really liked the Hale & Hearty soup places in New York. That’s great for cold weather, not so much for their heat waves in the summer. So if you go to New York, leave room in your suitcase to bring home some treats.
Dinner on Sunday was New York pizza at John’s Pizzeria, just down the street from the Minskoff Theatre where we needed to go to see The Lion King. The medium size was more than adequate for both of us.
Finally, we left on Monday and ate breakfast at the airport. All that walking helped when I got on the scale at home. I’d only gained one pound. Now it’s back to a healthier diet.
View all the photos here: http://fw.to/00nuTlP
New York City: The Sights
New York City: The Sights
Recently I went to New York for orientation as incoming President of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. This job also put me on the national Board of Directors. Friday night, I met the other chapter presidents and at-large directors as we mingled at the Mysterious Bookshop and enjoyed dinner together at Sammy’s Noodle Shop. The next day was filled with one long meeting where we learned about the organization and more about our roles. I found the sessions interesting and informative. A delicious dinner at Bobby Van’s Grill followed.
The rest of the time was spent sightseeing. On Friday, we ate breakfast at Carnegie Deli. It was snowing! Thank goodness for my inherited mink coat. I wouldn’t have been warm enough otherwise.
Then we took a cab over to the American Museum of Natural History. Standing across from Central Park, I admired the wintry view.
Jacket-length outerwear doesn’t work in this cold climate. You need a coat that covers your butt. I also wore a knit cap, gloves, and a cashmere scarf. Plus three layers underneath. The only problem was the heat that hit when you went inside a building. Four layers went on and off so often that I hurt my shoulder.
More on the museum exhibits later. My next free day was Sunday, so we strolled outside to see some of the main sights. It wasn’t our first visit to NY so we could skip all the places we’d already seen and just soak in the atmosphere. We sniffed roasted chestnuts and pretzels as we walked along.
We viewed the skaters at Rockefeller Center and nearby Radio City.
Then we walked over to Times Square.
We had to visit Macy’s with its nine floors but were too exhausted and hungry to go shopping. From here we walked to Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue and had lunch. The NY Public Library makes an impressive sight.
Then we dipped into Grand Central Station to watch the people scurrying to make their trains and to visit the food markets.
That night, we saw The Lion King. The costumes were spectacular. The way the actors depict the animals was fantastic. It’s a show worth seeing if you can meet the steep cost.
New York is always fascinating, from the architecture to the eateries, to the jumble of people, and even to the trash waiting for curbside pickup. Steam issues from vents, trucks rumble by, taxi drivers honk their horns. It’s a maelstrom of humanity, but one you can never get tired of joining.
Yet it sure was nice to return home to the quieter life with palm trees, green grass, and balmy breezes. However, I’d better not put away that fur coat. It’s supposed to go down into the forties here. The good thing about our cold spells is that they don’t last long.
View all my photos here: http://fw.to/00nuTlP
Advice for the Floundering Writer
Are you procrastinating about your writing career because distractions take you away from your work? Do self-doubts inhibit you? Are you unsure how to get started? Do you take too much time rereading your work and never moving ahead?
Assuming you’ve created your characters and setting, follow these steps:
- Write a complete synopsis of your story. This will be your roadmap, and you’ll see if you have any plot holes to fill in. Include your protagonist’s personal angst and character growth. Each scene should have a purpose, whether revealing character or advancing the story. Don’t worry about how to get from Point A to Point B in detail. This is where story magic comes into play.
- Now set yourself a writing schedule, whatever works for you, even if it’s one page a day.
- Sit down in your chair and write, sticking to your quota, until you finish the first draft.
- Give yourself permission to write crap. You can fix what’s on the page, but first, you must write it.
- Focus on one book at a time. Don’t get distracted by other projects. If you get fresh ideas, jot them down for later. Concentrate on completing this particular work. If you’re unsure which project to develop, do the one that sings to you and ignites your fire.
- Keep moving forward. Don’t second guess yourself. If your synopsis is detailed enough, it will show you where to go. How your characters get there is up to them, and they may provide detours. That’s a good thing, and you can revise your synopsis accordingly, either along the way or when you finish the story. Why do you need a synopsis at all? It’s a sales tool. You may have to present it to your editor with the submission or later to the art department to help in creating your book cover.
- Make a firm career decision. You’re either going to become a professional writer, or it’s a hobby for you. If your decision is serious, treat novel writing like you would any career. Get some training, i.e. attend workshops and conferences, join a critique group, and participate in professional writing organizations.
- Learn the business aspects because it’s not all about writing the book, it’s also about marketing.
- Follow the 4 P’s: Practice, Professionalism, Pursuit, and Perseverance. Keep writing every day or several times a week to fulfill your quota. Always be professional and courteous to others in the industry. Pursue writing as a serious career choice. And never give up your dream. Persistence pays, and eventually you will call yourself a published author. Remember the BIC-HOK motto: Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard.