Nancy's Notes From Florida

Tea and Murder

April 11, 2023

In writing a novel, authors research much more material than goes into the story. If we add too much, our editors call it an info dump. But too little, and things might not make sense.

In Star Tangled Murder, hairstylist Marla Vail and her detective husband, Dalton, attend a battle reenactment at a living history village where the town marshal ends up dead. During their investigation, they learn about tea production. I researched the topic and was surprised at the complexity of the process.

Tea bushes first arrived in the United States from China in the 1700s. Attempts to cultivate the camellia sinensis plant in this country failed until a chemist, Dr. Charles Shepard, founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina in the late 1880s. He produced award-winning teas until he died.

Meanwhile, the Lipton Company acquired a farm on Wadmalaw Island in South Carolina. They relocated Shepard’s plants there. William Barclay Hall, a professional tea taster, bought the land in 1987. He converted the farm into a commercial operation, and the Charleston Tea Plantation was born. They renamed it the Charleston Tea Garden when Bigelow took over the property.

After water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. Each type of tea requires different processing. You can’t just pluck leaves off a plant and brew a pot. For example, green tea leaves are steamed on arrival to halt oxidation and to preserve their freshness. Black tea requires withering, rolling, and oxidizing. Oolong is a semi-oxidized tea that falls in between the other two. The tea plant grows best in places with high heat, humidity, good rainfall, and acidic soil. China, Sri Lanka, India, and Kenya are the four major suppliers.

Tea is promoted as having various health benefits. In particular, green tea drinkers allegedly have a lower incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease. This may be related to the high content of polyphenols in green tea. These have antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties and may also stimulate the immune system.

Green tea is one of the least processed varieties. Only the top two leaves and a bud from one stem are picked. This is called the flush. During harvesting season, the plant produces a new flush every seven to fifteen days. For black and oolong tea, two to four leaves down from the top are picked. There’s also white tea made from the buds of a plant. The only step for white tea is drying it to reduce moisture.

Yellow tea is similar to green tea in the initial production process, but it requires an additional procedure called sealed yellowing. This removes the grassy scent associated with green tea. Matcha teas are a type of Japanese green tea. The leaves are ground into a fine powder and then whisked into hot water. It has more antioxidants than green tea but also more caffeine.

When writing a book, it’s a fine line between dumping too much info into the story versus sharing this information with readers. I cut out this portion from the final version of Star Tangled Murder:

“Here the leaves for black and oolong teas undergo oxidation on these conveyor belts. This kickstarts the fermentation process. Next is what we call disruption,” he said, gesturing to a rotating tumbler. “Tossing the leaves tears them and allows for oxygen to penetrate the bruised cells. When sufficient oxidation has occurred, the leaves enter a gas-heated dryer for a short period to stop fermentation. This stage is called fixation and is the most critical part because it determines the tea’s taste, aroma, and color.”

“Then it’s ready for consumption?” Marla asked, not seeing anything that would account for the security measures.

“Not yet. The leaves go through a sieve to filter out undesirable particles, such as stems and fibers. Then the tea is shaped into tiny pellets to intensify the flavor. Once this cycle is complete, the tea enters the final firing stage in this oven.”

This would have been too much detail to leave in my story. I might find it fascinating, but readers want to move on to see what happens next regarding the mystery.

Tea and Murder #cozymystery #research Share on X

Do you like learning new topics in a mystery, or do you prefer a story that sticks to the bones of the plot? And what’s your favorite kind of tea?

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Your Book Was Reviewed – Now What?

April 4, 2023

Reviews are an author’s lifeblood. At best, they can strongly influence new readers to buy your book. At worst, a slew of poor reviews or low numbers may lead your publisher to think twice about accepting your option book. The quantity and ratings also affect your promotional opportunities since some ads require at least 10 reviews with a 4.0 or higher average. For a writer, getting reviews is paramount.

When a reader goes to an online bookstore site to scout out a potential new read, she’ll read the story blurb, look inside for a taste of your writing, and then read the customer reviews. Editors and agents may also look at reviews of your prior titles when considering which author to take on. Like with any business, we want to make a good impression.

This discussion does not involve how to get reviews. We’re going to talk about what you can do with a review once you receive one.

Here are some steps to take:

Create a subfolder labeled Reviews under your book title in your word processing program.

Copy and paste the entire review to a blank page and name the file. Put it in the Reviews folder.

Add the reviewer’s social media links.

Pull out several quotes. Add these quotes to your page of Tweets for this book title.

Add the review to your website’s book page.

Make a meme with a quote and for a featured book review. Examples:

   

 

Share the review on your social media sites. Tag the reviewer.

Leave a comment on the reviewer’s site thanking her for the review.

“Like” reviews for your book on Goodreads and BookBub.

Add it to the editorial reviews on Amazon if the reviewer didn’t post there.

If you are self-published, add the quotes elsewhere, such as IngramSpark and Barnes and Noble through their publishing platforms.

If you are trad published, copy the review to your editor.

Make a meme including several advance quotes for a new release

Keep a personal list or spreadsheet with each reviewer’s name, contact info, social media sites, and links to your reviews. This will give you a head start for your next release. Don’t forget to add how they’ve acquired your book (i.e. you sent them a file/link or they got it on NetGalley) and the dates for all correspondence.

Send out a reminder letter after the book goes live with buy links to reviewers who have downloaded the book but have not yet posted a review.

Send thank you notes to reviewers who have followed through.

Your Book Was Reviewed - Now What? #BookPromotion Share on X

Keeping meticulous records will show you who to approach for your next release. You’ll know who responded and who didn’t and where they posted reviews. This list will be fluid, changing for each book. Just remember to always be courteous, thank the reviewers for their time, and share their posts on your social media sites to show your appreciation.

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Chocolate Pie

April 1, 2023

This delicious dessert is amazingly easy to make. If you can’t find a chocolate pie crust, use a regular graham cracker crust. 

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups 2% reduced fat milk
3.9 oz. box Instant Chocolate Pudding
6 oz. chocolate pie crust
2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping

Directions

 Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mix. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. Spoon half of the mixture into the pie crust. Take 1 cup of whipping topping and fold into the remaining pudding mixture in the bowl. Spoon this mixture over pudding layer in pie crust. Spread the remaining whipped topping on top. Refrigerate until served. Serves 8 to 10.



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Breakfast Slam Bundt

April 1, 2023

This is a delicious all-in-one brunch dish. I had trouble getting it out of the baking pan. Maybe I needed more cooking spray, or a cooking spray/flour mixture. I’d like to try it in a rectangular pan to see if it comes out easier without the fluted sides. This dish may also serve more when cut into squares. Feel free to add other vegetables or seasonings. You can also add breakfast meats if you want a heartier dish. 

Ingredients

8 oz. sliced mushrooms
2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
1 dozen large eggs
12 oz. can Pillsbury Butter Tastin’ Flaky Layers refrigerated biscuits
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup whole milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray. Cut up biscuits into bite-sized pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Mix in frozen hash browns and sliced mushrooms. Add the Cheddar cheese. Fold in the biscuit pieces and mix to blend. Pour mixture into the prepared bundt pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or until top is browned.

Cool and invert onto plate. Serves 8.



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Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour

March 15, 2023

Follow my Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour March 15 – 25 for reviews, spotlights, author interviews, guest posts and giveaways to celebrate the release of STAR TANGLED MURDER, #18 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries. I will be updating this site with permalinks so stop by here or my Appearances tab for the latest.

March 15 – Fundinmental – REVIEW

March 15 – I’m Into Books – SPOTLIGHT

March 16 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT & EXCERPT

March 16 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW, GUEST POST “Corn and Crime” & RECIPE

March 17 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST “Holidays and Homicide”

March 17 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

March 18 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT & EXCERPT

March 18 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 19 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – GUEST POST “History and Mystery” & GIVEAWAY

March 19 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

March 20 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – GUEST POST “Tales of Lost Treasure”

March 20 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

March 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

March 21 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 21 – Cinnamon and Sugar and A Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW, Salmon Mini Quiches RECIPE, & GIVEAWAY

March 22 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

March 22 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY

March 23 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW – “Interview with Marla Vail”

March 23 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

March 24 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 24 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY

March 25 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour with Nancy J. Cohen Share on X

 



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