Readers, allow me to share about Crystal Caudill's latest book--the cover is gorgeous!
Plus, she's given us some fun games to play. I'll share my answers in the comments--please share yours!
Introduce yourself—name, where you’re from, and something people notice when they meet you.
Howdy ho, fellow reader! I’m Crystal Caudill, author of “dangerously good historical romance.” AKA, I like to write romances that have danger, mystery, suspense, rich history, and a spiritual arc. I live just across the river from Cincinnati, OH, and if you meet me for the first time on the street, you’ll probably find me wearing t-shirt with a funny saying and a flannel shirt to cover my arms.
Tell us about your book—title and back cover blurb.
My newest novel, Written in Secret, kicks off the series the Art of Love & Danger. Lydia Pelton is a dime novelist who writes romances under her own name but secretly writes crime novels under the pseudonym E.A. Dupin. However, someone is murdering the exonerated criminals whose cases she based her novels on. The police suspect Dupin, but how can a man who doesn’t exist commit murder? Some poor decisions have left her at odds with Officer Abraham Hall, but she’ll never prove Dupin’s innocence without him or find the vigilante who’s determined to prove his love for her through murder. At least that is my version of the blurb.
The official blurb is: In the heart of nineteenth-century Cincinnati one woman holds the power to rewrite history.
What happens when fiction becomes reality? In the corruption-infested Queen City, danger lurks in every shadow, but Lydia Pelton refuses to stay silent. She writes under a pseudonym, E. A. Dupin, crafting crime novels to exact justice and right the wrongs she sees in society. When a serial killer decides to be the sword to her pen, Lydia is confronted with the consequences of her words. Four men are dead, and the city blames her.
With murders on the rise, Officer Abraham Hall's only lead is Lydia's fiction, and he is thrust into an investigation with the "Killer Queen of Romance." Despite his misgivings about the woman, he realizes that even with his reputation for catching elusive criminals, he needs her help. But his unexpected attraction to Lydia proves as difficult to manage as the woman herself. As the mystery unfolds, Abraham and Lydia race to rewrite the ending, not only for Cincinnati's citizens, but for their own hearts too.
Share one thing that you found difficult or challenging about writing this book.
I probably enjoy plotting out the crimes a little too much, but this one really had me pulling out calendars, doing math to make sure everything lined up, and creating case files so that I had all the details lined up. There were four murders before the newspapers got ahold of the story and stirred Cincinnati into a witch-hunt for E.A. Dupin—the pseudonym for my heroine. Each murder had to coincide with a “real crime”, a book Lydia wrote, fit within the timeline of the story for my heroine and the actual villain. There was a finagling that happened, all the way through the final round of line edits. I loved every minute of it, but it was a challenge that I hadn’t expected to be as hard as it was.
Ask the blog reader a quirky question or two?
I’ve shared two photos below: What is your nom-de-plume? and What is your dime novel title?In the hey-day of dime novels, it was frowned upon for women to write anything but romance. Oftentimes, women would write under a male pseudonym. So, when if you get a Mr. as part of your pen name (and you’re a female reader), then just know you were part of the large number of women who hid behind a male pseudonym. J Let me know what YOUR dime novel title is and what your pen name would be.
Here's mine:
The Faithful Sister’s Perilous Retribution by Sir Theodor Snicket
Share your social media and buy links!
Buy Links:
Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/612948
More Links here: https://crystalcaudill.com/books2/written-in-secret/
Socials:
Website: https://crystalcaudill.com/
Newsletter Sign-Up: https://crystalcaudill.com/newsletter/
Buy links:
The Wicked Woman's Desperate Vow by A Friend of C.S. Rowling
Hello mine is Madam Geronimo Seuss and Wronged wife with a wicked quest
The Mysterious Guardian's Wicked Vow by Miss Lemony Seuss
Welcome back. I have missed you. I have not seen your blog in a few weeks. I am not sure which one I am supposed to use. One is Mrs. Mark Lewis. The second is False Widow Strange Retribution. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Have a blessed week.
I love this cover!
My Non-de-Plume is Mr. Louis Seuss
My Dime Novel Title: Water-Sprite Wicked Sacrifice (What a title, LOL!)