The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Two Aliases Added to Site Authors

Quick update… Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet lately, but as I have mentioned before, I live in San Antonio… which has been having some of the worst weather it has seen in decades over the last week or so. Well, long story short, we’ve had power and internet and other utility problems, so I’ve more or less been trying to ride that out instead of fighting to get online. We were never in any actual personal danger… the worst we have seen in our household is a few days without running water, which we were thankfully prepared for by the time it hit, and that the situation was upsetting enough to our poor dog Cocoa that she was ill for a few days. Still, we’re all alive and fine now, and I hope that all my fellow Texas residents have “weathered the storm” as well as we have.

Anyway! It seems like the worst of that is past. I thought that since I haven’t been online a bit lately, I should also write up something more on theme about Cozies, so… Normally I might not mention the sort of thing below, just sort of do it in the background, but still, it’s more cheerful than just complaining about power outages.

Anyway (again…), I’ve added a pair of new pseudonyms to existing site authors. First, Anna Gerard  (aka Diane A.S. Stuckart and Ali Brandon) writes the Georgia B&B Mystery Series, which stars Nina Fleet, B&B owner in a historic Queen Anne house in Cymbeline, Georgia. As Stuckart she writes the Leonardo da Vinci Historical Mystery Series. The series features Dino, da Vinci’s apprentice, and is set in the late 1400s. As Brandon she writes the paranormal Black Cat Bookshop Mystery Series.

I’ve also added Elizabeth Logan (aka Camille Minichino, Ada Madison, Margaret Grace, & Jean Flowers), who writes the Alaskan Diner Mystery Series, which stars chef Charlotte “Charlie Cooke”, returning to her home town of Elkview, Alaska, to take over her mother’s diner. As Madison, she writes the Sophie Knowles Mystery Series which features a college professor/beader/sleuth in Massachusetts. As Minichino she writes the Periodic Table Mystery Series which is also set in Massachusetts, with several books taking place (as trips) in California. As Grace, she writes the Miniature Mystery Series which is set in California. And as Flowers she writes the Postmistress Mystery Series, which features Cassie Miller as its sleuth.

Comments

  1. Hello Danna,

    I wasn’t aware that you had been going through an Arctic experience but, am so relieved that you and yours have survived!

    They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger but, I do hope you attract some jolly good events that compensate and strengthen your joy reserves.

    Thank you so much for the latest updates – always appreciated.

    Sending kindest regards and warmest thoughts.

    Reply

    • Zarayna, thank you so much for the well-wishes – it truly could have been much worse. We were at least somewhat prepared for this – I can only imagine that it must have been much more serious of an issue for others in our area who might not have been as well prepared with sufficient saved water to last out most of a week.

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  2. Danna, I have been thinking of you often as the national news highlights the disasters in Texas. San Antonio is often mentioned. I’m SOOO pleased to hear you and your family are well.

    I have a close friend in Austin. I just heard from her this morning. They didn’t lose electricity, but like you, they don’t have water. They, too, planned ahead and filled up bathtubs, sinks, and containers beforehand.

    In my area we had 11+ inches of snow earlier in the week. But it didn’t create problems of any immense proportions. All our homes and infrastructure are ‘winterized’. Just takes time to get all the roads plowed. Frankly, that’s a minor detail considering the travails of many people in Texas.

    Take care, Danna. I (and I bet numerous other blog readers) are sending good thoughts and prayers your way!

    Reply

    • MJ, thank you for the well-wishes! Unfortunately, as you can no doubt tell from the news, we just don’t have the infrastructure prepared for even a light freeze, much less multiple days. It really feels like lack of preparation than anything else at this point… This isn’t even the first time this sort of thing has happened in the life-time of the site, much less my time in Texas. You would hope that the situation would have improved a bit in that amount of time!

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  4. So happy to hear you “weathered” the storm as well as could be hoped. A few days without running water is no small thing so good on ya for handling this as well as you did.

    To the subject matter of today’s post, I’m interested in why publishers seem to think pseudonyms are such a good idea when readers can obviously easily suss out related aliases.

    Thanks for everything you do for your readers keeping up this website. We appreciate it.

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    • Tee, yes, thankfully we were prepared enough that the lack of running water was more of a concerning inconvenience than a real disaster.

      And I’ve also often wondered why authors move on from old pseudonyms as well… sometimes it seems involuntary, as when changing to a new publisher, but other times it seems entirely unpredictable.

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  5. I enjoyed both the Elizabeth Logan and Anna Gerard books. I just read the first book in another new series – A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell, a new name for author Mary Ellen Hughes. There was no attempt to hide her identity as her writing credentials are noted on the author page. The book was enjoyable featuring Lia who mans a booth at the Crandalsburg (PA) Craft Fair and gets involved in a murder case.

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  6. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Danna. Hope you’re on the other side of this awful situation. And that Cocoa is okay!

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  7. With this horrible weather, I live in Oklahoma, I’ve been so grateful for cozy mysteries. They can always take me to that wonderful place where you just feel peaceful and intrigued.

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  8. I am so sorry to hear about what you and your family went through in Texas. I’ve been watching the news here in New Jersey and my heart aches for the people if Texas. I’m glad you did your best to prepare before the storm. Hope your dog feels better soon.

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  10. We’ve been praying for you in Texas. I’m so glad you weathered the storm. I’ve enjoyed your blog for a long time and found many new authors to read.

    One question… Why do cozy authors write under so many pseudonyms? Are they that prolific?

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  11. So glad to know you’re doing well as thought of you several times. Watching the news was heartbreaking to hear/view all that was going on. OK has had there snow/ice issues but not to the extent of Texas. Take care.

    Reply

    • Pam, the biggest problem here is just how unprepared we are for it! Oklahoma likely has more freezes than we do – our infrastructure is really a mess for things like water and power when it freezes for more than a few hours because we always manage to seem surprised… despite it happening at least once a decade in my memory…

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  12. Thanks so much for including me here as Elizabeth Logan (yes, I chose it for Logan Airport, Boston, my hometown, even though I go all the way to Alaska for series).

    I so appreciate being part of my go-to site for all things cozy.

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  15. It’s nice to see you back on the job! Very glad to hear that you and your family are doing ok and staying warm and I hope Cocoa is recovered and doing fine. Interestingly enough the Chemical series is my least favorite, but I love all her other series and have them all. I really enjoy her writing and characters. Each of her books have great tidbits and trivia pertaining to the main characters interest. I love doing miniatures and her miniature series has all sorts of hints and ideas. The next book in the Alaskan diner series comes out in May- MURPHY’S SLAW. You all stay well.

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  16. Quick update re: Murphy’s Slaw. Release date now June 1st. I know I should have double checked Amazon before posting!

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  19. You’ve been on my mind and in my prayers as I’ve heard the news about Texas, thankful to hear that you’re all doing well.

    I’d love to know how writers with multiple pen names manage to write and publish so many books! Do they plan in great detail, work on a tight schedule, have some sort of assistant or editor to help them? Maybe they’re able to stay awake 24/7 instead of sleeping? I have no idea, but I’m impressed. Thanks for sharing, Danna!

    Reply

    • Donna, thank you so much for your well-wishes!

      I’d also be curious about some of these authors with so many series – though in these two cases, both authors seem to more or less move on from their old pseudonyms, instead of just accruing new series to keep running. That isn’t the case for all authors, however – I’ve seen some who apparently write 20ish books a year somehow!

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      • Wowie! “20ish books in a year somehow”. That shouts the possibility of the old (spelling uncertain) Stratemeyer Syndicate, which published series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys under the same author name for each series, while the real authors for each series were many. Unless I’m confusing it with another case, Mr Stratemeyer himself, at least at first, would toss out ideas or even outlines to his pseudonymous authors to “flesh out”. Then there were the comic books allegedly written by Walt Disney: One author whose work and style was so outstanding, Carl Barks, was discovered by fans who did some detective work! (Now Disney sites admit it; you can check it out by websearching). It remains a mystery just how much Donald Bain and William Harrington did to thoroughly ghostwrite for very high-profile clients whose names appeared as authors. As goes the star-author-has-help thing, I only know that I stopped reading Clive Cussler books when they began to be “with” various “helpers”: Cardboard characterizations and stories, no soul.

        I keep hoping that favorite deceased– or maybe just tired– authors might have their books continue with the perfection of style, heart, liveliness, TRUEness, that Ace Atkins has brought to Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. Especially if the authors are as special as Charlotte MacLeod, Elizabeth Peters, Joan Hess (for the last two, maybe advancing Amelia Peabody’s and Claire Malloy’s offspring into more next-generation-as-leads), Bill Crider, M.C. Beaton, and even often murder-less! Lilian Jackson Braun.

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    • Mary, it has returned to “almost normal” – I understand grocery stores might still be a bit understocked as trucks and such were unable to bring in fresh goods to the area. But otherwise, things have more or less returned to regular service in our immediate area.

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  21. I agree with Greenway about authors taking over for famous authors. I stopped reading Clive Cussler and James Patterson for that reason too.

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