Author Guest Post
CHANGE HAPPENS
How I ever managed to write Wedding Bear Blues during 2020 was a true miracle. But it all began in 2019, with hopes that 2020 would lead to new beginnings and memories. Sometimes you get what you wish for, but in the wrong way.
After some 30 years in one place, my husband and I decided to move to a new house in July of 2019, hosted a summer birthday party for my 93-year-old dad with extended family and friends, and had close family over for a Thanksgiving dinner. By December, everything was in place for a memorable Christmas. But then….
My dad had a heart attack and died, December 16, 2019. Needless to say, I was numb throughout the funeral and the holiday celebrations. Dad had read all my books up to that point, had always been a big supporter of my writing and artwork, and he did have a full life. We were so grateful to receive family, neighborhood friends, during the visitation and funeral service with military honors. Early 2020 brought more changes, since my sisters and I had to empty his house and prepare to sell it.
By mid-March, everything shut down due to the pandemic. Other family and friends lost loved ones, and could only bury them at a cemetery service of ten people (if that.) How sad, and the year continued to spin out of control. No need to spell all that out – but it did hammer home to me that change happens. Small changes we don’t notice, of course, like growing older. But big changes, like in 2020, hit harder. Limited grocery trips, no retail therapy, Zoom calls instead of visits. Masks, and quarantine.
It all reminded me of 9-11 in 2001. I’d broken into the children’s magazine market and was trying hard to land a picture book deal with a big publisher – until New York City shut down after the Trade Center’s destruction. That led me to change my plans after real soul-searching. I earned a master’s degree. Finished revising my historical western mystery and landed a contract with a small press. Won a major award. Change often comes about in the midst of tragedy.
Back to the present-time pandemic. I had to buckle down and write book 5, Bear A Wee Grudge, scene by scene, chapter by chapter, throughout stress, anxiety, and distractions. So far it was the hardest book to finish, but not because of the plot. I’m thankful 2021 has arrived at last. We all must adjust to change and make the best of it.
One thing I will say is that I will skip over the pandemic in my “world” of Silver Hollow. Fiction takes readers away from reality, and offers a safer place to enjoy. Books have always given me a wonderful opportunity to learn history, share a character’s adventure, enjoy calm with a sense of community and in mystery – justice served.
I’m so grateful to readers. I have always believed that authors would never exist without them. We may not be risking our lives on the front lines with other essential workers, but we’re important in our own way. And authors and readers share a true bond. Change happens, ready or not. But without books, the world would be a sorrier place.
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” – Charles W. Eliot
About Wedding Bear Blues
Wedding Bear Blues (A Teddy Bear Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Publisher: Kensington (December 29, 2020)
Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 1496729153
ISBN-13: 978-1496729156
Digital ASIN: B086R75PC1
When a heartless killer ruins a Valentine’s Day wedding, teddy bear shop manager Sasha Silverman vows to solve the crime . . .
At the Silver Bear Shop and Factory, Sasha will be selling plenty of bride and groom teddy bears come springtime. But this Valentine’s Day weekend, she’d take any of those silent, stuffed couples over the real thing. Sasha and her sister Maddie are bridesmaids at Cissy Davidson’s upcoming wedding in Silver Hollow. Cissy is fuming over the worst choice of best man—the jerk who broke her sister Debbie’s heart—and the groom-to-be won’t budge in his decision. At the rehearsal dinner you could cut the tension with a wedding cake knife.
That is, until best man Dylan is found dead, impaled with an ice pick. Although jilted Debbie is the most likely suspect—the blood on her dress doesn’t help her case—the bride begs Sasha to prove her sister’s innocence. If anyone’s going to walk down the aisle, Sasha will first need to find the cold-hearted killer who iced Dylan . . .
About Meg Macy
Award-winning mystery author Meg Macy lives in Southeast Michigan, close enough to Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Dexter — the setting of her “Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear” cozy mysteries for Kensington. She is also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins mysteries; two books, Wouldn’t It Be Deadly and Get Me to the Grave On Time were Agatha Award finalists for Best Historical. Meg’s first published book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Best First Novel Spur Award from Western Writers of America. Meg loves reading historical and cozy mysteries, gardening, crafts, and watercolor painting.
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