The Hiker's Guide To Murder Guest Post and Giveaway

Author Guest Post: A Renovation Adventure

Okay, okay…as you can tell I normally don’t do guest blogs because other than write and take my kids to school—I have no life. Lol. I guess you can call the mom syndrome. Plus with the pandemic, I don’t leave the house. Even girls nights went out the window March 2020. This got me to thinking about what I should guest blog about. I thought about talking about my cats, but that would just make me sound like a cat lady. Then I thought maybe I could discuss tips on writing, but really I don’t read those types of blogs, and I write. And that’s when the light bulb clicked in my head. I could talk about our ongoing home renovation project.

Where to start? Hmm…a year ago should do. As our kids have gotten older our house has started to feel less spacious. We live a ranch style home, circus 1970s, on the mid-century construction side of things. We adore our neighborhood. It’s the best location. I live in a small town, and my neighborhood is located in the old country club area near our state school. A great area to walk the dog or ride bikes. But we felt like we needed more space. I wanted an office and the husband needs a place to put his drum set that isn’t our ridiculously over sized master bedroom closet. So this put us on the house hunt, but with very filtered options. We had to stay in the same neighborhood. Not an easy feat. We searched and search to only come up with nothing.

Then low and behold we found a home this past summer. It had all the rooms we could ever want. Me an office and a space on the other side of the house for my husband drums. My husband was ready to buy it that day. But having this home wasn’t to be, because shortly after us getting excited about moving to the other side of our neighborhood the seller pulled the house because the house they wanted sold. And we were back to square one.

And that’s when I made the big decision that I was done searching for a new home. And that’s when my husband learned he’d be in a construction zone for four months and counting. We’ve had a bulldozer in our front yard to dig for a gas line, and the bulldozer busted a water pipe, gushing water like an oil well that struck gold in our front yard. We’ve started on just kitchen that bleed into a living room. We’ve sat up a table in our bedroom to eat while the front portion of our house was under construction and unusable.

But I guess where I’m trying to go with this is that I learned to accept the flaws in our house and how to best utilize them to make our home something we continued to make memories in for decades to come. It’s sort of the same notion I took with my writing when I decided to take control of the stories I wanted to write and the direction I wanted my career to go. I took all the flaws, missteps and stirred them together to create myself a path into the cozy mystery genre. And I couldn’t be happier.

And in a few weeks I’ll be able to tell if made the right choice by picking out a range based on looks, not if I knew how to work it. That true test will come if I can cook a pizza in it.

About The Hiker’s Guide to Murder

The Hiker’s Guide To Murder (A Southwest Exposure Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Independently Published (February 1, 2021)
Print length: ~200 pages
Digital ASIN: B08D28ZCMB

Hiking the Kindling National Forest is a birthday tradition for the Sullivan siblings—pitching camp, roasting s’mores… a dead body? Not exactly the fun party outdoor guide Andie Sullivan planned for her brother, Kyle. Welp.

When the body is identified as a local who worked at the parks department, Andie decides to put her clue-solving skills to use. Winter tourism is at stake, and if word gets out that Bushwhack has another killer on the loose, she can kiss that sweet revenue goodbye.

Easier said than done. Meanwhile, Sheriff Zac Mars is neck and neck with her on uncovering clues, proving solving the latest murder in town is harder than powering through a mountain bike tour on an energy bar breakfast. Racing against the clock, Andie must uncover evidence to make her mountain community safe for ski bunnies. But as one new plot twist turns into another dead body, Andie learns not everyone likes meddling civilian sleuths. If she’s not fast enough, the killer may find her before she finds them.

About Jodi Linton

Hey Y’all,

I’m just a girl from Texas, minus the big hair…and oh, yeah, a horse. My crew consists of two kiddos, one which inherited my makeup addiction, and a husband still living out his garage band dreams, but in our closet next to my shoe collection.

I love to hang out with my readers, discussing books, recipes and just everyday shenanigans. I got started in the romance community, which you might know a few of my books from there. Now, I’m all about the cozies…and the coffee. Yeah, can’t forget that.

I’d love for you to come and join my reader group, Jodi’s Book Corner or come like me on Facebook to discover my books. And chat. Naturally.

Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JodiLintonBooks/

Website: http://jodilinton.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JodiLinton1

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jodi-linton

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Y91K-Z2yhTM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jodi_linton_author/?hl=en

Jodi’s Book Corner: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JodiBookCorner/

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/s2j2k6

Purchase Links – Amazon –