New PIost

Welcome back to school, to a new year, and, hopefully, to a break in the summer heat wave. I hope you have lots of good things to look forward to in the coming month.

I’m being honored at the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce Women’s Conference this year as a Woman of the Year. I’m so grateful to family and friends who are coming in to help me celebrate on September 15 at Moody Gardens. If you happen to be one of them, please stop by The Book Nook, where I’ll be hanging out with seven other fantastic authors, ready to discuss the writer’s journey and talk about our books.

I’m making great progress on my next Detective Parrott novel, and can’t wait to share it with you! It is with many, many thanks that I reveal the book’s title—I know I bugged you to pieces trying to find a title that contained the word “murder,” but didn’t imply anything that could be construed as harming a baby. Collectively, we had a lot of wonderful title suggestions, but the one that checked all the boxes (pun intended) is:

MURDER OUTSIDE THE BOX

Now that important decision has been made, it’s time to select a cover design. I’ve been working with the talented cover artist, Rebecca Evans, trying to come up with something appealing that suggests the mystery involving the newborn who is abandoned in a cardboard box on the back porch of a caretaker’s cottage in Brandywine Valley. When Parrott looks for the person who left the baby, he finds the body of a young woman who has recently given birth.

Here’s where I need your opinion. Rebecca has given me rough drafts of two possible covers. I’d love to have your reactions to the covers with specific comments as to what does or does not appeal to you about each one. We can make changes to these or come up with completely different options. iIgnore the copyright marks, as they will disappear as soon as we decide on and pay for the background. Please send me your thoughts as soon as possible, so we can move forward….

COVER A

COVER B

I’m not ready to reveal the title or cover options to the general public yet, so please don’t share this email with anyone else.

To whet your appetite for MURDER OUTSIDE THE BOX, I’ll share a few factoids about life in Brandywine Valley, PA:

• America’s Garden Capitol. The Brandywine Valley has a rich tradition of horticulture, from the benevolence of the famed DuPont family to the arboretums that pay homage to Pennsylvania — Penn’s Woods.

• September 9, The Mushroom Festival. Celebrates mushrooms, mushroom farms and Kennett Square—the Mushroom Capital of the World. Festival attendees can sample a variety of mushroom-centric foods, from fried mushrooms to mushroom soup and many other dishes, and learn about mystical and interesting process of mushroom growing.

• The Brandywine River Museum of Fine Arts. An outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th century mill with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine River. Renowned for its holdings of the Wyeth family of artists, the museum features galleries dedicated to the work of N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth.

• Horses and equestrian events.

• Gorgeous landscapes and wide open spaces.

• Historic mansions and bank barns.

• Not known for murders, except in Detective Parrott books.

Ready to make another visit to this beautiful part of the country? Parrott and Tonya and I are ready to show you around…

Thanks for being our travel buddy, and thanks for recommending the books to your friends and family and book clubs. Happy September, and stay in touch. I’ll be sitting here, waiting to hear your thoughts on the covers….

Much love,

Saralyn