As We Move into May / Saralyn Richard 

April has been a wonderful month for book clubs, book blogs, and other events, and May promises to be the same. Once again, I’m reminded of how my connections with readers are the very best part of the writing journey.

Thank you to all of you for reading, recommending, and reviewing my books. Not only do you provide a service for others who are looking for a good read, but your ratings and reviews cause the algorithm to jump, and that leads to bigger and better things for the book, like corporate recommendations. If you haven’t yet rated or reviewed MURDER OUTSIDE THE BOX (or any other books written by me), please consider doing so here. 

Mother’s Day (free story)

Mother’s Day is coming up on May 12, and that reminds me of something I’d like to share with you in this newsletter. Many of us are not mothers, or our own mothers are no longer with us. That makes Mother’s Day sometimes difficult to handle.

A few years ago, I wrote a story entitled “Mother’s Day,” involving the Principal of Lincoln High School, Sally Pearce. Sally and her husband have no children, and Sally’s mother has recently passed away, when the story begins.

Originally published in Encircle Publications’ Eccentric Circles, “Mother’s Day” is available for your reading pleasure here.

I hope you enjoy it.

Mother’s Day (vignette)

Here’s another Mother's Day vignette. One of my favorite Mother's Day gifts from my children was this parrot pin. I love it because it’s from them, of course, but also because it represents my Detective Parrott mystery series. I treasure this pin and wear it often when I go to book clubs and other events.

Last Saturday I was wearing it during ArtWalk, and I was photographed with it near the end of the evening. When I arrived at home, it was missing. After combing through all the boxes and bags we’d brought home, and checking in the car, we decided it must have fallen off downtown, where the ArtWalk took place.

We hightailed it downtown, and I looked around where our table was—no pin. I looked where I stood when I was hugging the people in this photo—no pin. Then I ran into the street where I squeezed into the passenger side of our car, and there it was, face-down on the street!

I was so excited to find my special piece of jewelry! You can be sure I’ll fasten it more securely from now on!

Giveaway Alert

I’ll be visiting with the Magnolia Wine and Book Club and the Katy Book Club this month. Also, if you know anyone who might be interested in diving into the Detective Parrott Mystery Series, I will be giving away ten free ebooks of MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT through a random drawing of names and email addresses that come from you before May 11. Ask your friends, relatives, and neighbors if they’d be interested, and send me their information. Or, have them send me their information in response to this newsletter. The more the merrier, and I’m looking forward to meeting the people you suggest.

Meanwhile, I’m writing the sequel to BAD BLOOD SISTERS. It’s wonderful to be back with Quinn and Josh on their Gulf Coast island, and getting to know Quinn’s high school English teacher, Liz Oliver. One of the characters is an aging, impulsive, flamboyant stage actress who lives in New York and visits the island over the Christmas holidays. If you have a suggestion for what I should name this character, please share it with me! I can’t wait to see what you come up with…

Oh, and MURDER OUTSIDE THE BOX won its first award for Best Fiction in the Pencraft Awards Contest.

As always, thank you for your support and friendship. I wish you all the joys of May, including good health, lovely weather, and lots of fun. Don’t forget to send me names and email addresses for the ebook giveaway drawing!

Much love,

Saralyn