My go-to research tools, and giveaways for you!

Happy January! I hope those in the northern hemisphere have been keeping warm. It has certainly been nippy in our neck of the woods.

As many of you know, the sixth book of the Concordia Wells Mysteries, Unseemly Honeymoon, came out last month! If you’re interested, you can find more details (blurb and vendor links) by clicking on the cover, below.

In an earlier post, I shared some research tidbits behind Unseemly Honeymoon, including the fact that the early telephone operators were boys, but because fights would break out on the work room floor they were quickly replaced by demure young ladies who’d be fired for crossing their legs. I didn’t set out to learn that – it was just an odd little fact that I couldn’t possibly use in my novel.

My go-to research tools are books written in the time period (searchable through WorldCat and Google Books) and newspaper archives. Contemporary newspapers in particular provide insight into daily life of the time, turns of phrase, and so on. Of course, searches can be hit-and-miss: let’s say you launch a search on jurisprudence (keywords: sheriff, law, court, etc) in 1899 East Hampton via the Suffolk County, NY newspaper archive (after all, when the bad guy/gal is caught, you have to do something with the culprit), but along the way you learn that, in the month of June, East Hampton used 80,000 gallons of water a day, 45,000 of it on the streets (road dust was a real problem back then). You also learn that a 410-pound sturgeon was caught opposite East Moriches, the Jericho turnpike was macadamized, the mother of a state senator contracted poison ivy while gathering ferns, and some poor fellow climbing his cherry trees to pick them fell and broke his ankle so badly the foot had to be amputated. *wince*

Yep, all the news that’s fit to print, folks.

But I wouldn’t trade my searches for anything. Some of the aforementioned items I was able to use for local color and conversations in the novel. Other serendipitous bits became absolutely crucial to my storyline, such as learning about the East Hampton Fair, an annual summer fundraiser run by the East Hampton Ladies’ Village Improvement Society. To see how I used it in Unseemly Honeymoon, you’ll have to read the novel. *wink*

And you’ll be happy to know that I did finally find out the basics of jurisprudence in 1899 Suffolk County. The culprit was appropriately taken care of.

Okay, on to the reader giveaways! There are two of them, going on simultaneously:

Cozy Winter Audiobooks Giveaway

January 16th-Feb 3rd

Nine (9) winners will receive all three (3) audiobooks from the Concordia Wells mystery series: Dangerous and Unseemly (book 1), Unseemly Pursuits (book 2), and Unseemly Ambition (book 3).

One (1) winner will receive all three (3) audiobooks, plus a set of wine charms, customized with the first three audiobook covers and the K.B. Owen Mysteries logo. Aren’t they cute?

To help with logistics, I’m using the Gleam giveaway service to keep things organized and randomly select the winners. All you have to do is visit the giveaway page (in the link below) to see your options for entering the drawing. It’s super simple…no Herculean tasks, I promise. Options include checking out my Facebook, Pinterest, or book page (feel free to say “hi”), and there’s a fun “Which garden pic is your favorite?” activity as well! Multiple entries increase your chances:

Cozy Winter Audiobook Giveaway

Cozy Winter Book Giveaway

January 16th-Feb 3rd

Five (5) winners will receive their choice of any ebook from the Concordia Wells mystery series, out of the six books so far.

Five (5) winners will receive their choice of any paperback from the Concordia Wells mystery series. I’ll inscribe it to whomever you designate! I’ll throw in a lip balm, too, if you like. *wink*

To help with logistics, I’m using the Gleam giveaway service to keep things organized and randomly select the winners. All you have to do is visit the giveaway page (in the link below) to see your options for entering the drawing. It’s super simple…no Herculean tasks, I promise. Options include checking out my Facebook, Pinterest, or book page (feel free to say “hi”), and there’s a fun “Which garden pic is your favorite?” activity as well! Multiple entries increase your chances:

Cozy Winter Book Giveaway

I’ll notify the winners no later than Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Good luck!

Until next time,

Kathy

**P.S. – I’m running separate contests because not everyone is set up to listen to audiobooks, so it seemed best to target that audience separately. But feel free to enter both! ~KBO

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