This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. GG Calpo will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Coming up with an idea for a storyline is easy. Inspiration is everywhere. You find it in news headlines, overheard conversations of strangers, text messages, social media rabbit holes, your pet’s antics, your neighbor’s griping, a personal memento you thought lost but found in the most unlikely place, stories you’ve read, shows you’ve watched…I can go on and on and on.
The real challenge is putting together the pieces your imagination has come up with. And turning these pieces upside down, right side up, and inside out. Because storytelling is giving the reader that extra emotional punch they didn’t even know they wanted. It’s not just delivering on the premise but in making it resonate with the reader. For cozy mysteries, that means offering not only a whodunit but raising the emotional stakes so the mystery stops being about what happened and becomes about what it meant.
And for a writer to do that, they have to keep asking themselves why their characters act the way they do. There is always more than one choice for any action. Why did they choose that one—and what does that choice reveal about their fear, flaw, or desire? Answering this question allows a writer to go deeper into the character, becoming more creative with the character and making the character relatable, thus drawing the reader in.
Ideas are cheaper by the dozen. It’s what you do with them that makes you a writer. Because emotional honesty is what transforms a fleeting spark into a story readers truly remember.
What does Meg, a retired kindergarten teacher, do when the killer of her husband and only child still walks free a year after dirt had covered their graves? Go rogue, of course!
When the detective responsible for Meg’s nightmares takes over the murder investigation of her former student, Meg hunts the killer down with help from her friends. Their cozy lunches at Sweet Buns Café turn into tactical meetings while these retired grade school teachers get themselves in trouble better suited to those in their twenties. And to put the icing on their cream scones, someone is after Meg. Is it the killer? Or has Meg uncovered secrets better left buried with her loved ones?
Enjoy an Excerpt
The day was beautiful, with clear skies and a mild snap in the air. It was cold yet warm with the right amount of heat from the sun, making it the perfect spring day. Motorboats and sailboats dipped in and out of the water, out by Poet’s Bay. And at the edge of the harbor were the fishermen, alone or in groups of two or three, a rod in their hands and their tackle boxes opened beside them. We rounded the corner, almost done with our walk, when we saw mothers dragging their children away and fathers covering the eyes of the children in their arms. Pushing against the stream of parents scrambling away were others whose eyes were fixed on the man by the harbor’s edge. A man on whose fishing line dangled a catch with, what I thought were, red fins and a red tail swaying lazily around the hook.
Red? In the salt waters of Poet’s Bay? As I stood there trying to figure out what I was seeing, Barbara shoved her way into the crowd. I followed, my curiosity getting the better of me. Murmurs of “Good morning” and “Good to see you, Mrs. B” trailed behind me, changing to “You sure you want to see this, Mrs. B?” and “I wouldn’t go any further if I were you, Mrs. B.” We fetched up to the front and looked down on the ground before us while the fisherman beside us puked his guts out.
It wasn’t a fish he had caught.
Instead, on the ground was a hand. Just a hand. Nothing else.
About the Author 
A retired CPA and lawyer, GG Calpo now writes cozy mysteries and urban fantasies. She blends her experiences as a Filipino American immigrant with the everyday stories of life around her. She spends her time reading, crocheting blankets and sweaters for her five grandchildren, watching mystery TV shows and taking long walks in her neighborhood. She resides in Central New Jersey, with her husband and two corgis, Whiskey and Nugget.
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