Petals and a Poison by Emmie Lyn Book 6 in the Accidental Ghost Detective Mysteries
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Meet Emmie Lyn, author of the Accidental Ghost Detective Mysteries
Buy Emmie's new book: Petals and a Poison by Emmie Lyn - released Jan 31, 2024 https://amzn.to/3ShWJw2
Author Chat Questions
0:00 Intro
2:16 Tell us about your new book - Petals and a Poison - The Accidental
4:25 Can readers pick this up without first reading Books 1-5?
5:40 How many more books do you have planned for the series?
6:25 Will there be any more paranormal cozies in your writing future?
7:08 Why a ghost and a talking dog…..vs a witch or a vampire or anything else…?
8:11 Why a hot dog and not a Doberman or a Corgi or….anything else?
11:24 What makes him royalty? - Prince Dasher Dangerdog Bean?
12:44 What kind of a personality does Dash have? 14:30 Was Nikki close to her grandmother?
17:58 What's personality in the grandmother?
19:16 Is the grandmother able to leave the house or is she bound to it?
20:06 Is the grandmother in the book anything like your own grandmother?
21:20 Have you watched the TV Show Ghosts - is it sort of like that where the ghost is bored without the TV on or someone to talk to?
21:46 Why Georgia? Is it hot and humid year round there?
22:44 How does the weather or Southern culture work into the mysteries, if at all?
23:42 You’re a big gardener, right?
24:57 Was the garden in the book representative of any of your yard work?
26:13 What are your writing plans for 2024?
28:06 Where can readers find you
28:40 Book giveaway
Listen Now [Audio Only]
Petals and a Poison by Emmie Lyn Book 6 in the Accidental Ghost Detective Mysteries
Feb 2, 2024
30 min 6 sec
This transcript was generated automatically by Spotify. Its accuracy may vary.
0:00
That.I can't do Hi, everyone, and welcome to the cozy mystery Mingle.So I'm here today with my good friend Sandy, who writes as Emmy Wynn.Hello everybody.So Sandy is in a colder temperature right now and I'm in a warmer.
0:18
It's like 7° here.What is it there?Actually today is in the 30s and we we had snow at the beginning of the week and it stayed in the 20s.So everything kind of got a little bit slick and icy, but it's melting a little bit today, so it's up and down.
0:34
It's cloudy though, so we haven't really had any sunshine all week.So it's basically the same as here 70. 70 and 30 Oh yeah, almost the same.So.So why don't we just turn out, tell us a little bit about yourself and why you picked the pen name Emmy Lynn?
0:56
Well, I really don't have a good reason why I picked that name.It would just came to me when I needed a pen name.And I've been writing Cozy Mysteries for, I don't know, maybe 10 years.I'm not sure how.
1:11
When I started, I just sat down and decided, well, my daughter had been writing Cozy Mysteries and she said, oh, you ought to give this a try.So I sat down or I thought about it for a while, came up with an idea and sat down and started writing books.They were horrible.Slap.
1:27
Over time, I feel like I have gotten better.You always get better the more you do something.And I just keep writing them because these characters live in my head and they have something to say, all right?And you have.Always been a cozy mystery writer.
1:43
Did you write anything before that?Like a different.Genre.No, no, nothing.Always cozy.Mystery.OK.And that was out of purpose, like you just love that genre and that's why you chose it.Well, I.I had never even heard of the genre, but once it was explained, oh, it's like murder, She Wrote on TVI always enjoyed that show and I thought, oh OK, well I can do that.
2:03
I don't write gore.I don't have to write romantic sexy scenes.It's just characters and setting and a fun mystery.Hopefully.Yeah, yeah, they're all fun.So.So tell us about We're here today to talk about petals and a poison from your accidental Ghost Detective series.
2:22
So this is #6, so just tell us about this book and also talk about the rest of the series.Well, without giving too much away, this pedals and a poison takes place in an award-winning garden.And there's a banquet with the the award being given after the banquet.
2:43
So this is a ceremony and the conflict starts right away because the the other gardeners who came in second and third, we're not happy with who won the award and felt he didn't deserve it, felt she might have cheated, put the judge in a very difficult position, put them, put her in the middle of these unhappy Master Gardeners.
3:07
And that's how it starts.And it basically takes place in the in the garden for the whole book.OK, and so let's just talk about how So that's different from books left through pride, because it's it was at a haunted house originally, right?
3:27
Well, the main character inherited a haunted house well and inherited a bed and breakfast from her grandmother who was ago.But they don't all necessarily take place in Moonlight Mansion.It just they all take place in the town of Frog Hollow and they all take place in a different place.
3:45
One of them was in a winery, can't even remember where they all take place.But it's the same, you know, the same characters each book adds.Well, maybe not each book adds a new character, but over the course of the six books, a few new interesting characters have been added.
4:03
So yeah, this book, this book is is is different from the others because the main character revealed her secrets to her boyfriend, and there's a fun new character that shows up in the the award-winning garden.
4:23
OK, great.And so can readers pick up book number six Pedals and Poison without reading one through 5?They.Can't.Every book is self-contained, but I feel like with all of these cozy mystery series, mine and other people's, it's easier if you start at the beginning.
4:38
Because there's always a character development.And I try really hard to give a little bit of background when I in each book when I talk about a new character in case people haven't read the other books.But since I know the characters, I don't know if I always, you know, give enough information for somebody jumping in.
5:00
But yeah, it's perfectly fine.There's no cliffhangers.The mystery is solved.All right.Yeah.Because sometimes I think I was talking to another reader.And it's not that we need to read books out of order, but sometimes if you're getting them from the library, one might not be available, but you're like, oh, but I'm so excited to start this series.
5:18
Yeah, so I've done.I've done that, and if I don't quite get something because I know I'm reading it out of order, I just figure out, well, it probably doesn't matter that much.So I guess it depends how much a particular reader has to know how everything works, and you know consecutively how fussy somebody is.
5:38
Right.OK.So how many?So this is book 6.It's a lot.Are you, is this series done or just done for now?You might come back.Do you have any more plan?This series is done for now.I'm jumping back to write three more books in one of my other series.I've had a lot of, well, a few readers say, this isn't the last one, is it?
5:58
And I said, well, the last one for now.I never know.I never say never.We'll see what happens.I've got to get these next three books written in the Little Dog Diner series.And then see what's after that.I don't.I don't make plans for that far into the future, and I stick with theories.
6:15
I can't jump back and forth because my brain just gets too confused with the characters.Yeah.Same and the location ends.And like the quirks and the town, right?Yeah.So this is a paranormal.This is your first paranormal right?Usually write contemporary with no magic.Correct.
6:32
OK, which I I thought I would never write but I think it's not a lot of paranormal.I made sure there's a ghost and there's a witch and there's talking to odd.But I can get my head wrapped around those kinds of characters and I really enjoyed it.
6:49
And in a way writing this paranormal series in some respects it's easier because of the magic things can happen that are can happen in a contemporary.So it it was definitely out of my comfort zone when I started, but it wasn't hard to to to move along in it.
7:08
Yeah, we talked about that.So the ghost, the dog, the witch, Why not a vampire, A werewolf, right?There's so many different things you could do for magic.I don't know, the Loch, Ness Munster.How did you end up with the ones you chose?I think it's just because a ghost doesn't seem.
7:25
I mean, not that I necessarily believe in ghosts or disbelieve in ghosts, but they seem like it's more of a possibility to me that a vampire or any of these other things.It's, you know, people talk about haunted houses, so it just seems a little bit more or a little bit less paranormal and the talking dog, I mean that's just who wouldn't want their pet to be able to talk to them.
7:47
Yeah, sure, that's you know, made-up and it's magic, but it's it's something that I think any pet lover could could relate to wanting to have that and he's been really been the star of the series.Maybe not from the first book, but yeah, that's that's the character that gets mentioned the most when I get feedback from readers.
8:08
They love Dash.Well, on the cover, it's so cute.You're like, oh, I don't even have a dachshund.I've never thought about it.But then I saw your covers and I was like, maybe I need a dachshund.Like a little hot to hot Friday.They're so adorable.I mean, is that why you picked one?You could have picked any breed.
8:25
Well actually I was asked to write this theories.They were pre made covers.So I had new over the dog, but it didn't matter to me because I loved dogs.And you know, I did a little research on dachshunds and I thought, yeah that's fine.
8:42
You know, this dog will work fine in the in the series and I've had several readers that have dachshunds and they just think oh this is just you know, great that you know, the series is about a dachshund.He's just like my dog and you know it's they can really relate to that.
8:59
But I in a way maybe it's easier to that I didn't have to pick because it's hard to to choose when you like all the dogs.I have to take a little break, my cat and it's exciting, annoying because I'm busy.But he was bugging me before I came up to connect with you.
9:21
And I tried to get him outside but of course with the snow he didn't want to.He's trying to tell me something and I don't know what, but.And so you have a dog, right?Not at the moment.I have put my dog to sleep last year, so right I don't have a dog right now.
9:36
I just just have a cat.My mom lives with me and she has a cat and we I have two stray cats outside that I barn, cats that I feed.And are you thinking about getting a little hot dog?I've always liked big dogs but I always, I've ended up with dogs that kind of just fall into my lap because they you know they rescue animals.
10:00
So I don't and I've never gone out and said oh I want this kind of dog and you know go looking at a reader.I I do look at a a lot of shelter sites and follow you know what animals they have on their website and they're also tempting at I I don't know I'm what I'm gonna do.
10:21
I kept thinking maybe I would find me.That makes it easy, but so far there's no dog that has found me.Yeah, it's funny because usually when you watch YouTube, all these people are finding all these stray animals, right?And taking them in.I don't know where they're coming from, but yeah, they should get the word out to other dogs.
10:37
Like this woman is looking for a stray dog.She will take you in.So I know you just wander.Here's stray tats.That still seems to be a problem where I know, but stray dogs don't really exist anymore.I think that in in New England there's a lot of shelters and you know, people really do a good job with getting their animals spayed and neutered.
10:57
So IA lot of the shelters up here, the dogs actually come from the South.So it's just there's not a lot of stray dogs roaming around here.And if there is a dog on the road, you know, the town Facebook group will say, oh, does anybody own a Husky and just walk by my house And some of us say, Oh yeah, that's, you know, that's my dog.
11:16
I'll come and get him.So they're if I see a dog on the road, it's probably got an odor.All right, well, let's go back to our magical talking dog, Dash.That's his name, right?Yes.And Dash's royalty, right?These prints?Well, Dasher, Danger, Dog Bean.
11:33
Yeah.And he, I wrote a little story about how why he got that name in one of my newsletters.And the gist of it was, is that Dash was a runt in the litter.And his, the people that have the dachshund puppies looked at him and said all this poor dog needs a really, you know, fancy name because he's just a runt.
12:00
And Dash understood all of this.And what didn't know what a runt was, he didn't know if he was little.He thought he was big and handsome and everything else, and he thought that was a great name.So that's how we ended up with the names.It really isn't anything to do with with royalty.
12:15
It's just because he was runt.I mean, I like it.And then they dumped him on the side of the road.And that's how book one starts when the main character, Nikki sees this little dog sitting in the road and she says, well, I'll take him home and find the owner and that that's you know how, how the whole series starts.
12:37
I mean, he sounds like a dog, a healthy self esteem.He does, yes, yes.That's good.So what kind of personality does he have?He yeah, he lives in a moment like all dogs do, and he has an excellent sense of smell, which makes him invaluable to Nikki when they're doing their amateur slooping.
13:00
He can help her find clues and analyze clues and but he's also very easily distracted when it comes to food.He loves sausages and you know that's always frustrating for her because you know, constantly wants treats and he won't do things sometimes unless she promises him a treat.
13:18
I mean, he's just a typical dog, but he he definitely has a big self-image of, you know, of himself and thinks highly of himself, but in a good way.OK, all right, so this is a minor, but because he's a talking dog, does she not need to put a leash on him because he just kind of listens and heals?
13:39
Well, that's interesting that you ask because I think in one of this book I am, I don't think, but in one of the books for some reason he had to have a leash on and he did not like that at all.I forgot what he called it.He'll he'll come.He he also takes everything literally, which makes some of the conversations really funny.
14:01
And he, I think they had to bribe him to to put the leash on.Yeah.Now, I don't remember where they were, where they were going, but yeah, he he had probably a purple leash or something.He likes purple.And he has Cape.A purple Cape?Oh.That's cute, but normally.
14:19
It's free to, you know, to run away and get into trouble.That big trouble.But annoying other people?That's.Cute.A dog with a favorite color.All right, so that she has another.So Nikki, our main character, has another sidekick, the Ghost, which is her grandmother, right?
14:37
Yes.So and are they close to each other or how does that?Work.Yeah, well, Audrey the grandmother was actually the main character in the prequel to the series, which was part of which is a short story that was part of that black cat crossing.
14:58
Oh, great book that you several authors wrote in.And that explains how she became a ghost.So anyway, when she died, she'd left her bed and breakfast to her granddaughter.Her granddaughter had always spent summers there with Audrey and was very close to her.
15:16
And so when, you know, when Nikki found out she inherited this bed and breakfast, she went to Frog Hollow and didn't really expect to stay.But one thing led to another and she runs the bed and breakfast and I think she also does it money wise.
15:38
She's fine because of money that Audrey left her.Of course that always is helpful because she has to spend a lot of time solving crimes.She.Doesn't have time to.Work right.Right.So yeah, so Audrey is still is part of this Ghost Detective team.
15:56
She's the one that really wanted to start it.And Nikki was like, I don't want anything to do with that.I don't know how to solve crimes, you know, blah, blah, blah.And but then somebody got murdered and Nikki was the main suspect initially in the first book.
16:12
So she kind of was forced into this crime solving role and one thing led to another and more of the characters were invited into the group.So there's, you know, there's a, there's a group of them that work together solving these crimes.
16:31
Is it like the Scooby gang where every all their friends have together every time someone's killed?Sort of, I guess, Yeah.They they just hang out together all the time anyway.One of them is a hairdresser.She was the Nikki's best friend from when she would spend her summers there, and so she has a good, good access to the local gossip as a hairdresser.
16:55
Plus she's you know can talk to anybody and is very chatty and people open up and tell her things so she's a good character to have in there And then then the well there's Pearl who comes in later maybe in the she's been in each book but she didn't have very much of A role until maybe book three and she has a special talent which I'm not going to say just in case somebody hasn't read the the books yet So she becomes part of the group and but Nikki is the one that can understand Dash.
17:26
Other people can't understand him but if the if if somebody has it's not you know like a witch or somebody they can understand but other people can't.So, so whatever.Dash is yapping away and Nikki knows what he's saying, the other people don't know.
17:46
So the grandmother who's the ghost can understand.Dash.Yes.OK.And then it's your boss.So does the grandmother, I guess with her personality.Is she like she wants the Ghost Detective Agency?
18:03
Is she pushy?Is she loud?Quiet.I don't know.She's not loud.She's just very a very strong female character and, you know, always kind of gotten what she's wanted through her whole life.And well, except for the dying part, because she was, she was murdered.
18:22
And she doesn't end up being as involved in the books as I expected her to, partly because she's a ghost and it's hard sometimes for me to figure out how to get her in there.She comes and goes, which is a ghostly thing because she can be invisible.
18:41
So that's her big talent that she can be invisible and go where where they can't go and eavesdrop.You know, she can be the fly on the wall and hear things, but you know she gets frustrated at times because she can't like participate in their delicious meals because she doesn't eat anymore and so she misses that kind of stuff.
19:06
I don't know she just she's she's a more serious I would say in the in the group.OK, and is she able to leave the house?She's not bound to the haunted house.She's not bound to the haunted house, but when they go someplace in the car, she travels in the car with them and but she she hates it because Nikki has a convertible and Audrey is always afraid she's going to blow out, which I mean, you get caught in a tree or something.
19:36
She has this fear of riding the car.So she kind of just sinks down on the floor and you know, complaints all the time about not wanting to be in that vehicle.But so, yeah, she goes places with Nikki and then she might just disappear.
19:52
She'll, you know, she'll say, well, this is, this is what I'm planning to do.And if I find something, you know, I'll be back and let you know what I found, you know, so she he can come and go that way once they're to their location.OK, and is so is Audrey anything like your own grandmother?
20:10
No, I don't think so.I no.My grandma, my my 2 grandmas one I was, we saw we visited a lot, but I was probably about 12 when she died, or 10 and she was just your typical nurturing grandmother.
20:27
I wouldn't say at all that she was a strong, independent person like Audrey is and I have.A grandmother might have been more like that, but we didn't really see her that much.But she always sent me books for holidays, so that's what I always associate with her now.I think I try.
20:44
I think Audrey is the kind of grandmother that I would like to be for my grandkids, you know, and give them a good role model as a strong female and but fun and doing things and being just being there for them, which is what, you know, Audrey's always there for Nikki.
21:00
She always has Nikki's back, even if she's discipline, not disciplining her, but, you know, maybe not agreeing with her or you know, giving a different perspective.She's always got her back.So they they do.Yeah.So that's it.
21:15
That's a great Nikki can always count on Audrey to be there for her.So is this like that TV show goes for the the ghost where Audrey has to be entertained in between?Like, does she have to leave the TV on for her, or can Audrey like, turn stuff on?No, I I I, I don't watch much.
21:32
TVI haven't watched that show.But no, it's just part of the group.She doesn't need to be entertained.She she, you know, can take care of herself if there's downtime and she's not needed, yeah.And so the let's talk about this setting.
21:48
So this is actually in Georgia because the other series is up in Maine and it's in Frog Hollow.Is that because was this part of the Peach Plains paranormal over that here in Georgia?Is that why it's there?OK, so is it like hot and humid there?
22:04
Like what kind of frog hollows, temperature and culture is there?Well, yeah, I mean Georgia, I had to, you know, research the weather and it's, it's got mild winters in the northern part of Georgia.It could snow even.But no, I think it's, it's pretty, you know, mild year round between 50 and 90 humid in the summer.
22:26
And I think that's why I came up with the name Frog Hollow.I'm just imagining imagining swampy filled with frog.Yeah, when I started the series.So yeah, I'm not real familiar with Georgia except for the research that I've done.
22:42
OK.I mean so when the in the book for the studying for Frog Hollow, does the weather even or the southern culture really work into?That or no, probably not much because I'm not real familiar with it.
23:00
I I don't know that you would really know that it's Georgia if I didn't say it was Georgia.OK.Yeah.And are they?So are each of the mysteries in the summertime, the fall, the winter are just, I guess they're they're year round.It's just warm there, right?
23:16
Right.So that that is the difference between my other series that there's more outdoor potential for activities and well you can do outdoor stuff in the winter too but like gardening or you know things that you don't that with the with nicer weather yeah there's there are seasons but it's not as defined as what I where I live.
23:42
Oh, wait, so there's some gardening.So this is all set in the garden and you're a gardener, right?You're always out in the yard, right?What are you gardening?Are you doing flowers, Vegetables.Fruit.I do mostly flowers and I do some vegetables, but it seems like my vegetable gardens always get taken over by flowers.
24:06
It's yeah, it's just something I've been doing.I mean, before I started writing, I grew cut flowers as a business to supply to flower shops as a wholesale.That's a lot of work, yeah.It doesn't, Yeah, it was way too much work.So yeah, I love flowers and but I also I also love vegetables because I like to eat nice fresh vegetables.
24:30
But it's just flowers are prettier.So little bit of both.I don't have, I don't have I I do have a little bit of a small strawberry patch.I have rhubarb.I don't have fruit trees.I used to but I it was too much to take care of.So I cut them all down.
24:46
I used to have raspberries.I'm sure I'd like to have raspberries again.Those are pretty easy and blueberries, but for now it's just strawberries and rhubarb.OK, and then so did you use a lot of your garden expertise and skills into this book?
25:03
Well, this book, this garden is an award-winning garden.I mean something this big with so many different types of flowers and it's got a pond and there's a gazebo.I mean all that stuff is basically a full time job for more than one person.
25:20
So it would be a garden I would love to have but I never will have.But sure, you know, just knowing what I know about flowers helped me kind of think about what elements might be nice to have in this garden.So but.
25:36
I had to do some research, especially because there's a poison.So you know, I have to figure out which.What poison?What poisonous plants are going to be in this garden, right?Pedals and a poison.So you if you win the lottery, which you don't even play, then this will be a garden that you will have.
25:55
Exactly.Yes.As long as I can hire people to do it, I'm getting too old.Well, that's.Well, in this dream scenario, you've won the lottery, so you have a whole.Stay.There you go.Definitely.I would love to have a garden like this.I could see it in my head.Yeah, Greenhouse and everything.
26:12
Yeah.All right.So what are your writing plans for 2024?I have committed to write three more books in the Little Dog Diner series.So I've started Book 7 and that's as far as I'm going for commitments because I don't like to overwhelm myself with commitments because then I just, you know, I don't like the stress of that.
26:35
And then my newsletter that I work on every that I've been putting out every week and I challenged myself this year to write a haiku every day and so far I have and it's.I found it to be very cleansing in a way because it's short.
26:54
I yeah.Well you know I get a topic and it doesn't take me very long to write write it, but I and it helps me be careful with my words.OK.Because you know you only need so many words per line was I think it's 575 syllables.
27:10
So that's been kind of an interesting I read someplace that somebody had started writing haiku every day and I thought oh I could do that.That's not too big of a commitment.Yeah.As long as I remember I I had gotten 1 written and I I remembered every day so far.
27:28
Yeah, it's nice to have some structure and rules around what you're writing instead of just a blank page where you can do anything.Right, exactly.And it is, it's been kind of fun like in the morning.OK, get that out of the way and.OK.Are you sharing your haikus anywhere online?
27:44
Well, I do.I don't know if I put one in my newsletter every week, but I'm planning to add a link at some point that people can read them probably month by month.So I've got January done and now I have to decide how I'm going to add them to my newsletter.
28:03
All right, so yeah, so the newsletter Where where can readers find you?What is my newsletter?Well, it's on sub stack.Right.But they can go to your website and sign up for it, right?They can, yeah.So yeah, I mean, lend books and they can sign up there.
28:20
Yes and yeah, and Facebook, that's really, you know, Book Bob can follow me on Book Bob or Amazon, but that's pretty much, I don't do Twitter or Instagram or any of those other things.
28:36
Right.Oh, and I'm so sorry.So there's some people here.Let me see.So we have Robbie.I finally made one.Yes.Hi.Hi.And Rose, I agree with the ghost and a talking dog.Dog, Come on.
28:51
Of course.Yes.Karen, they're all saying hi, Rose, I'm loving this animal recipe talk.He loves sausages.Yes.I'm talking.Yes.OK, awesome.
29:07
So it's time for a book giveaway.So do you want to pick a number between 1:00 and 7:00, Sandy?OK, tell you the number or.Tell me the number that sounded magic prick 4.OK.So we have one 234.
29:24
So it's Karen.Yay.So Karen, I have your e-mail, so we will send you the book Number six.It's an e-book.And yeah, Karen, I love the idea of a daily haiku challenge.Yeah.Great.And if if she already has the book, then I could gift one from a different series.
29:46
Yeah, so let me know.Karen, just send me an e-mail.She has my e-mail and thank you so much, Sandy, for being on today and for sharing information about your book.Thank you, Lisa, for inviting me.And hello to everybody and goodbye to everybody and yeah.
30:02
Bye everyone, Have a great weekend.Bye.
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