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Amber’s Blog

Playing Cards

Jake collects playing cards.  We always buy a deck when we travel.  Sometimes that’s easier said than done – especially when most of a trip is planned out with other folks, or if we’re on a cruise stop for just an afternoon.  He’s also collected interesting playing cards at thrift shops and game stores.  Sometimes […]

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Chocolate as Currency

What is it about chocolate that captures the popular imagination?  From Charlie’s Golden Ticket to happiness having him running a Technicolor chocolate factory, to young John Midas, who suddenly finds that everything his lips touch turn to chocolate, children’s books portray chocolate as an object of greed and obsession, as a relief from poverty, at […]

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Amber's Tea Party Ideas

In my latest cozy mystery, there’s a formal tea.  It was a fun scene to write, because I love tea, and have been collecting teapots, teacups and related tea accessories for about two decades.  A lot of the pieces are attached to specific memories, or were gifts from specific people.  One of the things I […]

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Reading From A Study in Chocolate

Check out this video clip of me reading from A Study in Chocolate.  This is a scene near the beginning of the book, where Felicity has accepted an invitation to a tea party at Wobble House, a (very fictional) historic home in Galveston.  She has been invited by the party host, an art collector, to […]

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Chocolate Slogan Gift Ideas

I often see chocolate-related quotes on my social media feed, but sometimes you want something more tangible.  So you can find these quotes printed on everything from pillows to journals.  Here are some of the ones I thought were cute.  The list contains associate links. I always prefer to give credit to the original source […]

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My Top 10 Iconic Detectives

There are far too many great fictional detectives to list all of them.  I had to settle for a top ten list.  These are just my personal faves from the detectives who shaped the genre, defining some of the subgenres and explorations of what mysteries could be.  I’m giving you the first appearance of the […]

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How to Do a Social Media Party or Account Guest “Takeover”

If you’re marketing your writing, you know that growing your audience is the most difficult part.  One powerful tool: leveraging other people’s audiences.  If someone a potential reader knows and trusts has you on as guest, that reader will be more likely to trust that your work has quality too. One fun way to do […]

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