One Taste Too Many (A Sarah Blair Mystery)
by Debra H. Goldstein
Moving On – A Torn Shirt and Words That Didn’t Work by Debra H. Goldstein
My favorite shirt tore.
The minute the dryer buzzed, I stopped what I was doing and retrieved my shirt, so it wouldn’t wrinkle. I pulled it out, shook it, hung it, and saw a pinprick sized mark at the edge of the pocket. Perhaps it was a spot? No, a hole going all the way through the fabric at a location that patching or simply wearing it again in public is impossible.
What will I do?
That shirt is the one I grab when I don’t feel up to par, when I think the weather is going to be cold, when I write and ideas aren’t coming, or when it is one of those days. It is my comfort shirt. Oversized, blue-green and white plaid, with sleeves that stay rolled up because it has little buttons and tabs to keep them in place. My shirt serves only two purposes:it keeps me covered and makes me feel secure.
My writing is like my shirt. I write comfort books, like One Taste Too Many, the first of the new Sarah Blair cozy mystery series, and short stories. Readers are meant to feel embraced by the wealth of my words. The language may not be highfaluting, but it always is understandable. Whether the tale is dark or light, it hopefully wraps readers into a different world. Why? Because I believe when readers open one of my books, they should encounter a ride with twists and turns, but that is always engaging.
My first draft of One Taste Too Many was comfortable but, like my shirt, it had a flaw. No matter how many times I read the words, the fabric of the characters and plot were there, but the fun was missing. I tried a patch, but the words no longer engaged me. I finally realized, like the fate that befell my favorite shirt because of the hole’s position, I needed to throw out half of my first draft because I made the wrong character the murderer. Once I started rewriting, I couldn’t stop. The words joyfully flew out of me. Best yet, the happiness I was feeling translated to the page.
The rewrite completely changed One Taste Too Many for the better. I’ll mourn the loss of my shirt, but I’ll buy another. I’ll miss the darling words I cut, but the ones I replaced them with are far better. My new shirt won’t be the same, but moving on, as I had to do with One Taste Too Many, taught me different can still be comfortable.
About the Book
One Taste Too Many (A Sarah Blair Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Kensington (December 18, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1496719476
ISBN-13: 978-1496719478
Digital ASIN: B07CDCZXLP
For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder!
Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty‑eight, Sarah Blair reluctantly swaps her luxury lifestyle for a cramped studio apartment and a law firm receptionist job in the tired hometown she never left. With nothing much to show for the last decade but her feisty Siamese cat, RahRah, and some clumsy domestic skills, she’s the polar opposite of her bubbly twin, Emily—an ambitious chef determined to take her culinary ambitions to the top at a local gourmet restaurant . . .
Sarah knew starting over would be messy. But things fall apart completely when her ex drops dead, seemingly poisoned by Emily’s award-winning rhubarb crisp. Now, with RahRah wanted by the woman who broke up her marriage and Emily wanted by the police for murder, Sarah needs to figure out the right recipe to crack the case before time runs out. Unfortunately, for a gal whose idea of good china is floral paper plates, catching the real killer and living to tell about it could mean facing a fate worse than death—being in the kitchen!
Includes quick and easy recipes!
About the Author
Judge Debra H. Goldstein’s new Sarah Blair cozy mystery series debuts from Kensington Press debuts with One Taste Too Many
Websitehttp://www.debrahgoldstein.com Bloghttp://www.debrahgoldstein.com/blog
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/DebraHGoldsteinAuthor/
Twitter@DebraHGoldstein Linked Inhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-h-goldstein-72473a11/
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4906340.Debra_H_Goldstein
Purchase Links
Review One Taste Too Many
Review (4.5 Stars): I love culinary mysteries and One Taste Too Many was a delightfully entertaining story that had me wanting to visit Emily’s restaurant for a bite of one of her amazing dishes. Sarah and Emily are twin sisters and I loved how these two characters were vastly different from each other but willing to do whatever it takes to protect one another. Even when it meant trying to solve a mystery to keep Emily out of jail.
One Taste Too Many was a fun start to a new mystery series and I would love to see where these characters go from here. I thought RahRah was adorable and each of us that have animals know that these little guys have distinct personalities, which made this mystery even more enjoyable. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 3 – Book Babble – REVIEW
December 3 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
December 4 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW, GUEST POST
December 5 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 6 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 6 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
December 7 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
December 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 8 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
December 9 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 9 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 10 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
December 10 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
December 11 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
December 11 –A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 12 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST
December 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, GUEST POST
December 13 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 13 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
December 14 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
December 14 – Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW, RECIPE
December 15 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – REVIEW
December 15 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – REVIEW
December 16 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
December 16 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
Debra H Goldstein
Thank you for your kind words and for having me here today. RahRah is my favorite, too.