My Newsletter Blog Style

Blogging my way back.

 It’s been too long since I sent out a blog.  While I would love to keep it up and write at least weekly, but find myself doing other things. I have, for example, edited and reformatted my Helen Bradley Mysteries and gotten them back into circulation through e-books.  Now that I can breathe again, I thought I’d blog a bit.  In this entry, I’m including my newsletter.  Soon I’ll be writing about my adventures in publishing electronically.  I have learned so much about formatting and cover art, etc, I figured it might be fun  to share. 

Helen Bradley comes back to life in my new ventures.

I sent out my newsletter, Mysterious Musings, a few days ago and thought I’d include it in my blog in case any of you missed it. If you did get it, please forgive the duplication.

Great News!

After months of being prodded and encouraged, I've finally gotten my Helen Bradley Mysteries converted into e-format. They are now available on Amazon. I should qualify that. All but the first one, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, are available as e-books. I'm working on getting the first of the series back from the publisher, but until then it is still available in print. I'll share details about each book later, but first, I'd like to tell you about my main character, Helen Bradley.

Helen Bradley

I'm excited to share the history behind these mysteries. As some of you may know, Helen came to life in my 15 book series for kids, The Jennie McGrady Mysteries. Helen is Jennie's grandmother, a mysterious and larger than life Gram who helps Jennie solve mysteries when she isn't traipsing around the country or the world solving her own. The Jennie Mysteries have been a huge success and my publisher felt that perhaps Helen, would do well in a series of her own. Thus, The Helen Bradley Mysteries were born.

While Helen is a grandmother, and her first name is my middle name, she is not based on me. Well, not exactly. If I had another life, I might fancy myself a solver of crimes. But wait, that is exactly what I am when I get to write the stories my detectives live out for me.

According to the Library Journal, "Helen is a charming character, reminiscent of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax."

"A gripping work that will appeal to all fans of the mystery genre." __________Midwest Book Review

In case you'd like to read them, I've written a little something about each one below and inserted a link to each book on Amazon.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

In this first book of the series, Helen Bradley, ex-cop, grandmother and travel writer, learns that a prominent gerontologist has been murdered. When the doctor's widow also dies, Helen checks herself into a convalescent home to discover the truth surrounding the mysterious deaths. Edgewood Manor is the perfect place for Helen to recover from a gunshot wound and do a little detective work. A good plan as long as she doesn't die in her sleep.

Red Sky in Mourning

Helen receives an assignment to write a guide book about the Long Beach Peninsula on the Washington coast. What begins as research, ends up being a criminal investigation as she teams up with Coast Guard, investigator, Adam Jorgenson, to discover a fisherman's dark secret and his murderer.

A Haunting Refrain

Helen is summoned to her Uncle Paddy's estate and renowned spa for a family meeting. When her dear eccentric uncle dies, Helen is determined to find out who killed him and why. Was the killer a ghost as everyone suspects or is the ghost being set up to take the fall?

When Shadows Fall

A walk on the beach turns tragic when Helen discovers a body pinned beneath a tree-sized driftwood. The body is identified as the Mayor, but his death is no accident. He was murdered and the evidence points straight to Helen's best friend.

On Another Note

In April, I had the privilege of visiting the Sons of Norway Lodge in Longview, Washington as their keynote speaker. I had so much fun chatting with those Scandinavians, partly because they are fun to be around and because I am one. Half Norwegian and half Swede. It was delightful too because my sister, Peggy, came as well as my aunties, Bernice and Annie, along with a number of fans.

It was one of the last times I was to see my Aunt Annie. She passed away this past May while I was in MN visiting my family. I'm dedicating this newsletter to her. She would have been delighted to see my good news as she was one of my biggest fans.

So that is a wee bit of my news this summer. Thanks for tagging along.

Blessings,

Patricia H. Rushford

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