Cheri Baker's Blog

Today’s blog post is for anyone who is still following this site via RSS.

Hello out there!

As you might have guessed, given that I haven’t updated this blog in four months, change is afoot. Two changes, specifically.

I���ve Switched from an Author Blog to an Author Newsletter

The posts I used to make here have migrated over to my reader newsletter. If you’re interested in following my bookish posts, travelogues, and authorial musings, they’ll all be happening on my newsletter from now on. It goes...

Since we started traveling I’ve tried writing on airplanes, on trains, and in hotel rooms. Tried being the operative word. ����

Apparently a quiet desk and a comfortable chair are mighty powerful things! Now that I’m settled in one place for a bit, I’ll see what I can rustle up.

This post is a follow up to my last newsletter.

Barcelona is dead quiet in the early morning darkness. Back home, the pre-dawn hours are noisy. Metal doors clang and clatter as delivery trucks travel the urban grid. Buses slide by, their engines thrumming, hydraulics hissing at every stop. Spain has a different rhythm. Cafe owners roll up their metal security doors sometime between nine and eleven in the morning. It seems every restaurant serves the same morning menu: strong cafe con leche, per...

In case you missed the details in today’s newsletter…

Butterfly Island Mysteries

Book 1

I’m happy to officially announce the start of a brand new cozy mystery series: The Butterfly Island Mysteries. ����

This spinoff of the Ellie Tappet Mysteries is about an interconnected set of mysteries that take place on fictional Butterfly Island, a quirky island community in the Caribbean Sea with a rich history and many well-kept secrets.

The first novel, A View to Die For, is about Paul Gumbs, the...

Hey, blog readers!

Whenever I haven’t blogged in a while, it feels strange to start back up. My blog feels like a radio that’s been tuned to static, and I’m awkwardly tapping the microphone.

Is this thing still on?

So… What’s new? I’ve been writing a lot, reading a bunch, and feeling emotional whiplash at how quickly the world can change. In just the last few years we’ve had a pandemic, and variants, and all the political and interpersonal drama that surrounded it. Now, a war in Europe?

I won’t...

Hey! I’m experimenting with sharing snippets of my upcoming work here on the blog. This preview is from the start of Hostile Takeover, book three in the Emerald City Spiesseries. My editor hasn’t had a crack at these chapters yet, so there may be changes in the final, published version.

The City (Prologue)

When darkness falls, I rise.

Illumination comes from within. Run the tip of your finger along my sharp-edged skyscrapers, wreathed in chilly fog. For you, I wear blue and gold wrapped in a b...

Readers and friends,

Anything can happen during this spooky time of year. That's why I want to talk to you about an unlikely but dangerous scenario. That's right! I'm talking about that chilling moment when you ask yourself:

Am I trapped inside a Cozy Mystery? 😋

First, Know the Warning Signs

Are you experiencing any of the following?

1. You've been thrown together with a group of quirky strangers who share only a tenuous connection to one another.

2. You're on a train or boat, in a mansion, attending a dinner party or a funeral, or visiting an adorable small town with a delightful cupcake shop.

3. There have been a spate of murders in recent years, but no one seems too concerned.

4. You encounter any of the following: butlers, rich people, philanderers, grandmothers dispensing life lessons, cats or dogs behaving like people, love triangles, or sharp-witted, middle-aged women dating sexy FBI agents or police officers.

5. You find yourself unable to say swear words. You try to squeeze one out, but everyone around you gives you the stink eye and the sounds won't come.

And most obviously:

A bystander with no formal authority is asking persistent questions about a crime and no one bats an eye. 😂

One warning sign alone isn't too concerning. But when you've got three or more? Oh yeah, you might be trapped in a cozy mystery. Beware!

Next, Protect Yourself

In the unlikely event you find yourself in a cozy mystery, don't panic! There are things you can do to minimize your chances of imminent demise:

1. Be your best self. Cozy mystery authors feel bad about killing off sweet, good-hearted people so this is a good moment be a model citizen.

2. Stick close to a protected person. Children, pets, and pregnant women won't get offed in a cozy mystery. If you know a charming mother of three, move in with her and ask to sleep in the extra bunk in the cutest child's room. You know, just while your apartment is being fumigated.

3. Become the sleuth's best friend. Now, this is risky, because murdered people tend to be in the sleuth's orbit. But if you can be their bestie, for real, you're unlikely to die.

4. Don't theorize about the crime! Don't discuss facts about people in town. One minute you're mouthing off about who was sleeping with who and the next minute you're victim number two because you accidentally revealed a clue about the murderer and you gotta go.

5. If the above steps aren't possible, leave town. Cozy mysteries tend to be geographically contained, so removing yourself from the area may help. Note: avoid traveling to places where relevant backstory might have occurred.

Whew! Now that you know the signs, you're ready to handle yourself should you be at your local coffee counter when a sleuth walks in talking about how poor Mr. Johnson was found strangled with his shoelaces at the movie theater.

Stay observant, friends.

Stay observant, and above all, stay alive!

This post was originally part of my reader newsletter. To get more like this, click here to sign up.

Greetings from the start of November! If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo this year, go-go-go! ������ Today is an admin day for me, a day to catch up on email and planning and marketing and all that jazz. So here’s my latest update on the writing challenge:

I Broke My Streak!

The last week wasn’t great, word count wise. I lost a whole day to a migraine (boo), then two days for birthdays (yay!) and then I did that thing where I finished a couple projects and my brain was like NOPE! THE CREATIVI...

The city is alive with the sound of gas-powered leafblowers today; autumn leaves are dropping like golden confetti and there’s a big rainstorm on the way. As much as I dislike the leafblowers, I do enjoy the hum of a city preparing for action. Leaves falling. Workers sweeping. Baristas pulling shots at the cafe across the street. Buses sliding through the slick, wet streets. Bakers pulling cardamom pinwheels out of hot ovens down on First. Cheesemongers cutting slabs of white curd down at Beech...

Good morning! It’s Saturday, I’ve got a steaming hot espresso at my elbow, and I’m ten days into my fall writing challenge. This feels like a good moment to check in on how it’s been going.

First, the numbers:

Writing Challenge Wordcount

Day 1: 4003
Day 2: 5212
Day 3: 5449
Day 4: 4154
Day 5: 0 (day off)
Day 6: 3157
Day 7: 5195
Day 8: 4931
Day 9: 5398
Day 10: 0 (day off)

Total: 37499
Writing Days: 8
Writing Day Average: 4687

I’m a bit shy of my 5000/day target, but that’s fine. Over t...