Author Archives: Joanne Guidoccio

Release Day – Hippie Mermaid

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Hippie Mermaid is officially available today!

Blurb

From sea to shore, betrayal follows her wherever she goes.

On Christmas Eve, psychic Kendra Adams reveals the secret she’s hidden for decades—she was once Rosina, a mermaid torn between sea and shore. Betrayed in her ocean kingdom and desperate to escape banishment, she persuades a politician to smuggle her into the human world. But freedom on land comes at a cost, as she soon finds herself ensnared in another web, this one spun by the politician’s power-hungry sister.

Excerpt

The human laughter startled me. It sounded so foreign, unlike anything I had ever heard before. I followed the sounds and turned my gaze toward four large humans approaching us. Up close, they were frightening, almost menacing, in their dark garments. I took note of their varying appearances. Two had light brown hair and blue eyes, while the other pair sported dark hair and dark eyes. Intent on observing the darker pair, I didn’t notice the other two men eyeing me.

“Hippie mermaid!” yelled one of the men with light-colored features.

All the men glanced in my direction. I felt myself reddening as I met their liquid eyes and wide smiles. There was interest there, and some other emotion or feeling I had never seen before. For a split second, I was flattered by their attention. And then I recalled what Mama had said. I must let Annabella choose first.

Annabella did not give me a chance to react. She beckoned to the man who had spoken, and he reluctantly turned away from me. Rosetta claimed the other light-haired man, and Lisetta chose one of the dark-haired men. I watched as they moved to separate rocks along the shore.

The remaining man approached. As his features came into closer focus, I realized he was older than the others. Not by much, but there were white hairs sprinkled in the darkness, and his face crinkled as he smiled. “I guess I won this mermaid lottery.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

He laughed and shook his head. “You could have had any of us. You didn’t have to end up with me.”

“But I’m not a Bella or an Etta. I’m an Ina.” There was no point hiding my rank. I had never been embarrassed by it, and after hearing about Aunt Lina’s punishment, I knew my place.

“Honey, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re the prettiest of the group. You just don’t know it yet.”

Buy Links

Amazon CA | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

The Passion Factor

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

On Fridays, I receive Hope Clark’s newsletter, Funds for Writers. Here’s a thought-provoking essay from a recent email:

In the gym today, my trainer advised that if you want to improve and build muscle (i.e., get strong), you push the last three reps/times such that you think you’ll fail at any moment. In other words, you push to failure. You push, seeking that point when you just can’t.

He said he’s had clients get frustrated when he tells them they left effort out there unused, and then walk out. But they usually walk back in the next day after they’ve had a look-in-the-mirror moment.

Once they learn to lift like that, and once they learn to come back day after day and not just when they can work it in, they are lifting with passion.

Only then is when you see success.

Your brain will try to tell you to take the path of least resistance in most anything. It will tell you to stop before it gets too hard. But you do not improve unless you push past that.

In writing, you write/publish/submit to the point of failure. Writers who opine about the pain of rejection, in my opinion, don’t write with passion. They write for fun. They write to feel good. They do not write with passion.

Passion is doing something beyond the level of “can’t.” Beyond the level of shaking muscles. Beyond the fear of rejection. Beyond the trepidation of having to do something you aren’t sure will work. Beyond the concern of being embarrassed.

Those who excel, who succeed, who achieve something different than the masses, are doing so with passion. Passionate writers write through all the noise, voices, criticism, demands, and obstacles in their path. They write until it hurts.

Sign up to receive Hope Clark’s newsletter here

Movie Review: Roofman

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Writer-director Derek Cianfrance delivers a crowd-pleasing film based on a stranger-than-fiction tale about a career criminal in North Carolina.

Roofman tells the true story of Jeffrey Manchester (brilliantly portrayed by Channing Tatum), a U.S. Army veteran struggling to provide for his family. After disappointing his daughter at her birthday party and receiving little support from his ex-wife (Melonie Diaz) and best friend (LaKeith Stanfield), Jeffrey resorts to robbing McDonald’s restaurants to fix his financial troubles.

With a sharp eye for detail and strategy, Jeffrey notices that all McDonald’s restaurants share a common vulnerability in their roofs. He cuts through it, drops in, waits for the manager to show up in the morning, and politely requests the safe’s contents. He repeats this 45 times over the course of two years before being caught.

Sentenced to 45 years, Jeffrey seems to adapt to prison but eventually plots his escape. While on the run, he hides in a Toys ‘R Us store with lax security, quickly finding blind spots and disabling cameras. After hours, he explores the store and snacks on peanut M&M’s. Bored and curious about the staff, he installs baby monitors and cameras to spy on them. He observes the bullying tactics of the store manager (Peter Dinklage) and the calm, helpful presence of single mom Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst).

A chance encounter with Leigh allows Jeffrey to insinuate himself into her life. Smitten, Leigh welcomes him into her home and social circle. Their bond grows as Jeffrey takes an interest in her children’s happiness. Despite his sincere intentions, Jeffrey remains a con man, plagued by guilt but never revealing the truth about his criminal past.

During the six months that Jeffrey lives in the toy store, he attends church, dates Leigh, buys a car and extravagant gifts, gets dental work done, and pawns console games for cash while his face is plastered across the evening news. This may sound improbable, but Cianfrance meticulously researched and verified each detail, conducting over a hundred interviews with Jeffrey Manchester at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Caught up in the romantic storyline, I was hoping—against all odds—that Leah and Jeffrey would somehow make it work, that their love would transcend his crimes. But as the story unfolded, each of Jeffrey’s self-destructive choices felt like another stone laid on the path to his undoing. The final betrayal only sealed what had been inevitable all along.

Highly recommended!


Excerpt Tour: Dogged Determination

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Chris Redding. Today, Chris shares her new release, Dogged Determination.

Blurb

A vegetarian veterinarian needs cash for a no-kill shelter, which is her life’s passion. But her efforts to fundraise have been stymied, because she doesn’t know anyone rich.

The heir to a hot dog fortune must give away money before he gains his inheritance. Having been raised with a silver spoon in his mouth, he doesn’t know anyone needy enough.

Sounds like a match made in Heaven, but when a stray mutt brings them together, will they recognize what the other can provide?

Exclusive Excerpt

Despite not showing the dog much affection, the man did care about Spike. Maybe Paul wasn’t a demonstrative person. Who was Daria to judge? At least he’d brought the animal in to be seen. They stood in her green-painted exam room. As she studied the walls, she wondered if she could have chosen a better color.

Shaking herself, she went back to her perusal of Spike’s owner. Daria didn’t trust anyone who didn’t like animals. Samuel, at least, had a cat. He just never appreciated her animals, taking her away. “I have to send the results out to a lab. I can pull some strings to get the test done first thing.”

He frowned. “There isn’t someplace to do the test tonight?”

She had to admire his concern for the dog. An attractive guy who loved animals couldn’t be all bad. He probably wasn’t rich either. That was a plus in her book. “No, no one’s open.” She dropped the test tube into a mailer. She missed.

The man caught the vial before the glass tube could shatter on the floor.

She took it and then placed the tube into the mailer. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get some dinner.”

The rumble from her stomach could have awakened the dead. “I don’t think so.”

He cocked his head. “You’re hungry. I’m hungry. I made you miss your dinner.”

Her mouth dropped open. Even though the event had been on her mind all week, she hadn’t remembered the benefit. Something about this man made her mind go blank. What was distracting about him? Was she distracted by the way he gave her his whole attention? She’d missed a great opportunity to network with rich people. “Trust me, we will bill you.”

Author Bio and Links

Chris Redding has been writing romance and suspense for more than two decades. She’d written more than 60 novels and novellas over her career as a ghostwriter.

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Giveaway

Chris Redding will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Chris on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

How to Take Criticism

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, author Jeanne Kisacky shared advice on accepting and processing criticism. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

When you receive the critique, don’t just dive in as soon as you get it. Set aside a quiet chunk of time, sufficient to get through all the critique in one session (if possible), and then just read the comments. You will feel emotions while you read the reviewer’s responses; some positive, but many possible negative ones as well. I have been angry, delighted, depressed, affronted, despondent, entertained, even incensed after reading criticism. It’s normal. Criticism is hard to take. Tackling edits while in the thrall of that emotional response is a great way to get off track and subvert the tone of the writing.

Once you’re done reading the comments, set them aside and do something, anything, other than re-reading your draft or trying to start revising. Go for a walk. Do the dishes. Do some gardening. Do whatever activity lets your mind wander. Do this for a day or two, or for as long as it takes for your brain to process the criticism. Let the criticism sink in, let it percolate. This breathing space lets you weigh what you wanted the book to be against what you just found out wasn’t working. It also gives you the chance to refine your own understanding of your work, so that you don’t lose the heart and soul of it while revising based on someone else’s comments. In my experience, if you jump right into revisions, chances are you are going to go some wrong directions, because you need the time to internalize their comments and figure out how to fix the stated problem your way, not their way.

You can read the rest of the blog post here.

10 Reasons to Love Cozy Canadian Mysteries

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back multi-published Canadian author Jo-Ann Carson. Today, Jo-Ann shares her love of Canadian cozy mysteries and her new release, One Cookie Short of Christmas.

Here’s Jo-Ann!

When people think of cozy mysteries, they tend to imagine the quaint English villages of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, or Joanne Fluke’s small-town American tales. They envision settings with tea shops, nosy neighbors, and a dash of danger. While I like all those stories, I believe Canada provides a perfect setting for cozy crime. In fact, I’d go as far as to saying that the Canadian landscape is a delicious backdrop for murder. Here are ten reasons to try a cozy Canadian crime for your next read.

1. Picturesque Small Towns

From Prince Edward Island fishing villages on the east coast, to secluded mountain hamlets in British Columbia on the west coast, Canada is full of postcard-perfect communities that practically beg for a bookshop, bakery, or craft store sleuth. Consider for a moment, Louise Penny’s Three Pines series, which has captivated readers worldwide with its idyllic (yet murder-prone) Quebec village. Could her stories happen anywhere else? I think not. They are quintessentially Canadian.

2. Seasons That Steal the Scene

Cozy readers love atmosphere, and Canada delivers in spades. Think curling up with a maple latte while snowflakes swirl outside or attending a sunny lakeside summer festival where a suspicious death interrupts the pie-eating contest. In Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas Mysteries, the perpetual holiday setting in Rudolph, New York, was inspired by her Canadian roots, proof that winter coziness translates beautifully to the mystery genre.

3. Foodie Heaven

Cozy mysteries often shine when food is involved, and Canadian has its own unique cuisine. Imagine your sleuth solving crimes between batches of butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, poutine, or salmon chowder. Canadian author Elizabeth J. Duncan does this wonderfully in her Penny Brannigan Mysteries, where food and friendship ground the story even as murder lurks nearby.

4. Quirky Communities

Cozy readers adore eccentric locals, and to be honest Canadian towns are full of them. Whether it’s the fisherman who swears he’s seen Ogopogo (a sea monster who lives in B.C.), the gossiping neighbor with a basement full of homemade wine (we have them from coast to coast), or the moose that keeps wandering into the hardware store, you’ll find quirky people and animals everywhere.

5. Festivals and Folklore

Every Canadian community has its unique traditions and festivals, from maple syrup celebrations to winter carnivals. Add in folklore, or ghostly legends, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for mysterious goings-on. Vicki Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries often feature themed events that show how celebrations can add both charm and chaos to a cozy.

6. Close-Knit Settings

In cozy mysteries, everyone knows everyone, and this is also true in Canadian small towns. A single crime can ripple through the whole community, stirring gossip at the local Timmies, tension at the hockey rink, and suspicion at the town hall. Louise Penny has built her career on showing how a shocking event unsettles even the warmest of towns.

7. Multicultural Flavor

Canada’s cultural diversity allows amateur sleuths and suspects to come from many different backgrounds. This not only enriches character interactions but also allows the writer to explore diverse food, traditions, and culture. With more readers craving diversity in cozy mysteries, Canada offers endless possibilities.

8. Unique Law Enforcement

While cozy sleuths often operate outside official investigations, Canada’s mix of RCMP, provincial, and local police adds complications and intrigue to the process of crime fighting. Picture a friendly Mountie reluctantly teaming up with your amateur sleuth and how the interaction can add humor and heart. Delany, Penny, and other Canadian writers have already proven readers enjoy these unique dynamics.

9. Armchair Travel for Readers

We all know that reading cozy mysteries doubles as a mini vacation. Readers will love visiting the Niagara wine country, Quebec’s cobblestone streets, or Yukon’s wildflower meadows from the safety of their armchair. Penny’s Three Pines novels, in particular, have become global bestsellers partly because international readers fall in love with the setting as much as the sleuths. Joanne Guidoccio’s Ontario cozies have the warmth of a wood fire in the winter. My Vancouver Island mysteries draw on life in small towns surrounded by ocean, mountains and rugged wilderness.

Which brings me to number 10:

10. A Perfect Blend of Cozy and Wild

Canada’s charm lies in its balance of small, friendly communities surrounded by vast, sometimes untamed landscapes. That contrast heightens the coziness while leaving room for danger lurking just beyond the garden fence. Few places do “cozy with an edge” quite as well as Canada does.

My latest release is called One Cookie Short of Christmas.

When retired nurse Anna Maple hears the school’s Christmas baking table is short on cookies, she volunteers to help. But her holiday cheer quickly crumbles when she discovers one of Santa’s elves, murdered. It’s up to Anna to sift through the suspects and serve up justice before the killer strikes again.

This is a heartwarming, small-town, Canadian mystery with no gore, swearing, or sex. Filled with festive fun, a dash of danger, and cookies.

Amazon | Apple | UBL | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | BookBub

An Early Review

5 stars by My2Doxie, posted on Goodreads, Bookbub, and Barnes & Noble

“One Cookie Short of Christmas is Book 3 in the Anna Maple Cozy Mystery by Jo-Ann Carson. I love holiday stories. Christmas is such a magical time of the year. Anna jumps in when she learns the school Christmas baking table needs more cookies. Unfortunately, she was not expecting to find one of Santa’s elves dead! I felt that Anna was a great main character. Get your cocoa and a candy cane and jump into the wonderful small town Canada mystery.”

About Jo-Ann Carson

Jo-Ann Carson writes powerful stories filled with evocative settings, strong characters, and fast-paced plots. Her stories fall into two main genre categories: supernatural suspense and cozy mystery.

Currently she is working on two projects. The open-ended Anna Maple Cozy Mystery series which is about a retired nurse who keeps tripping over dead bodies. The second is an urban fantasy series called Fangsters, which is the story of a book nerd sorceress blackmailed into running an academy for delinquent, teenage vampires.

To date, Jo-Ann Carson has published 37 stories. Her latest fantasy series include: Fangsters, the Dial Witch Trilogy, The Perfect Brew Trilogy, the Ghost & Abby Mysteries, and the Gambling Ghosts Novellas.

A firm believer in the magic of our everyday lives, Jo-Ann loves watching sunrises, walking the beaches with her poodle near her home in the Pacific Northwest, and reading books by a crackling wood fire. You can find more about her on her Substack website

Blurb Blitz: The Gilded City Trilogy

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Jane Loeb Rubin. Today, Jane shares the novels in The Gilded City Trilogy: In the Hands of Women, Threadbare, and Over There.

Blurb

In the Hands of Women, (June 2023) takes the reader on an electrifying ride through the dawn of the 20th century, delving into the restrictive state of women’s rights, backroom abortions, the plight of immigrants to the Lower East Side of NYC and the prison system at Blackwell’s Island, all through the voice of a young OB/Gyn, Tillie’s younger sister, Hannah.

Threadbare, (June 2024) is a historical novel written as a tribute to Jane Rubin’s great-grandmother, Mathilda (Tillie), who died from a ‘woman’s disease’ in the early years of the twentieth century. It explores the ultra-conservative late Victorian era through a Jewish female character living among the poor, struggling to build a garment company and pushing back against antisemitic and misogynistic values dominating the time. She acquired wealth, only to have life upended by a cruel, unexpected challenge.

Over There (June 2025) brings four family members of Threadbare and In the Hands of Women, all doctors and nurses, into The Great War, each facing down authentic challenges of the period. Meticulously researched and crafted on four stages, the reader experiences the jarring reality of trench warfare, magnificent rise of the American Hospital in Paris, unimagined medical innovations owed to the dedication of healthcare workers, and the universal, frightening impact war has on children.

Excerpt – Threadbare

His eyes burst with astonishment. “What do your husbands think about you ladies starting a business venture? It’s unheard of. Don’t you have children at home to tend?”

Abe’s advice came to mind as my blood heated to a boil. Keep discussing the sale. Don’t let the customer bait you. I filled my chest with air, hoping my irritation didn’t show. “Mr. Kraft, our husbands are in the button and fabric businesses. Our products are interconnected, and in the end, it helps grow their businesses, too. Just as our kits will grow Butterfield’s pattern sales.”

Mr. Kraft nodded cautiously. “Hmm. I’ll run the idea by Mr. Peters, my boss, and let you know what he decides. But he’ll want to meet your husbands.” He fell silent, then added, “I expect the idea may pan out in some way.”

Excitement rose within me, but I kept my expression still. I was learning the art of poker, too. “Please let him know our factory is ready to fill orders immediately.”

He stood. “Could you kindly leave one of your kits, as you call them, with me? Let’s arrange a meeting next week. Please project costs and pricing for one thousand units, and then we can talk business.” Before leaving the room, he faced us and added, “But next time, bring your husbands.”

Author Bio and Links

Author, Jane Loeb Rubin has won numerous awards including the Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters short list for Over There, released May, 2025 by Level Best Books. She will be speaking at numerous Florida events as listed on her website.

With an extensive healthcare background Ms. Rubin began writing in 2009 after a serious cancer diagnosis. She now has a four-book deal with Level Best Books (Threadbare-2024, In the Hands of Women-2023, Over There-2025, The Hat Trick-2026), following the fictional life of her great-grandmother’s family.

In the Hands of Women, (June 2023) takes the reader on an electrifying ride through the dawn of the 20th century, delving into the restrictive state of women’s rights, backroom abortions, the plight of immigrants to the Lower East Side of NYC and the prison system at Blackwell’s Island, all through the voice of a young OB/Gyn, Tillie’s younger sister, Hannah.

Threadbare, (June 2024) is a historical novel written as a tribute to Jane Rubin’s great-grandmother, Mathilda (Tillie), who died from a ‘woman’s disease’ in the early years of the twentieth century. It explores the ultra-conservative late Victorian era through a Jewish female character living among the poor, struggling to build a garment company and pushing back against antisemitic and misogynistic values dominating the time. She acquired wealth, only to have life upended by a cruel, unexpected challenge.

Over There (June 2025) brings four family members of Threadbare and In the Hands of Women, all doctors and nurses, into The Great War, each facing down authentic challenges of the period. Meticulously researched and crafted on four stages, the reader experiences the jarring reality of trench warfare, magnificent rise of the American Hospital in Paris, unimagined medical innovations owed to the dedication of healthcare workers, and the universal, frightening impact war has on children.

The Hat Trick, Ms. Rubin’s work in process (May 2026) transports her family characters into the mid-1920’s in the years before the Borscht Belt in Sullivan County, NY.

Ms. Rubin, a graduate of the University of Michigan (BS, MS) and Washington University (MBA), retired from a 30-year career as a healthcare executive to begin writing full-time. She lives with her husband, David, an attorney, in Northern New Jersey. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren. Ms. Rubin’s work is available at all on-line retailers, Indigo Books, select Barnes and Noble Book stores and upon request from Level Best Books.

Readers Favorite Review | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Giveaway

Jane Loeb Rubin will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Jane on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Honoring Dr. Jane Goodall

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Dr. Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and conservationist, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

From a young age, she was fascinated by animals, dreaming of living in Africa and studying wildlife. In 1960, without formal scientific training, she traveled to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe wild chimpanzees under the mentorship of anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her discoveries revealed astonishing behaviors: chimpanzees use tools, show emotions, and live in complex social groups.

She later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, becoming one of the few people at the time to do so without an undergraduate degree. Over the decades, Dr. Goodall shifted her focus from observation to global advocacy, raising awareness about habitat destruction, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute and created Roots & Shoots, a program that empowers young people to address environmental and humanitarian issues.

She has traveled the world, inspiring audiences with her message of hope, responsibility, and respect for all living beings.

My favorite quotations from Dr. Jane Goodall:

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what keeps us motivated.

The least I can do is help people see the interconnectedness of all life.

Chimps, more like us than any other creature, have helped us to understand what it means to be human.

You cannot share your life with a dog or a cat and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.

We still have a window of time. Nature is amazingly resilient. If we give her a chance, she will recover.

Let the Storms Pass

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

We all face storms in life—some are like the quick afternoon storms that are common in summer and some seem like hurricanes. But one thing is true about all storms: They don’t last forever.

Thoughts and feelings run wild in the midst of our personal storms, but those are exactly the times we need to be careful about making decisions. Decisions are best made in our quiet times with God, not in the midst of a storm.

Instead of drowning in worry and fear, get in touch with God, who sees past the storm and orchestrates the big picture. God makes sure everything that needs to happen in our lives happens at the right time, moves at the appropriate speed, and causes us to arrive safely at the destinations He has planned for us.

Source: Quiet Times with God by Joyce Meyer