Time in the "Quiet Corner" of Connecticut

Last Wednesday I sold books at Willimantic Brewery in Willimantic, Connecticut. This was like coming home. I worked at Eastern Connecticut State University in the mid nineties (It’s where I met that sexy cowboy, Glenn). The last year I was in Connecticut, Willimantic Brewery bought the old Post Office in town and set up a brew pub and restaurant. They have become a recognized brewery with many awards to their credit. I was at the brewery to help raise money for the victims of the Gulf Oil disaster to which I donated part of the proceeds from my sales. They sponsored a slurp and sip special (oysters on the half shell and a sampler of their brews). Yum. Yum. Check out the great mural on the wall in the picture.




Old friends from Eastern attended, as did my adopted family, my step daughter-in-law who is studying to be a minister, her husband, and their three great kids. You can see the oldest grandson, David, in the picture with the old salt. Mom bought the book for him, and he promised to read it. Start them reading young. He’s only thirteen, but a real fan of mine.



I also met for lunch with my publisher, Judith Ivey. What a savvy publisher she is. I wish all my unpubbed friends could have someone like Judith in their corner. All-in-all a great trip. I had forgotten what the “quiet corner” of Connecticut has to offer. It was the place where Glenn and I got lost for a night in one of the state forests. But that’s another story.

Correction on Website Address for Interview on Tuesday

The correct website address for the interview with Bill Jaker on Tuesday is http://www.wskg.org/.  I hope you can join us.  He is a wonderful interviewer.  He'll make me look good!

A Busy Week Ahead-Join Me!

This week, Bill Jaker will interview me about A Deadly Draught on his radio program, OFF THE PAGE. The program will be presented live on WSKG Radio on August 17 at 1:00 PM and repeated that evening at 7:00 o’clock. The audio will be archived on their website at www.wskg.org and will be available for download as a podcast. The program will also be streamed live on the Web at ww.WSRK.org.


I will travel back to a former home in Willimantic, Connecticut on Wednesday to sign books at Willimantic Brewing Company. WilliBrew is holding an event to raise funds for the Gulf Coast oil disaster victims on Wednesday, August 18 from 5:00 until 8:00 PM. Part of the proceeds from the sale of A Deadly Draught will be donated to this worthy cause. Consider buying a good read and helping a great cause.  See you there!

Saturday in The Book Village of the Catskills

On one of the most beautiful days of August (after our ninety degree heat passed!), Glenn and I traveled to Hobart, NY. This small village at the northern edge of the Catskills is known as the Book Village of the Catskills. It boasts five independent bookshops within a two block area. Visitors come here from New York City to find books available no place else.

On Saturday, the town had its third annual private seller day where individuals who have new and used books for sale can become a book dealer for a day. I had never atteneded the event before, but now that I have my book, I decided this might be the perfect place to sell it. And it was. All the traffic past my little table (see picture above) were people who loved books. What better place for a writer to be. Not only were we surrounded by readers, but the people in town from the Rotary Club who sent around an individual to take orders for lunch and deliver the food back to the sellers to the book shop owners and book sellers were the friendliest folks. The shop owners provided us with coffee and date nut bread in the morning and wine and cheese after the event.

I met Don Dales there and, not only did he buy my book, but he's opening yet another book store in the village, a store that will stock the kind of books I love, mysteries. He's calling it Mysteries and More. The more will be coffee and perhaps even wine and beer. I can hardly wait until next spring when he's invited me to come and do a program.

I will certainly come back to the Private Seller Day next year as well as drop in to see how Don's shop is coming along and visit the other book stores in the near future. Perhaps one of these fall days we can jump in the car and drive over the mountain for a browse through the book shops there.

The village is close enough to Westchester County and New York City for a day trip. Visit their website www.hobartbookvillage.com. You can click on the logos for each of the shops to see what types of books they carry.

Now there's a weekend adventure for you: the breweries around Cooperstown, NY and the Butternut Valley near Morris, NY and the book village in Hobart. Sounds like autumn fun. And the kids will love the Baseball Hall of Fame. There's something for everyone in Upstate New York.

Fun on Sunday-We Tour Cooperstown Brewery

Cooperstown Brewing is located in Milford, NY, just a few miles outside of Cooperstown. The names of their beers such as "Old Slugger" call forth the game of baseball, absolutely appropriate to the baseball village and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Glenn and I paid a visit to deliver some of my books to Stan Hall, President of Cooperstown Brewing. He's pictured left with the big grin on his face, and why shouldn't he be smiling. He makes some of the best ales in the Northeast. While there, we decided to take the tour, and I'm glad we did. I'm not a brewer, so anytime I can get information to rock my knowledge of brewing, I do it.

You must go. This tour, lead by Joe, the guy with the beard standing next to the large white vessel used to heat the water to begin the brewing process, was an excellent tour guide. He walked us through the process of crafting beer with detail, enough to understand the intricacies of the process and appreciate the creativity and science that goes into brewing. The picture at the top left shows one of the heat exchangers with a view of the fermenting tanks in the background. Remember those little yeastie beasties are busily converting the sugar to alcohol and releasing carbon dioxide, so don't think you can hang out in the room where those fermtners are located!

The picture taken outdoors shows the hops growing on the tall poles. These hops along with others from the Pacific Northwest are used in making Copperstown Brewery's "Back Yard India Pale Ale". We bought a six pack to take home with us after the tasting. Yum!

Many of my friends and readers tell me they do not like beer, but craft beer is not like manufactured beer. It's a different drink. Try one. You might like it.

Thanks, Stan and Joe and all the staff that make up Copperstown Brewery. Keep doing what you're doing. Fine ales, and the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Visit their website at http://CooperstownBrewing.com

Hera's New Beer-A Contest

I am working on the second of the Hera Knightsbridge mysteries. Hera has informed me that she wants to craft another beer, but is undecided whether it should be a a lager or an ale. Go to my webpage www.lesleydiehl.com and click on beer to find out what beers Hera already has in her brewbarn. There is a description of each of her four brews. What beer do you think she should create? A light, clean lager or a foamy, complex ale?

Help develop Hera's next brew by deciding whether it will be a lager or an ale, but, more importantly, give it a name. If I choose your name for the beer, I'll send you a free copy of A Deadly Draught, autographed to you or anyone you choose. The contest will end on August 30. Post your ideas below or send them to me LesDieh60@aol.com.

Another book-yippee!

My college roommate recently got in touch with me to say she was reading my book. She even sent me a picture to prove it, and consented to let me use it on my blog. So here is the former Kathy Gosselink, now Kathy VanCorbet , Pella, Iowa’s most beautiful and talented Tulip Queen. She dressed with more taste than any college coed I’ve ever met. And from the picture, you can tell she still has that pizzazz. We did not know each other before we were assigned the same dorm room as freshmen in college. While I was not a fan of tulips before I met her, I came to appreciate them, and a good thing, too. Our room was usually filled with them each spring.

This week I was offered a contract for Dumpster Dying. It will be released by Oak Tree Press sometime in the fall. I’m very excited about the book because it is set in my second home, Okeechobee County, Florida where I spend my winters. Here’s a short synopsis of it:

Although set in Florida, Dumpster Dying is not just another story about sunny beaches and bikini-clad beauties. In it, Florida natives collide with winter visitors in murderous, yet often humorous ways.

Emily Rhodes, the new bartender at the Big Lake Country Club in rural Florida, lifts the lid of the club’s dumpster one night to discover the dead body of the wealthiest rancher in the county. The authorities are certain they have the killer since evidence at the scene points to Emily’s friend and boss, Clara, but Emily has doubts. She believes Clara is hiding a secret involving the dead man’s family, but unraveling how Clara and the rancher’s lives are intertwined competes with Emily’s own problems.

Emily’s life partner has recently died, and the only will she can locate leaves everything to his ex-wife. Despite the grief she feels over her partner’s death and the money problems it has created for her, Emily sets out to identify the rancher’s killer. She must outwit a vengeful widow, fend off the advances of the man she believes to be the murderer, get to know an adult daughter she’s never met, and flee a fire bearing down on the drought-ridden pastures and swamps of her adopted community. Suddenly, the golden years of retirement seem more like pot metal to Emily.

Imagine Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum surrounded by alligators while a herd of stampeding cattle close in on her.

Emily will join my more serious-minded protagonist, Hera Knightsbridge, on my blog and my website. It’ll be great to have these gals each with her unique personality add to the mix of beer, food, alligators, cowboys, and brewers on the site and blog. You’ll notice the changes on the website beginning the end of the summer. I’m sure Fred will enjoy yet another feisty female joining us on the blog. That will probably mean he’ll have to do something outrageous just to get attention.

Happy Fourth of July, however you choose to celebrate. Of course, I recommend doing what my former college roommate is doing in the picture above—reading a great book!