Hi, everyone! Remember my "Name that Kitty" post many months ago? Welll, you did name her!

I am pleased to introduce you to "Cleocatra" (She’s the one on the right of the cat-triangle, sitting on the television cable box with her sisters.)

The gray kitten is "Rebel," the longhaired cover-girl kitten on the left is "Bo-Bo," and we just couldn’t think of a name for the little one on the right.

Well, you all helped us out with many suggestions, and my husband and I chose "Cleocatra," among the many names suggested. Thank you Berkley Babe Blog readers! You have named our kitty, and I will always think of this blog when I call her name.

And now to *sniff* sadder news…as the other members will be posting soon, the Berkley Babes will be disbanding this month. This is one of my last posts. But it is only the end of the beginning of blogging for me (as Winston Churchill once said - not the blogging part, of course).

Anyway! I want to invite you all over to my new Website, which should be up by the end of June….

CoffeehouseMystery.com

Espressos * Lattes * Muffins * Murder

The site is going to be my own version of an internet coffeehouse. After five books published, I thought it was about time Cleo Coyle founded a place where fans of the series can check in, make comments, ask questions, and I can blog about coffee, crime, and generally blow off steam (excuse the pun)!

Anyway, I know enough about coffee and coffeehouses to start my own dang place for real, but I’m a full-time writer and don’t have the time, so I have to content myself with the internet variety.

I hope you’ll all check in to see if it’s your cuppa tea….or java! Cute baristo sightings welcome on the message board, as well as sharing of your thoughts, gripes, and recipes.

Luv, Cleo Coyle…author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries, where coffee and crime are always brewing…

#1 On What Grounds; #2 Through the Grinder; #3 Latte Trouble; #4 Murder Most Frothy; #5 Decaffeinated Corpse (coming July 2007 - just two months away!)…and stay tuned for #6 in 2008…French Pressed!

Here’s why I’m extra excited about my fifth Coffeehouse Mystery novel: Decaffeinated Corpse…

Katie, my editor, is so happy with the popularity of the series, she’s just signed me up to write 3 more Coffeehouse Mystery titles beyond next year’s #6, which means Clare Cosi and her gang of crime-solving baristas will continue to staff the historic Village Blend coffeehouse through at least nine books (maybe more if the fans agree)!

Here’s the cover and a little sneak peak inside my latest baby (hitting store shelves in just two months - July 2007)…

 COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY #5: DECAFFEINATED CORPSE…

At the Village Blend, Clare Cosi’s caffeine-loving baristas may refer to a decaf espresso as a “why bother?”, but Clare knows a good percentage of her customers prefer the neutered brew. So when a handsome Brazilian named Ric Gostwick develops the world’s first botanically decaffeinated coffee plant, Clare can see why her business partner (and ex-husband) gets into bed with the deal.

Unfortunately, Ric is also getting into bed with more than one woman. And when an attempted murder happens right outside the Blend’s back door, Clare suspects more than Ric’s plant has its roots in some dirt.

As she begins to investigate Ric’s background and business connections, a trail of clues leads to a pile of casualties and an international roster of suspects. Now Clare knows she’s got to find the murderer before one of her near and dears takes a fall. Otherwise, her latest addition to the menu will prove to be a real buzz killer…

Till next time!

Cleo Coyle…author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries, where coffee and crime are always brewing…

#1 On What Grounds, #2 Through the Grinder, #3 Latte Trouble, #4 Murder Most Frothy, and coming July 2007 - #5 Decafeinated Corpse…(with four future titles under contract, wahoo!)

HUNKS AND EASTER EGGS

When I was growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I was always amazed at the Ukrainian community’s intricate design of their eggs every Easter. I’m not Ukrainian myself, but I grew up in an area where many Eastern European immigrants settled, working alongside my own Italian relatives in the coal mines and steel mills of that region.

(That’s the origin of the word “hunk,” by the way, it came from “mill hunkies,” which was actually a pejorative term to describe the often muscular men from the Slavic/Austro-Hungarian countries who earned their living with physical labor. Okay, okay, so the gratuitous photo above does not illustrate Ukrainian "mill hunks," but they are mostly blond and they are hunks. Hey, close enough!)

So today I found myself wondering…what turns your head when it comes to hero hair? I mean, some of my favorite heroic guys don’t even have much in the way of hair. There’s Vin Diesel, for instance, pictured to the left as the character Riddick from the movies Pitch Black…(Ranking: Silver).

So I’m sitting in my hair salon, getting my grays covered, and I asked my flamboyant colorist Gilberto, “Did you see the Oscars?”

“What do you want to know?” he asks, cutting to the chase. “Gwyneth,” I said sheepishly. (I wanted Gilberto’s professional opinion.) “Was she…you know, wearing hair extensions?”

“Oh, sweetie!” he cried. “Everybody was wearing them!”

A discussion of starlet styles ensued, and then I asked him the biggee. “If Britney (you know, Spears) walked into your salon and asked you to shave her head, would you have done it?”

Gilberto shook his own closely-cropped head. “There’s something wrong with that girl.”

I myself found it highly ironic that in the same time period that Gwyneth Paltrow was striving to heighten her star image by lengthening her locks, Britney was going to great lengths to completely do away with hers.

If she’d shaved her head for a music video, none of us would have blinked an eye. But we all knew she’s been in the middle of a messy divorce and checking herself in and out of rehab. Clearly, the shaving of her head was not for fun. So what was it really?

(a) a cry for help? I can’t handle the attention-getting life of a blond bombshell pop star anymore. I want it to end

(c) a desperate reaction to her estranged husband’s threat that he could prove she was taking drugs by DNA testing a piece of her hair?

(d) all of the above

It’s bewildering to see someone as young and beautiful and vibrant as Britney cracking up in public. At 26, the girl’s already a worldwide Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-actress, who’s sold 76 million records internationally. Seeing someone like that mentally meltdown is like watching a bad car wreck. You’re horrified, yet you can’t turn away, and you need to know details, at the very least to process and comprehend what you’re seeing. All that fame, fortune, beauty - and it’s still not enough to make you happy?…Which brings me to one of my favorite songs…(not Britney’s), a song that every celeb-obsessed teen should probably be forced to memorize…

"Love don’t hang out in a grand hotel…Got no satin sheets, got no servants bell…Ain’t in Bel Air on some big old yacht…Ain’t in a beach house on Monserrat…I know where love lives…I know where love lives…It’s sittin’ on the back porch in the evening air…With sea green eyes and chestnut hair…You keep your mansions of gold, buddy, I don’t care…Cause I know where love lives…"

("I Know Where Love Lives," written and sung by Hal Ketchum, 1991). It’s the ANTI-bling song, and it’s been my reality check for years. The cracked back porch step, the peeling paint, the leaky faucet, the crabgrass…it’s a mansion if there’s love inside…if someone’s there who loves you…really loves you for who you are…that’s the real pot of gold in life.

Everyone around me at the hair salon knew this. They had all sorts of opinions on Brit’s crack up…some felt sorry for her; some were angry at her – acting like a brat instead of being a mother to her two very young boys (they need you, Britney, so get it together!). Everyone wanted to see her get her butt into rehab and see it through, and most expressed fear that she’d end up like Anna Nicole Smith unless she did.

In the end, none of us were asking for hair extensions that day in the salon. And none of us wanted our heads shaved, either. Yeah, sure, we were covering grays, and getting highlights, but Britney’s crack up made us all realize that we’re happy living in the real world, appreciating what we have, and what we don’t (paparazzi dogging our heels, tabloids writing up every misstep and mistake, a man who marries our “image”). In the end, knowing who I am, and feeling certainty in who I love and who loves me – that’s the definition of sanity in my life. And I thank God every day for that life.

What do you think about Britney? Has it made you rethink the value of fame and fortune, and even glam beauty? Do you think Brit will make it through rehab and come out the other side? Or will she end up a lost soul like Anna Nicole? Or is all this fuss over any celeb just a silly waste of brain cells?

Luv, Cleo Coyle…author of The Coffeehouse Mysteries, where coffee and crime are always brewing…

and coming July 2007 Coffeehouse Mystery #5: Decaffeinated Corpse…

Say what? There’s a topic that ties together pancakes, the Three Kings, and Shakespeare? There is indeed: Mardis Gras.

Today is Mardis Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday.” The date changes every year because Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of 40 days of Lent (it’s actually 46 days but Sundays are not counted). Lent is a time of reflection and penance to prepare for the celebration of Easter, and because Easter’s date changes every year, so does the date of Mardis Gras.

Mardis Gras has a rich history and is celebrated by many cultures. To explain it further, I have to dial back time. The Mardis Gras season actually begins with the Christmas story. Twelve days after Christmas is the Epiphany – that’s the day when the three kings (the Magi or Wise Men) arrived to give the baby Jesus their famous three gifts.

Many people think the “12 days of Christmas” refers to the 12 days before Christmas. Actually, it’s the 12 days after – leading to the Epiphany. There was traditionally much feasting and revelry around this time , hence the title for William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” – a romantic comedy set in that time period with a plotline involving two couples, mistaken identity, and a happy ending - in short, a tale that would be labeled CHICK LIT today, thank you very much! (Go, Billy! Go, Billy! Go!)

Twelfth Night marks the beginning of the Mardis Gras season, also called Carnival, when parties are held (e.g. the famous masked balls in Venice, Italy). The end of the season is today - Fat Tuesday. Why “fat” Tuesday? Because it’s the last day before Lent begins. So it’s the last day to party and eat before you begin 40 days of modified fasting.

Where I grew up in Pennsylvania, we called Mardis Gras “Shrove Tuesday” and held pancake dinners in volunteer fire halls and church basements (not a lavish ball gown in sight where I grew up!). Pancake Day is an old tradition that emerged from people wanting to use up their lard, or fat, and rich ingredients before Lent began (doughnuts are also a popular food to eat on this day). By the way, that strange word “shrove” is a past tense of the English verb “shrive,” which means to obtain absolution for sins via confessing and penance.

So there you go…pancakes, the Three Kings, and Shakespeare. It adds up to a fascinating holiday, the feast before the fast, richly celebrated by many cultures around the world. Happy Mardis Gras, everyone!

         Cleo’s Easy Buttermilk Pancakes 

1 egg * 2 cups buttermilk * 1 cup flour * 1 teaspoon baking soda * 1/2 teaspoon salt *

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a hot, oiled flat pan or griddle (cooking spray works well, too, but butter will burn so don’t use butter). Do NOT turn the pancake until you see small bubbles on the top of the batter. Then turn over to finish cooking on the other side. Serve with butter and syrup.

 

Luv, Cleo Coyle - author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries, where coffee and crime are always brewing…

       #1 On What Grounds, #2 Through the Grinder, #3 Latte Trouble, #4 Murder Most Frothy, and coming July 2007 #5 Decaffeinated Corpse

                                                                       

Cover for Japanese Edition

I don’t speak Japanese. I don’t read Japanese. I live 7,000 miles from Tokyo, and I’ve never even been to Japan - although I would love, love, love to visit that amazing land one day. (Nalini, you are so lucky!) So it blows my mind to know that my Coffeehouse Mysteries have gotten there before me! They are now being published in Japan by Random House/Kodansha.

My publisher recently sent me the Japanese editon of the book, and I thought it would be fun to post the Japanese version of the On What Grounds Coffeehouse Mystery cover. (Note the kitty drinking coffee!)

It’s always a bit of a shock to be reminded that books published in another country and/or in another language can have drastically different cover art, interior design, and even be a different size and shape.

Cover for American Edition

I think it’s adorable that the Japanese publisher put a kitty drinking coffee on the cover and continued the kitty motif with the interior design. But at the same time…it’s a little puzzling…There IS a coffeehouse cat in the book, but Java plays a very minor role in the story. This series certainly isn’t part of the cat-solves-mystery genre - not even close! Hence the scratching of my head over the cover design. It’s cute, don’t get me wrong. But the Japanese cover designer REALLY got into the kitty thing.

Japanese Title Page

Then I remembered the whole Hello Kitty movement, which is Japanese, so I’m guessing kitties are popular icons for young Japanese women, hence a cozy mystery series cover with a kitty drinking coffee would prove especially attractive to the Japanese target market.

Do you think I’m on the right track for this Japanese version of cover strategy? I’m totally guessing, so feel free to set me straight - or share your own foreign language edition anectodes!

In the end, I really don’t care what sort of cover is on my book. I’m really just thrilled and happy that it made it to Japan at all, even if I haven’t.

P.S. Hey, Nalini! Given your Japanese themed post, I have to ask…did you ever go to a coffeehouse in Japan? Was there a kitty drinking coffee there? And do you think this cover will fly in Tokyo?

Luv, Cleo Coyle

Author of the Coffeehouse Mystery series: #1 On What Grounds, #2 Through the Grinder, #3 Latte Trouble, #4 Murder Most Frothy, and coming in July 2007 #5 Decaffeinated Corpse…

Photo A - Ugly Betty (the character)

A few years back, I was introduced to a guy (we’ll call him Joe Guy) when I wasn’t looking my best - bad hair, loose jeans, oversized sweatshirt, no makeup. Joe Guy and I had a conversation and I remember he was polite but a little cool and never really looked into my face as we talked.

A few months later, we were in the same room again. This time, I was in a very nice dress, stockings, heels, makeup, having a great hair day with my contact lenses in. Joe Guy was there. I remembered him. After all, he was introduced to me, and we’d had a conversation. But Joe Guy acted as though he was meeting me for the first time. "Nice to meet you…" He didn’t have a clue that I was the same girl he’d already met. This time, he was charming, effusive, looked into my face. Why? Because I had on contacts and heels? I had a good hair day? This wasn’t about sex because Joe Guy had a girlfriend. This was about something else…

I never told Joe Guy that he’d met me before. Obviously, in his private Idaho, frump girl wasn’t worth remembering. So I went along. I smiled and nodded, but I was totally digusted. If you don’t understand why I was disgusted, then Ugly Betty is not the TV show for you. But consider this…

Photo B - Actress America Ferrera (who plays Ugly Betty)

The difference between Photo A (Ugly Betty the character) and Photo B (the glamorous actress who plays her) is a fairly typical list of magazine makeover tips: hair done, brows tweezed, braces off, contacts in, updated wardrobe, artfully applied makeup.

Hey, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to look good. It’s great to look good, feel good, dress up, stay in shape. But…wouldn’t it be nice if the GLARING media spotlight of makeover madness was occasionally shined on things like lousy personalities, empty heads, selfish hearts, malicious souls?

Really, when you think about it, Betty’s an easy case. Afterall, hundreds of hours of therapy and thousands of anti-depressant pills still can’t fix a superficial beauty with an ugly interior life. Seems to me, tweezing eyebrows is a whole lot simpler.

When America Ferrera accepted her Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes this past week, she said that young girls come up to her on a daily basis and thank her for playing the character Ugly Betty. In a world where girls are made to feel they are not valued if they don’t look like Paris Hilton, Ugly Betty makes them feel loveable and worthy. It makes them feel as though they have something to offer. Indeed they do.

Like Betty, most girls all over the world are not supermodel thin. They don’t have perfect teeth and skin, or expensive wardrobes. They wrestle with do-the-best-you-can hair. They simply don’t have the bank accounts to make all the imperfections go away (and let’s face it, a good deal of "beauty" is bought. If you have five hours a day to devote to toning, whitening, straightening, shopping, and moisturizing, who wouldn’t look good?).

But Betty has something more…a brain, a heart, a soul full of empathy and understanding–what the world sorely needs. Judging from the global success of this wonderful show, it seems to me the world agrees - and that’s a step in a great direction, a step that warms my heart. Congrats on your Golden Globes Ugly Betty, you deserve them!

Luv, Cleo Coyle, author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

#1 On What Grounds, #2 Through the Grinder, #3 Latte Trouble, #4 Murder Most Frothy, and coming in July 2007 #5 Decaffeinated Corpse…

And you thought YOU had a crazy holiday? Check out what happened in my neck of the woods between Christmas and New Years.

A Woman walks into a Dunkin’ Donuts, orders hot cocoa and a bagel. She leaves. She returns in a rage and begins shouting at the counter clerk.

In an "obscenity-filled tirade" she complained that her hot cocoa was not topped with whipped cream.

The poor counter clerk explained that she hadn’t asked for whipped cream, and the store’s policy was only to give it to people who request it. And unfortunately, he added, the store was presently out of whipped cream. Then the woman really went nuts. She threw her still-hot cocoa into the counter clerk’s face!! OUCH!! This was no joke. The clerk ended up with a scalded face, neck, and hands.

Another worker called 911. The doors were locked to prevent the woman from escaping and the coppers showed to clink on the cuffs. Just another day in the Big Apple (actually Coney Island, Brooklyn) where coffee and crime are always brewing….

The point of my story? If you ever wonder where Cleo Coyle gets her ideas for things that happen at the Village Blend, take note! The Naked City’s got a million story ideas a day, and I’ve got a fat folder full of them!

Until next time…Happy 2007, Everyone!

Luv, Cleo Coyle

Author of The Coffeehouse Mysteries, "Where coffee and crime are always brewing…"  #1 On What Grounds  #2 Through the Grinder  #3 Latte Trouble  #4 Murder Most Frothy…and coming July 2007 - #5 Decaffeinated Corpse!