Okay, my holiday seasons are all running together. I feel like Sarah Booth trying to decorate for one holiday while the next one is nipping at my heels.
![[A Gift of Bones]](https://www.writerspace.com/newsletter/carolynhaines/images/bannergiftbones.jpg)
Today is a special day! A GIFT OF BONES is on sale today. It’s a Sarah Booth Christmas tale, and while the weather in Zinnia is chilly, Sarah Booth and Coleman are generating some heat! Long time readers have been waiting for this development for a long time. So enjoy! And just remember that I have zero control over these characters. They do exactly what they want to do, and I follow behind fussing at them and trying to keep up. (P.S. It is the 19th Sarah Booth adventure!)
![[Mad Catters]](https://www.writerspace.com/newsletter/carolynhaines/images/1018madcatters.jpg)
And the #MadCatters are planning a whale of a Halloween party to celebrate the opening of The Haunted Book Shop, 109 Dauphin St., in downtown Mobile, AL. The Mad Catters at the Haunted Book Shop. Angela Trigg, a popular romance writer, is reinventing her family legacy. The Haunted Book Shop was a landmark in downtown Mobile for decades before it closed. The wonderful Eugene Walter worked there as a young man before he left for Europe. Now Angela is bringing the bookshop back. And we are HAVING A PARTY to celebrate the store, books, and Trouble, the black cat detective!
From 3-8 p.m., October 27, the members of the Trouble, black cat detective, authors coalition (known as The Mad Catters) will be at the book store with loads of fun things to do.
We’ll be handing out a number of prizes—the grand prize is best costume, which will yield a Kindle Fire to the winner. We have the Nashville cats (writers Jaden Terrell and Michelle Honick Broussard) as costume judges. A winner will be announced that evening—but for all of you who can’t come to Mobile, we’re also having an Online Costume Photo Contest — and yes, the winner of the online contest also receives a Kindle Fire! You have until November 2 to submit a photo. There are two steps to enter the contest. One is to submit your e-mail address to receive newsletters from the Mad Catters. (You can unsubscribe at any time, but we are dang entertaining creatures and we’re always up to no good, much like the hero of our stories, Trouble the black cat detective). The next step will take you to a secret place to post your photograph. Don’t forget to type out #MadCatters when you post your costume pic!
![[Enter to win a Kindle Fire!]](https://www.writerspace.com/newsletter/carolynhaines/images/1018kindlefire.jpg)
Along with the costume contest, we’re having a spell writing contest ($25 gift card), a coffin decorating contest (winner gets what’s in the coffin—ha ha ha), and a treasure hunt with items hidden around the bookstore. In the backroom, DeWitt Lobrano, artist and writer, will be giving free tarot card readings to those who ask. We’re also serving a bit of a witch’s brew punch and snacks. For those with younger readers in tow, we’ll have some juice boxes.
And we have special author guests! The always popular Miranda James (who has a brand new Christmas book featuring Diesel the library cat) will be on hand signing copies. Lexi George, author of the demon hunting in Dixie series (and any more) will be partying and signing with us, as well as Helen Scully, a Mobile author with ties to Mobile’s fascinating history and the bookstore. Other authors who will be signing include Rebecca Barrett, Susan Y. Tanner, Margaret Fenton, Jaden Terrell, and me. I’ll have my Christmas book there to sign, too.
So those who live close enough, put on your best costume and come to downtown Mobile for a Halloween smash. Who knows what we might get up to! Casting a few spells, telling a few tall tales, conjuring a few ghosts! You don’t want to miss that!
And because I love Halloween AND the blues—check out these great bluesy Halloween songs RIGHT HERE.
You know I’m working hard to get you in the mood for some Tricks or Treats!
Carolyn and the Critters!
