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Barbara's Thin Line Between Truth & Fiction

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Barbara Ellen Brink

Lake Superior never gives up its dead…

January 18, 2023 By Barbara Leave a Comment

I was recently asked by Shepherd.com to recommend a list of my favorite books set in the same/similar genre as my Double Barrel Mysteries series. I’ve read quite a few books set in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan on the Banks of Lake Superior or in the Upper Peninsula. These are probably my favorites so far, but there are so many good novels set in this cold upper midwest region and I’m sure you have favorites of your own.

If you have never read any books in this setting, you are in for a treat. The authors that I have recommended are a very talented group and I hope you will check out their novels and add some new names to your favorite mystery authors.

Please check out this new book site, Shepherd.com. It is a little different than most. You can find books by author, genre, topic, etc. But you can also read recommendations from other authors in the same genre. It is a lot of fun, entertaining, and very helpful to search for specific topics.

As you can see, even Scots driving for Globus vacations love ROADKILL!

If you haven’t read any of my Double Barrel Mysteries yet, you needn’t wait. Book one, Roadkill, is on sale for just .99¢ from 01/19/23-01/26/23. That’s a whopping 75% off! Definitely better than finding a dead body in a snowstorm. Just saying. Purchase here> ROADKILL

While you’re visiting this new book site, you might want to check out other connections and titles. Here is a link to books set in Wisconsin called, The best books about the old (and new) weird America. I have not read any of these, so I am not recommending them. Just putting it out here as a book search suggestion.

Thanks for stopping! Please leave a comment and tell us if you’ve read one of my mystery author suggestions and/or who is your favorite author or novel.

Barbara

Barbara is the author of The Fredrickson Winery Novels,
the Double Barrel Mysteries,
the Second Chances series, and more.
She lives in Minnesota because she can’t afford Hawaii.
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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barbara Ellen Brink, Lake Superior, Wendy Webb

To stuff or not to stuff

November 23, 2022 By Barbara 3 Comments

Image by Gerhard from Pixabay

Another year has passed by without a bite of turkey passing these lips. So, Thursday I will be going off my turkey fast to indulge in overeating with the best of them. In fact, we are heading to South Dakota for a family get-together/foodfest, so obviously turkey will not be the only food to pass lips and attach to hips.

I recently realized that I’m not the only one to have a love/hate relationship with dressing. To be clear; for the lovers of Amelia Bedelia books, not the wearing of clothes, but the stuff that goes inside the turkey to bake and become a savory mix of breads, onions, spices, etc.

I learned from my hair salon girl that many people feel as I do about bread dressing… barf. It is for the birds. Not for human consumption. It is gummy and wet and definitely not pleasing to the eye or palate.

I grew up on cornbread dressing. My grandmother was from Texas and brought her culinary expertise to Oregon along with her daughter. My mom continued the wonderful tradition of fluffy cornbread dressing and passed the torch to me. My daughter has decided to follow in my footsteps and learn the art of yummy dressing.

I hope this conversation is not as volatile as politics, but it has to be said. Cornbread dressing is worthy of a second helping. Bread dressing is something you clog your kitchen garbage disposal with putting all the leftovers down the sink at the end of the meal. Sorry. Not sorry.

“If you can’t stuff something good, don’t stuff anything at all.” (Wise woman saying from 2022)

Do you have an opinion on this very controversial issue? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Barbara

Barbara is the author of The Fredrickson Winery Novels, the Double Barrel Mysteries, the Second Chances series, and more. She lives in Minnesota because she can’t afford Hawaii.
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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barbara Ellen Brink, dressing saga, family, thanksgiving, Turkey day

Happy frugal Independence Day!

June 30, 2022 By Barbara 2 Comments

This weekend, many of us will be getting together with family and friends, proudly waving the red, white, and blue, grilling hotdogs (or steaks, if you’re a politician and the huge jump in food prices doesn’t affect you), and setting off fireworks to scare all the dogs in the neighborhood. All in the name of Independence from the King of England hundreds of years ago. Our tea prices may have dropped temporarily, but sadly, they’ve returned to pre-dictator pricing. Along with everything else.

As an indie author, I feel your pain. Sure, I’m free from the tyranny (contract) of a big publishing house, but I’m also personally responsible for every aspect of putting my book together. I have independence from a deadline but sometimes thoughts of others taking care of the cover, the editing, the publicity, etc, makes me long for simpler times when all I had to do was spend half my life sending out query letters and waiting. I never got any books published in all those months and years I waited but at least I didn’t have to do my own promotions, right?

Which reminds me…

Independence Day shopping may be a bit tighter this year, but don’t worry. I would never let you spend your holiday weekend without a good book. Do I have the deal for you!

Now 40% off thru July 4th!

A Man Can Die but Once (reg. 4.99 now $2.99)

This is the 5th book in Blake & Shelby Gunner’s Double Barrel Mysteries series. Check out the free sample below:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PROLOGUE

A man can die but once.

(Henry IV, Part 2, Act3)

Leaning over the body of the mayor, he pressed two fingers to the man’s thick neck, searching for the carotid pulse. Faint but still detectable. Suddenly, he felt the man grip the ragged edge of his untucked shirt and tug him closer as though trying to say something. Eyes wide and staring, the mayor’s blue lips moved faintly, but only a mewling whimper sounded from the depths of his chest. Instinctively, he jerked away from the moist breath of vomit and death that accosted him, and the mayor’s white-knuckle grip was broken. The mayor fell back, pulling his arm in close to his body and appeared to curl around his pain, then he exhaled one last time and was gone.

Slowly, he straightened, standing tall over the mayor’s body, his stance relaxed. Purposefully at ease. Closing his eyes, he allowed his adrenaline-laced heartbeat to slow and his breathing to return to normal. No matter how many times he’d watched men die, he still felt a weight of darkness envelope his soul. A feeling he had to fight with every breath in his body. Exactly sixty seconds later, he opened his eyes and stared down on the ashen-faced man crumpled at his feet.

Everyone talked about this man. Locals either hated him or despised him. Some thought he was a necessary evil. A nasty, pushy politician could get things done for the town that nice people could not. But he’d never run across anyone who loved and respected him.

The great Farley Jones. The man who would be king… or at least, mayor of Port Scuttlebutt. He used people. Connived. Pressured. Even blackmailed them into doing his dirty work or going along with him in some unsavory deal or another. He’d heard the tales, but until recently, he’d never had the opportunity to see the man at work in person.

He had no real stake in the welfare of Port Scuttlebutt. Didn’t care whether Farley Jones ran things like a Detroit gangster or was more of a Saint Francis of Assisi, communing with birds and saving pine trees.

Farley’s mistake today was purely subjective.

The Mayor of Port Scuttlebutt had made a choice. He chose poorly. He never should have tried to hurt a woman on a mission. Like PETA zealots who write meat is murder on a butcher’s shop, to save-the-trees groups who chain themselves to bulldozers, or nuts who release thousands of minks from farms to starve to death or be eaten by foxes, people on a mission were the scariest people in the world to deal with logically. To them, the end always justified the means. Even if it didn’t turn out quite the way they planned. Much like war.

Stepping back, he carefully looked over the scene, imprinting it on his memory for possible future posterity.

Blood seeped from a wound on the back of the mayor’s head, glistening wet and dark. The fancy overcoat and loose-legged suit pants did nothing to hide the effects of a man accustomed to overindulgence and lack of exercise; a thickened waistline, fleshy jowls and neck, and overall poor muscle tone. He rested on his side where he’d fallen, one arm beneath him, the other extended across the floor, pudgy sausage fingers splayed out like a fan as though trying to grasp the baseball bat that lay just out of his reach.

Bending, he picked up the bat, twirling it in his gloved hands. There was a splotch of blood on one side. He wiped it clean on the leg of his black sweatpants, admired the scrawled signature, and then carefully placed it back on display above the fireplace with the other baseball memorabilia.

A piece of paper peeked out the pocket of the dead man’s overcoat. He squatted beside him and slipped it out, pressing it open flat on the knotty pine floor. A to-do list. He smirked. Apparently, the man’s mama was every bit in charge of the world and everyone in it as the rumor mill suggested. Even her son, the mayor, had to submit to her authority.

He started to rise, but the last item on the list caught his eye. He read the words and expelled the breath of a laugh. Not surprising, all the errands had been crossed off except this one. A smile stretched across his face, and he rifled through the man’s pockets for a pen. Finding one, he leaned over the paper. There. Farley’s last day was complete.

Kill Farley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you were intrigued by this opening scene. Pick up your own copy of A MAN CAN DIE BUT ONCE at any online store. Don’t wait! This deal will only last through the 4th!

Leave a comment and share a memory from one of your special 4th of July celebrations, tell us what independence means to you (are you glad we’re free from driving on the wrong side of the road and calling chips crisps?), or, let me know if you are a fan of Blake and Shelby and the Double Barrel Mysteries.

Happy Independence Day!

Barbara

Barbara is the author of The Fredrickson Winery Novels, The Second Chances Series, The Amish Bloodsuckers series, and The Double Barrel Mysteries. She lives in Minnesota during the spring, summer and fall, and endures the winter by pretending she owns Robin Masters’ estate in Oahu and Thomas Magnum is her personal security guard.

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To write or to quilt, that is the question.

June 20, 2022 By Barbara 2 Comments

I’ve started a new artistic outlet that doesn’t involve computers, keyboards, and entertaining readers with thrilling suspense suspended in coherent sentences and adequate grammar.

Quilting.

My mom made several quilts before she retired from sewing and recently gifted me with her stockpile of material and quilting accessories. I sewed my children clothes when they were young but haven’t dragged out my sewing machine for anything other than repairs in recent years. I didn’t think I would really get into quilting but decided to give it a go. I hate to see things go to waste and all that material just called my name. (I may have been going through a bit of writer’s block at the time and quilting gave me an excuse not to write.)

My first project just happened to be a little quilt for my second granddaughter born this past March. I decided not to purchase any special “baby” material but to use the pieces Mom had given me. So, this is the result.

Although, the art of quilting is not so different from the art of storytelling, there was a bit of a learning curve for me and Youtube videos have been very helpful and educational. I made a few mistakes but hopefully I’m the only one who really notices.

I found the similarities between writing and quilting to be quite satisfying. Much like setting up a plot, you have to decide upon your pattern. Then you sew the individual pieces together to form squares, (or in writer language: scenes into chapters). Next, you layer the colorful top with warm cotton batting and a crisp cotton backing and slowly begin to stitch it all together with needle and thread. Like individual words forming sentences and sentences forming paragraphs and paragraphs forming pages… You get the idea. Finally, you attach a border (book cover) and enjoy!

Writing is an art and quilting is an art. Right now, I’m better at writing, having put in a few more years in practice, but I think I’ll continue learning quilting as well. It’s a calming and relaxing artistic outlet, (except when I had to rip the whole side of my border off and do it over), and it also helps me quiet my mind and ponder the best way to kill off a character in my newest novel. So, there is that.

This is my second work in progress. It’s about as far along as my current writing WIP. Not sure which one will be finished first.

Have you got an artistic outlet? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Thanks for stopping!

Barbara

Barbara is the author of The Fredrickson Winery Novels,
the Double Barrel Mysteries, the Second Chances series, and more. She lives in Minnesota because she can’t afford Hawaii.
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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: artistic outlets, Barbara Ellen Brink, quilting, writing

Groundhogs, Valentines, & Dead Presidents

February 9, 2022 By Barbara 4 Comments

February is the deepfreeze month stuck between New Year’s and the March of Leprechauns. Although the shortest of months, it has three auspicious days of note.

Groundhog Day leads the way on the 2nd! This is the day big fat rodents determine the length of our suffering in cold and darkness. Not strange at all, right? Apparently, Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia are the main areas where this weather forecasting animal is used, but regardless of its superstitious origin, someone managed to get this bizarre date included on the national calendar. Having their own day must really puff those little diggers up. I bet from their exalted status, they look down upon all the moles, voles, prairie dogs, and gerbils with utter disdain.

On the 14th, February is suddenly all about romance and love, full of chocolate hearts, flowers, and insanely priced cards. Some people claim Valentine’s Day is a made-up holiday, as though a day to celebrate rodents is completely legitimate but a day to celebrate the one you love is a government conspiracy.

And finally on the 21st, we have President’s Day. I’m old enough to remember it being called George Washington’s Birthday, but apparently it became a birthday celebration for George and Lincoln ( who both had February birthdays) and then finally in the 1970s was officially changed to President’s Day. Probably because the other dead presidents felt slighted. Or more likely, the live ones did.

In Minnesota, February is basically the beginning of our second winter. We get about 4 days of above freezing and then we’re back to black-ice, frost-bite, and a drop in crime as all the criminals head south.

With winter feeling extra long this year and February being a tri-celebration month, I am gifting a book for you! From my own experience, cold months are great reading months! So…

February 11th-28th, ENTANGLED (A Fredrickson Winery Novel) will be FREE at all online stores! Pick up a copy if you haven’t read it yet, and tell your book-loving friends and family members to download a copy too!

Get it here> ENTANGLED

Thanks for stopping! Leave a comment and tell us which February holiday you enjoy celebrating the most, or do you have another one I don’t know about??

Barbara

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barbara Ellen Brink, Entangled, fiction, Free book, Groundhogs, mystery, Presidents Day, ValentinesDay

Creme de menthe bars and a free book!

December 2, 2021 By Barbara Leave a Comment

Christmas is almost upon us.

I have so much I want to do, and so little time left to do it. My organization skills stink. I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. Baking with chocolate. Yes, I am the number one taste-tester around here. Actually, the only taste-tester. So, I get a lot of tastes. It’s a very satisfying job. I could do this all year.

Sadly, it has taken me an entire week shuffling boxes, finding the right ornaments in each, fluffing the fake tree, putting on the lights, and finally hanging and placing each star, ornament, angel, or bow with precision accuracy. You guessed it. I have a mother who is gifted at this stuff. Living up to her example is not only time-consuming but, if I’m honest, a bit mind-numbing. Decorating does not come naturally to me. Writing is my “gift” and I’d much rather be indulging my imagination making up stories than decorating the halls or fluffing throw pillows.

That being said… I have not finished the new book I am working on, and so the only gift I have to present you with this year is a free copy of Christmas in Port Scuttlebutt.

Grandbaby approved

Not to downplay the awesome entertainment value of this Double Barrel contribution. It is truly full of enough suspense, romance, and holiday spirit to satisfy. Add a mug of hot cocoa and a candy cane stirrer and you are on your way to mystery heaven.

Get your free kindle copy December 2-6 only! Don’t wait or procrastinate. Download today> CPS

Leave a comment and tell us one of your favorite Christmas traditions or Christmas cookies/bars. Recipes are welcome. Especially if they involve chocolate. Scroll down for the secret family recipe of my favorite holiday bars.

Thanks for stopping!

Barbara

Creme de Menthe Bars

1st layer> Melt 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup cocoa until blended. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 cups graham cracker crumbs. Mix well & pat into 9X13 pan.

2nd layer> Melt 1/2 cup butter. Add 1/3 cup green creme de menthe & 3 cups powdered sugar. Mix well until smooth. Spread over 1st layer. Chill for one hour.

Top layer> Melt 1/4 cup butter & 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spread over top and put in refrigerator.

I usually cut them within an hour, so the top doesn’t set so hard that it cracks instead of cutting smoothly. Then keep them in the fridge because they do contain egg and butter. Wouldn’t want you to blame me for salmonella. They also freeze well.

Ps. Eat and enjoy! Merry Christmas!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Barbara Ellen Brink, Christmas recipe, ChristmasInPortScuttlebutt, Free book, mystery

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When a senator and pharmaceutical giant partner to experiment with a new drug on pregnant women, they tap into a world they never knew existed – the supernatural touching the natural – and it will cost the innocent more than they know. Grace Awards Winner!

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