Sunday, December 5, 2021

Around the Kitchen Table Plans for 2022 @PegCochran #Giveaway #ATKT



Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon: The holiday season is here and pretty soon the new year will be upon us. Do you have plans or goals for 2022? Do you make resolutions? I prefer goals to resolutions--they seem more positive and encouraging. My first goal is to continue cultivating healthy habits--eating well and exercising regularly. I had a bit of a health crisis this year that made me realize just how precious good health is. My second goal for the year is to try new things. I'd love to try snowshoeing and Michigan weather offers plenty of opportunities for it! I plan to try new recipes as well including making my own puff pastry, which I've always shied away from. And when it comes to my writing, I'd also like to try something new without worrying about whether it will be successful or not--maybe a romance or a suspense? I think trying new things keeps us young.

How about you?

Do you have any goals or plans for 2022?


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VICKI DELANY: Goals or plans? That's a great question, Peg, but I think after the past two years we've realized that plans can easily be disrupted. I hope to hit the road again in 2022. I've so missed all my writer friends and meeting my lovely readers. Signings at bookstores, going to conferences such as Malice Domestic and Left Coast Crime. My plans for a major birthday trip to Italy came asunder (so much for plans) so I am hoping I can go in spring 2022 for a delayed trip. Otherwise, another year of writing writing writing. And that's just the way I want it.

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MIA P. MANANSALA: I love making both goals and plans, but as Vicki pointed out, plans are easily disrupted! I have the next two books in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery Series coming out in 2022, and I've already signed up for Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, and Bouchercon, but who knows if any of those will happen. Fingers crossed because I really miss travel and hanging out with all my mystery writer friends! As for goals, I'd love to try my hand at writing short stories. They are so difficult, but a great way to sharpen my craft. Like Peg, I also want to try my hand at something new (perhaps a different age category?) but we'll see how that goes. And finally, I'd love to take up boxing when I feel comfortable returning to the gym. I've got a LOT of stress to work out!

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MADDIE DAY: I'm with my friends here - reluctant to get my hopes up, but still acting on faith. Like Mia, I've also registered for Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, and Bouchercon. After a taste of seeing dear author pals at the New England Crime Bake last month, I want to keep that up, as long as it feels safe. In terms of writing goals, I have a window of couple of months to get back to a partially written historical project that I'm excited about. I also want to issue a collection of my various Quaker Midwife short stories. Otherwise I have two under-contract deadlines and three (at least) new releases.

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TINA KASHIAN: For me, trying new things means returning to some of my pre-Covid activities. I used to swim indoors at the YMCA a couple times a week. I haven’t been going, even though the pool opened. I’d like to get back to swimming as something “new.” I’ve solved plot problems in the past while swimming the breaststroke. There is something relaxing about the repetitive motion and the solitude of the water. I’d also like to work on a new cozy series while continuing to write short stories and romance (yes, I’ve written romance). I signed up for Malice Domestic, and I look forward to seeing friends and connecting with readers. I wish everyone a healthy holiday season!

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CLEO COYLE: Peg, I also like your idea of New Year's goals (instead of resolutions). Goals do sound more encouraging! Marc and I have already started our exercising goals, which includes light weightlifting and long walks. We love to walk and talk (often about the mysteries we're writing). Tina, like your swimming, the relaxing movement of the walking seems to help our creative brain waves. We like the fresh air, too, and exploring the many diverse neighborhoods (and variety of eats!) where we live, here in Queens, NYC. As for our writing goals, we're looking forward to connecting with readers again in January when our 19th Coffeehouse Mystery, HONEY ROASTED, is published. We'll be finishing up our 8th Haunted Bookshop Mystery in the new year and starting the 9th in the series (with plans on the drawing board for more crime-solving adventures with our widowed bookseller and her PI ghost). In 2022, we'll also be writing a new Coffeehouse Mystery (#20 in the series) and developing story arcs for future "Clare & Company" adventures. A productive year awaits (God willing), and may it be a happy and healthy one for you, Peg, and everyone at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! ~ Cleo 


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LUCY BURDETTE: Oh my, I hadn't even thought of goals! Plans, for sure. We'll be visiting our family in California in January, a delayed Christmas and celebration of a new baby. We also had to postpone two trips last year, so I am hoping hard we'll be traveling to northern Scotland and Paris. I have the 13th Key West food critic mystery to write, and meanwhile will think about what's next. UNSAFE HAVEN, my first novel of suspense/thriller, comes out this week. Will I write another? It's a mystery!

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LESLIE K: Like so many of my other Kitchen-mates here, I’m very excited at the prospect of returning to our beloved mystery conventions, and I’m signed up for both Left Coast Crime and Malice Domestic. Can’t wait to see you all again IN PERSON! As for other plans, I keep hoping to spend a month or two in Oxford, England, where I lived for a year as a teenager when my father was on sabbatical there in the early 1970s. Only after I reached a more mature age did I fully appreciate what a marvelous city it is, however, and I’ve been planning my return for some time. But, as with the rest of the world right now, all plans must be considered “soft.” So we shall see....


fish ’n chips at an Oxford pub

And I’m impressed at Mia’s ambition to take up boxing. Far too rigorous for this old gal. But perhaps pickleball?
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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: It's all so "soft," as Leslie says, isn't it? I am looking forward to traveling again, to Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque and Malice Domestic in Maryland. And in September, cross your fingers, my brother and I and are spouses hope to take the hiking trip to the Interlachen Valley in the Swiss Alps that we'd planned this year. Our dad was a ball-turret gunner on a B-17 bomber during WW II -- if you've seen Memphis Belle, the role Harry Connick, Jr. played -- that was hit on a raid and couldn't make it back to base in England, so it landed in Switzerland. To maintain its neutrality, Switzerland could not let any troops leave, so the Allies were on one side of the country, Axis on the other. At 24, my dad ended up in charge of several crews, not just his own, billeted in the skiing village of Wengen on the Jungfrau. Not bad, though he was always quick to say it wasn't all bread and cheese. My brother's been there several times, but this will be my first trip -- if.

So maybe my food plans for the year should include fondue-making and beer drinking! We threw ourselves into French cooking last winter, and we're thinking Indian this year -- Mr. Right lived in Delhi for a year at twenty and we both love the flavors. As for writing and books? Two books on the way, the 6th Spice Shop mystery and the next stand-alone under my suspense name, Alicia Beckman. And more writing, writing, writing -- my dream job! 

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MAYA CORRIGAN: My fingers are crossed that the travel I had to postpone in 2020, including two weeks in Sicily, will happen in 2022. Malice Domestic is also on my schedule plus a wedding on Cape Cod postponed from 2021. The 8th Five-Ingredient Mystery will come out, and I'll be writing the 9th in the series. I hope to revisit a suspense novel I wrote before the Five-Ingredient Mysteries came out and get it ready for publication, work on a nonfiction book, and maybe even try writing a play. It will be a busy year even if travel has to be postponed again. 

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MOLLY MACRAE: Oh gosh, has the year flown past this fast? I don't usually make resolutions, but I can get behind goals. Mine, in no order of importance, are to continue writing, walking, reading, trying new recipes, eating well and not more than I should, and avoiding useful housework like dusting (but not entirely). Also, and this might verge on being a resolution, DECLUTTER. We really need to do this. Seriously. Do you suppose our cluttered plight prompted one of the characters in Argyles and Arsenic, book 5 in my Highland Bookshop Mysteries (out March 1, 2022), to have a decanting and decluttering party? The party is partially successful, if you don't count the dead body, so maybe I should try having a party, too. If I do, I'll be sure to report the results - and I'll try my best to leave potential murderers off the invitation list. 


GIVEAWAY! 

To be entered in this week's drawing,
join us in the comments.

What are your goals or plans for 2022?

Include your email address,
so we can contact the winner!



A FATAL FOONOTE by Peg Cochran 

MISTLETOE, MOUSSAKA AND MURDER by Tina Kashian

GINGERDEAD MAN by Maya Corrigan

A DEADLY FEAST by Lucy Burdette


Comments Open through
Wednesday, December 8

Don't forget to include
an email address!

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52 comments:

  1. For 2022 I plan to up my reading goal.
    3labsmom(at)gmail(dot)com

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  2. We have many items still on our bucket list of places to go and see. The last two years have put a crimp on being able to mark off anything. However, the time clock hasn't stopped meaning hubby and I are both older with increasing medical issues. I miss the new adventures. So 2022 we are planning to make at least one of the items on that list to be marked off as done.

    With having more and more problems walking and with back issues, the plan is to continue to work on the weight issues. While it won't correct my problem, I know it will help in some way. Having had issues with my weight all my life, I know that it is a daily struggle, but determined to make strides in that direction - even if small ones.

    In 2022, I want to experiment more in the kitchen instead of just relying on the tried and true recipes. This may be my biggest challenge of the new year since hubby's frame of mind is "if it works, why change it". :)

    With all that being said, my main goal for 2022 is to be the best person I possible can be, strive to create or do good in the world leaving it just a bit better than it was in 2021 and to enjoy life as best we can looking for the positive side of life.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  3. Goals which are attainable such as maintaining my health objectives, and being there for family and friends. Helping and giving which brings me great satisfaction. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Maintaining health objectives is at the top of my list as well!

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  4. I need to get some crocheting/knitting done. I have lots of projects I want to do and my yarn pile started to get a bit out of control. I also want to get my TBR stack down, which is going to be hard as there's a huge library sale next month!
    kozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. Those library sales can be dangerous! Can you knit/crochet while you catch up on some TV shows? Sadly, I don't know how to do either.

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    2. I have some projects in mind, too, but I need to clean out a bit of clutter before I can start.

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  5. One of my big plans is to finish writing my first draft of my cozy mystery. There are many more things I want to do but this one is near the top of my list.

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  6. A few years ago, my husband and I moved across the US to live and care for my mother-in-law. Her home was already filled with her own things and dementia meant that clutter caused her great irritation and agitation. We put our own home's worth of things into storage. My mother-in-law has passed away. Our goal for 2022 is to sort through both the items in the house and the boxes in the storage unit.
    little lamb lst at yahoo dot com

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  7. Our condolences, Lil -- what a generous gift you gave her. Wishing you luck with the clearing and cleaning.

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  8. I plan to read many, many cozy mysteries in 2022!

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  9. I want to organize the basement and get all of my teaching things organized. And get all of my kids books organized.
    bmedrano34 @ yahoo.com

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  10. My reading goal is 150 books and lose weight.
    Kitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net

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  11. Realizing that life is fleeting I have made it my goal to show individuals how much I care while providing them with love, warmth and necessities. I want to increase exercise which helps improve my outlook. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. A beautiful goal for us all (the love and warmth and necessities, I mean). And the exercise certainly does improve our mental health. Great point! Too often the focus on physical fitness turns people off and misses the whole mental health and improved energy and outlook benefit, which almost always happens with regular exercise. Just walking every day can do wonders.

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  12. To get more organized.
    Terry0743@aol.com

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  13. My 2022 goals are to exercise more, stay healthy, and to prioritize and start working on our to do list for our home. We moved in right before covid hit and the projects we have wanted to work on became much more expensive due to shortages.

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  14. My goal is pay down bills and mange money better

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  15. I want to read more of the books i have been stockpiling and also get a couple of involved cross stitch projects done. One is of a pair of otters. I also want to visit with my best friend in Maryland. Looks like I have a busy year ahead! aut1063(at)gmail(dot)com

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  16. Just taking it day by day. cheetahthecat1986ATgmailDOTcom

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  17. Maybe looking for a new job. tWarner419@aol.com

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  18. My goals are trying to eat better and be more active. Also I plan on doing some decluttering and work around the house. I'm also looking forward to being able to travel, hopefully.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. So nice to hear from you ladies. Thanks for sharing your plans/goals.
    I prefer to set goals for the new near. Actually I set goals for each month. Household goals, sewing/quilting goals, greeting card goals, and now greeting card goals for my mother in law. I am now making cards that are from her to her great grandchildren. I make the cards and my sister in law pays for them (from MIL) and a check (from her) for each great grandchild. For 2022 the cards for them are all minions. I didnt used to do goals or plans and things just went every which way. Now, things run so much smoother.As long as I dont try to be perfect or over goal myself LOL happens

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  20. I would like to make a dent in my TBR list.
    Mostly, I am trying to help my teenagers with school choices, scout goals, and other interests.
    For me, I would like to get back into exercising, as I have become way too sedentary.

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  21. My goal is to resume daily walks. When the pandemic hit, I was unable to continue with mall walking and the construction in my area made it difficult to walk around.
    jtcgc at yahoo dot com

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  22. I want to spend time with my 2 month old grandson!!! lindaherold999(at)gmail(at)com

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  23. My aim is to get out of my rut! I need to get out and start traveling again, even if it is only 100 miles to visit my sister. I'd love to plan an international trip but things keep changing quickly.
    patdupuy@yahoo.com

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  24. My goal for next year is to establish more consistent rhythms for my family. This definitely includes leisure time to read more, be active and outdoors, and bake! abigailpelletier@gmail.com

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  25. NO Goals, no plans - just hope for a better and more successful year for everyone. We need a good strong year ahead!!
    lindalou64(@)live(dot)com

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  26. Loved reading everyone's goals! Mine are to exercise more and read more! I read a lot now but would like to up my reading goal.

    Thanks for the chance.

    jarjm1980(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  27. i have no real goals except to get book shevles and read more

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  28. The only plan that I have is to work my way through the rest of the boxes I have from the move earlier in the year. They are stacked neatly and don't bother me so I don't care if they bother anyone else. There aren't a lot. There are just other things I'd rather do.
    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

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  29. Some of my goals are related to attitude or perspective (don't sweat the small stuff, enjoy the moment, live in the present, choose joy, etc) others relate to reading, giving, or more specific, measurable things kjp1025@gmail.com

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  30. I am thinking I would like to take up journaling again. I used to enjoy that. I also want to try and take better care of myself and make more moments of relaxation and stress relief. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  31. 2021 was a crazy busy year for us, within a 3 month time frame we decided to sell our house, get new jobs, and move from the East coast to the West coast. Many of my goals for 2021 took a backseat, but for good reason. One of which was a joint goal for my husband and I to try our hand at crafting a cozy mystery, so that is our big goal for 2022. Along side it will be finding our next home since we opted to try apartment living while we settled back into the SoCal way of life with a semi-side of empty nesting. The new-to-us house will need to have a place where we can write as well as enough kitchen counter space for me to roll pastry when ever the latest cozy read inspires me to cook. Thank you ladies for offering up one of your wonderful books, and for crafting such wonderful characters and stories! Sending out positive vibes to everyone finishing up this year's goals and for a great start on next year's! Tracy.Condie@gmail.com

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  32. To find a pain mgmt plan so that I can enjoy our trip to Hawaii in Sept. for our 15th Anniversary. Also to go to NH to visit my precious granddaughters in the spring. Thank you for this chance at your giveaway! pgenest57@aol.com

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  33. My goals include decluttering (I'm hoping to move in the coming year) and eating smaller portions of carbs while increasing my vegetable consumption.
    I love these Sunday get togethers!!!
    sandra shenton 13 at gmail dot com

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  34. Thank you everyone for sharing your 2022 plans/goals/thoughts. Usually I make a list of goals, noting the plans to accomplish them along side, but 2022 will be different. I'm focusing on embracing mindfulness so as not to miss what's going on around me. Our youngest daughter is facing a serious health challenge. I want to be completely present in every moment with her, every moment in nature, every moment with my husband and our oldest daughter. The cozies you all write provide comfort and a normalcy every day for me. lnchudej@yahoo.com

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  35. My goal is to work towards a better life balance. I have a tendency to be a people pleaser which rarely actually pleases everyone. I don't want to hurt others, I just want to be better at recognizing what is most important in any given situation and put my focus on that person or activity.

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  36. The goal should be decluttering but will more likely turn into more reading.
    wskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  37. For some reason I couldn't post yesterday.
    Leslie--Watch out for pickle ball. It is not a benign activity. Just ask anyone who works the ER near retirement communities!

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  38. My goals for 2022 are to retire (unless there is some awful market drop), visit our kids and grandkids, read more, spend more time with my parents, quilt more, and learn to play pickle ball. There is the de-cluttering goal that hasn’t gotten done in the last five years, but I remain hopeful. FabriCatz@aol.com

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  39. I forgot to include my email address in my post this morning. tbm915@gmail.

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  40. Family, read, stitch— hopefully every day

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  41. My goal I try to spend more time with family and to read more cozy mystery. xzjh04(at) gmail.com

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  42. My goal is to finish the two books I have been writing, and hopefully get them published.

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