You've Got Mail Monday

I'm thinking the mail carrier must have felt guilty about ignoring me the previous week, because he sure made up for it last week. Between the United States Postal Service, UPS and FedEx, I can't seem to find the floor of my office.

Catalogs and magazines arrived galore last week. Most of the catalogs made their way to the recycle bin. I try not to save them if I don't think I'll be ordering from them. It's not Christmas yet, so Land's End isn't on the agenda--even if they do send me multiple catalogs each month. Oriental Trading sent a catalog with Halloween costumes and other funny dress up accessories. I actually bought an angel costume from them one year for the Lil' Princess. I remember it because it was the year of the three horrible storms that left us without power for multiple days. Halloween 2011 was canceled by our town because we were still without power and many downed trees littered the sidewalks and roads. We ended up staying at my in-laws' house for a week, so we Trick-or-Treated there. Eventually, once everyone in town was back up and running again, we had our own Trick-or-Treat night.

Grandin Road® has some great Halloween and fall decorations. Too bad I'm broke right now.

In addition to those catalogs, my October 18, 2013 issue of All You magazine arrived. Love the cover on this one. I haven't had time to go through it yet, but hopefully I will by the end of the week. Traditional Home also arrived. I've been so busy I haven't even unwrapped it yet. That's definitely on my to-do list. I find so many great decorating ideas to show my future interior designer.

I have to admit to a bit of confusion about magazines lately. It seems I'm getting some I never signed up for. ESPN magazine started coming a few months ago. There is no way I would want that one. Then Shape magazine began arriving. I thought maybe my Heath magazine had simply changed its name, but I received a copy of each this month, so not sure what's going on.

As for books, I was pleasantly surprised to find a box of children's picture books from Clavis Publishing on my doorstep one day. I'll review those at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. I had ordered a copy of The Crypto-Capers in The Peacock Diaries by Renee Hand, which also arrived. I've followed this series since the beginning and I can't wait to read this one. Finally, A Christmas Carol 2: The Return of Scrooge by Robert J. Elisberg showed up at the end of the week. I'll be reviewing that one at The Book Connection in October.

Planning for my upcoming virtual book tour for Little Shepherd, I ordered a few of my books so I can mail them to reviewers. Our UPS driver dropped those off. My new business cards also arrived from VistaPrint.

I think that's it. Like I said, it was a busy mail week. Hope you had a nice day today. Many blessings for the rest of the week.

Why I Decided to Go on a Virtual Book Tour by Renee Hand

The reason why I chose Pump Up Your Book Promotion's virtual book tour was because I wanted my books to get out to the world virtually. Though my books are available in bookstores and on-line I wanted to make sure the right audiences were going to see them; that’s where Pump Up Your Book Promotions came in.

I visited the sites and learned more information about how my book would be promoted. I saw what they were doing and felt that joining the tour was going to give my books great exposure, that and the information that has been provided to me has been invaluable.

So far my tour is going great. I have had some blogs where the discussions have been just phenomenal. I have talked to and met many new people I never knew existed and have hopefully built some new friendships. I have learned more about blogging and book promotion than I knew before. Overall I feel that my book tour experience has been a memorable one and I hope the rest of the tour does even better. Thank you so much for this opportunity. It is greatly appreciated.


Renee Hand is the author of Magic Hearts, which won Best 2006 Fantasy Romance and Seduction of the Lonely Heart, which won a National Literary Award for Best Romance of 2007. The firs two books in her new children's detective series, The Crypto-Capers have recently been released. The Case of the Missing Sock and The Case of Red Rock Canyon are available at Amazon.com.

Visit Renee online at www.reneeahand.com.

The Crypto-Capers in The Case of Red Rock Canyon by Renee Hand--Book Review

Following up the success of her first Crypto-Capers children's mystery, The Case of the Missing Sock--which we reviewed here--Renee Hand and the Crypto-Capers return for another adventure in The Case of Red Rock Canyon.

In Book 2, Max, Mia, and Granny Holmes are in Las Vegas, Nevada while computer genuis Morris, who continues to develop all types of techno gadgets, stays safely in touch with them from their house on Baker Street in London.

When a one-of-a-kind necklace goes missing from a theater production, the Crypto-Capers are hired by the producer to find it--never realizing that their very lives could be in danger.

Hand kicks it up for readers a notch in The Case of Red Rock Canyon. While a key was provided for the cryptograms in Book 1, there is no key included in Book 2. The clues for how to solve the cryptograms come from the story. In addition, while the level of danger in The Case of the Missing Sock is fairly low, one of the Crypto-Capers is kidnapped in this new one, and the remaining two have to solve the crime and find their missing partner.

Which brings me to my one tiny nitpick about the book. Keeping in mind that Morris, the technology guru, has a way to monitor the location of and vital signs for the missing Crypto-Caper, there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency on the part of the others to find their missing partner. They go out to eat and partake in small talk about how expensive their lunch was, but until the last few chapters of the book, they don't seem to be all that concerned about their partner's fate.

That aside, the first two books indicate that this is going to an excellent series that will attract all types of children: boys, girls, puzzle solvers, mystery lovers, and even reluctant readers.

Again Hand makes the wise choice of dropping readers right into the action from the very first page, engaging the reader right out of the gate. It appears that the cases the Crypto-Capers must solve will grow in complexity throughout the series, continuing to challenge your young reader.

While you definitely don't need to purchase The Case of the Missing Sock to enjoy The Case of Red Rock Canyon, I believe young readers will want to follow the Crypto-Capers from the very beginning because once they start, they'll never be able to stop.


Title: The Crypto-Capers in The Case of Red Rock Canyon
Author: Renee Hand
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0-87839-309-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-87839-309-I
SRP: $12.95 (U.S.)

The Crypto-Capers in The Case of the Missing Sock by Renee Hand--Book Review

What do you get when you cross an accident prone computer genius, an expert puzzle solver, a flamboyant grandmother who loves knitting--even though she's terrible at it, and a young detective who can solve crimes that stump senior members of Scotland Yard?

A great new interactive mystery series that your children will love!

Sibling detectives Max and Mia Holmes reside on Baker Street in London. Along with their Granny Nellie Holmes and their technology wizard best friend, Morris, they make up the Crypto-Capers.

In Book 1 of this series, The Case of the Missing Sock, the Crypto-Capers travel to Florida, where Mr. Delacomb hires them to locate a stolen antique sock with a specially made pair of Prada sunglasses tucked inside. With new suspects popping up everywhere they turn, the Crypto-Capers must use Max's great skills at reasoning and deduction, Mia's ability to solve puzzles, and Morris's penchant for technology, to help them solve the crime. And just in case you think Granny has wandered off for no good reason, you'll discover her wanderings are usually very productive.


Before I say anything else, I have to tell you that my daughters--ages 7 and 5--are already bugging me to get done reviewing these books so that they can have them. I have both Book 1 and Book 2 - The Case of the Red Rock Canyon, and Granny is definitely a favorite character based upon the cover art from Book 2. My girls are starting to make up their own stories without having even read these; so illustrator Alla Dubrovich deserves a huge nod for creating attention-grabbing covers.

The Case of the Missing Sock actually opens in London, with Max in the middle of something good. I don't want to destroy the surprise, so I won't say much more on that, but Hand wastes no time in getting right to the action.

Then we get to meet the rest of the team and get some backstory on the family. The backstory is trickled in between the current day happenings, so it doesn't have a chance to take over the storyline or distract the reader. Hand does an excellent job of sharing just the right amount of detail to make the reader feel like he is experiencing everything along with the Crypto-Capers, while not overloading him with unnecessary junk that weighs the story down.

What I enjoyed most about this book and the plans for other books in the series, is that it gives readers, especially reluctant ones, a reason to pick up a book. By having the reader decipher cryptograms along with the team, The Case of the Missing Sock becomes more than just a book; it becomes an interactive adventure.

The Crypto-Capers by Renee Hand is one series of children's books that I plan to keep an eye on!


Title: The Case of the Missing Sock
Author: Renee Hand
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0-87839-304-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-87839-304-6
SRP: $12.95 (U.S.)