So, two things for this blog post. First of all, the winner of my January book giveaway is Brenda Thomas. I want to thank everyone who participated in my giveaway, and I look forward to my next giveaway. Brenda Thomas received a gift basket full of goodies and the book that she chose was Killer Deception. Second of all, every January I send out a newsletter survey to find out how I can make my newsletter better. I have received some nice comments and suggestions.  So, I will take these suggestions and incorporate them into my newsletter.  Some of the suggestions were to include more progress of my work and continue to include personal pictures.  So, I appreciate every survey response because it is very helpful to me in making On-the-Scene Newsletter the best it can be.  Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway and who filled out my survey. 
Until next time.....

Here's my annual book giveaway!
 My book giveaway will run from January 1st - 24th, 2025. Deadline is January 24th, 2025, at 8PM EST, for the US only. On January 25th, one winner will be selected from the Facebook comments and newsletter emails submitted. They may pick their choice of free book: Killer Deception, Hush Now, Don't Cry, No Good Deed, The Fatal Truth, Into the Storm, Road Less Traveled or Ruff Rewards. The winner will also receive a book lovers gift basket with their choice of free book. ** I will contact the winner privately to get their prizes to them.**
To enter:  Check out my post on Facebook at Author Maggie Casteen or send an email to [email protected] with your answer.
Disclaimer: This giveaway is open to those 18 and above in the United States. This giveaway is in no way associated with, administered by, or endorsed by Facebook; and acknowledge a complete release of Facebook by your participation. 
​Until next time...

For this blog post, I wanted to focus on the deduction process of a detective. I came across an article called, "How to Think Like a Detective" by Ivar Fashing and in this article, he breaks down the important steps of thinking like a detective. I found it very interesting, and it really broke down the steps or tactics to how a detective approaches a crime scene. The very first step really reminded me of Sherlock Holmes: Assume nothing and find out what you really know. To ignore your automatic assumptions is harder than it seems, but if you really want to know what happened it is essential to slow down and actually double-check what you know with what you assume has happened. Nothing will get you into trouble faster than jumping to conclusions and missing the important evidence that will explain what actually happened. One of my favorite quotes of Sherlock Holmes is "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Thinking like a detective doesn't happen overnight either. It takes practice and work to resist your quick reactions and dig deeper to the real cause of what happened. Another aspect of thinking like a detective is listening. Listening doesn't seem like it would be at the top of any detective's list, however, being a good listener can be the key to uncovering key pieces of evidence. Listening to what people say or, more importantly, what they don't say can tell give you information about what happened. Taking notice of what people say can give you clues about their emotions and their state of mind.  So, if you really want to think like a detective, then slow down and listen because the key to the case might be hiding in the most obvious place. 
Until next time...

For this post, I wanted to do a quick update on my Goodreads Book Challenge. I had set a goal to read 15 books this year, and so far, I'm at 12. Not sure if I can get those last three read this month...but I still have some time. I think my favorite book of the 12 was "The Pelican Brief" and the worst was "November 9" by Colleen Hoover. "Fatal Choice" by Mia Gold was pretty good and "Betrayed" by Lisa Scottoline was also a good read.  I'm starting The Testament by John Grisham right now, so that still leaves two books. Not sure what two books I'll finish up with....but I'll hopefully come up with something soon. I think reading 15 books was a bit too ambitious with everything else I have on my plate. I think the best thing about this reading challenge is that it's really kept me reading, even when I have so many other things to do, I still make time to do some reading. Anyway, that's my quick update on the reading challenge and now I have to go and check more things off my Christmas list.
Until next time..

​ I was thinking about this year's Thanksgiving newsletter and how I wanted to approach it. A lot has happened this year with Hurricane Helene, the tension from the election cycle, and managing finances (or lack thereof). I'm sure you've had your share of hard times to go through, so it may be hard to be thankful while you're dealing with family and life issues. However, I found this quote about Thanksgiving, and I would like to share it with you.

Maybe some of you have the Thanksgiving tradition of gathering around the table and have each person say what they're thankful for. I remember doing that and it really makes you stop and think about what you have. The dictionary defines "thankful" as expressing gratitude and relief. When we express our gratitude for what we have it puts a new appreciation in our heart for the things and people in our lives. When you start counting your blessings, you may realize that you have more reasons to be thankful than you thought at first. For me, my top three are my faith, my mom, and my friends 
 
I have always considered Thanksgiving an important holiday and not just because of all the good food I get to eat. For me, it's a time to reflect on what I have and, as the quote says, how to make it count by sharing it with others. So, this year I hope you get to gather around a table, loaded with food, with family and friends - look around that table and take a moment to think about all you have. Thanksgiving is a time to bring families and friends together, no matter if yours is big or small. I will be with my mom and my boy, Dakota, next to the desserts. 
​Until next time...

My post for today is a quick update on the status of my different writing projects. I've spent the past 6 months really focused on writing, and I'm really pleased with the progress I've made. My first novel, "Tell Me Everything", is in the editing phase and I hope to have it published either April or May of 2025. I'm still working on the cover for this book, but I think it's coming along nicely. I've also written my next two Kathy Hamilton Mysteries: "Bad Gamble" and "Don't Look Back." I wasn't sure that I could write two books back-to-back...that's a lot of time and mental energy. However, they are both completed, and I am happy with how they turned out. I still have to work on the cover ideas of these books, but there's time for that.  For my non-fiction books, I am starting to work on my next project which will be a Bible study about David. This is something that I've wanted to do for some time and I'm excited to finally get to it. 

It's been hard to run ads and promote sales with the economy such as it is...which is another reason why I decided to focus more on writing. Paper and pens won't break my budget and now that I have plenty of books done...I'm hoping that the economy will improve soon and I can return to promoting sales again. I'm still trying to get my first audiobook done, but that particular project is on the backburner for now. Too many details to figure out and I'm still weighing my options. Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update on what's coming up and I can't wait to get these books published and share them with you all.
​Until next time...

For today's blog, I just wanted to share a quick bit of news. Today is my 4-year anniversary of being an author. On November 10, I sent my first Kathy Hamilton mystery to the publisher. I was so nervous and excited to finally be able to send my stories off. I could never imagine that so many people would enjoy my stories and tell me how wonderful my books are. Anyway, just wanted to share a quick shoutout and here's to another year as an independent author.

Well, I have finally finished "The Pelican Brief" and it was so good. There will be spoilers in this review, so if you don't want to know...then stop now. The first thing that popped into my mind was how much was cut from the book in the movie.  It almost seemed like a completely different story. The main character, Darby Shaw, was much sassier in the book which made her not as likable. I also was surprised that Darby and Grantham ended up in a relationship at the end, which was a nice twist, just unexpected since I was used to the movie ending. Another thing that really struck me was the character Mattice. In the movie, he's just a name that has power, money, and connections. In the book, he's an actual character and you get to know him a bit which I liked very much. It made him seem real and much more of a threat. 

It was amazing to me just how I would read the book and then get to a portion that was "new", and it added so much more to the story or explained better why something else happened. For example, all the different assassin attempts in the book really explained or emphasized the danger element and made Darby's paranoia more real. Another example is how Darby really explains the background or her research that led to the pelican brief. I was always curious about how she got to her conclusion, and while some of that is mentioned in the movie, in the book she goes into the background, and it really becomes clear how crooked and deceptive the pelican plot was. 

I guess it's true what they say...the book is always better. There are no time restrains on a novel and no cutting or editing for audience reasons. It's just you and a good story, read at your pace, with only the interruptions that you allow. So, if you're looking for a good mystery, then check out "The Pelican Brief" a classic mystery written by John Grisham at his finest. And if you've already read it and seen the movie, then let me know what you think. Which was better the book or the movie?
Until next time.... 

For this blog post I wanted to dig into my notes for this first edition of police files...and the word is murder, to be more specific murder methods. Since murder is what I deal with in my books, I thought that I would start off with discussing the different kinds of murder methods. When I use the term murder method, I am referring to the different kinds of methods of murder. There are six murder methods and three of them are more well-known than the other three, but all of these methods are deadly and usually end up with dead body on scene. 
The first three methods are more well-known and usually end up in TV shows and books all the time. They are crime of passion, murder for hire, and poisoning. What detective show would be complete without a murder for hire mystery or the undetectable poison. These three murder methods, however, have something in common, a "personal touch" if you will. These three murder methods will, most likely, be committed by someone who knows the victim. Whereas murder for hire is a little more "hands off", they all still target people they know and have a personal reason for getting rid of the intended victim. They are also all motivated by intense feelings of anger, jealousy, and even revenge.
The last three murder methods don't get as much TV time but are still just as deadly. They are staged accidents, irresistible impulse, and murder under duress. These last three are not as personal because the victims of these murder methods have a greater chance of being people not necessarily personally connected to the offender. Staged accidents are when the crime scene has been altered to mislead detectives. Irresistible impulse usually refers to the offender having some sort of mental defect and murder under duress is when a person kills someone under a life-threatening situation themselves. So, that is my first edition of police files: murder methods. 
Until next time...

For this blog post, I am starting two new books: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham and Scotland Yard by Simon Read. Since my last two book choices were both flops, I've decided to go back and read some of John Grisham's first novels - that way I know I'll be getting a good story. Anyway, I've watched the movie about the Pelican Brief several times, however, I've never actually read the book. I know that's a crime on so many levels, but it is what it is. Anyway, I'm almost halfway though, and I can't believe how much was left out of the movie. I know they can't put everything in the movie that's in the book, but it just seems like they left out a lot of important details. The thing that I love the most about John Grisham's first novels is how I still get sucked into the story. It reads so well, and I don't want to put it down.  This is what I'm looking for in a book and exactly what I haven't found lately.

The other book, Scotland Yard, is a non-fiction book about the beginning of Scotland Yard and the cases that gave the Yard its reputation. Now, I've only read the first three chapters, but it's really interesting. Granted, you have to have a taste for true crime, but the cases are so interesting, and the chapters are short which is also nice. I think the most interesting thing about this book, so far, is that the 'detectives' were just regular people who kindof 'winged it' as they went. I guess if crime gets bad enough people will do whatever it takes to make their community safe again. So, like I said this is only a beginning preview but...so far so good and it's a wonderful change.
Until next time...