Last week, I relaunched Grounds for Suspicion in its original form - sort of. Many years ago, I'd set up an online shop for mystery-themed gifts that I thought were cool - stuff I'd buy - and hoped it would take off.
It didn't.
I had lots of ideas, more than I would ever be able to implement, but little business savvy. I really wanted to create my vision and let it sell itself.
It didn't.
At some time in the nineties, I visited New York City for a long weekend with friends, caught a show, at some food at restaurants I'd researched in my highlighted Frommer's guide, and discovered Murder Ink - a bookstore on the Upper West Side. This gem was my happy place - full of all the books I loved to read - mysteries, thrillers, gothic romance. I remember the store as being narrow and connected to a separate bookstore next door (children's books?) with a gate that could close one off from the other. The checkout counter was shared I believe.
Years later, as I made my way through grad school, I seized upon the idea of writing crime fiction, rather than writing my thesis about it. My faculty advisor was less than thrilled, but he allowed me to give it a try. My first novel, Third Thursday, was set in a murder mystery bookstore in historic Orlando that was connected to a cafe next door. I called it Grounds for Suspicion. In my mind, this was my version of that New York mystery bookstore, just connected to a coffee shop. Coffee and mysteries - best combo ever. That novel will never be published. I consider it my "learning book." But Grounds for Suspicion - my dream mystery bookshop with coffee and snacks, hub of book clubs, writers, and neighborhood fixture lingered in my mind long after my futile agent queries, my first Bouchercons and Malice Domestics, and all the later visits to other mystery bookstores across the country.
I bought the domain way back then and tried to launch my online mystery gift shop. I had help with the site (thanks B) and help with my logo (thanks R) and as I said, endless ideas for stuff I wish I'd seen in the book rooms at all the conventions.
It did not take off as I'd hoped. I shuttered my tiny shop, moved out of Florida, started a new career, even went back to grad school again and wrote another novel. Years passed. Last fall, I attended Bouchercon in Nashville. If you have never been and you are a mystery fan - GO. Seriously, go. You become part of a community of writers and readers who love this genre. These are your people, your tribe.
Still, the bookroom had no merch. Loads of books. No merch. I wore my "Unreliable Narrator" shirt and podcasted about the con and sat on my first panel (about cozy mysteries) and then I came home to find my hours cut and my professional future uncertain.
I chose to approach my reduced circumstances as an opportunity to write again, to rethink all that I've wanted to do, but never had the time. Then came Hurricane Helene. I started to feel that sense of community that I'd imagined in Third Thursday as neighbors came together to make sure that people had what they needed. I made a pint of visiting local small businesses, including our own little bookstore on Main Street and pretty much every coffee shop in the county. I started to get ideas again - for the WIP, for local cross promotions that might drive traffic to the businesses I now consider part of my community, for all the cool merch that I wish would all be found in one spot.
So, I set up the website again, stumbling along without my experts, and started pulling together a collection of everything I'd want as a writer, a reader, and a fan of mystery stories. I still have no business savvy, so instead of opening my own store - I provide links to other merchants' stores. I don't have to source and stock and ship - I just point customers toward existing shops doing awesome stuff. Many of the them so niche that they are not likely to be found easily, but they are - I feel - part of my community.
I don't know if anything will come from this. But once an idea gets stuck, starts to germinate and grow, following the path seems the only sane thing to do. So I gather fun games and puzzles, sassy bags, snarky t-shirts, and whatever else I think mystery fans would LOVE and I make it easy to find where they can buy them for a small commission from the seller.
I hope to cover the costs of hosting and operating the site and I hope to finish my third novel and that someone will want to publish it and I hope that I can find a new job or a means to support myself in these uncertain times. But hope is not much good without effort, without action. I'll commit to the new book and I'll continue to gather fun things for the virtual store, but I need my community - my tribe - to share GroundsforSuspicion.com to those who think it's as awesome as I do. To spread the word to bookstores and conferences and writing groups and makers/vendors.
Reading a good book is my refuge. Sharing a good book or bookish gift is my joy. Let it be yours too.
What fun (non-book) stuff do you look for in your favorite book shop?
What's your favorite mystery book store and where is it?
Favorite mystery series or sleuth?
