I have exciting news.  Gayle’s publisher has decided to move the release date up for the revised Murder Takes the Cake to January 2011! She’s still working on Killer Sweet Tooth, and is looking forward to having that hit the shelves as well. Myra is, too. You guys don’t know how much Myra is looking forward to “being famous.”  She thinks that now if she could just nab her a rich husband… (eye roll).  Tune in to Killer Sweet Tooth to see if she has any luck with any of the Elvis impersonators who come to Brea Ridge! Hopefully, Gayle will get a book trailer together for Killer Sweet Tooth in the next few months.

Site Spotlight: Bake, Decorate, Celebrate

Where can you learn all kinds of decorating techniques step by step, get delicious recipes and even have your questions answered by an expert? Bake, decorate, celebrate! 

Bake, decorate, celebrate is the name of a television show in which the hosts provide information and detailed instructions on baking and decorating cakes. The website is a continuation of the show and helps novice as well as professional cake decorators learn new techniques and stay on top of trends.

The show hosts are Nancy Siler,  Melanie Glasscock and Beth Madland. Nancy  has been baking and decorating for over 25 years and is Director of the Wilton School. Melanie is a former broadcast journalist who brings a homemaker’s point of view to the BAKE DECORATE CELEBRATE! series. Beth is a former reporter who enjoys filling in for Melanie when Melanie takes time off to be with her family.

Check out Bake Decorate Celebrate! You’ll be glad you did.

Happy New Year, everbody. I hope it has started well for you. For those of us in Southwest Virginia, we’ve been off to a snowy start. The children were supposed to go back to school on January 4, but they haven’t been back yet. And we’re supposed to get more snow this week!

Gayle got a mention in GalleyCat! You can read the piece by clicking the link. Gayle is really thrilled about it. I, of course, am happy about the good reviews both Murder Takes the Cake and Dead Pan have been getting.

Reader Spotlight: Denise Turocy

This is a Killer Cakes first…but I hope it will be the first of many. After enjoying Murder Takes the Cake, Denise wrote Gayle and sent links to some of her own work. Gayle asked her to participate in this newsletter.

Denise’s adventures in cake decorating began in the early ’80′s when she took her first class through her local parks and recreation department in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. She went on to decorate cakes for family and friends.

Later, her interest waned and she gave up her hobby until Christmas of 2008.  She sold a few Valentine’s cakes and then worked at a famous Pittsburgh bake shop during the 2009 holiday season. In her spare time, she taught cake decorating, knitting and crocheting classes.

Denise has taken three or four Wilton cake decorating classes and attended an “Enthusiast” class at the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute in Sept. ’09  where the topic was Sheet Cake Decorating. “Says Denise, “We got to torte, fill, frost and decorate our very own sheet cake and take it home.  It was a fantastic learning opportunity and fun experience to say the least.”

E-mail Denise at adairdet@gmail.com.