Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Strike a chord (and NEWS!)

I am happy to see that A DYING NOTE strikes a chord with so many readers. To see what I'm talking about, check out the news at the end of this post.

But first:

Strike a chord.

Obviously a musical term, but when did it first come into use as an idiom? Hmmmm.
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According to The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer, strike a chord (definition: trigger a feeling or memory) alludes to striking the strings of keys of a musical instrument. If I want to strike an "emotional" chord in my 1880s fictional world, I'm good to go! The expression came into use in the first half of the 1800s.

What a lovely image! It also just happens to "strike a chord"  with regards to the next book in my Silver Rush series: MORTAL MUSIC (coming February 2020).
The Mondona Singer (1884) by Giovanni Boldini - http://www.wikiart.org/en/giovanni-boldini/the-mondona-singer-1884, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38385417

Now... for my news:

I'm thrilled to tell you that A DYING NOTE has racked up a couple more mystery award nominations:

Finalist for the Macavity/Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery, presented by Mystery Readers International. Macavity winners will be announced at Bouchercon in Dallas, TX, on Oct. 31.
 

Finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Mystery. Winners and runners-up will be announced at Killer Nashville in Franklin, TN, Tennessee, on Aug. 24

And there's more!

I am honored to be an inductee to the Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame. A red carpet awards ceremony will be held Sept. 14, in Denver, CO. The ceremony is open to the public. The complete list of inductees and tickets are available here.