MAKE MINE MYSTERY

The Important Role Suspense Plays in Your Novel

2012-01-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

Centuries ago storytelling was a dangerous pastime. Tales were told around a campfire and, if the storyteller droned on and bored his listeners, they either fell asleep or killed him, according to Sol Stein in his book, Stein on Writing. Fortunately for modern writers, the worst thing that can happen is that the reader will put your book aside and never pick it up again. So, in order insure that your work is read, don’t include the boring stuff that readers tend to skip over. That’s usually descriptive passages that should be spooned in with light doses, not all in one large lump. Or it can be tedious dialogue that has nothing to do with the plot’s race to the finish line. Editors call that padding and ask that writers delete it, or even worse, they reject the manuscript and return it.

Suspense is one of the most important elements of plotting. It keeps your reader reading and unable to put the book down. How many times have you read until two or three in the morning because you couldn’t go to sleep without first learning the plot’s resolution? And then couldn’t fall asleep because the book was so good that it continually replayed in your mind?

No matter how unique your style or intriguing your characters, if you don’t pique your reader’s curiosity and keep her hooked until the end of the story, you might as well be the campfire storyteller with a club over your head. Keep your reader in suspense with occasional rest periods so that he can catch his breath with a little description and backstory. Always keep your eye on the finish line and make the race to the book’s conclusion as suspenseful as possible.

The greatest compliment a writer can receive is for someone to say, “I couldn’t put the book down.” How many times have you said that, yourself? And what was it about that book that kept you reading? Nine times out of ten, you’ll say it was suspense and your own curiosity that kept you reading to learn what was going to happen next. Suspense, according to Stein, is the strong glue between reader and writer. And, of course, caring about the characters and wanting them to resolve their problems.

The word suspense comes from the Latin word “to hang.” So consider yourself an executioner who takes your reader to the edge of a cliff. Once there you hang your protagonist by his fingertips. It’s not your job to feel sorry for the cliff hanger or to immediately rescue him. Leave him hanging until his fingers are slipping and he’s about to fall into a deep, dark canyon. Suspense builds as the reader anxiously waits for someone to rescue the hero, but it’s not happening yet; or the villain is stomping on the hero’s fingers and the reader wants him to stop. That’s an exaggerated example of suspense, but one that a writer can use it to his advantage.

There are various forms of suspense: potential or immediate danger to your protagonist, unwanted confrontations, a fear of what’s about to happen, and a crisis that needs to be met head on. A writer's job is to set up a situation or problem that needs a resolution, but without an immediate answer. Your detective is a novel killer if he picks up a clue in chapter two and says, “Ah ha, I know who this button belongs to. I’ll contact the police and have her arrested for the murder.” Unless, of course, you’re writing a short story or very short novella. Stretch out suspense as long as possible like a rubber band on the verge of breaking.

2 Good Mystery Reads by Christine Duncan

2012-01-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

I get a little antsy in January. I never ever have enough time to read and somehow or another, I expect that to be different in the winter. And when it isn't...I get a little crabby. This month I discovered a new (to me) author though and it's helping. I just read Linda Castillo's Breaking Silence and loved it. The heroine, Kate Burkholder, was raised Amish but is not now living that way. She is the chief of police and is investigating the deaths of 3 members of an Amish family who died, in of all places, a manure pit. The book transported me into Kate's world and taught me about the Amish. It literally kept me riveted. Another trick I have to fit more reading into what feels like increasingly less time is to listen to audio books. My library lends playaway players which I love. With one AAA battery and my own headphones, I can listen to books while I cook, or clean or on the way to work. I just "read" Laura Lippman's The Girl in the Green Raincoat. As a long time follower of Lippman's Tess Monaghan series, I was thrilled to be able to sneak in a little time to catch up on Tess. In this novella, she is in the last part of her pregnancy, and stuck on bed rest by her doctor. Lippman manages to answer questions long time readers have had about Tess's relationship with her boyfriend, show Tess's transformation into motherhood and provide a pretty darn good mystery. What are you reading now? Share! I could use another book or two on the nightstand.

WHAT DID IT SMELL LIKE?

2012-01-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

by Earl Staggs

Marilyn Meredith posted here recently about the value of her critique group. I’ve belonged to one or more critique groups since I started writing and would be lost without them. Now I belong to two. One of them is long distance. We exchange critiques via email. The other one is local and we meet in person whenever we can schedule a date convenient to enough of us to make it worthwhile.

Both groups contain experienced, published writers who have become close personal friends. I love them and respect their expertise a great deal. If any of you are reading this, please know that. I never feel confident about anything I’ve written until you’ve gone over it. You point out the errors in spelling and punctuation, of course, but you also question story and plot points. You tell me if something I’ve written doesn’t make sense, simply doesn’t work, or if I’ve left out something important.

Like yesterday, for instance. I attended a meeting with my local critique group.

The chapter I submitted to the group for their slicing and dicing pleasure takes place in an outdoor market place near Kabul, Afghanistan. Tall Chambers, the main character, belongs to a secretive government agency which tracks and deals with terrorists. Tall and his team are on the trail of the worst of the terrorists who may be hiding out with a woman who runs a fruit and vegetable stand there.

I did some research and found a good place for the market to be located. I looked up what the people at the market would be wearing. I came up with the kind of stuff the different vendors at the market would be offering from their tents and lean-to stalls in the market. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, meats, handmade clothing, rugs, and such as that. There would also be animals. Camels, donkeys, and goats, for instance.

So I described the market and had Tall and his team walking through it, passing all the stalls, looking for the missing terrorist.

Good job, I thought.

Then a member of the group asked, “What did it smell like?”

Huh?

I hadn’t thought of that. Naturally, all that produce and meat and fish would produce odors that would permeate the open air space. Not to mention what the animals parked beside the stalls would contribute to the immediate environment.

Duh.

Okay, back to the drawing board – make that keyboard - for me. I have to describe how all those things would smell, even to Tall and his men who are on an important mission.

I don’t think Google or Wikipedia will give me that information, so I’m on my own.

Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Earl Staggs

http://earlwstaggs.wordpress.com

SHORT STORIES OF EARL STAGGS, a collection of 16 short mystery tales on sale now for 99 cents. That's only about six cents per story. Wow.

Editing and Rewriting

2012-01-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

My critique group hears every chapter of whatever book I happen to be working on. They are invaluable at catching words and phrases I use far too often. And they remind me to put in things I gloss over. One member of the group always wants me to make moments between my heroine and her husband more tender, another reminds me to attach a color to clothing and objects.

Once they've heard the whole book and I've worked on each chapter, I print it out and go over it carefully. Amazingly, I find more mistakes and inconsistencies. Sometimes doing the fixes contributes to more typos, extra periods and two words used that mean the same thing.

With my latest that I'm getting ready to send off to the publisher, I've had a bit more problems than usual. A friend who has read all the books in the series offered to read the manuscript and point out anything she found. When she sent it back, I couldn't believe how much she found that I need to address. It's like gremlins attacked it when I sent it over the Internet.

Fortunately, the publishing house has a great editor. It will be interesting to see what she has to say.

Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time writing, especially when I find so many mistakes. But, what would I do with myself if I didn't write?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/

Writing a Series

2012-01-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

After you write that standalone novel, your publisher may suggest that it become a series. So it’s important that you like your protagonist(s) and want to continue writing about them. Agatha Christie grew tired of writing about Hercule Poirot and wanted to kill him off, just as Conan Doyle attempted to rid himself of Sherlock Holmes.

When I began my Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series, I named my two protagonists Shirley Lock and Dora Holmes. They were known as Shirl Lock & Holmes, a corny spin on the detective and his physician narrator. When my publisher closed its doors, I resold the series and changed the names to Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty. By that time my two women sleuths had become like old friends, whom I enjoy visiting to eavesdrop on their conversations.

Dana is a bit autobiographical while Sarah is like my friend Marge, who is outspoken and often so funny that she has me laughing tears. Dana is a mystery novel buff, who, with her friend Sarah, a private investigator’s widow, buy a motorhome to travel the West, as I’ve done.
Making the two women mobile provides them new settings in each novel. Although two of their motorhomes have been wrecked in the first three books, Dana’s wealthy sister dies and leaves her a considerable sum of money as well as a Wyoming mansion. The money allows them additional mystery solving opportunities as well as extensive travel.

Most protagonists have a job and the author needs to be knowledgeable about the occupation, or at least know the basics. And above all, enjoy writing about the job on a continuing basis, without becoming bored. Another pitfall is to change the tone of the writing. For instance, you shouldn't begin writing a cozy and decide in the middle of the series to darken it to a noir. Readers will complain. I’ve covered various subjects in my series, including adultery, drug gangs and homegrown terrorists, but with humor, so I’ve been able to get away with subjects not usually associated with two 60-year-old feisty amateur sleuths. And readers have fortunately told me that each book has been a fun read.

If your series becomes popular, you may have to continue writing it longer than you'd like. J. K. Rowling was able to discontinue her Harry Potter series after seven books but Sue Grafton is committed to 26. Her schedule has changed over the years and she now only writes three hours a day with one published novel every two years. At 71, she’ll be nearly 80 when Z is for Zero is released, but she plans to continue writing about her private investigator on a standalone basis after the series ends. She admits that Kinsey Millhone is her alter ego and that she enjoys writing about her.

I can't imagine writing 26 novels about someone you don't like and I'm glad that I enjoy my characters, especially my lovesick sheriff.

The Importance of Titles by Christine Duncan

2012-01-12T00:30:00.000-08:00

Anyone who ever wrote a fifth grade essay knows about the importance of titles. Authors take it as a matter of fact and usually spend some time thinking about them. In the world of the net and especially the blog, titles become….crazy important. This fact was brought home to me on my other blog. As I am the administrator there, I see what brings in our traffic. Over and over again, a few titles get hits consistently, every week: How to really scare someone. (It scares me that that gets so many hits.) How to make a really good bad guy. Senior sleuths. Make your Reader Cry.This has led me to more than a few thoughts about titles, over and above the idea that there are a bunch of people out there who want to be really,nasty,scary. First, the overused but really apt KISS principle applies here. Keep it simple. Tell us what you’re going to write about.. Practicing this may come in handy later if you ever meet an agent in a bar or an elevator at a conference. You’ll be able to tell them about your work in progress in one simple sentence and hopefully make some sense. Also, try to think about how a reader might search for your post on Google. If you were looking for information, how might you put it. Apparently from my admittedly limited experience, adding how to something is a good way to do it. For instance for this post, I thought about writing, how to write a great title. And if I had figured out a guaranteed way to do that, I would have. Some authors want to intrigue the reader, hoping to lead them on. But think about your own limited time and what you do on the web. Many a night, I get on Facebook to figure out what my family is doing, do a quick check of my blog, and then maybe do a quick search engine check of whatever it is I heard on the news and want to know more about, or some problem, like a water heater leak or the like that I want an answer for. I’m not here to be intrigued. I’m here for answers. And I don’t think I’m alone.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED by Earl Staggs

2012-01-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Once he’d figured it all out and knew whodunnit, Adrian Monk, everyone’s favorite OCD TV detective, would say,

“Here’s what happened.” Then he would tell how the crime occurred. As he described it, the audience viewing at home saw the event take place on the screen exactly as it happened in the past.

What better way to let an audience know what happened in the past than with both a narrative retelling AND a visual reenactment?  They can do that in movies and on TV.  Writers do not have that luxury, but we still have to tell our readers, “Here’s what happened.”

We call it backstory.

We have different ways of presenting backstory. We can have the narrator stop telling the current story and tell the backstory. If it goes on for a long time, however, we run the risk of boring readers and tempting them to skip over the “info dump” completely. Imagine Monk telling what happened without the visual reenactment. His show would never have lasted as long as it did.

One way to bring in backstory -- our version of a visual reenactment -- is to “show” what happened before, complete with dialogue and action exactly as it happened. That requires, first of all, a clear transition to the past so readers aren’t confused about where they are in the story. Once that’s done, the scene plays out just as it did before. Here’s an example, beginning with a transition:

Jane would never forget the day Dan left. She’d walked in the door and saw his bags packed in the foyer. She’d hurried into the dining room to find him sitting at the table.

“What’s going on, Dan?” she asked.
“I can’t take it anymore. I’m leaving.”

When the reenactment is finished, another clear transition is needed, of course, to bring readers back to the present without confusion.

Another way to work in backstory, and a favorite of mine, is to bring it out in dialogue between two characters as part of the current story. Like this:

Jane knew Margie had something on her mind and waited for her to speak.

Margie took a sip of her wine and set her glass on the table, rotating it slowly with her
hands. After several moments, she said, “Jane, you never did tell me why Dan left.”

                “I’m not sure myself. I came home and saw his bags packed and sitting in the foyer.”

                “Didn’t he say anything?”

Jane turned to the window and looked out. “I asked him what was going on.  He said he 
couldn’t take it anymore and he was leaving.”

Another method is a quick flashback.  Here’s how that might be done:

Dan had left two years ago. She’d entered the house to see his bags packed and sitting in the foyer. When she asked him what was going on he said, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m leaving.” She still didn’t understand why.

A short flashback like that is not a major intrusion to the current story and chances are, you won’t lose
the readers. It lacks the immediacy and drama of a reenactment, however.

In a story called, “That Night in Galveston,” I used a slightly different form of flashback. Amanda Barnes is kidnapped by a crippled, disfigured man with a gun and forced to drive to a vacant warehouse. She doesn’t remember the man and has no idea why he wants to kill her. As she drives, little bits of information she’d wiped from her memory from twenty years before flash from her subconscious mind. Here’s one of them:

Darkness. . .waves crashing against a pier. . .sounds of an amusement park in the distance. . .someone down on all fours. . .screaming. . .begging. . .

Shortly after that one, there’s this one:

Three men standing over him. . .yelling. . .kicking. . .swinging something. . .

Amanda is pulled into the past even further when something flashes from before she ran away from home and hitchhiked to Galveston.

A thick, burly man entering her bedroom. . . holding a finger to his lips to say, “Don’t wake your mother. We don’t want her to know our secret.”. . unable to breathe under his weight. . .biting her lip to keep from crying out from the pain he caused her inside. . .

This altered flashback method worked well in this particular story. It was a graphic, dramatic, and efficient way to bring out the backstory. I liked it so much I gave it a name: “backflash.”

In many of our stories, we can’t get away from backstory. We have to tell our readers, “Here’s what happened.” Part of our challenge is to do it in such a way that readers are not confused or bored and with minimal interruption to the current story.

(If you’d like to know how Amanda escaped her fate, “That Night in Galveston” is one of the sixteen stories in my collection, SHORT STORIES OF EARL STAGGS. You’ll find more information about it over on my website: http://earlwstaggs.wordpress.com/)

Or go to http://www.amazon.com/SHORT-STORIES-EARL-STAGGS-ebook/dp/B004YR8D7W

Writing on a Mountaintop

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

by Jean Herny Mead

I'm lucky to live on a mountaintop at 7,000 feet. What better place to write? By lucky I mean all those hours of uninterrupted writing. We only have cell phone service here and that doesn’t work half the time, so I’m usually not bothered by telemarketers. My life may sound boring to some but my husband and I are basically hermits who make a trip to town once or twice a month to buy supplies and visit friends. It requires planning but the solitude and beauty of the landscape are well worth any inconveniences isolation may cause.

I'm up between six and seven each morning and I go straight to my computer in my pajamas with a bowl of cereal. A cup of chai tea topped with whipped cream opens my eyes while I answer email and check on my books’ sales numbers. I then launch into one of three books I’m currently working on: my fourth Logan and Cafferty mystery/suspense novel, second historical, and a second book of interviews, The Mystery Writers, from my blog, Mysterious Writers. So, when I occasionally hit a blank wall—I hate the term “writer’s block”—I switch from the manuscript I’m currently working on to another. And if all else fails, I sit on the back deck and watch deer and antelope roam our land. I also enjoy watching the neighboring rancher’s horses as well as the mountain scenery, whether green with grass or covered in snow. That always gets my creative juices flowing. But, because I began my writing career as a journalist trained to sit down and write, I rarely hit a snag.

I’m definitely a seat of the pants writer. My characters are so familiar by now that they’re like old friends I look forward to visiting every day. I always read the chapter I worked on the previous day, making minor changes, which carries me into that day’s work. I use the film strip method, which means I watch and listen to my characters in my mind’s eye and type as fast as I can to keep up with them. I rarely plot in advance and only outline my nonfiction books. I sometimes write myself into a corner, although not very often. I also enjoy doing research at night for my current book.

It's cold and windy here now, but as fellow mystery writer Loren Estleman once said, the best time to write is when the snow is deep around the old ranch house and there's nowhere else to go.

2012 and Randy

2012-01-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

2012 and Randy

I'll open by admitting I'm older than dirt (everyone knows the only things older
than dirt are Water and Earl Staggs), but I never expected to be around this long. Earl wrote a recent blog post about writing, wherein he admitted he was one of the original Chiselers. And since I've "Wii bowled" with Earl, I can verify that he is still an excellent Chiseler. Must be like riding a bicycle—one never forgets how. But that's not the purpose of this writing. (Maybe another day, Earl.)

What I'm thinking about here are some of the scams I've lived through in my long and
lovely life. My favorite one is the millennium scam of 1999. Remember? The media and a few well-placed people ran the most successful scam of the century (and perhaps, several centuries). They convinced the people of the civilized world that life as we knew it would come crashing to a halt. Our money stored in banks would be lost. Electricity would be shut off. Water would quit flowing to our homes. Gas pumps would quit working. There wouldn't even be celebratory fireworks New Years Eve, because the timers were computer driven. There were so many dire predictions I can't begin to remember them all. Why? All because computers were not programmed to recognize a four-digit year, especially one beginning with 20.
It's laughable now, but not then. I worked as a computer tech for a federal agency that was in full panic mode. My shop was scrambling almost 24/7 running "fixes" on computers. The agency had purchased licenses for software that would "correct" the doomsday problem, although no one could be sure it would work. Took about two minutes to run. Now, I don't know how much it cost, but I'm betting it wasn't cheap.

And I was only one of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, in the government rushing around like that. I spent New Year's Eve, 1999 at my desk, waiting for the worst. At two minutes into 2000, my co-workers and I went to the roof to watch
the fireworks explode over the city and laugh at the foolishness of the past year.
Ever wonder who got rich on that one? What media mogul or upper level politician turned a lowlife rumor into riches? How many software companies doubled, tripled, or quintupled their income for CY 1999? How much government and business money was lost to a perfect scam? Will the truth ever be told?

While I've lived through many scams, the millennia scam was the Grand Pooh Bah of
them all. But there were other good ones. Anyone (except Earl) old enough to remember bomb shelters in the back yard? Anyone watch gas prices go up and down, up-up, but not down-down, up-up-up and only a single down? The price of sugar—and many other commodities?

Those who will sell you a tree to be planted in Upper or Lower Slobofdia, guaranteed to reverse global warming? Oh, so many.

So, I'm glad to still be here in 2012 looking forward to the next global scam, the one that will convince me to ______. Someone will fill in the blank.

And, of course, I'm glad to be here because my next book, HOT ROCKS, will be out from
Midnight Ink during Fall, 2012. In the meantime, for those inclined to look at a thriller, THORNS ON ROSES is available as a paper book and as an E-book, and there are others I wrote you might like. But enough of the BSP.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2011 My Year in Writing

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

2011 began on a low note for me. In January, my agent cut me loose. It wasn't that he had lost enthusiasm for my book. He hadn't, he said. What he'd lost was the ability to sell fiction in today's publishing world. It was a theme I heard repeated later in the year.

Needing an agent, I rewrote my query letter and synopsis. Then I did another revision of the book—the eighteenth draft. In February, I began a new search for an agent. If my previous agent showed his uncertainty about the publishing world by getting out of fiction, other agents are showing it by taking fewer risks with new authors. So far, 57 queries have netted me eight requests for partials and one request for the full manuscript. One agent, after telling my how much she liked what she'd read and after requesting more of the book, decided to get out of fiction. That makes number two. I'm not taking it personal.

I attended two conventions, Killer Nashville and Bouchercon. At Nashville, I learned more about the angst of agents and publishers in the world of e-books. At Bouchercon, I talked to many writers who told me to get my backlist published in e-books. I was ahead of them on that. Locally, as workshop coordinator for Brazos Writers, I organized a screenwriting workshop with screenwriter Bonnie Orr as the instructor. She preached the merits of the beat sheet. My favorite workshop of the year was in September. It was a full day workshop on the Art and Science of Investigation. Our speakers were Steve Smith, a psychologist who specializes in memory and eye-witness testimony, Suzanne Lowe and Jorge Molina, Texas Rangers forensic artists, and Jeff Tomberlin, an entomologist who studies colonization of corpses by flies. CSI is now so boring.

I began four short stories this year and finished two. I have been sending one of the completed stories to publishers. It has been at Alfred Hitchcock for six weeks. the other story appears in a collection of my short stories published by Ilium Books. Game Face is now available for purchase as a trade paperback, or an e-book in Kindle and iPad/Nook formats. I also published six of the stories in the collection as stand-alone e-books for Kindle, Nook and iPad.

The downside of writing the short stories and publishing the e-books is that I put my novel on hold. My resolution for 2011 is to finish it.

The year ended with reviews from Bill Crider, Helen Ginger, and Jean Henry Mead.

On the whole, I think 2011 was a good year and I'm looking forward to 2012. How was your year?

Mark Troy

http://www.marktroy.net

http://hawaiian-eye.blogspot.com

Planning a Blog Tour

2012-01-03T01:27:00.000-08:00

In the past I've paid to have a blog tour arranged for me. Money's tight and so I decided I'd do it myself.

Wow, I'm finding it was worth the bucks to pay for it. All I had to do was send out my photo, bio, book blurb and links once to the organizer and then put together whatever the host blog wanted, be it an interview, writing tip, etc.

I've been sending out requests, getting lots of great people responding to host me, but juggling the dates has been daunting. Some have told me what they want me to write, others have just said do whatever. Well, I've got to think up the whatever, and I need to make each post unique.

Fortunately, I've got lots of time. I don't even have a cover yet to send off to folks--and to be perfectly honest, I haven't received my edits yet. That's why I put the blog tour way off until April. Just the same, I have lots of stuff I need to do for it.

So, that's what I'll be up to for awhile.

And by the way, I'd love to host any of you who'd like to arrange a blog tour for your upcoming book.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Can you write one page a day?

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ah, the New Year. The time when we make our annual resolutions to lose weight, be better people, to finish writing our novels. Depending on our individual willpower and strength of character, those resolutions might last a week or a month, or maybe they will stick.

There are two ways to combat this annual frustration. Of course, we can declare that "I'm as good as I'll get, take me or leave me. I've reached my pinnacle. If it's my destiny to write a novel, an angel will visit me one night and fill my head with inspiration."

The other approach is to be realistic but persistent. We can walk a little more, eat a little less, perform an extra kindness now and again until we see it doesn't have to be hard. Pick the manageable and the doable, and both your confidence and success will grow.

Which brings me back to writing. If you can write several pages a day and the words just pour out, that's wonderful. But maybe you don't have a lot of time, and writing is a luxury you have to squeeze in when and if you can. Or maybe, like me, you are a slow writer. (To be clear, I mean a person who writes slowly, not a slow person who writes.) That's perfectly okay. Can you write one page a day on most days? If so, that means you can finish a draft of a complete novel in a year. In my case, I'm working on a mystery with a target of 70,000 words--50,000 done, 20,000 to go, and the project is momentarily stalled. But let's take out a calculator and do the math: 20,000 words divided by 365 days equals 55 words a day. Holy microchips! Who can't write more than that?

There've been times when my heart or head wasn't in my writing, and when I sat down to write, only a sentence or a paragraph came out. But ninety percent of the time, I'll plunk my butt in the chair and write my page or two. The lessons are to set achievable writing goals and then sit down at the keyboard.

To see what I've managed to finish, please visit tinyurl.com/bobsanchezauthor.

Forever Young: Blessing or Curse - a Paranormal Thriller

2011-12-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

Forever Young: Blessing or Curse
by Morgan Mandel

When I was writing Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, I was kind of confused about exactly which category it fit into. Since the events happen on a large scale, because aging is universal, I figured it must be a thriller. But, when I mentioned to people that included in the book was a pill that could make a person go back in years to a prior age and stay on hold there, some called it a fantasy, others paranormal.

Though the book had not yet been completed, I did meet with an agent at the Love is Murder Mystery Conference last February, and explained my novel's concept, and she called it a paranormal thriller, so I'm kind of sticking with that description.

After hearing how long it would take to get the novel approved by an agent, then a publisher, then get it published, I decided to do it myself. One reason is I'm not exactly young any more. Though the character in my book can go back to when she was 24, I don't have that ability. If I did, the book wouldn't be paranormal.

What about you? Do you know of books that defy specific labels, and are hard to pin down exactly what they are?

Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel - http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse on Kindle & Smashwords
Killer Career 99 cents on Kindle & Smashwords
Two Wrongs 99 cents on Kindle & Smashwords
Girl of My Dreams 99 cents- Kindle & Smashwords

Frank, Incense and Muriel

2011-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

When two former high school antagonists are thrown together in a mysterious setting the week before Christmas, you have the ingredients for romantic suspense, if they’re both attractive members of the opposite sex. Author Anne K. Albert skillfully weaves a story of surprise and deceit when Frankie Salerno, a former classmate shows up on Muriel Reeve’s doorstep years later and is still calling her Brian. Because of her intelligence, he originally called her “brain,” but a teacher intercepted a note he sent to Muriel when he misspelled her nickname.

Now a dyslexic private investigator, he enlists her help in finding a missing former classmate. And the classmate is not someone Muriel likes so she requires some persuasion. However, when she learns who hired Frankie to investigate, someone she does consider a friend, Muriel decides to aid in the investigation, which nearly gets her killed.

Muriel’s Aunt Val, a quirky character who is constantly baking cookies for the twelve days of Christmas, enters the plot with her crotch-sniffing dog, Big Boy. When Aunt Val is sideswiped while driving Muriel’s car and winds up in the hospital, they wonder if Muriel is the intended victim.

Interviewing the missing woman’s neighbors provides more humor and additional mystery as Frankie and Muriel gather evidence and place themselves in danger.

Muriel realizes that she’s still attracted to Frankie from their high school days but keeps him at arm’s length as he tries to charm her. The plot is filled with intrigue and humor as the pair continues their search for the missing woman. The book is well-paced and the characters well defined. I recommend Albert’s novel to anyone who loves a good mystery laced with a little romance and humor. My kind of book.

Reading Christmas Books by Christine Duncan

2011-12-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

Unlike my blogmate, Mark Troy, I like to read books that are written about Christmas. I don't really care about the mystery, if that's what I'm doing. I just need to get in the spirit and reading is one way I do it.

So what if I figured out the ending of Anne Perry's A Christmas Journey well before the end of the book or if I don't usually read books involving animals like A Cat under the Mistletoe by Lydia Adamson? They got me back in the Christmas mood and I read them on purpose to do that.

I also read books about some place I'm traveling to or places that I miss and can't travel to right now. Different strokes, I guess.

Game Face is here!

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Game Face, my collection of Val Lyon short stories, is, at last, available for purchase in ebook or trade paperback. The trade paperback can be ordered from the Create Space estore and soon from Amazon and other stores. (As of this writing, it was in the Amazon pipeline.) The Kindle version can be ordered from the Kindle Store. The iPad, Nook, Kobo, and other ebook formats can be ordered from Smashwords.

This collection contains all of the previously published Val Lyon stories spanning more than a decade of publication. The first story, Drop Dead Zone, was published in Mystery Buff Magazine in 1998 and the most recent, Horns, was published in The Thrilling Detective in 2009. Most of the stories have recently been published in ebook for 99¢ each, so readers can buy the stories separately or, they can get the whole set for the same price as three stories.

As these stories had been previously published, I wanted readers who purchase the collection to receive some added value that cannot be had by purchasing the individual stories or by going back to the original publication. Therefore, this collection contains one original, never-before-published story, Ripper. The collection also contains a foreword that tells how some of the stories came about. As a final bonus, I introduce each story with the cover that was attached to the ebook version. The front cover and the interior art were all done by David Shackelford of Austin.

Mark Troy
http://www.marktroy.net
Hawaiian Eye Blog

So, What Cons are You Going to Next Year?

2011-12-20T01:59:00.000-08:00

As for me, I'm planning on attending three.

Mid-March I'm headed to San Antonio for Epicon. My romance with a touch of the supernatural, Lingering Spirit is a finalist for an Eppie. We went to San Antonio once before and loved it.

At the end of March, Sacramento is the destination for Left Coast Crime. Despite the fact that we are flying to San Antonio, we'd kind of decided not to go to any more conferences unless they were close by. Sacramento if plenty close.

In July, we'll be driving to Vegas for the Public Safety Writers Association.Public Safety Writers Associaton

This is my favorite conference of all. This is the place to get acquainted with all the experts: FBI, police, forensic, fire, casino security, airplane security, etc. It's a small conference with one track, so you really do have a chance to network--some are speakers, but they are all here for the conference.

This year we'll have a crime scene developed by a retired cop and a forensic expert--everyone will have a chance to figure it out. You can test your skills against the professionals.

So what have you got planned for 2012?

Marilyn

Finding time to write in 2012

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

It can be tough, of course. You’re raising a family, working overtime at the office, traveling on business, doing chores, running errands, changing diapers, carting your children hither and yon—well, maybe not all of those at the same time, but you get the idea. Where can you find the time to write?

Try writing in short bursts if you can’t cobble together longer stretches of time. Children’s nap time might be enough to get in a few paragraphs. If you’re waiting in a doctor’s office or taking a break at work, you at least have a few minutes to think about your novel and how to handle the scene you’re working on. Jot those thoughts down before they’re gone. Back in pre-computer days, I used to write notes and stuff them into my shirt pocket, but now it’s usually possible to send myself an email or write an electronic note on my iPhone. My friend Patty worked in a bank and raised four daughters, so she got out of bed in the wee hours every day so she could write in peace. Goodness knows she has more energy than I ever did, but she made time in her own way. But any quiet time, however brief, is time you can be either writing a few sentences or thinking through a plot problem. I suggest you not agonize over your first draft. Just get the story written, and address the problems later. To paraphrase various writing gurus, give yourself permission to write junk. It’s okay, because your first draft should be for your eyes only.

Can you do it? Of course you can. All you need is to write a page a day, and you’ve finished a draft in less than a year.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and follow my own advice.

Bob Sanchez is the author of Little Mountain and two other novels, available at tinyurl.com/bobsanchezauthor. They each took longer than a year to write, but he is getting better.

The Miracle on Union Street

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-08:00

By Chester Campbell

I saw The Miracle on 34th Street in the TV listings and got to thinking about something almost as miraculous I was involved in at this time forty-nine years ago. We were putting the final touches on the "Premier Issue" of Nashville Magazine, the city's first slick-paper monthly. Since our office was located on Union Street in downtown Nashville, I chose the above title for this piece of nostalgia.

At right is the cover of that issue. That it continued to appear monthly under my direction for six years and three months is certainly worthy of the miracle designation. I had worked as a newspaper reporter for nine years, sandwiched around a sojourn in Korea for the north-south unpleasantness, put in a short time free-lancing for national magazines, then spent two years at a PR agency. When I was "downsized" there, I lucked into a job with the State of Tennessee. That was late summer of 1962. I was told my job would be short-lived as the governor was leaving office at the end of the year. I was hired to write speeches for the governor, and my boss said as long as I got the speeches done, he didn't care what I did the rest of the time.

This sounded ideal as I had come up with the idea of starting a local magazine. Impressed by the highly-successful Atlanta Magazine, published by the Chamber of Commerce, I visited with the editor and learned what all was involved. Unsuccessful at getting the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce to sponsor my project, I decided to pursue it on my own. I was thirty-seven at the time, full of you-know-what and vinegar. I approached the former secretary at the PR agency, and she agreed to join me in m.c. publications, inc. (for Mikie and Chester). We each put up $500, and that was our capitalization. Needless to say, this is not what I was told would be required.

I was referred to a graphic artist at the Methodist Publishing House who agreed to be art director. Since we had decided on a January launch, I needed to put things together in a hurry. Although the Chamber declined to help monetarily, a few prominent members assisted me with recommendations. I've never considered myself much of a salesman, but in retrospect, I must have done a helluva job getting the magazine in print.

I traded advertising for a lot of the necessary services. I found a printer who agreed to be paid after the second issue came out (he also took an ad). My art director was friends with a three-man art studio that did a lot of gratis artwork (one of them painted the downtown view for the cover). An engraver took an ad to cover most of our halftones, and I did an article on a young guy who ran an electronic data service (this was in the days of punch cards). He handled our mailing labels. I also provided an ad for a photographer.

I paid nothing for articles, but called on several friends from my newspaper days to write for me. They were happy to help the magazine get started and found the new venture a unique opportunity. I had worked for the Nashville Banner and talked its sports editor into contributing an article on the city's minor league hockey team, the Dixie Flyers. Fred Russell was a regular contributor to The Saturday Evening Post and wrote its annual Pigskin Preview. I wrote much of that issue, as I did for each subsequent edition.

Subscriptions brought in a small amount of income, but the lifeblood of a magazine is advertising. I had to go after it myself. I convinced a couple of ad agencies to support the new venture, despite lack of a track record. One of them bought the full-color back cover. I also got full pages from the local electric service, the gas company, and a new luxury apartment project. A friend from my Air Guard unit bought an add for his import auto dealership, and the data service guy helped me get a half page from his father-in-law, owner of a finance company. I also wangled an ad out of the savings and loan association that owned our building.

I wound up with seven and two-thirds pages of advertising in that first issue, or a little more than 17 percent of its forty-four pages. Hardly in the ballpark for a break-even operation. It provided the start of many years of running hard to placate our creditors. After a couple of issues, I found an advertising manager and relinquished that part of the business. By the end of 1963, our forty-four-page issue had fourteen and one-half pages of advertising for a much improved 33 percent.

I had a great time with the magazine, despite fifteen-hour days. I came up with lots of great stories to cover myself, in addition to assigning many others. I ran some of my poetry anonymously. We published a few short stories by well-known local authors, without payment. But our circulation never got much beyond 10,000, and advertising was always a hard sell. We were about ten years ahead of our time. When our unpaid accounts got too far out of hand after five years, I turned to a good friend who was head of PR for Life & Casualty Insurance Company, one of Nashville's two large insurers. He talked the head of the company, wealthy former Ambassador Guilford Dudley, into bailing us out. We moved into offices on the twentieth floor of the L&C Tower and had money to pay contributors. But they put a guy over me as manager that I couldn't abide, so after a few months I resigned. The new management didn't fare too well, and the insurance company dropped the magazine in less than a year.

But forty-nine years ago, I was as excited as a kid with a new toy. I was ready to make a miracle happen. And I did.

Visit me at Mystery Mania

Shorts Stories by Earl Staggs

2011-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

Earl Staggs knows his stuff when it comes to short story writing. His collection is not only entertaining, it grabs you and doesn’t let go until you reach the conclusion and take a peek at the next story. It’s like the former Lay’s potato chip commercial. You can’t just read one of Earl’s stories at one sitting. You’re compelled to read just one more and then another. They run the gambit of humor to crime and my favorite of Earl’s well- drawn characters, Sheriff Molly, outwits crooks and lays down the law in her own patient way.

My favorite of the Sheriff Molly stories is when she encounters Henry Lee, a naked young man standing on the roof of a two-story building, posed to jump to his death. Convincing him that he will only break his legs if he jumps, she manages to talk him down after learning what prompted him to disrobe and contemplate suicide. The author writes convincingly with humor and acquired southern charm which will keep you smiling.

If you’re looking for a great read, I highly recommend the award-winning author’s fictional adventures into the realm of mystery, where good always triumps over evil or at least takes a good run at it. I like Earl’s characters, which he brings to life with just enough description to make them believable. And the settings are varied enough to keep you turning pages.

Short Stories by Earl Staggs will make a great Christmas gift for busy people who have little time to read, although once they start, they’ll make time to keep reading.

Recharging

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Recharging can be really hard, but it’s essential for a writer, or any creative type for that matter. This time of year can be a particular challenge with all the social and family obligations and fun. Add in the extra time (depending on where you live, of course – envious stares directed at those in warm climes LOL) for vehicle cleaning and warming every time you want to go out, all the winter woolies and boots that have to be put on and taken off for each outing. And that’s not even considering regular snow removal from sidewalks, driveways and walkways.

For those writers who use retail therapy as a relaxation technique, even that can be a risky experiment right now. All those frantic men in malls! Some are kind of like the contestants on Survivor in the first couple of weeks – finding themselves in unfamiliar territory, sure they must accomplish something, but not sure how to get it accomplished in time, or who to trust! It does, however, provide some great people watching opportunities, assuming you can find an empty bench.

A quiet evening at home can also help revitalize those storytelling batteries, presuming you can relax with that To-Do list flashing neon headings at you as you try to sink into your favorite chair with a cup of hot chocolate.

All this is supposing you don’t have any deadlines looming, no galleys to review, no edits to look at…

Please share what you do to get those stories flowing when it’s so busy you barely have time to catch your breath, let alone set aside a few hours of writing time!

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com

Make It Legal by Morgan Mandel

2011-12-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

A word to the wise author -
Take the extra time to make everything legal. I self-published Killer Career, but before doing so, I registered my publishing company, Choice One Publishing Co. with the Cook County Clerk of the State of Illinois.

I also applied for and obtained a trademark from the Secretary of State of Illinois for the use of my pen name, Morgan Mandel.

When I requested the rights back for my backlist books from Mundania Press, I sent and kept a copy of the certified letter requesting the reversion of my rights.

I contacted Mundania and told them I needed written confirmation and received an email verifying I had my rights back.

To busy authors, this may seem like nitpicking, but it could save you grief in the longrun. Saturday, I received an inquiry from Amazon about my publishing rights for Two Wrongs, which I'm in the process of getting up on Kindle. After rummaging around today, I found copies of all of my documentation and sent it along to Amazon. Hopefully, they'll be quick about clearing this up, since I'd hoped to have this book back in circulation by now under my own auspices at the reduced 99 cents price on Kindle.

Okay, now that I'm through bragging about having all this stuff to at my disposal, I must confess it took a little while to find it. Not as long as I'd thought it would, though. I was lucky this time. I do save a lot of things, and not all of those things come in handy when I need them.

What about you? Are you legal? Have you run into any roadblocks where you had to provide some sort of legal proof?

Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel's Books -
Killer Career - 99 cents Kindle, Smashwords
Girl of My Dreams - 99 cents Kindle and Smashwords
Two Wrongs - 99 cents Smashwords, Kindle to follow when
Amazon sorts this out.
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse - Coming very, very soon to
Kindle & Smashwords for $2.99, I promise

Murder for Christmas

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's that magical time of year when children dream of Santa and writers realize it's too late to send a Christmas mystery story to that anthology or magazine that had issued a call back in May.

I'm going to sound humbuggy on this, but I don't like Christmas mysteries, or any seasonal mystery for that matter. Which isn't to say I don't like stories that are set around Christmas.

This weekend I was in one of our closets pulling out the Christmas decorations and I found an anthology called Murder for Christmas that someone had given me twenty years ago. It's a big volume of Christmas-themed mystery stories. I remember reading a few stories when I got it and then putting it aside because Christmas had passed.

And that's the point. Why read a Christmas story after Christmas? It's like a Santa train set or a book of yuletide recipes. No matter how much you like trains or how much you like cooking neither the Santa train nor the figgy pudding recipe make sense after the season.

So it was with this anthology. There was only one memorable story in it and that one was, ironically, the one story that was not Christmas-themed. The story was called "Mr. Big" and it was written by Woody Allen. It's a good story, written in Woody Allen's distinctive voice, but not what you would call a Christmas story. It qualified for the anthology by virtue of one of the clues—a racehorse named Santa Baby.

As I said, I don't have a problem with stories set at Christmas, but I pass on what I call tinsel stories. Stories with no substance but which use some aspect of Christmas as an excuse. You can usually spot them by the title. (These titles are my own invention, any resemblance to real stories is a shame.)

"The Christmas Card Murders." (Pass!)
"Death by Eggnog." (No way!)
"Slay Bells Ring." (Not for me!)
"Gold, Frankincense and Murder." (Heaven forbid!)

I believe a good story is worth reading or viewing at any time, not just during the season. Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life should be viewed throughout the year, not just at Christmas, because it's not a Christmas story. It's about a man discovering himself, about the sacrifices he makes. And it's about good versus evil, despair and redemption. There's no murder, but it's as hardboiled as any story. Is there anybody more evil than Potter? The Christmas part is only the last quarter of the film. Too bad the movie has been hijacked by the season.

My vote for great Christmas story which stands the test of time and which can be read (or viewed if you prefer) all year round is Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man. The story begins in a speakeasy the day before Christmas with two of the most engaging sleuths in literature, Nick and Nora Charles.

Nora said, "She's pretty."
"If you like them like that."
She grinned at me. "You got types?"
"Only you, darling—lanky brunettes with wicked jaws."

If you want cute for Christmas, there's Asta the schnauzer who knocks over a table of toys at Lord and Taylor's.

You want Christmas mayhem? How about the scene in the movie where Nick, nursing a hangover, uses a rubber band and paper clips to shoot ornaments off the tree. Or the scene where Nick knocks out Nora while trying to keep her from being shot by Morelli. After Nick revives her, Nora says, "You damned fool! You didn't have to knock me cold. I knew you'd take him, but I wanted to see it." To which the police lieutenant says, "There's a girl with hair on her chest."

If it's holiday excess you're looking for, The Thin Man has that too. When a reporter asks Nora what case Nick is working on, she says, "A case of Scotch. Pitch in and help him."

Afraid this story is another sappy Christmas story? Then wait for it, the best Christmas sentiment in all mysterydom, uttered by the inimitable Nora:

"The next person who says Merry Christmas to me, I'll kill 'em."

That's how I like my murder for Christmas. Lanky brunettes, guys with guns, and six martinis lined up on the bar. A Christmas toast—make that six—to the best Christmas mystery story ever. Hammett published The Thin Man 78 years ago and it's still as fresh as Wonderful Life and fresher than most stories that try to cash in on the season but which are staler than day-old gingerbread.

So do you have a favorite Christmas mystery, one that you enjoy even in July?

Mark Troy
http://www.marktroy.net
Hawaiian Eye Blog
Check out my ebooks in the iBook, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords stores.

The Magical Mystery Tour

2011-12-06T01:34:00.000-08:00

For the past week and a half I've been with 14 mystery authors on a 14 day virtual book tour. Each of the writers asked for something different from a list of questions, an interviews, their take on a special subject, a certain page out of their book, plus the usual photos, book cover(s), blurbs and bios.

I asked each one to write something about setting. It was great fun to see the different looks at setting through their minds. You can check it out at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to read them all if you're so inclined.

Today, I'll be visiting Timothy Hallinan http://www.timothyhallinan.com/blog/

Though it's been a lot of work, it's also been fun and I've seen a definite drop in my numbers on Amazon so it looks like it might be working.

The writers who are participating are: Beth Anderson, Ron Benrey, Pat Browning, John M. Daniel, Alice Duncan, Wendy Gager, M. M. Gornell, Timothy Hallinan, Jackie King, Jean Henry Mead, Mike Orenduff, Jinx Schwartz, Earl Staggs, Anne K. Albert (who instigated this madness), and of course, me.

Marilyn

Please Welcome Mystery Author, Frank Scully

2011-12-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

Frank Scully was born at the end of World War II and grew up in a small town in North Dakota. He remembers a time when radio provided the entertainment and then along came TV with very few channels. While in college getting a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Juris Doctor in Law, TV graduated to color, the Beatles landed on the Ed Sullivan Show, Kennedy was assassinated, and Armstrong walked on the moon. He served in the U.S. Army as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer in the U.S., Vietnam and Thailand before getting his Masters in Business Administration from the Thunderbird School and embarking on a business career. Currently he is a Contracts Manager for a major aerospace and defense manufacturer and an author of a mystery series.

His current book, EMPTY TIME, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other online eBook retailers as well as the publisher’s bookstore https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/

What it's about:
Jim Lang’s life sputtered into a workaholic rut on a middle rung of the corporate ladder while his colleagues, using his business plan, became the international business titans he once aspired to be.

Bad memories of busted marriages and broken promises are all that keep him company in his personal hours so he is more than willing to sacrifice that empty time to his job to make the corporation grow. His bosses have one more sacrifice in mind for him. To die for them.

Deceived, betrayed and framed for murder and massive stock fraud, his bosses plan for him to die and disappear. Disappear, he does; die, he doesn’t.

Lang must face and conquer his old fears and guilt, and live up to the potential within. To save the people he loves he must put his life on the line to turn the tables on his former colleagues in an inter-continental, multi-billion dollar, fast paced and lethal game of corporate intrigue and treachery with bloody traps and deadly counter traps.

Also available are RESURRECTION GARDEN and DEAD MAN’S GAMBIT. Coming soon is BLOOD SINS.

You can find more about Frank Scully's books at: http://www.frankjscully.com/

And now here's some great writing advice from Frank Scully:
Keep the reader turning pages -

Have you ever been reading a book, one you were enjoying with the movie you were producing from it running in your head, and all off a sudden something happens that breaks the whole thing down? The movie stops because the character does something so totally out of character, the narrator gags on something or the pace breaks down.

There you are, staring at the page, the movie projector in your head smoking from the broken reel, wondering what the &*^% you are going to do next. How could that character do that? Nothing in the story line or character development allowed for that. No human being you have ever known who was anything like that character had ever done anything like that. Is there any plot point that justifies what the character did? Can you forgive it and move on? Or is it too far out that you have lost interest in the character and the story?

Perhaps the author’s voice cracks and changes midstream and you go from masculine hard boiled to feminine cozy or something in between. All of a sudden the director of the movie in your head has changed.

Or maybe the pace has shifted or jerks suddenly. You were reading along comfortably enjoying the speed of the story that was unfolding. The movie in your head was running along just fine. Then you hit pages of data and description that bog you down like quicksand. Do you really care if the character is wearing a certain expensive brand of khakis along with an ensemble described in excruciating detail? Perhaps there is a sudden jerk and you are in an unannounced different time and place with seemingly no relation to the story you were reading.

Assuming an author takes care of the basics such as having a good plot, proper grammar, enticing title and cover, and a good hook to draw the reader in, there are certain elements that can make or break a mystery story for a reader. To me the three most important are character, voice and pace.

Character encompasses all of the actors in the book from the protagonist and antagonist and on down to the clerk who only appears on one page. Each needs to be believable and come alive in the mind of the reader. If they are not properly presented and fleshed out so the reader can imagine them, the story will suffer and the reader will get frustrated. At the same time you don’t want to provide too much description. The reader will fill in a lot of the details according to how they want the character to look just as they do for the background. It is impossible to detail every aspect of every background a character acts in front of. All the author needs to do is get the important and distinguishing elements and let the reader’s imagination do the rest.

But character is more than physical description. The actions and emotions and thoughts projected from and onto the character must “fit” like a good suit or the reader will not care, and if the reader doesn’t care about the character, the author risks losing the reader.

I believe very firmly that you must give the mystery reader a primary character that they can relate to and in some way have a desire to follow. There may be a niche for those books whose main character is a despicable, totally unlikeable blackard but it is a small one.

Pace also is important to a reader. As an author we invite readers along for a ride. We need to make it an enjoyable ride. Sometimes fast, scary and bumpy. Sometimes more sedate. The trick is to make sure we don’t jolt the reader out of the car on a fast hard bump or a quick turn or bore them to sleep down a gentle slope. Keep them turning pages with enjoyment and excitement. I’ve seen some masters of pace get by with little or no plot although that is not a good thing and can make the book forgettable soon after it is done.

And finally there is the author’s voice. What does the reader hear in how you tell the story? Is there gravel in your voice from hard miles over bad road? Or are you a young woman just getting started in the world on her own? Authors must find a voice that they want to tell that story with and be consistent with it for the primary narration. Just as a character should not all of a sudden develop multiple personalities, neither should the author.

As with all “rules” there are authors who have broken all of the above and still been very successful. But I, as a reader, have dropped many books that started out well only to lose me for these reasons and now I avoid those authors for fear I will run into another “busted” read.

I work hard to ensure that I follow my own rules carefully and keep the reader engaged and turning the pages.

Frank Scully
http://www.frankjscully.com/

Please leave a comment below to welcome Frank to Make Mine Mystery.

Learning from the pros

2011-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever read a mystery and said to yourself, “Wow! I wish I could write like that”? Or maybe you mumble “Heck, I write this well. How come they’re published and I’m not”? That question is a toughie, of course. Most of us realize that there are lots of reasons novels don’t get published, and this post won’t get into them.

Let’s look at that mystery differently. First, finish reading it for pleasure. Then go back through it and take notes. Pick it apart. Why does it work, and what could be better? Mind you, it’s a chore, but do it with at least a couple of novels. Here are a few of the things to look for:

--What is the point of view? Is there more than one?

--How soon does the main character’s name appear?

--How soon does the crime appear?

--Is there a strong plot?

--What do you like or dislike about each character? Is each character distinctive in speech, appearance, or personality?

--How much dialogue is there compared to exposition?

--How often does the author tell instead of show, and does it work?

--Does the pace ever bog down? If so, how and where?

--Are the good guy and the bad guy evenly matched?

--Are there enough twists to keep you guessing?

--Did the story ultimately satisfy you? Why or why not?

Perhaps you have read a few books on writing, and you learned that passive voice is not to be used, that you must show and not tell, and that you must not mix points of view in the same chapter. And then you see that some famous writer has broken every “rule” you thought sacrosanct. Well, you won’t become a good writer simply by mechanically applying rules from a book. Understand them, sure. Then understand that they are really just guidelines that the pros either apply or ignore depending on the circumstances.

Once you take this hard look at a published novelist’s work, you can learn effective techniques for your own fiction. I think you will find it worth the effort.

Bob Sanchez has published three novels, available at http://tinyurl.com/bobsanchezauthor

Back From Texas

2011-11-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

BACK FROM TEXAS
Randy Rawls

I've just returned from seven delightful days in Texas. Got to see some friends, had Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family in Austin, did a TV interview in Kerrville a signing in Georgetown, bought a new hat in Bryan, and enjoyed the Texas landscape. Time well spent.

As anyone who knows me is aware, I'm a devoted Texan at heart. I tell folks it's because I grew up as part of the John Wayne generation. Big John was all over the place, putting bad men away. And, of course, in almost every movie was that glorious western background. Yeah, I know much of it was filmed outside Texas, but, for me, it was everything I imagined Texas to be.

I fit the mold of the non-Texan who was not born there, but got there as fast as I could. Then, I moved away, moved to the warm weather of South Florida. Last Monday morning reminded me I made a pretty good decision. A November freeze descended on Austin. Brr. This country-boy was not warm, nor was he happy. And, while it wasn't quite as cold on Tuesday (the day I left), it was close enough to make me yearn for Florida.

Folks in the airport at Fort Lauderdale gave me some funny looks when I walked through the terminal in long pants and a heavy leather jacket. I just smiled at them, knowing it had felt darn good that morning.

So, I'm home again—and warm again—but I already miss Texas. I can hardly wait for my next trip. Maybe I'll wait till Spring though.

To my good Texas friends, Sylvia Dickey Smith (WORLD OF HER OWN) and
Earl Staggs (MEMORY OF A MURDER), I say enjoy being Texans. But keep your warm clothes nearby.

Just sign me "A Texan at Heart Living in the Warm Paradise of South
Florida."

Randy Rawls
THORNS ON ROSES

“Mystery We Write” Virtual Holiday Book Tour Starts Today!

2011-11-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

The virtual tour kicks off today with 15 mystery writers taking part--and a 60 plus novel giveaway. Blog visitors who leave comments at the individual sites are eligible to win mystery novels from writers: Marilyn Meredith, Earl Staggs, Tim Hallinan, J. Michael Orenduff, Anne K. Albert, Beth Anderson, Alice Duncan, John Daniel, M.M. Gornell, Wendy Gager, Jackie King, Jinx Schwartz, Pat Browning, Ron Benrey and me.

I’m giving away 14 Kindle or Nook books—one at each blog site--as well as three print copies at the conclusion of the tour. I would love to be eligible to win some of the great books offered by my fellow tour writers.

A lot of good writing advice and interviews are going to be featured, including book excerpts and photos of the writers’ latest books and work spaces. You can win one or more mystery novels by leaving a comment and email address at as many host sites as you have time to visit during the next two weeks. The tour ends on December 8.

My tour schedule is listed at: "Mystery We Write" Holiday Tour along with links to all the other blog sites. There's also a slideshow of all our books on the site, created by our tour coordinator Anne K. Albert.

I’m appearing at Marilyn Meredith’s blog site today to talk about the importance of novel settings, and Jackie King is featured on my blog site to tell us why she fell in love with “wordsmithing.”

I’m also signing books today at the Blue Heron bookstore in downtown Casper, Wyoming, from 1-3 p.m., so if you’re in the area, please stop in to say hello (if you can find a parking space on Black Friday).

We wish you the happiest of holidays and hope to see you along the tour.

Thanksgiving and Everyday by Christine Duncan

2011-11-24T01:13:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving so I'm sure you have other things to do--family gatherings, football, and maybe even a little Christmas shopping. So I'm going to make this short.
I am thankful, have always been thankful to be an American. I believe in our country, our values and our freedoms. Freedom of speech is especially important to me as a writer, as I'm sure it must be to you.
I question whether we still have as much of that as we used to when I see what is happening to the Occupy movement. Whatever you think of the movement, you have to wonder about the police tactics. Just what is so threatening about a bunch of people saying, "We are the ninety-nine percent."
So today, while I am still proud to be an American, I am also worried. And I think as writers we all should be.

What Are You Reading....

2011-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

....On?

It’s become the question of the new century. No longer are we reading only hard cover or paperback….now we can read also on our smartphones, computers, laptops, MP3 players, tablets and dedicated readers. Each has its benefits and drawbacks.

Some people still prefer the feel of a book in their hands. A friend was telling me the other day she loves the bindings, the smell of the paper and ink and it’s part of the comfortable feeling of reading for her. Others find holding a traditional book can become uncomfortable or even painful after a while. But they don’t want to give up the joy of reading.

The various electronic ways of reading have their benefits and drawbacks as well. A desktop keeps you sitting in your office chair. A laptop is more portable, but still heavy compared to an ereader. A tablet like an iPad or Playbook is very light and easy to hold, but more the size of a hardcover book. An MP3 player, iPod Touch or smartphone is super-portable, but some find the screen small for reading. All these devices have a lot of glare on their screens if you want to sit outside on a nice day to read.

The new eInk readers like the Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Sony Reader are light, portable, easy to tuck in a purse or commuter bag. They have dedicated bookstores and it’s quick and straightforward to download a new book. However, they’re not backlit, so low light presents a problem. However, there are lots of clip-on lights to get around that. Some people don’t want to have to buy another device to cart with them, so they’re not for everyone either.

Bottom line – find the device that works best for you and whether it’s traditional or the newest thing, keep on reading!!

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com
On Twitter, Facebook & GoodReads too

What Makes A Book GREAT?

2011-11-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some GREATS which, when combined, can make a book GREAT:

1. A GREAT cover - It should be not only eye catching and professional, but also consistent with the image expected for that genre.

2. GREAT back cover copy - Tell the reader about your book in a concise, engaging way, leaving hints and unanswered questions to engender curiosity.

3. A GREAT hook - The first few sentences in a book are terribly important. Since attention spans are so short these days, get right into the action immediately. As you go along, you can sprinkle in bits and pieces of how your character got into the situation.

4. A GREAT title - Again, as in the cover, the title should be consistent with the image of the genre, but also something that stands out and intrigues the reader.

5. GREAT grammar, spelling, punctuation - Readers get turned off by grammatical errors. Don't rely completely on your word processor to tell you if you've made mistakes. I've found many grammatical errors in spell check, and also found some instances where spell check was correct. Get an editor or someone in the know to go over your manuscript. Authors tend to see what they want to see and overlook the obvious.

6. A GREAT story line - This is subjective, since readers have various tastes. However, there are certain guidelines an author can follow to help the cause; such as, not making your character too stupid to live, not making the hero or heroine do unheroic things, not giving away solutions along the way, or even the ending, not introducing characters out of the blue just to resolve an issue, and not relying on coincidence. Other than that, I can't say what kind of story anyone should write. That has to come from an author's heart. Remember, though, if you want to follow a current trend, it would help if you're a fast writer, since trends change.

7. GREAT characters - An author needs to get the readers into the characters' heads, hinting through internal dialogue or body language how the characters feel, so the readers can bond with them. It helps to give the heroes and heroines not only some likeable characteristics, but also a few foibles, because no one's perfect. Also, offer a reason or two why or how the villain became twisted. Again, no one's all bad or all good.

8. GREAT dialogue - Dialogue makes a book sparkle. Long, rambling narratives can turn off a reader. Long, rambling dialogue can also. Have the characters say what they need to say to get the plot moving along, yet have them say it in their own way. A teenager should not talk like a Baby Boomer.

9. GREAT description - Readers like to use their imagination, but it doesn't hurt to help them along some. Intersperse various descriptions of physical description, body language, clothes, places, time, weather elements, so the reader doesn't founder along. Imagination can only go so far.

I hope these GREATS will help make your book GREAT!

Can you think of any I've missed? Or, can you think of a book where you were impressed by any of the GREATS I've mentioned?

Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel is a past president of Chicago-North RWA,past library liaison for Midwest MWA, belongs to EPIC, and Sisters in Crime.
Find her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel
Coming soon is her thriller, Forever Young:Blessing or Curse. You can find her romantic suspense,Killer Career,and romantic comedy, Girl of My Dreams, on Kindle and Smashwords for 99 cents each.Two Wrongs will soon follow.

Candles Can Bring Illumination

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

By the time my day comes around again to blog in this spot I'll have passed the point where I turn 86. It's not a particularly significant anniversary, like 75 or 100, but the year leading up to it has made me wonder about this condition called aging. I have a brother two years older who has complained for years that he started falling apart when he reached 80.

At my annual physicals, the doctor always plunks his stethoscope here and there, thumps around on my knees and elbows, and says I don't see anything wrong with you. The lab lady drains a bunch of test tubes full of blood, and the results show I'm normal.

But this year I've begun to wonder. My ophthalmologist diagnosed me with AMD in my right eye, Age-related Macular Degeneration, a few years ago. She put me on some high-powered vitamin pills, and I've had no problem since. Except for cataracts. I don't see well driving at night. Now she has me scheduled for cataract surgery. But she says I might get back to where I don't need glasses to read. Maybe no more bifocals.

Then there's my mouth. Early in the summer, I had my four lower front teeth pulled and a bridge put in. Of course, I had the same thing done with the upper four when I was a teenager, so that's no big deal.

I walk two miles most days at the mall. Whenever I get a pain in a knee or a twinge in a hip, I think about all my acquaintances who've had knee or hip replacements. But it hasn't slowed my 15-minute-per-mile pace, so I don't worry about it.

I guess as long as my musty old brain can continue creating mysteries I shouldn't complain. And I have lots of them stirring around waiting for my fingers to get them on paper. Speaking of fingers...

Chester Campbell
Visit me at Mystery Mania

Orphaned Story

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Recently I republished a story I had high hopes for, but which didn't go far. Home Wreckers was published in Nefarious-Tales of Mystery webzine in 1999. Nefarious looked like a winner when it appeared. Not only did it publish stories, it had true crime features, movie trailers and such. Home Wreckers appeared in the inaugural edition.

The Nefarious webzine had an up and down history. You couldn't count on it being up, or if it was up, you couldn't count on new stories. As a result few people got to read Home Wreckers and the story ended up as something of an orphan.

Home Wreckers was an early attempt at hard boiled and noir. Everybody in the story does something wrong--which made it a lot of fun to write. Even after a dozen years, I think it still holds up well.

I took the title of the story from an article in Sports Illustrated about the Purdue Women's basketball team beating the Lady Vols on their home court. In my story, "home wreckers" has two meanings, the SI meaning of winning on the opponent's home court and the more common one of adultery. Adultery is the theme of the story and the consequence is murder.

When I prepared the story for republication, I discovered two versions on my computer, the original version and a bowdlerized one. The bowdlerized version had all the F words changed. I don't remember which version Nefarious published, but I decided to leave the F-bombs in this version. I didn't use it a lot in the story, but this story opens with a woman learning that the wife of the man in bed with her has been murdered and the f-word seemed highly appropriate.

I think the cover captured the theme perfectly (although the strategic placement of the title is a form of bowdlerization.) You can get this story at Smashwords and Kindle. If you purchase from Smashwords, use this coupon code at checkout to get a free copy in any format--PC44Q.

Mark Troy
Hawaiian Eye Blog

Unbelievable

2011-11-15T03:23:00.000-08:00

Reporting on my cruise and something I found out that I found hard to believe.

Hubby and I went on the ill-fated mystery cruise. I say ill-fated because it was scheduled for last year and had a large group signed up. It would be like a conference with panels and speakers, open to the public and a last day meet the author. The week before we were supposed to go, the ship we were going on caught fire at sea and had to be towed in. Big news--the cruisers were without fresh food, hot water, and electricity.

There was no way the ship could be fixed in time for our cruise so it was cancelled. The mystery cruise was re-scheduled for this year, most of the people signed up again. The price was definitely right. About half way into the year one person decided not to go and said the cruise was cancelled. It wasn't, but that was enough for many to back-out and there were no longer enough people for our events to be listed in the ship's daily calendar.

The price was really good and hubby and I decided to go anyway as did a few others. We had about 10 mystery authors, four members of a group called Citizens Against Homicide, and a some folks just taking advantage of the good price for the cruise. We did get together three times. Once to get to know who we all were, and one of the authors gave a presentation on short story writing.

The Citizens Against Homicide gave a two hour presentation another day. They help people who have lost someone to homicide. I'll write more about the group at another time.

The unbelievable came about when I gave a presentation about blog tours. I had this idea in my head that we mystery authors on the cruise ought to plan a blog tour. I began talking about blogging and a hand went up. No names, but this was an author I'd never met, but I had heard her name. This was the question, "What on earth is a blog?"

I thought she was kidding. She wasn't. And she wasn't alone, except for one other author, none of them not only didn't blog, they'd never heard of blogging, had no clue what I was talking about. I explained along with the help of the other author who did blog. Unfortunately, this particular day the seas were rough and it was impossible to stand up to talk. I did my best from a chair. Finally I offered to send everyone hand-outs I've done for other groups on blogging and blog tours. The day after I got home, I did just that. I hope everyone got them--but I haven't heard a word back from anyone.

So, for those of us who blog regularly, this was a shocking surprise to me.

While I was gone, I had a new blog posting everyday--they were writing tips I'd posted at previous times, but at least I had something new everyday for those who follow my blog.

Is anyone as surprised by this as I am?

Marilyn

Mercury's Rise

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

by Jean Henry Mead

Mercury’s Rise is the best historical mystery I’ve read this year. Set in the early 1880s in Manatou, Colorado, it’s the fourth novel in Ann Parker’s Silver Rush series; featuring Inez Stannert, whose husband Mark disappeared before the first novel, leaving her with a baby as well as a saloon to run.

In Mercury’s Rise, Inez travels by stagecoach to Manitou, a health resort, to meet her sister, who’s been caring for Inez’s son. When one of the passengers, with his family aboard, dies during the trip after drinking his wife’s tonic, Inez is determined to discover who and what killed him. And why. More bodies turn up at the health resort, including a man attempting to uncover the truth about his brother’s death.

To complicate matters, her husband returns while she’s in the process of divorcing him, having fallen in love with another man in Mark's absence. Against her better judgment, she sends her husband a telegram to aid in the investigation when she fears for her sister’s life.

Suave and charming, he arrives on the next train and attempts to woo her back to their marriage. But his reason for disappearing for more than a year doesn’t set well with Inez and she holds him at arm’s length.

The plot is cleverly woven and beautifully written, leaving the reader wanting more. The author lives in San Francisco and makes occasional trips to Colorado, but her research is impeccable. This is one historical mystery that I highly recommend.

Grammar Rant by Christine Duncan

2011-11-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

First off, let me say that I do not believe that I am the person to consult when you have a grammar problem. I don't even like reading grammar posts; they tend to read holier than thou. Yet, I had thought that by now that most writers knew that they had to edit their own writing-correcting their own grammar, making things clear and concise. Unfortunately, lately I keep reading things that are clearly unedited.
Here are a couple of the mistakes that I keep seeing over and over again, even with accomplished writers:

There/They're and Their

If it has to do with place, or location, if it can be replaced with the word here add a T and make there. Example: Put it here. Put it there.
If it can be replaced with the phrase, they are, take out the a and replace it with an apostrophe, and close the gap between the words to make one word-they're.
Example: They are too good to be true. They're too good to be true.
If it has to do with ownership, think of the word, heir. Add a T for their.

Its/Its
One of my English teachers long ago put this one into perspective for me. She said that we don't expect to add an apostrophe to the possessive of any of the other first, second or third persons so why would it be different? Think about this--his, hers, yours, mine, ours; so in keeping with all of that, you have its as the possessive. No apostrophe. (Yes, that is a sentence fragment. I believe in breaking the rules for emphasis.) An example might be: the dog has its own bed.
Whereas, if you can replace the word in your mind with the phrase, it is, then you need the apostrophe. Example: It is going to be a good party. It's going to be a good party.

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

All writers have a different style – some are plotters, some write by the seats of their pants, some work with a combo of the above or their very own construct. It doesn’t matter how the author creates, but what the author creates – and what the writer creates is a story filled with characters we root for and against.

There is a great deal of information available about heroes – alpha or beta, romantic or hard-boiled. Is he tall, athletic and handsome, or do the ladies adore his geekiness?

Our favorite heroines are generally smart, funny, and accomplished. But then again, there are the Stephanie Plums of the world, too! She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s klutzy!

But villains – where do the villains come from? Are they archetypes, constructs from our days of hearing fairy tales and myths? Are they the product of nightmares or do we pick our boss’ least appealing characteristics and make them bigger than life? Do we build him or her from people we read or hear about in the news? In documentaries? Or are they only a product of the writer's fertile imagination?

As far back as man has created, the villain has been a crucial component of the storyteller’s craft. The villain – or villainess, as the case may be – creates a great deal of stress and angst for our lovely hero and heroine. The villain will thwart them at every turn, for a while, and then their brilliance, bravery and moxie will shine as the villain is conquered.

What was our bad guy’s fatal flaw – hubris, stupidity, inexperience? Whatever it is, it brings him down in the end.

And isn’t that what we all want – to see justice done, the villain stopped and our hero or heroine win the day?

Who is your favorite fictional villain and why?

Libby
Libby McKinmer
www.libbymckinmer.com
Romance with an edge
Find me on Facebook, Twitter & Goodreads

The Lumps Were Worth It

2011-11-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've always had the itch to write. Over the years, I started several books, but each of them petered out after a couple of chapters. That was pre-desktop and laptop computers, and the stubby pencil routine was too tough. Yet, the itch never quit stinging. Then in the mid-90's, with a desktop computer at my disposal, I started another story. This time, I stuck with it and about 130,000 words later, I wrote THE END, then sat back and waited for the riches to roll in. NOT! One of the worst books ever written.
Undaunted, I began a sequel and plowed through to about a 100,000 word BAD book. Not as badly written as my first one, but still bad. Then, a revelation settled around my ears. I read all the time, never went anywhere without a book. Why not learn from what I read?

While my original plan was a three-book series with Bad One and Bad Two, I gave up the idea and decided to write a first person, private investigator story. For a year, I concentrated my reading on such books, absorbing as much as I could from the techniques of many successful authors. The first result of my learn-by-reading program was JAKE'S BURN, an Ace Edwards, Dallas PI, mystery. It wasn't a breakout novel, but I had learned enough to write something readable. JAKE'S was small-published and received good reviews.

Over the next years, as I continued to learn-by-reading, five more books in the Ace Edwards series were small-published. After book six, I decided to move away from Ace and his cast of characters.
Since I now live in South Florida, I invented a female PI. But I've read so many female leads who were little more than men in skirts, I knew I didn't want to write one of those. Or she was a super women who could whip a congress of gorillas while having her nails done—not for me. Or, she was some frail young thing, but always managed to win in the end—nope. With the help of some wonderful ladies in my critique group, I wrote a Beth Bowman, female PI, mystery set in South Florida. I believe Beth can be accepted as a real woman. She's soft when she needs to be and hard as nails when the situation calls for it. I call the book DEATH BY DIAMONDS. When it was finished (and edited and re-finished and edited some more and re-re-finished, etc.), I began to shop it. I queried Terri Bishchoff at Midnight Ink, who asked for the manuscript.
Time passed, and I moved on to another book. THORNS ON ROSES featuring Tom Jeffries, a S FL PI, was small-published in August by L&L Dreamspell, a couple of really nice people who love books. It's another shift in my writing—an avenger story. Tom Jeffries is a hard-edged man with the experience to back him up.

At SleuthFest during the first weekend in March 2011, I was lucky enough to meet Terri, and she told me she liked Beth's story and my writing. I was overjoyed and came home waiting for the acceptance email to arrive. Time dragged on and on and . . . Just when I was ready to give up the idea of being published by Midnight Ink, a company I have the utmost respect for, lightning struck. Terri offered me a two-book contract for Beth.

On, November 1, I signed the contract and mailed it to Midnight Ink via Overnight Express. As I sit and look back over the fifteen years or so of my writing education, I can truthfully say, the lumps were worth it. Without all of those knocks on the head, and my learn-by-reading program, and the wonderful small presses who were willing to publish me, I would not have the contract. I'm proud, yes. But I also realize how lucky I am. There are so many talented writers who are never given the opportunity I have. Now I just have to hope I live up to Terri's and Midnight Ink's confidence in me.

And, of course, when the books are published, I hope they will be loved by readers across the country and, perhaps, in foreign countries.

Randy Rawls
http://www.randyrawls.com/

The Mystery of the Missing Blank

2011-11-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Today, I thought we'd try a fun exercise inspired by my losing something this morning. I'll give you my instance, and you can provide yours, real or fictional.

The Mystery of the Missing Password -

Being semi-organized, I have trouble finding items at home, sometimes even important ones. This morning I had to remember where I'd put a new password I'd made up last month. Of course, I couldn't remember the handy, safe spot where I'd put it. Fortunately for me, the site was one where I could click and say I'd forgotten and after a few security questions, I could make up a new one.

If a were writing The Mystery of the Missing Password, I'd specify the password could not be changed if forgotten. Not remembering that password would carry enormous consequences, perhaps over life and death of the main character, or worse, a country or the world.

Your Turn -

In the comment section, fill in your Mystery of the Missing Blank and provide a brief description. It could be about a novel or part of a novel which could be written, has already been written, or maybe you'd like to just provide a real life mystery not writing related.

For romantic suspense, try Killer Career. Only
99 cents on Kindle and Smashwords. Also in
print for $13.95.Coming soon see
Forever Young-Blessing or Curse,
plus the re-release of Morgan's backlist romantic
comedy, Girl of My Dreams,
and Chicago based mystery, Two Wrongs.

Including special days in your mysteries

2011-11-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Honoring a family's dead at
Dia de los Muertos, Mesilla, NM

Sometimes an event of regional interest can provide a great locale for your fiction. In the fall there are lots of county and state fairs, for example. We all just had Halloween, of course, but that's followed on November 1 by All Saints Day. In Mexico and in much of the Southwest, that's known as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The tone is much different from Halloween, as people honor deceased members of their families. It's mixed, though. In the plaza in downtown Mesilla, New Mexico, vendors will sell sugar-coated skulls and artwork depicting skeletons, almost with a feeling of thumbing our noses at death. But other people will display pictures of their deceased loved ones, with touching mementos from their lives. Children do participate, but it's not specifically for them at all. Many adults take the day quite seriously.

What events do you know about that can add life and color to your mysteries?

Sugar skull made for Dia de los Muertos

Bob Sanchez is the author of three novels. Check them all out at tinyurl.com/bobsanchezauthor.

Mysterious Weather

2011-11-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here it is the first week in November and leaves on the oak tree outside my window are still in the process of shifting from green to red. At the moment they're about half-and-half. Normally, they would have been fully red by now. This year's weather has been weird from the get-go. Snow, rain, floods, searing heat, we've had it all in spades. The message is if you want to use weather in a mystery novel, don't worry about it being unbelievable. Anything can happen.

I've used hurricanes to good effect. Also thunderstorms, snows, and torrential rains. Scorching summertime heat as well. William Kent Krueger used a derecho in his latest book, The Northwest Angle. It's a violent, widespread straight-line windstorm accompanied by showers or thunderstorms. I'd never heard of it before, but he made it very believable.

One of the most violent weather phenomena is the tornado. I don't recall ever reading about a tornado in a mystery. They should provide excellent fodder. They can turn a house into kindling and leave its contents spread all over the place. They can kill and maim. What if one of the bodies found in the shambles of a house had a bullet wound? Ah, the plot thickens.

I know what tornadoes can do. I was in one that hit East Nashville back on March 14, 1933. I still remember the day like it was last week. A seven-year-old at the time, I remember how still the air seemed that afternoon on the schoolyard. The temperature had risen to an unseasonable 80 degrees. Early that evening the old Atwater Kent radio on the living room table began to crackle with static, indicating lightning in the area. Chandu the Magician became so difficult to hear that we turned the radio off.

Hail began to batter the roof and around 7:30 p.m., the lights went out and a roaring wind came up. It sounded like a locomotive racing by in the street. Bricks began to fall down the chimney into the fireplace, and my dad herded us into the basement. It was over in minutes but the rain came down in torrents. We made our way to my aunt's house several blocks away that hadn't been damaged.

Fifteen people were killed that night. We were lucky, living in a one-story house between two-story houses, so our damage was mostly to the roofing and chimneys. A large house two blocks away was demolished, injuring a whole family. Down the street, one house had columns blown out on the porch, allowing the roof to swing down and block the front door and windows. At a friend's house, a post had blown through a wall and just missed a baby grand piano. An iron pipe sticking up above a fence in the alley behind us had been bent 90 degrees. All sorts of strange things had happened.

Freaks of the 1933 Nashville Tornado. A. A piece of plank driven through a two-and-a-half-inch limb of a Mississippi Hackberry tree. B. A two-by-four driven through a door panel without leaving splinters. C. Weatherboarding pierced by a cornstalk.

Do you know of any mysteries involving tornadoes?

Chester Campbell
Visit me at Mystery Mania

Creepy

2011-11-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween time. Time for something creepy. I'm sure everyone has a creepy tale in their experience, so here's mine. I haven't written about this before. If it ever appears in a novel, it will be highly embellished. What follows here are the bare facts without embellishment.

When we bought the home we currently live in, our real estate agent disclosed that a tragedy had occurred there. A previous owner, prior to the owners from whom we bought, had committed suicide. The knowledge didn't deter us from buying the house. We did not believe the house was infected with bad juju. If there was such a thing, it had not affected the family from whom we were buying. How long does the juju stay? Does it skip owners? It all seemed pretty silly. So we went ahead with the purchase and didn't inquire into the circumstances.

The first indication we had of what had happened was when we hired a steam cleaning service to clean our carpets. The technician said, "I remember this house. I cleaned it after the suicide."

The victim had slit his wrists so there was a lot of blood to clean up.

The creepy part was the shadow. We'd been in the house about a year when we became aware of a shadow on the bedroom wall that never seemed to go away. It was like a smudge that wouldn't wash off. In fact, it seemed to grow and take on more definition over time. I don't know if it actually became more distinct or if our eyes simply became more attuned to it, but eventually my son asked about the heart on the wall. Sure enough, we looked at it closely and were able to distinguish a crude heart followed by a quite distinct letter "U." Both were preceded by a messy spot that we came to realize was the letter "I."

"I heart U." The victim's final message written on the wall in his own blood.

We have since redecorated that room twice and covered the wall with several coats of paint, so the message is no longer visible. If and when I use the incident in a story, you can bet that no coat of paint will keep that message hidden. It will probably reveal itself in smoke and flame like the writing on the ark of the covenant box in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Do you have any creepy stories in your house?

Mark Troy
Hawaiian Eye Blog
http://www.marktroy.net

For All My Good Intentions, I'm Having Trouble Finding Time

2011-11-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

"Time for what?" you ask.

"My writing," is my answer. And I'm sure everyone who read my last post about what it takes to be a writer is going to say, "You're a good one to talk."

When this post appears I'll be out of town--on a cruise with hubby celebrating our anniversary. Oh, I'm sure I'll be doing some promotion like handing out my business cards--especially to anyone with a Kindle. I think I'll probably stick in a couple of my latest books too, just in case.

What's been keeping me busy lately is the promotion for Bears With Us. I've been on a month long blog tour and anyone who has done one knows that you need to promote a new blog each day and go back and visit it periodically to see who has commented and to comment back or answer any questions. In my case, I've had to go back and check on earlier ones, because whoever left comments on the most blogs will get to have their name used for a character in a book.

I've also had a couple of writing jobs that bring in money which took quite a bit of my time. And yes, I have to do them to pay for my promotion. I had two in-person events--one at a book store and of course two days with a booth at the Apple Festival. Though I love to do things where I can actually meet the readers in person, they are tiring.

I'm also doing the rewrites on a different book from the one I'm writing. I'm reading a chapter a week to my writers group and they are great critiquers and come up with some great ideas. The day I do those rewrites, I can't work on the book I'm in the middle of writing. Both have very different voices--and I have to think a bit to switch from one to the other.

I'll get it done, though, I always do.

What are the major challenges to your writing?

Know Any Halloween Mysteries?

2011-10-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

Just wondered if anyone knows of any Halloween Mysteries. If so, please tell us where they are.

Ten Things You Should Never Include in a Crime Novel

2011-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

by Jean Henry Mead

I discovered an article in my files written by Andrea Campbell for The Writer magazine. It’s titled “10 Things Police Wish [Crime Writers would] Omit" and I’m going to paraphrase here so as not to plagiarize:

1. Don’t have your cops eating donuts. Most eat salads while on duty and they drink bottled water. They also work out to stay in shape, so have them at least mention visiting a gym.

2. Policemen and veteran crime writers hate over-dramatization and not many real life detectives fight over a case. Crime writer Daryl W. Clemens is critical of plots such as the film, “Bloodwork,” where cops have a tug of war over a case that’s taken place on their jurisdiction border. They already have more work than they can handle.

3. Revolver silencers are another point of contention, according to crime writer Barbara D’Amato. She says, “Since the rotating cylinder is not closed, you can’t baffle the gases” or muffle the sound.

4. Alcoholic policeman have been overdone and is another sore point for the police department. Former police officer and crime writer Robin Burcell wonders why so many fellow writers inject alcoholism into their plots.

5. Lone female detectives who search isolated areas without calling for backup is extremely foolhardy, according to writer Susan McBride. Make sure your woman detective alerts her partner or dispatcher of her plans and whereabouts.

6. Never tell a suspect to “Drop it, Pal,” because the gun could discharge when it’s dropped or tossed. Have the suspect place it on the ground and back away.

7. Never have police officers pointing their guns skyward, or what is referred to as “aiming at Jesus.” Police are trained to point a gun out and down, and directly ahead in preparation to discharge the weapon. Also, never have an officer jack a round into the gun’s chamber before entering a building. They always keep a round chambered, even in their holsters.

8. Don’t shatter a windshield. When hit by a bullet, there will be a small hole and spider web effect, even when hit several times.

9. Suspects are no longer called “perps,” unless your police department is located in New York, California, or a few other heavily populated areas. The term isn’t generally used anymore.

10. Police officers are burdened with lots of paperwork so made sure your cop does his or her share. According to Campbell, there’s “paperwork related to the Miranda warning before an interrogation; paperwork that police turn over to medical personnel at a hospital before interviewing a crime victim; and still more paperwork for requisitions and reports."

Readers of crime fiction are pretty savvy about police procedure. So do your research and don't depend on what you've seen in films and on TV. Sloppy research may result in readers passing up your next release in favor of writers who have done their homework.

A Writing Jumpstart by Christine Duncan

2011-10-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about writing jump starts. This time of year tends to throw me a curve ball. I get so busy that writing just...doesn't happen. And yet time after time, the thing that has always gotten me writing again--besides having a critique group that expects something out of me--is just hard to believe in this age of technology.

Because you see, what gets me started writing, when I'm not sure how to write myself out of a scene or where to even go in a story, is simply, to sit down with a pad of paper and a pen and write. It doesn't work to sit at a computer. I can always do something else on the computer even if it's just my bank reconciliation. I can't dictate the story to a microphone. And I can't tell you how often, I can't even articulate to myself where I thought the story should go. But somehow when I sit down with a pad of paper and a pen, the words start to flow.

Turns out, I may have been on to something. I read an article the other day quoting Georgetown University psychiatrist, Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D. the author of Transcendence. Dr. Rosenthal advises the stressed out among us (and believe me, when I can't write, I'm stressed) to "Stop what you're doing and scribble anything that comes to mind. Writing--a left brain activity--can turn off negative emotions occurring in the right side of your brain."

Huh! Take that Techies! I'm not old-fashioned, I'm just soothing my inner self! And productively too!

What's Your Forecast?

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

It’s the time of year when I hate -- having to face the cold. I’m not one of those snow bunnies who can hardly wait for the snow…except for the extra, guilt-free reading time it gives me! Really, who can feel too bad about curling up inside when the temp dips below freezing and the wind is blowing? It’s the perfect time to try out some new authors. And I’m actively looking for some writers I’d like to spend time with this winter. A friend has recommended David Rosenfelt – I like dog mysteries, so will give him a read.

I’m also looking at some horse mysteries. I love the Carolyn Banks’ dressage-themed horse mysteries and have read Sara Gruen’s Riding Lessons and enjoyed it as well. So I’m picking up more Sara Gruen, along with Horseplay: A Novel by Judy Reene Singer.

I’m going to explore some more cozy mysteries – I’ve been finding I really like them, too…and for some reason the cooking and tea ones are the ones I’m drawn to. So, I’m looking for authors in that genre as well. Joanne Fluke is one writer I’ve enjoyed trying – she writes very visually and you can almost smell the cookies baking. Laura Childs is another must-read and I love how she makes her characters really feel like friends. Can hardly wait for a new title to come out.

My Kindle has titles by authors I’ve always enjoyed reading and I know I can count on for a good story! I know I’ll enjoy a cold, rainy afternoon defeating the bad guys and finding the guilty parties with these titles, and that’s always fun.

But it’s also very rewarding to find a favorite new author…so, go ahead, load up your ereader or your shopping cart with some “sure-to-please” or some “new-to-me” authors. That way, you don’t have to dread the weather forecast.

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com
Also on Facebook, Twitter & Good Reads

JUSTICE AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

2011-10-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

by Earl Staggs

My wife and I don’t care for many of the new TV shows. Vampires? No thanks. Animated characters? Forget it. Lewd, crude, bathroom humor comedy? Yuck. More gorgeous cops with bikini-worthy and chiseled ab bodies? Yawn.

Instead, we watch and enjoy a lot of true crime documentary shows. We have plenty to choose from. There’s Dateline, 48 Hours Mystery, Cold Case Files, Snapped and more. There’s a great satisfaction in seeing real cops track down real criminals in the real world. My favorites are when a cold case squad pulls out a case that may be decades old and solves it.

We saw a good one this weekend. In 1985, a young mother was raped and brutally stabbed to death in her home. To make it worse, two of her three young daughters were also slaughtered. The killer left a toddler alive, probably because she was too young to identify him. The cops were at a loss. They found no evidence to identify the killer.

Fortunately, a passerby got a look at the killer leaving the house and provided a sketch artist with a good likeness. Neighbors reported seeing a strange car in the neighborhood that night. They found a suspect who closely resembled the sketch and drove a similar car. The man, a young Army sergeant, had been to the house two days before to adopt the family dog. The man was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death.

Two years later, his lawyers were successful in getting a second trial. This time, he was found not guilty due to lack of physical evidence. He went back to the Army and enjoyed a spotless and distinguished career thereafter. The case went cold, filed away in a box on a shelf.

Fast forward twenty-five years. Cold case detectives pulled out the box and found a vaginal swab from the murdered woman. DNA testing was not available or reliable enough in 1985, but when they had it checked this time, they identified the killer.

Guess who. Yes, it was the Army sergeant who had been convicted in a first trial, then cleared in a second trial twenty years earlier.

But could he be tried again for the murder? What about that double jeopardy thing? You’re right. He could not be tried again in criminal court for the same murder. I don’t agree with that law, but I’m not here to rant again about how “The Law” sometimes interferes with justice being served.

Because that’s not the end of the story.

Here’s the interesting part. The man had retired from the Army by then, but the Army stepped in and reinstated him. That made him subject to court-martial. He was tried and convicted of the triple homicide by a military court and sentenced to death.

It took twenty-five years for this man to be made to pay for what he did. In spite of that, you have to feel good about a story like this. I do.

If only I could only come up with a plot this good for my next novel.

What's in a Name?

2011-10-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

This piece could be called A Writer's Warning or The Great Awakening. Maybe it just goes back to the old adage that the memory is the first thing to go. The realization of what had happened came yesterday when I was answering questions for an interview tied in with tomorrow's launch of my second Sid Chance novel, The Good, The Bad and The Murderous. I wanted to say something about the character Jaz LeMieux's father and needed to look it up in the first book of the series, The Surest Poison. I keep all my book files in the computer to make it easy to check back on something I wrote earlier.

But first, a little background on Jaz, or to be formal, Jasmine LeMieux. Her father, a French Canadian, came to Nashville after the Korean War and helped start what became a nationwide chain of truck stops, or travel stores, along the interstates. Her mother, an aristocratic Southern belle, disowned her when she dropped out of college and joined the Air Force, where she was assigned to the Security Police. After completing her hitch, she took to the ring and became a champion woman boxer. Since it didn't pay enough to live on, she joined the Metro Nashville Police Department to pay her bills.

On her mother's death, Jaz got back in good graces with her father, returned to school and got her MBA. She inherited controlling interest in the business on her father's death. She now serves as chairman of the board, with no responsibility for day-to-day operations. That gives her time to indulge her interest in law enforcement as Sid's associate on difficult cases.

Which brings us to the business at hand. I decided to look up information on the start of Jaques LeMieux's business by doing a search on the name I had used numerous times in writing The Good, The Bad and The Murderous. When I entered "Welcome Home Stores" in the Word search box and clicked on Find Next, I got a message saying the term had not been found in The Surest Poison file.

I opened the file for the new book and did the same search. Welcome Home appeared fifteen times. I went back to The Surest Poison and checked out a chapter I knew would include the business name. And there it was:

Welcome Traveler Stores.

When I did the search on that name, it came up fourteen times. Then I recalled originally using Welcome Home Stores in the first book but changing it to Welcome Traveler before sending it to the editor. That was back in 2008. I wrote the fifth Greg McKenzie mystery before starting on the second Sid Chance. I had forgotten about changing the company's name, thus used the original.

Let that be a warning. If you have a year or so delay before writing the same characters again, read the previous book before you start. It can save a lot of embarrassment. I guess I'll just sit back and wait for somebody to write and ask, "What happened to Welcome Traveler Stores?" Maybe I'll say they had a company reorganization and decided to change the name. Or maybe I'll just admit I goofed.

Chester Campbell
Visit me at Mystery Mania.

Premise by Mark Troy

2011-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alexandra Sokoloff is a writer whose blog I have followed for quite a while. She is a screenwriter and novelist. Her first novel, The Harrowing, a supernatural thriller, was nominated for both the Bram Stoker and the Anthony awards. I had the delightful experience of meeting her at Bouchercon. She is charming and gracious and willing to share her writing expertise with anyone, even (maybe especially), unknown writers. Her blog http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/ is full of great writing tips. Now she has put those tips into an ebook, available on Kindle. The book is Screenwriting Tips for Authors (And Screenwriters.)

Sokoloff credits her rapid success as a novelist to her experience as a screenwriter. She says,

While every book sale and subsequent career has a lot to do with luck and timing, I also know that my quick representation and sale had a lot to do with the fact that, even though I was a first-time novelist, I had already written dozens of screenplays, some of which were original scripts that sold to various studios, some of which were novel adaptations I'd done on assignment. In other words, even though I was brand new to publishing, I'd been getting paid to tell stories for years.

The essence of a screenplay is the story. It is the skeleton, stripped of all the other elements. By emulating screenwriting, novelists can elevate their novels from good to blockbuster. That is Sokoloff's premise.

A premise to a novel or screenplay is an easily understandable sentence that tells what the story is about. It should give the sense of the entire story including the protagonist and antagonist, the setting, conflict and tone.

To be a blockbuster, however, a novel needs not just a premise, but a high concept. If the majority of people who hear about the story want to read it, that's high concept. Sokoloff says you know you have high concept when people say, "Wow, I wish I'd thought of that!"

The test of a great premise or a high concept, then, is the reaction of people who hear it. It's not something that can be easily defined, but must be experienced.

So here's the first practical tip I learned from Sokoloff's book. She says to make a commitment to come up with three premises a week and share them with friends. That last part might come as a shock to many novel writers who prefer to follow the Chinese law of secrecy. (Why it's called that, I don't know.) The "law" is intended for creative folks and basically says: Keep your mouth shut as tight as possible. Why? Because, so the thinking goes, anything we leak loses strength with us. Some of the energy we feel for the story drains from us when we speak it.

Sokoloff, on the other hand, is saying we get energy from the reactions of other people. Maybe not to all the ideas, maybe to one in a hundred, but that hundredth could be our blockbuster. And that premise is the one to write. I have to say that Sokoloff is not the first person who has suggested sharing three premises a week with friends. The other person who suggested it to me is also a screenwriter. So maybe there is something novelists can learn from screenwriters. I'm going to try it.

--------------
Now for something different. On my last post, I offered a free short story. This time, I'm offering another one. The story is Teed Off. To download it, go to http://tinyurl.com/teed-off01. When you go to check out, enter the coupon code, BH39R.

Mark Troy
Hawaiian Eye Blog

Do You Really Want to be a Writer?

2011-10-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

I have good friends who are really good writers, but I'm not sure that they really want to be writers.

Oh, yes, they'd like to be published and they ask me lots of question about all sorts of things. But they only produce a few pages at a time because they are too busy with work, going to club meetings, having dinner out with friends, lunch with lady friends, watching movies, chatting on the phone, and I could go on and on.

Yes I do some of those things too--right now I'm not working, but when I did I still wrote on a regular basis, at least five days a week. I no longer belong to social or service clubs--gave them up years ago as I did my other hobbies because there wasn't enough time in the day to do everything. And I seldom use the phone to just chat--except with my sis and my kids.

I love movies. Hubby and I try to go a couple of times a month. We don't really have much of a social life except when we're attending mystery cons or on a trip for some sort for promotion. What's happened, is some of my best friends are now people I've met while on the road, writers and readers.

Ah yes, and then there's promotion. I've heard everything from I don't think I can put that much time into promoting. I don't say it out loud, but my thought is then you might as well forget about the writing. If you get published you will have to promote. Whether you put the time in by speaking or teaching at writers groups, service organizations, schools, libraries or bookstores or stick to online promotion, it all takes time. If you want people to know about your books and want to buy them, you have to get the word out.

Right now I'm on a blog tour for Bears With Us so when I first get up in the morning I spend time promoting my stop for the day on my listserves, Facebook and Twitter. In November, I'll be involved with another blog tour, this time with other mystery writers and that will take some time.

Oh and I'm also taking the first week in November off to go on a cruise. We're celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary on what once was supposed to be a mystery cruise. Only a remnant of us are left, but I suspect we'll spend some time sharing ideas and I definitely plan to hand my card out to anyone I see reading a Kindle--and anyone else who might be interested. I'll probably tuck a few books in my luggage too, just in case someone is in need of something to read.

Despite all that, I write nearly every day. The only day I don't is Sunday, though I still might do a bit of promoting. Hubby and I both teach Sunday School--he the oldest people at church, I have the 3-6th graders. After church we always go out to lunch.

My calendar for 2012 is already starting to fill up because I'll have another book sometime after the first of the year.

My point is if you really want to be a writer, you focus on your writing.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/

Stirring Up Dust

2011-10-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I spent some time rearranging my closet for Fall. In the process I moved a bunch of tote bags arround (yes I'm as addicted to them as I am to purses). I also pulled out almost all my summer clothes and stored them in contianers, except for a few to see me through Indian Summer.

So, I moved a lot of stuff around, and the end result looked great. I judge that from the fact I could close the closet door easily without it catching on any inside items, and now I have my Fall clothes within easy reach.

I was pretty pleased with myself until my nose started running and I began to sneeze. Obviously, I'd stirred up dust in the process. Still it was a worthy cause, and the dust will eventually settle and clear.

The dust reminded me of the book industry. A lot of authors are stirring up dust by rejecting traditional publishers and striking out on their own. Many are making it big. They're the ones who take the time and energy to do it right.

Their efforts are looked on with alarm and even scorn by some traditional publishers and their authors, who are scrambling to retain their supremacy.

Once the dust settles and clears, I believe the publishing industry will look different, yet in better shape, kind of like my closet.

Morgan Mandel

Killer Career is 99 cents on
Kindle and Smashwords, and is
also in print.

Forever Young-Blessing or Curse
is coming soon to Kindle and
Smashwords, also the
re-release of Two Wrongs.

Should locations be real?

2011-10-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

As a fan of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels, I always wondered about the locale he called Isola, which turns out be the rough equivalent of Manhattan. Why wouldn't he just call it Manhattan and be done with it? He created a generic urban setting that never had to be true to reality, so he had the freedom to make that city fit his story needs.

This summer I met a writer who lives in England but grew up my current home of Las Cruces, New Mexico. She hated it, and her recent novel makes that clear. But she gave the town a different name, probably to spare people's feelings. All of the neighboring towns, though, kept their real names.

On the other hand, a friend wrote a novel set in Lowell, Massachusetts, and he used that name. One reader sent him a letter saying that the story was okay, but didn't he realize that his hero couldn't turn left on Dutton Street because it's one way? I also set a couple of novels in Lowell and kept worrying that someone would fault my descriptions. In my first novel, a javelina travels from near Tucson to the Grand Canyon without explanation, which is hundreds of miles. No reader questioned that, but then the whole story was meant to be nutty anyway.

Is it safer to create their own fictional towns? What do other writers do? Should your locations be real ones?

The Arranger

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

A book review by Jean Henry Mead

L.J. Sellers’ latest offering, The Arranger, will not only keep you turning pages, it will make you wonder about your own future.

Her protagonist, Lara Evans, takes part in “The Gauntlet,” a serious reality game watched and scored by a global television audience. The games are not only life threatening, the contestants compete with the best and most dangerous of competitors, all of them larger than Lara.

The futuristic mystery suspense novel involves not only Lara’s ability to survive and win the games but to clear herself of the murder of one of her competitors. Along the way she experiences a romantic encounter while she struggles to maintain her rigorous training.

Why risk her life to compete in games she’s likely to lose? The future Sellers paints is one of increased crime due to massive unemployment, corruption, and societal depression. Money is scarce and only the best can live comfortably. Lara’s training and determination are undermined by others in a secondary plot and her life hangs in the balance.

Sellers weaves an intriguing plot that could certainly be prophetic.

Reading through the Year by Christine Duncan

2011-10-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

I started reading holiday mysteries to my children when they were young. It helped little kids manage their anticipation about the upcoming holidays.
And then, when they were too old to read picture books anymore, I still searched the library index for holiday books. It helps I learned, to really take the time to appreciate the season. Otherwise, things seem to speed along just a little too fast without me taking the time to really think about what is going on.
And the books I've read along the way have been a lot of fun. I've discovered series books, like Joyce and Jim Lavene's Renaissance Faire series which just happens to have one book with a Halloween theme (Ghastly Glass) and I've found authors like Leslie Meier who writes all of her books around holiday themes throughout the year.
This year I've just started the search. Somehow, my head was stuck in Labor day and I have just realized that we are in the second week of October. But then, that's what reading a holiday mystery is good for. It gets me grounded in the season.
Anybody out there with a recommendation for a good Halloween mystery?

Are You a Procrastinator?

2011-10-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I can be. Never with work, of course…well, hardly ever. But sometimes, when the Muse isn’t pounding down my door with ideas for stories, blogs, articles, etc, I do find it easy to be distracted when I’m sitting at my computer. It’s not just a quick game of Mahjong or Free Cell any more. There are many interesting sites on the web – if you’re interested in tennis, skiing, baseball, horses, flying, cooking – you name it, there’s a site you can find with all kinds of info and some have training videos available – fifteen minutes have disappeared in a blink while you learned how to follow through on your golf swing!

And, of course, those sites often have links to their Facebook page, Twitter, YahooGroups discussion groups. Before you know it, a quick little glance at how to make angel food cake has you signed up for online cooking lessons and you’re fifteen posts into a discussion on the merits of butter cream versus cream cheese frosting.

It’s fine to say, just apply willpower and get to work on that review you’ve promised, the blog that’s waiting to be posted, the first three chapters you told your crit partner you’d have to her last week. Then that email alarm sounds and you see someone has said the only real frosting for a cake is their grandmother’s seven-minute frosting. How can you not look at that recipe?

Here are a couple of suggestions on how to work through the procrastination.

1 – I can write whatever I want on the assignment hanging over my head. I can write the love scene I know is coming up in my WIP, even if my characters aren’t there yet, or the beginning of an article on squirrels or the first paragraph of my column. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it doesn’t even have to be something I’ll end up sending out, but it does get me writing.

2 – I can online browse at a specific time, but not before. That can be tough because you can find yourself watching the time.

3 – This one is a bit of an oddity, but it can work. Tell yourself you’re NOT allowed to write until a specific time. By the time the designated hour arrives, say 7:37 pm, you could be chomping at the bit to get those ideas onto your hard drive.

So…what gets your fingers moving when you’re procrastinating?

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com
Also on Facebook, Twitter & Good Reads

Worked For Me

2011-10-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I could get lots of editing done on Forever Young-Blessing or Curse during my 12 day vacation in the NorthWoods of Wisconson. I got less done than I'd thought because the weather cooperated too much. With everyday in the 70's, when my husband went out fishing, I found it my duty to sit on the small deck of our cottage with my dog, Rascal, and read from my Kindle. I also went on long walks with Rascal, and enjoyed the beauties of the changing colors of Fall. I saw some gorgeous sights of yellow, orange and rust colored trees reflected on the water. Some of them will only remain in my memory, since I didn't always remember to bring a camera on our walks.

Coming Soon, I promise!

I did manage to squeeze in half an hour or an hour on some days to edit my Forever Young-Blessing or Curse manuscript. When I did, I found better words than I had written before, and also discovered how to correct spots where the pacing blogged down.

I didn't get as far as I wanted in my editing, but my vacation worked for me. I'm more refreshed and ready to tackle anything. What about you? Do you work none, some or a lot on vacation?

BIG YELLOW CRIMEBUSTING MACHINES

2011-10-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

by Earl Staggs

Some of you may know I drive a school bus. It’s only a part time job, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, but it gets me out of the house every day and keeps me in touch with other members of the human race. I tried full time retirement, but didn’t like it. I like having to get up every morning, go somewhere and do something. It also helps that I like kids. Most of them.

I also like the people I work with. For the most part, they’re in the mature stage of their lives like me, and we have a lot of hanging out fun when we gather in the bus barn. It’s not really a barn. Maybe they used barns back in the early days and the name stuck. We actually have a rather nice terminal building with boss offices and a large lounge area for drivers. The lounge has a kitchen, coffee and vending machines, and rows of conference style tables and chairs for group meetings. There’s a TV area at one end with comfortable nap-inducing furniture. Some drivers go home between the morning and afternoon routes, some sit and crochet or knit, some watch TV, some nap. Many of them like to read mystery books. Mine, for instance. Me, I plug in my laptop, shut out everything around me, and write.

But we take our job seriously. Our job is to get the kids to school and home again safely every day, even if it means extra time and effort. We’re all connected to “Base” via two-way radio and hear everybody’s conversations with our Dispatcher. Here’s a typical one.

“Bus 117 to Base.”

“Base. Go ahead.”

“We’re at Damien’s house, and there’s no one home to receive him. I’ll do some other stops and come back here in case the parents call and want to know where he is.”

“10-4, 117. If they’re still not home, take him back to school.”

“10-4.”

Every morning when we leave the lot, we have to report to the Dispatcher with a “ten-eight” code, meaning we’re in service. There’s a long list of:

“141 is 10-8.”

“135 is 10-8.”

And so on.

Me being me, of course, I have to have a little fun with it, so I might toss in something like this:

“117 is 10-8, out the gate, and looking great.”

Sometimes, accidental humor will occur. Here’s one from last year:

“138 calling Base. I have thick black smoke pouring out my rear end.”

It was all I could do not to jump in with, “Jennifer, I’m sorry to hear about your personal problem, but how’s your bus?”

As I said, though, we take our responsibility seriously. Here’s a recent incident.

“122 to Base. Two of my girls got on the bus very upset. They said there’s a man walking around taking pictures of them.”

“122, do you have a visual on the man?”

“Negative. They said he turned east on Brazos Trail.”

“Let me know if you spot him. I’ll call the police, but I need a description.”

“10-4.”

“Base, this is 137. I just turned on Brazos Trail and I saw him. He took pictures of three girls, they yelled at him, and he ran off toward the lake.”

“I’m on the phone with the police, 137. Can you describe him?”

“He’s about 30, medium size, wearing a black ball cap, black tee shirt and khaki pants.”

“10-4, 137. Continue with your routes, everyone. The police are on their way.”

“Base, this is 122. I just turned on Lake Drive and the police were there. They loaded him in their car and took him away.”

“10-4. Good job, 122 and 137.”

I never learned who the guy was, what he was up to, or what happened to him. They may have taken him to the nearest tree and hanged him. This is Texas, you know.

If any of you get a little perturbed when you come up on a school bus with red lights flashing and you have to sit and wait for them to load or unload, just remember this. They’re on the job, getting the kids to and from school safely, and watching out for bad guys.

SHORT STORIES OF EARL STAGGS

16 Tales of Mystery from Hardboiled to Humor
Ebook available for $2.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/earl-staggs/e/BOO1JS8EVA
http://smashwords.com/books/view/54502

Rogue Island: Gritty, Witty Thriller

2011-10-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

When veteran journalist Bruce DeSilva ended his forty-year newspaper and wire service career to write fiction, he turned out Rogue Island, which won the 2011 Edgar Award for best first novel. Not only that, he also won the Macavity and was a finalist for the Anthony, Barry and Shamus awards. Now the book is out in paperback, which makes it affordable for us peons.

The title is a take off on Rhode Island, where the book is set on the mean streets of Providence. Believing the dictum about writing what you know best, DeSilva made his main character, Liam Mulligan, an old-school newspaper reporter. Best-seller Harlan Coben wrote of DeSilva's maiden effort:

"The Rhode Island of Bruce DeSilva’s imagination is a claustrophobic little state where everyone knows your name, secrets are hard to keep, and corruption has ruled since the first colonial governor dined with Captain Kidd. In this vivid landscape peopled by colorful mobsters, brutal cops and sleazy politicians, a droll hero named Mulligan fights long odds to find a measure of justice."

The story revolves around the systematic burning down of the working class neighborhood where Mulligan grew up. People he knows and loves are dying in the flames. With the cops looking for answers in all the wrong places, Mulligan feels it's up to him to find the hand that strikes the match.

James W. Hall, another Edgar winner, said "investigative reporter Liam Mulligan has the tough-talking charm, the old school street smarts, and sexy chivalry of a Marlowe or Spade. He needs all these skills to navigate a world where vigilantes prowl the neighborhood with baseball bats, and everyone from sleazy politicians to mafia losers are out to slice off their pound of flesh."

If you like gritty, witty thrillers, this one's for you.

Chester Campbell
Visit me at Mystery Mania

Keep It Clean-er

2011-10-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but the gutter language used in too many modern books turns me off. It's not that I don't understand the words, I do. My background as an Army officer and a wannabe jock have introduced me to about every nasty word any person can dream up—in several languages.
My new book, THORNS ON ROSES, features an avenging PI stalking a gang. I use multiple POVs, including the gang leader's, to tell the story. But what I don't use is gutter language. If anyone reads THORNS and not understand the ruthlessness of the situations because there are no F-bombs dropped, please let me know, and I'll send you a package of them to sprinkle in wherever you think they're needed.
We hear at every level of the writing education process that we MUST not use clichés. Yet, all too often, I open a book and am assaulted by the most common clichés in our language—the F-bomb in all its alterations—noun, verb, adjective, and I'm sure someday soon, adverb. Why? I ask myself. Isn't the author taking the lazy way out by peppering the pages with the most overused of the gutter words?
One of the justifications I hear is we must be realistic in our writing and the use of the F-bomb is part of that realism. It's not a bad argument. I'm not much on fairy-tale writing, so I can accept that argument—up to a point. However when I read, I have an extra eye and an extra ear in my head that translate the words on the page. If, for example, I expect a character to speak in dialect, he/she will—no matter the words the author uses. There is a very popular character who has been around for between ten and fifteen years. When I read one of those books, that character speaks in dialect, no doubt about it. Yet, when I examine the words, they are properly spelled and used with proper grammar. That's my mind's eye and my mind's ear at work.
A couple of years ago, I decided to put my theory to the test. Did I really see and hear words that were not written on the page? I went back and read a few of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series. I don't think anyone will argue with me when I say Mike Hammer is one of the nastiest PIs ever written, if not the nastiest. He cuts no one any slack—good guy, bad guy, or beautiful woman. His language is basic, driving straight to the point as he explains what he will do, then does it. When I finished I, THE JURY, I sat back and thought I might be wrong about my beliefs. But when I went back through the book studying the language Spillane used, I discovered I was right. Not one foul word in the whole book. Yet, the writing was so strong, my mind's eye and mind's ear put them into the mouths of the characters.
What I'm saying is when you have the urge to insert an F-bomb, stop and find a stronger way to write it. Don't become a slave to cliché-ridden gutter language to paint your characters.
Again, I invite you read my THORNS ON ROSES. Let your mind's eye see the Thorns on Roses gang. Let your mind's ear listen to them talk. Then look at the words I use. I think you'll see what I'm talking about.

Randy Rawls
THORNS ON ROSES, a South Florida thriller

QR Codes

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

You've seen them everywhere, in the supermarket, on the menu of your favorite restaurant, on posters in schools. They are the the square mash-up of lines and boxes that look like someone sneezed pixels. What are they? They are QR codes. Smart phone users, by which I mean your kids and grandkids, scan these things with the camera on their phones, which takes them directly to a website.

At this point you might be yawning and saying, "so what?" So what? Did you read the previous paragraph? The key words are "smart phone users" and "kids and grandkids." This is the demographic for whom tech is cool, who have disposable income. These are readers you want to reach. Say you're doing a booksigning. A few people stop, those that like the old dead tree products, but a lot of folks just whiz on by. A few might drop the word that they only read ebooks and you say, "I've got an ebook. Go to aitch tee tee pee colon slash slash dubya dubya dubya dot whatever dot com slash mywebpage slash mybooktitle." You better shout it because they are already gone. Another potential sale lost.

So how do you capture that ebook impulse buyer? You need a QR code. Put it on a poster next to your table or on your bookmarks or your postcards. Your young customer pulls out a smart phone. (It's a Pavlovian reflex whenever a QR code shows up in a young person's world.) Quick click and they are at your website buying your book. The phone will need a QR reader, of course, but that is a free app from the android or Apple store. Ask your grandkids if their phones have QR readers and they'll look at you like you've just asked them do they like Captain Crunch (which they're eating, while watching the video they scanned off the box.)

Have a smart phone with a QR reader? Try it now to get a free short story, Drop Dead Zone. Scanning the code will take you to a website with details about the story and how to purchase it. When you go to check out, enter the following coupon code: SW68X (not case sensitive). No smart phone? No problem. Go to http://tinyurl.com/dropdeadzone.

Creating a QR code is easy.

1. Go to Google and type "url shortener" into the search window. Or go here: http://goo.gl/.
2. Paste your long URL into the box that appears and click the "shorten" button. Your long URL will appear, followed by a short URL and, on the right, an active link labeled "Details."
3. Click "Details." Voila!. Your QR code is generated.
4. You can right click on it (PC) or control click (Mac) to open it in a separate window or download it. I like to open it in a new window because I want to do one more thing to it.
5. After opening in the new window, notice that the URL looks something like this: http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=100x100&choe=UTF-8&chld=H%7C0&chl=http://goo.gl/BCR17. I have highlighted the 100x100 because that governs the size of the code block. Change that to something like 400x400 (500x500 is max.) This will make it bigger.
6. Now download it or capture it with a screen capture and paste it into your book display ad or bookmark or whatever. That's all it is.

You will also want to use the shortened URL on your ads. I prefer the URLs from tinyurl.com to Google's because I can add a meaningful tag to it, whereas Google just puts in a bunch of random characters. But that's just my preference.

The idea for using QR codes this way came from a discussion with my daughter-in-law. The middle school she teaches at has a policy of allowing any and all technology on campus. So teachers put these codes all over the school and in their lessons for kids to find school notices, supplementary material, and just interesting stuff. That's the way young people are learning now. If you want to reach that demographic with your stories, get on board with the technology.

If you've read this far, you're hip to technology and anxious to do more QR scanning, so here's another one for you. For a limited time, you can get an ebook of Pilikia Is My Business at half price. Scan this code and enter CZ43W at check out. You can also go to http://tinyurl.com/pilikia-business.

Mark Troy
Hawaiian-Eye Blog

Off on Another Blog Tour

2011-10-04T02:32:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm stepping out into the blog tour world. Sometimes I wonder why I do these things. Yes, they are fun, but they are also lots of work.

Each blog host has a different criteria for what he/she would like you to write about. That means writing something new and different that I hope readers will find interesting enough to maybe check out my latest book, Bears With Us.

I am having a contest to go along with the tour. The person who comments on the most blogs will have the opportunity to have a character in my next book named after him/her. The winner can choose whether to be a character in a Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery or a Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel.

Here's the schedule in case you'd like to be a part of this contest:

Monday, October 3^rd

Book reviewed at The Book Connection

Tuesday, October 4^th

Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Wednesday, October 5^th

Interviewed at Blogcritics

Thursday, October 6^th

Book spotlighted at Books, Products, and More!

Friday, October 7^th

Book trailer featured at If Books Could Talk

Monday, October 10^th

Book reviewed at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, October 11^th

Guest blogging at Hollywood Daze

Wednesday, October 12^th

Giveaway at Hollywood Daze

Thursday, October 13^th

Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress

Friday, October 14^th

Book reviewed at Thoughts in Progress

Guest blogging at Murder by 4

Monday, October 17^th

Book reviewed at Reviews by Molly

Tuesday, October 18^th

Guest blogging at Double M

Wednesday, October 19^th

Book reviewed at Wakela’s World

Thursday, October 20^th

Book reviewed at MysteriesEtc.

Friday, October 21^st

Guest blogging at Let’s Talk about Virtual Book Tours

Monday, October 24^th

Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks

Tuesday, October 25^th

Book reviewed at One Day at a Time

Wednesday, October 26^th

Book reviewed at Musings of an All Purpose Monkey

Thursday, October 27^th

Book spotlighted at The Writer’s Life

Friday, October 28^th

Book reviewed at Joel Andre ~ Literary Pursuits

Hope to see one or two of you following me around.

Marilyn

That Was Obvious

2011-10-03T05:26:00.000-07:00

We'd just arrived at our cottage that afternoon. I was watching TV in the bedroom. My husband was listening to the radio in the living room area. I heard a click, followed by him saying the light went off.

We did some investigating. The lights, TV and everything worked in the bedroom. The bathroom light worked. Everything worked in the spare bedroom.

Going back to the kitchen I checked the microwave, refrigerator, and other items. They all worked. Was it the fanlight? We had a new roof installed while we were gone. Maybe the pounding jarred the connection for the fanlight.

Then it dawned on my husband. Maybe it was the lightbulb. He got a new one out, did an exchange, flipped the switch and, what do you know, the light turned on!

You can have fun with something like this in writing by leading readers astray. Just don't insult their intelligence by providing easy solutions when more involved ones will leave them better satisfied.

Morgan Mandel

Check that ARC!

2011-10-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Somewhere, and I won't say where, a proofreader is about to earn her pay. I've had the privilege of reviewing a number of novels over the years, many in the ARC stage. The quality of the stories has varied, of course, and they all have a few errors. Who hasn't read even the best of books and not found a typo here and there? This is an especially dangerous problem for self-published work, but the best publishing houses are not exempt.

In the case I have in mind, the scheduled pub date is early 2012, and the author teaches writing and literature at a reputable college. The story he tells is a good one, full of twists and turns, terror and excitement. But the typos! I have never seen so many typos from a mainstream publisher, even in an ARC. We have many instances of characters pouring over records instead of poring over them, and scrapping when the context calls for scraping. At first it looked like someone over-relied on the spell-checker, which only flags misspelled words, not incorrect ones--and then came "dispite" and "underware," which never should have left the author's word processor. There are many more bloopers, but the worst one involves a character named Kurt. Use your imagination.

Perhaps a diligent proofreader will catch what needs to be caught. Perhaps she won't. My point is not to belittle anyone, but to warn writers to scour your manuscripts and galleys. Don't bet your reputation on someone else cleaning up all of your mistakes. The cleaner the manuscript is to start with, the less a proofreader can miss.

Plug Your Mysteries Days - Monday and Tuesday

2011-09-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Get ready, Get set, Go!
Leave a short plug for one of your own or someone else's mysteries on Monday, another on Tuesday, or the same one again on Tuesday! Don't forget to leave a buy link and your website/blogspot link as well.

Only one per day, please!

Mine is Killer Career - a romantic suspense about a lawyer whose career change could be deadly for her and those she loves.

Killer Career is 99 cents
on Kindle and Smashwords
Also in print at Amazon
and other venues

http://www.morganmandel.com/
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/

A Conversation with Alafair Burke

2011-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

The daughter of James Lee Burke "is a terrific web spinner" who "knows when and how to drop clues to keep readers at her mercy," according to Entertainment Weekly. Her two series feature NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher and Portland Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid. A former prosecutor in the Portland, Oregon, DA's office, she currently teaches criminal law and procedure at Hofstra Law School in New York.

Alafair, how did NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher come into being as well as Portland Prosecutor Samantha Kincaid?

I was a prosecutor in Portland, Oregon, for several years. After leaving to move to New York, I missed my office. I missed Portland and my friends. And as a long-time mystery reader, I had always wanted to write a crime novel. I thought I’d finally learned enough about the world to give it a try, so I started with Samantha Kincaid, who is a prosecutor in the very office where I served.

By the time I was working on my fourth novel, I’d been living in New York for a few years. I thought the anonymity that comes only in a city this big was exciting territory for me as a writer. I was also ready to write a faster paced book with an investigator, instead of a lawyer, at the center. I had a story I wanted to tell that involved Internet dating, and I thought a young New York City detective was the perfect narrator. I actually meant for that book (Dead Connection) to be a standalone, but I knew when I wrote the final chapter that I’d still be hearing more from Ellie.

What prompted your Duffer Awards?

The only thing I love more than reading books is talking about them. Sometimes I think I only write so I’ll have a work-related reason to talk all day about mystery novels.

I’m traveling less this year for book tours, so I wanted to do some fun things online that would involve interaction with readers I might not get to see in person. A couple of months ago, I gave out some so-called “Duffer Awards” in my newsletter, and my readers thought it was a big hit. I thought it would be fun to let readers vote on a new award every day for a month. And since I don’t like real competitions like smartest sleuth, where feelings can be hurt, I decided that the awards had to be for silly stuff like Best Hat and Most Likely to be Institutionalized. I hope crime fiction readers will stop by every day to cast a vote on each category. And to sweeten the pot, anyone who posts a comment is entered to win signed books and gift certificates to booksellers. The more comments, the more chances for loot! The awards are at http://www.alafairburke.com/.

How do you manage to write two crime series while serving as a Professor of Law at Hofstra University? What’s your writing schedule like?

I honestly don’t know how anything gets done. I Facebook, Tweet, and eat constantly, yet at the end of the year, I usually have a book and a couple of law review articles on my computer. I do try to write every day, and very rarely miss two days in a row. That continuity makes a big difference. Even if I only write a couple of paragraphs on a busy day, I can jump in the next day, fully aware of where I am in the story, how my characters’ voices sound, and how they feel in that moment.

Tell us about your latest release.

I’m very excited about Long Gone. It’s my first stand-alone thriller. I guess I said that about the first Ellie Hatcher book, too, but this time, I think I really mean it. And it’s the first time I’ve written about a character who is outside the criminal justice system.

After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands what she thinks is her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Everything seems perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed— with the man who hired her dead on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. There’s also a missing girl from New Jersey, a rogue FBI agent, and Alice’s nightmare family running around the pages, but I promise it’s all one story.

This is a higher concept book than my series novels, and sometimes those don’t end as successfully as they start. I’m very proud of how all the threads come together here, though.

How much did your father influence your own writing?

With a father who was writing and mother who was a librarian, we were a family that not only told stories, but thought it was perfectly natural to write them down. My mother would take me to the library every Saturday for a new stack of books. The rhythms of story telling and character creation become ingrained when you read all the time.

Advice to fledgling crime writers?

Read. Read a lot. But don’t try to copy anyone. Figure out what you can offer the genre. And then write every single day – without starting over – until you finish. Once you have a beginning, middle, and end, it is much easier to make adjustments than you’d ever believe. The hard part is getting it done.

How, in your opinion, is the ebook revolution affecting major publishing practices?

I’m a bit like the ostrich in the sand on this one. Or a kid with fingers in ears saying, “La, la, la, I’m not listening to you.” I try to focus on the books and appreciating the readers I have instead of figuring out the business. That said, my sense is that publishers were more panicked two years ago than they are now. They still believe that writers need a conduit between them and retailers (whether electronic or paper). In my case, they are really pushing the idea of growing my readership through e-books. For example, they’re currently offering Angel’s Tip for $1.99. (See how I worked in that plug. Wily, huh?)

What has brought you the most pleasure and satisfaction?

Knowing that someone is reading your work is a grand high. When I hear from readers who say they stayed up all night because they couldn’t put down one of my books, I still want to scream out loud.

Any publishing regrets?

I don’t believe in regrets. Maybe my very first book would have been better if I’d cut back on some detail, but debut novels are detailed for a reason. New writers share some of the same habits. I like to think that every book I’ve written has been better than the rest. As someone who cares more about the longevity of my publishing career than dollars and cents, that makes me pretty content.

Thanks, Alafair.

You can visit Alafair at her website: www.facebook.com/alafairburkebooks
At Twitter: www.twitter.com/alafairburke
And at: http://www.alafairburke.com/

~Jean Henry Mead

Report From Bouchercon

2011-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Bouchercon 2011 happened to coincide with my mother's 90th birthday. As both Bouchercon and Mom are in St. Louis, I was able to make both.

I had not been to Bouchercon since 2005, so I had a lot of friends to catch up with, but that's what the bar and the hospitality room are for. I spent way too much time and money in the bar and talked myself hoarse on Friday night.

One of the best things about Bouchercon is the book bag. This one was huge. I won't list all of the books I received, but two that really look exciting are The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg and The Deputy by Victor Gischler. Lackberg is one of Europe's top novelists. The buzz at Bouchercon is that she will soon be one of America's. Gischler is the author of hard-boiled crime fiction such as Gun Monkeys and Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, so I know this one will be a wild ride.

The Private Eye Writers of America held the Shamus Award dinner on Friday night. Lori Armstrong's book, No Mercy, won best P.I. hardcover. Lori seemed shocked to win. A lot of people expected Robert Crais to get the award for The First Rule. I'm going to get Armstrong's book for sure. Mercy seemed to be the theme for the night. Michael Ayoob won Best First P.I. Novel for In Search of Mercy. Sarah Paretsky was given the Hammer Award, a new award for best character for, who else?, V.I. Warshawski. The award so move Sarah that she was speechless. The Shamus award dinner is always held off-site. This year it was held at a St. Louis landmark, Anheuser-Busch Brewery. All the beer we could drink. Thank God I didn't have to give a speech.

Bob Randisi, who founded the PWA, was one of the special guests of the convention. He's written over 550 books, averaging 16 books a year. For most writers, 16 books would be a productive career. He did not reveal any secrets except that he likes to tell stories.

None of the panels struck me as extraordinary this year, though with five concurrent sessions each hour, it was impossible to get to all of them. There might very well be some great ones that I missed. Don't get me wrong. Most of the panels I attended were informative and fun: Max Allen Collins telling about his relationship with Mickey Spillane; Collin Cotterill, Linwood Barclay, Bill Crider, Lisa Lutz and Elaine Viets talking about their one star Amazon reviews.

In reality, the panels are secondary to the real fun of Bouchercon—a four day conversation about crime fiction with writers and readers from around the world that flowed in and out of the bars, the dealer room and through the halls.

Mark Troy
Hawaiian Eye Blog
Now in the Kindle, Nook and iBook stores
Big Dance With Death
Drop Dead Zone
Kill Leader
Teed Off

Central Coast Writing Conference Report

2011-09-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I've been in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. As part of the staff of the CCWC, hubby and I stayed at the La Serena Hotel overlooking Morro Bay. The conference was held on the Cuesta College Campus.

What was unique about this conference was the fact that what is happening today with publishing was the main theme. Huge example, Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords was one of the keynote speakers at the beginning and the end.

The first day was begun with a talk about all the tech toys and demos.

Laurie McLean, an agent with the Larsen Pomada Agency, is now working with authors to promotr e-books.

Jonathan Maberry gave a rousing keynote about his path to publication, his writing habits, and lots more. He also taught a class on thriller writing.

One class was on blogging.

There were plenty of the usual classes, something for anyone no matter where they were in their writing career.

I taught a class on Mystery Writing 101 and another on The Importance of Setting. Full classes and great students.

This was the first time I've ever been to this conference and I was truly impressed: well organized, lots of topics to choose from, top-notch instructors, I felt honored to be one of them.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/

Jonathan Mayberry spoke and taught a class on writing thrillers.

Community Spirit by Morgan Mandel

2011-09-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning my husband and I went to a pancake breakfast sponsored by the American Legion. He's a member of the Sons of the American Legion, and likes to attend their events, plus who could pass up their great breakfast spreads!

We also enjoy being members of the Festival Committee, which runs a five day event with the Fourth of July as the main fulcrum.

Those are a but a few organizations in our area, which help the community and also give their members a feeling of belonging. There are quite a few others.

How can community organizations relate to writing, especially mysteries?

Bestowing a community spirit on your characters can be a way of rounding them out, showing they have values, generosity, and are decent people, as well as giving them a focus or goal.
Or, the opposite - A character can be devious and pretend to have the well being of the community at heart, but actually be plotting a vicious crime.
Organizational doings can be a great backdrop for something unusual to take place, like a murder.
Characters suffering from the results of crime can find a measure of relief by becoming part of a community and getting caught up in the spirit.

Have you included something similar in one of your books, or do you know of an example? What do you think of the idea of including some form of community spirit in a mystery?

Morgan Mandel

Killer Career is 99 cents on
Kindle and Smashwords,
Also $13.95 in print.
Forever Young-Blessing or
Curse Coming soon -
Two Wrongs to be re-
released very soon.

DWD: Is it a crime?

2011-09-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

We drove our RV to San Diego the other day and took I-10 to Interstate 8, which dictionaries could use to illustrate the definition of desolate. We had the road mostly to ourselves as we motored along at a cruise-controlled 60 mph. A storm front had already come and gone earlier in the trip, leaving us with bright sunshine, dry air, and our thoughts to ourselves. Blistering-hot Yuma lay in the distance for our overnight stop.

We played music on our iPod, but we've heard it all before; we chatted amiably, but as an old married couple we've said it all before. My mind drifted to writing projects. The lonely Interstate was a good place to plan the broad outlines of a novel. So I began Driving While Daydreaming, which shouldn't be a problem as long as the driving takes precedence.

I started thinking of some of my co-workers over the years of my checkered career, and who had traits that would make good fictional characters. And then I thought of some of my bosses. It didn't take long to think of one or two who would make dandy victims in a murder mystery. Mind you, most of them were essentially nice people, but some had a trait here or there that had me grinding my teeth. Combine the worst traits of several bosses, and voila (or viola, for the musically inclined)--you have the Victim Who Deserves It. The entire office will shed crocodile tears, secretly glad someone else did the deed for them.

A unique plot? Of course not. Precious few basic plots exist, but only you have had that particular combination of godawful bosses and quirky co-workers. That's where you make the story your own. You don't want to describe real people, of course, so be sure to mix everything up. Combine not only personality traits but people's looks, even gender and occupation. And then get out your virtual gun, twirl your virtual mustache, and plot a virtual crime.

Don't worry. Keep your eyes on the road, and a jury will never convict you of DWD.

Technology, Schmechnology

2011-09-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

I try to keep up with what's going on in the world for the sake of my characters when I'm writing. However, I'm too old fashioned to jump at all the latest gimmicks out there. I still just use a cell phone to make phone calls. It receives text messages, but I delete them if someone dares send me one. It has the usual number buttons, though I'm not interested in sitting around trying to figure which numbers to press to spell out "get lost." I have considered getting a smart phone to learn what my characters might do with it, but I haven't taken the plunge yet.

I did give up and go high-tech with the TV a week ago. I'd been content with a remote that changed channels and switched on and off. We've used a DVD/VCR to record the CBS evening news and my wife's favorite morning show, The Price Is Right. The recorder had been screwing up recently, though. After numerous efforts to watch the news or Drew Carey failed, we decided something had to be done.

Our old 32-inch TV, a monster device that weighed a ton when I tried to move it, was at least twenty years old, though it still had a fairly decent picture. We decided to go all out and get a 42-inch flat screen model with High Definition. Comcast had provided us with a small gadget that sat on top of the TV when they went all-digital. I discovered a full-size cable box would be required to get HD on the new set. I also discovered for the same price I could get a cable box/DVR, a digital video recorder.

I got all the connections made and the device activated and voila! Up pops a menu will all sorts of possibilities. The TV has a Wi-Fi connector. I can connect with my computer and display Internet content on the TV screen. Do streaming movies, photo albums, all sorts of things. With the Comcast box, I can record TV programs galore. Using ON DEMAND, dozens of programs telecast over the past week are available to watch again, plus dozens of movies.

The only problem is I have two manuals (TV and cable) and three CDs to peruse to learn how to use all this stuff. Technology, ain't it great? Ugh!

I suppose it's necessary to give me the ability to keep my characters in vogue with the times. How about you? Have you upgraded your life to take in all the latest gadgetry?

Chester Campbell

The new Sid Chance thriller, The Good, The Bad and The Murderous is now available. When Sid gets the call to prove a young man who spent most of his life in prison for a murder committed at age twelve is not guilty of a new homicide, things get dicey fast. Think Medicare fraud, drug trafficking, a bad cop, and a hired killer. Order at The Bookstore on my website.