My Signing at the Tehachapi Museum was Wonderful!

Truly, when my daughter, Lisa, and I began our drive up the highway into the mountains toward Tehachapi, I had no idea who the day would turn out. I brought lots of copies of Spirit World and some of the other books in the series.

Though Spirit World is set in Tehachapi, I wasn't sure if anyone in the area would be interested in a fictional mystery.

We arrived early and Lisa spotted a rummage sale and visited that. We located the library, then went to the most wonderful bakery for lunch.

We headed to the library and I wasn't optimistic because there wasn't many place to park. Inside we were greeted by the gracious woman who had invited me. She pointed out they had lemonade and cookies set up, and led me to a back room where a table, chair, and two benches were. I arranged my books, but really didn't expect to do much more than sit there for two hours.

The room we were in was filled with displays of the Kawiiasu Indians who are mentioned in my book. So I spent a few minutes perusing the baskets and photographs.

The famous Tehachapi Loop

Then the first person arrived a woman from the library who'd already bought the book for the library and read it. She purchased another for herself.

From then on, people began arriving at nice intervals, one at a time, or in pairs. Everyone sat down and visited with me, some giving a history of why they'd moved to Tehachapi, or something interesting about themselves, and they asked a lot of questions.

Everyone who came in bought a book, some two or more. The  museum purchased five.

It was a fun and rewarding day.

From this, my advice to authors is look for unusual places to have a signing, especially if no book stores are in your area. I've had a successful signing in a handmade chocolate store, and next up, I'm headed to a coffee shop.

Marilyn

The Red Herring of the Mystery Genre

 by Linda Thorne

One of the critical but perhaps the most entertaining part of any mystery is the continual misdirection of the reader. That ploy ensures a satisfying surprise at the end. To prevent premature exposure to who done it, writers often use a literary tool called a red herring, which leads the reader astray in two ways. One way presents false, distorted, or ambiguous information. The other distracts from the subject at hand either by changing to a new topic or allowing a new event to disrupt the current scene.

After teasing readers with clues of the mystery's true ending, a skilled writer often throws in a red herring to pull his audience away temporarily. This planned postponement adds deeper layers to the the plot and weaves in more doubts about previous suspects. However, the writer intends to reintroduce the same subject matter during the climax. At that point, the reader will likely remember many, if not all earlier hints, clues, diversions, and distractions, which can help him say, “Of course, I should’ve known that!”

Admittedly, in my first book I had almost too many red herrings and too many innocent characters for the reader to suspect. I started to remove one of the planted questionable characters, but decided in the end to keep them all because I did have logical reasons to to explain their innocence that would eliminate each as a suspect. Yet in revising my second book, A Promotion to Die For, I have found a shortage of innocent characters that look guilty. I have also found too few diversions and distractions. So, with book one, the red herrings came easily, but book two will take some work.

I’ve always wondered why this literary technique of trickery appropriated the name of a fish, a herring no less. More research revealed a long history of red herrings being dragged over ground to create scent trails to train dogs, and possibly horses. Apparently, red herring, a very smelly fish when dead, proved useful for distracting ardent searchers. One theory going all the way back to the 1600s included fugitives using red herrings to cover their own scent, thus, throwing off bloodhounds that were chasing them.

The turning point that popularized the name as an extended metaphor came to fruition in the early 1800s. An English journalist named William Cobbett wrote a story that told how he, as a boy, had used a red herring to mislead hounds that were following a rabbit. Though a fictional story, Cobbett used it to criticize what he believed was a naive press that fell for false information about a defeat of Napoleon. Supposedly, Corbett’s criticism caused the repeated republishing of versions of this tale for many years.

I think as writers, we may all appreciate how red herrings serve in the mystery genre. But, if you didn’t know the back story on how this term evolved, you now know as much as I do. 

 

LindaThorne.com

Amazon Link

Do You Ever Scare Yourself?

by Janis Patterson

Not too long ago a writer friend posted that she was having trouble figuring out how to poison a character. Nothing seemed to work, either through symptoms (she wanted the character to live), or availability, or treatment.

A bunch of us replied, trying to help find a substance that would fit her story's parameters. I contributed, reeling off a list of reasonably available poisons as well as their symptoms and antidotes. From memory.

I was sort of shocked. Yes, I've known for years that there is a lot of really weird knowledge tucked here and there in the messy storage of my brain, but for the first time it really hit me that I really do know this stuff to a frightening degree. Of course, anyone could look it up either at the library or on the internet, but to be able to rattle it all off from memory... it shook me.

Now I'm really rather a good person. I don't kick puppies, kittens or children (with one notable exception, but the animal torturing little brat totally deserved it!) ; I obey the law and take my fair turn at a 4 way stop sign; I recycle and give to charity. But I also know how to eliminate scores of people without even thinking hard. What on earth is St. Peter going to say - assuming, of course, that I get that far.

Which brings up another question: going on the assumption that I never commit a criminal act with my rather esoteric knowledge, what if someone reads my book and uses it as a blueprint to commit a crime? A real one? Does that make me some sort of accessory before the fact? While the idea is admittedly a stretching of probability, even if I were innocent in the eyes of the court, I don't think I would be innocent in the eyes of my own honor. Yes, the murderer could have just gone to the library or internet to do his research, but why should he do so much work when I've laid it all out predigested for him?

I can hear some of you scoffing now, saying I'm too sensitive and other, probably more unattractive epithets, but this is my mind and heart and sense of ethics we're talking about. However, I love writing mysteries and have no intention of giving it up.

So, I take refuge in following the footsteps of some of my betters and cheat. I use exotic poisons and poisons you can find in your kitchen cabinet now. I describe the symptoms and the dosages... but not all of the process. I always leave a little something out. People will always kill other people, but not with my help. If they want to poison someone, let them do the work on finding out. Leave me out of it. I'm just a storyteller.

Let's Talk About Promotion

Recently, I was with three other authors and I suggested we have a talk about promotion. Guess what they said--"We don't do any promotion."

I was so shocked I didn't ask the obvious questions: "Do you sell any books?"

Of course I asked the question to perhaps find out something new I could try. I'd be willing to share what I've been doing.

So instead, I'll share with you:

Today is the 2nd day of having the first book in my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, Deadly Omen, the Kindle version free on Amazon. The reasoning, as I've said before, is to get people interested in checking out the rest of the series. This freebie is good until midnight on Friday the 14th.

I had my first book signing for the latest in the series; Spirit Wind, last Saturday, at a popular chocolate store (they make their own delicious chocolates), and I advertised it on Facebook and the newspaper. I had a good turnout, including a local video photographer who interviewed me, and a local newspaper reporter.  Lots of my family and friends turned out too--and it was a lively day. And yes, some folks who came into buy candy or a drink bought books too.

Two more signings aee coming, June 23rd, from 1-3 at the Tehachapi Museum in Tehachapi. Should be fun since this is where the book takes place.

And then on June 28th, I'll be on the porch of of the Wild Oak Coffee Shop in my home town of Springville from 1 to 3.

I hope you noted that all three of these venues are not book stores. Not that I have anything against bookstores, but we don't have any close by.

My books can be found in the Patton House in Springville--our local gift and 2nd hand shop. They are wonderful about keeping track and they pay once a month when books are sold.

I love going to book fairs and speaking to writers' groups. I have one big book fair in October coming, and I'm speaking to Night Writers in San Luis Obispo in July.

And the only conference I go to anymore is the Public Safety Writers Association, also in July.

Of course I do all the usual--have a webpage, http://fictionforyou.com/,  a blog of my own: https://marilynmeredith.blogspot/, post here twice a month, and I'm on https://ladiesofmystery.com
the 4th Monday of every month, and I have a monthly newsletter. When asked, I guest on other's blogs.

I'm on Facebook regularly, post in some Facebook groups, Twitter periodically especially when I'm promoting something, and I'm a member of a few listserves I'm fairly regular on.

I know there's more I could do, but there's only so much time--and I do have a life too.

What I'd like to know is what are your favorite kinds of promotion to do?

Marilyn

Finding an Idea to write a book

Make Mine Mystery

June 5,2019

How do I come up with ideas for books. I look at things that I’m interested in, and still might interest my reader. So I ask myself, what am I interested in? This question should be a jumping-off point. You’ll hear the advice to “write what you know.” Yet what draws forth my best energy and talent is often the desire to learn more about things we don’t know.

The first step in finding the idea for a novel is to discover your world. My book, The Black Madonna A Pope’s Deadly Obsession came from my desire to know more about the lost documents found by sheepherders written by Jesus’ apostles. It helped me figure out who my characters would be, where the action would take place, and what would go on in that setting. Your choice should always be informed by your interests, so immerse yourself in books, television, movies, and anything else that inspires you. This will help you to create the building blocks for your novel. Trust your own tastes. You’re going to be working with these ideas for a long time, so choose things that interests you enough to sustain you.

Finding the core idea for my novel, is essentially what my book is about. In this question, I try establishing the main ‘idea’. It is the biggest, most essential promise that I’m making to my reader and should always reflect the story’s highest stakes. I promise my reader by the end of the novel  (as in Black Madonna) I will have answered questions like, will Luci find the lost codex written by Jesus? Your sole dramatic question depends on understanding the motivations of your hero and villain.