Named as a Character in a Book for the Second Time

 By Linda Thorne

 

The first time this happened, I was named as a character in Marilyn Meredith’s book, Not As It Seems. She does book tours for each book she publishes and often offers a choice of prizes to whomever leaves a comment on the most blogs. I won the prize on an earlier book tour and chose to be named as a character in a later book. When that book was published she stopped by my blog on her tour with a post called, The Character Named Linda Thorne.

This was a fun blog post (September 17, 2015). We got a surprise visit from Hank Phillippi Ryan who dropped in and commented on the complexities of using real people’s names as characters. Another commenter told us she’d never want to be named after a dead body or an evil person. Marilyn’s response was that she’d never kill off a character named after a real person or make them too awful unless, of course, they didn’t mind. I ended up in Not As It Seems as a not-so-nice, tall, redheaded woman. For me, it made the book more fun to read.

Last February, a few members of the Middle Tennessee Sisters in Crime organization met with Carolyn Haines in Mobile, Alabama. She'd joined us in Nashville a few years earlier, but was unable to make another trip in 2016, so we went to her. We had dinner with her one night, got to speak at the Mobile Writers Guild she belongs to, and have lunch with her college students. Carolyn had been teaching creative writing at the University of South Alabama for a very long time. At some point during all this, Carolyn Haines said she was going to name a character after me. I was all for it.

So I am a crotchety insurance sales woman in Sticks and Bones coming out May 17th. I can’t wait. It's part of her Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. I saw it online and will pre-order it.
Buy Link: Buy Sticks and Stones 

Author Carolyn Haines

She told me that she has one friend, Aleta, who has been a dead whore twice in her books. In The House of Memory (I think also available for pre-order) coming out in June, she has four friends who are dead, lobotomized whores. She joked about not being so good to her friends, but hey, I know they all agreed and are happy to be included, dead or alive.

Buy link for the House of Memory: House of Memory

I have loved each and every one of Carolyn Haines Sarah Booth Delaney bone series mystery books. The newest coming out is in mid March and can be pre-ordered now. It is Guru Bones. I guarantee you'll love it. Here's the buy link: Buy link for Guru Bones - A Sarah Booth Delaney mystery

Being named for a character in an author's book is a different experience -- a fun one for me.

In It Together

 

Since I’m planning to self-publish my next mystery, I thought it would be a good idea to get myself a few beta readers. A writer friend offered to read the manuscript and let me know of anything that needed attention. I belong to a mystery book club. Knowing how great the members are at analyzing mysteries, I asked if they’d like to read and comment on my new mystery. My query brought one offer. Another member asked me what remuneration I was offering.

I was floored and a little hurt. I responded that I wasn’t planning to pay anyone anything. I thought but didn’t add that since she liked the first book in the series, this was her opportunity to read the sequel gratis. I did say, however, that exchanging manuscripts was something we writers frequently did for one another. Which got me thinking.

We mystery writers help one another in so many ways. For one thing, we support those new to our fold. The best example I can think of is the Guppies, the Great Unpublished subgroup of Sisters in Crime. Many of us published writers remain Guppies. We give advice, edit queries, read partials and suggest agents to those new at the game.

On a more personal note, I can’t say enough about the generosity of my fellow writers. Four years ago, I no sooner mentioned on the Guppies listserv that I was starting up a Long Island Chapter of Sisters in Crime when Hank Philippi Ryan offered to be our first speaker. She also was kind enough to write a blurb for my mystery Murder a la Christie. When I’ve needed reviews for my mysteries, many of my fellow mystery writers offered to read and review my books. One fellow writer, who is also an editor, offered to edit a romantic suspense I'd written. We come up with titles for one another, host each other on our blogs, and commiserate and cheer each other on. After all, we’re all in this writing business together.

Malice, 2014

I spent the past four days, from Thursday to Sunday, at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland.. Officially, this is a convention for fans of traditional mysteries, but I consider it the best mystery writers’ conference around. Of course I haven’t attended every mystery writers’ conference to compare, but this was my third Malice and for me, they only get better and better.

I didn’t win a chance to do Malice-Go-Round on Friday morning—when pairs of authors go from table to table, to speak very briefly about their latest book or books. But Saturday morning I was on a panel with Erika Chase, Kate Carlisle, and Kylie Logan, which was wonderfully moderated by Becky Hutchison. Out subject was “Murder By the Book: Book-Themed Mysteries.” I got to talk about my latest mystery, Murder a la Christie, the discussions my book club characters have about Agatha Christie novels, and the parallels between my novel and some Christie novels.

The best part of the weekend for me was catching up with friends, writers I’m in constant touch with via email, listservs, and Facebook. In some cases, I was finally able to meet them in the flesh for the first time, people I’ve known “electronically” for years and years.

Going out Friday night for dinner with ten friends, old and new, was a highlight for me. Every year I’ve been to Malice I’ve gone out with Th
eresa Inge and her pals. This year I brought along a slew of my own. The hotel recommended a restaurant a few blocks away, and it was a winner. The food with great, the conversation nonstop.

There’s no way I can speak about Malice without mentioning the Guppies. This group of supposedly unpublished mystery writers has grown. I believe we’re over 500 strong. The thing about the Guppies is that even after members are published, they rarely leave the group. And so it was that two Guppies won an Agatha, as announced at Saturday night’s banquet: Leslie Budewitz for Best First Novel and Hank Phillippi Ryan for Best Novel.

I’m honored to be part of my mystery writers’ world. My fellow mystery writers are from all over the country and have held all sorts of jobs and positions. Some still work at their "day jobs," as they write their books. Among my friends are a rabbi, a retired judge, a retired member of the navy. And Saturday afternoon I had a long chat with a former nun. All wonderful, vibrant people who share my passion for writing mysteries.

Three Achievements I’m Most Proud Of

I’ve had my share of successes and failures in my life. Here are the achievements that stand out in my mind. Two of them are related to my writing career.

1. The publication of my first book.
I was in seventh heaven when my children’s novel, And Don’t Bring Jeremy, was published back in 1985. (Was it that long ago?) Publishers Weekly reviewed it-- “Levinson’s first novel promises to launch her career as a gifted, sensitive author”-- and included one of Diane deGroat’s drawings. A book club bought the paperback rights  before the hardcover came out. In time, Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards. I was thrilled. Surely, every book I wrote from here on in would be published. Hah! Was I in for a rude awakening.

But there’s a nice ending to this story. And Don’t Bring Jeremy is now available in e-form through Untreed Reads. This week it’s 30% off the regular price of $3.99: http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_335&products_id=710

2. My father was a difficult man with a bad temper. At 92, he was living alone in the Florida condo he’d shared with my stepmother. Always athletic, he was now beset with various problems—in need of cataract surgery, falling occasionally, and suffering severe shoulder pain. My husband and I often flew down from NY to take Dad to doctors, and to do what we could to help ease his life. I hired aides, and he would fire them for sitting around and “doing nothing.” Dad's doctor told him he needed to move to an Independent Living facility, but Dad was having none of it.

On one visit he agreed to look at residences. I don’t know what I said, but finally Dad agreed to move to a facility near his condo. To this day, I can’t believe we signed the necessary papers, moved Dad and his belongings, and settled him in his new home—all within three days.

3. Last week I was bursting with pride as I drove home from my Long Island Sisters in Crime meeting. Member John Nolan had just given a most informative talk on mistakes criminals make, discussing actual cases he’d supervised when he was Commanding Officer of Nassau County’s Homicide Squad. The month before, member Linda Frank gave a brilliant talk on DNA, which she used to teach.

Three years ago I'd come home from my first Malice Domestic convention knowing I wanted to start a Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime. I convinced my friend and fellow writer, Bernadine Fagan, to help me co-found a group. We contacted Sisters in Crime members in the Long Island area and held our first meeting in August of 2010. In December, Hank Phillippi Ryan, who had offered to be our first guest speaker, came down from Boston to give us an unforgettable presentation.

We are a small but active group of mystery writers. After my presidency of two years, Charlene Knadle took over the office and is doing a wonderful job. The Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime continues to flourish.

What achievement are you most proud of? Write and let me know what it is.