On Getting Older

I supposed most people would just say I'm already there--old, I mean.

And yes, I do have the symptoms, hair turning white, lots of wrinkles, slow walker, takes some effort to get up out of chairs, and not being able to do all that I once could.

That last is probably the most frustrating.

I've always been used to making a list of what I planned to accomplish in a day, but not so much anymore. Oh, I still make the lists, but I don't always get everything done that I planned.

Of course I always have a lot to do--and the have-tos, I do finish, but they are also the jobs I'm least interested in doing--laundry, cooking, etc.

What I really want to get with is the writing on my next book, and more promoting of the latest.

Unfortunately, there is only so much time.

And now we've moved into the holidays. I no longer buy all the gifts that I once did, can't afford it and my family just grew to large. For those who come to our house on Christmas Eve, we drew names--so I only have two to buy for, and my kids (I give money) as I'm not longer good at figuring out what they might like.

That might sound like I don't really care for Christmas anymore, but that's not true. I love the true meaning of Christmas. We;ll celebrate on Christmas Eve with some of our family.

We share out home with 3 little girls, so we'll be in on the Christmas morning surprises.

And some time soon, I'll put up a few Christmas decorations.

What about you? Do you still do all the holiday things you used to do?

Marilyn, who still manages to accomplish a lot.

My latest, Tangled Webs.

Priorities

Radine Trees Nehring recently wrote about not having enough time to read what with all the necessary tasks of being a writer. I'm going to expand on that theme a bit.

Over the years I've found that there are far too many tasks both as a wife, mother/grandmother and writer that demand my time.

Years ago, I wrote, painted and knitted. When I became the owner/administrator of a 6 bed facility for developmentally disabled women--the demands on my time multiplies. The women, their needs and all that came with running the facility (which was also our home) left me little free time for much. I knew I had to make the decision between writing and art projects. I decided writing was what I liked to do best and gave the other two pursuits up. At that time social media was just beginning to blossom.

After twenty-plus years, hubby and I retired from the care business--it truly had to be number one because it entailed the health and well-being of others. At the time, hubby and my eldest adult son both had cancer, my focus had to be on them. After treatment, hubby was cured, son passed on to be with the Lord.

Years have gone by. Hubby and I are both slowing down and have lots more doctor visits. I'm still writing, of course because I love it. Because I write I must do a lot of promotion in order for people to know about my latest book(s). Every author know that takes a lot of time.

My family has grown so much! I love seeing and spending time with each and everyone, and of course that takes time away from other pursuits, but to me that is a most important priority.

Of course I love to read--I always have books on my Kindle, and usually a paper book too. If someone I know and like asks me to read a book and give them a blurb I almost always do that too.

And then there are the writing contests--there are two that I always agree to help judge--more reading that is not necessarily of my choosing and takes time to do it fairly.

So what do I do? How do I choose my priorities? This is one of those one day at a time judgment calls--what is most important to get done today? I make a list and get to work--crossing each item off when I'm done.

And yes, I leave time to do some fun things with my husband, though not nearly as much as we used to do.

So tell me, what are your priorities?

Marilyn

The latest Tempe book--I'm still working on the next one.

No Killing This Christmas

by Janis Patterson

This Sunday is Christmas. It’s a wonderful day – a day for thankfulness, a day for prayer, a day for family, a day for reflection, a day for gifts, a day for… Well, there are as many ways to spend Christmas as there are people.

I remember enormous family Christmases at my grandparents’ when I was a child, with great-aunts and uncles and cousins and lots of people whom I really didn’t quite know how were connected but they were kin, and that was all that counted. My mother and her sisters would each bring enormous amounts of food and we would feast continually all day long. No dishes were ever assigned or discussed, but somehow we always ended up with a fair balance of meats and vegetables and salads and desserts. My grandmother was not allowed to cook – not because her children wanted to spare her, or because they wanted to show off their own culinary expertise – it was because while she was a lovely woman she was a rotten cook! About all you could say was that she never poisoned anyone.

I take part of that back. She made the best divinity candy in the entire world, and she made it every year. She couldn’t do a roast and her mashed potatoes were … interesting, but her divinity, which I’ve heard is one of the hardest candies to make well, was simply and literally divine. Even now, many decades later, her divinity is to me the real taste of Christmas.

After the feasting and the exchange of gifts around the tree and the shadows were growing long across the ground it was time to go home. The sisters would divide up the food – and I swear each year everyone took home more than they brought, though to a logical mind that seems impossible – and at my house we would eat Christmas leftovers for at least two or three days.

Through the haze of memory those Christmases were perfect, though I do have clear memories of someone always a-feudin’ and a-fightin’ with someone else and painful memories of one of my younger cousin’s repeated attempts to significantly damage all us other cousins, but this is too magical a time to remember old hurts, be they mental or physical.

I know this is a mystery blog, but crave your indulgence just this once. Sunday is Christmas, and too wonderful a time to talk about murder and mayhem, no matter how many books are set around the holiday. This is a time to enjoy friends and family and faith and tradition and bask in the glow of the season.

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

My Writing is Suffering

Here it is, November already. I am getting near the end of my latest Rocky Bluff P.D. police procedural mystery--but I've been at that point for several weeks now.

Life has really interfered--some of it good, some not so good.

Because, like too many writers, I don't make much money from my books, I do other things that do make money. I've been blessed to get several of these jobs one after another. Because these particular endeavors also entail writing, when I'm done, I don't really feel like getting into the fiction mode.

I have my own blog to keep up, Marilyn's Musings and I like to have new content every other day. Because I host many guest authors, though I don't have always have to come up with something new to write about, it still takes time to get the post done. I also maintain the blog for
the San Joaquin chapter of Sisters in Crime--though that one isn't as time consuming.

Other writing chores I have are three newsletters--my own (monthly) and one for residential service providers (also monthly) which involves keeping up with new regulations and requirements, and a quarterly newsletter for the Public Safety Writers Association. And by the way, there is an early bird fee for their most wonderful conference which expires at the end of December. Check it out, and you can read the last newsletter while you're there, if you're interested. http://policewriter.com/

And as you all must be aware of by now--I have a huge family. We've had lots going on.

I'm really anxious to get back to my writing, but at this point it's been so long, I might have trouble remembering everything, which means once I'm done I'll have to do some careful editing.

No doubt, all you writers who read this understand exactly what I'm talking about.

Now, this is one job I can cross off my list.

Marilyn

Slowing Down or Other Things Taking my Time by Marilyn Meredith

To be honest, it's a bit of both. I can't seem to accomplish as much in a day as I once could. Of the other things taking my time, I want to spend more of it with my family.

I became a great-great grandmother a few weeks ago. It was a big surprise as my great-granddaughter thought she was suffering from an infected spleen (she did have this but none of the docs she saw said one thing about the pregnancy). When she began having horrendous pains, she thought she was dying. Her folks made her go to the ER where they let her know that yes, she had a problem with her spleen but at the moment she was in labor and would soon be giving birth. What a surprise! And a good one.

My family is big, and some of them live right here in my house: my grand-daughter and her husband and two little girls, and a great-grandson and his wife. Yes, this is a big house. I love having them all close by. And right next door on the same property, my son and his wife live.

This is great for two old people (meaning me and my husband) as we have lots of support in many ways.

Recently, one of my publishers (who is also a friend) became very ill and she's in a rehab center 1 1/2 hour drive from me. My daughter-in-law drove me over to see her recently. Sadly, her relatives all live far away and she doesn't have much in the way of support. Seeing her, made me realize how blessed I am. 

I know I need to take the time to enjoy my family and let them know how much I appreciate them.

Oh, yes, I'm still writing, I do that early before everyone gets up (I've always done it that way.)

And because I have a new book coming out this month, I'm also planning the promotion. I think I have the ideal place to have my launch, a little different than last time. Haven't asked yet, but I'll do that this week. 

My blog tour will begin September 3rd so I'll certainly be busy then. 

Out this month: Seldom Traveled.

The Life of This Writer

Because all writers are different, I'm only going to describe what my life is like as a writer.

I'm fortunate in that my publisher for my Rocky Bluff P.D. series lives close enough that we can get together for lunch ever so often. In the above photo I'm signing the contract for A Crushing Death.

Over the last few months, I've been busily promoting that book through a blog tour, lots of postings on Facebook, and of course a launch party, and numerous in person events.

In the meantime, I finished writing the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery and sent it off to the publisher, fixed the edits, and it's due out in August sometime--so that means I need to start working on the publicity for it.

Because that's not my sole roll in life, I've gone on a vacation to see relatives and friends (wonderful!), visited with and played with great-grands, taught my 5th grade Sunday School class, attended church, cooked many dinners, done the laundry, shopped etc.

I'm also judging manuscripts for two different writing contests and I write 2 monthly newsletters, mine and one for a provider organization, and the quarterly newsletter for PSWA. (Public Safety Writers Association.)

What it all adds up to is I'm busy--and as I like to tell people, I'm never bored.

To be honest, I love to watch movies too--and I do that in the evening when my mind has turned to mush.

And I'm sure you've noticed that there isn't any glamor involved in this writer's life.

Do keep on reading.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

What are your Plans for 2016?

Now that Christmas and New Years Eve are behind us, have you thought about what you want to do in 2016? Or what you should do?

No, I'm not asking what your resolutions for the new year are because most people don't keep up with resolutions. But surely you've thought about the coming year that is before you.

In my case, I'm hoping to spend more quality time with family--especially those I don't get to see often. Since it's getting harder and harder for hubby and I to travel, it means relying on our 2nd eldest daughter who is willing to drive us places. We are fortunate that two of our four children live nearby as do many grands and greatgrands. However, one daughter is in Camarillo and another down in Murrieta with grandkids there and in nearby Temecula--along with greatgrands.

I'm also working on a new Deputy Tempe Crabtree book, and need to finish it.

March will bring a new Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery to promote. I'm working on a blog tour now for mid April--that means finding people to host me and writing what I hope will be intriguing posts for each one.

In February I'll be attending a Public Safety Writers Association board meeting in Ventura--means daughter will be driving, but also a chance to see youngest daughter and two of our grandkids. At the board meeting one of the things we'll be doing is finalizing plans for the PSWA annual writing conference in July. One thing we'll be doing differently is having a writing seminar the morning and afternoon before registration for the conference. And yes, I've agreed to be a part of that.

Except for some doctor appointments, I don't have much written on my 2016 calendar, but I'm sure as the days progress, events will be added.

No one can really know what will be happening in the future, and since hubby and I are growing older, big changes could be ahead. But for now, I'll look forward to each day as it comes.

Share with us what you have planned.

Marilyn

New Year’s Resolutions and Other Woes

by Janis Patterson

How can it be a new year already? I’ve just become used to writing 13 on my checks, but then I have never taken change well. The change from 19— to 20— was positively traumatic. How can time go by so fast?

I know our metabolism slows down as we get older, but the sad truth is that time goes faster to make up for it. Sigh.

I never make New Year’s Resolutions as I do not handle failure well. The only time I ever followed through on a resolution was when I resolved most solemnly never to make any more New Year’s Resolutions!

If I were to, though, they would be simple. To cook more from scratch. To write faster and more. To keep a cleaner house. To socialize more. To be less distracted by the fascinating trivia of life. Yes, they’re sometimes contradictory, but then so am I. And with time slipping away faster and faster, such good intentions tend to get squished into smaller and smaller timeframes and therefore negated.

Am I the only one whose life seems roughly equitable to trying to have a leisurely swim in a blender? Too much to do and much too little time in which to do it? So many of my friends, writers and otherwise, seem to be doing so much more, producing so much more than I, and that is disheartening. Obviously I must prioritize more, must make better use of my time and resources. Unfortunately, that sounds too much like a New Year’s Resolution, a failing I must overlook if I am to follow through. At least I can try. 

I do have a small brag, though, if you will allow me... under my Janis Susan May persona I received two book contracts in December from Vinspire Publishing. Miss Morrison's Second Chance is a traditional Regency romance which will be released next September. Welcome Home is a contemporary gothicky romantic suspense, so far without a release date. Talk about ending 2013 with a bang! 2014 is going to have to do a lot to catch up.

I wish each and every one of you the Happiest of New Years, along with good writing, all kinds of happiness and many sales.  

Writer, Interrupted

by Janis Patterson

Our family has always been keepers. Not hoarders, but keepers. Things that are parts of our family history. Things that might be useful someday. Or simply, things that are simply too good to get rid of. That’s how we ended up with a garage full of stuff. And when I say full, I mean full! This oversized two car garage was packed so tightly we couldn’t have fitted an anorexic mouse in there.

Over the years periodically we’d decide to do something about it. We had plans to make it half into an organized storage facility with shelves and steel pallets and half into a workshop (I call it a ‘Boom Room’) for The Husband. We’d make a concentrated but short-lived attempt to get it cleaned out. The local animal-benefit charity shop loved us, because with every attempt they got a nice haul of stuff. But then other things – trips, rocket meets, gun shows, writer’s meetings, that sort of thing – got in the way and the garage would once again slip into oblivion on our radar.

Then not too long ago we realized how long we had been talking about doing the garage and, in a moment of bravado, booked the contractor to arrive on a certain date. Then we looked at the garage and ALL THAT STUFF! Gulp.

Well, there was no way we could sort through all those boxes and bags and suitcases in time to have the garage cleared before the contractor and his crew showed up, so we did the next best thing. We rented a storage room – a rather large storage room – on the edge of town and have been frantically moving things there willy-nilly for the last ten days. We? The Husband goes to his job Monday through Friday and can only work on the weekend, leaving guess who to haul stuff around during the week. Of course, I have a job too – I write, you know – but in the light of the present emergency my computer is getting a nice rest. I’m not. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

My mother did not raise me to be a stevedore, but necessity drives, so during the week I load up my SUV (which seems to be rather ashamed to be carrying such a shabby cargo), drive to the storage unit, unload, return and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

Did I tell you I’ve discovered one of the great secrets of the universe? Boxes breed. They really do. After a day of moving I swear there are more boxes in the garage than there were when I started. Sigh.

It doesn’t help that we are dealing with four households – mine, The Husband’s, my late parents’ and what my mother had from her mother’s house. You can name almost anything and we have at least three of them. To complicate matters, my late mother was the family historian who kept all kinds of family memorabilia from photographs to a pump head to plow harrows to an ancient scythe (I’m fixed for costume parties from now on!) to an 1830 blanket box which strongly resembles a recently dug up coffin. We have furniture that came to Texas in a covered wagon in the 1840s and a settee and two chairs that date from my great-uncle’s first term as a State Legislator back in the twenties. I think we are the only house on the block to have our own anvil.

Not all was lost during this last weekend, though. The Husband and I took an entire pick-up load of stuff to the charity shop. And there is method in our madness in carrying stuff away to storage. That way we ensure that only things we wish to keep will come back to the house… and the charity shop is conveniently located between home and the storage facility!

I may not be getting much writing done, but it is a good feeling to know that our dreams of the garage are actually coming true and that our discards are benefiting the scores of homeless animals who so desperately need help. It’s also sad in a way, because I am getting rid of things I would rather not, but have no need of nor space for. There are some things I’m keeping, though, like the anvil. It might be useful someday.

Writing and Other Priorities

by Janis Patterson

I try to write every day. Not because some writing guru or bestselling writer says it’s the only way to write or because it’s the ‘technique du jour’ or because it is reputed to guarantee sales or because of any other fanciful explanation. I try to write every day because the more I write, the more books I finish and (hopefully!) the more money I make.

Some things, however, supersede sales, and yes, even money. Not many, I will admit, but family tops the list. I can always catch up on my word count. The book will still be finished if I fall a little behind. The world will not end, no matter what an editor might say, if I miss a deadline.

Now I’m not talking about taking a nephew to a soccer game or going to lunch with an aunt… those are ordinary everyday things that should be scheduled around your work, just as if you worked in an office or in a factory. Just imagine telling your boss you had to leave because you had to chauffeur a kid to a game! It is just the same if you write – nothing changes just because you’re the boss. You work for yourself just as surely as if you worked for a multi-national corporation, and you should have the same attitude towards work. You are both boss and employee.

One of my favorite sayings is that when you work for yourself you might work 23 hours a day, but at least you get to choose which 23!

There are times, though, when all the rules go out the window. Family need trumps career every time. My beloved sister-in-law has gone into the hospital for a total knee replacement. She is a widow – my brother passed away almost a decade ago – and her children all live more than a fair distance away. I’m almost through with a book – two weeks dedicated work will get it finished, with a half-finished one and a completed one waiting to grow cold for editing in the to-be-done queue, but at the moment they’re off the table. My sis-in-law needed someone to drive her to the hospital at zero-dark-thirty in the morning, and I was not going to let her go into surgery alone. No, I didn’t go into the operating theatre, fascinating as it would have been – I stayed in the waiting room. I firmly believe, however, that no one should awake from anesthesia alone.

So – two days without writing. My career will survive, and if it doesn’t, my family is more important. I can catch up, though, and with a clear conscience. Besides, I firmly believe that 90% of writing is done between the ears – the keyboarding part is mainly mechanical – and I can think anywhere. At least, I could try, if my fellow denizens of the surgical waiting room would not keep the TV at a level somewhere between foghorn and earthquake!

 My sister-in-law will go directly to rehab after a couple of days in the hospital, and when she eventually comes home her children will have taken time off from work and traveled down in turn to stay with her until she’s strong enough to return to her regular life. Plus, I’m just a phone call away.

If she wants to go to a soccer game, though, she’s going to have to drive herself. Because I am a very stern boss, I’ll be working.

Working on a New Book--and it Hasn't Been Easy

Because of big ongoing trauma in our family, and then some good stuff too--I've not been working on my next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery as I should have been--nor have I done the editing needed on my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery so I can send it off to the publisher.

The trauma of course was my son's severe beating on the job and then him not getting proper medical care at first--all is going well now thanks to a wonderful brain trauma rehab center. The good stuff was his daughter and her husband coming out to visit from North Carolina for a week with their seven month-old-daughter.

He looks good, doesn't he? Still not perfect, but way, way better.

So now it's time to get busy and write, write, write. I need to be thinking and writing about the police officers of Rocky Bluff P.D. and their families, what's going on with them while they are investigating a murder case.

To get myself in the mood, I'm thinking small California coastal town, smelling the salt air, and remembering the layout of the town.

I do know where I'm going with this one, know the title, all it's going to take his place my fanny down on the chair in front of my computer and writing.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

What Interferes with my Writing

Those who know me also know that I have a really big family-- which I consider to be a blessing. Besides my 4 living children, I have 18 grandkids and 14 great-grands. I love them all dearly.

Fortunately, I write early in the morning before anyone can descend upon me with requests for my attention.

I no longer baby sit for the little ones--their grandparents can have that chore. I can't run fast enough to catch those little guys and even some of the young ones are too heavy for me to lift. If a school age child needs to come over after school we're quite willing to do that. We have one great-grandaughter (almost 10) who loves to come here and she's fun, she reminds me of me at that age, she likes to write stories.

With a big family, we have our share of trauma too. Anyone who is my friend on Facebook or any of my lists knows that we nearly lost our youngest son to a horrible beating when he was working as a bouncer at a popular nightclub and ended up with a concussion, brain trauma and blood clots in his leg. At first he couldn't get the treatment he needed from the workman's comp doctor, but that's all changed now. The insurance company sent him to a brain trauma recovery program and he's there now. He's been helped tremendously. When something like that is going on--writing takes a back seat.

One of the biggest things that interferes with my writing though is the promotion that has to go along with it. While I'm writing one book I'm busy promoting the last one published. That's what's happening to me right now.

The 9th in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is now available, Dangerous Impulses. Though I've ordered copies, I don't have any yet to send out for review. However, some PDF's of the book have been sent to people willing to read it in that way. I've planned a blog tour which will start March 1 and I have everything ready for that. (Right in the middle of the tour I'm going to Epicon for 4 days which means I'll be promoting the tour when I can from Vancouver WA.)

I have yet to plan the physical launch, that's still on my to-do list.

Anyone who might be interested in reading Dangerous Impulses
http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk  
it is available now from Amazon.
Blurb:

An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

What interferes with you writing?

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

Family Has Its Place by Morgan Mandel

When you're writing a mystery or novel, remember to include family. Here are some handy ways to take advantage of family members in mysteries:

• Mob families, such as in the Godfather, can either turn a character toward or away from crime.
• A threat to a family member - A character may perform extreme measures when the safety of any or all family members is in question.
• The death of a family member - All sorts of possibilities with this one, from determining why the dear one died, to learning something from that person's past which solves a puzzle.
• Following in the footsteps of a family member and becoming a law enforcement officer or some sort of solver of crimes is a positive way to include family.
• Childhood abuse by a family member leading to a villain's psychosis - this one I've used in one of my novels not yet published.

I'm sure there are many other ways to use family when writing mysteries. Can you think of any? Does one of your mysteries include family in a way it moves the plot? Please share.

Morgan Mandel - For a Morgan two-for-one, hop on over to Double M, my daily blog at http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/

If you're on twitter, please follow me at http://twitter.com/morganmandel