Fun With Snow In Mysteries

In my romantic suspense, Killer Career, snow plays a part in one of the major scenes. When the heroine enlists the help of her friend to shovel her driveway, her elderly neighbor stops by to say her dog is missing. They search for the dog in the next-door yard and making a shocking discovery.

I thought of this scene today because it's been the first day I've been able to walk my own dog in a long while. We've finally gotten a break in the many rounds of cold and snow, and we're actually in the 50s here. On the downside, more snow is predicted Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Anyway, snow can be used in many ways in mysteries. Here are a few:

• It's great for hiding things you don't want discovered, such as bodies, or evidence. 
• Great for slowing down investigations, because it impedes law enforcement or other helpers to get to the scene of a crime. Once there, it takes longer to get around outside to look.
• Snow can cover tracks. 
• Phone lines can go down.
• Power can go off.

Those are only some examples. If you can think of others, please share. Or, perhaps you've even used snow in one of your own mysteries and would like to tell us about it.

Morgan Mandel

http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Twitter: @MorganMandel

Guest C. Hope Clark: Writing Mystery with an Agent in the House

When I got this guest blog I avidly read through it. I do so want to be on that porch sipping bourbon with Clark and her husband! See if you agree. (Her third book has just come out, also check out her awesome newsletter mentioned below.)

Writing a Mystery with a Federal Agent in the House

By C. Hope Clark

       

   I married a federal agent. We met on a bribery investigation. I was the person offered the bribe, to set the record straight . . . not the other way around. We set up a sting, hidden recording devices, even a hidden camera. Didn’t catch the guy. Frankly, I don’t think he had the money, but Feds get anal about bribing a federal official, so they go through the motions in a very serious manner.

          It got tense. It got dangerous. It grew into more than we expected. People got mad. Some questioned if I’d made it up. Years later, that controversy propelled me nicely up the career ladder, much like my protagonist, but during that roller coaster ride, I became rather fond of that agent, who became rather fond of me.

          Today, in my efforts to write mysteries, he comes in handy as we sit on the back porch playing out scenarios. He can also be a pain in the butt. 

          The first book in The Carolina Slade Mystery Series, Lowcountry Bribe, was based upon how hubby and I met, only I embellished, inserting murder, kidnapping and considerably more mayhem. As I fleshed out Carolina Slade and her special federal agent Wayne Largo, hubby became my sounding board. He taught me about weapons, blood spatter, and how a chase scene might play out. But invariably in my storytelling effort, he’ll say, “A real agent wouldn’t do that.”

          “It’s fiction, sweetie,” I say. “Are you telling me this cannot happen?”

          “No, I guess it could happen, but if I were the agent it wouldn’t. Too risky,” he says. “I wouldn’t allow a CI (cooperating individual) of mine to take those chances.”

          “But the CI is the protagonist. She’s the main character, not the agent.”

          “Just saying, an agent wouldn’t let her get in trouble.”

          I sigh. “Well, humor me. She’s the heroine. The agent is the sidekick here.”

          He sighs and shakes his head. “Just saying . . .”

          And so it goes.

          Palmetto Poison is the third book in the Carolina Slade Mystery Series. Slade is still partnered with Special Agent Largo, and they’ve been through a lot. Hubby’s mighty proud of my books, I might add. Still, we regularly sit on the porch with bourbon in hand, often playing out scenes to go in the next book.

          “We can’t do that,” I’ll say sooner or later. “It ruins the tension. I need more danger and suspense.”

          “But it’s stupid,” he’ll say. “A real agent wouldn’t do that.”

          I sigh as always. “But sweetie, Slade has to solve the case, not Wayne. And she has to stumble along the way.”

          “Wayne’s a pansy, then,” he says. “If I were the agent, none of this would happen.”

          “Exactly,” I say. “And there’d be no book.”

          “Hmph,” he says. “So what happens next?”

BIO – C. Hope Clark is author of The Carolina Slade Mystery Series by Bell Bridge Books. The third, Palmetto Poison, was released in February. Hope is also editor of FundsforWriters.com, where her newsletters are read by 45,000 readers.

www.fundsforwriters.com / www.chopeclark.com

         

         

         

Resurrecting Manuscripts

By Chester Campbell

A lot of multi-published authors got their start with several years of rejections. After additional years of successfuly-published novels, some resurrected their early inventory and re-submitted them for publication. That's how my Post Cold War Political Thriller Trilogy came into being. After five Greg McKenzie mysteries and two Sid Chance PI novels, I turned to the first three manuscripts I wrote after taking up fiction on retiring in 1989.

I had written the first book using a simple word processor that required creating a different file for each chapter. After losing the agent who was pitching the book, I moved on to the next one and left the first manuscript on my office floor. Fortunately, somewhere along the line I consolidated the computer version into a single Word file.

In  2012 I loaded the file for Beware the Jabberwock and began revising it based on the accumulated knowledge about fiction writing I had acquired over the intervening years. Some of it involved eliminating overly descriptive passages. I also refined information that I had been a bit unsure about originally. And with my editor's help, I added some scenes that helped sharpen the tension.

After publication of the first book, I tackled the second in the trilogy, The Poksu Conspiracy. I discovered the original computer file had been lost, though I still had a printout of the manuscript. I bundled up the paper copy and shipped it off to a service that returned it in a digital file. Then I repeated the process I had gone through with Jabberwock. I had started this one with a long prologue, which gave a lot of background on one of the main characters in addition to information on how the Korean peninsula evolved into the situation that existed at the time of the story (fall of 1993.) I scrapped the prologue, working some of it into later chapters, and began with Burke Hill, the protagonist, in 1993.

I then turned to book three, which, after several changes, had become Overture to Disaster. This was the most ambitious project, involving parallel plots that started in the Ukraine (sound familiar?) and Washington, DC. It involves several issues that sound like it came from today's news, including nerve gas shells fired at crowds of civilians and hardliners hoping to re-establish the Soviet Union.

Overture has been published only as an ebook for the Kindle. I haven't really promoted it and there are no reviews on Amazon. So I decided it was time to do something about the situation. Tomorrow (Saturday, March 8) through Monday, Overture to Disaster will be free on Amazon during a BookBub promoton that will bring it to the attention of thousands of readers. We'll see what happens. If you would like a copy, click on this link and download yours. If you do, I'd appreciate a brief review on Amazon.

Visit me at Mystery Mania

ISBNs and the Self Publisher

by Janis Patterson

I have never been good with decisions. To see me at one of those 50-flavor ice cream places is downright painful.

So what do 50 flavors of ice cream have to do with writing? A lot of us are self-pubbing now. I am bringing out my backlist and, quite frankly, it is a lot more overwhelming than I had expected. Not impossible, not even particularly difficult – it’s just that there are so many little details and so many decisions.

Print? Electronic? Audio? Type faces, content of front and back matter, covers… all these and a gazillion other things require decisions, not the least of which is the ISBN question.

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. ISBNs are the global standard for identifying and tracking titles, both for potential sales and sales reports. They can be used for both electronic and paper books. You can publish a book without an ISBN. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and some others both use their own identification numbers rather than ISBNs. On the other hand, you must have an ISBN to be listed in major distribution catalogs such as Ingram’s. It seems each distributor/seller has its own rules, but all allow you to have your own ISBN, whether they choose to use it or not.

Canadians (lucky stiffs!) get their ISBNs free. In the States we have to get ours through Bowker’s and Bowker’s only – yes, it is a monopoly. We also have pay for them, pay being the operative word. One ISBN purchased singly costs $125.00. Yikes! On the other hand, you can get 10 for $250.00, which brings the price down to $25.00 each – a much more reasonable price. Or you can get 100 for $575.00, which makes each number $5.75 each – even better – if you can stand the initial bite. And be honest – how many self-pubbers will put out 100 books? Yes, I know there are some – I know some personally – but most of us won’t. However, there’s no penalty for buying more than you ever use, and $5.75 each is a great price. Of course, the more you buy (up into the thousands) brings the price even lower, I think down to less than $1 each, but let’s keep this real, huh?

I bought 10 the first time, but I’m almost out of numbers already, so the next time I think it’s going to be the 100 package. Hopefully. If I can afford it.

So – on to practicalities. Why should you pay money for an ISBN? (If you live in the States – you Canadians can rest for a while.) As stated, the two major electronic retailers don’t require an ISBN and don’t even use them on their sites. If you intend to publish only electronically, you can do it without an ISBN. Whether you should or not is another matter.

Electronic or print, Smashwords (and I think some others) will give you a free ISBN if you publish through them. Their ISBNs come from Bowkers and will get your printed book into the major catalogues. The only drawback to a ‘free’ Smashwords ISBN is that if you use one, Smashwords will be listed as publisher. Forever, or at least as long as that edition is active. It will also show in that books’s publishing history. Remember – forever. Also, I’ve heard some chatter – third hand gossip, so take it for what it’s worth – that some distribution places don’t like/won’t handle book with a Smashwords ISBN.

Quite frankly. I am a control freak. If I am going to go through the time and trouble and expense of writing and self-publishing a book, I don’t want any name on it but mine. With no disrespect to Smashwords or any other company/consortium/whatever that will give you a free ISBN, we don’t know what the laws will be in fifteen or twenty years. This is my book and I want it that way in perpetuity.

Now – how many ISBNs should each work have? Bowker’s recommends that each edition have a separate number. That means one for .epub, one for .mobi, one for .pdf, one for whatever other format there is. Remember, Bowker’s sells ISBNs, so they want you to use a lot of them.

General wisdom now says one ISBN per delivery system is fine – that is, one for electronic formats, one for each edition of print format (hardback, paperback, large print, etc) and one for audio format. There is logic for having different ones for each print different format – if you do your first release in mass market paperback, for example, and then decide to bring out a new edition in trade or in large print, that newer edition would require another ISBN. Remember, ISBNs are both trackers and identifiers, so you’d want to know the difference in how your print books are selling in each format.

Buying and registering your ISBNs is easy – just a matter of going to Bowker’s My Identifiers page ( https://www.myidentifiers.com/isbn/main ), ordering and giving them money with a credit card. Just remember to be very very careful when recording and using your new numbers – one little typo can foul things up royally!

Self-publishing is a brave new world, one where the author is pretty much on equal footing with all the big boys. I think we should act like it and be professional by using our own ISBNs.

What Do You Do When You Have A Title But No Plot?

That is exactly the problem I had with my latest Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. A friend sent me a comment on Facebook that said, "Write a book with the title, Murder in the Worst Degree."

Pretty good title, I thought, think I'll use it. Because she liked the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, the title needed to be used for the next book. So I typed (on my computer) the title page, Murder in the Worst Degree by F. M. Meredith.

Then Chapter 1 and I began to write. Because I know the characters very well in this series--after all I've been living with them for a long, long time, there were things I need to write about them and what was happening in their lives.  But, to be honest, outside of a few preliminary plot ideas I didn't really know where I was going or how I was going to tie in this title.

No matter, I began writing. The ideas kept coming--that's the plus side of having ongoing characters, I picked up the threads of what had been happening in their lives in the previous book, which was Deadly Impulses. 

I kept on writing because the ideas kept coming--as usual there were several plot threads--but none that I really could say pointed to the title.

And I was nearly to the end before I knew how to tie in the title--and I think it worked.

I've had some advanced reviews and this one is great:

F.M. Meredith has outdone herself with Murder in the Worst Degree. I have enjoyed this series ever since I read my first one, but this is the very best one yet. All the familiar characters return. their lives continue to change and progress. When an elderly man’s body washes up on the beach at Rocky Bluff, the police begin their investigation, only to discover he was already dead before his body went into the water. In addition, a rapist strikes. As always, all the plot lines are completed, and the ending is very satisfying. This is a great read and highly recommended.

--Lorna Collins

So this is where I am, anxiously awaiting the book and what others will think about the title and how it fit the story.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

The Mystery of Old T-shirts by Mar Preston

I’ve read that Paris Hilton wears a T-shirt once, has it dry cleaned, and after the second time she wears it she gives it away. I wonder where it goes. Her staff? Her cleaning ladies? Charity?

Ah, charity. The Mountain Communities SPCA has a Thrift Store in Frazier Park near where I live, and we get T-shirts. Every day people swing into the store with big black plastic bags of stuff, including hundreds of stuffed animals, jeans, shirts—and  T-shirts. There are enough jeans donated that nobody in the entire world needs to buy a new pair of jeans.

Selling their donations makes possible the spay/neuter of cats and dogs which reduce the misery, both human and animal, of unwanted kittens and puppies.

Until I began volunteering in the SPCA Thrift Shop, I felt virtuous bagging up my unwanted clothes—my stuff—and taking it into a good cause thrift shop.  I dumped it off, claimed the donation slip, and argued with myself about what to put down for a tax deduction. Surely that bag of perfectly good clothes and a chipped tea pot was worth twenty dollars.

 Every economist pundit should spend time digging through black plastic bags in a thrift shop. There is absolutely no relationship between price and value.  None.

You are sentimentally attached to that Long Beach Blues Festival ’89 T-shirt.  There’s plenty of good wear in it. You paid $15 for it, when $15 was a hunk of money to lay down for a T-shirt.  Hate to tell you this, but we can’t even sell that T-shirt.

I would imagine that every thrift shop is constantly on the look out for homeless shelters and churches who accept donations of stuff that we can’t sell and we can’t store.

A young family who shopped in the store moved to Norway.  They live according to the Three Rs:  Reduce (buy less); Reuse (extend the clothing lifespan);  and Recycle (polish your car with that old T-shirt). They thrift shop, they make do, they do without.

One of their little boys noticed that their friends have “shiny things.” Maybe it’s because the paint or the finish has rubbed off the old toys these boys play with?

Their parents explain the 3rs, that in their family this is the way they do things. Handling Mother Earth with gentleness and respect is what they do in their family. Other families do what works for them.

 What do you think of the Three Rs?

James Patterson and Gregg Brickman

James Patterson and Gregg Brickman

By Randy Rawls

    Today, I'm happy to reprint a blog by a friend of mine here in South Florida, Gregg Brickman. You'll see why when you read it. It should have been reposted.

    For those not familiar with her work (yes, her), Gregg is an author of several novels available as ebooks or paper books. Her latest, the lord, came out in January. It's a mystery/thriller featuring a serial killer who labels himself as the lord. It's a proper combination of spookiness and hardnosed investigative work. Her other books are Imperfect Contract and Imperfect Daddy in the Sophia Burgess series and Illegally Dead. There are more to come.

    But the article she offered me is not about her books (or mine). It's about a night with James Patterson. I'm sure all of us have a well defined picture of Patterson. After all, he is the 1,000 pound gorilla in our business, having shoved aside all the 500 pound gorillas. Read and enjoy.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM & ABOUT JAMES PATTERSON

by Gregg Brickman

02/19/2014

    I recently volunteered to help with a mega-book signing for James Patterson at Murder on the Beach. My husband was the gatekeeper, assuring all comers purchased a book to gain entrance. I guided people to seats in the store and took pictures.

    There has been a lot of chatter over the years about Patterson not writing his own books anymore and that he is selling his name. This is usually expressed with the same vehemence as if he were selling his soul.

    All jealousy aside, lots of people profit by selling their names—no physical presence required. Have you witnessed Don Shula serving meals in an establishment bearing his name? Or have you found Martha Stewart in a set of sheets or a can of paint? Or maybe Beyonce in a dress on the rack at your favorite store?

    Patterson said that he has 51 projects laid out in his office. He writes 80 page long outlines for each book he co-authors, then supervises the writing, getting a progress report every three weeks or so. That way he can pull the book back on track if needed. I'm not sure that I'd want to write books that way, but I'd love to have the choice. He has that choice, and I dare say he earned it.

    We were told to expect him to talk about ten minutes and then spend the remainder of his time signing books. I also learned that his contract from the publicist specified no pictures.

    Patterson spoke for over thirty minutes and graciously took questions. He was an animated, expressive, and entertaining speaker.

    One question concerned his line of children's books. He talked for a time about the absolute necessity of children learning to read and the focus he and his wife have in that area. Writing quality children's books is part of that effort.

    While signing books, he posed with each person who wanted a picture, asking them to wait until he finished his signature so he could pose with each person. He took his time and chatted with his fans.

    Then he posed with those working the event and took individual pictures with us as well.

    I found Patterson to be personable and forthcoming, creating a pleasant evening and a friendly environment for all.

  

                                                                                   Gregg and James Patterson