Travels with Kaye

That All-Important National Bath Safety Month

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'll bet you didn't know that January is National Bath Safety Month. Of course, it's important to be safe in the bathroom all year, don't you think? I can't imagine that it's OK to slip and crack your head open in February, or to drop the hair dryer in the bathtub in March.

A few months ago, when I slipped and tore my rotator cuff, I began to think my bathroom might be out to get me. I decided to show that darn room. I wrote "The Bathroom".

My character tries to be safe in her bathroom, although she doesn't even know about National Bath Safety Month. She's thrilled to be in the apartment in the building her family owns. After all, the place is much bigger than her former quarters and has both a bathroom and and a powder room. While unpacking and moving in, she imagines the long bath she'll take to ease her tired, sore muscles.

Things don't work out, though. Things didn't work out for my story either. It was accepted by "Dark Valentine" but never printed there.

Would you like to know what happens in the story?

"The Bathroom" is a digital story, now available at Smashwords, Kindle, and Nook.

Getting Your Name out There Part 5

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is the last post in this series. I hope you've gotten something from it! Thanks for tuning in.

ENTERING CONTESTS

If you do go the short story route, contests can be your entre to fame. Or at least to being able to say you're an award-winning writer. The Short Mystery Fiction Society is a place you can sometimes pick up names of publications. Take note when others get stories accepted in them. Many conferences have short story contests also.

JUDGING CONTESTS

Volunteering to judge contests, such as the Derringers (SMFS) and the Daphnes (RWA) can be a way to get your name known, and you'll be appreciated by the people running the competition.

JOINING ORGANIZATIONS

Here are some I belong to, or have belonged to in the past:

Sisters in Crime, of course, national, local, online chapter, Guppies

Mystery Writers of America, national and local

Writers' League of Texas

Short Mystery Fiction Society

Crime Scene Writers is a huge group where your posts will be seen by hundres

You should post on the lists of these groups occasionally to get your name known to the other members. It doesn't do you any good to join a group and lurk. No one will know who you are unless you speak up occasionally.

ANNOUNCE EVERYTHING

Put it in your signature line. Then every post will remind people of an award or acceptance, or upcoming appearance or publication. Also make sure your website and blog addresses are in your signature line.

When you get a story accepted or win a prize, or present a talk at a San Gabriel Writers' League meeting, you should make an announcement. Some of the places to announce are (and these are other reasons for belonging to these groups):

WLT

SinC, local, national, Guppies

MWA

on your blog

website

Facebook

Twitter

other yahoo lists you belong to

some organization links:

ORGANIZATIONS

Mystery Writers of America http://www.mysterywriters.org/ & http://www.mwasw.org/

Writers' League of Texas http://writersleague.org/

Short Mystery Fiction Society http://www.shortmystery.net/

Crime Scene Writers http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/crimescenewriter/

STUFF I DON'T DO, BUT OTHER PEOPLE DO

Lots of people use Goodreads and Kindle Forums more than I do. Some writers have discussions going on LinkedIn.

You can even have your own blogtalk radio show - do interviews, and so forth. Sylvia Dickey Smith has had great success with this.

Anything you can do to interact with other writers and, eventually, readers will get your name out.

A WORD ABOUT BEING NICE AND ABOUT RECIPROCATION

Warren Bull, author of ABRAHAM LINCOLN FOR THE DEFENSE and many short stories, has this to say about authors helping authors:

/////

The owner of a local independent bookstore helped me a lot; offered a signing, found a reviewer etc. when I first had a book out. Book store owners and staff can recommend your book and sell one copy at a time. So buy your books from the people who can help sell yours. You can establish a relationship before you get
anything published.

[ME: I certainly do this, buy my friend's books. And I feel it's my duty as a writer to recommend the ones I like to others.}

Warren again: Also you can ask friends family and other authors to write reviews for you on Amazon.com You can do favors for fellow [writers] by writing reviews for them before you have anything published.

People remember those who are helpful and friendly so ask if you can set up
chairs for signings, publicize the store etc.

/////

Writing reviews for other writers is important to them and it's something I don't do enough of. But has anyone thought of helping at another author's signing as a means of exposure? I haven't.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE FENCE

Here's a comment from Elaine Douts, a friend who was an unpublished mystery writer when I asked her thoughts on self-promotion:

/////

Geez Kaye-this is one topic I don't do well. In fact, I don't do [it] at all. I know that I should, but until I get published, even a short story, I'd feel like a fraud doing self-promotion. I've been told that my attitude is short sighted, but I just know that if I start self-promoting before I get published, it's fait accompli that I never will get published-just because the gods like me to make an ass of myself. Yeah-there's the how to, but then there's the question why-[why] when no crystal ball says you'll ever get published.

/////

I know a lot of unpublished writers feel that way, but you have to have faith that you'll be there some day. Elaine has since been published as E. B. Davis in short story form.

PARTING ADVICE:

This is a lot of stuff.

Only do what you have time for and are comfortable with.

If you've never done any of this, start with one item at a time and build until people begin to know who you are. Keep on going after that, so they don't forget who you are.

Getting Your Name out There Part 4

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

To continue from last Wednesday, Part 4:

GETTING A SMALL START BY STARTING SMALL - WRITING SHORT STORIES

This has worked for me and for others. But I love to write short stories. If you don't write them, of course, it won't work for you. There are many more outlets for shorts, many more possibilities for publication, than there are for novels, even though they come and go unpredicatbly. Some ezines take everything submitted to them. I'd avoid these and concentrate on those with editors who screens submissions, who turn pieces down as well as accept them. It gives you more credibility. Also look at who is being published in the magazine and, if you see names you recognize, that's a good sign it will do you some good to get accepted there. Study the stories being published and see what you have that would fit, or what you can write that would fit in.

SHORT STORY MARKETS

http://www.duotrope.com/

WRITE ARTICLES

If you don't write short stories, you can still get yourself known by having short pieces published--articles. These can be articles on writing, reading, book reviews, interviews, or life essays, if you're so inclined. If you're featuring a Jack Russell terrier in your novel, see if you can get an article accepted in a dog magazine.

Volunteer to write articles for newsletters for the organizations you belong to. If you live where there are small local publications, see if you can write articles for them.

Local author, Karen MacInerney, wrote a serial short story that was featured in a bed and breakfast magazine to publicize her Gray Whale Inn bed and breakfast mystery series. Very clever!

Beth Groundwater is the author of two series, one featuring Claire Hanover, gift basket designer, and another starting next year with Mandy Tanner, river ranger. She also has just published a science fiction book called THE EPSILON ERIDANE ALTERNATIVE. She started out with short stories, her first in an anthology. She also got one accepted by an airline flight magazine, "Wild Blue Yonder" the inflight magazine for Frontier Airlines. That gave her tons of exposure. I would never have thought of submitting there.

Search out unusual places for articles and stories. Look around and see where you can stick your foot in.

You can put your poetry out, too, if you write that.

NEWSLETTER

I didn't start a newsletter until some time after my book came out. I found I was making appearances I wanted people to know about, so I made use of the email list I'd been compiling for at least 2 years. Anytime anyone encouraged me or commented favorably on me somewhere, they went onto my list. When I sent my initial newsletter out with the option to cancel and not receive any more, I started out with 243 subscribers and I now have 246. About 29 unsubscribed right away, but some of those were duplicate addresses for the same person. For some reason, I keep getting new subscribers, slowly, but regularly, several a month. I have a prominent signup form on my webpage.

GETTING YOUR NAME OUT AT CONFERENCES

The best way to get known at a conference is to be on a panel. Some small conferences will put you on a panel without much in the way of credentials. Larger cons require some sort of publication.

The first panel I was on wasn't planned. A conference in Plano that is, alas, defunct now, had a panel coming up and some of the members hadn't shown up. A friend insisted I'd be able to speak on the topic, Religion in Writing, or something like that. I said I couldn’t, I'd never done a panel before. She practically shoved me up onto the platform and into the chair.

It went amazingly well and, after it got started, I relaxed and was able to say things that, I think, sounded coherent. I also resorted to drawing out answers and clarifications from other panel members, especially the one who had forced me onto the panel. Cindy Daniel. She writes the Death Warmed Over series, and has also written a book with her daughter about her experience with breast cancer.

After the panel, several audience members wanted to talk to me! I was astounded.

I've been on panels at every conference I've attended since then, as a short story writer. Every con seems to have one short story panel.

After a short story panel at Malice Domestic, I even had one person ask for my autograph on her program, since I didn't have a book to sign. I was sitting next to Carol Nelson Douglas, so it was nice to get a fan.

The easiest job is moderator of the panel. All your work is beforehand. You get up a list of questions, or ask the panel members for suggestions, and get that all worked out by email ahead of time. At the time of the panel, you merely introduce the members and ask the questions. They do all the work.

Also, schmooze at cons. There's usually a gathering place with iced tea, sometimes more. This is the place people put bookmarks and fliers at some cons. Don't be shy about sitting with someone you don't know. You'll be wearing a name tag and you'll meet interesting people. At night, there's the bar.

Here's a partial list of conferences for mystery writers and fans:

CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS

Malice Domestic, DC area - 4/30-5/2 fan conv http://www.malicedomestic.org/

Bouchercon - moves, in San Francisco for 2010 10/14-17 - fan conv http://www.bcon2010.com/

Left Coast Crime - moves - fan conv in Santa Fe for 2011, 3/24-27

Love is Murder, Chicago IL - 2/4-6, 2011 for fans & writers (some writer workshops)

http://www.loveismurder.net/

Mayhem in the Midlands, Omaha NE - small conf 5/27-29

http://www.omahapubliclibrary.org/events/mayhem

Murder in the Grove, Boise ID - small conf http://www.murderinthegrove.com/ Maybe

no conf in 2010, they are planning 2011, though

Magna Cum Murder, Muncie IN 10/29-31, 2010 http://magnacummurder.com/

Pike's Peak Writers Conference, Pike's Peak, CO, in April http://ppwcon.org/

Deadly Ink, Parsippany NJ, 6/25-27 http://www.deadlyink.com/conference.html

Crime Bake - conf Dedham, Mass, 11/12-14 http://www.crimebake.org/index.htm

Sleuthfest - Boca Raton, FL in Feb, http://www.mwaflorida.org/sleuthfest.htm

PP WebCon - writers conf online held Oct 24^th 2009 for the first time http://www.ppwebcon.com/

Killer Nashville, Nashville TN, 8/20-22 http://killer-nashville.com/

Getting Your Name out There Part 3

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I posted the first two parts of this presentation in November, then had too many other things to post in December. As you read this, I'll probably be sitting in the hospital with my Hubby while he recovers from a total knee replacement. Due to the magic of scheduling, I'm posting lessons 3 through 5 this month to finish up this series. I hope someone gets something from these!

FACEBOOK

Facebook. I have a love/hate relationship with it, and I'll bet everyone on it does, too.

I started on Facebook when my son in another state told me that, henceforth, all his children's pictures would be loaded there instead of being attached to emails or put up on snapfish, like he had been doing. It was with much reluctance and dragging of feet, well fingers I guess, that I dove in, but I soon found lots--I mean tons--of people there to connect to. A colleague I worked with 10 years ago found me and my masseuse from when we lived in Dallas. And I started dialoging regularly with my relatives that I usually only see and talk to once every year or two. I really like some of them, too!

My son has loaded grandchild pictures once. I think this is a common tale for people my age.

I have an advantage with my pen name. I keep my family and close friends on the profile with my real name, and have writer friends and contacts under my pen name.

There's a limit to how many friends you can have on FB. I think it's 5000. After that you have to create a Fan Page. At least that's how it was last week. Whatever FB does, you can count on them changing it within a month or so. That's the most frustrating thing about it.

This is from my friend, Krista Davis, author of the Domestic Diva mysteries:

/////

Random Observations about Facebook

1. It takes about two weeks of consistent work to reach 3,000 friends.

2. There are a *lot* of bored people in this world.

3. A surprising number of erotic romance writers live in Utah.

4. There are millions of writers out there.

5. People have strange ideas about what kinds of pictures they should
use. Why is an otherwise normal woman, who is not an erotic writer,
posing so that she gives the appearance of being nude? Why would
someone use a photo with hair combed down into her face? Why do
people use pictures of children? I don't know if it's a cute picture
of the person as a child, if it's a picture of the person's child, or
if (heaven forbid anyone think I'm an evil Facebooker) I'm asking a
child to be my friend.
/////

MYSPACE

This is completely unknown territory for me and I think this may be obsolete for most people.

GOODREADS

This is mainly a place for people to tell about what books they've read and to rate them with a five star system. If you have a book out, you should set up an author page and put your book or books there to make it easy for people there to pick them and read them. There are a LOT of avid readers there.

LINKEDIN

I honestly don't know what good this is to a writer, but people keep adding me to their lists and I just reciprocate. I don't do anything there except participate in a couple discussions that others invited me into.

KINDLE FORUMS

The forum set up is very difficult for me. I'm told authors must be very careful about saying they're authors, or they'll be banned from discussions. Some people have gotten a lot out of the forums, but I haven't done much with them. I'm too afraid of being banned!

TWITTER

My friend, Krista Davis, insists that Twitter is different, and better than, Facebook. She says it's because it's viral. (Can you tell she's my informal, but official, social media consultant?)

Krista guest blogged for Cozy Chicks on April 3^rd and her topic was Twitter for Authors, Part I. The next day was Part II.

I've put the urls for these blog entries in the handout. They're worth reading if you're new to Twitter.

TWITTER LESSONS

http://www.cozychicksblog.com/2010/04/guest-kirsta-davis-twitter-for-authors.html

http://www.cozychicksblog.com/2010/04/twitter-202.html

Mostly I tweet links to my blogs. When other people retweet me, I try to find something of theirs to retweet. Krista says she treats Twitter like a Times Square billboard. Some people will walk by, some will be too busy to read her post, but some will stop and look.

Diane Vallere likens it to a cocktail party. You can pass one group by, maybe stop and chat with another one, maybe get fully engaged in another discussion.

A subject, or topic, is designated by the number sign, #, called a hash tag. These two, #writer and #books, are topics that a lot of people follow and pay attention to. So if your tweet contains either of those, quite a few people will see it. When someone sees a good topic (usually the tweet takes you to a blog or website), they will retweet it, their followers will retweet it and, voila--viral.

Tweetdeck and Tweetchat make the messages more managable since they allow sorting. There are also ways to line up tweets ahead of time so they'll go out at intervals during the day, but I haven't seen the need to do that.

Guest post by John Kenyon, editor of GRIMM TALES

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering how the anthology of fairy tales came into being, here's the scoop from the guy who started it all. I welcome John Kenyon to my travels today!

John Kenyon is the editor of griftmagazine.com and the forthcoming print debut of Grift. He has stories in the first two issues of Pulp Modern, and upcoming in Needle, Beat to a Pulp and All Due Respect.

Here's his post:

painting by Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann

If one reads the original Grimm Brothers tales, they are quite dark. Over the years, however, the audience for these tales has shifted. No longer are they frightening cautionary tales aimed at adults. No, they now are aimed squarely at children, sanitized lest their little minds conjure too terrifying a scenario before bed.

It was while reading one of these toned-down versions that I began thinking of a story that was decidedly adult in its composition. In the version I read, there is only the hint of menace; everything always works out in the end. This book, Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales, bolsters each story with fanciful drawings that depict everyone involved as some sort of post-Precious Moments cherub, all rosy cheeks and broad smiles.

"The landscapes glimpsed in her meticulously rendered pictures more closely resemble a park or playground than a wild wood," writes children's literature historian Leonard S. Marcus in his introduction. "Really scary things couldn't possibly happen here."

That's all well and good for children -- I've rushed into my three-year-old's room to quiet the swirl of images brought about by a nighttime tale that was a bit too vivid for his young imagination -- but, um, bleeds much of the power from these classic tales.

My idea was simple: recast these stories as modern-day crime fiction tales. It wouldn't take much. In each there is a protagonist who, while not always entirely innocent, at least has the reader firmly in his or her camp, and an aggressor who is trying to take what isn't rightfully his. Add a few guns and some coarse language, and "The Three Little Bears" or "Little Red Riding Hood" aren't too far from the latest story revolving around a robbery or a heist.

I wrote a story, but feared it would get lost without the proper context. I held a contest, asking others to do likewise, and came up with the batch of stories that eventually became Grimm Tales.

My own story updated "Puss in Boots," recasting the mischievous cat as a thigh-high boot wearing stripper. Others dug deeper, going for more obscure stories that nonetheless translated well to the world of modern crime fiction.

"Let the big bad wolf huff and puff if he must," Marcus writes to conclude his introduction to the illustrated book I read to my kids. "Happy endings await."

Not here. The real world doesn't operate that way. As Ken Bruen writes in the introduction to our book, "Ever imagined what would have come down the dark pike if The Brothers Grimm were more Brothers Coen and wrote mystery?"

PS. If you MUST read these tales, the links are just to the right.

Two Excerpts

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm down to the wire to get my Agatha-eligible stories presented here in December, since one just got published last week--a good problem to have!

So I'll give you a bit of the new one, HENRY, GINA, AND THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE, which appears in its entirety in GRIMM TALES from Untreed Reads. It's an e-book of stories based on fairy tales, a fun project!

At the end of this excerpt, I'll give you the whole story, DRIVING OUT OF DUMAS, since it's very short and is available free at Apollo's Lyre.

Be sure and come back here Friday when the editor of GRIMM TALES, John Kenyon, will be my guest.

Here's the excerpt first (it won't be hard to tell what fairy tale this is based on):

"Get in there and fess up, you little hoodlums." Vanessa shoved Henry and Gina toward the door of the Gingerbread House. "And quit sniveling, Gina. I know you're faking."

Gina leveled a cold laser stare at her stepmother. And quit sniveling. It hadn't taken the bitch long to figure her out, Gina reflected. The fake crying had only worked for about a month or so. Henry had had the same luck with his stomach aches. Except Gina knew those were real. That red-headed she-devil could give anyone a stomach ache.

A bell, shaped like a heart, tinkled innocently as Vanessa flung the door open and pushed the children inside the candy shop.

The blowsy bleached blond owner, Brenda Pritchard, ambled through the beaded curtains from the kitchen and squinted at them.

"Can I help you?"

Her voice was light and thin. Gina thought it was a nice contrast to the heavy, thick goodies in the glass cases, Brenda's heavy, thick body, and her heavy, thick glasses.

Vanessa put on her sweetness-and-light face, but it almost cracked under the thick makeup from the effort. "Yes, you can. The children would like to tell you something."

Both women waited and stared at the kids. Gina considered trying the snivel again. Henry bent over slightly with a pained look on his face.

Gina grimaced and stepped forward. "We shoplifted some crap. The old lady wants us to tell you that."

Brenda's eyes grew large in her smooth, bland face. "Such language from such a young child," she said.

Not all that young, thought Gina. She and Henry were ten, after all. Not babies.

"Yeah, well...." Gina jerked her head toward Vanessa. "She made me say it."

Gina could almost detect the steam rising from the top of Vanessa's red hair.

"I did not tell you to--never mind. The children stole from your store and need to make restitution."

"What did you take?"

Gina thought Brenda gave Henry a look of pity. He was bent over even further, pressing his small fist into his belly.

"Just some chocolate shit, a couple truffles," said Gina.

"And?" prompted Vanessa.

"Some turtles," Henry said through clenched teeth.

"You had half a dozen truffles left when I found you with them," sneered Vanessa. "And at least that many turtles."

"Yeah, well, you enjoyed ‘em, didn't you?" said Gina. She ducked, expecting a slap, but Vanessa apparently didn’t want to abuse them in public. It was the first standard Gina had discovered in the woman. What had her father been thinking, bringing that bitch into their home?

All of DRIVING OUT OF DUMAS:

I'd been thinking of breaking up with Aldon, but I didn't know how to do it. Given his temper, I didn't think it would be easy.

That afternoon he picked me up from my job at the convenience store.

"Go for a ride?"

"Sure," I said. "Sittin in the car beats standin on my feet for eight hours." It wasn't too hot out yet, only getting up to the mid-80s during the day. Our Texas panhandle gets a lot hotter.

Aldon shifted through the gears on his ancient pickup, mashing in second like he always did, and we blew past the grain silos and hit the open road. The wind from the open windows felt good,

better than the AC in the store, which was always cranked down to a freeze-your-ass-off temperature. I took off the sweater I always wore to work and threw it behind my seat. Then I reclined the seat and let the air flow over me as I closed my eyes and relaxed.

After awhile I woke up. I watched the cloud-dotted sky skim past the window, then glanced at Aldon. He looked sorta grim.

"What's the matter, Al?"

"Nothing's the matter," he snapped. He was in a mood.

I sat my seat up. "Hey, where are we?" We usually drove out through the fields, dotted with irrigation circles, to Dalhart at the farthest, then turned around and headed back home to Dumas. I knew the local land pretty well, and this rough open rangeland wasn't it.

Aldon didn't answer.

"Where we goin?"

"I gotta do somethin. You sit tight. Don't worry about it."

Well, that wasn't gonna happen. I got a bad feeling that worsened with each mile. I snuck a peek at the gas gauge--we weren't due for a refill.

Then I spotted a gas station in the distance. "I gotta pee," I said. "Real bad."

Aldon looked at me for the first time since we'd started the drive. "Okay. I'll pull in. Make it quick."

I had second thoughts when I saw how run-down the place was. The bathroom wasn't likely to be too clean. But I needed to break up what was happening, somehow. Even if I didn't know what it was. I spent as long as I could inside. When I got back Aldon was scowling.

He took off before I got my door shut.

"Hey, you tryin to kill me?"

He didn't answer.

We eventually crossed the border into New Mexico. I wondered if Aldon was ever planning on returning home. Were we running away? From what? He was never an easy person to talk to. Today I was afraid of him. That grim look, this stupid car trip--I thought maybe I'd get out and stay out the next time we pulled over.

We slowed down, finally, for a little town a few miles across the border. I'd been dozing and missed the name of it. The sun was setting in front of us, shooting a blinding glare through the windshield off the blacktop.

"Can we get something to eat?" I asked.

"Later," he said. "I want you to do somethin for me. Just take a few minutes."

He headed down a curbless side street, turned around and pulled over. He left the engine on and climbed out.

"You get in the driver's seat," he said. "I want you to keep the truck runnin. When I get back, take off. Don't say anything, just take off, back the way we came from."

There was a convenience store around the block from where we were parked. Was Aldon going to rob it? Geez, I lived in fear of that every time I pulled night shift. I didn't want to help him rob a store, but what could I do?

I sat and fretted, trying to figure out how I could get out of this awful mess, but I was still there when Aldon came running back. He jumped in, threw a sack behind the seat and yelled, "Go!"

All I could do was react. I floored it and took off.

"What the hell did you just do?" I yelled while I ground through second gear. I got it to third and fishtailed a little. The truck didn't handle too well for me at high speeds.

Aldon had a big grin on his face. "I just raised us a little capital." He spit out the window. "Slow down to the speed limit. No one knows what vehicle to look for. If we don't get pulled over, we won't get caught."

"You mean *you* won't get caught. *I* didn't rob nobody."

"Sure you did. You're aiding and abetting, don't think you're not."

Damn, he was right. I was driving the getaway vehicle. "I think we better switch places pretty soon. I don't drive your truck all that good."

"You're doin fine. I need a nap." He put the seat back down, folded his arms on his chest, and was snoring inside of three minutes.

I kept driving--he'd wake up if I stopped--but I reached back to pull that sack into my lap. The sun had just set and dusk was falling, bringing a moist smell with it. It was a beautiful night.

My fingers fumbled inside the sack. I felt bills, but at the very bottom I struck something hard. And warm. A gun. That he'd fired. Shit.

Maybe he'd sleep till we got back to Dalhart and I could pull into the police station. I didn't know where the damn station was, though.

We were twenty miles out when he stirred.

"You never got me anything to eat," I said, wracking my brain for a solution.

"You can have steak when we get home."

"OK, but I gotta pee again."

"Hey, me too. Stop here. It's dark out. The truck can shield us."

Breaking up turned out to be that easy. He got out. I drove off.

END

Hope you enjoyed the stories!

I'm keeping good company

2011-12-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Buy here

I'm thrilled and honored to be part of a new anthology, just out from Untreed Reads! Here's the description of GRIMM TALES, edited by John Kenyon, to show you what a great crew is there:

Grimm Tales is a collection of stories by some of the top names in online crime fiction, all based on classic fairy tales. As novelist Ken Bruen writes in his introduction, "Ever imagined what would have come down the dark pike if The Brothers Grimm were more Brothers Coen and wrote mystery?" The collection is edited by John Kenyon, editor of Grift magazine, and contains 17 stories by Patricia Abbott, Absolutely*Kate, Jack Bates, Eric Beetner, Nigel Bird, Loren Eaton, Kaye George, Blu Gilliand, Seana Graham, Eirik Gumeny, R.L. Kelstrom, John Kenyon, BV Lawson, Evan Lewis, B. Nagel, Sean Patrick Reardon and Sandra Seamans.

I had fun mistreating the Hansel and Gretel tale. Read this to see how John got the idea for the collection. Oh, and to buy the book, available in multiple digital formats.

PS. If you're near Georgetown, TX, and need a last minute gift, come see me at Hill Country Bookstore between 4 and 7. I have just the thing!

Excerpt from The Bavarian Krisp Caper

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

Have you ever had one of those days? This story stems from a time I was in Boston, craving a donut, and not finding a parking space. To read the rest of it, click at Untreed Reads. If you're attending Malice Domestic in April, I would love it if you'd please consider this story for a possible Short Story nomination. Even if you don't consider it, I'll see you there!

THE BAVARIAN KRISP CAPER

By Kaye George

Life was looking a little better. At last.

Mandy hummed to herself as she watched her niece, Ella, run from one duckling statue to the next. Mandy clutched a bag that held two fragrant donuts, a chocolate frosted for Ella and a Bavarian Krisp for herself. She sipped her coffee and waited for the curly haired toddler to finish greeting and patting each small, sturdy bronze sculpture. Ella came running, a big grin on her little freckled face. She tugged at Mandy’s hand and they headed for the swan boat ride, the conclusion of their sunny afternoon outing at Boston Common.

Mandy had offered to watch Ella while her mother, Mandy’s sister, ran errands. She might as well. She loved watching her niece, but hated the fact that she’d been free to do so for too long now. Money was getting tight.

Mandy salivated, thinking about that donut. Bavarian Krisp was her favorite snack in the world. There was nothing better. Nothing. She was lucky to have a boyfriend who understood her passion for them. He’d gone out early and brought the doughy treasures to her before he went in to work this morning.

The thought of Carl brought a smile to her face. He knew how devastated she’d been since losing her job three months ago. Her teeth gritted whenever she thought about it. It was so unfair!

“That’s twice this week you’ve been late,” her pointy-headed boss had remarked.

Mandy tried to edge past him into her tiny cubicle. She was laden with her purse, her lunch sack, and her water bottle. When the idiot refused to budge, she tripped over his big feet and lost her grip on her lunch. It arced onto her desk. The ripe strawberries inside made a squishing sound and started to bleed red onto the report she’d left front and center last night. The urgent report, due this afternoon.

She felt steam rising inside her, threatening to blow her head apart.

“The bitch in the cubicle behind me is late every week,” said Mandy. “Why don’t you say anything to her? Is it the size of her sweaters?”

The frosty look from the pointy-headed man tamped down her steam. He called security to escort her out.

Her humiliation had been complete when the bitch snickered behind her hand as Mandy passed.

She wanted to stop for a donut that day—the office was next door to a Dandy Donuts shop—but she’d been laden with the contents of her desk in an awkward sized box and didn’t think she could manage it. She’d eaten one on the way in, of course, which was why she’d been late.

Mandy had applied for twenty-five jobs but had gotten exactly one response so far. Aninterview was set for tomorrow, but she wasn’t sure she was qualified for that position. It called for more accounting knowledge than she had.

Her mood had gone from bad to worse and she’d almost canceled her outing with Ella, but Carl said it would do her good, take her mind off things. He’d been right. The sun felt glorious and the air carried the faint aroma of early spring lilacs to compete with the smell of baked goods wafting up from the sack she held.

After they climbed into their seats for the boat ride, Mandy handed Ella her donut, then picked up her own with two fingers. Ella peered over the swan figures on the sides of the craft and crammed most of her donut into her tiny mouth. Mandy shut her eyes in anticipation; this first bite would be the best moment of her day.

“Aunt Mandy! Look!” Ella grabbed Mandy’s arm and pointed at a mother mallard swimming beside them, a row of babies paddling behind her. Mandy’s donut flew into the lagoon. Tears sprang to Mandy’s eyes as she watched it float away. Six squawking mallards swam to attack it.

Book Review: Threat Warning by John Gilstrap

2011-12-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Here's my review, for "Suspense Magazine" in October, of this excellent thriller. I should mention that you can always get 4 free trial copies if you're thinking of subscribing. Just click on the link above and read the copy below the cover image.

“Threat Warning” by John Gilstrap:

There’s no need to wonder how Gilstrap gets the rave reviews and best-selling status that he gets. Just start reading and it all becomes clear.

A bizarre group calling themselves “The Army of God,” and calling each other Brother-This and Sister-That, have a secret goal so lofty it’s worth killing for. At least in their minds it is. The story opens with young Colleen Devlin preparing to mow down motorists on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac during the afternoon rush hour. She’s at one end of the bridge and Brother Stephen is at the other end.

Jonathan Grave is driving across the bridge at the moment they open fire, stuck in traffic, chatting with his friend and passenger, Father Dom D’Angelo. Jonathan instantly recognizes the sound of an automatic weapon, creeps out of his car, and whips out his Colt .45. Although he hits the shooter in the chest, she runs away just as he realizes she’s a female and not a young man. A misguided Secret Service agent gets the drop on Jonathan, thinking he’s the perpetrator, and both shooters escape detection.

Colleen commandeers a minivan for her getaway and, in the process, takes the driver and her teenage son hostage to a mountain hideout. The Army of God is well-organized and supremely motivated, but their captives, the wife, and son of a deployed Delta force operative, and their opponent, Jonathan Grave himself, are formidable. Grave and his team watch as other fatal mass attacks are carried out across America. They struggle to get to the people behind the carnage that continues splashing blood and leaving bodies across the country before even greater havoc ensues.

Hang on, it’s a wild ride!

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke” for Suspense Magazine

What are Agatha-eligible works? (& book signing!)

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year to get excited about Agatha awards. They're given out at the Malice Domestic conference every year. Everyone who signs up for the conference before the end of the year receives a form in January. On that form they can nominate mysteries, non-fiction mystery related books, and short stories for Agatha awards. These are prestigious in the mystery community. Even to say you've been nominated is an honor. I think so, at least, since I was nominated in the Short Story category in 2010. That was one of the most exciting events of my life!

If you've signed up for the conference, or if you're thinking of going, I'll offer the stories I've had published this year that are eligible, just in case you want to--you know--nominate one of them.

Here's the first part of "The Truck Contest" which was published in FISH TALES: The Guppy Anthology, by Wildside Press. The whole anthology, where you can read the rest of this story and the other Agatha-eligible stories in it, can be purchased at Amazon as a paperback or an e-book.

[But before you get started on this, I want to let you know I'll be signing at Hill Country Bookstore in Georgetown on December 23rd. If you need a last minute holiday gift, come on by!]

THE TRUCK CONTEST
first 1215 words

The first time I saw it I assumed it was an accident. Assumed some poor schmuck had

left a truck out on the ice just a little too late. Every morning on the way to work I drove

the winding road around Lake Minnetonka and followed the progress of the yellow

pickup, sinking lower and lower as the early spring sun picked up strength.

That first winter in Minnesota, I had noticed, right away, how Lake Minnetonka becomes

a huge playground in the cold weather. The natives use it for snowmobiling, ice skating,

and ice fishing. They cavort outside in frigid weather as if it were summertime. I was

most fascinated by the ice fishing, though. My Dad had never taken me fishing when I

was a boy. Hell, he’d never taken me anywhere, except to the track.

I had done a lot of hard outdoor work in a hot climate recently and had no desire to repeat

that sweaty experience. The cold weather did take some getting used to, but I had the

example of the Minnesotans to follow. I would follow their lead and they would show me

how to enjoy it. And anything was better than being locked up. I bought a lot of new

clothes. That helped me keep warm.

At the beginning of that first winter, I observed people driving their pickups onto the

frozen lake. They unloaded dozens of one-room wooden fishing shacks, mostly

homemade, and created a temporary village between Excelsior and Big Island. At work

they told me it was called Ice Town. Some of the guys in shipping were avid ice fishers.

The little shacks really did look like a town out there on the frozen lake, with narrow

streets laid out where guys drove back and forth to their houses. Some of them even spent

the nights there. They hauled in carpeting, huge coolers full of beer, and satellite dishes to

give them some of the comforts of home. It was mostly a guy thing—I never saw more

than a couple of women. It looked like fun and I thought about giving it a go the next

year.

When spring approached, the natives hauled off their fish houses and drove their trucks

home. One lone pickup remained, however, that yellow one, parked in a widening puddle

on the thinning ice. It was obviously too dangerous to go out and get it. I shook my head

every time I saw it and felt sorry for the slob who had left his truck to sink into the lake.

One morning, I arrived a couple minutes late, not unusual for me. So why did Karen, my

chubby little boss, give me the evil eye?

Get used to it, I thought. Some people don’t live for this sorry job. Who would want to? I

inhabited a cubicle, an invention of the devil himself, I’m sure, and processed orders for

imported junk. Little plastic bracelets and gifts bags, shit they sold at the Dollar Store. I

was as far from my previous address as I could get, and the company didn’t do

background checks. That’s why I worked there. Karen as my boss lady I could handle. I

even flirted with her some when I started there. The one that got to me, though, was

Clark.

That day, in the break room, Clark mentioned the Truck Contest.

“What’s that?” I asked, waiting for him to quit fiddling with the sugar packets so I could

get some for my coffee.

Clark cleared his throat wetly, one of his least obnoxious mannerisms, raised his superior

eyebrows almost up to his wig, a toupee that might have been a squirrel in its former life,

and informed me that bets were placed on when the truck would sink.

“So that yellow pickup doesn’t belong to some poor sap who just procrastinated too

long?”

“Hell no. What a stupid thing to think.” He picked his nose, stirred a small mountain of

sugar in his styrofoam coffee cup, and strolled off to his cube, the one next to mine.

Clark was not a desirable cubicle neighbor. Most mornings his radio blared stock market

reports, and in the afternoon he listened to, as far as I could tell, the worst music ever

recorded, big band and polkas. Where did he find those stations? My protests would

prompt him to lower the volume for half a day, then he would twist the dial back up and

dare me to say something. I decided I had to start raising my issues with Karen.

It really didn’t bother me, working for a woman. I know a lot of guys couldn’t do it. But I

was just lucky to have a job, and, if I had to work for a broad, I could handle it. This

broad, however, wasn’t the one I’d pick. I think the feeling was mutual. She’d flirted

back when I started, but was always too busy to meet me anywhere after work. I dropped

the act eventually. I wasn’t going to get any from her.

I rapped on the door to her office—she had an actual office, with a door—and entered

when she told me to come in, after the second knock.

I walked up to her desk, remained standing. “You know Clark, in the cube next to me?”

She looked up from her paperwork and frowned. Those little plucked eyebrows were

cute. “Jesus, Roy, how would I not know Clark? I’m his boss, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“You have a problem with Clark?” She drew out his name, those fleshy lips caressed it.

Not good.

“Well, not with Clark. With his radio. It’s hard to work with it turned up so high, you

know?”

“No, I don’t know.”

“Can you say something to him?”

“I’ll see.” She bent her head to the papers on her desk and I left, not hopeful.

I tried a few more times, but Karen barely listened to my complaints. She only mentioned

the radio to Clark once and, when she began picking up the phone and dialing it as soon

as I walked through her door, I gave up. Her office nauseated me anyway, the way it

reeked of Obsession.

One day I grabbed my dictionary off the metal shelf above my monitor to check the

spelling of a word for the report I was writing. The page was missing. I looked up and

Clark stood in his cubicle, leering at me over the short wall that divided us.

“What are you so happy about?” I asked. He didn’t answer, just kept smirking.

“Do you know anything about this page that’s torn out of my book?” I asked him, trying

to be as civil as possible.

“Oh that. Yeah.” He scratched his armpit. “They were out of toilet paper in the john.”

I stared. “You used my dictionary for toilet paper?”

“Worked pretty good.” He turned away and plopped down into his chair.

I felt my sanity straining against its mooring, threatening to float off, out of my Cubicle

From Hell. There was no way I was going to go through the job hunting process again. It

had taken months to find this indoor position. Most other people checked references more

thoroughly than these people did.

Book Review: Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry

2011-12-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

I reviewed this book in September for Suspense Magazine. I hope you enjoy the review.

William Monk has a new job, head of the Thames River Police. His battle is not a new one, however. He failed to convict child-trafficker Jericho Phillips in the past and the abuse Phillips facilitated continues, funded by someone still unknown. The child Monk and Hester rescued from the clutches of that evil, Scuff, is settling in, although they still hear him crying in the night. Scuff says he’s eleven, but looks about nine. If Monk can’t stop the most recent manifestation of abuse, he will feel he’s failed the boy.

It seems to me that the Victorian England of this book was a time when morals were more sharply defined, more black and white, than they are now. The horror of an underground industry, one that panders to the perverted, juts starkly through Perry’s lush prose. Some of the situations are quite vivid, just to warn you.

A squalid little man, Mickey Parfitt, is found dead at the edge of the river. He’s been bashed on the head, then strangled with a distinctive silk scarf. His unsavory companions, ‘Orry (short for ‘Orrible or Horrible) Jones, Tosh, and Crumble are questioned first, obvious initial suspects. But the scarf belongs to an aristocrat wastrel who is a benefactor of Hester’s clinic for rescued women of the street. The abuse, and pornographic live shows involving very young boys, is taking place on a boat, so the murder and the trade are all within Monk’s jurisdiction.

No one is very interested in finding Parfitt’s killer, since the world is better without him, but Monk is determined to find out who is supplying the money. If he doesn’t, nothing will stop. The upper class seems united against Monk investigating and solving this crime. Depending on who murdered Parfitt, funding could be cut off for Hester’s clinic and Monk could lose his job. Especially if Monk goes after the wrong person.

Guest Chris Redding, Be the Chihuahua

2011-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

I welcome Chris Redding to my travels today. She has hosted me in the past and it's time to pay her back for her kindness. Chris is a multi-published author in romantic suspense, including some paranormal romantic suspense. For those of you seeking to be published, here's what she has to say about that--and Chihuahuas. Thanks for being here, Chris!

Be the Chihuahua

By Chris Redding

My degree is in journalism and for about 5 months I actually worked in that field. Did I crave the hard news? Nope. I loved the feature stories, but I went at them with no less vigor than I did the breaking stories.

Frankly, people’s jobs are interesting. I once spent a half an hour on the phone with a guy named Ted E. Behr (no joke) talking about effluent. It was fascinating because he found it fascinating.

What does that have to do with being a Chihuahua?

Well I always warn my interviewee that I will keep asking questions until I either get an answer or understand what the person is telling me. I liken it to those little dogs that grab onto your pant leg and won’t let go.

Gotta admire the little guy’s persistence. He’ll hang onto your pant leg and he only weighs eight pounds.

And I think this is a great attitude on many levels for a writer.

First you have to be persistent and finish the damn book.

Then you have to learn all you can about writing and how to make your gem shine.

And of course you have to submit. No matter how many rejections, you have to keep polishing and keep submitting. Until someone says, “yes.”

You must write another book. And another. Until you write one that someone wants to publish.

And when it is published, you have to get out there and network with your readers. You have to do signings. You have to do workshops.

You have to be persistent.

Especially because lots of people around you won’t be. I’ve seen writers come and go and never get published. And it wasn’t because they couldn’t write, it was because they gave up.

So be the Chihuahua.

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. When she isn’t writing she works part time at her local hospital.

Books:

Blonde Demolition

Corpse Whisperer

The Drinking Game

Incendiary

A View to a Kilt

Find Chris on the web:

www.chrisreddingauthor.com

http;//chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/chrisredding

Here's a bit about her latest book: Blonde Demolition

You just can't hide from the past...

Mallory Sage lives in a small, idyllic town where nothing ever happens. Just the kind of life she has always wanted. No one, not even her fellow volunteer firefighters, knows about her past life as an agent for Homeland Security.

Former partner and lover, Trey McCrane, comes back into Mallory's life. He believes they made a great team once, and that they can do so again. Besides, they don't have much choice. Paul Stanley, a twisted killer and their old nemesis, is back.

Framed for a bombing and drawn together by necessity, Mallory and Trey go on the run and must learn to trust each other again―if they hope to survive. But Mallory has been hiding another secret, one that could destroy their relationship. And time is running out.

www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor

Two signings and a Holiday Celebration!

2011-12-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Somehow, it happens that I'm doing TWO signings tomorrow at Hill Country Bookstore. From 10-1 I'll sign CHOKE. If you need a holiday gift for a mystery reader, you can't go wrong with CHOKE.

At 2:00, fellow short story writer Mary Ann Loesch will join me and we'll sign ALL THINGS DARK AND DASTARDLY. A great stocking stuffer for a reader who likes dark, quirky, little tales. After all that, I'll go home and collapse!

There will be, at the very least, chocolate in the shop. But outside, you can catch the Christmas Stroll on the historic square. This Stroll is PACKED with happenings and charm: http://www.thegeorgetownsquare.com/category.php?id=3

Be sure and check the parade route if you're coming around noon.
http://www.thegeorgetownsquare.com/category.php?id=15

I sure hope to see a bunch of you there!

Getting Your Name out There Part 2

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of 5

GOOGLING

You want your name to show up when someone searches for it on the internet, and the more places you have a presence on the web, the more likely your name will show up near the top of the list. I've heard that if you have interconnections, it puts you higher in the search engine hierarchy. You want to be found when someone searches for a subject relating to you, too, not just for your name. Periodically search for your own name and see how many of the results on the first page are actually you. The more the better.

There are articles, even courses, on how to move your name up with search engines if you want to dive whole hog into this. I'm happy if I show up on the first page, and ecstatic if I show up at the top. On Sunday, the whole first page was me on Google, 9 out of 11 on Bing, 8 out of 10 on Dogpile, and 9 of 11 on Yahoo. Take that, George Kaye (my main rival) So, Yahoo! Something's working.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA

You may not want to, but I think you might have to use at least some social media. I don't think there's a way to avoid it.

BLOGGING - There are probably a million blogs now, but it's still a good way to get your name out there. You can blog on writing, on your life, on your interests, on anything, really. Visit some of your favorite blogs and see what works for you, what you can make work. Decide what draws you in because you can't write about something you're not interested in and make it fascinating.

Decide where to aim your blog. At writers? At readers? At friends and family? At complete strangers who don't know you and stumble across your blog?

Be sure and use the labels feature so someone can come across your blog when they google topics you've written about. If you're using another writer, say Lisa Scottoline, as a example of something, put her name in the label section of the blog. People who are searching for her will have an opportunity to check you out. I'm not sure if this feature exists on other blog sites, but blogger, or blogspot, which I use, makes it easy.

Other blogging topics: Book reviews and interviews are good. They'll draw fans of the books and authors you're using. The more popular and high profile the book and author, the more hits you'll get.

After you've blogged for awhile, maybe a few weeks or a few months if you're posting once a week, step back and reassess. Are you drawing in the readers you want to? If not, revisit your favorite blogs and try to see what you could improve, what they're doing that you're not. I love blogs with pictures so I try hard to find what I think are cute or interesting illustrations of my topics. Most of my pictures are from wiki commons and are in the public domain. Sometimes I can use photos that I've taken.

I also try to pose questions some readers might want to answer, or have opinions on.

Groups blogs are easier because you don't have the burden of making all the posts. This will also increase your reader base. Each blogger will draw in their friends and fans.

There are blogs about blogging and some of them give great advice. The most important thing you can do, after blogging regularly, they'll tell you, is to let someone know you've posted a new blog.

Do this on lists you belong to, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you communicate online. It works better to try to engage people, too. You can post that you just blogged about mowing grass. Ho hum. Or you can ask people if they have solutions for grass problems. What do YOU do about weeds, bald patches where grass won't grow, shady lawns, lawn mowers that balk? Are riding or push mowers preferred? What's the best way to hang the hammock when you're done? You might get more visitors if you can prompt them to read the blog and, better yet, to comment on it.

Unfortunately, I get a lot of people who comment about my blog on Facebook, not on the blog. Each blog site has challenges to posting, it seems, for some people.

Once you have a book or a story out, you can draw readers in by saying you'll do a free giveaway to a random commenter. I count my commenters, have someone I know pick a number between one and the number, and do my giveaway to that person. IF I can locate their email address. Don't forget to tell people to leave an email address for a giveaway. Do as I say here, not as I've done.

HOW TO MAKE USE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS

COMMENTING

Leave thoughtful comments and make sure your name is displayed. Leaving comments on other people's blogs will encourage them to leave comments on yours, that is, to visit and read it. This is part of the interconnections that will make you easier to find on the web. You can also become a follower of another blog in hopes they will follow you.

GUESTING

Almost everyone who runs a blog is delighted when someone wants to write a guest column. It gives them a day off. Some people solicit for guest bloggers and, for sure, respond to those. This is a golden opportunity. Other bloggers may draw admirable traffic that you'd like to get in on and you can offer and see if you'd be permitted to guest blog there. Be sure you blog about something relevant to that blog and clear your subject with the owner of that blog. Refer, of course, to your own blog or webpage discreetly somewhere if at all possible.

I have listed a few blogs I like to visit, ones I think are successful.

BLOG EXAMPLES

Diane Vallere http://www.dianevallere.blogspot.com/

Viva Barkowski http://vrbarkowski.blogspot.com/

Cozy mystery writers http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/

Mystery writing groups http://www.poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com/

http://www.jungleredwriters.com/

Book Review: Split Second

2011-11-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

I did this review in August for Suspense Magazine.

“Spilt Second” by Catherine Coulter:

This sixteenth in the series is subtitled An FBI Thriller, but, if you're expecting a traditional thriller, be warned that the books have a cozy feel. The main characters in the series are the married couple, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, and Dillon is a bit psychic. But there’s another couple that takes over this book, Lucy Carlyle and Cooper “Coop” McKnight. Another character, it seems, is also psychic. Those elements take away from the thriller aspect, but there’s plenty of action.

Lucy and Coop are mismatched, the department logic goes, so they’re paired on a case. In fact, Lucy intensely dislikes Coop and his playboy reputation, but works with him for the sake of professionalism. Both Lucy and Coop harbor deep secrets from their past and the secrets threaten to surface and must ultimately be faced as they work together. Their case involves a guy who is picking up women at bars, drugging their last drink and then taking them to their own places to murder them. The guy has an unusual look, pale, almost white skin, emaciated artistic look, and a harmless puppy-like demeanor that attracts the women.

When the DNA of the pick-up artist is analyzed, they find out just how unusual he is. The agents are shocked to learn that the guy is a female. They’re even more shocked when the DNA is a match to that of Ted Bundy. The agents must put themselves in harm’s way to catch this very clever serial killer who is determined to carry on Bundy’s gruesome tradition.

Another case, an attack on gentle Mr. Patil who runs the Shop ‘n’ Go that Savich and Dillon frequent, runs in the background and provides its own twists.

If the reader can go along with a supernatural element, this mystery is enjoyable, a blend of thriller, cozy and paranormal.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke” for Suspense Magazine

Guest Rory Tate, Like a novel: Life with backstory

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

I welcome new novelist, Rory Tate, to my travels today. She's not a new novelist, but Rory Tate is. Confused? Read on.

The writing life is a choice. You have to really want to write, to express yourself in little words, tiny letters, pages of inner turmoil and alter egos. Like old age, it ain’t for sissies. Nobody is clamoring for your golden thoughts, as you find out once you start submitting to gatekeepers. What sounds to you like the most pithy, amazing, insightful nugget goes right over somebody else’s head. They don’t get it. They don’t get you.

In my twenties I wrote educational media, did newspaper work (mostly film reviews as I was, and still am, a rabid cinephile) and had a few exciting jobs writing ad copy and doing public relations for the Realtors of Bakersfield. But in my spare moments I thought about novels. I scribbled lame ideas on index cards and filed them away. I went back to school and got a masters. I taught broadcasting at a community college and did some video production. None of these jobs really fit. I started thinking again about writing, and wrote a screenplay. I paid $200 to somebody from the back of Writer’s Digest to tell me that it wasn’t very dramatic. Life went on. I decided to rewrite it into a novel as breaking into Hollywood while living in Back-of-beyond, Wyoming, with two small children seemed fruitless.

I spent my thirties writing novels, going to conferences, meeting writers and figuring out what this writing life was all about. Meeting other writers at that first conference in 1988, during the Yellowstone Park fires near the Boulder River in Montana, was mind-blowing. Not only were there other people like me, struggling to find a voice, but here were professional writers. They live and breathe! Although I set my sights on publication before my 20th high school reunion, then my 40th birthday, those milestones came and went. But soon after I sold my first book (the second one I wrote) to an editor I met at that first conference five years earlier. He had changed houses and said yes to The Bluejay Shaman. Actually he said, “It’s too long by 15,000 words. Can you cut it down?” To which I said, “Well, no, I don’t think I can.” I thought about that overnight and went back and told him, “Of course I can!” (Never say you can’t cut your own words. You can and you will, one way or another.)

This was one of the most exciting times of my life. Always treasure that first book. Western writer Terry Johnston told me to buy several boxes of first editions and put them in the garage. (They’re still there.) I walked on air for months. I was published.

Now, three publishers, seven novels, and seventeen years later, I’m not quite as giddy about publication. But holding a book in your hands that you slaved over, cried over, wrote and rewrote and rewrote some more -- there’s nothing like it. My new novel, Jump Cut, had a rocky beginning. I wrote the first half of it and couldn’t figure out what to do with the rest. I rewrote it multiple times. I had many rejections before deciding to publish it with Thalia Press, the small press run by my friend and fellow writer Katy Munger and me.

The independent publishing explosion has given many authors like me a chance to publish books that New York couldn’t see a market for. My last one, Blackbird Fly, is another example. Originally contracted by St. Martin’s Press, it went through three revisions before, for unexplained reasons, they kicked it to the curb. It has a new life now and is doing quite nicely, thankyouverymuchstmartinspress.

I decided to publish Jump Cut with a pseudonym, a choice that my agent first made when submitting it and I kept out of some perverse death wish. Now I am Rory Tate and I feel a bit reinvented. I always wanted to use “reinvented” in a book title but it seemed like a cliché. So I did it to myself. I even have a fake bio: Rory Tate lives in Seattle and is a former news reporter at a television station there, and in several other major markets. Rory attended an Ivy League university, majoring in slacking and history, then found work in the field of journalism. Self-taught in broadcasting Rory discovered a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and the perfect margarita. A lover of war zones and dark alleys behind the Iron Curtain, Rory caught flack once too often and retired to the computer to spin behind-the-scenes tales of news rooms, danger, and the possibility of being your own worst enemy.

Jump Cut tells the story of a television reporter in Seattle who is her own worst enemy, likes Cosmos by the pitcher, has to work for her Rat Bastard ex-husband, and is desperate for a new job. A narcotics detective is suspected of stealing drugs from evidence. They have to work together to save themselves and the city they love. Read an excerpt and watch the trailer at rorytate.com. Available at fine bookstores everywhere. Goodreads is giving away three copies of the book. Enter now -- good luck!

Amazon

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Book Review: Damaged

2011-11-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Here's another review I did for "Suspense Magazine." This one is from July.

“Damaged” by Alex Kava:

This thriller is a fast read. Not because it’s short, but because it’s so hard to put down non-stop action. The short chapters, mostly five to six pages long, move the reader through the book like the hurricane sweeps through the story.

Hurricane Isaac is heading straight for Pensacola, Florida. It has already hit Jamaica as a category-4 storm, which means its winds were 131 to 155 miles per hour and caused “devastating” damage, killing dozens of people. It soon picks up to a catagory-5 with winds 156 miles per hour or greater and capable of causing “catastrophic” damage.

Some residents of Pensacola—the ones who rode out the last storm—don’t believe it will hit dead on, but most of the area is evacuating. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Bailey, a twenty-seven-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer and veteran of Hurricane Katrina, is part of a team who discovers a floating cooler of horror, full of body parts. They’re not even all from the same body.

Meanwhile…Maggie O’Dell, FBI special agent and profiler, returns from a bloody shootout to be sent by her unfriendly boss into the hurricane’s path to help investigate the discovery. No time to recover.

Meanwhile…Colonel Benjamin Platt, an infectious disease expert and a guy Maggie would like to have as more than a friend, is sent to the same area to see if he can figure out what’s happening to cause some mysterious deaths among military patients.

Meanwhile…a funeral director named Scott, who is Elizabeth Bailey’s brother-in-law, is getting himself involved in something that he knows should make him a lot of money. He doesn’t exactly realize what it is though.

The threads are woven together expertly against the backdrop of the impending storm, which is picking up power and heading straight for all these characters. The climax will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Reviewed by Kaye George, author of “Choke” for Suspense Magazine

Getting Your Name out There

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

GETTING YOUR NAME OUT THERE

Part 1 of 5

I'm by no means an expert, but I can tell you what I've done, and some of it might work for you. I'll also tell you what some people, who are much better known than me, have done.

I've given variations of this as presentations to my local Sisters in Crime chapter, April 2010, and again for the San Gabriel Writers' League in October, 2011. I had to do some revamping between those two. Things keep changing! Neither publishing nor social media are standing still and you have to on your toes to keep up.

Fred Millard - Selling His Wares (public domain)

This will address starting from the bottom, as if you've done nothing, so skip any parts you already have a handle on.

YOUR NAME

The first thing you need, in order to get your name out there, is--your name.

If you're thinking of using a pen name for any reason, that's your first decision. Pick a name and start using it. But first Google the name you want. Also look for that name.com. This might help you with your decision. (More on that later.)

Create an email address with the name you're going to use. The easiest way to do this is by using a free email service like gmail or yahoo.

You want your email to be your name, and to be obvious. Don't use Kevin's Mommy or Mystery Writer or Agatha Christie fan, stuff like that. It's good for everyone to be able to tell who the email is actually from.

USE YOUR NAME

Now that you have settled on a name, start to use it. If you belong to online writing groups, sign up with that name, using that email address. If you're already a member with another name, announce that you're changing your moniker, then join the list with the new name. Get people used to seeing it.

BUILD A WEBSITE WITH YOUR NAME

Next, you'll need a website if you don't already have one. If you can get the domain for your_own_name.com, do it.

If your name is taken as a domain, you might think about using a different one, maybe just a variation. Or, you can tack writer on the end: my_own_name_writer.com or my_own_name_author.com. Don't tie yourself down to the name of the book or series you're currently working on, or your current main character. If you never get that book published, you might get a totally different one accepted.

When you have a domain, put up at least a temporary message that a webpage is coming soon.

When you get around to designing your site (or having it designed if that's not your thing), keep in mind what you want to accomplish, what you want people to see when they visit. What is the most important thing about you that you want visitors to know?

Here are some suggestions: before you're published, you can offer your bio, some facts about you if you'd like, pets, kids, family, some pictures, what kinds of projects you're working on, organizations you belong to and links to them, and links to other writers' sites and blogs (and to your own blog).

After you're published, you'll need, front and center, information on how to buy your books. Include where you'll be appearing, approximate release dates of upcoming books. Some readers like to visit their favorite authors' websites and they'll even dash out to buy the next book as soon as it's available. Make that easy for them.

Here's another tactic you can use. If you have a hobby or interest that's related to your writing, you might want to start a separate webpage for that, or maybe you can use part of your writing page with a separate tab. Maybe a gardening webpage if you write about a gardening sleuth--draw in people who love gardening; or a site devoted to Maine Coon cats if your mysteries feature them. You can gain a following, from these interests, of people who just may eventually buy your books. People like to buy books from writers they know something about.

That parallel interest ploy can work with blogs, too, in fact even more so there.

This has worked well for a horse racing fan whose book came out recently to rave reviews, Sasscer Hill. Her book is called FULL MORTALITY and was published in May by Wildside Press. Her publicity compares her to Dick Francis and Sue Grafton--high praise! Her blog has been devoted to the horses she breeds and to horseracing and she's used it to the utmost to promote her mystery.

Back to websites and getting started there. Look around at other people's websites and see what you like about them. Dark, bright, background colors, layout, etc.

Choose some that have the feel you want and try to imitate that in yours. You can even contact the designers of the websites you like to see if they're available to design yours. If the name of the designer isn't displayed at the bottom, you could contact the writer to ask for the web designer's name. Sometimes it's a husband or daughter, or the writer herself. But, if you're having someone design yours, you'll want to give them an idea of what you want and pointing to an existing webpage that you like is a good start.

Below are some that have very different looks to them..

WEBPAGE EXAMPLES

Deb Baker http://www.debbakerbooks.com/

Lisa Bork http://www.lisabork.com/

Beth Groundwater http://www.bethgroundwater.com/Home.html

Debra Lee http://www.debralee.net/

Sandra Parshall http://www.sandraparshall.com/

Hank Phillippi Ryan http://www.hankphillippiryan.com/

Jeri Westerson http://www.jeriwesterson.com/

Elizabeth Zelvin http://www.elizabethzelvin.com/

Krista Davis http://divamysteries.com/Domestic_Diva_Mysteries/Domestic_Diva_Mysteries.html

Warren Bull http://www.warrenbull.com/

Diane Vallere http://www.dianevallere.com/

Mary Ann Loesch http://www.maryannloesch.com/

Steven Metze http://stevemetze.com/

Two Book Reviews

2011-11-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

I reviewed these two books in June for Suspense Magazine.

“The Fallen Angel” by David Hewson:

This ninth Nic Costa book follows closely on the heels of “City of Fear.” Nic's present adventure takes the reader deep into Rome, not only into the complex family life of the man, Gabriel, who has apparently plunged to his death from a faulty scaffold, but deep into the ancient Cenci family and the mythology that surrounds that fateful clan.

Three days into his August holiday, Nic comes upon a young English girl, Mina Gabriel, bending over her father’s dead form. The similarities to Beatrice Cenci, a tragic Roman figure, are striking. As are the parallels between the Gabriel family and the Cenci family. To begin with, the death happened on Via Beatrice Cenci, where the family has been staying. Something about the accident, about the way Mina looks at him and about the way her brother disappears after an enigmatic statement, ‘She's safe now,’ compels Nic to investigate, even thought it’s August and, as everyone reminds him, he’s on holiday.

So is almost everyone else at the Questura, the police department where Nic works. This makes investigation a little more difficult. The fact that the other police don’t at first think the death is suspicious gives Nic more problems. Why was Mr. Gabriel, an intelligent, popular, respected academic, reduced to living in this dilapidated building in the ghetto? Is the answer in the family’s tangled history or in further links to the Cenci history? Mina and her mother are obviously holding something back, but nothing will make them reveal what it is.

An ancient organization, The Brotherhood of the Owls, with links to Galileo, may hold some clues. But then, again, it may just add to the confusion.

Meanwhile, an attraction to Agata Graziano—a beautiful woman who has given up the vocation of nun—is tugging at Nic. Will the memory of his deceased wife let him pursue whatever might become of a relationship with her?

It was great fun to delve into Roman history and a modern mystery with Nic Costa.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke”, for Suspense Magazine

“Revenger” by Rory Clements:

This is a tale of altered history, using John Shakespeare, the brother of Williams, as the sleuth. William even makes a brief appearance and plays a role. The first in this series was "Martyr" and introduced Shakespeare as an "intelligencer" for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, Elizabeth I.

As the second book opens, John has retired from a palace and political intrigue to serve as headmaster of the Margaret Woode School for Poor Boys. His first main problem is an instructor who is too harsh with the students, but whom he is stuck with. The instructor was foisted upon him by the Protestant Bishop as an agent to keep track that no Roman Catholic leanings creep into the curriculum. His second worry is the Roman Catholic faith of his beloved wife, Catherine. She refuses to keep it hidden, a dangerous position in England at this time. John worries for his wife and his young daughter.

Queen Elizabeth, to whom John is loyal, has enemies. England has defeated the Spanish Armada, but Spain is regrouping and King Philip remains a threat. There may also be a plot to arrange a marriage between Lady Arabella Stuart, generally acknowledged to be next in line to the English throne, to Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex. This would be a powerful alliance and could topple the queen.

Some rough characters convince John to get back into the intrigue game, some working for Sir Robert Cecil, some for Essex. John isn't quite sure who is on the side of the queen and who is against her. When John's wife quits speaking to him after she narrowly misses a trip to the Tower with the Catholic priest she follows, his troubles are compounded. Somehow, his family is entangled in a plot to overthrow his monarch and he must use his wits to keep this from happening.

The book is quite long for a mystery, 448 pages, but there's excitement and conspiracy on almost every page to keep the reader's interest.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke”, for Suspense Magazine

Pilgrimage to Canterbury

2011-11-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I was able to take a quick trip to Canterbury, courtesy of Jeri Westerson, whose new Crispin Guest release, TROUBLED BONES, takes place there. Can't wait to read my new autographed copy!

Jeri says that when she found out Chaucer had left his Tales incomplete, she determined, then and there, to finish them up. She waited until the 4th Crispin book to do it, though.

I tell people that Jeri travels with her collection of medieval weapons and the question is always, "How does she get them onto the plane?" They go into the belly of the beast, in a hardcase golf bag. On her trip home from Austin, though, she feared she'd lost them. They were misplaced when she got off the plane in California. They were found, though!

If you ever get a chance to Jeri give a presentation, even if it's without her dueling knights, make every attempt to see her! She demonstrated the proper way to use the sword and the flail and had a knife and a dagger at hand, too. We were all very nice to her.

Book People, where she appeared in Austin, was also celebrating the one-year anniversary of its mystery program, the program spurred on there by mystery buff Scott Montgomery. So we had cake!

Book Review: The Bone House by Brian Freeman

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I did this review in April for Suspense Magazine.

“The Bone House” by Brian Freeman:

Here's a psychological thriller done by someone who knows how to write one. While basically a story of a man and wife, the plot bleeds out to include a detective and and CSI analyst, some troubled teenagers, and a terrible tragedy from the past. The tragedy, portrayed in the breathtaking prologue, reaches lethal tentacles into the future and threatens almost everyone involved.

Mark Bradley is having a tough time. He and his wife, Hillary, moved to an idyllic island in rural Door County, northern Wisconsin, from a Chicago suburb to live on their salaries as teachers and raise a happy family. Mark, however, was accused of sexual harassment when the mother of shy teenaged student, Tresa, read the torrid accounts of an inappropriate affair in Tresa's diary. Tresa insisted her writings were all fantasy, but Mark was fired anyway and has been out of a job for a year. His wife, Hillary is still a dance coach at the high school, but her reception by the locals has become increasingly chilly.

Mark accompanies his wife and her dance students to Florida for a competition. It's supposed to be a relaxing getaway, but Mark is accosted on the beach by Tresa's younger sister, Glory. When Glory is found dead, a witness is found that saw Mark kissing Glory very late at night. He insists they didn't kiss, and that he didn't kill the girl. Hillary wants to believe him, but she's exhausted from standing by him during the ordeal of the past year. And she's not quite sure he's telling the truth.

Cab (Born In One) Bolton, the unusual detective assigned to the case, fights against his attraction to the lovely CSI analyst, Lala. Like Hillary, he doesn't know who to believe. But he's Mark's only hope. And he carries a horrific secret of his own from the past.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “CHOKE: An Imogene Duckworthy Mystery” for Suspense Magazine

Link to The Bone House on Amazon

Going Down a New Path

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

The anthology that came out last week is a departure for me since I've considered myself a mystery writer for the last ten years or so. Before that I tried literary short stories without much luck. Okay, without any luck. Eventually I had a couple of those published, but not before quite a few mystery stories were accepted here and there. (A nearlycomplete list)

My travels, since I started this blog, have chronicled my journey to publication of my mystery novel. There was also inclusion in the Guppy anthology, as well as my short story collection--all mysteries, more of less. I expected the next book to be another mystery.

However, a writing group I've been meeting with is not a mystery group. We're all just writers who met up at an Austin conference. We have found that we all like to write dark tales, among other things. So we got together and put some stuff together. Some of it has been published before, but most of it has not. Mary Ann Loesch has an urban fantasy novel out called NEPHILIM. Steven Metze wrote a zombie book called THE ZOMBIE MONOLOGUES. And I wrote the mystery CHOKE.

Hence, a new path for me!

As you can see, we're not all writing in the same genre. But, you know what? I don't think that matters any more. I see genres mixed and blending all over the place. So we're joining a trend, really, not starting one, by putting out an anthology together and throwing our genres together. We think it turned out pretty well. If you'd like to see for yourself, the paperback is at Amazon and the ebook is out for Kindle, Nook, and everything else at Smashwords.

Some of these stories would be good to read on Halloween night, after the trick-or-treaters have gone home and the lights have been turned low, the darkness has started creeping into the house, a cold wind is rattling the shutters, and a distant cat is howling.

Photo of Great River Road in Wisconsin from Wikimedia

Reviews: The Fates Will Find Their Way & The South Lawn Plot

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've posted book reviews! Here are two from the beginning of this year that I did for "Suspense Magazine"

“The Fates Will Find Their Way” by Hannah Pittard:

This is the most unusual book I’ve read in awhile, being in first person plural with lots of verb tenses that would be awkward for many writers. Not for Pittard, though. The story pursues the mystery of the elusive and enigmatic Nora through what-ifs, maybes and might have beens. Possible pasts are explored and discarded, though some are held onto by the group of boys as they progress through high school into adulthood.

It starts as an angst-ridden drama of newly hormonal teenagers. When one of their group, Nora, goes missing, the group considers alternate scenarios to explain to themselves, collectively, what happened to her. It’s an elitist bunch of boys who permit one “public schooler” into their midst, but only on the outskirts. In spite of this, we come to appreciate them and sympathize with their difficulties. Nora disappears on Halloween, and subsequent Halloweens are never again normal events for them. One of their female classmates is raped by a big brother of another classmate and they are tenderly protective of her. Nora’s younger sister, Sissy, is perhaps the mostly profoundly affected by her sister’s disappearance and unresolved fate. The boys close solicitous ranks around her, too, as much as they can.

The reader watches in fascination as the boys mature and become the men that their teenage years laid foundations for. And, always running through their lives, even as they marry and have children, are the questions surrounding Nora. The fantasies they form are fed by sightings over the years that may or may not have really been Nora. They create alternate lives she might have, would probably have or could have led.

There are some hilarious scenes, but most are serious and give the reader plenty of fodder for speculation and thought.

I hope you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did. In spite of the unusual literary style, it’s readable, even flowing and my interest never ever flagged.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “A Patchwork of Stories”, for Suspense Magazine

“The South Lawn Plot” by Ray O'Hanlon:

I think you have to call this a thriller, technically. It doesn't quite move like one, but the cast, geography and tangled plot are complex—gigantic even. There's a lot to recommend here as we follow Nick Bailey, a London reporter, into a story that starts out murky and gets deeper and deeper into a real, pea-soup fog.

The interwoven plots involve an odd, religious order with roots in the 1600s. The present day priests of that order: a wealthy Taiwanese businessman with a grudge and a terminal illness, a famous photographer who has a much darker sideline occupation, a frustrated, Irish freedom fighter and the top political figure in the world. Their conspiracies snowball. Nothing will stop them except, perhaps, Nick, the intrepid and courageous reporter and a few British police officers who stand in the way. Some American counterparts come into play also as we skip from continent to continent and world-wide war looms if the diplomacy isn't handled exactly right.

From the beginning, with dangling suicidal priests, these disparate groups weave a tangled plot whose strands gradually twine together to create a rope of intrigue that may be too strong to be broken. Throw in MI5, MI6 and a few American agencies and you've got a potboiler. A very satisfying read.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke”, for Suspense Magazine

I love libraries!

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Me with author Mike Cox

Two wonderful libraries have hosted me in the last week. The Taylor Library held their annual Gala fundraiser on Thursday, the 13th, and invited 14 writers and an artist as guests. The theme was Western and a great country band played for us while everyone munches delicious goodies, took advantage of the drinks, and chatted. We even sold some books.

Other writers and the lone artist

Taylor buffet table

Then, on Saturday, the Pflugerville Library threw their doors open to three mystery writers and local radio book reviewer, Hopeton Hay. Robin Allen, Janice Hamrick, and I discussed mysteries and mystery writing with an attentive, appreciative audience and, again, we got to sell books.

Hopeton, Janice, me, and Robin

But, more important than selling books, on both occasions writers got to connect with readers and it was great fun.

Our audience at P'ville

A get-together in Pflugerville

2011-10-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hopeton Hay, who hosts the KAZI Book Review in Austin, will lead a panel discussion that I'm participating in as the author of CHOKE. The other two authors are RobinAllen (IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT) and Janice Hamrick (DEATH ON TOUR).

All three of us have done radio interviews with him and I can vouch for his skill as an interviewer. (Mine is here.) It should be a good event!

If you're in the Austin area, we'll all be at the Pflugerville Library on October 15th, 1-3:00 pm, discussing our present novels, future plans, and taking questions from the audience.

I hope to see some of you there!

Speech!

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

If you read my post last week, you know that I gave a talk. It wasn't very stressful, mainly because my audience was tiny and I felt I was just sitting in a room talking, not actually "giving a speech". (I like the quotes that way, OK? OK?)

However, I'm slated to give a longer speech, and to more people--tomorrow! Yikes! Why do I say I'll do these things? For some reason, I think I'm supposed to, that giving talks makes me a better (stronger?) person. Face your fears, right?

In this case, because I was asked and it was so flattering that I couldn't say no. It's a talk I gave over a year ago, updated. The person who asked, me, Sylvia Dickey Smith, heard the first version and must not have thought it stunk that bad. The truth is, my delivery is not the best. My paralyzing fear prevents me from being natural. Or it did the last time I gave this talk. It's about getting your name known as a writer, by the way. So much has changed with social media and publishing that I had to update it significantly!

In the months since I gave this (almost) same talk, I have done a few public appearances and hope I'm better at it now. After all, I've done a radio interview. I've also sat on a dais in front of many people on panels at conferences, but in those cases, I draw strength from the numbers sitting at the table with me. I'm going to pretend I'm at a conference, at one of those tables. Or maybe that I'm at the talk I gave last week with three people listening intently.

These two posts have helped a lot and I'll link you to them in case you're giving a talk soon. Ramona DeFelice Long, who has no trouble getting in front of people, gave tips for the performance author on the Sisters in Crime blog, Parts One and Two.

These were just in time for me! I hope they help some other people, too.

If you belong to the San Gabriel Writers' League, I'll see you tomorrow at the library in Georgetown!

Painting: Stump Speaking by George Caleb Bingham, public domain from wikimedia

How can this help us?

2011-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Some of my online contacts and buddies already know about my trip Saturday. The manager of Viva, a nifty bookstore in San Antonio, and I planned an event around the Guppy anthology, FISH TALES. We spoke in person, emailed back and forth, and talked on the phone. We nailed down what I should present.

Then I worked on a presentation that would go 15-20 minutes. I got it up to about 18 and figured that would work. I would speak about the history of Sisters in Crime and of the Guppies, the group that put out the anthology. Then I would go into some detail about how we planned the project and how it came together. I had gathered, from the short story authors, short passages about how they came to write their stories, and I ended with some of the mistakes that we may have made. All with the aim of helping any writers planning on putting out an anthology.

Carla Pena, the manager, had about ten chairs set up when I arrived, plus a nice sturdy table for me. I put my handouts on the table, along with some bookmarks, and a pile of anthologies, of course. She even had a pitcher of water and cups. It's still very hot in central Texas.

One person arrived. We waited a bit for the appointed time. We waited past the appointed time. Then I started in giving my talk, informally, since I was giving it to Carla, my audience of one, and my husband in the back row.

The nice woman listened intently and asked me some questions. In fact, we all four chatted through my talk and discussed things along the way. She took all my handouts and bought a book. I signed it to her sister, who owns a used book store.

OK, my first thought at the end of the day was, this was a lot of work for one person and one book. But then I remembered the eventual recipient owns a book store. She must talk about books to all sorts of people, all day long. If she likes the antho, I'll bet she'll mention it to someone.

I left five signed copies at the bookstore, so this may turn into six copies sold, not one.

The other advantage is that I have a presentation all put together that I can give again somewhere else. Even if I don't, I can use some of it elsewhere.

One more plus: I'm not a very good public speaker and the more I do it, the better I'll be. With such a small, friendly, attentive audience, that talk was easy to give. Maybe the next one will be, too.

interior photo of Viva Bookstore by Esme Araiza

Fear, figure from Charles Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, public domain

Fishing in San Antonio

2011-09-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

If anyone is in the vicinity, I'd love for you to drop in to Viva Bookstore, 8407 Broadway in San Antonio. I'm doing a presentation on how we put our anthology together for the Guppies.

You can also pick up a copy of FISH TALES: THE GUPPY ANTHOLOGY if you've neglected to get one yet. Twenty-two tales of mystery and mayhem from the rising stars of mystery!

DONUTS FOR YOU!

2011-09-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

What could be better than eating a crème-filled donut? Reading a cute story about one? No, reading a donut story and eating one at the same time!

Here's your chance. My story, "The Bavarian Krisp Caper", is half price today, in celebration of National Crème-Filled Donut Day. (What a great celebration!)

And, if you leave a comment here and tell me what your favorite donut is, you have a chance to win a certificate for not one, but a dozen! Your choice, Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts. AND your pick of any story at Untreed Reads, my marvelous publisher who is sponsoring this event.

What are you waiting for? Can't pick your favorite donut? Then pick mine, Bavarian Kreme by Dunkin Donuts.

How Publishing Has Changed!

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Marilyn brings a unique perspective on what's different now, having published books in the old days and now having published a few recently. She's agreed to share her experiences here and I welcome her to my Travels!

I’m no business maven, but except for the electronics industry, which introduces new apps and innovations almost on a daily basis, I doubt no other industry has changed as much as publishing has this past year--and it’s due to electronics. The advent of self-publishing via CreateSpace, Smashwords, and other companies, has turned traditional publishing upside down and inside out.

My first book, AND DON’T BRING JEREMY, came out in 1985. I wrote it on a typewriter. I wrote my next few books on a typewriter, as well. As the author of children’s books, I occasionally spoke in schools and libraries. That was the extent of the PR or publicity I was expected to do. The rest was the publisher’s domain. They sent ARCs to Kirkus, PW, ALA, Booklist, The Horn Book, and other review publications. Oh yes--I once wrote an article for my local newsletter when RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK, my fifth book came out.

This past June my debut mystery, A MURDERER AMONG US, came out with Wings ePress as an ebook and then in paper format. This time I didn’t receive an advance, and I paid $90 to have my book come out as a paperback. Wings ePress made my book available on their website, on Amazon.com, and on fictionwise.com. The rest was up to me.

Thank God for my fellow writers! Two Wings authors offered to review my book. They both read it quickly, loved it, and gave me wonderful reviews. Other writers supplied me with a list of reviewers who might be willing to review my mystery. I did blog interviews and wrote guest blogs. I learned about Murder Must Advertise and All Mystery e-newsletter, about Facebook and twitter, Book Town and GoodReads. I ordered bookmarks and business cards. Every day I learned something new and how much more I had to do to spread the word that A MURDERER AMONG US was available to readers. I had to get my name and my book’s title out there every way I could!

Coming from traditional publishing, this was foreign to me. While I love to share good news, I’m not one for calling attention to me, me, me. I’m not used to signing emails with my website, my book’s title, and where it can be purchased. Most of all, I wasn’t used to asking friends to buy my books. I was used to giving them copies from the twenty or so authors’ copies I used to receive. So many of my friends were good sports and bought copies of my book--some who live as far away as Australia and England--and I’m grateful to them.

I’ve two books coming out with Uncial Press--a ghost mystery and a romantic suspense called DANGEROUS RELATIONS. Uncial Press is strictly an ebook publisher, so I’ll put these two titles out in paper format myself. I also plan to put some of my out-of-print children’s books out with CreateSpace and Kindle.

Re-publishing and self-publishing are the wave of the future. We writers are learning new skills every day. We have to, in order to keep up with the times: making trailers and websites, using music, doing audio versions. And most of all, we must continue to write good novels.

Please visit Marilyn at

www.marilynlevinson.com

Her most recent book:

A Murderer Among Us -- http://bit.ly/kOZgcz (Wings ePress)

Kindle: http://amzn.to/oF7t1c

Nook: fictionwise.com

I'm Teaching a Short Story Writing Course

2011-08-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of Savvy Authors, it's time to get acquainted. They offer reasonably priced classes that cover all aspects of writing. Right now they're putting on a Summer Symposium. For $30 you get your choice from a long list of classes--take as many as you can handle.

The signup is at their webpage.

If you'd like to delve into short stories, I'm teaching When Shorter is Better.

Here's a bit about the class, which begins 8/24!

Are you intimidated by the thought of writing a short story? Even though you've already whipped out a novel or two? Relax, it's not that hard. There are a few basics that can help you understand the needs of a short story: the arc and structure, the character requirements, and some tips on writing shorter. We'll discuss how to get short successfully.

Five lessons:

1) structure

2) characters - number, how to introduce, how deep to go into the character

3) descriptions - how detailed to get

4) twists at the end

5) how to write shorter - eliminate unneeded words, count total words and pages, figure out how many words/page to cut

Book Review: The Pyramid of Doom by Andy McDermott

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

Here's another book review that I originally did for "Suspense Magazine". This has also been posted on the DorothyL mystery reader list. Hope you enjoy it.

Dr. Nina Wilde, with the help of her British husband, Eddie Chase, continues to astound archeologists, and the world, by uncovering yet another unknown treasure. This one leads to the possibility of the existence of the fabled Pyramid of Osiris and a conspiracy the goes far beyond archeology.

We are introduced to college student Macy Sharif, who is bored with her summer job on the project in Egypt, even though, in just eight days, the leader of the expedition promises to reveal the existence of the Hall of Records, long thought to be mythological, amid international television hoopla. Her boredom vanished when she realizes some of the project members, even the leaders, are plotting to remove treasures without the knowledge of the International Heritage Agency sponsors. Macy, a fresh and engaging character, turns out to be resourceful as well, when she escapes from the thugs who are inexplicably trying to kill her. She appeals to her idol, Dr. Nina Wilde, the discoverer of Atlantis, for help. Nina, who has been suffering from depression after being "suspended" from IHA because of her disgrace in the Garden of Eden disaster, meets with Macy in a New York coffee shop called 52 Perk Up, and they're off!

A quest to uncover the secrets of an Osiris cult leads to a romp from Egypt to Paris, on to Switzerland, and even Monaco. A handsome, vacuous action movie star, Grant Thorn, gets mixed up in the adventure, along with a pair of murderous Egyptian brothers who have their own ideas about the legends of the gods Osiris and Set, and an American named Bobby Diamondback who favors snakeskin jackets. This eventually ties in with a plot that could kill millions.

The car chases and shoot-outs go on a little too long and are sometimes a little too contrived for this reader, but fans of Nina and ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie, will certainly expect them and will willingly suspend disbelief.

Amid the action and double-crossing shoot-em-up excitement, are the serious themes dealing with the relationship of Nina and Eddie, Nina's suffering self-esteem, and Macy's voyage of self-discovery. And, most satisfying for the fans of this series, the future is left up in the air at the end. Another wild ride is surely coming right up!

My 99 cents experience

2011-08-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

My numbers aren't very large, but I'd like to report my experiment with a 99 cent sale in case it helps anyone who is considering doing one.

I put the ebook version of my novel, CHOKE, on sale for 99 cents for a couple weeks in July. Before that it had sold for 5.99. After the sale I dropped it down to 4.99. When/if the sequel comes out, I'll probably drop it to 2.99.

For Kindle, the ebook first went on sale for 5.99 in May and it sold steady in May and June. During the sale, the numbers increased 66 percent and I went on to sell just slightly less at full price after that. I didn't increase income for the sale, but I got several more books out, so I'm pretty happy with that.

On Barnes and Noble, my sales were much less in May and June. The sale numbers were about double my total. I haven't noticed an increase since the sale. In fact, there are very few there.

On Smashwords I didn't sell any at 99 cents. I am, however, selling there steadily at full price, both in the US and in the UK.

When I have more books out and my numbers are larger, I'll try this again to increase readership.

Here are some links to real numbers for several authors. These aren't about 99 cent sales, but about sales in general.

http://www.genreality.net/the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2011/06/ellery-adams-bares-all.html

http://www.cozychicksblog.com/2010/07/jb-bares-it-all.html

http://jenniferonwriting.blogspot.com/2007/12/making-living-as-writer.html

Link to my radio interview, a signing, and a class this month

2011-08-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the link again to Hopeton Hay's blog. Hopeton is the host of KAZI-FM book reviews and brings in some big names! Check out his other interviews. My own interview is here.

I'm excited about my Barnes & Noble signing Saturday, August 6th. I've checked and the books are there (a touch of OCD, don't ya know?). If you're anywhere near Austin, TX, drop into the La Frontera store between 2 pm and 4 pm and say howdy.

I'm giving a class on short story writing for the Savvy Authors' Summer Symposium August 24-28. It's a mini-workshop with some exercises designed to put novel writers more at ease when they go short. You can sign up for the Symposium on the main site, then click on the individual classes you'd like to take. Mine is called When Shorter is Better. If you're a novelist who fears short stories, give it a try. You might like it!

Radio interview!

2011-07-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

My first (maybe only) radio interview was aired on the 17th on KAZI FM 88.7, a local non-profit Austin station! Hopeton Hay did an excellent job putting me at ease for this. I was so nervous, never having even been inside a radio studio before. The link can be found on Hopeton's blog.

Mr. Hay is also lining up an appearance at a nearby library in Pflugerville for September or October. He's a great guy to know!

End of the sale

2011-07-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've had good results with my 99 cent sale, but all good things must come to an end. Likewise my sale. I'm putting the prices back around the 15th. (I can't count on getting to it on schedule this week since I'm away from home.)

But when Imogene Duckworthy #2 (SMOKE) comes out, I think CHOKE will go back to 99 cents permanently.

Meanwhile, you can enjoy an audio short story for only 89 cents at Sniplits. And a completely free story at Apollo's Lyre.

In addition, I'm anticipating two anthologies before too long, in which I'll have stories. Stay tuned for details!

About Librarians

2011-07-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

My pleasant early library memories are due, of course, to librarians. And their books. I haunted the children's section so thoroughly in the summertime that the librarian asked me if I wanted to help out. I got to stamp the due date on the pasted-in sheet in the fronts of the books the other kids were checking out. It was SUCH an important job. I loved it!

She even permitted me to go check out books in the adult section before I was actually old enough to do so. I think I may have read all the books in the children's room.

I worked in the library at Northwestern University when I attended there, too. That job paid actual money, so it was even better.

Wherever I've lived, if there was a local library--and there usually was--I had a library card.

Some of my best friends are even librarians, or former librarians. I hope they get a kick out of Hortense Duckworthy, my retired librarian character. She's a little over the top, but I love her dearly. (Of course I can love a fictional character, she's MY fictional character.)

Jennie Milchman started a campaign last year to set aside a day called Take Your Child to the Bookstore. She has since added Take Your Child to the Library Day. Wonderful concept, but let's not just do this once a year. All children should be taken to libraries! Even more so than bookstores. Libraries are free, so every child can participate. You don't have to afford to buy books at libraries.

I remember my children's librarian guiding me to all the horse books, all the dog books, then to some science fiction when I went through that phase. The school librarians always seemed to know what I'd like, too. I usually knew just what I wanted, but sometimes I couldn't find anything. Librarian to the rescue!

National Library Week was April 10-16 in 2011, but if you missed that, you can still go! The library is still there. They may have cut some hours--budgets are tight--but most of them are still there, waiting for you with open shelves.

Book Sale

2011-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here goes, my first sale! Don't crowd, there's enough for everyone.

My ebook of CHOKE, the first Imogene Duckworthy mystery, is being reduced to 99 cents for a limited time (TBD). The ebook of A PATCHWORK OF STORIES will be the same price. As everything I have for sale, individual short stories, are already 99 cents, I guess that makes my whole e-inventory eligible for the Dollar Store.

The sale will start today at Smashwords and should take effect at Kindle and Nook soon after that. Here are the links:

Kindle

Nook
Smashwords

Kindle

Nook

Smashwords

Featuring Urban Fantasy and Mary Ann Loesch!

2011-06-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm very proud to feature my writing group friend, Mary Ann, today!

The Mystery in Urban Fantasy

Today Kaye has graciously allowed me to steal some time on her fabulous blog. I know that many of you who follow Kaye are mystery writers, a genre that I love but don’t actually write. Or do I? Technically, I’m a speculative fiction writer. That means most of the things I jot down have some sort of supernatural element to them. My book, Nephilim, is coming out July 18 and is classified as an urban fantasy. Hmmm…so what is that exactly?

Urban fantasy means a story that takes place in contemporary times, and typically in some sort of city environment. It may have fantastical elements to it such as aliens, wizards, witches, vampires, werewolves or other paranormal events, but the key element is the time and location. It must take place on Earth or else it falls into an entirely different genre. Sometimes people will confuse urban fantasy with paranormal romance, an easy thing to do since the trend in urban fantasy is to include a romantic plot twist. When trying to figure out whether or not it’s an urban fantasy or a paranormal romance, focus on the plot. Is the story centered on the relationship, or is it about some other event? If it’s mostly about an event, then it’s considered more urban fantasy while a story with more focus on the romance would be paranormal romance. Believe it or not, there’s a huge debate about the difference between those two things, and I can guarantee that I’ve probably already offended someone with my definition.

Alas, you can’t please them all, and that’s actually not what I’m here to talk about anyway.

This brings me to the mystery of urban fantasy. Believe it or not these two genres (mystery and urban fantasy) do have something in common. Urban fantasy may have fantastical creatures in it, but typically there is some sort of mystery to be solved as well. Who is capturing the werewolves and doing diabolical testing on them? Why did someone murder the head witch of the coven? Who has the most to gain by turning the heroine into a blood sucking vampire? These are the questions urban fantasy readers are willing to get to the bottom of. And if there is a good looking hero involved who may or may not howl at the moon, all the better!

Even serial killers—a staple in many of the mystery novels I’ve read—are not left out in urban fantasy. In fact, my novel Nephilim has a serial killer in it, too. Of course, he only stalks angels and has a special knife that allows him to suck out their angel essences, but he’s still a naughty guy! Part of the fun of the novel is figuring out his identity and why he does the things he does.

A great example of the mystery side of urban fantasy is the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. In this fun series, we met Harry Dresden, a wizard who occasionally works with the Chicago P.D. on some of their more bizarre and unexplainable cases. As a wizard, Harry is able to see things from a different perspective than a regular detective and he has his own unusual methods for bringing the bad guys to justice.

So while I’m not specifically a mystery writer, I have to give a big nod to the genre. It definitely has influenced my work and will continue to do so. I think most stories have a bit of mystery to them which is why the reader keeps reading.

Mystery genre, I salute you!

Mary Ann Loesch is an Austin writer and active blogger for All Things Writing (http://www.allthingswriting.blogspot.com). Her urban fantasy, Nephilim, will be released on July 18 through Lyrical Press Inc. To learn more about Mary Ann, visit her website at www.maryannloesch.com.

Also check out www.loeschsmuse.blogspot.com to learn more about Nephilim.

Gathering Momentum

2011-06-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

I had planned to do a lot of promotion for CHOKE in May, then get back to writing BROKE (and polishing SMOKE for a full swap) in June. So far, that's not happening. I think maybe my promotional activities are just taking hold and gathering momentum. I actually have people coming to me to interview me. And I arranged another signing today, at a Barnes & Noble--yay! I even had someone request me to write something today. That's only happened once before, at Dark Valentine, RIP.

I hope that's what's happening anyway.

If only my WIP would gather some momentum! How do people who are promoting novels find time to write?

Photo, Mercedes in Motion, is in the public domain.

Reporting on a New Destination, Hill Country Bookstore signing

2011-06-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sign outside the store with MY name on it!

I signed my novel, as well as the Guppy anthology, at the Malice Domestic mystery convention, and I signed my short story collection at Left Coast Crime, but this was different. Hill Country Bookstore hosted my for my debut solo signing! I got to sell all three at once. It was greatly enhanced by the fact that it took place during the First Friday celebration, which means all the stores on the historic Georgetown (TX) square stay open late, a band plays by the courthouse in the middle of the square, and many places (including the bookstore) provide food and drink to strollers and customers. Very fun!

Me with my chocolate handouts

What made it special was that many friends showed up. Friends who are writers, librarians, and readers. Many of them didn't know each other, they just knew me. But they all had one thing in common--books. At one point during the evening, when some of these newly introduced and, evidently, compatible people were hanging around my table chatting, I remarked that it was like I was having a soiree. I've always wanted to have a soiree! Since I don't know exactly what that is, I'm calling last Friday mine. Ignorance can be used.

Preston and Sarah Stone, the owners of Hill Country, are warm and gracious people and I want to thank them so much for making my first signing such a good experience.

I also have to thank Kathy Waller for taking pictures.

Interview with Marilyn Levinson

2011-06-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm welcoming Marilyn Levinson to my blog today. We've known each other online for a long time, and we even roomed together at Malice Domestic the last couple of years. She's experiencing a great deal of success lately!

Marilyn is the author of the enduring children's books, AND DON'T BRING JEREMY, NO BOYS ALLOWED! and RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK. She used to teach high school Spanish, and is married with two sons. Just recently, success has bombarded Marilyn in the form of two new mysteries, soon to launch.

You can visit her at http://www.marilynlevinson.com/

KAYE: Can you tell us about the two new books?

MARILYN: Both mysteries take place in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, though you’d have trouble finding the communities and villages mentioned because they don’t actually exist. In A MURDERER AMONG US, which debuted June first, Lydia Krause moves to an upscale retirement community, where she reveals a resident’s criminal past and sets off a series of homicides. In GIVING UP THE GHOST, Gabbie Meyerson takes on a midyear teaching position in a village above Long Island Sound. She discovers she’s sharing her cottage with the the village’s bad boy’s ghost, who insists that she find out who murdered him.

K: A bad boy ghost--love it! What are some of the ways that writing for children and writing adult mysteries are different? Ways they're the same?

M: When I’m writing a novel, I get into the head of the main character, whether it’s first or third person, child or adult. In every novel, the protagonist’s emotions, reactions, and decisions are what drive the story. The characters in my mysteries are adults and lead more complex lives. They have pasts, secrets, and romances. These all interplay to make for a more complex read. My juvenile protagonists have their own issues, strengths and faults which drive the plot. They must appeal to young readers and be savvy enough to come up with solutions without the intervention of parents and other adults.

K: I've noticed you have two different publishers for your new books. How did that happen?

M: I had no idea epublishers responded so quickly when they wanted to publish a novel. I was used to my agents not hearing from publishers for months after their submitting a manuscript. I decided to send out two different manuscripts to two different publishers within a week or so of one another. Uncial Press took GIVING UP THE GHOST a few weeks after I’d sent it to them. I heard from Wings ePress regarding A MURDERER AMONG US ten days after that.

K: Your mysteries are being published both as paperback and digitally. Do you read both?

M: My house is like a library; it’s overflowing with paper books, and I’m lagging behind playing catch up. But I do intend to buy an ereader and read books on them. Reading ebooks is here to stay.

K: Having an ereader hasn't helped me cut down on paper books, so good luck.What have you done to promote these books?

M: I’ve been guest blogging, getting reviews, and tweeting a bit about A MURDERER AMONG US. My other mystery won’t be out until next spring, so I haven’t done anything regarding it yet. I’ve updated my website, and have begun to write my own blogs again. AND I’ve printed up business cards with all the info about A MURDERER AMONG US on it -- where people can buy it, etc. I’ve joined Murder Must Advertise, I’ve taken courses on marketing, and I learn daily from my fellow writers like you.

K: What have you done to celebrate?

M: Who has time to celebrate?

K: Can you tell us yet how to pre-order either or both of the books?

M: Only A MURDERER AMONG US is available now. You can purchase it as http://wingsepress.com; Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com ; and Fictionwise:

http://www.fictionwise.com All this is on my website: marilynlevinson.com.

K: You've been active in some writers' organizations. Can you tell us which ones you belong to? And be sure and say something about your new Sisters in Crime Chapter!

M: I belong to Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Guppies, and Romance Writers of America. I’ve been active in the Long Island Romance Writers, though I don’t write romance. Which is why, after attending my first Malice Domestic Convention in 2010 (the year my mystery MURDER A LA CHRISTIE finaled in the Malice contest) I decided it was time to start a Sisters in Crime chapter on Long Island. I asked my friend, Bernardine Fagan, to help me co-found the chapter. With help from Guppies such as Teresa Inge, Sandy Parshall, Meredith Cole, and, of course, Beth Wasson, we made up a list of mystery writers on Long Island and invited them to attend our first meeting, which was in August of 2010. Hank Phillippi Ryan kindly offered to be our first speaker, and did she wow the large group at Sachem Library in December. Since then we’ve had a variety of meetings. This month Reed Farrel Coleman spoke to us, and Liz Zelvin’s coming in October. We’re a fun, informal group, and each month we acquire more members. Starting this group was one of the best, most enjoyable thing I’ve done in my writing career.

K: What's next for you? Are you working on getting more books with these same publishers? Are you working on a mystery now or a children's book? Or both?

M: I’ve written a sequel to A MURDERER AMONG US, which I hope to have published soon. I’m finishing up a mystery, MURDER THE TEY WAY, which is a sequel to MURDER A LA CHRISTIE. I’m not sure who will be publishing this series. My children’s book agent has a few manuscripts out with publishers. What I’d like to do next is put up some of my out-of-print children’s novels up as ebooks. And I plan to write more books, both adult mysteries and books for kids.

K: Your plate's full! Thanks for being here today, Marilyn, and best of luck with all your books.

Where's Kaye?

2011-06-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't set out to do a blog tour in May, but I think I did one anyway. I just asked some friends about blogging at their sites, and inquired about offers I saw on some lists I belong to. And, viola!--a blog tour.

When a writer sets out to do a blog tour, I've heard the recommendation that the posts all be written ahead of time so all you have to do it turn them in. Excellent advice! That's not what I did. I've been coming up with blog subjects several times a week this month. Whew!

So, to avoid coming up with yet another blog subject, I'll refer the readers here to the posts I've made this month, plus some that were made about me.

Starting with a couple in April, and continuing through today, here they are--ta da!

Killer Characters let Mike Mallett, Immy's boss, say a piece onApril 10th.

Donnell Bell did an awesome interview of me at Five ScribesApril 20th.

Look at the ingenious AD E. B. Davis created and posted May 2nd.

I got the privilege of appearing at Jenny Milchman's Made It Moment May 9th.

I told Karen Syed what I didn't know before selling a book onLife As a Publisher May 10th.

Dru Ann Love gave CHOKE a nice reivew at Dru's Cozy CornerMay 15th!

On May 16th, Jacki Vick interviewed me for her blog, A Writers' Jumble.

I was added to the Village of Mystery, a new site to display books and authors.

Immy was interviewed by Stacy Juba on the game show siteSink or Swim May 20th

Planet Paragraph gave CHOKE some exposure with a 75-word excerpt on May 22th

I wondered about why those of us who writer mysteries do what we do on May 24th at Buried Under Books.

At Nigel Bird's Sea Minor, Kaye George interviewed Kaye George on May 25th.

Immy was persuaded to talk about motherhood at Susie Kline'sMotherhoot May 27th.

May 31st, I pondered Mysteries and Morals at Working Stiffs.

Today, I'm interviewed at Writers Who Kill.

Tomorrow, June 2nd, I'm scheduled at Meanderings and Musings where you can see my very, very messy desk.

And now I think I won't blog for at least a few days!

The game box photo is by Joe Tordiff and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Sleeping cat taken by Lewis Collard

CHOKE is an ebook! (soon)

2011-05-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's not quite done with the processing yet, but it's on the page at Amazon for Kindle! Also at Smashwords, since I put it there first. I'm putting it on PubIt for Barnes and Noble Nook, too, but there's a glitch at the moment. OK it's due to user error.

I was tooling along, talking on the phone and uploading and pasting stuff, thinking how good at multi-tasking I'm getting. After all, I had just put the ebook onto two other sites, this was the third one. I knew what I was doing.

Oops. I loaded it up with the wrong last name for the author. Doh. And some other bad words.

Now I have to wait for it to finish processing (maybe 3 days) before I can change it. Some of you may know that my actual last name is not George, but Egner. (See why I have a pen name? Have you ever heard of that name?) I typed that name for the author! There's no button to edit my book until it's finished with it's grinding away.

It's not clear to me if this is a totally automated event, or if there are humans involved. I'm thinking the former, but if that's true you wouldn't thing it would take that long. Whatever.

It's like that email that you send--then, as it's disappearing, the words flash in front of you and they're not the words you intended. Come back, email, come back! Too late. Gone forever. At least this mistake will be fixable.

I wasn't going to put CHOKE up as an ebook quite yet, but I've gotten so many requests, I decided to start the process. And--to be honest--it might be another week before it's completely finished. Smashwords is waiting for approval for premium status so it can be distributed everywhere. Kindle is waiting for publishing to be complete. And Barnes and Noble, when the processing is done, will need to be fixed. So none of them are complete. I'm not sure if you can purchase them yet on any of these sites.

So much for multi-tasking. Next time I load a book onto an online sales site, I'll hang up the phone.

Online tools for writers

2011-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if I've blogged about this before or not. But even if I have, these could all bear repeating. I'd like to list some of the tools I use when I'm writing.

#1 Spreadsheets

I like to list my characters across the top and the main events down the left side. I then freeze those columns so I can always see them because this spreadsheet gets big. I can glance at the little rectangles and see if I've been neglecting a character longer than I want to. Sometimes I put the main plot points down at the beginning (if I know them, and I do try to know them), then fill in the blanks between them.

#2 Readplease.com

This is a nifty free download. You don't need this, I'm told, if you have a Mac because this feature comes built in. But for those of us with PCs, this gives us a way to hear our own words without reading them ourselves. I cut and paste a chapter or so into the program, kick it off, then go back to the document itself. When I come to an egregious error (yes, this happens!), I pause the reader and fix my manuscript, then continue. I find lots of little typos and repeated words that I would never in a million years find any other way.

#3 Wordcounter.com

There's also a wordcounter.net, but that just counts words and most programs do that already. Wordcounter.com, though, will tell you which words you're repeating too much. I hate it when I see "little" listed 7 times in 6 pages. That happens, too!

Do you have any tools you like?

Spreadsheet by Everaldo Coelho and YellowIcon

Readplease logo is a registered trademark

Wordcounter logo appears on their page

Travel, taken to the extreme, I'm afraid

2011-05-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

All I did in April was travel! I'm taking the title of this blog a little too seriously. All fun stuff--very fun stuff--but I came home exhausted and with a cold that has now nicely settled into bronchitis, complete with my usual horrid sounding cough.

The cough is temporary, the memories of my trips are forever. My first trip was Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe. I managed to deliver a blog to you on that one (http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/2011/04/left-coast-crime-or-chile-con-carnage.html).

I made a quick trip to Chicago to see my niece's new baby (a belated trip because I hadn't seen his older brother yet!) I don't post family or children pictures here, but you can be assured the babies are over-the-top precious.

Next, Malice Domestic, held in Bethesda this year. I owe you a report on that one, in fact I may be the last attendee to blog on it. I've read many nice renditions of the convention, but, of course, I have my own pictures. :)

I attended this conference as a completed published author, with my novel in the book dealer room and everything! I can't describe the thrill. People I don't even know bought it. Amazing! The new Guppy anthology, FISH TALES, was also for sale and I must have autographed my story (page 121) 15-20 times, also for complete strangers in some cases. More amazing!

Here are some scenes taken by others:

The table for our anthology publisher, Wildside Press

A fun dinner a few blocks away at Guapo's

Some Guppy friends pre-banquet

(I wish I could figure out how to wrap text around these!)

Elizabeth Zelvin, second from the left in the pre-banquet picture took that one, but I've lost track of who took the other two.

I took the ones below, hence the lesser quality.

The Best First panel: Avery Aames (who won!), Laura Alden, Amanda Flower, Sasscer Hill, and honorary Guppy Alan Orloff (the Guppies swept this category--after we added Alan)

The Best Novel panel: Nancy Pickard, Louise Penney (winner), moderator Harriet Sackler, Hank Phillippi ryan, Heather Webber, and Donna Andrews.

The California group, Men of Mystery, with Guppy Tammy Kaehler co-presenter, on the right.

Maggie Toussaint and me on our panel about family in mysteries.

The rest of the panel, Kris Neri, Kay Finch, and moderator Joan Boswell. The lights weren't working the the floor lamps that the hotel crew brought in added an air of, well, hominess? Pretty funny.

Sandra Parshall moderating Tales with Tails.

Verena Rose moderating the guests of honor, Sue Grafton, Carole Nelson Douglas, and Donna Andrews.

After Malice, I spend a few days with my daughter's family and their baby ran a little temp, his first (he's eight months old). I got to go to the doctor with them, and brought home a souvenir cold. Totally worth it, though!

How to read reviews from Doug Corleone

2011-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

In contrast to the recent bizarre reaction to a review that we've probably all read (http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html), here's a sensible, refreshing take on book reviews, straight from Doug in Hawaii.

Douglas Corleone is the author of the Kevin Corvelli crime series set in Hawaii. His debut novel ONE MAN'S PARADISE was the winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award. A former New York City criminal defense attorney, Corleone now resides in the Hawaiian Islands, where he writes full-time. NIGHT ON FIRE is his second novel. Visit the author online at douglascorleone.com.

A Tale of Two Reviews

On a Sunday night, not so long ago, I sat with my eyes glued to the Publishers Weekly website, my virtual finger poised over the “refresh” tab. I was anxiously awaiting the review of my second novel, Night on Fire.

When the review finally appeared, I quickly scanned the paragraph for buzz words. My eyes caught on “appealing” and “amusing,” and I sighed with relief. Not because I thought Night on Fire was a terrible book -- on the contrary, I think it’s quite good -- but because Publishers Weekly had been the only trade magazine to pan my debut novel, One Man’s Paradise, a year before.

Every writer knows the power of a bad review. Bad reviews strike us square in the gut and knock the wind out of us. Because a bad review can sink a good story (or a bad one, for that matter). Bad reviews also hit us writers in the back pocket (or wherever else we keep our wallets).

Some writers claim not to read their reviews, and I have no reason to disbelieve them. But I think most writers do indeed read their reviews; I know I do, and I always will. Unfortunately, the positive reviews – even the glowing ones – seem to have little emotional effect on me, while that single bad review I received from Publishers Weekly last year continues to keep me from sleep on some nights. The good reviews I read once; the bad review I’ve memorized. And it’ll remain smack dab in the center of the Amazon page for One Man’s Paradise for the life of the book.

I’m sure criticism doesn’t affect all writers equally, but I’d wager that for most writers, it weighs more heavily than praise. And maybe it should. After all, criticism, be it constructive or destructive, can be a powerful motivator to improve our craft. That should be the goal of all writers, no matter where they are in their career. Sure, it’ll take a dozen or more positive reviews from Publishers Weekly to counterbalance that single negative review, but at least that gives me something to strive for. In the meantime, I invite readers to judge for themselves.

CHOKE has arrived!

2011-04-25T14:16:00.001-07:00

My free author copies arrived, so I looked online and there it was!

It is awesome to hold a book that is full of my words. I can't get over it. I'll come down eventually, but meanwhile this is a powerful, wonderful high.

If one were to want a copy, one could visit either BN or Amazon. Last time I looked, BN had a better price, but I know they fluctuate often. It should be available at Mainly Murder Press on May 1st also.

PS. This is a collector's copy until the typo on the back cover is corrected. Someone spelled Saltlick wrong. This is copy I did not proof, in my defense.

No Show

2011-04-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Move along, folks, there's nothing to see here.

I had a guest blogger lined up for today. You'll notice he's not here, in spite of my three emails, to which I got no reply.

So I'm winging it today. I found this incredibly witty piece on being stood up this week.

Since my release date is fast approaching--May 1st!--I do hope I have more people come out for my readings than poor Francine Massey did. But I know this happens to writers all the time, so I'm under no illusions that it won't happen to me. Maybe I'll feel that I've gone through a rite of passage and I'm now a Real Writer then.

I'm catching a plane tomorrow, so I'm posting today. I'll also hope I have a better flight than these poor people!

This week, Chicago (to see my niece's new baby), next week Malice Domestic!

Photo by Conrad Nutschan used under GNU Free Documentation License

Newsletters

2011-04-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not starting a newsletter. At least not today. It's the 13th!

I know I've always said 13 is my lucky number (engaged on it, married on it), but I don't want to tempt fate. Those two events were awhile ago. Maybe my lucky number is now 42 or something.

But I AM going to do one. I guess. Don't writers have to do them?

I'm having such a hard time deciding how to do it, though. I love the fancy ones like Cozy Chicks and Mystery Lovers Kitchen and I love the very plain one from Simon Wood. I know I don't like to read light print on a dark background, so I won't do that. My cover features orange prominently, so I should have something orange.

Running out of news isn't a problem for the foreseeable future, but am pondering how to impart news in a lively, interesting way. I've written a humorous book and I love to make people laugh. The newsletter can be an extension, another way to entertain people. So should I include jokes? Funny pictures? No, I want to hold pictures to a minimum since they make loading take longer. And with my ancient, creaky computer, I can appreciate slow machines and long loading times!

Since the book will be out soon, I'd better make some decisions and get a letter started.

Picture (public domain) : First issue of the Boston News-Letter, regarded as the first continuously published newspaper in British North America. Published April 24, 1704.

Left Coast Crime OR Chile Con Carnage

2011-04-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

I love my t-shirt from LCC! I loved being there, too. If you've seen pictures posted by other attendees that include me, you'll see a big, silly grin on my face. I couldn't get over the fabulous feeling that I was at a mystery confab as a legitimate mystery book writer for the first time.

(The mighty Agamemnon likes the t-shirt too.)

I know, I've been a published short story writer for a few years, as others have pointed out, and even got an Agatha nomination last year for a story dear to my heart. But a "book" writer is a different person. Some people envy those of us who don't have as hard a time with a short story as we do with a novel, but, believe me, we short writers envy the long ones just as much!

This gathering was in Santa Fe, in the Land of Enchantment, and took place in the historic La Fonda Hotel. My family has vacationed in Santa Fe often, and we've eaten at La Fonda (back when the central restaurant was outdoors), and I've envied those who could afford to stay there (our family usually camped on vacation with all the kids), but this was my opportunity to get all the way inside the place. And I love it!

From the auction (where someone bought my basket!)

to the panels (where people laughed, and came up afterward and said they liked them),

to the Guppy lunch (what a great gang!)

to the banquet (where I bravely hosted a table and people signed up and sat with me)--it was all amazing.

I didn't get the names of two of my table mates and I'd like very much for them to email me! Here I am with Gigi Pandian.

Below, Gigi again and Michael Dymmoch (who took half these pictures)//(don't know the names of 2) & Pat Gulley

Pat and her friend again, and Jeanne Munn Bracken form DL (who brought me a DL pin)

Cae and Billie from Killeen TX//and the other gal I don't know

I'm seriously thinking about doing LCC in Sacramento next year.

Interview with Stephen L. Brayton

2011-03-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Please welcome Stephen to my Travels! It seems we have a connection, other than writing. (This is such a small world.) He lives and writes in the area where I grew up, Iowa and Illinois, bordering my beloved Mississippi River. Oh, how I miss the river.

KAYE: I haven't ever seen crime fiction feature Des Moines or the Quad Cities. I see a passing reference to Moline or Davenport every once in awhile, but that's about it. Do you know of any others using that setting.

STEPHEN: I’m sure there are a few others, but I haven’t run across them. Most of the time I read about Des Moines in passing in other books. John Sandford’s books are set in the Minneapolis area and sometimes he’ll mention Iowa. Usually, you see on television shows based in New York or Los Angeles victims or their families being from Des Moines. I chose Des Moines and the Quad Cities because I’m familiar with both areas. I lived for a few years in the QC and still have family residing there. I live about an hour away from Des Moines and am up there at least once a month. I used to drive up there weekly for a writers’ critique group, but taekwondo has recently filled my weeknights.

KAYE: You say you've written stories for many years, but your path to publication seems pretty quick. Your first mystery conference was in 2007, and here you are with two books! Is this speed an illusion?

STEPHEN: Yes. I don’t think the path has been quick. Frustrating, yes. I have a four inch stack of rejection notices, so the road hasn’t been easy or quick. Love Is Murder in 2007 was the first conference I attended and the main reason our writers’ group traveled to Chicago was because we could pitch ideas to agents and editors. Unfortunately, each either rejected me or never contacted me afterward, which is a rejection in itself. It was a learning experience, though. Every new writing group or conference or meeting I attend is a learning experience. Sometimes I learn that I don’t want to go again (lol), but I love meeting people and making friends and contacts. When a friend and I went to Killer Nashville in 2009, I met so many great people who helped me and guided me to better my writing and my marketing skills. Yes, we went, again, to pitch ideas to the attending editors and agents, but the seminars we took were so informative and friendly and fun. Many times we had to choose between two or three good seminars going on at the same time. I met Mary Welk from Echelon Press and she was a bonus because she hadn’t originally scheduled herself to accept pitches. She was there to speak to authors of short stories. After getting the information on the shorts, I told her about the novels and she said for me to submit. Less than two months later I had two novels accepted. Just this last January four of my short stories also were accepted.

KAYE: On the surface, your book, NIGHT SHADOWS, published in February of this year, seems like a police procedural, featuring a Des Moines homicide detective and an FBI agent. But then it veers into alien territory. Have you been interested in detective fiction for awhile, Stephen?

STEPHEN: Most of the books I own are murder mysteries and I started writing mysteries long ago. I’ve always enjoyed the 87^th Precinct detectives from Ed McBain, Archer Mayor, Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner. These guys, and others, really open up the imagination and bring the reader into their worlds. I thought if they could do it, I’d give it a try.

KAYE: What made you bring the aliens into the mix?

STEPHEN: I wouldn’t necessarily call them aliens in the sense most people think of aliens as in little green men or monsters from Mars. These are more elusive creatures because they are something you see everyday and don’t even realize are there. The detectives in the book comment how shadows are everywhere. So what happens when these shadows move on their own and start attacking people? I had listened to a radio show about shadow beings and my mind started working and characters and plot lines fell into place. I had a lot of fun writing the story and conducting research. I struggled for some time trying to find a particular location in Des Moines to use as the dimensional portal. This bothered me because I couldn’t seem to find the spot that worked. Then a friend suggested a particular art exhibit. I managed to secure a tour and as soon as I saw the room, I knew I had found the last element of the story. The place is real and people can actually visit it.

KAYE: What can you tell us about your publisher, Echelon Press?

STEPHEN: It’s a small press with a staff of freelance editors. Last year I hired on as an editor but recently have dropped back to focus on my writing. I think small presses are an excellent way for new authors to break into the business. Plus, they’re actively seeking new talent. With small presses, you’re not forced to desperately hope for the big boys to notice you. You still have to follow the guidelines for submission, and with Echelon, you have to prepare a marketing plan. However, I think this is a good thing because authors need to know how to promote their product. The publisher doesn’t have enough time or money to do this. With Echelon, new authors are published in e-format, so the Internet is where you have to go to market your books since you have nothing ‘tangible’ to present. It’s a challenge, but it’s been fun.

KAYE: From your webpage (http://www.stephenbrayton.com/) it looks like you're combining a longtime interest with your next book. How long have you been practicing taekwondo? And is it proper to call it Tae Kwon Do also? The pictures of your school bring back memories of when my daughter studied this.

STEPHEN: I’ve seen the term spelled different ways, but usually taekwondo is used. However, you have to watch your spell-check. Until you add the word to the dictionary it wants to change taekwondo to teakwood. Lol.

Yes, I started martial arts in 1991, earned my black belt in 1993, started a club in 1996, in 2003 took over the Oskaloosa club. In 2007, I earned my Fifth Degree Black Belt. I’ve attended many tournaments and camps and seminars. I love the people in my organization and I enjoy martial arts because unlike some other sports, you advance and improve at your own pace. If you play basketball and you have problems shooting the ball, you may end up sitting on the bench. With taekwondo if you can’t kick head high, that’s okay. You kick knee level at first, then slowly improve. As my organization’s founder once said, “Today not possible, tomorrow possible.”

KAYE: What's BETA about? And who is Mallory Petersen?

STEPHEN: Years ago, I created a private detective was named Sam P. Peterson and he lived in East Moline. When I moved to Oskaloosa I changed the character to a woman named Mallory Petersen who, along with investigating cases also has her own martial arts club in Des Moines. A lot of the skills, self defense techniques and sparring tips I’ve learned go into the story. Mallory is a young, six foot blonde, whose cases seem to be on the nuttier side of life. However, she is hired to find a kidnapped eight year old girl and things quickly turn serious.

I had written a previous story with Mallory but this one hit me hard and felt right. It deals with a serious subject matter, child pornography, so it is definitely not for kids. However, I also don’t turn away adults with graphic detail and I temper the seriousness with several humorous scenes. Mallory can’t keep away from the goofy bad guys. Martial artists will like it because you don’t see a lot of stories where the detective isn’t using just punches or a weapon.

KAYE: Good luck with the books. I'm looking forward to reading about my old stomping grounds. Thanks for bringing this area into the mystery world.

Look in on Stephen's blog when you're finished here: http://stephenlbrayton.blogspot.com/

And no guest interview would be complete without a purchasing link!

https://www.omnilit.com/product-nightshadows-514805-234.html

My Review of FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT

2011-03-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned Darynda Jones last week, but time got away from me and I failed to post the review of her book I did for "Suspense Magazine". Since I'm still at Left Coast Crime on Friday, I will trust the blogger scheduling to post this so you can see what fun I'm having on a panel with her!

Here's how it appeared, with the addition by me of her cover.

“First Grave on the Right” by Darynda Jones:

Charley Davidson, a woman who does her name proud, strides into this novel with sass and energy to spare. For starters, she wasn't born as a normal person: she remembers every moment since she left the womb, she knows every language ever spoken anywhere and she sees the dead who are having trouble passing to the other side. In fact, that's where her most special talent lies. She's the portal through which those uneasy dead must pass to get to the good place. She's Darynda Jones' version of the grim reaper.

But something changed for her about a month ago. A dark, smoky being began visiting in her erotic dreams. She doesn't know who or what he is, but she doesn't want him to stop.

In addition to her full time reaper job, she works part time tending bar for her Dad's place, has a private investigator business complete with an office and a sidekick helper and is a consultant to the Albuquerque Police Department. This last role is because she assists her Uncle Bob—a homicide cop—by consulting murder victims and letting him know who killed them. When three lawyers who were in practice together all turn up dead at the same time and none of them saw who killed them, she has to dig deeper.

It takes all her talents to survive several incidents—which would have left an ordinary mortal dead—and to worm information out of the living as well as the dead to uncover a nefarious crime ring. All this while surviving the onslaught of the increasingly frequent visits from the dark, smoky, sensual being and getting tangled up in his complicated existence.

It's a fun, sexy, exciting read.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “A Patchwork of Stories”, for Suspense Magazine

BTW, her webpage is fun, too!

http://www.daryndajones.com/

Publicity, Promotion

2011-03-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm cheating this week and reposting the blog I did Monday for All Things Writing. I have a good excuse, though! By the time you read this, unless you get up very early, I'll be on a plane for Santa Fe. There WILL be pictures next week!

The above are other words for selling, of course. And now that an author has to not only write, but sell their own books, more and more of us are--for the first time ever--working in the sales department.

If I'd wanted to be a salesperson, I tell myself, I would not have become a writer! In the Good Old Days, a writer wrote, a publisher published and sold. Alas, no more. Publishers are stacking that task onto the backs of the writers. Which means, there are a LOT of brand new salespeople in the world of literature.

My only attempt at selling was a job I quit just before I got fired from. (See sentence above that begins: If Id' wanted to be....) I'm hoping I'll prove better at selling my own dang book.

So far, my attempts have included guest blogging, trying to be active and visible online, and booking myself into a couple of mystery conventions. I chose large confabs that fans attend. A writers' conference isn't going to do it for this purpose. Wednesday I leave for Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, and in late April I'll attend Malice Domestic. These are both well established venues for promoting and selling. With that in mind, and having been told I could probably count on having my book available by mid-April, I'm booked as an official New Author at Malice Domestic. Three other authors and I, all from Mainly Murder Press, went together on an ad in the program. It shows a placeholder cover that I designed, but it's at least getting my name and title before people. There have been a few holdups, so I'm having to cross my fingers that my book will be ready for Malice, but I have faith!

I'm now emailing people to see if I can get some pre-publication (or maybe *at* publication) reviews. I've had some good results, but no one has broken my door down to get my attention.

In the past few days I've designed bookmarks for this book. The cover is not the final version, but the publisher told me I could use it for promotion. I'll take these bookmarks to the convention in Santa Fe this week, Left Coast Crime, and hand them to anyone who will take them. Maybe someone will remember the book and buy it when it comes out.

Meanwhile, I learned that an anthology that has been in the works for some time is probably being printed this week! So I'd better start promoting that, too. Today I had a dozen postcards printed up at the local print shop. I forgot to have them cut, so I'll go by my husband's office and borrow the paper cutter as soon as I finish this. (Which I did Monday.)

I've read mixed results for online ads, so I'm not going to do any of those yet. Both the above-mentioned volumes are paperbacks, but I'll eventually put out an e-book for the novel. At that time I might do some online ads.

Some authors have had good luck with give-aways, which I'll try when I have the physical product to give away.

This is all stumbling in the dark, though! Baby steps.

Writing tools and reviews

2011-03-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

I've had an AlphaSmart Neo for a few years now and love the little thing. If you've never seen one, it's a nifty little word processor, great for first drafts. The screen of the Neo lets you see about 6 lines of type at a time, so it's not a wonderful editing tool, although you can cut and paste with it. But I mostly use it for first drafts. They were originally made for school kids and they run on a few AA batteries for months and months, are lightweight and convenient, and practically indestructible. But not completely indestructible.

My granddaughter managed to wreck the R key a couple years ago, but I experienced incredible customer service when I called and they guided me through fixing it while on the phone with them.

Then, more recently, I managed to wreck the screen. NOTE: Do not pack AlphaSmarts in checked luggage when flying. It emerged from my suitcase with a black splotch covering the middle third of the screen. I think something inside cracked. I lamented about this online and a wonderful, generous person named Colette Garmer offered me hers, which she wasn't using. She sent it to me and I used it a bit, but it's an older model and, since she didn't have the cord and it's not available on the AlphaSmart website, I had to acquire a conglomeration of cords and adaptors to make it communicate with my PC. The screen is also smaller and I couldn't get used to it for some reason. I still missed my Neo.

I found it would cost about $100 to ship it and get my screen repaired. Then the company put out a trade-in offer, giving $25, for a machine in any condition, toward a new one. So I took them up on that, filled out the form, and mailed my broken one in. Then, I experienced even MORE incredible customer service! The day they received my crippled Alphie, they called and got my new one ordered, on a Tuesday, and I received it that Friday! The woman spoke English and everything. She said they're located centrally, in Wisconsin, so they can get the product quickly to anywhere in the US. LOVE that company!

Next, here's another tool that's indispensible for me as a writer. Barking dogs drive me just a little crazy. I can't stand that their owners are ignoring them--don't even hear them in the case of my deaf neighbor behind me. Once, perusing the SkyMall catalog while flying somewhere (not the same flight that ruined my Alphie) I spotted the Super Bark Free and had to have it. YES! I love it. When they start in and have been barking non-stop for about 45 minutes (not uncommon, unfortunately!), I carry it out to the back yard, turn it on, and aim. A few little yips, then blessed silence. And I can work!

Finally, I just learned that I can post all the reviews I do for "Suspense Magazine" here, so I'll start doing that on Fridays. I've had the great good fortune to receive a widely varying bunch of books from them. One was serendipitous! I reviewed FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT by Darynda Jones a few weeks ago, and she's on my panel at Left Coast Crime next week!

Time for a Rant

2011-03-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm grouchy today. I'll be grouchy all week. I hate Daylight Savings Time.

This will be short because I'm so sloggy and foggy and boggy today. And I'm not alone, if you can trust the studies that have been done on this horrible imposition.

According to this article (http://www.cos-mag.com/Safety/Safety-Stories/losing-sleep-over-dst-can-lead-to-injury.html) done by Michigan State University, there are 5.7 per cent more workplace injuries and 67.6 per cent more workdays missed due to injuries on the first Monday after the time change.

More injuries reported here (http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/daylight-savings-time-may-affect-health-1259/) where a 1996 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed an 8 percent increase in motor vehicle accidents on the Monday following the time change.

And that's not all! You can die from DST! The same article cites a Swedish study done in 2008 that showed an increase of about 5 percent in heart attacks on the three weekdays following the spring time shift.

So, injury and death. Wonderful. Why are we doing this again?

Oh yes, let me wish you Happy PI Day. Maybe pie will make it better.

[[grumpy toad photo by Matt Reinbold used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

apple pie photo by Sage Ross used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license]]

Interview of Kate George

2011-03-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Kate is my guest today! That's Kate George, Kate with a T. As opposed to me, Kaye George with a Y. Confused? We are. We, ourselves, even send emails to the wrong person sometimes. By the most bizarre coincidence, we have even both landed at the same publishing house, Mainly Murder Press. What are the odds?

Kate's first mystery was MOONLIGHTING IN VERMONT, which won a FIRST PLACE Daphne for excellence in mystery/suspense! It introduced readers to Bella Bree McGowan, an appealing heroine. Bree, as she's called, ventures all the way to the west coast in her second outing, CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN', although she's reluctant to do so. This book is out March 1st and, if I were you, I'd run out and get a copy.

Kate, where did the idea for Bree come from? Are you in there somewhere?

Hi Kaye, thanks so much for having me here. I love to visit.

Bree is who I might have been when I was thirty, if I had been living the life I wanted. And if I'd been a little bolder. She's kind of a cross between me, Miss Marple and Miss Congeniality. I've been told that some of my readers see Sandra Bullock in the role of Bree. She looks more like Rachel Ray to me, but Sandra's on screen personality in her funnier movies works quite well.

Bree is a Vermont girl, through and through, while I'm a Californian, but we do have quite a bit in common. Dogs, for one thing, and horses. Guys. We both like men a little more than we should.

Why give her such a lovely first name and then use the middle one? (Although it's a good name, too.)

Bree's name evolved. I couldn't think of a name I felt fit for her character so I used Bree as a place marker. But both my beta readers and I got used to her being Bree. I added Bella for some reason or other - I don't even remember now! I think I thought she needed more of a name and I didn't want her to be Brianna.

Bree's Dad called her BB and that stuck for a long time. It was high school before people started calling her Bree instead of BB. The teachers started calling her Bella but she didn't like that - she was going through a rebellious stage - and she insisted on Bree if they wouldn't call her BB.

I know from your webpage, http://kategeorge.com/, that you have wildly varied job experiences. Do any of your actual on-the-job experiences figure in either book? Or can you even tell us that without killing us?

Well it is top secret, but I can tell you that I have worked as both a turn down maid in a ritzy hotel, and a motorcycle safety instructor. I was a jack-of-all-trades at a weekly magazine, doing paste-up and designing ads. I trained police dogs and worked closely with cops for several years. I knew an FBI agent who's job was to protect the Reagans. My roommate in my twenties was a shape shifting alien. All the normal stuff.

That stuff leaks out into my books. It's so much easier to write about occupations I have experience with, rather than going out and doing research. And I've had so many that I could write for a long time without running out. Need a foreclosure officer? Done that. Answering service operator? Yep. Actress, dog trainer, assistant to the dean of a medical school? Been there. I have a very short attention span!

How long have you been writing?

If I told you that I'd would have to kill you. Didn't your mother ever tell you it wasn't polite to ask a woman's age?

How did you learn to polish your writing? Courses or critique groups?

How did you learn to polish your writing? Courses or critique groups?Both! In fact my critique group grew out of the courses I was taking at our local writing center. I love courses,they are invaluable for developing craft and keeping me writing, but it's my critique partners that really help me. They are deadly honest and aren't afraid to argue amongst each other about what's best. It makes for some really interesting conversation and ultimately all our work improves.

What has kept you going in your search for publication?

Denial. I completely ignore the realities of publishing and press on regardless how many rejections I garner. And I always remember that several bestselling novels were rejected many, many times before someone saw the genius in the book.

I have absolute faith in my books - It isn't until after they've been published that I realize how bad they are!

Do you have any advice for new writers?

I subscribe to the ABC method of writing. Apply Butt to Chair. You can't be a writer if you don't write. The more regular you make your writing schedule the more likely it is you'll finish your book. And set yourself a daily goal. My daily goal fluxuates depending on what's going on in my daily life, but my word count ranges from 250 to 5000 words a day. Even a page a day will get you a book in a year.

What's in store for Bree next?

Ah, well that would be telling! You can have a hint, though. Bree's hairdresser finds a dead body in her shop. The Feds get involved because there seems to be some connection to organized crime. Hammie will be back, and Moose. Probably Madison as well. Of course the regulars; Meg, Tom, Beau, James, Miles will all be there.

There will be a man in her life that finds her absolutely frustrating, but can't seem to stay away. And Bree can't stand him either, but she can't seem to wash him out of her hair...

Interview with John Desjarlais

2011-03-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

A former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio, Desjarlais teaches journalism and English at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Ill. In the Small World Department, Malta is not that far from my hometown of Moline. Welcome to my Travels, currently located in Taylor, Texas, John.

His two mysteries, VIPER and BLEEDER, are both published by Sophia Institute Press, a publishing house devoted to Catholic fiction. BLEEDER came out in 2009 and VIPER is scheduled for March 25th.

KAYE: There's a lot that fascinates me about this series. First, there's the sleuth, a female Mexican-American insurance agent, formerly with the DEA. Can you tell us a bit about Selena De La Cruz?

JOHN: Selena is a thirty-something second-generation Mexican-American woman with midnight hair and a café-con-leche complexion from a family with three brothers, one of whom was her fraternal twin. Her Papa was an executive with the Mexican oil company PEMEX before taking a position at the Mexican Consulate in Chicago where Selena was born and raised in the Pilsen neighborhood. She can be feisty and tomboyish, a tough competitor (given her brothers) and, like many Latinas, is struggling to come to terms with living in two cultural worlds (Old World expectations versus New World aspirations) and also living in a man’s world. She speaks Mexican Spanish well, graduated from Loyola with a finance degree (Papa insisted) and went to work with the DEA over her Mami’s objections shortly after her twin brother was killed in a car accident in Germany where he was stationed with the Army (drugs were involved). She inherited his chili-pepper red 1969 Dodge Charger and she knows how to maintain it and race it. She is fond of expensive shoes (seized drug money paid for the high-end brands); she is handy with a P226 SIG Sauer and was excellent in undercover work until she was compelled to leave under a cloud. She took a new name and an insurance franchise in rural Illinois in order to start afresh. Every weekend, she visits her beloved Madrina Maria (her godmother-aunt) who has been her mentor especially since her parents’ passing. She is very modern and independent (and an ‘independent Latina’ is seen by many as a contradiction in terms) who likes to keep many old tradiciones.

KAYE: I can't help but notice your unusual last name, which doesn't look Spanish. How did you get the idea to write not only a female (and I suspect, being named John, you're male), but a Mexican-American?

JOHN: “De La Cruz” is really from St. John of the Cross, a medieval Spanish Carmelite mystic and poet whose writings Selena admires. Her real last name was Perez (and, of course, she had many names working undercover). Selena was a minor character in my first mystery, BLEEDER. Taking place in rural Illinois, that story considered the issue of Latino immigration (in the background) and I needed a positive, educated Latin character who would be seen as a counter-balance of sorts to the many day-laborers, legal and otherwise, who were a poor and distrusted underclass. My protagonist, Reed Stubblefield, had been disabled in a school shooting and so I decided to have the local insurance agent be with his company and handle his claims. Well, once Selena walked on stage in those cherry heels, that attitude, and that kick-butt car, I knew she had a story of her own. She played a larger role in BLEEDER than I’d anticipated.

When developing an idea for the sequel, I went with a premise about the Catholic custom on All Souls’ Day where a ledger called “The Book of the Dead” is placed in church where families record the names of relatives who died that year so they can be remembered and respected. I learned that Mexicans celebrate a holiday concurrently called “The Day of the Dead” where families respect their departed relatives with home altars and cemetery picnics, among other things. And then I realized that, in blending these ideas, Selena’s name would be found in her church’s “Book of the Dead” – and the problem, of course, is that she isn’t dead. But someone wants her to be. It was clear then that Selena would take the lead in the sequel, with Reed as a minor character this time.

KAYE: The second intriguing factor is your publisher. How did you convince a Catholic publishing house to take on a book involving drug dealing, serial killing, and just generally sordid topics? I suspect this isn't the usual fare at Sophia.

JOHN: Sophia Press had been known a long time for re-issuing older classics of Catholic literature and philosophy (like Thomas Aquinas). However, partly in answer to Pope John Paul II’s call to engage the culture and get real with art (he was, you may recall, a fine playwright and a good poet), Sophia hired an editor whose job it was to find stylish genre fiction that told the full truth about our humanity, in both its nobility and fallenness. She had a particular interest in mysteries, a genre that explores the best and the worst of our human nature and is concerned with justice. We met at a writers’ conference and BLEEDER, which had been looking for a secular home for a few years through an agent, intrigued her. It had a distinctive Catholic coloring (it HAD to, given the stigmatic issue) but was never preachy, and the hero was a lapsed Presbyterian, to boot. She asked for the manuscript and offered a contract within a few days. Both BLEEDER and VIPER portray the worst consequences of people’s poor choices and desire for selfish power, but in a way that is not sensational or gory or gratuitously violent.

KAYE: Do you have more books planned in this series? Do you think you will stay with your present publisher?

JOHN: I’m working on the third book in this series now. I expect to stay with this publisher for the series.

KAYE: I see mentions, in your summaries and reviews, of Aztec mysticism. Is this novel straight mystery, or is there some paranormal business included?

JOHN: Not ‘paranormal’ in any way, as understood in the publishing biz today. Catholics, like other Christians, have a particular understanding of ‘the seen and the unseen,’ and all of it is ‘natural,’ that is, part of the created order. The ‘supernatural’ is actually ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ because it is part of the universe God made. But perhaps I quibble too much with the definition. Scratch a professor, get a lecture.

VIPER is part mystery and part thriller because there are crimes to be solved ( a quality of ‘mystery’) but also a “ticking clock” to be beaten (a characteristic of ‘thriller’). The “clock” is that “Book of the Dead” in the church, where there’s a list of eight Latino names with Selena’s name written last. All the names are of drug dealers who are being killed one at a time in order. Police and DEA officials believe it is a hit list of “The Snake,” a dangerous dealer Selena helped put in prison years ago who is now out and systematically killing anyone who ever crossed him. Just before each killing, a mysterious “Blue Lady” appears to a local girl visionary to announce the death. Many in the Mexican community believe it is Our Lady of Guadalupe (the patroness of Mexico), but others believe it is the Aztec goddess of death (you see, Catholics wouldn’t call a Marian apparition ‘paranormal,’ but again I quibble with the term). And we see our killer from time to time in the story, in first person, tending poisonous snakes and offering devotion to Aztec deities (snakes were very important in Aztec myth and religion). Modern Mexicans are becoming more aware of their Aztec (and Toltec and Mixtec etc) heritage; it is a growing part of their self-identity as they seek to acculturate into American society without becoming assimilated.

KAYE: Are your characters mostly devout Catholics? How much religion is included, if any?

JOHN: No, not many main characters are practicing, devout Catholics. In BLEEDER, my protagonist is actually a lapsed Presbyterian, a secularized Aristotle scholar who wants little to do with religion of any sort. Still, he enters a cautious friendship with the local parish priest, an amiable Aquinas scholar – who dies on Good Friday in front of horrified parishioners. My hero becomes a prime ‘person of interest’ in the case as a result. He interacts with a diocesan investigator and other clerics as part of his investigation. He does not ‘convert’ at the end. Selena is a ‘cradle Catholic’ like so many in the Mexican community. It’s more of a cultural thing. Catholicism is a bit more forward in VIPER, since my heroine Selena is Mexican and for most Mexicans that means being Catholic, if only in a cultural manner. It is a very rich part of their identity, and their distinct customs add a great deal of color to the story. The secondary ‘mystery’ of the story is whether or not the “Blue Lady” is Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Aztec goddess of Death or someone else. I don’t think anyone will be put off by all this, but instead will rather enjoy the rich tapestry of Mexican Catholicism and Aztec mythology that forms a backdrop to the story, and informs my main character, Selena – who isn’t quite sure what to make of it all.

I don’t think readers mind ‘religion’ in their mysteries – Dan Brown proved that. My issue is this: Let’s get the ‘religion’ right and be honest with the material. Brown had everything wrong.

I think you can have a mystery with a distinct Catholic coloring that respects the tradition by being accurate, genuinely informs the story, and has an appeal for everybody. Consider Andrew Greeley’s work, or Ellis Peters, or Ralph MacInerny. The same thing could be said about mysteries with a Jewish flavor, like Harry Kemmelman’s Rabbi Small series.

KAYE: Can you give links to your webpage and places to buy your books? Is there anything else you'd like my viewers to know?

JOHN: Gladly. Readers can find me at www.johndesjarlais.com and email me at jjdesjarlais@johndesjarlais.com.

VIPER isn’t out yet, but it will be available through Amazon.com and can be ordered through bookstores sometime later this Spring. BLEEDER and RELICS and THE THRONE OF TARA are at Amazon, too:

BLEEDER at Amazon

RELICS

Guest Blogger Geraldine Evans

2011-02-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

Geraldine Evans joins me today from across the pond, bringing an interview--and prizes! I'm happy to post this on the eve of her newest book launch, which is tomorrow, 2/24.

Here's her bio:

Geraldine Evans has been writing since her twenties, though only began to get novels published halfway through her thirties. As well as her popular Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series, she has a second crime series, Casey & Catt and has also had published an historical, a romance and articles on a variety of subjects, including, Historical Biography, Writing, Astrology, Palmistry and other New Age subjects. She has also written a dramatization of Dead Before Morning, the first book in her Rafferty series.

She is a Londoner, but now lives in Norfolk England where she moved, with her husband George, in 2000.

Deadly Reunion is her eighteenth novel and fourteenth in the humorous Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series. She is currently working on the next in the series.

She's currently doing a tour, at the end of which, some lucky commenters will win her books as prizes. Here's how that works:

The draw of all the comments throughout the Tour will take place at the end of the Tour (end-Feb). There will only be three winners, each of whom wins one signed copy of Deadly Reunion, my latest hardback (fourteenth in my Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series), one copy of each of two ebooks that are the first and second novels in my Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series, that is, one of Dead Before Morning and one of Down Among the Dead Men. They will also receive a subscription to my blog (which they can let lapse when it runs out).

And now to the interview:

What made you decide to take up crime writing?

Partly, it was that I kept getting my romantic novels rejected. Even after I had one accepted, the next one was then rejected. I decided the writing world was trying to tell me something. It had been dawning on me for some time that I wasn’t really suited to writing romantic novels. I think I’d only ever set out to write them because I’d thought they’d be easy. Clearly, I was wrong! I’d always read crime novels and after reading that the British crime author, Colin Dexter, the creator of Morse, had only taken up crime writing after a wet weekend in Wales during which time he read a very bad crime novel, something clicked. Because I’d recently read a very bad crime novel, too. I dared to think that maybe I could do it better. Anyway, I tried my hand at it and wrote Dead Before Morning, the first book in what went on to become my Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series, which, with my latest, Deadly Reunion, is now fourteen books strong.

Where did you get the idea for writing your latest novel, Deadly Reunion?

I’d been reading a lot about romance and social media like Friends Reunited and Facebook and people meeting up again after years apart. I thought why not take this to the ultimate and instead of love, having murder as the end result. I thought it was an idea that had legs. Who doesn’t remember the person from their youth that they hated as well as the one they had a crush on? I thought all the simmering emotions would be brought to life at a school reunion.

Tell us about your name police characters.

My main characters are Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty, my ‘ordinary Joe’ policeman and Detective Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn, the inferior with the superior education, class and morality. Rafferty comes from a family who are over-fond of suspect ‘bargains’, a predilection that causes Rafferty some angst, especially as his police partner has morals as high as an elephant’s eye and doesn’t think that even the mothers of detective inspectors should be above the law.

There is a lot of humour in your crime novels – why did you decide to write this kind of crime novel?

Because I had become a little bored with reading straight as a die crime novels that just had the murder and nothing else. When I read fiction I look to be thoroughly entertained and, for me, that means having a few laughs along the way. So that’s the kind of crime novel I decided to write, with poor old Joe Rafferty always being one step away from catastrophe, via his family, as far as his career is concerned. In A Thrust to the Vitals he has to somehow protect his murder suspect brother while trying to catch the real villain. In Dying For You, he creates his own little difficulty when he joins a dating agency and uses a borrowed identity to do so, then finds himself, or rather, his alter ego the chief suspect in a double murder inquiry, an inquiry which he is then forced to lead. And in Deadly Reunion, he finds himself saddled with four unwanted lodgers, courtesy of his Ma, who has decided a family reunion is just the thing. So in each book, there’s a sub-plot where Rafferty has some problem or other in addition to solving a murder.

Why did you decide to pair Rafferty with Dafyd Llewellyn?

Probably because I’m perverse! I wanted to make life as difficult for Rafferty, and potentially as amusing for the reader, as I could. So, along with a family prone to buying suspect ‘bargains’ or doing other things on the edge of criminality, I thought it would be amusing to provide Rafferty with a partner as upright as the Pope, one who was in many ways, Rafferty’s superior – whether it be in morality or education or class. A superiority of which Rafferty is only too aware.

You have, during the course of the series, introduced other family members. Could you tell us about a couple of them?

Rafferty is a gladly-lapsed Catholic, so it seemed only right to introduce the family priest who is a cousin on his mother’s side. Father Kelly regards it as his mission in life to bring Rafferty back to the Catholic fold, much to Rafferty’s chagrin. Nigel Blythe, aka Jerry Kelly, is another cousin. Nigel is an estate agent (realtor), who is a social climber with ideas above his station in life, certainly they’re above someone with a name like Jerry Kelly, hence the name change. Nigel’s another one who’s ‘superior’ to Rafferty. Unlike Rafferty, Nigel is a stylish dresser and lives in a spacious warehouse apartment. His interaction with Rafferty invariably causes Rafferty plenty of angst.

You decided to set the series in the county of Essex in England. Does this have special significance?

Yes, it does. In England, Essex is a rather derided county – there are even jokes about its inhabitants, such as: What’s the difference between Essex and Mars? Answer: There might be intelligent life on Mars. And: what does an Essex girl consider a really classy meal? Answer: A wood chip (French fries) fork with her takeaway.

I thought it was the perfect county in which to place Rafferty, whose family is working-class. Essex people have the reputation for being duckers and divers and wheelers and dealers and several of Rafferty’s family are of this type.

Though, funnily enough, having chosen Essex as the location for the series, the place seems to be becoming of less importance as the series progresses.

Rafferty’s mother, Ma (Kitty) Rafferty is a strong character. Is this the way she was always going to be?

Definitely. Ma was just another aspect of how I made life difficult for Rafferty. Right from the start, she’s been a real old-fashioned Irish mother, always poking her nose into his business, chiding him about the lapsed nature of his religion and match-making him with girls with child-bearing hips.

Deadly Reunion, as you said, is the fourteenth novel in the series. Do you foresee the series continuing indefinitely?

I don’t see why not. As long as I can keep coming up with plots and convincing funny sub-plots. If I think the stories are faltering, I’ll stop, but until then it’s business as usual in Rafferty’s Cop Shop.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on Kith and Kill, which is another Rafferty novel. In this one, a ninety-year-old woman is murdered on the night of her birthday party. The sub-plot has Rafferty striving to keep his family on the straight and narrow when they set about deciding what present to buy Ma for a triple anniversary.

LINK TO MY PAGE WITH THE BLOG TOUR DATES:

http://www.geraldineevans.com/wednesday_14_december_2010_035.htm

Deadly Reunion

A Rafferty & Llewellyn crime novel by Geraldine Evans

Publication: 24 February 2011 (UK) 1 June 2011 (US)

Blurb

Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty is barely back from his honeymoon before he has two unpleasant surprises. Not only has he another murder investigation - a poisoning, courtesy of a school reunion, he also has four new lodgers, courtesy of his Ma, Kitty Rafferty. Ma is organising her own reunion and since getting on the internet, the number of Rafferty and Kelly family attendees has grown, like Topsy. In his murder investigation, Rafferty has to go back in time to learn of all the likely motives of the victim's fellow reunees. But it is only when he is reconciled to his unwanted lodgers, that Rafferty finds the answers to his most important questions.

Links:

amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4qjgay4

amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/4f56pxp

ebooks on amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4re8apo

ebooks on amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/6du98kq

Geraldine Evans’s website: http://www.geraldineevans.com

Geraldine Evans’s blog: http://www.geraldineevanscom.blogspot.com

Read all about it!

2011-02-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

I'm putting out a special weekend edition today, with an assortment of review news.

Here's a link to a review of my own short story collection by the tireless Kevin Tipple.

More reviews of that book are found on Smashwords. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26383

And, as a special treat, here are two reviews I did for "Suspense Magazine". We reviewers turned in too many this month, so I'm releasing these here instead. But more reviews are in the publication, which you really should subscribe to!

Without further ado, I present the two reviews of two very different books published in late 2010.

“Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron” by Stephanie Barron:

To read this series is to be transported to Regency England, to the decadence of the Prince Regent that flourished alongside the strict morals professed by the proper folk. It's as if Stephanie Barron time-traveled to 1813 to absorb every nuance of custom and conversation, then hurried back to set it all down for us. The fascinating, bizarre cast includes the Prince Regent, of course (Prinny), Lord Byron, and Lady Caroline Lamb. These last two dissolute characters, the author says, were actually tamed down in her version, and they're wild!

In its leisurely, elegant way, the novel brings us to the death of Jane Austen's beloved sister-in-law, Eliza, Comtesse de Feuillide, and the wife of her brother, Henry. The dying woman seems to whisper something to Jane as she expires. Regret?Jane isn't quite sure what she heard. She is writing her third novel, Mansfield Park, and plans to publish it anonymously, as she has her first two. Miss Austen is not as absorbed in it as she would like, though, and agrees to accompany Henry to Brighton to dispel the gloom caused by Eliza's death.

On their way, Jane rescues a girl of fifteen, Catherine Twining, who has been abducted, bound and gagged, from the coach of Lord Byron! Byron, otherwise known as George Gordon, has just published his epic poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and every woman in England swoons when he draws near. Every woman but Catherine, with whom Byron is obsessed. Even Jane has to fight a physical attraction to see clearly whether or not he's guilty of the murder with which he's charged. The corrupt officials want to say the crime is solved, but have no interest in uncovering any facts, or even questioning anyone. It's up to Jane to see that justice is done.

A most satisfactory trip through springtime madness on the coast of England in a bygone time.

Author's webpage: http://www.stephaniebarron.com/

You can buy the book with the links at the bottom of http://www.stephaniebarron.com/madness-lord-byron.php.

“Rogue Wave” by Boyd Morrison:

This thriller starts out fast and speeds up. Kai Tanaka, loving father of thirteen-year-old Lani, and equally loving husband of Rachel, finds he must risk his job with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to save his family. An event unprecedented in human history, but one which has actually been predicted for some time, could throw his world into chaos.

Kai is acting director of the PTWC when strange events start occurring. Most of the staff is absent or unavailable. Kai and Reggie are alone in the center when an earthquake registers in the south Pacific where one has never occurred. Sensors meant to relay data from various islands then mysteriously fail. At first, they issue a tsunami bulletin, a minor notification that is ignored, as usual. If Kai orders an unneeded evacuation it will cost the islands dearly and Kai may lose his job as a result.

But if he waits too long, it could be too late for the the entire population of Hawaii. The warnings may not only be too late, the standard tsunami procedures may be useless in the face of the unbelievable gigantic rogue wave that he is beginning to suspect is on its way.

His daughter is out of reach and his wife, manager of the swank Grand Hawaiian Hotel, is staying there too long, trying to save her clients, including a group of disabled vets. Lani's best friend, Mia, and her mother Teresa, a third-year medical school resident, have not picked a good time to visit from Seattle. Kai's reckless and irrepressible half-brother, Brad Hopkins, part playboy, part Hell's Angel, refuses to get out of the say and stay in the background during the crisis. But he comes through in the crisis, in his own way.

Kai must choose between losing his job because of a poor decision and losing his wife an daughter as precious minutes tick by, leading to unimaginable catastrophe. This book had me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath in case a wave washed over me.

Author's webpage: http://www.boydmorrison.com/RogueWave.html

When is a Funeral an Event?

2011-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

PGR picture from wikipedia

When the deceased is an Air Force veteran of three wars and his son and son-in-law are both retired Austin police officers who both ride in the Patriot Guard Riders.

I wish I’d brought my camera. The picture I found at wikipedia will have to do.

About 50 motorcycles with large flags streaming behind each one, accompanied the hearse for a distance of twenty miles from the funeral home to the cemetery. 38 of the motorcycles were Patriot Guard, the rest Austin PD. They blocked traffic at the side intersections, leapfrogging each other to do so, some lagging back and some zooming ahead.

The cycles rode two abreast just behind the first police cycles, then the hearse and family’s car. We were pretty close to the front and could see them streaming out before us when we were heading into a dip. The entire procession was about a mile long. Almost every motorist pulled over as we met them and waited until the whole bunch of us passed by.

When we got to the cemetery, the Patriot Guard surrounded the tent with the family and friends, standing at attention with tall flags at their sides. They stood there until the last of the family left. The man also received full military honors with six uniformed pall bearers who had taps on their shoes. The sidewalk to the graveside was cement so you could hear the clicks of their precision marching. Two of them performed the flag folding ceremony, where they removed the flag that was draped over the coffin, folded it into a triangle, and one of them knelt to present it to the widow with some quiet words of thanks for her husband’s service to his country. This was followed by taps and a twenty-one gun salute.

If you don’t know about the PGR (and I didn’t know much about them before this), they are mostly military vets, but not all. They are motorcyclists who make it their mission to honor fallen soldiers. The group was formed in 2005 in reaction to an annoying bunch of people that were making it their habit to disrupt families trying to bury their dead soldier relatives. They apparently believed that the soldiers had died because our country is too tolerant of homosexuals. How they reached that conclusion is a mystery, but they were causing anguish at burials. This group decided to physically put themselves between these noisy, screaming people (members of a Kansas church called Westboro Baptist, but not affiliated with the mainstream Baptist Church). The PGR made it their mission to shield the families and let them mourn in peace.

Since then, the Patriot Guard’s activities have spread to other parts of the country. I was awed by the sight and hope you have a chance to see these men (and a few women) in action someday.