Goodreads giveaway coming up

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Eine Kleine Murder
     
     

          by Kaye George
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends July 25, 2013.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win

Neanderthal Mystery Out!

It’s kind of difficult having two different series debut from two different publishers within two months, but it’s also two--I mean too exciting!

EINE KLEINE MURDER came out in April from Barking Rain Press and I’m thrilled with the reception it’s getting. (Details are at the “Eine Kleine” tab above, as well as on my Novel webpage.) This book incorporates my love of music with amateur sleuthing, and uses the area where I grew up as setting.

Now, as of yesterday, DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE is published by Untreed Reads as an e-book! Since this is a Neanderthal murder mystery (and since the title doesn’t fit on the tab), the details for this project are at the “Neanderthal” tab above.

This isn’t the one and only Neanderthal mystery, but I can only find one other, HYAENAS by Sandy Dengler. It’s out of print, but I found a used copy and have read it. It takes more of a comic approach than I’ve taken with my novel.

I tried VERY hard to stick to the latest scientific findings. Believe me, that’s not easy, because new findings are being made constantly about these people who haven’t been here in 28,000 years.

However, to make the story I wanted, I did take some liberties. Some of these aren’t even liberties, since pros and cons are debated about almost every aspect of their lives. That’s great for me. I just choose the scenario that fits best for my purposes.

The points below might be considered departures, but then again, they might not.

This tribe is matriarchal. The leader is a wise woman, as is the healer of the tribe. My reasoning on this is thus: at that time in history, people didn’t know the details of conception and eggs and sperm and genes. My thought is that you would always know who your mother was, but might not know who your father was, if couples weren’t mated for life or weren’t always together. It’s possible that people wouldn’t even know a male had to be involved, but I let them know this.

They throw their spears. Most researchers do think that Neanderthals did not throw spears, but thrust them instead at the large prey when they were close enough to do so. The evidence is the many injuries to the bones that have been found. Hey, I figure you can get injured by those beasts even throwing spears. They were so much more muscular than we are, that I gave them that ability.

The woman throw the spears. The men were probably stronger--they always have been. So I saved them for butchering and cutting the meat to haul back to the living quarters. The females, lighter and quicker, and maybe more stealthy, were the ones to sneak up on the animals and spear them.

They speak. This was debated for a long time, but it’s now believed very possible that they had at least limited speaking abilities. There is some genetic and physical evidence for this. The social evidence is, to me, less compelling. The argument for that says that they had to communicate with each other with some sophistication in order to successfully hunt the animals they did. However, wolves do pretty well without spoken words. Besides, since the brains of the Neanderthal were larger than ours, I gave them a bit of heightened sensory ability--plus telepathy. They use speech for formal occasions, such as announcements by the leader of decisions that affect the whole tribe.

They are in North America. Wait, don’t laugh. The theory that humans came from Asia over the land bridge 10,000 years ago is eroding. For one thing, it would be unprecedented for humans to spread all the way to what is now Patagonia in the time period required, given the age of human remains there. So maybe they came over much earlier. For another thing, some South Americans seem closely related to Africans, meaning they probably came across the Atlantic. Neanderthals are still being discovered in areas no one has found them in before. Anyway, just because we haven’t found their remains on this continent, doesn’t mean they weren’t here. Is anyone looking for them? Just to take care of this detail, I gave them a death/burial ritual that would explain the absence of remains.

I’ll tell you the real reason I put them in North America. I wanted to write about the mega-fauna that existed here until 10,000 years ago. I love those dire wolves, flat-faced bears, mammoths, camelops, giant sloths and giant beavers. It’s VERY fun to include them.

This is the research page created by my web designer a few years ago. I haven’t gone over it for updates lately, but I’ll tell you this. I recently read a book called CRO-MAGNON by Brian Fagan, published in 2011, a mere two years ago. He positively states that all experts agree that Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals did not mate. Today, it’s a known fact that they did! A relative of mine has had her DNA analyzed and has found that she is 2.5% Neanderthal. My own results should be ready soon!

I think a lot of artistic leeway can be taken in writing about these fascinating people, and I took it. If you’d like a small sample of my book, take a look at http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_158&products_id=969. The book is on an introductory sale, and my short story, THE BAVARIAN KRISP CAPER, will be thrown in free.

Our yard, early June

A few more daylilies have opened. Some in the back.

Some in the front.

I found these cute little mushrooms today. I know they don’t stay around long, so I snapped their picture while they were posing. As a mystery writer, I supposed I should know whether or not they’re poison, but my mushroom book isn’t unpacked and I have no idea. We won’t eat them.

These are the oddest plants I’ve seen in this town. I saw some in another yard a couple of weeks ago and I was delighted when they sprang up here! They look like candy corn to me.

Here’s what’s coming up next. More daylilies and some, well, I don’t know if that’s a yucca or a century plant. I’ve never had either in a yard. We’ll see!

A May Yard Update

Things are moving along. We had more peonies that I’ve ever seen in one place. The iris came out at the same time.

Our little tree revealed itself as a peach tree! I haven’t treated the fruit, so I doubt we’ll eat any of these, but next year, for sure.

After the fierce rain beat the white peonies to death, some pink ones came out. Not as many, but gorgeous.

And roses! I’ve killed all the roses I ever had, so send good thoughts for these.

           

We got mulch laid in the back flower bed and it’s ready for some potted plants, I think. Next from the yard will be day lilies, just getting started now. I shot these last pictures a little too late in the day, I think. But I can't wait until tomorrow. My Wednesday blog would be late.

All  photographs by Kaye George

A Special Anniversary

(First a little boost for a review I received yesterday: http://www.examiner.com/article/kaye-george-orchestrates-a-great-mystery-eine-kleine-murder)

Now, onto my topic~~

Last week was the anniversary of a day when my efforts of ten-plus years paid off. On Monday, the 14th of May, 2012, I talked to Kim Lionetti on the phone for nearly two hours. At the end of the conversation, I had agreed for her to be my agent!

In the year since then, a lot has happened. She set me to work on a project that she and her partner, Jessica Faust, had come up with. I hadn’t even finished it, though, when a chance for a work for hire cozy came to her from Berkley Prime Crime. It was a mystery set in Minneapolis, featuring an overweight cat name Quincy, and his mistress, Chase Oliver, the co-owner of a dessert bar shop. (A work for hire is written to the publisher’s idea, and the publisher will own the copyrights--but I’ll get paid normal royalties, etc.)

This was right up my alley for a couple of reasons. (1) I am a long-time cat owner and my most recent cat, Agamemnon, was a clever rascal, also slightly overweight. I would model the cat after him, although I’d change his coloring. I thought an orange tabby would look better on the cover than a black shorthair with extra long fangs. My cat had been a rescued feral and I swear he was reverting to saber-tooth tiger. You could see his fangs when his mouth was closed! He could be very sweet, but was exasperatingly smart. On several occasions, I saw him climb onto something next to a closed door and attempt to turn the knob. If he’d had a thumb, he could have done it.

(2) I once lived in the Minneapolis area for a little over 3 years. I’ll admit, it is my favorite place I’ve ever lived, and I’ve lived in a lot of places. My puzzlement was--how to set a cozy in the place where the darkest noir crime novels take place. Should I put it in Minnetonka, where we used to live? Hopkins, the next-door suburb, a bit closer to the Twin Cities themselves? My husband came up with a place he remembered from our stay there: Dinktytown. The name was perfect, but would it do?

I googled it extensively, a cute little area of just a few square blocks on the edge of the U of M campus, nestled between the campus and the Mississippi River. It’s on the east side of the river, where St. Paul lies, but this portion is technically Minneapolis--I checked. I got in contact with the president of the Dinktytown Business Association and he was supportive and kind, even sent me an excellent map of the area done cartoon style, highlighting the local businesses.

The upshot of all this is that I got a workable outline put together, wrote the first three chapters, and sent them off. I was in shock after I landed my awesome agent, but even more shocked when my proposal was accepted!

I got to meet Kim at Malice Domestic this year and she’s just as awesome in person as by email and phone. I can’t believe what a whirlwind this last year has been. (Plus we moved twice--yikes!)

This news has all been announced previously, but, for this anniversary, I thought I’d give some details on the background. I’m now about 3/4 (or maybe a little more) finished with the first draft of the as-yet-untitled first in the three-book FAT CAT series. It’s going well and I love the characters, especially that rascal, Quincy! (Look for the book sometime around the fall of 2014.)

Photo from Dreamstime

Malice 2013

What a fun time I had! I got to meet new people and connect with ones I already know, mostly from Malice in previous years.

The Malice Go Round was worthwhile, but soooo tiring! Picture by Greg Puhl.

The Guppy Steering Committee met (in the bar, of course).

 

That’s me, Karen Duxbury, Elaine Douts, and Teresa Inge. Jim Jackson was also there, but behind the camera for this shot. 

Here’s a shot of him from Teresa: Teresa, Maria Hudgins, Shari Randall, Jim Jackson, Jan (with Jim). and me

Here’s a picture of me, Tracy (don’t have her last name), Larissa Reinhart, and Diane Vallere. 

My panel early on Sunday was well-attended and went smoothly. Larissa (on the right) is from the same area where I grew up and where EINE KLEINE MURDER (the book debuting at his conference) is set. Karen MacInerney (next to Larissa) was in the first face-to-face critique group I joined in Austin. And Peter Lovesey was just fun to sit next to, listening to his British accent. C. Ellet Logan (on the left) ran the panel with aplomb. (Picture from Larissa’s friend)

At my signing, Harlen Cobin was wandering around and Daryl Gerber jumped up to talk to him, then got her picture with him. So, I did too.

After Malice, Sherry and her husband zipped me to Baltimore for a signing at Kim Gray’s Gift Cellar which she kindly donated for a signing by Sheila Connolly, James M. Jackson, me, Edith Maxwell, Kimberley Lynne, and Barb Ross.

I'm probably the last Malice attendee to post pictures, but here they are!

Another new book!

Every book I write is dear to me in some way. They’re my children and I love them all. DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE is no exception. I’ve just learned that it will be released in June, but don’t have an exact date yet.

If you haven’t seen the cover on Facebook yet, here it is! It’s also on my Neanderthal page at the tab above. 

If you’re wondering what this book is about, I’ll first give you the teaser: Enga Dancing Flower knows her tribe is in trouble. The dark seasons are becoming longer and the mammoth herds are fleeing south. When the tribal leader is found stabbed to death, the new leader thinks Enga did it. Expulsion and certain death looms. Enga must find the murderer to save her tribe -- and herself.

The book opens in the fall (which, of course, is not what Enga’s tribe calls it). The cold season approaches and the leader, Hama, a wise old woman, beseeches Dakadaga, the Spirit of Mother Sky, to give the tribe her blessing. The wind blows cold and stirs sparks from the fire. Hungry bellies growl audibly. Something must change, and these are a people who do not change rapidly or without great cause. Their way of life has continued, mostly unchanged, for 200,000 years.

Here’s a bit about the background and a tiny smidgen of my research: http://kayegeorge.com/research.html

I’m so excited about the birth of this book! I hope it’s not too awfully long before I get the sequel done!