Fiction Writing and Other Oddities

Be sure to follow Barbara's blog tour. She will be giving away a $25 Amazon or BN.com gift card to one randomly chosen person who leaves comments during the tour. You can follow the tour by checking out the stops at:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/03/blurb-blitz-tour-gospel-according-to.html .

Thank you for joining us today, Barbara, and good luck with your book. It sounds fascinating!

I recently returned from the Malice Domestic 25 conference in Bethesda, MD, and I had a super time. My sister and I both love mysteries, so we can get a chance to visit, do a little sight-seeing around the Virginia, Maryland, DC area, and generally have a good time. One of the best features, of course, is that we each get a bag full of books, many of which are from authors new to us so we get to sample new authors while going to interesting talks and generally schmoozing with the authors. If you haven't gone, I highly recommend this conference as it is on the small side and everyone is fantastically nice.

Harlan Coben and yours truly, Amy Corwin

In fact, during the author signing, Harlan Coben came over and spoke to several of us, which was really sweet of him considering that I (in particular) am generally unknown in the Mystery Author Stars firmament.

Exotic Locales Session with Dina Willner (moderator), Lucy Burdette, Aaron Elkins, Marie Moore, and Michael Stanley

One of the best sessions was about the use of exotic locales in fiction and all four authors were fascinating in their views of how the locale influences the book. I picked up several new books where the stories are set in distant lands since I have always loved to read stores set in other places. One of the authors, Aaron Elkins, really drew in the crowds and I loved to hear him talk about his process. He visits the places where he sets his stories and takes notes on everything, including local eateries (including their menus) and street views. I almost asked him if he had any relatives in NC since we are friends with a family with the last name and there is even a crossroads (Elkton) named after the Elkins. It would be really funny if they were related (I really don't think they are).

Maria Hudgins (Left)

I also got to catch up with several of my friends, including fellow Five Star author, Maria Hudgins, and Sandra Parshall who was the main editor of the Fairfax Audubon Society newsletter where I was a "grunt" typist eons ago.

Sandra Parshall (right)

While at the conference, I got to participate in the fun (but exhausting) Malice-Go-Round, which was like speed dating for authors. There were twenty tables set up with ten or so folks at each table and we authors got to run around to each table and "pitch" our books for 2.5 minutes. Whew. By the time I reached table 18, I was pretty well "voice-less" but I certainly got my pitch for my latest mystery, Whacked!, down-pat. (An overworked gal goes to house-sit for her aunt and uncle, only to find her uncle sharing a smoke with a dead man. It's up to her to prove her uncle is not crazy and did not kill the man at the bottom of the garden. LOL) Right now, Whacked! is only out in hardcover, but there should be an ebook version out next year (crossing fingers).

Liz Lipperman (right)

For fans of my historical mysteries, the second Pru & Knighton book (Second Sons Inquiry Agency mystery series) should be out by the end of June or early July. I still don't have a title for it, but it's coming! If you want to catch up on the first book where Pru Barnard is accused of murdering her host at a seance, you can grab a copy of The Vital Principle.

I hope mystery fans will check out Malice Domestic and maybe make a trip next year for the conference. It really was a lot of fun and there is so much to do in that neck of the woods. It is well worth the trip!

Aaron Elkins at book signing

Since I retired from my day job to write full time, I've also started doing a lot more cooking. Both my husband and I enjoy cooking and hubby is even trying to learn how to bake! Last night, we managed to throw together another delicious dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and an apple spice cake. I had hoped for enough leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes to make a pseudo-Shepard's Pie for dinner tonight, but no such luck so today I have chicken chili in the crock-pot. My meatloaf never really tastes the same way twice because I tend to vary the recipe and for some reason, I hit a home run last night.

Here is what I threw together and a few tips to help you through your hectic food preparation.

Meatloaf
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp. salt (optional, I often don't put salt into food)
1/3 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. milk
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped fine
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp. chopped chipotle chili with adobo sauce
Ketchup or chili sauce (to spread on top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Soak the oatmeal in the milk while you mince the onions. You don't have to, but it is a good idea. Mix everything (with your hands--that really works out best) except the last ingredient.

Spray a loaf pan or grease it to avoid sticking. Spread the meat mixture into the pan and then pour a Tbsp or 2 of the ketchup or chili sauce on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour to 1 and 1/4 hours.

Time and Food Saver Tip
A lot of recipes, including the one above, call for a Tbsp or so of chipotle chilies and adobo sauce. The problem is, you generally have to open a small can and you only use a small part of it. I have found that I can scrap the rest of the can's contents into a quart-sized freezer bag, smoosh it out so that the contents of the bag are spread out and there is little-to-no air and then freeze it.

The advantage of this is that you can then break of pieces of the chilies and sauce and easily chop it up to add to recipes. I find that it is actually much easier to chop up the chilies into much smaller pieces when they are frozen, so this works well (at least for me).

Apple Spice Cake
The cake we made last night was basically the one from this link: Spice Cake from Allrecipes.com, except that I modified it as follows.

2 Apples cored and sliced thinly, spritzed with a little fresh lemon juice to keep them from going brown

Bisquick Streusel topping:
2/3 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. Brown sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tsp. Cinnamon

Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the Bisquick, brown sugar and cinnamon until the consistency is grainy with pea-sized bits.

Make the spice cake then layer the apples on top. Layer the streusel topping on top of the apples. The spice cake calls for baking in a 9 x 13" pan, but I put it into a Bundt pan, which meant I had to bake it for 50 minutes instead of the 40 minutes the spice cake recipe called for.

It was delicious. :)

Today, I'm baking our French bread for the week and we have chicken chili for dinner, which gives me time to do some writing. Good eats all around!


What Else Am I Working On?
My editor at Highland Press emailed me about a sweet Regency romance anthology they are putting together and she asked if I could dash off a novella for it. I have a terrible track record with novellas and "dashing things" off, but I did agree so I've been working very hard to get 20,000 words written and edited. I'm now working on the ending, which is always the hardest part for me. The story is tentatively (and not very creatively) called "The Thief" and will once more feature the cursed emerald necklace, the Peckham Necklace, and another member of the Archer family.

It's what I consider a light, fun story and I really hope my editor and my readers like it. My first novel published with Highland Press is called The Necklace and it too features the emerald necklace so I thought the novella would be a nice continuation with the Archer family and their misadventures with their infamous necklace.

Wish me luck and happy reading!

As mentioned in my previous blog, I've retired from my day job to be a full time writer. Yippee!
And that also means that everyone has been asking me what I will do, now. In fact, no one can quite believe that I would "give up a career in information technology" just like that. While I'm still trying to figure out if I need to renew my Microsoft Technet subscription, I think in the end I will be able to give up work in IT because my problem is not a lack of interests, but far too many interests to explore in a single lifetime.

I've spent 36 years exploring computers and IT. I'm ready to move on and while I don't really believe in "bucket lists" per se, I do have a lot of things I want to do. Here are just a select few.

1. Train the Dog - we just got a new Jack Russell puppy and am spending a lot of time with her. She's really good at fetch and I'd like to train her to do a few things - it will keep both of us active outside and she'll be all the happier for it.
2. Write - I have several books in first or first/second draft stage. I need to finish those and get them "out the door". My first hardcover mystery, Whacked!, is out and while most authors will shake their heads in disgust at me when I admit this, I need to get a second manuscript to my publisher. (I should have already sent them one, but I'm a very slow writer.) A Fall of Silver - a paranormal romance, should have been published, but is still going through last minute edits, so... Work, work, work.
3. Birding  - I've neglected my bird watching over the last few years and I really want to get back to that. I've even forgotten some of the calls. This spring I intend to do a lot of birding around North Carolina.
4. Gardening - The gardens are a mess. I need to get them back into shape. Some, I may have to eliminate so that I can keep the rest of them weeded, etc, during the hot summer months. I way overdid it in creating lots of gardens and I got overwhelmed. It's time to correct that. In fact, I need to clean up the kitchen garden and start planting cold weather crops before it's too late.
5. The House - The old log home has been neglected far too long. It's time to pull up some of the nastier bits of carpeting and put down flooring that can withstand the four-legged creatures running around here. We also have a junk room that I've sworn to clean up and turn into a library. Oh, and let's not forget doing actual housework. :)
6. Classes - I'd like to take some classes, and to ease into that, I'm looking at ordering some of the Great Courses. I'm particularly interested in Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works  although it is fairly pricey. It strikes me that it would be useful if I continue to write mysteries. I've always been interested in forensics and this one sounds interesting. I'd also like to take some of their history classes and some fun ones like cooking.

That's enough to get me started, I think.

The First Day

As of Jan 1, 2013, I'm a full-time writer, and it's only taken almost 36 years to reach this point. To celebrate, I got up before dawn to take a photo of this grand occasion, and here it is.

Well, okay, that was actually later in the morning, after I realized that the rain wasn't going to stop and my real picture of what should have been dawn looked more like the one here (which is, incidentally, of dawn on 1/1/2013).

It's rained for the last three days, every morning, so I still don't have my beautiful sunrise on the first morning of the rest of my life, but whatever.

Did I mention that I also had the flu and had to go to the emergency room around midnight? That was fun. Dehydrated from being unable to keep anything down and feverish, my husband carted me off to the ER. They tested me and pronounced the dreaded flu (despite the fact I had a flu shot) and they decided to replenish the fluids via IV. That was fun, too. I kept feeling them swabbing my arm and when I finally glanced over to see what they were doing, well, it looked like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 3-D. Blood spurting everywhere. But they finally got the IV in and after a few injections of drugs and a bag of fluid, I was ready to go home.

That's the point at which the nurse said to the lady handing me a fistful of prescriptions, "Can you get the other nurse? I can't get the IV out."

Really? You can't get the IV out? Really?

Another episode of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A few glorious waterfalls of blood later, I was discharged into my husband's care.

So finally, here it is 1/3/2013 and I'm working on being a full time writer, at last!

All hoopla aside, my contemporary mystery, Whacked!, was also released by Five Star as a hardcover. I'm so glad to see it available now. I have every hope I can pull my next mystery into shape and send it on to Five Star for another stab at the big time!

Best wishes to everyone for 2013!

Jenny is an amazing, accomplished woman, as you'll see when you read her bio at the end of this blog. Not only does she teach writing, but she is a published author, proving that some teachers no only teach, but also do. It's not easy to write suspense and she does a surperb job.


On my blog is a forum called Made It Moments. Over 125 authors so far have dropped by, answered the question “How did I know I’d made it,” then stayed to chat for a while.

I love this forum because every single answer is utterly unique—while all saying the exact same thing. I haven’t.

The concept of success in this writing world is a really hard one. The bar can be set awfully high. Once we pass one mile marker, we immediately see another one ahead.

Beginning your first novel. Finishing your first novel. Editing your first novel. Again and again and again. Realizing it may not work and beginning your second novel. Or your third. And so on. (In my case, all the way to eight, before I sold.)

The roads diverge then, and as Robert Frost wrote, the one you take may make all the difference. Or, it may not. In Amanda Hocking’s case she parlayed serious success as an independent author into serious success as she embarked on the traditional route. Whether that success continues remains to be seen. Whether she would’ve had such success if she didn’t start out independent is likewise an unknown.

If you travel down the traditional path, mile markers of success will be: Getting an agent. Getting published. Receiving reviews. Having your book in bookstores. Doing a signing. Doing a signing where more than five people come. Doing a signing where 500 people come. Hitting a list. Winning an award. Selling subsidiary rights of various sorts.

If you travel down the independent road, other mile markers will ensue. Finding a good editor. Designing a cover. Deciding on print options. Uploading to various platforms. Setting a price. Seeing those first sales come in. Tweaking the price. Seeing the first double digit numbers hit. Triple digit. Quadruple. Or even higher. Then you get to be interviewed along with Karen McQuestion, John Locke, and let’s throw in Amanda Hocking again.

Have you made it?

I think the reason this question hangs us up is because we’re defining success based on the wrong things. The above things—any of the above.
Think about the salmon’s perspective.

He’s ‘made it’ when he arrives at the top of the stream without getting eaten.

The writer’s equivalent is, I think, getting up every day and putting words down on paper or screen without letting the inevitable discouragement creep in and stop you in the act.

Discouragement comes from all sorts of sources. It’s that little voice in our head that says things like, You can’t do this. And even if you can, what are the chances you’ll succeed? (See? Making it again). You’re not getting paid. You may never get paid. Aren’t there other, more important things to do? Clean the house, help a friend, take the kids somewhere, get a ‘real’ job?

And it’s not that those things aren’t all very important.
But—your writing is, too.
This is how it happened for me. I always wanted to write. I studied poetry and fiction until I graduated from college. During my sophomore year, my parents, who were not overly practical and typically encouraged my dreams, so I was wont to trust them, suggested that I might want to pursue something that stood a chance of allowing me to feed myself. I decided to double major in English and Psych, and wound up ABD in clinical psychology. But the siren’s call of writing never stopped singing, and during my internship, I began writing my first real novel.
I call it ‘real’ because this was the book where I found my writer’s voice in suspense. I’d always loved to read suspense, but somehow I never wrote it before.

Because I had heeded my parents’ advice and was working, I wrote this novel at 4 o’clock in the morning before leaving for shifts at the hospital. It took me about five months to complete—that’s how fired up I was. The novel was unpublishable, but it did earn me offers from agents. And once that carrot was dangled, my hunger pulled me through seven more books, two more agents, and many, many close calls.

The fact that you write, that you have this creative urge deep inside you, is a gift and deserves to be nurtured. Taken seriously. Given some time.

Virginia Woolf called it a room of one’s own.

You deserve for your writing to have a room.

If not a whole room, well—at least a converted closet, such as the one I wrote those eight novels in, and recently began my ninth.

If you can honor your gift enough to give it some space, and a dedicated portion of your day, however you manage to come by those things, then the results might surprise you. You just might come to something great enough to deserve revision, querying, uploading.

You might make it.

Jenny in 2001 when her first book went on submission (above right).


A closet of my own

The No Plan B photo my husband gave me when I was close to giving up

* * * * *
Okay, now this is just weird. Because years ago when I was first writing, I took a large closet in my one bedroom condo and turned it into an office, complete with one of the original IBM PCs and a daisy-wheel printer. In those days, publishers wouldn't accept manuscripts printed on dot-matrix printers which were the only other alternative to a daisy-wheel.
 
Times have changed, at least in how your furnish your closet.
 
Thanks Jenny and I hope you sell a billion!

We're closing in on the weekend and the end of the first week of National Novel Writing Month, or more affectionately known as: NaNoWriMo. The Internet ether is churning with reports of NaNoWriMo wracking up thousands of words. It's exciting and astounding to watch.

How am I doing?

Not too bad, although having to work overtime last night knocked me back by a thousand words from my goal. So far, I've got 6,300 words written. I need to write 50,000 by the end of November to step into the winners circle.

Will I make it? Yes.
At least, I think so. Assuming I don't have to work a lot more overtime like I did last night. The prospects don't look good, though. My hubby and I were looking at our respective schedules and November is a bad month all around. I'm holding the fort while he's gone, he's holding the fort while I'm gone and we're very, very busy.

In a number of ways, I wish they'd move NaNoWriMo to a month like January. We'd get one more day to reach 50,000 and what else are you going to do when you can't get out of the house because the door is frozen shut? Not to mention that you'd start out the new year right by writing a brand, spanking new book that you can maul and work over for the rest of the year.

Sigh.

But we have to work with what we've got. I'm a little worried about productivity tonight because I haven't quite decided which subplot to start working into the story. Since it's a mystery, there are several subplots which are my "red herring" threads. One is already started. I can't decide which of the other two I want to start weaving in now.

And no, I'm not going to describe them. LOL. If, by chance, I should manage to get this book published, I don't want even the slightest possibility of divulging any secrets ahead of time. Assuming that the red herrings aren't so blatent that within five minutes of hearing about the clues, you dismiss them.

Then there's characterization. That's more challenging. I need to give my characters challenges while not making them appear to be complete idiots. It's harder than it sounds.

Back to work and mulling over red herrings. After dinner tonight, I need to settle in and write at least 2,000 words. That's the goal.

In the meantime, did I mention that A Rose Before Dying is on sale? Check it out at your favorite ebook store.

The first victim was Sir Edward’s ex-mistress, a woman who threw him over for a younger man. After receiving a mysterious rose, she dies while alone with Sir Edward. Then a second rose is delivered and a deadly game commences, where roses are the only clues to save the next victim.


However, Charles Vance, Earl of Castlemoor, refuses to believe his uncle, Sir Edward, could commit the murders, even when the renowned head of the Second Sons Inquiry Agency warns him there may be some truth behind the rumors. "The roses are Sir Edward’s attempt to cast suspicion elsewhere." "Misdirection." Or so the whispers say.


Convinced he can prove his uncle’s innocence, Vance enlists the aide of notable rosarian, Ariadne Wellfleet, little realizing his actions will involve the Wellfleet household in the killer’s game.


Before the week is out, another rose is delivered.


And someone else is missing.

Christmas Spirit has also been released, the perfect holiday historical mystery novella to curl up with next to the fire.
Enjoy!

The first day of NaNoWriMo is over!
Phew.
I wrote 2,014 words, roughly 8 double-spaced pages, last night on my WIP (work in progress) Hidden Aspects. It will be the third story in the Second Sons mystery series and features Prudence Barnard and Knighton Gaunt from the first book, The Vital Principle.

And while I'm constantly telling people, "If you want to be a writer, write," I haven't been so good at following that advice. My writing goes in spurts, in part due to necessity. I spend a few months writing a first draft, set that aside, and work on editing some other book. There are only so many hours in the day, and I have a day job, so when I'm writing, I'm writing. When I'm editing, I'm editing. Sigh.

However, what that has meant was that I'll go for long stretches without doing much in the way of new writing. Which is bad. Often, I'll learn a thing or two while industriously writing during NaNoWriMo, but instead of continuing to write when the book is done and cementing what I've learned, I go back to another book and start editing it. Not good. Must rethink.

And on a side note, even spiders write. In fact here is a writing spider. Isn't he pretty?

I've been doing so much editing recently that my mind has gone into hibernation on the creativity front. In fact, I was starting to worry that after I manage to write the next three or four books that I have ideas for, I may run out of creative juice.

Which brings me back to NaNoWriMo and why writers must write. Constantly.
Because last night, not only did I get those 2,014 words written, but I got a bunch of side benefits!

• While I was writing the chapter, I thought of a twist for the story that hadn't even occurred to me before. My goal tonight is to write another 2,000 words to incorporate that cool twist.
• The germs of two more books occurred to me. I wrote them down. So maybe the creative juices haven't quite run out. Yet. LOL

So you see? The more you write, the more your skills improve and the more you tap into your hidden well of creativity.

If you want to be a writer, then write!

I love NaNoWriMo (even if it scares me half to death with visions of falling mid-month into a writing-induced coma).

Join the madness! It's not too late!

Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) or Just Normal?


I’ve been thinking a lot about characters in books and movies who are labeled, “Too Stupid To Live” or TSTL. I rarely think a character is TSTL, although sometimes I wish she really would pick up that gun that the bad guy dropped before he gets it back. (I’m going to talk about killing and the ability to kill in a later blog, so I won’t address that aspect at this point.)

Is it because I’m more forgiving of differences in human beings?

I don’t think so. In fact, most people think I’m cruel because I'm impatient and expect people to live up to a higher standard. I expect them to do things like “make sense” and “act reasonably.” But I do recognize that not everyone—in fact almost no one—thinks clearly in an emergency situation without a lot of practice and training. In fact most self-defense classes are about repetition so that your body knows what to do when attacked and you don’t have to think about it. Because as soon as you start thinking about it, you’re bound to mess up. He who hesitates is lost.

Anyway, let’s take a classic TSTL moment in fiction. In chapter 1, a bad guy escapes from prison. Let’s call him John. It’s on the news. Alice watches the news and thinks, wow, that’s not good. In chapter 2, the heroine (let’s call her Alice) hears a noise in the basement. Alice goes down to investigate.

I find this perfectly acceptable. A lot of readers, however, throw the book at the wall at this point because they know it’s John in the basement. After all the book is suspense and we (the reader) know this. The author has warned us. The author set up the scenario.

But if this were real life, why would Alice think it’s John in her basement? In real life, it’s probably a raccoon. Or a rat. Or a rattle in the pipes that just knocked over a clay pot that had been teetering on the edge of a loose shelf for the last decade.

If we called the cops every time we heard a noise in the basement, the cops would soon stop responding to us. And although I’ve got my concealed carry permit, I don’t run around the house with my gun, even if there is an escapee loose from the local jail. Why would he come to my house as opposed to all the other, closer ones?

We all play the odds. We don’t expect bad things to happen to us. Mostly if I hear a weird noise, it’s one of the dogs, one of the cats, or another snake has gotten into the house from the swamp.

Back to the book, what would you really want to happen?

• Alice locks the basement door. John piddles around in the basement and eventually gets bored and leaves. End of book.

• Alice locks the basement door and calls the cops. John hears the cops pull up. He leaves. The cop write up Alice for a nuisance call. End of book.

• Alice arms herself with a .357, goes into the basement, sees John and shoots him. She goes to jail for manslaughter. End of book.

• Or…Alice acts like a normal human being, goes into the basement, John grabs her and…stuff happens. About 350 pages worth of stuff.

What’s wrong with that last thing? Well, the real problem isn’t that Alice is TSTL. The problem is really that people are tired of the old, dark basement thing and they want a new way for John to break into the house and terrorize Alice.

In addition, we don’t want our characters to act like us. We don’t want them to be afraid to pick up the gun that the bad guy accidentally dropped. We want the characters to be better than us. Stronger. Quicker. More intelligent. Maybe not Superman, but…better. Because if the characters are better than us, it makes a more compelling story, and secretly, we’d all like to be just a little bit better in one or more ways. As humans, we have a need to vicariously feel what it’s like to be a bit stronger and more intelligent. We want to feel the rush of overcoming great odds and winning in the end. That’s why movies such as “The Karate Kid” and “Rocky”, even “Harry Potter” are so compelling. They’re about characters who rise above the ordinary. They are larger than life.

So is there really a problem with TSTL characters? Or is it just the hackneyed plot device that makes them see that way?

In the end, it really depends upon the reader.

What are your thoughts?

Please welcome mystery writer Julia March! She's going to talk about my favorite subject, the mystery novel.


There are a lot of different kinds of mystery novels—the cozy mystery, the hard-boiled, the police procedural... Even though they’re different, each one of them delivers a similar enjoyment for the reader.

Mystery novels reassure us that the world makes sense, and that good will triumph. And that an ordinary person has the power to bring about justice.

Order from chaos. We like seeing order come out of chaos. From the raw, unorganized data, the protagonist—whether it's Sherlock Holmes or an amateur sleuth—constructs a coherent narrative.

In a way, we all do this all the time. We ask what strange experiences mean. What explains them? How can we solve the mystery of why things weren't the way we expected?

If the cashier at the garden centre called for a carryout guy for you even though you said you didn't need one, and even though you didn't have very much to carry—that makes sense to you once you notice the carryout guy is the cashier's age and cute.

In a mystery novel, the mystery is more complicated then that. It's often a murder. The clues and the reasoning have to be more complicated, too. But figuring things out is still a familiar activity for people, and a familiar pleasure.

Most kids like mystery novels. (Remember Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown?) Young people are always trying to construct coherent narratives to make sense of the world. A good mystery novel can teach about discovery and reasoning.

Brain exercise. Reasoning is fun. A lot of people like "thinking" puzzles. People do crosswords and sudoko. I used to enjoy those logic puzzle books, myself, especially when I was commuting on the train.

People get satisfaction when they answer an important question, like what's making the dog sick—not just because the dog stops being sick, but because they figured it out themselves.

That's why it's so important that the mystery be fair. You don't want the protagonist to say, suddenly, "But what about this?" and hold out a surprise eyewitness or a honking great physical clue that you, the reader, were never privy to.

In a mystery novel, there's often the reward of a revelatory climactic moment, where the sleuth explains all the clues, and how they led to this end.

The process of reasoning has to be revealed to the reader. And it also has to be something the reader could have done.

What the protagonist knows, the reader should know or be able to figure out. The explanation can't be something like "I had a bad feeling he was the murderer. I don't know why; there's just something about the way he looks."

If the only proof he's the murderer is the way he looks, he needs to be described very well. The reader needs to see the way he looks, too. (But you'd better hope there's better proof than that.)

Pleasure of revelation. We like it when things are revealed. Think of any genre of novel. Hidden things are revealed in it, and that's part of the enjoyment.

In a mystery, facts are revealed about the victim and criminal. In Murder in the Philosophy Department, it seems almost everyone is hiding some secret—including Liza, the sleuth.

What we want to learn is what caused the murderer to be driven so far as to kill someone. We know it's going to be a dramatic story—we've never been driven so far—and that makes us eager to read it.

Personally, I love a good mystery—and they're as much fun to write as they are to read.

Bio: I worked at a university as a philosophy professor for a period of time. Now I read novels, write novels, and play with my dogs.

Web: http://www.juliamarch.com/

Murder in the Philosophy Department

Who killed Niles Norman, the new head of the philosophy department?

When Norman is found murdered in his office, Liza Ryder, a professor of philosophy, offers the police her help. She's worried they won't take academic motives seriously. And she also investigates her colleagues herself.

Was the murderer the dotty old hippie? The vindictive former department head? The prodigiously incompetent administrative assistant?

Liza is horrified by how many motives she finds. Extortion. Deception. Secrets kept since grad school. Will anything be left of the philosophy department when the investigation is over?

* * * * *
Thank you, Julia. I don't know about anyone else, but I think a perfectly good reason to kill a philosophy professor is because they're a professor. And they teach philosophy. I can think of many times when...oh, wait. No. I would never do something like that, or even think it!
LOL

What attracts you to a book? Why do you read?
Those questions are fascinating to me, and there are almost as many answers as there are blades of grass in the world.

For me, reading is a chance to explore other "modes of life," other cultures, discover new things, new words, vicarious thrills, see how others solve problems, and most of all, explore what it is that makes a human being tick.

Unlike a lot of readers, I avoid the heart-warming, the tear-jerkers, the super-woman heroines who weigh 90 lbs but stand 5'8" tall in fancy high-heels and tailored suits. Or the fun-loving hippy-chick who lets her emotions rule her beautiful life. I seek out the books about the overweight, the irrascible, the bitter cynics, misfits, the sarcastic, geeky, uncool loners who never fit in and know they probably never will. Those who like to think logic drives them but are often surprised at how many times obscure, deep-seated needs made the decisions for them. And they weren't good decisions.

Could it be that I bond more strongly with those I perceive to be like me? (I shudder to think what that says about me.) Or those who are portrayed with qualities I'd like to emulate? Is that part of what drives a reader to select certain books, certain authors over others? It's an interesting question and may in part help us understand why certain authors reach mega-stardom and others, who may even be better writers in the same genre, simply don't find a wide audience. Are the truly popular able to tap into the psyche of the "fat middle of the bell curve" of humanity (instead of the skinny ends), creating characters and incorporating themes that speak to most people?

To a large part, that may be true. The authors who can tap into the zeitgeist will undoubtedly do well.
For me, there are definitely values, themes, and characters that draw me into their stories and cause me to buy every book I can find about them.

The Inspector Rutledge series by Charles Todd, for example. This series of mysteries is set in England, right after World War I. It's a period when a shell-shocked population saw their world change forever in fundamental ways. The war itself was traumatic, but layered on top of that were changes brought about by technology. Cars were replacing horses, for example. Civilization was shifting into high gear. It was the start of an era we would recognize as the roots of our modern times.

While the shift is undoubtedly fascinating, what really draws me is Rutledge. This is a man who I can truly respect. He's been through horrific events during the war and returned home, shell-shocked and scarred both physically and mentally. His fiancee leaves him and his life is in tatters. And yet...instead of laying about whining, he returns to the work, hoping the challenges will give him time to pull himself together and heal. He shows enormous integrity and courage, as well as the drive to work through adversity instead of just giving up. He typifies all the qualities I admire most. He is why we will forever call those men and women who lived through the first half of the 20th century, the Great Generation. No one from that period would even think of eliminating cursive writing from school because it's too difficult to teach. (Okay, I had to add that, sorry.)

In contrast, I also read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson every year, sometimes twice a year. WARNING: SPOILERS. The main character draws me in as strongly as Rutledge and in many ways, she is much like him. She is also damaged and that damage leads her inexorably to her fate. I love the understated, vicarious chills of this horror story. There is no blood, no unspeakable acts of torture. It is more subtle and in may ways more horrible because of that. It is filled with irony. Eleanor is a character we can sympathize with, and perhaps even admire. She has sacrificed her own happiness and independence by spending most of her adult life taking care of an invalid mother. Exhausted by years of coming to her mother's call, day and night, she accidentally sleeps through one, final call. The one call that turns out to be the one she should have answered, for her mother dies. Ironic. And Eleanor can never quite forgive herself for that.

Then at last, she has one opportunity to find happiness and show her independence by taking her first vacation ever. At Hill House. Where whatever forces await her recognize that buried guilt and prey upon her. Her first attempt to find happiness, to show independence, results in...well. Ironic.

In contrast to that, are the works of P. G. Wodehouse. Particularly his stories set at Blandings Castle. Blandings Castle is the seat of Lord Emsworth. I adore Lord Emsworth. Mostly because he loathes his children, his family and only wants to be left alone to fatten up his champion sow, the Empress of Blandings. He makes me wonder how many parents really feel about their children, particuarly after said children reach the ages of around 13-25. I suspect Lord Emsworth isn't the only one who'd like to see them locked away and forgotten during that period. I wouldn't have blamed my own parents one bit if they felt like that. In fact, I can't understand how they avoided doing just that when I was in my teens.

As for my own writing...I find that I can't even start a book unless I have some pretty good conflict going and can include at least one irrascible, possibly down-right mean, character and a bit of comic relief. That's why so many of my stories end up with those elements somewhere around the middle when the going gets tough and I need a laugh or two to keep going.

My themes vary, but many have elements of "being trapped" in them, like Eleanor is trapped by her noble quality, her ability to sacrifice her happiness for others, and her guilt at failing her mother at the most critical moment. In my latest mystery, A Rose Before Dying, many of the characters are trapped in a variety of ways, both internally and externally.

Sir Edward is trapped by his lameness and circumstances. Someone may be trying to implicate him in a series of murders. In his efforts to extricate himself, he traps his nephew, Charles Vance, into investigating.

Charles Vance is trapped in a murder investigation by duty, a deep sense of honor and his love for his uncle.

As a woman in the early years of the 19th century, Ariadne Wellfleet is trapped by Society and legal obligations. She's engaged to be married to a man she does not like and restricted in her abilities to alter her situation for the better. She has a rose hybridization business she loves, but if she breaks her engagement she may lose it all.

This theme of entrapment is something I enjoy exploring, so I seem to return to it time and time again.

I'll leave you with two things: a question to ponder and a brief blurb for A Rose Before Dying.

What themes and characters intrigue you--why do you read?

And now...a word about A Rose Before Dying.



The first victim was Sir Edward’s ex-mistress, a woman who threw him over for a younger man. After receiving a mysterious rose, she dies while alone with Sir Edward. Then a second rose is delivered and a deadly game commences, where roses are the only clues to save the next victim.

However, Charles Vance, Earl of Castlemoor, refuses to believe his uncle, Sir Edward, could commit the murders, even when the renowned head of the Second Sons Inquiry Agency warns him there may be some truth behind the rumors. "The roses are Sir Edward’s attempt to cast suspicion elsewhere." "Misdirection." Or so the whispers say.

Convinced he can prove his uncle’s innocence, Vance enlists the aide of notable rosarian, Ariadne Wellfleet, little realizing his actions will involve the Wellfleet household in the killer’s game.

Before the week is out, another rose is delivered.

I'm a fan of Debra Purdy Kong, so I was thrilled when she agreed to join me and blog about the research she did for her mysteries. Many readers don't realize how much background work authors do to write even the simplest novel. I blame this on authors like Debra. Her books appear effortless, which is the hallmark of a good writer who did a great deal of research.

So here's Debra!


To say that I’m not a prolific writer would be an understatement. My first Casey Holland novel, The Opposite of Dark, took twelve drafts and about that many years to write. Mind you, I was working, raising a family and writing two other novels as well as short stories, articles, and personal essays.

The idea for The Opposite of Dark actually came twenty-five years ago, while I was working a temporary secretarial job for a public bus company here in British Columbia. I remember typing away when a young woman walked in wearing a black leather jacket and mini-skirt, and high heels. In the mid-eighties this definitely wasn’t an acceptable dress code, but I quickly learned that she was working as an undercover security officer for the bus company.

As years passed, I never forgot that woman or her work, so when I was ready to create a new mystery series, I decided to put my protagonist in security. After the seventh or eighth draft, I decided to learn more about the security business to add authenticity to my story. So, at age 53, I answered an ad in the paper for security officers from a company that paid for training.

With some trepidation, I called them up and asked if they could use someone my age. The answer was yes. Apparently, my maturity and work experience was an asset. It proved to be true, as I was assigned to a university campus where young women and female staff often felt more comfortable with women officers, particularly if we had to patrol locker rooms or dorms for a specific reason. I also worked in the communications office, dispatching security officers to different incidents and coordinating with the paramedics and firefighters during emergencies.

After landing a contract with my publisher, I left security work to write full time, but I have to say that I kind of miss security. I learned a lot, and although some might think I’d taken a tough approach to research, the paychecks certainly came in handy. The basic security training I took, including conflict prevention and resolution, is the same that Casey would have taken. Casey, however, is much more of an in-your-face, rule-breaker than I was, but she’s also a lot more interesting.

Since I intended The Opposite of Dark to be the first in a series, I wanted readers to learn about Casey’s family background, as it plays a huge role in the decisions she makes in future professional and personal relationships. In this book, Casey is informed by the police that her father has been murdered in his West Vancouver home. The problem is that she buried her dad three years earlier in an open-casket ceremony in front of a lot of witnesses. Once more, her dad never owned a home in West Vancouver, but he’d always dreamed of one. And so begins Casey’s adventures.

You can visit Debra on the web at: http://www.debrapurdykong.com/index.html

More info about The Opposite of Dark can be found from the publisher at http://bit.ly/i983XE
From amazon.com at www.tinyurl.com/2frw58u  or
From chapters/indo and on Kobo at http://bit.ly/gtFSFw

I love to get the inside scoop on how other writers tackle their research and writing tasks--there's a lot more work to writing fiction than you might imagine. So I'm very happy to have Mary Reed as a guest, to talk about how to mislead readers. :) As you might imagine, this is a skill that all mystery writers must cultivate.

MISLEADING READERS

It's been my experience that as soon as someone hears my accent they haul out the kettle and teapot and ask if I take milk and sugar.

This sort of kind gesture to a visitor leads me to thoughts on how to mislead readers by utilising their expectations of a particular type of character in an underhanded way.

The British ex-Indian Army colonel often appears in classic mysteries.

Readers tend to expect him to be a red-faced choleric individual who talks of pig-sticking, regimental messes, and hill stations. His conversation will be punctuated by words such as punkah wallah and tiffin and if married he will refer to his wife as his memsahib. He will doubtless vote Conservative and when serving on the magistrate's bench will fine poachers heavily.

But what if our colonel is spending his retirement working on a volume of philosophical reflections, heartily dislikes Indian cuisine, never wears his medals or attends regimental reunions, prefers his furniture to be in the style of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and thinks women should have the vote?

Quite a different character emerges! Certainly an unusual specimen of his class, easily misunderstood by those -- including the detective -- who would tend to assume that a man of his social position and history would possess certain traits.

But they would be wrong, especially if he is the leading culprit.

To avoid spoilers by revealing those responsible for crimes, as a demonstration of use of misdirection in character expectation consider Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Miss Jane Marple appears to be the model for everyone's favourite elderly aunt. She's twittery and fluffy, fond of knitting and gardening, at times somewhat vague. But under that cosy exterior she has an incisive mind and excellent deductive ability, often based upon her superb grasp of the worst aspects of human behaviour from observation over the years of incidents involving her fellow villagers in St Mary Mead.
Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Hercule Poroit in fact to some extent knowingly takes advantage of misleading expectations. To outward appearances he is a fastidious dandy with a comical mode of speech, zealous devotion to an outlandish moustache, and at times, alas, a boastful nature. Those who see only the outward man often regard him as an merely a vain, idiot foreigner and react accordingly. Poirot sometimes misleads by playing up to these expectations -- to the extent of bending the truth at times -- to obtain the information he needs to complete his deductions.

As another example closer to home, the investigations of our protagonist John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, take place in sixth century Constantinople and its imperial court.

John is a eunuch, a condition that is historically correct for one holding his high office.

Whatever readers initially assume a eunuch to be, we feel it's unlikely they will have visualised a lean, inscrutable former mercenary handy with the blade if need be, an austere man with no taste for luxury or rich foods despite living on the grounds of the Great Palace. There is much more to his character, of course, but his condition is what readers tend to react to when first encountering him. And for the record, on those occasions when it must be mentioned we treat it in a matter of fact way, just as John himself does.

Returning to my introduction to this blog, I should add that I rarely drink tea although as a guest I am happy to imbibe it when it's made specially for me since I appreciate the kind gesture.

But at home it's always black coffee with no sugar.
Mary Reed

Our webpage: http://home.earthlink.net/~maywrite/
Co-author Eric Mayer's blog: http://journalscape.com/ericmayer

Thank you, Mary!

It's time for the Malice Domestic mystery writers conference in Silver Spring, Maryland! I'm pretty excited about it, but it does mean that for a second week in a row, I'll sort of be "off 'Net". Which can be a good thing. Not to get side-tracked from my main blog, but I remember a few winters ago when we had a severe ice storm that caused us to lose electricity for about 5 days. At first, it was a bit of a hassle, but once we got the old wood stoves cranked up and the generator to run the well pump, it was sort of nice to realize that even if we didn't want to be, we were off the Internet grid. It was a bit of a relief, actually, to be disconnected.

Anyway, I thought I'd just do a quick blog before I go off into the wilds of Silver Spring.

For me, conferences are all about learning. I'm lousy at networking and although there are some wonderful friends I hope to catch up with at the conference, like mystery writer Sandra Parshall (we used to work on the local Audubon society newsletter together many eons ago--right after the earth's crust cooled and the dinosaurs turned into birds) my main goal is to attend some of the fantastic classes.

What classes have caught my beady little eye?

Here's a taste of the exotic and curious fare:

1. Malice 101: An Introduction to all things Malice for First-Time Attendees. Well, yes, although this is not my first writers conference, it is my first Malice conference. And you get to meet a lot of nice people at these sort of intro classes.

2. The Poison Lady Presents Elemental Murder: Death by the Periodic Table. The presenter is Luci Zahray. I have to admit as a one-time biology major with a strong interest in poisons (for my mysteries, of course!) this is right up my alley. In fact, for my first mystery, The Vital Principle, I used Agatha Christie's favorite poison, cynanide. (No, I'm not actually giving anything away as you learn that in the third chapter, anyway.)
3. Things We Wish We Hadn't Written: Authors With Belated Second Thoughts. Yeah. This is a common problem for me. I almost always regret the titles I give my books, for one thing. And there are things that I write that make me wince when I read them a year later. It's nice to know I'm not alone. Of course, it would be just my luck to go to this and discover that I *am* actually alone in this and that the topic is something else entirely.
4. World Building: Making the Past Come Alive. I'm one of the panel for this one, so I sort of have to attend. LOL But I'm actually interested in hearing what the others say about how to write a mystery set in another era without making it hopelessly stuffy or inaccessible to the modern reader.
5. 
   Tea, Scones, and Death: Murder in the English Countryside. Most of my favorite mysteries are set in England. Don't ask me why. Nonetheless, I can't resist this topic.
6. Cold Winters, Deadly Nights: Murder in New England. After attending college in Northampton, MA, I can only ask--where else would you kill someone? In a book, of course.

Those are only a few of the offerings. I'm really, really excited and can't wait to attend the classes. Whenever I go to a conference, it's the classes that most renew my spirits and get me jazzed about writing again. Even if you don't write for a living, I really encourage folks to attend conferences. They are a wonderful way to meet writers and find out about all kinds of interesting things.

Well, I've got to run. My husband is looming over me, threatening me with a stack of unfolded laundry and I guess I really ought to pack, as well.

I'm off tomorrow! Can't wait!

I'm pleased to have Danielle Monsch on my blog today, talking about one of my favorite subjects: Embracing Digital. There is a huge revolution underway and I'm glad Dani agreed to talk about it.

EMBRACING DIGITAL

This is an exciting time to be an author.

Others might not use that word, and they would have a point. Other words such as uncertain or terrifying also fit nicely into that sentence, but I choose to look at the good things all this change has brought us.

With the digital revolution has come epubs, and I think that is a great development.

As both a reader and a writer, what I crave most is choice. When it comes to writing, I want to be able to tell the story that comes to my head in the best possible way I can, without worrying about story length or sometimes even subject matter.

When only print existed, this was not a possibility. Stories needed to be this length, structured like this, and in one of these settings. That is all.

As a reader, I like having hundreds of stories all in one gizmo that fits in my purse, and knowing whatever I’m in the mood for, whatever length I need it to be, I have it.

Does this mean I am unaware of the negatives. Of course not. I want to have my stories in print. I want to be able to point to a book on my shelf and tell someone, “Look at the name, that’s me!” I want to do a book signing. Like most authors, I still feel print is the brass ring, and I am so reaching for it.

But all this change is making print nervous. Fewer debut authors are being signed. Mid-list authors are getting pushed to the side. All NY money and energy is seems to be focused on the ones who are already superstars and the occasional vanity book by the latest spoiled society kid or reality TV star.

I’m not unaware of the negatives, but I refuse to look at them. It’s a choice I made when I decided that I wanted to make a career out of writing. I’m going to embrace the positives and run with them.

So I now have a story published with an epub, and I am beyond thrilled. It’s a short story, not a novel, so the only reason this story was ever able to see the light of day is due to the fact epubs exist! How cool is that? Especially as I’m rather fond of this story, and I’m really glad I can share it with people.

And all those other stories in my head that are too short and would never be able to exist in a print only world? Hopefully you all will be seeing those as well, believe me, I’m going to keep writing them!

And those novels that I would love to see in print? Well, signing fewer authors still means authors are being signed, and until the last print publisher closes its doors, I’m going to keep submitting.

What about you? Are you excited over all the change, or are you just chugging antacids daily? I’m giving a copy of my story Loving a Fairy Godmother to one random commenter, so let me know!

Bio
Danielle Monsch is a Romantic Geek Girl Writing in a Fantasy World. You can find her on the web at http://www.daniellemonsch.com/ , www.twitter.com/DaniMonsch , www.facebook.com/DanielleMonsch  and email her at Dani@DanielleMonsch.com

Loving a Fairy Godmother is available at Liquid Silver Books at http://bit.ly/Dani_LFG



Blurb:
Tiernan is one of a kind. Beyond the divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, Tiernan is also the only Fairy Godfather. Most of the Fairy Godmothers have no problem with keeping Tiernan around, but Reina isn’t like most Fairy Godmothers.

Amongst Fairy Godmothers, Reina is the best. Organized, efficient, logical. So why is it when Tiernan is around, all those qualities fly out the window? Reina doesn’t like that one infuriating male makes her lose control, and just wants him gone. Circumstances arise that just might let her get her wish, though not in a way she ever wanted.

Tiernan is given an assignment and told either get a Happily Ever After or he will no longer be a Fairy Godfather. Reina is going with him to supervise, but if Tiernan gets his way, he’ll not only be supervising that luscious stubborn fairy in bed, but also get her to admit Happily Ever Afters also apply to Fairy Godmothers.

Excerpt:

“Godfather Tiernan—”


“You can just call me Tiernan,” he interrupted.


She tried again. “Godfather Tiernan—”


“”Didn’t Sara just tell you that you had to follow my directions?”


That pushed her over the edge. “Do you truly think you are going to secure a HEA when you haven’t been able to do it yet?”


He let out a derisive snort, but immediately realized that was a huge mistake. Her face lost her usual look of annoyance crossed with bemused tolerance, leaving pure ice in its place. “This is why men should not be allowed into the Godmother program. None of you have any respect for Happily Ever Afters.”


“I never said I didn’t believe in HEAs” he began, but she cut him off.


“Every case you’ve been on tells me you don’t believe, or else you would have tried once, just once, to get one!”


His hands slammed on the table as he leaned across it, his face coming inches from hers. “I’ve never tried because I believe in love! Humans need love so much, who the hell was I to screw up two people in love to get them to HEA status? I could never forgive myself if two people in love missed out on each other because of my actions!”


All anger fled her face, and a hesitant, unsure look came over features. “What do you think a HEA is?”


He drew in a deep breath, sitting down once again. “I think happily ever after is a nice way to end a story, but in the world I remember, it’s a waste.”


Her hand was halfway towards him before she seemed to remember their roles, and she pulled it back to her side. “Love is wonderful, but only love alone is incomplete. You can love someone, but they can ultimately not be right for you. Even in love, people can still be led to believe the worst of each other, still hurt each other, still decide they are better without the other,” she began, her words hesitant, as if she was trying to define to herself what it all meant as much as to him. “But the Happily Ever After is so much more. It’s finding your perfect match, love purified, refined, to such an extent that it can never be sundered. With a Happily Ever After, men can achieve greatness, as can all the generations who follow growing up in its shadow.”


“And you think jeopardizing the surety of a love match now is worth it for only the possibility of a Happily Ever After?” he asked, his voice gentle, reverent, wanting nothing to break this intimacy their words were creating.


“I do. In your view, maybe that seems cruel, but in my view, there is no greater tragedy then two people who almost make this connection but fall short in the end.”


Such a hard exterior to cover such a tender heart. “I’m not sure if I can believe as you do,” he said after considering her words. “But I never want Sara... you... to feel as if I let you down. After we get this situation behind us, I want you proud of the job I do.”


And as his breath caught at the rare smile she bestowed upon him just then, he knew all she had to do was keep smiling at him like that, and anything she wanted, whether it be his beliefs or his blood, he would give her.


Her smile faded, and the moment ended. Reina cloaked herself in her position of authority as she handed him the file that had been sitting on her desk. It was already open to show a picture of a blond girl, pretty and vibrant with a mouth full of straight white teeth, all of which was evident even underneath the dirt. “I looked over this case earlier, before I realized what was going on,” she said. “It is a good, solid HEA case. There are several challenges to overcome, but also several sources of help for the client. It is about as perfect as a case can be for this purpose, as evenly balanced as I’ve ever seen. No one can accuse the council of favoring either side. The girl’s name is Cinderella. She lives with an abusive Stepmother and two rotten spoiled stepsisters. She is a very kind, generous girl—though a little too much of a doormat, if you ask me—but outside of that, not really any other character flaws. She is much beloved in her village, children and small animals flock to her daily. In short, we exist to give HEAs to mortals like her.”


Tiernan read the file quickly, then flipped the page and took in the photo of the male who would supply the HEA. “A prince, huh? That’s pretty standard.”


“Indeed, but for the most part, we don’t mess with the classics here.” The pointed look she gave him told him he was one of the exceptions, and she wasn’t necessarily thrilled about it. Ah yes, completely back to normal.


He returned that look with a flirty smile. “I used to serve royalty, Godmother Reina. Believe me when I say, sometimes the large crown is to compensate for something.”


“Oh really? Well, I assume we can say the same thing about your sword, eh, knight?”


Maybe not completely back to normal after all. The second those words passed her lips her eyes went saucer wide, and Tiernan couldn’t say who was more shocked, him or Reina herself. There was no way he was letting this pass. His voice coming out a low growl, he replied, “Why, Reina, I never knew you were interested in the size of my sword. Anytime you want a private viewing, I will be more than happy to oblige.”

---
Thanks, Dani!