Author: Margaret Lucke

What to Pack for a Mystery Convention

~ Margaret Lucke ~ 5 Comments

By Margaret Lucke

As I write this, I’m getting ready to travel to Denver for Left Coast Crime, affectionately known as LCC—a wonderful annual convention for readers and writers of mysteries and thrillers and a highlight of my calendar each year.

I enjoy conventions and conferences and I’ve been to quite a few, starting with a Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, in San Francisco long ago. I was one a few dozen mystery writers and fans who gathered to celebrate our favorite genre at the very first Left Coast Crime in 1991. I’ve attended Malice Domestic several times, as well as conventions that focus on other genres–romance, horror, science fiction and fantasy. I celebrated a significant birthday at a conference in Los Angeles organized around the 100th anniversary of the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

If you’ve just signed up for your first LCC or another conference and are wondering what to bring with you, let my experience be your guide. Here are a few tips and pointers about what put in your suitcase.

Clothes (of course). I go for business casual but lots of people opt for casual-casual, which is fine too. Just remember to think layers, and bring a sweater or indoor-type jacket along. Conference events take place in hotel meeting rooms, and according to law meeting-room thermostats must be set for the wrong temperature. If you’re dressed for warm weather, the room will be freezing, with a drafty wind aimed at your chair. If you dress in expectation of a chill, the room will be hot and stuffy. Whatever the temperature in the room you go to for a 10 am panel, you can count on the room with the 11 am panel being twenty degrees hotter or colder.

Highlighter. The bigger the convention, the more activities there are to keep track of. That means you’re almost certain to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You’ll receive a handy pocket program to carry around, but the type will be too small to read without squinting. Marking your must-see panels and events in bright yellow (or a color of your choice) can help you tell at a glance where you want to be at 2 pm.

Cell phone. You and your friend from the other side of the country will both be at the same conference. You email her to say, “Let’s get together for lunch on one of those days,” and she agrees. When you get to the conference hotel, can you find each other amongst the hundreds of people? Maybe, but maybe not, which is why you’re glad to be carrying your phone, programmed with the numbers of everyone you might want to contact while your at the conference. And be sure to bring a charger! Don’t forget, though, to turn off your phone while you’re in the audience for a panel or program.

Business cards, bookmarks, postcards, swag. Whether you’re a reader, writer, or other, you’ll meet people you’ll want to keep in touch with, so business cards are great to have. If you’re an author, you’ll want items to hand a fan to alert her to your latest book. In the past I’ve brought home recipes, pens, coasters, notepads, those things you use to twist of jar lids, and more. In Denver, look for the word search puzzles I’ll be leaving on the giveaway tables, along with my pamphlet called “10 Clues to Writing Great Fiction.”

Extra space in your luggage. You’ll need room in your suitcase to tuck in all of those pens and coasters, not to mention the books you’re going to acquire. You will need to accommodate the books in the bag you receive at registration, the books you buy in the dealers room, the books you grab off the swap table …

Energy and stamina.  Conferences are fun. They’re busy. They’re demanding. They’re exhausting. Be sure to bring along an abundance of energy and stamina, or whatever will help you achieve those thing—extra vitamins, your walking shoes so you can leave the hotel and get some fresh air and exercise, earplugs so you can enjoy a good night’s sleep despite your roommate’s snores.

Smiles. You’ll want to have plenty of these on hand so you can hand them out freely. Fortunately, you’ll be able to replenish your supply with all of the smiles that people will give to you.

I hope to see you next week in Denver! If you’ll be at LCC, be sure to seek me out and say hello. A couple of opportunities to find me easily are the panels I’ll appear on: “Art & Crime” on Friday at 9 am, and “The Craft of Writing,” which I’ll be moderating, on Saturday at 2:45 pm.

The People in My Head

~ Margaret Lucke ~ 4 Comments

By Margaret Lucke

“Many people hear voices when there’s nobody there.
Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day.
Some of them are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.”
– Mystery Author Meg Chittenden

Do you hear voices when there’s no one there? Or have invisible people accompany you as you go about your daily activities?

Yes? Then welcome to the club. A fairly exclusive club, as it turns out.

A few years ago I took a short road trip with my good friend Penny, whom I’ve known since our college days. As we drove we chatted, the way old friends do, about our dreams, our daily lives, and the ways we would fix the world if only someone had the good sense to put us in charge. I mentioned the book I was writing, and she asked me this:

“What’s it like to have people running around inside your head all the time?”

The question startled me. “What? You mean you don’t have them?”

“Not at all. I can’t imagine it. Is it like hearing voices?”

Now, Penny is someone with a direct line to the creative process. She’s a brilliant cook who serves the most amazing dishes. A talented seamstress who tossed together fantastic costumes out of nothing for our college theater. A devoted lover of art, music and literature. Yet she didn’t have people occupying her head? How did her brain work then? How could she possibly think?

Since then, I’ve discovered that it’s actually rare to have a head filled with people. I’ve met other fiction writers who share this trait, but usually when I mention it to someone I get a strange look, as if the person is assessing whether I need to the services of my friendly neighborhood mental institution.

Perhaps I do. But I have a hard time understanding how anyone’s mental processes could possibly function in a different way.

I’ve had people wandering around in my brain ever since I can remember. They’re my equivalent of imaginary playmates. They tell me stories, ask me questions, give me answers, and help me clarify my thinking. They keep me company when I take long walks and as I’m trying to fall asleep at night. I’ve heard that writing is a lonely profession, and in lots of ways that’s true. But even when I’m at my desk by myself, I’m never really alone.

Some of the people in my head turn into characters in my novels and short stories. Often what sparks a story is a snatch of conversation that comes drifting through my brain. That sets me on a journey to discover who’s talking, and how they’re connected to each other, and what they’re discussing and why. Gradually the story emerges.

My first novel, A Relative Stranger, began this way. Walking to a bus stop, my mind let me overhear a late-night phone conversation. The woman who answered the phone clearly found the call unwelcome. The man who had called sounded desperate to connect with her. When I reached my destination, I wrote the conversation down. Who were these people?

The woman turned out to be a private investigator named Jess Randolph; the caller was her estranged father, turning up after many years to ask for her help because he was the prime suspect in a murder. Was he guilty? Would she help him? What would they do next?

In my story “Haircut,” a flash fiction tale that was recently published by Guilty Crime Fiction Magazine (you can read it here), I woke up one morning listening to the voice of a young woman named Hallie as she described the abrupt ending to what she had hoped would be an enduring romance. I got out of bed, stumbled to my computer, and wrote down what she had to say.

I may be making the process sound easier than it is. The people in my head don’t always want to be promoted from random guest to Story Character. Once they have me intrigued, they all too often ignore me. They fight me off or hide behind the curtains. They take a vow of silence. Sometimes they disappear.

And sometimes, gradually, after I beg and plead and cajole, they start to reveal their secrets.

At last the story is underway.

Don’t Look Back – Look Forward

~ Margaret Lucke ~ 5 Comments

By Margaret Lucke

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is getting off to a great start for you—that you haven’t yet broken your resolutions and that you’re making progress on your newly set goals.

In the spirit of season, I’d like to pass along some words of wisdom that were presented to me quite some time ago. In the years since, I have found it helpful to reflect upon them from time to time.

Since context can be helpful, I’ll tell you the story of how I came to receive this sound advice.

One day when I was sixteen and the proud possessor of a freshly minted driver’s license, I was cruising along the main street of my hometown. I happened to glance at the rearview mirror and there, directly behind me, was a police car.

Instant panic. Omigosh, omigosh, am I going to get a ticket?

Never mind that there were no flashing lights or wailing sirens, no bullhorn demanding that I pull over. I was new at driving – I must have done something wrong without realizing it. I didn’t think I’d been speeding, but could I have crept over the limit unawares? Had I neglected to use a turn signal when I should have? Was a brake light out?

I was so intently focused on watching the cop in the mirror, trying to figure out what he was going to do, that I was three-quarters of the way through an intersection before I noticed that the traffic light was red.

Whatever the cop’s intentions had been before, now he had good reason to stop me. The lights blinked on, red and blue. The siren blared. My hands shaking on the wheel, I moved to the curb. He stopped behind me and got out. Standing by my driver’s door, he demanded to see my license.

I’m sure the fact that I was a teenage girl, prettier and blonder than I am now, made no difference. He probably wasn’t swayed by the way my lips quivered and my eyes filled with tears as I explained why I had happened to run the light. But whatever the reason, luckily for me my town’s finest decided not to give me a ticket.

“I understand how you might have been distracted,” he said. “But, you know, when you’re driving it’s always a good idea to pay more attention to what’s in front of you than to what you see in the rearview mirror.”

I promised him I would take his words to heart. Since then, I’ve realized he gave me good advice — not just for driving but for life. Be aware of where you’re going, keep your eye on the road ahead — and now and then, glance at the rearview mirror, just in case something important is back there.

So that’s what I plan to do in 2025. If the suggestion suits you, it’s yours to use as you will.

Have a great year!

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Curious about indie publishing? Next Saturday, January 18 at 2 pm Pacific time, I will be moderating a panel on that very subject for the Northern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America – “Indie Authors: Things I Did Right and Things I Did Wrong.” The panelists are Rachele Baker, M.K. Dean, Ellen Kirschman, Lexa Mack, and Ladies of Mystery’s own Janet Dawson. It’s on Zoom so you can attend from anywhere. Details are here: https://mwanorcal.org/events/. Hope to see you there!

Next Week I’ve Got to Get Organized

~ Margaret Lucke ~ 11 Comments

by Margaret Lucke

In 1955 cartoonist Herb Gardner (who later wrote the play A Thousand Clowns) published a cartoon that became a classic. You’ve probably seen it. The drawing shows two of his famous Nebbish characters slouching in chairs, their stretched-out legs resting on a table. The caption reads: “Next week we’ve got to get organized.”

I subscribed to that philosophy for a long time, but recently I decided that for me, next week needs to be now. A brand-new year is arriving in a couple of weeks, and I’d like to greet 2025 in an office that is clean and free of the clutter created by old projects, bad habits, and all that stuff I’m definitely gonna get around to reading and doing someday. In other words, I want it to look less like the one in the picture. So I’ve embarked on a project to make my workspace SOFT for the coming year. That’s my acronym for Sort, Organize, File and Toss.

Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that Get Organized is not a task one can zip through in an hour and cross off the to-do list. Oh no, it’s much more complicated than that. In case your next week has become now, here’s a quick guide to the nine stages of getting O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.E.D.

Obliviousness – “What do you mean, get organized? My work, my finances, my home, my office, and my life are chugging along fine just the way they are. Well, sort of. Well, sometimes. Besides, all of this clutter and mess is an expression of my creative, carefree spirit.”

Realization – “Oops. Missed another appointment. And another deadline. And I forgot to pay that bill, though it doesn’t matter cuz my bank account is overdrawn anyway. But what’s driving me crazy is that I can’t find my silk shirt or that vitally important piece of paper.”

Goal-setting – “By gosh, I’m gonna do it. I’m getting my desk, my closet, my calendar, my files, my finances, and my life in order – by next Thursday.”

Acquisition – “Let’s see, I’ll need some how-to books with tips on getting organized, time management, and personal finance. And some file folders and office supplies. Oh, and a few of those cute baskets and boxes for stashing stuff. Uh-oh, where did I put my credit card.”

Naps – “I’m feeling overwhelmed just thinking about this project. And exhausted from all of that shopping. Right now I really need get some rest. After that I’ll be raring to go, I promise.”

Industry – “Okay, okay, I’m buckling down and getting started. This worn-out mateless sock? Trash. This three-year-old magazine? Recycle. This book I’ve finished reading. Donate.”

Zeal – “Look at me! Isn’t this exciting? I’m getting so much accomplished. Here are some tips I’m finding helpful. Tip 1: Break this huge project into small steps. Tip 2: Get rid of stuff you don’t find useful, beautiful, or valuable. When in doubt, throw it out. Tip 3: Have a place for everything and put everything in its place. Tip 4: Write things down; don’t rely on your memory. Tip 5: Reward yourself when you accomplish something. (Mmm, ice cream!)”

Evangelizing – “You know, my friend, your life would go so much better if only you’d get organized.”

Dreaming – “Yay! I’ve finished my organizing project. I have my life under control, and I’ll never have to spend time on organizing again.”

I hope this insight into the process will help you get organized – if not now, then maybe next week.

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Don’t forget the Ladies of Mystery Cavalcade of Books! Each of us has books on special offer until the end of this month. The list includes my novels, Snow Angel and House of Desire, with Kindle editions available for just 99 cents! Buy a few as gifts for your mystery-loving friends—and for yourself! You can find the Cavalcade by clicking here.

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Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays and a wonderful, well-organized 2025!

T Is for Thanksgiving – and Tea

~ Margaret Lucke

By Margaret Lucke

’Tis the season for gratitude, and I hope that as you sit down later this month at your Thanksgiving table, you’ll have plenty of things to be grateful for. For me, one of the main entries on this year’s things-I’m-glad-to-have-in-my-life list is tea.

In fact that’s on my list every year, in fact every day. Each morning as I sit down at my desk to write, I give thanks to Shen Nung, who gave humanity one of its greatest gifts.

Shen Nung was an emperor of ancient China, revered for teaching his people the art of cultivating grain and for researching the medicinal value of herbs. He believed drinking water should be boiled to make it clean and healthy.

Legend says that one day in 2737 BC, while traveling through a remote region, he rested in the shade of a wild bush while his servants boiled a pot of water for him. A gust of breeze blew some leaves and twigs into the water, but the thirsty emperor drank it anyway. To his delight, the brew had a wonderful aroma and flavor.

The bush was Camellia sinensis, and the drink he discovered was tea. Shen Nung proclaimed it to be a beverage of many virtues. He claimed the person who consumed it would gain “vigor of body, contentment of mind, and determination of purpose.”

Who can argue with an emperor?

I would add one more benefit to the list—tea stimulates creativity. My creativity, anyway.

A mug of tea is my constant companion through the workday. In the morning I like to be fueled by one of the breakfast teas, like English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast, or by Newman’s Own Organic Black, which I favor because it tastes good and the company gives its profits to charity. I’ll take mine black, thank you—no milk, sugar, or lemon.

Later on I often invite the distinguished Earl Grey to join me at my desk. His namesake tea is the perfect pick-me-up in the late afternoon. For my birthday one year a friend gave me a fun present, an Earl Grey tasting: six packages of Earl Grey tea, each a different brand. I was surprised to discover how dissimilar they were—six very different flavors, even though they were all made to the same basic formula: black tea permeated with oil of bergamot.

Sometimes I vary my routine by indulging in something more exotic. Oolong, Darjeeling, Kilgiri, Keemun, Assam, Russian Caravan—the names alone are enough to spark the imagination.

I stop drinking tea around 6 p.m., in deference to my desire for a good night’s sleep. Tea does contain caffeine. Pound for pound it has more caffeine than coffee. However, tea gives you many more cups from a pound than coffee does, so cup for cup there’s less caffeine in tea. I’ve never noticed that drinking black tea in the evening really inhibits my sleep. But I prefer to err on the safe side, so my bedtime libation isn’t real tea but something herbal, like ginger or mint.

My kitchen cupboard holds several delicate porcelain teacups with matching saucers, and the cupboard is where they stay. You have to fill one of them three times to get enough tea to taste. I prefer a mug that has a generous capacity and a wide curve to the handle so it’s easy to hold.

I consider tea to be one of the most important tools of the writer’s trade, right up there with my writing software program and my solitaire game. A tool is something that helps you accomplish a task. Without tea, I’d never get any writing done. Uh-oh, my mug is empty. Excuse me while I go and refill it. Thanks again, Shen Nung!

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Here’s something else to be thankful for this season—the Ladies of Mystery Cavalcade of Books! This catalog goes live from November 15 through December 31, 2024 and features books by all of the Ladies, some at special prices just for you! A great opportunity to get wonderful gifts for your favorite readers or yourself (you deserve some gifts too). You can find our Cavalcade of Books by clicking here.