Guest Blogger ~ Tammy D. Walker

August 31, 2023July 25, 2023 ~ patyjag ~ 4 Comments

The Poet and the Perils of Plotting

“Beautiful writing, but your story is missing a plot.”

I’d read those words again and again from editors rejecting my short stories, literary and science fiction. As a poet, I’ll admit: plot isn’t one of my strengths. Or wasn’t, anyway. And every time I got a rejection that asked where the “story” is in the story, I cringed.

As a writer, I’m supposed to know how to plot, right?

After all, I’d had poems published while I was in my mid-20s, not long after I started studying creative writing. And, after taking a long break from writing to focus on a career change, I had many more poems accepted into literary journals and two poetry collections published by good presses.

For a while, I thought I’d give up on writing fiction. Those “almost” rejections were piling up, and the heartbreak of another “lovely, but….” message wasn’t motivating.

Maybe, I thought, I should focus on poetry. Writing poems gives me the chance to ask questions about the world. I try to question the way pieces of the world fit together and, often, don’t. And I question how I see things and why. I want readers to walk away with not a definitive answer to anything but with a way to ask their own questions.

Which I tried to do in stories too. But that approach didn’t work in fiction. At least not for me.

And then, the pandemic happened. I started reading more mysteries, in particular, cozy mysteries, as a way of traveling when we had to stay mostly at home. I also watched a lot of travel videos. In a moment of things coming together in a way I didn’t expect, I thought maybe I could try writing a mystery set on a luxury cruise ship. Research meant more “online vacations,” and, because mysteries need that element of story to be tightly in place for the mystery to function as a mystery, I’d use the drafting process as a way of teaching myself that elusive skill: plotting.

Three good things happened.

First, I researched everything I could about plotting. And then, I practiced. I outlined, reoutlined, considered my characters’ motivations and reactions, and I outlined again.

Second, I realized that I loved writing mysteries.

And third, I figured out how to integrate what was working so well for me in poems into my fiction. Mysteries are, essentially, about asking questions. The sleuth has to ask questions about the crime, of course. And we as readers have to ask about the crime as well as the sleuth and all the other characters. Even if we do eventually get an answer to the whos, whys, and hows in the crime, much of that comes through that same process of questioning I do in poems.

Really, four things happened. After a good bit of revision, my draft became Venus Rising, which was published in January 2023 by The Wild Rose Press.

Well, five things: that book got a review that said, simply, “good plot.”

VENUS RISING

Almost as soon as recent divorcee Amy Morrison begins her dream job as librarian aboard the world’s most expensive luxury cruise liner, she nearly sinks it. She’s tasked with hosting the debut of a painting celebrated but hidden for nearly sixty years. But the artist claims the painting isn’t hers. And then, the artist goes missing. With the help of a retired academic couple lecturing aboard the ship, a dashing IT manager, and a housekeeping staff with a love of literature, Amy tries to solve the art fraud and kidnapping while rediscovering the adventurous side of herself.

Buy Links:

Tammy D. Walker writes cozy mysteries, poetry, and science fiction. Her debut cozy mystery, Venus Rising, was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2023. As T.D. Walker, she’s the author of the poetry collections Small Waiting Objects (CW Books 2019), Maps of a Hollowed World (Another New Calligraphy 2020), and Doubt & Circuitry (Southern Arizona Press 2023). When she’s not writing, she’s probably reading, trying to find far-away stations on her shortwave radios, making poetry programs, or enjoying tea and scones with her family. Find out more at her website: https://www.tammydwalker.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Tammy-D-Walker-Cozy-Mystery-Writer/100091886321062/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tdwalker_/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tdwalker_/

Guest Blogger~Margaret Fenton

August 19, 2023April 7, 2023 ~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

Hello to all you wonderful readers! My name is Margaret Fenton and I write the Little mysteries, LITTLE LAMB LOST, LITTLE GIRL GONE, and LITTLE WHITE LIES published by Aaakenbaaken and Kent. They feature child welfare social worker Claire Conover. Claire works for the fictional Jefferson County Department of Human Services in Birmingham, Alabama. In real life several years ago, I was the mental health consultant for the Jefferson County Department of Human Resources and was surrounded by child welfare workers as my department helped to keep their clients out of foster care. So most of my knowledge for the books came from my living it. Sort of.

I read primarily cozy mysteries, and have for years. One of my all-time favorite writers was Anne George, who wrote the Southern Sisters series set here in Birmingham. I got to know Anne a bit before she passed away in 2001. We were on our way to a Sisters in Crime meeting one evening and I admitted I had some interest in writing a cozy. I had a basic idea but it wasn’t going anywhere. She said “I would think that as a social worker, you come into contact with all sorts of evil people. You could have a protagonist who is a social worker and that could be the reason she gets involved.”

Bingo. Thanks Anne. I went home and wrote the rough draft of LITTLE LAMB LOST. Claire gets to work one day and one of her little clients is dead from an overdose. The police assume it’s the mother and arrest her, but Claire knows differently. There’s some romance, too, when Claire meets Grant Summerville and they begin dating.

In the second book, LITTLE GIRL GONE, Claire takes custody of a 13-year-old found sleeping behind a local Piggly Wiggly. I would describe my books as amateur sleuth rather than cozy, but they are on the lighter side. Yes, Claire works with abused and neglected children, but all the violence is very off-screen.

In the third book, LITTLE WHITE LIES, a mayoral candidate’s office is bombed. A staff member’s body is found in the rubble, and his daughter is left at a daycare overnight. Claire takes custody of little Maddie and it turns out her deceased father was living under an assumed name. I wanted to put a bombing in this book. My beloved Birmingham was known as Bombingham during the Civil Rights struggle in last century, and racism is something we still continue to confront and work on here. Claire gets a foster child in this book, too, an amazing young lady named LaReesa we meet in the second book. This puts all sorts of stress on Claire’s relationship with her boyfriend, Grant. Plus, there’s her forbidden attraction to reporter Kirk Mahoney.

I’m working on the fourth installment, called LITTLE BOY BLUE. I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll get to find out what happens when you threaten someone Claire loves. Stay tuned!

A tense, taut and timely tale featuring Birmingham, Alabama child welfare social worker protagonist Claire Conover, Little White Lies is a gripping tale about secrets, revenge, temptation and the big cost of those little white lies.

About Little White Lies: When the office of black mayoral candidate Dr. Marcus Freedman is bombed, Claire Conover is drawn into another mystery. While Marcus is found safe, his campaign manager Jason O’Dell is found dead in the rubble. Claire’s office gets a call about Jason’s daughter Maddie who was left at her daycare, who becomes Claire’s latest charge as she investigates what happened.

But what—or who—is behind this attack? Turns out there are more questions than answers when it is revealed that Jason O’Dell is living under an assumed name—and he’s actually Jason Alsbrook, the son of a prominent local mine owner James Alsbrook. James Alsbrook and his mining company have an unseemly notoriety for having the most mining accidents and deaths in Alabama. Not surprisingly, there are many people who would wish harm to him and to his family. But who would’ve acted on that hatred?

As she works to keep little Maddie safe and find out who would’ve harmed Jason—and why—Claire uncovers a complex web of deception, secrets, and lies. As she struggles to piece together this dangerous puzzle, Claire weathers the storms in her personal life as the addition of a foster child, and a burgeoning friendship with reporter Kirk Mahoney, threaten to rip apart everything Claire holds dear. In the end, will those little white lies come with a big cost? Expect the unexpected in this mesmerizing Claire Conover mystery.

Brimming with tension and a pulse-quickening plot that races from page one, Little White Lies is a clever, confident and captivating read. Margaret Fenton delivers an unforgettable novel resplendent with seamless plotting, compelling characters, and a storyline to die for. A standout novel in Fenton’s critically acclaimed Claire Conover series, Little White Lies is not to be missed.

BUY LINKS
Little White Lies – By Margaret Fenton (paperback) : Target

Little White Lies book (thriftbooks.com)

Little White Lies (Paperback) – Walmart.com

Margaret Fenton writes the Little mystery series featuring child welfare social worker Claire Conover. She spent nearly ten years as a child and family therapist for her county’s child welfare department before focusing on writing. Her work tends to reflect her interest in social causes and mental health, especially where kids are concerned. Her favorite mystery writers are too numerous to mention, but she tends to gravitate toward amateur sleuth and historical mysteries. She has been a planning coordinator of Murder in the Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama since its inception in February 2003 (mmcmysteryconference.com). Margaret lives in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover with her husband, a retired software developer, three adorable Papillon dogs, and lots and lots of books. Her website is margaretfenton.com and she loves to hear from readers.

Happy Dancing

August 14, 2023August 14, 2023 ~ patyjag ~ 6 Comments

I don’t know about other authors but there are times my husband and family give me a look that says, they wonder about my sanity. 😉

Last month, I drove to Wallowa County where I set most of my Gabriel Hawke Novels. He is an Oregon State Trooper with the Fish and Wildlife division. The reason for my trip was to:

1) Do reconnaissance of the area where Hawke finds an unconscious woman in the wilderness.

2) Discover why Starvation Ridge was named that.

3) Attend a powwow in Wallowa County so I can have Hawke and his partner Dani attend one in the next book. I also wanted to see if I could connect with a Nez Perce tribal member who would help me add more of the culture to my books.

As usual, I dragged my sis-in-law and brother into my hijinks. Thankfully, my brother being an artist, he understands my need to see things for my books. And I’ve taken my sis-in-law along on other research adventures. First, we made the trip out Starvation Ridge so I could see it better. I’d used Google Earth and an Oregon Gazetteer to try and come up with a plausible explanation for the car stuck between two trees in the middle of forest service land. But I wanted to see the terrain better and I’m glad I did! The way I had my character discover the vehicle wouldn’t work for the area. When I came home, I rewrote the scenes where and how the car was found. Not only did I get a good look at the area, but I got a better feel for it too. And my brother added nuances to it because the story is set in April when there would still be some snow and lots of mud. Which I had written into the story, but he explained it a little bit more. Wind can blow the snow off the very top of the ridge and it’s just mud where there is snow in the trees.

Sis-in-law and I went to the museum in Joseph to find out if there was a way to discover why the ridge was named Starvation. And while we saw some great photos of the past and learned a bit more about the county’s history, we came up empty on the reason for the name. Of course, as we were driving around up on the ridge, we came up with all kinds of grisly reasons for the name. But the next day at the suggestion of a local historian, we went to the Wallowa Museum and the woman there found a book and we discovered the reason for the name. And it was nothing like what we had thought. In fact, it was pretty pathetic. According to the book, it was named Starvation Ridge because a man named Billy Smith came up on the ridge and discovered that a large herd of sheep had eaten all the grass off the ridge. He called it Starvation Ridge and it stuck. Kind of lame and not worth putting in my story. I’ll let the readers fantasize about the name as we had.

The Tamkaliks Celebration was as moving and colorful as I remembered. I’d attended this powwow a number of years ago, but after taking a class on writing Native American characters and the teacher suggested attending powwows and taking in the ceremonies and talking to people, I decided I needed to get to this one again. I also plan to have my characters attend the powwow in the next Hawke book. The songs, the welcome they give everyone, the friendship dance (we danced), and the reverence they pay to one another was so worthwhile.

Ceremony of the riderless horse. symbolizing the ancestors and those tribal members lost the past year.

The best part of the whole day was a woman that sat down in front of us. She openly explained what was happening to those around her and taught a young couple how to say her dog’s name which meant, Moose. This isn’t how you write the word, only how you say it, “Sauce Luck.” And she taught us how to say Good Morning. Again, not the way you write it but how you say it, which she explained. “Tots MayWe.” After watching her so enthusiastically sharing her culture, I sat down beside her and thanked her for explaining things and asked if she’d be interested in helping me bring more Nez Perce culture to my books. She was excited to help me! She told me about her education and her B.S. in American Indian Studies and Business and her new job that was basically teaching the Nez Perce culture to those who were interested. We exchanged names, emails, and phone numbers. I have sent her an email and she responded right away. I’m excited to have found another connection to help me make my books true to the Nez Perce culture.

And that, my friends, is why I am happy dancing!

Guest Blogger ~ DK Coutant

August 12, 2023July 25, 2023 ~ patyjag ~ 2 Comments

The lure of traditional mysteries…

I believe we are what we read, (not only what we eat). I write mysteries, but growing up I read mysteries…Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon, and don’t tell my younger brother, but I borrowed his Hardy Boys. Years later, I became a psychology professor and taught at a University. I found I scored high on Need for Cognition. That’s a psychological dimension which indicates a tendency to enjoy thinking. I like to solve problems, solve puzzles, and it probably also explains my addiction to Duolingo. My guess is that most people who enjoy mysteries also have a high need for cognition. They like to think. If you want to find out how you score I’ve put a self-test at the end with a scoring key.

That same need to think, lead me into geopolitical forecasting. I like to untangle and make sense of disparate information. I’m not an expert on most of the topics I’m asked to forecast. I have dive into each new subject matter and narrow down the information to the essentials of a specific question I’m asked to forecast. (Do you want to give forecasting a try? Links here)

https://www.gjopen.com/

https://www.infer-pub.com/frequently-asked-questions#whatisinfer

The process of writing mysteries also relies on my desire to ruminate over ideas. I’ve got to devise a murder that will have breadcrumbs leading to the killer, but also diverse, and intriguing red herrings that might distract my readers down alternative paths.

To narrow down to my sub-genre, traditional mysteries, I don’t write super-bloody, violent books. I know some people love them and they are very popular. But in my geopolitical forecasting I track bloody conflicts and death rates. When I write I want to leave that behind. Sure, there has to be a death in a murder mystery, but, while not strict cozies, my mysteries are on the lighter side. For the reader like me, who believes there is enough violence and darkness in their world and looks for something complex, but fun, and not too pollyannish. I use my craft, to find happy endings… and a balance in life. I enjoy my rainy days as much as my sunny ones.