Category: mystery

Excited about 2019 by Paty Jager

~ patyjag ~ 6 Comments

gabriel hawke logoI think the last time I was so excited about a new year, it was 40 years ago. The reason being, my hubby’s mother told him he couldn’t get married until he was 21. She had a strange reason why, so we waited two years. Yes, we met when we were 19 and knew several months into the relationship that we were getting married. We didn’t really talk about getting married but where we would live, what we would do.

Anyway, 1979 couldn’t come fast enough for us.  And then it did, we married, had children, and forty years later he still supports my need to write.  He is a definite keeper. We both believed in dreams. He is living his– a 60 acre alfalfa field irrigated by a pivot. I am living mine by writing every day and putting out stories that I hope others enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them.

My excitement for 2019 to get here has to do with my new Gabriel Hawke mystery series. The first book is on pre-order and will release on Jan. 20th.  Murder of Ravens takes me home. Most of the series will be set in the remote county in NE Oregon where I grew up.

I have always loved the beauty of the county, but the small town atmosphere really doesn’t work for this introvert. I don’t like people knowing what I’m doing or watching my every move. Which is why I didn’t return to live there. However, the same reason I don’t want to live there is exactly what I wanted for my series.

The area not only has generations of families and acres of remote land, it is one of the few counties that the Fish and Wildlife officers are also State Troopers. This dual job gives my character more subplots and a way to be in the middle of murder investigations.

I wrote about riding for a day with a Fish and Wildlife State Trooper in Wallowa County on an earlier post. That was my in-depth researching I did for this series. I’ve also had many email conversations with the same trooper and my son-in-law who is a detective with the state police.

As I’ve written each book, new things come up for me to research and carry the story in new directions and plant red herrings. I thought I couldn’t have anymore fun than writing the Shandra Higheagle mystery series, but, I have to say, writing Hawke’s books is just as fun! I hope the readers think so too.

Book 13 in the Shandra Higheagle series, Homicide Hideaway, released last week. Even going on their honeymoon to a remote hunting lodge, Ryan and Shandra get pulled into a murder investigation. In this book my reader are also introduced to Hawke.

homicide hideaway 5x8Love… Marriage… Murder

Less than twelve hours after arriving at a remote hunting lodge for their honeymoon, Shandra Higheagle and Detective Ryan Greer find a body. Shandra’s cousin had quarreled with the man earlier, and the clues point to her as being the murderer.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke, arrives and immediately takes a dislike to Shandra’s cousin. But he is willing to work with Shandra and Ryan to discover the truth.

For a remote hunting lodge, the place becomes overrun with suspicious guests. Shandra’s dreams and Hawke’s tracking skills soon discover the cause of the drunk’s death.

Universal Buy Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/3nYweo

State Trooper and master tracker Gabriel Hawke comes across a murder he’s never seen before while in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Once he starts following the trail of clues, he’s determined to see the investigation through to the end.  Murder of Ravens Is available on pre-order and is releasing on Jan. 20th.

1 GH Murder of Ravens 5x8The ancient Indian art of tracking is his greatest strength…And also his biggest weakness.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke believes he’s chasing poachers. However, he comes upon a wildlife biologist standing over a body that is wearing a wolf tracking collar.

He uses master tracker skills taught to him by his Nez Perce grandfather to follow clues on the mountain. Paper trails and the whisper of rumors in the rural community where he works, draws Hawke to a conclusion that he finds bitter.

Arresting his brother-in-law ended his marriage, could solving this murder ruin a friendship?

Pre-order link: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxZwMP

These two books are the reason that I am so excited for 2019. I love writing these series. I can’t wait to get up in the morning and start working on them. Knowing I can get up every day and work on the books for these series makes me happy and will keep me rolling through this year.

How about you? What do you have that makes you happy keeps you going?

SH Mug Art

 

 

Writing in the new year

~ sandyfairfax ~ 8 Comments

By Sally Carpenter

In the Ladies of Mystery rotation, my post is always the first one each month, which means I get to kick off the new year. I’ve made my 2019 writing resolutions.

First off, I have a 90-minute presentation in March as part of the University Series, a program of adult education classes held in the local Catholic parishes during Lent. I gave a talk two years ago on the nature of evil and crime, and it was well received. This time I’ll be speaking about the portions of scripture that are found in the Catholic but not Protestant Bibles. Some of the stories are mystery-related!

The book of Daniel, chapter 14, has perhaps the world’s earliest locked-room mystery. In a temple to the idol Bal, the priests left food and drink each night. They would leave, lock the door, and the following morning the food would be gone. So the idol must have eaten the food, right?

One night, after the food was placed in the temple and everyone had left, Daniel spread ashes on the floor. The next day, footprints were seen in the ashes. Caught in the act, the priests revealed a secret door that they used to enter the room during the night and take the food.

The story in Daniel chapter 13 has a #MeToo vibe. Two prominent men lusted after a married woman named Susanna. One day they found her alone in a garden and tried to assault her. She resisted and screamed. In an effort to punish her, the men told the townsfolk Susanna had a lover, although she insisted she was innocent of the charge.

Daniel questioned the men individually, and their stories did not match. When asked about the type of tree where Susanna met her alleged lover, the men give different descriptions, and so their accusation was proven false.

As for my mystery writing: My last Sandy Fairfax book was released two years ago, so I need to get that series up to speed.

In 2018 year I wrote a new short story about Sandy to add to the reprint of “The Baffled Beatlemanic Caper.” However, my publisher said the story made the book too long.

What should I do with my leftover story? I considered selling it as a stand-alone on Amazon, but a reader said she didn’t have an ereader. If I wrote three or four more stories with the same character, I could bundle all of them into one print book/ebook.

The stories will involve Sandy’s family members and his girlfriend with more attention given to the family dynamics. Each story takes place in a different setting, but the trick is to keep Sandy’s detection work from getting repetitive—talking to the same types of people and finding the same sorts of clues. The plan is to finish the anthology by the end of the year.

Next up for 2020 is the “Flower Power Fatality” sequel, tentatively titled “Hippie Haven Homicide.” After all, one can’t have a series with only one book. A guru and his counter-culture followers invade the sleepy town of Yuletide, Indiana.

This year my local library is starring a monthly writers’ group for adults. I’m scheduled to speak to the group in March. So far I have no other writer appearances set for 2019. While I enjoy participating in such events, they don’t result in book sales. Spending hours on a presentation and then to sell one book at the event is not the best use of my time. But I’m open to the right opportunities.

I also getting things in order so I can attend Bouchercon in Sacrament in 2020.

Meanwhile, I’ll still be posting on Ladies of Mystery and writing my Roots of Faith newspaper column.

On a personal note, my cat is old. Will I be breaking in a new cat this year? Or will I be cat-free for a while? Stay tuned . . .

 

 

Why January Is NOT My Favorite Month!

~ Patricia Smith Wood ~ 4 Comments

Perhaps it’s because I was a summer baby—born in the high humidity and temperatures of Fort Worth, Texas, on an early summer morning in June.

Maybe it’s because for the next month I’ll be writing checks and letters dated with 2018 on them. When will 2019 FINALLY stick in my brain?

Some would say it’s fear—and maybe there’s something to this. I don’t know for sure, but the fact remains. I DO NOT LIKE JANUARY.

For one thing, January follows December. Yes, I know you already knew that. But let me clarify for you. December is full of sparkling lights, wonderful nostalgic music, people who are genuinely excited to participate in the Christmas and other holiday festivities. Even folks who were feeling curmudgeonly in November, seem to find their smile when the calendar flips to December. If you have children (even grown ones) it’s fun to remember their little faces on past Christmas mornings. I have a bank of old movies now, preserved digitally, to experience those scenes any time I wish.

All I know is New Year’s Eve is more fun than New Year’s Day. Depending upon how you spent the previous evening, you can be rested or roasted. Either way, you’re facing a brand new year, with brand new obligations, and maybe a host of problems to go with them. And, contrary to the fall and early winter, there are virtually no fun holidays! The only really good one for fun is Valentine’s Day, and even that has its pitfalls. We have to wait until at least May to get revved up for a fun holiday.

I become weary of the cold by January, and yet there are two or three more months of it to endure. Plus, there’s still a lot of darkness in January. Let’s face it, the sun won’t set noticeably later until at least March (and even that is RIGGED with what they like to call “Daylight Saving Time”).

Come to think of it, maybe it’s not just January that depresses me. I think I’d prefer to wake up in April on the day following New Year’s Eve.

Yeah, that’s it. Now we’re on to something!

New Year- New Insights

~ patyjag ~ 2 Comments

Several of the Ladies of Mystery have some info about how they begin a new year or resolutions they make.

Amber in tree final

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. When I discover the need for change, I do it, no matter what time of year. I recently caught myself reading too much when I should have been writing—not exactly a vice for a writer, but still, it was taking me away from my work in progress. I now start the day writing. I limit myself to reading one book at a time, and have cut back on magazines and news articles. Not so much as to slip into ignorance, just reading in moderation. Writing before I do anything else is energizing and keeps the ideas percolating as I do other things before I resume writing at night. I’ve always written daily, but the morning writing is new.

My goal for the year is to complete the seventh Mae Martin mystery.  I’m entering such major revisions on it, the process will be quite an adventure. ~ Amber Fox

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Me at Caruthers Library 2I never write New Year’s Resolutions, but my plan—and you know what happens to plans—is to be more regular about my writing if possible. I’ve actually gotten rid of a couple of jobs so I should have more time, right? In any case, what I really want is to enjoy my writing. ~Marilyn Meredith

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2017 headshot newI don’t make resolutions, I make goals. My goal for the coming year is to put out a product (box set, book, novella, audio book) a month. I like to have something to tell my newsletter readers about.  And I  like to keep pushing out new material. My brain is so full of ideas for the series I have started and some I don’t that I have to keep pushing out the words and stories to make more room in my head.  ~Paty Jager

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T’WAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

~ marilynm ~ 4 Comments
box celebrate celebration christmas
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Traditions change over the years. Since we’ve been in Springville, we’ve celebrated Christmas in many different ways—but the last few years we’ve had our family dinner and gift opening on Christmas Eve. Once again we’re doing it different—our dinner will be at 1 p.m.

Several reasons, our grandson-in-law who lives with us along with his family, learned that his grandparents from Mexico will be with other family members on Christmas Eve. So, of course he and his family need to join them

Daughter and her husband are happy because they wanted to get an early start to travel to their youngest daughter’s home to celebrate Christmas with her family.

 

Grandson Nick is happy because he and his family can get over to his wife’s family celebration earlier than usual.

For Dad and me, it doesn’t matter, we’ll enjoy it no matter when it is. (Plus in the morning we’ll get to see the little great-grands open their Christmas gifts.)

Our dinner will be simple too, honey baked ham, scalloped potatoes, rolls, and strawberry jello salad.

Another change is this year we drew names to buy presents for—cutting down costs for everyone

At this stage in my life, I don’t need presents, being around family is what I love most

So, what are your traditions and are they going to be the same as last year?

Christmas long ago.

This is Christmas long ago with my family, no longer live in this house, that’s me sitting on the piano bench. We opened presents one at a time–took forever. Two daughters and a son are there, but missing a daughter and son.

Marilyn