Category: mystery

Guest Blogger – Susan Breen

~ patyjag ~ 2 Comments

Sometimes You Have to Jump

I wouldn’t consider myself a bold person. I slow down at yellow lights. Occasionally at green ones. I look both ways, twice. So I startled myself when I decided the protagonist of my first mystery would be a Sunday School teacher.

This was not at all the safe choice.

Sunday School teachers are not generally considered exciting. In movies they are the ones with buttoned-up shirts. They’re no fun. They quote scripture and sing hymns. At best, they’re considered prudish, at worst fanatics. Why would you want to spend 300 pages with one?

I thought about that a lot. I also worried there would be people who would simply not want to go near a book with a Sunday School teacher as a protagonist. Would I be considered one of those raving people who launch themselves at you at street corners? (I like to sit and write in Bryant Park in Manhattan and quite often people come up and try to convert me to one thing or another.)

However, beyond the fact of being fairly stubborn and wanting to write about what I wanted to write, there were several compelling reasons why I thought a Sunday School teacher would make an interesting detective.

Sunday School teachers, and people of faith in general, see the world as organized by a set of rules. There is a reason why things happen. So when things go wrong, when people are murdered, when your neighbor shows up dead on your front lawn, it’s all the more disturbing. Not only does it upset the protagonist, it upsets the natural order of things. In this case, Maggie Dove is forced to confront what she believes. It raises the stakes.

So that was one reason.

The other reason was that it would bring Maggie Dove into contact with people of all different ages. Maggie Dove is 62 years old (that was my other bold choice.) But as a Sunday School teacher she comes into contact with young people, such as her favorite student, 6-year-old Edgar Blake, and older people, such as his 39-year-old mother. And then, of course, Maggie’s not confined to the world of the church. She’s active in her village and comes into contact with a variety of people. I like stories about communities.

Then there’s the fact that I have spent about 300 years teaching Sunday School. I know the ins and outs. I know that if you decide to cook pretzels with your students, for example, you may set off the alarm in the kitchen. which will require the entire church to evacuate during the minister’s sermon. I felt I could flesh the novel out with that sort of detail. It’s a world that I know, and a world that I love.

So, am I happy with my choice?

Absolutely! And for my next novel, my protagonist is going to be a vampire. (Not.)

Maggie Dove coverSusan Breen introduces a charming new series heroine in this poignant and absorbing cozy mystery with a bite. Maggie Dove thinks everyone in her small Westchester County community knows everyone else’s secrets. Then murder comes to town.

When Sunday School teacher Maggie Dove finds her hateful next-door neighbor Marcus Bender lying dead under her beloved oak tree—the one he demanded she cut down—she figures the man dropped dead of a mean heart. But Marcus was murdered, and the prime suspect is a young man Maggie loves like a son. Peter Nelson was the worst of Maggie’s Sunday School students; he was also her late daughter’s fiancé, and he’s been a devoted friend to Maggie in the years since her daughter’s death.

Maggie can’t lose Peter, too. So she sets out to find the real murderer. To do that, she must move past the grief that has immobilized her all these years. She must probe the hidden corners of her little village on the Hudson River. And, when another death strikes even closer to home, Maggie must find the courage to defend the people and the town she loves—even if it kills her.

Buy links:
Bio:
Susan Breen’s first mystery, Maggie Dove, was just published by a digital imprint of Penguin Random House. The sequel, Maggie Dove’s Detective Agency, will be published on October. 18, 2016. Susan’s short stories and essays have been published by a number of magazines, among them Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, American Literary Review and anderbo.com. Susan teaches creative writing at Gotham Writers in Manhattan. She’s also on the faculty of the New York Pitch Conference and New York Writers Workshop. She lives in a small village in the Hudson Valley with her husband, two dogs (cockapoos) and a cat. Her three grown children are flourishing elsewhere.

 

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Writing your way to a college degree

~ sandyfairfax ~ 6 Comments

By Sally Carpenter

Whatever I know about writing mysteries, I didn’t learn it in college.

Centuries ago when I was an undergraduate, colleges didn’t offer creative writing majors or even minors. English department classes consisted of solely teaching what I called “stuffy old books,” the kind with tiny print and antiquated prose that made comprehension laborious. I didn’t have the patience to struggle with that kind of literature.

Only one university in my state offered a Masters of Fine Arts in writing. I had my eye on that for a while although I felt I’d never be good enough to get in the program. Then my parents squashed my hopes with “you’ll never get a job with that degree!”

My undergraduate college offered only one or two creative writing classes. The professor “taught” by saying, “write whatever you want.” No instruction on how to craft a short story or a poem or suggested topics to ignite our imaginations. My life experience was limited at that time so I had little to write about.

In grading, the prof disagreed with my opinions and marked my grammatical and spelling errors (plenty of those) in red ink. No helpful critique and encouragement to do better. If her goal was to smash any spark of creative or desire to write in her students, she nearly succeeded.

Flash forward to the late 1990s. I’m back in college for a master’s degree in theater with a focus on playwrighting. Once again, I’m in a class with an incompetent prof (having a PhD must mean Pathetic and Hopelessly Dumb).

While I learned nothing from the teacher, the upside is that the one-act plays I wrote in that class were finalists in a regional college playwrighting competition. I received affirming feedback from the judges and one play became the inspiration for my cozy mystery series.

The English Department of that university had a master’s degree with a concentration in writing. While the department offered a creative writing workshop that students could take, most of the required coursework seemed geared toward rhetoric/composition teachers.

That was then, this is now. In perusing the internet it seems that today nearly every college has a creative writing major or at least a minor. Undergrads can take courses in scriptwriting, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction and technical writing. My alma mater now has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing—too late for me, I’m afraid. And in my home state, several universities now grant an MFA in writing.

What happened? How did writing become a popular academic course of study?

I don’t know, but one possibility could be that as professors retired, the new teachers coming in wanted to revise the stale curriculum, expanding the literature options and adding writing classes.

Perhaps students asked for writing classes. Or maybe the writing courses were a way to get students interested in an English major after years of the teachers putting up with “you can’t do anything with that degree.” Technical writing, copy editing and publishing courses expanded the degree’s usefulness.

Some universities even have courses in genre writing, hopefully creating the next generation of mystery authors. A couple of schools have MFA programs for genre writers.

Maybe students want to write because of the internet and self-publishing. Young authors have an instant forum for their work instead of waiting years for publication in an obscure literary journal.

Whatever the reason, I’m happy to see that in spite of the emphasis in elementary and high schools on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), colleges are affirming students in their writing journeys.

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Blogger- Leslie Langtry

~ patyjag ~ 12 Comments

Thank you so much to the Ladies of Mystery for allowing me to guest today!

I’m Leslie Langtry – A USA Today Bestselling Author of the Greatest Hits Series, The Merry Wrath Mysteries and a new book and series with UKULELE MURDER launching on July 6!

This new ukulele 002series is a thrill for me. I’m an amateur ukulele musician. I’d never played an instrument before. So one day, the local music store had a sign up for a ukulele class. I bought my first uke and signed up.  This is me then, with my pineapple ukulele.

I’d like to say it wasn’t long before I was blasting out complicated fingerstyle songs – but that would be a lie. It took me longer than most people to figure out how to make the chords while strumming because I seem to be coordinationally challenged (in fact, I can barely talk and walk without falling over – something that is quite embarrassing at the gym).

But I kept at it. I bought books on everything from the history of the instrument to song collections. I practiced and practiced and was eventually a little better. Over time I expanded my repertoire to include a few Beatles songs, one or two by Jim Croce and a few kitschy tunes (but NOT Tiptoe Thru The Tulips…never Tiptoe Thru The Tulips – I have to have some standards after all).

And then one day, my cousin presented me with a ukulele she said my Grandpa Smiley played. Fate had smacked me upside the head and told me to go forth and uke on. My husband didn’t care for this advice, as it sent me on a ukulele bender where I bought 3 more ukes. But Fate said it was okay, so he really doesn’t have an argument there.

I am, in no way, an expert or a virtuoso – but I do have the ukulele madness. I’m obsessed.

So, when my publisher announced they were starting a continuity series set in Hawaii, I jumped at the chance. Now I could be a virtuoso – well, at least in fiction. And Nani Johnson, ukulele artist extraordinaire  was born.

I still practice every week. And my goal – once both kids are in college – is to join the local ukulele club.

But for now, I just have to be content with pretending to be a ukulele performer on paper.

And I’m totally okay with that.

If you’d like a chance to win a copy of UKULELE MURDER and this cute totebag:book bag 2

Leave a comment below! And thanks again to Ladies of Mystery for hosting me!

Leslie Langtry

Blurb:

UkuleleMurderUkulele Murder ( A Nani Johnson Mystery)
Aloha Lagoon Mysteries book #1

Nani Johnson thought she had it made when she moved from Kansas to the resort town of Aloha Lagoon, Kauai. In spite of her certifiably crazy mom, Nani is determined that nothing will stop her from becoming a ukulele virtuoso! Unfortunately her Julliard training doesn’t help her break into the local music scene due to some heavy competition from the Terrible Trio—three hostile, local musicians. The only work she finds is a few bar mitzvahs and gigs at the kitschy Blue Hawaii Wedding Chapel.

But when one of Nani’s competitors drops dead right after a public feud, Nani becomes the police’s main suspect. A missing murder weapon, mysterious threats, and a heck of a frame-up job all have Nani worrying she’ll be trading in her flowery muumuus for prison orange. Enter hunky local botanist Nick Woodfield, who just might be able to help her clear her name…that is if he doesn’t have secrets of his own. With the bodies stacking up, the danger closing in, and the authorities circling, Nani must track down a killer…before she ends up the latest victim of the Ukulele Murderer!

Coming July 6!

Buy Links:

Amazon: available July 6

Nook: http://bit.ly/1TlQ0MC

iBook:  http://apple.co/1Vo1WRB

Kobo:  http://apple.co/1Vo1WRB

Smashwords:  http://bit.ly/1Sx66mq

Print: available July 6

BIO:

Leslie Langtry is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the Merry Wrath Mysteries, the Greatest Hits Series, and Sex, Lies & Family vacations.

She is not, nor ever has been a former CIA agent or an assassin (a question that surprisingly comes up more than you’d think). She has been a Girl Scout Volunteer for 15 years and was a troop leader for 10 years – which gave her a wealth of material that she uses in her books.

Leslie lives in the Midwest with her family and assorted animals and has an unnatural obsession with cake. You can find out more about her and her books at http://www.leslielangtry.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/LeslieLangtry/

https://twitter.com/LeslieLangtry

Seldom Traveled, my Next Deputy Tempe Crabtree Mystery

~ marilynm ~ 4 Comments

I just signed the contract for Seldom Traveled last week. I wasn’t worried about it because I’d already received the edits, gone over them, and sent the manuscript back–so I knew the contract was coming. Looking back, I think that’s happened other times.

I’ve been working on a new blog tour for the book–and found I’ve kind of run out of fresh ideas to write about so I asked for help from some of the hosts who agreed to have me on their blogs. (Some already have specific topics they wanted, but not all.)

I’m going to do a different contest this time. Instead of having the person who leaves the most comments having their name used for a character in the next book , I’ll give away either a print copy or a Kindle copy of an earlier Tempe book of the winners’ choice. And no, I didn’t put the apostrophe in the wrong place, there will be multiple winners–picked from those who leave the most comments.

I don’t have a cover to share as yet. I do hope the same artist who’s done most of my covers will do this one, and I did give a suggestion as to what I thought it should be.

This has been a busy time for me, (I know, I always say that), but I’m preparing for the Public Safety Writers Conference in mid July, writing a new Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery, and I always have lots of other tasks on my “to-do” list.

This is the blurb for Seldom Traveled:

The tranquility of the mountain community of Bear Creek is disrupted by a runaway fugitive, a vicious murderer, and a raging forest fire. Deputy Tempe Crabtree is threatened by all three.

Marilyn

And as my great-granddaughter is saying here, “I did it!”

Priscilla May 2016

 

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

~ janegorman ~ 2 Comments

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I’ve created a person. A man. A cop. The hero of the Adam Kaminski mystery series is a good man who wants to help people. He is thoughtful, well read, considerate, a little emotional at times. He exists in my imagination and that of my readers. But what does Detective Adam Kaminski look like?

Novosad’s thick gray hair surrounded a weathered face that had seen many changes over the years. The face of a man who had learned to adapt to change, not fight it.

Describing my characters is always a challenge for me. Catching that element of their person, their personality and their physical appearance, that best lets the reader imagine them. Put a face to a name.

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Adam Kaminski has been one of my biggest challenges when it comes to descriptions. Part of the challenge is how he’s grown over the course of the series. From his first trip to Poland to his most recent visit to Galway, Adam has become a more serious, perhaps angrier, man.

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Part of the challenge is that Adam exists not just in my mind, but in my readers’ minds as well. I’m reluctant to put too fine a description on him. Haven’t we all had that experience of seeing a movie based on a book only to be confronted by a hero that looks nothing like we imagined based on the text?

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With each book, I find new elements of Adam’s personality that I hadn’t quite captured before. Different ways of looking at him, of seeing him, of describing him. It’s frustrating at times, sure. But it’s also a pleasure, in a way. Seeing my character grow and change.

What do you think, do you prefer to have your literary characters described in physical detail so you can picture him or her the way the author intended, or do you prefer to get a little leeway to imagine a character just the way you want him to be?

If you’d like to meet Detective Adam Kaminski, now’s your chance: sign up now for the Goodreads giveaway of A Blind Eye. Giveaway ends on July 1.

Learn more about Jane Gorman and the Adam Kaminski mystery series at janegorman.com