HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~ casojka123 ~ 4 Comments

DSC_0196Christmas is almost here, and as usual, I’m not sure I’ll be ready in time. I never seem to start early enough. In a cartoon strip called “Drabble”, there’s a woman, the mother of the title character, who always finishes all her Christmas shopping by August. I don’t want to be that early, but it would be better if I weren’t still shopping on December 22nd. Now’s the time for gift cards!

But what I’m thinking about now is the coming year and making New Year’s resolutions. There’s no real reason to start doing things differently just because it’s the beginning of the year. One can start that any time, but this is what we do: a clean sweep, a new start. Giving up things that aren’t good for us and doing things that are: this is the New Year’s tradition.

The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, although the year for them didn’t begin in January but in mid-March when the crops were planted. In ancient Rome, Julious Caesar changed the calendar in 46 B.C. and established January 1st as the beginning of the New Year. Named for Janus, the two-faced god who looked back into the previous year and ahead into the future, it was a time to offer sacrifices to the god and make promises of good conduct.

An early Christian tradition looked back on past mistakes and resolved to do better on the last day of the old year or the first day of the new. So, I’ve made a few resolutions for 2018. My first is to spend more time writing. I’ve gotten lazy about putting in time on the keyboard, and my latest book has taken nearly two years to complete and is still in the editing stage.

It’s called REASONS TO DISAPPEAR and is the third in my Andi Battaglia-Greg Lamont mystery series. In it, Captain Bradley, the hard-driving and apparently upright boss of the Burgess Beach Police Department, suddenly disappears along with a lot of city money. It’s up to Andi and Greg to discover the Captain’s secrets and then find out who is murdering people with ties to him. I had hoped to have it done to publish in January, but . . . .  Hence, New Year’s Resolution No. 1.

Resolution No. 2 is to work harder on my blog on Ladies of Mystery, which you are reading right now. I have even missed a couple of months because I was away and didn’t get them done on time.

Resolution No. 3 is to make more efforts at self-publicizing myself and my books, not sitting around waiting to be discovered. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I am, unfortunately, not the author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, a book which suddenly (apparently) catapulted to number one on the best seller list. My first self-publicizing venture will be a podcast with Laura Brennan, Vice President of Sister in Crime/LA. I’ll be talking about my writing journey beginning late in life. I’ll keep you posted.

There you have it. A New Year and a New Me! How about you? Do you have New Year’s Resolutions to make and keep?

 

My Writing Community

~ janegorman ~ 5 Comments

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At this time of year, it’s not unusual to spend some time thinking about — and being grateful for — friends and family. I have a warm, loving family and I’m fortunate to have friends who inspire, amaze and support me. But today, I’m thinking in particular about my writing community.

Writing is a solitary endeavor. It kind of has to be, doesn’t it? You, the writer, sit down at a keyboard and type. The ideas come from your head (or from the pages and pages of notes and research you’ve done on your topic!). That’s the classic picture of the writer: sitting alone in a room, writing.

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But wait, there’s more: for those of us lucky enough, there’s the writing community.

As I progressed along the path to being a published author, I got to know other writers and other artists. I’ve written before about my involvement in groups like the Sisters in Crime, my attendance at writing conferences, and of course there’s the wonderful community here at Ladies of Mystery.

I cannot emphasize enough the value I find in spending time with, getting to know, learning to rely on other writers. I look forward to every post here on Ladies of Mystery, to see what questions and challenges my fellow mystery writers are dealing with and how they respond to them.

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Thanks to my involvement in the Guppy chapter of the Sisters in Crime, I have a team of people ready to respond to frantic questions ranging from details of cyanide poisoning to the appropriate position of a challenging comma to the best way to describe a character’s face (always one of my biggest challenges).

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My writerly life was forever improved when I decided an hour was not too far away to drive to meetings of the Delaware Valley chapter of the Sisters in Crime. Through this inspiring group of writers (men and women, of course), I’ve been introduced to new ways of thinking about mysteries, characters that seem to be standing in front of me, and questions from readers that simply wouldn’t have occurred to me otherwise.

I’ve been so fortunate to be included in an anthology of mysteries written by some of the best mystery writers I’ve read — check out the Sisters of Suspense anthology for some great mysteries!

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I’ve benefitted from my participation in public celebrations and book readings. Each event gives me another opportunity to figure out how to talk about my books, how to talk about myself, and how to build my relationship with my readers.

So today, I’m feeling warm and fuzzy thoughts about my writing community, and I wish everyone in it — and those who may one day join it — a warm, wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year.

 

Tell Me Again – What Time Is It?

~ janispattersonmysteries ~ 2 Comments

by Janis Patterson

One of the most unsettling things about being a writer is what I call ‘time dislocation.’ There is the Now that we are all experiencing – the date printed on today’s calendar, the time shown on all our clock faces. We writers, however, must deal with the Now of our work, which very seldom if ever coincides with real time. For those of us who work on several projects at once – some contemporary, some historical – the dislocation can be severe.

And sometimes the dislocation lapses over into the real Now. As I sit here writing this, I’m preparing for a trip and when you read this I will be in Germany with The Husband, touring the magical Christmas markets of Bavaria. The year he was stationed over there I went over to spend Christmas with him, through weather and scheduling and just plain bad luck I missed seeing any of the markets. He, of course, had been to several and promised me he would take me to some – sometime. It took a couple of years, but on Friday (almost two weeks ago to you) we’re off.

Which brings up another kind of dislocation – weather. It’s cold in Germany, very cold for my Southern bones, especially when we’re going to be walking around outside every night. (Though there is the Gluhwein (hot mulled wine) to look forward to!) I live in North Central Texas… I don’t have many cold weather outfits! Yes, it does get cold here – we do have noteworthy ice storms, but they usually last only a day or two, and we just stay inside until they’re over! I’ve been packing and unpacking and repacking, trying to decide what will (1) be warm enough and (2) will not require a couple of steamer trunks. There is consolation, though; we are not journeying to Ultima Thule… whatever my final wardrobe choices lack can easily be remedied with a quick pass through a local store.

Even with all the preparatory kerfuffle I am looking forward to the trip for two reasons. First of all, I’m going on a very romantic trip with a man I adore. That should be enough – and would be – but secondly I am also a very firm believer that everything can be turned to research. I’ve been thinking about the second book in my Dr. Rachel Petrie series of archaeological mysteries, and Germany is rich in archaeological sites. We’ll be doing the tourist thing during the day, so I’m going to take LOTS of notes.

Which brings up a problem. I learned to type the summer before I entered the fourth grade, so have always regarded anything more than a signature on a check as cruel and unusual punishment. And this is the first time in thirty odd years that I have ever taken more than an overnight visit anywhere without bringing along a typewriter or a computer. We’re going to be moving light and fast on this trip, and hoping to bring home a lot of goodies, so The Husband convinced me that this trip I wouldn’t have luggage space for a computer or tablet… or even time to use them. I have agreed not to take anything more than a purse-sized notebook and a pen or two… but I feel naked.

However… as I have been known to say repeatedly, Writers Write. We write the best way we can, and if that means a pad and pen, that will have to do. It’s a lot easier than trying to remember exactly when Now is! Any of them.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Every Event is a Learning Experience by Paty Jager

~ patyjag ~ 6 Comments

20171203_125615December 3rd I had the privilege of attending a 75 author signing event that had been held for 50 years at the Oregon Historical Society building in downtown Portland, Oregon.

I was hesitant to send in an application when I learned of the event but the application said they were looking for Oregon authors who had a book published in 2017 regardless of genre.  I entered books 8 and 9 in my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series and the first book of an older historical Native American romance trilogy. They said you could have up to three books and as long as one was set in 2017they were good with that.

When the  email came stating I had been accepted, I immediately ordered books and began to get excited for the event. It was different than most I’ve attended and was at ta place I’ve been wanting to visit for years, given the other genre I write is historical western romance. By being a signing author we received one year free use of the facility for research. That was an added bonus to me.

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They had us set out three to an 8ft table, so we were elbow to elbow and you had to be friendly with your neighbors. Almost the whole long side of one set of tables were mystery, thriller, suspense authors. One writer, say, “Welcome to Murderer’s Row,” as people walked by.  The readers for this type of book were drawn in while other people made a wide circle from our tables.

I learned that attending an event such as this, you don’t take books 8 & 9 of a series. The authors whose 2017 release was the second, third, or fourth book in the series, sold the most books as readers would purchase all the books in their series.  I will probably go back next year with my new historical western series and then in 2019, I can go with the first books of my new mystery series.

As a mystery reader, do you prefer starting at the beginning of a series, even if the stories can be read as a standalone?

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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The long and the ‘shorts’ of it all

~ sandyfairfax ~ 4 Comments

By Sally Carpenter

A short story anthology is like a box of chocolate—you never know what you’re going to get.

Like all small presses, Cozy Cat Press doesn’t have a big advertising budget, so publisher Patricia Rockwell is always looking for new ways to promote her authors. One year the authors joined together to write a group mystery, “Chasing the Codex” (I wrote chapter 3). Another year CCP published a cookbook.

This year Patricia wanted to release an anthology to showcase the writers. Instead of paying for one author, the reader gets 25 different voices to sample.

Submissions to the anthology were voluntary. Some writers had other commitments and some chose not to take part.

The anthology doesn’t have a theme because that proved too limiting. Some authors wanted to use an old story they had sitting in a drawer. Others wanted to write about their CCP series characters. Others wanted to pen something different than their books. In all, an eclectic mix.

This year I’ve been working on a novel to launch a new series, so it was fun to revisit Sandy Fairfax, the star of four books of his own. He has such a distinct personality that I jumped back into his voice with no effort.

The story takes place on a children’s TV show, an idea that sounded fun but not meaty enough to stretch into a 200-page novel. Besides, I’d already written two books set on a studio lot, so I wasn’t interested in rehashing that idea for another book. So the kids’ show was a simple concept suited for a short story.

In late spring/early summer this year I wrote “The Puzzling Puppet Show Caper.” My books follow chronologically, so this story immediately follows book four. I wanted to reuse a character from book two, but in reviewing that book I discovered the character couldn’t make a comeback. I created a new character to take its place. I’d forgotten how book two ended, so it’s always good to reread ones books now and again.

I manage to sneak in a recurring character, Sandy’s agent, who appears in all four books, and his girlfriend, who arrives in book two. Short stories have no room for subplots, so none of Sandy’s family members show up.

The time frame is shorter. The novels cover one to two weeks. The short story is set in one day.

Like the books, Sandy involves himself in a murder investigation and gets caught in a “death trap” at the end. He’s been in more cliffhangers than the Perils of Pauline.

Enough about me. I ordered the book because I’m eager to read how the other authors put a story together.

The other authors in the anthology are Amy Beck Arkawy, Allen B. Boyer, C.F. Carter, Linda Crowder, Glen Ebisch, Bart J. Gilbertson, Helen Grochmal, Lorrie Holmgren, Bret Jones, Mary Koppel, Elizabeth Lanham, Owen Magruder, Jane O’Brien, Joyce Oroz, David Pauwels, Emma Pivato, Joe and Pam Reese, Megan Rivers, Patricia Rockwell, Rita Gard Seedorf, Rae Sanders and Annie Irvin, Lane Stone, Margaret Verhoef and Carmen Will.

The print version is a larger size than the regular CCP paperbacks in order to accommodate all the stories—340 pages!

So if you’re looking for a tasty story this holiday season for yourself or as a gift, dip into the “Coy Cat Shorts” smorgasbord.