There is not much about writing in this post. Actually, not much about anything. Remember last month when I posted about the necessity and occasional dangers of researching? Well, I put my money (and lots of it this time!) where my mouth is.
As you read this I am – if our somewhat fluid itinerary is accurate – bouncing along in a jeep somewhere in the desert between St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai and Petra in Jordan. Am I researching a new book? Probably, though that was not the intent of the trip. However, I can do research on a book with a trip to the grocery store, so that’s not surprising.
No, my husband and I have decided to spend as much time as we can traveling – while we can afford it and are still physically able. I know it’s a luxury, but we’ve both worked hard all our lives and it’s something we want. And we don’t want to miss a chance to fulfill our dreams just because we got lazy.
We started a few days early in Cairo, to visit both a few of our favorite spots and to see old friends, then joined the small group of pilgrims to go on to the Dead Sea. I’ve been there before, and it is still as much of a moonscape as I remember. Then to the fabled St. Catherine’s… ah, but I’m telling too much. Next month I’ll talk a little about my trip and show a few pix. There will be more of both on my website, though, if you want to see more!
And – just a bit of writing news. I’m part of a new anthology called July 4th Murders – where every story takes place on July 4th, but each in a different time period. It’s a fascinating concept and one of which I am proud to be a part. I’ll let you know the exact date it goes up for pre-order.
After we get back from Petra, though. That’s been on my bucket list for years, and I intend to enjoy every second of it!
This month is sneaking up on me! I thought I had all my blog posts and events for the month taken care of and “poof!” I realized I still had this post to write.
I ended last month with a book-selling event that rolled into a week at the beach with two of my best friends. It was supposed to be a working week to get the next Spotted Pony Casino book moving along. However, we ended up doing more playing than me working. But I needed it.
Agate Beach on the Oregon Coast
Then I started out the beginning of March with family things to deal with and now, in two days, I’m headed to Denver for the Left Coast Crime conference. It is one of my favorites because there are readers there and authors get to be on panels and talk about how our books fit into whatever the panel is about. Authors also get to host special events with readers. I signed up to do this, however, I noticed I’m not on the list, so they must have lost my email in the myriad of emails they get. I will host a table at the banquet with author friend Sheri Lewis Wohl. We are excited about our table decorations and giveaways!
this will be on the table I’m hosting
I was lucky to get on two panels this year. One is about Animal Sidekicks, which we all know plays into all of my mystery series. Every one of my main characters has a dog sidekick. I’m excited to talk about Sheba, Dog, and Mugshot during the panel and how they help their people. This panel is at 3:45 on Thursday. Friday at 2:45, I’m on a panel about crime in small towns. Again- spot on for my books since they are all set in small towns/rural areas. This will be another fun panel.
The conference always needs volunteers I’m helping by being a runner for a few of the panels. I did this at last year’s conference and found it an easy way to help out without having to do too much peopling.
As an introvert, these conferences take a lot out of me. I usually spend at least one session a day in my room, regrouping. Even though it makes the conference more expensive, I don’t have roommates. I need complete quiet when I go to my room at night. I feel like my ears ring for hours afterward. It takes a lot for me to put myself out there but I know that the more exposure I get, the more likely readers will pick up my books and try them.
I also enjoy talking to readers. When I can engage with them and talk about my books and what they like to read, I feel I’m gaining more perspective for what I write and how the reader perceives it. That is invaluable.
My bag is packed. I have 16 books to give away after my panels. They have either damaged covers or were printed wrong. And I have the mugs I’m giving to the people at my table, bundled in with the books and my clothes. My suitcase should be much lighter on the way home. I’m just counting down the days until my hubby takes me to the airport and I head for Denver.
If you’re at the Left Coast Crime conference, attend one of my panels and come say “hi!”
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.
I am always impressed by the creative gifts of many of my fellow authors. Not only are they good writers, but their talents often extend to book covers, ad campaigns, blurbs, banners, and more. And let me add, whatever they touch turns out pretty danged good.
As for me, I’ve spent time and energy doing a lot of my own book covers. Here I let out a deep sigh because the American academic grading system would probably only give my efforts a C+. And I throw myself the extra + because this is my post. It is not something that comes naturally to me. Regardless, I love doing the Persephone Cole covers and some of my other books. But not without tons of feedback from trusted pals. For the record, I am never allowed to touch the Alvarez Family covers. The Powers That Be have mandated.
This brings me back to my fellow mystery writers and why I love ’em. As we go through this crazy journey of being a wordsmith, we regularly ask each other for advice or to look at a WIP with a fresh eye. No one has to say please be candid without being cruel. The last part is a given for my pals. They haven’t got a mean bone in their body. And as we’ve all been taught in our writing classes, “Sweetie, I love your hair, but …”
Last month Janet Dawson, one of our very own, had a new banner for her post on Ladies of Mystery and I was smitten with it (see below). I had to have one, too. Actually, I wanted hers but plagiarism is still nasty-naughty, even though AI does it with aplomb and their masters think it’s not only okay but the wave of the future. Really? Have a REAL plum, honey.
Moving on. After hours of going round-robin, I sent Janet the first version of my banner for feedback. It wasn’t working. As usual, she came up with helpful suggestions. Janet said, in a very supportive way, it was a little busy and dark. Keep the work simpler and lighter, she advised. She even offered to help me do it. I was touched and relieved. Yayyy! A partner. But at 12:45 am, I woke up with another thought: Why not take the cartoon image I’ve been using and add to it? In other words, build on what I’ve got. So I did. Ta-da! My masterpiece, such as it is (see the orange thing at top of page).
I probably would have never arrived at going simpler or using white lettering on a darker background without Janet’s help. That’s why I love round-table endeavors. I love brainstorming. I love it when people put the work first and not their egos. And I try to do the same. Learning by osmosis, don’tchaknow. So, I want to thank all my fellow writers who have offered friendship, support, and words of wisdom.
But I am not surprised. Because that’s what mystery writers do with aplomb.
Let us now give thanks for the Sanborn maps, a valuable tool for writers.
You’ve never heard of them? I hadn’t either, until I started working at the University of California Berkeley. I was a staffer in a research unit affiliated with the College of Environmental Design, which is where I first heard the term the built environment.
According to Science Direct:
The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings and parks or green space to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks.
The Sanborn maps show a detailed view of the built environment. Great for writers, because if we’re writing about a particular location, it helps to know what building was on which corner. Fortunately, many of the Sanborn maps have been digitized. Which is great since the bound volumes are quite large and bulky—and not readily available.
Now for some background. The Sanborn Map Company created and published detailed maps of US cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries. The earliest published map shows Boston in 1969. The maps were large-scale, lithographed street plans, published in volumes, bound, and updated.
They were created so that fire insurance companies could assess their liability in urbanized areas, utilizing detailed information about properties and individual buildings in approximately 12,000 cities and towns.
The Sanborn maps contain an enormous amount of information. Once you get past the title page and various indexes, the maps themselves show the outlines of each building and outbuilding; the location of windows and doors; street names; street and sidewalk widths; property boundaries; fire walls; natural features such as rivers; railroad corridors; building use (sometimes even particular room uses); house and block number; as well as the composition of building materials including the framing, flooring, and roofing materials; the strength of the local fire department; indications of sprinkler systems; locations of fire hydrants; location of water and gas mains; and even the names of most public buildings, churches and businesses. Even brothels, outhouses and stables! A treasure trove!
You can access the maps through the Library of Congress, though I’m not sure they have the complete collection. What they do have is voluminous. Here’s a link:
While writing Death Above the Line, the latest Jill McLeod novel, set in Niles, California in 1953, I consulted a Sanborn map for that small township in Alameda County. I learned that what is now called Niles Boulevard was called Front Street back then. There was a hotel on a corner opposite the train station, which served the purposes of my plot. I also found a large vacant lot farther down the street where I could locate my fictional warehouse-turned-movie-studio.
For my work-in-progress, which takes place in New Mexico territory in the late 1870s and early 1880s, the maps are invaluable. Even now, I’m looking at a digital map of Santa Fe in 1883 that points out the location of the post office, on a corner east of the Plaza, next door to a jewelry shop, an insurance office, and a barber shop—and there was a gambling hall behind that. On another downtown street, I find a bookstore sandwiched between a bank and another building labeled “Gambling Mdse.” I’m intrigued by that one.
Once I figured out that the legend “Dwg.” means dwelling, that gave me an idea of where people lived. Especially useful since my protagonist is renting a room in someone’s home. Now I know where to put that fictional house.
I love looking at maps and I could certainly spend hours with the Sanborn maps. Try them—you’ll get hooked!
Ladies of Mystery 
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