Mike Befeler's Blog, page 23

Shopping in Stores Versus Online

During the pandemic, I went to the food store, but avoided other types of in-person shopping, relying upon online shopping. Now that I’m fully vaccinated, I’ve attempted to return to some in-person shopping. To be honest, the results have been disappointing. I tried to purchase two items at retail stores. In one case, they tried to sell me the pieces rather than a complete product, and in the other the salesperson couldn’t answer any of my questions. So I returned to online shopping, ordered the two items in minutes and received them in days. Like some activities during the pandemic, I expect we will will not return to the way we used to do things.

Grandson’s First Trip to the Zoo

Do you remember the first time you went to a zoo? I had the opportunity to watch my five-year-old grandson’s reactions to seeing real animals (not just pictures) when we went to the Los Angeles Zoo. Reservations were required and a limited number of people were allowed in on half hour increments. We wore masks and hiked around the whole zoo. On the way home he went through his list of the favorite animals he had seen. Two near the top of the list were giraffes and gorillas. It was an enjoyable day for all of us.

e-book Box Sets

Box sets are an interesting concept. Books in a series can be package so a reader can order them as one combined e-book. As an example, the first four books in my Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series are available in an e-Book Box Set. http://ow.ly/D2P6E These four books are Retirement Homes Are Murder, Living with Your Kids Is Murder, Senior Moments Are Murder, and Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder.

In Retirement Homes Are Murder cantankerous octogenarian Paul Jacobson must become an amateur sleuth to clear himself as a murder suspect when he finds a dead body in the trash chute of a retirement home. As Paul’s snooping and short-term memory loss get him in trouble with the local police, his new friends and granddaughter Jennifer help him solve an expanding list of crimes. Paul finds romance as he struggles to escape a murderer intent on a repeat performance.

In Living with Your Kids Is Murder Paul Jacobson must solve two murders while struggling with the problems of his short-term memory loss. As Paul ends up suspiciously close to a bank robbery, kidnapping and drug bust, his granddaughter Jennifer helps him track down the real perpetrators. Paul juggles two girlfriends, experiences the quirks of old age romance and must find a way to stay alive when he confronts a murderer.

In Senior Moments Are Murder Paul Jacobson must solve a series of murders in spite of his short-term memory loss. Paul learns about the homeless community, disreputable art dealers and the beach scene in Venice Beach, California, and dances a geezer two-step to stay out of the clutches of the police and the bad guys. 

In Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder memory-impaired amateur sleuth Paul Jacobson becomes involved in a series of crimes. On an Alaskan cruise, he must deal with mayhem, missing people and murder and use all his geezer resources to solve a case of international intrigue.

What’s a Mystery Novel?

I’m currently a judge for a mystery novel contest and have been thinking about the question of what is a mystery novel?

In one sense, most novels are mystery novels in the sense that there is something that we as readers try to figure out as we read. This is the broadest definition. The more restrictive definition is a novel that includes a crime, most often murder. There are also books of other genres such as fantasy or romance that have mystery elements. What do you think?

Things Are Opening Up

I’m looking forward to doing in-person author events again in the fall. I will be on a panel with Tim Hallinan, Paige Shelton and Allison Brennan at the Anaheim Library’s Mystery Authors Luncheon on Sunday, October 24, 2021, The last in-person event I participated in was The Left Coast Crime Conference in San Diego in March, 2020, which was cut short after one day.  After doing Zoom events, it will be a pleasure to see readers face-to-face again.

The Beauty of School Reopening

Our grandson has attended in-person kindergarten for a little over two weeks now. The school is in Lakewood, CA, and part of the Long Beach Unified School District. I have nothing but praise for how the school district and school administration prepared for the reopening. I attended three weekly Zoom calls with the Principal to hear about the safety plans and to have questions answered. The week before reopening, they had all the students come over for a COVID test. Each morning the parents submit answers to a questionnaire on the student’s health and the student’s temperature is taken before entering the building. They maintain social distancing in the classroom, wear masks and sanitize the room regularly. At snack break the kids sit is separate hula hoops on the playground. But the most impressive thing is what I see when I pick my grandson up after school. The parents and grandparents are all waiting outside. Everyone is wearing a mask. It’s wonderful to see the full support of the families to do what is best for the health of their kids and their families.

New audiobook

I enjoy audiobooks. Up until the pandemic when I stopped driving very much, I always listened to an audiobook when I was driving by myself.

I'm pleased to announce that Books in Motion has released an audiobook edition of my international thriller, The Tesla Legacy, which is also available in print and e-book editions:

Audio download https://bit.ly/3rZtlvD         

Audio CD https://bit.ly/3dP9LNp      

Print https://amzn.to/3mz4rlf  

e-book https://amzn.to/3d45whL

Picture a retired mathematics professor and conspiracy nut with a butt-kicking, surrogate-daughter sidekick. Elmore Kranz bombards the police with his predictions of disaster until one of them actually happens, to the point that he’s implicated in the plot. Even with the assistance of his one ally, rookie cop Brittney Chase, people start dying around Elmore as attempts are made on his life. Following up on inventions from eccentric genius, Nikola Tesla, Elmore and Brittney team up to solve a hundred year old puzzle while trying to thwart a secret government agency and an Afghani terrorist group who seek to get their hands on a doomsday weapon.

The Tesla Legacy is a thriller following six books in the Paul Jacobson geezer-lit mystery series, including Retirement Homes Are Murder; Living With Your Kids Is Murder, a finalist for the 2009 Lefty Award for best humorous mystery; Senior Moments Are Murder; Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder, a finalist for the 2012 Lefty Award for best humorous mystery of 2012; Care Homes Are Murder; and Nursing Homes Are Murder. Other published mystery novels include Court Trouble, Paradise Court, The V V Agency, The Back Wing, The Front Wing, Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse, Murder on the Switzerland Trail, Unstuff Your Stuff, Death of a Scam Artist, in addition to a non-fiction book, The Best Chicken Thief in All of Europe, and an inspiring story of a boy titled Coronavirus Daze.

Editing a Manuscript

How much editing should an author do on a manuscript? I tend to write a first draft quickly but then go through numerous editing passes. This includes checking the consistency of the content, grammar and punctuation, consistency of the character descriptions. In spite of all the passes, once I let someone else read it, they always find things I missed. This raises the question of what is enough editing?

I’m reminded of a similar question when I was in the computer industry. We often said that some engineers would never be ready for a product to be released because they could always find ways to improve what they were designing. Similarly, I can always find more areas for improvement when I do an additional editing pass, but I could do this forever and never get it published. If I discover a major flaw or error I need to fix it. Put there comes a time when the minor tuning needs to give way to getting it into the publisher’s hands. That will lead to additional changes because my editor will find things I missed.

Vaccine Liberation

My wife and I have now reached our vaccine liberation date of over two weeks since our second COVID vaccination. This is psychologically liberating although we continue to follow all the guidelines of wearing masks in public, avoiding large crowds and maintaining social distancing. We don’t have any desire to go out to restaurants yet. I’ve returned to doing food shopping in person rather than ordering online delivery. We will get together with family members as appropriate. Caution but moving forward.

One Good Decision I Made

Thinking back about good and bad decisions during my life, here’s one that I made right. In 2013 I was driving home from a workout and felt a twinge in my chest. It got worse and as I approached an intersection where I could turn right into our residential area or left into a hospital, I chose to go to the hospital emergency room. Seventeen minutes later I was being operated on for a heart attack. I was very fortunate to not have blacked out while driving. Also if I had been out hiking that day, I wouldn’t have made it. I count my blessings.