Lea Wait's Blog, page 263

Never Entirely a Solo Act: Introducing Dick Cass

Dick Cass here and most grateful for the welcome and the chance to ramble on to the MCW blog audience. The recent thrill of joining the lively and vibrant community of crime writers in this state has been eclipsed only by my personal tail-wagging pleasure at holding the hardback of Solo Act, my first mystery novel, in my hot little hands.

This is the tale whereby an alcoholic buys a bucket-of-blood bar in the South End of Boston and tries to turn it into a respectable jazz club without losing his sobriety in the process. It would be churlish not to thank the many people who contributed to this happy event, particularly my agent, Paula Munier, and Tiffany Schofield, the acquiring editor at Five Star. (And it’s strictly a coincidence that Five Star decided to stop publishing mysteries after mine, leaving some very good mystery writers, er, twisting in the wind.) Book available in hardback and e-book all over. Etc. Etc.

With the commercial taken care of, I wanted to make a point of expressing my pleasure and wonder at the talented and committed community of crime writers that has sprung up since the last time I lived here. When I left Maine in 1978, I knew a couple of odd poets and an odd journalist or two (some of them very odd) but most of the state’s literary life seemed to be more in its heritage than current—local, folklorical, and historical. I read writers like Ben Ames Williams, Kenneth Roberts, Ruth Moore. Thoreau in the Maine Woods.

At the time, you didn’t hear too much about contemporary fiction in Maine, let alone crime fiction. Stephen King had just published The Stand (his fourth novel).

The only local crime fiction writer I knew of was Janwillem van de Wetering, a Dutch Zen practitioner who wrote police procedurals and lived in Surry. I’m sure if I’ve missed someone obvious, a kind reader will point it out. But most of the writers I hung around with wrote poetry and published small press broadsides and chapbooks.

In my peripatetics since, I’ve been lucky enough to find a literary community everywhere I’ve lived. A good community is serious, supportive, and acknowledges the joy and the difficulty of pulling your own stories out of yourself for the benefit of other people as well as for your own. What I did not find until I returned to Maine was a group of writers who’d been touched early, as I had, by the various creative geniuses of Alfred Hitchcock, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, and Ross MacDonald and who were listening to the gorgeous dialogue of George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard.

Your pantheon may vary, but listen to this:

Chris Mankowski’s last day on the job, two in the afternoon, two hours to go, he got a call to dispose of a bomb. (Freaky Deaky, Elmore Leonard, 1988)

Put that book down, if you can.

Writers are people who love what they read so much that against the odds, the aggravation, the need to steal time, the sneers or the indifference of family and friends (and the wider world), they spend their days and nights emulating the others who’ve created the stories they love. And so I consider it my extreme good fortune to have fallen in with this crowd, to be here in this place now, when so many fine writers are working at telling the kinds of stories I love to hear, with characters that could be walking our streets and our fields and sailing our oceans. Characters that bring order, on the page at least, out of the chaos that threatens us all. Every day seems to bring more good news about the people here writing and publishing crime fiction. I’m wicked glad to have ended up here. Again.

Richard Cass holds an MA in Writing from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Thomas Williams and Joseph Monninger. He’s published stories in Gray’s Sporting Journal, Potomac Review, and Best Short Stories of the American West. He’s also won prizes for his fiction from Redbook and Playboy magazines and the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference. He was a Fellow at the Fishtrap Summer Fishtrap Gathering – Writing in the West and he’s published a collection of stories called Gleam of Bone. His first mystery novel, Solo Act, was published in January 2016 by Five Star Publishing. He lives, writes, and teaches in Cape Elizabeth, ME.

Weekend Update: February 27-28, 2016

Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be a special Leap Day post on Monday and posts by Lea Wait (Tuesday), Barb Ross (Wednesday), Bruce Coffin (Thursday), and Maureen Milliken (Friday).

In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

Kate Flora: Gosh, it looks like not much is happening at Maine Crime Writers this coming week. Does this mean we’re all at our desks, bent over our works in progress? Maybe next week we’ll give you a sneak preview of some of those works. The way MCW writers are turning out books, soon we will have filled a bookcase. Oh…silly comment, single-handedly Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kate Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has already done that!

Barbara Ross celebrated the publication of her newest Maine Clambake mystery, Fogged In, which is debuting to rave reviews.

Dick Cass will be along on Monday to tell you about his debut book, Solo Act.

And if you like fun links, in yesterday’s post, Jessie Crockett shared a link to a social security name website, where you can look up names from every era and see how common they were. But you’ll have to skip over to Jessie’s post for that.

Got a cool website you’d like to share with us? We always like links to things Maine, writing, food, and just plain fun.

And just to prove how much crime (writing!) can be, here are some fun pics from Death and Desserts events:

Death and Desserts at the Liberty Library with Lea Wait and Dorothy Cannell

An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora: mailto: kateflora@gmail.com

What’s in a Name?

Jessie: Thinking thoughts of spring and keeping an eye out for robins, crocuses and skunks

Do you have a dream job? I don’t necesarily mean something glamorous or that even would pay the bills, but rather the sort of thing that intrigues you or makes you smile? For me, one that always makes my list is that of a color namer. I think I would love to be in charge of naming lipsticks and paint chips and richly dyed yarns.

I have no idea how anyone would get such a job besides starting one’s own line of yarns or paints or lipsticks. Until I figure it out I’ve found that being a writer is at least as good. I get to name all sorts of people, places and businesses. I can even give characters products to name if I so choose.

Naming feels magical. I’m not sure how other writers end up doing it but names often come to me fully formed with a character attached. I’ll be trudging along, minding my own business, when it is as if someone simply appears next to me without warning, sticks out a hand and introduces herself. It’s happened that way with every single one of my main characters and many of the more minor ones.

Other times I have a sense of what the character is like and I need the right name to solidify what all that means. That’s when I like to turn to the government for inspiration. Like so many other writers I make frequent use of the . It allows you to search by decade, gender and even by popularity. When I know what a character is like, I usually have an idea what sort of parents he had and whether or not they would be likely to choose a popular or more unusual name for their child.  In case you’re curious, in 1880 the 1000th most popular name for boys was Layton and girls was Euna.

Lately, I’ve also needed to name myself. I have a new historical mystery series set in Maine launching in September and it needed a new name to distinguish it from my contemporary series. It is surprisingly agonizing to choose author names. It feels like so much is involved. A signature, remembering to respond when someone speaks to you at an event, feeling like it is a match for you as a writer and as a person. Luckily for me me I had my married name waiting in the wings for just such an occasion.

Readers, do you like to name things? Writers, do you have a naming process either for your characters or for yourself?

Grail Quest

John Clark sharing a series find in young adult fiction. Years ago, I deliberately avoided reading any of the Harry Potter books until I finished the second book in my own YA fantasy series. Once I got into them, I understood why there was so much interest. (I even listened to all of them on unabridged audio, something I strongly suggest if you want a darker take) Not only were they extremely well written, but they got kids, parents and even grandparents hooked on reading. As a librarian I’m convinced it was the best thing to happen in terms of literacy in the past fifty years. When the series ended, I felt a sense of withdrawal, but soon found other YA fantasy worth reading. In fact, the whole YA market exploded after Harry Potter and continues to this day, something I both bless and curse.

However, series comparable to the Potter books don’t come along very often, but I stumbled on one worthy of comparison completely by accident. I trade books on Paperbackswap and have four saved searches I run regularly, one of which looks for any teen books published after 2009. I’ve discovered several hundred titles that way, many self-published or issued by small presses. Last month, I claimed one called Legacies written jointly by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. It was the first in a four part series called the Shadow Grail Quest. I had never read any of Mercedes’ books, but remembered something musician David Arkenstone wrote in his liner notes for a CD I got years ago. Mercedes was quoted in it as saying that she listened to his music for inspiration while writing. I was using Medwyn Goodall’s music for similar creative energy at the time and liked the validation.

Book One

I read it in a couple days and borrowed the second one, Conspiracies, through MaineCat. No copies of the last two were available when I neared the end, so I bought Sacrifices and Victories. As I read the remainder of the series, I couldn’t help but think about some of the similarities to the Harry Potter books (all quite favorable).

The story begins with Spirit White in a hospital, recovering from serious injuries suffered in the car crash that killed her parents and younger sister. Faced with pain and grief, Spirit isn’t sure what will happen when she’s well enough to be discharged because she has no living relatives. Even more distressing, the family farm located in a remote area, burn. Lightning is the official cause, but the more things happen, the less Spirit believes this to be true and she has recurring dreams where something huge and evil appeared in the road just before the crash.

Book 2

She’s whisked off in a fancy car after being informed that she’s destined for magical greatness at a private school called Oakhurst in the middle of a remote section of Montana. The party line is that her parents went there and as a legacy with mage ability, she’s getting a full ride which starts as she and another boy are flown to Montana by private jet. Odd that her parents never mentioned anything about magic or having attended the school.

Her first experience with the headmaster, Dr Ambrosius, it traumatic as he turns her into a mouse while morphing into an owl. Despite being assured she has one of the magical powers derived from earth, air, fire or water, every time Spirit is tested, nothing shows up. All the other students, including her small circle of friends (friendship is discouraged, while competition and mistrust are promoted at Oakhurst), Burke, Loch, Addie and Murin, have at least some measurable level in one of these.

Book 3

When the teens realize that students are disappearing, including some who were supposedly hospitalized in Billings, but never return, they start investigating and discover two frightening facts. First, there are records in a basement storage area where students have ‘Tithed’ on their folders. Each is among the missing as far as they can tell. Second, someone inside Oakhurst seems to be disarming the magic wards surrounding the campus when teens vanish. The first book ends in a slam bang battle.

Just when Spirit and her friends think they’ve been successful in defeating the extremely scary band responsible for the vanished kids, the school is infiltrated by ‘graduates’, under the direction of Mark Rider, head of a very lucrative gaming company. He and his henchmen ramp up the distrust level among classmates by instituting some really scary new classes, survival riding (think Hunger Games like surprises while riding on a horse over an endurance course) and ‘almost have to kill the instructor to pass’ defense/martial arts classes.

By the time they reach book three, our heroes are dismayed because many of their fellow students think the second round of baddies has been vanquished, but instead, these Shadow Knights have infiltrated the faculty. At the same some of the good students are beginning to have odd dreams that seem to go back to Arthurian times, ones where they’ve become a person involved in the battle between Guinevere and Mordred. At the same time, Breakthrough, Mark Rider’s gaming company, has set up shop in Radial, the nearest town and seems to be glamoring the citizens so they don’t have the slightest inkling that something evil is overtaking the town and Oakhurst. Even when the town library is destroyed by monsters, the damage and the student deaths are attributed to bad weather. It’s clear to Spirit and her friends that it’s time to flee Oakhurst and regroup elsewhere so they can figure out how to defeat the evil presence at Oakhurst. Sadly, one of their group is killed while creating a distraction that allows the other four to escape.

The final book involves the four survivors finding the mysterious online entity QUERCUS who befriended her after she found a mysterious thumb drive in a bag after going shopping in town and made it possible to bypass the school wide block on outside internet access while proving to be evasive and elusive whenever asked a direct question. As he/she gives them periodic instructions, leading to another, older escapee from Oakhurst, Spirit finally comes into her own magic which is derived from a fifth school, one extremely rare, but essential to defeating the person Mordred became before Oakhurst was opened. I was particularly intrigued by who/what QUERCUS turned out to be and where he was hiding. The final battle is a dandy one that involves the mastery of four ancient artifacts the surviving heroes found.

Book 4

I understand this series won’t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed getting lost in it and relating to the main characters. There are many details I needed to leave out in order to preserve a decent level of unknown. All four books are available from member libraries in MaineCat.

Help! The Well’s Gone Dry

Kate Flora: I don’t know about you, but I look forward to each day’s new posting here at Maine Crime Writers. The subject matter is so diverse—real Maine crimes, the challenge of balancing book deadlines and a loved one’s illness, what writers read when they’re not working. The writing is so good and I usually come away with something new to read, or to think about, or a new slant on the work that we do every day. But suddenly, after more than thirty years in the writer’s chair, when it’s my turn to blog, I stare at a blank page and think: I have nothing new to say.

This is not a case of writer’s block. On the writing side, I have a huge book project to work on and three books I need to revise. I’m writing a short story that’s evolving in fascinating ways, beginning with a comment made on Facebook when I inquired about making gumbo that described the moment when the cook knows the roux is perfect as a “rouxgasm.” [Here is the quote from Ramona DeFelice Long: There is a very precise moment when a roux base (oil and flour) is dark without burning. At that moment, you add the vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper aka the Holy Trinity) and there is a loud sizzling sound, fantastic smell, and the feeling the cook has if the timing is right is called a rouxgasm. (I am not making this up.)]

On the blogging side, though, I feel like I don’t have anything interesting, entertaining, or useful to say. I think you must be weary of my posts about observing the world and about the writer’s life.

Is it interesting that I have a sheet of paper taped to the wall with lists of words for cold? For pain? For fear? That my Rodale’s Synonym Finder comes off the bookshelf many times a week? That I used to keep a notebook where I copied out other author’s actions scenes to figure out how to do it well?

Is it interesting to note that my copy of Practical Homicide Investigation, which I believed was lost, has suddenly reappeared in my office? I often wonder if the way things happen is a sign. Am I now supposed to open the book and become re-enlightened about some aspect of homicide investigation? Finding it there on the shelf reminds me of my local librarian’s reaction to the book. I had been trying to decide which reference book to buy as I was embarking on my Joe Burgess series. Joe was going to investigate homicides and I wanted to know what he would know. Reference books and textbooks are very expensive, so I previewed this one through an interlibrary loan. The pictures in the book are, quite frankly, horrible and graphic and most of them are of women. Before the male librarian handed it over, he inquired with quiet concern whether I was sure I wanted to see it.

Rediscovering this book, which was an essential reference when I was working on my first true crime, Finding Amy, many years ago, send me looking around my office at other forgotten books and reminded me that I want to reread M. Lee Goff’s book A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes. That reminded me of the role that entomology played at Russ Gorman’s trial. And that last year I met a forensic entomologist at a conference, and thought she’d be a riveting conference speaker. I wonder what I did with her card?

Oh. Forensics. I’ve got Criminalistics. I’ve got Criminal Investigation. For a scene where Joe Burgess encounters a house rigged with bombs, I’ve got Bomb Squad. For interrogation and interviewing, I’ve got The Truth About Lying. We Get Confessions. I have a book about cops and PTSD. And one called Inside the Criminal Mind. Sometimes I wonder what a nice girl like me is doing in a place like this?

When I go to people’s houses, or rent a condo or apartment, I always want to know what’s on the bookshelf. In my case, way too much. Along with all the forensics reference books, I have lots of poetry. Maybe in part because I love epigraphs. (I have a whole book where the epigraphs are all from Paradise Lost and The Scarlet Letter.) So yesterday my about-to-be-retired husband said he wanted to reread some poetry, and was looking for a Norton Anthology. I said, “Hold on a minute,” and found two Nortons and three other college poetry textbooks. I left him to decide which was “the one.”

I read recently in the Bangor Daily News about a crew taking ten tons of stuff out of a Maine hoarder’s house. In my case, the books alone probably weigh that much. But as a writer, I want to surround myself with books. I’ve even clipped pictures of the book Christmas tree and the book chair, in case someday I have time, and books, on my hands. Here are some great ideas for using books: http://mentalfloss.com/article/58407/15-pieces-furniture-made-out-books or perhaps this: http://www.inspirationgreen.com/index.php?q=books-as-furniture.html

And so. Another case of the rambling writer’s mind comes to an end. And the page isn’t so empty after all.

 

 

How to Write Animals in the Modern Mystery

Young Einstein — aka Riley, a golden-doodle who won the Einstein Cover Model Contest in 2012.

Jen Blood here, delving into a post about my favorite people on the planet: animals. When I was first in grad school in the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program, I had the stellar novelist/playwright Michael Kimball as a workshop leader. I handed in the opening pages of an early draft of All the Blue-Eyed Angels for critique that week. Mike was generous with his praise on most aspects of the story: plot, setting, character, prose, he said, were all good. Which was very nice of him, considering what I see when I look at those pages now. He did, however, have one big suggestion:

Ditch the dog.

For those who haven’t read my Erin Solomon mysteries, Erin is a thirty-something reporter working to solve the mystery of an alleged cult suicide that’s haunted her since childhood. Einstein, described in the first book as “part Muppet, part terrier,” is Erin’s faithful companion.

Mike’s reasoning was sound: You don’t have dogs in books any more than you have kids in books, because it can limit your character’s movements and means everyone always has to worry about where the dog (or kid) is. He added something that has become a touchstone for me ever since (because I, of course, refused to get rid of the dog): “If you’re going to keep the damn dog, your reader better know where he is at all times.”

From that point on, it became a mission of mine when writing. Where is the dog? If it’s ninety degrees out and Erin’s driving somewhere, what does she do with him while she’s inside? Obviously, she can’t leave him in the car. It’s a pet peeve of mine when I see other writers do this – introduce a beloved family pet in one chapter, and then only mention him again when it’s convenient to the plot.

With five Erin Solomon/Einstein mysteries under my belt (and one prequel that pre-dates Stein), I’m now starting a new series. This one revolves around search and rescue dog handler Jamie Flint. Instead of just one dog, there’s a whole cadre of them. As I’m fleshing out the canine characters and writing the first draft, I’m revisiting a few of the tricks I learned with that first go-round. Here, in no particular order, are my tips for effectively incorporating four-leggeds in your fiction.

Give your pooch (or favorite feline, chameleon, or wayward pachyderm) personality. Anyone who has pets knows, the fuzziest members of society have serious charisma. Delve beyond stereotypes of the breed (the noble German shepherd, the finicky feline, the loyal retriever), and really get to know these characters as…well, characters. In fact, it’s great fun to play around with those stereotypes. A cat who fetches; a pit bull too lazy to play; a spider with a heart of gold (I believe that last one may have been done before, however).

Keep tabs. As I mentioned before, it’s critical to know where your fictional pets are at all times. If you’re not an animal lover, it might not make much difference to you whether your pup is alone in the kitchen with a freshly basted turkey or your kitten is playing by a busy highway. I guarantee, though, that there will be readers who are tracking your pet’s every move. I’ve gotten a lot of email from readers who express fervent appreciation for the fact that Einstein is always either present or accounted for.

Know your endgame.

The death of the much-beloved Brian in the animated series Family Guy spawned an entire Twitter campaign — with miraculous results.

Particularly if you’re writing a long-running series, it’s good to keep in mind the future of your beloved. More often than not, our human characters age as we write them… It’s an unfortunate fact of life that animals age even faster. If you’re writing a series that spans several years, that gawky Great Dane pup you started out with is inevitably not going to be so spry over time. Are you prepared to handle that? And, perhaps more importantly, are your readers? True, it’s a device diabolically abused among writers the world over, but it’s bound to have repercussions. There’s even a Goodreads page called The Dog Dies… A Cautionary List!

Use your non-human characters to flesh out your humans. One of the major reasons I was so invested in keeping Einstein in the Erin Solomon series is because, particularly at the beginning of the series, Erin is often… well, kind of a pain in the ass. She’s caustic, stubborn, and, frankly, often selfish and a little unlovable. A lot of that is surface stuff and you get to know her better and she mellows considerably over the course of the first few novels. In order to give readers a glimpse of what lies beneath before that, however, I needed something that would humanize her and show her softer side. Einstein became the perfect vehicle to do that. He is, in essence, her heart.

Genre dictates the role animals play in the proceedings. These days, as most everyone visiting this website probably knows, there are whole genres devoted to crime-solving cats and dogs. There are horse cozies, pet-sitting cozies, and cozies for the bird watchers among us. (For a great list, visit Mystery-Cozy.com). Even if your central sleuth is of the human persuasion, though, there’s no reason you can’t use the resident finned, furred, or four-legged friend to help the story unfold. A pet in danger amps up tension dramatically, and there are innumerable stories out there where the dolphin, snow leopard, or Scottie (Kaitlyn Dunnett, I’m looking at you) comes to the aid of their human companion in her hour of need. Naturally, though, you need to understand the boundaries of your genre or sub-genre. Lovers of the supernatural cozy might not think twice about having a psychic cat solve the mystery; fans of police procedurals, however, will expect their K-9 cops to be a little more by the book.

The bottom line in all this is that my old friend and mentor Mike Kimball was right: just as it’s no small matter to give your seven-year-old a puppy, you should give equal weight to deciding whether or not your main character — and you — are ready for that kind of responsibility. What about you? Do you have a favorite book or series featuring pets, or do you prefer your human sleuths to keep to their kind?

Jen Blood is a freelance writer, editor, and author of the bestselling Erin Solomon mysteries. To learn more about her and the Erin Solomon mysteries, visit http://jenblood.com. 

Escape to Another Time and Place

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett here, today with a blog about books.

When I read, I am almost always seeking to escape from reality, both the real world of the nightly news and whatever reality I’m inhabiting to work on the book I’m currently writing. To do that, I frequently choose to read in a genre many mystery aficionados avoid like the plague. Yes, I’m talking about historical romance.

Keep in mind that I once wrote romance novels for a living. I wasn’t terribly good at it, but that phase in my career taught me a lot about developing relationships between characters, both romantic and otherwise. As part of the learning process, I read widely in the genre. I’ll leave comments on contemporary romance, in particular contemporary category romance (Harlequin, Silhouette, Loveswept and the like) for another day, but in reading many many historical romances, set in a variety of eras, I discovered quite a number of authors who went on my automatic “buy” list and are still there all these years later.

Yes, I will admit that there are far too many writers of historical romance (and of historical mystery, too) whose disregard for historical accuracy is appalling. Some do no more than put modern characters in fancy dress. I also avoid reading other writers who set their novels in Tudor England, because I am far too likely to spot errors and get annoyed, even when the mistakes are tiny details that no one else in the world is likely to notice. Eliminate all those novels and I am still left with a wonderful selection of historical romances.

I have a particular fondness for historical romances set in the Regency period. Part of the attraction is that there are often connected books to read. It’s not quite like getting hooked on a mystery series and following the adventures of the same sleuth through several books, but reading one book for each sibling in a large family has a similar appeal, especially when continuing characters appear. In some cases, there is a continuing antagonist or series of antagonists. You see, as in so many historical mysteries, my own included, a good number of historical romances have a subplot involving spies, intrigue, and/or treasonous plots.

One objection to romance novels that I often hear from mystery readers has to do with their dislike of love scenes. They are unnecessary, they argue. They slow down the plot. They are all the same. Maybe. Well done, they reveal a lot about the two characters involved. But, yes, if you feel that way, skim them or skip them. In a romance, there is going to be lots of sexual attraction and sexual tension. That is part of life and part of the definition of romance, just as dealing with a crime is part of the definition of a mystery novel.

There is much more to a well-written romance novel than just sex, however, just as there is much more to a murder mystery than a blow-by-blow description of the crime or a detailed autopsy scene. Following the adventures of a seemingly mismatched couple as they find a way to overcome the odds can be every bit as fascinating as sharing a detective’s journey to the solution of a murder.

So, who do I read? I’ve included a sprinkling of covers throughout this post. I haven’t just read these books. I’ve re-read them. In fact, I’ve recently finished re-reading all of Jo Beverley’s Malloren series (five books, one for each sibling), set early in the reign of George the Third. They provided the perfect escape from the real world and from the world of Elizabethan England, where I’m currently killing off numerous people in my third Mistress Jaffrey mystery.

I also recommend Jo’s Company of Rogues series, set in Regency England, Mary Jo Putney’s Fallen Angels series and Lost Lords series, Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series, Eileen Dreyer’s trilogy (Always a Temptress, Once a Rake, Twice Tempted), Loretta Chase’s trilogy (Silk is for Seduction, Scandal Wears Satin, Vixen in Velvet), and for those who prefer less history rather than more, anything by Amanda Quick, who is also Jayne Ann Krentz (contemporary romantic suspense) and Jayne Castle (futuristic romance). Some of the Quick/Krentz/Castle novels also link together to form the Arcane Society series, tracing families who belong to a secret organization to do with paranormal abilities through past, present, and future generations.

When historical romance doesn’t appeal as a way to refresh my reading palate, I often turn to books that contain a mixture of genres. I enjoy the occasional steampunk novel, and mysteries with a dollop of fantasy, such as Laura Resnick’s Esther Diamond series, Jim Butcher’s books about Harry Dresden, and Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels.

So, how about you? Yes, you—the person reading this post. I’d love to hear what you read when you want to take a break from crime.

 

 

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett is the author of over fifty books written under several names. She won the Agatha Award in 2008 for best mystery nonfiction for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2014 in the best mystery short story category for “The Blessing Witch.” Currently she writes the contemporary Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries (The Scottie Barked at Midnight) as Kaitlyn and the historical Mistress Jaffrey Mysteries (Murder in the Merchant’s Hall) as Kathy. The latter series is a spin-off from her earlier “Face Down” series and is set in Elizabethan England. Her websites are www.KaitlynDunnett.com and www.KathyLynnEmerson.com

 

 

Weekend Update: February 20-21, 2016

Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson (Monday), Jen Blood (Tuesday), Kate Flora (Wednesday), John Clark (Thursday), and Jessie Crockett (Friday).

In the news department, here’s what’s happening with some of us who blog regularly at Maine Crime Writers:

2016 MAINE CRIME WAVE

Join Maine crime writers, publishing professionals, members of law enforcement and the judiciary, and the Attorney General of the State of Maine at the Portland Public Library on Saturday, April 9 for theme-specific craft sessions, manuscript workshops, one-on-one manuscript critiques, and fascinating panels on the law, writing about police procedure, and how debut mystery authors made their journeys.

Book sales, book signings, and networking throughout the day!

For details, see 2016 Maine Crime Wave: www.mainewriters.org

TWO MINUTES IN THE SLAMMER Open Mic Reading Friday, April 8

http://mainewriters.org/two-minutes-i...

And we’re already gearing up for 2016 events, so keep checking here. Also, if you’re looking for a program for your book group, library, school, or other organization, we’re always delighted to work with you to create a fun event. If you’ve got readers, or aspiring writers, we’ve got writers who love to talk about their craft. How about Death and Desserts? Soup and Suspense?

New writer joining us: At the end of February, MCW will be welcoming debut crime author (though not a man new to writing) Richard Cass to the blog group.

And if you missed his blog this week, Bruce Coffin just struck a deal for three police procedurals.

Kate Flora is gearing up for the April release of Roger Guay’s memoir: A Good Man with a Dog: a Retired Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods. 

An invitation to readers of this blog: Do you have news relating to Maine, Crime, or Writing? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below to share.

And a reminder: If your library, school, or organization is looking for a speaker, we are often available to talk about the writing process, research, where we get our ideas, and other mysteries of the business. Contact Kate Flora: mailto: kateflora@gmail.com

How Agatha Christie helped me get my dishes done (and my book written)

Hi, Maureen here, NOT suffering from writer’s block.

Not that you thought I was, but anyone following my progress on the second book in the Bernie O’Dea mystery series, “No News is Bad News,” may think it because it’s…taking…so…long.

Writer’s block was the topic of a question at a recent Sisters in Crime Speakers Bureau panel I was on with fellow Maine crime writers Kate Flora and Arlene Kay. The three of us were in agreement that there is no such thing. Kate, I believe, called it self-indulgent.

The three of us were firm that writing is work, it’s a job, and you get to it, you don’t swan around with the back of your hand to your forehead lamenting that the muse has not come to visit.

Writing IS work. Fun work, but still work. And it’s easy to avoid doing it, for a lot of reasons. Don’t think this is too weird,but  it scares me a little. It scares me because I know how tangled my writing process is, how much agony and panic I’ll go through and how difficult it will be to get to the end. Kinda makes me not want to start.

I never thought about the writing process at all before I started writing “Cold Hard News,” my first mystery novel.

Writing? This recent “Adam@Home” may make you laugh and cry at the same time.

I knew about my writing process as a journalist, but that’s totally different and a blog for a different day. But when it came time to finally write my first mystery novel after putting it off for decades, I was lost. I won’t go through all the agonizing back and forth I’ve written about here before, except to say Stephen King’s “On Writing” finally kicked me in gear with the message, basically, to shut up, sit down and write already. (A familiar theme, right?)

So I did. And I found a writing process. A tortuous one. I don’t outline. I start writing. I try to “get the story down,” as I call it, skipping over transitions, scenes, not paying a lot of attention to the words I use or how they’re arranged. Things begin to reveal themselves. As they do, I go back to what I’ve written and start refining it, adding in clues and other scenes, adjusting characters and situations. I also go forward with scenes, writing scenes that spring forth in my mind with no idea where they’re going to go or how they fit. I go back, I go forward, I rework. There are a lot of legal pads around the house with scenes, dialogue, ideas. Things I’ve written at four in the morning without my glasses on that don’t make sense.

Even with all that, I still wasn’t quite sure how the plot was going to work it self out. As tens of thousands of words piled up, I just hoped the book would form itself into something that made sense before I lost my mind.

I don’t say that lightly. I don’t want to sound like a dilettante or some kind of nut, but I need to be able to totally absorb myself in the writing for hours and days for it to really take shape and my brain to do what it needed to. I couldn’t do it in the hour spurts I was writing in because of the long, energy sapping days of my day job. But the panel with Kate and Arlene was a reminder to stop, basically, swanning around lamenting how HARD IT IS TO WRITE and just friggin’ do it.

After that panel a couple weekends ago, trying to ignore the panic, self-doubt and fear that the 70,000 or so words I had so far was a steaming pile of crap, I decided to make myself feel better by finding an Agatha Christie quote I remembered from that had made me laugh. Something like, “Now all you have to do is go back and throw in a few clues and write it and you’re all set.” I found it, it’s from “Mrs. McGinty’s Dead,” and it’s: “There you are, Ariadne…The whole plot of your next novel presented to you. All you’ll have to do is work in a few false clues, and—of course—do the actual writing.”

While looking for that quote, I came across this, also from Christie: “The best time for planning a book is when you’re doing the dishes.”

The squeamish may want to stop reading at this point. If you’re not already wondering a little about whether what I really need is a padded room, this may convince you. I have had an issue for a while recently with getting the dishes done. That’s not a euphemism for something interesting. I really just can’t seem to get the sink and counter empty of dirty dishes. I’m sure I could unravel why if I really thought about it, but lack of time and energy are the superficial excuses. The day I read that Christie quote I’d also stumbled upon a few rare days in a row off from work. I came up with a plan: I knew that my writing process was to write whether it seemed to be coming together or not, then to let it fester in my brain letting scenes, transitions and plot lines pop up. So I would write for a couple hours, then do the dishes. And see what happened. If nothing else, at least it was finally a way to get the dishes done. I’m embarrassed enough to say that there were enough dirty dishes to be able to repeat the process several times.

I also found it works for vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom. Not so much going through the months’ worth of unopened mail on the kitchen table, though — too many distractions.

I also knew, now that I was soaring past 82,000 words, it was time to outline. There is no way for me to keep track of scenes, plot (what there was of it), who said what to whom and the troubling flashback chapters without it. Here’s how I outline: I go through and write down every chapter and scene — they’ve already been written, understand — what happens in the scene plot-wise, if new characters are introduced, and that type of thing. (Don’t tell me to try Scrivener, trying to figure that out, including buying a used copy of “Scrivener for Dummies” that may as well have been in Greek, added about six months of procrastination last year).

After that outline is written in longhand, I get out post-it notes and a big piece of cardboard. Since my book is third person with several points of view, I do a different color for each point of view. Each scene goes on its own note so I can see where it is and move things around as needed.

I spent a lot of time doing this over the past weekend.

And then I took a break and watched four episodes of “Better Call Saul” in a row followed by two “Datelines” and a “48 Hours Mystery.”

And somewhere over the course of two days, the miracle I’d been waiting for happened.

I knew it was coming. Little tremors had started — waking up in at 3 in the morning with an idea for a scene or a piece of plot. Driving home from work and having to pull over to tap out a line of dialogue on my phone. But suddenly, with hardly any more warning than that, the whole structure of the plot that I’d been missing, plus some missteps I’d taken and would have to readjust (including taking back a murder), appeared in my head, full-blown. I am not making this up.

Sure, there’s still a lot of work left to do. I have to go back and fix all the writing. Throw in some clues. Add transitions. Write the final six or so chapters. And yeah, then I’ll have a first draft that will get poked and pulled by my reading crew, and I’ll have to go back and rework it all.

But believe it or not, I feel like I’ve rounded third and am headed home.

And there are fewer dirty dishes in the sink than there have been in a year.

Thanks Agatha Christie, for a sink empty of dirty dishes.

Maureen Milliken is the author of Cold Hard News, the first in the Bernie O’Dea mystery series. Follow her on Twitter: @mmilliken47, like her Facebook page: Maureen Milliken mysteries, sign up for email updates at her website and read her blog: maureenmilliken.com.

It Takes A Village

Bruce Robert Coffin here with my monthly Maine Crime Writer’s blog. In November a number of things happened that propelled my career as a novelist into high gear. A perfect storm of publication, if you will. I attended the New England Crime Bake, an annual three day crime writer conference where writers, editors, publishers, and experts converge to discuss, teach, and inspire all things writing. This was only my second time at this conference. My goal this year was to try and land a literary agent. Someone who would take the manuscript of my first novel and assist me in achieving the next of my writing goals, becoming a real live published novelist.

I made the two and a half hour drive down to Dedham, Massachusetts with fellow crime writer and friend Brenda Buchanan. If you haven’t read Brenda’s Joe Gale mystery series, you should. Start with the debut, Quick Pivot. It’s excellent! Anyway, it was a great way to pass the time and get to know each other better. Brenda and I discussed life, loves, and writing. We may have even inadvertently solved many of the world’s problems, but made a promise not to share our solutions. Not yet. Better to hold something back for future blogs. Want to know what we came up with? Well, you’ll just have to check back in at Maine Crime Writers. Often. We also discussed, The Reaping, the manuscript for my first novel (which most likely will see a different moniker before publication). Brenda was kind enough to read it and offer advice on ways to make it better.

As we checked into the hotel, folks I’d met at last year’s conference immediately welcomed us, anxious to swap stories about what we had all been up to. My head was spinning, some of this may have been due to Brenda and I solving the world’s problems. We picked up our packets and informational material, dropped belongings into our rooms, and quickly found the bar, our watering hole and unofficial writer’s base of operation. In short order we found ourselves surrounded by fellow Maine writer’s Dick Cass, Kate Flora, Chris Holm, Paul Dorion and others. These folks comprise just a small part of the community to which I now belong. Some of the most selfless, caring, and driven people I have ever known. They have become my surrogate family of sorts.

Following my recent leap from law enforcement, after nearly three decades, I found myself without that connection. Missing that daily interaction with like-minded folks which make life so special. Admittedly, there were days when I wondered what the hell I was thinking retiring from the safe and familiar confines of my law enforcement surroundings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always welcome to stop by and catch up. And they still occasionally remember to invite the “retired detective sergeant” to functions and get-togethers, but it’s not the same. There’s no way it could be. I’m now on the outside looking in. They’ve moved on. Having new adventures, creating new stories, while I’m left with the same old tired “war stories.”

My new family, the crime writers, live and breathe writing, the craft, the nuances, the business. In many ways this new family is like my old, they come from all walks of life, as varied in age and beliefs as they are in styles and goals. And they work. All the time. While the members of my old family were on call 24/7, the new ones never sleep. The creative mind doesn’t allow a good night’s sleep. The muse whispers at the strangest and most inconvenient of times. Trust me, I know. There’s always a story or an idea that needs to be told and written down, before it evaporates into the mist from whence it came (Okay, you got me. I was dying to use that word.). But perhaps the best part is that we each long for the others to succeed. As if the collective good benefitted from our individual successes. And maybe it does. Whenever something great happens to one, it does happen to all. I’ve seen no jealousy, no pettiness, no backstabbing, just legitimate joy when things go well. We go to hear each other speak, read each others blogs and manuscripts, provide feedback, and generally act as each other’s glee club. And it’s not because we’re obliged to but because we want to. Occasionally, we will even be there to talk each other off the proverbial ledge. And beleven me, it’s one steep precipice.

Perhaps the biggest difference between my old family and my new is that we don’t see each other everyday. Writing is a solitary business. Producing the amount of work necessary to keep up with the demand often requires a level of hermit-like behavior. We stay in touch by phone or e-mail or by private messaging. But when we do get together it’s like zero time has passed. Like we’d seen each other only yesterday. It’s a pretty cool feeling to be part of something so special. And in my case I’ve been fortunate enough to have been part of two such families. Actually, make that three. I nearly forgot to count my biological one. Whew. Sorry guys!

And once again I’ve managed to stray from the topic at hand. Remember I was hoping to land an agent?

On Saturday afternoon at the Crime Bake, I participated in an agent “pitch session.” Literary speed-dating if you will. Each of us in the hunt were given three minutes to make a lasting, and hopefully positive, impression. One by one I whipped through the agents like beer samples at a brewer’s fest. I wowed them with my novel. Knocked their socks off with my law enforcement history. Entertained them with my witty prose. Or had I? As nervous as I was, I really have no idea what I actually said. Likewise, I barely remember what any of them said to me. What I do remember is that I must have done something right, because three different agents asked me to send a copy of my manuscript for their review. Three! I’d have been happy just to have been a runner up speed-dater. Maybe a nice honorable mention. If the writer they’d really wanted stood them up, I’d be waiting in the wings. Willing to pay for the gas if only they’d take my manuscript home.

Suddenly, I found myself in the strange and exciting position of having more interest in my novel than I could have ever imagined. My brain was racing. Would any of them like it once they started reading? Was it really good enough? Would they laugh at the ex-cop? Did you honestly think you were a novelist? Ha! What had I done? What was I thinking?

As you may have guessed, sleep did not come. Most of Saturday night was spent in a strange hotel room tossing and turning on a strange bed. At two o’clock I contemplated getting out of bed and going to the lobby to get some writing done, followed by further contemplation at three, and again at four. Finally, exhausted, I must have fallen asleep because my back-up alarm woke me. Slept right through the first. I had to get my head on straight. I had 90 minutes before I was expected to get up on stage in front of 250 writers to teach a “getting it right” session about police tactics along with fellow novelist and ex-cop Brian Thiem. I was a wreck. Quickly, I brewed myself a cup of java then jumped in the shower. No sooner had I done so when I began hearing text chimes, and e-mail alerts, and my cell phone ringing. More message chimes. WTH? Had there been an accident? Had someone died? I hurried from the shower to check the phone. All of these attempts to reach me had been at the behest of one of the agents I’d spoken with the previous afternoon. The agent wanted to discuss representation!

Literally, a million different emotions swept over me, excitement, fear, apprehension, etc. What should I say? What should I do? Long story short, I met the agent over coffee. We had a great conversation, she offered to represent me, and I asked for time to think about it. What? Think about it? Told you I was exhausted.

The 2015 New England Crime Bake has ended. And it was a memorable one. I am thrilled to tell you that I am now represented by Paula Munier of the Talcott Notch Literary Agency. I think it’s a good fit for both of us and, if possible, she seems more excited about this partnership than I do! FYI, it’s not possible.

At this point you may be wondering what the hell does any of this has to do with the title of this blog. Well, I’ll tell you. My point is, it does indeed take a village. As good a writer as I hope I am, I would never have reached this point were it not for the support of my many friends and family. More specifically, my new found family of crime writers. Endless coffees, and phone calls, and emails pushing me forward toward that elusive goal of a published novel. From the ruthless editorial comments and revision suggestions of Doctor Kate Flora (all of which were spot on, I might add), to the kind words and prodding of Brenda Buchanan and Dick Cass, to the sage advice of Barbara Ross and Al Lamanda on queries and agents, each of them a necessary and valuable part of reaching my goal.

It truly does take a village and I am very lucky to have settled in this one!