Lea Wait's Blog, page 96

Holiday Traditions

In these difficult times, I think we need a little extra to get into the holiday spirit. Here’s my small effort, about my family’s Christmas traditions.

My little family (my husband, dog Sasha, and I), like others, has certain protocols that must be followed every year. One is something I impose, no decorating until after December 1, because that’s my birthday. My husband shrugs about that because he’s the one who has to get the decorations down from the attic. Ours is not a formal house, so many decorations are simple, but we love them.

The outside wreath is first, hanging beneath our dining room bay window and draped with lights.

Here is the mantel, with battery candles for safety and my grandmother’s crystal bowl filled with small shiny balls. My husband both builds and collects clocks so they’re everywhere. The one here on the right is an antique from his family. On the right is a traditional shelf clock he built and sells on his website. Not holiday decorations, but I thought you might wonder why two clocks if I didn’t explain.

For a long time I collected angel ornaments and people gave them to me, but when the number became overwhelming on our tree, I bought an artificial wreath and hung them on it. This one hangs in the dining room.

Now the tree. It’s a fat one, but not tall because it has to fit into the living room bay window. Yes, the lights look odd. One set died, so when I bought new ones, they were white, not yellow, but it was too late. They were already on the tree. I would’ve started over, but not the, ahem, person draping them around the tree. Next year…

Several ornaments are also traditions. When we were first married, we had little money and crafted our own ornaments. Those are mostly all gone, except for these macramé snowflakes. A colleague at the school where I was the elementary reading specialist taught me macramé, and I made at least a dozen of these. Some were for gifts, but I kept about eight for our tree.

At the same time, my former apartment mate and bridesmaid, who is responsible for my meeting the man who became my husband, created these needlepoint ornament with the year of our marriage. They go on the tree every year.

At some point during the holiday season, we watch It’s a Wonderful Life, which puts us in the spirit. No matter how many times I have watched that film. I find something new each time. At this moment, I’m picturing the scene where George Bailey is nearly in tears, holding little Zuzu as she  drapes icicles on their tree. I tear up too.

Here’s a felt snowman given to me by the mother of one of my students who has always been special to me. He had been failing at learning to read, and our work together moved him forward.

Finally, our Christmas breakfast is a break between opening presents. I used to make an egg and cheese puff, but after enjoying the popovers at Acadia National Park’s Jordan Pond House, we bought the popover pan and switched to those. Delicious with butter and my own raspberry jam. Since I’ve never taken a photo of mine, here is a photo from their website.

If you’re not already in the spirit, I hope this post has helped to put you there. From my house to yours, I wish you the merriest of holidays and safe gathering with family and friends, and a Happy New Year.

Sasha wearing her Christmas scarf

Will you share some of your holiday traditions? Perhaps I’ll find a new one to adopt!

The Mystery of Christmas

From Matt Cost and family, I’d like to say happy holidays to all out there. It’s a time of joy and family. Relish in it. That said, I’d also like to take a glance at the mystery of Christmas.

There is something exotic about the word mystery. A mystique if you will. And this holds true for the celebration of the modern concept of Christmas. I will not wander into the reasons for, or the time period selected, that it took for December 25th to be settled upon as the day to recognize the birth of Jesus. This post will, rather, focus on popular Christmas traditions that are actually based on the mystery model.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was initially the idea of a catalog designer, Robert May, for Montgomery Ward in Chicago, back in 1939. It became immortalized by the Gene Autry song in 1949. Nobody thought much of this short story for many years, but it resounded with people, and has since become one of the most successful tales in history. Why?

Rudolph is based on the model that has made mysteries popular for many years. Beginning with Edgar Allen Poe (The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes—proceeding on through Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Elizabeth Daly, Raymond Chandler, and on into the modern era of mystery writers, mysteries have enthralled readers for quite some time.

What is that model? Well, you start with a hook. A reindeer with a red nose who is a loveable underdog. You set him a task, namely joining in with Santa’s reindeer, but then you throw up roadblocks. The other reindeer are mean to him. They won’t let him join in any reindeer games. No matter how hard he tries, he doesn’t fit in with the others.

And then one foggy Christmas Eve, that narrative suddenly changes, and Rudolph realizes that it is not about his acceptance, but rather saving Christmas. Santa Claus taps him to guide his sleigh that night, and he saves the day, overcoming all obstacles in his way. And then our hero flies off into the night.

This model is more clearly seen in Frosty the Snowman, initially recorded by Gene Autry in 1950, and then made into a television show in 1969. Frosty is brought to life by the villain, the magician Professor Hinkle, by mistake, who then tries to reclaim his hat. The children fight to keep Frosty alive, first by taking the hat back, and then boarding a train for the North Pole, all the while being chased by the evil Hinkle.

A typical motif of the mystery novel is to put your protagonist ‘up a tree’ at about the three-quarter segment of the story, and this happens when Hinkle finds Frosty and the children in the forest, extinguishes the fire, tries to reclaim the hat, and threatens their lives. Frost and Karen flee down the mountain, only to be caught and locked in a greenhouse in a late-story twist that would make mystery writers proud the world over, only to have Santa Claus come and save the day.

This mystery model can be found in It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Home Alone, and so many more classics. The mystery novel is part of our everyday culture and pervades all nuances of our life, even popular Christmas entertainment. This year, as you enjoy your holiday entertainment, ponder whether or not what you are reading or watching is based on the mystery model.

Happy holidays to all, and sleuth on.

 

Interview with Kathy Lynn Emerson

When we began MCW, a decade ago, we featured periodic interviews with our authors. It’s time to do that again–both to catch up with some of our originals, and to provide insight into our newer bloggers. Today we begin with Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett

When did you start writing? What sorts of books were you writing at first?

My first serious fiction writing, with publication in mind, started in 1976, after I realized I was not cut out to reach language arts to seventh and eighth graders. I wrote five great long historical novels, none of which sold. My first sale was “How Chester Greenwood Invented Earmuffs”—to Highlights for Children. After that, I switched to writing mysteries for 8-12 year-old readers.

Did you have a career other than writing?

I had a rather hit and miss career teaching at various levels from first grade to community college, and after the first few years of full-time writing and failing to sell the novels and short stories I wrote, I took a job working part time as a library assistant at the University of Maine at Farmington’s Mantor Library. That eventually went to full time and continued until after I’d finally started selling.

Did you always want to be a writer?

Pretty much. As a kid, I wrote newspapers for my dolls.

How many books have you published?

 Sixty-four titles have been traditionally published and since becoming semi-retired at about the same time the pandemic got going, I’ve independently published seven more.

Do you feel as though over the course of your career you have had to keep reinventing yourself, writing in different corners of the big mystery tent? If yes, for the benefit of other writers, what has that been like?

 Actually, I’ve reinvented myself by switching genres as well as subgenres of mystery. That’s been an economic decision for the most part. If one sort of book didn’t sell, I was game to try another. I’ve also been stubborn enough not to give up on a book that initially had difficulty finding a home. Commercial publishers pay the bills but small presses are great. So is independent publishing.

The obvious question…how do you come up with ideas/plots for so many stories?

I have no idea. I will admit, however, to drawing on family stories on more than one occasion.

Talk a little about research. Are you one of those writers who love it? How do you balance research time with writing time?

Guest of Honor Kathy Lynn Emerson (aka Kaitlyn Dunnett) with agent Christina Hogrebe and editor Peter Senftleben

I do love research. When I was writing historical novels, I researched first, mostly by acquiring my own copies of reference books and making lots of notes. Then there were always details to be checked as the writing progressed. My contemporary novels required considerably less research, especially when they were set in locations I know well, but there were always some new areas to explore with each book—Scottish festivals, for example, or who would handle a murder investigation in a small village (as opposed to a town) in New York State and how that department is set up. Some of that research was done through interviews, some online, and some by going “in the field.”

Do you have a favorite series or, like a parent, you aren’t allowed to have favorites?

My favorite has usually been the one I’m working on at the moment.

What about characters. Do you have a favorite character?

I’m rather partial to Mikki Lincoln, from my Deadly Edits series, mostly because (yes, I admit it) she has so much of me in her.

Do you still have books in the drawer?

I did until recently. Since I’ve been independently publishing both novels and nonfiction, I’ve cleared out everything that existed in a complete or nearly complete form. What’s left are some proposals that never had more than a few chapters written. To be honest, I doubt I’ll do anything more with any of them. If I’d really been enthusiastic about those ideas, I’d have gone ahead and written them, years ago, on spec.

What is next for you? What are your current projects?

When the last book in my last contract with a traditional publisher was completed and that publisher wasn’t interested in any more mysteries by Kaitlyn Dunnett, I had the choice of going ahead with the idea for a new series, already rejected by that same publisher, or coming up with an entirely new idea to float to other houses. After sixty-four traditionally published books, I realized I was tired of trying to guess what someone would buy. Instead, I turned the plot from first book in my proposed new series into a short story and a novella, combined them with two previously published short stories featuring the same character (who also appeared in one book in each of my series written as Kaitlyn Dunnett) and self-published The Valentine Veilleux Mysteries in trade paperback and as an e-book. Currently I consider myself semi-retired (after all, I am seventy-four!) and am not writing anything new. Instead, I’m putting together e-book collections of my Face Down Mysteries (three volumes that will include all ten novels and all the short stories featuring characters from that world), revising slightly as I go and adding author notes. I’m enjoying the process. After that? Who knows, but it’s likely I’ll always be working on some writing-related project.

What advice would you give a beginning writer?

Don’t give up.

Have there been times when you considered giving up?

No. When people tell me there’s no hope of selling a project I’m enthusiastic about, I just become that much more determined to find it a home.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Definitely a pantster. I really wish I could plot an entire book in advance, but my brain just doesn’t function that way.

Have you ever passed a building or driven through a town and thought “I have to use that in a book?”

Not exactly, but I’ve certainly had occasions when I’ve said “What a great place to hide the body!”

A reminder that books make great gifts. Kathy says “Books I’m plugging”

for ages 8-12 (written as Kathy Lynn Emerson):

Shalla, the story of a Colonial New England Girl

Katie’s Way (set in 1920s New York State)

mystery (written as “Kathy Lynn Emerson writing as Kaitlyn Dunnett”):

The Valentine Veilleux Mysteries (three short stories and a novella)

nonfiction (written as Kathy Lynn Emerson):

I Kill People for a Living: A Collection of Essays by a Writer of Cozy Mysteries

At Last! A Style Manual For Fiction Writers!!!

Vaughn C. Hardacker

Vaughn Hardacker here: Are you in a quandary trying to find a gift for the writer in your life? Have you given thought to a style manual? When I became serious about writing I was told that two books were essential to learning the craft : The Chicago Manual of Style ($52.99 on Amazon) and Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary ($10.68 on Amazon). I believe there is a more apropos manual of style.

Several months ago a member of my weekly writer group spoke about a book titled Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style ($13.19 on Amazon). Benjamin Dreyer (vice-president, executive managing editor and copy chief, of Random House) has written a style manual that reads like your favorite novel. It is authoritative as well as amusing. In the past when I had a question about style, I would get my CMS and look up the item of interest.  I have read Dreyer’s English cover-to-cover and enjoyed it. The material is written in such a manner that I was entertained as

Dreyer’s English

well as educated. It was reminiscent of that one professor who created a learning environment that made me want to attend every class he/she taught.

Dreyer offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en dash; the rules and non-rules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with “And” or “But” and to confidently split an infinitive. He will let you know whether “alright” is all right (sometimes) and even help you brush up on your spelling–though he notes: “The problem with mnemonic devices is that I can never remember them.”

This book would be invaluable to anyone who wants to build their writing skills and should be mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping prose.  I believe that the book’s greatest strength is that, unlike most style manuals, it was not written by the English faculty of a university–who most likely have never actually written a novel–but rather by someone who has actually worked in the publishing industry.

Last Minute Reading Gifts, Anyone?

John Clark with a bunch of YA book suggestions in case you’re looking for a gift for a teen, or YA fiction-loving adult. These are some of the best out of the 237 I’ve read thus far in 2021.

Monsters Among Us by Monica Rodden Published January 5th 2021 by Crown Books for Young Readers
This is a tale of two festerings that eventually collide with grim, then healing results. Catherine is in a world full of numb pain and horror after a brutal sexual assault she can only remember bits and pieces of. Henry is still hurting because of her rejection after their being childhood friends and maybe more. It takes the murder of a thirteen year old girl who Catherine cared for over several summers, the guilt of Andrew who shows up with the coat and wallet she lost during the assault and some pretty scary detective work in order to solve the murder and help Catherine get on a path to recovery. Well played clues make this a true page flipper.

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep (Jane Anonymous #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz. Published March 16th 2021 by Wednesday Books
So twisty it would make a pretzel jealous. Terra was already eye deep in guilt and trauma after being the sole survivor when her house burned down. Now she’s dealing with an additional double whammy, getting kidnapped and stuck in what she thinks is an abandoned well would be horrific by itself. Having all the people left in your life who you count on, start to doubt it happened is an added soul killer. Sprinkle with faulty reality checks and top with mean girls. Stir well and savor. A very satisfying tale.

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher. Published February 16th 2021 by Wednesday Books.
Two teens haunted by ghosts of those they loved. Amelia’s best friend Jenna died in a car crash shortly after a painful situation that left them estranged. Reclusive and mysterious Nolan, a famous author while still a teen, is haunted by his two younger sisters. Amelia’s haunting seems to be propelling her in an unimaginable direction while Nolan’s are holding him in a very painful stasis. Her obsession with his two books about a magical world called Orman is heated by the arrival of a limited edition copy of the two books, sent from an obscure book store in a small Michigan town. What follows is magical, painful at times, and ultimately beautiful. Reading this was like waking after a particularly vivid dream, one that haunts you in a very emotional way. A terrific read!

The Girl from Shadow Springs by Ellie Cypher. Published February 9th 2021 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers.
You get just enough about the world away from the icy wasteland to frame it and that’s done nicely. So is the Flats and it becomes as much a character as Jorie and Cody the deeper they go into it. The story is extremely well crafted and one that’s easy to visualize in your head while reading it. Plenty of action and interesting use of different ways of using the same language between the two teens adds authenticity. Endless action and tension, coupled with a nifty plot reveal made this one of those books I had to read in one sitting. I’ll be very much interested in subsequent books by this author.

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas. Published March 23rd 2021 by Swoon Reads.
This is a great take-off on Peter Pan. In this instance, Peter’s impact spans two generations, Wendy’s and her mom’s, who is a nurse. This time, Wendy is a shell-shocked high school senior, still unable to get past missing memories and other traumatic effects of what happened to her and her younger brothers five years ago. She reappeared six months after the three of them vanished. Her brothers did not. When Peter appears, or more accurately reappears, he needs her help to capture and re-attach his shadow. What ensues is a mix of scary, evil, hopeful and highly emotional. The ending left me with the same bittersweet sense the I had when I finished reading The Golden Compass, and that’s very high praise.

The Secret Life of Kitty Granger by G.D. Falksen. Published March 2nd 2021 by Carolrhoda Lab (R)
An excellent story featuring a girl on the autism spectrum whose unique weaknesses and strengths are both skillfully woven into a fast moving plot. From the moment Kitty senses something off about the twitchy man who smells like cigarettes sitting on the bus beside her, until the final slam bang caper, readers are in for a treat. I’m particularly impresses with how the author gives you a front row seat to the running inner dialogue that has run so much of her life and how at life and death moments, Kitty finds a hidden strength to save the day.

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury.Published January 5th 2021 by Scholastic Press.
What do you do when you believe you live with a killer…and he’s your father. Even more frightening, the victim was your mother and you were in the next room. This is life for Alva. She lives with her dour and scary father who is the watcher for a loch where the local mill is drawing so much water that the level drops daily. Add in an evil and grandiose mill owner, villagers who shun Alva, and an outcast boy who has strong feelings for her. Mix in ancient secrets, Alva’s plan to escape to a new life and events leading to a gut-punch of an ending and you have one heck of a read. I was particularly impressed with the way many of the characters were depicted.

Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe. Published March 6th 2018 by Grand Central Publishing
There’s sufficient blood shed in this book to supply a Red Cross drive, but not a drop is gratuitous. I found my thoughts returning to the same question time after time-“How much of the story was based on the author’s personal experience?” If any, or much was, then this must have been one heck of a catharsis, wrapped into an incredible read. I turned to this after reading her two YA novels, both of which I loved. This is equally good and I hope she continues to write as she’s a stellar author.

The Sky Above Us by Natalie Lund. Published April 13th 2021 by Philomel Books
Reading this is like watching an approaching storm from an emotional standpoint. When you open it, you find half the main characters, Izzy, Cass and Janie on a beach amidst classmates and the aftermath of an end of school party. Suddenly the sky above is rent with the sound, then the sight, of a low flying plane. Right after it passes overhead, it starts a steep climb, stalls and plunges, nose first into the ocean. It’s not long before the three girls begin to suspect the worst, that Izzy’s twin brother, Israel, Cass’ ex-boyfriend, Shane and Janie’s next door neighbor Nate, who’s given her mixed messages forever, are in the plane and most likely dead. How did three high school kids manage to get a plane and why did they fly it? Those, along with the dynamics of all six teens, plus their parents, are what you the reader discovers as the book moves along. Told in alternate viewpoint and time lines, each chapter takes you ever deeper into the mind of each teen, peeling away layers of secrets and pain until you, and the three girls are left with an answer. It’s a masterfully done revelation and a book many public and school libraries should have on their shelves.

Fade Into the Bright by Jessica Koosed Etting. Published April 27th 2021 by Delacorte Press.
At times gritty, at others sad, and at still others, sweet, this is the story of what happens to two sisters when their estranged father drops a bombshell on them after vanishing years before. The news is followed by months of suspense until each sister gets to learn whether they’ve inherited Huntington’s Disease. Abby gets the dread brass ring, while older sister Brooke gets a massive case of premature survivor’s guilt. When Abby accepts an invitation to spend the summer with her estranged dad’s aunt on Catalina Island, it’s the beginning of things she has no inkling about. She may be perceptive about other people’s dynamics, but is completely in denial/clueless about her own. How this is spun out, with the help of her aunt and the friends she makes, especially Ben, the boy she falls for makes for one heck of a read. It’s sensitive, well researched and the players are vividly drawn. It makes me want to read their earlier books.

The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4) by Maureen Johnson. Published June 15th 2021 by Katherine Tegen Books
A perfect followup to the three Truly Devious books. New setting, familiar characters, perfectly twisting then and now story with a great aha at the end. I could read books like this every day and not get jaded.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Published March 16th 2021 by Henry, Holt and Co. (BYR)
This reminds me in very favorable ways of the late Tony Hillerman as well as the terrific author William Kent Krueger. It blends Native American mythology/culture with contemporary issues many teens face. Think fitting in, drug and alcohol abuse, family violence, prejudice and secrets. All of these are mixed together to offer readers a seamless and enthralling plot.

Homewrecker by Deanna Cameron. Published May 18th 2021 by Wattpad Books
Bronwyn might be a teen, but she often feels much older thanks to an absent father and a drug addict mother. She pays the bills, cooks the meals and bails Mom out of jam after jam. All she wants is to graduate and get away. When a tornado smashes through her town, destroying the trailer she and Mom share, it takes her from an old crisis-taking care of her mother, to a new one-being scooped up by her rich dad who’s a U.S. senator and being cared for by family.
She struggles mightily with her new reality, but as she starts to look more closely at the family dynamics now surrounding her, she can’t help but wonder whose truth is stronger, the one her mother created for her, or the one surrounding her now. Reading along as she sorts everything out, coupled with the eventual identification of the person who murdered her mother makes for a very satisfying read.

That Weekend by Kara Thomas. Published June 29th 2021 by Delacorte Press
This is one of those books that has you off-kilter with your head spinning right from the start. Claire was skipping prom to support her best friend Kat. She was supposed to accompany her best friend and boyfriend Jesse, while bringing her own boyfriend along for a secluded weekend at Kat’s Grandmother’s lake house. However, when Claire spots her boyfriend heading into a room at a party with another girl, the plan and her relationship blow up.
Next she knows, she’s bleeding from the back of her head, lying cold and alone on a hiking trail where an elderly woman finds her. Claire remembers nothing about coming to the lake house, or what happened afterward. The story pulls you along through the increasingly frantic search for Kat and Jesse, a very troubling series of revelations and then you’re returned to Claire’s reality some time later. She’s been through a giant emotional wringer and is determined to piece together her memories and find out what really happened on that mountain. Doing so is not only risky, but even more painful as she digs until she finally comes up with an answer. At the end, there are no winners, just badly scarred survivors. It’s an excellent YA mystery.

14 Ways to Die by Vincent Ralph. Published June 1st 2021 by Sourcebooks Fire
One aspect of a good book is what I call ‘pull power’, the ability to grab you during the first few pages and maintain its hold until you resurface much later, see what page you’re on and go “How in heck?!?” This is one of them. I started reading it when I crawled into bed and resurfaced at page 300. It combines mystery, the contemporary power of social media and how a very determined teen uses her grief and accompanying anger to flush out the serial killer whose first victim was her mom. Great tension and red herrings make is very satisfying. I very much look forward to more from this author.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, Published August 3rd 2021 by Wednesday Books
An excellent blend of horror, mystery and romance with some dandy plot twists and gotchas. Even though events are revealed in a smooth manner, most readers (I sure was) will find themselves surprised more than once. A very satisfying story with an ending that feels like a rainbow following a terrible storm.

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake Published September 21st 2021 by Quill Tree Books
Serial killer(s) roaming the midwest, bodies piling up, drained of blood, is their town next? This is the atmosphere at the start of this book, and Michael, son of the sheriff in Black Deer Falls, Minnesota finds himself in the middle of a firestorm when three members of the Carlson family are found with their throats slit and drained of blood. Unlike all the other crime scenes, this time a baby is left unscathed, AND a fifteen year old girl is also found alive, drenched in blood. Once things begin to be sorted out, the girl, Marie Catherine Hale, or so she claims, is a suspect, but everyone believes she had to have an accomplice. There are no other fingerprints, footprints, of signs of a second killer, so what really happened?
Marie and Michael form a connection and she soon tells the authorities he’s the only person she’ll talk to about the crimes. What follows is a twisty, torturous account that comes in fits and starts, intertwined with seemingly supernatural events that ramp up distrust and violence, the longer the hunt for a second killer goes on. Reading along through these events, the gradual revelations and the intriguingly cloudy ending is fascinating. That ending, while quite ambivalent, is also satisfying in the way it encourages readers to imagine what’s unsaid

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain Published September 7th 2021 by Razorbill
Magical realism at its finest describes this story about a girl returning to the remote town near the end of the Mississippi River after her best friend and spiritual twin disappeared several months before. Grey and Ellora were part of ten kids everyone in La Cachette, LA considered a group. The two of them were born on the same night in the same room. After Grey’s mother killed herself when she was eight, she began splitting the year, going to school in Little Rock where her dad lives, and spending the hot months helping her grandmother run her small psychic shop in La Cachette.
When she returns not long before her seventeenth birthday, Grey feels more torn than most teens would feel after a best friend goes missing. Part of that is because she and Ellora parted after harsh words were exchanged the year before, but it’s more because like everyone in the small town, Grey has psychic abilities and they’re starting to emerge. She keeps seeing flashes of what she believes was Ellora’s last night alive.
What happens after her return is sinister, involves lots of secrets and false trails that are smoothly woven into the plot, coupled with a massive hurricane and one heck of a climax. It’s a great story and should be considered by libraries where teens like thoughtful, creepy and immersive fiction.

The Silver Blonde by Elizabeth Ross Published July 27th 2021 by Delacorte Press
Satisfying and very well crafted historical mystery. Clara/Klara fled Nazi Germany with her parents in 1938. Now that the war is over, she’s about to be promoted at the movie studio where she works when her parents announce they’re about to return to Germany so her dad can take a professorship. Clara is devastated and angry at their obliviousness to her newly established life, complete with a budding friendship, and maybe more with Gil, a recently returned war veteran who is employed as a screen writer at the studio.
When Clara stays late one evening and sees blonde hair caught in a film vault door, it’s the beginning of an intricate murder mystery that involves plenty of historical detail, many red herrings and a dandy climax at the end. It’s a great choice for libraries where teens, and adults enjoy history and mystery blended together.

 

Weekend Update: ;December 11-12, 2021

,Next week at Maine Crime Writers there will be posts by John Clark (Monday), Vaughn Hardacker (Tuesday), Matt Cost (Thursday) and Susan Vaughan (Friday). On Wednesday we’ll be starting a series of interviews to reintroduce readers to our bloggers.

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

Maggie’s winners from her Waste Not, Want Not, Win Some post: Jane Babbitt, Karen M, and kms01906. Please contact her at maggie@maggierobinson.net to pick your book and tell her where to send it. Happy holidays!

 

 

 

 

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. We also do programs on Zoom. Contact Kate Flora

From Screenwriter to Crime Writer: Was the transition difficult?

Jule Selbo: Kate Flora (MCW founder and creator of the Thea Kozak and Joe Burgess crime/mystery series) asked me to write a piece concerning the challenges of transitioning from screenwriting to fiction writing. Here are just a few thoughts:

Backstory: I worked in Hollywood as a produced screenwriter (TV and feature film) for two decades before moving to Maine three years ago. Before that, I lived in NYC, and was a starving playwright. Long before that, I was a pre-teen kid who wrote silly stories, illustrated them on thick cardboard discs, packed them into discarded film cannisters (those came from my dad who was filming depositions at his law firm). I wrapped the picture-stories up in bows and gave them away as presents (to people who, I am sure, didn’t know what to make of them).

Was the impetus for writing for “moving pictures” born out of wanting those illustrations to do some of the storytelling work? Was putting on plays where actors brought my stories to life in front of audiences part of the process of becoming a screenwriter? I don’t know, just writing this piece makes me wonder about that question. (I do know that in Los Angeles, one of my “baby-writer” jobs was on a studio-staged sit-com; it was shot with three cameras (meaning pretty much proscenium shooting). I was once chastised by the producer for wanting to use the cameras (in lieu of dialogue) to relay story points. Knowing just dialogue-driven TV was not for me, I asked my agent to submit me for one-hour dramas and features – where the camera was allowed to be used as story support).

Back to Kate’s question: Was the transition difficult? No. But it did bring about a different mindset.  I found myself looking at the world in a deeper way. More specific, because I knew conveying the details would now be important. Colors, sounds, smells, facial tics, the crease in a person’s brow… I was concentrated on how to paint those images with words.

Screenwriting, in most cases, is about conciseness, “the fast read”, and the “white space”. The professional screenwriter knows that an actor will bring the story to life, so there’s no reason to describe the characters in depth. Attitude is important, but color of hair or height or breadth of shoulders are not (usually) included – everyone knows the studio will get the best actor available at the price they are willing to pay. “Middle-class house in the suburbs, full of knick-knacks…” is an example of how little detail is needed for a description of a location. (And even that could be trimmed.) The location manager and director will decide on a location that is available and affordable and a prop master will have ideas on curios. A screenwriter avoids “choreography” – meaning detailing character movements – the arch of an eyebrow, a turn of the head, a licking of the lips. An actor will inhabit the role and it’s a crazy to think Brad Pitt will “lick his lips” on the cue you give him. The appreciated “white space” on each screenplay page means that the writer has used as few words as possible to get the story and character arcs across – thus creating a “fast read” for the producers, cast, and crew.  In the early days of screenwriting, writers often added CU (close-up) or MCU (medium close-up) or other camera directions, but that’s not done much anymore, writers are not looked to for their cinematography suggestions. Movie-making is a collaborative art; everyone in feature film production has their assigned roles. The writers’ job is to tell a good story and then – step back and cross your fingers as others interpret it. **

So, writing fiction, for me, is a fuller endeavor. Everything is on one person’s shoulders; everything must be on the page and given its due so that it contributes to the comprehension and success of a piece of work. It’s me – setting the world and landscape and seasons fully, going into the mind (and body and look) of characters, using the placing of words on the page to focus on important elements (getting the CU feel), writing compelling descriptions of the sounds that make a difference. And every other element.

Writing novels is a more singular enterprise, it’s what I knew I was ready for.  Fannie Hurst wrote that writing is one of the loneliest jobs. Stephen King wrote of a similar sentiment, as have countless others. After all those (mostly fun) years in Hollywood working collaboratively, I now appreciate the opportunity to do the work “alone” and let it represent me (not a team of creatives).

Of course, most writers of books will add that being part of a strong community of “other lonely writers” is a saving grace. And so, thanks Kate Flora, for asking me to ponder the question.

**(Creating a TV series and being the powerful showrunner (alpha writer/producer of the whole shebang) can be a slightly different experience – but the writing of the script itself will not, in most cases, change).

Jule Selbo’s most recent novel is her debut crime/mystery: 10 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery. She is a member of MWA and Sisters in Crime.

 

 

 

Waste Not, Want Not, Win Some

My two-year-old desktop computer is glitchy. I already had to restore it to “factory settings” within two months of buying it, which does not bode well for its future, or mine. Somewhere I have the software to do it again, if only I could remember how. But wiped clean, I’d lose stuff I don’t even remember having. So, I’d better live with the balkiness as long as possible.

I can’t remember a lot of things. Like how many desktop computers I’ve gone through since I began writing for real. I have witnessed the Black Screen of Death, the Bouncing Beachball of Doom, the Twirling Blue Circle of Despair. There have been viruses, hijackings, and multiple malware attacks. I once picked up something nasty logging onto the New York Times on a Sunday morning. So if you think bad things only happen on porn sites, you are incorrect and casting aspersions upon my virtue.

I’ve had a lot of laptops too, scaling size and weight down for travel every couple of years. When we moved, I discovered a treasure trove of abandoned devices. It’s too depressing thinking how much money I’ve spent on technology. There’s always something new and shiny ahead, but nothing helps me write any faster.

Which makes me consider planned obsolescence, and how accustomed we are to simply throw things away. My Depression-era parents would be rolling in their graves if they weren’t cremated. My father saved mildewed shower curtains “just in case,” and my mother collected the shiny silver paper from cigarette packs. Hot water was added to jam and ketchup bottles to get to the last goo. We had a button box filled to the brim, and a rag bag of cut-up old clothes. Like Scarlett O’Hara, my mother once made us dresses from my dead Great-Aunt Helen’s drapes, luckily without the curtain rods a la Carol Burnett.

A few weeks ago, our toaster didn’t work, and it didn’t take me a minute to unplug it, toss it in the garage with the rest of the trash, and order a new one from Amazon. The next morning, my husband tried to turn on the coffee maker. That too didn’t work. Duh. The circuit breaker had tripped. The toaster was retrieved from the garage and the order cancelled. I am ashamed it didn’t even occur to me to check the electric panel—I expected the toaster to conk out.

Which brings me to the holidays and all the unnecessary presents on Santa’s list. Some years back, we decided to do a Yankee Swap. Our family has grown exponentially, and it became prohibitively expensive to buy individual presents. The grandchildren still get some loot, but the adults get one or two presents each. There is much talk of supply chain issues this year, but I am steadfastly ignoring that. Can’t get the latest gadget? Too bad. That gadget won’t change your life and it will join my wonky old computers in the landfill soon enough.

(We’ve never gone too crazy at Christmas anyway. When the four kids were little, we told them they could ask for three presents, the same number given to baby Jesus. You can’t go wrong with that.)

I have the usual amount of guilt about my full bookshelves and full closets and full refrigerator and full freezer when there is so much need in the world throughout the year. Donations to libraries, thrift stores, and checks to the Good Shepherd Food Bank help some. And looking ahead to 2022, I’m going to think twice about one-clicking on Amazon. That’s my Christmas gift to my husband, and it won’t cost a thing.

Until the computer finally crashes.

Even if it’s not Win a Book Wednesday, I’m in the mood to give some books away to get the season started. Check my Amazon page (don’t mind the half-naked people on some of the covers) and tell me what you’d like (mystery or romance), and I’ll pick 3 winners. Merry! Happy!

O Tannenbaum, Revived!

When contemplating this month’s blog post I re-read a few of my past December offerings and decided this evergreen one, originally published on December 19, 2019,  deserved a reprint.  The ongoing pandemic has, of course, forced some changes in how we celebrate the holidays. In 2020 we discovered that concerts via video stream can be quite satisfying. This year, pre-gathering covid tests will be a new ritual. But at its essence, the holiday season remains a community celebration of love and hope. I’m beaming out to the readers of this blog my best wishes for a joyous holiday season.

**

Our neighborhood is especially bright with holiday lights this year, a reflection, perhaps, of a shared yearning to lessen the darkness in our world.

Before the recent snow, we strung some white lights around the yard, but it was far too early to hang the garland around the front door.  Now I’m hoping it’s not too late, because the greenery around the entry makes the house look so festive. We’ve done the ladder-on-ice thing once or twice in the past, but we’re getting smarter as we age, so here’s to a couple of warmish days ahead.

This weekend we’ll get our tree. The ritual around that has changed as well. Up to and including the year I had knee surgery in early December, we cut our own at a tree farm a few miles west of our home. I say “we,” but that year I ventured out into the field and picked out an absolutely perfect tree (I was walking okay by then, albeit with a cruch) but Diane had to kneel on the frozen ground and cut it (the doctor would have frowned on me doing that).

She also had to drag it back to the car, which turned out to be a fair distance away. She was a good sport about it, but let’s just say I was convinced by the following December that there were easier ways to proceed, and since then we’ve bought a tree at a local nursery. They have a nice selection. The helpful staff gives the stump a fresh cut. They tie it on the roof of the car. It costs a little more, but aching knees have their own price, so off to the tree store we will go.

That night or the next, we’ll haul the lights, garlands and ornament boxes up from the basement and transform the tree into the most beautiful one ever.

Here are some of the ornaments we will hang:

A Claddagh, the Irish symbol of love, loyalty and friendship.

A precious, retro ornament from Diane’s childhood.

We love bird ornaments. Here, a snowy owl visits with a goldfinch, while another owl spies from the background.

Oh, Canada! We were married there nearly 15 years ago, so this one always has a place of honor on our tree.

Many readers of this blog have one of these, am I right?

A very fancy bird, indeed.

But of course.

I wish you happiness this season, whatever holidays you may celebrate, and a joyous, peaceful, wonderful new year.

To the readers of this blog: What are your favorite holiday traditions? Please let us know in the comments.

Brenda Buchanan is the author of the Joe Gale Mystery Series, featuring a diehard Maine newspaper reporter who covers the crime and courts beat. Three books—QUICK PIVOT, COVER STORY and TRUTH BEAT—are available everywhere e-books are sold. She is writing a new series that has as its protagonist a Portland criminal defense lawyer willing to take on cases others won’t touch in a town to which she swore she would never return.

 

Maine Crime Writers have tree, will travel (to festival of trees)

Hi folks! We know you’re not used to seeing us on Sunday night, but we have some special news…

As you know, we Maine Crime Writers are a festive bunch, so we jumped at the chance to provide a tree for the Augusta Elks Club Festival of Trees, which takes place this week. The festival raises money, in part, for the ongoing renovation of Augusta’s historic Colonial Theater.

If you’re not familiar with the festival of trees concept, attendees buy raffle tickets, then drop them in the canisters at the trees they like. A drawing is held at the end of the festival, and the winners take home the tree, everything on it and everything under it. More than 25 trees will be displayed at the Augusta Elks festival, with themes ranging from Christmas Spirit (think adult beverages), Rise & Shine (think all things coffee), several with toys, a camping theme, one with gift cards and more.

Friend of Maine Crime Writers Rebecca Milliken puts some finishing touches on the tree during setup Sunday afternoon.

Our Maine Crime Writers tree is festooned with bookmarks from Maine Crime writers, along with some other doo-dads; an Edgar Allan Poe mug; some Maine Crime Writers and Crime Bake swag, and other treats. But the biggest feature is, of course, our books, more than two dozen, donated by Maine Crime Writers Kate Flora, Dick Cass, Kathy Emerson, Maggie Robinson, Susan Vaughn, Julie Sebo, John Clark and me, Maureen Milliken, and several from crime and mytery writers who don’t blog with us. As you know, books make great gifts.

The festival is from 3-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Augusta Elks Club, 397 Civic Center Drive, Augusta. There is a $2 admission fee, and raffle tickets can be bought inside. There will be hot chocolate and cider, Christmas music, and photos with Santa as well. So, check it out!

Here are some photos from Sunday’s setup session.

The Maine Crime Writers tree at the Augusta Elks Festival of Trees.

Our tree topper has a nice crime/mystery writer touch.

Some special friends keep watch on the books.

Our row

Some of the other trees included this Christmas Spirit tree, featuring a variety of adult beverages. Only those over 21 can bid! Sorry kids.

Too much Christmas Spirit? The Rise & Shine tree may be more your speed.

The Camping Fun tree was a relaxing sight.

A little elf helped set up the Frosty Country Christmas Tree.

More than 25 trees were set up Sunday afternoon, by businesses, organizations and families.