Trisha Sugarek's Blog, page 95

My Interview with Best Selling author Heidi Jon Schmidt (part 3)

The final segment of my Interview with this fascinating author!

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from "no book" to "finished book" look like?

A. I guess references to the Jonestown Massacre would be inappropriate? For some people it's a pretty orderly process. I envy them and I try to be more orderly with every book. But I also think it's important for the writer to be on a quest of his own, to be trying to understand the story in a million ways, and learning new things through the whole process of writing. When the writer figures something out, about the characters or the story-- that generates real excitement for the reader. I've generally needed an editor at the end, the way one needs an obstetrician at the end of a pregnancy. And sometimes the editor has needed forceps.

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters ?

A. I'll find there's someone whose life story I've been fascinated by, and that fascination pulls in all kinds of other stories and lives I know, and then I realize I want to write about someone like that, to think about that life.

Q. What inspired your story/stories ?

A. Almost always a moment of grace, a moment where everything feels right and different forces are working in harmony. The sheer beauty of that, given all the difficulty and friction and wrongness everywhere, makes it seem worth saving that moment in the clearest detail possible. And that usually involves thinking about how such a moment could occur, midst all the grief and conflict of life. And usually something deeply funny under it all, and deeply felt. I'd like to be able to manufacture more grace, if possible-- people suffer so much in the course of their lives, and I'd like to give them something beautiful that recognizes that suffering, and also the beauty that still lives in spite of loss and hardship.

Q. What are you working on?

A. I'm working on a third novel set in the fictional Outer Cape Cod town of Oyster Creek. The first two are The House on Oyster Creek and The Harbormasters Daughter. I'm just in the early stages right now, but I know that some of the same characters will be involved. The working title is Last Night I Dreamed of Paris, but it’s a novel also set on the Outer Cape, about three people gone nearly mad with different griefs, all managing to get through life by odd stratagems (one fancies himself a Parisian dandy and lives that life as best he can, even in the unemployment line), until they witness an accident on the fishing pier that pulls them into action and into relation with each other. It’s a big blob right now!

Q. Have you? Or do you want to write in another genre`?

A. I've written a number of essays, and I love it for the clarity! (And the word limit!) It cheers me up to write an essay when I'm stuck in the middle of a novel. I love short stories too-- I'm sure my stories are really my b

Biography  I was born on Staten Island, NY and grew up in rural Connecticut, in a house that was built out of stones dug out of the fields around it. I moved to Provincetown MA in 1982 to take a Fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center, and have lived here for 30 years now, with my husband Roger Skillings and our daughter Marisa. My books are THE ROSE THIEVES, DARLING?, THE BRIDE OF CATASTROPHE, THE HOUSE ON OYSTER CREEK and THE HARBORMASTERS DAUGHTER. My website at WWW.HEIDIJONSCHMIDT.COM has more information, links, etc.

 

Click here to read Part I of Interview

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Janet Evanovich and Loretta Chase will be featured . Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

'The Art of Murder' Goes Live in AUDIO Books

  Now in AUDIO books !   Book 1 of the series,  'The World of Murder'

This short novel is available at www.audible.com TODAY and at www.amazon.com and iTunes.com in a few days.

Monty is a struggling, unknown artist, living in Soho in New York. From his third floor walk up, he watches his beautiful neighbor as she comes and goes. Too shy and reclusive to ask her out, he paints her again and again. Suddenly the police are at his door.

Detective O’Roarke and his partner, Stella Garcia sift through the forensics, motives and physical evidence. At first glance it seems that all the evidence points to the strange artist who is obsessed with the beautiful actress. But, as time passes, several other suspects come to the attention of the two murder cops and the case is now not so open and shut. As the detectives immerse themselves in her life, it turns out that she has more than one secret.

Coming soon...."The Dance of Murder"

Narrated by Daniel Dorse

 

 

 

 

Cape Cod, the Outer Banks...My Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt (part 2)

What a view to be greeted with every morning!

Part Two...my Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt

HJS:  "Procrastination is the way of avoiding the suffering involved in seeing that what you write doesn't live up to what you CAN write."

 

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?

A. Outer Cape Cod, or my own imaginary (but carefully mapped) world based on Outer Cape Cod. Place has always been terribly important to me. The other pole of my childhood was the thick countryside I lived in, among dairy farms in Connecticut. We were miles from civilization and we were often without a car. I spent hours and hours walking in the woods, the fields, following the brook that ran through that area, just paying attention to every bit of it. I'd try to draw a tree with every leaf exact. It was a deep, deep comfort.

Now I've lived out here for 30 years, and this is the place I know best--I'm lucky because it's inherently a fascinating place. Provincetown has been the wealthiest and the poorest town in Massachusetts over the last two hundred years. There are layers and layers of history here, and in the winter when the tourist life fades away, there's a community of very different people who live together in an unusually intimate way. I could write a novel about it...oh, wait, I did!

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. I didn't want to be a writer. I hated being 'lost in my work'. I found myself, at 23, working as an inner-city librarian, living on a tiny salary. One night as I was locking up the library, a group of kids on a work release program from Juvenile Detention poured a bucket of dirty water over my head. I wish I could say that this cemented my understanding that my work for the library was important and I should bravely keep it up. In fact it threw me into a panic. I called an old professor, who told me I ought to apply to the Iowa Writers Workshop, so I did. The competition then wasn't as fierce as it is now, and tuition was minimal. So a lot was luck, but I got in.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. It was about a year until I sold my first story to The Atlantic. It felt like a dream come true, but in fact it happened too fast-- I hadn't built up a body of work, nor a body of understanding of life. I just wasn't ready to be a full-fledged writer. So my hard times came later.

Q. What makes a writer great?

A. A deep understanding of character and its strange relation to fate. An ability to write clearly about complex things, so that a place and it's people come

Photos from Heidi's album

vividly to life. An awareness that what we do matters, in a daily, momentary way. And an instinct for entertainment. John Williams, who won the National Book Award in 1973 and has since lapsed back into obscurity in spite of his brilliance, was once asked "Is literature written to be entertaining?" Stoner replied "Absolutely. My God, to read without joy is stupid."

And finally, an ability to stand clear of the prevailing cultural winds. This is no mean feat. But fiction tells it like it is, not like we want it to be. That is the deepest comfort a writer can offer, and that's what endures, what brings readers back and back and back.

Don't miss Part 3 on December 12th.  Click here to read Part 1

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author. Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

Don't Miss Part 2 of my Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt

Photos from Heidi's album

Part two of this writer's world will appear on my blog on Tuesday, Dec. 10th and the final installment on Thurs. Dec. 12th

DON'T MISS IT!  

 

Click here if you missed Part I

 

Heidi is a beautiful, thoughtful writer.  Her characters jump off the page and remind us that we are all so...so human.

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In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author. Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

How Do those oysters get to your Dinner Table? Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt (1of3)

    My Interview with best selling author,  Heidi Jon Schmidt

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?

A. I write in bed. It started during a chaotic childhood when my bed was pushed into the quietest corner of the house, a safe place to withdraw to and think, imagine, write. And now that I have my own house, family, garden, life....it's still the place where I feel most connected to my imagination.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

A. The minute my daughter walks out the door for school, I take a cup of coffee up the stairs. And I don't do anything else until I've gotten a day's work done.

Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.)

A. I think the invention of the computer made it possible for me to be a writer-- though I wrote my first book longhand. I'm obsessive about writing; I want to be sure a book flows without a hitch from beginning to end, with nothing to interrupt the reader and bring him or her out of that reading trance. So, I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite, staring at a paragraph until I see some essential unity, always thinking about how the reader's mind is following the words. To do that on a typewriter would be like breaking rocks.

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

A. I tend to feel really creative in the shower, at the gym, and when I'm driving. I don't think it's entirely coincidental that those are three times when it would actually be dangerous to use a computer! The pressure of wanting to write something really good is gone, so my creativity dares creep out to play. So, I take notes of what comes into my mind in those times and use it the next morning, when I am sullenly at work.

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

A. Overcome your perfectionism and your procrastination will go with it. Remember that you can always rewrite and just say the thing in your mind, as simply as possible. That's the best way to begin anyway. Procrastination is the way of avoiding the suffering involved in seeing that what you write doesn't live up to what you CAN write.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?

A. Someone once told me that writing a novel is like swimming the English Channel. I think that's exactly right. You dive in and pretty soon there you are, surrounded by water and with nothing but your energy and purpose to get you to the other side. From the moment I begin, I'm lost in it, my mind is totally taken up with it, and most other things seem to be distractions. It's not really a good feeling! I'm hoping to get over it as I write the next book. Lost in a day's work, writing from a deep knowledge of the characters-- that is rare, but I love, love, love it.

Join us December 10th for Part 2 of this wonderful Interview!

   PS  "The House on Oyster Creek" gives you a terrific story and woven in is the farming of oysters. Fascinating!

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author. Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

A Rebuttal....Wiz Kid encourages 'Progress writing'. This author Doesn't!

Peter Armstrong, co-founder of LeanPub,  recently lectured on UTube about writing a book (in progress) on line....in a blog or on UTube or on your web site.  This is called 'progress writing' or 'progress publishing'.   He claims you will get great reader feedback and gain traction for your final, finished book.

And this might be right for you.  It may give you the stimulus, the poke in the rump that you need to either start writing or to continue writing.

Here's how I feel about it:

'Progress writing' makes it too easy for someone to steal your idea/story.  Even if you have covered yourself with a 'poor man's copyright' like I've told you how  to do or even if you've sent it partially written to the Library of Congress, your idea can be plagiarized and you may never know it.  And what if the person who took your idea for a story gets it finished before you do.  They are published and now you look like you 'borrowed' their idea.

Feedback from readers of your 'writing in progress'.  Feedback from unqualified critics  can contaminate your work.  What do I mean?  You could get caught up in pleasing your audience, in trying to make your book tick their boxes.  Do I get feedback from people while I am writing?  YES!  But only those that I trust will give me not only constructive criticism but won't contaminate what I am try to accomplish.

Peter went on to suggest that maybe paper books were not relevant any more.  I disagree there too.  Oh, yes we will see the day when paper books are collectors' items, rare, and certainly not published anymore...but that time has not come YET!  Continue to publish your books in paper but be certain you also publish it in eBooks, as well as  Audio.  These publishing platforms are all easy to use and mostly free!

Peter goes on to talk about 'Pivoting'.  Manipulating your writing until you hit on what the market wants from you.  He continues and talks about 'Product/Market Fit'.   This does not sit well with me.  It will kill your writer's soul (and mine) to have something like 'pivoting' in the front of your mind as you sit down to write.  The great writers that went before us did not care about product/market fit.  They wrote because they were passionate about their subject, their plot, and their characters.

Serial writing:  Peter suggests that you progressively write and publish it as a serial as you go along.  Be very careful for all the reasons I mention above.  I tried serializing my first novel....I offered it for free on my web site....the installments went over several months.  It had moderate success.  But, I made damn certain it was protected by copyright and it was finished before I offered it.

I'm not suggesting that Peter is wrong and I am right.  I just wanted to rebut his ideas and suggestions and tell you some of the pitfalls that I see in his ideas.  I don't think I'm a cynic....I like to think I'm a realist but those who do not have the talent and are not willing to put in the long hours of hard work it takes to be a writer find it easy to 'borrow' from you.

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year.  Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

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Writing and then 'Hearing' Wild Violets

NOW AVAILABLE in AUDIO BOOKS!!!    "Wild Violets"

From the author:  It was great fun writing this book about a young woman so ahead of her time.  Basketball star, speakeasy owner, flapper who literally worked all day and danced all night.  The story about her red evening gown is true and her friends would make her change into it before going out on the town.  The story about playing poker with a Catholic Bishop is true.  She ultimately had five husbands, but always said the first one didn't count as they never consummated the marriage.  She went on to be the champion women's bowler in California.  She had three kids which she didn't take very good care of.  She was human with many flaws, she was selfish and generous in turns, she was wild and ladylike......she was my mother. Sometimes I ask myself:  'did the apple fall very far from the tree?'

Writing it was fun but hearing her 'voice' and that of the other characters was amazing.  When you hire an audio professional the author remains in control (quality) and can 'proof' ever word.  It's crucial that you hire the right narrator as your book sounds different from the written page. It's important that the narrator is willing to work with you on edits, add on's, and you can ask this upfront before you choose from the audition pieces that you receive.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Wild-Violets-Audiobook/B00GWV9ULQ/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?

www.Audible.com offers a FREE download with a 30 day Trial Membership.

It’s the roaring twenties in San Francisco, a decade famous for hot jazz and bath tub gin.Violet has grown into a beautiful woman with children of her own. She has left her small home town in the Pacific Northwest to pursue a successful basketball career and with her earnings, she bought a speakeasy. She is a ‘flapper’ in every sense of the word; working all day and playing all night. While her teenage daughter raises her seven year old son, Violet is out on the town with her latest man de’jour. Dressed in her signature red dress, she is the toast of the town and owner of a speakeasy where she hosts the cream of San Francisco’s society, city politicians, bishops, and Hollywood celebrities.

But there is an underbelly of corruption, grifters, the mob, excess, and neglect in Violet’s life. Her two children are an afterthought and she chooses her men over their well being time and time again. Their childhood needs are always trumped by her self-indulgent desires. The two children are possessions that she can put down or pick up again on a whim, showing them off to her current beau or friends and then forgotten. And when they get in her way, she gets rid of them.

Narrated by Carin Gilfrey.

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author. Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!  

What this Blogger is Thankful For...

If you're an American, this Thursday, you will sit down with family and friends to some rendition of a Thanksgiving dinner.  Or you might decide to give Mom/Dad (whoever the cook is) a break and go out to eat this year.  If you are carnivores you will consume great quantities of turkey, ham, giblet dressing, oyster dressing, stuffed deviled eggs, and football.  If you are vegetarian you will consume delicate, beautiful, tasty dishes made with all the food groups except those that had faces.  Football optional.

A bit of trivia:  Historical records strongly suggest that shellfish, geese, ducks, swans, and venison were the meats of the first Thanksgivings....then referred to as the Fall Harvest Celebration which traditional lasted 3 days.   Here’s how Edward Winslow described the first Thanksgiving feast in a letter to a friend:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others............” 

So venison was a major ingredient, as well as fowl, but that likely included pheasants, geese, and duck. Turkeys are a possibility, but were not a common food in that time. Pilgrims grew onions and herbs. Cranberries and currants would have been growing wild in the area, and watercress may have still been available if the hard frosts had held off, but there’s no record of them having been served. In fact, the meal was probably quite meat-heavy. Likewise, walnuts, chestnuts, and beechnuts were abundant, as were sunchokes. Shellfish were common, so they probably played a part, as did beans, pumpkins, squashes, and corn (served in the form of bread or porridge), thanks to the Wampanoags.

Take a moment this Thursday to be thankful for whatever you value in your life.  And I'm not talking material things.  Be thankful for your health, your family, friends, your faithful pets, and your crazy in-laws.  Be thankful for the food before you....many Americans will not enjoy the plentiful bounty that will be brought to your table.  And don't forget to tell the little ones a story or two!

I myself am thankful for this brain and imagination that I've been blessed with.  I am thankful for life's road that led me to this place...not Savannah (lol). I am talking about the path that led me to a creative place where I can dream, imagine and write every day.  I am a perfect example of 'it's never too late' to begin writing.  When I retired at age 58 it was then that I began to write with a purpose, to create plays, stories, and poetry. 

What am I having for Thanksgiving?  I'll probably roast a boneless Turkey breast, open a can of whole berry cranberry sauce and make a small Caesar salad.....and write!

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author. Sherryl Woods in our Valentine author.  Janet Evanovich is March's author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

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Research Is a Beautiful Thing! (part 3)

NYPD Homicide Detective

So... I pride myself in knowing a little about police procedure (not through personal experience, thank goodness!), forensics, and crime scenes.  And that's what led me to write "The Art of Murder" the play, and now the novella.  And to create a murder mystery series called,  'The World of Murder'.  With the Internet most answers are a couple of clicks away.  But as my stories are getting more involved (I am writing Book 2,  "The Dance of Murder")  I was quick to realize that I didn't have all the answers!  LOL

So here's what I'd like to share with you about doing research.  My first story takes place in Manhattan, NYPD,  fifth precinct.  My second book is about a serial killer whose crimes jump from precinct to precinct.  Oh no!  Would my two murder cops be assigned to a crime out of another precinct?    So I had to try to find someone who could answer these types of questions.  I needed a mentor, of sorts, if I was to continue this series with any accuracy.



Since I had chosen the 5th Precinct to begin my story,  I decided to call them and see if someone could help me.   The front desk officer on duty was so nice and helpful.  He explained that no one there would be allowed to answer my questions and that I would have better luck with a department called the DCPI (Deputy Commissioner for Public Information, I found out later).  I called them.  And again was met with courtesy and suggestions.  This IS New York City, after all.  Where's all the rudeness we hear so much about!!??

This officer said that they only dealt with media.  Sigh!  But, I need someone who will field my questions!    He went on to suggest that I try to find a 'retired' NYPD detective that would have the  knowledge and time to help me.  Or, he said,  "try private investigators; they are usually retired cops."   Then I hit PAY DIRT!

I Googled 'private investigators, NYC' and the first on the list was Vincent Parso, PI.  I called Vincent and (yes, you guessed it) after a thirty minutes conversation, he told me he would love to work with me and since he was an 'ex' state crime investigator, a forensics expert, a crime scene expert, (the list goes on and on) I had just found my mentor.

Book 1 of The World of Murder series

Vincent could be a character in one of my books.  (Who knows, maybe he will be.)  Physically, he's a cross between Telly Savalas and Tony Soprano.  And has thirty five years of experience in law enforcement!   A writer's dream!

Coming Soon!  In AUDIO Books!

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

My momma always said, Life is Like a Box of Chocolates'....or words (part 5)

This how I feel about 'words'.

               My Random House Dictionary weighs at least seven pounds and  it takes both my arms to lug it around.  Its copyright date is 1966 and I think I bought mine in about 1970. Forty three+ years ago.  Its pages are 'paper-thin' (pun intended) and very fragile.  It is my reference book when I write this series:  Words being my box of chocolates.

Word Crafters!  Did you know this bit of trivia?  'Webster's' as the short name for a dictionary, most likely referred originally to the comprehensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language, written over the course of 27 years by Noah Webster (1758-1843) and first published in 1828. This was not Webster's first dictionary (that one, much smaller, was published in 1806 as A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language ). Nor was Webster necessarily the author of the very first American English dictionary; some scholars assign that honor to one Samuel Johnson (not the Samuel Johnson, famed British lexicographer of a century earlier). But Noah Webster's major dictionary may well be thought of as the first to Americanize the English lexicon, incorporating many words that were distinct parts of American life, like skunk and squash, words that had not previously been recorded in dictionaries, and simplifying British spellings—for example, substituting color for colour and center for centre .

Of course words like blog, sick, ridiculous, email do not appear in my old Dictionary.

Blog:

email:  e-mail or e·mail also E-mail n.  A system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network, as between personal computers.  an electronic note or letter.  I believe I sent my first one in 1993-94 when I signed up with AOL; the only game in town.

Sick  n. :  Suffering from or affected with a physical illness; ailing.   Of or for sick persons: sick wards.  Nauseated.  or  Too wonderful, fabulous. 

It used to...no, still does mean to be unwell.

ridiculous: ri·dic·u·lous adj.:  Deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous.  or Beyond wonderful, fabulous. 

factotum:

Primogeniture:

epistolary

redolent

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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   "The Writer's Corner"

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Patrick Taylor joined us in November.  Heidi Jon Schmidt will be under your Christmas tree.  Raymond Benson will be my January author. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.

To receive my posts sign up for my   On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!

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