Susan Koefod's Blog, page 11
December 12, 2012
Haunted Past, Haunted House
“Arvo Thorson sat on his dead mother’s chintz armchair one windless July night. For hours, he kept watch out her bedroom window, seeming to take in nothing more than the brooding mirror of Lake Superior.
His handgun rested on his knee.”
So opens my short story — “Boys will be Boys” — which will appear in the February 2013 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The magazine is found pretty much everywhere books are sold (check the newstands) and is also available online and in ebook form.
My contributor copies arrived in the mail today, so I snapped this photo. The story appears on the last pages of the magazine, a nice spot! I hope you read it and like it!! It isn’t connected with any of the Arvo Thorson mysteries, but who knows, maybe it’s the start of Book #4! Check out the other books in the series, if you haven’t already.
Tagged: books, magazine, mystery, novel, short story, writing
December 9, 2012
Snow Day
11″ in the last 18 hours and still piling up. The first big snow always brings welcome changes — to the landscape and people’s attitudes, usually. Most people feel a sense of excitement anticipating the first major snow storm of the season. And even though snow means work for many (shoveling), and potentially a change of plans due to treacherous travel, the first big snow seems somehow less inconvenient than all the other snow storms we’ll see.
I spent the day baking – cinnamon swirl bread and turkey pot pies. Snow seems to bring this out in me. Perhaps some hibernation instinct kicks in, and I feel the need to store more food, particularly more carbs, for the winter. Others spend the day engaging in other creative pursuits, enjoying the outdoors, watching football, or all of the above. Even though we could do these things any other day, somehow it’s more special to be doing these things on the first snow day. Less of a chore.
The natural world changes, and invests us with new moods, new ideas, and new energy. I’m lucky to be living in a place that has all four seasons, so I can reliably count on lots of changes in the natural world to help recharge my day-to-day life.
Tagged: baking, change, energy, happiness, seasons, snow, writing
December 7, 2012
Rent a Drunk – FREE!
Go on a reading binge this weekend on your Kindle! Amazon Prime members can rent my “smashing debut” mystery, Washed Up – featuring morose, alcoholic Arvo Thorson — for FREE! If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, you can get a trial membership. More details at the link*.
Anyway. There you have it. Rent the book that Library Journal called “a smashing debut….with astute observation and gorgeous prose.” If you don’t like Arvo, you can give him back when you’re done with them. Of course, I’m hoping you will like him and keep him around for awhile!
Tagged: amazon, book, free, gift, kindle, mystery, novel, writing
November 21, 2012
Butter, cream, and eggs
I am very thankful for butter, cream and eggs. And flour and sugar. And electricity and clean water. And a healthy family. I hope your Thanksgiving preparations, and the day ahead, bring you and your family joy. Happy Thanksgiving!
Tagged: eating, entertaining, family, food, Thanksgiving, writing
November 20, 2012
Make Pie, Not War
I set out this morning with high hopes of seeing the two-thousand-year-old terracotta tomb warriors and other artifacts from the Qin Empire (the era of the First Emperor of China) now on exhibit here in Minneapolis.
Except for the cleaning and other Thanksgiving preparations I’d planned, the other part (the relaxation piece) of this time-off hasn’t gone entirely as planned. Hubby wound up having to return to work early, his time-off eroded by a few sick days. We managed a fine-dining night out (having earlier thought of a weekend getaway), and squeezed in the latest James Bond movie.
All in all, not bad, but I’d hoped for more than a break here and there from the vacuuming and baking. I had one last chance for a bit more culture, so this morning I decided to head out on my own to the exhibit.
As described by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts website, the emperor’s tomb was “discovered in 1974; later, Chinese archaeologists excavated three pits containing more than 7,000 terracotta warriors with horses and chariots, all designed to protect the First Emperor in the afterlife. His tomb was an elaborate subterranean palace, a parallel world that would enable his rule after his death.”
After a smooth, fast drive on the interstate, I arrived near the museum and discovered that gridlock squeezed every side-street to a single lane. Gridlock involving numerous school busses.
I had so looked forward to visiting what is essentially a graveyard for its prospect of peaceful contemplation among the silent, giant warriors. School busses filled with lots of lots and lots of school kids didn’t sound like peaceful contemplation to me. My quest to see the Emperor and his army came to a dead end amid the gridlock surrounding the museum.
So I returned home via the grocery store (needed more cream and eggs – so it is with a week of baking), and spent much of the day making pies, lots of tiny little pumpkin pies. Used my favorite crust recipe (a two-hour process that is not so laborious, but does require two hours – with lots of resting, chilling, freezing, pie weights), and a new custard recipe (no evaporated milk – just cream, eggs, milk, brown sugar, spices – and, of course, pumpkin). The delicious ancient smells of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon filled the kitchen with otherworldly incense. It was pokey work making a lot of tiny pies, but I had the extra time, and when they were finished, and I lined them up in little rows, entombing them inside a covered pyrex dish to keep the marauding pets out.
Tomorrow – more baking, more preparation, a bit more cleaning, and then the feasting day arrives.
Tagged: baking, china, museums, pie, Thanksgiving, war, writing
October 19, 2012
Open Ended
At the last minute, Marne took off her wedding ring and left it behind. She couldn’t bear the thought of people noticing the ring, noticing that a husband wasn’t along with her on the trip and asking about him, or not asking and just looking at her with pity or accusations or both.
Of course she’d arrived at the justification for removing her ring much later. The moment she removed the ring her mind had been completely blank, the idea spontaneous.
The taxi had been waiting for her at the curb, and she’d remembered she’d wanted to leave her apartment key with her landlord.
“One moment,” she had said to the cabbie as he put her suitcase into the trunk. “I forgot something.”
She walked up the steps of her apartment one last time, and felt in her pocket for her key. She thought of kissing the key goodbye—a silly gesture to be sure—and felt self-conscious even though the cabbie wasn’t paying the least bit of attention and no one else was around. So she kissed it, and the moment her lips touched the key, she felt her wedding ring brush against her cheek.
Her husband’s prognosis had been terminal from the start, yet he’d lingered almost two years, and during those two years, Marne gave everything away, sold the house, and rented an apartment near the University of Minnesota hospital, furnishing it sparely. She told herself she was in limbo during Terrance’s illness, and this was why she hadn’t bothered decorating the place. But after he died and was buried, she’d immediately bought herself the open train ticket, planning to depart within the week. Any thought of decorating the apartment was on hold for the foreseeable future.
She dropped the key into her landlord’s mailbox, and on impulse, she removed her wedding ring, dropping it in her own mailbox with little thought, no regret. The post office was holding her mail, so the ring would lie entombed inside her mailbox until she returned. When that would be, she didn’t know.
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The start of a new story. Always fun.
Tagged: fiction, marriage, novel, relationships, short story, work in progress, writing
September 28, 2012
Nostalgia Can Be Deadly #Fridayreads
September 26, 2012
Bibliomadness: It’s Not All About Me
Every night there seems to be another author launch, another book event, another literary happening, eh, happening somewhere.
It’s bibliomadness I know, and I’m in the middle of the bookish cyclone in launching my latest novel. (See, for instance, the NEW EVENTS I just added. Tomorrow I’ll be in Edina, Saturday Duluth, next week points elsewhere)
If you love books and are in the Twin Cities, the grandmother of all fall book events is the Twin Cities Book Festival, coming on October 13, especially if you’re having trouble getting to multiple events in one night. I know I’ve been in that particular boat. I’ll be there either at one or another booth, or just roaming around, likely with an armload of new purchases.
If you love books, can’t keep up and/or aren’t located in the Twin Cities, you can stay in touch with all things literary at Mill City Bibliophile, newly relaunched by Patrick Nathan. Check it out.
Tagged: books, events
September 13, 2012
Warning: Literature Aplenty
Just wanted to let the world know that the Minneapolis – St. Paul (Twin Cities or TC) literary scene is about to blow your mind.
This is a public service announcement courtesy of the many TC-based literary organzations/events/artists who have or are about to leap upon the scene. This evening I had my choice of at minimum six literary events to attend. There were probably many more. Sorry to have missed the Saint Paul Almanac publication party, but I was attending two other events.
I did, at one of the events, talk to one of the contributors who told me about his fascinating piece in the Almanac. I plan on attending one of the readings because another friend is published in the new Almanac too. I also spoke with Minnesota writer William Souder, whose latest book will be reviewed in this week’s New York Time’s book review.
I don’t have time to tell you more at this point, because I need to focus on a new project for yet another fabulous local endeavor, recently relaunched to keep on top of everything that’s going on.
Are you keeping up? Not sure it’s possible, but maybe Mill City Bibliophile will keep me up to date about what I’ve missed.
Then, of course, I’m involved in launching my new novel. Crap, with all of the above mentioned literary activity, I almost wish I didn’t have a new book coming out, so I could stay on top of everything else that’s going on.
It’s an embarrassment of literary riches, which is a very good problem to have.
Tagged: literature, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Twin Cities, writing
