Beth Groundwater's Blog, page 32

I Suck at Picking Book Titles

Today I am blogging at Inkspot, the Midnight Ink author blog, about how I suck at picking book titles and about how others have pulled me out of the fire many times by suggesting alternative titles. Do you have a book title story to share? I hope you will, in the comments!

Two Denver, Colorado Signings

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 24th, I will be spending the day in the Denver area, signing copies of Wicked Eddies at two locations:

10 AM – noon
in the Murder By the Book booth
South Pearl Street Farmers Market
1500 block of South Pearl Street, Denver, CO 80209

2 – 3:30 PM
Who Else Books, Broadway Book Mall
200 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209

I hope to see some Denver friends and readers at both events!

Colorado Water 2012

Since Mandy Tanner, the whitewater river ranger heroine of my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, lives in Salida, Colorado, and patrols the upper Arkansas River, I'm always on the lookout for news items and issues related to water and river conservation in my native Rocky Mountains. Turns out, this past January, Colorado's Governor John W. Hickenlooper declared 2012 to be The Year of Water. All this year, special events are raising awareness of how precious fresh water is to our state, with the aim of increasing support for management and protection of Colorado’s water and waterways.

As the website for Colorado Water 2012 states, "What started as a small celebration to commemorate the major anniversaries of some of Colorado’s most important water organizations and legislation quickly grew into a statewide water awareness campaign called Colorado Water 2012.  Throughout the year 2012, Colorado Water 2012 will be connecting Coloradans to their water through resources, events, and activities created by seven Colorado Water 2012 Committees and by a coalition of over 200 volunteers statewide."

Part of the campaign is four traveling displays that libraries and museums in the state can reserve to educate their patrons about water issues. I've suggested to my local library, the Summit County Library, that they bring one of the displays to one of their branches. If you live in Colorado, check out the traveling display schedule at the Colorado Water 2012 website to see if one will appear near you soon. Also, check out the upcoming events in the events calendar. There are conferences, festivals, workshops, and speaker presentations scheduled all over the state!

I encourage all of my readers to go to the website and see what you can learn and how you can help this vital program.

Signing in Monument, Colorado

Today from 5 - 8 PM, I will sign copies of Wicked Eddies , the second book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, at the Covered Treasures Bookstore, 105 Second Street, Monument, CO 80132 during the town's monthly Art Walk. I hope to see some friendly faces there!

Kirkus Picked Wicked Eddies!

I just found out that my Wicked Eddies recent release is on the Kirkus Book Reviews "Critics Picks in Mystery & Crime" list. They bill themselves as "The World's Toughest Book Critics," so I am especially proud!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

I have big news to announce! The Kindle ebook edition of my mystery, Deadly Currents , the first book in my RM Outdoor Adventures series, went on sale June 15th at Amazon for the amazingly cheap price of $1.99. The sale only lasts two weeks, so hurry over to HERE to buy yours! I hope you'll consider picking up a copy of the second book in the series, Wicked Eddies , at the same time.


And, here's some more late-breaking news! Wicked Eddies is now available for the Nook. If you have a Nook, go HERE to buy your copy.

Salida, Colorado, Signing

Today I will appear at the First in Boating on the Arkansas (FIBArk) whitewater festival in Salida, Colorado, the locale for my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series. I will sign copies of the recently released second book in the series, Wicked Eddies, at The Book Haven, 135 F Street, from 10:30 - noon after the conclusion of the parade. In the afternoon, I will sign copies at The Book Haven booth in front of the Boathouse Cantina near the FIBArk festival grounds from 1:30 - 4 PM. I hope to see some friendly faces there!

Photos from Ecuador - Part Two

Yesterday, I posted photos from the Ecuador half of my husband's and my trip to Peru and Ecuador. Today I'm posting the last of the Ecuador photos, mostly of wildlife in the Galapagos Islands. Enjoy!

First comes a sea lion montage. The second photo, or course, is not of sea lions, but is of two workers from the Discovery Channel recording underwater sea lion vocalizations.




This mother sea lion is nursing her pup, and the second photo shows a rare albino sea lion pup.




On to reptiles! The first photo is a land iguana in the process of shedding its skin, second is a lava lizard, and the third photo shows a mocking bird sitting on top of a marine iguana.




Now, the abundant bird life. The first photo is of a blue-footed booby, the iconic bird of the Galapagos Islands. Second is of a swallow-tailed gull pair and their chick. Third is of an albatross with its egg.



The bird hovering above me in the photo below is a frigate bird that stayed above our boat for awhile, tracking our progress. The next photo shows a pelican taking flight, and the third shows a Galapagos penguin.




Next up are some photos of sea life. First are some bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs, followed by two of the many types of fish we saw while snorkeling.




We also saw sea turtles, Eagle rays, and even a shark (while we were on the beach--NOT in the water snorkeling).




Below is a photo of our guide snorkeling with a juvenile sea lion. This was a very special snorkeling session, because a whole group of curious sea lion youngsters cavorted all around us and stared into our masks to see what were were all about, as shown in the second photo.



On the island of Floreana, we stopped at Post Office Bay to see the impromptu Post Office (the barrel) where folks stuff post cards addressed to friends and family. The tradition is that you look through the plastic bags of post cards in there, and if you find one addressed to someone who lives near you, you should take it and hand deliver it.


Here's our group on the "flight school" cliff on the island of Espanola where sea birds learn to fly. The second photo shows a nearby blowhole. The third shows a view of Gardner Bay on San Cristobal island from an overlook. This island was our last stop, and the island from which our plane trip back to Quito began.




Back in Quito for one night before heading home, we visited the Ethnohistoric Museum of Handicrafts of Ecuador, where we were encouraged to touch the textiles, play the musical instruments, and so on. We ate our final dinner together as a group inside the museum, as shown in the last photo.



This was an amazing trip, and I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Photos from Ecuador - Part One

Last week, I shared some photos from the Peru half of my May top-of-the-bucket-list trip to Peru and Ecuador with Overseas Adventure Travel. Today and tomorrow, I'm posting photos from the Ecuador half of the trip. Enjoy!

Our first day in Ecuador was spent touring Quito. We stopped first for a music and dance performance by the Sinamune Disabled Children's Orchestra, ending with the students dancing with us.



Then we visited the French government's monument to the equator (La Mitad Del Mundo - the middle of the world), followed by a visit to the Inti Nan Museum of native cultures and their version of where the equator was (we are posed behind the marker in the second photo below). Neil's GPS said both locations were off, and the equator actually crossed the street near the museum. The shrunken head in the third photo was from the museum.




We visited Quito's central historic district next, and I caught Neil in the midst of a pigeon takeoff there.The third photo is of the front of La Compañia de Jesus, a Jesuit church built in the 1650s, with its twisted solomonic columns. We weren't allowed to take photos of its ornate interior, gilded with over seven tons of gold leaf.




These two guards are in front of the Presidential Palace. The second photo below is of a street scene in the historic district, and the third photo below is of half of our group with our local host family, who served us dinner the first night. The husband was a banker and we had an interesting discussion with him about Ecuador's adoption of the US dollar as its official currency and the economic impacts of that change.




The next day we flew to Santa Cruz island in the Galapagos Islands. We saw giant tortoises at the Primicia Ranch and the Charles Darwin Research Station there (next two photos). Then we strolled through the town of Puerto Ayora (see the third photo of me in the seaside park) before taking a launch to our ship, the Carina (fourth photo below).





The first photo shows most of our tour group in the lounge of the boat, and the second photo is of the dining area across from the lounge. The third photo shows our crew and the fourth is of the glorious sunset that evening.





I'll continue tomorrow with photos of more animals, birds, and sea creatures that we saw in the Galapagos Islands.

Today's Mystery Author Guest: Larry Seeley

As promised yesterday, fellow mystery author Larry Seeley is visiting my blog today. To read his bio and see his photo, please page down to yesterday's post.

Above is the cover photo for his most recent release, 17 Degrees North , the second book in his Jack Sloan mystery suspense series. Seventeen degrees, three minutes North is the latitude of the border that separates Juarez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas—for all practical purposes, one city with two souls. Jack Sloan follows a trail between Juarez and Santa Fe with stops in El Paso and Phoenix. The trail begins and ends in the barrancos of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Santa Fe with Jack’s discovery of a satchel full of cash. Jack tells his wife Darlene about his find, and they’re both sucked into the most dangerous mystery of their lives.

The money is tied to the kidnapping/murder of Robert Pendleton, a prominent New York hedge fund manager. The hostage is taken in Juarez, released and killed in New Mexico, and the Mexican AFI and U.S. FBI work together to solve the case. High-profile publicity is not something either government wants. Carlos Santiago, the AFI agent assigned to the case, and Frank Hunter, his FBI counterpart, know that something doesn’t fit, but they need Jack’s help to find out what. Love, greed, and betrayal drive the characters and their stories. It comes to a surprising end in the same place it started—the hauntingly beautiful barrancos of the high desert.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Below are Larry's answers to my interview questions. Please leave a comment for him, and if you have a question of your own for her, ask it!




1. Who or what inspired you to start writing and when did you start?

I started reading Hemingway and Louie L’Amour when I was very young. I recall reading newspapers at age six—headlines about the war (WWII). I began working at a young age and used spare money to buy books. I read a Bruce Catton history, This Hallowed Ground, at age sixteen and wrote a lengthy book report that my teacher fell in love with. After that I wanted to be a writer but didn’t start seriously until I lost my day job in 2004 at age 65.

2. What tools and process do you use to “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

I often write a short bio of the main characters and a line or two about supporting cast. I use real people I have known to fill in the details—and I’ve known some genuine ‘characters’. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve spent a lot of time around gamblers and their crowd. You see every facet of human nature in people who walk the edge to earn a living. Same with the Army. I still recall the oddballs I met there and sometimes use their traits in my characters.

A guy I knew in Vegas went there with two million dollars in twenties stuffed in the trunk of his Caddie. Three years later, he was broke. He got a security job on the casino floor. A year later he had a heart attack wading through the slot players, then took up hard drugs. He couldn’t live without a rush and he couldn’t afford to play cards, so he figured the next best thing was speedballs. He’s now dead.

3. How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I do a broad stroke for the main theme. What I figured out early on was that readers need to see a beginning and a desired end to a story, otherwise, they lose interest. A target goal that runs through the entire novel, augmented by support narratives and dialogue.

4. In the age-old question of character versus plot, which one do you think is most important in a murder mystery and which one do you emphasize in your writing? Why?

Characters are the most important part of any story. If readers can’t identify with one of them, they won’t be interested in your plot, no matter how clever.

5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

Biggest challenge is the same we all face—getting someone else interested in what you are doing. It takes ego to write and greater ego to think it’s publishable. Writing comes to me without much angst. I can sit down and produce a decent story without exerting myself. What inspires me is seeing my work in print (or electronic format these days) and knowing that someone else is enjoying it.

Writing is easy; marketing is hard. I’m not interested in book store signings unless the establishment is willing to place a substantial order. Then I’ll support them. I have a great on-line marketer these days, and I’m learning a lot about what it takes to sell a book in an incredibly competitive arena. Blogs like yours are a great venue, and I appreciate a chance to say what I think.

6. What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

I stay up and sleep late. Coffee at 11:00 am, into the office, check emails and marketing programs, then commence writing about noon. I work until 4:00 pm, then feed the animals. With eight cats, four dogs, and lots of chickens, that’s no small task. Oh, and I take a break about 2:00 pm to walk my dogs to the river for some exercise (theirs and mine). Later on I swim, fix dinner (the unspoken arrangement between my wife and me), watch some recorded shows like Game of Thrones, Mad Men, etc., then go back to the office about 10:00 and write for a couple of hours. My target is five pages per day, either new or rewrites. Time is irrelevant.

7. What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Don’t take yourself too seriously, and don’t stop rewriting until you have what you consider a perfect page. Writing is ten percent creating and ninety percent rewriting.

8. Now here’s a zinger. Tell us something about yourself that you have not revealed in another interview yet. Something as simple as your favorite TV show or food will do.

When I was ten, my older cousin constantly beat me up. He was a pretty big guy who played the accordion—not an instrument that endears you to other children. One day he was torturing me, and I ran into my house when no one was home. I latched the screen door. There was a hole in the screen, and he kept taunting me and sticking his finger through the hole. My dad had left a pair of hedge scissors on a bench, so I picked them up and waited. He pushed his index finger into the opening again, and I clipped off the end. He didn’t play accordion again.

9. What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

I've almost finished writing the third novel in the Jack Sloan series, Bridge of the Americas. The fourth novel in the series will be titled The Placebo Effect. I plan on producing two books a year until I croak.

10. Is there anything else you would like to tell my blog readers?

Best place to look me up is at my website. There are many links associated with the site. I’m also on Facebook. I look forward to speaking to book clubs or any group interested in my work.


Thanks, Larry! Now, who has a comment or question for him?