Pamela Beason's Blog, page 3

Wishing You Lots of Animals in the New Year

My cat Lassie says Hi!

People who know my books know that there will always be a lot of animals in my stories. Why? Because there are a lot of animals in my life, and I hope there always will be. Most of these creatures are wildlife, not pets, although of course I tell my cats they are my favorite mammals.

I can be surprisingly oblivious to inanimate objects in my environment. Sometimes as a child I’d open a Christmas gift that looked familiar, and then realize that my mother had made it right...

Are introverts “hiding out”?

Pam at Park Butte Lookout, overlooking Mt Baker

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day. She’s an extrovert who talks a lot; I’m a classic introvert who eventually gets the urge to flee when in the company of a person who doesn’t appreciate the value of silence and solitude, and especially when I’m in the company of a group of people who are extra chatty.

That’s not to say that I’m a wallflower. I have a lot of friends and I love movies, especially foreign films and fascin...

All Chaos, All the Time

Frustrated author/investigator/freelance writer-editor

Is everyone’s life as chaotic as mine? Yeesh, I hope not.

In truth, my brain is in fairly good shape. Generally speaking, I can find what I’m looking for there. My physical surroundings are the problem. See, I have three different jobs—freelance writer/editor, private investigator, and author.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember who I am at any one time. Whenever I look at the caller ID on my phone, I have to ask myself, who am I to this person...

I Should Have Been Working…

Where I was today – Mount Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake

I have looming deadlines for several projects and I’ve been out of town a lot recently, so I should have been parked in front of my computer today writing and editing and sleuthing away.

But the sun was shining and the forecast is for rain and it’s late September. There’s already a dusting of new snow on the mountaintops. So I just had to get out there.

Bridge below Table Mountain, North Cascades

Work can wait; but life can’t. So I put o...

Dusting Myself Off from Bouchercon

I just returned from my first Bouchercon mystery fan conference in Albany, New York. This was only my second fan conference (I attended Left Coast Crime last March in Colorado.) Fan conferences are a bit different than writers conferences in that attendees are usually published authors or fans of the genre–in this case, mystery/suspense.

A lot of big-name bestseller authors were there, for at least part of the time: Sue Grafton, Anne Perry, Tess Gerritsen, Lawrence Block–just to drop a few nam...

Finding Inspiration

View from Pelican Beach, Cypress Island, San Juans, WA

I find it odd when readers ask me where I get my ideas. But maybe that’s just me. I have always said that I don’t expect life to be easy or consistently pleasant, but I darn well expect it to be interesting. And I do my best to make it that way.

I sometimes work as a private investigator, and although the jobs can be more mundane than the average person would like to believe, I do encounter a lot of situations and interesting characters the...

Look Up for Magic and…What the Heck was That?

As most people know, I am a nature lover. And a good part of the natural world is amazing at night, so I try to get out in the wild after dark every now and then. In the winter, I sometimes go out on a moonlight snowshoe trek with friends–the sight of a full moon lighting up endless snow in the mountains always warms my heart and soul enough to risk frostbite on other body parts.

I also occasionally go out to kayak under the full moon. The reflection of moon and stars in the water is always da...

Savoring Summer

Kayaking Near Wildcat Cove, Larrabee State Park

We are having an absolutely incredible summer in the Pacific Northwest this year, unusually sunny and dry. I usually say our summer here in the upper northwest corner of Washington State is from August through September, but this year July has been sunny and warm, too.

I’ve been out kayaking at least two times a week, and I’ve now sleuthed out where the otters live in Chuckanut Bay. It’s been really hard to keep my butt in front of my computer and...

Looking for Home

In my books, my characters are often trying to find the place where they feel they belong. Aren’t we all? A few people are lucky enough to start off in the perfect location with the perfect family and community; they feel like that’s where they belong from the day they are born. I envy those individuals. For most of us, it’s a journey of exploration, trying out new people and new places until we find the place that feels like home.

Happy farm cow

I am a native of rural Kansas, but I also lived...

How Do You Find Books?

First of all, let me state that I am a voracious reader as well as an author. I have never counted, but I probably read at least 200 books per year.

When you’re looking for a good book to read, where do you go to search? I’d really like to know. I have friends who use all the “Top 100…” lists on Amazon, but I didn’t even know those lists existed before they were pointed out to me.

Personally, these days I rarely have to search for a book. Instead, I’m completely overwhelmed by the books I keep...