Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 10

Digging Up a Story: Weaving Fact into Fiction by Kathleen Kaska

I write two mystery series, one set in the 1950s and one in current times. In plotting the mysteries, I start digging—researching actual events at the time and location of my story’s setting. For example, my upcoming Sydney Lockhart mystery, Murder at the Pontchartrain, is set in New Orleans, a city rich in culture and tradition. And one of those traditions is the religious practice of voodoo. While exploring the French Quarter, I stumbled on Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo and knew I’d have to use this in the story. I didn’t realize then that Marie Laveau was New Orleans’s most powerful voodoo queen to ever reign, a coveted position passed down from one queen to the next and often usurped by a wannabe queen. For more than forty years, Laveau had the ultimate say-so about how voodoo should be practiced. She was born in 1801, a free woman of color. Her father, Charles Lavewu Trudeau, was a white man of French origin, and her mother, Marguerite D’Arcantel a mix of white, black, and Native American ancestry. Her clientele came from all walks of life, wealthy merchants, politicians, people in trouble with the law, but most were white and Creole women. Not only did Laveau believe in, and practice voodoo, she was also a devote Catholic attending Mass every day at St. Louis Cathedral. She was known to meld rituals from both religions in her practice.

Today, the House of Voodoo attracts more tourists than people seeking help and advice. So, what can you buy in the House of Voodoo?

Like any souvenir shop, you can purchase coffee mugs, shot glasses, T-shirts, tarot cards, and books, but you’ll also find amulets, talismans, voodoo dolls, and incantations to ward off evil or bring good luck. One item that caught my attention and ended up in my book was gris gris. These are small bags containing objects such as bones, beads, herbs, roots, coins, or verses. You can also customize your own. However, there are rules you should follow in making a gris gris bag.

The bag should be two by three inches, made of cloth, and small enough to carry in your pocket or worn on a chain or cord around your neck. It must contain an odd number of items between three and thirteen. Next, bless your bag with anointing oil or holy water and recite incantations over it. And finally, breathe on your bag to bring it to life. Gris gris bags can be designed for special purposes, but you must know what you’re doing. Otherwise, you might create one that is too powerful to handle and might backfire on you. 

In Murder at the Pontchartrain, my character Mildred Threadgill visits Frida Mae, the current voodoo queen, to help deal with issues surrounding her dead husband. Unfortunately, Mildred, pushed her voodoo pursuit too far, and things didn’t work out well. To find out more, you’ll have to read the book. It will be out this summer.

Here’s an excerpt from Murder at the Pontchartrain :

Mildred claimed to have had several visits from her dead husband and she wanted Frida Mae to provide a protection potion. When that didn’t work, she returned to the voodoo shop and demanded her money back. Instead of returning her money, Frida Mae talked Mildred into investing in more powerful potions. Frida Mae went on to say that Mildred was convinced her husband was coming back to life. She wanted to make sure he stayed dead because she hated the bastard. She purchased another potion made to pour over Frank’s tomb. She also hired Frida Mae to perform a ritual over it. The event took place about two weeks ago at midnight when the moon was full. The next night Frank made another ghostly appearance and this time he told his widow that he planned to drag her to hell with him.

The practice of voodoo is fascinating, but unlike Marie Laveau, who practiced both voodooism and Catholicism, I’m sticking with the latter. One religion is all I can handle.

I’m now working on book number seven. This one is set in a historic hotel in a German town south of Austin. The hotel is purported to be haunted, and I’m looking forward to what I might dig up this time.

Look for Murder at the Pontchartrain, book six, in the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series, out this June. For everyone who preorders a copy of Murder at the Pontchartrain, I will give you a sneak preview of all the places Sydney ends up while she’s in the Big Easy. And if you know Sydney, you know she’s not seeing the sights on a streetcar with the other tourists.

https://anamcara-press.com/product/murder-at-the-ponchartrain/

Kathleen Kaska is the author of the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country’s largest book group. She also writes mystery trivia, including The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book. Her Holmes short story, “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke,” appears in Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street. She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars.

Kathleen is the owner of Metaphor Writing Coach. She coaches new and emerging writers and helps them discover their unique voices, and guides them as they learn the craft of writing and the art of storytelling. Kathleen also edits manuscripts and advises writers on how to look for the right publisher.

http://www.kathleenkaska.com
https://anamcara-press.com/shop/our-newest-selections/kathleen-kaska/
http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska
https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B001K88UMQ
https://twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-kaska-942aa511/

The post Digging Up a Story: Weaving Fact into Fiction by Kathleen Kaska first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Digging Up a Story: Weaving Fact into Fiction by Kathleen Kaska appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Something Old and Something New by Francelia Belton

Aah, who doesn't love a good wedding? The flowers, the cake, and most important of all, the beautiful bride in her gorgeous dress. But then there's the multitude of things that can go wrong on this most sacred of traditional days. The meddlesome mother-in-law, the groom still hungover from last night's bachelor party, the photographer who forgot to show up. The bride losing her everlasting mind because the flowers aren't just right. The dead body behind the altar. . ..

Wait a minute, did I just say that? Of course I did. I write crime fiction. Thinking about the best places to hide a body is what I do.

Not really.

Okay, I do. . . but only when I'm writing a story.

And that's why I was thinking about corpses with knives in their backs at weddings. Because I needed to come up with a story idea for a wedding cozy mystery anthology. To be honest, it didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to write and know which characters would be in the starring roles.

The best part about participating in this anthology is that I would be part of a Kickstarter campaign. It's a new path for authors and readers to connect. I've been a longtime fan of Kickstarter having backed 50 campaigns, with 20 of them being for fiction and non-fiction projects. Sure, some of them are with authors I already knew, but a lot were for new-to-me authors.

With authors like Brandon Sanderson bringing it mainstream, many people are discovering this option to connect with their favorite authors. Or, like in an anthology campaign like I'm participating in, to discover new ones.

But why support a Kickstarter campaign in the first place? Because there are lots of incentives and bonuses exclusive to backers. You won't find these special opportunities and rewards at any retail sites. For instance, in the anthology I'm participating in, you can get extra eBooks, and there's even an option to name a character. But most exciting of all, there's an overarching Wedding Whodunit with clues planted in all the stories that readers can solve.

So when it comes to planning a wedding, yes, thinking about the cake flavor you want could be important. Or, should there be a live band, and maybe depending on how deep the pocketbook goes, your high school nephew DJing may have to do.

But maybe what you should really think about is who you are marrying. Do you both have a lot in common, like reading cozy mysteries? Great! I know of a perfect book you can read on your honeymoon. No, not on your wedding night. For when you're lounging on the beach working on your tan. Geez, do you always have murder on your mind? Maybe you should meditate more.

About Malice, Matrimony, and Murder

Twenty-six cozy mystery and cozy crime fiction authors have teamed up to create Malice, Matrimony, and Murder, a collection of brand-new, wedding-themed short stories that will keep you wondering whodunit and what's next from the first page to the last. Between bad bridesmaids, conniving caterers, greedy guests, ill-mannered in-laws, savvy sleuths, and vengeful villains, this anthology has it all!

You can learn more and back the campaign here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marlabradeen/malice-book?ref=4oje6u

Bio:

Francelia Belton’s love of short stories came from watching old Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents television shows in her youth. She published a collection titled, Crime & Passion: Three Short Stories, and her fiction has appeared in various publications, including "Sis Knows Best" in the upcoming Malice, Matrimony, and Murder.

She is an active member of Sisters in Crime and has served as President (2019-2021) and Vice President (2015-2018) for the Colorado chapter. She is also an active member of Mystery Writers of America and Crime Writers of Color.

She can be found online at: https://FranceliaBelton.com/

You can also follow her on Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/francelia-belton

and Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15972908.Francelia_Belton

The post Something Old and Something New by Francelia Belton first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Something Old and Something New by Francelia Belton appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Let’s Make a Mystery

Let’s Make a Mystery Panel Moderator for SinC’s Desert Sleuths – June 21, 2023.

The post Let’s Make a Mystery first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Let’s Make a Mystery appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Murder We Write Podcast

Murder We Write Podcast with Carol Goodman Kaufman featuring Debra H. Goldstein –
June 5, 2023 (available on Spotify and other podcast channels).

The post Murder We Write Podcast first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Murder We Write Podcast appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Red Hats and Cummerbunds

“Red Hats and Cummerbunds,” Tales From the Golden State of Mind, published May 18, 2023.

The post Red Hats and Cummerbunds first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Red Hats and Cummerbunds appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

The Rabbi’s Wife Stayed Home

“The Rabbi’s Wife Stayed Home,” written by Debra H. Goldstein was released as a Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast on May 2, 2023. The story was read by actor Donna Beavers.

The post The Rabbi’s Wife Stayed Home first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post The Rabbi’s Wife Stayed Home appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Should Have Played Poker

Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery reissued in trade paperback and e-book (April 2023).

The post Should Have Played Poker first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Should Have Played Poker appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Promophobia

Promophobia, edited by Diane Vallare, which Debra has a chapter in, wins the 2023 Agatha Award for non-fiction.

The post Promophobia first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Promophobia appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Malice Domestic – Kicking Off a Story

Malice Domestic – Kicking Off a Story: First Chapter Panelist with Anne Cleeland, Jeff Cohen, Edwin Hill, and Steve Steinbock (April 2023).

The post Malice Domestic – Kicking Off a Story first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Malice Domestic – Kicking Off a Story appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

Left Coast Crime – Trouble in Tucson

Left Coast Crime – Trouble in Tucson– Culinary Mystery Panelist with Lee Hollis and G.P Gotlieb (March 2023).

The post Left Coast Crime – Trouble in Tucson first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

The post Left Coast Crime – Trouble in Tucson appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.