Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 16

Guest Blogger: Judy Penz Sheluk – Paying it Forward

Paying it Forward by Judy Penz Sheluk

I love short crime fiction, and while I’ve written a few short stories, I’m far from prolific. In fact, the thought of writing enough short stories to fill a collection is enough to make me break out in hives. That’s one of the reasons I started the Superior Shores Anthologies, with the first one, The Best Laid Plans, releasing in June 2019. Since then, I’ve published Heartbreaks & Half-truths (June 2020), and most recently, Moonlight & Misadventure (June 2021).

I say “one of the reasons” because a larger part of this labor-of-love initiative is a way to pay it forward: I got my start as a mystery writer in The Whole She-Bang 2 (Sisters in Crime Toronto) in 2014. I’d been a journalist for a dozen years before that, so I’d seen my byline on, and in, a myriad of occasions and publications, but to see my name on a book cover…well, let’s just say I was hooked.

And, yes, you read that right. An unknown author had her name on the cover of a multi-author collection. It meant so much to me that when it was time to design the cover for Plans, I wanted to do the same thing.

And so, I did. And I’ve kept on doing it. Of course, there is that whole branding thing that’s so important…

The concept of themed anthologies can be attributed to THEMA, a quarterly New Orleans-based literary journal that published my very first work of fiction in Spring 2004. Each issue of THEMA has a theme, where, and I quote, “The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental.” I use those words almost verbatim in my Call for Submissions, and I’m always amazed at how different authors will interpret a theme in their own unique way. I wonder if Virginia Howard, the Editor of THEMA, finds the same thing. I suspect she does. I also wonder how she’s managed to dream up so many themes: http://themaliterarysociety.com/issue...

For Moonlight & Misadventure, my initial thought was Moonlight & Murder, but I didn’t want only stories with murders in them. After all mystery and suspense can be so much more. Then I thought, what about Moonlight & Mayhem (I do love a good alliteration), but mayhem seems so overused…and misadventure? That could cover any number of situations.

Putting together three anthologies in as many years takes a tremendous amount of work and dedication: 270+ stories read, 63 selected, editing, proofreading, formatting, cover art, publishing, and promotion. But at the end of the day, I know I’ve paid my success forward, maybe not in a big way, but in the only way I know. Writing. Reading. Publishing. Repeat.

 

About Moonlight & Misadventure

Whether it’s vintage Hollywood, the Florida everglades, the Atlantic City boardwalk, or a farmhouse in Western Canada, the twenty authors represented in this collection of mystery and suspense interpret the overarching theme of “moonlight and misadventure” in their own inimitable style where only one thing is assured: Waxing, waning, gibbous, or full, the moon is always there, illuminating things better left in the dark.

Featuring stories by K.L. Abrahamson, Sharon Hart Addy, C.W. Blackwell, Clark Boyd, M.H. Callway, Michael A. Clark, Susan Daly, Buzz Dixon, Jeanne DuBois, Elizabeth Elwood, Tracy Falenwolfe, Kate Fellowes, John M. Floyd, Billy Houston, Bethany Maines, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Joseph S. Walker, Robert Weibezahl, and Susan Jane Wright.

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A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries. Her short crime fiction appears in several collections, including The Best Laid Plans, Heartbreaks & Half-truths, and Moonlight & Misadventure, which she also edited.

Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime National, Toronto, and Guppy Chapters, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves as Chair on the Board of Directors.

Find the Book: https://books2read.com/u/47NPkj

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Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast features Pig Lickin’ Good!

King River’s Life’s Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast features Debra’s Pig Lickin’ Good short story. Pig Lickin’ Good,  originally was published in Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Edible (2019) and was a 2020 Derringer Award finalist.

Pig Lickin’ Good By Debra H. Goldstein (podbean.com)

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Guest Blogger: DonnaRae Menard – The Character Bio

Years ago I wrote for the fun of writing. I worked third shift and left chapters hanging around the plant. Anonymously. It brought an expected lesson. People started leaving notes regarding the characters, did they work, have spouses, or red hair? There were also comments on conflicting information in different chapters. I wanted people to buy into my story, but errors were keeping it two-dimensional. I worked harder at keeping on track with the nuances of character’s personalities and the landscape of my story.

Eventually I wanted to know the character like a friend, or if it’s the bad guy, well enough to protect myself from them. Consider Carol, a 5’4” case of walking nerves with crinkly hair and green eyes. She likes her coffee black, gin, and sequins in her glass frames. She doesn’t date blond guys because of a jerk when she was sixteen. Good start. What else? Is she from the south, work as a defense lawyer, have a gutter mouth?

While I’m still toying with the premise of a piece, I’m listing characters. I get specific and might type out a 1000 word descriptive to keep on file. I need to know these people enough so I’m not guessing how they’ll react. They still develop quirks along the way (and I keep track of those), but I can put the character somewhere confidently until I’m ready for them to move. Their makeup depends on their roots, education, how they interpret money, sex, danger. Even if I don’t know what they are going to say next, I know where their attitude comes from. This helps keep the voice of the piece the same throughout.

You’re walking through the bus terminal, you see the perfect descriptive for your piece. But you don’t know that person and can’t follow them around. Let yourself picture him in a scene, and with a little patience that personality will develop. It may lead to plucking a character from this book and dumping them into another, changing sex, or even evicting them away. If someone enters the field who has the potential of becoming a major player later, set them up. Character’s can go from being a friend to a bad guy on the strength of the bio. Get started before Chapter 1. It might change as you go, but when you’re ripping through a scene, you won’t have to stop and finesse someone.

Words are like babies, they are yours. Sometimes it’s hard to edit out or make changes. When you’re almost done you don’t want to go back and make all the changes because Paul needs to be fifty-four instead of twenty-four. Or worse then that, kill him off.

For me, it’s scary to get invested in someone who exists on paper via a #2 pencil, but I want to know these people closely. Surprise is good, being left hanging isn’t. I want readers to experience someone I have grown in words, and to welcome them with open arms. Or maybe run away as fast as they can.

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Guest Blogger: Connie Berry – THE DOMESDAY BOOK: Don’t Worry, It’s Not the End of the World

One of the themes in my Kate Hamilton Mystery series is the effect of the hidden past on the present. What do we think we know? Is it true? What would happen if we learned the truth? In every book in the series, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton must unravel the tangled threads of history to unmask a killer.

In The Art of Betrayal, the third in the series, Kate and her friend antiquities dealer Ivor Tweedy sell a hitherto unknown translation of the Little Domesday Book to an eccentric historian, setting the stage for murder, lies, and betrayal.

Have you heard of The Domesday Book? The name alone conjures up the misty past. It refers to the “Great Survey”—a census record of England, ordered in 1085by William the Conqueror. If William was going to be king, he wanted to know exactly what he was king of.

The name Domesday (Middle English for Doomsday) was taken from the book mentioned in the Bible, the one recording the deeds of all mankind, a reminder that the Domesday records were the final and ultimate authority.

Not many people know that The Domesday Book is actually two separate and independent documents, both written in Latin. The Great Domesday Book is a summary of thirty-one English counties south of what was then the Scottish border, except for Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The records for those three counties—the full, unabbreviated records, mind you, not summaries—are preserved in the Little Domesday Book, which is fuller in details because the text is undigested—a virtual treasure trove of historical details, little-known facts, descriptions of local customs, even the musings of the commissioners assigned the task of gathering information.

Many of these tidbits made their way into English legend and folklore.

One of my favorite examples is a Norman gentleman by the name of Roger God-save-the-ladies (Rogerus Deus-salvet-dominas). In 1086, Roger lived in Essex. Where did he get his name? Who were the ladies he saved?

One of the characters in The Art of Betrayal believes she is descended from a mysterious “green maiden,” said to have been discovered by a sheep farmer in the eleventh century. Is she right—or is the most important thing her belief in the story?

Someone, I wish I could remember who, said, “The past is history; the future is mystery.” I get the point but respectfully disagree. History is littered with mysteries and hidden secrets. Delving into my own heritage, I learned that every ten years when the census-taker came round, my Scottish grandmother shaved a few years off her age.

History is often a record, not of what actually happened but what people wanted the future to believe. Lies are told, and those lies are repeated. As an antiques dealer and love of history, Kate Hamilton knows that what we believe about our past determines how we think and how we behave in the here-and-now.

For Kate, the past is truly prologue.

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Connie Berry is the author of the Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. In 2019 Connie won the IPPY Gold Medal for Mystery and was a finalist for the Agatha Award’s Best Debut. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and is on the board of the Guppies and her local Sisters in Crime chapter. Connie loves history, foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Emmie. You can learn more about Connie and her books at her website www.connieberry.com.

 

 

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Review: Modern Cat Magazine

The editor of Modern Cat Magazine picked FOUR CUTS TOO MANY as one of her five Spring/Summer book club picks! “Cozy mystery fans will delight in Four Cuts Too Many…will Sarah solve this delicious mystery? You’ll have fun finding out.” – Modern Cat, Connie’s Book Club Pick for Four Cuts too Many. Check out the entire review on pg. 72

Suspense Magazine writes that THREE TREATS TOO MANY, “Like the first two in the series, it’s chock full of delightful characters with a fast-moving plot that cozy fans will really enjoy. Delicious fun!” https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2020/12/31/suspense-magazine-winter-2020-issue 

How Debra’s writing career took off with a leap of faith – read about it in Guideposts!

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Kensington Offers Special May E-Book Sarah Blair Mystery Sales!!!

Here’s your chance before FOUR CUTS TOO MANY’S May 25, 2021 arrival to grab copies of THREE TREATS TOO MANY or start at the beginning with ONE TASTE TOO MANY and TWO BITES TOO MANY to keep up with Sarah and RahRah’s adventures!

One Taste Too Many – only $1.99  – Amazon

Two Bites Too Many – $.99 (that’s ninety-nine cents!) – Amazon – Barnes & Noble – check all other e-book sources (April 30-May 31)

Two Bites Too Many – $.99 – Kobo CA US Mother’s Day Sale

Three Treats Too Many – $.99  (only May 17-19) – BookBub selection!!  Amazon and all other e-book sources!

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Debra is going to be on the road virtually in May

May 20 – Ernst & Hadley Virtual Bookclub – (Tuscaloosa, AL) – 5:30 p.m. CST/6:30 EST

May 21 – Interview by Chris Upton – A Free Thinkers Corner Bookstore – (Dover, New Hampshire)

May 23 – Cozy Reading Library Takeover on Facebook (Colleen Flynn) – 7 CST/8 EST)

May  25 – Jamie’s Grab You a Book – Takeover Facebook – 10-12 CST/11-1 EST

May 25 – Cozy Mystery Launch – Facebook (Kim Heniadis) – https://www.facebook.com/events/3689641581133707 – 7-9 CST/8-10 EST

May 26 – Browseabout Books and Lewes Public Library – A Conversation with Debra Goldstein – interviewed by author Cheryl Hollon – free, but registration is required Conversation with Debra H. Goldstein | Four Cuts Too Many – LibCal – Delaware Libraries – 5 EST/4 CST

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Guest Blogger: Diane A.S. Stuckart – Living the Dream…Or Not

Living the Dream…Or Not by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Running a bed and breakfast inn has been my dream business for a couple of decades, even before I wrote the first chapters of what would become my Georgia B&B mystery series. It was the late 1990s, and I didn’t much care for the daytime job anymore. And, for a few reasons, my publishing career had pretty much ground to a halt. Then a friend who knew about my fledgling B&B ambition sent me a page from the classifieds. Circled was an ad for a historic house for sale in a small East Texas town a couple of hours from Dallas, where I lived at the time. On a whim, I called the real estate agent and learned the place was still available. To my greater shock, my usually scoffing husband said we should go take a look.  And so that weekend we hopped in the car and headed east.

At first glance, the house was everything you might have wanted…three-stories, white paint with green trim, the style vaguely Greek Revival. The crowning glory of its huge front yard was a magnolia that had to be 70 feet tall and probably had been planted the same year the house was built. There was also a huge side portico, which should have been a feature, except that it stretched across a broad broken driveway. And it was at the driveway that we began to have our doubts.

We walked inside to find that most of the first-floor walls had been long ago torn down to create a huge open space. Ah, the real estate agent said, did I tell you that the house was turned into a hospital during the Civil War? Then he disclosed that, sometime at the turn of the 20th century, the hospital had subsequently been converted to a funeral home. Said mortuary had operated for decades until the owners abandoned it for a brand-new facility right across the street.

Had this been a movie, ominous music would have welled up in the background. But as this was real life, and both the husband and I were paranormal skeptics, we shrugged and headed up to the second floor. There, we discovered abandoned mattresses and clothing, obvious signs of recent squatters. By this time, the real estate agent admitted he hadn’t actually been in the house before and thus had had no clue as to the state it was in. But would we like to take a look at the finished attic?

This was a feat, as the space was reached by a stairway that was more of a permanently mounted wooden ladder than code-approved steps. Still, we were nimble enough back then to risk it. And there, at the top of the ladder stair, is where we found the house’s true horror.

Water damage ravaged almost the entire ceiling!

Sounds of cash register bells ringing in our ears, we rushed back to our car, my husband muttering that the best way to remodel this house was with a match! That adventure pretty well ended my B&B dream, though I eventually lived it vicariously through my Georgia B&B mystery series. There, my protagonist, Nina Fleet, converts a lovely Queen Anne home into a bed and breakfast inn. And if you’ve read the first two books in the series, you might recognize the magnolia tree and the ladder stair. Yes, I borrowed them from that ill-fated house…a house that I hope someone with far deeper pockets than mine was able to bring back to its original glory.

But I suspect someone probably opted for a match.

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DIANE A.S. STUCKART began her writing career in the 1990s as the critically acclaimed author of historical romance under the names Alexa Smart and Anna Gerard. She later switched to the mystery genre and is the NYT bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries (written as Ali Brandon) and the award-winning Leonardo da Vinci historical mysteries. Her Tarot Cats Mystery series launched in 2018 with FOOL’S MOON. Her Georgia B&B Mystery series (also written as Anna Gerard) debuted in 2019 with PEACH CLOBBERED. Kirkus Reviews describes that book as “Filled with Southern charm and enough ditzy characters to keep readers guessing and laughing.” Book 3 in the series, PEACHES AND SCHEMES—her 17th published novel—will be on the shelves May 2021.

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Guest Blogger: Sophy Smythe – Corruption in the Medical World

Guest blogger: Sophy Smythe – Corruption in the Medical World

Sophy Smythe is my pen name. I am a Dutch doctor living in Antwerp, Belgium. After more than thirty years of medical practice, I reinvented myself and pursued my long-lived dream: writing fact-based mystery-thrillers about what I know best, the medical and pharmaceutical world. The Medical Code is the first of the Charlie Martens, MD, series.

Why I wrote this book?

I was triggered by a judicial settlement of a pharmaceutical company for hundreds of millions of dollars for the illegal promotion of Celexa for the use in treating children and adolescents suffering from depression. There were a lot of suicides among the children. And, mind you, Celexa is still on the market. At the same time I read a non-fiction book called ‘Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime’ by Peter Gøtzsche. This combination gave birth to my debut book, The Medical Code.

I was sucked into a world of conspiracy, fraud, hacking, and drugs I knew nothing about. The journey was exhilarating. During long hikes with my dog Pepper, I mixed the ingredients to a suspenseful story. Actually, writing is a lot like cooking (or baking as Debra prefers). I never cook with a recipe, I just mix and match different recipes and make it my own.

Like in real life, nothing is as it seems, and everyone has a story and… a secret which glues to him / her like an elongated shadow.

Let me tell you a bit about THE MEDICAL CODE.

In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in Antwerp, Belgium, Doctor Charlotte Martens receives an urgent late-night call from her friend who is a member of the European Medicines Agency. The next day Charlotte learns that her friend was violently murdered and that she herself is now the prime suspect. Because the police find a baffling code beside the murder victim, Charlotte enlists the help of an investigative journalist. She and the journalist discover that her murdered friend was about to expose a conspiracy of fraud and corruption within the pharma industry involving the government, certain reputable doctors and even the European Medicines Agency.

With both the police and the murderer closing in on them, Charlotte and the journalist must stay alive long to find the hard evidence necessary to bring down a faceless pharma company that will clearly stop at nothing to protect their secret network.

In an exhilarating blend of adventure, cutting wit and actual facts, doctor Charlotte Martens is a controversial figure to appear in the first book of intriguing fact-thrillers, where facts and fiction blur.

You can read the first chapters of The Medical Code  for free on https://sophysmythe.com/blog
or buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/MEDICAL-CODE-Sophy-Smythe/dp/946433231X/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=the+medical+code&qid=1617886961&sr=8-35

Readers who like The Da Vinci Code with all its riddles, will love The Medical Code.

About the author:

Sophy Smythe is like her protagonist, an actual Dutch medical doctor, living in Antwerp. They both love yoga, writing and independent research to keep patients safe. In her previous life, Sophy co-wrote under the name Phia Vermeij a non-fiction book with her mother Sophie van Baarsen  about the secret of how to age and keep fit (with recipes) and a book about how to avoid burnout for managers (both in Dutch). When she is not writing, Sophy is doing yoga, surf peddling with her dog Pepper or playing golf.

What is next?  There is no such thing as coincidence. When I finished this first book in the Charlie Martens, MD, series, two non-fiction stories surfaced, which gave me the ugly facts for the second book in the series.

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Guest Blogger: Maggie Toussaint – Staying in Character

Staying in Character by Maggie Toussaint

When writing a series mystery, writers should strive for all their characters to “stay in character” throughout the series. A deviation in characterization is a red flag for editors and readers alike.

Some writers use programs such as Scrivener to keep track of character traits. I must admit it sounds nice to have a rolling story bible like this, but I’ve always gone old school and made notes in a file about my characters. When I finish one book in the series, I copy the electronic file of characters and move it to the next file folder.

As easy as it is to click over and refer to that folder, I’ve occasionally gone on a tangent without referencing the file because of a muse-insisted-upon situation. That often leads to rewriting, which I have done to either remove the outlier character trait or to find a way to incorporate the new information into her/his persona.

My female protagonist in the Seafood Caper Mysteries, River Holloway, began with a short story. I liked her so much that I created a series around her catering business and her island home. She began as a young woman with a broken heart who reluctantly agrees to cater a function for her ex.

The key to River’s personality is her big heart, family loyalty, her wonderful cooking, her organizational abilities, and professional competence. That’s a lot to start with, but there’s one more thing. She’s good at finding things, which is how she gets drawn into being an amateur sleuth.

In the course of the series, she faces challenges in her business, in her relationship with Pete, in pet ownership, and in solving crimes. With each story she grows more confident in who she is.

In Seas the Day, her childhood friend goes missing and shortly thereafter, his mother is murdered. River draws on her memories and personal network to find answers. She’d love to clear enough from catering to pay the bills, to marry her fiancé, Pete, and to have a baby.

In Spawning Suspicion, River searches for an island playboy’s killer because her brother is accused of his murder. She marries Pete in this book and fights to keep her home. These personal challenges make her dig deep to better define what she’s capable of doing.

And lastly, in Shrimply Dead, River’s veterinarian friend is fatally ambushed in her yard. Between searching for the killer, River expands her business, and for the first time ever makes enough money to pay her a decent salary. So far she has accomplished 2 out of 3 of her series goals, with only conception eluding her.

Keeping a character like River true to herself as she grows and changes builds a bond with the reader and invests them in the story world. That’s what we all want, right? Let’s keep those pages turning!

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Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes cozy and paranormal mysteries, romantic suspense, and dystopian fiction, with more than twenty fiction novels published. A multi-year finalist for Georgia Author of the Year, she’s won Silver Falchions, two different Readers’ Choice awards, and the EPIC Award. She’s past president of Mystery Writers of America-Southeast chapter and an officer of LowCountry Sisters In Crime. She lives in coastal Georgia, where secrets, heritage, and ancient oaks cast long shadows. Visit her at https://maggietoussaint.com/

 

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