Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 20

Guest Blogger: Brenda Whiteside – Where do you begin When Writing a Series?

Where Do You Begin Writing a Series? by Brenda Whiteside

At a recent book signing, I was asked where do you begin when writing a series. The truth is, every writer probably has their own method. I’m in the process of writing my second series. I say process because I learned from writing my first, The Love and Murder Series, that creating a set of linked stories should be a process. Currently, I’m planning three books which will each have their own unique romantic thriller plot, but there will also be an arc for the three books. While each book will leave the reader satisfied with the story, by the end of the third book, the trilogy will reach its own conclusion and satisfy the reader.

When I wrote The Love and Murder Series, I didn’t think that far ahead. There are five books in the series. Each book was a spinoff of the first book, The Art of Love and Murder. While I am happy with how the series turned out, ecstatic with the reviews and readers comments, I had to work a little harder to gel the series in the end because I didn’t think ahead. On the other hand, I had a lot of fun letting the characters from book one demand their own story.

The Power of Love and Murder, book four, came as a result of a minor character in The Art. She was introduced as Penny, but the heroine, Lacy, nicknamed her The Black Fairy because of her penchant for all things black in her clothing. She wore fun stuff, too, such as lace gloves and tiaras. Little did I know when we met her in book one that she was living under an assumed name and feared for her life.

But Penny was only one inspiration for The Power of Love and Murder. Years ago, my brother told us a story of a miserable night in a cheap hotel when he was broke and trying to get from one job to another. As sorry as that story was, we had to laugh. I knew I’d use it someday in a novel. When you read The Power of Love and Murder, you’ll recognize the scene.

Since the holidays are drawing near, The Power of Love and Murder can fit in with holiday reading, too: This Christmas, Penny Spark’s desire to reconnect with family causes her to expose her true identity—a secret she’s hidden for thirteen years from the political powers who murdered her family.

So, where do you begin when writing a series? Decide the kind of series, give some thought to how many books might come out of your ideas, and think ahead. I also keep copious files on each character (everything from eye color to the car they drive), a detailed historical timeline (could even go back a few decades or centuries), location research, event timeline, and any other pertinent files unique to the series.

~~~~~

Brenda Whiteside is the author of suspenseful, action-adventure romance. Mostly. She signed her first book contract in 2009. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have decided they are gypsies at heart. After three years on a small farm in northern Arizona, they retired to their RV to think about their next move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW is fishing, Brenda writes stories of discovery and love entangled with suspense.

Visit Brenda at https://www.brendawhiteside.com

Or on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/BrendaWhites...

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TBR and Chocolates

TBR and Chocolates by Debra H. Goldstein

In the Forrest Gump movie, Forrest explains that his mother often compared life to a box of chocolates because you never know what you were going to get. As the days pass, I not only agree with her, but being honest, I find myself eating through that box of chocolates — and loving every single bite.

My favorite pieces are covered in dark chocolate, but I am an equal opportunity eater, once the dark chocolates are gone, I’m ready for the milk chocolates. I’m not very fond of caramel or those flavored ones that all have the same texture but seem to have been shot with a flavor. But, when push comes to shove, I’ll eat those, too.

When it comes to books, especially those on my TBR pile, my reading tastes are like life and the box of chocolates. There are numerous books by certain authors that sit there waiting to be read and other books that go to the top of my list as would any piece of dark chocolate. Some are literary, some biography, some mystery. All are meant to entertain and sustain me.

And they do.

I only wish I had the time to sit and binge read because I know how satisfied I would be. What about you? Do you read only certain books or is your TBR shelf like a box of chocolates?

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Two Bites Too Many Released Today! – What Else Can I Say?

 

Two Bites Too Many Released Today – What Else Can I Say?

Things are finally looking up for Sarah Blair following her unsavory divorce. Settled into a cozy carriage house with her sassy Siamese cat, RahRah, she has somehow managed to hang on to her law firm receptionist job and – if befriending strays at the local animal shelter counts – lead a thriving social life. For once, Sarah almost has it together more than her enterprising twin, Emily, a professional chef whose efforts to open a gourmet restaurant have hit a real dead end…

When the president of the town bank is murdered after icing Emily’s business plans, all eyes are on the one person who left the scene with blood on her hands – the twins’ sharp-tongued mother, Maybelle. Determined to get her mom off the hook ASAP, Sarah must collect the ingredients of a deadly crime to bring the true culprit to justice.

https://www.amazon.com/Bites-Many-Sarah-Blair-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07MB4779P

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/two-bites-too-many-debra-h-goldstein/1130055243?

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Why I Write the Different Blogs I Write and What That Means for You

Why I Write the Different Blogs I Write and What That Means for You by Debra H. Goldstein

When I started writing, I was told I needed to establish a social media presence. My son helped me get on Facebook, I wrote a short tweet on Twitter, and I created a Linked In profile. I also started this blog, It’s Not Always a Mystery. It’s title encompassed what I hope for the blog to accomplish when it appears every other Monday – letting people learn my ideas and thoughts aren’t always mystery related and that the different guest I feature every month may be a famous author or not, but might be writing something you’d like to read.

A year or so later, I was invited to write a blog for The Stiletto Gang, a group of romance and mystery writers. The diversity of the writers involved, in terms of their backgrounds, thoughts, and writings, intrigued me. Most of the time, but not always, the blog I post on the second Friday of each month has a direct tie-in to writing. I also find the blog we write as a group on the first Wednesday of every month interesting because although we are asked the same question, we invariably answer it differently.

Next came an opportunity to join Writers Who Kill. Although everyone on this blog is a mystery writer, we each address our craft from different genres and perspectives. Our backgrounds color our postings. This blog also works differently than any of the other blogs in that we all put eyes on proposed blogs before they are posted. This results in more polished blogs and gives me insight into my fellow bloggers before I might craft a response to what they’ve written. You can find my posts on Writers Who Kill on the third Monday of each month.

Recently, even though I swore I was writing enough blogs, I joined a new group, Booklovers Bench – Where Readers Are Winners. The tagline for this blog says it all. Not only are there monthly giveaways from this blog, but six seasoned writers alternate writing a weekly “Let’s Talk” column. Often, the “Let’s Talk”columns also offer freebies.

Some people argue that blogs are going out of style (Instagram is preferred by one age group and Facebook by another), but to me they are windows into the soul of authors you might fascinating. That’s why, besides the four blogs I’m associated with, I subscribe to several other ones, too. I’d love to have you follow me on all my blogs – the material on each will always be different. Here are the links to join:

It’s Not Always a Mystery: Blog: https://www.debrahgoldstein.com/blog/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DebraHGoldsteinAuthor

The Stiletto Gang: Blog: https://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/stilettogang/

Writers Who Kill: Blog: https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/

Booklovers Bench: Blog: https://bookloversbench.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bookloversbench

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Guest Blogger: Judy Penz Sheluk – Crossover Characters

Crossover Characters by Judy Penz Sheluk

I love it when an author takes a major character from one book and gives them a small role in another. John Sandford does this to perfection (well, he does everything to perfection) with his Lucas Davenport “Prey” series and Virgil Flowers novels…in fact, his Virgil Flowers series is a spin-off of Prey, which makes it all the more fun when Davenport turns up for a few paragraphs. Michael Connelly masters this equally well, with Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller, among others. Then there’s Tana French, whose Dublin-based detective series cleverly allows a small character in one book to become the lead in another. Sheer brilliance.

I don’t claim to be as gifted as Sandford, Connelly, or French, but I have been influenced by each of them (and many others). And so, when I began writing Skeletons in the Attic, book 1 in my Marketville Mystery series, and my protagonist, Calamity (Callie) Barnstable discovered an antique locket, my thoughts immediately turned to Arabella Carpenter, the protagonist in my Glass Dolphin Mystery series. The Glass Dolphin, you see, is an antiques shop, owned by Arabella, who just so happens to be an old school friend of Callie’s.

Past & Present (book 2 Marketville) is the story of a woman looking for answers about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, who immigrated to Canada from England in 1952 and was murdered in Toronto in 1956. I’d become somewhat obsessed with the TSS Canberra, the ship my recently deceased mother (also Anneliese) came to Canada on, and so my immediate angle was to have the client contact Arabella for any ephemera related to that ship. Sadly, Arabella comes up empty, but she does have a referral to dig into the case: Past & Present Investigations, the company newly formed by her good friend, Callie.

In my most recent release, A Fool’s Journey, Callie is charged with finding a young man named Brandon Colbeck, who disappeared 20 years earlier without a trace. The case takes her on a trail of deception and decade-old secrets, and along the way, vintage tattoo flash (the term used for generic tattoo artwork) becomes an important part of the investigation. This time, not only did I conjure up Arabella, I also included her ex-husband, Levon Larroquette, an antiques picker (who in my head looks like a young “Star is Born” Kris Kristofferson). Not only is Levon a major character in the Glass Dolphin series, in book 2 (A Hole in One), he’s the prime suspect in the murder of his estranged father.

I’m currently working on book 3 of the Glass Dolphin series, expected to release sometime in 2020. So far, Callie hasn’t entered the picture…but it’s early days and anything is possible! Who knows, maybe one of the minor characters in the Marketville series will come along for the ride. In the meantime, here’s a bit about A Fool’s Journey, which just released on Aug. 21 in trade paperback and on Kindle/Kindle Unlimited:

In March 2000, twenty-year-old Brandon Colbeck left home to find himself on a self-proclaimed “fool’s journey.” No one—not friends or family—has seen or heard from him since, until a phone call from a man claiming to be Brandon brings the case back to the forefront. Calamity (Callie) Barnstable and her team at Past & Present Investigations have been hired to find out what happened to Brandon and where he might be. As Callie follows a trail of buried secrets and decades-old deceptions only one thing is certain: whatever the outcome, there is no such thing as closure.

A Fool’s Journey, book 3 in Judy’s Marketville Mystery series, is available in trade paperback at all the usual suspects, and on Kindle.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

~~~~~

Judy Penz Sheluk is the bestselling author of the Glass Dolphin Mystery and Marketville Mystery series, and the editor of The Best Laid Plans: 21 Stories of Mystery & Suspense. Her short stories can be found in several collections. Judy is also a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com.

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Guest Blogger: Angie Gallion – Life Gets in the Way

Life Gets in the Way by Angie Gallion

When I read Debra’s post about best-laid plans sometimes going awry, I could relate. No matter how hard we try, life sometimes gets in the way.

My writing journey has been filled with life getting in the way. I was a big dreamer growing up and I came from a small pond, so I thought I was something. I had a lot of creative interests, art, theater, and writing. I had a solid, supportive family. I had enough drama to carry me several lifetimes. I was very shiny, back then.

When I was twenty-three I was offered a contract on a novel by a small publishing house. I didn’t understand anything about the real world at that point, I was big fish, you see, in that small pond, and I had big dreams. I was already planning my midwest escape and knew that it would be just a matter of stepping into that glittering world and I would turn to gold.

I should have jumped on board and signed that contract.

I didn’t.

For the years I lived in California, I tried to find my fit in the landscape, hitting auditions, going to casting calls, dreaming with a million other girls who had been big fish in small ponds. I wanted to be a star, but I didn’t have the talent, the fortitude, the family connections, or the casting couch mindset. I worked three jobs to support myself and reevaluated my sense of “big fish.”

Still, I had this novel, that somebody had once said was good. I found my way back to it, when I knew for sure I was copper and not gold, and for the next twenty years, I reworked that book. It moved to California then back to the midwest. A couple of times. Finally, it moved to Georgia and about once a year I would work through it, thinking, I had something special here if only I could finish it.

But I didn’t know how it ended and after twenty-odd years, it no longer looked anything like the book I had presented to that small press in Illinois.

In 2016, I became aware of the indie publishing movement and started dreaming again that I could finish this book and see it in print. Then, for once, I would have completed something.

I worked through it one more time, and finally, the end came to me, and I knew it was right. I found an editor who wanted to work with me and within months that much-transformed novel became Intoxic.

Hallelujah. I finally completed something!

It took me twenty-five years and a whole bunch of life getting in the way, but finally, I had accomplished something.

Then an amazing thing happened. I had more to write, and a small group of readers who wanted me to write it. From 2016 through 2019 I completed four more books, three to complete the series begun with Intoxic (Purgus, Icara, Emergent), and a psychological thriller (Off the Dark Ledge) that was a surprise.

 

My current project, which I had hoped to complete in July, is on hold because early in 2019, life got in the way. I’m just hoping it doesn’t take another twenty-five years to figure out how this one ends.

.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Angie Gallion was raised in Illinois and now lives with her husband and their daughters outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Angie writes about complex family relationships and often deals with growth through trauma, addiction, or mental illness. Check out her website: www.angiegallion.com .

 

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I Had the Best Intentions, But … by Debra H. Goldstein

I Had the Best Intentions, But … by Debra H. Goldstein

My goal is for a new It’s Not Always a Mystery blog to appear every other Monday. One blog per month is written by me, while the second is by a guest blogger who I believe you will find interesting. My guest bloggers have included New York Times and USA bestsellers, as well as mid-listers and writers who are about to have a first book published. Although the guest blogs usually have a tie-in to writing, mine vary.

On July 15, 2019, I blew it. For the first time in the years this blog has appeared, I failed to post a blog when it was my turn. My intention was to get a blog up, but life got in the way. My time was eaten up my personal non-writing things. Some were good and some were not, but in the end everything balanced out except the one blog didn’t get written or published.

I should feel guilty, but I don’t. The space still had a fantastic blog by Sue Ann Jaffarian that anyone could read (or re-read).

Instead, I used the time to force myself to step back and take a good luck at what is necessary for balancing the next few months. It was almost overwhelming.

Not only am I on occasional babysitting duty for my newest grandchild, I have two books coming out – on August 6, Harlequin Worldwide Mystery is releasing a paperback edition of Should Have Played Poker (https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/... ) and Two Bites Too Many, the second book in the Sarah Blair series is an October publication from Kensington, but it will be in the stores on September 24 (pre-orders will be delivered then, too …. https://www.amazon.com/Bites-Many-Sar... ), there are several conferences and other speaking engagements coming up, two more short stories dropping, and of course there are the demands necessitated by family obligations. And don’t get me started on the need to work in some exercise and make time to get together with friends.

So, I had the best intentions, but I’m not sorry I missed a blog post. I’ll try to do better in the future. Have you ever had the best intentions, but not quite gotten it done?

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Guest Blogger: Sue Ann Jaffarian – One Writer, Many Roads

One Writer, Many Roads by Sue Ann Jaffarian

When I first met Debra Goldstein, it was in February 2019 at Murder In The Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama. I was one of the guests of honor for the event, and I was just a few weeks into my latest adventure, that of being a nomadic writer. An adventure I call The Novel RV.

On December 31st, after buying a Winnebago Travato Class B RV, selling or giving away most of my belongings, and retiring from my decades-long career as a corporate paralegal, I hit the road full-time. I had been writing mystery novels for nearly twenty years and had several popular series under my belt. The best known are the Odelia Grey mysteries and The Ghost of Granny Apples mysteries. My goal for my post-retirement life was to write full-time while traveling this beautiful country.

I started in Los Angeles, California, and headed east. I had an adventure on my first day by running into a freak snowstorm. There have been several unplanned adventures in the six months I have been on the road. Some have been unpleasant, but most have been fun and exciting. I’ve met some different and interesting people, have checked items off my bucket list, and caught up with old friends. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with many of my long-time readers and some of my writing colleagues.

But am I writing? After all, writers write. The answer is YES! I’m writing a lot. I write most every day. Some days I write for an hour. Most days I write for several hours. In addition to working on novels in my current series, I am working on some new projects. I keep a daily journal on Patreon of my journey, which will eventually become a travel book titled I Sleep Around. I also write articles for Winnebago’s GoLife Blog. Having only written novels and short stories before, I am really enjoying adding more diversity to my writing career.

So where do I write? EVERYWHERE! I have a small table in my van that serves as my “office,” and I have a portable table and camp chair that allows me to write outside. I’ve written at the beach, by lakes, in the desert, and in the mountains. I’ve written in Walmart and truck stop parking lots. I’m writing this at the kitchen table in the home where I am currently house/pet sitting in Utah.

I used to be one of those writers who could only write at my desk, on my laptop, in my apartment. I wouldn’t even write in a coffee shop. Those days are long gone. Now everywhere is my office. Every new town or road my inspiration. Now it’s one writer, many roads. Or maybe that should be: One writer, many opportunities.

One question I am asked often is: “How long do you plan on doing this?”

My answer every time is: “When it stops being fun or I am no longer able to do it.”

One of my favorite quotes, which I have fastened above my galley in my van is: “There will come a day when I can no longer do this. Today is not that day.”

That is true not only of traveling, but of writing.

Today is not that day!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sue Ann Jaffarian is the author of the popular Granny Apples Mysteries and the Odelia Grey mysteries, as well as other novels and short stories. As of January 1, 2019, she became a full-time nomadic writer, traveling the US while living in a Winnebago Travato camper van. She is also a free lance writer for Winnebago’s GoLife Magazine and sought after as a motivational speaker.

 

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Guest Blogger: Lynn Chandler Willis – The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote

The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote

By: Lynn Chandler Willis

In my former life, I owned and published a bi-weekly newspaper. Circulation 15,000, thank you. Not bad for a totally ad-supported paper that covered one incorporated rural town and a couple unincorporated surrounding communities. The paper lasted thirteen years and probably could have gone on a few more but I was tired. I was tired of small-town politics, the neighbor against neighbor, the curses of angry mothers because you misspelled their kid’s name in the Honor Roll report. Or worse, spelled the Mayor’s son’s name correctly in the police report.

The paper did have its bright side and they far outweighed the down sides. I met people I never would have met and was introduced to some of the most amazing experiences – like watching the Hinshaw brothers make homemade maple syrup, meet the Budweiser Clydesdales up close and personal (and they are MASSIVE), and get courted by a guy who brought me a fish. Dead.

The guy kinda had a crush on me and dropped by the office – we’re talking rural community so the office isn’t a skyscraper – and asked me to come outside with him for a minute. He said he had something to give me. I walk outside with him and he reaches into his Coleman cooler in the bed of his truck and pulls out this massive fish. It might have been a bass, I don’t know. It was big, and it was dead. He’d caught it earlier and knew I’d be impressed because I was such a down-home type girl. I told him I couldn’t accept it because my husband might not appreciate it so he took his fish and went home. And no, I wasn’t married.

Then there was the plane crash. A small charter plane went down in a field near our neck of the woods. I head out there dressed for field trials and get right up to the crash site to take pictures. One of the large daily papers showed up but the reporter, in her high heels, couldn’t get anywhere near the site. They ended up using my pictures. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, unless you count the reporter’s ego and sprained ankle.

Often, people would drop by the office for a cup of coffee and some chit-chat, or to offer me a fish, or a photo op. This particular time, an avid outdoorsman wheels up to the office in his heavy-duty truck and rushes in to get me. Bring your camera, I’m instructed. We get outside and he drops the tailgate of his truck and there’s the largest coyote I’ve ever seen. Like the fish, dead. The thing stretched nose to base of tail across the tailgate. Coyotes in our area are considered a nuisance so it’s always open season. And we have had problems with coyotes in the past so people are a bit scared of them ‘round here. So this guy wants me to take a picture for the front page – above the fold – to warn people coyotes are in the area. The problem was, the coyote was dead. With very visible bullet wounds. And blood. I could not run that kind of picture on the front page of a family friendly newspaper. The guy accused me of doing a disservice to the people and their pets and every cat and Yorkie that got attacked by a coyote was on me. I’d have the blood of many small pets on my hands. At least a picture of blood wasn’t going on the front page.

I gave up the newspaper business in real life but write about it in my fiction. Ava Logan of the Ava Logan Mystery Series is – surprise—a small town newspaper publisher struggling with work-life balance, and the brutality of small-town politics. And the occasional murder.

Set deep in the Appalachia Mountains, The second book in the series, Tell Me No Secrets, involves serpent-handling churches, granny women folk healing, and muddy river baptisms. I never covered any of these in my newspaper but I did interview Prince WadaWada DuDu of the Great Zanbini’s Traveling

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The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote

The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote

By: Lynn Chandler Willis

In my former life, I owned and published a bi-weekly newspaper. Circulation 15,000, thank you. Not bad for a totally ad-supported paper that covered one incorporated rural town and a couple unincorporated surrounding communities. The paper lasted thirteen years and probably could have gone on a few more but I was tired. I was tired of small-town politics, the neighbor against neighbor, the curses of angry mothers because you misspelled their kid’s name in the Honor Roll report. Or worse, spelled the Mayor’s son’s name correctly in the police report.

The paper did have its bright side and they far outweighed the down sides. I met people I never would have met and was introduced to some of the most amazing experiences – like watching the Hinshaw brothers make homemade maple syrup, meet the Budweiser Clydesdales up close and personal (and they are MASSIVE), and get courted by a guy who brought me a fish. Dead.

The guy kinda had a crush on me and dropped by the office – we’re talking rural community so the office isn’t a skyscraper – and asked me to come outside with him for a minute. He said he had something to give me. I walk outside with him and he reaches into his Coleman cooler in the bed of his truck and pulls out this massive fish. It might have been a bass, I don’t know. It was big, and it was dead. He’d caught it earlier and knew I’d be impressed because I was such a down-home type girl. I told him I couldn’t accept it because my husband might not appreciate it so he took his fish and went home. And no, I wasn’t married.

Then there was the plane crash. A small charter plane went down in a field near our neck of the woods. I head out there dressed for field trials and get right up to the crash site to take pictures. One of the large daily papers showed up but the reporter, in her high heels, couldn’t get anywhere near the site. They ended up using my pictures. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, unless you count the reporter’s ego and sprained ankle.

Often, people would drop by the office for a cup of coffee and some chit-chat, or to offer me a fish, or a photo op. This particular time, an avid outdoorsman wheels up to the office in his heavy-duty truck and rushes in to get me. Bring your camera, I’m instructed. We get outside and he drops the tailgate of his truck and there’s the largest coyote I’ve ever seen. Like the fish, dead. The thing stretched nose to base of tail across the tailgate. Coyotes in our area are considered a nuisance so it’s always open season. And we have had problems with coyotes in the past so people are a bit scared of them ‘round here. So this guy wants me to take a picture for the front page – above the fold – to warn people coyotes are in the area. The problem was, the coyote was dead. With very visible bullet wounds. And blood. I could not run that kind of picture on the front page of a family friendly newspaper. The guy accused me of doing a disservice to the people and their pets and every cat and Yorkie that got attacked by a coyote was on me. I’d have the blood of many small pets on my hands. At least a picture of blood wasn’t going on the front page.

I gave up the newspaper business in real life but write about it in my fiction. Ava Logan of the Ava Logan Mystery Series is – surprise—a small town newspaper publisher struggling with work-life balance, and the brutality of small-town politics. And the occasional murder.

Set deep in the Appalachia Mountains, The second book in the series, Tell Me No Secrets, involves serpent-handling churches, granny women folk healing, and muddy river baptisms. I never covered any of these in my newspaper but I did interview Prince WadaWada DuDu of the Great Zanbini’s Traveling

The post The Fish, the Plane Crash, and the Coyote appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.