Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 22

December 2, 2018

Guest Blogger: Bryan Gruley – My Road to Fiction

My Road to Fiction by Bryan Gruley


I have wanted to be a novelist for as long as I can remember. I started dreaming about writing chapter books when I was reading Hardy Boys mysteries in second grade. But I didn’t publish my first novel until I was 51 years old.


That was ten years ago. Do I wish I’d started making things up earlier?


Flag me for rationalizing but, looking back, I want to think that things happened the way they should have. The truth is, I never lost sight of my dream. I just took a detour into journalism. Without it, I doubt I ever would have written any serious fiction (wildly assuming, of course, that you consider my made-up stuff serious).


When I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1979, I knew that I wanted to write. I had some fanciful ideas about writing short stories but neither the experience nor discipline to actually put them on paper. A friend of my mother’s gave me the David Halberstam book, The Powers That Be. It glorified journalists who were covering the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the Pentagon Papers. I started applying to small newspapers, finally landing a job at the Brighton Argus, a weekly outside of Detroit.


Thirty years later, I was working at The Wall Street Journal in Washington, D.C., and feeling the itch to try novel-writing. My late pal, the writer Brian Doyle, told me that what I really wanted was to just sign books at my first reading. It was a jab; Doyle didn’t think I was serious about fiction. But I had a decent idea and wrote 25,000 words that my agent didn’t much like. There was a glimmer of hockey in that unfinished tale. My agent said, “Why don’t you write me a story about these middle-aged guys who play hockey in the middle of the night?” I immediately had an idea that would become my first novel, Starvation Lake.


It took me four years to write it. After twenty-six rejections, I had given up on getting that book published and was beginning to think about writing a different one. Then Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint offered me a three-book deal. I was on my way.


Reporting and writing non-fiction taught me a lot that I use to tell my imagined stories: Discipline. Deadlines. Organization. Research. Word economy. Dialogue. Narrative. Observation (not just sight and hearing, but smell and taste and touch). And respect for the wishes of readers who would prefer to have me blow up a car rather than ponder the meaning of life (or, for that matter, hockey).


More important, I spent a lot of years living before I even attempted my debut. Reporting stories gave me an extraordinary opportunity to interact on a deep level with a huge variety of different people on an equally diverse array of subjects. In retrospect, I don’t think there’s any way I could have written a coherent novel with the slightest trace of maturity when I was in my 20s or 30s. Not to mention that I was a little busy helping my wife Pam bring up our three children.


After my first three novels were published, I was starting my newest, Bleak Harbor, when my friend Doyle wrote me another note. “Maybe I am one of the few who can well imagine the thousands of hours of work that led to this – the thousands of pages, the thousands of hours of listening and poking and trying – the thousands of hours of dreaming and then carpentering the dream as best you could,” he wrote. “We wanted to be Writers, and then as we got smarter we wanted to be writers, and we damn well became writers, and this is a salute to the thousands of hours of carpentry.” I treasure those words.


My journalism career is winding down after nearly 39 years. I see that as a chance to crank up the truly fake news of my novels, using all the skills I learned writing non-fiction stories. For the record, I have yet to blow up a car in any of my novels. But I’m writing a new one, so who knows?


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Bryan Gruley is the critically acclaimed author of the crime fiction novel, BLEAK HARBOR (December 1, 2018; Thomas & Mercer), and the Anthony, Barry and Strand Award-winning author of the Starvation Lake mystery trilogy (STARVATION LAKE; THE HANGING TREE; and THE SKELETON BOX). A lifelong journalist, he is now a staff writer for Bloomberg Businessweek and is the recipient of numerous journalism awards including a shared Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks during his tenure with The Wall Street Journal. You can visit him at www.bryangruley.com.


The post Guest Blogger: Bryan Gruley – My Road to Fiction appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on December 02, 2018 22:00

November 18, 2018

Guest Blogger: Angela M. Sanders – What Cozies Are About for Me

What Cozies Are About for Me by Angela M. Sanders


Until recently, I valued cozies as what they aren’t. They aren’t too disturbing or cruel. Even the murders are easy to stomach, especially surrounded by such warm and engaging characters. Cozies allow me to get away from the pain of the real world, which—in my view, anyway—worsens at a scary pace.


Recently, I had one of those “duh” moments, something so obvious that I called at least three friends to talk about it: I read not just to put the real world behind me, but to indulge in my id. Light mysteries are literary cupcakes. They’re packed with pleasure that resonates on a gut level. And, like cupcakes, I can’t get enough.


So, what do I mean by “id”? I mean more than simply the pleasure of a well told story, although that’s great, too. No, I mean all those goofy, wonderful details that fill light mysteries. I mean English manors, secret compartments, girls’ boarding schools, and attics full of Victorian dresses. I mean friendly dogs, mouthwatering scones, covens of protective witches, wise grandmothers, sassy grandmothers, and handsome sheriffs. Mean girls who get their comeuppance. Mousy women who undergo makeovers and become sirens. Bizarre hidden talents.


Then I looked at my own novels and realized I’d instinctively packed them with id. In the five Joanna Hayworth vintage clothing mysteries I have not only loads of beautiful old dresses, I’ve included a hidden stairwell, nuns, carnies, identical twins, possible ghosts, drag queens, old film stars, and many, many icy martinis.


In the Booster Club capers, action centers on a retirement home for petty criminals. (Why this stokes my id, I don’t know, but I love it.) The cast includes an ex-priest getaway driver, a nightclub singer turned blackmailer, a few safe crackers, an art forger, rescued Chihuahuas, and a cook who churns out a five-star beef burgundy in the cafeteria.


In my alter ego Clover Tate’s kite shop mysteries, I couldn’t resist a seaside setting and few big wind storms. I love reading and writing about thunder and lightning. Rock Point’s coffee shop spins jazz albums on the turntable, and the owner makes a fine tuna melt, because—you guessed it—buttery, toasty tuna melts appeal to me at my core. Finally, I adore a good fire, and I’ve burned down a few buildings in my novels at key dramatic moments because of it, including one in a kite shop mystery.


So, I’ve started a list of things that delight me on a gut level, with the hope that they’ll delight readers, too. Paris is on it, and so is a stolen bottle of rare perfume, a stubborn Siamese cat, and a nightclub in Paris’s catacombs. But that’s a story for another time.


What is on your id list? What things, situations, or characters do you always love reading about? Come on, I know at least one of you has a thing for characters with one blue and one brown eye….


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Angela M. Sanders writes the Joanna Hayworth vintage clothing mysteries and the Booster Club capers. As Clover Tate, she’s the author of a series of Kite Shop mysteries set in the coastal town of Rock Point, Oregon. When Angela isn’t at her laptop, she’s rummaging in thrift shops, lounging with a 1930s detective novel, or pontificating about how to make the perfect martini. www.angelamsanders.com.


The post Guest Blogger: Angela M. Sanders – What Cozies Are About for Me appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on November 18, 2018 22:00

Guest Blogger: Angela M. Sanders – What Cozies Are About for Me (click here to leave or read comments)

What Cozies Are About for Me by Angela M. Sanders


Until recently, I valued cozies as what they aren’t. They aren’t too disturbing or cruel. Even the murders are easy to stomach, especially surrounded by such warm and engaging characters. Cozies allow me to get away from the pain of the real world, which—in my view, anyway—worsens at a scary pace.


Recently, I had one of those “duh” moments, something so obvious that I called at least three friends to talk about it: I read not just to put the real world behind me, but to indulge in my id. Light mysteries are literary cupcakes. They’re packed with pleasure that resonates on a gut level. And, like cupcakes, I can’t get enough.


So, what do I mean by “id”? I mean more than simply the pleasure of a well told story, although that’s great, too. No, I mean all those goofy, wonderful details that fill light mysteries. I mean English manors, secret compartments, girls’ boarding schools, and attics full of Victorian dresses. I mean friendly dogs, mouthwatering scones, covens of protective witches, wise grandmothers, sassy grandmothers, and handsome sheriffs. Mean girls who get their comeuppance. Mousy women who undergo makeovers and become sirens. Bizarre hidden talents.


Then I looked at my own novels and realized I’d instinctively packed them with id. In the five Joanna Hayworth vintage clothing mysteries I have not only loads of beautiful old dresses, I’ve included a hidden stairwell, nuns, carnies, identical twins, possible ghosts, drag queens, old film stars, and many, many icy martinis.


In the Booster Club capers, action centers on a retirement home for petty criminals. (Why this stokes my id, I don’t know, but I love it.) The cast includes an ex-priest getaway driver, a nightclub singer turned blackmailer, a few safe crackers, an art forger, rescued Chihuahuas, and a cook who churns out a five-star beef burgundy in the cafeteria.


In my alter ego Clover Tate’s kite shop mysteries, I couldn’t resist a seaside setting and few big wind storms. I love reading and writing about thunder and lightning. Rock Point’s coffee shop spins jazz albums on the turntable, and the owner makes a fine tuna melt, because—you guessed it—buttery, toasty tuna melts appeal to me at my core. Finally, I adore a good fire, and I’ve burned down a few buildings in my novels at key dramatic moments because of it, including one in a kite shop mystery.


So, I’ve started a list of things that delight me on a gut level, with the hope that they’ll delight readers, too. Paris is on it, and so is a stolen bottle of rare perfume, a stubborn Siamese cat, and a nightclub in Paris’s catacombs. But that’s a story for another time.


What is on your id list? What things, situations, or characters do you always love reading about? Come on, I know at least one of you has a thing for characters with one blue and one brown eye….


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Angela M. Sanders writes the Joanna Hayworth vintage clothing mysteries and the Booster Club capers. As Clover Tate, she’s the author of a series of Kite Shop mysteries set in the coastal town of Rock Point, Oregon. When Angela isn’t at her laptop, she’s rummaging in thrift shops, lounging with a 1930s detective novel, or pontificating about how to make the perfect martini. www.angelamsanders.com.


The post Guest Blogger: Angela M. Sanders – What Cozies Are About for Me (click here to leave or read comments) appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on November 18, 2018 22:00

November 4, 2018

Guest Blogger: Lois Winston – An Interview Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series

An Interview With Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series by Lois Winston


Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Some people crave the spotlight. Me? I’m a private person who would prefer to live a quiet middle-class life on my quiet middle-class street in a quiet middle-class suburban New Jersey town. My name is Anastasia Pollack, and I’m the magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth of Lois Winston’s Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series. I suppose I should be honored that I have a series of books written about me, but given that Lois continually drops me into the middle of murder and assorted mayhem, I would have preferred the option of telling her to pick on someone else.


As if that weren’t enough, she also pulled the carpet out from under my comfortable middle-class existence. Before Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, even opened, she killed off my husband. After he dropped dead at a roulette table in Las Vegas I discovered he’d been lying to me for years. He left me in debt equal to the GNP of many a Third World nation and with his loan shark breathing down my neck.


That’s awful! Let’s move on. Tell us about your family:

I have my author to blame for that as well. Without bothering to ask me, she moved my communist mother-in-law and Manifesto, her French bulldog, into my home. (I ask you, who names a dog after a communist treatise? I’ve taken to calling him Mephisto or Devil Dog, more apt monikers for the beast.) My teenage sons had to double up to give the commie a bedroom. That was bad enough, but author Lois Winston also gave me a much-married, self-proclaimed Russian princess for a mother and moved her into my home in-between each of her marriages. Mama came with her own pet, an enormous Persian cat she calls Catherine the Great. Needless to say, Mama and my mother-in-law get along as well as their pets. Luckily, thanks to events that unfolded in A Stitch to Die For, Book 5 in the series, Mama and Catherine the Great are now ensconced in their own condo. However, that doesn’t prevent Mama from constantly dropping in at mealtime.


Any other members of the household?

There’s also Ralph, the Shakespeare-quoting parrot I inherited from my great-aunt. Although he’s good for comic relief, there are days I wish I’d inherited her Royal Doulton china instead.


Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?

I blame it all on a conversation my author’s agent had with an editor several years ago. The editor was looking for crafting-themed cozy mysteries. At the time Lois was a published romance author, but she also worked as a crafts designer for publishers and kit manufacturers. So her agent thought she’d be the perfect writer for such a series. Can you imagine how different my life would be had Lois decided to keep writing romance?


You’ve certainly had it rough. Has your author given you any reason to get out of bed in the morning?

What?!? Avoiding eviction and the fear of ending up living in a cardboard box on the street isn’t enough of a reason to drag my butt to work each morning? However, I do have to admit, Lois isn’t a total sadist. She did allow hunky Zack Barnes to rent the apartment over my garage when she could just as easily have rented to a couple of rowdy college kids. So I do have to thank her for that. Zack and I have developed a relationship that grows with each book in the series. My kids are pushing us to get married, but after the fallout from my first marriage, I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe. Besides, Lois Winston being Lois Winston had to complicate matters. I seriously suspect that along with being a photojournalist, Zack is also a government agent, and the photography gig is merely a cover for his spy work.


Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?

I’ve begged her for some steamy love scenes featuring Zack and me. I know she’s capable of writing them. I’ve read her romances. But she keeps denying my request. She says it’s all about reader expectations and the differences between the romance genre and the mystery genre. In cozy and amateur sleuth mysteries readers are more interested in the solving of the mystery. They don’t want mushy love scenes getting in the way. So Zack and I are limited to the occasional passionate kiss before Lois slams the bedroom door. And she’s made it clear she’ll continue slamming that door.


Is there anything you like about your author’s writing style?

As bad as I have it, thanks to Lois imbuing me with a sense of humor, I’ve been able to survive everything she’s thrown at me—at least so far. Can you imagine what my life would be like if she’d decided to write a series of dark mysteries?


If your story were a movie, who would play you?

Tina Fey, hands down. Publishers Weekly even compared me quite favorably to her Liz Lemon character from 30 Rock in their starred review of the first book in the series.


Tell us about your newest adventure:


Drop Dead Ornaments

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 7


Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday Crafts Fair.


At the fair Anastasia meets Sophie’s father, Shane Lambert, who strikes her as a man with secrets. She also notices a woman eavesdropping on their conversation. Later that evening when the woman turns up dead, Sophie’s father is arrested for her murder.


Alex and Sophie beg Anastasia to find the real killer, but Anastasia has had her fill of dead bodies. She’s also not convinced of Shane’s innocence. Besides, she’s promised younger son Nick she’ll stop risking her life. But how can she say no to Alex?


Buy Links

Amazon https://amzn.to/2MBo1xS

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drop...

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/drop...

Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drop...


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romanticsuspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.


Website: www.loiswinston.com

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter at https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/l...

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-...


 


The post Guest Blogger: Lois Winston – An Interview Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on November 04, 2018 22:00

Guest Blogger: Lois Winston – An Interview Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series (click here to leave or read comments)

An Interview With Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series by Lois Winston


Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Some people crave the spotlight. Me? I’m a private person who would prefer to live a quiet middle-class life on my quiet middle-class street in a quiet middle-class suburban New Jersey town. My name is Anastasia Pollack, and I’m the magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth of Lois Winston’s Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series. I suppose I should be honored that I have a series of books written about me, but given that Lois continually drops me into the middle of murder and assorted mayhem, I would have preferred the option of telling her to pick on someone else.


As if that weren’t enough, she also pulled the carpet out from under my comfortable middle-class existence. Before Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, even opened, she killed off my husband. After he dropped dead at a roulette table in Las Vegas I discovered he’d been lying to me for years. He left me in debt equal to the GNP of many a Third World nation and with his loan shark breathing down my neck.


That’s awful! Let’s move on. Tell us about your family:

I have my author to blame for that as well. Without bothering to ask me, she moved my communist mother-in-law and Manifesto, her French bulldog, into my home. (I ask you, who names a dog after a communist treatise? I’ve taken to calling him Mephisto or Devil Dog, more apt monikers for the beast.) My teenage sons had to double up to give the commie a bedroom. That was bad enough, but author Lois Winston also gave me a much-married, self-proclaimed Russian princess for a mother and moved her into my home in-between each of her marriages. Mama came with her own pet, an enormous Persian cat she calls Catherine the Great. Needless to say, Mama and my mother-in-law get along as well as their pets. Luckily, thanks to events that unfolded in A Stitch to Die For, Book 5 in the series, Mama and Catherine the Great are now ensconced in their own condo. However, that doesn’t prevent Mama from constantly dropping in at mealtime.


Any other members of the household?

There’s also Ralph, the Shakespeare-quoting parrot I inherited from my great-aunt. Although he’s good for comic relief, there are days I wish I’d inherited her Royal Doulton china instead.


Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?

I blame it all on a conversation my author’s agent had with an editor several years ago. The editor was looking for crafting-themed cozy mysteries. At the time Lois was a published romance author, but she also worked as a crafts designer for publishers and kit manufacturers. So her agent thought she’d be the perfect writer for such a series. Can you imagine how different my life would be had Lois decided to keep writing romance?


You’ve certainly had it rough. Has your author given you any reason to get out of bed in the morning?

What?!? Avoiding eviction and the fear of ending up living in a cardboard box on the street isn’t enough of a reason to drag my butt to work each morning? However, I do have to admit, Lois isn’t a total sadist. She did allow hunky Zack Barnes to rent the apartment over my garage when she could just as easily have rented to a couple of rowdy college kids. So I do have to thank her for that. Zack and I have developed a relationship that grows with each book in the series. My kids are pushing us to get married, but after the fallout from my first marriage, I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe. Besides, Lois Winston being Lois Winston had to complicate matters. I seriously suspect that along with being a photojournalist, Zack is also a government agent, and the photography gig is merely a cover for his spy work.


Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?

I’ve begged her for some steamy love scenes featuring Zack and me. I know she’s capable of writing them. I’ve read her romances. But she keeps denying my request. She says it’s all about reader expectations and the differences between the romance genre and the mystery genre. In cozy and amateur sleuth mysteries readers are more interested in the solving of the mystery. They don’t want mushy love scenes getting in the way. So Zack and I are limited to the occasional passionate kiss before Lois slams the bedroom door. And she’s made it clear she’ll continue slamming that door.


Is there anything you like about your author’s writing style?

As bad as I have it, thanks to Lois imbuing me with a sense of humor, I’ve been able to survive everything she’s thrown at me—at least so far. Can you imagine what my life would be like if she’d decided to write a series of dark mysteries?


If your story were a movie, who would play you?

Tina Fey, hands down. Publishers Weekly even compared me quite favorably to her Liz Lemon character from 30 Rock in their starred review of the first book in the series.


Tell us about your newest adventure:


Drop Dead Ornaments

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 7


Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday Crafts Fair.


At the fair Anastasia meets Sophie’s father, Shane Lambert, who strikes her as a man with secrets. She also notices a woman eavesdropping on their conversation. Later that evening when the woman turns up dead, Sophie’s father is arrested for her murder.


Alex and Sophie beg Anastasia to find the real killer, but Anastasia has had her fill of dead bodies. She’s also not convinced of Shane’s innocence. Besides, she’s promised younger son Nick she’ll stop risking her life. But how can she say no to Alex?


Buy Links

Amazon https://amzn.to/2MBo1xS

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drop...

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/drop...

Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drop...


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romanticsuspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.


Website: www.loiswinston.com

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter at https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/l...

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-...


 


The post Guest Blogger: Lois Winston – An Interview Anastasia Pollack of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series (click here to leave or read comments) appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on November 04, 2018 22:00

October 28, 2018

Guest Blogger – Pat H. Broeske: ‘Tis the season to give it up for Frankenstein

‘Tis the season to give it up for Frankenstein by Pat H. Broeske


As a longtime Hollywood journalist with special interest in genre films and TV, I’ve gotten to interview a slew of famous frightmeisters – Vincent Price, Stephen King, George A. Romero, John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis instantly come to mind – so when Debra asked if I might like to contribute to her blog, I said, “Fangs!” Or rather, thanks! See, I couldn’t pass up the chance to give a shout-out to a supernatural mystery character who is a staple of the season, and one of the most compelling literary creations, ever. I’m talkin’ Frankenstein, who this year celebrates his 200th birthday.


Hard to believe that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was just 18 when she and her poet-philosopher companion-BF Percy Shelley (whom she later married), and friends including the poet-politician Lord Byron, famously gathered at Lake Geneva, where they competed to see who could author the scariest saga. Four years later, in 1818, Mary anonymously published “Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.”


(Attesting to the power of the writing “prompt,” another attendee of that soiree, physician John William Polidori, went on to publish the short story “The Vampyre,” the great-granddaddy of vampire literature.)


Over the years Mary Shelley’s life and writings, including essays, short stories and biographies, have been celebrated and analyzed; she herself has been the subject of biographies, even feature films (including a recent dud). But if Mary, daughter of a philosopher and pioneering feminist, remains a woman of intrigue, her legendary creation towers over her. And not just because he’s eight-feet tall.

In fact, Shelley’s Gothic novel doesn’t actually give a specific name to the creature re-animated from dead body parts. The title refers to his scientist-creator. It was only with the passage of time that “the monster” came to be known by his master’s surname. Likewise, interpretations of the story have varied with the decades, during which he has emerged ubiquitous.


He’s been depicted as sensitive and eloquent, as a rampaging killer, as a haunted outcast rejected by his creator. Thanks to those crazies Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, he’s even donned top hat and tails to sing and dance to the irresistible tune, “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” (The latter via 1974’s “Young Frankenstein.”) You can find him and/or references to him in comics, graphic novels, video games, music videos, the toy industry, even breakfast cereals. (Franken-Berry, anyone?) Then there are all the books and short stories starring Frankenstein/Frankensteinian creations. And that’s just a short list. Heck, he’s even a verb! Ever find yourself “Frankenstein-ing” something, to alter its original make-up?


The enduring Frankenstein-fest owes much to Hollywood, and most influentially to Boris Karloff’s affecting performance in the 1931 classic, “Frankenstein.” (You might be surprised to know that the monster’s film debut came years earlier, in a 1910 short film from Thomas Edison starring Charles Ogle.) At an antiquarian book fair held earlier this year in Pasadena, Karloff’s daughter spoke about the fan letters sent to Universal Pictures by kids who identified with Karloff’s creature. “They knew what it was like to want to be accepted,” said Sara Karloff.


Boris Karloff went on to reprise his role in two more films (“Bride of Frankenstein” and “Son of Frankenstein”), while other actors stepped into those giant shoes in subsequent features including “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” Yeah, filmmakers have been decidedly inventive when it comes to re-animating the creature for the screen. Consider: “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein,” “Frankenstein’s Daughter,” “Frankenstein Created Woman,” “Dracula vs. Frankenstein,” the sexy “Flesh for Frankenstein” (aka “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”) and the charming “Frankenweenie,” in which a grief-stricken boy resurrects his dead dog, Sparky. And there are lots more where those came from.


Same with the monster’s many manifestations – too numerous to count – on TV. (Gotta give a nod to the pater familias of “The Munsters.”)


Parodies, satires, romance, serious drama. The big guy has done it all. And he’ll doubtless continue his popular rampage. And to think it all started with a book, and a little inspiration. Who knows, maybe a bolt of lightning was also involved.


***


A Southern California native, Pat H. Broeske is an author-journalist-sometimes TV producer specializing in Hollywood & Crime. She is the co-author (with Peter Harry Brown) of the best-selling biographies, Howard Hughes: The Untold Story and Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley. Her first fiction, the short story “The Fast and the Furriest,” featuring a Hollywood protagonist, was published last year in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Her website is at http://pathbroeske.com/


 


 


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Published on October 28, 2018 23:00

Guest Blogger – Pat H. Broeske: ‘Tis the season to give it up for Frankenstein (click to leave or read comments)

‘Tis the season to give it up for Frankenstein by Pat H. Broeske


As a longtime Hollywood journalist with special interest in genre films and TV, I’ve gotten to interview a slew of famous frightmeisters – Vincent Price, Stephen King, George A. Romero, John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis instantly come to mind – so when Debra asked if I might like to contribute to her blog, I said, “Fangs!” Or rather, thanks! See, I couldn’t pass up the chance to give a shout-out to a supernatural mystery character who is a staple of the season, and one of the most compelling literary creations, ever. I’m talkin’ Frankenstein, who this year celebrates his 200th birthday.


Hard to believe that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was just 18 when she and her poet-philosopher companion-BF Percy Shelley (whom she later married), and friends including the poet-politician Lord Byron, famously gathered at Lake Geneva, where they competed to see who could author the scariest saga. Four years later, in 1818, Mary anonymously published “Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.”


(Attesting to the power of the writing “prompt,” another attendee of that soiree, physician John William Polidori, went on to publish the short story “The Vampyre,” the great-granddaddy of vampire literature.)


Over the years Mary Shelley’s life and writings, including essays, short stories and biographies, have been celebrated and analyzed; she herself has been the subject of biographies, even feature films (including a recent dud). But if Mary, daughter of a philosopher and pioneering feminist, remains a woman of intrigue, her legendary creation towers over her. And not just because he’s eight-feet tall.

In fact, Shelley’s Gothic novel doesn’t actually give a specific name to the creature re-animated from dead body parts. The title refers to his scientist-creator. It was only with the passage of time that “the monster” came to be known by his master’s surname. Likewise, interpretations of the story have varied with the decades, during which he has emerged ubiquitous.


He’s been depicted as sensitive and eloquent, as a rampaging killer, as a haunted outcast rejected by his creator. Thanks to those crazies Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, he’s even donned top hat and tails to sing and dance to the irresistible tune, “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” (The latter via 1974’s “Young Frankenstein.”) You can find him and/or references to him in comics, graphic novels, video games, music videos, the toy industry, even breakfast cereals. (Franken-Berry, anyone?) Then there are all the books and short stories starring Frankenstein/Frankensteinian creations. And that’s just a short list. Heck, he’s even a verb! Ever find yourself “Frankenstein-ing” something, to alter its original make-up?


The enduring Frankenstein-fest owes much to Hollywood, and most influentially to Boris Karloff’s affecting performance in the 1931 classic, “Frankenstein.” (You might be surprised to know that the monster’s film debut came years earlier, in a 1910 short film from Thomas Edison starring Charles Ogle.) At an antiquarian book fair held earlier this year in Pasadena, Karloff’s daughter spoke about the fan letters sent to Universal Pictures by kids who identified with Karloff’s creature. “They knew what it was like to want to be accepted,” said Sara Karloff.


Boris Karloff went on to reprise his role in two more films (“Bride of Frankenstein” and “Son of Frankenstein”), while other actors stepped into those giant shoes in subsequent features including “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” Yeah, filmmakers have been decidedly inventive when it comes to re-animating the creature for the screen. Consider: “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein,” “Frankenstein’s Daughter,” “Frankenstein Created Woman,” “Dracula vs. Frankenstein,” the sexy “Flesh for Frankenstein” (aka “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”) and the charming “Frankenweenie,” in which a grief-stricken boy resurrects his dead dog, Sparky. And there are lots more where those came from.


Same with the monster’s many manifestations – too numerous to count – on TV. (Gotta give a nod to the pater familias of “The Munsters.”)


Parodies, satires, romance, serious drama. The big guy has done it all. And he’ll doubtless continue his popular rampage. And to think it all started with a book, and a little inspiration. Who knows, maybe a bolt of lightning was also involved.


***


A Southern California native, Pat H. Broeske is an author-journalist-sometimes TV producer specializing in Hollywood & Crime. She is the co-author (with Peter Harry Brown) of the best-selling biographies, Howard Hughes: The Untold Story and Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley. Her first fiction, the short story “The Fast and the Furriest,” featuring a Hollywood protagonist, was published last year in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Her website is at http://pathbroeske.com/


 


 


The post Guest Blogger – Pat H. Broeske: ‘Tis the season to give it up for Frankenstein (click to leave or read comments) appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on October 28, 2018 23:00

September 30, 2018

Guest Blogger: Marilyn Levinson – an interview with Carrie Singleton

An Interview with Carrie Singleton by Marilyn Levinson


Carrie, how did you end up living in Clover Ridge, CT?


When I was young, my brother and I spent summers at my father’s family farm outside of Clover Ridge, CT. I had fond memories of those days. After college, I got a degree in library science but never spent more than a year in any one place for the next seven years. I had no sense of home or family. I hadn’t seen my father, who was a thief, in years. My mother, who was never maternal, had remarried and was living in Hollywood with her actor husband. My older brother, whom I adored, had died in a car accident in his early twenties. I was at a low point in my life when I asked my great uncle and aunt, who had sold the farm and were living in a vintage house on the Green in Clover Ridge, if I could stay with them for a while. Aunt Harriet and Uncle Bosco welcomed me into their home.


How did you meet Dylan Avery, your boyfriend?


After I got my new job, I decided it was time I found a place of my own. I answered an advertisement that a cottage was for rent a few miles outside of town. It turned out the cottage was on the Avery property. Dylan lived in the manor house when he was around. His job as an insurance investigator of stolen art and gems had him traveling constantly. It turned out that I knew Dylan when I was little because he used to play with my brother Jordan. Anyway, one thing led to another and we started dating.


How did you manage to snag that wonderful job you have as head of programs and events in the Clover Ridge Library?


I must admit I had some help. My uncle got me my initial job in the library, which wasn’t very satisfying as I wasn’t doing much besides reshelving books. I was thinking of moving on when the person who held the position of head of programs and events had to move to California. Uncle Bosco recommended me to the director. And since I’d had experience arranging programs and events and Uncle Bosco was on the library board, Sally felt obliged to hire me.


How did you meet Evelyn Havers, the ghost that haunts the library?


Evelyn made it her business to be present when Sally offered me the position. I was going to turn it down, but Evelyn instructed me to tell Sally that I’d think about it and let her know my decision the following morning. We got to talking and became fast friends.


How did you find Smoky Joe, the library cat?


Smoky Joe simply showed up outside my cottage one morning. He jumped into my car as I was about to leave for work. I couldn’t leave him in the car all day and so I brought him into the library. He ran into the children’s room and the pre-Ks fell in love with him. Surprisingly, he proved to be a friendly, people-loving cat. Smoky Joe plays a big part in READ AND GONE.


Who is your best friend in the library?


That’s Angela, who works at the circulation desk. Angela was one of the few people who befriended me when I started working in the library. She’s fun and straightforward and tells it like it is.


Who is the person you like the least in the library?


That would be Dorothy Hawkins, the unpleasant reference librarian who is also Evelyn niece. Dorothy is angry because I was given the position of head of programs and events instead of her. She pulled all sorts of nasty pranks on me until I discovered a way of putting an end to her malicious actions once and for all. Still, I know she capable of really bad behavior so I’m always on my guard when I’m around Dorothy.


How did you get mixed up in solving murder mysteries?


A good question. Believe me, I didn’t plan to become an amateur sleuth. Things simply happened. The first time was in DEATH OVERDUE, when a retired detective came to the library to talk about a cold case he believed he finally solved. The poor man died right in front of his audience. I was horrified and feeling guilty about having him come to speak when Sally, my boss, thought we should have canceled. I felt I had to find the person who murdered him. Now in READ AND GONE, my father shows up out of the blue after not seeing me for close to ten years and asks me to help him retrieve his half of a heist that his partner-n-crime, the local jeweler has kept. Naturally, I refuse, but when the jeweler if murdered and my father’s Suspect Number One, I’m obliged to prove him innocent.


What are some of your favorite programs and events that you’ve featured at the library?


I think the Halloween Party in DEATH OVERDUE was a big success, when adults dressed up in costumes, and the special musical programs around the December holidays in READ AND GONE. Some of the old favorites too: current events and book discussions and film presentations. I’m looking forward to our food presentations, too.


 


 


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Published on September 30, 2018 23:00

September 16, 2018

Guest Blogger: Leslie Karst – It’s All About How You Tell the Story

It’s All About How You Tell the Story by Leslie Karst


Like Debra—the host of this fabulous blog—my career before becoming a mystery author was in the legal profession. I spent twenty years as a civil attorney specializing in research and appellate work, which was basically akin to writing a term paper every day of your working life.


It was a job that could be mind-numbingly tedious, yet punctuated by moments of supreme elation. I’d spend hours and hours reading through dusty old legal tomes, searching for case law that supported my argument. And then, when I’d finally discover that perfect published opinion, it was like striking gold.


surrounded by case files and legal pads

But in general, I found the work pretty darn boring. Which is why I retired as soon as I could from the law and turned my sights to writing mystery novels, instead. Because—as we all know—writing fiction is about as far away from drafting legal briefs as can be.


Or is it?


coffee and PB&J sandwiches helped

I was recently asked whether all that writing I did during my years as a research attorney aided me in my subsequent career as a mystery author. My immediate thought was, No way; they’re totally different. But then, when I truly thought about it, I realized that they actually have quite a bit in common.


I think we can all agree that one of the most important components of writing a good mystery is the story: how you set it up, how you place your clues and red herrings, how you characterize your protagonist, suspects, and villain.


Well, the same is true in the law. The purpose of a legal brief is to convince the judge that, based on current law as applied to the facts of your case, you should prevail. Thus, how you set forth the facts of your case in your brief is vitally important.


dry, dusty legal tomes

First, you must decide which facts to include and which to leave out. Of course, there’s the ethical component to consider, i.e., you can’t leave out facts relevant to the case simply because they’re harmful to your client. But the same is true in a mystery novel, where it’s considered unfair to leave out information vital to resolution of the mystery simply because it might make readers more easily guess whodunit.


In addition, legal cases are often won or lost on how you tell the story. Which elements do you emphasize and which do you play down? This is, of course, similar to how one employs red herrings and clues in a mystery novel.


And finally, there’s voice and readability. As with any great novel, the attorney drafting a brief wants the judge to be drawn into the story and truly care about the case.


So on further reflection, my answer is yes, I guess all those years as an attorney did in fact help make me a better mystery author!


Readers: Have any of you had a previous job that you were later surprised to discover ended up making you better at something you now do?


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned at a young age, during boisterous family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. Putting this early education to good use, she now now writes the Sally Solari Mysteries (Dying for a Taste, A Measure of Murder, Death al Fresco), a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California.


Originally from Southern California, Leslie moved north to attend UC Santa Cruz (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs), and after graduation, parlayed her degree in English literature into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock band. Exciting though this life was, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.


For the next twenty years Leslie worked as the research and appellate attorney for Santa Cruz’s largest civil law firm. During this time, she rediscovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in Culinary Arts.


Now retired from the law, Leslie—along and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy—splits her time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai‘i. When not writing, she occupies herself with cooking, reading, singing alto in the local community chorus, gardening, cycling, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock.


Leslie Karst blogs with the Chicks on the Case (https://chicksonthecase.com). To learn more about Leslie and her books, visit her website at lesliekarstauthor.com


 


 


The post Guest Blogger: Leslie Karst – It’s All About How You Tell the Story appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on September 16, 2018 23:00

Guest Blogger: Leslie Karst – It’s All About How You Tell the Story (click to read or leave comments)’

It’s All About How You Tell the Story by Leslie Karst


Like Debra—the host of this fabulous blog—my career before becoming a mystery author was in the legal profession. I spent twenty years as a civil attorney specializing in research and appellate work, which was basically akin to writing a term paper every day of your working life.


It was a job that could be mind-numbingly tedious, yet punctuated by moments of supreme elation. I’d spend hours and hours reading through dusty old legal tomes, searching for case law that supported my argument. And then, when I’d finally discover that perfect published opinion, it was like striking gold.


surrounded by case files and legal pads

But in general, I found the work pretty darn boring. Which is why I retired as soon as I could from the law and turned my sights to writing mystery novels, instead. Because—as we all know—writing fiction is about as far away from drafting legal briefs as can be.


Or is it?


coffee and PB&J sandwiches helped

I was recently asked whether all that writing I did during my years as a research attorney aided me in my subsequent career as a mystery author. My immediate thought was, No way; they’re totally different. But then, when I truly thought about it, I realized that they actually have quite a bit in common.


I think we can all agree that one of the most important components of writing a good mystery is the story: how you set it up, how you place your clues and red herrings, how you characterize your protagonist, suspects, and villain.


Well, the same is true in the law. The purpose of a legal brief is to convince the judge that, based on current law as applied to the facts of your case, you should prevail. Thus, how you set forth the facts of your case in your brief is vitally important.


dry, dusty legal tomes

First, you must decide which facts to include and which to leave out. Of course, there’s the ethical component to consider, i.e., you can’t leave out facts relevant to the case simply because they’re harmful to your client. But the same is true in a mystery novel, where it’s considered unfair to leave out information vital to resolution of the mystery simply because it might make readers more easily guess whodunit.


In addition, legal cases are often won or lost on how you tell the story. Which elements do you emphasize and which do you play down? This is, of course, similar to how one employs red herrings and clues in a mystery novel.


And finally, there’s voice and readability. As with any great novel, the attorney drafting a brief wants the judge to be drawn into the story and truly care about the case.


So on further reflection, my answer is yes, I guess all those years as an attorney did in fact help make me a better mystery author!


Readers: Have any of you had a previous job that you were later surprised to discover ended up making you better at something you now do?


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned at a young age, during boisterous family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. Putting this early education to good use, she now now writes the Sally Solari Mysteries (Dying for a Taste, A Measure of Murder, Death al Fresco), a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California.


Originally from Southern California, Leslie moved north to attend UC Santa Cruz (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs), and after graduation, parlayed her degree in English literature into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock band. Exciting though this life was, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.


For the next twenty years Leslie worked as the research and appellate attorney for Santa Cruz’s largest civil law firm. During this time, she rediscovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in Culinary Arts.


Now retired from the law, Leslie—along and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy—splits her time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai‘i. When not writing, she occupies herself with cooking, reading, singing alto in the local community chorus, gardening, cycling, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock.


Leslie Karst blogs with the Chicks on the Case (https://chicksonthecase.com). To learn more about Leslie and her books, visit her website at lesliekarstauthor.com


 


 


The post Guest Blogger: Leslie Karst – It’s All About How You Tell the Story (click to read or leave comments)’ appeared first on Debra H. Goldstein.

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Published on September 16, 2018 23:00