Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 32

Take the Last Banana by Debra H. Goldstein

Take the Last Banana by Debra H. Goldstein

When a person comes up to me and says he/she has the perfect idea for a book, if only he/she could find the time to write it, I run in the other direction. The same normally holds true when someone offers me an idea for my writing. Recently, I broke that rule. A friend said, ���I have an idea for you. I don���t want a claim on it. You can use it or lose it.���

My curiosity was piqued. This person has a dry sense of humor and from the twinkle in his eye, I knew he felt his suggestion was going to be quite witty. I bit. Holding back a grin, he said, ���Take the last banana.���

Apparently, in preparing to leave the beach, his wife realized there was one last banana to pack up. She admonished him to ���Take the last banana��� and the way she said it amused him. Out of context, it hit me the same way. I don���t know how I���m going to use it yet, but the phrase is simmering on a back burner. At some point, I will come across something in my research or a contest prompt that ���Take the last banana��� will fit into perfectly.

When I wrote the short story, Who Dat? Dat the Indian Chief! for Mardi Gras Murder, the idea of redemption had been floating around my mind for a long time, but it hadn���t fit anywhere. Researching to find a New Orleans flavored story twist, I read articles about the different Mardi Gras parades, Hurricane Katrina, and the various restaurants. A reference to the Mardi Gras Indian parade caught my attention. More research revealed the Mardi Gras Indians were African-America and the parades occurred, but weren���t scheduled. The idea fascinated me and as I worked to figure out when in time to set it and what would motivate a crime, the thoughts of redemption surfaced again. Suddenly, I knew how to associate all of these ideas.

Published in February 2014 as part of the short story anthology, Mardi Gras Murder edited by Sarah Glenn, Who Dat? Dat the Indian Chief! is the perfect example of how my thoughts and ideas can gel. I can���t wait to find a way to use ���Take the last banana.��� Any ideas?

5 Tips for Writing a Good Article or Blog Post by Lourdes Venard

Lourdes Venard

5 Tips for Writing a Good Article or Blog Post by Lourdes Venard

With social media, blogs, author newsletters, online news sites, and more, there���s an overabundance of items to read. If you���re like me, you���re never able to read it all. Some days, I can barely keep up with my email!

So how do you make your item stand out? I���ve been in the newspaper business for 30 years, and I���m editor of First Draft, the newsletter for the Sisters in Crime Guppy chapter. Below are five tips I���ve learned through the years and which you can use, whether you are writing for a blog, a newsletter, or even a Facebook post.

1) Give a promise of advice. Did you notice the title for this article? I purposely picked five points I wanted to touch upon. Telling readers that you are giving them five pointers (or any specific number) is one way to grab the busy reader���s attention. I learned this technique from a marketing professional, but as I thought about it, it���s really a time-honored way of getting people to pay attention. Moses, after all, came down the mountain with 10 very specific commandments.

2) Grab them with your first sentence. This is a lesson from Journalism 101. Journalists call their first sentences the lede, and the idea is to either impart the most important information or have something that will hook the reader. A good lede is golden. One of my favorite crime reporters (who became a crime fiction author) is Edna Buchanan, who wrote for The Miami Herald. She was known for her offbeat ledes, such as the one that topped a story about a drunk ex-con who wanted his food immediately and got into a fight in a Church���s fried-chicken outlet while still at the counter. He was shot and killed by a security guard. Her lede: ���Gary Robinson died hungry.���

3) Write with authority and write what you know. This is one of the first lessons that I learned as a young journalist. Obviously, you need to have all the facts to back up your authority. Once you do, convey to the reader that you know your stuff. Comb your article for ���probably,��� ���maybe,��� ���supposedly,��� and other milquetoast words. The ���write what you know��� part comes before the ���authority.��� A journalist does a lot of reporting, more than what goes into the final product. If you are writing about a new subject, research, research, and research. Don���t make assumptions, and get all your facts. Then write as you know your subject���which you should, at this point.

4) Keep it short. More is not necessarily better. As an editor, one of the things I do most often is trim. Remember, readers don���t have unlimited time. If you have a long article or blog post, they may never reach the end. Strunk and White���s The Element of Style exhorts writers to ���omit needless words.��� This book is one of the slimmest volumes ever written on grammar and good writing, yet it is a classic. The authors certainly took their own advice.

5) Be genuine. There���s a place for blatant self-promotion, but if that���s all you ever do on the Internet, people will notice���and you will get a reputation. Be yourself, share as much about yourself as you are comfortable, and be social���because that���s the idea behind social media, right? I admit, as an introvert, I sometimes struggle with social media. I like posting inspirational sayings on my business Facebook page, but find that people really connect with the personal���photos of my cat (very popular!), the deer in our yard, my family, and food I���ve cooked. People also like personal, self-effacing stories. When a writer whose books I read turns out to be funny, passionate, or offbeat online, I love her all the more���and she doesn���t need to tell me for the 20th time that her new book is out. Believe me, if I like her, I���ll make a point to seek out her newest books.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lourdes Venard has worked at major American newspapers, including The Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Newsday. She is also a freelance book editor, editing both fiction and nonfiction. Her work as a freelance editor spurred her to write Publishing for Beginners: What First-Time Authors Need to Know, an e-book available at Amazon.com

Do You Miss It? by Debra H. Goldstein

DO YOU MISS IT? by Debra H. Goldstein

���Do you miss it?��� Four simple words comprise the question most asked of me in the year since I stepped down from the job I held for twenty-three years and could have stayed in for life. ���Do you miss it?���

My answer always is the same ���No. Well, maybe a little.���

I don���t miss the structured days or the responsibility to be on the bench no matter how I felt because I owed it to the public. I don���t miss some of the petty changes in government that occurred over the years nor do I miss some of the internal office bickering. What I miss are the people.

I miss my daily interaction with people I cared deeply about. Not knowing about their lives, their children, their worries, and their successes or seeing their smiles of satisfaction from quietly serving the public can���t be replaced.

Although I recently lost my mother, 2014 was a magical year for me. The career change I dreamed about actually occurred. Not only was my first novel, Maze in Blue, reissued as a May 2014 selection by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery, but two short stories were included in bound anthologies, six were published either in on-line magazines or print journals, and one was selected to be read aloud on ���Telling Tales with Ms.G���on Alaskan Radio Station W-KTOO. Even more exciting, I���ve already inked contracts for things to be published in 2015 and possibly 2016.

The outgrowth of the publications, whether online, as a conference attendee, at book signings, or when I���m an invited guest speaker has been an opportunity to meet fantastic people. These new relationships, even more than the thrill of seeing my thoughts in print, has been the most satisfying thing to me in 2014. The world of writers and readers has embraced me during the past year ��� and for that I am grateful.

Do I miss what I used to do? A little, but I can honestly say that in 2014, I jumped out of bed every day ready to experience something new. That is a joy for which I can only say ���Thank you.���

Happy Holidays!

Guest Blogger John Scherber – The Artist Turns Detective

The Artist Turns Detective by John Scherber

A lot of people would like to paint, and I’m no exception.  In high school I had a close friend who painted, and I always wondered how well he did with it later in life. I took a run at it myself in those days and bombed badly. Much later I returned to it in a more methodical way and became fairly competent, but I didn’t quit my day job.

What I did learn from painting is that you have to see things differently. There were exercises where, for example, you’d paint a vase upside down. It helped to keep you from thinking of it as a vase––putting a name to it––only seeing the action of light and shadow on the surfaces, which is what you painted. Names come from a different part of the brain and they get in the way.

Later, I wondered whether seeing things differently be any use in solving a crime. My painter character, Paul Zacher, living in Mexico with his historian girlfriend, doesn’t think so when he’s asked to look into a murder by the widow of the victim. He knows he sees the relationships of curves and contours to each other, the different colors within the shadows on human skin. But what would he pick up at a crime scene that the police missed?

That’s the premise of my book, Twenty Centavos, the first of a series of mysteries involving Paul Zacher, his girlfriend Maya Sanchez, and their retired detective friend, Cody Williams. They are mostly set in San Miguel de Allende, a colonial mountain town in the center of México with a large expatriate population. I’ve lived there too for the past seven years.

At thirty-five, Paul is a guy with an irreverent sense of humor who does fairly well as a painter, showing at two galleries, and he likes his life. When the book begins, he is engaged in a series of nudes posed with statues of Mayan Gods against a jungle backdrop. The show he’s preparing for will be called Gods and Goddesses. Getting pulled into a criminal investigation, he finds himself at odds with the local police, and with himself as well, because he sometimes feels like a snoop. As an outgoing guy with an ironic sense of humor, he’s uncomfortable with his new need to be covert and even sneaky at times in order to solve a case.

When I began this book I was on a painting trip, driving down a long curving mountain road outside of Taos, New Mexico, when a scene came to me of a woman coming to pose for a nude portrait at a painter’s studio. She was not an experienced model, but wanted to preserve an image of herself in her prime at the age of twenty-eight. She was also wondering whether it might be fun to engage in a little rendezvous with the painter as well. He was an attractive guy and she knew he liked women.

As it developed, I turned this scene over and over in my mind and virtually memorized it. When I arrived at my hotel in Taos, I immediately sat down at my laptop and wrote it.

Paul Zacher, who already knew he was attracted to his new model, is nonetheless loyal to his Mexican girlfriend. As a painter, he views the naked body as landscape; hills and valleys, outcroppings of bush here and there. But even more, for him the studio is a place of discipline and concentration, and to get involved with a model means chaos. His reaction is complicated by the recollection of an earlier encounter where he had stumbled in the studio. Upon this model’s arrival, a fine misunderstanding follows.

Naturally, solving this case led to others. I found I was already working on the second book of the series, The Fifth Codex, even before I was finished revising Twenty Centavos.

Currently there are twelve published and another in process. They fall into two categories, artifact and relationship. Twenty Centavos is focused on ancient Mayan ceramics, and The Fifth Codex deals with the discovery of a fifth Maya book, where only four had been previously known. The fifth one, Strike Zone, is centered on the recovery of a skull cast from the remaining gold of the Aztecs in the days of the Conquest. These are the artifact books. The ninth concerns an attempt to steal Mexico’s greatest religious treasure, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Brushwork, the third of the series, is about revenge. Daddy’s Girl, Vanishing Act, and Identity Crisis focus on love, loss and greed.

This is a rewarding series to write. I love the backdrop of the upscale expat community in San Miguel, and the continuity and developing relationship of the three core characters. As with so many successful series books, these are the books I myself want to read.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Scherber, a Minnesota native, settled in México in 2007. He is the author of twelve Paul Zacher mysteries, (The Murder in México series), set in the old colonial hill town of San Miguel de Allende, as well as his three award-winning nonfiction accounts of the expatriate experience, San Miguel de Allende: A Place in the Heart, Into the Heart of Mexico: Expatriates Find Themselves Off the Beaten Path, and Living in San Miguel: The Heart of the Matter.  In addition, two volumes of the Townshend Vampire Trilogy have appeared, and a paranormal thriller titled The Devil’s Workshop.

His work is known for its fast pace, irreverent humor, and light-hearted excursions into the worlds of art and antiques––always with an edge of suspense. Neither highbrow nor lowbrow, his books are written as entertainments and dedicated to the fun of reading. While he has acknowledged being no single one of his characters, he also admits to being all of them. Find John on Facebook and Twitter, and visit his website at: http://www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com

Impact of a Move, a Test Passed, a Reception and a New Book

Impact of a Move, a Test Passed, a Reception, and a New Book by Debra H. Goldstein

I planned to write this week’s blog about the recent publication of The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem. I was going to tell you how I still am happy dancing that my story, Thanksgiving in Moderation, was selected for inclusion in the anthology, but then three things happened that put the TKWC blog on the back burner. The three things were my son, Stephen, moved to Denver; his twin sister, Jennifer, passed the Georgia bar; and I attended a Women’s Section of the Birmingham Bar reception at which the Nina Miglionico Paving the Way for Women award was given posthumously to my dear friend Susan Bevill Livingston.

Let me talk about these things in reverse order. As the speeches made at the reception and the award itself signifies, Susan was honored for being a role model and mentor. Her poise, dignity, and humor were all cited as stories were told of how she quietly guided others while still being a star in the legal field.

Shortly after her untimely death last spring, I was asked to speak about her at a luncheon. It was too soon for me to do anything except recite her accomplishments. Stories and memories from our thirty-year friendship abounded but were too raw to share. I couldn’t tell how, because we knew our work caused our time to do things together to be limited, we would annually pick something to co-chair, co-president, or co-participate in to guarantee communication or how we spontaneously would find time for a quick lunch to solve the problems of the world or share our hopes and fears for our respective daughters.

I should have told the story of how when we finished two years as the first co-presidents of a club, it honored us by taking the money normally used for a president’s gift and purchased a single bunk bed in our honor at the Girl Scout camp. Because of Susan’s height, we were sure it had to be a top bunk. What we never decided was which one of us got the head and which the foot of the bed. We did know it would be used to give young women new experiences that, unlike our daughters, they might not otherwise be given an opportunity to explore.

That brings me to Jennifer passing the bar. Four years ago, she decided to attend law school and earn duo J.D. (law) and MBA (business) degrees. She received these degrees in May and sat for the bar exam in July. Other states report the results earlier, but Georgia waits until the last week of October so it wasn’t until this past Friday that Jen learned she was an employable lawyer. This is a good thing as she has a job waiting for her hinged upon passing the bar. She is going to be working for a large law firm. How does this tie in with Susan? Very simply, like many of my friends, Susan mentored her in her career path search.

From my career path, I could tell Jennifer about the corporate world and government, but not about the culture, environment, and application process for big firms. Susan could and generously did. She’d be delighted to know Jen passed the bar and has joined the kind of firm she’ll be practicing with. Susan’s daughter is thriving in college and mine is entering the legal world that seems like only yesterday Susan and I were its newbies. Shortly before she died, we discussed how weird it was to suddenly be on the older end of our profession but how exciting it was to see our daughters poised to go down the roads we once traveled. We noted we didn’t feel like we were ready to retire from learning and living yet, but we could see the baton of energy shifting. Jen’s passing of the bar signifies the passing of far more than an exam. Hip hip hooray.

Finally, Stephen moved to Denver. From his base in Chicago, he already had been doing some work out there part of each month but circumstances made it such that he needed to be there on a more permanent basis. His acceptance of mentoring from his brother and others, the maturing of his work ethic, and his wonderful people skills are all coming together into a pretty neat young man. I’m very proud of the kind of man he is becoming.

I mourn my friend, I cheer my children, and I think for a moment at what page I am in my own life cycle. Who knew a move, the passing of a bar exam, and attending a reception could stimulate so many memories and prayers for what’s left of the future?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Debra H. Goldstein’s debut novel, Maze in Blue, received a 2012 IPPY Award. In addition toThanksgiving in Moderation in The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem, her short stories and essays have appeared in Mardi Gras Murder, It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, The Birmingham Arts Journal, Mysterical-E, Kings River Life (November 1, 2014), Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, MORE Magazine online and http://www.Alalit.com.

Guest Blogger – Connie Campbell Berry: Is A Critique Group Right for You?

Is A Critique Group Right For You? by Connie Campbell Berry

Connie Berry

You’ve spent months alone with your characters. The setting of your novel is more real to you than your hometown. You can quote whole chapters word for word. You laugh and cry at all the right places. But is your manuscript ready to be seen by agents and publishers?

Maybe not.

What you need is feedback. An unbiased take on your dialogue, characterization, and plot flow. Someone to point out lapses in continuity or point of view. Someone to catch the typos your brain automatically corrects. But where can you find unbiased readers who don’t demand your firstborn in payment?

One option is to join a critique group. After belonging to several, here are the top ten things I’ve learned:

1. You can’t write a novel by committee.

Critique groups work best when members feel free to express honest opinions and writers feel free to ignore them. You are the final arbiter of your work.

2. Agree on the guidelines.

Will you meet in person or online? How many pages will you submit? How long will you have to complete critiques? My suggestion is to limit submissions to

fifteen or twenty pages, double-spaced. Two weeks to complete critiques is usually workable. The important thing is to agree in advance.

3. Limit the number in the group.

More than five is probably too many. Critiquing four submissions every two

weeks takes time. Most of us have day jobs and families.

4. Seek a group with relatively similar skills and projects.

Including an inexperienced writer with those more skillful can work, but it can also be frustrating. Critique partners aren’t teachers or editors. And while good writing is good writing, the norms for various genres vary wildly. Would a group of cozy mystery writers really get dystopian fantasy? Would a writer of steamy romances fit into a group writing Christian historical fiction?

5. Share approximate word count in advance.

If three manuscripts fall in the 75,000 to 80,000 range and one is an epic of 250,000 words, you’ve got a problem. Will three of you hang in there with the fourth for several additional months? If manuscripts are dissimilar in length, agree on a plan. Those with shorter manuscripts might agree to post revisions or another WIP.

6. Don’t expect to be told how magnificent you are.

Be open to both positive and negative feedback. If you don’t want an honest

critique, ask your mother to read your manuscript instead.

7. Don’t argue.

Avoid the temptation to defend or explain your work. You’ve made no promises to agree with or use the feedback of others. Asking questions, however, can be very helpful. For example: “Can you tell me why that section didn’t work for you?”

8. Be timely.

Submit on time and finish critiques on time. Period.

9. Include positive feedback.

In addition to pointing out what doesn’t work, tell your critique group partners what you loved: a character finely drawn, a passage you just couldn’t put down, a lovely turn of phrase, the place where you laughed out loud. There is always something positive to say.

10. Give group members the right to opt out.

No explanations necessary.

If you are interested in forming or joining a critique group, find a local chapter of one of the national writers’ organizations like Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and American Christian Fiction Writers. I hooked up with my first critique group through the Guppies, an online chapter of Sisters in Crime, dedicated to helping writers get published.

Attending writers’ conferences and workshops is another great way to meet fellow writers. The critique group I’m in now was formed at Seascape Writers’ Retreat in Connecticut.

Or you can find a group online. Check out these possibilities:

Ladies Who Critique (www.ladieswhocritique.com)

The Critique Circle (www.critiquecircle.com)

The Writer’s Chatroom (www.writerschatroom.com)

Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Connie’s WIP, An Antique Murder, takes place on a fictional resort island in Lake Champlain. Leaf-peepers have come and gone on historic Lanark Island, and the locals gather for the Tartan Ball, the annual end-of-leaf-season gala. Among the invited guests is Ohio antique dealer and young widow, Kate Hamilton. Kate hoped never to return to the island where her husband died. But when his sister, proprietor of the island’s historic inn, claims to be in danger, Kate reluctantly agrees. Then a body turns up, and Kate finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Kate has an alibi, but when the police arrest the gentle, mentally disabled man who tried to save her husband’s life, Kate launches her own investigation. What she uncovers is a secret that will rewrite Lanark’s history. And perhaps Kate’s future.

Like her main character, Connie Campbell Berry grew up in the antiques trade. She and her husband have two sons, a lovely daughter-in-law, and a sweet Shih Tzu named Millie. Connie loves travel, technology, knitting, and mysteries. Her day job is teaching a large, interdenominational Bible study.

Free Prizes – 105 Authors – Bake, Love, Write – Cooking and Me

Free Prizes All Month – 105 Authors – Bake, Love, Write – Cooking and Me by Debra H. Goldstein

Even the words themselves make me tremble. Cooking!?   Cookbook!!!!

There are a few things you can always count on from me:  I shoot straight, I have an emotional side but I’m not touchy-feely, and the kitchen is the last room in the house you’d ever expect to find me in.  So, how is it that my most recent published piece is related to cooking?

In fact, who would ever expect me to be telling you how to cook/bake?  And yet, here I am, one of 105 authors in a cookbook. Bake, Love, Write was the brainchild of author Lois Winston. After noticing how often authors and food go together, Lois invited writers to submit dessert recipes and their thoughts on romance and writing. Somehow, she accepted mine and 104 more  and edited them into a cookbook.

The recipes in Bake, Love, Write are special, often handed down from generation to generation. My chocolate velvet nut pie recipe has a history, too.  I stole it from a friend of my mother’s and added my own nutty twist. Easy and delicious, it epitomizes the smoothness and richness I find in relationships and good writing.

Speaking of relationships, 30+ of the Bake, Love, Write authors have joined together to sponsor a scavenger hunt giving away over 60 prizes as Halloween treats treats to our readers. Like any good scavenger hunt, from now to Halloween, you’ll race to find Halloween icons on our websites and then report your findings to the master site from which prizes will be awarded daily using rafflecopter.

To start, visit Sloan McBride’s blog at http://sloanmcbride.blogspot.com/  for a list of the prizes and authors and to download the answer sheet.  Visit the live websites shown, find the Halloween graphic and then e-mail your answer sheet to sloanmcbride@gmail.com . Remember, the more authors’ websites you visit, the more prizes you can win.

Good luck!   Good eating!

Guest Blogger: Maggie King – Am I a Character in Your Book?

Maggie King

Am I a Character in Your Book? by Maggie King

I’m frequently asked if my characters are based on real people: “Am I in your book?” “Is that woman like your mother?” For the most part, my answer is no. But, as my characters are a hodge-podge of the many “real” people I’ve known over the years, snippets of their experiences wind up on my pages. And it’s inevitable that someone will cry in delight—or displeasure—“That’s me! That’s me she’s writing about.”

I think people expect similarities between myself and Hazel Rose, the amateur sleuth of my debut mystery, Murder at the Book Group. Hazel, born and raised on the East coast, lived in Los Angeles for many years, toiling as a computer programmer. When her fourth husband went on a skiing trip with a sweet young thing and wrapped himself around a tree, he left Hazel well-fixed. That prompted Hazel to pack up and return to the East coast with her fortune and calico cat Shammy in tow. They settled in Richmond, Virginia with Hazel’s cousin Lucy and her cat, Daisy.

With no money worries, Hazel busies herself with volunteer work and eventually tries to pen a romance. But she’s stuck in a rut and can’t work her way out of it. Commitment-phobic after so many failed marriages, she’s in an on-again, off-again (mostly off-again) relationship with Vince, a retired cop.

When Carlene Arness is killed at a book group meeting, Hazel decides to ferret out the killer. She has high-minded ideas about seeking justice—and maybe solving this mystery will help Hazel get her groove back.

Like Hazel, I was born on the east coast, moved to Los Angeles in my twenties, and started my career as a mainframe programmer. Like Hazel, I had a calico named Shammy who did accompany me when I moved back east in 1996 and settled in Richmond, Virginia. Hazel and I share a commitment to the environment, we’re both frugal and unimpressed with the high life.

But Divorce and widowhood have not touched my life—I just celebrated 25 years with my one and only husband. I may get stuck in ruts, but not for long. And, alas, I don’t have Hazel’s “money green” eyes.

But the biggest difference between me and Hazel is this: if I needed to re-purpose my life a murder investigation would not be the method I’d choose. No question about it.

Nope, Hazel is not me.

But “real” people did find their way into Murder at the Book Group.

A case in point is a woman I used to see at a gym in Richmond. I never knew her name or even talked to her except to say “Hi.” She was partial to leopard prints and chartreuse. The last time I saw her she sashayed into the gym sporting chartreuse stiletto boots and a leopard cowgirl, platinum blonde curls cascading down her back. She became Kat Berenger in Murder at the Book Group. As a perk, I gave her a personal trainer job at the same gym.

Jeanette Thacker “reminds” me of a former co-worker. Jeanette doesn’t feel the need to censor her speech. However, her language was much saltier in earlier versions. My editor advised me to ditch the swear words. I contended that certain people swore liberally and I wanted to reflect realistic speaking styles. My editor maintained that Murder at the Book Group was a cozy and that cozy readers objected to swearing. She offered alternatives to convey swearing (“She swore a blue streak”), and included a short list of the okay swear words. If the real Jeanette reads my tome and recognizes herself I think she’ll be pleased but will probably wonder why she’s using words like “frigging.”

Another character is based on a woman with whom I once had an adversarial work relationship. I made her nasty as all get out. But I had a runaway word count and some severe editing was in order. Ms. Nasty got whittled down and, lo and behold, she became quite nice! I’m still scratching my head about that. Do other writers unwittingly transform their characters via literary nip n tuck? Or is writing a vehicle for forgiveness? Someone with savvy in the spiritual realm can weigh in on this question.

As for “A Not So Genteel Murder”, my contribution to the Virginia is for Mysteries anthology— The setting, the Kent-Valentine House in downtown Richmond, was an actual place. And that’s where reality ends and make-believe starts. I have no idea how I came up with that cast of characters (and maybe it’s best if I keep it that way!).

Readers, have you ever “recognized” yourself or someone else in a book? What was it like? Were you pleased? Displeased?

*****

Maggie King’s debut mystery, Murder at the Book Group, comes out December 30, 2014 from Simon and Schuster. She contributed the short story, “A Not So Genteel Murder,” to the Sisters in Crime anthology Virginia is for Mysteries. Maggie is a member of Sisters in Crime and the American Association of University Women. She has worked as a software developer, retail sales manager, and customer service supervisor.

Maggie graduated from Elizabeth Seton College and earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has called New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California home. These days she lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, Glen, and cats, Morris and Olive.

Guest Blogger Debbie Herbert – Crystallizing Your Book Idea … for Paranormal or Any Genre

Debbie Herbert

Crystallizing Your Book Idea . . . for Paranormal or Any Genre

By Debbie Herbert

I love paranormal romance because the possibility of magic tingles my creative drive and curiosity. The speculation that there might be something more to reality than can be perceived through our senses provides a natural “what if” environment writers need to create stories.

Plus – I’ve never outgrown my love of fairytales and mythology!

Not only do I write paranormal romance, my subject matter isn’t of the popular vampire or werewolf variety. I chose to write about mermaids. I’d completed three other novels (as yet still unpublished) before switching to mermaids and landing multiple contracts with Harlequin Nocturne for a series.

It all started with a dream. I was swimming in a deep body of water when I noticed a man dumping something from the side of a boat. Curious, I swam over. The man noticed me and his expression was so evil that it frightened me and I woke up. Like a typical writer, I started asking those ‘what if” questions: what if he were a killer? what if he was dumping a dead body? what if I were a mermaid and he caught me?

And from that one dream, I created a world in which a clan of mermaids secretly lived deep in an Alabama bayou.

Okay, great ideas are had by all writers. How do you begin the whole unwieldy process of stringing together thousands of words into an interesting, coherent story?

We all have our own process. I’m sharing mine today in the hopes it may spur you to try something different that might make it all a little easier or clearer.

My starting point is answering these three questions:

1. What is the HOOK or PREMISE? What makes your book unique? What’s it about? Just write one sentence – the shorter the better.

2. What is the GOOD VERSUS EVIL in my world? I think for paranormal writers, this is important. Are your supernatural beings seeking power or dominance over humans or other creatures? For mystery writers, it may be an evil killer versus potential victims that provides this conflict.

3. What are the STAKES? The stakes are huge in paranormal worlds – it is often no less than world upheaval or human subjugation to supernatural beings.

If I can grasp these, I can go on to develop character and romance ARCS and external and internal conflicts. The questions form my logline and blurb. This is how I start every book. It’s how my brain works. Here are some examples from my books:

1. CHARMS – How can a teenage witch help an immortal on the run from another enemy immortal? Note: In Immortal legends there is already a strong, built-in good versus evil theme. The hook was combining the worlds of witchcraft and immortals. Stakes: Control of immortals and humans by an evil warlock clan.

2. CHANGELING –What happens to a child kidnapped by fairies and raised by them? Good versus Evil is between two warring fairy worlds. Hook is the reverse fairy tale. Stakes – if bad fairies win upcoming battle with good fairies, humans will suffer from bad fairies.

3. FAMILIAR MAGIC – How can a magical cat help an outcast middle grade girl? The evil are the bullies. The Hook is that the book is written from a cat POV. Stakes: character and animal’s happiness and survival in MG school world.

4. SIREN’S SECRET – Hook: What would happen if a mermaid saw a serial killer dumping a body at sea? Good versus Evil – serial killer versus cops. Stakes: Killer could expose mermaid world and endanger their species.

5. SIREN’S TREASURE – What would happen if a mermaid was captured by modern-day pirates? Hook – treasure hunt. Good versus evil – kidnappers versus law enforcement. Stakes: Missing H-bomb captured by American enemies. Stakes: World peace.

6. SIREN’S CALL – What would happen if a siren met a man not affected by her magic? Hook – hidden world of Okwa Nahallo – (Choctaw legend of mermaids in the bayou) and Indian lore. Good versus Evil: Female stalker versus cops. Stakes: Main character’s life and happiness of hero – prevention of future murders.

Once you’ve answered these questions you can go about the nitty gritty details of plotting your book. I’m pretty low tech. I get a posterboard and divide it into 20 sections which represent each chapter. I fill in the turning points and any scenes that have come to mind. I don’t worry about filling every square, I just fill in what I have and GO.

How do you begin your novels? I’d love to hear your process as well!

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Debbie Herbert writes paranormal romance novels reflecting her belief that love, like magic, casts its own spell of enchantment. She’s always been fascinated by magic, romance and gothic stories.

Married and living in Alabama, she roots for the Crimson Tide football team. Unlike the mermaid characters in Siren’s Secret, and Siren’s Treasure, she loves cats and has two spoiled feline companions. When not working on her upcoming books, Debbie enjoys recumbent bicycling with her husband as well as spending time with her two adult sons.

A past Maggie finalist in both Young Adult & Paranormal Romance, she’s a member of the Georgia Romance Writers of America. Debbie has a degree in English (Berry College, GA) and a master’s in Library Studies (University of Alabama).

Connect with Debbie on social media or learn more about her books.

http://www.debbieherbert.com

http://goo.gl/cdgxFT – buy link for Siren’s Secret

http://goo.gl/ymsQdL – buy link for Siren’s Treasure

Twitter: https://twitter.com/debherbertwrit

Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Debbie-Herbert-Author/151793451695632 Debbie Herbert Author

Guest Blogger Teresa Inge – Why Research is the Extra Element in Writing

Author Teresa Inge

Why Research is the Extra Element in Writing by Teresa Inge

I grew up in North Carolina reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Combining my love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and a novel.

I also love it when I research a new story I am writing. Most of the time this means a road trip with my family to the story’s location and most of the time I discover new ideas.

When researching my current story “Wine Country Murder,” my husband and I toured the Williamsburg Winery in Virginia. We elected to do the Reserve Wine Tasting tour, which meant visiting the basement where wines are produced and stored. I took pictures of oak barrels, machinery, and anything else I found pertinent to my research. Soon, the wine was flowing and so were my thoughts. But when a bat flew above our heads, it corked a new story plot. Later, the guide mentioned that bats often fly into their basement. I just never know what I will discover during research.

My family also joined me on a weekend trip to the Cavalier on the Hill hotel in Virginia Beach to research “Guide to Murder,” in Virginia is for Mysteries. As soon as we arrived I combed the grounds where the murder would take place. I took pictures, explored areas not meant for guests, and did lots of snooping!  Since this was a historic hotel, I stumbled across vintage items such as an old sauna that had a large lock strapped across the front. The enormous sauna was tucked in a dark corner on the bottom floor. I could only imagine guests of the 1920′s and 30′s going into the sauna for good health.

We next ventured to the Outerbanks in North Carolina to research a “Milepost Murder.” While driving through Nags Head during a summer storm, I noticed a wobbly street sign. I thought what if I kill a character with a milepost sign. Milepost signs are located throughout the Outerbanks to guide tourists to restaurants, hotels, and businesses. I then based the story on my favorite beach shop in Nags Head, and added a twist by placing a bar next door. My daughter made up the title to complete the story.

Since mystery readers are savvy and intelligent, authors have to conduct Internet research, interviews, and sometimes visit the story’s location to ensure facts are correct. Even though mystery authors write fiction, facts must be real.

Another trip included driving across the Rudy Inlet Bridge in Virginia Beach. I wondered what would happen if a vehicle went over the side. Would it sink? Float? Could a barge fit in the inlet? These questions led to researching “Fishing for Murder,” in the FishNets anthology.

Since I needed answers, I made my way under the bridge and discovered a small barge in the inlet. As I began taking pictures, a homeless woman scurried up the bridge wall and out of sight. I had disturbed her hiding place. Just as I turned, a man on a bicycle with a basket of beer approached me. He asked why I was taking pictures. The situation was daunting but it brought new light to my writing when I discovered an underground of homeless people.

While researching “Shopping for Murder,” in Virginia is for Mysteries, I based the setting on the Great Bridge Shopping Center in Chesapeake. Like most shoppers, I had always pulled into a front parking space and walked into the store. Since a scene in my story required a speeding vehicle behind the center, I drove my car to the back to do my research. Dangerous. Perhaps. But I had to know if a vehicle could fit in the small space.

Since mystery writing can be isolating, I enjoy conducting research since it adds an extra element to my writing process.

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Teresa Inge grew up in North Carolina reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Today she doesn’t carry a rod, like her idol, but she hotrods. She assists two busy

executives and is president of Sisters in Crime, Virginia Beach chapter.

Love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and a novel. Teresa’s published stories include Fishing for Murder in the Fish Nets anthology and Guide to Murder and Shopping for Murder in Virginia is for Mysteries.  Her website is http://www.teresainge.com.