Debra H. Goldstein's Blog, page 5

Shazam! When the Secret Magic Happens by Martha Reed

I’m often asked what compels me to write mysteries. I know I’ve always been interested in crime fiction because that’s the genre I’ve read from a very young age. Devouring the Nancy Drew mysteries quickly evolved into reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, and Dorothy L. Sayer’s aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey and his mystery novelist companion and wife, Harriet Vane.

Why did I cross the threshold from mystery reading enthusiast to mystery author? I hold my beloved grandfather responsible for planting that pernicious seed. He knew I wanted to be a writer. When I was a teenager, we visited a local Barnes & Noble bookstore. He picked up Sue Grafton’s latest alphabet mystery, flipped it open to the author photo on the sleeve, and said: “If she can do it, so can you.”

So here I sit at my laptop, fifty years later with five and half mysteries in two different series under my belt. What a long, strange trip its been.

Looking back with perspective, why do I write? I’ll be brutally honest. It’s not for the money. According to recent Author’s Guild statistics, mystery, thriller, and suspense authors had a median book income of $10,000. When I poll that number to my author friends, most think that’s on the high side, that it’s closer to $5,000 or less. With two mystery series in production, I know I earn enough royalty to pay for my annual mystery convention trips. Generally, I tend to register and attend two or three of those around the country each year. I’m not getting rich, but writing mysteries keeps me busy and gives me a sense of accomplishment. It also gives me a great excuse to travel and catch up with my like-minded friends. That seems like a pretty fair swap to me.

I don’t write for fame although it thrills me when a reader gives my books a starred review or asks for my autograph at a convention. I feel like a rock star for one brief moment before the imposter syndrome comes crashing in and firmly puts me back in my place. If we’re playing true confession, I’ll also admit to the thrill I get when a family member finishes one of my books, looks up in surprise and says: “Seriously. You wrote this?”

The secret reason I love writing mysteries is because ever so rarely creative magic spontaneously happens. I make no claim to knowing how to do it, but it happens often enough to motivate me to keep adding to my current work in progress in case it happens again. Spontaneous creativity is simply the best feeling in the world. What is it? Suddenly, without premeditation or a warning, my storytelling imagination self-connects to a nugget of real time research and BAM. The plotline snaps into place the way a missing jigsaw puzzle piece suddenly pops into sharp focus. Events and characters take on a substance and life of their own. They get real. The story takes off with its own energy and its own tangent and gallops along its own flow like a racehorse returning to the stable. At this point as the author, I’m only along for the ride.

I don’t want to get all woo-woo about this. When I drafted my first novel, this creative spontaneity happened so rarely I chalked it up to pure chance. Now, almost six novels in, I don’t credit coincidence because these magical connections are happening more often. They’ve reached a point where I feel like something omniscient is guiding them to me like a silent partner. As if the story I’m working on is actively working to meet me halfway because the story itself wants to be told.

I’m not the first author to suggest this possibility. At conferences and online podcast interviews, I’ve heard authors say they feel like the story they wrote was channeled through them like water sucked through a straw. In his book On Writing, Stephen King suggested that all stories pre-exist in a common universal consciousness. That authors act more like stenographers than original content creators.

I’m taking the stand that we authors are a bit more proactive on story ownership than that. We put in the time and the effort to hone our craft and explore our creative spaces. We pursue our stories like prey and hunt them down. And if we stay honest and true to our writing talent, we are rewarded. As Sherlock Holmes famously said: “Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot.”

And while we put our heads down and dedicatedly keep typing, we hope: “All will be revealed.”

Martha Reed is a multi-award-winning crime fiction author. Her story, “The Honor Thief”, was included in This Time For Sure, the Anthony Award-winning Bouchercon 2021 anthology. Her initial Crescent City NOLA Mystery, Love Power, won a 2021 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award and features Gigi Pascoe, a transgender sleuth. Up Jumped the Devil, the second NOLA Mystery was released in December 2023. Martha is also the author of the Independent Publisher IPPY Book Award-winning John and Sarah Jarad Nantucket Mystery series. Her short stories and articles have appeared in Pearl, Suspense Magazine, Spinetingler, Mystery Readers Journal, Kings River Life Magazine, Mysterical-e, and in two Sisters in Crime anthologies. Lucky Charms - 12 Crime Tales and Paradise is Deadly - Gripping Tales from the Florida Gulf Coast.

LINKS:

Website: https://www.reedmenow.com/ 

Amazon links:

Nantucket Mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X3DYLBD 

NOLA Mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KY4FW6P?binding=kindle_edition&ref_=ast_author_bsi

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It’s Not Always a Mystery…Even When It Is by Judy Penz Sheluk

You’d think a multi-author anthology titled Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense would only include stories of mystery and suspense. And it does. Kind of. By that I mean, just like Debra’s “It’s Not Always a Mystery” tagline for her website (where it kind of is, but isn’t), several of the stories in the collection are what I’d consider to be non-traditional mysteries. 

As the publisher and editor, culling 80 submissions down to 21 (plus 1 by yours truly) was up to me. Of course, I’ve included a locked room mystery—because who doesn’t like to try and solve a clever locked room mystery? There’s even a Sherlockian-type entry, a couple of ex-cons—one at a casino, one in the hospital—and a tattoo artist drowning in ‘Red Ink.’ An old family Bible and a priceless viola. A scheming boyfriend and a cheating ex-spouse. A robbery gone wrong, and a robbery gone right.

But there are 22 stories, folks. That leaves 11 that I’d consider, if not non-traditional, bordering on it. A kid with a bag he wants to toss into the water on the Staten Island Ferry. A kleptomaniac who can’t control her urge to steal. A teenager who’ll risk everything to retrieve a thrift shop donation, and another who’d like to stop shoplifting, but desperately wants to keep a promise made to her sister. A messy child custody battle. A jilted lover in the Florida Keys. A hit-and-run accident. A python. A parrot. A charismatic uncle. 

Revenge. 

Larceny and last chances. Every author in the collection interpreted the theme in their own unique way. Which begs the question: Just how far would you go if you were faced with your last chance?

About the book: Sometimes it’s about doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s about getting even. Sometimes it’s about taking what you think you deserve. And sometimes, it’s your last, best, chance. Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk and featuring stories by Christina Boufis, John Bukowski, Brenda Chapman, Susan Daly, Wil A. Emerson, Tracy Falenwolfe, Kate Fellowes, Molly Wills Fraser, Gina X. Grant, Karen Grose, Wendy Harrison, Julie Hastrup, Larry M. Keeton, Charlie Kondek, Edward Lodi, Bethany Maines, Gregory Meece, Cate Moyle, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Kevin R. Tipple, and Robert Weibezahl.

Buy Link: www.books2read.com/larceny 

About the editor: Judy Penz Sheluk is a former journalist and magazine editor and the bestselling author of two mystery series, several short stories, and two books on publishing. She is also the publisher and editor of four Superior Shores Anthologies. Find out more at www.judypenzsheluk.com.

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The Big, White Hotel Calling My Name by Kathleen Kaska

The Luther Hotel is located on the Texas Gulf Coast in the small town of Palacios. You can walk out the front door across a lush, green lagoon and, a few seconds later, have your feet in the water. 

In 1999, my husband and I hugged the coastline from Rockport to Galveston. When we drove through Palacios, the glittered water of the Gulf of Mexico and the shorebirds and wading birds held our attention. Not once did we turn our heads to the left to check out what was on the other side of the road. We repeated the trip a few months later, and that’s when we noticed the white wooden three-story hotel. How could we have missed it the first time? At the time, I was piecing together Murder at the Arlington and had the Galvez Hotel on my list as a future setting for the series. But this big, white hotel wouldn’t leave me alone. On that second trip, we met innkeepers Billy and Dolly Hamlin, who were living at the hotel and running it for Dolly’s cousin, Clare Joy. 

Billy showed us every nook and cranny, boasting of the hotel’s intriguing history. Before we left, we had reservations for the next month. This time, Billy put us in the La Salle suite on the third floor because even after two trips, Billy told us we were family. Once, I attempted to calculate the total number of nights we stayed at the Luther, and I came up with close to fifty. The Luther Hotel was our home on the coast. The La Salle suite was our room. 

Since my husband is an early riser, Billy taught him how to set up the breakfast room and make coffee in the huge urn. On a few occasions, Lloyd went to the local supermarket to pick up the hotel’s standing order of donuts and sweet rolls, which were part of the breakfast included in a night’s stay.

A year later, I told the Hamlins I was working on Murder at the Luther. They were ecstatic. A lot has occurred between that announcement and the book’s release. Billy and Dolly retired, and Clare Joy passed away, leaving the hotel to Jack, who was living near Houston. Another family cousin ran the hotel. When the book was released, I contacted the local bookstore, Main Street Books, scheduled a book signing, and I made reservations for several nights at the Luther. To my surprise, Jack came for the weekend to meet me and attend the event. I arrived the day before and went into the bookstore to meet the owner, Jan Pierce. She asked if I had any copies of the book with me. Panic set in. I thought it was understood that she would order books from my publisher to have on hand. She assured me that she had ordered several boxes, but she’d already sold out. I brought her the few copies I had, and we took orders for several more. It was one of the most successful book signing I’d ever had. Jan told me my signing was more successful than Liz Carpenter’s when she was there promoting her book. Carpenter was the executive assistant for LBJ and later Lady Bird’s press secretary.

After the event, Jack hosted a wine and cheese reception for me at the hotel and presented me with flowers. Jack and I became good friends, and he soon moved to Palacios to take over running the hotel himself. Sadly, Jack passed away in 2020, and the future of the Luther Hotel was destined for the wrecking ball. As of this writing, the Luther is closed but still standing. The story of the hotel’s possible demise and its stay of execution is one that could easily find its way to the big screen. The save-the-farm movies of the 1990s pale in comparison to the true-life story of the locals who rallied to save the Luther Hotel. The Luther is in the early stages of remodeling. As soon as the vacancy sign is up, I’m booking a long stay in the La Salle suite, a room Jack often referred to as the room where Sydney Lockhart stayed when she solved the murder in the mystery Murder at the Luther. 

Released day: September 29, 2024. 

Now available for pre-order

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All I Know is What I Read in the Papers by Mary Dutta

Audiences have a seemingly endless appetite for ripped-from-the-headlines plots, as thirty years and multiple iterations of the Law & Order franchise will attest. A faux newspaper headline even features in the opening credits of Law & Order: SVU, in case viewers missed the point.

These shows typically open with an incident reminiscent of a notorious crime, but the writers then tell a story of their own devising, featuring the series’ established characters, and delivering a neat ending that might ultimately bear little resemblance to the way events actually played out.

Headlines have inspired many of my own mystery stories as well, but curiously it’s never the crime stories that catch my interest. For instance, a spate of stories about Harry Styles, the singer/actor who rose to fame in the boy band One Direction, made me wonder about his old bandmates. How do they feel about the meteoric rise that left them all behind? For that matter, how do the aging members of NSYNC feel about the fabulous solo success of Justin Timberlake?

My story “The Boyz in the Band,” in the forthcoming Bouchercon conference anthology Tales of Music Murder and Mayhem, explores how those left-behind band members might view the one among them who made it big. How far will they go in trying to capitalize on that former bandmate’s success?

“The Grift of the Magi,” which appeared in the anthology Hook, Line and Sinker, tells the story of the escalating squabbles over a valuable painting owned by a divorcing couple. It has its origins in a news story about the spectacular art collection a billionaire and his wife were compelled to sell off to settle their acrimonious divorce.

And my story “The Wonderworker,” which won the New England Crime Bake Al Blanchard award for best short crime fiction, was inspired by the breathless news coverage of the famous and/or wealthy parents who bought their children’s way into selective universities in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. In my telling, a similarly scheming father will do anything to hire the one wonderworking admissions consultant who can guarantee his child a place at Harvard.

Usually, by the time my stories make it into print the news items that inspired them are no longer front-page fodder. But the human experiences and emotions that inform them, making them newsworthy in the first place, remain. We may never have been famous, but we understand envying others’ success. Maybe we’re not billionaires, but breaking up can be very hard to do, especially when money is involved. And presumably we all want what’s best for our kids, even if we don’t choose problematic means to achieve it. 

Will Rogers famously said “All I know is what I read in the papers.” I hope he read beyond the headlines, because there are a lot of stories waiting there to be told. 

Mary Dutta is the winner of the New England Crime Bake Al Blanchard Award for her short story “The Wonderworker,” which appears in Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories. Her work can also be found in numerous anthologies including the Anthony-nominated Land of 10,000 Thrills: Bouchercon Anthology 2022. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She lives outside of Birmingham, Alabama (the Magic City) and teaches at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Visit her at marydutta.com and enjoy her blog at Writers Who Kill.

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Disturbing the Universe by Susan Van Kirk

The third and final book of my Art Center Mysteries just came out, and it is designed to end a three-book set. I’d never designed a series with a specific length before, and these three books create an entire story that begins with Death in a Pale Hue, continues through Death in a Bygone Hue, and concludes with Death in a Ghostly Hue. All three have a protagonist, Jill Madison, an oil painter who returns home to her small Midwest town of Apple Grove to run an art center named for her famous sculptor mother. Each book follows her family—she has two polar-opposite brothers—and each has a theme. Family, second chances, and forgiveness are the three themes. So far, so good. But despite this attention to organization, I had the age-old problem of where to start each of these books. “The place to start” is a tough decision, and authors get better at answering this as they practice their craft.

A great start needs to keep the reader reading. A “hook” is what does that. A writer must design an early event that will disturb the main character’s universe. In mystery publisher parlance, “have the dead body drop as soon as possible.” So, if not a body, at least disturb the universe. Let’s consider the humble hook for now.

Here are the hooks in my trilogy, without any spoilers, of course.

Death in a Pale Hue introduces the Madison family, but when it opens, Jill is rushing across town in the back seat of a police car. She’s just started her job as the executive director of the Adele Marsden Center for the Arts, and someone has stolen a priceless statue created by Jill’s mother. How did they get in? Why didn’t the alarm work? Does the insurance cover the whole cost of such an important piece of artwork? Will Jill be fired from her job? While we are contemplating these questions along with Jill, workers come to do renovation work and find a body buried in the basement. Worse yet, it was someone Jill knew…well.

Have I hooked you yet?

My editor is always saying “don’t wait until chapter four or five to drop the body.” I pleased her enormously when the dead body appeared in chapter one of Death in a Bygone Hue. The reader has met Judge Ron Spivey in Book One, and remembers he is a retired judge who is treasurer of the art center board. More importantly, he is an old family friend and mentor to Jill. When she goes to his house for their scheduled lunch, she finds him dead on his office floor. Talk about a shock! Everyone loved Judge Spivey, well everyone but the last person who saw him alive. And we soon find out he left his children out of the will for his enormous estate and named Jill and the art center instead. This immediately puts a target on Jill’s back, because if she doesn’t survive the probate period, his nasty children will reap the millions.

Now, are you hooked?

Finally, the newest and last book of the trilogy, Death in a Ghostly Hue. Throughout the series, the Madison parents are a lingering presence. Seven years earlier, they died in a car crash with a man who was driving drunk. The three adult Madison children have struggled to put their lives back together in the wake of that tragedy. In chapter one, who should return home after seven years in prison but the very man who killed them? He shows up at Jill’s art center and informs her he plans to stay in Apple Grove. It’s his home. Quinn Parsons not only killed the Madison parents in this accident, but also one of his friends, and he put another friend in a wheelchair for life. 

Would you like to take any bets on how long he lasts with so many people who aren’t thinking about forgiveness?

One of my earliest lessons as a writer was to learn when and where to start my story. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S. Eliot asked: “Do I dare disturb the universe?” 

Heck yes, if you’re a mystery writer. And do it soon.

Susan is kindly giving away a paperback copy of the newest book to a lucky commenter (US only). She will check names and comments through August 7 for the giveaway. In your comment, please include your email address. 

Her books can be purchased at:

Amazon:  https://tinyurl.com/3du9vh5c

Bookshop.org  https://tinyurl.com/mvvsmdbk

Susan Van Kirk is a Midwest writer, living in downstate Illinois. Her writings include the Endurance Mysteries, a smalltown series republished by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery. A Death at Tippitt Pond is a standalone mystery. Her Art Center series includes Death in a Pale Hue, Death in a Bygone Hue, and Death in a Ghostly Hue. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and is Past President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Her website and blog are at http://www.susanvankirk.com .

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Button-Pushing Characters by Lois Winston

I’m currently reading a book about a less-than-likable protagonist. If I were reading it for pleasure, I would have stopped by now, but I had agreed to review the book. I will plow ahead, hoping the protagonist eventually sees the error of her ways and miraculously develops some much-needed empathy. However, since I’m three-quarters of the way through, it’s not looking good.

The last few years have seen a surge in novels featuring unlikable female protagonists, also known as antiheroes. I think it possibly began with Gone Girl. When the publishing industry sees a book take off, they tend to glut the market with similar plots and/or characters.

I’m not saying that every character in a book should be likeable. But for those of us who read to escape, we do tend to want to like the protagonists of the books we read. If the protagonist starts off with irritating flaws, that’s okay, as long as she experiences character growth throughout the book and ends up overcoming at least most of her shortcomings. As a reader, I crave happy endings, especially these days, with what’s going on in the world.

Unlikeable characters often push readers’ buttons. They cause conflict in our protagonists’ lives. However, they’re a necessary part of most stories, especially in mysteries where the antagonists are rarely, if ever, likeable. How often have you read a mystery that ended with a likeable character unmasked as the murderer?

However, books are more than just the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist. They’re populated with many secondary characters, some likeable and some far from likeable. This adds layering to stories. Mystery should be about more than the sleuth discovering whodunit. Otherwise, the story will read like a police report.

A sleuth shouldn’t live in a vacuum. She needs to interact with family and friends. Rarely are all the people in our own lives likeable. So why should that be any different for the protagonist? Characters need goals, motivations, and conflicts. Conflicts between coworkers, neighbors, and relatives not only add dimension to mysteries, but they often provide red herrings.

In my humorous Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, I have several unlikable characters who push both my protagonist’s and my readers’ buttons. Some readers would like nothing better than to have me kill off these characters, but for the most part, they’re the characters my readers love to hate. This is because along with pushing readers’ buttons, they provide comic relief. 

This is especially true of both my sleuth’s mother and mother-in-law. Anastasia’s mother-in-law is a diehard communist and leader of the octogenarian Daughters of the October Revolution. Her mother claims descent from Russian nobility and is social secretary of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Sparks fly in the Pollack household whenever those two are under the same roof—which, unfortunately, is far more often than Anastasia would prefer.

I’ve always been drawn to quirky characters, and I often base my characters on people I’ve known. Usually, I take traits from various people, exaggerating them, and blending them together to create the unique characters that fill the pages of my books. Most people aren’t as quirky in real life as they are on the printed page. 

The exception is Anastasia’s mother-in-law. With a few minor differences, Lucille Pollack’s personality (along with her communist leanings) mirror that of my deceased mother-in-law. Love her or hate her, Lucille pushes readers’ buttons, and that’s a good thing. As an author, I always want the characters in my books to stir emotions in my readers.

Sorry, Knot Sorry is the thirteenth and latest book in my series, and ofcourse, you’ll find some quirky characters. Will any of them push your buttons? I’d love to hear from you after you’ve read the book.

Meanwhile, post a comment telling me some of the things that push your buttons in either fiction or real life, and you’ll have a chance to win a promo code for a free download of any one of the first ten audiobooks in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

Sorry, Knot Sorry

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 13

Magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack may finally be able to pay off the remaining debt she found herself saddled with when her duplicitous first husband dropped dead in a Las Vegas casino. But as Anastasia has discovered, nothing in her life is ever straightforward. Strings are always attached. Thanks to the success of an unauthorized true crime podcast, a television production company wants to option her life—warts and all—as a reluctant amateur sleuth. 

Is such exposure worth a clean financial slate? Anastasia isn’t sure, but at the same time, rumors are flying about layoffs at the office. Whether she wants national exposure or not, Anastasia may be forced to sign on the dotted line to keep from standing in the unemployment line. But the dead bodies keep coming, and they’re not in the script.

Craft tips included.

Find Buy Links at https://www.loiswinston.com/sorry-knot-sorry. 

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. 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. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

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Why a Story or Idea is Never a One and Done Deal by Debra H. Goldstein

Usually, I introduce you to writers you might not otherwise know through my blog. This time, I’m going to tell you a personal secret that it often takes authors a few years to realize: a story or idea is never a one and done deal. They can often be recycled in numerous ways.

For example, the first story I ever had published, “Malicious Mischief,” featured a young married male lawyer, his mother, the players in his mother’s Mah Jongg game, and a former Nazi. The story won an award. A year later, a different version of the story and characters won another award. Four years later, when I was writing Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery, I realized that the main character, Carrie Martin, was going to have a complex back story. To balance the serious nature of her character for readers, I needed to introduce some form of comic relief. I tried different sidekicks, but nothing felt right. That’s when I remembered my favorite “Malicious Mischief” Mah Jongg players. Their revival became the perfect foil for Carrie.

In 2015, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable published my short story, “This Is Where I Buried My Wives.” The idea for it came from TV commercials for a dating service that had people seeking mates to enjoy a farm related life. The emphasis wasn’t on the meet-up, but what happened after the characters were building a relationship. It was a fun story to write, but nothing I intended to visit again. Then, last year, Tough Magazine announced a call for rural stories, and they were willing to take reprints. “This Is Where I Buried My Wives” seemed perfect – it was in the word count, the theme was what they were looking for, and the story was a bit different than what I thought most of the submissions would be. I sent it in. It was accepted and run. Not only was it nice to have a story find a second home, but getting a check for the tale again was also pleasing.

This month, issue 152 of Black Cat Magazine Weekly (which should publish on July 28) should feature a Barb Goffman reprint selection of “Harvey and the Red-Head.” The story was originally published in 2019 in an anthology of Texas related stories, The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle. I can’t tell you how excited I was when Barb contacted me that she wanted to republish the story. This means that new eyes will see my work. Once again, the premise of a piece not being a one and done deal will be proven true.

Finally, I recently signed a contract for publication of a collection of many of my early short stories. Watch my website, https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com, for more details. The book, with multiple tales, will underscore that a story or idea doesn’t fade away after being birthed into the world.

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Where Do You Get Your Ideas and How Do You Organize Them? by Heather Weidner

I am often asked about where my ideas for stories come from. Generating ideas has never been a problem. Finding the time to use all of them is usually the issue. Ideas are everywhere, but keeping track of them is also a challenge. 

My laptop bag and purse are full of sticky notes of all kinds of names, crimes, and murder weapons. Sometimes, they look like a deadly grocery list. 

I constantly jot down cool names, interesting words, weird anecdotes, and funny stories. When I run across interesting news stories, I save the link or the clipping. I write cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths, so I’m always looking for everyday items that can be used as weapons. Hardware stores, auto supply stores, and cookware stores are always good sources of deadly items. When I see something new or interesting, it goes on the list.People know that I write, and they are so kind to tell me about interesting true crime stories or things that happened to them.Sometimes, ideas come from movies, TV shows, classes, workshops, documentaries, or overheard conversations. I make sure to update my notes and add any subject matter expert contacts to my list.

I needed a way to keep my notes organized, and a file folder didn’t work with all the scraps of paper. I channeled my technical writing and project management backgrounds and created a spreadsheet. One column has the category (e.g. story idea, cool names, contact information for subject matter experts, story location, and interesting slang.), so I can sort my list. I add notes and brief descriptions of where it came from for my acknowledgements. 

This gives me one centralized location where I transcribe all those bits of paper. If I use one in a story, I make a note, so I don’t repeat it elsewhere. My spreadsheet has grown over the years, and this is a good way for me to keep bits of information for use later. When I get ready to write something new, I browse my collection of ideas. 

How do you do to keep your ideas organized?

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, and First Come Love, Then Comes Murder, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers, and she blogs with the 

Writers Who Kill. 

Website and Blog: http://www.heatherweidner.com
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/ 
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8121854.Heather_Weidner 
Amazon Authors: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HOYR0MQ
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-weidner-d6430278-c5c9-4b10-b911-340828fc7003 
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@heather_mystery_writer

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The End: Wrapping Up a Story by Dianna Sinovic

When you sit down to write a short story, do you have the ending in mind? Or do you let the story unroll and discover where it’s going only when you get there?

Endings are my biggest challenge, and I suspect a major challenge for many writers. I have rewritten endings time and again, each draft moving the needle a little closer to what finally works.

At a recent writers conference, one panel, led by Rachel A. Brune of Crone Girls Press, focused on tips for “sticking the ending.” I’ll share some of what they said, as well as what others advise.

One panelist noted that the ending is especially crucial in a short story because it shows the reader that they haven’t been wasting their time. On the other hand, a novel may suffer less with a weak ending because the reader is more willing to forgive if the rest of the book is solid. (Not that you want a weak ending for your novel!)

Another panelist suggested thinking of a short story as a conversation with the reader. In an actual conversation, it would be rude to just walk away, so don’t do that with a story by leaving the reader hanging.

And a third panelist advised reading the ending of the story and then the beginning to see if they connect (they should). If they don’t, then it’s time for further revision.

In a post on Writers Digest, author Garnett Kilberg Cohen offered other tips about story endings. 

Cohen advises writing the ending in a way that suggests the story isn’t really over, or that creates a mood or idea about what might happen next. Although in a novel, the expectation is that the main character will undergo a transformation by the book’s end, the limited word count in a short story may not realistically allow that. 

Endings can be classified in several ways, according to Master Class:

The resolved ending. Everything is wrapped up by the end, although that doesn’t mean the ending is a “happily-ever-after” one.The unresolved ending. This is more common in a book series, to carry the story forward to the next book.The unexpected ending. This is usually called the twist, but such an ending must be set up with clues or your reader may feel cheated. A twist, according to the conference panelists, must lead the story to make more sense.The expanded ending. This is often done in long form as an epilogue and can jump forward in time.The ambiguous ending. This is an ending that’s open to different interpretations.The tied ending. This ending loops the story back to its beginnings.

On LitHub, author Allegra Hyde argues that paying attention to time can help you craft a strong ending that resonates with the reader. You can do this in one of three ways:

Through flashback – the ending looks back at some relevant point in timeThrough present story time – the ending maintains the same chronological line of the storyOr through future time – the ending looks forward beyond the story

Whichever ending type or advice you use, keep in mind that your first draft of an ending is often the easiest approach. For a stronger finale, consider writing several alternative endings to see which one may work better as the last word.

Dianna Sinovic is an author, certified book coach, and editor based in southeastern Pennsylvania. She writes short stories in several genres, including mystery, horror, paranormal, and speculative fiction, and has been published in a number of anthologies. Her flash fiction appears monthly on the blog A Slice of Orange. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Horror Writers Association, and the Bethlehem Writers Group. Her website is www.dianna-sinovic.com.

The post The End: Wrapping Up a Story by Dianna Sinovic first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

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The Writer as a Mollusk by Molly MacRae

My last guest post for Debra’s blog was about being a vagabond writer—one who likes the adventure of taking her characters from town to town or starting over with new stories in new locations. I’ve set stories in towns from the east coast to the west and especially in one place between the two—northeast Tennessee. I also hopped the Atlantic to set stories in the Scottish Highlands. I’m partial to the Tennessee and Scottish settings because I lived in both places and love them. The stories are my way of stopping by for a visit. 

Now I’m on the road again. My new series, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, takes place on Ocracoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. I’ve never lived in Ocracoke, but my family and I have taken the ferry there many times starting in 1979. Again, I love the place, and this is my way of getting there more often than I can in real life. 

What do mollusks have to do with any of this? Mollusks are the amazing creatures who create the seashells that people have, for at least 160,000 years, collected to use for money, food, tools, ornaments, and for the sheer pleasure of holding something so astonishing in their hands. Maureen Nash, main character in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, is a  scientist who studies mollusks. Her focus is freshwater mussels, but in Come Shell or High Water, book one in the new series, she’s in Ocracoke to find out why the guy who owns the shell shop there has been writing intriguing but scammy-sounding letters to her late husband. 

How are writers like mollusks? Both creatures create something that attracts strangers—stories and shells. A shell is the mollusk’s skeleton. An outline or first draft is the writer’s skeleton for their story. For some, writing a novel goes at a snail’s pace. Who else is slow? Actual snails. Land and sea snails are mollusks. Some types of mollusks create shells with elaborate shapes and beautiful symmetry. Writers, mystery writers in particular, create elaborate plots, and there’s satisfaction in the symmetry of a story where a crime disrupts a peaceful community, an investigation follows, and order is restored.  

Not all mollusks create seashells. Octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish, for instance, are mollusks that don’t. They do have ink, though. So do writers. And think about the people who write while also raising a family and working full-time, and those who write multiple books a year. Can’t you picture them as octopuses with their arms conducting business meetings, stirring something on the stove for supper, reading bedtime stories, folding laundry, feeding the cat, and tapping away at the keyboard?

 Here’s one more thought. My family and friends often call me Moll. Short for Molly, of course, not mollusk, but I like the connection anyway. Mollusks and I have a lot in common. Now here I go, sentence by sentence, inch by inch creating my next story.

You can find or order Molly’s books wherever books are sold or lent. Come Shell or High Water comes out June 25, 2024. You’ll find buy links and can connect with Molly at her website.

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” In addition to the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, Molly writes the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch she writes books for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. Molly’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction.

The post The Writer as a Mollusk by Molly MacRae first appeared on Debra H. Goldstein.

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