Kate Collins's Blog, page 299

Guest Blogger Esri Allbritten

There has never been a better time to be a writer.

There have been times when it has sucked to be a writer. This is not one of those times.

The first book in my new mystery series, Chihuahua of the Baskervilles, is getting nice buzz. Some of this is because of my publisher's efforts, some is my own skill, much is luck, and some is due to the fact that I spent a chunk of change on a publicist. Susan Schwartzman is getting newspaper and radio interviews, setting up book signings, and freeing me to stare at my computer screen and mutter things like, "Leslie needs a good reason to take Michael into the attic, so he can see the stuffed mongoose." Also, "Why is there no food in the house?"

This feeling that success may be around the corner is new to me. I wrote two paranormal elf romances a while back that sank without a trace, so I was pretty boggled when Chihuahua got a review in the Boulder Daily Camera that began, "To curl up with a book about a ghost Chihuahua named Petey is to thank heaven you ever learned to read in the first place." Dude. I'll probably never get a review that fulsome again, unless Bruce Wolk of the Denver Post, who interviewed me last week, writes something like, "Chihuahua of the Baskervilles showed me how to fix the economy. Also, all my hair grew back while I was reading it."

I'm not the only writer feeling a sea change. Never before have authors had such direct access to potential readers or such control over getting stories in front of eyes. You know what I'm talking about – the boom in ebooks and self-publishing. I'm published in print, but all around me, authors are flocking to Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and Smashwords.

These new opportunities are due to the magical Internet, of course, and courageous innovators who said, "We can make money off books? Who knew?!" It's powered by writers who believed in their work even when agents and editors told them, "I just couldn't relate to your story of wannabe actors who fall in love while inside the two halves of a horse costume," when what they really meant was, "This may not find an audience big enough to pay the army of people it takes to get a book on the shelves." That business model is going the way of whale-oil refineries. Many people in the publishing and book-store industries will suffer through no fault of their own, but for a change, writers won't be among the fallen.

I'm enjoying my little bit of success. If this series takes off, fantastic. If it doesn't, I have more reason than ever to persevere. You do, too. There has never been a better time to be a writer.

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Esri Allbritten is the author of Chihuahua of the Baskervilles, available in hardcover or ebook as of July 5 from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books.

In Chihuahua of the Baskervilles, the staff of Tripping Magazine hears of a ghostly Chihuahua seen by Charlotte Baskerville. Charlotte is the rich founder of Petey's Closet, a clothing catalog for small dogs. Tripping's staff travels to Manitou Springs, where the ghost howls advice and spells out threats in tiny paw prints. But is the glowing apparition really Petey's spirit, or is someone in Charlotte's household trying to teach a dead dog new tricks – like murder? It's up to Tripping Magazine to save Charlotte Baskerville, preferably without losing their story.

Visit EsriAllbritten.com to read an excerpt and find out more about the Tripping Magazine mystery series.

Ellery's Mystery Cozy Contest - Answer

Thanks to all for entering this month's contest. The mystery line is from Jenn McKinlay's cupcake mystery, Buttercream Bump Off.
Look for Jenn's new library mystery, Books Can Be Deceiving, which was just released last week! I was lucky enough to be able to read it last year, but you can pick up a copy online or at your local store.
I will contact this month's winner via email, but may not be able to post the name here right away because I am without a computer this week.
Thanks for playing!

Bestselling Dreams

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

A few years back, Jacquelyn Mitchard's Deep End of the Ocean became Oprah's first book club pick. Jacquelyn said the idea came to her in a dream - a child  kidnapped, a family struggling to stay whole.

Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series made her a multi-millionaire. She's one of the top ten influential women in the world. After dreaming about a human girl loved by a vampire, Stephanie wrote her very first novel. These days, the woman makes 50 million annually!

Me? I dream about cleaning up after everybody. That's a reoccurring theme. Me with a dust rag in one hand and a mop in the other. Recently I dreamed that I got a perm (first one in what? 30 years?) and it was so tight, I spent the entire dream trying to straighten it. I'm pretty sure that isn't novel material. So how the heck am I going to dream my way onto the bestsellers list?

How about you? Any book worthy dreams lately?

Family Time

by Maggie Sefton




Sunday night I returned from a fast-paced, action-packed four and one-half day trip to Florida for the very last NASA launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I want to include some photos from that trip, so I'll wait until next Tuesday to go into specifics. I can say this, though. . .it was FABULOUS! I was thrilled and moved by the experience---not only the launch, but also the special NASA tour we took the next day.


But the Florida trip also offered our family a chance to gather together for the first time in ten years. Yes, it's been ten years since we got EVERYONE together for any occasion---holidays, graduations, whatever. The main reason we haven't been able to gather mom, dad, daughters Serena, Christine, Melissa, and Maria together in so long was the youngest, Maria, was an officer in the US Navy for nine of those ten years. Except for short assignments for specialized courses or training, she was assigned abroad----serving aboard the USS KITTY HAWK aircraft carrier in the Pacific for two years at the start of her career, then Japan, Iraq and other Middle East locations, then Germany. Whenever she had a chance to come stateside, it didn't coincide with an opportunity for the clan to gather. Until now.


And was it fun to have everyone together in one place again, laughing, all talking at the same time, and sharing this very special experience Serena was able to arrange for us. All of the astronaut family guests stayed at the same large hotel complex which made it easy to gather with others for dinners and lounging at the pool after hours. Florida did not disappoint and provided hot and humid July weather. :)


But the best weather of all was the surprise on Friday morning when Atlantis was able to launch after two days of weather warnings. What a treat!

Will you be getting together for any family gatherings this summer?

Should the FDA Be Able to Choose Our Foods For Us?

by Kate Collins

Are you concerned about the amount of junk food available to children? I am. I have seen the progression of children going from slender and active to obese and sluggish, in both physical and mental abilities. And yet the FDA would rather ban our access to natural foods. As always, I follow the money, and that trail leads to the big food processors, who have powerful lobbyists.

I thought the following news item was worth printing as an example of how much freedom we've lost, as far as our freedom to choose what we eat. This is from the website www.mercola.com, and the emphases are mine:

"On May 16th, Representative Ron Paul asked,

"If we are not even free anymore to decide something as basic as what we wish to eat or drink, how much freedom do we really have left?"

Paul was talking about the FDA ban on the interstate sale of raw milk for human consumption — milk that has not been pasteurized. The ban began in 1987, but the FDA didn't really begin enforcing it seriously until 2006 -- when the government began sting operations and armed raids of dairy farmers and their willing customers.

The New American reports:

"Even if the FDA were correct in its assertions about the dangers of raw milk, it s prohibition on interstate raw milk sales would still be, as Paul termed it, 'an unconstitutional misapplication of the commerce clause for legislative ends' ...

Saying he is 'outraged' by the FDA's raids on peaceful dairy farmers and their customers, Paul has introduced legislation ... 'to allow the shipment and distribution of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption across state lines,' in effect reversing the FDA's unconstitutional ban on such sales."

The "Food Safety Modernization Act" that was enacted earlier this year gives the FDA almost unlimited authority to decide if food is harmful, even without credible evidence. But farmers who have been persecuted by the FDA for selling raw milk, like Amish Farmer Dan Allgyer, are not backing down. Allgyer's case is going to court.

Citizens are irate that the FDA allows damaging junk food, but prevents people from making an educated, informed food choice in purchasing raw grass-fed milk.

According to the Washington Times, Attorney Jonathan Emord, who has defeated the FDA in court eight times, is focusing on the deeper issues that this case stems from. Emord says:

"We would not be here today were it not for the fact that over the past seventy-fiv e years, the Congress of the United States has delegated away to some 230 independent regulatory commissions the power to make law, the power to execute the law, and the power to judge law violation. That delegation of governing power from Congress to the unelected heads of the regulatory agencies violates the Constitution, which vests exclusively in Congress the obligation to make law".

I'm not arguing the issue of raw milk, which my mom and her siblings always drank raw from their farm cows, I'm arguing that we should have the freedom to choose what we eat, whether at our own risk or being informed of the risks. The power to decide should not be delegated to the FDA, who does not have our best interests at heart.

What do you think?

Why a Series in South Carolina?

by Leann

Ever wonder why I have a series set on a lake in South Carolina when I've lived in Texas most of my adult life? After all, my Yellow Rose mysteries are built around what I know of the area where I live. The answer is simple. I want to live in South Carolina on a lake. We bought property in South Carolina on a lake years ago. I thought we had a plan.

Circumstances changed. The stock market plummeted. My husband, who had retired from one job, decided he really didn't like being retired and signed on with another company. Here. In a place far from my children and my friends. I didn't like it, but Mr. Sweeney enjoys his job. Who am I to stand in the way of that? I, after all, work for peanuts to live my dream of writing books.

But illness is a big eye opener. We will not live forever. My husband, always so healthy, got a taste of what I have been going through for years. He got sick. Big time sick. Thank goodness he is well after major surgery. He is even back to work full time. Now, however, reality has set in. the clock is ticking. Come this fall, my daughter and sister will arrive to help with the first big sort and purge in this house. I am grateful for this offer since I tire so easily and just the thought of this task is exhausting. We will be tossing out or giving away many things and that will be both difficult and exciting. It is another passage in life's journey.

In October or November, my husband I will take the first load of items that can be stored to a place near our property in South Carolina. We have friends there to help unload, friends who have been urging us to get on with our move for several years. It is step one and just that thought alone makes me smile. We still will have a long way to go. Fixing up our twenty year old home, more packing and purging, but I now know we will be moving on. It's no longer an "if," it's a "when." That feels so nice.

How about you? What's your future look like? Are you planning anything big in your future?

I brake for Farmers Markets

By Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett

First came rhubarb.  Then strawberries.  Now it's cherries.

Up next?

Peaches.  Then grapes (New York State wines are famous worldwide) and finally apples. (The second largest crop of them in the country is grown not far from where I live.)

All this fruit -- and I rarely eat any of it.

Unlike most kids, I grew up eating my veggies and LOVING them!  I still do.  So when I saw that the farmers market had finally opened on Thursday, it wasn't fresh fruit I was hankering for.  The thing is -- there aren't any local veggies.

Okay, I know I'm wrong.  Fresh tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini are just starting to come in--and I like them, but I'm waiting for the really GOOD stuff to arrive.  Brussels sprouts.  Cauliflower.  Potatoes.  Locally grown onions, carrots, leeks, cabbage, parsnips.

Our local farmers market runs from July through early November.  I didn't have time to go this week, but next week--I'll be there, and I know I won't leave empty handed.

Of course, in my own yard I'm growing snow peas, green beans, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes.  (That is IF Mr. rabbit and Mr. Groundhog don't eat them first.)

So how about you.  Are you a localvore?

On Holiday

By Heather Webber / Heather Blake

I love the word "holiday" used in reference to vacation. An English term, I think? Anyway, I think I need to insert it permanently into my vocabulary.

Sabbaday Falls in NHThis week the family (me, Mr. W, Baby Girl, and son #2) are away. Relaxing. Having fun in New Hampshire--quite a bit away from home. We've been doing lots and lots--walking, hiking, picnicking, alpine sliding, mini-golfing, horseback riding, shopping, eating (a lot), reading (tons!), and just soaking up the mountain air.

In a few hours I'll be on a raft in the middle of a river, probably clinging to anything (or anyone) I can. And probably screaming like a little girl. It'll be my first time white water rafting, and I really hope I'm not thrown overboard (please!). I'll let you know how it goes.

Anyone else doing something new this summer? Taking any special holidays?

Ellery's Mystery Cozy Contest!

It's that time of the month again - your chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Mystery Lovers Bookshop (you can use this online).

I'll give you one line from a contemporary cozy and you have six days to email me the title and author at elleryadams@verizon.net.
Please DO NOT POST the answer. You can certainly post a comment, but no title or author name in the comments, okay?
Here's the line:"The steaming swallow of java was halfway down her throat when she
glanced up and saw a six foot tall cupcake come around the corner."
Ellery's hint: This author has a book out this week and it's the first in an all-new series!

Formidable Female Characters

By Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

I met M.C. Beaton several years ago when she was guest of honor at Magna cum Murder. I'd never heard of her or Agatha Raisin, but I liked Beaton's personal style, and when I found The Quiche of Death in my bookbag, I moved it to the top of my TBR pile. What a blast it was!

I'd already written several mysteries featuring crusty Gertie Johnson, so I could relate to a sort of prickly, brash, more mature female protagonist, who didn't bake cakes for church events or mask her real feelings under polite social etiquette.

But when I tried to share my love for dear Agatha, I had a few really negative responses. After 'digging' deeper, I discovered that most of these unfans hadn't started with the first book like I had. They didn't have enough background information to understand why the stories about her have a certain bite to them.

So recently when a friend confided that when she first started with book 2 in my Gertie series (Murder  Grins and Bears It), she read a little, put it down, and said to her husband, "I can't read this. Gertie is too mean to her son!" Thankfully, her husband had read the first one, the one that explains exactly why Gertie and Blaze have issues. He pointed her in the direction of the first, Murder Passes the Buck. Now, she's read all of them and can't wait for the next one.

Her initial reaction bothered me a lot. I want my readers to love Gertie, not find her so offensive they stop reading. What to do? In the upcoming 4th book, Murder Bites the Bullet (July 25th) I toned her down, made her more compassionate, less irreverent.

My first readers had a fit. "How," they said in unison, "could I change Gertie even one little bit? We want Gertie with all her flaws exposed!"

Sigh. I went back to the drawing board and gave Gertie back her crust. And that's the way it has to be.

So how about you? Do you always start at the beginning of a series?