Kassandra Lamb's Blog, page 44

July 6, 2015

Summertime!!

We’re taking a little break. While our blog is on summer hiatus, we thought we’d share with you a musical stroll down memory lane, summertime version! We’ll be back with fresh posts in August.

The Drifters ~ Under the Boardwalk

Loving Spoonful ~ Summer in the City

And if you think their sideburns are crazy, dig these!

Mungo Jerry ~ In the Summertime

Actually if I remember correctly, men of his age ALWAYS have women on their minds!

This next one would be deemed a bit sexist by today’s stand...

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Published on July 06, 2015 23:40

June 29, 2015

What’s Your Favorite Holiday?

by Kassandra Lamb

Independence Day has always been my second favorite holiday, Christmas being the first. But now I think July 4th is edging toward first place.

1000px-United_States_flag_waving_icon pub domain.svgWhen I was a kid, we went to a big cookout at the house of my parents’ friends, the Chucklers (not their real name; honestly anyone named that should pay to have it legally changed). I’m calling them that because they were cheerful people and we always had a lot of fun there. My brother and I would romp around with their kids in the w...

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Published on June 29, 2015 23:37

June 22, 2015

Setting Dilemma (plus a New Release)

by Vinnie Hansen

Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller were my gateway drugs into mystery addiction. I had a slight preference for Grafton’s series except for one aspect. Sue Grafton set her stories in Santa Teresa, a thinly disguised Santa Barbara, while Marcia Muller, at least initially, set her tales of murder and mayhem in a real San Francisco.

When I started the two series, I lived in San Francisco, and Muller’s PI, Sharon McCone, resided on the street parallel to the house I rented with friends...

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Published on June 22, 2015 23:03

June 16, 2015

9 Common Errors Authors Make about Psychological Disorders

photo by cellar door films, from WANA Commons

photo by cellar door films, from WANA Commons

by Kassandra Lamb

Do you get as frustrated as I do when you read something in a novel or short story that you know is just plain wrong?

Today I’m over at Jami Gold’s cyber-home, talking about some common mistakes authors make about psychology. Come on over and check it out!

9 Common Errors Authors Make about Psychological Disorders

As a retired psychotherapist, I cringe sometimes when I read inaccurate references to psychological phenomena in fic...

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Published on June 16, 2015 06:00

June 8, 2015

Columbo, a master of mystery

by K.B. Owen

We Misterio Press authors like to gather our inspiration from all sorts of places, one of them being the wonderful detective characters that have come before. Here’s one of my favorite:

Columbo

Publicity photo 1973, Margie Korshak Associates. Wikimedia Commons.

Publicity photo 1973, Margie Korshak Associates. Wikimedia Commons.

Some interesting facts about Peter Falk and the Columbo series:

1. Bing Crosby was first offered the role of Columbo, but he didn’t want to commit to a series. He joked that it would interfere with his golfing. Peter Falk...

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Published on June 08, 2015 22:00

June 2, 2015

Are You a Compulsive Finisher or a Chronic NonFinisher?

by Kassandra Lamb

Are you an 80 percenter, otherwise known as a chronic nonfinisher? Do you have trouble finishing what you start? Do you get about 80% of the way to your goals and then stall out?

Or are you like me, someone who has a strong compulsion to finish things–to the point of being borderline neurotic? It drives me crazy to have something started but not finished (although I’m better than I used to be).

I’ve had this topic on my mind lately, ever since my brother and I finally finish...

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Published on June 02, 2015 00:12

May 24, 2015

Happy Memorial Day! (with recipes)

by Kassandra Lamb (on behalf of the whole gang)

Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Memorial Day in the U.S. is all about honoring the men and women in our armed forces, past and present. And most especially we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this country.

There are no words sufficient to express our gratitude!

Memorial Day is also the unofficial kickoff of the summer season. Children’s laughter rings out; splashing noises can be...

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Published on May 24, 2015 12:13

May 18, 2015

How Random!

by Kassandra Lamb

How often we use this phrase! It’s come to mean that something is illogical. The word random also might be defined as scattered, something with no pattern, no rhyme or reason.

Rodin's The Thinker (photo by Andrew Horne, public domain, Wikimedia)

Rodin’s The Thinker (photo by Andrew Horne, public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

But there truly is such a thing as a random thinker. This is one end of a continuum that is part of a theory developed by a dude named Anthony F. Gregorc, Ph.D. The other end is sequential.

(There is another continuum in his...

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Published on May 18, 2015 23:29

May 10, 2015

What We Put Our Mothers Through… Even Before We Were Born

by Kassandra Lamb

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I would share with you all some tidbits from two small booklets I found amongst my mother’s mementos after she passed away. I’m not real sure why she chose to keep them, perhaps for their comic value.

One booklet’s title is “Instructions for Expectant Mothers” and its pages are quite yellowed (circa 1948 when my brother was born). The other is called “Information for Obstetric Patients” and is not quite as yellowed (circa 1952 when I was b...

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Published on May 10, 2015 15:34

May 4, 2015

Is It About The WHODUNNIT Or The WHO? (encore)

by Kassandra Lamb

I’m in editing hell at the moment, so I thought it would be a good time to offer up an encore presentation of a previous post. Indeed, this was the very first post I wrote here on the misterio press blog.

64px-Fingerprint_(PSF) Is it the whodunnit or the who?

In the last afternoon session at a mystery writers’ conference, I was drifting a bit as the long day was catching up with me, when the presenter’s statement jolted me wide awake.

“Mysteries are not about the mystery. They’re about the charact...

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Published on May 04, 2015 23:35