Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 113

Gaslight the Movie and a #giveaway

by Barb, who is spending October in Virginia in a house on a lake

Do we all vividly remember the last social things we did before we went underground like the mole people? I keep replaying that last week in my mind. On Sunday, we went to a birthday party. It was outdoors, but we didn’t know then what we know now and were already weighing whether we should go. On Tuesday, we out to dinner with friends and then to the theater to see a fabulous production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. On Wednesday, the very last thing we did, before we stopped doing public events altogether, was attend a screening of the movie Gaslight.

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I’d had the showing of this classic movie at the Tropic Cinema in Key West on my calendar for a while. I was especially interested because at the time I was writing Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door, a mystery involving digital gaslighting.

Gaslighting is a term that’s used a lot right now. It comes from the 1938 play Gas Light, and subsequent 1940 and 1944 movies. The plot in each varies slightly but the theme is the same: a husband socially isolates his wife and works to convince her that what she is seeing, hearing and experiencing isn’t real, causing her to question her sanity. The story is set in 1880s London and a key feature is the dimming of the gaslights in the couple’s home.

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The 1944 movie, directed by George Cukor, is marvelous. Boyer and an 18-year-old Angela Lansbury, making her screen debut, were nominated for Academy Awards, and Ingrid Bergman won for Best Actress. I especially loved Joseph Cotten, who plays an Inspector from Scotland Yard with a full-on American accent–no explanation ever given.

The Art Directors also won an Oscar, as well they should have. Because the creepiest thing about the movie is that the wife’s own home is literally used against her. The physical place where we are supposed to feel the safest is used as a weapon of psychological warfare.

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Gaslights were the technology of 1880. In 2020, someone can use an app to access to a home security system from the other side of town to dim the lights. Or raise the heat, open and close the garage door, even change the code to get inside. Imagine coming home everyday and being unable to enter your house. Then imagine someone you love telling you, “You’ve forgotten again. Your mind is going.” Creepy, right?

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So you can see why that trip to the movies has stayed with me. There’s the film itself, the subject matter, and the fact that it was my last time in a movie theater for seven months and counting. Who knows when I’ll go back again.

Readers: Do you remember the last social things you managed before you began staying at home? Or if you’re an essential worker, before your life was confined to work and home? Tell us about it below to be entered to win one of two Advanced Reader Copies of Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door.

Write What You Love — Tina Kashian

I’m delighted to welcome Tina Kashian back to the Wickeds. Because our last names are close in the alphabet, I’ve been able to sit next to Tina at several Kensington events. Tina is lovely, warm, and funny just like her books. Look for a giveaway at the end of the post!

Tina: Thank you for featuring me as a guest on The Wickeds!

[image error]In Mistletoe, Moussaka & Murder, Lucy Berberian is a recovering lawyer who returns to the Jersey Shore to manage her family’s Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. As you can tell by the title, it is a holiday themed book. Lucy signs up for the annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for a local senior center. But what happens when forty-six swimmers brave the frigid Atlantic Ocean and only forty-five make it out alive? Who is the killer?

When I first started writing, I’d often get the advice “write what you know.” But after publishing, I realized what I should really keep in mind is “write what you love.” There really is a difference.

I love the Jersey Shore. I’m fortunate enough to live less than an hour away. I vacationed there as a kid, and we still vacation there with our own two girls each summer. The famous boardwalk is an eclectic mix of food eateries, T-shirt shops, and entertainment. I can’t imagine a beach vacation without a ride on the big Ferris wheel at night.

As for the Polar Bear Plunge, I’ve never made it over my head in the Atlantic Ocean in December, but I have made it up to knees. Not fun!

Let’s get back to the summer and pictures I took of two of my favorite Jersey Shore towns, Wildwood and Ocean City, NJ.

Here’s a picture of the tramcar on the Wildwood boardwalk that passengers can ride. In One Feta in the Grave, Lucy ends up chasing a suspect onto the moving tramcar.

 

[image error]The Ferris wheel is a great way to see the entire beach and boardwalk…as long as you are not afraid of heights.

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The boardwalk is famous for its saltwalter taffy and fudge. Tourists can watch candymakers pull saltwalter taffy and make fudge in copper kettles in the front windows of the candy stores. Lucy uses one of these heavy copper kettles to escape from a killer in one of the books in the series.

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Where else can you find 3D mini golf and Old Time Photos side-by-side? The Jersey Shore boardwalk, of course! I used both of these boardwalk shops in my Kebab Kitchen series and they made for some funny, mystery scenes.

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We couldn’t resist and dressed up as gangsters for our own Old Time family photograph. The funniest part surprised all of us. After we paid and took the photo home, we realized John is accidently pointing a prop pistol at my daughter in the picture. How the heck did this happen and why didn’t the photographer notice? We had a great laugh about this, and we wait to see if family or friends notice when they see the picture. I included the same mistake in “Mistletoe, Moussaka & Murder” between Lucy and her fiancé, Azad, the head chef of Kebab Kitchen. Life makes for great fiction!

Giveaway! Win an ebook or signed, print copy of Mistletoe, Moussaka & Murder (U.S. residents only for print). Do you prefer warm or cold vacations? And where? Please share for a chance to win!

Thank you again for featuring me!

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[image error]Tina Kashian is an attorney and a former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two daughters. Please visit her website at http://www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!

You can also connect with Tina at:

Website: http://www.tinakashian.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaKashianAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaKashian1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinakashian/

A Kebab Kitchen Mystery

Not even her impending nuptials can keep Lucy Berberian, manager of her family-owned Kebab Kitchen, from the Jersey Shore’s annual Polar Bear Plunge. But her dive into the icy ocean is especially chilling when she finds a fellow swimmer doing the dead man’s float—for real . . .
 
Who would kill a man in cold blood during Ocean Crest, New Jersey’s most popular winter event? When Lucy learns the victim is Deacon Spooner, the reception hall owner who turned up his nose—and his price—at her wedding plans, she can’t help wondering who wouldn’t kill the pompous caterer . . .
 
Perhaps the culprit is the wedding cake baker whose career Deacon nearly destroyed? Or the angry bride whose reception he ruined? With her maid of honor, Katie, busily planning Lucy’s wedding without her, Lucy will have to get to the bottom of this cold-hearted business in time for Kebab Kitchen’s mouthwatering Christmas celebration—and before her hometown’s holiday spirit washes out to sea . . .
 
Recipes included!
 
“With a warm cast of characters and an ingenious main character, this is a series that will prove delightful for cozy fans.”
—Parkersburg News & Sentinel on Stabbed in the Baklava
 
“Clever and charming . . . A culinary delight that will have readers salivating over the food and hungry for literary answers.”
—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars, on Hummus and Homicide

BUY LINKS

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3d6TK2V

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2V2R4NV

Google Books: https://bit.ly/3hrFS73

iBooks: https://apple.co/3hyqMfI

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2ABK3wc

 

 

Old (Book) Friends

I confess I reread books. I know lots of people say there are too many books to read to ever reread a book. But an old book is like an old friend that provides comfort and stress relief. I also find different moods call for different books to reread.

I posed the question on The Wickeds group page yesterday to see if other people reread books. It wasn’t easy to categorize so I threw the “rarely” and “seldom” answers in with the no’s. Of the 93 comments 71 said they reread books and 22 said rarely or never. It was interesting to find that many of the people who answered reread for the same reasons I do.

[image error]If I need to escape from the present day I turn to my favorite childhood books – the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. I’ve talked about my love for these books many times. They start when Betsy is five and continue through to her wedding. The reading level increases as Betsy grows up.

Betsy returned to her chair, took off her coat and hat, opened her book and forgot the world again. Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

Isn’t it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be. Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy in Spite of Herself

If I’m stressed, I like to laugh. And I have go-to books to make me laugh. I will either read one of the first ten books [image error]in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series or Kellye Garrett’s Detective by Day series.

I don’t mind the love triangle in the Plum books. I also have opinions about who Stephanie should be with. I’m Ranger all the way. Joe always wants to change Stephanie and have her quit her job as a bounty hunter. Ranger, on the other hand, lets Stephanie be herself while at the same time watching out for her. But no matter who she’s with, Stephanie makes me laugh.

In spite of all the sparring that went on between us, I sort of liked Morelli. Good judgment told me to stand clear of him, but then I’ve never been a slave to good judgment. Janet Evanovich, Two for the Dough

[image error]Kellye Garrett’s two Detective by Day books make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I read them. Dayna is so funny and I love her relationship with her reluctant PI partner Aubrey. Dayna is a bit insecure, but also a take charge woman. A great combo for an engaging protagonist.

The best way to describe my reaction was shock and aww, as in aww crap, I did not see that coming. Kellye Garrett, Hollywood Endings

When I need comfort, I turn to classics. Years ago I had a list of the best one hundred books in the world. The first book I picked was Pride and Prejudice. Talk about love at first read. (I confess I wasn’t nearly as fond of my next pick, Ivanhoe.) I read Little Woman as a child and loved it so much and still do. How could I not ever revisit Jo and her sisters?

I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

I’m happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Readers: Do you reread books? If so why?

Wicked Wednesday-Rituals

Jessie: In New Hampshire thinking about the familiar and the comforting

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Lately, it seems as though so many things have changed, rearranged or morphed into something unfamiliar. I find myself considering how rituals are a balm or an irritant when conditions change. So Wickeds, I want to talk about rituals and routines this month. Do you have a morning routine that helps you start your day on the right foot? An evening routine that prepares you for a good night’s rest?

Barb: I love my morning ritual of two big cups of coffee while still in my pajamas (and bathrobe and slippers as it gets colder). I read the newspapers online, blogs and email. I ease into the business of the day. It is the joy of no longer commuting, no longer going to an office.

Edith/Maddie: I also start with coffee, but I take it upstairs to my office and do my catching up on the world there. I know I’ll be starting work at seven after I check in with Ramona DeFelice Long’s Sprint Club, and I need about an hour to read emails, a few blogs, and Facebook highlights so I can focus on the WIP once I start. All the way through the pandemic, having my morning date with writing has been a great respite.

Julie: My morning ritual are the 3 M’s–meditation, moving, and morning papers (journaling). The meditation varies. I do Kundalini yoga or regular meditation. Moving has been boxing for the past couple of months, which is VERY therapeutic. My morning pages also vary–I try for three pages, but even a paragraph helps start my day well.

Liz: I love my morning ritual – I don’t feel like my day has really started until I’ve done it. First stop is coffee, then journaling and meditation. If I’m really on my game, I’ll get my word count in after that. And if I’m really really on my game, a workout before the day job insanity starts.

Sherry: I don’t have a specific time that I rise and shine and I’m not a morning person. When I do drag myself out of bed, I always dress right away. Then I have a big glass of water followed by tea. Iced tea when it’s warm out and hot tea when it’s cool. I’ve had a big change in my writing routine in the past couple of weeks. I hardly know myself anymore, but we will be talking about writing rituals in a couple of weeks so I’ll save it for then.

Jessie: I love hearing what all of you do! Like Liz, I don’t feel like myself unless I’ve done my morning routine. I walk my dog at around 6:30 most mornings. When we return, I exercise and then shower before I make my coffee. I take it to my office to sip on while I read non-fiction, journal and look over my plans for the day. I respond to emails, comment on social media and then work on whichever stage my current novel is at from 10:00-12:30.

Readers, do you take comfort in routines and or rituals?

A Wicked Welcome to Vanessa Lillie

I’ve been fortunate to get to know Vanessa Lillie through her work on the national board of Sisters in Crime, and by reading her articles in the Providence Journal. I’m thrilled to welcome her to the blog today, celebrating the release of her second book, For the Best .

As an author, one of the most exciting parts of the publishing process has very little to do with the words you’ve written. And yet, it’s likely one of the main reasons someone will read your book.

I’m talking of course about the book’s cover. I wanted to share an inside look into the cover design process for my second thriller, For the Best.  In fact, I liked the cover design so much, it actually changed the content of my book. Here’s what For the Best is about:

When Jules Worthington-Smith’s wallet is found next to a dead man, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. After struggling for years to build the perfect family and career, she’s dangerously close to losing everything.

Sure of her innocence, Jules is desperate to clear her name. But there’s one big problem: she was blackout drunk when the murder took place and can’t remember what happened.

Unsatisfied with the police’s handling of the case, Jules embarks on her own gin-fueled murder investigation. As she uncovers fresh clues, she starts a true-crime vlog that becomes a viral sensation, pushing her into the public eye. It’s not long before the ordeal forces Jules to confront her demons, including her turbulent childhood and excessive drinking.

The deeper Jules digs, the more dirt she uncovers about the murder and herself. Unexpected truths pile up until she’s buried so deep even finding the killer might not be enough to set her free.

My publisher, Thomas and Mercer, asks authors to fill out a questionnaire for the cover designer. I answered questions about what my characters look like, themes and an excerpt from the story that reflects the overall tone.

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I also sent a link to a Pinterest board with different covers that I thought might provide inspiration to the designer.  

Then the designer sent along two main concepts, one similar to the broken wine glass, and another with the pool (and two different background options). That mysterious illuminated pool drew me in right away. The only problem? There wasn’t a pool in my book!

Others may feel differently, but it bothers me if the cover doesn’t match the content. I know a book cover is a marketing tool, but to me it’s also a promise of what’s within.

Because I received this design while I was editing For the Best, I could actually add a pool. Rather than just dropping it into a scene, I was able to develop it into a metaphor for how my main character, Jules, and her family try to keep up appearences, even when everything is crumbling.

Once we decided to go with the dark house in the background, the only small change was adding a glass of wine by the woman staring into the pool.

I appreciated that my publisher used the same cover designer, Shasti O’Leary Soudant, as they used for my debut, Little Voices.

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And it’s not just me who absolutely loves this cover. I was thrilled to see Parade Magazine listed For the Best as one of the best book covers for Fall 2020!

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Readers, I’m so curious: do you judge a book by the cover? Is that one of the main reasons you decide to read?

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Vanessa Lillie is the Amazon Bestselling author of Little Voices, which received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Best Debuts 2019 by Bolo Books. She’s a Board Member of Sisters in Crime and weekly columnist for The Providence Journal. Her next book, For the Best, was released September 8th, and she’s currently working on her third, which is set in rural Oklahoma.

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A Wicked Welcome to Vicki Delany and Eva Gates

I was so delighted when Vicki Delany said that she’d come and visit the blog today. She’s a very prolific writer but, as she’ll explain in this post, she has a longer writing history than many of us know.

Having Fun Again

By Vicki Delany

I started my writing career writing standalone novels of psychological suspense, what’s now so hugely popular under the label of domestic suspense; I then wrote an eight novel police procedural series. In between those I wrote a historical series set in the Klondike Gold Rush and novellas for adult literary.

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And now I’m writing cozies. Why the change?

About six years ago, I was starting to get a bit… shall we say burned out?  I was seriously thinking about giving up writing. I can’t really say why, maybe I wasn’t having fun with it any more. Tough stuff, even fictionally, is difficult to deal with sometimes.  

Then I was asked by Kim Lionetti of Bookends if I’d like to try my hand at the Lighthouse Library series work-for-hire Berkley was offering.

Sure, thought I. Might as well. I gave it a go, got the contract, and I’ve never looked back.

Because I found that writing could be fun again. I love writing cozies.  One thing led to another and I’m now writing FOUR cozy series. I write the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas series, and the Tea by the Sea books as Vicki Delany, and the Lighthouse Library series is still ongoing under the pen name of Eva Gates.  That’s three or four books a year. I approach every day (well, almost every day) excited to get back to the computer and the story.

The word I often use for the cozies I write is FUN. They should be fun for the author and fun for the reader.  Not all cozies are humorous, but I hope mine are. Writing humour, I’ve found, makes me smile.

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Cozies are intended to be nothing more than an entertaining read. You won’t learn many lessons about the human condition, no one is suffering from angst or threating to kill themselves because of depression. No PTSD. No terrorist attacks or serial killers. Just people with friends and lovers and community. And the occasional enemy. And a murder of course.

Cozy mysteries are not trying to make an important statement about the human condition, or hoping to change the world. A cozy mystery tells a story that attempts to be entertaining, that’s about people much like us (or like us if we were prettier, or smarter, or younger!) and our friends and family.

Cozy mysteries are about real people living real lives (except for that pesky murder bit), although writ large. Everything is exaggerated. The nosy neighbour is nosier, the ditzy friend is ditzier, the mean girl is meaner. And the handsome man is, well, handsomer.  Even better if there are two of them.

The covers and the titles of cozies themselves are intended to bring a smile to your face.  Take a look at the covers below, and I bet they have that effect on you!

Readers who enjoy cozies often tell me they read them to escape from the real world. Particularly in these strange times, they need that escape. Cozy mysteries really are an escape. 

Dear Reader I’d be interested to know if you are a cozy reader. If so, what do you like about them and if not, why not?

[image error]Made with Repix (http://repix.it)

Vicki is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. She is the 2019 recipient of the Derrick Murdoch award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. Vicki lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.   Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor Twitter: @vickidelany Instragram: vicki.delany

Vicki Delany’s latest books are A DEATH LONG OVERDUE, the 7th Lighthouse Library book, written under the pen name of Eva Gates, and DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND, the fifth in the Year Round Christmas series.  

Revisiting My Youth

by Julie, enjoying stunning weather in Somerville

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Like many, many others I watched Enola Holmes on Netflix this week. I hadn’t realized that it was based on a series of books by Nancy Springer, the first of which is The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery. Though they are YA books, and I haven’t been a young adult for many, many years, I downloaded the book and started to read. And continued to read.

YA does not mean easy, or without complicated themes. Catcher in the Rye anyone? While the target readers are 12-18, the fact is that more than half of YA readers are adults. I hadn’t dipped into YA fiction recently, though many of my friends have. The themes of discovery, coming of age, and solving problems are universal. And helpful for those of us of a certain age who are thinking about changes in our life.

I love reading, and have for my entire life. I was drawn to mysteries early, so I think I missed some foundational reading. I loved the Chronicles of Narnia, though Daphne du Maurier came into my life around the same time.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction, learning, satiating curiosity on a number of subjects. Still, I’ve missed falling into another world and going on adventures. I could use that sort of escape, especially these days.

Who reads YA? What wonderful adventure can you recommend to me?

Welcome Back Susan Santangelo

I am so delighted to welcome Susan back. I was lucky to read an advanced copy of Politics Can Be Murder. I said this: Reading Susan Santangelo’s books is like taking a masterclass in voice. Local politics, dogs, and the always funny Carol Andrews make the ninth book in the Baby Boomer Mystery series, Politics Can Be Murder, a clear winner. Susan will give away a Kindle copy to one reader who leaves a comment.

[image error]Here’s a bit about the book: The hit-and-run death of a schoolmate rocks Carol Andrews’ world. The tragic accident, still unsolved, soon becomes a rallying cry for pedestrian safety in an upcoming town council election. Ignoring the advice of her husband, who points out that she knows nothing at all about the political arena, Carol eagerly signs on to manage the election campaign of a new-to-politics female candidate. But when the always nosy Carol goes beyond her job description and starts asking too many questions, she discovers that politics can be a murky world of hidden secrets, greed, and murder.

Susan: I’m often asked by readers how I come up with ideas for my Baby Boomer mysteries. I always start with a title in mind, and the plot develops from there.  “Politics Can Be Murder” had been rolling around in my brain for a long time, and I finally decided to write the book to coincide with the presidential election year.  

I’ve always been interested in politics. I remember watching the 1956 Democratic and Republican conventions on a small black and while television in my parents’ living room when I was a little girl. The Republican party nominated Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon as their candidates for a second term. The real drama was at the Democratic convention. Former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson won the presidential nomination on the first ballot, but the fight for vice president took several ballots to decide. The contest was between Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver and Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Watching the intense lobbying on the convention floor was like watching a dramatic play, except it was real life.

When it came time to select a major course of study in college, I chose history and political science, and minored in creative writing. I wanted to become a political reporter, like my heroes, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Of course, life never happens the way you expect it to. I never became political reporter, realizing pretty early that my writing style was more appropriate to feature writing for magazines and newspapers than reporting “hard news.” But I got a chance to be in the thick of a real political campaign when my husband, a reporter assigned to cover the New Jersey statehouse, was tapped to be press secretary for the incumbent gubernatorial candidate who was, at the time, not favored to win. Our whole family got involved in the campaign, and to our utter amazement, our candidate pulled off an amazing victory. My husband was then appointed the governor’s permanent press secretary, and I began working on what turned out to be a losing U.S. Senate campaign. My next foray into politics, in the 1980s as deputy campaign manager in a congressional campaign, was more successful. It even included my becoming the temporary liaison between the Governor’s office and the White House when President Carter made a trip to New Jersey to campaign for my candidate. I still have my Secret Service i.d. pin.

The protagonist in “Politics Can Be Murder,” Carol Andrews, gets involved in a local political campaign because of the unsolved hit and run death of a school friend. Her candidate is a local businesswoman whose platform is all about pedestrian safety in town – more crosswalks, traffic lights etc. She has no previous political experience, but is determined to help her candidate win. As Carol learns, politics can be a seductive, murky world. “What you see” is not always “what you’ll get” once the votes are counted and a winner is declared. And some people will resort to anything – even murder – to win an election.           

Readers: If you’re retired (or when you retire) what new activities do you look forward to?

[image error]Bio: Susan Santangelo is the author of the best-selling Baby Boomer mystery series. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cape Cod Writers Center, and also reviews mysteries for Suspense magazine. She divides her time between Clearwater, Florida and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and shares her life with her husband Joe and two very spoiled English cocker spaniels, Boomer and Lilly. Boomer also serves as the model for the books’ front covers, and Lilly is featured on the back. She is also a proud, lucky two-time breast cancer survivor, and credits early detection by regular mammograms with saving her life twice.   

Wicked Wednesday: Making It Up

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Wickeds, picture this. You’re doing research, but none of the facts fit what you need. Do you change your story to fit the facts, or make something up to suit your story?

Today we’re helping celebrate the release of Candy Slain Murder, the 8th book in Maddie Day’s Country Store Mystery series. Edith/Maddie, this book has an old mystery as part of the story. Did you weave fact and fiction together while concocting this plot?

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Edith/Maddie: Always! That is, the story is fictional but I try to get the real-life details as accurate as I can. In this book, I consulted with Dr. D.P. Lyons about ten-year old human remains. I talked with Julia Spencer-Fleming’s daughter about her experience converting to Islam as a teenager. I drew on the adoption experiences of some people close to me. I assembled a Hungarian name from two Hungarian-Americans I knew in my past. And I read up on … oh wait, that would be a spoiler! All the rest I made up – and made it work. That said, in two recent historical mysteries of mine, I fudged the dates when particular buildings were erected – but I confessed my creative license in the Author’s Note. If that doesn’t absolve me, too bad.

Jessie: I don’t tend to fudge things that are available as concrete dates for events or inventions. I love sharing surprising bits of historical facts with readers. I also enjoy the challenge of constructing fictional people and events around the real ones. For me, constraint always sparks and hones my creativity!

Barb: I agree, Jessie, constraint sparks creativity. What a great way to put it. I’m happy to tell a lie, but in my case it’s easier and I’m better at it if it’s built on a foundation of truth. It’s like taking a running leap across a chasm. You want that solid ground under you until you take the jump. You can get away with anything in fiction if you can convince your reader of it. Whenever someone says a book isn’t “believable” I think not that the author told too outrageous a story, but that she didn’t sell it well enough.

Liz: I agree with that too! It usually makes me have to think a bit harder about how to make something work, which can ultimately take me down a whole different pathway. But I always feel better about whatever direction I go if I know it’s got some basis in fact that I can stand behind.

Sherry: Congratulations on the new book, Edith! Facts can be so pesky, but since they are facts, I stick to them 99 percent of the time. It’s awful when someone writes to say you’ve got something wrong. Barb got it right about the selling it. It reminds of author and writing instructor John Dufresne who said you could move the Empire State building if you did it right. Maybe I would add if it was right for the story.

Julie: Edith/Maddie, a Wicked congratulations to you!!I’m clearly the outlier in this group. I do research to figure things out, but then I make it up to suit the story. Sometimes I fudge things, other times I make it up out whole cloth. In Digging Up the Remains, there are some tech clues that I made up. Poisons? I use what I can find, but I make up poisons to suit my stories if necessary. For the clock shop series I did a ton of research, but could someone get killed by a bell from a clock tower? In my world that’s a yes.

Friends, do you assume that it’s all true, or do you leave room for creative facts?

Tribute to Justice Ginsburg on Release Day

Edith/Maddie here, writing from north of Boston where the light, the day length, the turning leaves, and the calendar all tell me it’s fall. We’re still eating tomatoes and lettuce from the garden, local farms still have sweet corn and cucumbers, and we’ve had a spate of warm weather. I haven’t hauled out sweaters and boots – yet. But apples and pumpkins are everywhere and the leaves on my blueberry bushes are a deep winey red.

We all know winter is coming and with it the holidays. So a book called Candy Slain Murder (out today!) is only a little early for the Christmas season. Read down for a giveaway.

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I had started to draft this post about where I got my ideas for the book. But what I want to write about is how deeply I am grieving the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Physically she was tiny, but intellectually and ethically she was so much stronger than just about anyone. She fought for justice her entire adult life. Justice for women, for same-sex couples, for the disabled, for African Americans, for the environment. For us, the people.

I started learning more about her a few years ago when my friend, author Leslie Karst, asked if I would read Cooking for Ruth, her manuscript about preparing dinner for the justice and her husband. Leslie talks about it in this recent Jungle Red Writers blog post. In subtle ways, retired lawyer Leslie also weaves in the story of Ginsburg’s long years of legal/civil rights work, her challenges and triumphs, with the story of the meal planning and execution.

[image error]Leslie and Ruth at the dinner; photo used with permission

Then I discovered the RBG Workout book written by Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg’s fitness trainer, and, inspired by a ninety-pound eighty-something, I started lifting weights again and doing planks. (Did you see the man paying his respects by dropping and doing three pushups as she lay in state at the capital? That was Johnson.)

And then came the biopic “On the Basis of Sex” and the lovely documentary, “RBG.” I thought, why hasn’t this marvelous person been on my radar for decades instead of just now? I even got her action figure.

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I’ve been a feminist since I was a girl. I remember an acute sense of injustice when, in fifth grade, the teacher asked two boys to bring back a box of books from the book room. I demanded to know why I wasn’t asked. (Maybe being the smallest kid in the class had something to do with it. Or maybe not.)

So I feel a kinship with RBG. I attribute being able to write books with strong female protagonists to the advances she fought for. I know my ability to own a credit card in my own name is because of her, and my friends in same-sex marriages owe her the same.

Thank you, Justice Ruth. May we all carry on your work in our own way and fight injustice wherever we find it.

But since you, dear readers, probably also want to hear about the new book, here are a few bits:

I dedicated Candy Slain Murder to another strong woman, dear friend and stalwart author, Sheila Connolly, who died last spring.

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In a recent guest post, I talked about the inspiration for the subplot of Danna’s birth brother showing up on page one to meet her for the first time. This book also features a decade-old skeleton, the current murder of the skeleton’s twin sister, and a delightful Hungarian grandfather. Winter holidays are about family for many people, and this book is no exception. I hope readers will love the family-centered surprise at the end.

For many of us, the holidays means a lot of sweet baked goods and some special drinks. Over on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen last week, I offered a recipe for holly-shaped sugar cookies as well as the history of the recipe. Maya Corrigan (whose Gingerdead Man share this release day) and I interview each other on Jungle Red Writers today. I guested with a no-egg nog over on Drinks with Reads. Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder will feature the Gingerbread People recipe in the book on October 2. And on October 6 I’ll be celebrating in a Super Cozy Release Party with seven other fabulous authors – hope you can join us!

I don’t think Ruth Ginsburg would want any of us not to continue celebrating our successes, so I am happy to send one commenter a copy of the new book, and you can specify how you would like it endorsed. What’s your favorite winter holiday memory, or food or drink? Do you have an RBG story to share?