Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 166

Welcome Guest Heather Redmond

Welcome, Heather! I love the concept for Heather’s A Dickens of a Crime series. Heather is giving away a copy of A Tale of Two Murders (US only) to someone who leaves a comment. [image error]

I’ve always been a sucker for “fun” crime fiction, the kind with food and friends and light hearts despite the ugliness of the crimes that happen in cozy mysteries. As a writer though, I seem to return to English historical settings, most often the nineteenth century. So when I had the chance to write a mystery novel, I had to come up with some kind of concept that allowed me to both write to my strengths and my interests.

What did I envision? A young Charles Dickens mystery series!

T[image error]he word “Dickensian” these days brings up the image of Victorian horrors – workhouses, London squalor, and of course, little orphan Oliver Twist from Dickens’s novel of 1837. This is a change from how the word was originally seen. In his time, he was known for putting Christmas back onto the map in England, and the word “Dickensian” meant something much jollier. He’s known for writing about food (just like me) and he created extraordinary characters. Luckily for me, he was quite a character himself!

I start A Tale of Two Murders, the first in my A Dickens of a Crime series, on January 6, 1835, the night he (could have) met his future wife, Kate Hogarth. I inject the enthusiasms of a young man building his career, his friendships, and his future, into my crime fiction.

I have to admit it’s been both fascinating and a challenge to write mysteries set during the relative dawn of London policing. 1829 saw the founding of the London Metropolitan Police, but the Bow Street runners were still around and the police force didn’t have Scotland Yard yet. Coroners were holding inquests in pubs and murder victims were left in place so jurors could examine the scene of the crime in person. There isn’t a lot of detailed information out there, which leaves me much room to invent while still being as accurate as my research allows.

As much as I enjoy modern crime shows and fiction with all of their specialized technology, it’s a delight to go back to a time where solving a murder meant burning shoe leather and actually talking to people, learning their secrets, instead of dancing fingers across computer keys.

I’m amazed by what Charles Dickens could accomplish with just a quill and a piece of paper and I hope I embody the spirit of his times in my books.

Readers:  If you were trying to solve a crime without modern techniques like fingerprints, how would you proceed?

 

[image error]Heather Redmond bio:

First published in mystery, Heather Hiestand/Redmond took a long detour through romance before returning. Though her last known British ancestor departed London in the 1920s, she is a committed anglophile and lover of all things nineteenth century. Her 2018 Heather Redmond debut, A Tale of Two Murders, received a starred review from Kirkus and has been a bestseller at various booksellers. Visit her at http://www.heatherredmond.com.

A Tale of Two Murders short blub:

On the eve of the Victorian era, London has a new sleuth . . .

In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at his editor’s estate, Charles is smitten with his boss’s daughter, vivacious Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the evening. Charles and Kate rush to the neighbors’ home, where Christiana Lugoson lies dying on the floor. With a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times . . .

Buy link:

http://www.heatherredmond.com/books/a-tale-of-two-murders/

 

 

A Daunting Task

Edith here, in New York City with the Wickeds! (Full report on that next week.)

Like many of us, I send my manuscript to an independent editor for a developmental edit before I submit it to my publisher’s editor. I want my book to be the best it can be. I’ve been fortunate to have the talented and insightful Ramona DeFelice Long work on all my Quaker Midwife Mysteries (five, to date), and our own Wicked Sherry has edited almost all my contemporary mysteries.

I ended up with a complicated plot in Quaker Midwife book five, and when Ramona returned my marked-up manuscript recently, I had a LOT of work to do. Of course, she also included positive comments about parts that worked well and characters who shone, which is always nice to hear and buffers the “ouch” observations.

The particularly sticky remarks included the following (vagued and rephrased here to avoid spoilers, even though the book won’t be out until 2020):

How did X and Y know only the victim would eat the …?
Why would X inherit whatever he hoped to inherit? Wouldn’t that go to the husband? This all seemed underdeveloped to me.
If victim and X were related, were victim and Y also related?
Why now? Why would U wait four years? …
Why does husband get to live and victim is killed? Wasn’t V the bad person? Etc.
Z didn’t really have anything to do with victim. Why is he in there?
Y seems thrown in. Imagine the story without [him/her]. Would it change if you removed this character?
Because of the opening with character U and also character W, I thought the theme would be [THEME] but it never materialized. As is there’s no central theme or idea to the story apart from the puzzle – and all your previous books had one.
The victim comes off as one-dimensional. No one grieves for her. No one’s life is changed by her death.

See what I mean? These are not easy fixes. When I was a “younger” writer – meaning several years ago with many fewer completed and published books under my virtual belt – I would have been much more disheartened at this stage. I’d be reciting the litany of: “I can’t do it. I’ll never finish it. The book is a pile of, uh, manure.” And so on. Now? I know better. Still, I wonder why novel #20 had more issues than #19 or #14. I hope it means I’m reaching higher these days.

Also, I got the edits at the start of October and Judge Thee Not isn’t due to Midnight Ink until January 1. So I did what any writer does. I rolled up my sleeves and got started, even though I had no idea how to fix some of the problems.

 

[image error]Like many puzzles, when you change one part, another part needs changing, too. But I started with the easy stuff. The satisfaction of putting a big check mark on something that you’ve finished helps boost confidence.

Then I sat with the hard ones. I went on plotting walks and asked myself what the fix was. I tried one solution. If it didn’t work, I massaged it, amplified it, turned it until it fit. I fixed all I could but a few problems remained.

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I printed the dang thing and read straight through, green pen in hand. More solutions revealed themselves. Back to the laptop I went.

After checking one more off the list this morning, I’m down to only two issues to fix, and one is pretty easy. The book is MUCH better for the hard work (thank you, Ramona!). So off I go with the Wickeds to visit the Kensington Publishing mother ship for the day.

News Flash: Many of you heard Tuesday that Midnight Ink, my publisher for this series, is closing its doors. Book four, Charity’s Burden, will squeak into the very last catalog  next spring, along with Julie’s second Theater Cop book, With a Kiss I Die (and yes, preordering both of those would be very helpful!). But Judge Thee Not, this book I just worked so hard to fix, will need a new publishing home. Many questions remain about rights and where it will land. Rest assured, it will land!

Readers: How do you cope with a daunting task? Any other list checker-offers out there?

Wicked Wednesday — Writer’s Life Part 3

Have you ever hidden a secret or reference in your book that only a few people would find or understand? Why did you do it? Will you do it again?

Julie: In all of my series I do enough research to inform me, but I try not to bog the books down. But in my Theater Cop series, if you know theater you’ll understand the book on a different level. In the Clock Shop series I refer to specific clocks, and I suspect folks who know clocks will enjoy those references. I’m not sure it’s possible to do as much research as we all do without weaving it through the book.

[image error]Sherry: I do end up putting little things in that some people probably catch and others don’t. In The Longest Yard Sale I refer to each of the Wickeds books when Sarah is planning a bigger, better New England’s Largest Garage Sale.  In book eight, working title Spy Low, Sell High, I have a joke about a friend that anyone who knows him well will get. I try not to overdo it because it can take someone out of the story.

[image error]Edith: In Farmed and Dangerous, book #3 of the Local Foods Mysteries, I have my farmer thinking about getting maple syrup from Jessie Crockett’s maple farmer in New Hampshire and Pawsitively Organice pet treats from Liz’s Frog Ledge protagonist. I hoped I might give a little boost to my fellow Wickeds’ books. I love including real historic homes and references in my Quaker Midwife Mysteries that only locals will recognize, but they aren’t hidden. I do it because it’s fun and I think makes the reading more authentic.

Jessie: I like to share information about things that interest me or my characters in my books so I don’t think I do hide anything in them besides clues to the mystery itself. I do have readers ask at events, in a sort of under their breath way, if I have done just that sort of thing. They seem to recognize the towns in the books as their own towns or the characters as their friends and neighbors. But it isn’t intentional; rather I think it shows the universality of human experience.  But now that you’ve got me thinking about tucking in secret bits who knows what might happen!

[image error]Barb: I like to put things in my books that don’t get explained until future books. For example, in Clammed Up, the first book in the Maine Clambake Mystery series, I mention that Julia’s mother grew up with a distant cousin. In Boiled Over, the second book, I say the cousin disappeared off Morrow Island years earlier. The story of his disappearance doesn’t get told until book five, Iced Under. The same with the mansion’s ghosts, which are mentioned in Clammed Up. The story of one of them is told in book six, Stowed Away. I didn’t know what these stories were when I left these little hints. I think of them as lifelines, cast out for later. I doubt most people notice, unless they are reading the books back-to-back-to-back.

Liz: In my second Cat Cafe book, Purrder She Wrote, I mentioned buying organic treats from Stan’s shop in Frog Ledge. It was a fun way to bring my two characters together. I also like to put “behind the scenes” glimpses of animal rescue in each of my series also. I think people like to read about how things like that really work.

Readers: Do you ever catch references in books that not everyone might get?

The Detective’s Daughter – The Write Coffee Shop

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Kim, in Baltimore, wearing shorts and a blanket!

 

I begin everyday with a cup of coffee. Not a dainty cup and saucer kind of cup, a mug nearly big enough that it could be a bowl for a Saint Bernard.  The years I taught school I could count on receiving many mugs from my students, each one with the word Teacher painted on it. My coffee consumption is legendary. I drink “cop coffee,” that is to say I drink it black. When my dad lived with me for a few years, he and I could put away at least three pots of coffee a day. We were serious about our favorite beverage.

Fortunately for me, I am in a profession, as my dad was, that is also known for it’s addiction… oh, I mean love…of coffee. All writers and coffee drinkers need a place where they can go to worship. We all need a coffee shop.

I am fortunate to have a few lovely shops in my area where I can write or socialize while sipping a piping hot espresso. Zeke’s is my number one go-to spot. It’s owned by Thomas Rhodes. There are plenty of tables and electrical outlets to use for writing and everyone there is respectful of you when you’re working. [image error]

The Red Canoe, which is only a few blocks from Zeke’s, is another favorite. Josie Rhodes and Tina Perry are the proprietors. This café is also a children’s bookstore and has many events for readers of all ages. The Red Canoe has a special place in my heart because it where I began my serious writing career. After dropping my children at school, I would spend my morning – and sometimes all day –  in this lovely little shop writing.

When I have meeting on the other side of town I like going to Bonjour. I cannot resist their macaroons! The space is small but inviting and the aroma of the bake goods is mouth-watering.[image error]

Last month I read a book called The Enchanted Garden Café by Abigail Drake. The book was wonderful and I truly wished this café was in my neighborhood. See, when I’m not drinking coffee, I need to read about it![image error]

Everyone should have a coffee shop whether you are a writer or not. We all need a place to feel welcomed and comforted, a place where we can come together with others who enjoy the best start to everyday…coffee.

 

Dear Readers, do you have a favorite spot in your city or town where you feel welcomed and comforted?

 

Double Duty

Jessie: In NH where the frost is thick on the ground in the mornings.

[image error]I am looking forward to a full slate of travel plans over the course of the next few weeks. I am just barely 5 foot 3 inches tall and placing things in the overhead bin is always a ridiculous struggle. So, I make it a habit to travel with the smallest amount of carry on luggage possible. Whenever I can I bring a backpack ot tote that I can fit under the seat in front of me.

I find it makes my travel plans so much simpler if I have fewer things to manage and less to carry. I start out by planning which shoes are appropriate for the events planned for the trip and for the weather at the destination. After that I choose clothing items that mix and match and do double and triple duty and I always toss a few hardworking accessories like brightly colored scarves and jaunty hats.

I plan out what I will pack a few days ahead by placing a wide variety of possibilities on my bed and then editing the options down to the best and fewest possible choices that get the job done.

It occured to me that the whole process is a lot like writing. I start out with a vague idea of where I am going and what I expect to do whilst I wandering in a story world. I begin with the foundation of the thing, the frame of story arc and genre expectations which has much in common with deciding on the right shoes. Both require a careful, practical notion of what is most important as opposed to what is tempting and fashionable and unlikely to go the distance in a satisfactory way.

Next I lay out a whole slew of possibilities that can mix and match and blend and look like far more than they are once combined. It is an easy enough thing to make an outfit look like something completely different when it is topped by a different scarf. A wardrobing red herring, so to speak. Mysteries are much the same. They fool the reader by using words to call attention from the facts of the story by waving a brightly colored clue back and forth.

The editing and revising and debating about which clothing item or which scene in the story is the best choice or working the hardest to serve the overall experience feels the same to me in each situation too. Scenes that are able to do double duty by building relationships between characters, revealing a bit of backstory or advancing a subplot are like the layering pieces that can be worn multiple ways.

Even when I am traveling it seems my mind is on my writing. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Readers, which things about your life would you never want to change? 

 

Welcome Guest Holly Quinn

Welcome Holly this is Holly’s debut book in her Handcrafted mystery series! Holly is giving away a copy (US only) to someone who leaves a comment! Here’s a bit about the book:

[image error]Sammy Kane just moved back to her hometown to run a craft store. But when the owner of a nearby yarn shop is murdered, Sammy will needle little help finding the killer.

When a heartbroken Samantha “Sammy” Kane returns to her hometown of Heartsford, WI, for her best friend Kate’s funeral, she learns that Kate’s much-loved craft store is in danger of perishing with its owner. Confounding all her expectations of the life she would live, Sammy moves back home with her golden retriever and takes over Community Craft. A few doors down Main Street, fellow new arrival Ingrid Wilson has just opened the Yarn Barn, a real “purl” of a shop. But when Sammy strolls over to see if Ingrid could use a little help, she finds Ingrid’s dead body―with a green aluminum knitting needle lodged in her throat.

Detective Liam Nash is thrown for a loop as every single citizen of Heartsford seems to have a theory about Ingrid’s murder. And nearly everyone in town seems to be a suspect. But the last time Sammy did any sleuthing was as a little moppet. And this is not fun and games. Sammy is eager to help the handsome Liam―who seems to be endlessly inventive in finding reasons to talk with her―and when Liam arrests affable woodworker Miles Danbury, Sammy puts everything on the line to help clear Miles.

As the case comes dangerously close to unraveling, Sammy must stitch the clues together. But the killer has other plans―and if Sammy’s not careful, she may wind up in a perilous knot in A Crafter Knits a Clue, the first warm and woolly yarn of Holly Quinn’s new Handcrafted mysteries. For fans of Betty Hechtman and Maggie Sefton, the latest craft frenzy is Holly Quinn’s Handcrafted series debut.

I consider it an honor and a privilege to share on this particular blog because I too am a fellow New Englandah! Not to mention, a huge fan of the Wicked Cozy Author’s. I’m giddy as I literally feel the camaraderie of hanging out with wicked cool new friends. It’s like that feeling I get when I land at Logan Airport and I hear the familiar accent that instantly brings a smile to my lips and makes me feel like I’m “home.”  So today, I feel like my airplane just safely landed.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts and spent many lazy summer days at my Aunt and Uncle’s grand estate in York Harbor, Maine. My sweet relatives have long since passed, but the memories of visiting them are as vivid as if they happened yesterday. I recall walks along the cliff walk with their golden retriever, the salty-kelp air, picnics on the beach, and sand covered toes. So today, in honor of my New England roots, I share with you the only character in my new Handcrafted Mystery series that is completely based on reality, right down to the name…Sammy Kane’s golden retriever, Bara.

I didn’t own a pet growing up as my parents wouldn’t allow it, so Bara was the only dog in my life. My Uncle Jerry would attach his leash, hand me the reins, and together we would walk him down to the cliff walk. Once onto the rocks, he’d toss a stick out to sea where Bara would gladly jump into the icy water and return victoriously with the prize in his mouth. Bara would then hurdle the sticks back to where we stood and shake his fur to soak us until we laughed.

I haven’t shared this behind the scenes with anyone… until now. I’m going to share an even deeper secret. Every time I type the word Bara while working on this series, I smile as memories come flooding back like a tidal wave. I suppose this is the reason the rest of my characters are completely fictional. When I write about an animal that was so personal and close to my heart, I’m boomeranged back to my childhood and it takes my breath away. Because I not only think of him—but of his owners who I love and miss dearly.

I now reside in Wisconsin where my new Handcrafted Mystery Series was born. And I wonder…will I ever have a golden retriever? Or will I just write about one? For now, I keep his memory alive on the page. An imprint on my heart that is forever.

Readers: Do you have a pet that evokes special childhood memories?

[image error]Holly Quinn has published two stand-alone fiction novels in another persona. She graduated from Carroll University in Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in business and a minor in marketing. This is her first Handcrafted mystery.

www.authorhollyquinn.com

Buy links:

https://www.amazon.com/Crafter-Knits-Clue-Handcrafted-Mystery/dp/1683317718

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-crafter-knits-a-clue-holly-quinn/1127730931#/

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Crafter-Knits-Clue/Holly-Quinn/9781683317715?id=7243989939651

http://www.powells.com/book/-9781683317715

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A-Crafter-Knits-a-Clue-Other/416024440

 

 

#Giveaway PRUNING THE DEAD

by Julie, grateful for one last summer like day

[image error]One of the interesting things about being a published author is keeping track of where you are in the process for each book. Right now, wearing my Julia Henry hat, I am finishing book 2, just did the copy edits for book 1 Pruning the Dead), and am starting to noodle book 3 a bit so I can weave some clues through book 2.  Are you confused? So am I, a bit.

I’m very excited about this series, and can’t wait for you all to meet Lilly Jayne, Tamara O’Connor, Ernie Johnson and Delia Greenway aka the Garden Squad. They guerilla garden and solve mysteries in Goosebush, Massachusetts. Lilly and Tamara have been best friends since they met in nursery school over sixty years ago. I love writing about women who have lived a lot of life, and have plans to live a lot more while making it better for others.

Since this series is about gardens, I’ve been gathering gardening tips from friends and family. I quickly discovered that along with the tips I am getting stories. My Aunt Carol and Uncle George told me about their fathers’ gardens, both of which I remember. My sister Caroline told me about her practice of bringing plants in for the winter. I know about that practice because she decorates them all for Christmas every year. I’ve loved learning about their best plant magic, and getting glimpses into their passion.

I’m thrilled to let you know that the ARCs for Pruning the Dead have arrived, and I am going to give two copies away to readers of this blog! US and Canada entries only. I’ll leave the comments open until October 15.

Also, if you have any gardening tips you’d be willing to share, leave those in the comments as well. I’m gathering them for books 2 & 3!

Wicked Wednesdays — Writer’s Life Part 2

If you could tell your younger writer self something what would it be? What advice would you give someone who is just starting their writing journey?

Jessie: I would tell myself to trust my process and my own voice. I would tell myself it is my way of being in the world and thus is mine to experience in my own way along any road that suits me. My timeline, passions and experiences are all fine just as they are.

Julie: I would tell myself that there aren’t any rules for how to write. That writing is a craft that you get better at over time, with lots of practice. That writing will bring you unimaginable joy, so don’t listen to the folks who poo-poo your efforts.

Sherry: Don’t give up! Rejection is part of the process and you have to have a thick skin. That pretty much applies to everything in life, right? Listen to your gut, but if everyone is saying the same thing about your work take that into consideration. It took me a long time to get published and I have two and a half books in the proverbial drawer.  But I learned a lot through writing them.

Barb: A few years ago, after the first couple of Maine Clambake Mysteries were published, I participated in a really fun panel, organized by Julie, at the Boston Book Festival. It was one of those absolutely beautiful fall days we get in Boston, and after my stint in the Sisters in Crime New England booth, I sat out in the sun on a bench in Copley Square, listening to the music and taking in the beauty of Trinity Church. In that moment, I thought to myself, “If your twenty-year-old self could see you now, she would feel pretty good.” So I guess my older self would tell my younger self, “Relax. It will happen for you. And don’t forget to enjoy the ride.”

[image error]“The Scolding Woman and the Cackling Hen” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, via Wikimedia Commons

Edith: I would tell myself, “Don’t listen to those who scold you about the terrible odds of getting a publication contract or the naysayers warning you how hard it is to land an agent. Somebody’s going get published, and it might as well be you.” Actually, I did tell my slightly younger self that ten years ago – and now look where I am.

Readers: What would you tell your younger self?

Opening Lines

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Write an opening line for photo above! Thanks to Bill Carito for the photo.

Edith: The detective scratched her head. Who left a cast iron skillet in a top drawer? Unless this was the blunt object she’d been searching for, the one missing from the scene of the crime.

Jessie: She knew Hamish was wrong when he said they had nothing to worry about. When he said the noise coming from the attic was probably made by a family of squirrels. LeeAnn might not know much about animals but she was pretty sure they didn’t yank open drawers or hurriedly pack boxes with valuables.

Sherry: Sarah Winston had had some tough jobs before and she’d seen a dead body or two. But the shocking way this man died had her rethinking her career goals.

Barb: Why did they leave, these long-ago people? Was it the drip-drip-drip of poverty-foreclosure-eviction or a sudden cataclysm? How did they decide what to take and what to leave? When they walked out the door, did they know it was for the last time? The abandoned house haunted me. I was determined to find out what had happened there.

Julie: You know what my downfall was? Not being willing to let go of that old cast iron skillet. Just because it was perfectly seasoned, I couldn’t let it go. Even after I’d used it to let Luther know who was in charge.

Readers: Add yours!

Why We Do What We Do

by Barb on a gray day in Portland, Maine

It’s been a tough week that followed a tough month that falls in a tough year. Let’s face it, it’s been tough.

Which makes me wonder why I sit at my desk and write stories-stories that by all definitions are light entertainment, intended to take people away from both their daily concerns and their existential angst.

I was having one of those moments of doubt when I happened to read a New York Times Magazine article about The Good Place, a TV show I like very much because it is both smart and intelligent, which happens to be its dichotomy, the tightrope it walks.

The article revealed, among other things, that the showrunner, Michael Schur, has this quote from David Foster Wallace in his office.

“Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness.”

I try not to let Wallace’s suicide color my feelings about the words, nor the fact that I am not writing, and will never write, a 1000+ page postmodern encyclopedic novel that will be hailed as one of the great works of the last hundred years. Despite all these caveats, Wallace’s quote captures what I’m trying to do with my little books, the message that is at the heart of them.

(The quote is longer, and the article is obviously longer, and I recommend it. “The Ultimate Sitcom,” New York Times Magazine, by Sam Anderson, October 2, 2018.)

I’ve also been thinking about the words of Richard Curtis, the writer Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, About Time, Notting Hill, and so many other romantic comedies. I am an unabashed fan of these movies. The first three might be on my top ten list. Curtis has made this statement other times in slightly different ways, but I found this particular quote on YouTube from a Screenwriters Lecture he gave for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in 2014.

“I’m sometimes puzzled by the fact that when I write films about people falling in love they are critically taken to be sentimental and unrealistic. Yet, four million people in London are in love tonight and today, all around the world, hundreds of thousands of people will fall in love. But when someone writes a film about a soldier going AWOL and breaking into a flat and murdering a young pregnant woman, something that has happened twice in history, that film will be described as ‘searingly realistic.’ I don’t see how that’s true.”

This bit begins in the video at 27:06. The quote is longer and the whole video is worth a listen. Writers may particularly enjoy the writing tips he gives at the end.

And finally, below is a conversation that appeared on my Facebook wall last December, just a few days before Christmas. I have blanked out the names because it was obviously a very personal conversation.

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This, then, is why we do what we do. And why we need to keep doing it, even when we are disheartened and discouraged and distracted and feeling like we should do something more important. Sometimes the human thing is not to focus laser-like on what’s wrong, but to look to the good. To focus on our common humanity.

My life experience has told me that the vast amount of people I have ever met or dealt with are good. Not everyone, by any stretch, but most. They are not without travails, burdens, fears, car-sized blindspots and canyon-sized flaws. But they try, in the best ways they know how, to be good.

That goodness is what I choose to reflect in my little pieces of art.