Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 218

Iceland!

Jessie: Back in New Hampshire where there is a light blanket of snow all round the yard.

First off, the Grateful for Our Readers Giveaway continues! I have a copy of Whispers Beyond the Veil for one commenter so please drop by and add to the conversation by midnight tonight to be eligible for the drawing!

This post is a brief one. I confess I’m suffering from a bit of jet lag and have a looming deadline and a houseful of guests arriving any minute. But I did want to share why I’ve been missing from the blog for several days. I’ve been having all kinds of fun in Iceland!

For years I’ve been a fan of Nordic crime novels. So when I discovered there was a crime writing conference named Iceland Noir I joyfully began to plan to attend. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. I met writers and readers from Finland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Hungary, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, The U.K., Poland and even other Americans.

In a world where so much seems divided at present it was such a joy to be in the midst of so much variety bound together by a common interest. The accents, the clothing, the perspectives were made up of all sorts but the mutual love of crime fiction was passionately shared.

Not only was the conference a delight, so was the city of Reykjavik where it was held. My husband and I had such fun walking the windy streets and seeing the sights in between conference panels.

From the art deco hotel in which we stayed, to the  views out across the stark countryside we enjoyed every minute of the journey!

 

Readers, is there anywhere you’ve always wanted to visit? Writers, have you attended a writing conference far from home?

Filed under: Conferences, Jessie's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: Iceland, Iceland Noir, Reykjavik, travel, writers conference

Showing Gratitude

By Liz, grateful it’s not super cold yet!

It’s the most grateful month of the year.

You all know that, though. It’s November, after all. November and gratitude are kind of synonymous. And if you’ve been following the blog, you know we’re doing giveaways all month to show we’re grateful for our readers. Our Wicked Wednesday posts cover everything we’re grateful for, from agents to mentors to the little things. We are all blessed, and we know it.

And that means being grateful for everything, even the things that don’t seem so great. It’s been a challenging month for me personally, so I’ve been trying to put extra attention on all those blessings in my life — large and small. The people, pets and experiences that I’m incredibly lucky to have in my life. Being able to write books that make people happy. Being part of a community. I could go on.

But this year, it seems important to show that gratitude differently. We’ve all spoken a lot in the past couple of weeks about “doing something.” About making a difference, being kind, speaking up. We’ve all seen opportunities where we can make a positive impact on someone’s life. This comes in many forms, whether it be standing up for someone who’s being treated poorly, or listening to someone who needs a friend. Buying someone a cup of coffee. Actually doing something, not just thinking about gratitude.

This year at Crime Bake, I had two experiences that brought this point home. The first was when I stepped out of a session to sit for a few minutes in one of the hotel’s common areas. A lovely woman approached and asked me to sign a book. I did, and then I invited her to stay and chat. She told me about the project she was working on during NaNoWriMo, and how she hoped to finish her book soon after. I told her I had no doubt she could do it, and that I expected to see her back at Crime Bake next year with a finished manuscript and ready to pitch. Her whole face lit up and she thanked me for the encouragement. She walked away happy.

And when I was packing up my car to leave the conference at the end of the weekend, another woman approached me outside the hotel. We’d met at Malice. She told me that when we’d spoken back in May, I’d been very encouraging about her work. So now she wanted to tell me that she’d finished her book and was shopping it around. She also thanked me for taking the time to encourage her back then, and wanted to share her next steps in this journey.

I walked away from both of these interactions full of gratitude for them, when they thought it was the other way around. But really, it goes both ways, right? “Doing something” doesn’t have to always seem big, like stepping into a fight to stand up for someone. It can be as easy as telling someone, Hey, I was where you are once. You can do it! It’s as easy as telling a person who had a positive impact on you, however large or small, that they did. Both of these things demonstrate actually showing gratitude by passing that feeling along to someone else.

And boy, if these little things start to add up, imagine what an impact we could have?

Happy Thanksgiving, readers and friends. The Wickeds are grateful for all of you.

Have you had a gratitude-filled experience lately? Tell us about it below. 

Filed under: Liz's posts Tagged: blessed, gratitude, November, readers, Thanksgiving

Thankful For Our Readers — Third Week Winners

It’s the end of our second week of giveaways for Thankful for Our Readers, the Wicked Cozies all November giveaway. We used Random.org for all our drawings.

Drum roll please.

 

November 14, winner of a Eggnog Murder and tote bag from Barbara Ross is Barbarakay!  Please send your mailing address to Barbara at BarbaraRoss at maineclambakemysteries dot com

November 15, winner of a Windward from editor and contributor Kim Gray is Grace Koshida! Please send your mailing address to kkurthgray at gmail dot com

November 16, the winner of a book by Julie Hennrikus is Jadedcup!  Please send your mailing address and choice of book to clockshopmysteries at gmail dot com

November 17, the winner of the Crime Bake sway is Stormi D. Johnson!  Please send your mailing address to Sherry at Sherryharrisauthor @ gmail dot com

November 18, the winner of an ebook of Get Me to the Grave on Time is dragons3. Please send your e-mail address to barbaraross at maineclambakemysteries dot com.

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Filed under: Contests

Welcome Back, D.E. Ireland

Welcome back to our writing pals, D. E. Ireland. This time we’re here to celebrate Get Me to the Grave on Time, the third book in their series featuring Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins as amateur sleuths.As you can imagine, they had to do plenty of research for this mystery built around a series of Edwardian weddings.

Meanwhile, our month of being Thankful for Our Readers continues with D. E. giving away an ebook of their book to one lucky commenter below.

Take it away, D.E.!

EDWARDIAN WEDDING TRADITIONS

While posting personal news on Facebook has replaced announcements in the newspapers, it was different in the Edwardian era. A proper lady expected to see her name in print only three times during her life: a birth announcement, an article detailing her marriage, and a death notice. Anything else was considered to be in bad taste. But as we learn in D.E. Ireland’s latest Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins mystery, Get Me to the Grave On Time, murder at a wedding is even worse.

The D.E. Ireland team did extensive research on wedding customs in England and learned some surprising things about how nuptials differed a century ago. One example is the breach of promise common law tort, which allowed jilted brides to bring suit against their erstwhile grooms. Breach of promise lawsuits reached their height in the 19th century when about 100 men were sued annually by their former fiancées. Known as the “Bride’s Revenge’, breach of promise suits not only humiliated the man, but helped the bride recover any monies already spent on wedding preparations. Working or middle class women, who may have given up employment right before the aborted wedding, used the lawsuit to recover lost wages.

Bringing a breach of promise suit fell out of favor in Britain and the U.S. in the 1930s. This coincided with the rise of the diamond engagement ring. Although brides had long received engagement rings, many of them in the past did not contain diamonds. However starting in the 1930s, brides began to expect an expensive diamond ring. Unlike today, the bride often kept this ring if her fiancé decided to call off the engagement. A diamond engagement ring thus became a jeweled version of the breach of promise law.

For those couples who did tie the knot, they may have paid heed to this little poem about choosing which day to marry.

Marry on Monday for health,

Tuesday for wealth,

Wednesday the best day of all,

Thursday for crosses,

Friday for losses, and

Saturday for no luck at all.

In Edwardian times, canonical hours dictated weddings should take place between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Otherwise, a special license needed to be obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury; it cost 30₤. The couple also published ‘banns’ in their local parish over the course of three weeks to let everyone know they were soon to be wed. This was required so as to inform anyone who might wish to lodge an objection against the upcoming marriage. June was the most popular month for weddings, with April, September and October coming in afterward. May was considered unlucky. And a bride would never ‘marry in Lent, you’ll live to repent.’

A church wedding was usually followed by a breakfast held either at the bride’s home or at a restaurant. The bride’s family could also hire a caterer to provide breakfast, afternoon refreshments, or supper. Depending on the bridal budget, a wedding breakfast menu might include salmon or a lobster salad, lamb cutlets or beef croquettes, crème pots and truffles, sandwiches and pastries, plus champagne. One traditional wedding fruitcake recipe called for forty eggs, three and a half pounds of butter, four pounds of brown sugar, one pound of almonds, three pounds each of orange and lemon peel, five pounds of flour, and a bottle of brandy!

After the breakfast, the cake would be sliced, placed in white boxes, and tied with ribbon. If the family could not afford the cost of 25₤ for the cake, cutting, and boxing – for an extra 5₤, the couple’s initials were stamped on the front – the cake was baked at home, presumably by the bride’s mother and/or sisters.

An Edwardian wedding dress

Since Eliza is a fashionista, she’s eager to see what each bride wears at the four weddings in the book. After Queen Victoria began the tradition of wearing white for her wedding, English brides quickly followed suit. Tulle veils flowed from a wreath of orange blossoms, which symbolized purity; roses, lilies or other seasonal flowers made up the bouquet. The bride’s attendants numbered from half a dozen to only one, depending on the couple’s social status. All brides, even today, have heard the first part of this saying – ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’ – but in Edwardian England, they added ‘a lucky sixpence in your shoe.’ And Eliza makes sure her cousin Jack’s fiancée Sybil has this sixpence, since it symbolizes future wealth.

Brides wore their wedding dress at formal occasions for six months after the ceremony. Edwardian wedding gowns never displayed a bare neck or décolletage, and short or elbow length sleeves required gloves to cover the arms. The left glove included a removable ‘ring finger’ to allow the groom to place the wedding ring on his bride’s hand. Widows never wore white, but instead donned wedding gowns in muted colors such as pale blue, mauve, lavender. Widows also wore hats rather than veils. The twice widowed Duchess of Carbrey, who is the first bride to walk down the aisle in Get Me to the Grave On Time, is decked out in her Scottish family’s tartan colors.

Eliza as a bridesmaid

Brides prepared for their married life by purchasing an elaborate trousseau which included furs, fans, parasols, hand-sewn French lingerie, gowns, gloves, an evening wrap, driving cloak, and much more. Since Eliza is acting as bridesmaid at two of the weddings in the book, she’s excited to be wearing new bridal clothes of her own. Of course, her suitor Freddy Eynsford Hill won’t be happy until he sees Eliza in an actual wedding gown. However, Eliza is determined to remain single, at least for the foreseeable future. And in this latest book, she and Higgins find they’re in agreement on one thing. The best part of weddings is that delicious cake.

 

 

[image error]D.E. Ireland is the pseudonym of long time friends and award-winning authors, Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta. In 2013 they decided to collaborate on a unique series based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, which inspired the classic musical My Fair Lady. At work on Book Four of their Agatha nominated series, they also pursue separate writing careers. Currently both of them write cozy mysteries for Kensington under their respective new pen names: Sharon Farrow and Meg Macy. Sharon’s Berry Basket series debuted in October 2016, and Meg’s Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear series will be released in May 2017. The two Michigan authors have patient husbands, brilliant daughters, and share a love of tea, books, and history. Follow D.E. Ireland on Facebook, Twitter, and on their website: www.deireland.com

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Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Edwardian weddings, Eliza Doolittle, Get me to the grave on time, Henry Higgins

Crime Bake On A Stick 2016

Today we are giving away goodies from Crime Bake! It includes a Crime Bake tote bag, a filled out bingo ice breaker card (with author and attendee signatures), a folder with tablet and pen, a copy of The Writer magazine, a Crime Bake survival kit, and a moose tea candle holder (our table won it in the limerick contest — William Kent Krueger picked the winner!) Here’s our winning limerick:

At Crime Bake having a ball

We met a strange moose named Saul

We thought he was dead

From the hole in his head

But

Wicked Wednesday — Grateful For Our Mentors

Julie here! Today is my day to do a giveaway! Reader’s choice–either Just Killing Time or Clock and Dagger! Or, I can give you a Level Best anthology with one of my short stories. Comment to enter, I’ll announce the winner this weekend.

Continuing the our November theme of being grateful, Wickeds tell us about a mentor that helped you along your path to publication. Since I know we all have had a lot of help from a lot of different sources, think waaaaaayyyyy back to someone who helped you early on. What did they do? How did they help?

Edith: My mother said, about my early short stories, “Edie, you’re a good writer,” and I believed her for the rest of my life.

But as an adult, when I started writing fiction again, I’d have to say Kate Flora. She was one of the original Level Best Books editors and has more published crime novels, fiction and non fiction, than I can even dream of. The first story I’d submitted to a Level Best anthology was accepted, but I had a number of rejections after that. More than once Kate wrote a handwritten note on the form letter. “Don’t let this discourage you. You’re a good writer. Keep writing.” And I believed her. Thank you, dear Kate. Hallie Ephron and Hank Phillippi Ryan have also been huge boosters of mine – and continue to be. A big thank you to these talented, gracious, generous authors.

Liz: I was blessed to be able to attend two Seascape writers retreats with Hallie Ephron, Roberta Isleib, and Susan Hubbard. Those ladies were the best teachers ever. They pushed me to put more of myself on the page, hone my craft and become better. I remember Hallie saying to me once, “You’ll do it [get published]. You have the talent, but you also have the drive.” It was the best feeling in the world to tell her about my first contract. Thank you Hallie, Roberta and Susan – you definitely changed my life.

Barb: It’s amazing how certain people have such a strong through-line in so many New Englander’s writing careers. I, too, can never repay Roberta Isleib (Lucy Burdette), Hallie Ephron, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Kate Flora, so I try to pay it forward. I’ve been so lucky in both my work and writing lives to have so many strong women provide such powerful support and advice. Let me recognize another–B. A. Shapiro, author of The Art Forger and The Muralist, and my first mystery writing teacher.

Sherry: Eons ago I attended my very first writers conference — the Cambria Writers Workshop conference held at Asilomar in Monterey, California. As part of the conference we were able to read part of our manuscript. As I was reading I realized my manuscript was all backstory — terribly written backstory. I managed to get through it and thank heavens they were a kind and supportive group. They pointed out the good things and gently critiqued what was wrong. I remember going up to the keynote speaker later and asking if she thought I should continue writing. She said, “You’re talented.” It might have been a lie but it kept me going. I’ve always thought under different circumstances, with different people, it would have been easy to throw in the towel. The writing community is a generous one and I’ve been helped along the way by many, many people.

Julie: I am going to give Hallie Ephron another shout out. At one of my first Crime Bakes, when I was barely admitting aloud I dreamed of getting published, she took the news that my manuscript was being requested with a “that’s really wonderful–they don’t say that to everyone. Be proud of yourself.” Even this last weekend, she went out of her way to tell my how funny one of my Facebook posts was. Also, shouting out to Hank Phillippi Ryan, one of the most gracious women I know. She’s been a huge booster, and continues with that.

Dear fellow writers, who are your mentors? Readers, who has encouraged you along the way in one particular area of your life?Save

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Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: B. A. Shapiro, Cambria Writers Workshop, Hallie ephron, Hank Philippi Ryan, kate flora, lucy burdette, mentors, Pasadena Star News, robert isleib

The Detective’s Daughter – Adventures in Book Publishing.

by Kim in Dedham, Massachusetts enjoying Crime Bake.

Today is my day for the giveaway! Leave a comment by midnight to be entered to win an autographed copy of Windward: Best New England Crime Stories.

Well, it’s finally happened. This weekend we launched our first anthology as the new editors of Level Best Books. Windward has been a labor of love and I am proud to be a part of the team along with Harriette Sackler, Shawn Reilly Simmons, and Verena Rose.

It was a year ago this weekend that Level Best Books was passed from one Wicked Cozy editor (Barbara Ross) to another (that would be me!). I had spent the last five autumns coming to New England for the fabulous Crime Bake conference and have many of the anthologies that the previous Level Best Books editors had published. I was happy to pick up the torch and carry on the tradition of this wonderful New England anthology.

P. Jo Anne Burgh, winner of the 2016 Al Blanchard Award

The submissions came rolling in from January 1st. – May 31st. at a high rate of speed. All in all there were 225 stories to read. In the end thirty- three stories were selected that included the Al Blanchard Award winner.

I am happy to announce we will be publishing additional anthologies with Busted: Arresting Stories from the Beat to be released in April 2017.

It has been an exciting weekend for all involved and I would like to thank the Crime Bake committee for their warm welcome and assistance, the talented authors who submitted their stories and most of all Barbara Ross who gave me one pep talk after another and filled me with the encouragement I needed to see this project through.

We are winding up another spectacular conference weekend. There were plenty of laughs, lots of dancing and, most of all, a strong writers community to support and cheer for each other.

Join us next year, won’t you?

Do you enjoy reading and/or writing short stories? Which story has been the most memorable?

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Filed under: The Detective's Daughter Tagged: Al Blanchard Award, Busted: Arresting Stories from the Beat, dames of detection, Level Best Books, New England Crime Bake, P Jo Anne Burgh, Windward

Eggnog Murder–the Real Story Behind the Story

by Barb, who just finished making her famous (in small, exclusive circles) mincemeat. The holidays must be coming.

The Wicked Cozy Authors’ Thankful for Our Readers month continues. Leave a comment on this blog post to win a copy of Eggnog Murder, along with a Snowden Family Clambake tote bag.

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When my agent called me to say that “Kinda out of the blue,” Kensington had asked me to contribute a novella to a collection called Eggnog Murder, I was thrilled. My novels are always too short and my short stories always too long, so I suspected novellas were my true calling.

Today’s giveaway

But another reason I was pumped was because I had been sitting on a gem of an eggnog anecdote for almost thirty years.

To wit:

Many moons ago, when I was a young manager, I interviewed an even younger woman for a sales position. This is how it went.

Me: “And why are you considering leaving your current position?”

Interviewee: “Well, I kind of food poisoned every person in my company and all their guests at the office Christmas party.”

Me: (mouth open, no sounds coming out)

Interviewee, continuing: “My mother has this great recipe for eggnog. She makes it every year for our holiday open house. But something went wrong. The eggs were bad. Everyone was throwing up, and…” (ominous pause) “…worse.”

Me: “Oh, my God. Were you fired?”

Interviewee: “No, but once you’ve been in the ER, hooked up to an IV, being re-hydrated, next to your boss, and your boss’s boss, I figure you really don’t have much of a future with the company.”

Me: “You’re hired!”

Actually, I didn’t hire her on the spot. We did the usual reference checks, etc. But I knew in that moment that I wanted to hire her. As one of my mentors had taught me well, you should always hire employees who are “pre-disastered.”

In John Irving’s The World According to Garp, Garp and his young wife are standing on the front lawn looking at a house for sale when a small plane flies straight into it. Garp turns to his wife and says, “We’ll take the house. Honey, the chances of another plane hitting this house are astronomical. It’s been pre-disastered. We’re going to be safe here.”

Of course, as Garp learns, having survived one kind of disaster does not prevent another. And so it is with employees. Pre-disastered doesn’t mean they’ve gotten their disaster “over with.” It means that having survived one, they know what to do. Tell the people who need to know immediately, honestly and completely. Ask for help. Treat the situation like a problem to be solved. Not, hope it will blow over, hope no one will notice, try to solve it by yourself until it gets even bigger. That sort of thing.

So, the action in my novella, “Nogged Off,” kicks off when Julia finds out her young subtenant has brought her mama’s eggnog to the office holiday party, and….

Readers: Have you been “pre-disastered” at work? Tell us about it in the comments, or otherwise just leave a comment for a chance to win.

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Filed under: Barb's posts Tagged: John Irving, pre-disastered, the world according to garp

Thankful for Our Readers–Second Week Winners

It’s the end of our second week of giveaways for Thankful for Our Readers, the Wicked Cozies all November giveaway. We used Random.org for all our drawings.

Drum roll please.

November 7, winner of a book by Sheila Connolly is storytellermary. Please send your mailing address and your choice of book to Sheila at sheila at sheilaconnolly dot com. And an update on the candidates for ugliest baby animal? Spiders and rats took an early lead.

November 8, winner of a Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery by Sherry Harris is Mary Jane H. Please send your mailing address to sherryharrisauthor at gmail dot com and let me know which book you would like!

November 9, winner of Murder Most Finicky is Dianne B. Winner of an ARC of Custom Baked Murder is Maureen. Send your mailing address to liz.mugavero@gmail.com.

November 10, winner of a Clock Shop Mystery by Julianne Holmes is . Please send your mailing address to .

November 11, winner of  by  is . Please send your mailing address to .

Congratulations, winners!

If you didn’t win, please keep entering. We’ll be here all month.

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Filed under: Contests Tagged: A Clock Shop Mystery, Custom Baked Murder, giveaway, Julianne Holmes, Liz Mugavero, Murder Most Finicky, Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries, sheila connolly, winners

Crime Bake! Where To Find Us

 

Jessie: Today is my day for a giveaway! The winner is invited to chose any one of my books: Drizzled with Death, Maple Mayhem, A Sticky Situation or my latest, Whispers Beyond the Veil. Leave a comment by midnight to be entered in the contest!

The New England Crime Bake is a wonderful writers conference put on by the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America in Dedham, MA and we will all be there! Here’s where you can find us:

Edith: I’m the Volunteer Wrangler, so I’ll be buzzing around everywhere making sure my awesome volunteers don’t need anything. I’m excited to be on the “Researching and Writing the Historical Mystery” panel, Saturday, November 12 • 10:10am – 11:00am, with Jessie and others. You’ll certainly find me on the dance floor at the banquet. And I’ll be helping out at the Sisters in Crime New England table from time to time, as well.

Liz: I’ll be buzzing around all weekend too – and my panel is also on Saturday, November 12 at 10:10 – 11 a.m. on “The Challenges of Writing Multiple Series,” moderated by our good friend Lucy Burdette. Looking forward to it!

Barb: I’ll be around all weekend, too. It will be weird not taking my turn manning the Level Best Books sales table. Kim Gray and the new team of editors will be doing that. I’m especially looking forward to welcoming the debut authors at Death, Desserts, and Debutants on Friday evening at 9:00 p.m, and to moderating, “Creating Your Town,” with William Kent Krueger, Sheila Connolly, Leslie Meier, and Marian McMahon Stanley at 3:10 on Saturday.

Sherry:  Since I no longer live in New England, I can’t be on a panel. However, I will be attending lots of panels — I always learn so much. Plus, I’ll be attending the banquet and perhaps I’ll make an appearance or two at the bar! It’s always a great time!

Jessie: As Edith pointed out above, I’ll be on a historical mysteries panel on Saturday morning with her as well as Ang Pompano, Emily Arsenault and Toby Ball. I’ll also be appearign on a panel on Saturday at 1:45pm call Traveling in Packs with Lisa Haselton, Kate Flora, Kevin Flynn, William Kent Krueger and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Julie: I’m leading a Saturday session called “Reading Like a Writer”. We’re going to discuss The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. On Sunday I am MCing the “Wheel of Why”. Sort of a game show about plots. Will report back.

 

Filed under: Group posts Tagged: Crime Bake, Mystery Writers of America, New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime, New England Crime Bake