Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 238

A Debut Author You May Have Heard From Before Guest Shawn Reilly Simmons

Welcome Shawn Reilly Simmons! Thanks for taking time to stop by during your busy debut week! Shawn is giving away an ebook of both books to one commenter!

Here’s a bit about Murder On A Silver Platter: Penelope Sutherland and her Red Carpet Catering company just got their big break as the on-set caterer for an upcoming blockbuster. But when she discovers a dead body outside her house, Penelope finds herself in hot water. Things start to boil over when serious accidents threaten the lives of the cast and crew. And when the film’s star, who happens to be Penelope’s best friend, is poisoned, the entire production is nearly shut down. Threats and accusations send Penelope out of the frying pan and into the fire as she struggles to keep her company afloat. Before Penelope can dish up dessert, she must find the killer or she’ll be the one served up on a silver platter.

It finally happened. Last Tuesday, I became a traditionally published author, twice over, when my first two Red Carpet Catering mysteries were released by Henery Press. It’s been a whirlwind of activity: good wishes, blog posts, Facebook likes, friend requests, checking sales ranks and reading reviews (I know you’re not supposed to but I can’t help myself). It’s been so hectic that I’ve had a hard time remembering the other things, like buying groceries and paying bills, you know…regular life stuff. (What day is it again?) Release Day was also my final rewrite deadline on the third book in my series, Murder on a Designer Diet, which will be published in June. I made my deadline, and somehow managed to maintain my sanity. At least that’s the story I’m sticking with.

When momentous things like this happen in my life, I tend to reflect on how I got to that particular point. For publication day, it was a series of firsts: the first time I sat down to write the initial draft of Murder on a Silver Platter; the first time someone I respected encouraged me to pursue my dream of being a writer; the first phone call from Henery Press saying how much they loved my books. Those are all excellent memories.

One of the most important firsts was attending Malice Domestic in 2003.

I didn’t know anyone there, but I was excited at the prospect of making new friends who liked mysteries as much as me, and I was thrilled to listen to people like Edward Marston and Tony Hillerman talk about their writing careers. I attended the Malice Board Meeting panel that year and sat behind Anne Murphy, the Volunteer Chair. She noticed that my last name at the time was Reilly, which happens to be her maiden name, and we started chatting. We realized quickly we weren’t related, at least in the immediate sense, but shortly afterwards I was invited onto the Malice Board to fill the vacant PR Chair position.

I went from sending out a few press releases about the Agathas in those early years to taking over the registration duties and communications in addition to PR. We’ve evolved from the snail mail era to today, where I get to interact regularly with a huge community of mystery writers and fans, a vast number of whom I consider close friends. Malice is my favorite part of every spring, my mystery family reunion. Much of the confidence I needed when writing my books is a direct result of the love and nurturing I’ve received from that sweetly malicious family.

I’ll always be grateful for that first conversation with Anne, which led to so many other firsts. I’m anxious to see what else it has in store for me.

Readers: What is your best “first step” memory? What got you started on a path that you always wanted to take? Or alternately, what steps are you contemplating taking going forward?

BIO:

Shawn Reilly Simmons is the author of the Red Carpet Catering mysteries published by Henery Press. The first two books in the series, Murder on a Silver Platter and Murder on the Half Shell,  were released on February 23rd. The third, Murder on a Designer Diet will be published in June. Besides being a Board Member of Malice Domestic, Shawn is co-editor/owner of Level Best Books, which publishes the annual Best New England Crime Stories Anthology each fall, debuting at Crimebake. Her short story “A Gathering of Great Detectives” will appear in the upcoming Malice Domestic anthology: Murder Most Conventional. When she isn’t writing, Shawn is usually running, reading, cooking, watching movies or drinking wine. She lives in Maryland with her husband, son and English Bulldog.

www.ShawnReillySimmons.com

@ShawnRSimmons

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Annie's Book Stop, book release, Malice Domestic, Murder on a Silver Platter, Murder on the Half Shell, New beginnings, shawn reilly simmons

Creative Recovery

By Liz, still wishing she’d missed that plane home from Key West

I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes it feels like my creative spark has been doused by an ocean wave.

This usually happens when my deadline is looming somewhere between 60 and 30 days away (like right now) and I’m feeling those first stages of panic (How will I ever get this book done?). The panic attracts the inner critic, and then it becomes a whole host of self doubt and procrastination.

In the past, I would beat myself up abut this situation. Berate my slacker tendencies that put me in this position every deadline. Curse the wretched day job that prevented me from putting the lion’s share of my time into writing. Deprive myself of anything good until I finished the book, which I was still convinced would be horrible, even if it was finished.

But that doesn’t work so well. While I may manage to slog through and claim victory, I feel like I’ve been through a war. I don’t want to look at or talk about the book. I want to watch Gilmore Girls reruns for a week. It takes a bit to get back into the writing habit.

So this time I’m trying something different. I’m trying to be kinder to myself. To “be” with the book wherever it is in the process and have faith it will get done. And I’m trying new tactics to get my mojo back.

Here are a few of them: 

Morning pages – Anyone who’s done The Artist’s Way is familiar with this journaling practice – 3 pages right after you wake up. I’ve been doing them for years, but in the last few, not consistently. I’ve made a concerted effort to get back into the habit. It gets the juices flowing and gets all the extraneous stuff out of your head so you can get back to the important work.
Coloring – Yep, I’m a colorer. And I’ve totally given myself permission to stop and pull out the crayons for a bit if I’m too stuck.
Playing with the dog – Of course, this is my favorite. A game of fetch with Finn or a game of tug with Shaggy and all is well.
Reading creativity books – Sometimes reading other fiction isn’t a good idea when you’re in a writing rut. I’ve been returning to books about harnessing your creativity. I just finished Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic , and I’m in the process of re-reading some of my SARK collection. Big-time inspiration.
Visit Key West or other island paradise – This one is a no-brainer, right? I definitely came back from my vacation itching to get back to the computer. Sometimes your batteries really do just need a recharge.

And hopefully, that deadline won’t come too soon….

Readers, what do you do to get your creative mojo back?

Filed under: Liz's posts Tagged: creativity, deadlines, Key West

Welcome Author Christine Wenger

Jane/Susannah/Sadie here, wondering which Comfort Food recipe to try first…

Please give a Wicked Welcome to Christine Wenger, author of the Comfort Food Mysteries! 

Thanks for having me. I really live in Cicero, New York, but I am playing snowbird in Florida right now at a motor home park. Internet service is wonky, but I hope to make an appearance to say hi to all you “wicked” readers.

Tell us about your series and your latest book, IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE.

The Comfort Food Mysteries feature Trixie Matkowski from the Silver Bullet Diner in Sandy Harbor, New York, a small town on the shores of Lake Ontario. Here’s the description for IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE:

All Trixie Matkowski wants for Christmas is a break—just not the broken leg she got after slipping on some ice. With Sandy Harbor alive in the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s the busiest time of the year at Trixie’s Silver Bullet Diner. There are millions of things to do, including cater the town’s annual Christmas pageant and community dinner with some delicious holiday comfort food.

 

But the festivities turn into a bit of a turkey after Liz Fellows, the director of the pageant, is found with Trixie’s butcher knife in her back. Now Trixie must help the police arrest the scary gentleman—or lady—guilty of the crime if she hopes to get herself off the naughty list.

What actor would make the best Trixie Matkowski?

Hmmm….someone with a lot of energy, someone who can cook, solve mysteries and who has a great sense of humor…probably ME!!!  Okay, maybe a female Emeril Lagasse.

Do you have any quirks? Tell us about them.

Me?  Quirks?  Why, I am perfect in every way.  Okay, maybe I shop too much, spend too much money and love to be lazy on a cold winter day (after I make soup).

Who’s your favorite mystery writer of all time? 

It has to be Mary Stewart who wrote all those luscious gothics.

Favorite book (not necessarily a mystery) of all time? 

It’s A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith.  I’vr read it 10,087 times and cry each and every time.

Who is your most-loved book boyfriend?

Jim Frayne from the old Trixie Belden books.

What is your writing process like? Early bird or night owl? Pantser or Plotter? Do you require special drinks or snacks?

I write whenever I can, but mostly at night.  I’m usually sipping on some kind of icy beverage (water, soda) and pizza would be wonderful.  I am mostly a Pantser, but I usually get myself jammed up and wish I plotted more!

Best writing advice you ever heard or read?

FINISH THE BOOK!

Do you have any pets? 

I have a very sweet and lovely golden retriever by the name of Blondie.  She’s on the cover, or is featured in, all five of my cozy mysteries.

What’s next for you?  

I’d love to continue my comfort food series with book #6. Actually, I have ideas for five more cozy mysteries!  The readers seem to love them, and I love writing them.

Thanks so much for being here, Christine! Here’s where you can connect with her:

Web:  www.christinewenger.com

Facebook:  christine wenger

Readers: Say hi to Christine, and tell us what’s your favorite comfort food!

Filed under: Guest posts, Jane's posts, Sadie's Posts, Susannah's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith, Christine Wenger, comfort food, Emeril, Jim Frayne, Lake Ontario, Mary Stewart, Trixie Belden

Wicked Wednesday — Trapped!

We are celebrating the release of Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross today! Here’s a bit about the book: An autumn chill has settled over Busman’s Harbor, Maine, but Julia Snowden is warming up the town by offering lobster stew at the local diner. When her landlord discovers a dead body in the walk-in refrigerator, Julia must figure out who ordered up a side of murder.

Nothing’s colder than a corpse–especially one stashed inside a sub-zero fridge. The victim spent his last night on earth dining at the restaurant bar, so naturally Julia finds herself at the center of the ensuing investigation. Lost in the November fog, however, is who’d want to kill the unidentified stranger–and why. It might have something to do with a suspicious group of retirees and a decades-old tragedy to which they’re all connected. One thing’s for sure: Julia’s going to make solving this mystery her early bird special…

A group of strangers are trapped together in Julia’s brand new restaurant. So Wickeds have you ever been trapped somewhere alone or with a group of people? What did you do? What about the people you were with?

Julie: I can’t wait to read this book! The only time I’ve been trapped is by storms here in New England. Usually, of late, I’ve been alone in my apartment. In the past, I’ve been with my family. I am overly cautious about being stuck somewhere due to weather and move to shelter as soon as they whisper “storm”. I’ve got to admit, the idea of being trapped freaks me out.

Liz: I’m with you, Julie! I’d much rather be virtually trapped in one of Barb’s books! Anxiously awaiting Julia’s newest adventure – I can’t wait to get back to Busman’s Harbor.

Edith: I’ve been trapped talking with someone who made no sense although I wasn’t really trapped, because I could say, “Oops, gotta get to a meeting!” I’ve certainly been trapped next to someone on an airplane who really, really wanted to talk with me for the whole flight. In that case I just closed my eyes until they shut up. And I felt trapped in my marriage for a few years, but I wasn’t, really. It just felt that way. I also can’t wait to read this installment, Barb! Congratulations.

Barb: My most vivid memory of being trapped was in a glass elevator with both my grandmothers at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow, Queens. I hadn’t known until that moment that one of my grandmothers was claustrophic and the other was acrophobic! (No wonder I’m a mess.) During that same trip, we were trapped in the Disney Small World exhibit for about 45 minutes. You haven’t been trapped until you’ve heard those animatronic youngsters sing that song twenty times. I thought my unsentimental parents, who had to be talked into going on the ride in the first place, were going to lose their minds. Years later, taking my own kids on the same ride at Disney World, I experienced flashbacks.

Sherry: I’ve been trapped in the house a couple of times during tropical storms. But I think my scariest experience was during college when a friend and I were driving down Interstate 80 around 10:00 pm and my car broke down. There were no cell phones back then or hazards lights on my 1965 Rambler. We were far from any exits and could only see the lights of one house far across a field. Oh, and it was winter. Every time a semi went by it shook the whole car so we got out and stood on the side of the road. Finally a van pulled over. We were happy and scared. It was a bunch of obviously high guys who were going to a concert in the next town. I gave them ten bucks and asked them to stop at a gas station and send a tow truck. Happily, they did!

Jessie: Like Sherry, my only trapped situations involved a vehicle. Once, I broke down on the side of the highway. I had a job in a retail store 52 miles from my home and it happened after my 11 pm closing shift on a Black Friday. Yes, the day after Thanksgiving. I was wearing all black, a pair of heels and had no warm coat or cell phone. I sat in my car with my hazard lights on for about 45 minutes hoping a police car would stop before I decided to walk to the tollbooth. I had gone only a few feet when a car pulled over and offered me a ride. The driver said it was seven miles to the toll booth. I sent out a little shout to the universe that a sign the guy was a serial killer would be appreciated. When none appeared I climbed in and pressed myself against the door, ready to throw myself out if things got creepy. As it happened, the driver was a really nice man who ended up driving me all the way home. I’ve never left home without a pair of walking shoes and a coat again.

Readers: Have you ever been trapped?

Filed under: Book Birthday, Wicked Wednesday Tagged: Barbara Ross, Fogged inn, Kensington, trapped

Old Friends

by Barb, who is packing to go north, and sighing a lot

It’s release day for the fourth Maine Clambake Mystery, Fogged Inn! It’s the first of three books that take us through the off season in Busman’s Harbor, when the Snowden Family Clambake is closed and the tourists have gone home. Busman’s Harbor is a quieter, cozier place. Having made the (braver) decision at the end of Musseled Out to stay in town rather than return to her life in New York, Julia Snowden and her boyfriend Chris Durand are trying to make a go of running a dinner restaurant, sharing space with her friend and landlord Gus who serves up breakfast and lunch.

“Jule-YA! There’s a dead guy in the walk-in.”

The story begins when Gus finds the body of a stranger in his walk-in refrigerator. But who is the dead man? Is he connected to any of the diners who were in the restaurant the night before? Or to the car accident that trapped them there for hours?

When I wrote the first draft of Fogged Inn, I thought it was about coming home, since each of the retirees in the restaurant on that fateful night had returned to Maine to live. But, as so often happens to me, as I got to the end of the first draft, I discovered it wasn’t about that at all. It was about Old Friends.

Once I figured that out, I remembered the commencement address given by actor and writer Mike O’Malley at my daughter’s graduation from the University of New Hampshire in 2006. I admit I went into the event rolling my eyes. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush had already been announced as the joint speakers for 2007, and it didn’t help that my daughter explained who O’Malley was by referencing his show on Nickelodeon. (Of course, now that I know who he is, he’s )

It turned out, as it so often does, that my low expectations were dramatically wrongheaded. O’Malley’s speech was heartfelt, wise, and resonated all the more because he had sat where those graduates were sitting. The relevant portion of the speech is this:

“Try as often as you can to give tribute to your friends, to stay in contact, to be at their momentous occasions. Drive across the country and go into debt to go to their weddings, fly across the country and be with them when their parents pass away. You cannot make any new old friends.”

(The whole address is worth a read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:IanManka/Mike_O%27Malley

Then, this fall, long after the book had been turned in, my husband and I lost two old friends in a matter of months and the theme of the book became even more personal and meaningful. At their wakes, I saw people I have known and cared about for years, but whom I rarely see. My generation is not like my children’s. We didn’t have social media to keep us up on what was going on in each others’ lives. We didn’t have e-mail, and long distance calls were expensive and reserved for emergencies. We lost touch more than we should have.

At the second wake, an old friend said, “Why haven’t we seen each other in forty years?” The truth is we had kids, we got more responsibility in our careers, some of us moved to the suburbs, our lives were busy and crazy and satisfying. But there is absolutely nothing like those old friendships, where you can pick up where you left off as if no time has gone by.

At the end of the book I name some of those old friends of my youth. But as the months have gone along since I turned it in, I’ve realized there were even more who should have been listed.

I hope you enjoy Fogged Inn.

Filed under: Barb's posts, Book Birthday Tagged: Fogged inn, maine clambake mysteries, Mike O'Malley, UNH graduation 2006

No Regrets

Edith, north of Boston, once again muddling through the middle of a book.

How do we live our lives? As fully as we can? In a way so when we die we’ll have no regrets?

Edith and Richard, fall 2015, at the Amesbury Friends Appreciation of Richard day.

The Wickeds and many of our readers who know me on Facebook heard that I lost a very

dear friend a couple of weeks ago. Richard Gale was a man who lived his eighty-seven years to the fullest. A hundred and sixty people attended his Quaker memorial service last week, which I led in my role as Clerk of Amesbury Friends Meeting. Dozens of friends from all areas of his life stood and shared remembrances of this quiet, determined, joyful man for almost two hours.

Amesbury Friends Meetinghouse about to receive 160 celebrants of Richard Gale’s life.

I’d only known Richard for about sixteen years, and grew closer to him and his wife Annie as every year passed. I could tell you the stories I heard of him building up his house with his own hands – even as his first wife and two daughters lived in their Indiana basement. His drive to Alaska and back with a friend – and then driving to Guatemala a couple of weeks later to donate a truck. The thousand trees Richard planted in my town and the neighboring one. His work with the Boy Scouts and local middle school students. His deep and passionate love for his second wife, Annie, which didn’t start until they met in their mid-sixties.

Annie Tunstall and Richard Gale

And on and on. When the man saw something that needed to be done, he just did it – or corralled somebody else to help him do it. He had an aw-shucks Midwestern manner, a twinkle in his blue eyes, and both an iron determination and iron muscles. The man was singlehandedly moving granite steps at the Quaker Meetinghouse in his eighties – and then going body surfing in the frigid Atlantic. But you really don’t have time for me to pass along each delightful tale of my friend’s long life. And I have to get back to that muddled middle that is my work in progress.

When my father died at just younger than I am now, when I was pregnant with my first child, I resolved to honor him by doing the things he did, and by letting my sons know it was something Grandpa Allan did – like leaping up from the dinner table to fetch a reference volume that would answer one of his children’s questions.

Now I’m resolving to honor our darling Richard by living life without regrets. I hope I have another few decades to do it in. But if I don’t, I’m going to be damn sure every day I do have is full of determination, taking chances, reaching out to others, and having fun. Oh – and writing the best book I can. Because today is all we have, when it comes right down to it.

Readers: What do you resolve not to regret? Who is your carpe diem role model?

 

Filed under: Edith's posts Tagged: living without regrets, Quaker Memorial Meeting for Worship, Richard Gale

Welcome Back, Author Susan Santangelo!

by Barb, who is sad to be winding down her time in the Keys

One of my favorite cozy series is Susan Santangelo’s Baby Boomer Mysteries about Carol and Jim Andrews, subtitled, Every Wife Has a Story. The sixth book in the series, Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder, was published on Tuesday, so I thought this was a good time to catch up with Susan on Carol and Jim’s latest adventures.

 

Barb: Tell us a little about Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder.

Susan: Hi Barb. Thanks so much for letting me guest blog with the Wickeds today about the sixth book in my Baby Boomer mystery series, Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder.I had lots of fun writing this one. Here’s the back cover blurb: Carol Andrews can’t believe her luck when her husband, Jim, surprises her with a second honeymoon trip to Florida. But there’s a catch — it’s really a business trip, not the romantic getaway Carol expects. Jim’s been called out of retirement to create a marketing plan for a new television show aimed at Baby Boomers, The Second Honeymoon Game, and the pilot episode will be shot in the Sunshine State. The honeymoon is really over when the show’s executive producer, none other than Carol’s grammar school boyfriend, winds up dead on Carol and Jim’s first night in Florida. And their son, Mike, is the police’s number one suspect.

Barb: In your previous books you’ve explored the challenges Baby Boomers face at this stage of their lives–retirement, downsizing, parenting grown children. I’m almost afraid to ask–what boomer challenge do you explore in Second Honeymoons?

Susan: Jim and Carol don’t kill each other off in this book! But they do disagree on how to solve the murder. Of course, Jim wants Carol to stay out of it — that is, when she can get him to focus on the fact that their son is in a heap of trouble. Jim is thrilled to be “back in harness” again, and Carol is finding out, much to her surprise, that having him around the house, rather than working all the time, isn’t so bad after all. The overriding themes are communication (or lack thereof) between a long-married couple, and parenting grown children. Again. Will they ever grow up???

Barb: Your central couple, Carol and Jim Andrews’s son Mike has always been a bit of a mysterious character. (My husband and I used to joke that with our son everything was on a need-to-know basis–and there was nothing we needed to know.) Do we learn more about Mike’s life in Florida in this story?

Susan: I decided it was high time, after 5 books, that Mike became more of a central character, rather than hovering around the edges of the plot and chiming in electronically when asked. Of course, I had to get to know Mike, too. He turned out to be a very likable, but very stubborn young guy who falls for the wrong girl at the wrong time. But in the right book!

Barb: Why did you make the decision to move Carol away from her home base, not to mention her supportive friends and beloved dogs? What were the challenges and the rewards? (I’m asking because I’m writing a book like this now myself.)

Susan: Since I’ve become a “weather refugee,” spending the cold winter months in Florida, it seemed natural to me that Carol and Jim should spend some time in Florida. But most of the other central characters in the book — Carol’s best girlfriends, and the dogs — get to come along on the trip, too. A lot of the book is set on Honeymoon Island, which really exists. Although not the way I portrayed it in the book, of course.

I wanted to keep the series fresh, and I think that adding a change of scene can help, assuming it makes sense. I tried to balance keeping what’s worked in the other books — many of the central characters — with a new location, to attract new readers. It was a challenge to figure out how to get Lucy and Ethel to Florida — I didn’t want them to travel on a commercial airplane where they’d be put in the hold of the plane and travel like two pieces of baggage. And Jim and Carol would never make the long drive to Florida from Connecticut. So i had everybody travel to Florida by private jet. Hey, why not? I also introduced a new dog on the back cover of the book — our new English cocker puppy, Lilly. Her AKC name is My Pulitzer Prize, so I finally got my own Pulitzer Prize. Her snappy Lilly Pulitzer bandanna, which she’s wearing in her picture is, a perfect fashion accent piece for a Florida canine. She was definitely ready for her closeup!

Barb: I’ve always admired your approach to the business side of writing. After self-publishing the first four Baby Boomer Mysteries, you’ve gone in-house with the last two with Suspense Publishing. What’s the same and what’s different?

Susan: Since my first four books are indie, I get to play with promotion and marketing ideas that might not be available otherwise. For example, My first mystery, Retirement Can Be Murder, will be part of a boxed set of first-in-a-series books by 10 indie authors called Sleuthing Women, to be published in early May by the ever creative Lois Winston, who’s become an indie author herself.

Suspense gives me the security and branding that only a traditional publishing house can. Plus, since I also review mysteries for Suspense Magazine, I get to read books by so many fabulous authors whose work I really admire. Like many of the Wickeds! I am very lucky to have the very best of both worlds.

Barb: So interesting! I enjoy seeing the challenges in my life reflected with humor and a sense of adventure.

Readers: Do you like books that reflect your life or provide an exotic adventure? Both? Neither?

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Baby Boomer Mysteries, Every Wife Has a Story, Florida, Honeymoon Island, Jim and Carol Andrews, Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder

A Wicked Welcome to Diane Vallere!

by Julie, loving 50 degree weather in Somerville

I want to offer a wicked welcome to Diane Vallere. Diane’s most recent book, A Disguise to Die For, the first in her Costume Shop Mystery series, debuted February 2. This is Diane’s fourth series. But, as she talks about in this post, that wasn’t always a given.

****************************

Your Toughest Opponent

It might be odd for a former fashion buyer turned mystery writer to base a blog post about a Rocky movie. I’m not a boxing fan, and have probably never seen a fight that wasn’t part of the movie franchise. But whether it’s because I’m from a town near Philly or because more than once in my life I’ve heard the phrase, “you can’t do that,” I connect very strongly with the character.

There is a scene in the current movie Creed where Rocky and Adonis face a mirror. “See this guy here?” says Rocky, gesturing to Adonis’ own reflection. “That’s the toughest opponent you’re ever gonna have to face. I believe that’s true in the ring, and I believe that’s true in life.” And it appears to be a pretty true about publishing, too. Because while every book brings its own unique joy—the culmination of weeks, months, years of sitting at the desk with fingers on the keyboard, imagining a story and finding a way to capture it—every book also brings risk. It brings an opportunity to be criticized, to be told we’re no good. It brings a voice to the doubts that we relegate to the back of our minds, the same voice that asks, Why do you think you can do this? Nobody else does.

Ten years after I first started writing, I published my first book. My personal journey had changed a lot in those ten years: divorce after thirteen years of marriage, a move from Texas to California, losing the companionship of the cat I’d adopted right after college, and willingly giving up my corporate career. Writing had become a constant through that tumultuous time and after years spent revising manuscripts and querying agents, I chose a different path and considered putting the book out myself. The decision felt right. I would be moving forward, not standing still.

And then, this happened:

Vallere’s decades of experience in the fashion industry don’t quite translate into entertaining storytelling in this middling cozy. Samantha Kidd takes a professional gamble—leaving her secure job as senior buyer of ladies’ designer shoes in New York City to become the trend specialist at Traveda—a family owned company in her hometown of Ribbon, Pa. But the first day at her new job couldn’t be worse: she finds her fashion director boss, Patrick, dead in an elevator, and after the EMTs arrive to transport the corpse, the body vanishes. With the only person able to verify her employer dead, and no actual body to examine, the police are naturally skeptical of her story. Determined to restore her reputation, Kidd sets about playing detective. Patrick’s scheduled involvement in an upcoming design competition—he was to be one of the judges—is one of several motives Kidd investigates. Her bravado (“Some crazy killer out there was going about to learn one thing. You don’t mess with the Kidd”) comes across as silly rather than convincing, and the intelligence Kidd must have had to succeed in her field is sadly absent in her avocation as amateur sleuth. © Copyright Pwxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Not gonna lie. That’s not what I’d hoped for from my first Publisher’s Weekly review. That review was like a punch to the gut in round one of a fight where I was in over my head. It told me that everything I’d done up to that point—the writing classes, the research, the revisions, and the editing—hadn’t been enough. If I’d listened to that review, I would have hung up my gloves and quit.

But here’s the thing: after all that, I didn’t quit. And the real kicker? Publishing that book got my foot into the door of the industry and led me to today where I’m writing four series for three different publishers and have recently celebrated my eleventh book’s release.

That’s the nature of the journey. Every time a book comes out, we, as the authors, open ourselves up to criticism. It takes courage and confidence and thick skin. But most of all, it takes the ability to look at our book and believe in it. To know that we are our own toughest critic; we are the opponent. We can halt our own advancement by playing it safe and keeping our manuscripts on our computers, unread. Or we can get out of our own way and keep moving forward despite what anybody says because we each control our future.

And to paraphrase Rocky Balboa, I think that’s true about writing, and I think it’s true about life.

BIO:
After a career in retail, Diane Vallere traded fashion accessories for accessories to murder. A DISGUISE TO DIE FOR is the first in her new Costume Shop Mystery Series. Diane also writes the Madison Night, Style & Error, and Lefty-Nominated Material Witness Mysteries. She is also the Vice President of Sisters in Crime. She started her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since.

ABOUT A Disguise to Die For: 

No sooner does former magician’s assistant Margo Tamblyn return home to Proper City, Nevada, to run Disguise DeLimit, her family’s costume shop, than she gets her first big order. Wealthy nuisance Blitz Manners needs forty costumes for a detective-themed birthday bash. As for Blitz himself, his Sherlock Holmes is to die for—literally—when, in the middle of the festivities, Margo’s friend and party planner Ebony Welles is caught brandishing a carving knife over a very dead Blitz.For Margo, clearing Ebony’s name is anything but elementary, especially after Ebony flees town. Now Margo is left to play real-life detective in a town full of masked motives, cloaked secrets, and veiled vendettas. But as she soon learns, even a killer disguise can’t hide a murderer in plain sight for long.
Filed under: Guest posts, Uncategorized Tagged: a disguise to die for, bad reviews, Diane Vallere, get out of your way, rocky balboa

Wicked Wednesday-Current Obsession

Jessie: In New Hampshire, grateful to see that the days are becoming noticeably longer.

We all have passions and interests that suddenly show up on our radars. You know those hobbies or pastimes or items you create boards for on Pinterest or circle in glossy catalogues? This week I am wondering what is a current obsession for each of you?

Edith: I’d have to say it’s the history of my town, which I incorporate into my Quaker Midwife mysteries. I had no idea I was a closet historian! I recently took a few inherited silver antiques to an auction house downtown to be appraised. The man I dealt with, Jay Williamson, knows tons about local history and we exchanged information for a long time. I had to borrow a pen to take some notes on the back of the receipt he gave me so I wouldn’t forget about the steamboats on the Merrimack River in 1888 or the New Orleans style hotel on Main Street right here in Amesbury. Luckily I haven’t tired of this obsession yet. Hope I never do.

Julie: Obsession? I never get obsessed! LOL. My current obsession is KonMari-ing my home. Have you heard about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo? I have been toying with it, but starting to really drill down on clothes. I live in a 2 room apartment, and have no storage, so getting rid of stuff is critical. It makes me think/dream of clear table tops, tidy bookshelves, and a closet I can find things in. My desk? Isn’t going to happen.

Liz: I’m currently re-obsessed with Feng Shui (the Chinese art of placement, for those not familiar). I’ve been practicing for years, but haven’t spruced things up in a while. There are a million books out there on Feng Shui, but my favorite is Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter. It explains the art in a very plain-English sort of way, and shows you how to figure out where each room of your home sits in the bagua map and what elements, colors and objects work best in each area. For example, we recently fixed up the “prosperity” area, which is the back left corner of the house. After rearranging the furniture (and most importantly, moving the cat litter box out!), we added a tapestry of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and fortune, and a purple crystal to get the “chi” moving again!

Barb: Oh, man, am I going to admit it? I haven’t told anyone but Bill, but over New Year’s, I succumbed to the siren song of an Ancestry.com discount. I told myself it was because in Iced Under, the fifth book in the Maine Clambake series, which I’m writing now, Julia is researching her Morrow ancestry, trying to understand the history of her mother’s family. But of course, I had to look at my own roots, right? Once you get past the last four generations of only children and two-kid families into the enormous 19th and 18th century farm families, you can go swinging along on other people’s family trees back to the 1600s. But other people are occasionally sloppy, (an ancestor born in Connecticut in 1605? I don’t think so), so it all needs to be redone and verified in the clear light of day. I’m glad the family bible and other documents are at home in Massachusetts, or I’m not sure Iced Under would be getting written at all.

Jessie: I’ve been working on improving my handwriting this year. So pens and paper have shot to the top of my list of current passions. My husband commissioned a custom pen for me for Christmas that I use with pleasure every day. I recently came across Frixion pens by Pilot which are completely erasable and come in a wide variety of inks and tip widths. I have a growing collection of fountain pens which I adore and have led me to choose paper   that works well with lushly laid down ink. Rhodia notebooks feature Clairefontaine paper well suited for that purpose and so do the Hobonichi line of planners and journals with their Tomoe River paper.

Sherry: Ooohhh, pens and Ancestry. com — don’t get me started. However, Julie introduced me to Canva.com a few months ago and I’m addicted. I’ve never thought of myself as a very artistic person but putting together things on Canva fulfills some kind of creative spot in me that is very satisfying. Here are a few I’ve done recently:

Readers, what have you fallen in love with lately?

Filed under: Group posts, Jessie's posts, Wicked Wednesday Tagged: amesbury, ancestry.com, Canva, clairfontaine, fountain pens, frixion pens, genealogy, hobonichi, interests, Jay Williamson, John McInnis Auctioneers, local history, obsessions, passions, Pinterest, tomoe river paper

The Dective’s Daughter-A Heartfelt Memory

Kim in Baltimore watching the snow falling…again!

February is a month many people think about hearts and love. Love isn’t always easy to find and a lot of us take for granted the love we receive. I think this may be especially true when it concerns family. I was raised in my grandparents home. Well, really it was Nana’s house, she allowed Pop-Pop to live there and wouldn’t let my father leave. I’m not complaining, I had a wonderful and happy childhood. I lived with four people who watched my every move more closely than Kennedy was watching Cuba.

The most vigilant of the group was Pop-Pop. There was not one thing I did that he wasn’t at my side. I think he would have gone to school with me had Sister Angela Marie allowed him.

Pop-Pop had never had any small children of his own. He’d married Nana when my dad was seven years old. When I was born I was treated in the same manner as a porcelain doll and Pop-Pop made it his main mission in life to see I didn’t get broken.

Of course I did several times which only increased his anxiety and watchfulness of me. “Landing in Normandy was easier,” Pop-Pop would say under his breath as Nana gave him instructions as to what I was and was not to do while we were out of the house. We were going to run a few errands for her on Light Street. I was still in an arm cast and sling from my most recent operation so there were even more rules than usual. No skipping, hopping, running, jumping or swinging my arm around. Watch where I was going. Hold Pop-Pop’s hand. Stand up straight, don’t bump into anything. The list went on.

We never made it to Light Street. Pop-Pop stopped at the corner to visit his pal Mr. Palmer who owned the tavern a block away. They watched the ball game and drank a beer while I sat spinning on the stool eating a pretzel stick and drinking a Coke. Three spins in and I went flying off the stool. Who knew Pop-Pop could move so fast? He caught me in one hand while holding his beer in the other, never spilling a drop.

He was my best friend, my first friend. He took me to my first burlesque show, my first bar and a funeral parlor everyday after school to visit his friend who was the mortician. He tried to teach me to play guitar and I learned to sing every song he knew. We played poker, rummy, dominoes and any other game that I could play while sitting down to limit my chances of injury. Pop-Pop sat with me at Children’s Hospital on more than one night and when I was in middle school he watched all my soap operas and gave me a complete rundown in the afternoon when I came home. He was there everyday and I could no more shake him off than I could my own shadow.

When I was twelve he died of cancer. It was near the end of February and neither my sister nor I had been told he was sick. I wasn’t allowed to see him at the same funeral parlor where we had spent so many afternoons together. It was the greatest loss of my life.

The day of the funeral I stayed home with my cousin. We made the coffee and put out the luncheon meats and pastries. After nearly everyone had gone home I overheard one of my aunties tell Nana she had lost her best friend. It was the only time I’d ever seen my grandmother cry.

When my son was born there was only one name I would consider for him. His name is Louis, in honor of my grandfather. I have told him every story I can remember about Pop-Pop. I think how proud Pop-Pop would be to have a child named for him and how I wish he could have lived to see my beautiful boy. I’ve done my best to teach him all the things my grandfather taught me. Louis can play rummy and poker, he knows how to sit at the bar and drink Cokes and eat pretzel sticks and can sing all the words to Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey. We’ve hung around a funeral home or two, but have yet to take in a burlesque show. Maybe when he’s twenty one.

If we are lucky, some wonderful person will enhance our life. If we are smart, we will acknowledge their gift.

Readers: Who made the strongest impression on your childhood?

Filed under: The Detective's Daughter Tagged: Best Friend, Louis, Pop Pop, The Detective's Daughter