Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 239
February 15, 2016
Oops I Did It Again
By Sherry where winter is rattling at the door once again
I did it again. I do it every time. I hit 50,000 words and I feel like I’m done even though I know I’m not. This time it’s book four, A Good Day To Buy. Now, I know this book is an empty shell in some ways, there’s not much description and I haven’t grounded my characters in a place that the reader can see. I know there is still a lot of work ahead of me (at least 20,000 words!).
I knew I’d blogged about 50,000 words once before so I looked up that blog post and re-read it. There’s some excellent advice in the comments section. In that blog I mention another one I wrote called Making A Scene. There I found another whole great comment section full of advice. One bit I’d completely forgotten. Hallie Ephron had mentioned the book Story by Robert McGee. So I went to the library and checked it out. I’ll be reading it this week.
As I started revising I kept thinking about something Barbara Ross had said in another post. I searched past posts of the blog until I finally found it. Barb in a post called, I Write Therefore I Think, said this: Lately I’ve been wondering if I could approach a novel by asking, “What do I want my readers to feel?” and “What do they need to know (or suspect, or fear) in order to feel it?” I know I haven’t pulled that off yet and I’ll keep it in mind as I revise.
Then there are three things I try to include in each book. The first is incorporating the theme of garage sales and trying to make sure it’s part of the story not something that’s wedged in because it has to be there. Second is a bit of military life. I was astonished to see a figure the other day that said only one percent of people serve in the military. One percent. The third is to share a little bit of the history of Massachusetts that I love so much. It’s a delicate balance with all three to make them important to the story and a natural part of it at the same time. I feel like I’ve done a good job with the first one this time but not much with the second and third.
Another thing I still need to make sure to include is the story arc. When I turned in book three, All Murders Final!, last June I didn’t know if there would be any more books in the series. So there is some fancy footwork in that one to make sure things are tied up but to also leave the door open if the series continued.
Then there’s the end to A Good Day To Buy. Yes, Wickeds I know last time we talked I had two endings, well now I have three. I really think I’m going to have to write the beginning of book five, I Know What You Bid Last Summer, before I can figure out which ending to use. For better or worse, I’m sending it off to Barb Goffman this week. She’ll find the weak points and plot holes so come May, book four will be off to my Kensington editor.
Readers: What do you do when a project isn’t going quite the way you planned?
Filed under: Sherry's posts Tagged: 50000 words, A Good Day To Buy, All Murders Final, Barb Goffman, Barbara Ross, decision making, Hallie ephron, Kensington, Revising, Story
February 12, 2016
Meanwhile to the South
Today, Liz and I thought we’d offer another perspective.
Barb and Liz drinking a margarita and mojito (respectively) on Mallory Pier at sunset, Key West
Sunset
With our friend, author Lucy Burdette, at the Hemingway House. (Weren’t Kim & Jessie in NH just talking about how wonderful Lucy is?)
Hemingway House
You know Liz couldn’t resist the Hemingway cats
Hemingway cats have six toes
Typewriter
Local microlibrary with a book by one of Key West’s best known living authors, Judy Blume
Autograph from the “real” Lorenzo from Lucy Burdette’s Key West Food Critic Mysteries
Sending love from Key West to all the hardworking Wickeds up north and readers everywhere!
Filed under: Barb's posts, Liz's posts Tagged: Ernest Hemingway, food critic mysteries, Hemingway House, Key West, lucy burdette, six-toed cats
February 10, 2016
Behind the Scenes with the Detective’s Daughter
Jessie: In NH spending the week with our Wicked Accomplice Kim Gray who wants you all to know her Facebook account has not been hacked.
As some of you may know, I have several children which has taught me how to ensure homework 
gets done. A couple weeks ago it came to my attention that our very own Kim Gray had some writing homework she wanted to finish. Of course I bossily suggested she toddle northward and spend the week under my eagle eye churning out pages and and getting the job done. She readily agreed and has been here for some days. I thought it would be fun to take this opportunity to ask her some questions about her writing life and what it was like to be a detective’s daughter.
Jessie: So Kim I’ve heard you have had a brush with fame. Tell me about your inclusion in Kathy Lynn Emerson‘s book How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries.
Kim: Several years ago, at Malice, I won the opportunity to be interviewed by Kathy for her book. She wanted to know why I read historical mysteries.
Jessie: I am not surprised to hear this as you bring such an affectionate tone of times gone by to your Detective Daughter’s posts. Have you considered writing historicals yourself?
Kim: Yes. I am currently working on a novel set in the early nineteen hundreds. I like the strength of the women during that period. And I also love that it is a time when so many things are being invented and yet the average person still didn’t have access to those advances.
Jessie: Soon after I met you I was delighted to discover we shared an enthusiasm for books by Dorothy Cannell. I understand Dorothy herself was instrumental in your early writing career.
Kim: She was. I met Dorothy at the Malice Domestic Conference several years ago. She encouraged me to tell her what I was working on at the time. She asked me if I knew it was a gothic romance and mentioned how much she loved that genre. At the time I was intending to submit the story to the William F. Deeck Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers. Although I did not win that year she encouraged me not to give up and to believe in myself and my writing. I took her advice to heart and few years later, in 2009, I did win the grant.
Jessie: I understand the grant was awarded for the first three chapters of a novel but you also write short stories, don’t you?
Kim: I enjoy writing short stories because I can investigate characters that would like to use in longer length works. It helps me to put them in different positions than I might in a novel. As a matter of fact, Lottie and Linda, were the main characters in the story I submitted for the Malice grant. They were also the protagonists in my short story Boardwalk Bound which appeared in the anthology The Boardwalk.
Jessie: So what’s next for you?
Kim: Over the past few months a group I am proud to belong to, The Dames of Detection, have taken on the business of Level Best Books. Level Best Books is a publishing company which specializes in mystery anthologies. The previous editors, Mark Ammons, Kat Fast, Barbara Ross and Leslie Wheeler put several years of hard work and creativity into building Level Best into a recognizable, quality anthology featuring stories which went on to be nominated for prestigious mystery awards. We are very excited by this opportunity and are eager to publish our first anthology which will release in November, 2016 at the New England Crime Bake. Level Best is currently accepting submissions for mystery short stories from New England authors or stories about New England. Check our website for details.
Readers, do you like to read short stories? Have you ever received encouragement from one of your idols that helped you to pursue your dreams?
Filed under: Jessie's posts, The Detective's Daughter, Uncategorized Tagged: Kim Gray, mentors
February 9, 2016
Wicked Wednesday-Surprising Skills
Jessie: In New Hampshire, plugging away on another novel
We all know writing is a job as well as a passion. There are a lot of skills that go into the crafting of a novel or a short story. But there are a lot of skills that go into the business side of the job as well. Wickeds, which new skills have challenged you? Delighted you? Still leave you stumped?
Liz: I don’t know if it’s a skill, but reading royalty statements makes my eyes bleed a little. I keep telling myself I’ll make an effort to really dig in and understand it better. If I have a burning question, I call my agent, but otherwise I try to muddle through it.
Edith: Oh, shoot. I thought this topic was going to be about balancing spoons on our 
noses or being able to pronounce Xhosa clicks. I’m delighted that I’m not nervous about speaking in public, and I wasn’t even when I started this gig. I’m not much of a clothes horse, though, so owning several sets of professional outfits that fit well and comfortably, travel without wrinkling, and work for all seasons continues to be a challenge. And let’s not even talk shoes (short, wide, nice-looking, comfortable shoes)…
Sherry: Whew, I like Edith, thought we were talking about party tricks — I don’t have any. Interesting topic, Jessie! I love interacting with people whether it’s face to face or through social media. However, public speaking makes me nervous. The two minute pitch, the one minute new author breakfast pitch (and really couldn’t we change this to the new author cocktail party pitch?), speaking to groups, it all terrifies me. However, I found a way to deal with the group situations. Taking someone along to interview me, relaxes me. Honestly, after the first couple of questions, I’m off and running and don’t really need them anymore. That person by my side is like my security blanket. I got the idea from Ray Daniel’s first launch party when Hank Phillippi Ryan interviewed him.
Barb: I’ve learned countless new skills from being an author, and from being a former editor at Level Best Books. I’ve created websites, e-mail newsletters, ads and so on. Actually, that’s one thing I love about being an author. You’re always learning, both on the writing and promotion sides. The Wickeds know I love tracking down numbers and data, and speculating about what it means. I have a strong business background in technology, where I even partnered with textbook publishers, but with my bits and bites of information, trying to understand the book publishing business is like the blind man trying to describe the elephant. I’ll never completely get it, but keeps me endlessly entertained.
Readers, have you learned a new skill lately? By choice or by necessity?
Filed under: Group posts, Jessie's posts, Wicked Wednesday Tagged: business of writing, Jessie Crockett, professional clothes, public speaking, skills, Wicked Wednesday, writing
February 8, 2016
A Friendly Reminder
Jessie: In NH where the snow has finally put in an appearance.
The Wickeds love having visitors to the blog. We love the sense of communinty and connection. It is a great place to talk about ideas, plans, works-in-progress and opinions on a wide variety of topics. But as wonderful as the blog is I wanted to take the opportunity to mention the Wickeds can be found in all sorts of social media outlets around the internet. We’d love to see you at any, and or all, of them.
Sherry – www.sherryharrisauthor.com
Julie– www.jahennrikus.com
EdithFacebook, Maddie Facebook
Edith Pinterest
Edith Goodreads, Maddie Goodreads, Tace Goodreads
Barb–www.maineclambakemysteries.com
Jessie–www.jessiecrockett.com
Sheila–www.sheilaconnolly.com
Kim
Readers, where do you like to interact with authors? Do you like to follow on Facebook or Twitter? Do you love to pin on Pinterest? Leave a comment about your favorite forms of social media for a chance to win a copy of one of our books. We will announce the winner on tomorrow’s post.
Filed under: Jessie's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: Barbara Ross, Edith Maxwell, Facebook, goodreads, Instagram, Jessie Crockett, julie hennrikus, kimberlykurthgray, Liz Mugavero, maddieday, mystery, Pinterest, Sadie Hartwell, sheila connolly, Sherry Harris, social media, susannahhardy, Tace Baker, Twitter
A Recipe from Fogged Inn
by Barb, in Key West, where it’s a frigid seventy degrees. Brrrrrr.
Hi all. I’m started to get excited about the launch of Fogged Inn, the fourth book in my Maine Clambake Mystery series which is coming on February 23rd.
Fogged Inn takes place in the off-season, when the Snowden Family Clambake is closed. To fill the long winter months, my protagonist Julia Snowden and her boyfriend Chris Durand have taken on the task of running a restaurant in their friend Gus’s place. Gus serves breakfast and lunch, as he has for fifty years. Julia and Chris take over for dinner, or as Gus calls it, “suppah.”
Julia and Chris are walking a fine line with the restaurant, which they call, “Gus’s Too.” They want it to be a casual neighborhood gathering place, but since it is the only eat-in restaurant open on the peninsula during the off-season, they also want it to be a place where a couple can have a “date night.” To attract a regular winter clientele, Julia and Chris know they have to keep the restaurant affordable, but to be a date night destination, they have to offer up something a little special. Plus, the meals have to be prepared and served with a skeleton staff–it’s only Julia and Chris as they find their way in the beginning. The food has to be creative to keep Chris’s interest, but not so creative that they lose their core customers. Finally, Gus is adamant that they not serve anything on his menu, which rules out burgers and dogs, lobster and clam rolls.
My husband, Bill, who develops the Maine Clambake recipes, and I had a lot of fun trying out recipes to suit Gus’s Too’s limited and ever-changing menu. (They offer only three entries, a chicken, a beef and an fish, along with three appetizers and two deserts every night.) There seemed to be constraints piled upon constraints. But happily, Bill threaded the needle and came up with some great ones.
Today I offer you–
Gus’s Too Date Night Stuffed Chicken Breast with Lemon-Tarragon Sauce
Adapted for home use, of course.
Ingredients
Chicken
4–6 ounces pancetta, cut into ¼-inch cubes
8 chicken cutlets pounded ¼-inch thick, 1/8-inch thick at the edges
1–2 cups baby spinach leaves
4–6 ounces Fontina cheese, cut into 1/8-inch cubes
2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup flour
3 eggs
Sauce
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth, warmed
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon tarragon, chopped
Instructions
Fry the pancetta over medium heat until browned.
Lay each cutlet flat on a board. Put a small handful of spinach leaves and 1 Tablespoon each of pancetta and Fontina cubes in the center. Roll the cutlet into a packet, folding the sides into the center and pinching to seal.
Put cutlets in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to complete sealing process.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix bread crumbs and Parmesan in a bowl and put half on a plate. Put flour on another plate, and lightly beat eggs with a fork in a separate bowl.
Remove chicken from the refrigerator. Roll each packet first in flour, being sure to shake off excess, then in egg, and finally in bread crumbs. Place on a wire rack set on a sheet pan.
Cook chicken for 40–45 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted in the center reads 165 degrees.
In the last twenty minutes or so of cooking time, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. After it stops foaming, add flour and whisk together constantly for about 3 minutes.
Begin adding broth slowly, whisking together, and continue to slowly add broth, whisking all the while.
Cook on medium-low heat until sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add lemon juice and chopped tarragon and cook for 1 minute more.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves: 4
If you try it, I hope you enjoy!
Filed under: Barb's posts Tagged: date night, lemon tarragon chicken, maine clambake mysteries
February 4, 2016
Opening Lines
Jessie: In New Hampshire, dreaming of spring
Before we get to the regularly scheduled post, Barb, Liz, Sherry and I wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate Julie for her Agatha nomination for Best First Novel for her debut mystery Just Killing Time. We also want to congratulate Edith as well on her Agatha Short Story nomination for A Questionable Death featuring her new historical series protagonist, Rose Carroll. Hip, hip, hooray, ladies!
How about an opening line for a poem, a short story or a novel inspired by this photograph:
Liz: It’s too bad the tide came in before the deed was done, but once his head was uncovered people started to notice.
Julie: Drinking on the beach was never a good idea. Drinking on the beach with your still pissed off ex? Deadly.
Barb: I got up early that morning to walk the beach hoping to get a head start on the day.
Jessie: After the hurricane, folks found so many strange things washed up on the shore.
Sherry: The sandman looked nothing like I expected.
Edith: After the truck full of preserved heads rolled over on Route One, it took us forever to find them all. Finally, the last one!
And thanks for the support, Wickeds! Julie and I are both so excited and thrilled.
Readers, we’d love for you to add your own opening line in the comments!
Filed under: Group posts, Jessie's posts, Opening Lines Tagged: Agatha awards, beach, head on the beach, hurricane, opening lines, photograph, sandman
Guest: Lynn Cahoon
Edith here, happy to introduce fellow Kensington Publishing author Lynn Cahoon. Sherry and I met Lynn at Bouchercon last fall and were delighted to meet a new-to-us mystery author. Take it away, Lynn!
Traveling by Plane, by Space Portal, or by Book.
Hello Wicked Cozy Authors and blog readers. Thanks for having me over today. I’m excited to be here.
New England has been on my travel wish list since I was a kid. It might be the lobsters, the ocean, the birthplace of the American witchcraft lore and, of course, a possible sighting of Stephen King that draws me to dream about visiting. I hear some people visit to watch the leaves.
Edith: I walked by King’s house last year!
Lynn: I’m a little different. As a writer, that’s a good thing. I’ve always been the one who pauses to catch the exact right word, while others chatter away. I’m the one watching out the window as we drive through places I’ve never been rather than singing along with the radio. If you ask me what I’m doing, I’ll laugh and tell you I’m wondering about the people who live here. Or lived here.
I made my first visit to North Carolina last year, primarily for Bouchercon in Raleigh, but also to visit my son who has made the research triangle his new home. We spent my birthday playing tourist on the Outer Banks. I was speechless.
We visited the site where the Wright Brothers tested their aircraft. We found a working lighthouse and my son climbed to the top. I got as far as the fourth landing, confirming I’m afraid of heights. And we visited Roanoke and looked for the space portal that sucked the Lost Colony to their new home, Croatoan. We joked that the portal would open up and suck one or both of us into the new reality. Yes, he has the same twisted mind as I do. A gift as a mother I am proud to see I passed on. 
So when I started writing the Tourist Trap series, I let my mind wander and soon, a new town of South Cove appeared on the central California coast. A town where the mayor is more worried about getting re-elected than running the town and where businesses are focused on making money off the tourists who tend to wander in off the Pacific Coast Highway. Unless we’re talking about bike rental shop owner, Dustin Austin. He’s more interested in getting a good tan than 
renting bikes.
Or he was before his wife came back on the scene. Honestly, no one in town even knew he was married. Especially not Sadie Michaels, the baker/owner for Pies on the Fly who had been dating the guy. Yep, there are some crazy things happening in South Cove in Murder on Wheels, which just released on Tuesday. And Jill Gardner has a front row seat to the madness.
I hope you come and visit Jill and her gang in South Cove. I think you’ll enjoy the trip.
The food truck craze has reached the charming coastal town of South Cove, California, but before Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—can sample the eats, she has to shift gears and put the brakes on a killer . . .
Now that Kacey Austin has got her new gluten-free dessert truck up and running, there’s no curbing her enthusiasm—not even when someone vandalizes the vehicle and steals her recipes. But when Kacey turns up dead on the beach and Jill’s best friend Sadie becomes the prime suspect, Jill needs to step on it to serve the real killer some just desserts.
Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She’s also the author of the soon to be released Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A STORY TO KILL, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016.She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com
Readers: Aren’t you dying to jump into this series? What questions do you have for Lynn about the central California coast – or space portals?
Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Lynn Cahoon, Murder on Wheels, Tourist Trap Mysteries
February 2, 2016
Wicked Wednesday-Accents
Jessie-In New Hampshire, wondering if it is too early to cheer for crocuses
This week we are celebrating Sheila’s latest book release in her County Cork series, A Turn
for the Bad. One of the things I love most about Ireland is the delightful accent of the Irish people. Which got me to thinking about accents in general and which ones we admire. And even if we think we have one ourselves?
So Wickeds, what are your favorite accents? Irish? Russian? New York?
Liz: I’m a Bostonian, so I love Boston accents first and foremost. But I’m a sucker for a good English or Irish accent!
Julie: It depends on who is using the accent. ;-) English, Irish, Scottish, Italian, French. Canadian accents charm me. I suspect I have a Boston accent, but high school in Maryland may have rounded out my tones. I also love the Wicked Cozy accent. (See what I did there?)
Barb: English spoken with almost any accent will charm me, especially the accents of the far flung empire–Indian, South African, West Indian, Australian. Sometimes it’s hard, though, to believe we speak a common language. In my prior life, I had customers in Northern Ireland. When we’d adjourn to the pub after conferences or meetings, they’d talk and talk. To me it sounded like “mmff-mumph-mff-mmff-mff.” I’d grin and nod my head like an overeager beagle, terrified I was agreeing to some untenable business term. I have to admit that when I watch certain shows on BBC America or PBS, I always have the captions turned on.
Sherry: When we moved to Boston I fell in love with the accent and the way they pronounce things. I’m not too proud to admit I’d follow people around in stores to listen to their voices and ask service people to pronounce random things (like our refrigerator or refrigeratah) by pointing at them. And I’m a sucker for the British/Irish/Scottish accents. There’s a Scottish play-by-play announcer who does the Real Madrid soccer games. Not only do I love his voice but his expression — he was like a salmon swimming upstream — when a guy took in a goal.
Jessie: My husband has one so I adore Brazilian accents. I actually love it when he puts on a fake British accent.The combination is charming and very silly! The older I get the more I miss a strong Maine accent, especially from Downeast. My great-grandparents both had them and they were charming in their way. It wasn’t, of course, just the sound of the words, it was also the choice. My grandfather never said he began or started anything. Rather he said he commenced it. As in “I commenced to fish”. I still miss hearing him.
Edith: Oh, accents! So much to say. As a once-and-always linguist, I’ve studied this stuff. We all have national languages, regional dialects, family dialects, and our own idiolect. Your native language can shape the next language you learn, depending on how old you are. And your regional dialect can shape how you understand people from another region. I’m a southern Californian with a Hoosier father (why I say “warsh” for wash) and a native Californian mother who said “goff” for golf, and from whom I picked up that the members of the pairs cod and cawed, cot and caught, Ott and ought were pronounced the same.
In my Country Store Mysteries, police lieutenant Buck Bird speaks the classic southern Indiana way, which is really more Kentucky than Indiana. I modeled him on a fellow linguistics grad student in the late seventies named Buck. He was a local in his forties, recently retired from a twenty-year career in the army, and he was working on his BA, at last. We grad students from “away” scratched our heads trying to figure out how he pronounced his slow, relaxed speech. One of us finally came up with this: “He keeps his tongue in the bottom of his mouth.” Try it and see how it sounds! Vocabulary of the region is also delightful: “I can’t do that every whipstitch.” And, “That drawer’s all whopper-jawed.” Anybody want to guess what those mean?
Readers, is there and accent that when you hear it, it stops you in your tracks? Do you have one of your own?
Filed under: Group posts, Ireland, Jessie's posts, Uncategorized, Wicked Wednesday Tagged: accents, Brazilian, British, Country Store Mysteries, County Cork Mysteries, Downeast, every whipstick, idiolect, Irish, sheila connolly, southern Indiana, whopper-jawed
February 1, 2016
Book Birthday for A Turn for the Bad
Jessie: In New Hampshire, where there are patches of grass miraculously showing in the lawn.
This week we are celebrating the release of the latest installment in Sheila Connolly’s NYT Bestselling County Cork series. Here’s what the publisher has to say about it:
The New York Times bestselling author of An Early Wake returns to Ireland where Sullivan’s Pub owner Maura Donovan gets mixed up with smugglers.
After calling Ireland home for six months, Boston expat Maura Donovan still has a lot to learn about Irish ways—and Sullivan’s Pub is her classroom. Maura didn’t only inherit a business, she inherited a tight-knit community. And when a tragedy strikes, it’s the talk of the pub. A local farmer, out for a stroll on the beach with his young son, has mysteriously disappeared. Did he drown? Kill himself? The child can say only that he saw a boat.
Everyone from the local gardai to the Coast Guard is scouring the Cork coast, but when a body is finally brought ashore, it’s the wrong man. An accidental drowning or something more sinister? Trusting the words of the boy and listening to the suspicions of her employee Mick that the missing farmer might have run afoul of smugglers, Maura decides to investigate the deserted coves and isolated inlets for herself. But this time she may be getting in over her head…
So Wickeds, let’s chime in with our birthday wishes!
Liz: Sheila, yay! I love this series and admittedly I need to catch up, but now I can indulge in reading a couple back to back. So excited to visit Ireland vicariously through you and Maura!
Edith: I can’t wait to read this one, Sheila! And isn’t the tight-knit community the essence of a cozy?!
Sherry: Another trip to Ireland from my own home! Keep them coming, Sheila!
Jessie: Every time the grocer begins to sell daffodils I think of Ireland and your County Cork series.
Barb: I love this series and can’t wait!
Readers, are you as smitten as we all are with this series or with all things Irish?
Filed under: Book Birthday, Group posts, Ireland, Jessie's posts Tagged: book release, County Cork Mysteries, Ireland, sheila connolly
