Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 263

Guest: Jim Jackson and Left Coast Crime

Edith here, in surgery in Newburyport, but I posted this in advance! 

I’m so delighted to have James Montgomery Jackson (otherwise know as Jim), my fellow Barking Rain Press author, here as our guest today. I love his crime fiction and his protagonist Seamus McCree, and was more than pleased to blurb Cabin Fever for him. He just got back from attending Crimelandia, this years Left Coast Crime, in Portland, Oregon, and he’s treating us to his reflections, since none of the Wickeds were able to make it this year. Take it away, Jim.

Why I Went to Left Coast Crime

Before I get to my post, I want everyone reading this to look at the masthead. Do the Wicked Cozy Authors look like they are having fun, or what? I’ve been tempted to take up writing cozies just in the hope they’d be willing to add a guy to the group. I love hanging out with them online and at conferences. Alas, I write medium-boiled financial crime novels, and although my protagonist Seamus McCree hails from Boston, much of his story occurs outside New England. I guess I’m stuck being a wannabe. Thanks for having me as a guest. [Edith: Thanks! We do have fun…]

*****

When I was a rookie novelist, I signed up for multiple conferences and sweated bullets over panel assignments. Sometimes I received good ones; more often, as an unknown, my assignments were either the first panel in the morning after the awards banquet or the last panel of the conference when many people were already on their way home.

First Thoughts About Conferences

Initially, I went to conferences because common wisdom told me they were important for debut novelists. Eventually, my finance background kicked in and I contemplated the economic value of conferences for writers.

Left Coast Crime (LCC to its devotees) is a fan conference (as contrasted to craft conferences, which are primarily designed to help authors improve their writing). It’s not a pure split. At least a third of the attendees at LCC were authors and a number of the panels were directed toward them (how to use social media, what agents do, etc.).

The Economics of a Conference

I had to fly from the East Coast, stay at a hotel, buy restaurant meals, etc. To attend the three and a half day conference conservatively set me back $1,500. [Jan (my much better half) and I also did some vacationing around the trip, so I can’t provide an accurate number. Her costs aren’t included in my $1,500.]

No author is going to earn anything near that from book sales at the conference. My own “profit” from LCC book sales was in the very low two digits. So, having your books for sale at the conference can’t justify the expense of attending this conference—or any for that matter.

In this age of ebooks I notice a bit of a bump in ebook sales after I attend a conference. The additional royalties may be enough to pay for one overpriced hotel coffee (or soda, in my case).

It should be clear by now that expecting a positive economic present value is NOT a reason to attend a conference. Common advice suggests that authors get their first 1,000 readers one-by-one. On a per reader basis, attending a conference is a very expensive approach.

Why Authors Should Go

Economics should not drive your decision to attend a fan conference. The main reason to attend is because you are a fan of mysteries and the mystery community. (As a working author you have the added benefit that, assuming your tax advisor agrees, you can write off the adventure as a business expense!)

The paper books Jim and Jan brought home from LCC. Not shown are the Kindle books!

Last year Jan and I enjoyed a two-week train trip surrounding our first LCC, which was in Monterey, CA. We had the pleasure of hearing Sue Grafton talk about her road to publication. Let me tell you, Sue does not pull punches. We also heard Tim Hallinan on a panel and chatted with him later on. Once home, Jan binge-read all of the books in his two current series, and since Tim was the guest of honor at this year’s LCC, she lobbied to come back. (Plus she had a childhood friend in Portland we could visit.) She won one of Tim’s books during his guest-of-honor interview, but since she’d already read all of them, he is sending her a pdf of his next as soon as he finishes the edits. She’s delighted. She could have bought the book when it comes out for a fraction of the conference price, but her conversations with Tim were priceless.

What about panels? Authors may pick up a tidbit or two of useful information at a fan conference. LCC included a panel of five FBI agents that was fascinating, and the Sisters in Crime sponsored a breakfast with three invited local police representatives who provided insight into their world as cops. There are always panels with doctors and lawyers where they ridicule how TV shows portray their work. You may even find a new favorite author, as Jan did with Tim Hallinan.

It all adds to your engagement with the larger mystery community. That’s the reason to spend money to attend a convention like LCC. You can meet favorite authors, learn of new authors, and visit with friends in the mystery community. You can make connections.

For example, at last year’s LCC “New Authors Breakfast” (where I did my one-minute spiel as a newbie) we met and enjoyed the company of Anne Cleeland. Anne and I have kept in touch and this year shared table-hosting duties at the LCC awards banquet, which was a lot of fun (but cost money for the ego trip.)

From left: Jim, Tina Whittle, Christine Kling, Glen Erik Hamilton, and Lynne Raimondo

Oh sure, you may be dynamite on a panel or as a moderator. (Of the conferences I’ve attended, LCC’s panels stand out for me because moderators and panelists follow well-considered guidelines, and organizers set panel assignments sufficiently in advance of the conference to allow participants time to prepare well.) I am an excellent moderator (so-so as a panelist). I know a few people have noticed my moderating skills and bought a book or put me on a “want to read list.”

But I don’t kid myself that the exposure is worth the cost. There’s an endorphin boost to being selected for a panel. When my first novel was published, it was a time of great (and deserved) celebration. Being included in the “newbie” festivities was part of that fun.

So when you are considering whether or not to attend a fan convention, ‘fess up that it’s a money loser. Once you consciously make that recognition, you can attend for the good times, and the connections, and to recharge your spirit. And maybe even sell a few books.

Best of all, you too can kick up your heels and laugh and smile—just like the Wicked Cozy Authors!

Readers: Do you go to conferences? Authors – find it worth the cost? And what else would you like to know about Jim and his superb novels? Did you know his new novel, Ant Farm was chosen for the very competitive Kindle Scout program? Ask away – he’ll pop in to answer questions throughout the day.

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree mystery series. ANT FARM (Spring 2015), a prequel to BAD POLICY (2013) and CABIN FEVER (2014), recently won a Kindle Scout nomination. (Ebook published by Kindle Press; print from Wolf’s Echo Press). BAD POLICY won the Evan Marshall Fiction Makeover Contest whose criteria were the freshness and commerciality of the story and quality of the writing. Jim has published an acclaimed book on contract bridge, ONE TRICK AT A TIME: How to Start Winning at Bridge (Master Point Press 2012), as well as numerous short stories and essays. His website is http://jamesmjackson.com.

ANT FARM is a prequel to the Seamus McCree Mystery series. In it, financial crimes consultant Seamus McCree combats the evil behind the botulism murders of thirty-eight retirees at their picnic outside Chillicothe, OH. He also worms his way into the Cincinnati murder investigation of a church friend’s fiancé and finds police speculate the killing may have been the mistake of a dyslexic hit man. Seamus uncovers disturbing information of financial chicanery and in the process makes himself and his son targets of those who have already killed to keep their secrets.

Jackson’s crisp plotting keeps the story rolling, and his complex characters feel as real as next door. Get to know Seamus, one of crime fiction’s most intriguing sleuths, and plan to stay up late turning the pages. -Tina Whittle, Author of the Tai Randolph Mysteries

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Ant Farm, Barking Rain Press, Cabin Fever, Crimelandia, James Montgomery Jackson, Kindle Scout, Left Coast Crime, One Trick at a Time

Going Under the Knife

Edith north of Boston, hoping I’ve tidied all loose ends

Tomorrow’s the day.

My right shoulder has been hurting for three or  four years, and it finally got bad enough for me to get it checked out last fall. After a cortisone injection and a month of physical therapy failed to fix it, my doctor ordered an MRI. Here’s the verdict:

“Full thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon, with resultant 11 mm tendinous gap.” Which means one of the four tendons in my right rotator cuff has a big honking tear in it. That white pointy shape at ten o’clock is the 11 mm gap. The big white shape at five o’clock is fluid also caused by the tear.

The procedure is arthroscopic surgery, which means the surgeon makes three small incisions about a half inch wide and uses a camera and tiny instruments to stick a piece of titanium in there and attach a string (his word) from the metal to the end of the tendon. He’ll also burr off the bone spur that likely caused the tendon to tear.

It’s day surgery, so I’ll be home the same night. The prescription is to wear a sling for a month or so, and he promised me I could type! And I’ll be good to travel over to the next town for my panel at the Newburyport Literary Festival on April 25, and to Bethesda the following week for Malice Domestic (and the Agatha awards banquet…).

I like Dr. Mattheos and he comes highly recommended by my primary care doc. When Dr. Mattheos was explaining the tear, he wrote everything down for me on the printout of the MRI. I thanked him and he said, “I treat everybody like my dad. He’s from Greece and his English isn’t that good. I tell him, you have to understand what’s happening.” He says he does two shoulder repairs a week, so I know I’m in good hands.

Of course I’m not looking forward to some weeks of pain, and apparently, sleeping in a recliner for the first week. But I’ll be able to catch up on my reading and haul through a few more mystery series that I’ve been wanting to read, starting with Cara Black‘s Aimeé Leduc mysteries set in Paris. Based on past recuperations, I know I can read a book a day. Once I’m off the narcotic pain meds (which I HATE taking – no idea how people get addicted to those…), I should be able to get writing again, too. Good thing I taught myself how to use a mouse with my left hand a few years ago.

I’ve got my desk cleaned off, lots of yoga pants and knit button-up shirts ready to wear, some meals in the freezer, and my new Agatha banquet dress hanging in the closet ( like the one on the right, but with sleeves). I finished writing the first draft of GRILLED FOR MURDER, the second Country Store mystery (due August 1), last week, and also drafted an historical short story that popped into my brain and fingertips. Having these manuscripts in their “seasoning” stage, as Quakers might phrase it, is deeply satisfying, knowing I won’t be good for much of anything besides healing for the next few weeks.

So I’m good to go. Still, would be happy for some prayers, Light, and healing energies sent my way tomorrow at two PM EDT if you have any to spare!

Readers: Last minute questions about what in heck arthroscopy is? About the structure of the human shoulder? About my Theory of Everything? Ask now, or keep it for a few more weeks! Or contribute your best story of rotator cuff repair.

Filed under: Edith's posts Tagged: arthrosopic shoulder surgery, rotator cuff repair, supraspinatus tear

Welcome Back, Leslie Budewitz!

Barb: I’m not sure how the Wickeds got to know Montana-based author, Leslie Budewitz. It could have been through Sisters in Crime National, or through the Guppies (Great UnPublished, the online chapter of Sisters in Crime). Or it could have been because she, Sheila, Jessie and Julie are all Berkley authors. Or it could have been because she and Liz were both nominated for Best First Agatha’s last year. So many connections. Anyway, I was thrilled when Leslie asked me to blurb the first book in her new Spice Shop Mystery series, and happily gave it my hearty endorsement. Since this is her publication month, we invited Leslie around for a chat.

Here’s a glimpse at Assault and Pepper.

After leaving a dicey marriage and losing a beloved job in a corporate crash, Pepper Reece has found a new zest for life running a busy spice and tea shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Her aromatic creations are the talk of the town, and everyone stops by for a cup of her refreshing spice tea, even other shopkeepers and Market regulars.

But when a panhandler named Doc shows up dead on her doorstep, a Seattle Spice Shop cup in his hand, the local gossip gets too hot for Pepper to handle—especially after the police arrest Tory Finch, one of Pepper’s staffers, for murder.

INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES!

Barb: We’re so excited about Assault and Pepper. With its Seattle setting, it is part of what is almost becoming a mystery sub-genre, the Urban Cozy. Why did you choose Seattle and its famous Pike Place Market for this series?

Leslie: I fell in love with the Market as a student at Seattle University. Later, as a young lawyer working downtown, I tried to eat my way through the Market once or twice a week. I’d start at the front entrance with a slice of pizza from DeLaurenti’s walk-up window, browsing the covers of the magazines at the First & Pike Newsstand— eyes only until my hands were clean! I’d sip a sample cup of tea at Market Spice while watching the fishmongers throw salmon and amuse the crowd with their comedy routine, pick my produce and cheese for the week, and end with dessert—a hazelnut sablé from Le Panier, the French bakery, or a Nanaimo bar from a now-departed shop in the warren off Post Alley.

So naturally, when I thought about setting a mystery series in Seattle, the Market beckoned. Despite her name, Pepper Reece never intended to run a spice shop. But when her life fell apart, she found unexpected solace—and employment—in bay leaves.

The heart of a cozy is the community. The amateur sleuth investigates because she has a personal stake in the crime and in making sure the right people are brought to justice. She may think law enforcement officers are on the wrong track, or her role in village life may give her insight and information they lack. The professionals’ job is to restore the external order by making an arrest and prosecuting. Hers is to restore internal order within the community. And that holds just as true in the urban cozy, where the community is a subset of the city, as in the more common rural setting.

Plus I get to spend hours a day in a city I love while still living in the Montana woods.

Barb: You’re best known for your Food Lovers Village mysteries, including the Agatha-winning Best First, Death Al Dente, set in the charming tourist town of Jewel Bay, Montana. (Liz Mugavero interviewed Leslie about that series last September.) How does Pepper Reece, the protagonist of the Spice Shop Mysteries, compare to Erin Murphy in the Food Lovers Village Mysteries? Do you know instantly if an idea is a “Erin story” or a “Pepper story?”

Leslie: Oh, good question! Pepper is ten years older, a “life begins at 40″ gal. Days after her 40th birthday, she stumbled over her police officer husband and a meter maid—she still can’t say “parking enforcement officer”—practically plugging each other’s meters in a back booth in a posh new restaurant, on an evening he was supposed to be working an extra shift. She left him and bought an unfinished loft in a century-old warehouse downtown. Months later, her job managing staff HR at a major law firm disappeared when the firm imploded in scandal. So she bought the Spice Shop. As her BFF Kristen says, she moves like a glacier on the small stuff but makes major decisions in an instant.

Erin is thirty-two, a Montana girl who moved to Seattle after college and returned home ten years later to take over the struggling family grocery and turn it into a market specializing in local foods. She thinks she knows the place, only to discover it changed while she was away. She’s single and looking, and while she faces some choices, she’s far less ambivalent about love than Pepper! Running a family business creates both closeness and tension. Her father was killed when she was a teenager, in a still-unsolved hit-and-run—and I promise to deal with that in the next installment, Butter Off Dead, in July 2015!

Both Pepper and Erin love to eat and cook. They adore retail, their friends, and art, and are deeply committed to being part of their communities—including putting their lives on the line for justice, when necessary. Especially if dinner and drinks will be served afterwards.

As for what makes a story Pepper’s or Erin’s, I suppose it’s whether it involves a dog or a cat! And whether it is more naturally urban or rural, who else is involved, and what past crimes are rearing their heads.

Barb: Your series protagonist, Pepper Reece, is the owner of the Spice Shop. What kind of research did you do into spices? What’s the most surprising thing you learned?

Leslie: In our house, we spell research E-A-T. I’ve spent hours in all three of the spice shops in or near the Pike Place Market, and I’ve poured over catalogs and cookbooks, and read about the history of spice. It’s quite nasty. Wars were fought over nutmeg and cloves—and empires and fortunes won and lost. The most surprising bit is that while most of the spice trade occurred before America’s emergence, your part of the country turned to the pepper trade after the Revolution, to restore its economy. Between 1795 and 1891, nearly a thousand voyages were made between the states and Sumatra, most of them from Salem.

Barb: What are you working on now?

Leslie: Butter Off Dead, the third Food Lovers’ Village Mystery, will be out in July. Erin and her friends in Jewel Bay try to heat up chilly winter business with a new film festival. But their plans are sent reeling when a dangerous killer dims the lights on a local mover and shaker …

Guilty as Cinnamon, the second Spice Shop mystery, will be out in December, and I’m working on the third, tentatively titled A Thyme to Kill.

I’m also learning the ropes of Sisters in Crime, the international organization dedicated to promoting the advancement, recognition, and professional development of women crime writers, as vice president. This fall, I’ll become president, and if I survive, I’ll be elevated to Goddess. And who doesn’t aspire to that?

Thanks for having me, Wickeds!

Readers: Are you intrigued? Do you have questions or comments for Leslie? What do you think about urban versus village cozies? What’s your spiciest spice story? Let us know.

—-

Leslie’s bio

Leslie Budewitz is the only author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction—the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, for Death al Dente (Berkley Prime Crime), first in the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, and the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction, for Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law & Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver Books). She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Coming in July 2015: BUTTER OFF DEAD, third in the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries!

Connect with her on her website, http://www.LeslieBudewitz.com

on Facebook, http://www.Facebook.com/LeslieBudewitzAuthor

or on Twitter http://www.Twitter.com/LeslieBudewitz

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Assault and Pepper, Butter Off Dead, Death Al Dente, Food Lovers' Village Mysteries, Montana, Pike Place Market, Seattle, Spice Shop Mysteries

Way Back Time Machine Moment

This week I did two career day talks at a high school. One of the students asked me what advice I would give myself in high school. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I tell my students to be brave, to take risks, but really, what would I tell the younger Julie?

Take the business minor. You’ll need it later. But you’re right about trigonometry.
Enjoy the shoulder pads. They aren’t coming back, and you rock them.
Red lipstick always works.
You’re perfect just the way you are. Honestly, I have been on a diet for most of my life, and didn’t need to be back then. I was fine.
Regrets are such a waste of time. Both having them, and avoiding them.
Being nice and being kind aren’t the same thing. You don’t always have to be nice, you always need to be kind.
Take risks. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail, or someone says no. And really, how bad is that?
Worrying about what other people think is such a waste of time. You can’t control it. All you can control is how you behave. Behave well.
Your life won’t work out the way you expect. It will be great, but different. Trust fate.
You know that dream of being a writer? It works out.

So, what would you tell your younger self?

Filed under: Julie's posts Tagged: julie hennrikus, Kindness, Life Lessons

Wicked Wednesday — Foods I’ve Never Eaten or Wished I Hadn’t

Movies we haven’t seen, books we haven’t read and now foods we haven’t eaten. So Wickeds what food have you refused to eat?

Sherry: My dad grew up on a farm during the depression. They raised some cattle so pretty much no part of the animal wasn’t cooked and eaten. Growing up we were forced to eat (on the rare occasion, thankfully) liver and onions. Fortunately, mom took pity on us and didn’t make us eat the brains or tongue.

Liz: Back when I ate meat, I was encouraged to try moose. I did, just to prove I wasn’t scared, but…ew. Now I don’t eat any meat. Ever. At all. (Not because of the moose.)

Edith: I Iived in Japan for two years, and I adore sashimi and sushi, that is, raw fish. But you should never, never accept less than perfectly fresh raw squid. It’s a big mistake. Hmm – that’s not a food I haven’t eaten. I’ve never eaten brains, either, Sherry, and if offered I believe I would refuse. Happen to love livers and onion, though, especially chicken livers! Chicken Liver Stroganoff? Yum.

Jessie: Eel. I’ve never eaten it and I shudder to think which circumstances could crop up and make me feel it was an appealing option. I haven’t eaten brains either and am not sure I could face them if I knew what they were. Last year I ate tongue for the first time. It was made into corned beef and used in a Reuben sandwich. It was extraordinarily delicious.

Sherry: Oh, no Jessie. I may never be able to eat corned beef again and I love Reubens!

Jessie: Sherry, would it help if I told you I had the tongue Reuben at Duckfat in Portland, ME? Everything they make is wonderful no matter what it is!

Barb: Liz, I am laughing. For the Maine Clambake series I did some research on recipes for moose. Every single one was focused on making it not taste like moose. My conclusion: moose doesn’t taste very good. My Brazilian sister-in-law makes a delicious dish with chicken livers, though I wish I didn’t know what was in it. I’m a pretty cautious eater, (okay, aside from working my whole career in start-ups, I’m a pretty cautious person), so I rarely end up eating unidentified objects. My husband who eats pretty much anything in the world (except calves liver) finds my timidity alternately aggravating and amusing.

Julie: When I was growing up, we had bacon, liver, and onions a couple of times a month. It was the only food I couldn’t eat. Still not a liver fan, though pate and I have a good relationship. Once I served kidney pie. Had trouble with it, since kidneys look like kidneys. All of this said, I will try anyone once. Well, maybe not brains.

Readers: your turn!

Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: brains, chicken liver stroganoff, Duckfat, liver and onions, raw squid, sashimi, tongue

The Detective’s Daughter -Cursed Again!

Kim Gray, thawing out in Baltimore.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! I’ve spent the last three weeks fighting off the flu, and a respiratory infection which has kept me not only from the wonderful St. Patrick’s parade here in Baltimore, but from my annual scone and bread baking. This year I had to skip the party I usually host and settle for a smaller scale corned beef and cabbage dinner that’s cooking in my crock pot.

Like all good Irish households, the seventeenth of March was greatly celebrated in our home. My grandmother would bake bread and prepare a fabulous feast and my grandfather seemed to have an endless supply of plastic green hats and green and silver crowns that read “kiss me, I’m Irish” in swirly letters across the top. Dad sometimes brought us carnations dyed green from Lexington Market and Mom supplied all our green accessories. She had beads in every color. Mom had quite a selection of jewelry, including our family’s cursed ring. I was a teenager before I learned the history of the pretty engagement ring my mom wore.

The story goes that my grandmother’s uncle bought the ring for his sweetheart intending to propose, but was killed in France during the First World War before he had the opportunity. The ring then found its way into my great-grandmother’s clutches. I understand all the bad luck she incurred she brought upon herself. At some point she gave the ring to her son Al, who was a bandleader. He had fallen in love with a singer in his club and left his wife in favor of a relationship with this other woman. The singer had no intention of marrying my great uncle and left him heart broken.In his despair he took his own life, leaving the ring in a letter for my grandmother.

It stayed tucked away in her dresser for years until Dad met Mom. What ever possessed my grandmother or Dad to think using this ring was a good idea has died with them. Mom wore it for over twenty years until she and Dad divorced. Not so long ago Mom presented me with the ring. She knew I would care for it and keep it in our family. Occasionally I put it on and wear it out, but mostly it stays tucked away in my dresser.The ring has never brought me any bad luck, in fact I feel closer to all my family when I wear it. And though I don’t actually believe in curses, I don’t think I’ll give it to my son to give to his fiancé when the time comes. It’s best not to tempt fate.

Readers: Do you have a family item that has a, um, history?

Filed under: The Detective's Daughter Tagged: cursed rings, Saint Patricks Day, St. Paddy's Day, The Detective's Daughter

On Writing or Thank You Maud Hart Lovelace

By Sherry Harris writing on a windy day

As a published author I’ve been asked more often why I write, so I’ve thought about it a lot. I can draw a direct line from my favorite childhood series, The Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, to my desire to write.

First a bit about the books — the series is based on Maud Hart Lovelace’s life growing up in Mankato, Minnesota which she calls Deep Valley in the books. When we first meet Betsy she is five and the reading level is suitable for that age group. But as Betsy ages so does the age level of the books. We follow Betsy from the first book, Betsy-Tacy, to the last in the series, Betsy’s Wedding.

Betsy wanted to be a writer from the time she was a little girl until she became one as an adult. And since I wanted to be Betsy, I wanted to be a writer too. The books start in the late 1800’s and follow through to the Great War.  We go with Betsy on her first ride in a horseless carriage, feel her first heartbreak, sneak off with her to the store to buy dime novels. When her mother finds the dime novels, Betsy gets a library card and is allowed to go alone. The characters are wonderfully drawn but face issues that are relatable today.

I’ve read these books over and over. Even as an adult, I still love to read them. Betsy has an older sister, Julia and I have one, Janet. Both are great piano players. My sister and I used to argue about who was Betsy and who was Julia. (Obviously, I’m Betsy!) Betsy’s full name is Elizabeth Warrington Ray. In fifth grade I decided if I ever had a daughter I’d name her Elizabeth Rae. And yes, my daughter is named Elizabeth Rae. Betsy’s family supports her writing, as does mine.

The Unofficial Book Reviewer says this about Betsy: Generations of literary-minded girls have found a soul mate in Betsy Ray, who blushes too easily, wobbles on ice skates, and nearly flunks algebra. That line could have been written about me.

The books were mentioned in the movie You’ve Got Mail. Anna Quindlen mentions the series in one of her books. I was surprised by the number of authors who related to the books I loved so much. You can read their thoughts at the Betsy-Tacy Society.

So thank you Maud Hart Lovelace for writing such wonderful books and for inspiring me.

Readers: Who inspired you when you were young?

Filed under: Sherry's posts Tagged: Anna Quindlen, Betsy's Wedding, Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy Society, Julia Ray, Maud Hart Lovelace, The Unofficial Book Reviewer, You've Got Mail

Opening Lines

We are delighted that Bill Carito let us use one of his fabulous photographs that he took in Key West. Bill took this using his iPhone.

Jessie: It wasn’t waking up in an alley that bothered Frank. It was waking up in a purple alley that gave him the creeps.

Liz: It was the only place I could practice my painting without anyone else bothering me. The only place in the world I could have purple walls without having to hear about it every damn day.

Barb: The purple wave crested through the alleyway, leaving the walls bathed in a violent violet. “Wait!” I called to the kid’s retreating back. “What exactly did I take?”

Julie: She called it the alley of hope, painted after the never-ending winter of 2015, designed to be a happy place all winder long. The dead body took some of the happy out of the place.

Sherry: I raced down the alley, police hot on my tail. The ladder I placed there earlier was essential to my escape plan. I tossed the box of full of cardboard behind me as I skirted the trash cans, knocking the last one over. I hoped I’d remember which rungs were sturdy and didn’t land on one of the ones I’d cut through.

Edith: Thank the Goddess for the ladder. But I was never going to get Jake’s body up that thing. I guess I’d have to leave him to rot right here in the alley. The color he’ll turn,  he’s going to match those walls perfect.

Readers: Add your opening line!

Filed under: Opening Lines Tagged: Bill Carito, Key West, ladder in alley

Connections

Jessie: In New Hampshire where everything, simply everything, is melting!

March is Women’s History Month and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about historical women. In the course of researching a new project I came across a website devoted to information about American Women’s Dime Novels. While all of it was fascinating, what really struck a chord with me was how books written for and by women were amongst the first bestsellers.

The popularity of inexpensive books written with young, working women in mind held extraordinary appeal for a previously untapped market. Stories with suspenseful plots and plucky working class heroines stole the hearts of factory girls and domestic help. Despite their limited resources they faithfully purchased stories written by literary superstars like Laura Jean Libbey in never before seen numbers.

Long before women had the legal right to vote they were voting with their pennies and choosing to spend both their money and their time with characters that made them feel understood and acknowledged by the world. This is something I think the best writers, from all walks of life and from every generation, have in common. They make us feel that someone, somewhere knows who we are, that somehow, though we’ve never met, they see us. Themes, styles and attitudes all change over time but that craving for connection and understanding never does.

Which circles back to Women’s History Month. I feel such a swell of gratitude and connection when I consider those trail blazing women, both those in my biological family tree and those in a more literary one, that have led the way and made it possible for me to add my own chapter to Women’s History. They created space for women from all walks of life to have the chance at lives they wanted to live.

Thank you ladies!

Readers do you have a woman writer or a woman in your family that struck a chord with you? Who are some of the women in history you most admire?

 

Filed under: Jessie's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: American Women's Diem Novels, Laura Jean Libbey, trail blazers, Women's History Month

Wicked Wednesday- Books I Haven’t Read

Jessie: Feeling gleeful at the way the snowbanks at the end of the driveway have melted down from over six feet to under five!

As the winter begins to fade the outdoors starts to call. Soon there will be other things to do with free time besides staying tucked up next to the fire reading. So in these last few weeks of prime reading weather I wanted to ask which books have you never read that everyone else seems to have enjoyed? A classic? A bestseller? Even an entire genre?

Liz: This is a shame that goes back to grad school, but I could never get through One Hundred Years of Solitude. I tried, multiple times, especially because it was required reading for one of my classes, but I couldn’t do it. I know Marquez is a genius, and maybe someday I’ll try Love in the Time of Cholera, but it’s really not high on my list.

Jessie: Moby Dick is mine. I almost feel left out when people complain about it but not enough to buckle down and give it a go. Although, with Barb giving it such an enthusiastic endorsement here recently I might just have to check out a copy at the library.

Barb: For me it’s the Russians. Though I enjoyed Anna Karenina, and remember it vividly even though I read it close to forty years ago, I have never read War and Peace, or Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov or, or, or… And yes, I’m embarrassed about it.

Edith: So funny, Liz. I loved everything I read by Marquez! I, on the other hand, have never read anything by Hawthorne. Very little by Charles Dickens all the way through, although I enjoyed reading A Tale of Two Cities when my son read it in high school. I tried to “read” Gone Girl on audio last summer and couldn’t stand the narrator — and not the audio narrator, the one in the book. Also a pass on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and following. And ya know what? Not a bit embarrassed by any of it. Life is short, and I’m going to read what I want to.

Sherry: I’ve never even tried to read Moby Dick but I had a bit of the same reaction that Jessie did when hearing Barb talk about it. However, it’s very far down the reading list. War and Peace is another. I tried. When I was in 8th or 9th grade I went to a movie version. It was so long they showed the first half one week and the second half the next. I loved it but think I’ll be content with that.

Julie: Well, aside from Dickens, I’m with you my Wickeds. Especially about the Russians. I do try again every few years, hoping that I will find my groove at my current life stage, but so far, no dice. I’m also going to add Faulkner, though that has more to do with my high school AP English class where we had to diagram sentences, and she made us diagram Faulkner. Did you know he wrote sentences that went on for pages?

Readers, which books have you passed up intentionally or unintentionally?

Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: bestsellers, Books, classics, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, genres, Moby Dick, Reading, things I haven't read, War and Peace