Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 265

Welcome Shelley Costa

By Liz…still freezing in New England, and making plans for next winter that don’t  include snow and ice.

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome Shelley Costa, author of You Cannoli Die Once and Basil  Instinct, to the blog. Shelley is a fabulous writer and awesome person, and I’m so glad she’s taking the time to visit Wicked Cozy Authors today! Here’s Shelley’s bio:

A 2004 Edgar nominee for Best Short Story, Shelley Costa is the author of You Cannoli Die Once  and Basil Instinct (Simon and Schuster 2013, 2014).  Cannoli was a 2014 Agatha nominee for Best First Novel.  Shelley’s mystery stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Blood on Their Hands,The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, and Crimewave (UK).  Shelley teaches creative writing at the Cleveland Institute of Art.  Find her at www.shelleycosta.com.

I asked her a few questions about her books and her upcoming projects. Here’s our interview:

For our readers who haven’t met Eve Angelotta yet, tell us about her and the kinds of trouble she’s been finding herself in.

Eve Angelotta is my sleuth who’s the head chef in her family-run, generations-old northern Italian restaurant outside Philly.  She’s a former Broadway dancer who had an accident that’s sidelined her, making her turn reluctantly to “la famiglia” for a livelihood. She is a strong, funny, thinks-outside-the-spaghetti-box type of gal.

I’m Italian, and I know there’s a lot of fodder there for both humor and murder! Tell us about Eve’s family and where the characters came from.

Even when murder doesn’t find its way into their kitchen, Eve is up against her elegant but difficult grandmother, Maria Pia, who owns the place and, although she’s technically retired, still makes her big presence and personality felt.  Eve’s best friend is her gay cousin (and sous chef) the wonderful Landon Angelotta, and the other cousin employed full-time at the restaurant is the big guy Choo Choo Bacigalupo, a softie who works as maitre d’ — and who actually gets along with Maria Pia!  Eve’s nemesis is her second cousin, the flaky, farming Kayla Angelotta who supplies the restaurant produce.  All of these characters are truly fictitious, although Mrs. Crawford, the mysterious pianist, is drawn from my eighth grade math and reading teacher (who wore cocktail dresses and wide-brimmed hats to school).  Eve herself is probably some fun, crime-solving side of me, since her voice is very strong and clear to me. . . although I can’t quite figure out why she’s funnier than I am.

Your books are hilarious. How easy is it for you to weave humor into murder? Does it come naturally with the characters, or is it something you have to consciously think about?

Thanks!  They make me laugh, too.  Book One, YOU CANNOLI DIE ONCE,  opens with a corpse in the restaurant kitchen who turns out to be Maria Pia’s elderly boyfriend.  (Can an arrest be far behind?) And Book Two, BASIL INSTINCT, finds Eve’s new sous chef murdered. . .just as Maria Pia is inducted into a secret, 200 year old all-female (possibly homicidal) cooking society.  One has to wonder just how bad the initiation ceremony gets!  It’s certaily easier to weave humor into murder when the book is a cozy, right?  In cozies the story contains murder, yes, but in some ways the murder is an excuse to live — both writer and reader — for a few hundred pages in an interesting, delicious world with fascinating characters banding together to figure something out.  I find it hard to imagine a through-line of humor in other subgenres.  Hardboiled PI?  No, it’s mean streets and loner-sleuth.  Murder just validates the cynicism.  There can be a wry narrative voice for sure.  But wit or a laugh-out-loud worldview?  Not so much.  And thrillers take themselves very seriously, which is fine and can be very well done.  The murderous situations get ramped way up.  Nothing funny in psychopaths or doomsday plots.  Me, I’d rather laugh.  Bottom line for all of us writing across all the mystery subgenres: it comes down to crime and punishment.  Laughs or gore aside, we have that in common.  All the rest is just a matter of style or taste.

Talk about setting. Why did you pick Philly?

I grew up in central New Jersey.  When that’s where you are, you get carted by school bus or family car either to NYC or Philly.  Once or twice I went to New Hope, PA, a charming old town just north of Philly that’s a magnet for antiquing tourists.  I wanted to write a place close enough to a major city that it might give me some plot options, and yet interesting and rich in its own right.  I grew up in a small town, and I’ve lived in others.  I “get” — and like — certain kinds of small towns, the ones with history and civic pride and an array of different kinds of folks going about their lives, so I invented Quaker Hills with a thriving downtown commercial district you get to know in the books.

What’s next for you? 

Next up is the first book in a new series, PRACTICAL SINS FOR COLD CLIMATES (Henery Press, January 2016), featuring my thirtysomething sleuth, Valjean Cameron, a NYC editor sent to the Canadian Northwoods to sign a reclusive bestselling author to a book contract.  But first she has to find him — a tricky thing to do in her Prada heels.  A fish out of water, Val lands in this wilderness community where seasonal residents battle with permanent ones over the development of the lake.  Murder ensues.  Val has to find her quarry, that bestelling author, prove he isn’t a killer, and get back to the city before she loses her mind.  PRACTICAL SINS is a traditional amateur sleuth mystery.

Thanks for visiting, Shelley! Readers, any questions for our guest?

Filed under: Guest posts, Liz's posts Tagged: Basil Instinct, cozy mysteries, Henery Press, Italian food, Philadelphia, Shelley Costa, You Cannoli Die Once

Testing…One, Two, Three and Beyond

By Liz, who never wants to see another snowflake again in her lifetime.

In case you missed it on Facebook, Shaggy passed her Canine Good Citizen test last  week. This was a huge milestone for her. She’d been to two obedience classes prior, both of which she completed like a pro, but an “official” test? Nobody likes tests, right? They’re so nerve-wracking.

Anyway, she passed with flying colors, even the one I was most worried about – supervised separation, where she had to stay alone with the trainer for 3 minutes and not fuss. Tough stuff for a spoiled little dog who’s joined to my hip!

But she did it. And during this process, as I helped her practice for each test, I got to thinking about these tests and how they can apply to humans too. Here are some examples of how the CGC tests have manifested in my life, and how I would fare.

TEST 1: ACCEPTING A FRIENDLY STRANGER

Okay, I have to admit I have an issue with this one. Strangers are not always friendly; therefore they can’t be accepted just because they smile at you. Not to mention, my writer’s brain always thinks the worst about people. I think this is a bad lesson for everyone, including dogs. The last stranger I made eye contact with on the streets of Hartford was an undercover cop with a gun, chasing a bank robber during lunch hour. Come to think of it, he wasn’t that friendly.

Grade: FAIL

TEST 2: SITTING POLITELY FOR PETTING

In human speak, this could read “Sitting politely for politicking.” The equivalent of sitting politely during meetings while posturing, politics and other fun stuff occurs around you. I’m good at “nod and smile.” Most days.

Grade: PASS

Shaggy getting congratulatory kisses from Tuffy

TEST 3: APPEARANCE AND GROOMING

Looking professional when you’re frozen and the air is so dry you feel shriveled, having to climb mountains of snow and navigate a driveway that’s uphill and covered with ice is tough. However, I’ve managed to hold it together enough to not look like I’ve climbed through the Arctic tundra once I’ve gotten to the office and done some repairs.

Grade: PASS

TEST 4: OUT FOR A WALK (WALKING ON A LOOSE LEAD)

Let’s be clear—I hate winter. I just want to curl up in my blanket and stay inside until this hideous white stuff melts. However, there’s one exception—a daily trip to Starbucks. Certain coworkers and I will brave the most horrendous elements for our daily cup. We’re better than the post office in this regard. I’m thinking specifically of the rainstorm with 40 mile an hour winds that destroyed our umbrellas. Yes, we had a meeting after that. In person. But at least we had coffee.

Grade: PASS

TEST 5: WALKING THROUGH A CROWD

It’s not me, it’s them. If you’re too busy yelling at someone on your cell phone or not watching where you’re going with your baby stroller, it’s not my fault if my big purse nearly takes you out.

Grade: FAIL 

TEST 6: SIT AND DOWN ON COMMAND AND STAYING IN PLACE

I command myself every day to sit and stay in front of the computer during my writing time. Doesn’t usually work unless the situation is extremely desperate. (See Test 9)

Grade: FAIL

TEST 7: COMING WHEN CALLED

Depends on who’s calling. In the world of CGC, that matters. So I win.

Grade: PASS

TEST 8: REACTION TO ANOTHER DOG

Depends on the dog. Depends on whether said dog is trying to be alpha, lifting his leg on my cubicle, growling and showing fangs. And then there’s the female dog—and you know what they call those. In both of these cases, I tend to exhibit the same behaviors.

Grade: FAIL

TEST 9: REACTION TO DISTRACTION

I’m on two manuscript deadlines, April 1 and May 1. One manuscript still needs a complete rewrite to incorporate a new theme (more on that later). Still, every time I hunker down to do a big chunk of work, it’s amazing what I let distract me. The ding of a text message, an email teaser, the sound of a puking cat all lead me away from my ultimate goal—to finish the bleeping books on time. (See Test 6)

Grade: FAIL

TEST 10: SUPERVISED SEPARATION

See Test 1. Seeing as extreme supervision is not my strong suit, I don’t think this is a good test for me. And then there’s the whole stranger thing.

Grade: FAIL

As you can see, Shaggy is much more equipped to deal with the world than I am. I guess it’s good I’m a writer and can often hide in my cave.

However, I should point out that after class was completed, the blue ribbon was displayed proudly and prizes were given, a dog is still a dog, and will sneak into litter boxes for a snack. In the world of CGC, that’s an extreme fail.

Readers, how would you fare on these tests?

Filed under: Liz's posts Tagged: Canine Good Citizen, Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, schnoodle

Wicked New England- Who’s Your Favorite Historical Figure?

Jessie: In NH, shivering and finding mid-winter solace in days gone by.

Recently, as I was poking around the internet doing a little research for my work-in-progress, I ran across this article on something called The Great Snow. It was about a series of unusually brutal storms that occurred in New England back in 1717. I never had heard of this historical tidbit and it got me to thinking about the endurance of the New Englanders of the past. So today Wickeds, I wanted to ask each of you to tell us about your favorite historical New England figure, well-known or more obscure.

Liz: I’ve always been a Nathaniel Hawthorne fan. I’m a Salem, Mass. fanatic, and his ancestry is from Salem, including his great-great grandfather who presided over the Salem Witch Trials. I studied The House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter in college and always enjoyed his dark style and the depths of his themes.

Sherry: Liz, Nathaniel Hawthorne is a favorite of mine too but more from his time spent in Concord. When I first heard we were thinking about this topic I couldn’t decide between Nathaniel, Paul Revere, and Louisa May Alcott. I settled on Louisa. While we lived in Bedford, Massachusetts I took all of our visitors to tour Orchard House in Concord. It’s where Louisa wrote Little Women (originally published as Part One and Part Two). She wrote from a desk her father built for her in her bedroom. If you are ever in the Concord area don’t miss touring the Orchard House. Louisa’s story is fascinating beyond her writing too.

She’s buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, MA. On Authors Ridge in her family plot. A peaceful place to visit and you can also visit Nathaniel, Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Jessie: One of my favorites is Sarah Orne Jewett. She was raised in South Berwick, Maine, a little over twenty miles from my home. I love the way she was interested in celebrating the lives of everyday people in rural Maine. Her work showed common folk with real affection and she had a knack for creating strong female characters.

Edith: The more I learn about John Greenleaf Whittier for my historical mysteries, the more I like him. He was an ardent abolitionist and had his life threatened for his views. He had a twinkle in his eye and loved children – he wrote a poem about the tea party he and Celia Thaxter attended that was hosted by a six year old girl. And he was on the building committee for the same Friends Meetinghouse where I go and sit in silent expectant waiting on First Day. He wasn’t above poking fun at authority, he strongly supported the local library, and he had a back exit built into his study in his home (a couple of blocks from my own house) that he could duck out of if he spied an unwelcome visitor coming up the walk. What’s not to like?

Barb: Yes, Jessie, and what about the Year Without Summer in 1816? Because of a volcanic eruption in Indonesia throwing dust into the atmosphere, there was a hard frost in every month of the year, including June, July and August and a major snow June 6th after crops had already been planted. Crops failed and what food there was expensive and hard to come by.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

I had a hard time with the assignment. New England offers so many people to choose from. The Pilgrims in their tiny boat. The heroes of the American Revolution. But I finally settled on Harriet Beecher Stowe. It’s apparently apocryphal that when Lincoln met her, he said, “So you’re the little woman who started this great war,” but it is unarguable that Uncle Tom’s Cabin galvanized public opinion. It was the bestselling novel of the 19th century and the second bestselling book, after the Bible. The book was not then, nor is it now, without its detractors, including James Baldwin who was among the first to condemn its stereotypes. On the other hand, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has more recently been a leader in its re-examination. Any book with that kind of impact will be widely debated over time. What tipped me, finally, into choosing Ms. Stowe, was her demonstration of the power of story to change the conversation and even to move history.

Readers, do you have a favorite figure from history?

Filed under: Wicked New England Tagged: Amesbury Massachusetts, Bedford Masschusetts, Celia Thaxter, Concord Massachusetts, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Orchard House, Salem Massachusetts, Sarah Orne Jewett, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, South Berwick Maine, The House of Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, Uncle Tom's Cabin

It’s Complicated

By Julie, from Snowmagedon, formerly known as Somerville

My current view.

I have written this blog post three times. First time was about plotting. Second time was about character development. Neither of these topics inspired me to finish the post. Because all I can think about is snow. More precisely, the 11.3 more inches Boston needs to break the all time record for snowiest winter. We are currently tied for second snowiest winter, but with a bit of snow due tonight, we’ll move into #2. But I want to be #1.

This should in no way indicate that I am enjoying this snowy winter. I live in the city, and rely on walking and the MBTA to get places. Neither is easy. Commutes take twice as long. Walking down sidewalks means navigating narrow paths etched between buildings and seven foot walls of snow. If someone hasn’t shoveled, you need to walk into the street, and hope the traffic jam doesn’t unclog before you can get back on the sidewalk a block down. Even if I decided to drive places, there’s no where to park. Side streets are clogged with lumps of snow and ice that barely resemble the cars that are buried underneath. Honestly, we have no where to put another foot of snow.

But that foot will make this a record breaking winter. So I want both things–to break the record, and for no more snow. I am comfortable living with this contradiction. Most of my life exists in the complicated zone.

I blame it on being a writer. Part of creating an interesting character is showing her motivations. Some of them are in conflict with one another, and require either a choice to be made, or a compromise with the conflict. Certainly writing a crime novel requires wrestling with complications, highlighting some, misdirecting interest in others.

The younger me did not embrace complicated. I thought everything required making a choice. As I’ve gotten older, I realize that complicated is interesting. That sometimes you can’t choose, or don’t want to. That complicated is preferable to flat.

And so, I root for another foot of snow, even when the idea fills me with despair.

What can I say? I’m complicated.

Filed under: Julie's posts

Wicked Wednesday- Mid-Winter Travel Fantasy

Jessie: In NH where the state police have issued an arrest warrant for Punxsutawney Phil

I think of myself as a pretty hardy New Englander. Most winters I simply make soup more frequently and wear wool hand knit hats even when I’m in the house. But lately, this winter has been feeling like just about enough. This past Friday things had gotten so bad a pheasant showed up at my bird feeders. As much as I enjoyed the visit I felt unnerved by it as well. Had the woods simply disappeared under all the snow? Or had they been blown away with all the wind? Which got me to thinking about traveling somewhere, anywhere, that is warmer than here.

So Wickeds, are the rest of you entertaining mid-winter travel  fantasies of your own? If you could go anywhere right about now, where would it be?

Liz: Like Jessie, I’ve lived here all my life, so should be used to this. However, winter no longer holds any appeal to me. Short of moving for good, I’ll take winters elsewhere. Which got me thinking about Barb’s winters in Key West. I’d definitely disappear for January, February and March, and Key West has long been on my list to visit (I’ve never made it yet). The pictures she and Bill have been sharing are enticing me and have me thinking about a three-year plan to the same beautiful escape. Barb, would you mind having me for a neighbor for a few months? Regardless, I’d take anywhere warm and beachy right now.

Edith: Warm and beachy. That pretty much sums it up, Liz! Even though I don’t complain about New England winter, mostly, I would love to be somewhere warm and sunny right now. The last time we went to Costa Rica, we swam in the warm Pacific at Manuel Antonio wildlife preserve and hired a guide who showed us all kinds of wildlife we wouldn’t have see otherwise. Retiring to a sunset cocktail and a delicious seafood dinner afterwards was heaven. And guess what – no snow in sight!

Sherry: We haven’t had very much snow this winter in the DC area — in fact the five inches on Monday night is pretty much it (of course everything is shut down here because we got — gasp — FIVE inches of snow). But it’s been a very cold, very gray, very windy, winter. And my thoughts are turning more and more frequently to the Caribbean and exotic drinks. The pictures are from a few years ago on St. Thomas.

Barb: Liz, we would LOVE it if you were here. C’mon down. You and Lucy Burdette and I could have a regular lunch thing. (Or, even better a cocktails and sunset thing.) Until 1991, I had never taken a warm weather winter vacation. I didn’t even get it. The idea of finding the kids’ bathing suits and shorts exhausted me. But that year, my parents announced they were going to Key West for the month of February. Massachusetts has a public school vacation in February, so I more or less invited ourselves. The minute I got there, and I do mean the minute I got off the plane, I totally got the whole warm weather vacation thing. My parents had a small two-bedroom rental. The kids were on the floor in our room. Until a gecko was spotted, then my daughter Kate was in the bed with me and my husband Bill was on the floor! My parents kept coming, for longer and longer periods of time and eventually bought a house. We visited every year and now that they’re gone, Bill and I carry on the tradition.

The family at Southernmost Point in 2014

Jessie: The Azores. A few years ago NH Public Radio was offering a trip there as part of some sort of winter fundraising event. I have never got the notion of it out of my mind. The average winter temperature is 60 degrees and the summer comes in around 79 degrees. I could live there year round! The islands are known for unique flora and fauna and are an easy plane ride from Boston. What more could you ask for?

Julie: I just dream of not having to wear a dozen layers. And being able to walk without it being an obstacle course. Honestly, being warm and feeling the sun is the dream. Even for an hour or two.

Readers, are you longing for spring too? Where do you think about going to beat the February Doldrums?

Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: Axores, cold, Costa Rica, Escaping winter, exotic drinks, Key West, lucy burdette, Manuel Antonio, pheasants, snow, Southernmost point, St. Thomas

The Detective’s Daughter — Between Friends

Kim Gray in Baltimore wearing gloves as she types in front of the fire.

I grew up knowing nothing and everything about love. My parents had a great story about the way they met. It was cute and funny and surely a vehicle for Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to star in had it been made into a film. Mom was young and working at the front desk of The Lord Baltimore Hotel. Dad had just recently graduated from the police academy. He’d spent a few summers working as a bell hop at The Lord Baltimore and occasionally dropped by to catchup with friends. On one visit a friend persuaded him to pretend he was going to arrest the new girl working at the desk. Dad’s friend liked the new girl and thought this was a good way to meet her. Dad, always game for making someone feel uncomfortable, proceeded to play along. Things didn’t go as planned for the friend, but went rather well for Dad. Several months later my parents were married.

I loved when Mom told this story. Dad never said anything, he only nodded or agreed with Mom’s version. Neither my mom or dad were big talkers. In fact they seemed to ration their words  as if they only had a certain amount to spare each day.  While my parents spent the majority of their time in our second floor apartment in silence, my grandparents were bickering on the first floor. I should say Nana was bickering, Pop-Pop was only muttering under his breath. But he did exactly what she said. We all did. As a child, I could never understand why Nana seemed angry with Pop-Pop. To this day, no one can convince me he wasn’t the most wonderful man to walk this Earth. How could she not see this?

Nana and Pop-Pop, or Fan and Lou as they were called, had been friends since their teenage years. They were so close that many believed they would one day marry. Before Lou could propose, Fan met a young widower and married him after a short courtship. Within the year Lou also married. Lou’s marriage ended in divorce and Fan’s happiness was also short lived. After my dad was born, his father died eighteen months later. Fan was widowed at the age of thirty four. She and Lou had remained part of the same crowd. Lou was the best friend of Fan’s brother. When Dad was nearly eight, Fan and Lou finally married.

Nana and Pop-Pop did everything together. They went out every Friday night to Miss Leona’s bar to listen to music and play games. On Sunday it was over to Bissert’s for dinner. All the while my parents sat upstairs, each in their own world. I never heard a cross word pass between them, but I rarely heard any words. They were friend with other police couples, but rarely socialized. As an adult I realize it wasn’t because they were naturally shy, it was because they had nothing to say to one another.

I was in grade school when my Pop-Pop died from cancer. Nana was sitting at her kitchen table looking through the paper. “I’ve lost my best friend,” she said. “Me, too.” I agreed. My parents could never seem to live up to their story. It seemed impossible to me that these two beautiful people were  not destined to have a happy ever after. Though Nana and Pop-Pop’s story was not one of a great romance, their solid friendship stood firm.

Years later, as Nana suffered dementia, she would tell me about her visits with Pop-Pop. “You just missed him,” she would tell me and I would look around convinced she was right and he had been here only moments ago.  They both passed away in the month of February, he on the twelfth and she on the fourteenth, nearly twenty years apart.

As we celebrate love this month we should also celebrate friendship. Crushes and romances may come and go, but it is that sturdy foundation of friendship that keeps us stable and moving forward to our next great love.

Filed under: The Detective's Daughter Tagged: Lord Baltimore Hotel, Meg Ryan, The Detective's Daughter, Tom Hanks

Best First Agatha Nominees on Writing

I’m humbled and thrilled to be one of the nominees for an Agatha Award for Best First novel this year. I asked my fellow nominees Annette Dashofy, Terrie Farley Moran, Susan O’Brien, and Tracy Weber to join me to talk about getting published. Is the book you are nominated for the first book you wrote? And from the time you decided to write a novel how long did it take you to get published?

Sherry: My journey was a long one. I joke that I started writing on stone tablets with a chisel. In some ways I’ve always written stories whether they were for my high school yearbook, my job in marketing for a financial planning company or writing humorous Christmas letters. What pushed me to write a novel was a short story contest advertised in the newspaper when we lived in Dayton, Ohio. I quickly realized the story was too big and ended up writing two and half books that still sit in the proverbial drawer.

I learned a lot by writing those books, taking classes, attending conferences, reading books about writing, and editing books for other authors. So when the opportunity to write a series with a garage sale theme came to me via a New York City editor, agent, and finally through friend Barbara Ross, I was in the words of Barbara, “ready”. From writing the proposal for the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series to contract was a month and a half. From contract to the publication of Tagged for Death was a year and ten months.

Annette Dashofy: My first writing implement was a crayon, so that should give you an idea of how long I’ve been doing this. In high school I wrote “novels” longhand in spiral-bound notebooks. Now it would be called fan fiction. Back then I simply created a character that was me and stuck her into my favorite TV shows. My “fans” read my stories in study hall. They’d pass them around and eventually the notebook came back to me with orders to keep writing.

I didn’t get serious about publishing my fiction until decades later when the bug bit me in 2004. I wrote one novel that no one will ever see again. Trust me. It was bad. A second novel snagged me two agents, but no publisher. I kept writing. Circle of Influence (Zoe Chambers Mysteries) was the fourth manuscript I wrote, but the first to be published—finally—in 2014.

Terrie Farley Moran: I have always known that I would be a mystery writer someday. Lo and behold “someday” finally showed up in early 2003 when I started writing Driven to Death. It took me a few trial-and-error years to finish the first draft. In 2006 at the exact moment I started the second draft, my Sisters in Crime chapter put out a call for submissions for short stories for a chapter anthology. I wrote a story called “Strike Zone” and two things happened. First, I discovered that I absolutely loved writing short mystery fiction and second, my story was accepted and the anthology Murder New York Style was released in 2007.

I continued writing short stories and was lucky enough to have them published in various venues including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and an MWA anthology. All the while I edited and polished Driven to Death. Finally, in February 2012 I met a fabulous literary agent, Kim Lionetti of Bookends LLC. When she turned down Driven to Death, Kim said she liked my voice and style and asked if I would write something else, which led to Well Read, Then Dead the first in the Read Em and Eat Mystery series and a 3 book contract with Berkley Prime Crime. Typical writer’s path. Up, down and all around.

Susan O’Brien: In the middle of writing Finding Sky, the first in the Nicki Valentine mystery series, I was hired to write Child Abduction and Kidnapping, an educational book for young adults. The pay was relatively low (with no royalties), but I’m passionate about children’s safety, so it just felt meant to be. Part of my earnings from Finding Sky are donated to missing children’s organizations. Also, I got quite sick while writing Finding Sky and wrote a spiritual/medical memoir, which I can’t wait to edit when I “have time” someday!

It’s funny to think about the time from deciding to write a novel to pursuing publication. I’ve wanted to be an author since childhood, so in a way, it took decades! Finding Sky was written over many years while I was busy raising children and freelance writing. Once I started querying, it took a little more than a year to have a signed contract. I chronicled the experience on Twitter in hopes of connecting with other writers. My first tweet was about sending my first query letter! I’m thrilled and grateful to be on this journey with each of you and the entire, incredible writing community!

Tracy Weber: I am so incredibly lucky.  Yes, Murder Strikes a Pose is my first novel and the first of the Downward Dog mystery series.  In fact, it’s my first attempt at writing fiction except for a short story I wrote in college at age 20 and a three-page very bad flash fiction piece I wrote a few years ago.

I thought about writing Murder Strikes a Pose for almost two years before I actually sat down and put fingers to keyboard.  Once I started, the words poured out of me and I wrote the first draft in three weeks!  (Subsequent drafts took significantly longer.)  ;-)  I refined the work for about a year with the help friends and a wonderful freelance editor named Marta Tanrikulu.  When I started submitting, things went quickly.  I signed with my agent, Margaret Bail, within a few weeks and she sold the first three books in the series a few weeks after that.  Murder Strikes a Pose was on bookshelves nine months later.

So, from typing “Chapter 1” to publication was about two and a half years.  Only one year of that was actually writing.  ;-)

Sherry: Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to share a bit about your writing journey! I really enjoyed each of your stories.

Filed under: Sherry's posts Tagged: Agatha Award Best First Novel, Annette Dashofy, Circle of Influence, Downward Dog mystery series, Finding Sky, Murder Strikes a Pose, Nicki Valentine Mysteries, Read Em and Eat Mysteries, Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries, Sherry Harris, Susan O'Brien, Tagged for Death, Terrie Farley Moran, Tracy Weber, Well Read Then Dead, Zoe Chambers mystery

Opening Lines — And the winner is…

Congratulations to Dixie Kurtz for winning our Opening Lines photo contest. Dixie started taking photos in 2007 when her daughter was on a crew team. Regretfully she didn’t get off the automatic settings until she found herself on the football field when her son played in high school.

Dixie realized then she knew nothing about photography. So she studied and took some classes which made all the difference. After football was over Dixie felt lost but she lives along the Mississippi River on the Iowa side of the Quad Cities. Eagles migrate every winter through the area and that became her new “thing”. Unfortunately the worse the weather the better eagle action! Dixie says, “It’s sometimes brutal but so worth it! So yes, Eagles are my thing!”

Thanks to our panel of judges and all the people who entered. We will be using some of their photos in future. Here is the winning photo:

Edith: I told her the paint wouldn’t cover the bullet hole in the trunk, and that she shoulda drove it further into the woods. But them South Lick police ain’t found it yet in all these twenty years, and I reckon I’m safe. So’s Sadie’s skeleton right there behind the hole. I know – I check on her every year on her birthday, just like today.

Julie: It’s what we in New England call a summer car. Barely running, only used three months of the year. So what was the guy doing in a snow suit? In the trunk?

Jessie: Tammy said she wouldn’t be caught dead in his car. Just goes to show how wrong you can be.

Sherry: I’d always heard my great uncle Joe got so drunk one night he pulled over to let the bridge pass. He survived but his car wasn’t found until years later when they started clearing the brush for a new hotel.

Barb: The house was completely overgrown, and so was the driveway, which appeared to be swallowing the sedan still parked at the end of it. It was as if time had stopped, and I couldn’t stop wondering why the residents had left, and why they had and never returned.

Liz: No one believed that my sister hadn’t run off with her latest loser boyfriend until a couple of kids found her car one day years later, completely by accident, buried under some brush.

Readers: Add your opening line!

 

Filed under: Opening Lines Tagged: abandon cars, eagle migration, mississipi river, opening lines, Quad Cities, South Lick

Second Helpings

***Breaking news alert. We interrupt this blog post to announce (with glee) that our monthly blogger and Wicked Accomplice Sheila Connolly’s newest book, An Early Wake, will debut on the New York Times Mass Market Paperback Bestseller List at #10 on Sunday!!! We now return you to our regularly scheduled posting. (After an appropriate amount of squealing and dancing around.) CONGRATULATIONS, SHEILA!***

Jessie: In NH huddled under a mohair and wool blanket with nothing but her typing fingers sticking out 

Every writer I know, not surprisingly, has a lot of books. Books heave and bulge and topple from our shelves and tables. They form perilous stacks behind doors and in corners. They lurk under beds and amongst the dry goods in the pantry. For me, all of this seems perfectly natural and as things should be. Over time, however, I’ve become better at culling the herd, at ruthlessly donating to my local library and to charitable organizations that seem happy to receive them. I’ve come to pride myself in how well I feel I manage my personal library.

So it was a surprise to me when recently a visiting friend looked round my office and asked if I really needed all the books I kept in there. I actually gasped out loud before assuring her that I did. Later, when she’d gone, I stood in front of my bookshelves and considered if I had told the truth. Certainly, I did not need them if need could be defined as food, clothing and shelter. Fewer than half of them were reference books so I couldn’t even claim they were directly used in my work.

What I came to realize as I stood there considering them was that they are mostly re-reads. I have read the majority of them more than once and plan to do so again. I do have a stack of to-be-read books and also books on loan from the library and from friends but mostly the books on my shelves are like favorite foods. I devour them with immense pleasure and then wait awhile before feasting on them again to better enjoy the taste. I would never consider not eating something  ever again because I had already enjoyed it. For me both books and meals are about nuance at least as much as novelty. I delight in second helpings of each.

So readers, are you re-readers too or do you find there are so many wonderful books out there that you never look back?

Filed under: Jessie's posts Tagged: Books, bookshelves, culling, donating books, re-reading

Wicked Wednesdays — Our Worst Hair-dos

Okay, Wickeds pull out those photo albums. Whose mom cut their bangs too short? Who had big hair in the 80’s or bad perms? Mohawks? Anyone had the same hairstyle forevah? Feel free to share more than one.

Edith: Ha! Talk about short bangs. Here am I about age three or four.

I rather liked my hair during high school, even though I slept with 3-inch diameter plastic rollers, my pillow tucked underneath them. But then there was the summer during college when I was a nanny at the beach for a month in 1973. I cut my hair, which had been below my shoulders for years, to what I thought would be an easy short cut. Disaster! Had to start pinning the bangs to the side so they could grow out. Argh. Good thing hair grows… It got long again, but for the last twenty years I’ve pretty much had the exact same hairstyle.

The unfortunate hairdo with, L-to-R, my cousin Paul, my aunt Jo, and my cousin Andy. A couple of pairs of unfortunate pants, too!

Jessie: During the summer between second and third grade my mother cut my little sister’s long hair to shoulder length and she looked adorable. She looked so nice I wanted my mother to cut mine too. My mother, wisely, refused saying my hair was nothing like my sister’s and it would not look the same. Not being one to take no for an answer I kept asking until I drove her crazy and she chopped it off. It looked bad enough that there are no photos of me during that time period at all.  I’ve never worn shoulder length hair again.

Barb: I feel like I’m getting way with something because all my photos are up north, so you’ll never see the short do, or, thank goodness, the perm. Both mercifully short lived. My mother used to cut my bangs when I was young, too, and always, always too short as far as I was concerned. It was the focus of our most epic battles.

1983? C’mon, when are those glasses coming back?

Julie: My worst hairdo wasn’t my fault. It was a combo of the time, lack of product, and my hair itself. Back in high school and college my hair was crazy curly. (That is not a perm.) It was also the 80’s, which meant asymmetrical haircuts were the rage. Products weren’t what they are today. There were three choices, max. Hence, bad hair. But really good times.

Edith: Julie, are those six-inch long feather earrings? I kind of liked big glasses, too!

Sherry: If I ever say I want to cut off all my hair again please stop me. And what is with all the short bangs?

Readers: Tell us about your worst hair-do!

Filed under: Group posts