Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 44

A Wicked Welcome to Susanna Calkins! *giveaway*

by Julie, getting ready for a trip to Fenway Park tonight

I am delighted to welcome Susanna Calkins back to the blog today. I marvel at people who write historical mysteries, and the depth of research they do. I’m delighted Susanna agreed to come visit the Wickeds to talk about her latest book. DEATH AMONG THE RUINS.

As a writer of historical mysteries, I am often asked “Where do you get your ideas?” or “How do you do your research?” In some ways, my answers to both are the same. I am constantly asking myself questions about a given time period, the answers to which inform the plot and shape of each of my novels.

For my Lucy Campion mysteries, which feature a 17th century chambermaid-turned-printer’s apprentice, my overarching question stems from my curiosity about what had been like to live through the plague and the Great Fire of 1666? (Mind you, I probably have more insight into the former now!) From there, other questions emerged. How was it that only seven people perished in the Great Fire of 1666, when at least thirteen thousand homes and businesses were destroyed and one hundred thousand people were left homeless? What might have actually happened to the elderly, the infirm, the imprisoned? With the widespread destruction of guild records, wills, birth, marriage and death registers, how was someone’s identity confirmed, particularly if entire communities were torn apart? How was identity theft kept in check? (Short answer–it wasn’t. We tend to think of identity theft as a modern problem, but without photographs, DNA, fingerprints–one’s identity was only ever conferred by family and community–and when a community is dispersed, so goes the means to establish identity. Apprentices could take over their masters’ tools and trade, servants could take over the households, documents and seals could be forged).

As a historian, I did my best to answer these questions, using available evidence at my disposal. I was also asking myself, how literally did something work? In addition to scholarly publications, I also drew on an amazing collection of penny press–ephemeral contemporary news accounts, ballads, broadsides, collectively referred to as Early English books. (Such “true accounts” were how most people got their news, and printer’s apprentices and booksellers like Lucy would literally sing of murder to sell pieces on the street). I also found a surprising number of historic recreations online, which helped me visualize such things as how printing presses actually worked, or how someone might attach a wheel to a carriage.

For my latest Lucy Campion mystery–DEATH AMONG THE RUINS–two questions, one small, the other big, informed my plot. The small question focused on the lives of rag-sellers–how did homeless people survive in the ruins of London, given that looting was punishable with fines and imprisonment and they had no reputable access to income? The larger question focused on how could a body be identified if no one is looking for the victim? What kinds of clues could be found on the corpse, which would allow for a reasonable process of discovery? In pondering this question, I honed in on the busk, which was a long wooden stay that early modern women used inside their corset to keep their gowns stiff. It turns out that such items might be a token from their lovers, containing poems, signatures and even portraits. What a way to identify a body!! Everything fell into place from there, for me at least. For Lucy, nothing was as straightforward as it seemed.

Reader question: When you read, do you ask yourself questions as you go? What kinds of questions? Susanna will send a copy of the book to one commenter, US only.

About the book

London, 1668. Printer’s apprentice Lucy Campion is suspicious when she meets a young ragpicker who claims to have fine clothes to sell from a lady of quality. Are the garments stolen . . . or a sign of something worse?

Her suspicions are soon realized when the clothes are identified as belonging to a recently deceased elderly aristocrat. Young Mercy Sykes has robbed a grave! Mercy is arrested, and it’s only thanks to Lucy’s intervention that the ragpicker, who’s struggling to support her family, isn’t locked up.

Lucy doesn’t expect to see Mercy again, but their meeting soon has unexpected consequences. For when Mercy finds a dead woman in the ruins of Christchurch, dressed in unexpected finery, it’s to Lucy who she turns for help . . .

Lucy Campion is a feisty working-class heroine, plying her trade as a printer’s apprentice in Restoration London. If you’re new to the series (it’s safe to jump right in), we can’t wait for you to meet her in this twisty, puzzle-packed historical mystery, brimming with authenticity!

Buy the book here!

About the author

Susanna Calkins writes the award-winning historical mysteries set in 17th century London and the 1920s Speakeasy Murders set in 1920s Chicago. Her fiction has been nominated for the Anthony, Agatha, Macavity, Lefty, and Mary Higgins Clark awards. A historian by training, she lives in the Chicagoland area now, with her husband and two sons. www.susannacalkins.com

Social media:

Twitter: @scalkins3
FB: Susanna Calkins, author

Titles

Readers often ask where book titles come from so, I thought I’d give you a recap of how the garage sale titles came to be. Often a writer will have a working title in mind, that can change and morph as they write. Editors also have opinions on book titles, and I’ve found that mine was usually right. Yes, we had a few discussions about some of the books’ titles.

I sold the Garage Sale mysteries on proposal. That means I didn’t write the entire first book and sell it – I wrote a proposal instead and sold the first three books in the series based on that. One of the things my soon-to-be agent told me was the titles should be puns – no pressure – ha! In the proposal the first three books were titled: Tagged for Death, Marred Sale Madness, and Murder As Is.

Tagged for Death – most of you probably know that garage sales are called tag sales in parts of New England. This title was easy and stuck all the way to being published.

The Longest Yard Sale – oof, this one was a bit of a tussle. I realized fairly quickly that Marred Sale Madness wasn’t going to work. Say it out loud – it’s a tongue twister and when I would say it people would always react with, “what did you say?” I think my next suggestion was Deal or Die. Apparently, my editor didn’t like that one because one day I got an email saying that the title was The Longest Yard Sale. Wait. What? No, no, no! This book is about New England’s largest yard sale. The longest yard sale goes from Georgia to Michigan. Well, I guess we all know who won that round. And I came around – it was a good pun on the movie The Longest Yard.

All Murders Final! – My editor came up with this one too. I wasn’t crazy about this one either – if I remember correctly there was another cozy with a similar title. Oh, it was All Sales Final by Josie Belle. But I wasn’t that enthused about Murder As Is either.

A Good Day to Buy – I liked playing off movies so came up with this one off A Good Day to Die Hard. My editor liked it too! Woo-hoo!

I Know What You Bid Last Summer – I can’t remember if this one just popped into my head or if I used the big cheat – an online pun generator. Actually, I love that pun generator and it helped me more than once – now if I could just remember for which titles! I was worried that it was too wordy for a title with seven words, but the cover artist at Kensington for my books is a genius and it looks just fine.

The Gun Also Rises – sigh, another bit of a battle. When we were first tossing ideas around for this book my editor suggested including a Hemingway like character. After reading the story about the lost Hemingway manuscripts, I knew I wanted to include them. One of the main characters is Belle. I thought the title For Whom the Belle Tolls would be cute. And there was a novella on Amazon with the title The Gun Also Rises. Plus, when I wrote my original proposal for the first three books, my agent told me guns aren’t cozy. So I worried about having a gun right there in the title.

Let’s Fake A Deal – a pun on the game show, Let’s Make A Deal — this one always make me chuckle (cue the evil laughter) because I’d proposed it for an earlier book and my editor was all, “nope.” But this time he thought it was great.

Sell Low, Sweet Harriet – this was epic. EPIC! The Wickeds, alas without Barb who was about to become a grandmother for the second time, were gathered in Connecticut. The next day we were going to visit Kensington as a group for the first time. That night I got an email from my editor saying he’d changed the title from whatever it was Sell Low, Sweet Harriet. But, but, but there’s no one in the book named Harriet. Just change one of the characters’ names, he said or throw in an epilogue with someone named Harriet. WHAT? Are you kidding me? That wasn’t going to work. If the person’s name is in the title, they must be important to the story. Thankfully, I was with the Wickeds and they talked me down. So, as I was waiting for my copy edits, I was rewriting and adding Harriet to the story. I love Harriet and she became important to the ninth book Absence of Alice. My editor liked her too and at one point we discussed spinning her off to her own series.

Absence of Alice – This is a tale of a tail wagging the dog. Somehow, my editor came up with this title before I’d started writing the book. Again, by a stroke of luck, I was with Wickeds when we did a mini-book tour in New England. Julie and I were driving back from New Hampshire to Boston and talked about the different ways I could incorporate Alice. And I love how that book came out. It’s one of my favorites, but ssshhh, don’t tell the others.

There you have it– I’ll save the Chloe titles for another day! While choosing some of these titles was stressful, my editor was right and I’ll always be grateful to him for that and many other things.

Readers: Have you ever thought about how book titles came to be? Writers: How has your titling process been? I’m traveling today so it may be hard for me to respond to comments until later.

Wicked Wednesday–the Big Giveaway

by Barb, fresh off a fun Memorial Day Weekend with Family

We’ve been giving away books and other items all month to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. Thank you to the guests who also participated by offering giveaways of their own.

To celebrate the last day of our anniversary month, the Wickeds have put together a big giveaway for one lucky commenter below. Wickeds, tell us what you’ve contributed and why you chose it.

Edith/Maddie: I’ll send the lucky winner a signed hardcover of A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die, my book that released a month after our blog was born, plus an audiobook code for my most recent book, Four Leaf Cleaver, an ARC of the next book out, Murder at a Cape Bookstore – both of them because they bookend the decade of blogging – an author magnet, and a set of brand new Wicked Authors coasters.

Liz: I’m sending a JJ’s House of Purrs mug and tote bag from the Cat Cafe Mysteries, as well as a full set of the Full Moon Mysteries, a copy of Gone But Not Furgotten and a couple of Pawsitively Organic books.

Sherry: Readers, thanks so much for being on this journey with us! I wish we could give each one of you a gift! I’m giving away the four Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries, a Kensington coaster, four vintage postcards, and a flip-flop bottle opener.

Julie: I echo Sherry’s thank you to you all! I am giving away both Theater Cop books, and The Plot Thickets. We’re setting someone up with a great summer of reading!

Barb: I’m giving away a Busman’s Harbor map, a Snowden Family Clambake tote bag, an Advanced Reader Copy of Hidden Beneath, and a hardcopy of Irish Coffee Murder.

(We know you probably have at least a few of these books. We’re happy to have you give them to a reading friend or to your local library or library book sale.)

Readers: Comment below for a chance to win it all! Lot’s of you have wished us Happy Blogiversary all month, so feel free to just say “hi” or anything else that comes to mind.

Welcome back, guest Sharon L. Dean and a #giveaway

Guest Sharon L. Dean joins us for a discussion about titles. She’s here in support of two of her books, Leaving Freedom, which will be rereleased in June and Finding Freedom, the new sequel, which will be published simultaneaously.

Sharon will be giving away one copy each of Leaving Freedom and Finding Freedom to one lucky commenter below.

Take it away, Sharon!

Titles

What’s in a title? A lot. A few titles of books I’ve read plunge me into the world I once felt a part of. The Scarlet Letter conjures an image of Hester Prynne, a scarlet A visible on her bosom, standing in front of a pillory with her child. Say Moby-Dick and I’m in a “damp, drizzly November” with Ismael calling to me along with Queequeq to join Captain Ahab on the Pequod.

The Great Gatsby sets me next to a man in a pink suit looking across his lawn at a sparkling party. Move me forward in time and I’m on The Road with Cormac McCarthy’s father and son, wandering among “charred and limbless trunks of trees,” looking for anything to help survive the apocalypse.

I recently picked up John Irving’s The Last Chairlift, despite its 800+ pages. I wanted to relive my days skiing in the mountains of northern New England. It rewarded me with mentions of Olympic skiers whose names I remember, with descriptions of the stem christie, and unexpectedly, with hilarious commentary on Moby-Dick. His protagonist, like Irving and like me, writes in longhand. They use semi-colons, a punctuation mark I abandoned when I abandoned writing books with footnotes.

A title alone returns me to books I’ve read and loved. But what title would cause me to pick up a new book? No cover art––though that’s as important as a title––no jacket blurb. I checked a few titles in the New York Times Book Review that interest me. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin) for its reference to Shakespeare; Murder Your Employer (Rupert Holmes), something tempting for many; The Writing Retreat (Julia Bartz), compelling for a writer like me; Mad Honey (Jodi Picoult), a toxic substance that figures in my novella Six Old Women. Likely I’ll never read any of these, but note the fun I just had with semi-colons.

How much do I struggle finding my own titles? My first novel, Tour de Trace, is set during a bicycle trip along Mississippi’s Natchez Trace, an easy echo of the Tour de France. Death of the Keynote Speaker seemed perfect. It describes exactly what happens early in my novel. My surprise came after it was published and I discovered another novel that came out at the same time, Death of a Keynote Speaker. I wonder if Sara Elliott Sommerville has sold more copies than I have. Now I always check titles before I decide on one.

I felt good about The Wicked Bible, the second in my Deborah Strong mystery series, until someone asked if the novel was anti-religious. Not at all, I assured her. There’s a Bible printed in 1631 dubbed The Wicked Bible because of a misprint that reads, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” My typos are never that bad.

Titles guide me as I write and usually they come early and easily. That was not the case with Leaving Freedom, scheduled to be re-issued in June by Encircle Publications. I was still struggling to find a title when the novel was fully drafted. I bantered around ideas with my critique group. Finally, we landed on Leaving Freedom, a title that captures what I wanted for the novel. My protagonist, Connie Lewis, leaves her hometown of Freedom, Massachusetts, a town whose name I also worked hard to find because I didn’t want to name it after a real town in that state. Only by leaving freedom does Connie find freedom from her past and a successful path to her future.

The sequel to Leaving Freedom, Finding Freedom, is also scheduled for a June publication by Encircle Publications. The title was a no-brainer as Connie, now eighty-years-old embarks on a last adventure by driving from Oregon where she’s lived for forty years back to Freedom, Massachusetts. She’s alone and free to decide where she will live out the remaining years of her life.

But there’s a duplicate title issue again. Finding Freedom is a New York Times best seller by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand about Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Fortunately, you can’t copyright titles. Maybe people googling the now not-so-royal couple will find my novel. Maybe the title will help sell a few copies.

Readers: Titles matter. What kind of title draws you in? One lucky commenter will receive Leaving Freedom and Finding Freedom.

About Finding Freedom

Leaving Freedom, reissued by Encircle Publications in June 2023, took Connie Lewis from her home in Freedom, Massachusetts, to Florida with her aging mother and then to Ashland, Oregon, where she found success as a writer and a place to call home. Now, in the sequel Finding Freedom, Connie is eighty years old and has exchanged the Volkswagen she called The Yellow Sub for a Honda Fit she’s nicknamed Last Chance. She’s ready for a last adventure and will use a drive across the United States to write a travel narrative she’ll call Travels with Connie.  From gospel singers in the little town of Fossil, Oregon, to a famous painter in Glacier National Park, to turtle races in Perhem, Minnesota, to a twelve-year-old grandniece who teaches her about the lives of modern tweens, she finds more material for her book than she expected. Both going and coming back, she solved mysteries that help her to understand how the world changes even as it remains the same. Will she complete her journey in Massachusetts where she was born, the Oregon she has learned to call home, or somewhere she hasn’t expected?

You can pre-order Finding Freedom on the publisher’s website: https://encirclepub.com/product/finding-freedom/

Author website: https://sharonldean.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/267389.Sharon_L_Dean

About Sharon L. Dean

Sharon L. Dean grew up in Massachusetts where she was immersed in the literature of New England. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of New Hampshire, a state she lived and taught in before moving to Oregon. Although she has given up writing scholarly books that require footnotes, she incorporates much of her academic research as background in her mysteries. She is the author of three Susan Warner mysteries , three Deborah Strong mysteries, and a collection of stories called Six Old Women and Other Stories, Her novel Leaving Freedom will be reissued on June 14, 2023 along with a sequel Finding Freedom. Dean continues to write about New England while she is discovering the beauty of the West.

Welcome Guest Marjorie McCown and a #giveaway.

I am pleased to welcome guest author Marjorie McCown to the blog. I loved her mystery Final Cut, the first in her Hollywood Mystery series, coming June 6, and was happy to blurb it. So many of us write amateur sleuth stories about butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers, but Marjorie really knows the world of Hollywood costume designers she writes about and it shows in this fabulous debut.

One lucky commenter below will receive a signed copy of Final Cut.

Take it away, Marjorie!

Write What You Know

My thanks to Barbara Ross and The Wickeds for inviting me to contribute to their wonderful blog, which has provided me with so much inspiration and entertainment.

From childhood, I’ve been hooked on the magic books offer — that ability to go anywhere imagination can take me. I’m certain that early fascination with make-believe was a crucial factor in my choice of occupation as a costume designer for theater, opera, and eventually film. I loved working in a profession where telling stories was part of the business model.

A hat from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Marjorie worked on the movie Forrest Gump.

But I also longed to be an author. Writing has been my avocation since I tried my hand at fan fiction when I was eight years old, so enchanted by Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, I wanted to write my own set of adventures for Badger and Mole. So, for my “second act” when I retired from film in 2017, I decided to devote myself to the craft of writing, to hone my skills to the best of my ability, which I happily accept as an ongoing challenge.

I knew I wanted to write a murder mystery. For the decades I worked in both theater and film, reading a good mystery at bedtime was just about the only way I could get my busy brain to disengage from my workday in order to relax and sleep.  

I was fortunate to have guidance and encouragement from my astute literary agent, Ann Collette. One of the first pieces of advice Ann gave me was “write what you know.”

That was when I balked. I didn’t really want to dwell in the world I’d just separated myself from. Not because of any bad feeling: I was simply ready to immerse myself in something completely fresh and new to me. Ann was patient. When I wrote an LA-based mystery with a private investigator protagonist, she pitched it beautifully to prospective publishers. Only after I garnered a collection of very polite rejection letters did she finally say, “Now if you want to sell a book, write what you know.”

This time I heeded her excellent advice. The irony is that I’d believed for many years that the film industry was a perfect place to set a murder mystery. What happens behind-the-scenes of a big movie in production is (to my way of thinking) often at least as interesting as the story being told in front of the camera.  

1930s costumes at the Western Costume Company

A movie company is it’s own unique community, made up of hundreds of people in the various departments — the director, cinematographer and his camera crew, the assistant directors, the production designer, art director and construction crew, set dressing, props, costumes, hair and makeup, grips, electricians, the teamsters who make sure all the trailers and equipment go where they need to be, the caterers and craft service people who feed us. And of course, the actors.

Anytime you have that many people gathered in one place, drama automatically ensues. And the everyday business of working on any film set offers such a huge variety of activities that are just part of the natural process of moviemaking, there’s always plenty of raw material to use as inspiration to drive the plot forward and to ramp up tension within the story. Plus, the characters you meet in the film world are quite an intriguing mix of talent and eccentricity. As the actor, Ben Mendelsohn said, “Crewing and being on film sets is kind of like being in a carnival, with carnie folk.”

What took me so long to come to my senses and write what I know? I wish I had a better answer than “my own stubbornness.”

Ann sold Final Cut to Crooked Lane Books on the first round of pitches. And this is what a good friend she is (in addition to being a great agent): She’s never said, “I told you so.”

READERS: Have you ever been given a piece of advice you initially rejected, then later realized was exactly what you needed to do? Marjorie will send a signed copy of Final Cut to one lucky commenter below. U.S. only.

About Final Cut

Every day on a big-budget Hollywood movie set is full of surprises, but the last thing key costumer Joey Jessop expected to find on the first day of shooting was the body of a murdered coworker. Because Joey found the body, and the victim was seeing her ex, she immediately becomes a suspect. Then the story blows up in the press and social media — and Joey finds her well-ordered life in shambles. That’s when things really start to go wrong for Joey and the movie as a series of dangerous mishaps interrupt the shoot. As circumstances spiral out of control Joey is forced to take matters into her own hands to try to salvage her career, and to save her own life.

About Marjorie McCown

Marjorie McCown spent 27 years working as a member of the costume design teams for movies such as Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, A Bronx Tale, Angels and Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men Days of Future Past. She belongs to Sisters-in-Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Her mystery, Final Cut, publishes June 6 by Crooked Lane Books.

Welcome Guest Frank Anthony Polito and a #giveaway

Please welcome first-time guest Frank Anthony Polito. Frank is here in support of his cozy mystery Rehearsed to Death, the second book in his Domestic Partners in Crime series which just came out on May 23.

One lucky commenter will win a copy hot off the presses. See details below.

Take it away, Frank!

Hello! Since this is my first-ever guest post on The Wickeds, and since I’m relatively new to the world of cozy mysteries as a writer, I thought I’d introduce myself. My name is Frank Anthony Polito. I’m the author of the “quozy” (queer cozy) series, Domestic Partners in Crime, published by Kensington. I live in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Ridge with my real-life domestic partner, Craig, and our two rescue dogs, Clyde and Jack, who both make appearances in my cozy mysteries.

As of this writing, there are two novels in the series: Renovated to Death and Rehearsed to Death (on sale May 23, 2023). The books feature a queer millennial couple, Peter “PJ” Penwell and John Paul “JP” Broadway, who renovate old houses as part of their hit TV show “Domestic Partners” and, of course, help solve a murder in their quaint little Michigan town.

Long before I was a writer, though, I had dreams of being a famous actor. I studied Theatre at Wayne State University, which is where I met Craig, and together we moved to New York City in our mid-20s. Sadly, my biggest claim to fame was working as a glorified extra in the movie “One True Thing” in a scene where I served salad to Meryl Streep. (She was suuuper nice!) But once I realized my acting career was never going to take off, I decided to try my hand at playwriting. After receiving my MFA from Carnegie Mellon, I was given the opportunity to adapt a play that I’d written, based on my own life growing up as a gay teen in the totally awesome ’80s, into my first novel, Band Fags!

But back to Domestic Partners in Crime…

When my editor approached me to write the cozy series, Craig and I were once again living in Michigan, after leaving New York City in 2013. When we first moved back, we chronicled our home-buying experience on the hit HGTV show “House Hunters.” This is what sparked the idea for Renovated to Death, since Craig and I thought it would be super fun to have our own HGTV show on which we renovate our 1924 Craftsman Colonial. (Almost 10 years later, we’re still not finished!)

But for book 2, I wanted to show another side of the couple and their lives. Since JP is also an actor, and PJ started his writing career as a playwright, in Rehearsed to Death they are on hiatus from their TV show. They use their time off to return to the world of the Theatre, when they produce a play that PJ has written, and JP is the star.

One of the fun things about being a cozy mystery author is incorporating your other skills/talents/hobbies into the world of your main character(s) and sharing with your readers a glimpse into this other world. While I haven’t done any acting or had a play of mine produced for quite some time, it was a lot of fun to dive into the backstage drama of the story…and to kill off the diva director, who may or may not be based on an actual Theatre director whom I once worked with, once upon a time.

How about you readers? Have you worked on your own home renovation projects and how did it go for you? Or…have you been involved in any sort of theatrical productions, be it community-based or professional? Please share your stories with me in the comments for a chance to win a copy of my latest cozy, Rehearsed to Death. One winner (sorry, from US or Canada only) will be chosen within 2 days of this posting.

About Frank Anthony Polito

Frank Anthony Polito is an award-winning author and playwright. He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon and a BFA in Theatre from Wayne State.

Frank resides in Pleasant Ridge, MI with his partner, Craig, and their two dogs, Clyde and Jack. Readers can visit him at www.frankanthonypolito.com

About Rehearsed to Death

Peter’s first play is having its world premiere at Pleasant Woods’s community theater. His handsome one and only, JP, has the lead. Rehearsals have begun. And New York City’s award-winning, hotshot helmer, Xander Sherwood Deva, is directing. Unfortunately, the controlling, arrogant, poison-barbed, egomaniacal diva has everyone on edge. No wonder he finally pushes someone over it . . .
 
Xander is found strangled to death in the same extra-long, imported cashmere scarf he’s been brandishing like a boa ever since he arrived. In the name of making art, he’s burned a lot of bridges and made a lot of enemies but which one wanted to bring down the curtain on him?

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Facebook: @frankanthonypolito

Instagram: @frankanthonypolito

Twitter: @fapolito

BUY LINKS FOR REHEARSED TO DEATH

Kensington Books

ShopQueer.co

Ten Years Later with Liz Mugavero #giveaway

I love that we’re revisiting our first posts! Here’s mine when Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day interviewed me. New info in italics.

And to keep going with our celebration, I’m giving away a copy of my latest Full Moon Mystery, Witch Way Out, to one commenter below.

Edith: When did you start writing? 

Liz: I’ve been telling stories since I was talking, and writing not long after that! Before I started putting pen to paper, I created imaginary worlds with my neighborhood friends. One summer we were characters loosely based on the “Battle of the Planets” crew, and created spaceships and planets out of the treasures in our neighborhood (including a swamp, a ginormous rock and a blackberry patch). By middle school I was writing short stories and poems, and by my teenage years I was storyboarding my very own soap opera. My first novel was my graduate school thesis (and it was pretty bad!).

I do want to add that I went through a Nancy Drew phase, like a true mystery junkie. I used to create mysteries to solve in the neighborhood then go home and write stories about them.

Edith: Who are your influences? 

Liz: I have been influenced by so many people, from beginning with Carolyn Keene and the Nancy Drew books, to my college days reading JD Salinger and Flannery O’Connor, to some of my teachers from grad school days at Emerson College who I will never forget. Today, I tend to read a lot of really dark writing (Tess Gerritsen, Dennis Lehane, Tana French) because I’m so fascinated not only by the stories but by the tone and feeling of the books. I’m always looking for ways to get people to that level of emotional connection with my work. 

This is still true! I’ll add that I’ve also added so many of the amazing streaming shows today to my list of influences. Not only is it something to aspire to, but there are so many great crime shows based on books and characters that give me endless amounts of inspiration. Harlan Coben’s shows come to mind, as well as the adaptation of Michael Connolly’s Bosch series and its spinoffs.

Edith: What is your day job or career and how does that influence your writing? 

Liz: I was a journalist for a long time (although certainly not as esteemed as our multiple Emmy-winning friend Hank Phillippi Ryan!) and even today, working in various marketing and communication roles in the corporate world, I see that inquisitive piece of myself influencing everything I do. Whether it’s fiction writing or working on strategic communication initiatives, I’m definitely driven by the “why” of every story. Murder, most especially! Nothing is more fascinating than unraveling why people do what they do.

My work life today is a little different, though I’m still doing a lot of corporate marketing and communications consulting. I started my own business that’s focused on helping writers achieve their writing goals, starting with a membership site for writers and I’ve currently got a digital course on how to write a mystery with a major mindfulness aspect infused into it. These new endeavors are a huge influence on my writing because I’m seeing things with a beginner’s mind after working with new writers. It’s helping me approach my own work differently.

Edith: What’s your connection to New England? 

Liz: I was born in New England and have lived here all my life. I’ve hit pretty much all the states: I was born and raised in Mass., lived in New Hampshire and presently Connecticut, and spend a fair amount of time in Rhode Island. Although the Boston area is by far my favorite part of New England. 

I moved back to Boston last year! More specifically, to the beach right outside of Boston and it is The. Best. Thing. Ever. If you missed it, head over to my Instagram page where I’m constantly posting videos and photos of the beach because I’m OBSESSED. Here’s a preview!

Edith: What’s your favorite thing about New England? 

Liz: Oops, see previous question….Boston and the seasons, certainly, but more importantly, who we are as people. New Englanders are an amazing bunch of people. We’re smart, we have just the right amount of attitude, we’re driven, we’re compassionate, and we’re definitely resilient, as the world saw after the recent tragedy in Boston. I’ve never been more proud to be a New Englander.  

This is still true. I feel super privileged to live in a state like this, especially in today’s world. New Englanders are tough but we care about each other, we’re focused on the greater good and as a bonus, I’m close to my friends again – which is priceless.

Edith: What would people be surprised to learn about you? 

Liz: Let’s see. I worked at a funeral home for a while! (Before you get any ideas, I did the books. No embalming.) It was a friend’s place, and he knew I was working there largely for the research benefits. It was very cool though, because I got to watch all kinds of things. Like the removal of a pacemaker from a body. Patching a gunshot victim’s wound. A cremation. People thought I was nuts – but what a great opportunity!

Edith: What are you working on right now? I’m wrapping up the second book in the Pawsitively Organic series, A Biscuit, A Casket. At least, I hope it’s almost wrapped up! I’m already plotting the third in my head, and can’t wait to get started on it. 

Wow, this seems like a long time ago! Right now I’m working on a suspense novel I hope to wrap up this summer, and then moving on to Cat Cafe #8.

Edith: Why cozies? Do you write anything else additionally? When I started the Pawsitively Organic series, I was actually working on another series that was a lot darker. I had one book completed and was shopping it around, and had started plotting out the second. Prior to that, I had worked on a series that started out in the cozy style but graduated to a darker piece with every rewrite. So I really had no plans at that point to write a cozy, although I loved the style and read them every chance I could get. Then the opportunity to discuss cozy proposals came through the Sisters in Crime New England chapter, and I jumped at it. In a matter of a month, I was completely immersed in this new world I’d created, and when the proposal sold, I was ecstatic. I’m having a lot of fun writing these books – it was a nice break from the dark world I had created in my other series. But I am hoping that series sells – I do love dark as well. It’s part of the split personality syndrome that plagues many writers, I think!

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but the book I mentioned above that I’m working on right now is the same one that I mention here. It’s gone through a lot of rewrites but the idea has never died despite writing 18 other books. Hoping this is the year!

Edith: If you were stranded on a desert island, which five literary figures, dead or alive, would you want with you, and what meal would you choose (appetizer, dinner, dessert, drink)? 

Liz: Just five? Yikes! Okay, this is a tough one. Before I started watching The Following, I would’ve said Poe, definitely. Now I’m terrified to even see a picture of him! (You have to watch the show to understand why.) I think I would pick Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Dickens and R.J. Ellory. For the meal: Appetizer would be lettuce wraps. With shrimp. For my dinner, I think I would go with some Thai food (I’m on a Thai food kick lately). So perhaps pad Thai, or drunken noodles. Can I say with shrimp again? Or maybe tofu. Either would work for me (I don’t eat meat). For dessert – either pumpkin cheesecake, or Cheesecake Factory’s Godiva chocolate cheesecake. If I were stranded, calories wouldn’t matter, right? And for a drink – espresso martini. 

Let’s talk about food first because I’ve changed my eating habits a lot in the last decade! Alas, no more cheesecake. I’d go with sushi for dinner, which I could eat for every meal. Appetizer would be vegetable spring rolls and miso soup. Dessert…something chocolate! And for a drink, a cocktail with whiskey. For my guests – Dennis Lehane stays on the list, naturally. I’d love to also spend time with Tana French, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and I’d really love to hang out with Richard Osman, author of the Thursday Murder Club series because I think it would be so much fun!

Edith: Which are the top five books are in your to-be-read pile? 

Liz: Again, just five? Right now, Dennis Lehane’s Live By Night, Michael Palmer’s Oath of Office, Daryl Wood Gerber’s Final Sentence, Louise Hay’s newest, All is Well, Heather Blake’s Wishcraft Mysteries….I know, I know, that’s more than five. But I can’t leave out my soon-to-be-released to-be-read pile: Edith Maxwell’s A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die (being released in May!), Barbara Ross’ Clammed Up and Jessie Crockett’s Drizzled with Death.

Speaking of the Thursday Murder Club – The Bullet that Missed, the third in the series. Also A Billion Years by Mike Rinder on escaping Scientology, What Have We Done by Alex Finlay, The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda and the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano.

Readers: Have you had any major changes in the last decade you want to share? Comment below for a chance to win a copy of Witch Way Out, the latest in my Full Moon Mystery series.

Wicked Wednesday–What have you learned? and a #giveaway

by Barb, in book jail big time, in Maine

Wickeds, since we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary all month, I feel I must ask: What have you learned from your ten years of blogging?

Julie: The main thing I’ve learned is that the business of books is better with friends. It’s fun to celebrate each other’s success in public, and to talk about each other on panels and at events. I always give away Wicked bookmarks as well as my own. Six voices are stronger than one.

Liz: Definitely that, Julie! I’ve also learned to enjoy the moment more. I still remember getting my first box of books and being blown away…but I don’t know if I enjoyed the moment as much as I should have. I’m one of those people who is always on to the next thing and I’ve been working on that. Today my goal is to stop, appreciate and enjoy every new book, every launch and every other experience that comes with this business!

Edith: I’ve learned that each of the six of us has our own strengths. One is great with blog statistics. Another often invites diverse author-guests. Another wrangles the calendar/spreadsheet. One of us checks the blog early and fixes it when a post was scheduled for PM instead of AM. Another has great ideas for our monthly themes. And so on. We couldn’t do it without each other, and isn’t that how it should be?

Jessie: I’ve learned how enthusiastic and supportive the mystery reading community can be. It is always such a lovely thing to share news, launches or fun bits of research on the blog because there readers give such a warm reception!

Sherry: All of the above! And I love our “we’re going to need a bigger boat” attitude as we find new authors and have former guests back when new books come out. I remember going to our very first Malice as the Wicked Cozy Authors in May 2013 (you can read about it here) and trying to get the word out about the blog!

Barb: I’ve learned the blog is a lot of work, (she says as this month’s wrangler), but so, so worth it for the fabulous authors, commenters and readers we’ve met along the way.

Readers: Have you learned anything interesting from reading our blog? Let us know what stands out. Julie will be choosing a name to send copies of her Theater Cop series.

Wicked Authors Retreat 2023 and a #giveaway

The Wicked Authors held their 2023 retreat last weekend at the Quaker Retreat House on Cape Cod where Edith does her solo retreats. A good and productive time was had by all. We wrote, we ate, we drank, we did some bloggy business, and we talked and talked and talked about the craft of writing, the publishing industry, our career ambitions, and what we want to write next.

And, of course, we talked about the blog. Look for some exciting updates and additions starting late this summer.

There are photos and captions below and a giveaway for one lucky commenter at the end.

The HouseSo Cape Cod. I love this photo.The osprey nestThe beachThe food theme this year was charcuterieThe snack tableEating. (A fairly typical photo.)Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. Here we are in our business meeting, with Sherry on Zoom since she wasn’t about to make it at the last minute.Working hardAnd there was cake to celebrate our tenth anniversary, which we’ve been celebrating with you all month.Our attempt to share the cake with Sherry.

Readers: What are some updates, additions, and changes you’d like to see on the Wicked Authors blog? Comment to win a map of fictional Busman’s Harbor, Maine and the two most recent Clambake Mysteries.

Ten Years Later with Edith Maxwell #giveaway

Edith/Maddie here, still north of Boston, and still writing!

Following is my first Wicked (Cozy) Authors post, where I was interviewed by Jessie. I add my current reflections in italic. Keep reading for a special giveaway!

****

I’m here with a few questions for our own Edith Maxwell. Edith is a busy writer with two series, multiple short stories and a day job. Without further ado, here’s Edith.

So when did you know you wanted to be a writer? I’ve always been a writer. I wrote goofy poems and short stories as a child. I remember my mother telling me, “Edie, you’re a good writer,” when I was in about fourth grade, and I took it to heart. I was in journalism in high school and college, wrote academic papers and a dissertation as part of earning my PhD in linguistics, did more free-lance journalism, and then made my way into a mid-life career as a technical writer even as I was getting my fiction career going by writing short stories and then my mystery novels. But writing mystery fiction is my true love.

Nothing has changed in that answer. But crafting stories full-time (see elsewhere in this post) has confirmed that I now, finally, have my dream job.

 Which authors do you look to for inspiration? Oh, my. How much time do we have? I admire Sheila Connolly so much for writing three successful concurrent cozy series. I’ve long been a fan of Katherine Hall Page and Sue Grafton, and more recently have fallen in love with Julia Spencer-Fleming’s, Louise Penny’s, and Deborah Crombie’s books. And of course I will read anything by my mentors Hallie Ephron, Kate Flora, Roberta Islieb (aka Lucy Burdette), Susan Oleksiw, and Hank Phillippi Ryan!

We lost our beloved Sheila, alas. Lately – pandemic influence, perhaps – I have been reading darker works than I used to. Many are historical, such as Karen Odden’s Inspector Corravan Mysteries, Jacqueline Winspear’s The White Lady, and both of Wanda Morris’s amazing tales of black women in the sixties south. But I also eagerly snap up new Alaska suspense novels by Paige Shelton and anything by Kellye Garret. So I guess I’m inspired by them. Will I write something darker myself? I’m not sure.

Which events in your work or home life influence your writing? All of it? I write about Quaker Lauren Rousseau, a well-traveled linguistics professor in a small town much like Ipswich where I used to live, where video forensics is used to help solve the murder. I’m a Quaker and world traveler, and formerly wrote technical manuals for a video-editing software company. I write about a geek-turned-organic farmer in a town much like West Newbury, where I was owner-farmer of a small certified organic farm. I’ve written short stories located in hi-tech companies and in Japan.

All still true. Now I also draw from my twice-yearly retreats on Cape Cod for the Cozy Capers Book Group series, and my upbringing in California and my relatives’ knowledge of northern CA to help out on my new Cece Barton Mysteries.

How are you connected to New England? I have now lived longer in the Boston area and on the North Shore than I did in my home state of California. I appreciate the seasons, although summer could be a little warmer for my desert tastes, and I love a quiet cross-country ski on a sunny winter day with fresh snow.

All also still true. Except we don’t get enough snow anymore for regular skiing, plus a couple of physical glitches also hold me back. I’ve published seven novels and a collection of short stories set here in my small city of Amesbury, and I so appreciate living here and being immersed in the local history.

What’s your favorite thing about New England? See above about skiing! Coming from southern California sprawl, I am still enchanted with the small towns surrounded by woods and fields. Head north from Boston and you’ll see what I mean.

I adore the summer growing season. There’s nothing like the first asparagus in the garden, a vine-warmed tomato when you can’t get good ones the rest of the year, or gathering armfuls of ripe blueberries into a bucket hung around my neck. Don’t even get me started on the sweet corn! I think people who grew up here might not appreciate the distinct seasons as much as an import like me.

Is there anything people might be surprised to learn about you?

Like my black belt in karate (1983) or my (slow) finish of the Boston Marathon in 1998? Or maybe my year-long stays in Brazil, Japan (more like two years), France, Mali, and Burkina Faso? Or the fact that I worked as an auto mechanic for a year?

These days I think people are surprised when they hear I sleep, because I do so much writing. But I do sleep! Usually around seven hours per night, which is enough. Sometimes I sleep fewer, unfortunately, and occasionally I get caught up by grabbing eight.

So which projects are you working on right now? I’m polishing the second Local Foods mystery, ‘Til Dirt Do Us Part, which will be out next winter and thinking about the plot for the following book. I’m designing a historical mystery series set in my town in the late 1800s, with a young Quaker woman who works in the textile mill and solves mysteries. And I’m itching to get back to the second Lauren Rousseau book.

My first entirely new answer. I’m madly typing away at Murder in the Rusty Anchor, Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries #6. Next up is the second Cece Barton mystery, as yet untitled. And I’m brewing up a short story for the San Diego Bouchercon anthology.

Why cozies? Do you write anything else additionally? I love reading cozies. And having a contract for a cozy series helps! My first mystery, Speaking of Murder (published under the pen name Tace Baker) is a traditional mystery but is a little darker than a cozy. I have written and had published a couple of non-mystery short stories, but traditional and cozy mystery is where my heart lies.

Wow. I now have seven historical novels in print and two more completed (in a different project), plus about twenty published short crime stories. But I am still in the traditional and cozy realm, so that’s a constant.

 If you were stranded on a desert island, which five literary figures, dead or alive, would you want with you, and what meal would you choose (appetizer, dinner, dessert, drink)? Dorothy Sayers, Nevada Barr, Simone de Beauvoir, Anais Nin, and Barry Eisler. We’ll dine on stuffed mushrooms on bed of greens, a fresh seafood bouillabaise, triple-chocolate mousse, and a fine Cabernet Sauvignon.

I’m happy with those first four and the meal, but I’d like to now swap in Greg Herren for Barry Eisler. Greg is a brilliant writer, doesn’t abide fools, and is a really fun person to be around.

Which are the top five books are in your to-be-read pile? I’m currently reading Deb Crombie’s latest, Sound of Broken Glass. Next up, our own Liz Mugavero’s Kneading to Death, then Hallie Ephron’s There Was an Old Woman and Lucy Burdette’s Topped Chef. I want to read Kaye George’s Eine Kleine Murder and James Mongomery Jackson’s Bad Policy, their new releases from Barking Rain Press, catch up on Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series, read some more Joe Finder and Barry Eisler. So many books, so little time!

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks. The Savage Kind by John Copenhaver. Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley. It. Goes. So. Fast. – the Year of No Do-Overs by NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. And Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay (which is printed in a special dyslexia-friendly font by request of the author, since her heroine is a dyslexic chef).

****

Now, in 2023, I’m going to ask myself – and answer – another question: what were your biggest changes in the last decade?

I left the day job to write fiction full time, and no work has ever made me happier.

I joined the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen blog. And served as President of Sisters in Crime New England and co-chair of the New England Crime Bake (two years each).

I received eight Agatha Award nominations and Charity’s Burden won the teapot for Best Historical Novel.

I learned I could write a first draft in about two months and then need another month or two to polish it, which enables me to write three or four books a year. That’s good, because in that decade I wrote all seven Quaker Midwife Mysteries and started all three of my ongoing Maddie Day series: the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries and the Cece Barton Mysteries.

I added a paragraph to my most recent manuscript about how I wrote the book without AI assistance in the ideas or words. I never thought I’d have to do that. (Read my recent post about it here.)

On the personal side, I saw each of my sons happily marry their perfect partner. We buried several senior cats, tried out a kitten we ultimately had to give back because of his incurable biting habit, and have settled in nicely with a big, sweet, calm adult cat named Martin. I made it through several surgeries, and Hugh and I and all our family members survived the pandemic.

It’s been quite a decade!

Readers: what has been your most momentous decade, or the one with the most changes?

I’ll send one commenter a mousepad picturing one of my latest shelfies, and your choice of any of my published books.