Lise McClendon's Blog, page 12
October 19, 2014
50 Best Films About Writers, Ranked
I’m a huge movie buff and being a writer adore films about creativity and writing. (Yes I am that narcissistic!) I’m reposting this list from Flavorwire here so I don’t lose it. So many wonderful movies that I want to re-watch, and plenty I have missed and want to see. Certified Copy, Angel at My Table, Reprise, Providence, Starting Out in the Evening… how did I miss these? Netflix, here we come.
Originally posted on Flavorwire:
Hollywood is famous for its treatment of writers. They are the low man on the totem pole, the person banned from the set, the guy who wrote the Great American novel drinking himself to death in Los Angeles, rewriting dumb scripts. It’s funny, as Hollywood — along with movies around the world — is obsessed with portraying “writers” on screen, which is a weird profession to lionize as writing is the least visually pleasing job of all.
There are a lot of bad movies about writers out there. At Flavorwire, we wanted to make the definitive list of the 50 Best Films About Writers of all time, with the requisite mix of biopics, book adaptations (what’s up Stephen King and John Irving), foreign films that actually feature female writers, po-mo meta surrealist studies of madness (very frequent), and the works of Woody Allen. (A thank you to writer Alexander Chee, whose…
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October 18, 2014
Two Teas for You
All you need are books & tea. Wouldn’t the world be lovely if that were true?
Books and tea do go together, especially as the nip gets in the air and the leaves fall. So I’m excited to report that I have magically become a Tea Blender! :-) Over at Adagio Teas you can make your own custom blends of tea. So I’ve concocted two blends inspired by Blackbird Fly and The Girl in the Empty Dress, the two Bennett Sisters novels.
The Mystery of France in Your Cup
Blackbird Blend is an Earl Grey tea (black with citrus tones) blended with lavender to take you back to the French countryside. Added to that is white peach and vanilla for a hint of sweet.
The Empty Dress Blend is herbal. As coffee is my morning sip I drink herbal teas without caffeine all afternoon and evening. This one is based on a blend called Foxtrot which is chamomile flowers, rooibos tea, peppermint leaves and natural vanilla flavor. To that I’ve added more mint and chocolate plus cocoa nibs. (I confess a weakness for mint chocolate tea!)
Use this code to get $5 off your first order at Adagio Tea: #5354119060
I’ll be giving out samplers of the two tea blends at Bouchercon, the world mystery convention, in Long Beach in November.
Adagio also has some scrumptious looking seasonal teas: Pumpkin Spice and Holiday Cheer, with tea bags to take you from now through the end of the year.
Start your tea kettles!
Have you signed up for the Fall Giveaway? Four books are up for grabs. Will you be a winner?
Tagged: Adagio Tea, Blackbird, blended tea, books, custom tea, Earl Grey, Empty Dress, Fall, giveaways, special tea, tea, tea and books
October 6, 2014
The Fall Giveaway
What’s new? I’m giving away two book packages in October!
The Bennett Sisters Novels — Blackbird Fly & The Girl in the Empty Dress
The Rory Tate Thrillers — Jump Cut & PLAN X
in either digital or paperback, your choice — TWO WINNERS!
Hop over to the Giveaway Site to enter NOW!
Contest runs October 6 to 31
September 22, 2014
All The Latest!
Here’s my new newsletter. Are you signed up? One subscriber won a $25 gift card today! Sign up here.
The Quickie Issue
Welcome new subscribers!
For the rest of you, you just heard from me so I’ll make this quick.
My novel, All Your Pretty Dreams, is free today, Monday, through Wednesday.
Back in olden times (say, two years ago) giving away free e-books was pretty common.
I rarely do it anymore! So enjoy this special from me.
All Your Pretty Dreams is a straight novel, that is, not a mystery. It’s a novel of my heart, one I really wanted to write. I had an idea years ago to write a pastiche of my favorite novel, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I first read P&P in high school English and have re-read it many times since becoming a bit of a Jane-ite (an Austen fan girl!). When I decided to write a pastiche, a take-off, of the book I wanted to put my own spin on it. It would be a gender-reverse story, where the rude outsider (Mr. Darcy in P&P) is female, and the main character with the large, embarrassing family (like Elizabeth Bennett) would be male.The setting here isn’t England but rural Minnesota, the German-Catholic part, where I visited once with my good friend Susan. Why? Because what could be more embarrassing to a hip young man than growing up in a polka band?! Jonny learned to play accordion at his grandfather’s knee then rejected it all for a career in the Twin Cities. But when the band’s accordionist is out sick Jonny is called back to play at Polka Mass. He meets the women staying at the family motel, working on a field study. Their leader, a grad student named Isabel, is rude and full of herself. And so it begins…
The quirky characters in the novel have been compared to Anne Tyler’s, an assortment of small-town oddballs. One reviewer said: “The family struggles, sad times and funny times were so real to life anyone could enjoy this book.” Another wrote: “Lise McClendon has a gift for writing fully developed, multi-layered characters dealing with the same problems that we all do, and yet seeming so unique and distinctive.” Stay tuned later this fall for the Bennett Sisters novella, “Give Him That Ooh-la-la.”
Enjoy and please share with a friend. Free through Wednesday at midnight.
Click here.
Prefer paperback? You can buy a copy here.
PS: The title is a line from a Bruce Springsteen song. Do you know which one? The first correct answer gets a $25 Amazon gift card! Just reply to this email. And yes, you can play Springsteen on an accordion. :-)
Want to read more Austen-inspired fiction? One of my favorites is Jane Austen Made Me Do It, a short story anthology by a bunch of fabulous writers. Stephanie Barron (Francine Matthews) writes
For the true hard-core Pride and Prejudice fans I found this multi-author e-book that supposedly fills in the gaps in the novel fascinating but a little spotty on quality: Pride and Prejudice: The Scenes Jane Austen Never Wrote.
And if you’ve never read Pride and Prejudice we must remedy that. Here’s a free Kindle version. 
Like many of my works of fiction this is a song title as well, a tune by Cole Porter recorded by the jazz singer Blossom Dearie.
Listen to NPR’s Piano Jazz show to learn more about Blossom Dearie.
• • • • •
New in digital this month is that madcap TV reporter, Mimi Raynard, in a short story originally published in the Thalia anthology, DEAD OF WINTER. Now you can get the story on its own.
Mimi, last seen in JUMP CUT, is trying to dig some information out of a reluctant source, using all her womanly wiles and red stilletos. Check out The Honey Trap, exclusively on Amazon. For more of Seattle’s favorite bumbling reporter check out Jump Cut.
All my best,
Tagged: accordion, Blossom Dearie, Bruce Springsteen, free, free book, free ebook, Jane Austen, Minnesota, NA novel, new adult, polka, Pride and Prejudice, YA novel, Young Adult 
September 21, 2014
The Girl in the Empty Dress by Lise McClendon. Published by Thalia
A fun review of The Girl in the Empty Dress. I ♡ book bloggers! Thank you!
Originally posted on cayocosta72 - Book Reviews:
To celebrate her 5oth birthday, Merla Bennett and her four sisters take a trip to France. Merle is a bit disappointed that one of her sister’s is bringing along a work colleague, but she’s bound and determined to enjoy her vacation. The women will sample wine and cheese, stroll country lanes and bask in the sunshine. And them Gillian Sargent, the “6th wheel” finds an injured dog on the side of the road and the carefree trip suddenly becomes something very different.
I felt like I was walking with the ladies through the cobblestones lane of France. I could smell the fresh baked bread, fell the sun and wind on my face. Wonderful
September 7, 2014
Winner winner chicken dinner
[Drumroll!] We have a winner!
Thanks to everyone who recently signed up for the newsletter, recently and the hardy pioneers, and entered their name in the contest to win a copy of Jeremiah Healy’s first mystery, BLUNT DARTS. The recent death of my colleague was a shocking one and in my small way I’m trying to keep Jerry alive. Hey, maybe someone will do continuation novels, that would be cool. In the meantime there are a slew — by my count fourteen — of John Francis Cuddy mysteries to read, plus the legal thrillers under his nom-de-plume Terry Devane.
Congratulations, Don Cannon! You are the winner! A newsletter will be out later this week with a new giveaway and other juicy tidbits for you to gnaw on, so if you haven’t signed up, I mean — it’s painless! Click here. All it takes is your email address — you can be anonymous! But if you enter your snail mail address I will send you a sticker! Yes, a real live sticker, like none you’ve ever experienced! Or like many you have already on your laptop. But totally unique in that it announces you are a super special Very Noisy Friend.
I hope you’re eking out the last lovely bits of summer where you are, or if not, curled up in a comfy corner with a book.
All my best,
Tagged: books, free, freebies, fun stuff, giveaways, mystery
August 26, 2014
Training a truffle dog
Hunting for precious black truffles is a ancient and fascinating activity in France. The truffle dog, Aurore, is the focus of her own hunt when she goes missing in my new suspense novel, “The Girl in the Empty Dress.” This video explains how dogs are trained. Bonus for French speakers – lots of French!
Thanks to the folks at Viking River Cruises. (Yes I am trying to butter them up to get a cruise!) :-) Enjoy.
PS: Don’t forget to sign up for the chance to win a copy of Jeremiah Healy‘s first mystery, Blunt Darts. Click here.
Tagged: black truffles, Blackbird Fly, Empty Dress, France, Italy, Lise McClendon, Perigord truffles, suspense, truffle dogs, truffle hunt, truffles
August 20, 2014
Celebrating a Life
The death of a mystery writer: it sounds like the title of a novel (and Death%20of a Mystery Writer: A Murder Mystery (Of Course)
" target="_blank">has been used.) But in this case it is Real Life. It’s a sad but expected part of living, part of knowing lots of people a little over the years as well as having your own close clan. Illness, accidents, and tragedy, well, they exist. Like it or not.
Last week a writer I knew took his own life. A heartbreaking part of the human story. I wasn’t close to Jerry Healy – who wrote under his own name, Name%20Your Link
" target="_blank">Jeremiah Healy and a pseudonym Name%20Your Link" target="_blank">Terry Devane – but he was outgoing and friendly and like many newbies he befriended me somewhere along the line, at conventions and conferences. Among other things he’d been an MP in the Army and didn’t mind if you gave his bicep a squeeze. He liked everyone and had a big booming voice and a laugh to match. Once a law professor (always a law professor…?) he could lecture on topics he loved, crime writing, lawyering, and tennis.
In 2006 I was in Europe for an extended time and my husband and I joined the International Crime Writers in Zaragoza, Spain. It was a small group, about 25 or 30 writers plus spouses. We had a great time on that trip, visiting Goya’s childhood home and looking at his etchings, eating traditional Spanish food at a fancy winery, and being feted by the governor in the fabulous capitol building with its trumpeting valets and painted ceilings.
It will surprise no one who knew Jerry that he made a few impromptu speeches during that trip. After awhile the Bulgarian crime writer who bore a striking resemblance to Boris Yeltsin would raise a glass and call out, “Jerry Jerry USA,” with a twinkle in his eye whenever Jerry stood to speak. Jerry led the IACW for some five years and was known to crime writers from Iceland to Bulgaria, Italy to Cuba. Naturally his last name sometimes became ‘USA!’ He would have liked that, the old Army MP in him, I think.
In celebration of Jerry’s life and work I am giving away a copy of his first book, the one that introduced him and his private eye, John Francis Cuddy, to the world. Of Blunt Darts the New York Times said, “Mr. Healy writes so well that he tends to transcend the cliches…The plotting is impeccable, and everything comes together to make BLUNT DARTS one of the outstanding first mysteries of the year.” Booklist said, “Healy offers a hard-hitting plot full of clever twists and turns. For readers who like the hard-boiled style shorn of any nouvelle flourishes.”
Jerry will live on through his books. I can’t wait to read them all. Sign up for the mailing list to enter to win BLUNT DARTS. Everyone on the list as of September 7 will be entered.
Tagged: amazon, books, crime fiction, crime writing, ebooks, free, giveaway, Jeremiah Healy, mystery, mystery writers, Nook, Spain, Terry Devane
August 6, 2014
The So-Called Self
After twenty-some years of making up imaginary people I’ve noticed a trend in my work. That I am partial to secrets is perhaps a given in a mystery writer. Secrets, hidden facts, and unknowns from the past make up the plots of most mysteries. But I’ve also noticed that I like a good secret identity. A secret self.
The Self: what is it exactly? Part nature, part nurture, a combination of the the blending of genetic material and the loving (or not) people who care for you as you grow. Before a person has children they often think whimsically about how they will bring up their children *just so,* avoiding all the perceived mistakes of their own childhoods. After their baby is born a new thought pops vividly into play: “This child has his own ideas!”
So it is with characters. Bringing a fictional person to life on the page takes a strong will, persistence, and luck, combined with the raw talent with words and feelings that make a writer tick. Yes, feelings. A writer must have a well of emotion that isn’t far from the surface. The so-called Self of fiction is both the person the character presents to the other characters and the emotional life she often hides from them. That this hidden Self holds secrets about her identity that she doesn’t want anyone to know is just human nature. There are parts of each of us, our innermost Self, that we guard with every fiber of our being. Things that make us ashamed, emotions we aren’t proud of, our jealousies, our envies, our weaknesses we hope desperately nobody has noticed. Just like real people characters hide the real core of themselves. But as writers we have to know that core, to understand the way people trick themselves and manipulate others, to just plain “get” human nature in all its sometime weirdness.
In my latest novel, Gillian Sargent has hidden her past quite well, and with good reason. But when she disappears the Bennett Sisters, lawyers and sleuths, must dig deep to find her before something bad happens to her. This involves outing her real identity, whether she likes it or not. For much of the book she is a cypher: The Girl in the Empty Dress, all external perception but nothing inside. This is the way we perceive most people we don’t know well — which is of course most people. Most people wouldn’t try so hard to hide their past though, unless there was something really juicy to hide. Does that apply to Gillian Sargent? But of course.
The theme of the secret identity is also a big part of PLAN X, my Rory Tate thriller from 2013. A professor of Shakespeare is badly burned in a bomb blast in a college lab. The heroine, Cody Byrne, a policewoman, is tasked with finding his next of kin who appear to be nonexistent. Unwilling to let go of the case that may help her get past her PTSD from an Iraq tour, Cody embarks on an unauthorized journey to find out his real identity. Along the way she finds out more about her own self. This is something that fiction does better than real life: make connections and parallels that make the world make sense, if only for a moment. Real life is much more random. It’s cruel and its timing sucks.
Writing fiction is about writing characters. Yes, you have to know how to plot but it’s your characters and their secret selves that carry your story. It’s the difference between the outer story (the events that happen to and by characters) and the inner story (the emotional journey your main character is on). The inner story resonates much deeper with readers even as they hang on the suspenseful events of the plot.
Ying and yang. Plot and characters. The outer shell and the real Self: you can’t have one without the other.
Tagged: characters, fiction, fiction writing, Girl in the Empty Dress, human nature, identity, Lise McClendon, Plan X, plot, plotting, Rory Tate, secret identity, self, writing
July 14, 2014
Célébrons!
I got to see some great fireworks up close last weekend at the finale of Relay for Life. It was like they were cheering us for walking 40 laps around the track (and I needed cheering).
But today is Bastille Day, so bonne fete to my French friends! Long live the Republique!
Originally posted on France Sisterhood:
Viva la Republique!
Have you been in France for Bastille Day? Let’s hear about it! Send your photos to me here at France Sisterhood.
