Diane Bator's Blog, page 54
October 17, 2020
Jane Kelly talks about her new novel Greetings from Ventnor City
Welcome to writer Jane Kelly!
Jane Kelly is a native of Philadelphia close to the Jersey Shore settings of the Meg Daniels mysteries from Plexus Publishing. She is also the author of the Widow Lady Mysteries and the Writing in Time Mysteries available via Amazon. Jane has an MS from Drexel University in Library and Information Science and an MPhil in Popular Literature from Trinity College, Dublin which she earned as a very mature student in 2008. Jane has served as President of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime and on the board of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Her fifth Meg Daniels mystery, Greetings from Ventnor City, was published in January 2020. The fourth, Missing You in Atlantic City, won an Independent Publisher Book Award silver medal for mid-Atlantic fiction.
Jane Kelly currently lives in the Philadelphia area.
https://tinyurl.com/JaneKellyAuthorAm...
www.facebook.com/JaneKellyAuthor
Tell us about your life outside of writing.
Given the pandemic, I have no idea what my new life outside of writing will be. I had just left my part-time job to get in better shape. I started singing in a choir and teaching English as a Second Language. Then, the pandemic hit. ESL is moving to Zoom but I don’t have the voice for a Zoom choir. I love to travel and had a list of places to go, but now all my plans are on hold. I am playing things by ear. And, about getting in better shape? How about a different shape? I gained nine pounds.
Do you have a work in progress?
I started a book that turned too dark for my humorous heroine. I liked the story, so I took Meg out and saved the plot for future use. It took me a few false starts to decide on a mystery for Meg to solve. She is now investigating a missing person from the disco era. Spoiler alert: she’ll solve it. I am not quite sure how yet, but she will. I am a pantser.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
I enjoy the writing process. I never find it difficult but I always find it challenging. My books have a humorous touch and often the first draft will strike me as a bit dull. I try to put myself into the scene with the characters and watch them react to each other. That also is a way of checking that they don’t sit down twice before they get up once. Keeping an eye on logistics is a huge challenge for me.
What sort of research do you do for your work?
My current day amateur sleuth researches incidents related to past events. Most recently, her investigations involved the 1964 Democratic Convention and the 1968 Miss America protests, both in Atlantic City. I loved doing the research.
My biggest problem when it comes to research is stopping. To me there are two aspects: 1) basic research, where I gather broad background for the topic or the era, and, 2) defensive research, where I search for that one misstatement, literally one word, that can pull a reader out of a story. And, it only takes one word to do that. Missing You in Atlantic City includes accounts from witnesses to a 1964 crime told from their point of view at the time of the crime. On the last read-through, I noticed that a character had observed of the victim that “she kept her cool.” It struck me that not in 1964, she didn’t. She could keep a cool head, maintain a cool demeanor or display a cool manner, but she could not keep her cool until at least 1967. I used one of my favorite tools to check: Google Ngrams. That is all I’m going to say because when I get started talking about Google Ngrams I have a real problem stopping.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?
I try to read all the books written by my Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime and authors I meet at the New York Chapter of MWA. The titles run the gamut from political thrillers to cozies. I might have one in hand, one on Kindle and one on audio. Still, I am hopelessly behind. I tend to read a lot of non-fiction. I have been reading history backward and have gotten to the 1930s. There is so much to read that I can’t get past that era. I need to make a change so I can devote a couple of hours on my daily schedule to reading.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
Many people throughout the years have been supportive but, oddly enough, I do not recall the name of the most encouraging. I had gone to lunch with coworkers and one brought along a friend I had never met. Midway through the meal, the woman turned to me and asked, “Are you a writer?” I had never published anything, so I answered, “No.” She replied, “You should be.” Why would I value advice from a total stranger? I think because she was a total stranger. That afternoon, I started to take writing seriously.
With a newly-earned reputation for finding lost people and a newly-acquired sidekick to help her, Meg Daniels, amateur sleuth, sets out to discover why a 19-year-old coed disappeared after protesting at the Miss America Pageant in 1968. Did the rebellious teenager get swept up in the counterculture or did someone want her out of the way... permanently? Meg won’t stop until she finds the answer.
"Greetings From Ventnor City has it all: a gripping mystery, twists and turns, and Kelly’s signature humor! Don’t miss this one." —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Crime Fiction Author’’
October 16, 2020
Round Robin Blog Fest October 2020
Welcome back to another fun installment of the Round Robin Blog Fest!While I'm writing this, there is a strong breeze blowing all the colorful maple leaves off the trees and my cat who is part Siamese is howling to get out there to chase them.
Today's question is: "What is/are your favorite book(s) of all time in your favorite genre(s)? (You can include children's books or non-fiction or even magazines.)
When an extended family member learned that I loved to write, they gave me a lovely, encouraging book for Christmas 1993. "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within" by Natalie Goldberg quickly became one of my favorite, most dog-earred books of all time. In fact, my copy is adorned with post-it notes, hi-lighter and pen marks and scrap paper notebooks.
Years later, and a move across Canada to Ontario, I discovered a little writing group whose whole framework was based on Natalie Goldberg's concepts. It seems a couple of the founding members had been part of a different group with a man who had studied in Taos, New Mexico with Natalie. They based their group on the principles of reading your work aloud and doing free-writing to prompts to get their creative juices going. Many of my novels were added to or started using the free-writing prompts.
Each meeting, we practiced doing these timed exercises. We set ten to fifteen minutes aside, as time allowed, chose a prompt from the list provided by the leader that day, then wrote using the following rules:Keep your hand moving (don't pause to reread.)Don't cross out (this is editing as you right.)Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar (or lines or margins...)Lose control (write what comes up.)Don't think. Don't get logical.Go for the jugular. (even if something comes up that is scary or naked, dive right in.)Our first thoughts have tremendous power. They are the reason Julia Cameron suggests in her book "The Artist's Way" (another favorite!) writing Morning Pages to "prime the pump" and get writing. To get into the flow and get the debris out of your head before you get down to serious creating.
The chapter in "Writing Down the Bones" that I love the most is called, "Living Twice."
Yes. I am one of those writers who will walk in the rain. Over the years, my mind has become trained to "record" feelings, sensations, and experiences so I can relive them on paper. Because of the free-writing exercises and trying to write with three kids underfoot, I have learned to write in short bursts. My short bursts, however, usually generate more pages in novels or whole new short stories.
While I don't read "Writing Down the Bones" as often as I used to, I still drag it off the shelf from time to time when I need a little inspiration.
Let's see what books our other writers treasure, shall we?
Anne Stenhouse
Skye Taylor
Connie Vines
Dr. Bob Rich
Fiona McGier
Victoria Chatham
Helena Fairfax
Beverley Bateman
Rhobin L Courtright
October 13, 2020
Ian Lenathen discusses The Alters
Welcome to author Ian Lenathen!
Ian Lenathen was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada as a seven-year-old.
Lenathen is an intelligent and a curious thinker, capable of birthing original and critical thought.
Ian is the proud father of two boys and four grandchildren, all living in Canada
He is also a long-distance swimmer – a computer and internet technology exemplar, an intuitive empath, a poet, and a seeker of compassionate and empathetic contemporaries.
As a world traveler, Ian lived in Scotland, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Miami and has worked and played in forty-two countries. He gained many loved and connected friends on our shared planet. Lenathen includes the knowledge, understanding, and tolerance gained through his travels within the location, theme, and plot of his writing.
Ian completed over eight hundred open water scuba dives and is a certified rescue diver – with published underwater photography. He loves swimming with sharks.
Ian’s hope? - To die young at an old age.
There is always more to do if we choose to do it.
https://www.ianlenathen-author.com - Author website.
Tell us about your life outside of writing.
My life resonates with art and science.
I left Ryerson University in my second year after being offered a job with a computer company back in the late sixties. I moved from servicing and teaching floor top computers to an engineering technical specifications writing position, then onto an Electrical Engineer (non-degreed) function with a large scale computer design company, privileged to be a member of the top computer design team in the world. I also wrote poetry – intuitively knowing all successful life genres, in the final analysis, are poetic. The beauty of science, mathematics, and all portals of the arts are entangled and woven within the thread of imagination, compassion, and empathy. Thus, writing is the expression within my life – never really existing on the outside.
But – in saying that, I have been busy – working as an expert on computer networks, the internet, and the telephone network at the design level.
My professional life allowed me to visit over 40 countries, every province in Canada, and nearly every state in the USA.
I lived in Turks and Caicos for ten years. From that location, I designed the network topology to attach eleven island nations and fifteen million people to the internet within the Caribbean Basin, writing and executing the first business plan enabling a telephone company to become an internet service provider.
I have left the world of high technology - now focused on writing, writing, writing.
The new question you could ask is: ‘Do you have a life outside of writing?’
Do you have a work in progress?
Yes, my work in progress is: ‘Thoughts and Feelings – Time and Space (Musings of a free thinker).’ A book of poetry and short stories. This work is an anthology of truths I have experienced – not as a memoir – but more as a book of events and consequences. The short stories are non-fictional, laying out self-evident proofs. – The poetry is abstract – some in rhyme, some in prose – with original photographs sprinkled in the mix.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
‘The Alters - We live in many mansions’ is a book that uses the current base of knowledge regarding quantum physics, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, computer science, and religion using the story of Adam and Sarah as the communal point of interest carrier.
The most significant difficulty is putting these advanced concepts into a simple and exciting story while keeping the readers interested. I sometimes assumed my readers knew as much about these topics as I do. Not so. I have been studying and researching these topics for most of my life.
As Stephen King says, ‘Sometimes we have to kill our darlings.’ I had to re-write and sometimes eliminate a paragraph or two, which were darlings to me – but a yawner for most readers. Editing out your darlings is a difficult thing to do.
If we understand a complicated subject, we should be able to explain it to a child. Writers have a responsibility to our readers regarding the understandability and readability of our plots and characters.
Every chapter in The Alters begins with a poem. Poetry adds a higher layer of abstraction, which must complement and support the tenets of the story. Linking abstraction and reality can be difficult but is worth the effort – adding congruence within the ethereal and aesthetic flow of the story.
What sort of research do you do for your work?
First of all, I do believe evolution is still happening in unexpected ways.
Over the past twenty-five years, I have used the internet as a credible source of research. Every subject is available for a shallow or deep dive.
I believe in subliminal learning too.
Over the past 20 years, I have listened to lectures, audiobooks, arguments, and discussions on many subjects, including; classical and quantum science, religions, philosophy, economy, computer science, Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, neuro networks, and literature.
I do this every night and over the past twenty years – listening to an average of 6 hours per night, which equals about 43,800 hours of subliminal high-quality deep subject learning. I also read books and academic papers on various subjects.
For example, in the knowledge silo of Neuroscience, I have queued up lectures from the top professors at universities worldwide. My favourite in this field is Dr. Robert Morris Sapolsky, an American professor with a Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology from Harvard – currently teaching biology, neurology, and neurological science at Stanford University. Lectures are available on the internet. Professor Sapolsky also offers a book - Behave (The biology of humans at our best and worst)- a must-read if you are researching this field. Behave is a large meal, but it is delicious.
In the area of Quantum Science, my research includes books, journals, podcasts, papers, and lectures providing access to the incredible life work of Albert Einstein, Niel Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger, Hugh Everett, Sean Caroll, David Ting, Max Planck, Richard Feynman, Freeman Dyson, Manolis Kellis, and more.
For other subjects like Philosophy, Religion, Computer Science, and Literature, I read and subliminally learn from experts, every night of my life. This method of learning does not help in cultivating a blossoming romance with those who would like to spoon with me. Alas, such is the lonely life of a research-intensive writer.
The story of Adam and Sarah in The Alters puts forth the idea that all knowledge is one knowledge – all learning is one learning. All are intelligently entangled.
What books and authors do you read for pleasure?
Most reading is for pleasure, no? In my early days, I enjoyed the good against evil books – like The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, enjoying the part where Gandolf the Grey turns into Gandolf the White --- as Bilbo Baggins jostles with Gollum – a low and distressed fallen Hobbit. The following trilogy did not interest me as much; it diminished the true Tolkien hero (to me) – Bilbo.
I became interested in the collected works of Oscar Wilde after reading The Picture of Dorian Gray – where Dorian sold his soul to remain young and beautiful – against the natural flow of aging and entropy. On a trip to Paris, I stopped off at Père Lachaise Cemetery, then gave a reading from ‘The Ballad of Reading Goal’ by Oscar’s grave – receiving a sitting ovation from a small crowd which formed as I was reading.
I found ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ by ‘you know who’ – a pleasure to read. Then I read his other works too. I traveled to Havana and toasted ‘Papa’ with a Cuba Libre by his statue in one of his favorite bars – El Florida, and spent time at his choice hotel – Hotel Albos Mudos.
In my early teens, searching for meaning, I devoured the journals surrounding the life and deeds of Edgar Cayce. I drove to Virginia Beach and spent two weeks buried in the archives of his work at the Association for Research and Enlightenment.
After reading the bible a few times, I traveled to Ephesus to visit the House of Mary and the Basilica of St. John (who wrote Revelations on the Island of Patmos). While sitting in Mary’s church at the top of the corkscrew road hill – I found this to be one of the serenest places I had ever experienced. I drove down the hill towards St. John’s Basilica and had the padlocked door opened by a stranger walking by. I sat one meter from the red clay grave where the body of John once rested and spent time reflecting on the book of Revelations. Though I have become less religious over the years, I am deeply spiritual; my religion is love. My faith bathes in kindness. The literature of the bible offers a further layer of understanding – I did enjoy and ponder the words of John, the apostle in Revelations, and am grateful for the stranger who opened the padlocked gate – allowing me to enter that sacred space.
The rest of my authors are mostly science-based.
Books on Einstein, String Theory, Quantum entanglement, Deep Learning, Artificial General Intelligence, Neuroscience, Psychology, Philosophy, Endocrinology, and more take my time and satisfy my thirst.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
Mrs. Gallagher was the first – she was my grade nine English teacher. As she handed out a graded writing assignment, she told the class we had done well, but she wanted us to hear one piece which received an A+. I wrote it. After the class, she told me I had a gift and could be anything I wanted to be – but she said – no matter what you do, always be a writer too. She was a significant influence. Kindness matters.
Thank you, Mrs. Gallagher!
THE ALTERS (We live in many mansions) – SYNOPSIS
Genre – Visionary Fiction
The story of Sarah and Adam - spiritually entangled, born at the same time, in Baton Rouge and Toronto.
Sarah, an empath savant - Adam, a quantum savant - both fully functional autistic-like and gifted human beings.
The characters in the story include psychopaths and saints. Nasty and nice together.
Some situations are dark, but in the final events and instances of our four-dimensional experience, light is always a possible consequence.
We have the choice to transcend - the option to choose kindness first, in all situations.
The Alters is meant for mature readers. The story includes sexual encounters since we are sexual beings too, reflecting our communal experience - cruel and dominating sex and loving and soul-satisfying sex. We salute the needs of our lower three glands.
The Alters moves from our Darwinian construct, defined in four dimensions, embracing the compassion and empathy of our higher aspirations.
Your perspective alters as we move from our Darwinian prison defined in four dimensions, towards kinder and higher consequences.
We possess the ability to escape these chains of blue skies if we desire to do so.
It takes a leap of faith and an altered perspective of thought, time, and space.
‘Space is stitched together with the thread of quantum entanglement.’ P(x) = |ψ(x)|². Multiple instance reality. This tenet is the basis of The Alters, wrapped into a humankind story - no math required. Take a read - you may be surprised and enjoy it as a page-turner, a thought-invoker, even an interesting and fast-moving, slow, soothing wine companion.
Purchase available in e-book and paperback formats.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1999191307
Paperback book purchase
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VKD8FW7 e-book purchaseReviews:
October 10, 2020
Amy Grundy chats about her Copper Ridge Mystery series
Welcome to mystery writer Amy Grundy!
I was born and mostly raised in North Carolina, until I moved with my family to Texas. I met my husband here in TX and we have been happily married for over 43 years. We live in the Houston area with our dog Oy, and 4 cats, Niko, Cholula, Rorschach and Echo. I am fortunate to have both my children Heather and Jason and my grandchildren, Giselle, Angel and Isabella all living nearby. After working over 26 years in the nursing field, I retired in 2019. Now I enjoy writing full time. I didn’t start writing cozy mysteries until the spring of 2019 and my first book Murder Down the Hill was released mid – May 2020. Since then, I have released books 2 through 6 in the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Actually, writing was something I never thought I could do. My husband was the person who first encouraged me to try my hand at writing cozy mysteries. I have since discovered that I really enjoy writing and the process of creating characters and their stories.
Website: www.amygrundy.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmyGrundyAuthor/
Instagram: [http://www.instagram.com%3eamygrundya...
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/review/list/110874076-amy-grundy
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Amy-Grundy/e/B088X27KLH
Tell us about your life outside of writing.
When I’m not writing I enjoy spending time with my kids and grandkids. (which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like these days, due to covid.) I have always loved reading, thrillers, true crime, traditional mystery and cozy mystery books. Besides reading, my hobbies include working on jigsaw puzzles, playing sudoku and running. I didn’t start running or participate in my first half marathon until I was 52 years old. This just goes to show you that it’s never too late to start a new hobby. Currently I have completed 7 full marathons, 1 ultra-marathon, 1 duathlon and numerous half marathons. And let’s not forget, I always enjoy a good cup of coffee, cappuccino or latte.
Do you have a work in progress?
Yes, currently I am working on Murder At the Manor. This is book 10 in the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Unless I change my plans, this will be the final book in that series. Who knows maybe sometime down the road, I’ll come back and write another follow-up seasonal story.
I am also working on out lining and creating the characters for my next series which will be based around a botanical garden.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
Alright, I’ll be honest, the most difficult part of the story for me to write is a love scene. When I say love scene, this is only a character kissing her love interest. You’d think this would be easy for me, since I’ve been fortunate enough to be happily married and in a loving relationship for so long. And yes, we met in high school. Maybe I have trouble writing the romantic scenes because I was raised in a private family or maybe that’s just me being insecure with my writing…
What sort of research do you do for your work?
I do research various parts of my stories. The amount of time I spend researching did surprise me when I first started. Whether it’s a google search about poisons, (and yes there have been many) or talking to a friend who may have specialized knowledge in a certain area. I have a friend who is a former deputy sheriff. She answers my questions when necessary. Also, I suppose I’m a visual person. I have created significant backgrounds for my characters, which helps me determine things like how would they feel in certain situations, what are their likes and dislikes, what kind of clothes they would wear. So, I do a lot of searching for just the right photos. As I develop these characters, I find pictures of them, their homes, the town, their pets, clothing for special occasions. I find it easier writing if I have a picture of what I am trying to describe. This helps me to develop a believable character.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author who inspires you?
Agatha Christie – especially the Hercule Poirot books
Dorothy Gilman – the Mrs. Pollifax series
Lillian Jackson Braun - the Cat Who series
My other favorite authors include Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Kelley Armstrong, Hugh Howey.
I have also recently discovered Steve Higgs. So far, I have only read one of his books in the Patricia Fisher Village Mysteries, but reading his book, made me want to be a better writer. His writing moved the story along and kept my attention. It made me want to become a better writer, and believe that I could.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
Definitely, my husband. I never ever would have considered writing a book. In fact, writing wasn’t something that I ever thought I could do. That’s what other people did, not me. I especially didn’t think I could ever write good dialog. He did a little exercise with me while we were in the car together. It was on how to build a story, starting with a single person, then make one decision, then another. He showed me how to build a story one step at a time. It just made me realize that I didn’t have to have the whole story in my head before I began. I just had to get started and then the details would come. He was right and I found out that I really love writing and creating characters.
Mu r der on t he Stage, A Copper Ridge Mystery - Book 5
Published August 2020
Copper Ridge is about to get hit by a storm and a stray cat has decided to take up residence at Emily’s little Craftsman bungalow. Luckily Emily takes her in before the first snowflakes begin to fall.
When the snowstorm turns into an all-out blizzard, Emily, Maggie and Mrs. Smithers become trapped inside the old historic and possibly haunted Gage Hotel. To make matters worse, Emily has started to see ghosts, specifically the ghost of Mr. Gage.
As the storm of the century rages outside, the bodies begin to fall inside. There is nowhere to go and everyone is trapped in the hotel with a murderer. Could the killer be the entitled socialite or someone from the theater group?
Can Emily put the pieces of this latest puzzle together before the roads are cleared and the killer slips away?
Read Murder on the Stage, the fifth installment of the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GZK3KW6
Murder Down the Aisle, A Copper Ridge Mystery – Book 6
Published September 2020
Wedding bells are ringing in Copper Ridge and it’s time for the ‘I do’s.’
Emily and Maggie work hard to make sure everything is set for the big day. The flowers have been ordered and Claudette has made a beautiful wedding cake. Maggie even makes sure Emily has picked out the perfect dress for the day.
But when someone turns up missing, will the wedding go on? More importantly, where did they go?
Things continue to deteriorate when Emily discovers a dead body at the wedding. How could this be happening on the brides most important day? One minute the guests are having a good time, the next police investigators have swarmed the building.
Was the killer the jealous ex-girlfriend or someone else? Will Emily be able to solve this murder?
Read Murder Down the Aisle – Book 6 of the Copper Ridge Mystery series. Available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K84RKGC
October 6, 2020
Judy Penz Sheluk shares her new box set for her Marketville Mystery Series
Special Welcome to my first Wednesday Writer, Judy Penz Sheluk!
Not only do I know Judy from Crime Writers of Canada, I've also had the pleasure of reading several of her novels as well as her soon to be released Where There's a Will! I have to say I'm a big fan and honored that she has joined us today!
A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of two mystery series: the Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries. Her short crime fiction appears in several collections, including The Best Laid Plans and Heartbreaks & Half-truths, which she also edited.
Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves as Chair on the Board of Directors. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com.
What would you say are your strengths as an author?
I research every small detail in my books. And when I say every small detail, I mean it. In my current work-in-progress, there’s a scene set at Toronto City Hall on New Years Eve, 2008. I fact-checked the weather conditions for that night (cold with blizzard-like conditions) and wrote that into the story.
I attribute this obsession (because that’s what it is) to spending the 15+ years as a journalist and magazine editor. But my background also makes me very comfortable with contacting strangers who are experts in their field, and knowing the right questions to ask, and I’m certainly not opposed to grilling my family. In A Fool’s Journey, for example, all three of my nieces were invaluable resources. Niece Ashley for her in-depth knowledge of tattoo parlors, Rebecca, a social worker, for her insights into parenting styles, and Leah for the perfect setting for a gallery in Burlington, where she lives. I suppose you could say my biggest strength is in building a world for my characters to live in.
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
When I’m working on a new project, I try to write every day, seven days a week, holidays included, and if I’m not writing, I’m researching or editing what I’ve already written. But in between projects, when I’m getting ready to launch a new book, and I’m mired in marketing, blog tours, and social media blitzes, I tend to take a break. That might last as long as a month, but never longer, because I crave writing the way someone might crave chocolate or potato chips. As for a strict routine, nothing could be further from the truth. If it’s a nice day in the summer, I’ll golf in the daytime, and (maybe) write for an hour or so in the evening. If it’s a rainy or snowy day, I might work for 10 or 12 hours straight. But no routine, that’s a creativity killer for me. I can’t even participate in NaNoWriMo because having to write 1,666 words a day (or any set goal) makes it seem too much like work.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
If someone had told me, in July 2015, when my debut novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, came out, that five years later I’d have five (soon to be six) published novels, not to mention my own publishing imprint and the anthologies, I would never have believed it. So, I don’t know where I’ll be five years from now, but I hope I’ll still be writing and loving it. I’d also like to take a course in playwriting at some point. We’ll see.
If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
I always answer this question with a quote from Agatha Christie: “There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
That they stayed up all night reading, that they couldn’t wait to recommend it to a friend, or to their book club, or simply that, they forgot about their own worries, if only for a little while.
What are you working on now?
Two novels: a standalone suspense and the prequel to Skeletons in the Attic, set in 1976 and told from the perspective of Callie Barnstable’s mother, Abigail. Both are in the early stages of development, as I’ve been getting ready to launch Where There’s A Will, book 3 in my Glass Dolphin series, for November 2020 release. But I am really keen to dig into both. For the prequel, I’ll probably have to reread Skeletons. It’s been five years since I wrote it and I’m sure there are small details I’ve forgotten. Wouldn’t do to get those wrong!
The Marketville Mystery Series: Books 1-3
Calamity (Callie) Barnstable never dreamed that one day she’d be solving cold cases in the small town of Marketville, but that’s exactly where life has led her. Turns out, she’s got a flair for digging up the truth—even when the truth wants to remain firmly in the past.
The first three books in the bestselling Marketville Mystery series, now available in one collection.
Skeletons in the Attic (Book 1):
Calamity (Callie) Barnstable isn’t surprised to learn she’s the sole beneficiary of her late father’s estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town of Marketville with one condition: she must move to Marketville, live in the house, and solve her mother’s murder.
Callie’s not keen on dredging up a thirty-year-old mystery, but if she doesn’t do it, there’s a scheming psychic named Misty Rivers who hopes to expose the Barnstable family secrets herself. Determined to thwart Misty and fulfill her father’s wishes, Callie accepts the challenge. But is she ready to face the skeletons hidden in the attic?
Past & Present (Book 2):
It’s been thirteen months since Callie inherited the house in Marketville. She solves the mystery, but what next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto?
She decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations. It’s not long before she gets her first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone—least of all Callie—could have predicted.
A Fool’s Journey (Book 3):
In March 2000, twenty-year-old Brandon Colbeck left home to find himself on a self-proclaimed “fool’s journey.” No one—not friends or family—have seen or heard from him since, until a phone call from a man claiming to be Brandon brings the case back to the forefront. Calamity (Callie) Barnstable and her team at Past & Present Investigations have been hired to find out what happened to Brandon and where he might be. As Callie follows a trail of buried secrets and decades-old deceptions only one thing is certain: whatever the outcome, there is no such thing as closure.
Buy links:
Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-...
Apple: http://books.apple.com/us/book/id1525...
October 3, 2020
Kathleen Marple Kalb talks about A Fatal Finale and A Fatal First Night
Kathleen Marple Kalb grew up in front of a microphone, and a keyboard. She’s now a weekend morning anchor at 1010 WINS New York, capping a career begun as a teenage DJ in Brookville, Pennsylvania. She worked her way up through newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, developing her skills and a deep and abiding distaste for snowstorms. While she wrote her first (thankfully unpublished) historical novel at age sixteen, fiction was firmly in the past until her son started kindergarten and she tried again. She, her husband the Professor, and their son the Imp, live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat. What would you say are your strengths as an author?
Creating characters that become readers’ friends and people they care about. The whole reason I started writing series mysteries, after reading them for most of my life, is that I love spending time with the characters in my favorite series. And, after a career of writing news headlines, I’m also good at the occasional very memorable, often slightly snarky, line. A favorite example from A FATAL FIRST NIGHT: Ella, speaking of one of her vile stage-door admirers: “…holding out a bouquet of red roses in hands with a distinct and disturbing resemblance to charcuterie. Small sausages.”
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
Every day. But routine is just a fantasy for me. I’m a weekend radio news anchor, weekday mom, and now, virtual elementary teaching assistant, which means that I write whenever I have five minutes and a flat surface for the laptop. My only rule: one project per day. I don’t want to find myself writing Ella Shane in someone else’s voice.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
Hopefully well into the Ella Shane series, with a second successful series underway too. I’ll write the Ella books as long as people keep reading them…and I have a few other ideas, including a contemporary series set at a small Vermont radio station, inspired by my first on-air job.
If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
Do. The. Work. Everything else flows from that. Get your manuscript in the best possible shape. Learn and follow the rules for querying and submission. Know how to present yourself and your work to the greatest advantage. Don’t ever give anyone a reason to weed you out. And most of all, don’t give up. You may have to move on to a new project, or try a new approach, but if you quit, you’ll never know what you could have accomplished. (Said the woman with 200+ rejections for the two failed projects before the Ella Shane series.)
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
I love these characters…and I want to keep coming back and spending time with them.
What are you working on now?
The next Ella, among other things. Let’s just say that Ella and her readers will get exactly what they’ve been hoping for, in the last way they expect it to happen. I’m also working on other mystery series ideas. Plus, in September, I started a series on Channillo: ON THE SIDE OF THE ANGELS is my guilty pleasure project, the (very darkly comic) tale of a nice suburban mom who is also an assassin. New chapters every Monday: https://channillo.com/series/on-the-side-of-the-angels/
WHERE TO FIND ME:
Website : https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/
Twitter : ht tps://twitter.com/KalbMarple
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/
A FATAL FINALE (out now!) introduces swashbuckling Gilded Age diva Ella Shane, best described as part Beverly Sills, part Anne of Green Gables, and part Errol Flynn. Ella, an Irish-Jewish Lower East Side orphan made good, is singing Romeo when her Juliet dies onstage. The girl’s cousin, a genuine British Duke, comes to New York to investigate and immediately insults Ella – who schools him in a fencing match. Soon, Ella, her “confirmed bachelor” former boxing champ cousin Tommy, and the colorful cast are looking for a killer…and the Duke is hooked. No spoiler (just tease!) it all culminates in a catwalk duel with the killer – with Ella handling swordplay while the Duke waits in the wings.
BUY: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727237/
FATAL FIRST NIGHT (coming 4/27/21) opens with a murder in Richard III’s ressing room after the premiere of the Ella Shane Opera Company’s new production, The Princes in the Tower. Ella and friends aren't at all sure about their colleague's guilt -- even though it seems obvious. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Hetty MacNaughten has finally escaped hats to cover a sensational murder trial. Before it’s over, the cast will have to sort out several interlocking mysteries, welcome an unexpected visitor…and find another Richard III. Will everyone survive to the final curtain?
PREORDER: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727244/a-fatal-first-night/
September 28, 2020
Escape with A Writer Turns One!
September 29 is the 1st Birthday of Escape with a Writer Sunday !!
Thank you to all of you who have trusted me to share your work with the world! In honor of the big day, I’m making a couple of tweaks.
1. It is now called Escape with a Writer2. I am booking authors for Wednesdays as well as Sundays!!
Please be sure to message me for availability and follow on the following facebook pages:Escape With A Writer: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatored... Bator, Author: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatorau...
Hope to chat with you soon!!
Diane
September 27, 2020
Victoria Dowd has released her first novel The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder!
Before we get started, I have two things I'd like to say.
I had the great fortune of reading The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder! If you are an Agatha Christie fan or a lover of "locked room" mysteries, you'll absolutely enjoy Victoria's style of writing. She's updated the genre for today's audience and kept me engrossed and guessing until the end. Her descriptive writing style had me highlighting sections of text just to savor them. The entire old mansion setting evoked just the right feel for a murder during a book club retreat. Please read to the VERY END of this interview for a special surprise. That's it! Welcome to author Victoria Dowd with her debut novel "The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder."
Victoria is a crime writer and her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, is published by Joffe Books. It’s the first part of a crime series that is modern take on the classic murder mystery with lots of dark humour.Victoria is also an award-winning short story writer, having won the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction in 2019 awarded by Go Gothic. She was runner up in The New Writer’s writer of the year award and her work has been short listed and Highly commended by Writers’ Forum. She was also longlisted for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition and has had short stories published in various literary journals and magazines. Victoria also writes the non-fiction series Adapting Agatha about adaptations of Agatha Christie novels. She is originally from Yorkshire and, after studying law at Cambridge University, was a criminal law barrister for many years before becoming a full-time writer.
What would you say are your strengths as an author? I’d say I’m pretty diligent. I like to keep as organised as possible and, as a writer of whodunnits, I plan meticulously. I have masses of notebooks and files filled with research and a very big pinboard covered in maps, photographs and a lot of red string. In some ways, it does look like I’m planning a murder! I go over the details again and again, making sure there are no plot holes and that everything fits together like a perfect jigsaw.
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine? I write Monday to Friday, every day for about five hours. I try to take weekends off unless I have edits that need to be finished and sent back. I am quite strict about that otherwise I just wouldn’t get it done. I never usually write after about 6pm, particularly since I may well have had a glass of wine by then and the writing is absolutely awful after that!
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer? Hopefully, as the writer of a successful series of crime novels and, who knows, maybe someone will make them into a TV series! Now that would be marvelous. Like most writers, I’ve imagined who’d play each role and all the settings!
If you could offer one piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?Stick at it! Just keep going and write as much as you can, as often as you can. Do it for the love of writing and write what you love. Don’t write what you think other people will like, write what you have a passion for. I adore Golden Age detective fiction so that’s the genre I write in. But I also love ghost stories and the supernatural so I write short stories in that genre. Don’t send anything out to people until you’re absolutely happy with it and it’s finished. Make it the best thing you’ve ever written until you just think it can’t be any better. That might be more than one piece of advice!
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book? It would be about the quality of the writing. If people say it is beautifully well written, I’m a very happy writer, because, after all, that’s what it’s all about.
What are you working on now? I’ve just finished writing the second book in the Smart Women series. It’s called The Smart Woman’s Guide to Survival and follows the women who survived at the end of the first book. They decide they weren’t particularly good at survival so set off on a Bear Grylls’ style survival weekend to the Outer Hebrides. When they are shipwrecked on a deserted island, the murders begin. Is it one of their group or was someone, or something, there already? I like to play with the classic whodunnit scenario and put unusual people in unusual settings. I think there’s a bit of everything in there this time, fear, humour and the all important murder mystery to be solved. I’ve absolutely loved writing this one! It’s been fantastic fun taking the characters on further and getting behind why they act in the extraordinary way they sometimes do. I’m just waiting for the edits to come back so I can get to work on those and, my favourite part, seeing the cover art! I love watching the ideas and words come to life and finally form into a book. It’s an absolutely magical transformation and a very special moment when you finally see the finished book. I can’t wait!
Website link: https://victoriadowd.com/Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaDowdAuthorTwitter: @victoria_dowdInstagram: dowdvictoria
THE SMART WOMAN’S GUIDE TO MURDER
A faded country house in the middle of nowhere.The guests are snowed in.The murders begin.Withering and waspish, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother’s book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother’s chagrin. Joining them are Mother’s best friend, Mirabelle, Aunt Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog Mr Bojangles. It doesn’t matter that they’ve read Gone Girl three times this year already, this retreat is their chance to escape bustling suburbia. But someone has other ideas.
A body is found in the grounds.Is a lone killer hunting them? Or has one of their own group embarked on a killing spree?What they need is to stop sniping at each other long enough to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again.What they need is a guide to survive.
A GOLDEN AGE COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY BROUGHT BANG UP TO DATE
Funny and shocking in equal turn, Victoria Dowd's brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, Liane Moriarty, Faith Martin, Frances Lloyd and Stuart Turton.
Link to buy book: https://geni.us/smartwomanvictoria
AND NOW FOR THE SPECIAL BONUS!!
Victoria was absolutely thrilled to be asked to give a reading of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder on BBC Radio Devon and chat about writing, Agatha Christie and her favourite place - Burgh Island. Here’s the link. She appears exactly 30 minutes in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08mld3h?fbclid=IwAR2SVgWALsn1Yp_Y8FS8kCM-BKC32kx42dSysPSEaUILt_quHeR1YeL4mcM
September 21, 2020
First of Series Books on Sale!
"The Bookstore Lady"
"Dead Without Honor"
and "All That Sparkles"
are on sale on Amazon for only $1.49 for a limited time!
https://www.amazon.com/Diane-Bator/e/...
September 20, 2020
Nicole Thorne talks about her novel Chasing Butterflies
Welcome to debut author Nicole Thorne!
I was very lucky to get to read Chasing Butterflies and add my own review: When tragedy strikes her mother, Helen, Hope runs away from the beautiful Cornish town of Port Merdow to build her own life. She becomes a respected architect with a loving husband until problems in her life drive her back home. In order to move on with her life, she needs to come face to face with her past to find peace.Thorne has written an intriguing novel that I found hard to put down. The only thing that could have made it better was a good edit but my heart went out to Hope and all she endured.Diane
Nicole Thorne lives on the North-West of England with her husband Sean and her children. She is a former teacher who now owns and runs a tea room.Nic has always had a passion for developing characters and stories. In her younger days she wrote plays for the other children in the street to perform. In junior school she won a competition with a play she wrote. In high school she brought her English teacher to tears with a story about bullying.Nic's writing focuses on the emotions of the situations. Her debut novel Chasing Butterflies is a very emotional journey with twists, turns and ups and downs along the way.Nic is currently working on a prequel to "Chasing Butterflies" called "The China Doll".
Website: https://nicolethorneauthor.wixsite.com/website
Tell us about your life outside of writing. Outside of writing I have quite a busy life. I have four children, but two of them are grown up so don't need much from me. I own and run a tea room. A few years ago I decided that the pressures of teaching were too much and decided to start my own business. It's hard work, but incredibly rewarding. I have some fantastic customers and have built a really good reputation in the town. To relax I love to sit down to a delicious home cooked meal and a glass or two of wine while me and my other half put the world to rights. I also really love my family time. Getting all the kids around to play a board game or watch a film is great. Other than that I love to soak in the bath with a good book.
Do you have a work in progress? I'm currently working on a prequel to "Chasing Butterflies" called "The China Doll". Hopefully readers will gain more empathy for the character Helen who they met in Chasing Butterflies.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult? The most difficult part was writing about the miscarriage. I suffered multiple miscarriages before I conceived my youngest daughter so the emotions conveyed in that part of the book were very real. I had all of these people around me expecting me to pick myself up and brush myself off as though nothing had happened and I just couldn't do that. I wrote about the miscarriage shortly after I suffered my first loss five years ago. I left it for quite some time before revisiting the story. I altered the events and the Character Hope's circumstances were very different to mine. I decided to explore the reasons a person who craved a family of her own might postpone pregnancy until she was almost forty. The story that unfolded started with the miscarriage as a catalist, but ultimately that is not what the story is about. I thought about the events that might have happened in her life to damage her trust in people, especially men. Hope is a very damaged and fragile character, but she also displays a great deal of strength and determination.What sort of research do you do for your work? - Most of the research was just via google. The book is very character based so it depended mainly on my own imagination. I of course drew on my own experiences too. For my latest novel I have been researching fishing techniques and art courses.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you? I tend not to read one particular author these days. Mostly I'll look for books by indie authors or just pick something up that I like the look of. I used to be obsessed with Steven King and Dean Koontz, although I had to sleep with the bedroom light on when I had read their books.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write? I've always had a desire to write. I don't think it came from anyone else. The stories have always been there developing in my mind. At school I used to get told off for daydreaming. I had a few English teachers who praised my writing, I found that encouraging.
CHASING BUTTERFLIES
Chasing Butterflies is the story of Hope.It's the story of a girl who is damaged by life. A story about finding love against all odds. It's a story of hidden truths and painful lies.The main character Hope is on the cusp of her fortieth birthday. She has just about got her life together. She is married to Ben who she absolutely adores, she has an amazing job as an architect.Everything changes following a devastating twist of fate. Hope's life starts to spiral out of control, she is troubled by dreams that remind her of the past she left behind.Hope returns to the idyllic Cornish village of her childhood to find the answers she needs to find peace.Will she find the truth is more painful than the lie?Amazon Linkhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Butterflies-Nicole-Thorne-ebook/dp/B08923F7ZH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ASEX69TB6IOX&dchild=1&keywords=chasing+butterflies&qid=1594589838&sprefix=chasing+butter%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1
