Nancy J. Cohen's Blog: Nancy's Notes from Florida, page 106

Time Management

Things used to be simpler several years ago when all we had to worry about was selling to a NY publishing house. When I wrote for Kensington, I turned in one book a year. Easy, right? I wrote my Bad Hair Day mysteries and nothing else. No blogs or Facebook posts. I didn’t have a second publisher to worry about making deadlines with double the work.

It wasn’t until my option book was turned down that I started writing in other genres to see what would sell. Now it’s years later, and while I’m still looking for a home for my two new mystery series, Wild Rose Press has picked up my romances. I am preparing to launch a new paranormal series with Warrior Prince.

Meanwhile, Five Star published my tenth Marla Shore mystery. So years after I thought this series was dead, I’m writing it again. Before starting the eleventh book, I completed the first three books in my Drift Lords series. So those are all done, except for the edits, page proofs, and promotion.

And herein comes the juggling act. I am attempting to move forward with Bad Hair Day mystery #11, but I keep having to halt work on this project to do page proofs and revisions for the Drift Lords series, not to mention planning the promotional campaign for the series launch.

Meanwhile, those two completed mysteries linger in the back of my mind. Should I continue submitting them to small press or self-publish? If the latter, should I publish them as stand-alones or as the first books in new series?

Before deciding on these titles—and we’re still waiting for responses so hope remains in that regard—I would like to self-publish my deceased father’s book. He hitchhiked across the U.S. in 1929 and his journal includes some fascinating adventures. So my projects include:

1. The Drift Lords series from The Wild Rose Press

2. A new Bad Hair Day mystery

3. The possibility of self-publishing three titles

4. The possibility of one of my other mysteries selling in the interim

Never before have we had so many options. It’s an exciting time but it’s also consuming. Who has free time when we can publish our entire body of works through various formats, and then when we have to spend hours on the social networks promoting them? And this discussion concerns new works, not backlist titles. Those need time and attention, too, in the accelerating ebook market. So does writing additional material for world building extras for readers, and more.

Soon I’ll be heading off to Malice in Bethesda. I’m excited to meet new friends and visit with mystery writer pals I haven’t seen in a while. So if my posts are sparse in the next few weeks, it’s because I am happy and busy or we’re on the road.

Are you still writing at the same pace with the advent of new technologies? How have your writing/reading habits been affected?

PASSOVER FEAST

PASS THE HORSERADISH: A FEAST NOT TO BE PASSED OVER

Holidays are often associated with the special foods that we share together. Passover is one of these special events for me. I have fond memories of seders at our house where I grew up and of the various relatives who attended. At the time, my mother kept kosher, so the night before found us going through the house with a feather and a candle to search out any remaining bread crumbs (which my mother had placed there earlier). I don't remember if she actually collected these in a cloth and burned them or just threw them out, but the ritual retains a place in my mind. She'd put out two entirely new sets of china dishes just for Pesach, one for dairy and one for meat.

Oh—maybe this is why I have four sets of good china?

Anyway, delicious aromas would fill the kitchen the next morning: chicken soup boiling in a large stockpot on the gas stove, brisket roasting, sweet potatoes baking. I'd help set the table and put the Haggadahs around, the prayer books that tell the story of the slave exodus from Egypt. My mother made up individual dishes of salt water to dip our hard boiled eggs in, and she roasted the symbolic bone herself for the seder plate.

       

Finally the hour would come when we all sat around the table, dressed for company and mouths watering for the feast that would follow. My uncle conducted the service, each person taking a turn reading a paragraph at a time, telling the story of Moses and the ten plagues that beset the Pharaoh's people. We got to dip parsley in salt water as part of the ritual and ate Hillel's sandwiches, a forkful of charoses and a bit of maror (bitter herbs served as horseradish) in between pieces of matzoh. I could eat the charoses—chopped apples, walnuts, and sweet grape wine—by itself. Finally, we came to the break when we could eat. All right!

Usually I ate my hardboiled egg first, slicing up chunks and dipping it in the salty water. The egg symbolizes eternal life. Next came a plate of gefilte fish artfully arranged on a bed of lettuce, with beet horseradish on the side. Matzoh ball soup was up next. Oh, so good. And then we come to the main dishes, brisket or roast chicken with tzimmes—a mashup of cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, and prunes—and a green vegetable. Some people might make matzoh or farfel stuffing. I can't remember if we ate this or not. Dessert had to be flourless so this often consisted of macaroons, although nowadays you can buy almond cookies and cakes at the grocery store. I'm also fond of the candied "fruit" slices available at this time of year.

Stuffed to the gills, so to speak, we finished the seder service. I'd watch carefully Elijah's cup of wine to see if the prophet drank from it when we opened the door for him. He must get pretty drunk by the end of the night, considering how many households he has to visit. We're not immune, either, since we have to keep refilling our wine glasses (grape juice for kids) so as to meet the requirement of drinking four glasses of wine. Mostly this means topping off our glasses, but no wonder one of the Four Questions always asked by the youngest child is, "Why do we recline on this night and on no other night?" It's because we're too full and tipsy to move!

Just think, if you're religious or have a lot of friends, you can do it again on the second night. Oy, vey. Hold the diet until next week!

For Jewish recipes, go to:

http://jewishrecipes.org/

http://www.easyjewishrecipes.com/

http://www.jewishrecipetrader.com/

What are some of your food memories from either Easter or Passover?

UCF Book Festival

UCF BOOK FESTIVAL

March 31, 2012

This was my first year participating in this illustrious event. Last Friday evening, my husband and I attended the author reception on campus. It was a delightful event where we mingled with other authors while sipping wine and eating shrimp appetizers, stuffed mushrooms, baked brie in pastry, and more. A chocolate fountain tempted our sweet tooth with marshmallows and pound cake to dip. There was a brief welcome talk and then everyone dispersed.

Daniel & Michael Palmer, Nancy Cohen, Neil Plakcy

Neil Plakcy and Nancy Cohen

The next day, I arrived at the UCF Arena and made my way through the building's maze to the author hospitality suite on the third level. Here our sponsors offered snacks throughout the day. I greeted my fellow panelists, Bob Morris and Neil S. Plakcy, and we headed for our allotted room. Our panel, "Killing People in Exotic Places", brought a good crowd—mostly young aspiring writers. They asked intelligent questions and kept the conversation flowing. All three of us speakers set our stories in tropical locales, from Florida to the Caribbean to Hawaii. We discussed how the setting influences our work and dispensed writing tips to the audience. A brief signing followed in the main arena lobby.

Nancy Cohen, Neil Plakcy, Bob Morris

Nancy J. Cohen

Neil and Nancy

Bob, Neil and Nancy

On Sunday, we met our kids and tried to go to CSI: The Experience, but it hadn't opened yet. This attraction looks like fun but we'll have to wait until our next trip to Orlando. It's on International Drive next to the Titanic exhibit. Instead, we explored Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort, had lunch in the fast-food restaurant, and strolled the landscaped grounds. Dinner was at House of Blues in Downtown Disney.

Here's a parting shot of our latest friend, the alligator in the lake by our condo.

The gator looks like a log on the water.

<><><>

On Wednesday, April 4, I am guest blogging over at The Lady Killers on the theme of Second Choices and how it relates to Shear Murder. Please drop by and leave a comment!

15 Tips for Blog Touring

I haven't posted on this topic for a while so it's time for a revisit. I've just finished my blog tour for Shear Murder so these points are fresh in my mind. Here's hoping they're useful to you.

Write down possible blog topics as you write your WIP. This way, you'll have a ready list of subjects available when you need them (i.e. research aspects, the writing process, what inspired you to write this story, world building details, themes, settings, etc.).

Compile a list of bloggers whom you would like to approach. Aim for popular blogs that get a lot of traffic but also include friendly authors who host guests and who may expose your work to a different audience.

Write a polite email mentioning your upcoming release and asking if the host would be amenable to you doing a guest post on his blog.

Schedule three to five guest spots a week around the release date and for the next few weeks. Space them out so you don't clog the loops with your announcements. As courtesy to your host, don't schedule more than one per day.

Read the host's blog and determine a topic appropriate to the audience. Note if the blog is slanted toward readers or writers and also note the length of the articles. Some hosts will offer guidelines. You may also ask your host if there's a particular topic he'd like you to address.

Vary the formats by doing some Q&A interviews, a chat with your character, "A day in the life" of your sleuth, or talk about a relevant hobby. Just be mindful to slant your post to the host blog's readership.

Choose your blog title carefully so that the subject matter is clear and enticing to the reader.

Type up your schedule including, for each post, the date and day of the week, blog title and URL, host's name and contact info, and your chosen topic. Save the file and print a copy.

Bring up this same schedule on your computer, remove each host's contact info and name, and save it as a separate file. This will be your public schedule that you can post around the Web on your various sites.

Block off two weeks before your release date and write all the blogs. Or do them one day at a time, as long as they are finished well ahead of your tour start date. Include a book blurb, a buy link, and your social networking sites at the end of each post.

Consider offering a giveaway for commenters at selected blogs or as a grand prize at the end of the tour. Include this announcement in each post and also tell the hosts.

Send your article to the host along with an author photo, book cover photo, and a short biography. After you send each blog post to the host, mark that one as Sent on your schedule.

Publicize the blog tour on your social networks, website, personal blog, and elsewhere.

When the day comes, be available all day to answer comments. It's helpful if you pop in to the guest site every few hours. Be sure to promote the event on all your social networks, including Facebook groups and listserves. Tweet about it several times a day with slightly different wording. Thank your host at the end of the day.

To evaluate your tour, write down the number of comments you received at each site. Consider which topics and sites brought the most responses and use this info when you plan your next blog hop. Good luck and have fun!

<><><>

What advice would you add?

Naples Zoo

Day 2 on Florida's west coast found us gobbling breakfast at Mel's Diner. Don't mistake this one with another franchise of the same name further south. The buildings look nothing alike.

   

After filling our stomachs, we headed for the Naples Zoo where we got an early start before the temperatures soared. Graced by century-old trees that rose magnificently toward the sky, covered with leafy vines, many of them had enough roots and branches to nest a substantial tree house. I admired the foliage more than the animals as we strolled along the trail. Having been to Disney's Animal Kingdom many times, I gave a cursory glance to the black bears, giraffes, tigers, coyotes, leopards, and alligators on display. There were snakes, poison dart frogs, parrots, lemurs, and other interesting creatures.

          

         

       

This little fellow is signifcant in Warrior Prince, book one in my Drift Lords paranormal series.

Hungry again, we ate hot dogs at the café. By now we were hot and sweaty after having walked all the way around, so we skipped the animal shows and the short jungle cruise and left to cool off in the nearby Coastland Center Mall. We spent some time here and then slowly made our way back to the hotel for a rest. We'd moved to the Holiday Inn Express for night number two.

Recommended shops in the Bonita Springs area: Trader Joe's for interesting food items; Best of Everything and Charming Charlie for accessories—hats, jewelry, scarves, handbags, wallets, etc. Fun places to visit!

We dined at Pinchers Crab Shack which had a mob of people, testifying to its popularity with the natives. I had grilled shrimp with a tasty broccoli salad and garlic mashed potatoes. My husband had crab cakes. The food was good as was the service and ambiance.

Day 3, we headed north on I-75 again to Estero where we spend a couple of hours at Miromar Outlets before my next talk for the Southwest Florida Romance Writers. This workshop was on how to write a mystery. I'm a member of the chapter so it's always good to see my writing pals on this coast of Florida. It's a great chapter if you live in this area.

         

Then it was time to come home and get ready for next week's event, the UCF Book Festival.

Bonita Springs, FL

En route to a luncheon with the Friends of Bonita Springs Library, we crossed Alligator Alley which runs between the western border of Fort Lauderdale and Naples, FL. Unlike other times, I didn't spot a single gator. Maybe it was because the water level was high or the weather was warm, but they must have been underwater. On one previous excursion, I'd counted over 20 gators one-way.

The sea of wheat-brown sawgrass extended as far as the eye can see. Birds were plentiful. After a half hour into the ride, the scrub brush increased as we obtained higher ground into the cypress preserve. It takes ninety minutes to reach the other side. Here we exited I-75 north at exit 116 and headed west to Route 41 or the Tamiami Trail. A quick turn north brought us to the lovely country club where the luncheon was held. Manicured lawns, colorful flowers, and graceful palms made a lush setting.

I enjoyed meeting the ladies from the library group, nearly ninety people. We ate a delicious lunch and then I gave my talk. This consisted of an overview of my Bad Hair Day mystery series, the life of working writer, and the state of publishing today. After quoting some statistics about the rise of ebooks and the decline of mass market paperbacks, I discussed the effects of the digital revolution on booksellers, librarians, readers, and authors. Following my speech, I signed books and thanked the organizers for inviting me.

     

    

From here, my husband and I checked into the Bonita Bay Trianon Hotel. Located next to the Promenade outdoor shopping center, this elegant four-story hotel has an attractive lobby and an adjacent lakeside restaurant. We unloaded our luggage and then strolled through the shopping center which, although beautifully designed and with upscale stores, was deadsville.

Coconut Point, a bit north on Rt. 41, was more lively. An outdoor shopping center, it boasts many interesting shops and restaurants as well as standard stores you see everywhere. After walking around here, we were hot and tired and retreated to our hotel.

We dined at the Lake House Bar and Grill. The food was tasty and we sipped our chardonnay while admiring the tranquil lake view. Our hotel room was spacious, the bathroom even larger than our master bath at home with a stall shower and a tub.

 

 

Tomorrow: Naples Zoo and More!

Shear Murder Review

Shear Murder, the tenth in Nancy J. Cohen's Bad Hair Day Mystery series, features beauty-shop owner/ amateur sleuth Marla Shore. In this outing, Marla and fiance Dalton Vail are planning their own wedding and building a new house. Marla is delighted to serve as a member of her friend Jill's bridal party, until, at the wedding reception, she discovers the matron-of-honor, Jill's sister, Torrie, murdered under the cake table.

Jill and her sister weren't as close as one might imagine; they had argued over commercial property that they co-owned. Torrie also knew a secret involving Jill's past. These facts lead Marla to suspect that Jill might be implicated in her sister's death. And when Marla investigates, she finds herself in peril.

Shear Murder, like its predecessors in the series, is a fast moving, humorous mystery. Cohen offers insight into the world of beauty salons in addition to providing a suspenseful cozy read. She fills its pages with a veritable host of intriguing characters, some of whom are culled from the earlier books. She thoughtfully provides a cast listing at the beginning of the book. It was a pleasure for this reader to catch up with familiar characters, such as Goat, who is Marla's neighbor, Anita, her mother, Roger Gold, Anita's boyfriend, and Brianna, Dalton's daughter.

It is not necessary to have read the earlier books to thoroughly enjoy this one. But having read it, one might well want to find out more about Marla and Dalton, and how their previous adventures led to where they find themselves at the end of Shear Murder.

–Stephanie Saxon Levine, Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore.

BUY NOW!

Florida Strawberry Festival

I've always wanted to attend the Florida Strawberry Festival and we finally got the chance a few weeks ago. I skipped out on the last day of Sleuthfest so we could pile into the car and drive west on I-4 to Plant City.

From here we followed signs to the festival. Parking was haphazard in school parking lots or on people's lawns where they charged $4-$5 for the day. From most lots, it was a few blocks walk to the festival grounds. Admission costs $10 per person for adults.

Once through the gate, we stared in awe at the carnival rides, games of chance, junk food booths, schlock vendors, and more. We never did find the livestock but we strode through several buildings with flea market type stalls. We stopped in a historical exhibit and looked at the strawberry patch demo.

All types of goods were for sale but these didn't interest us. We'd come for the food. As it was lunchtime, we grabbed hot dogs and then couldn't resist melted mozzarella sticks. Now for dessert.

Not only could you buy flats of fresh strawberries, but you could sample all sorts of concoctions like strawberry funnel cakes; strawberry sundaes, smoothies, and milkshakes; strawberry pies and cookies; chocolate-dipped strawberries. Besides the fruity treats, every other fast food or junk snack you've ever encountered can be found at this fairground.

The best offer was the make-your-own strawberry shortcake sponsored by a church group. This venture must bring them enough income for the year. We paid $3.50 each. In return, you get a plastic bowl and a fork. You get in line and a lady scoops a round shortcake into your vessel. Then you proceed along and ladle syrupy strawberries into the bowl followed by dollops of frothy whipped cream.

Sitting at a picnic table or standing among the mob, you spoon the sweet gooey mess into your mouth. By the time you reach the last morsel, you're sick to death of strawberries. At least, we couldn't look at another strawberry nor buy so much as a pint of them on our exit.

We did buy the strawberry bread to take home from one of the farm vendors, and that was well worth it. It's delicious and not too sweet, unlike the cookie sample that we couldn't finish. I'd definitely buy this again. But I think I'll stick to blueberries for a while, thank you.

The Queen and the Princess

So what good strawberry recipes do you have to share?

The Joys of Aging

Are you troubled by stiff joints, receding gums and thinning hair? No? Consider yourself lucky or too young to read this column. Here's another problem to worry about.

On Tuesday, I started getting flashes in my right eye of slivers of light. Then a new floater appeared. I'd had this before, like a little spot that floats around in your vision, but this new one was more annoying, like a hair hanging over my face. I let it go for a day, hoping the visual effects would fade away. But then the next day, I started seeing an occasional dark shadow at the bottom of my visual range. I got alarmed. These could be signs of retinal detachment, a medical emergency.  

I found a retinal specialist group right nearby. Their office opened at 8:00 am, and the three doctors were available 24/7 for emergency calls. I phoned on Wednesday morning at 8:05, and after hearing my symptoms, the receptionist said, "Come right in."

Why can't all doctor groups be as accommodating to patients as this one?

This is why I pay a lot of money for a health insurance policy that's a PPO. I don't need a referral and can go to any doctor I choose.

I downloaded the new patient forms that were conveniently online and filled them out before leaving the house. The office was less than ten minutes away. I checked in and didn't have to wait long at all to be called. A technician did the initial exam, checking my vision wearing my various pairs of reading and distance glasses, and taking a pressure reading which was fine. Then she put in drops to dilate my eyes.

     

Twenty minutes later, the doctor examined me. He said I didn't have any retinal tears or detachments. However, the symptoms are the same. What happens as you get older, is that the vitreous gel inside the eye becomes dense and pulls away from the surface of the retina. When the gel is too thick, sometimes it adheres to the retina and causes a tear. If fluid passes behind the tear, it can cause a retinal detachment. When untreated, this can lead to blindness. Treatment may be done in the office or in the operating room, depending upon the situation.

The doctor said there's nothing you can do to prevent this problem. It just occurs. I should come in again if I see a cascade of light flashes, a meteor shower of floaters, or have blurring or vision loss in one part of the eye. So I left the office feeling much relieved that I don't have any tears or detachment right now, but aware that as this posterior vitreous detachment occurs, there's still the possibility.

I'll return for an exam in a month, barring any changes. Meanwhile, the floater is annoying but I'll have to get used to it.

So watch out for these warning signs and add them to your list of What Goes Wrong as you age. Have any of you had a similar experience?

<><><>

Coming Friday: I'm guest blogging at Denise Agnew's site on WRITING IN DIFFERENT GENRES: http://deniseagnew.com/blog

Dialogue by Gender

You Talking to Me?

By Camille Minichino                       

Now and then I stray from mysteries and plunge into nonfiction. One of the latest books to set me thinking was "The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words say About Us," by J. Pennebaker, a social psychologist and language expert.

The whole book is fascinating—computer programs that yield insights into our personalities by counting and categorizing words from thousands of emails, letters, and personal ads. I was especially interested in a chapter on how men and women "speak" in books and movies. Which writers have both men and women sounding like men? (Shakespeare and Quentin Tarantino.) Both men and women sounding like women? (Gertrude Stein and Woody Allen.) Men sounding like men and women sounding like women? (Sam Shepard and Thornton Wilder.)

I've been wondering where I am on the spectrum. Do my female characters use more personal pronouns, as suggested by Pennebaker's research? Do my male characters shy away from social words, in favor of action words?

My research for dialogue doesn't involve computers, but rather careful listening to men and women of all ages and walks of life. I query my 35-year-old nephew on his language ("Do you call everyone 'Dude'?"); my 50-year-old friends ("How much Net Lingo do you use?"); and my 9-year-old granddaughter ("What do you say when you think something is pretty?")

But numbers appeal to me and I'm thinking about applying Pennebaker's computational methods to the postings of my students in an online course that I teach for a college in San Francisco. That is, the payroll office and the Help Desk are in San Francisco; I'm at home in a suburb thirty miles away and my students are all over the world.

With an international student body working in cyberspace, I often don't know the gender of some of my students. At first this was disconcerting. How could I know how to respond to a posting if I didn't know whether it came from a man or a woman? I've had first names such as Jigme, Myint-San, Widya, Lieu, and many more that are unpronounceable. I longed to have a photo, an audio file, or some indication of the student's gender. Maybe he or she would refer to a wife or husband. Of course in some states, that still wouldn't be a clue.

Even some "American" names are gender-neutral. Was the Sean I had last term a girl, like the actress Sean Young, or a guy, like the actor Sean Penn? How about Jordan? Lee? Alex? Casey?

Now, with the analytic techniques of computer linguistics, I should be able to apply some simple tests and counting procedures to determine which of my students is male, which female.

But, wait. Does it matter?

Did writers of an earlier day fool anyone by using initials only, or pen names of the opposite gender? Or were readers counting the number of personal pronouns and saying, "Aha! Too many I's and we's. I'll bet this is really a woman."

Does it help to know the gender perspective of the person who wrote the posting, or the mystery novel? Or does it hinder our ability to absorb the message objectively?

I'm not sure, but I know I'm going to get out my calculator and examine the dialogue as I write my next manuscript.

****       

Camille Minichino is a retired physicist turned writer.

As Camille Minichino, she's the author of the Periodic Table Mysteries. As Margaret Grace, she writes the Miniature Mysteries, based on her lifelong hobby. As Ada Madison, she writes the academic mysteries featuring Professor Sophie Knowles, college math teacher. "The Probability of Murder" was released March 6.

Soon, every aspect of her life will be a mystery series.

Website: http://www.minichino.com

FB: http://tinyurl.com/minichino

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/minichino

THE HYDROGEN MURDER re-issued on Kindle: http://amzn.to/Af4UO1

THE PROBABILITY OF MURDER (March 6): http://amzn.to/xGvCnP

MIX-UP IN MINIATURE (April 2): http://amzn.to/wpR2m9