C.W. Hawes's Blog, page 8

The Marcel Proust Questionnaire

Every now and then I like to go through the questions in the Marcel Proust Questionnaire.

If you are unfamiliar with the questionnaire, you can read the Wikipedia article. It gives a serviceable explanation.

The Questions

The questions stimulate thoughts about myself, or character motivations in my fiction. The questions help me to understand the actions of other people. They also make for a wonderful party game, if you run out of ideas for things to do.

There are different versions of the questionnaire floating around and Proust himself provided two different sets of answers, answering the questions at different points in his life.

Interviews

The questions are often used as the basis for interviews, because they cover a wide range of inquiries into what makes a person tick. Here are a few of the questions:

Which talent would you most like to have?What is your most treasured possession?What is your favorite occupation?What do you consider your greatest achievement?For Writers

Writers can, of course, make great use of the questions to learn more about their characters.

For example, to the question “What’s your favorite occupation” some of my characters might answer:

Justinia Wright – reading, playing the piano, painting, collecting vintage madeira

Harry Wright – cooking wonderful meals and enjoying them, Chess

Bea Wright – Tatting, and loving Harry

Cal Swenson – fishing, sitting in a boat in the middle of a remote lake and enjoying the quiet

Harry Thurgood – a really good cup of coffee, appreciating good art, dressing well

Ember Cole – prayer

Bill Arthur – reading, drinking good tea, contemplating, loving Sally

And where did I come up with these answers? Well, a writer’s characters are amalgams of his and his acquaintances’s personalities. The above came from myself and the people I know.

Have fun with the Proust Questionnaire. And perhaps most of all, use it to understand yourself.

Comments

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

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Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post The Marcel Proust Questionnaire first appeared on CW Hawes.

Only the Good Die Young

Cindy Davis is back with more adventures of Bliss in that bucolic Texas Hill Country town, Magnolia Bluff.

Today is launch day for

Only the Good Die Young

Book 12 in the multi-author Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

Bliss

Quite frankly, Bliss is one of my favorite characters in the world of Magnolia Bluff, Texas.

She’s a snarky and fun-loving person who will die for pizza and swoons over peanut butter. But most of all, she especially loves being free and independent. A rolling stone with no responsibilities.

Only the Good Die Young

In Only the Good Die Young, Bliss is once again back in Magnolia Bluff. Only this time she’s in town willingly — houseboat-sitting for her friend, Olivia, and helping the Doyle family celebrate Easter.

And what a celebration it is: piles of good food, and great music from the popular local band Loco-Motion.

Everything is going along just great until the lead singer picks up her favorite guitar, touches the strings, and turns into a living — and soon dead — fireworks display.

Now that Nina Warren is dead, and the logical suspect pool is Bliss’s favorite family, the Doyles, she wants to be involved in the investigation.

Of course Chief of Police Tommy Jager doesn’t want Bliss’s help.

And of course, Bliss and her friends ignore Tommy and begin poking around in the life of the late singer.

I don’t want to give away the storyline. That would spoil the mystery.

Cindy Davis’s Best

Instead, let me say that with Bliss and her adventures, Cindy Davis has hit the ball out of the park.

These are fabulously entertaining cozy mysteries. Just plain old good clean fun. With a healthy dollop of the paranormal thrown in that really spices things up.

Ms. Davis has a knack for making the paranormal seem so very normal. And she does so with a deft hand. The Bliss books are clearly Cindy Davis at her best.

You will definitely want to get in on the action, the laughs, the fun, the pizza, and especially the noggin-scratchin’ puzzler of a mystery.

Who wanted Nina Warren dead, and why? Count on Bliss to find out and end up dying for her efforts. Well, almost. Maybe.

I love the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series. Eleven writers producing some of the best mysteries and thrillers for your entertainment.

And I especially love Bliss. I think you will too.

Only the Good Die Young by Cindy Davis. On sale right now — on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Only the Good Die Young first appeared on CW Hawes.

Worldbuilding and Magnolia Bluff

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is often seen as the exclusive purview of the fantasy and science fiction genres. After all, in those genres the writer is often literally building a world. Creating races of beings. And inventing all manner of things that don’t exist.

Yet, I’d submit that every writer of fiction, to a greater or lesser degree, engages in worldbuilding. After all, even the most real life setting is peopled with human beings the writer has created out of his head.

In addition, the writer may add buildings where none exist, or the reverse. He may create restaurants that have no correspondence to anything real. Yet there they exist in his “real life” setting. 

Just because a setting appears “real” doesn’t mean it actually is.

Nevertheless someone may protest, “But that’s not a world the writer is creating.”

And I counter with, “Why not?” 

The mystery writer’s world is just as made up as is the fantasy writer’s. Both worlds don’t actually exist. They’ve been built to meet the needs of the the story being told.

A Multi-Author Series

Back in 2021, I proposed to my fellow Underground Authors that we write a multi-author novel series.

We’d just published an outstanding short story collection, Beyond the Sea (get it on Amazon).

So why not go one further?

But what the heck is a multi-author novel series? Well, it’s like any other series of novels — except each book is written by a different writer.

Of course, in practice it’s not as simple as it sounds. It’s more along the lines of attempting to herd a clowder of cats. And that’s mostly due to the temperament of creative-type folks.

Nevertheless, once the idea caught fire with the Underground Authors it took hold and we had ourselves a raging creative prairie fire.

We set ground rules. And proceeded to create our world.

Magnolia Bluff

Out of thin air, we created the town of Magnolia Bluff and set it down in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. The town is very loosely taken from the actual town of Burnet, Texas. We also re-named Buchanan Lake to Burnet Reservoir. 

I found Texas state highway numbers no longer being used and used them create highways into and out of town.

We created lots of buildings and institutions, but most of all we created people. Because no town can exist without people.

Out of our imaginations, much like Athena springing from Zeus’s forehead fully dressed for battle, we created a pantheon of major and minor players.

There’s Harry Thurgood, owner of the Really Good Wood-Fired Coffee Shop, a man with a mysterious past.

There’s the Reverend Ember Cole, pastor of the Methodist Church, who also has a past she doesn’t want revealed.

Every town worth it’s salt has a newspaper. So our town has Graham Huston, owner and editor of the Magnolia Bluff Chronicle.

There’s also Bliss, who’s just passing through, but like a boomerang, keeps coming back.

There’s also vacationing Father Frank, JJ, and Jo.

Dr. Mike Kurelek is available to help people with their problems. He also teaches psychology at Burnet College.

What is a town without a library? And Magnolia Bluff has one. Caroline McCluskey is the head librarian.

And a  town can’t get by without law enforcement. So we have Police Chief Tommy Jager, Sheriff Buck Blanton, Police Investigator Reece Sovern, Conservation Officer Madison Jackson, and Judge Rutherford B Jones. All doing their duty to make Magnolia Bluff a safe place to live.

There are also those prodigal children who leave their home, sometimes for many years, but manage to find their way back. Blue Bonet is one of those.

But these aren’t the only people. There are 10,000 souls in our town, so there are a lot more folks for you to meet and greet. Not counting the funerals you might encounter while visiting. In fact, count on the funerals.

Each of the Underground Authors has his or her core characters. They are the “untouchables”. The rest of us may use them and abuse them, but we can’t kill them off.

We are now up to 12 writers. Twelve writers building one town, and its people, history, and traditions one book at a time.

Yes, sirree Bob. Worldbuilding at its finest.

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles

Book 12, Only the Good Die Young by Cindy Davis, is on pre-order now. Pick up a copy and immerse yourself in the world of Magnolia Bluff. 

You can check out the series page on Amazon. There you will discover more immersion experiences in our wonderful Hill Country town.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Worldbuilding and Magnolia Bluff first appeared on CW Hawes.

My Movie and Book Favorites of All Time

Four years ago I was a guest on Lisette Brodey’s Writers Chateau.

The other day I was looking over my answers to her questions. And decided if I did the interview today, I’d probably answer at least some of the questions differently. Such is the passage of time. 

But it’s still a good interview. You can read it on her website.

Today, on the blog, I thought I’d take another look at one of the questions she asked me. So here goes my re-assessment.

Favorite Film of All Time 

What is my favorite film of all time? This is actually a very difficult question. Mostly because I’m not a film guy. I’m a book guy.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t watch movies because I do. Especially in the past. Today, I’d rather read a book. And the older I get, the more I’d rather read than watch.

I thought about the answer I gave Lisette. Had my opinion changed in the past 4 years? After all, there are some truly outstanding movies out there. Would I pick a different one?

Some of the great movies, in my opinion, are:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 2001: A Space Odyssey Metropolis Frau in Mond (Woman in the Moon) The Remains of the Day The Graduate The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (You might have to be an old person to really get this movie.)

In the end, I couldn’t pick just one for Lisette. And I still can’t pick just one.

Little Big Man

I think Little Big Man is one of the most significant movies ever made.

The movie is about what is important in life. It is an indictment of the hypocrisy inherent in political, social, and cultural values. And how destructive those false values become when they are imposed on individuals and other cultures.

What is true and good is not what society ordains. Those values come from within. The ultimate truth never comes from without. It always comes from within.

Late Spring

Late Spring is one of Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu’s greatest movies. And I think it is one of the greatest movies ever made.

In a totally different setting and culture, Ozu tells us the same message that we find in Little Big Man. What is true and good is not what society and culture tells us is true and good.

We need to live life for ourselves and not live our lives according to someone else’s standards.

Late Spring is a simple story, but Ozu took this simple story and made it into a powerful tale that champions the individual and condemns the society that seeks to crush that individual.

Favorite Book of All Time

This one, too, is difficult. There are so many good books. And I’ve read a number of very powerful novels and stories since I answered Lisette’s question.

A few of the works of fiction that are in the running for Favorite Book of All Time are:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro On the Beach by Nevil Shute (has one of the most emotionally powerful endings I’ve ever read) The Macdermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope“The Spotted Dog” by Anthony Trollope (a long short story that is truly gut wrenching)Barchester Towers by Anthony TrollopeWingman by Daniel Pinkwater (a kid’s book that is so incredibly emotive I think it is actually a book for adults)1984 by George Orwell (so real it scared the crap out of me)Church Mouse by RH Hale (one of the most atmospheric novels I’ve ever read, with amazingly memorable characters)The Boom Town Saga by Caleb Pirtle III (3 novels that actually are one long story; the series contains 2 of the most well-drawn characters I’ve ever read)Last Deadly Lie by Caleb Pirtle III (this book was a great discovery: the characters are absolutely phenomenal and the storyline is a stunner)Don’t Dream It’s Over by Matthew Cormack (the best post-apocalyptic novel I’ve ever read, and one of the best novels I’ve ever read)James Vincett is a science fiction author with, so far, 5 titles, in 3 series, in his universe. Mr. Vincett’s worldbuilding is simply awesome. One of the most imaginative fictional universes I’ve read.

But given all of the above, plus the ones I didn’t list, I think I will stick with my original assessment.

Sredni Vashtar

My favorite “book” of all time is the short story “Sredni Vashtar” by Saki.

To remember a story you read 60 or so years ago and never forget it definitely means it had a tremendous impact on you.

Like my all time favorite movies described above, “Sredni Vashtar” is a story about a revolt from convention, a revolt from those who think they know what is best for us, but in the end don’t actually care about us. They simply want us to conform to their life goals and purpose. It is a story about becoming free.

And there is nothing better than being free.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post My Movie and Book Favorites of All Time first appeared on CW Hawes.

Whither Music and Media?

Several years ago, I participated in Brian Fatah Steele’s 7Q interview. You can read the entire interview on his website.

Question #4 was “How does music and media factor into your writing? Do you feel it plays as much an inspirational role as literature?”

Time has moved on a fair bit since I answered the question for Brian. So, I thought I’d revisit and see if anything has changed.

Music

There’s no doubt about it. I love music. One of my major disappointments is that my parents did not encourage my interest in music. Nothing I can do about that now. That’s 60+ years in the past.

I’m too old to become a good amateur instrumentalist. My hands are against me. I can still learn composition, however, and I might pursue that. I certainly enjoyed dabbling in composition 40+ years ago.

When I was a high school and college lad, I listened to music while I did my homework. I listened to a lot of music. Classical music. I love classical music. Something I have my grandmother to thank. My parents weren’t too happy with her for that.

Now, though, in my old age, I am finding that I much prefer silence to sound. It’s not that I dislike music. It’s just that I value silence more. Sound is becoming increasingly grating on my ears. Kind of like that old Simon & Garfunkel song: “Sounds of Silence”.

My last few years at work I often use earplugs because the office was just too noisy.

Today, I very rarely listen to music while writing. And without a doubt I can say music does not provide any inspiration for my stories.

I do, though, find that fiction has increased my enjoyment of music. I’m more and more listening to the structure of the music I listen to. Something I never did in my youth.

But music does feature in my fiction. It’s ubiquitous in fact. My characters like music. They listen to it. They perform it. They quote lyrics. Music is all over my fiction. It just doesn’t inspire any story ideas.

Visual Media

Visual media covers a multitude of platforms.

There is film, both large and small screen. There is digital content: YouTube, TikTok, and the like. There are video games. And let us not forget plain old static pictures.

Visual Media occupies a huge part of our lives. It is all around us. Every day and every waking hour of every day. The influence is undoubtedly profound.

While I am not into video, I do very much enjoy fine art. Paintings. Photographs. Pottery. Art glass. Architecture. 

Fine art floats my boat. Even things such as a well-designed tea pot, cup, or mug will catch my eye. Or the shape of a fine pen, or mechanical pencil. Or the color pattern.

Gazing on beauty lifts the spirits and the soul.

Art features fairly consistently in my fiction. I suppose, because like music, fine art is an expression of the human potential. A glimpse of what we can become.

My fiction, which is my art, is ultimately a voice crying in the wilderness that there is something better for us — both individually and collectively — than what we have now. And we should pursue that which is better. Never be satisfied with what we have. Because what we have is mostly not worth having. There is something better for us.

Inspiration

All in all, literature provides a large portion of my inspiration. About equal with observation of the world around me, and those gifts that come from the Muse.

Music doesn’t inspire any ideas. Nor does fine art. On rare occasions a storyline or scene from a movie or TV episode will trigger an idea.

As noted above, video is not my thing. I’d rather read a good book. Especially since political correctness and wokeness have taken over the big and small screens in such a blatant manner. Watching movies and TV just isn’t enjoyable anymore. I want to watch a good story — not propaganda.

A true artist can get his point across much more affectively with a stiletto then with a club.

The movie Little Big Man is a powerful statement regarding the collision of Native and Euro-American cultures, as well as an indictment of Euro-American culture. It is an effective use of the stiletto to get its point across.

The Graduate does the same thing with regards to societal and familial expectations, pressures, and hypocrisy. Once again, the stiletto is deadly — and for more effective than a club would’ve been.

The old DCI Tom Barnaby episodes of Midsomer Murders did the same. Tom is ordinary. Husband. Father. A good employee. Normal home life. He himself is normal. It’s the rich, the high society folk, who are sick and what’s wrong with the world. The series also took a stab at the notion of the idyllic country life versus the corrupt city. In Midsomer it’s reversed.

The stiletto is always more effective than the club. 

But today’s writers, especially those for the screen, use the club almost exclusively and are the worse for it.

I don’t know about you, but I respond better to the stiletto.

So until screenwriters and producers go back to good story writing instead of pushing propaganda, I’m reaching for a good book.

What about you? How would you answer Mr. Steele’s question? Drop your answer in the comments below.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Whither Music and Media? first appeared on CW Hawes.

Interview with the Reverend Ember Cole

Today, I have the honor of talking with the Reverend Ember Cole, pastor of Saint Luke’s Methodist Church in beautiful Magnolia Bluff, Texas. The home base for the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

CW: Welcome, Ember. Glad you can be with me here today on the blog.

EC: My pleasure, CW. Thanks for inviting me.

CW: So to start, why do you wear a Catholic hat?

EC: (laughs) It’s easily recognized as religious, and with the clerical collar immediately marks me as a person of the cloth. And because women ministers are still something of a rare breed, that helps me in my ministry.

CW: Makes sense. To go one further, why did you choose the ministry for a career?

EC: I don’t think of the ministry as a career. I see it as a life of service to my fellow human beings.

CW: What kind of service?

EC: To help them with both their physical and spiritual needs. Especially the spiritual. To borrow a turn of phrase from my evangelical colleagues, we all have a God-size hole in us. And we too often fill it with everything but God. But only God really fits. It’s the square peg, round hole thing.

CW: Gotcha. So you don’t consider yourself an evangelical?

EC: Not in the sense they mean by it. I believe we should tell people about Jesus and encourage them to believe, so I’m evangelical in that sense of the word. But I don’t accept the other things they believe.

CW: Such as?

EC: The verbal and plenary inspiration of the scriptures. The virgin birth. And very recently, I’ve started to doubt if there even was an actual physical Jesus.

CW: Whoa, Reverend! No Jesus?

EC: (laughs) Yeah, that’s a bit of a shocker, isn’t it?

CW: I mean, like, how did everything get started if there wasn’t a Jesus to kick things off?

EC: Oh, there was somebody. It was Peter. Paul quite clearly says Jesus first appeared to Peter. Then after Peter, Jesus went on to appear to many others.

CW: Wait a minute. Are we talking about a spiritual Jesus here?

EC: In a sense, yes. You see, the idea is that God created Jesus, you know, the Word, and through the Word all things came into being. 

Then Satan rebelled and God kicked him out of heaven, which the ancients thought was the most distant sphere from us. We’d think of their spheres surrounding the earth as dimensions or parallel universes. So Satan came to our dimension. 

Then God sent Jesus to our dimension, but not physically to earth. He appeared in Satan’s realm, which the ancients thought was up by the moon. Today, it makes more sense to think of it as another dimension, or a parallel universe.

CW: Okay, so Jesus moves from God’s dimension to Satan’s dimension.

EC: Right. At least something like that. Using our contemporary understanding.

CW: Okay. So Jesus is now hanging out with Satan.

EC: (laughs) Something like that. Then Jesus lets Satan kill Him. After which, Jesus rose from the dead, and first appeared to Peter. In a dream, maybe. Or a vision. Lastly, He appeared to Paul in a vision.

CW: That’s… That’s… Wow, that’s different. And all this happened not on earth, but in another dimension.

EC: Right.

CW: Mind boggling.

EC: But it is what Paul wrote and taught. And Paul’s genuine letters are the first Christian writings that we have. Paul never mentions talking to an eyewitness, nor does he ever mention Jesus’s birth or His family. What Paul does write is that all, and I repeat, all of the information he got was by visions or through the scriptures. Never an eyewitness to an earthly Jesus. And if we think about it, why wouldn’t he if such a witness existed? But Paul never does. Only visions and scripture. And those make sense only if Jesus was never here on earth in the first place.

CW: Huh. That isn’t what I learned in seminary. And the Methodist Church is okay with you believing this view?

EC: You went to seminary? Well, that’s interesting. I wonder…

CW: That was a lifetime ago. But what about your bishop? What does he think?

EC: Well, the church probably isn’t okay with it. And my bishop doesn’t know. You’re the first person I’ve told about this. But then you…

CW: Nope. I’m just an amanuensis. So this is news to me.

EC: But aren’t you the writer?

CW: Amanuensis. I receive and write down. Like Paul.

EC: (giggles) That’s funny. Because I do believe in visions and dreams. In a sense, you might say I’m something of a charismatic Methodist. Part of the Third Wave.

CW: And your bishop is okay with that?

EC: Probably not. But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or me.

CW: Oh, clever you!

EC: In spite of what Harry thinks, I’m not completely naïve when it comes to politics. (smiles)

CW: And everything is politics.

EC: That it is.

CW: And speaking of politics, is Mary Lou Fight still after you?

EC: Yes. She’d like to come back to Saint Luke’s, but won’t as long as I’m there. So she’s still exploring ways to get me out.

CW: Does that bother you?

EC: Not really. I mean, yes, it’s frustrating. And it annoys the hell out of me at times.

CW: Wait. Did you just say hell?

EC: I did. You’ve never heard a minister ever say hell before?

CW: I was Baptist, so yes I have. Sorry. You were saying?

EC: Mary Lou is my cross to bear, so to speak.

CW: Even though you don’t believe there was a literal cross.

EC: (smiles) Yeah. Funny how the historicist and literalist views have influenced out language.

CW: Yes, it is.

EC: I very much feel sorry for Mary Lou. She is a miserable person at heart. If any one needs the love of Jesus, it is that woman. And I hope she finds it.

CW: Do you have a motto or mantra that keeps you going throughout the day?

EC: I do. Paul’s words in Romans chapter eight, verse twenty-eight: “…all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

CW: That’s a very good verse. Very positive. Optimistic.

EC: It is.

CW: I know this last question might sound morbid, but I always tell myself momento mori, remember you will die. It’s a great guiding principle to help keep things in perspective.

EC: It is.

CW: So, how would you like to die?

EC: Oh, that’s easy. In the arms of my lover.

CW: Harry?

EC: Well, that would be nice. But I was actually referring to Jesus.

CW: Oh, wow. Yeah, okay. I can see that.

EC: (singing)

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last.

CW: That’s a great hymn.

EC: It is. I also love the lines in the third stanza: “Thou, O Christ, art all I want; more than all in Thee I find.”

CW: Yeah. You, Ember Cole, are a woman of tremendous faith. Magnolia Bluff is fortunate to have you. Thanks for being on the blog.

EC: Thanks for having me. And may Christ be with you.

CW: And also with you. And if you have any questions for Rev Em, drop them in the comments below.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Interview with the Reverend Ember Cole first appeared on CW Hawes.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Mice

The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles keep rolling along.

This month, on March 18th, as a matter of fact, Book 11 launches

When Bad Things Happen to Good Mice

And you can pick the book up on pre-order now.

Cindy Davis gives us another fun cozy mystery, filled with great humor, plenty of suspense, and a touch of the paranormal. After all, who doesn’t like ghosts? And the pizza shop owner knowing what kind of pizza you want?

Bliss seems to be the recipient of bad mojo. Here she is camping under the stars, minding her own business, when Chief Jager hauls her back to town on a charge of murder.

Murder of her boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend.

Why?

Because a body, presumed to be Bliss’s ex-boyfriend, was found in the ashes of the Annual Celtic Faire bonfire. 

Of course, Bliss was miles away when he died. But not so, according to a witness, someone Bliss considered a friend. 

The witness claims she saw Bliss in town the day of the bonfire. And no one can prove otherwise.

Chief Jager is getting pressure from all sides to solve the murder. And to catch the petty thief who’s been all over town breaking and entering and stealing cash.

With the help of her ability to see people’s auras, get clues from Tom Chapin songs that pop into her head, and the clues her toucan Diablo drops on her, Bliss thinks the murder and the thefts are related.

Chief Jager, though, doesn’t buy it. Well, not until it’s discovered that the body in the bonfire wasn’t Bliss’s ex-boyfriend after all.

So who was he? And why was he killed? And why have the thefts suddenly stopped?

Bliss, with charges dropped, is on a mission to find out.

It’s not every day that a mystery is filled with suspense and thrills, and is great fun. But that’s what Cindy Davis delivers in this latest installment of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

So if you’re looking to have a good time while taking a break from spring cleaning, or relaxing in the comfy coziness of your favorite chair or sofa on a lazy afternoon, or while sitting in bed before you hit the hay — then pick up a copy of 

When Bad Things Happen to Good Mice

You won’t regret it!

And if you’re new to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series, you can start your adventure with

Death Wears a Crimson Hat

And you can find all of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

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10 Favorite Private Detective Novels

People often ask me for book recommendations; especially PI mysteries, as they can be difficult to find.

A recent look at the Amazon Top 25 in the Private Investigator category had me dumping most of them because there wasn’t a shamus in sight.

When the category is Private Investigator I don’t know why Amazon allows FBI agents, amateur sleuths, DCIs, vampire hunters, and who knows what else to take over the category. ‘Tain’t right. ‘Tain’t fair.

So without further ado, I give you 10 bona fide Private Detective novels for your reading pleasure.

This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies by Renee Pawlish. This the first book in the Reed Ferguson series, and it is a goody. A bit hardboiled, a bit noir, and a bit cozy.The Italian Affair by John Tallon Jones. The Penny Detective is fast becoming one of my favorite PI series. Moggs and Shoddy are super characters. You will love these guys. And this book is especially fun.Deadly Passion by Joe Congel. Tony Razzolito, aka The Razzman, is a great character. This is a fab series. I keep praying Joe will write faster.Turn on the Heat by Erle Stanley Gardner (as AA Fair) is one of the novels in the Bertha Cool and Donald Lam series. Not as well known as Perry Mason, the series, though, is quite good. Although, I think Gardner missed a bet by not giving Bertha a bigger role. She is a stupendous character.China Trade by SJ Rozan. I love Rozan’s Lydia Chin. A very refreshing character. Bill Smith, on the other hand, I’m not so taken with. Lydia and Bill aren’t partners. But they help each other out. Friends without benefits, one might say. Although Bill would love for their relationship to get to the benefits stage. The odd numbered books are in Lydia’s POV; the even, in Bill’s. Super series.The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout. I love the Nero Wolfe mysteries. Put me on a desert island with the Tom Barnaby Midsomer Murders and the Nero Wolfe mysteries and plenty of tea and I’m in heaven. Nero Wolfe is the yardstick by which I judge a mystery’s quality.The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. I just finished reading the Marlowe mysteries. They are fab. Especially the later ones. This novel is probably my fav. I’ll be re-reading these in the near future. No one can beat Chandler for uniquely engaging descriptions. Do read the Marlowe books. They are amongst the best books you’ll ever read.Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Poirot is, IMO, rather one dimensional. He’s peculiar, and noticeable, but not in a way that makes him a fan favorite like, say, Sherlock Holmes. Christie’s strong suit, IMO, is her complex storylines. Not her characters.The Case is Closed by Patricia Wentworth. The Miss Silver mysteries are good reading. Wentworth is on par with Christie, and deserves to be more widely known.The Shoulders of Giants by Jim Cliff. Excellent mystery. My great sadness is that Mr. Cliff didn’t write more than 2.

The above are 10 gumshoe novels I very much enjoyed and I think you will too.

I’m even going to throw in an eleventh:

But Jesus Never Wept

Tina and Harry quickly find themselves immersed in a bloody murder, an online sex empire, church politics, art forgeries, and the Yakuza.

And when the bullets start flying, will they survive long enough to pin the murder on the culprit?

Head on over to Amazon and find out!

That’s all for now.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The Morris Shannon Mysteries

Amongst the slush I am frequently finding on Kindle Unlimited these days, I occasionally run across a real gem.

The Masked Man of Cairo series is one such gem. Another is John Tallon Jones’s Morris Shannon Mystery series, aka The Penny Detective.

I am loving this PI series by Jones. He tells you up front that the sole purpose of the books are to provide a couple hours of entertainment. That’s it. And in my opinion, they do that in spades.

In fact, I’d say that Mr Jones is being too modest. There is plenty of hardboiled grit delivered with plenty of humor, in a style that goes down quite easily. Maybe as easily as fish and chips, or a yummy bacon sandwich.

Morris Shannon is the son of a self-made multi-millionaire, who got his money selling used cars.

However, Morris (or Moggsy as most call him) doesn’t want to take over the family business. So Moggs becomes a private detective instead of the owner of a used car emporium.

Moggsy willingly admits he’s not a good detective. The only reason he’s still in business is because his partner, Shoddy, has the brains to connect the dots. But Shoddy, a former cop, is an alcoholic and is often too inebriated to be overly helpful.

From that background, Mr Jones spins delightfully entertaining stories set in the 1980s. 

It’s great fun to return to life before cell phones and the internet. A life that in some ways was better than what those silicon chips have given us.

Mr Jones is British and some reviewers were put off by the British slang. I didn’t find it at all insurmountable, although I suspect he may have “Americanized” some of the Britishisms in response to the complaints. 

One of the reasons I read British mysteries is because I love to see how our cousins use the common language that divides us. I find British English is often far more colorful than American.

Jones’s writing is straightforward. Nothing fancy. And he tells his stories well.

They are written in the first person, with Morris as the storyteller.

Imagine, if you will, Watson as the detective and Holmes as the sidekick. And Watson still tells the story. That will give you a good idea as to how this series is set up — and it is often hilarious.

The stories are not cozies. They run too dark for that. They are more in the hardboiled category. Except that Moggsy is rather naive and too trusting. Which adds to the humor. And the suspense.

The Morris Shannon mysteries are edgy whodunits. And did I say they are quite funny?

I’ve read the first 4 and loved each one. They are:

The Penny Detective

The Italian Affair

An Evening With Max Climax

The Shoestring Effect

I’ve given the above books 5-star reviews on Amazon. The links above will take you to Amazon US.

Give this series a try. The books can be read in any order, although I’m reading them chronologically.

They are 5-star entertainment. Perfect before bed. Or for reading on a lazy afternoon. Or on the beach. Or to take along on vacation.

I highly recommend them.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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The Dog Gone Diamond Dilemma Review

Esther Williams is missing. Has been for months. Now her dog is stolen right in front of Caroline McCluskey, Esther’s friend and neighbor.

Caroline decides she has to do something. The police aren’t getting anywhere, and somebody needs to find Esther.

So begins The Dog Gone Diamond Dilemma by Linda Pirtle. The 10th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

This year 10 authors continue to tell us about the mayhem, the shenanigans, the murders, and the excitement of small-town living.

Join us for the ride! The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles at Amazon.

So what does Caroline, our friendly librarian, do to find her friend? She calls together the Friends of the Round Table: her buddies Magnolia Nadine and Daphne.

The trio start gathering clues and paying attention to gossip. And then things start happening. Heads get whacked. Bullets are flying. And bodies are falling.

Will the Friends of the Round Table be able to solve the problem of their missing friend? Or will they end up as numbers in the body count?

The Dog Gone Diamond Dilemma is an uncozy, cozy mystery. It’s not all tea and crumpets, or coffee and doughnuts in this installment of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

While keeping the feel of a cozy mystery, Linda Pirtle has infused plenty of thriller elements into her book. The result is an intriguing and exciting hybrid of thrills and spills, along with warmth and love, and plenty of sleuthing.

The Dog Gone Diamond Dilemma, Book 10 in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series, brought to you by The Underground Authors. Available at Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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