Transitions
This weekend I became the author of a published full length book, The Case Book of Emily Lawrence put out by Wildside Press. It is a series of short stories, a sort of biography of my main character Emily. The first story is set in 1859, the last in 1895. My friend Edith Maxwell (author of the wonderful Delivering the Truth, about a Quaker Midwife in Massachusetts in the 1880s) calls it an episodic novel. While I have had plenty of short stories published I feel like I am no longer an aspiring author.
My characters lived at a time when science was having an impact on detection, but not so much that I have to deal with modern crime scene investigation. I can use finger prints and rifeling on bullets in a rudimentary way. I have to get the crime scene right for modern readers, who will know where all the blood has to be, but detecting has not yet moved from the street to the lab.
On Friday I headed for Washington (well, Bethesda MD) for Malice Domestic, a conference featuring traditional mysteries. I have attended it off and on since the 1990s. I know lots of the regulars, and this year my book was on the sales table. I saw a stack of copies of The Case Book at the Wildside booth, and several in the hands of readers. I am surprised how civil and calm I was. I didn't grab a single prospective customer and dance her around the room. I also have a short story in the conference anthology. Both are available from Amazon.
On Tuesday I had to put on my 18th century clothing and lead a gaggle of first graders thought the Miller's House. How is this house like yours? How is it different? How do you think the people here lived?
There isn't all that much difference between the writing and the interpreting. The story I tell of the miller and his family is pure fiction since no one knows who he was or who was in his family. This fiction is grounded in good solid historical research.
So this morning I am the writer again. I have to do up a couple of reviews, make a few changes to a short story I am getting ready to submit. Then I get to wash my period clothing, but lucky for me I have a washing machine with running water.
My characters lived at a time when science was having an impact on detection, but not so much that I have to deal with modern crime scene investigation. I can use finger prints and rifeling on bullets in a rudimentary way. I have to get the crime scene right for modern readers, who will know where all the blood has to be, but detecting has not yet moved from the street to the lab.
On Friday I headed for Washington (well, Bethesda MD) for Malice Domestic, a conference featuring traditional mysteries. I have attended it off and on since the 1990s. I know lots of the regulars, and this year my book was on the sales table. I saw a stack of copies of The Case Book at the Wildside booth, and several in the hands of readers. I am surprised how civil and calm I was. I didn't grab a single prospective customer and dance her around the room. I also have a short story in the conference anthology. Both are available from Amazon.
On Tuesday I had to put on my 18th century clothing and lead a gaggle of first graders thought the Miller's House. How is this house like yours? How is it different? How do you think the people here lived?
There isn't all that much difference between the writing and the interpreting. The story I tell of the miller and his family is pure fiction since no one knows who he was or who was in his family. This fiction is grounded in good solid historical research.
So this morning I am the writer again. I have to do up a couple of reviews, make a few changes to a short story I am getting ready to submit. Then I get to wash my period clothing, but lucky for me I have a washing machine with running water.
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The Shepherd's Notes
Combining Living History and writing historical mysteries.
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