Writing Life and Inspiration: Strangers + “What if?” = Plots and Characters in Fiction

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By Lois Winston

Whenever I hear a writer complain that she can’t come up with an idea for a plot or character, I offer this advice: “Get off your phone and keep your eyes and ears open.” No matter where I go—from the supermarket to a doctor’s appointment to the line at the DMV—I see people with their noses buried in their phones. I’m the outlier. As an author, part of my writing life is spent eavesdropping on conversations and observing the behaviors of those around me. That’s where I get much of my writing inspiration. For me, strangers + “what if?” = plots and characters in many of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

Ideas for plots and characters are all around us if we just take the time to look and listen. Neighbors, friends, relatives, strangers, and the daily news provide constant sources of ideas for plots and characters. All you need to do is channel your inner snoop gene while pretending not to pay attention.

I’ve been privy to the most sensitive of conversations while sitting on a commuter train, in a department store dressing room, and even while doing the necessary in a mall ladies’ room stall. Sometimes, I’ve even heard both ends of the conversation, thanks to the person on the train or in the dressing room or lavatory having placed the call on speaker. Those lavatory experiences became the source of a scene in Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series.

The world is full of interesting and odd individuals, and I came across some of the oddest back in 1998 when my husband and I moved to a new house. These people and their strange habits have stuck with me over the years. With the encouragement of some of my readers to whom I told about these former neighbors, I incorporated them into my latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. To my knowledge, none of the real people were ever murdered or committed murder, but the traits I observed did make their way into Seams Like the Perfect Crime, the fourteenth book in my series, currently up for preorder with a release date of February 2, 2025.

Seams Like the Perfect Crime

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 14

When staffing shortages continue to hamper the Union County homicide squad, Detective Sam Spader once again turns to his secret weapon, reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. How can she and husband Zack Barnes refuse when the victim is their new neighbor?

Revolutionary War reenactor Barry Sumner had the odd habit of spending hours mowing a small patch of packed dirt and weeds until his mower ran out of gas. He’d then guzzle beer on his front porch until he passed out. That’s where Anastasia’s son Nick discovers his body three days after the victim and his family moved into the newly built mini-McMansion across the street.

After a melee breaks out at the viewing, Spader zeroes in on the widow as his prime suspect. However, Anastasia has her doubts. There are other possible suspects, including a woman who’d had an affair with the victim, his ex-wife, the man overseeing the widow’s trust fund, a drug dealer, and the reenactors who were blackmailing the widow and victim.

When another reenactor is murdered, Spader suspects they’re dealing with a serial killer, but Anastasia wonders if the killer is attempting to misdirect the investigation. As she narrows down the suspects, will she jeopardize her own life to learn the truth?

Craft projects included.

Preorder now. Available 2/4/25

P.S.: On Monday evening, January 27th at 7pm ET (6pm CT, 5pm MT, and 4pm PT), I’ll be the guest of the Cozy Mystery Party Facebook Group, hosted by Heather Harrisson and Shawn Stevens. If you’d like to join in for a fun hour + of all things murder, mayhem, and cozy mysteries (there will be prizes and surprises!), join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cozymysteryparty. 

Hope to see you there! 

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, and children’s chapter books. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

Photo of author Catriona McPherson

Special Guest – Catriona McPherson, The Bride Saw Red

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by Sparkle Abbey

Today we welcome a very special guest back to the blog and she’s chatting about the latest in her A Last Ditch mystery series – Scotzilla.

Catriona take it away!

 

SCOTZILLA opens at a wedding and we find Lexy Campbell, protagonist of six previous novels about the Last Ditch Motel, whom readers know to be a pretty laidback sort of a person, in full bridezilla mode, breathing fire and turning the air blue because her daisy-style flower fairylights don’t have five petals, which would have been acceptable, or even four petals which would have been an outrage, but three. Three! Like that last-minute, I-don’t-really-care, sales-point gift-flower the orchid. Or like irises. Pond flowers. As if Lexy is supposed to get married under a web of stinking fish lights!

Chapter one was a lot of fun to write. Even more fun was going back to six months earlier at the start of chapter two and slowly charting the gestation of the monster and the rise of her friends’ dismay at what they’re witnessing, alongside the seeds of the murder plot.

I don’t even think I’ve made her over-the-top. Anyone who reads Carolyn Hax has seen brides this uncorked and I heard of a real life example where my niece offered to pass on her wedding reception fairylights to a friend, in a spirit of generosity and in recognition of how expensive weddings are. The friend burst into tears at the news that someone else was having fairylights at their wedding before she did. Ummmmmm.

Not every bride, mind you. Another niece of mine got married this summer and arrived at the venue only to discover she’d forgotten her veil. Enh, she got married without a veil. And yet another niece (I’ve got a fair few) proudly wore white shoes that cost a tenner because, and I quote, “They’re going to get wrecked and I’ll never wear them again.” That’s my girl.

I never wanted a wedding of my own, and I don’t regret not having one, but that’s not to say I don’t sometimes enjoy them. At a good wedding, I love the ceremony, the speeches, the catch-up with family, sitting out “All the Single Ladies” and getting up for “Solid as a Rock”, the cup of tea that’s served after a couple of hours of dancing, along with savoury and sweet pastries, the tiny wee baby boys in kilts, the post-mortem on the way home . . . (Who was it who said that in a happy marriage you never tear each other down; you tear other people down together? Not me.)

What don’t I love about weddings? Or – to put in another way – what makes for a bad wedding? Well, when you think one of the couple is making a mistake. That’ll do it. (I’d love to be at a wedding where someone objects, soap-opera style. Does it ever happen in real life?)  A terrible DJ who wants to look cool and won’t fill the floor is a bit of a drag (see above: Beyonce/Ashford and Simpson). If there are enough Scots to warrant ceilidh dances but not enough to form a critical mass of people who know what they’re doing; that’s frustrating. Getting stuck with really hard-work people who make no effort to have fun but won’t stop hanging around you. (Same reason I’d never go on a cruise. I would be in the next cabin to and the same table as a crashing bore with no boundaries. And they’d live in the next town when we all got home again.)

What don’t I love about weddings that I probably shouldn’t admit to? Home-made vows. Love the speeches for the toasts, but oh my God the throbbing emotion of a home-made vow makes my toes curl so much I could snap my dancing slippers. (Although, I immediately start to remember exceptions to this rule. A wedding last summer had the sweetest and funniest vows anyone ever spoke – things like “I will always drive you anywhere you want to go because you hate to drive”.) But, usually, home-made vows. Also – the photographer. The time it takes, the hanging about for everyone, the knowledge that no one is ever going to look at 99% of these pictures. Ever. And if there’s a videographer too? Guess.

So my nightmare wedding would be an ill-suited couple of Instagram influencers, who wrote rhyming vows, blew most of their budget on the photographer and videographer and are determined to get their money’s worth, saved a few pennies by letting a relative – huge fan of modern jazz – be the DJ, banned all children, didn’t allow speeches, and one last thing. Where is this hellacious event taking place? Where else? At a “destination”.

Unless anyone wants to convince me that destination weddings are a great idea. No? Tell you what then: let’s really get going on this calamitous event I’ve started designing. What else does it need?  I haven’t touched on the menu . . .

 

Here’s a little bit about SCOTZILLA

Lexy Campbell is getting married! But in the six months of planning it took to arrive at the big day, she has become . . . a challenge. Friendships are strained to breaking point, Lexy’s parents are tiptoeing around her, and even Taylor, her intended, must be having second thoughts.

Turns out it’s moot. Before the happy couple can exchange vows, Sister Sunshine, the wedding celebrant, is discovered dead behind the cake, strangled with the fairy lights.

Lexy’s dream wedding is now not just a nightmare: it’s a crime scene. She vows not to get drawn into the case, but the rest of the Last Ditch crew are investigating a bizarre series of goings-on in Cuento’s cemetery and every clue about the graveyard pranks seems to link them back to Lexy’s wedding day. Will the Ditchers solve the case? Will Sister Sunshine’s killer be found? Will Lexy ever get her happy-ever-after? Not even Bridezilla deserves this.

Thanks so much, Catriona, for stopping by. We love stories set in Scotland and we love Catriona! So needless to say, we already have our copy of Scotzilla!

Photo of author Catriona McPherson

Serial awards-botherer, Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. She writes: preposterous 1930s private-detective stories; realistic 1940s amateur-sleuth stories about a medical social worker; and contemporary psychological standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes modern comedies about a Scot out of water in a “fictional” college town in Northern California. SCOTZILLA is book number seven of what was supposed to be a trilogy. She is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.  www.catrionamcpherson.com

 

Valkyrie Brothers Book 1 - Elevator Ride by Bethany Maines - Cover reveal graphic

2025 is Coming!

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2025 is coming for me!

And I am not ready.  I’m not ready for Christmas, I barely made it through Thanksgiving and New Year’s is barreling down on me like a freight train.  In 2025, I’m trying something new as an author—a release schedule that doesn’t sync up with my work conference season, and a “long” quick release schedule.  In romance publishing it’s not uncommon to see authors releasing books in a series mere weeks or a month apart. But I tried that in 2022 and I think I’m still recovering.

In 2025 I’m planning on releasing a complete trilogy, but I plan on doing them three months apart — March, June, and September.  This will off-set them from peak seasons at work and also give me a little breathing space, while hopefully keeping readers engaged.  But that means that I’m setting up a lot of marketing now in 2024. And if I’m putting my time toward one thing then I’m taking time from somewhere else.

So what should you be doing – if not preparing for 2025?

Christmas shopping!  I don’t even have proper list or a spreadsheet!  I’m just randomly buying crap and hoping that I’m getting closer to wrapping.

Upon reviewing those last few sentences, I have come to the conclusion that I might be a giant nerd.  Does anyone else have a shopping spreadsheet?  Just me?  OK, well, if you do… nerds unite! You are my people.

But I haven’t even put up a tree.  The stockings are up, so we’re not totally without Christmas, but still… The days are ticking by too fast! Although, I can’t tell for sure if that’s true since we didn’t get an advent calendar either. How can I really tell how close we are to Christmas without small amounts of chocolate being continually fed to me?

Meanwhile, I feel like I’m ADHD as I try to wrap up all my writing goals for the end of the year.  There’s all the marketing I need to do, a contest I want to submit to that means I have some pages that need polishing, a novel that needs polishing and a paranormal romance that is begging to be written.  And every time I work on one I feel guilty that I’m not working on the others.

How am I supposed to get enough family time, let alone Christmas cookies, into my December with that many projects?  If you’ve got time saving tips or great gift ideas–I’m all ears.

Valkyrie Brothers Book 1 - Elevator Ride by Bethany Maines - Cover reveal graphic - Release date: March 24, 2025

But what I hear you saying is that there is a new series coming?

Yes.  There is!  The Valkyrie Brother’s Trilogy!  Half rom-com, half mystery and all fun.  The series features three brothers navigating reuniting their family, fighting off bad guys, and coincidentally meeting their true loves in elevators all across town.  Book 1 – Elevator Ride – will be released in March of 2025 and is currently available for pre-order.  If you want to learn more, it was recently featured over at Dru’s Book Musing Blog!  And while you’re over there check out Dru’s fabulous reviews and other content.

Learn more about Elevator Ride: https://drusbookmusing.com/cover-reveal-elevator-ride/

Pre-order: https://amzn.to/3AnaMLQ

**

Bethany Maines drinks from an arsenic mugBethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay.

See a few of her books on the Our Books page: https://www.thestilettogang.com/books/

Life’s Little Instructions

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As we complete another rotation around our sun, some of us like to make resolutions for things we’d like to accomplish in the coming year. There are lots of lists out there to guide us: new diets to try and exercise regimens to tackle. New books to read and buckets of travel options to consider. Or, perhaps we just want to work at developing a new and improved version of ourselves.

The list of 95-year-old William Snell that has been circulating across social media lately seems about right, although I wonder if he meant to number them in order of their importance. At times, his suggestions feel like sly digs at people who make such lists in the first place.

After all, while singing in the shower can truly be a mood enhancing exercise, should it really be first on the list—and followed closely by the caution to never turn down a homemade brownie?

I also ponder his #18 admonishment. Of course, at the Gang, we work to keep our stilettos (and our prose) well-polished. But maintaining shiny shoes in winter can be a challenge for those in northern climes. And in summertime, do we really need to shine our flip-flops?

Yet I heartily agree with #29. Dogs absolutely make make us better humans. And though I can’t remember the last time I waved at kids on a school bus (#33), I always wave at them when the zoo train comes around. Hopefully that counts.

I’m not exactly sure what Mr. Snell intended with #38. Life as an exclamation? Unfortunately, we can’t ask him about it. A Google search turned up no information beyond what’s on this weathered document, or exactly when the list was first written. But I hope he had a good life.

Still, if you’re looking for a few suggestions on how to live a pleasant life in 2025 and beyond, most of these tips might provide a good starting place. Especially #37.

Cheers!

Which “little instruction” would you take to heart for 2025?
Feel free to list your own tips in the Comments section below!
Gay Yellen is the author of the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries *
The Body Business***The Body Next Door***The Body in the News!***

Seasonal Mood Disorder

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Seasonal Mood Disorder Better Known (for me) as December

By: Donnell Ann Bell

Yesterday, I stared out my great room windows to be greeted with darkness—at five p.m. I was still standing upright, hadn’t made dinner yet, and was beginning to yawn.

 

Somehow, I created a nice chef salad dinner, finished my friend Author Barbara Nickless’s, The Drowning Game, which is excellent, by the way, and did my physical therapy exercises. After that, my husband and I played cards and watched a half hour of television.

I did all this because if I went to bed at seven p.m. I would be up at two a.m. So, I worked hard to make it till nine p.m. And despite my best efforts awoke at midnight.

According to Wikipedia, Seasonal Mood Disorder (paraphrasing) affects typically “normal” people with seasonal depression symptoms associated with the reduction and/or decrease in total daily sunlight.

The article also says the following symptoms accompany SAD.

  • A tendency to overeat
  • A tendency to sleep too much
  • A general feeling of malaise or sluggishness

I think it’s ironic that during the busiest time of year, e.g. holiday shopping, Christmas cards, newsletters, parties, travel, in addition to writing a book, my body is telling me to slow down.

I refuse to give in.  To combat SAD, I am:

  • Exercising during daylight hours
  • Stocking my pantry with limited snacking items
  • Standing while writing instead of sitting
  • And watching the clock.

Source: Pixabay Photo by Jonathan Stoklas

 

If I were smart, I’d give up caffeine, but, hey, I’m only human.

The winter solstice, e.g. the shortest day of the year, is December 21 or 22 and occurs when either of the Earth ‘s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. (Again Source: Wikipedia).

It could be worse; I could be a bear.  Did you know bears hibernate from October, November until April—or when the snow melts?

 

I think there’s something to SAD. On December 26th, I feel better?  How about you? How’s your energy level during December?

 

 

 

 

photo of author Winter Austin

Special Guest: Winter Austin

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by Sparkle Abbey

Today we welcome our friend and fellow Iowa author, Winter Austin! We have some questions for her but before we get started with those, Winter, please share with our readers a little bit about yourself. 

photo of author Winter Austin

I wear many hats; Author, Veteran’s Wife, NG-Army Mom, Awesomest Aunt Ever, Goat & Cattle Wrangler, Fluffy Velociraptor Herder, Dog Mom, and All-Around Butt-Kicker. I’m a long-time resident of the Midwest, mostly living in Iowa, with a decidedly strong lilt to Southern. I’m a self-taught sous chef and darn good customer service representative with a tight hold on my need to be sarcastic or blunt—it’s a struggle, let me tell you. My husband and myself both grew up farm kids, but the military consumed most of our married lives. We had four kids who are all in their twenties now and doing us proud. We’re now settled into the empty nester lifestyle, but I’m trying to drag my husband back into the farming life.

Thanks, Winter. And now to our questions…

What started you on your writing journey? Have you always wanted to write? 

I’ve known from an early age I wanted to be an author. The book and author that cemented it was The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. When I read Farley’s bio and learned he was published in his early twenties, I wanted to do that. I couldn’t get published during my twenties, but my thirties saw it come to fruition. I wrote all the time, nonsense stories, a full western by hand in pencil, and a lot of fan fiction. I leaned toward mystery and suspense in my stories. After the birth of my twins, I got serious about being published. Spent many years learning the craft, how to create plot and conflict, and eventually had to learn how to balance suspense with romance—something I was never very strong at writing but managed to pull off. It’s been nearly 12 years since my very first book was published, and now I’m crafting some long desired storylines.

What types of books do you write? And why did you choose that genre or sub-genre? 

I’m writing in the mystery/suspense genres in the sub-genres of police procedurals/crime fiction.

These genres have been my schtick for decades, going back to my first story that landed me a coveted spot to go a young writer’s conference in fourth grade—a mystery. I do think I can blame my parents for always having some crime/cop/mystery show on while I was growing up that fed into my wild imagination and stories.

What’s your favorite part of writing? 

Creating the characters. I love making people so opposite of myself. I do find I layer in my favorite personalities and characteristics of some of my closest friends and family members into secondary characters in my books, but I always make my female leads women I sometimes wish I could be.

And what’s your least favorite part? 

The actual writing, especially on days when I just don’t want to write. I love writing, I love the whole process, but when the words and the ideas just refuse to come, it makes me wonder why I ever thought this was a good idea.

How much planning do you do before you start a book? 

My process would drive the majority of writers and authors crazy. They claim there are no true pantsers, but I beg to differ, I’m the shining star of a true pantser. I start with the germ of an idea, but it’s so riddled with holes, I don’t know if it’ll ever work. In the last 6 books I’ve written, I have had no clue who the actual antagonist is and what their motivations for committing their despicable acts. Then comes the agony of getting the opening scene down, the inciting incident to propel the story forward. After that, it’s a free-for-all, no kidding.

Where do your very best ideas come from? 

The shower or driving. No kidding. The very places I can’t use a computer to get the scenes and dialogues down, but where the best ideas come. Sometimes I’ll take a break from whatever I’m in the middle of and catch a nap. There have been times where I’ve come awake and realized how things tie in, or why something in a scene I just wrote gave me the final piece of the puzzle I’ve been scratching my head to figure out.

But the plot ideas tend to come from real life events. I just have to find a way to put my own spin on them.

What part of writing is the most difficult for you? Characters? Conflict? Emotion? Something else…? 

Action scenes. No kidding. I always have to rewrite those scenes 3 to 4 times before I get them just right. The actions of the characters and the reactions to situations have to make sense and have to work right. I don’t think I’ve written a novel yet without a fight scene or a gun battle of some kind. If I shoot or injure my main characters, I must make sure it’s not something that in real life would actually be fatal, and that’s hard. You can only get away with shooting your MC in the fleshy part of their leg before it gets old.

What’s next for you? Tell us about your next book and when it will be out. 

I’m finishing up the first and roughest draft for the first book in my newest suspense series. My publisher and I finalized a title and series title recently and The Stiletto Gang readers get the honor of being the first to know. The series will be called A Bounty of Shadows. Book 1 is Ride a Dark Trail. I get to play around in a modern take on an Old West style of story with my ever-present strong female lead. This book is set to release August of 2025 and I can’t wait. Neither can my editor. When I pitched her the idea of a female bounty hunter she jumped all over it. It took us a bit before we nailed down a story idea that my publisher Tule liked and here we are. Beta readers are already singing praises and they’re getting the worst draft ever on it.

That sounds awesome! Can’t wait to read it.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story with us and the Stiletto Gang readers. 

book cover for A Requiem for the Dead

Here’s Winter’s most recent release A Requiem for the Dead, a Benoit and Dayne Mystery. 

And readers if you want to know more about Winter and her books, please visit her website: Author Winter Austin

You can also find her on social media in these spots:

Facebook

Instagram

BookBub

Goodreads

Book Marketing is a 4-Letter Word

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

By Lois Winston

Book marketing? Unless you’re someone who majored in marketing in college (and maybe not even those people,) most authors will tell you the part of being an author they hate most is marketing their books to readers. Unless you’re James Patterson, Nora Roberts, or one of the few other “anointed ones,” no matter if you’re traditionally published or indie published, the bulk of book marketing rests on our shoulders. Most publishers, including what is known as The Big Five, do very little, if anything, to promote their authors’ books these days. For most, if they’re lucky, they receive a box of free promotional bookmarks or postcards.

And it doesn’t matter the genre you write in, the awards you’ve received, or whether you hit a bestseller list. I have friends who consistently make the New York Times list with each new release and are still required to do the bulk of the promotion for their books, including arranging their own events and handling social media marketing.

The competition is stiff out there, and it’s getting worse. Every author I’ve spoken with, whether traditionally published or indie published, is complaining about falling sales. This year has seen a flood of A.I. generated books going up for sale on etailer sites. There were so many flooding Amazon that they instituted a new policy, limiting uploads of new books to three a day. It maybe stemmed the influx from a major tsunami to a tidal wave.

Moreover, various marketing that once worked well for authors no longer shows the same results. What’s an author to do?

At the Killer Nashville conference in August, I attended a workshop on creating landing pages at Bookfunnel. Most marketing gurus will tell you every author should have a newsletter, that it’s one of the best tools in your author toolbox. I have a newsletter. Prior to Bookfunnel, I had about 1800 subscribers, some of whom are loyal fans. But the workshop instructor had tens of thousands of subscribers. Talking to other authors at Killer Nashville, I learned the best way I could increase sales of my books was to increase my newsletter subscribers.

The thing about a landing page, though, is that you offer a freebie in exchange for the reader subscribing. I’ve always been opposed to giving away huge numbers of books. I’ve heard from too many readers who only download free books and brag that they haven’t bought a book in years. I have newsletter readers who have told me they love my books but only read them if they can get them from the library or by winning a copy when I do the occasional contest giveaway. They won’t even spend .99 cents for a sale book.

I’ve never had a problem with putting a book on sale for .99 cents for a limited time. I think of it as a loss leader to spur sales of the other books in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. That series currently has 13 novels and 3 novellas. Historically, I’ve seen good results from sales of other books in the series when one is on sale for .99 cents. But even those results have not been what they used to be lately.

So I decided to create a landing page on Bookfunnel and offer one of the novellas in the series for free with sign-up to my newsletter. I’m also taking part in two group promotions with other cozy authors on Bookfunnel throughout November, the Thank Goodness for Cozies promotion and the Cozy Mystery Month promotion. Signing up for any of the authors’ newsletters will get you a free book by that author.

My landing page has been up on my website and on Bookfunnel since mid-October. When the group promotions end at the end of November, I’ll be able to judge the results of the book giveaway. I’ll see how many downloads and new subscribers I’ve had and if all those free books translated into sales of other books in the series. I’m crossing fingers and toes that I’ll be pleased with the numbers.

Love it? Hate it? How do you really feel about marketing? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any one of the first 11 Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. (US and UK residents only)

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

Anthologies (and Ghost Stories) for the Holidays

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by Paula Gail Benson

For today’s short story post, I want to tell you about two new short story anthologies and an annual “Drabble” (100-word story) tradition that celebrates the “haunted” aspect of the holidays!

Two new short story anthologies have been recently released. The Capitol Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime featured fifteen authors in FARM TO FOUL PLAY. The Bethlehem Writers Group’s holiday-based SEASON’S READINGS has twenty-one stories from its members and from winners of its 2023 and 2024 short story contests.

Here’s the information about these anthologies from their Amazon descriptions. Please consider adding them to your “to-be-read” lists!

Farm to Foul Play: 2024 Capitol Crimes Anthology

 

Edited by Jennifer K. Morita. Forward by Tori Eldridge: “. . . if you want to understand a community, home cooking and agriculture is often the best place to begin.”

 

Sacramento, California, lies at the heart of the largest agricultural producer in the nation. Known as the Farm-to-Fork Capital of America, this beautiful region produces hundreds of crops each year and has become recognized as a great restaurant city thanks to the chefs who use locally-grown, locally-sourced ingredients.

 

Fifteen amazing authors — William Bishop, Sarah Bresniker, Chris Dreith, Susan Egan, Elaine Faber, Karen Harrington, Debra Henry, Virginia V. Kidd, Karen A. Phillips, Brian Shea, Linda Joy Singleton, Darrell Smith, Joanna Vander Vlugt, Nick Webster, and Dänna Wilberg — have captured the bounty of all Sacramento has to offer … with a little mayhem thrown in.

 

Expert judges selected fifteen stories by Capitol Crimes members, who captured the bounty of all Sacramento has to offer … with a little mayhem thrown in.

 

 

Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology)

Edited by Marianne H. Donley and Carol L. Wright.

 

In this new addition to the “Sweet, Funny, and Strange”(R) series of anthologies, the multi-award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, returns to its roots. As denizens in and around Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (also known as “Christmas City, USA”), we were happy to make our first anthology a collection of holiday tales. But one volume just wasn’t enough. Now, in our eighth anthology, we’re returning to the theme to bring you twenty-one new stories that span the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.

 

Emwryn Murphy’s sweet tale tells about a chosen family’s “Friendsgiving,” crashed by a blood relative who might, or might not, be happy with what he sees in “As Simple as That.” Jerome W. McFadden once again reveals his humorous side in his story about a would-be Santa who gets into trouble in “Flue Shot.” A. E. Decker shares an intricate Christmas fantasy about “The Goblin King’s Music Box.” And Paula Gail Benson gives a new twist to a traditional symbol for the New Year in “Star of the Party.” Beyond these holidays, Diane Sismour writes about Krampusnacht, Debra H. Goldstein about Pearl Harbor Day, and Peter J Barbour about Hanukkah. Other favorite BWG authors, including Jeff Baird, Ralph Hieb, D.T. Krippene, Christopher D. Ochs, Dianna Sinovic, Kidd Wadsworth, and Carol L. Wright, also share their holiday musings.

 

In addition, this volume includes the 2023 and 2024 award-winning stories from the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Awards. Sally Milliken, the 2023 first-place winner, presents “The First Thanksgiving.” From 2024, we have our top three winners with first-place winner Rhonda Zangwill’s “Oh! Christmas Tree,” second-place winner Bettie Nebergall’s “Just Ask Santa,” and third-place winner Mary Adler’s “Narragansett Nellie and the Transferware Platter.”

One more note: Loren Eaton is again hosting his Advent Ghosts 100-word stories beginning on Saturday, December 14 and connected through his blog I SAW LIGHTNING FALL. If you are interested in contributing, here are the rules:

  1. Email Loren at ISawLightningFall [at] proton [dot] me if you want to participate. (Please note that this is a different email address from previous years.)
  2. Pen a story that’s exactly 100-words long—no more, no less.
  3. Post the story to your blog anywhere from Saturday, December 14, to Friday, December 20. Hosting on ISLF is available for those without blogs or anyone who wants to write under a pseudonym. (Don’t worry, you’ll retain copyright!)
  4. Email the link of your story to me.
  5. While you should feel free to write whatever you want to, know that Loren reserves the right to put a content warning on any story he thinks needs it.

If you haven’t read the collected stories, here’s the link to check them out: https://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com/

Trolls: Character vs. Caricature When Writing Suspects and Antagonists in Mysteries

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What do trolls have to do with writing suspects and antagonists in mysteries?

Trolls?

 

Trolls: Nasty creatures who live under bridges.

Trolls: Nasty people who bully others on social media.

Trolls: Weird looking collectibles from the 1960s (now the stars of animated movies.)

Trolls: Kristoff’s fun-loving adoptive family in Frozen

Trolls: Amazing works of art from recycled materials by Thomas Dambo.

I first learned of Thomas Dambo’s work when I saw a news story about him and his art installations made of recycled materials. He’s considered the world’s leading recycling artist with his work appearing throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. His more than 125 larger-than-life trolls were created to share his environmental message throughout the world in outdoor installations that use trash to create art within nature.

The trolls have noticed that “small people” (us humans) are harming the planet. The goal of these giant trolls is to educate humans, whereby they’ll rediscover nature and become thoughtful, caring stewards of our planet. A more positive message than those other trolls who frequent social media, right?

Six of Dambo’s trolls took up residence within the gardens, trees, and wooded areas of the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville during this past spring and summer. I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit with them. They’ve since moved on to spend time at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, VA through Jan 20, 2025. If you have a chance to visit with them, tell them I said hi.

So what do these trolls have to do with writing mysteries? Actually, quite a lot. When we think of trolls, most of us think of ugly, nasty creatures, either real or fictional. But both Thomas Dambo’s recycled trolls, Kristoff’s adopted family, and those weird bygone mini collectables showed us that not all trolls are nasty and that ugly is subjective.

Also, the best villains or antagonists are multi-layered. If they weren’t, they’d be caricatures rather than characters, and no author should be writing Snidely Whiplash-type cardboard villains. That’s why it’s so important to spend as much time developing the goals, motivations, and conflicts of our suspects in our mysteries as we do our protagonists.

We’re often asked who is our favorite fictional sleuth, but who is your favorite fictional suspect or antagonist? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of any one of the first eleven audiobooks in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.