It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Book Release Time!

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By Debra Sennefelder

 

There’s so much to be excited about this month. Christmas is just a few weeks away and tomorrow, SLEUTHING IN STILETTOS will be released!

Doesn’t the cover just give you all the warm, summery beach vibes we’ll be dreaming of in a few weeks? Well, if you live in snow country, you’re probably dreaming of beach weather right now. But where I am in Connecticut, those feelings start to surface in January, when winter really hits. I’ll just stare at my book cover. 🙂

I loved writing Kelly’s latest adventure. It was so much fun hanging out with the Lucky Cove gang after being away for months. There’s a lot of stuff packed into this book and Kelly is struggling a little with the aftermath of her cousin’s murder, trying to navigate her new relationship with Detective Nate Barber and taking on more than she can handle.

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from the book with you.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by today.

EXCERPT:

“Kelly!”

At the sound of her name, she looked over her shoulder and saw Miranda

walking toward her. She wore a stylish navy pantsuit and carried a British

tan tote. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and large textured golden

earrings caught the light from overhead and glinted.

“I’m so glad you came. Come on, let’s get a table, and I’ll introduce

you to my friends.” Kelly led Miranda into the spacious room set up for

the luncheon. She caught the eye of her friend Liv Moretti. Liv’s family

owned a bakery on Main Street, and she served as the chamber’s secretary.

She also noticed a few stares as she and Miranda walked through the

room toward a table. A definite chill had settled in there. She looked

over to Miranda, who had initially looked apprehensive and now looked

empowered. In place of her soft smile was a grin. Okay, Kelly was now

officially weirded out. What was going on?

“Hey there, Kelly.” Walt Hanover passed by, giving a nod to Miranda.

“About time you got here.” Frankie Blake, Kelly’s cousin and owner of

Frankie’s Seafood Shack, breezed by, giving her arm a squeeze. “Talk later.”

“That was Walt, he owns an antique shop, and my cousin Frankie, he

owns a restaurant,” Kelly said to Miranda. She then considered she might

have misread the room. Walt and Frankie seemed fine.

“I remember Walt,” Miranda said with a note of affection, but it vanished

quickly. “Just like I remember him.”

“Who?” As soon as Kelly asked, she saw Ricky van Johnson approaching.

He owned Gregorio’s Specialty Shop, Lucky Cove’s premier gourmet food

shop. It was pricey, but it was well worth it for hardcore foodies.

“Good to see you, Kelly.” Towering over Kelly by a good six inches,

his bulky frame came from good eating. He regularly gave cooking

demonstrations at his shop, and his recipes were to die for. Then, his

attention shifted toward Miranda. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

 

 

 

 

Debra Sennefelder is the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series. She lives and writes in Connecticut. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking, exercising and taking long walks with her Shih-Tzu, Connie. You can keep in touch with Debra through her website, on Facebook and Instagram.

No Regrets

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Cover of Love in the Lowcountry A Winter Holiday Collection Volume 2

Lowcountry Romance Writers of America (LRWA) has published its second volume of short stories in a new anthology. Love in the Lowcountry Winter Holiday Collection Volume 2 has eleven stories that all take place in South Carolina between Halloween and Valentine’s Day.

LRWA strives to give authors the tools they need to get published. In going through the process of writing, editing, marketing, and selling an anthology, all levels of authors gain experience and knowledge. We appreciate all the hard work that goes into publishing a book. We thank all those involved. We have members from as far away as Idaho. We meet online seven times a year to allow our members to gather without traveling.

My story, “No Regrets,” is a seasoned romance. I first met Cantley and Alston in a dream. They gave me their story, though it has changed a bit after editing, of course.

Here’s the blurb:

Cantley, a widow in her sixties, moved back to her small village to start anew because she’s gone through a rough patch, but she’s unsure how to let go of the past.

Alston, the single silver fox, wants to meet people and explore the area because he’s ready to settle down, but his time is taken up working from home and caring for his elderly parents.

Will he be the distraction she needs? Will she let him in the door? Visit the Lowcountry in this seasoned romance to discover the answers.

And here’s a short snippet:

She began rationalizing with herself. He was new to town. She should show the famous southern hospitality, right? Taking care of a sick husband, the ensuing widowhood, and menopause had taken away her libido and her desire to be nice. Her children kept hounding her to get out of the house more, find new friends, meet up with old classmates, and visit old haunts. She’d just started feeling like herself again after taking a friend’s recommendation to try bioidentical hormone therapy. She’d have been more likely to say no, but he looked like a model from one of those underwear ads she kept seeing on social media. The doctor had said she’d start getting horny as her body adjusted to the hormones. They seemed to be kicking in.

—

Robin is a native South Carolinian, born in the Upstate and raised in the Lowcountry. She happily lives in a small town on the outskirts of Charleston with her husband, son, and dog. This is her second published short story. She writes contemporary romance with a hint of magic

realism.

Find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobinHillyerMilesAuthorTourGuideYoga

Follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/rhillyer_miles/

Follow her Amazon author page at https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B07YN9P3T6

We are Living History— by T.K. Thorne

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We are living history.

In 1958, the janitor at Temple Beth-El in Birmingham, Alabama discovered a satchel in the building’s window well with a fuse running from it. Fifty-four sticks of dynamite were in that bag. The fuse had burned out within a minute of igniting it. No one knows what happened, perhaps an early morning rain or a fault in the fuse itself.

It was a pivotal moment in time. The crime was never solved, but the perpetrators were mostly likely a Nazi-inspired organization called the National States Rights Party headquartered in Birmingham. They hated Blacks and Catholics and Jews.

Today, the incidents of hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions are rising at frightening rates. Along with other activities, like the attempted armed insurrection of our government, it is chilling and feels like it could be 1958 or even the 1930s when powerful men in this country echoed Hitler’s poisonous sentiments toward Jews, men like Henry Ford, the car manufacture magnate; Charles Lindbergh, the country’s famous “golden boy;” and Father Coughlin, a catholic priest with thousands of listeners on his radio show.

Having a common enemy often binds people together. Thus, the citizens of Germany coalesced when Jews were targeted as “the enemy.” But that works both ways.

Sixty-four years after the attempted bombing of Beth-El, the synagogue is working on a civil rights exhibit about looking to the future by examining the past. I was asked to be a speaker at the launch event because I wrote this book—Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days.

It took eight years to complete. While I was writing it, I thought—Will anyone be interested in this or will it just be another tome for the historians’ bookshelves, if that? But it had become a labor of love, so I labored on.

I woke from the “coma” of writing to find my book relevant. That was not necessarily a good thing but was why I was speaking at Beth-El’s event.

For the most part, the White community has welcomed the book’s revelations about what  happened behind the scenes (or behind the curtain) in a city that changed the world—stories of secret missions carried out by the police and sheriff’s departments, as well as little-known deeds of civil rights’ allies in the city branded with images of “dogs and firehoses” used against children, an image seared into the nation’s consciousness.

I tried to honor the Movement as well and weave my stories into the context of the day and the efforts of those seeking long overdue equal rights and justice. But I’ve had little feedback from the Black community. After I spoke at Beth-El, however, a diminutive, elderly Black woman approached me and asked me to sign her copy of Behind the Magic Curtain, which she had brought to the event.

I did, of course, and she told me she had been one of the children who had marched for freedom in 1963 and how much she had enjoyed the book and how much it meant to read confirmation of things whispered in her home and community when she was young, things she had never known were true or not. It completed a circle for her.

It was a small interaction, lasting only a few moments in the chaos after the event, but it meant a lot to me. She had probably given little thought as a child that she was living a pivotal moment in history. Nor did those who went to pray at Temple Beth-El one morning, or those who listened to Father Coughlin, Henry Ford, and Charles Lindbergh spew supremist views that eventually embraced genocide.

We are living in a pivotal moment. It will be written about (and already has) and one day we will be the ones who say, “I was there.” What are we going to tell future generations about what we did . . . or what we didn’t do?

T.K.Thorne is a retired police captain who writes Books, which, like this blog, go wherever her curiosity and imagination take her.

Return of the Corn Mothers 2022 by Juliana Aragon Fatula

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Dear Reader,

The year 2022 has been incredibly challenging and rewarding. The books I’ve published have opened doors for me and taught me how to network and reach my audience. My publisher, Bower House Books/Conundrum Press, Denver, CO helped me to promote my books by nominating me for book awards and sharing my work on their website. I have been giving readings and book signings at local bookstores and libraries and universities and colleges. Most recently at Analogue Bookstore, CSU Pueblo, El Pueblo History Museum, Pikes Peak Library, and on various Zoom events online.

This year I have been nominated and inducted to the Return of the Corn Mothers and attended the ceremony on October 21st, 2022 in Denver at the History Colorado Museum.

It was a night I will never forget and changed my life forever as I am now a Corn Mother along with 22 other women inducted this year. The total number of Corn Mothers now is 70 and some have passed to the next world but their lives were celebrated at the History Colorado Museum in memoriam. We were all blessed and the event was live streamed via Zoom and recorded for a documentary for the archives.

The photos included in this post show the incredible festivities and colorful regalia worn by the Aztec Dancers and musicians, and guest speakers. The night was magical.

 

 

Lessons From Live Theatre

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I had the privilege of going to see a fun new play called “The Shark is Broken,” written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon. The play details the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the filming of the 1975 blockbuster movie, Jaws. The play was short (90-minutes) and anything but sweet, but overall a funny, very enjoyable show for any die-hard fan. There were only three actors on stage and a pretty basic set, serving as a great reminder of how to nail a story, be it a play, a movie, or a book.

  1. Character is key! Plot is important in any story, but to grab the reader, the author must have a great set of characters. From the second the first actor entered the stage during the play, I had no doubt he was playing Richard Dreyfuss, based on mannerisms alone. Each character should possess distinct traits that make it easy not only easy to identify, but to create and add conflict to a play or a book. A rollercoaster of emotion keeps a story fun, and nothing is better than the tension felt between opposing characters.
  2. Action Needs Reaction! “The Shark is Broken” took place entirely on a small set, without any big action scenes. But it kept my attention because of the dynamics created by the characters. The myth
    surrounding the filming of Jaws is all about the tension between the actors on set. The verbal tug-of-war between Richard Dreyfuss (played by Liam Murray Scott) and Robert Shaw (played by real-life son, Ian Shaw), had the viewer fully engaged from start to finish. There was no shark needed to heighten the tension on set between these two!
  3. Real Life Inspiration! It’s been so long since I’ve been to a city (Toronto, in my case) to see a play, I’d almost forgotten how much fun it can be to leave home. From the train ride to the pre-dinner grub, nothing beats character building than going out and watching people in action. For me it was the restaurant staff, the sports fans roaming about (The Toronto Maple Leafs had just won a hockey game in over-time), and even the people passing me on the sidewalk. Everyone is unique, just like each character in a story. Subtle details like the scent of someone’s perfume, the slow-gait of a two lovers holding hands, even the feel of the wind tunnel created from nearby skyscrapers. All these details matter. Don’t even get me started on snippets of conversations overheard at nearby tables or close-by theatre goers… There’s always something to see, hear, smell, or feel.

Where do you find inspiration? Any other Jaws fans out there?

The Cheese Guy by Lynn Chandler Willis

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Several years ago, i was invited to participate in a book festival sponsored by a local, glossy magazine named after O’Henry. The festival was being held at a high-dollar, swanky hotel, also named after the famous writer.

I was still riding pretty high with my win for Best First Private Eye Novel given by St. Martin’s Press and the Private Eye Writers of America. I was super excited to participate and still a little unbelieving that my work had won a major contest.

I happily accepted the invitation and got busy ordering bookmarks, and postcards, and posters for the big day. I worked with the publisher to make sure I had copies to sell. I sent out all kinds of announcements to my growing list of newsletter subscribers. I emailed cousins and uncles and aunts and friends from elementary school to high school.

When the big day finally came, I loaded my books into my rolling purple suitcase––which by the way, I still use––and headed to the premiere hotel in the area. When I got there, I was shown by a guy in a tux to the room where we’d be set up. The guy probably had some kind of title I couldn’t pronounce anyway so I just referred to him as the guy in the tux.

The room was filled with other authors and for a moment I felt right at home. And then I noticed I was the only one who wrote mysteries. In fact, me, a children’s book author, and guy who wrote fantasy were the only three authors present who didn’t write literary. I’m talking Faulkner literary, or better yet, O’Henry literary.

I knew the guy who wrote fantasy. And I knew his work. We had belonged to the same local writing organization and were members of the same critique group. Fantasy guy wrote about dragons. Thirty of them to be exact. All with names containing 20-plus letters no one could pronounce. And they were all introduced in the first chapter of the 300 thousand words book. That’s right. Three. Hundred. Thousand. Words. It was the first book in a trilogy.

He was notoriously smug about his work and wouldn’t accept constructive criticism no matter how gentle it was given. I don’t think he would have accepted it if a gang of 30 dragons held him down and blew fire in his face. He published his book himself back before any kind of standards existed. He worked the crowd and arm-wrestled a few into buying his book which they needed a hand cart to get it to their car.

Aside from him, the day was pleasant enough. I sold quite a few books. I chatted with lots of people who tended to gravitate toward my table for some good ‘ol genre fiction. The day wasn’t bad at all, until the cheese guy dropped by.

At book festivals, signings, readings, and any other type of event, it’s common practice for the author to have a bottle of water, maybe a bag of Skittles, tucked behind their table display. Out of sight of those in attendance. My publisher just happened to have sent along two table posters on foam board which was perfect for concealing a drink and maybe a snack. I had them on either end of the table while I stood in the middle.

I had a bottle of water tucked behind one but no snacks. Then I noticed uniformed waitresses delivering wood platters filled with nuts, and fruit, and mounds of different cheeses to the other authors. I quietly asked one of the waitresses if I could order one. She was happy to bring me what could only be described as a magnificent charcuterie board before they became a thing.

Toasted almonds rolled in sugar? Oh my word. I was living the dream!

I slipped the board behind the other table poster and continued chatting with eager readers, taking a quick sample of the deliciousness in between. And then some guy, a well dressed guy at that, comes up, steps behind my table and whips out a pocket knife and proceeds to cut off a hunk of my cheese. He shoves a few green grapes into his mouth then grabs a handful of my toasted almonds and goes on about his merry way.

I was too stunned to protest or even ask him what the h%$* he was doing.

We all have that one book event that left a lasting impression. What about you? What’s yours?

Lynn Chandler Willis comes from a journalism background as the former owner/publisher of a small town newspaper and prefers to make stuff up. She now writes mystery/thriller/suspense and crime novels along with the occasional snarky comment on social media. She’s the current President of SEMWA, the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), and a past-president of Sisters in Crime––Murder We Write chapter. She’s a Shamus Award finalist, A Grace Award Winner for Excellence in Faith-based Fiction, and the winner of the St. Martin’s Press/PWA’s Best 1st PI Novel — the first woman in a decade to win the award. She has a new series debuting in November 2022 and another in May 2023 with Level Best Books.

Road Research

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By Barbara J. Eikmeier

My favorite place to find details for a story is on a road trip.

My regular job is presenting programs about quilts to small and regional quilt guilds. Bookings take me off the main highways to “Blue Roads”, through tiny communities and sometimes even down dirt roads. Ninety percent of the time I travel alone.

Once my GPS is set for my destination and snacks and water bottle are within easy reach, there is one last item to put in place before hitting the road – my notebook.

Over the years I have filled great piles of these notebooks with lecture notes, story starters, to-do lists, quilt patterns, rough drafts and travel notes. I don’t journal daily, although I admire those of you who do. I just make notes. My notebooks are sloppy. I seldom keep the script on the line but if I’m striving to hit the line, I prefer wide-rule over college rule so I have plenty of space for the letters that loop below the line. I really love letters that loop below the line. I have a memory from kindergarten of writing my name in the proper upper right hand corner of the paper. I started with a B and ended with an A but in between I used all sorts of letters – especially g and j because they looped below the line. My teacher didn’t think I knew how to write my name. I did. It’s just that it was so long and only used three letters repeated over and over, yet there were so many fantastic letters to choose from on the ABC chart that wrapped around the classroom. As an adult I opted for Barbara J. Eikmeier as my legal name because with all those letters in my long name, only my middle initial loops below the line!

When heading out on a trip, my notebook, wide rule or college rule, it doesn’t matter because I won’t be using the lines, is positioned on the passenger seat. As I drive I notice landmarks, brown sign historical markers, the names of rivers and creeks: Bee Creek, Wolf Creek, The Mississippi River!

Keeping my eyes on the road, I write without looking: Kalona Creamery, MO mile marker 48 – look up round barn.

My notes include clever place names that I can use in my stories: The name a of a beauty shop in western Kansas became the name of the diner in my current novel.

When I stop to rest or get fuel I take my notebook inside with me. I’ve sat in McDonald’s, Subway restaurants and  truck stops making notes about the man with snow white hair cut as if a bowl had been place on his head, the young kid behind the counter who was overly friendly – acting as if I liked him enough I might take him with me, and the trucker with the huge tattoos up and down his muscular arms that spelled out PUGSLEY in great Gothic lettering. What does Pugsley mean? It doesn’t matter – I can make something up as long as I have a note to jog my memory.

I record snippets of conversations, especially local dialects and topics like the old guys discussing the price of beans over coffee and a breakfast burrito at their local gas station where three cafe tables line the wall along the windows – the only breakfast eatery for miles. And I’m a huge fan of local bulletin boards with notifications of missing pets or persons, items for sale, local fundraisers, estate sales and funeral announcements. A writer can extract a lot of interesting details from a bulletin board in a gas station!

Periodically I will skim through a notebook or two and re-write or type an entry. I usually remember what I’ve written about, (and where it was and when) when re-reading my scribbling that either runs sideways in bold print, or neat script with lovely loopy letters. A psychologist in a writing class once said it was a hand/brain correlation that helps us remember things we’ve written.

The back to school supplies are dwindling. Soon the notebooks, folders and 12 packs of #2 pencils will be relegated to the office supply aisle until next year. It’s my reminder to stock up on another stack of spiral bound notebooks.

How do you keep track of tidbits you notice on a road trip? Do you also love spiral bound notebooks?

Barbara J. Eikmeier is a quilter, writer, student of quilt history, and lover of small-town America. Raised on a dairy farm in California, she enjoys placing her characters in rural communities.

“Thrilling and Unpredictable” – Where a Writer Got His Ideas

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I’m delighted to welcome author Terry Ambrose as my guest to discuss his new series in the blog “Thrilling and Unpredictable” – Where a Writer Got His Ideas. I’ll be back next month – Debra 

Readers often ask writers where their ideas come from. In my case, the ideas are usually driven by a confluence of events. The Beachtown Detective Agency series idea was different in that the series concept came to me while we were on a weekend getaway to photograph two San Diego area piers.

My interest in piers started when my wife gave me a copy of Piers of the California Coast. After discovering San Diego had several piers, we decided to stay near Pacific Beach. It was a centralized destination with a nice B&B. It seemed like the perfect spot to stay because I was just starting the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series, and that made the B&B location a double win.

We walked into Pacific Beach the first night, wending our way through residential streets until we found ourselves approaching a funky little town with a boardwalk. This was in the days prior to Covid-19, so we didn’t worry about crowds or getting close to strangers. It was nearing 5PM as we made our way along Pacific Beach’s boardwalk. The place wasn’t just alive; it was positively chaotic!

People of all ages were everywhere. From kids to seniors, joggers and walkers to small groups hanging out. From the smell of coconut oil to marijuana, the energy consumed my attention. It reached out, grabbed me by the muse, and shook me with a fervor that demanded I write about it.

Almost on the spot, I began crafting a character who eventually became Jade Cavendish. Jade is twenty-six years old, spunky, and not quite ready to become an adult. She’s also forced to take over the family business when her father announces his sudden retirement.

I eventually moved the location of the series to Carlsbad, which is much closer to home. Carlsbad has a different energy. Where Pacific Beach is constant chaos and manic, the Village in Carlsbad is laid-back and quirky. But, as I integrated the change in location into the book, I realized that energy fit perfectly with my long-term goals for the series. The result was a book that Kirkus Reviews called, “…thrilling and unpredictable.”

Gay Yellen: Great Balls of… Ice?

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Warning: the writer is grouchy today because the old refrigerator died.

Great Balls of Ice

It was a 1983-vintage custom-designed fridge that we inherited when we bought our home thirty years ago. It was sleek, streamlined and fit in seamlessly with the cabinetry. But it was too old to be repaired, so the search was on for a new one. My husband hoped it would make crushed ice.

The first model we chose had a delivery window of 4-6 weeks, minimum. No fridge for a month or more? Cancel that.

Moving down the row, we noticed a different brand’s floor model with a big SALE tag on it. It could be delivered immediately, and it made crushed ice. We grabbed it.

The dispenser options on the door display are Cubed/Water/Crushed. Hubby seems satisfied with the crushed. On the other hand, I have a problem with the so-called “cubed.”

Does this look like a cube to you? No. It’s a rectangular pyramid with a rounded-off top, kind of like a mini lump of half-spent charcoal. Those smart fridge engineers had to know it wasn’t a cube. Maybe “lump” was too down-scale a word for the marketing team. Sure, the pieces chill like a cube, but still… it rankled the editor in me.

For a visual reference, here’s a cabochon amethyst cut in a shape called “sugar loaf” that’s almost identical to our lumps. Obviously, gemologists are way more careful with their language.

Anyhoo, back to the new fridge, where we discovered that it also makes a third kind of ice, described in the 67-page owner’s manual as “Craft.” To our amazement, there’s a bonus shaping device that lurks inside the bowels of the freezer compartment that is more special and even craftier than your everyday two-way ice dispenser.

It makes balls of ice as big as billiard balls, and they are so extra super-duper that only three per day can be “crafted” to become the crystal wonders pictured in the photo at the top of this post. New ones announce themselves with a kerplunk, plunk, plunk that emanates from the deep.

Why are we engineering such useless gizmos for our over-pampered selves? Is there a big demand for a perfectly round chunk of ice so heavy it could tumble from your Scotch-on-the-rocks and knock out your front teeth?

This new whiz-bang appliance is too busy and bulky and bossy to love. You barely touch a door and it smugly announces that it’s keeping everything at a perfect temperature. Leave a door open longer than it “thinks” you should, and it sends out an annoying series of beeps. As if we didn’t already have more than enough things to beep at us. And did I mention that it looks like the backside of an elephant?

Truth is, I miss our old machine. I’m still trying to chill out about its replacement. Wish me luck.

Do you have an emotional relationship with an inanimate object? Love it, or hate it?

Gay Yellen is the award-winning author of the Samantha Newman Mystery Series, including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the upcoming Body in the News.

How I Met the Coroner

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by Donnell Ann Bell

You’ve heard of How I Met your Mother?  Well, today I’d like to talk about How I Met the Coroner.  If you’re a mystery writer, chances are you need knowledge of bodies now and then, or perhaps you need to know how to bump somebody off.  When I began my fiction career, I wasn’t particularly versed in either.  I thought experts such as coroners, police lieutenants, and FBI profilers were akin to God.

What I learned later is that they’re just people and some actually like to talk to writers.  But stuck in that I-could never-contact-an-expert mentality I started off by annoying my pharmacist – actually he was quite nice.  It’s the customers around us who were rather shocked. They seemed to take exception to my questions like how do I get my hands on a controlled substance? or I need something that would trigger a heart attack but don’t want it to show up in an autopsy.

I wasn’t having any luck.  One day I picked up the phone and dialed the El Paso County (Colorado) Coroner’s office, and a booming – and I mean booming — female voice answered.  I, on the other hand, did a fine imitation of a mouse.  “I’m a writer,” I squeaked.  “I wonder if you could answer a few questions.”

I’ll never forget her response.  “You’re who?  You want to do what?”  But when she finally answered my question, I thought, oh, my gosh, this woman knows EVERYTHING. Still, she had a job to do and I didn’t want to make a pest of myself.  I went back to writing, and because the pharmacist had not put out a restraining order on me, I decided to not overdo it with my new contact.  I would only ask questions that I absolutely couldn’t find out on my own.

Every once in a while, though, I was stuck and I called her.  After all, I was completely anonymous, and once you realize that these coroners (and experts) possess the knowledge of the world, you can’t go back.  You realize things on CSI or Criminal Minds aren’t accurate.  You take on a zombie-like persona with arms outstretched, mumbling . . . must get it right.

The addiction wasn’t going away.  In fact it became stronger.  So, I enrolled in my first Citizens Academy. (I’ve completed three, including The Writers Police Academy)  But I loved my first two so much, and appreciated what these people do for a living, that I volunteered.  Then one day, our coordinator announced, “Today, our speaker is Chris Herndon, Deputy Coroner for the El Paso County Coroner’s Office.”

I slumped in my chair.  This was the woman.  It was fine as long as she didn’t know who I was.  But what if she recognized me? What if she put two and two together that I was that crazy writer?

My curious nature isn’t always my friend, and as she talked, I naturally had questions.  The moment I asked, however, she zeroed in on me like a torpedo from a destroyer.  Her eyes narrowed and she knew.  And later when she asked, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” I had to tell her the truth.

Turns out, she didn’t think I was that strange.  In fact, we’ve become good friends.  But I couldn’t keep a goldmine like Chris to myself. Soon, I invited her to talk to my writers’ groups.  She and I wrote a mock coroner’s inquest, presented by my local Sisters in Crime.

A few years ago, Chris and her husband Karl (a former deputy sheriff) and CSI expert Tom Adair presented a workshop for Pikes Peak Writers Conference on how to process a crime scene.

If you’re looking for accurate research, don’t be afraid to contact a professional.  What’s the worst that can happen?  They’re too busy?  They’ll hang up?  Since I began my fiction career, very few people have hung up on me.  Most enjoy helping writers.  As for me, I’m still hooked on getting it right.  That’s why I co-own Crimescenewriters with Veteran police officer Wally Lind (retired), a Groups.io forum dedicated to writers who love to ask as many questions as I do.

Have questions for an expert?  Pick up the phone, volunteer, and get involved.  When it comes to getting it right, you’ll never go wrong by going to the source or better yet getting hands-on training.

About the Author:  Donnell Ann Bell is a muti-published author of four bestselling romantic suspense novels and two books in a cold case suspense series, Black Pearl, and her latest release Until Dead. to learn more about her visit www.donnellannbell.com