Clicking Our Heels – Where Do Our
Ideas Come From?
Readers often ask where the ideas for our books and
stories come from. Today, the members of the Stiletto Gang are letting you in
on their secrets.
Donnell Bell – My books originate from events that have
happened and affect me in life. The first book that compelled me to write
(which I never tried to publish) came after listening to a breaking news story
about a man gunned down on the New Mexico capital steps. I was on my lunch hour
and had to get back to work. Later, when I tried to find what happened, I
couldn’t find any details. Frustrated, I made up in my mind what must have
happened and that was the start of my fiction career.
Lynn McPherson – My ideas usually come from my day-to-day
life–while I’m walking the dog or watching TV. Something will strike me as a
good fit for a mystery and I go from there. It could be something as small as
tracks in the snow or a disagreement I read about on social media. My
imagination takes it from there and runs.
Saralyn Richard – Almost always my ideas come from the question,
“What if?”
Robin Hillyer-Miles – I dream of my storylines.
Lois Winston – I’m a news junkie. Most of my ideas are inspired by actual
events I read about or see in the news.
Debra Sennefelder – Everywhere! My second Food Blogger book, The Hidden
Corpse, was inspired by a neighbor’s knock on our door when she needed help
shutting off her smoke alarm. My fourth Resale Boutique book, How to Frame a Fashionista,
was partly inspired by a YouTube fitness guru who was reportedly involved in a
scandal. Ideas are everywhere.
Kathryn Lane – Plot, characters, and settings often come from simple ideas
I experienced during my corporate career when I traveled the world, or an
article I read in a newspaper, a conversation I may overhear, or even a detail
from a dream. A combination of all of these usually appear in each novel.
T.K. Thorne – I was asked to write the two nonfiction books and got
intrigued about the story. One idea for a novel hit me while I was listening to
a poem, another from a snarky remark of a coworker, one started with an image
of a dancer, and one of a young girl hiding, and one arrived as three words
while I was brushing my teeth.
Debra H. Goldstein – Although I steal from my life experiences and
observations, most come out of my subconscious as I write. The characters speak
to me, and their words pull the ideas out of me.
Anita Carter – Ideas are everywhere. TV, news stories, a snippet of a
conversation I’ve overheard. Everything is free game when you’re a writer!
Linda Rodriguez – All over the place. I may read or hear or see something
that makes me wonder what-if? And then that combines with something else I’ve
read or heard or seen-or even dreamed. Like the sand in the oyster, these
gritty little ideas roll around accreting even more ideas until I have a pearl
to begin a book with.
Meri Allen/Shari Randall – I wish I knew!
Mary Lee Ashford – Everywhere. A snippet of conversation, a song, a real-life
story. Often, it’s a story that I’ve
heard or read. Recently I read an article about a man who made himself
disappear. That’s disappear not in the physical sense but as in he got rid of
every trace of himself in all the ways we normally find people. Fascinating. I
don’t have a story for that tidbit right now, but I’m still thinking about it.
Bethany Maines – I feel like I’m sort of a mash-up artist. I get these
little bits of things sort of noodling around I my head and then sooner or
later they smash into another noodle and then I’ve got spaghetti. Or half of a
novel. Depends on how hungry I am.
Gay Yellen – My biggest problem is having too many ideas to fit in one
book. They can come from almost anywhere: the news, a lost object on the
street, something I got in the mail. In other words, real life.
Cathy Perkins – As others said, ideas are everywhere! For example, my husband and I were hiking along the Snake River in a game management area called Big Flats
(which happens to feature in So About the Money) and had to push through tangled foliage at the shoreline. Being a mystery writer whose mind can go all kinds of strange places, I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to find a body?”
That germ of an idea kept growing. Why would the heroine be out at Big Flats to stumble over the body?
How did the body end up beside the river in the first place?
Plotting or Plodding, or Both?
/in Uncategorized/by Paula Bensonby Paula Gail Benson
About a month ago, I began noodling with an idea for a
novel. I started writing in a notebook, with a cover that had the phrase: “Wherever
life takes you–trust your journey.” Following that advice, I started generally
with entries about what I would like to write. I had a strong idea for a
protagonist and gradually figured out the people who surrounded her.
On the fourth entry, I heard my protagonist’s first words: “I
am a relic.” And then, her best friend’s response.
I continued on the journey and finally had a chronology for
the opening scenes of the novel, which I sketched out in another notebook, then
began examining the timeline more closely in the notebook containing all the
other entries.
Finally, I managed to name the central characters. While I still
hadn’t written out the opening scenes, I found myself developing one where the
protagonist is talking with her best friend about a choice she made and action
she took. The best friend disagrees with her decision and is worried about how
it will play out.
As the two characters talk, the scene becomes lengthy. It provides a perspective about the relationship between the two friends. Because
they indulge in mojitos, the protagonist stays over at her friend’s house. She’s
roused once in the middle of the night and can’t figure out why.
The next day, the protagonist and her friend are called to
come to the friend’s workplace, where a homicide victim has been found. The
victim is connected to the action the protagonist took and her friend found
problematic. After giving statements to the police, the protagonist and her
friend begin to investigate how the victim might have been killed.
I’ve progressed through several scenes without going back to
write the beginning. The other day I made some discoveries about the characters
that I wasn’t expecting.
As I contemplated what I’d learned, I wrote: Amazing where
the writing journey takes you. I had been wondering how the scenes with such
long conversations would evolve and was surprised by what I discovered.
Sometimes, when you’re wondering if the winding road is worth traveling, you
find the trip astonishing. All it required was to keep plodding forward with a
general goal in mind, flexible enough so any unexpected shift didn’t bump you
from the trail.
When I wrote “plodding,” I wondered if that was the synonym
or antonym for “plotting.” I decided both plotters (who plan out their stories
before writing them) and pantsers (who observe the emerging plan as they write their
stories) depend upon plodding, as in moving forward. I think what worried me at
first was the idea that plodding is often associated with the uninteresting,
the pedestrian. But, I think it’s more important to think of those gently
clomping horses’ hooves progressing methodically toward a target.
I remain concerned that my scenes are more talk than action,
but I know I can fix that. Maybe for now, I just need to hear my characters
tell me what they know.
Also, I’ve just purchased and started reading Abigail Drake’s
The Reformed Panster’s Guide to Plotting.
Abigail, author of seventeen novels, presenter of writing workshops, and
facilitator for Ramona DeFelice Long’s continuing Sprint Club on Facebook,
wrote this book after being asked to deliver a seminar on the topic in West
Virginia. Released October 7, 2021, and 86 pages in length, it is an excellent
discussion about how to plan a work of fiction, chapter-by-chapter. At the end,
an appendix outlines the overall process. Drake’s book works for building a
novel as well as for analyzing how to revise a novel.
I have to admit, it’s great to “plod” forward with a terrifically supportive guidebook, which describes Drake’s book. I recommend
that you try both.
The Hardest Hit Release!
/in New Release/by Bethany Mainesby Bethany Maines
About the Book:
Release Date: 10/18/21
Pre-Order Link: https://books2read.com/hardest-hit/
Chapter 1 sneak peek: https://bethanymaines.com/deveraux-chapter-1/
Buy the Series (all vendors):
https://books2read.com/Lost-Heir (prequel novella)
https://books2read.com/The-Second-Shot (Book 1)
· https://books2read.com/Cinderella-Secret (Book 2)
Win a paperback copy:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/332708-the-hardest-hit
Giveaway closes October 25th!
**
Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.
Gay Yellen: A Leaf Blower Lament
/in Uncategorized/by Gay YellenOctober! The thrill of crisp, cool air, gently weaving its way through the sun-baked furnace of summer. We can feel it coming… sweater weather! Pumpkins and spices and all things Halloween will soon be here. Baked apples! Hot chocolate! And glorious leaves in bright colors, red, gold, yellow, purple!
Welcome to my favorite month, and everything it brings. Everything but but one: leaf blowers.
In these days of semi-isolation, the favored method of stress reduction at our house comes in the form of daily walks in the beautiful autumn weather. Living in the heart of the city, we’re abutted by a large city park and old, established neighborhoods. So many interesting things to see: squirrels, rabbits, and more varieties of birds than I can name. Matter of fact, our neck of the woods is a bird-watcher’s paradise, especially when the seasons change.
And trees. Lots of trees. Autumn is lovely around here. Except for the leaf blowers.
Who was the hare-brained tinkerer who invented those infernal machines?
We’re surrounded by all kinds of urban noise—the hum of rush-hour traffic, punctuated with the occasional horn honks and brake squeals, the clatter of garbage trucks, the whine of first responders’ sirens. When you live in a city long enough, it all fades into the background. Except the infernal bray of a leaf blaster. It can penetrate the thickest walls. At 100 decibels or more, it can also cause permanent hearing loss.
That’s not the worst of it. In addition to the noise, there’s the air pollution they create by stirring up dirt, dust, and pollen. We’re often forced to change course on our walks to avoid a whirlwind of detritus or the gag-inducing fumes belched from those gas-powered nuisances.
And even that’s not all. When those lovely autumn leaves fall, guys armed with leaf blowers often shoot leaves farther along the street until they wind up in the neighbor’s yard. Worse, some operators force bushels of leaves down into street gutters, which clogs our drainage systems and sets a neighborhood up for possible flooding during the next downpour.
Whatever happened to rakes, mulching, compost heaps, and trash bags?
Please, I beg you—landscape servicers and gardeners everywhere—put down your leaf blasters and buy rakes. Be good stewards of what is left of our land and air. Return us to the days of yore, when there was virtue in gently tending our urban gardens. Abandon your tools of destruction and open your senses to clear air and the sound of birdsong.
Those who know me, know I’m not usually this grouchy. It’s just that finding peace and quiet is harder than it used to be. Let’s outlaw leaf blowers. There’s already too much other stuff blowin’ in the wind.
Some cheery news before I sign off: The Body Next Door, Book 2 in the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series is only $0.99 this week. It’s a fun roller-coaster of a mystery, so if you’re looking for light, engaging entertainment, simply click here to pick up your copy!
Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries, including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the soon to be released Body in the News.
Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, I’m seriously relating to a Disney cartoon
/in Uncategorized/by Donnell Ann BellSing along with me. . .
while engrossed in a kitchen remodel and choking on dust and chaos. To tell you how much I miss my sink, stove, and dishwasher is an understatement. It was supposed to be completed last Thursday. But, in the time of COVID, we all know supply chain is hit and miss–the sink didn’t come in and my contractor can’t do the granite without a sink. Moreover, I’m constantly stopping my edits to deal with a subcontractor.
This morning, with my blog date utmost in mind, I waded through volumes of email for inspiration and spied something that did my heart proud–fellow Stiletto blogger Dru Ann Love’s review of yet another Stiletto member, Lois Winston.
Because I couldn’t agree more with Dru’s review of Lois’s Stitch, Bake, Die!, I thought I’d repost Dru’s musings giving full credit that her review ran on Dru’s Book Musing first. I happen to heartily agree.
I also want to go a step further before I post Dru’s opinion and say if you are a crafter interested in baking or stitchery, get thee this book. There’s a baking and stitching competition underfoot in this amateur sleuth mystery and the recipes and instructions in the back of the book are just an added bonus.
With that said, here’s Dru’s review:
Dru’s Short Musing:
In this fast-paced and action-packed whodunit, Anastasia Pollack and BFF Cloris are hosting a workshop when murder interferes in the conference activities. The more they get to know the attendees, the more it becomes apparent that these people are not what they seem. With both on the case, they have some unraveling to do to find a killer hiding in plain sight where everyone is a potential suspect. The mystery was nicely executed, with bits and pieces of clues here and there as well as humorous interludes that enhanced the telling of this tale. This is another great addition to this engagingly entertaining series and I’m patiently waiting for the wedding of the century.
Stitch, Bake, Die! by Lois Winston
Series Name: Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery #10
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 4, 2021
With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the New Jersey chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.
The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to meet are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects.
Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?
Crafting tips included.
Purchase Link
About the Author: Donnell Ann Bell is an award-winning
author, including finalist in the 2020 Colorado Book Award, she is the author
of Black Pearl, book one of a series, and is currently editing book two.
You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, or Bookbub. Sign up for her newsletter
at www.donnellannbell.com
Untitled Post
/in Uncategorized/by DebraWatch Out – the Frying Pan is Armed!
by Debra H. Goldstein
We all know that I’m not Suzy Homemaker, but this time even
I don’t know what I did. I hope some of you out there can tell me how I blew up
my favorite frying pan.
As you recall, during the pandemic, I’ve cooked more in the
past year than in the previous thirty-seven years of my marriage. So far, I’ve
learned that if I see an F3 or an F8 in the digital portion of my stove, the
oven is either on fire or I’ve blown the contraption’s brain. This time,
because the stove didn’t send me a digital message that I can google, I’m at a
complete loss.
Lately, to make my life a little easier, and because it is
easy for me to follow simple directions that come with pictures, I’ve been
having two to three dinners a week delivered from Home Chef. They have proven
relatively easy to make and what they send seems to be of good quality and more
than enough for two bulk eaters. The only thing is that rather than broiling or
baking, many times they have you use a non-stick frying pan and a drop of oil
to make parts of the meal.
Okay, picture this. I’m frying two boneless chicken breasts
in a drop of oil in a non-stick pan for 5-7 minutes per side on medium heat.
Suddenly, I hear a bang like a gun being shot. I have the sensation that
something flew upward, but I can’t really say I saw it. I did notice the gas stove’s
flame leap up a drop, but nothing alarming. With the exhaust fan turned up a
notch, I continued cooking. The same thing happened again, rattling me. I
couldn’t see anything that seemed out of place.
I plated the meal – brussel sprouts made in another pan and
the two wonton breaded chicken breasts and we began to eat. Suddenly, I noticed
something silver on my plate. Definitely not the color of a brussel sprout or
chicken – and it was metal. Could it be a flattened bullet? I pushed it aside, checked
for any more metallic items on my plate, and finding none continued eating.
After the meal, I looked in the frying pan and saw a twin metal button. I
examined the frying pan and realized they were the caps from inside the pan
that covered the screws. They’d blown off (and probably up).
I’ve used this frying pan for months without being attacked
or sabotaged by it. What do you think happened and is it safe to continue using
the pan?
Living Our Best Lives
/in Uncategorized/by Sparkle Abbeyby Sparkle Abbey
Sometimes it’s a struggle to balance daily life with pursuing our dreams. We’ll be honest, there are days it’s a struggle to just live our best lives.
After morning coffee, we find ourselves jumping into the day, tackling never-ending projects, putting out fires, and skipping lunch. By the end of the day, we lack the focus and energy to do anything more.
There are actions we can take to turn the focus back on living our best lives. These aren’t difficult, we just need to make the decision to follow through and make them a habit.
So, for anyone else who might be struggling to live their best life, here are three habits we want to challenge you, and ourselves, to take on for the next 30 days.
1. Visualize your day
2. Eliminate negative thoughts, emotions, beliefs
3. Prioritize your health
What do you say, are you up for the challenge? Are there other actions or habits you think we should try? If you do join us, keep us updated on how you’re doing. We want to cheer you on!
Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)
They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, and Twitter their favorite social media sites.
Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website
Clicking Our Heels – Where Do Our Ideas Come From?
/in Clicking Our Heels/by Stiletto GangClicking Our Heels – Where Do Our
Ideas Come From?
Readers often ask where the ideas for our books and
stories come from. Today, the members of the Stiletto Gang are letting you in
on their secrets.
Donnell Bell – My books originate from events that have
happened and affect me in life. The first book that compelled me to write
(which I never tried to publish) came after listening to a breaking news story
about a man gunned down on the New Mexico capital steps. I was on my lunch hour
and had to get back to work. Later, when I tried to find what happened, I
couldn’t find any details. Frustrated, I made up in my mind what must have
happened and that was the start of my fiction career.
Lynn McPherson – My ideas usually come from my day-to-day
life–while I’m walking the dog or watching TV. Something will strike me as a
good fit for a mystery and I go from there. It could be something as small as
tracks in the snow or a disagreement I read about on social media. My
imagination takes it from there and runs.
Saralyn Richard – Almost always my ideas come from the question,
“What if?”
Robin Hillyer-Miles – I dream of my storylines.
Lois Winston – I’m a news junkie. Most of my ideas are inspired by actual
events I read about or see in the news.
Debra Sennefelder – Everywhere! My second Food Blogger book, The Hidden
Corpse, was inspired by a neighbor’s knock on our door when she needed help
shutting off her smoke alarm. My fourth Resale Boutique book, How to Frame a Fashionista,
was partly inspired by a YouTube fitness guru who was reportedly involved in a
scandal. Ideas are everywhere.
Kathryn Lane – Plot, characters, and settings often come from simple ideas
I experienced during my corporate career when I traveled the world, or an
article I read in a newspaper, a conversation I may overhear, or even a detail
from a dream. A combination of all of these usually appear in each novel.
T.K. Thorne – I was asked to write the two nonfiction books and got
intrigued about the story. One idea for a novel hit me while I was listening to
a poem, another from a snarky remark of a coworker, one started with an image
of a dancer, and one of a young girl hiding, and one arrived as three words
while I was brushing my teeth.
Debra H. Goldstein – Although I steal from my life experiences and
observations, most come out of my subconscious as I write. The characters speak
to me, and their words pull the ideas out of me.
Anita Carter – Ideas are everywhere. TV, news stories, a snippet of a
conversation I’ve overheard. Everything is free game when you’re a writer!
Linda Rodriguez – All over the place. I may read or hear or see something
that makes me wonder what-if? And then that combines with something else I’ve
read or heard or seen-or even dreamed. Like the sand in the oyster, these
gritty little ideas roll around accreting even more ideas until I have a pearl
to begin a book with.
Meri Allen/Shari Randall – I wish I knew!
Mary Lee Ashford – Everywhere. A snippet of conversation, a song, a real-life
story. Often, it’s a story that I’ve
heard or read. Recently I read an article about a man who made himself
disappear. That’s disappear not in the physical sense but as in he got rid of
every trace of himself in all the ways we normally find people. Fascinating. I
don’t have a story for that tidbit right now, but I’m still thinking about it.
Bethany Maines – I feel like I’m sort of a mash-up artist. I get these
little bits of things sort of noodling around I my head and then sooner or
later they smash into another noodle and then I’ve got spaghetti. Or half of a
novel. Depends on how hungry I am.
Gay Yellen – My biggest problem is having too many ideas to fit in one
book. They can come from almost anywhere: the news, a lost object on the
street, something I got in the mail. In other words, real life.
Cathy Perkins – As others said, ideas are everywhere! For example, my husband and I were hiking along the Snake River in a game management area called Big Flats
(which happens to feature in So About the Money) and had to push through tangled foliage at the shoreline. Being a mystery writer whose mind can go all kinds of strange places, I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to find a body?”
That germ of an idea kept growing. Why would the heroine be out at Big Flats to stumble over the body?
How did the body end up beside the river in the first place?
“Solitude in the Outback…”
/in Uncategorized/by Kathryn LaneBy Kathryn Lane
Years ago, when I lived in the Outback of Australia, I often found myself alone for weeks at a time at the homestead while the men were in the field catching
feral cattle. That solitude gave me time to read the Russian novels by Tolstoy,
Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and Pasternak to name a few. Dr. Zhivago and The Brothers
Karamazov remain favorites to this day.
In my Australian days, I’d visualize the great books I read as a
lighthouse that would light up the path of my life. A silly image, perhaps, but
when one is completely alone, the mind creates interesting imagery.
Even after the Outback became only a memory, I rarely read novels
hitting the New York Times bestseller list until the original hoopla
surrounding their launch had quieted down. The hectic schedule of my international
corporate career left little time to indulge in big books. I’d discovered less
lofty but more enjoyable reading – the mystery genre – my pleasure reading for
long flights from New York to South America, Asia, or Europe.
mystery intrigues me so much, that it’s what I write. Revisiting the idea of
best sellers, I still wait until the hoopla quiets to a whisper. Recently, I must
have heard crawdads heralding Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing
as being a mystery wrapped in a coming of age story woven with romance.
So I purchased it.
What a delicious dip into the wondrous world of nature in the
swamps of North Carolina as seen, felt, and described through Kya’s life.
Delia Owens said in an interview that Kya represents what we can
be when we have to be. I concur with the author that all of us have the ability
to do more than we can imagine when life requires it.
Delia Owens described how her life of studying lions and elephants
in Africa brought extreme or partial isolation for twenty-three years of her
life.
changed me in many ways. I became, like Kya, more self-reliant, more
introspective, and a problem solver. When I re-emerged into life in Mexico
after the Australian experience, I was socially insecure. I thought it’d take
several years for me to feel like the extroverted girl who’d left the comfort
and love of her family to form a family of her own on the other side of the
world. Then I realized the young girl had been transformed into a woman capable
of following her own lighthouse to accomplish her dreams.
Has
solitude changed your life in any way?
***
Kathryn’s mysteries – The Nikki
Garcia Mystery series:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B08C7V2675/ref=dp_st_1942428944
Kathryn’s short story collection – Backyard
Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart
https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Volcano-Other-Mysteries-Heart/dp/1943306044
All available on Amazon
Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation.
After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery
and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.
Visit my website at https://www.Kathryn-Lane.com
I love hearing from readers. Ask a question,
suggest an idea, or comment about the blog. kathrynlaneauthor@gmail.com
Photo
credits:
All
photographs are used in an editorial or educational manner.
“Follow the Road” by ASTRORDINARY is licensed
under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Where the Crawdads Sing” Public Domain
“Perthling” by ASTRORDINARY is licensed under
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Feeling the Halloween Vibes
/in Uncategorized/by Debra SennefelderHappy October!
This has to be my favorite month of the years for so many
reasons. I love sweater weather and seeing big, fat orange pumpkins always makes
me smile. I enjoy layering my home in warmth with cozy throws and fragrant
candles.
Last year was the first time we set out a lawn decoration
for Halloween. Typically our road gets very little trick-or-treat traffic, so
we haven’t gone all-out for the holiday. That changed last year. I know, one
four-foot inflatable is not going all-out. But, considering we have never done
that, it was monumental. The reason for the change was that our next-door
neighbors have a son, and last year he was three years old and started to
understand Halloween. His parents planned to take him trick or treating on Main
Street, where the candy collection is pretty sweet among the historic homes.
But, you know what caused the cancellation of the annual tradition (I won’t say
the word), so his parents had to look elsewhere – the road on which they lived.
Since they wanted their son to experience his first real
Halloween, they sent letters to everyone on our road. They asked if we would
participate in trick or treating.
Of course, we all said yes! It was so much fun. The little
guy went up and down our street, stopping at each house with his parents and
grandparents to get some candy, show off their costumes, and chat. There are
some older kids on our road, and they also went trick or treating, and so did
some of the adults – no costumes, but they helped themselves to candy. Luckily
among our closest neighbors, we all had different candy.
Now it’s a few weeks before Halloween, and for the first
time in forever, I’m thinking more about the holiday. It’s probably because my
husband and I decided to purchase two more inflatable decorations for the front
yard last month, along with a graveyard tombstone and a skeleton head with
arms.
I thought I’d share some fun Halloween links with you to
help get you in the Halloween spirit or if you’re all in on the holiday, just
get you more excited about it.
Check out this website all about Halloween. Over at Spooky Little Halloween you’ll find recipes, to crafts to a playlist for a pumpkin spice season. How fun!
Need inspiration in the kitchen? Well, the Food Network has
you covered with 50 recipes ideas.
Looking for some autumn with a touch of Halloween decorating
inspo? I love this Instagram account, @Penelopepumpkinspice.
How about a short Halloween read? Well, WHAT NOT TO WEAR TOA GRAVEYARD is available. I wrote this novella as a part of the Resale Boutique
mystery series but it can be read as a standalone.
After trading her Manhattan digs for her upstate hometown,
fashionista Kelly Quinn has big plans for her grandmother’s consignment
shop. But this All Hallow’s Eve someone is already dressed to kill . . .
A socialite’s missing dog has made front page news in Lucky
Cove—complete with a hefty reward. But between renovating the
consignment shop, planning her costume for a 1970s themed Halloween
party, and scouting a location for a fashion shoot, Kelly doesn’t have
time to search. Yet a visit to the local colonial-era cemetery—ideal for
the moody atmosphere she’s after—soon turns up the precious pooch.
Kelly’s looking forward to collecting the check—until she makes a
gruesome discovery in an abandoned farmhouse: The dog’s owner, stabbed
through the heart.
Kelly can’t help wondering why Constance
Lane was traipsing around the farmhouse in stilettos. But as Kelly gets
decked out in a vintage disco caftan, that isn’t the only fashion
misstatement spooking her. Hidden in the dead woman’s past is a secret
that could be the motive for the murder. And as the Halloween party gets
started, even a menacing clown and a threatening bearded lady can’t
keep Kelly from trick or treating for the truth—even if it means her
last dance . . .
How do you celebrate Halloween? Love to hear what the holiday and season is like at your home.
Have a Ghoultastic Halloween!
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.
Interview with Stiletto Gang member, Cathy Perkins!
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangBy Lynn McPherson
I’ve had the privilege of getting to know one of my fellow Stiletto Gang members a little better over the last few weeks.
Cathy Perkins is not only an award-winning author, but also a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. On top of that, Cathy has worked on the blog and social media for the ITW Debut Authors, and coordinated for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
While I’ve had a life-long love affair with reading, I didn’t start writing until fairly recently. This probably isn’t how most people start, but I had a lengthy consulting job in a city about 90 miles away. I’d listen to music and daydream during the commute. Pretty soon the daydream had dialogue and I thought, hmm, this is turning into a good story. That particular book lives in a box in the closet, but I was hooked on writing, creating worlds and characters.
Why mystery?
I’ve always loved mysteries and suspense—figuring out the who-dun-it puzzle, delighting when the author keeps me guessing or on the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen next. When I started writing, my stories and characters had secrets, obstacles, and a race to uncover the villain. I’m going to slide a second favorite part of writing in here. I love bringing the characters to life, figuring out what makes them tick, and throwing the challenges of the plot and relationship at them. So much fun. It’s probably the best part of writing.
What is your writing process and how much time do you spend planning your books?
Like most authors, my stories start with a “what if.” Once an idea takes hold, the plot and character evolve together. I’m a plotter, so the first thing I do when I think the idea has possibilities is sketch an outline of the plot. That outline grows and evolves as my characters’ personalities and motivations flesh out. Things that of course they’d do, add layers or subplots as the story unfolds.
How important is setting in your novels?
I’ve been told the setting in my stories is another character. My goal is always to place the reader in the scene, to create a place readers can see and feel, even if they’ve never been to South Carolina, eastern Washington, or the Cascade Mountains. The challenge is to create that bubble without slowing the pace of the plot.
Toni McGee Causey has been a fabulous mentor and offers a terrific perspective on setting and point of view. What the character sees in the place says more about the character than the physical location. I try to keep that in mind—how my characters react to their location/setting and why it matters—as I write.
You are a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writer’s monthly publication. Do you find yourself editing as you write? Or do you write first and edit after?
I have a rather strange way of putting my stories together. If something isn’t working when I’m sitting with my computer, I switch to pen and paper. Writing by hand uses a different part of my brain and I can roll with the scene. When I type those handwritten pages, I make a first edit pass for flow and word choice. But I generally finish the first draft before doing my heavy-duty editing passes. Of course, my wonderful editor will always have suggestions on how to make the story better…
Do you have a favorite author you read for inspiration?
So many favorites!
This may sound strange since I’m currently writing at the lighter end of the mystery spectrum, but right now, I’m reading at the introspective end of the mystery/suspense/thriller genre – Jonathon King, John Hart, and pushing even further into women’s fiction, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristan Higgins. Of course, I always have dozens of books on my e-reader to choose among.
What’s next?
Good question…
I’ve been battling an aggressive cancer with an equally aggressive treatment regime. Chemo brain is a thing. As a result, not much writing has occurred this summer. When all this hit, I was halfway through Peril in the Pony Ring, the next book in the Keri Isles series. (Keri organizes her first event for the town of Liberty Falls and of course there are complications.) I also had the next Holly Price novel outlined (Holly is back in the Tri-Cities. Her best friend Laurie pulls her into another mystery that naturally has financial overtones.) My editor nudges me periodically about turning that one in…. Once I can string a few coherent sentences together, it’ll be a challenge deciding which one to work on first.
Learn more about Cathy here:
Facebook http://facebook.com/CathyPerkinsAuthor
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cathy-perkins
Website www.cperkinswrites.com