New Short Story Anthologies for Fall

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by Paula Gail Benson

 

This fall, several new
short story anthologies have appeared to provide wonderful entertainment on
cooler evenings. Here are a few:

 

So West: Love Kills is the ninth anthology published
by the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime, recently released in
conjunction with its virtual Write Now Conference. Featuring tales of love gone
wrong in the American Southwest, the following authors contributed work: Shannon Baker, Mysti Berry, Meredith Blevins,
Patricia Bonn, Lauren Buckingham, Susan Budavari, William Butler, Patricia
Curren, Meg E. Dobson, Beverly Forsyth, Denise Ganley, Roberta Gibson,
Katherine Atwell Herbert, Tom Leveen, Susan Cummins Miller, Charlotte Morganti,
Julie Morrison, Claire A. Murray, Kris Neri, Karen Odden, R K Olson, D.R.
Ransdell, Kim Rivery, Elena E. Smith. Maegan Beaumont served as lead editor and
Deborah J Ledford, Susan Budavari, R K Olson, Shannon Baker, Meg Dobson were
co-editors..

 

For Murder by the
Glass: Cocktail Mysteries, editors Teresa Inge and Yvonne Saxon asked the
contributors to write stories that had a glass, a murder, and a mystery. Written
by Allie Marie, Betsy Ashton,
Frances Aylor, Mary Dutta, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Diane Fanning, Debra H. Goldstein,
Libby Hall, Maria Hudgins, Teresa Inge, Maggie King, Kristin Kisska, K. L.
Murphy, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter, Shawn Reilly Simmons and Heather Weidner,
these seventeen tales cover many locations, offering lighter fare as well as grittier accounts. Prepare a shaker of your
favorite beverages, sit back, and enjoy!


Josh Pachter, who
previously edited, anthologies based on the songs of Joni Mitchell, Jimmy
Buffett, and Billy Joel, has put together and contributed to Monkey Business: Crime Fiction
Inspired by the Films of the Marx Brothers. The
fourteen short stories by Donna Andrews,
Frankie Y. Bailey, Jeff Cohen, Lesley A. Diehl, Brendan DuBois, Terence
Faherty, Barb Goffman, Joseph Goodrich, Robert Lopresti, Sandra Murphy, Robert
J. Randisi, Marilyn Todd, Joseph S. Walker, and Pachter are based on the Marx
Brothers’ films. In his introduction, Pachter explains a bit about the selected
films as well as pointing out the Marxes’ other connections with crime fiction.
This concept and these authors make it a winning combination. Or, as Grouch
would say, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?”

 

Peleliu by T.K. Thorne

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Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

This month, 77 years ago, American soldiers began a battle for an airstrip on a tiny island in the Pacific. 

I had never heard of it, but I watched a documentary where the last surviving Marines told of the battle predicted to take four days that lasted over two months—the bullets; the mud; of forcing their foes from underground positions with flames; the small strip of hard-baked dirt won at such cost of blood; and a victory that was deemed, in the end, of negligible value. 

It was a memory that haunted them and forged unbreakable bonds. One old man told of a simple offering  by his fellows that moved me to tears and to write a poem. I’d like to share it in honor of the Marines who risked and gave everything, and in tribute to the Japanese soldiers who did the same for their country . . . and in the hope that we will do war no more.

 

 

 

Peleliu, 1944
by T.K. Thorne

 

 

Thirst scrapes the back of the throat

tasting of gunpowder

and shattered dirt,

lips like parched earth

cracked open for an offering of blood

thirst cries out

from every cell.

 

We are walking Thirst

in a waking Hell,

traversing a field of Death.

Nothing here

of Home

or Cause—

 

Only the man to the right

And left.

 

One says,

“I have water.”

 

All turn

with longing

never felt for food

or glory

or even a woman.

 

With that declaration

Thirst intensifies

from burn to conflagration.

 

Hand atremble,

he offers his canteen

received by the next

with same and solemn fear,

all eyes watching.

 

One swallow,

one holy swallow

taken in sacred silence.

 

No one could stop him

if he took another or

drained it dry

but he takes only one,

enough to wet his mouth

but not slake aching cells.

 

With both hands, the communion canteen

passes to the next man.

all eyes follow.

 

One swallow.

only one,

all around.

 

 T.K. is a retired police captain who writes Books, which, like this blog, go wherever her interest and imagination take her.  More at TKThorne.com

 

 

The Cycle of Life in My Chicana Garden by Juliana Aragon Fatula

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 September 23, 2021

Dear Reader,

Woke up this morning and ventured out the backdoor to inspect my Chicana Garden. The hawk landed on my grape arbor and settled in amongst the concord grapes. I waited. The hawk flew low to the ground and swooped towards my tomatoes. I waited and watched. The hawk reappeared and flew inside the arbor and landed. I thought the hawk was eating my grapes, but they had already dropped to the ground and shriveled into raisins. I walked toward the hawk and heard it flittering in the grape leaves. It flew away and returned underneath the arbor and waited while I slowly crept closer. I thought maybe he was blind or injured or maybe couldn’t take flight because it was too young but as I drew nearer the hawk spread its wings and took flight. I looked in the sky but didn’t see the hawk in the air. I approached the bird and the hawk took to the grape leaves and I heard fluttering of several wings. I thought maybe the hawk was trying to rescue baby hawks that were stuck in the grape arbor. But then I realized the hawk was after my sparrows. 

A couple of small sparrows were scrambling for safety from the hawk in the large grape leaves and the hawk was trying to push them out from their cover. I watched and waited. The hawk flew away and took to the heavenly blue sky. I wondered why the hawk hunted in my backyard and then I realized my husband feeds the birds and provides bird houses and a bird bath for water to drink. My backyard is a sanctuary for birds, or so I thought. But, by feeding the birds and providing food, water, and shelter we provided the perfect hunting ground for the hawk. Plenty of sparrows, doves, blue jays, robins, finches, and hummingbirds. 

Our beautiful garden filled with apple and peach trees, grapes, and plentiful flowers to attract bees and butterflies looks like the garden of Eden. The birds sing and soar through the yard bomb diving carefree. They flock to my yard for the bird seed and stay because of the numerous bird houses hanging from the trees. There’s even a condo with twelve apartments that my husband built. It looks like a miniature of our house. 

We have two dogs, a Border Collie, and a mini-Aussie. We used to have four cats but one by one they grew old, and one by one, as they turned eighteen, they died, and we buried them in the flower garden. I used to worry that my husband was feeding the birds and the cats were hunting them and eating them. But now my cats are gone and buried, and the hawk hunts my birds. 

Our dogs like to bark at the birds, the squirrels, the deer that eat my roses and they bark at the cats. Our yard is full of birds singing, dogs barking, and deer grazing. Don’t forget the corn stealing, masked bandits, the raccoons. They arrive in the dark, as do the bears, to rummage through the dumpster. The dogs sleep through all the thievery and snore loudly until morning. 

I wake up and walk to the backdoor and witness the hawk swoop into my grape arbor and stalk the sparrows. The scent of concord grapes rises from the lawn and lingers as I watch the hawk take to the turquoise sky with a sparrow in its talons. The circle of life has begun and ended in my Chicana Garden as the birds build their nests and lay their eggs in the spring. 

Author Lois Winston Interviews Author T.K. Thorne

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By Lois Winston

Today I sit down for a chat with author T.K. Thorne. Learn more about T.K. and her books at her website.

LW: I recently read your historical novel, Noah’s Wife, and found it fascinating. Most authors start out in other careers, and those who have been in law enforcement, like you, often gravitate toward writing mysteries, suspense, or thrillers. What drew you to write the untold story of a character from the Bible? 

TKT: Hi Lois!  I’m so happy you picked Noah’s Wife because it is my first born and special to me. When I finished writing, the characters felt so real, I truly missed them being in my head saying unexpected things. It’s a joyful and magical thing to know when readers open the book because they all come alive again! 

 

I have never been drawn to the mystery/crime genre, perhaps because it felt too much like everyday work for me! My early reading love was science fiction and then epic fantasy. I wrote four books in those genres, but my dream of an agent and traditional publishing didn’t happen for those books. So, I went looking for a topic that would enthrall me and hopefully snag an agent. 

One day, I was at a poetry reading and a friend remarked that her pastor had dropped the fact that Noah’s wife was unnamed and had gotten only one line in the Bible in one of his sermons. I immediately envisioned the vast, white emptiness that was the life of a woman who played such an important role in the history/mythology of the three of the world’s major religions. Captivated by the idea that I could be the person to fill in that tabula rasa, I began researching what her world might have been like. Learning a historic flood had actually occurred around the year 5500 BCE that gave me a time frame for archeological research. (Did you know scientists can now determine what a person was eating thousands of years ago?) Then the character of Na’amah began to assert herself in my mind, where she lived for the four years it took to write the story.

 

LW: You’ve also written a novel about Lot’s wife, but your current book, House of Rose, is the first in a planned trilogy that incorporates murder, mayhem, and magic. Do you see yourself ever going back to writing more historical novels?

 

TKT: I wrote House of Rose as a gift to myself, something fun that didn’t require the research I had been doing for the historical novels and my nonfiction. I sat down at the computer with three little words buzzing around in my head (“You’re a hero.”) Those little words became three books about Rose Brighton, a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama who discovers she’s a witch. So much fun!

 

LW: I see you’ve also written a nonfiction book, Last Chance for Justice, about the 1963 church bombing in Atlanta. Do you have plans to continue crime-related nonfiction as well?

 

TKT: Actually, I now have two nonfiction books—Last Chance for Justice and just recently, Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days. I had to get over my retreat from research for that one! It was an ongoing project for eight years while the Rose books were also being hatched. Both of those books were unplanned. I never intended to write nonfiction, much less about the civil rights era. Living and working in a historical civil rights city like Birmingham, Alabama gave rise to the circumstances that led me to write them. I’m proud that I did and hope they have contributed to our understanding of history and ourselves. 

 

As to what plans I have, they are ping-pong balls right now. I’ve started rewriting one of those early epic fantasy novels I loved in younger days, playing with the idea of another biblical era historical fiction, and a (non-magical) crime/mystery. But to be honest, the pandemic has sucked my writing energy, and I haven’t filled my well back up yet, or perhaps the right story hasn’t emerged. Until that happens, I’m staying busy with garden projects, painting, and taking care of my rescue horses. I’ve been writing for a long time and who knows. We shall see what arises!

 

LW: The bio on your website states that as an eight-year-old, you won a ribbon for being stubborn. I think stubbornness is a trait that serves many authors well. So many of us need that stubbornness to persevere through years of rejections before we sell our first book. Tell us more about that award. How did you feel at the time when you received it?

 

TKT: It was a very hot summer day in Montgomery, Alabama. I was riding in a horse show at Little Lake Farms in Montgomery, Alabama on a bay named Duchess. I was so small, they had to tie my stirrups to get them short enough. The jumps were all barely off the ground. I could have jumped over them myself, but Duchess was not in the mood. The rule was after three refusals, you are disqualified, and we already had about ten or more (I lost count) at one jump, so there was no point in continuing. But I just wouldn’t give up. I kept circling back and aiming her, my little legs flailing against the saddle leather and finally, Duchess gave up, hopped over the crossed beams of the jump and finished the course. The crowd gave me a standing ovation, and the judge gave me an unexpected third place ribbon. 

 

At the time, I was shocked, knowing I should have been disqualified and felt guilty about it. It wasn’t until I was older that I understood the judge had bent the rules because he admired my spirit and determination. I have had other awards over the course of several years, but none of them, even the ones for my books, meant as much to me as that faded yellow ribbon I still have, because you are absolutely right. Determination and not quitting makes all the difference. I wrote six books before my first one was published and received countless rejections. It’s taken me almost fifty years of stubbornness to get here.

 

LW: You mention that you have a black belt in Aikido and Jujitsu and dove the Great Blue Hole in Belize. You sound like a woman who loves adventure. What are some of the other off-the-beaten path places you’ve explored and adventures you’ve had?

 

TKT: Well, you are right again! I love adventure and new vistas. I think that is part of what I enjoyed about police work—not knowing what was going to happen next. And a martial arts is an “art” and hence, a process of constant discovery. Travel, of course, also presents those kinds of opportunities. Visits to Israel and Turkey were part of research for Noah’s Wife and Angels at the Gate (Lot’s wife). Martial arts took me to Japan years ago. In addition to Belize, I’ve been with friends and hubby to New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Croatia, southern England, Thailand, and Cambodia. Machu Picchu and Galapagos in South America were on the menu before the pandemic, but that will have to wait. Right now, I am trying to find adventure in my backyard battling renegade wisteria and getting to know the two rescue horses I recently acquired.

 

LW: Finally, is there something I haven’t asked that you’re dying to tell our readers, either about yourself or your books…or both?

 

TKT: Lois, having just read Assault with a Glue Gun, when you say the word “dying,” I just sit up and take note of what’s in your hands!”  😂

 

Thanks for the questions. It’s been fun!


LW: As it was for me.


~*~

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, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. 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.

 


Website: www.loiswinston.com

Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston

 

BODIES GALORE

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BODIES GALORE

by Saralyn Richard

             


This month, it’s my pleasure to interview fellow-Stiletto-Gang-member,
Gay Yellen, author of the Samantha Newman Mystery Series: The Body Business
and The Body Next Door. While I’ve known Gay for a very long time, I
learned a lot from this interview, and it’s fun to share these things with you.

SR:  Before we get serious, here’s a burning
question: The Body Business and The Body Next Door feature a leggy woman
wearing drop-dead gorgeous stilettos. (Way to go with subliminal advertising
for the Stiletto Gang!). Whose legs are those? Samantha Newman’s or yours?

 

GY:  I wish my legs were that great! Since the
titles reveal that the book is a mystery, I wanted the images to reflect the tone:
fun and a little bit sassy.

 

SR:  As someone who’s followed your career from
the early days in Hollywood, I’m fascinated by the cinematic nature of your
writing. How do you feel your writing has been influenced by your experiences
as an actor and director?

 

GY:  My training gave me an ear for authentic dialogue, scene
pacing, and character motivation, all of which helps create what I hope are
entertaining stories. And improv allowed me to think outside the box.

 

SR:  I enjoyed
getting to know Samantha Newman. She’s spunky and clever and totally likable.
How did Samantha’s character develop in your imagination? Is she a lot like you
or someone you know? If Samantha could change one thing about herself, what
would that be?

GY:  Samantha was orphaned
at a young age and forced to make her own way; I was lucky to have a loving
family circle. We do share a sense of justice, and like many women, hard-won
resilience. As for change, I think Samantha would prefer to live a less
complicated life.

 

SR:  As much as I enjoyed Samantha’s character,
the secondary characters in the series really resonated with me. What
techniques do you use to depict secondary characters in such a way as to give
them the attention they deserve? Who is your favorite secondary character and
why?

 

GY:   I love all my
characters, but there’s a special fondness for Gertie, who holds a certain
likeness to my grandmother. Lizzie, the little girl that Samantha befriends in
an elevator in Book 2, simply showed up fully formed and stole my heart as I
wrote the scene.

 

 

SR:  I remember reading one of the sex scenes in The
Body Business and thinking it was the most scintillating, but tasteful sex
scenes I’ve ever read. Are sex scenes difficult for you to write? What is your
philosophy about them?

 

GY:  A reviewer once complained that just when the sexy
stuff gets interesting in my books, I shut the bedroom door. To me, part of the
fun is leaving the rest to a reader’s imagination. We don’t really need an
anatomy lesson, do we?

 

SR:  Can you give us a hint about what Samantha
might become embroiled in next?

 

GY:  Sam is struggling with a new career that isn’t
turning out as hoped. She’s also a material witness to a shooting, and faces a
big decision about her relationship with Carter Chapman.

 

SR:  What makes Samantha and Carter Chapman a
perfect couple? What stands in the way of this?

 

GY:  They’re both strong-willed, and they both like to
fight for the underdog. Problem is, he keeps wanting to protect her, and she
doesn’t want his help. Stubbornness could be her undoing.

 

SR:  I read on your website that you are toying
with the idea of writing a historical novel set in the 16th century.
What is it about that time that draws you to that setting?

 

GY:  I’m fascinated by the clash of cultures in the New
World at the dawn of that century: indigenous peoples, conquistadors, the
secrecy and terror of the Inquisition. It left a legacy that’s still with us today.

Won’t you join me in celebrating Gay and her fun and sparkling books?

 

 

After a show-biz stint
in Hollywood, Gay Yellen began her professional writing career as managing
editor of Tennis Illustrated Magazine and later, of D
Magazine in Dallas. She was the contributing editor/ghost writer
for Five Minutes to Midnight, a New York Times New & Notable
 thriller, after which she began her own multi-award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series, which
includes The Body Business, The Body Next Door and
the soon-to-be released, Body in the News.

Want to know more about Gay and her books? Read
more at her website and Amazon. 

GayYellen.com

THE BODY BUSINESS
            RONE Finalist
            Pages from the Heart Finalist
THE BODY NEXT DOOR
            Readers’ Favorite Mystery
            Chanticleer Mystery &
Mayhem 1st Place
            Silver Falchion Finalist,
Killer Nashville
BODY IN THE NEWS – Coming in 2021

 

Award-winning and best-selling
author, Saralyn Richard was born with a pen in her hand and ink in her veins. A
former educator, she loves connecting with readers. Her humor- and
romance-tinged mysteries and children’s book pull back the curtain on people in
settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high
schools.

Saralyn’s most recent release
is A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL. Look for her mystery/thriller, BAD BLOOD
SISTERS in March 2022.

Visit Saralyn here, on her Amazon
page here, or on
Facebook here.

Fabulous Books to Be Released this Fall!

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by Paula Gail Benson

This fall a number of great
authors are making their debuts or continuing their publishing success with
some fabulous reads for the season. I selected the following four to highlight
because of my connections with each writer: Yasmin, Tara, and Hank have become
close personal friends and Wanda and I are both attorneys and graduates of Lori
Rader Day’s instruction at the Yale Writers’ Workshop. I hope you’ll have a
chance to check out each of these novels. I know I’m looking forward to reading
them all! 

Yasmin Angoe

Yasmin Angoe
is the Secretary for my local Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the 2020
Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland award winner. Her debut novel, Her Names Is Knight, will be released in
November 2021. The story features Nena Knight, who was stolen from her Ghanaian
village as a child and has become an assassin for the Tribe, a powerful
business syndicate. After saving a life while on assignment, Nena hopes to take
a new life direction, but then she discovers a new Tribe council member is the
man who destroyed her village, murdered her family, and sold her into
captivity. She cannot begin anew without taking him down first. Not only is
Yasmin looking forward to the launch of her novel, but also she is anticipating
working with Endeavor Content and Ink Factory who have purchased the rights to
develop Nena’s story into a series.

Tara Laskowski

Crimereads calls Tara Laskowski: “A lyrical new voice in
the world of gothic storytelling and suspense.” Tara’s novel One Night Gone won the Agatha, Anthony,
and Macavity awards as well as being nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark
award, Left Coast Crime award, Strand Critics award, and Library of Virginia
Literary award. Her new book, The Mother
Next Door, will be released on October 12, 2021, and tells the story of the
Ivy Five, a group of four neighborhood moms who plan the annual Halloween block
party. When a new mom moves in, the group invites her to make them five once
more, but then they start receiving anonymous messages threatening to expose
secrets of the past. New York Times bestselling author Andrea Bartz says The Mother Next Door is “a witty, wicked
thriller packed with hidden agendas, juicy secrets, and pitch-perfect satire of
the suburban dream.”

Wanda M. Morris

Wanda M. Morris,
a corporate attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia, has her first novel, All Her Little Secrets, debuting on
November 2, 2021. Her protagonist, Ellice Littlejohn, a corporate attorney in
Atlanta, finds her boss dead in his office, but rather than notifying the
authorities, Ellice leaves. She’s protecting a number of secrets from her past,
including those of a younger brother who has been at odds with the law. New York Times and International
Bestseller Karen Slaughter praises the novel as “a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of
race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris
brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space.”

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Phenomenal
USA Today bestselling author Hank
Phillippi Ryan is the winner of five Agathas as well as the Anthony,
Macavity, Daphne du Maurier, and Mary Higgins Clark awards for her fiction and
37 Emmys for her broadcast journalism. Hank’s latest stand alone novel, Her Perfect Life, tells the story of
Lily Atwood, a beloved television reporter who has fame, fortune, a
seven-year-old daughter, and an apparently perfect life. Lily depends on an
anonymous source. When the source begins telling Lily secrets from her own
life, Lily fears someone is out to destroy her. Rachel Howzell Hall, Los
Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and Anthony, ITW, and Lefty award nominee,
said, “I loved this book! Reading Hank Phillippi Ryan’s Her Perfect Life made me paranoid–who’s watching me, who’s lying
to me, who’s hiding from their prior life? My nerves were shredded by the time I
reached the last chapter of this big-hearted page turner.”

Welcome fall and hooray for these new fun reads!

Three Things: With Debra H. Goldstein

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 by Shari Randall

If you’re a reader of the blog, you’ve made the acquaintance of the multi-faceted Debra H. Goldstein. Judge, litigator, author are just a few of the words that describe her. 

I thought it would be fun to play a game to learn a bit more about Debra, things you might not know. I stumbled upon a Facebook game called Three Things that was a lot of fun, so here’s “Three Things With Debra!” I loved learning more about her, especially our shared love of pizza and dark chocolate.


Three Things You Might Not Know About Debra H. Goldstein

Three favorite foods:  Pizza, ice cream, dark chocolate
Three places I’ve lived: New Jersey, Michigan, Alabama
Three jobs I’ve had: Salesperson, litigator, judge
Three things I can’t do without: Family, books, and it is a toss-up between pizza and dark chocolate
Three favorite places: Beach (any place with water), New York City (Broadway), almost anywhere in Europe (I love exploring)
Three favorite hobbies: Reading, Writing, Piano
Three things I’m looking forward to: my son’s wedding; more grandchildren (this may take awhile to achieve); Four Cuts Too Many (Sarah Blair Mystery) was released on May 25, 2021, but I can’t wait for Five Belles Too Many to come out in June 2022.

How about you, readers? What are three things about you that you’d like to share?

Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series. Yes, she plays too many games on Facebook. Three things about her? She loves to dance, can’t do without cardigan sweaters, and writes the new Ice Cream Shop Mystery series as Meri Allen.

Interview with Stiletto Gang blogmate, Lynn McPherson

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Interview
with Stiletto Gang blogmate, Lynn McPherson

By
Cathy Perkins

Let
me introduce you to one of our newer blogmates, Lynn McPherson. For years, Lynn
led an adventurous globe-trotting life (her adventures sound like so much fun!). Now she  channels her love of adventure and history
into her writing, where she’s free to go anywhere, anytime. Currently juggling family
and an energetic puppy, she writes the Izzy Walsh Mystery Series.

I
love the tag line for Lynn’s newest novel, The
Girls Dressed For Murder:

When Izzy gets a killer dress for her
birthday, she isn’t expecting to accessorize it with murder…

CATHY:
What made you pick your particular mystery genre?

LYNN:
I’ve loved cozy mysteries since I read my first one, Rita Mae Brown’s classic
Mrs. Murphy series. She had me at the title, Whisker of Evil. When I
started writing, it was the natural choice.

CATHY:
Which came first: plot, character, or setting?

LYNN:
Usually plot comes first for me. It won’t be completely fleshed out until I
have my characters and setting, but the inkling of an idea is what gets the ball
rolling.  

CATHY:
I’m seeing more novels set in the 1950s. What led you to choose this time
period for your books?

LYNN:
I’m a big fan of I Love Lucy. My books aim to provide the same sort of
humor with the added element of a murder mystery. It’s all about fun. 

CATHY:
Do you ever hit the wall or find you’ve written yourself into a corner? How do
you turn that around?

LYNN:
I have most definitely written myself into a corner. Stumped, I usually skip
ahead and write a scene I’m more confident about. I can always go back to where
I left off once I’ve figured out what to do and how to fix it.

CATHY:
The opportunity to go on a surprise vacation arises. You have 90 minutes to
pack and get to the airport. Where will you go and what will you pack?

LYNN:
I love Thailand and have been daydreaming of the many months I spent there,
years ago. I always do carry-on so I won’t bring much. Some basic toiletries,
sun dresses, and flip flops are all I require!

CATHY:
What do you read when you aren’t writing? Any favorite authors (or
snacks/beverages) to go with it?

LYNN:
My go-to favorites are Vicky Delany, Elizabeth J Duncan, and Vivien Chien. At
the moment I’m reading Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto. It’s a
hoot! When I’m reading I like to sip on tea–lemon ginger or green tea are
normally brewing in the pot.

  Connect
with Lynn here:

  Website: https://lynnmcpherson.net/

   Twitter: https://twitter.com/CozyMysteryLynn

   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cozymysterylynn/?hl=en

 

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on Peril in the Pony Ring, the sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, releasing May 2021!) which was recently presented with the Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award

My One-Eyed Hero: with Barbara Kyle

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 by Barbara Kyle

 

Readers love book series. No
wonder. We get to know the continuing characters so well, we’re eager to find
out what happens to them in the next book. For the author, though, the terrain
of a series can be a minefield.

 

 

My Thornleigh Saga is a series of
seven historical novels that follow three generations of an English family over
sixty-five years (1517 to 1582), so in writing them I would sometimes
forget things that happened to characters in the previous books set years before. 

 

For
example, in Book One the hero, Richard Thornleigh, loses an eye, but in writing
the next book I would start to write things like, “Richard’s eyes were drawn to
. . .” Yikes. 

 

The solution? I created a series “bible”
that recorded important facts like characters’ ages, marriages, children, and
physical details like color of hair and eyes – and missing body parts!

 

Here are three more things I
learned in writing a series.

 

1 Every Book Must Stand Alone

 

An author can’t assume that
readers have read the previous books in the series. So each book must give
some backstory about what’s happened to the main characters in the preceding
books, but not so much that it bores readers who have read them all.
Getting the balance right is tricky.

 

TV writers are lucky. An episode will often start with a helpful recap: “Previously on The Crown
…” I wish a
plummy-voiced British announcer could give a recap at the beginning of my Thornleigh books!

 

2 Let Characters Age

 

It’s hard for readers to believe that a hero fights off bad guys like a young stud if, over the decades-long
timeline of the series, he’s become a senior citizen. Author J. K. Rowling was
smart. She let Harry Potter and his friends grow up.

 

I enjoyed letting my characters age slowly throughout the Thornleigh Saga series. The seven books take the main
character, Honor Larke, from precocious seven-year-old child in Book One, The Queen’s Lady, to
astute seventy-year-old grande dame as Lady Thornleigh in Book Seven.

Likewise, her stepson Adam Thornleigh
is a young seafaring adventurer in Book 3 but by Book 6 he’s a mature man, a
loyal champion of his friend Queen Elizabeth I. He’s been through a loveless
marriage, adores his two children, and falls hard for the latter book’s appealing
main character, Scottish ship salvager Fenella Doorn. (Pic: Christian Bale, my fantasy casting as Adam!)


3 Embrace Cliff-Hanger Endings

 

Each book in a series must be a
stand-alone story, with an inciting incident, escalating conflict, turning
points, and a satisfying climax. 

 

But if, after the climax, the author can end
each book by opening up a new, burning question for the characters, it sets up
the conflict that will be tackled in the next book. Readers then eagerly look
forward to that next story.

 

For any author, writing a series can
be a joy, forging an enduring relationship with readers – just as long as, when
creating one-eyed heroes, that “bible” is kept handy!

 

Do you have a favorite book series? 

___________________________________________________________________


Barbara Kyle is the author of the bestselling
Thornleigh Saga series of historical novels and of
acclaimed thrillers. Her latest novel of suspense is The Man from Spirit Creek. Over half a million
copies of her books have been sold. Barbara has taught
hundreds of writers in her online Masterclasses and many have become
award-winning authors. Visit Barbara at https://www.barbarakyle.com/  

Gay Yellen: Spotlight on Saralyn Richard

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It’s my pleasure to interview sister-Gangster and award-winning author Saralyn Richard today to find out more about her latest mystery, A Murder of Principal, which recently earned a Readers’ Choice Award from Killer Nashville. Way to go, Saralyn!

Before her publishing career, Saralyn was a highly regarded educator. So it’s only natural that her latest book is set at a fictitious high school where murder and mayhem ensue. Did her former career lead to A Murder of Principal? Read on…


Gay: How does the atmosphere at the fictitious Lincoln High mirror your experience as a high school educator?
Saralyn: I have worked in dozens of urban high schools as a teacher, administrator, and school improvement consultant. My experiences could fill thousands of books, so I have many memories from which to choose. Readers who knew me at a particular school have pegged Lincoln High as that school, but I’ve heard from teachers at schools unknown to me that Lincoln High is exactly like theirs. What that tells me is that the atmosphere in urban schools is universal and relatable. 

However, A Murder of Principal is a work of fiction, designed to entertain.

Gay: Would you share some teachers’ reactions to the book?
Saralyn: Most comment that the setting and issues in the book are so authentic, they can actually name individuals in their own school who match my characters. But teachers are actually a small part of the book. The primary characters are administrators, school leaders, and students. Schools are a microcosm of society, and while everyone is supposed to share the common purpose of elevating students to achieve their highest potential, people have their own goals, desires, and emotions. The dynamics are always fascinating. As I like to say, there are a million stories beyond the flagpole.

Gay: One side plot in the book that piqued my interest is the conflict between proponents of the commonly used lecture as a teaching technique and those who use the Socratic method. Would you elaborate?
Saralyn: Educational research, brain-based research, and a trend toward results-driven decision-making have revolutionized thinking about curriculum and instruction. Lectures have given way to more interactive, student-centered lessons, like Melody Singer’s Socratic seminar in my book. The higher level questions engaged her students to find deep meaning in the lessons of the Salem witch trials. Her lesson was so powerful, it affected the whole school.

Gay: This book is a departure from your Detective Parrott series. Are you returning to it soon?
Saralyn: I wrote A Murder of Principal in between the first two Parrott books, but I waited to submit it until I thought the time was right to talk about race relations, sexual harassment, gangs, safety, and leadership. Another stand-alone mystery/thriller, Bad Blood Sisters, is to be released in March 2022. I’m currently writing the third Detective Parrott mystery, so my pattern has been Parrott/standalone/Parrott/standalone/Parrott. I should also mention my very first book, Naughty Nana, a children’s book narrated by my sheepdog. All have “mystery” in common.

Gay: Here’s more about Saralyn:

Award-winning Saralyn Richard was born with a pen in her hand and ink in her veins. She loves connecting with readers. Her humor- and romance-tinged mysteries and her children’s book pull back the curtain on people and settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. Her most recent release is A Murder of Principal. Look for her mystery/thriller, Bad Blood Sisters in March 2022. Visit Saralyn here, on her Amazon page, or on Facebook.


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. She’d love to hear from you here, on Facebook, on BookBub, or via her website.