Tag Archive for: After You’ve Gone mystery

Technology and Moving with the Times

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by Kay Kendall


Historical mysteries are my favorites among all crime fiction. When plotting my own books, I like to show how patterns of human nature repeat down the decades, no matter what historical age one reads about. I also confess that I relish the details that show past eras—the changes in language and attitudes, in styles of dress and architecture. Also, by not setting my stories during the present day, I can focus more on character. Not for me the world of high tech and CSI tricks. I prefer to delve into people’s personalities—to discover what makes them tick—and what causes them to murder.

But last summer I had to write about more modern technology than I like to do in my plotting. I moved from writing a storyline set in 1923 (AFTER YOU’VE GONE) to a novella that takes place in 1989. Yikes. In the Bullet Book named ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME, we had to introduce a few cell phones. This put me into shock.

When author Manning Wolfe asked me to write for her Bullet Book Speed Reads project, there was a snag. She didn’t want historical mysteries. Luckily, we compromised and settled on 1989—a time that was old enough for me but not too long ago for her.

That’s how ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME landed in the tense summer of 1989. The Communist hold on Eastern Europe was coming apart at the seams. The metaphorical Iron Curtain was being shredded, and the REAL Berlin Wall was quaking. Emotions ran high in international diplomatic–and SPY–circles. Into this hot cauldron of intrigue we dropped our protagonist, Ms. Sammy Strauss.

Because this was a joint project with Manning, we had to agree on most everything, and at least from my point of view, the project went along smoothly. Toughest for me to cope with though, I must say, was how much new-fangled stuff to decide to add to the plot. Manning remembered more digital gizmos than I did for the time period. That difference intrigued me. The only reason I came up with to explain that difference was that in 1989 she lived in Austin, Texas, and I lived in Ottawa, Ontario. She had a cell phone, and I didn’t until 1991, and by that time I too lived in Texas. (On the other hand, ATMs were widespread in Canada in 1983, well before they became ubiquitous in the US.)

The story of the unexpectedly exciting—and dangerous—summer of 1989 shows Ms. Sammy Strauss flying from her home in Houston, Texas, to Vienna, Austria. Although she expects a carefree time serving a summer internship at the US Embassy in Vienna, that’s not what she ends up with.

I’m not used to writing about instantaneous communication, and fortunately, in 1989 the digital revolution had not yet gotten into full swing. Sammy mentions that her cell phone doesn’t work in Europe, and so she puts it away. Good, it doesn’t figure into the plot. She uses hotel phones and receives notes from the handsome stranger she meets on the plane ride from Texas to Austria. These written notes play an important role in the plot as competing spy rings clash in desperation and encroach and then threaten her life. Is the attractive man interested in her because he is headed for romance—or is he really trying to use her as a pawn?

Plotting on my next mystery is now underway. Again I must face more advances in technology. Although I’m not terribly happy about that, I’ll have to deal with it. The story begins a year after the conclusion of Sammy’s red hot summer in Vienna, when she meets up with the cast of characters from my Austin Starr mysteries. And thereby hangs my next tale, TANGLED UP IN BLUE. (Maybe I will give Austin or Sammy a cell phone with a blue case.)

Yes, that’s another song title by Bob Dylan, and it’s perfect for one of the crimes I have planned. The year is 1991 with flashbacks to 1970. At least there won’t be cell phones in those flashbacks.
~~~~~~~

 
Award-winning author Kay Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries. She lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Visit Kay at her website http://www.austinstarr.com/
or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

So You Want to Write a Book . . . 6 Things I’ve Learned!

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By Kay Kendall

By now I’ve written fiction long enough to trust my own habits. Once, when I was a real newbie, I believed I must do just as the experts advise. But now I know on some points the experts differ.

1.   If your process works for you, trust it. For example, while most experts advise to rip through your first draft quickly, without editing as you go, I just can’t. I used to feel guilty—since I was doing things WRONG. Finally, lo and behold, I learned about other authors, bestselling authors, who also begin their writing days by editing what they wrote the day before. Whew. What a relief.
Here are some other habits I’ve also learned to trust:
2.     2. Keep reading. If you’re writing your own book, don’t stop reading other ones. I’ve read more, not less, since I began to write fiction. I submerged myself in the mystery/suspense genre for almost two years before I started Desolation Row—An Austin Starr Mystery. Picking up the tricks of the trade by osmosis works better for me than gulping ten dry how-to tomes. 
3.     Keep a notebook beside your bed. “Brilliant” thoughts are fleeting. Pin them down before they get away. I learned the hard way that wonderful ideas at 3:00 a.m. disappear by the time I awake in the morning. 
4.     Keep exercising. Health gurus are adamant that sitting all day is a terrible habit that can lead to early death and/or dementia. Besides, when I’m on my exercise bike, I zone out and then ideas for my writing zone in. The mind-body connection is worth protecting with sufficient exercise. However, it’s time for a true confession. I have trouble with this one, especially when I’m on deadline. 
5.     Keep up with your pals. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and trying to get published these days is a killer. I needed all the support I could get, and my friends stepped up and stayed there right beside me on my journey. They kept me going through the darkest days and have been my staunchest supporters and shared my joy upon publication. I’ve also made new friends as I’ve joined writers’ critique groups and associations. I’m a staunch believer in the truth of what Barbra Streisand sang back in the sixties. “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
6.     Keep the faith. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” When I saw that on a coffee mug for sale 15 years ago, I was too scared to pick it up. How dare I think I could write a novel? But I forced myself to buy that mug, and after using it for two years and writing my first manuscript, I began timidly to call myself a writer. Hold fast to your dream. Keep it alive by doing it.
I have faith I will complete new books because three of my mysteries are published and the fourth is in progress. I’ve pushed through the dark times, “getting by with a little help from my friends.” (Footnote to the Beatles) Moreover, if I’ve done this, then you can too. As we used to say back in the day, just keep on truckin’. And find what works best for you. Your mileage may differ from mine, but just do it.

NOTE: This post originally appeared one year ago to great acclaim from other authors. I am recycling it so others can read this who may have missed it last year.

==============
Meet the author

 Author Kay Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries. 

Her second book Rainy Day Women won the Silver Falchion for best mystery at Killer Nashville. Her newest is After You’ve Gone.

Visit Kay at her website http://www.austinstarr.com/  or on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor








The Magic of Fiction

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by Kay Kendall

Like many authors, I am an avid reader. I also adore movies, and in both categories of storytelling I prefer fiction to non-fiction. I have loved many books and films and liked countless others. Increasingly these days, as the world becomes more and more fraught with ugliness and danger, I treasure the ability to escape into the tale of my choice, be it on the small screen or large, or on the digital or actual page. Fiction, bring it on. (Needless to say, I am not a fan of dystopian fiction.)

Two weeks ago I happened to see an online recommendation by Kate Quinn, an author of historical mysteries that I’ve read and admired. She enthusiastically supports the historical novel named Madensky Square. The book is set in Vienna, Austria, a few years before the outbreak of the disastrous First World War. Eva Ibbotson (1925-2010) wrote the book in 1985, and Pan Books reprinted it two years ago. The author herself was born in Vienna and moved to London right before World War II.

Those are the bare facts. What remains for me to convey is the intense feelings of joy and peace that reading this book instilled in me. Kate Quinn says she often  urges people to read Madensky Square, and now I have joined her worthy crusade.

In the preface to the 2017 edition is this sentence: “Ibbotson was determined to prove that romantic novels can be funny, well-written and even a little erudite.” Indeed, with Madensky Square, she achieved all that, in spades.

For me, however, to call this treasure a romantic novel sells it short. Although it begins sweetly and lightly with descriptions of the lovely square in which Frau Susanna has her dressmaker’s shop, it proceeds to deepen as the pages turn. The lives of its characters–the dressmaker and her friends and lover–go through perils and triumphs, and yet by the ending most achieve a more perfect harmony. A few receive their just deserts that are not pleasant, but the plot flows effortlessly like a stream. Nothing feels the least contrived. Susanna hides a deep sorrowful secret that burdens her throughout the book. Believe me, this is no mere piece of fluff. And Ibbotson writes like an angel.

Enchanting is one adjective that came to my mind by the fiftieth page. Then, halfway through the book, I thought, “Ah-ha. The only time I’ve felt this enraptured by fiction was when I saw the 1991 film called, fittingly enough, Enchanted April.  Even though I saw it only once, 28 years ago, I vividly recall the euphoria it induced in me.  I’m delighted to learn that I can stream it tonight, and I shall.

A little research today showed me that the book that inspired it, The Enchanted April, was written in 1925 by a British author named Elizabeth von Arnim. The book was set in Italy and was so successful that it caused Portofino (where four fictional British women spend a month away from their boring and/or stressful lives–and husbands) to surge in popularity as a tourist distination. The author’s life is well worth Googling, and you can read her entire book online for free here: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16389/pg16389-images.html

If this blog post succeeds in getting even one person to read this novel and another to watch this film, I will feel good knowing that I’ve done my bit today in bringing more happiness into this dark world. Fiction lovers, I salute you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Author Kay
Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries. 
She lives in Texas with
her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills.
Her
second book Rainy Day Women won the Silver Falchion for best mystery at Killer
Nashville. Her newest is After You’ve Gone.

Visit Kay at her website http://www.austinstarr.com/  
or on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

Writing by the Bechdel Rule—and Not Even Knowing it

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by Kay Kendall

Even though the Bechdel Rule has been around for
three decades, I never heard about it until seven years ago when it first popped
up in film reviews in the New York Times.
Now, I love movies and try hard to keep abreast of trends, so I looked it up
pretty quick. I don’t like feeling behind the times.
Also known as the Bechdel Test, it judges
movies by three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two
women in it, who (2) talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. Cartoon
illustrator Alison Bechdel popularized her pal Liz Wallace’s concept in the
comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in
1985. There are now 8,151 movies listed at bechdeltest.com that pass the test.  
When I first read
the test’s definition, I was astonished. Movies I watch and books I read
routinely pass this test, even before I knew it existed. The first mystery I
was in the midst of writing, Desolation
Row, passed as do the two books that followed.
I believe I was
born a feminist so it’s no wonder this rule was one I lived by. There are
fictional female characters to whom I give credit for prodding me along my way.
They include the mighty Jane Eyre, the extremely curious Nancy Drew, and even
the tragic Anna Karenina. After all, the Russian woman came to a very bad end indeed
by living only for the love of a man and nothing else.  
I
recently returned to my treasured copy of Jane
Eyre to see if it held up to my current feelings about living one’s life as
a female. Again I was astonished because the proto feminism of the novel was
laid out on almost every page. For example, look at this passage, written in
complete contrast to the fate of poor Anna Karenina: “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being
     with an independent will.”
While that is the second most quoted
passage from Jane Eyre, here is
another one, a real doozy, given the era it was written in, the 1850s in
Victorian England:
“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women
feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for
their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a
restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is
narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought
to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on
the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at
them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced
necessary for their sex.”


And yet Jane Eyre is also a magnificent love story because of the heroine’s
passion for Mr. Rochester. Proving that she could be not only independent but
in love too, she most famously stated, “Reader, I married him.”

Second wave feminism peaked in the
1970s and declined thereafter. Feminism was attacked as being anti-male. I
always thought that was utter bosh, complete nonsense. I am delighted that has
changed of late. We women can stand up for ourselves without trashing all men,
for certainly all men do not deserve that, only the ones who seek to hold women
down, to keep us, as the Rolling Stones gleefully sing, “Under My Thumb.”
In my second mystery, Rainy Day Women, I quote that awful
title from the Stones, and in my third mystery, After You’ve Gone, I have my heroine quote Jane Eyre, “I am no
bird; and no net ensnares me.”
So books that pass the Bechdel Test
with flying colors snared me as a young reader, and they do so today as well.
And, dear reader, now I write them too.
~~~~~~~

 

 Author Kay
Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries.     She lives in Texas with
her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Her second book Rainy Day Women won the Silver Falchion for best mystery at Killer Nashville.

Visit Kay at
her website http://www.austinstarr.com/  
or on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

 
 

What’s Your Work Environment Like?

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by Kay Kendall

One of the perennial questions asked of us mystery authors at events is whether we use outlines or are we “pantsers.” That is, do we write by the seat of our pants, and just let the outlines be damned?

As a published author of six years’ time, having heard this question asked many times, I now know what to expect from the answers. Some use outlines, more do not, and many of us say we are sort of in the middle. We have a rough idea of where our plots are going, but we don’t make detailed outlines. In other words, to each her own.

Recently I was asked another type of question:

what type of environment do I work in?

This question I enjoyed thinking about. Here is my answer, with a twist at the end.

I keep the standard type how-to and reference books heaped around me. Turns out that is mostly for their good karma. I suppose that’s what it is as I rarely refer to them when I’m writing. Once upon a time I had a hard bound thesaurus, using it often. I adored it. But when the online dictionaries and thesaurus type websites got really good, I began to just use those.

My writer’s lair is, I confess, a dreadful mess. When I need to hunt for or double check historical facts, I start to dig through piles of books to find the needed source. My so-called system works for me.

I’ve been relieved lately to read that intelligent people are usually messy. That has to mean I’m amazingly brilliant!

When I used to work a nine-to-five job in a building full of research scientists, I saw the complete range of office space, from pristine to unbelievably messy–way worse than mine. But that was only for one man. The laboratory spaces were always well ordered.

I never understood how anyone could work at a desk day in and day out and have a neatly ordered work space. Mostly tongue in cheek, I coined this maxim–Never trust a person with an entirely clean desk. Why? Because that person is not really getting any work done.

Okay, I’ve indulged in true confessions. So now it is your turn. Is your desk neat or messy–or somewhere in between?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Kay Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries.  She lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Visit Kay at her website  http://www.austinstarr.com/   or on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor 
 

Introducing Wallie MacGregor in AFTER YOU’VE GONE

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By
Kay Kendall

Last week my third mystery
launched. My book’s birthday plus my own made it a stellar week. I can’t
give you a piece of birthday cake, so here’s a song for you.
Fiona Apple sings “After You’ve
Gone.”
 
The song was
penned in 1918, remaining popular throughout the next several decades—especially
during the 1920s, which is what I was looking for. Even in the last 30 years
many singers have covered it. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Edie Gourmet, and
many more. In truth, the song is fantastic. Singing styles change, but the song holds up. For comparison, here’s a performance fro 1927 by a star of that era, Ruth Etting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjgBara7N88
All my mysteries take their titles
from popular songs. My first two are Desolation Row and Rainy Day
Women. But because this new book takes place in 1923, I can hardly use another Bob
Dylan song, can I?
Copyright laws don’t cover song titles,
but lyrics are. While Dylan’s are still protected, “After You’ve Gone” is
no longer under copyright. These words from the chorus fit the storyline of my new mystery.
 
 
After you’ve gone and left me crying
After you’ve gone there’s no denying,
You’ll feel blue, you’ll feel sad,
You’ll miss the bestest pal you’ve ever
had.
There’ll come a time, now don’t forget
it,
There’ll come a time, when you’ll
regret it.
Oh! Babe, think what you’re doing.
You know my love for you will drive me
to ruin,
After you’ve gone,
After you’ve gone away, away. 

After You’ve Gone (1918)
Music by Turner Layton and lyrics by Henry
Creamer 

When you read my new mystery, you’ll
see how many characters must carry on after someone has gone—someone
very near and dear to them. The biggest loss of all kicks off the mystery, of course.
But there are others—oh so many others. Just count them all up. You’ll see.

Author Kay
Kendall is passionate about historical mysteries.  She lives in Texas with
her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Visit Kay at her website
 http://www.austinstarr.com/  
or on
Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor 

 

Skipping Woodstock, But Finding Women’s Lib—and Murder

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By
Kay Kendall

 In
my Austin Starr mystery series I try not just to entertain but also to portray
what an historical era is like. My first two books are set in the tumultuous 1960s:
Desolation
Row and Rainy Day Women. Due
out next February is a prequel, After You’ve Gone. It features
Austin Starr’s grandmother as a young woman in small town Texas during
Prohibition. Although the historical setting is different (bootleg gin,
flappers, gangsters), many of the issues the two women face are similar. What
place should women have in society? What do women owe to their family, their
husbands—and to themselves? What the grandmother grapples with in 1923 is
related—almost distressingly so—to choices her granddaughter will face in 1969.
To prepare you to read the prequel, here is a rundown on my previous mystery.

Rainy
Day Women takes place in August 1969. Headlines across
the continent shriek about the sensational murders in Los Angeles of a pregnant
starlet and her friends—though Charles Manson and gang haven’t been caught yet.
Apollo 12 astronauts Armstrong (he walked on the moon), Aldrin, and Collins have
just arrived back on Earth. Rock music fans look forward to a big outdoor
concert—posters call it the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.

But
my amateur sleuth Austin Starr scarcely knows any of this. With a
three-month-old baby, she is sleep-deprived and still adjusting to her new life’s
heavy demands. Then a phone call sends her (and baby Wyatt) flying across North
America to help find a killer. Why? Because her dear friend Larissa is
suspected of murdering women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver. Then Austin’s former CIA trainer warns
that someone has contracted a hit on her. Her anxious husband demands that she
give up her quest and fly back to him. Austin must decide how much to risk when
she realizes that tracking the killer puts her and her baby’s lives in danger. 

I set my mystery
against the backdrop of women’s liberation almost fifty years ago because second-wave feminism (as it’s
now called) changed lives, and yet the rightful place of women in society still remains a
point of contention. My character Austin Starr discovers the movement when she questions
members of the dead women’s groups and is fascinated with the new ideas she
hears.

 Even though Austin’s young husband is an
anti-war activist, she herself is not a radical. I wanted her story to be
accessible to anyone today, of whatever political persuasion, and so I explore what life was like for a typical
young woman—not a headline maker, not a Hanoi Jane or Angela Davis, but a
moderate who nonetheless gets swept up by history’s tides during the turbulent
sixties. All that turmoil lends itself to drama, intrigue, and murder.

I
don’t think this is a true spoiler when I divulge that the very day Austin
discovers the murderer is the same day it rained hardest at the Woodstock
festival. Later she decides she has no regrets at missing the famous event,
saying, “I never liked mud very much anyway.” In the coming prequel we see how much of her intrepid spirit she inherited from her grandmother—she who faced off against a thug sent to Texas by none other than Al Capone. Set among true-to-life details like that, I’ve composed another young woman’s tale about finding her balance in a world ruled by men.
*******
Meet the author

 
Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and now writes mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. A reformed PR executive who won international awards for her projects, Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff.  In 2015 Rainy Day Women won two Silver Falchion Awards at Killer Nashville. Visit Kay at her website  http://www.austinstarr.com/>   or on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor 

 

Before the Wishlist. The Beatles! and Tales of Yesteryear

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By Kay Kendall

Ah, the ease of the online wish list. I battled against
the concept for years. But I finally succumbed. 
What I GAINED: several hours of my precious time. What I LOST: the joy
of watching loved ones delighted by their surprise gifts. If you are a boomer (as I am), then you recall when gift-giving
before the wish list hit the scene. You tried to surprise the gift recipient—to
surprise and delight. My joy of gift giving and wrapping came from my maternal
grandmother who reveled in every aspect of gifting. 

In my boomer youth, I watched her decorate packages imaginatively.
She could have hired on for Neiman Marcus—a store back in the day that did
elegant and fanciful wrapping. (Their efforts today are a sad, pale imitation,
fie!) What my grandmother could not do—not to save her very soul—was to keep
her gifts a secret. She got so excited that she just had to give you
hints–hints so major you could easily figure out what your gifts would turn
out to be. I took such pleasure in her enjoyment that I didn’t mind.

Maybe telling Santa what you wanted for
Christmas grew into the concept of wish lists. Yet today’s wish list has
more power. Woe to you if you give someone under-forty a present not on his or her wish list. I fought against wish lists until a dear friend said she gave up trying to surprise her offspring
with delightful gifts. Finally she switched to the dreaded wish list or gave
gift cards. Otherwise her grandchildren and children were chagrined. That’s how I discovered my offspring was participating in a societal
shift. A generational difference, clear and simple. And so . . . I threw in
the towel. But I remember a different time. I recall a December when
I was a graduating high school senior. I wanted Beatle albums and 45s. When asked
what I wanted for Christmas, “Beatles please” was my instant answer. My ONLY
answer.

Meantime my mother and grandmother were in the
kitchen making cranberry loaves, fudge, and mounds of cookies…all the while
talking about the Christmases of their youths. My mother said she’d been
pleased with mandarin oranges and pecans in the toe of her Christmas
stocking, back in the 1930s. My grandmother recalled helping her mother go into
the farmyard in Ohio and select a goose for neck twisting, in the first decade
of the twentieth century–the holiday meal to be! I loved their quaint tales of
the good old days. (Probably these stories helped grow my lust for history.)

When the morning of December twenty-fifth dawned. I went
into the living room with my parents (I, an only child, admittedly a tiny bit
or more spoiled). I had expected to call this my very own Beatles Christmas.
But no. Arrayed beside the brightly lit tree was a set of three luggage pieces.

“You’re going off to college next year,” Delight shone in
Mother’s eyes. “We knew you needed nice suitcases.” I tried to murmur sincere
thanks while eyeing other presents. Where were the telltale signs of even one
33-long-play album? But John, Paul, George, and Ringo were nowhere to be found.
All was not lost however. My paternal grandparents sent a
check that I promptly cashed and turned into two longed-for Beatles albums.
But, oh, I still recall the rush of emotion, the dramatic
upheaval.

Things are so different now in the high season of gift
giving. Well something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day.
That’s the way the song goes, Joni Mitchell’s beloved “Both Sides Now.”

So then, what’s your opinion of the wish list phenomenon?
What do you remember about gift giving and receiving in the “good old days?”
What’s the routine at your house? I’d sure love to know.

*******
 
 

Meet the author

Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and now writes mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. A reformed PR executive who won international awards for her projects, Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff. In 2015 Rainy Day Women won two Silver Falchion Awards at Killer Nashville. Visit Kay at her website < http://www.austinstarr.com/>or on Facebook < https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor>