Tag Archive for: Gay Yellen

Gay Yellen: Spotlight on Kathryn Lane

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Today, I interview our own Stiletto Gang-sister, Kathryn Lane, award-winning author of the Nikki Garcia Mysteries. Missing in Miami, her fourth book in the series, has just been released.

Kathryn is a woman of many parts: artist, writer, and former international corporate executive, all of which provides rich background for her stories. What is it like to be a world traveler who solves crimes? Read on…

Gay: Kathryn, when your series begins, Nikki Garcia is a crackerjack forensic accountant, a rather nontraditional kind of sleuth. And yet, you managed to turn the investigation into a riveting read. As the series progresses, Nikki picks up other skills, and by the time we get to the new book, which takes place in Cuba as well as Florida—she’s almost a full-blown spy. Did you plan this character progression from the start?

Kathryn: I’d love to answer with a resounding, “Yes, of course I planned it that way!” But when I wrote the first book, I did not know I’d be writing a series until my publisher insisted I create other books with Nikki as protagonist. Being a pantser (a writer who doesn’t pre-outline) I developed her into a sleuth, thinking it would otherwise get boring if she was always investigating corporate fraud around the world.

Gay: I see similarities between you and Nikki: a love for travel and good food, and a background in corporate finance. How is she different from you?

Kathryn: I’m not nearly as brave as Nikki!

Gay: The character of Eduardo, a Colombian physician, is a dreamboat: romantic, wealthy, and kind. Did you pattern him after a real person, or is he simply a dream?

Kathryn: I was single when I wrote the first book, so maybe Eduardo represents my dream man. He is purely fictional, as are all my characters, except for some mentions of real or historical persons. After completing the first book, I met Bob, who is now my husband and who shares three of Eduardo’s characteristics: he is immensely supportive of my work, he’s kind, and he has a romantic streak—he lights a candle for our dinner every night we eat at home. The one trait he’s missing is that he’s not wealthy, doggone it! 

Gay: In the new book, you mention a novel I happen to be reading right now: Klara and the Sun, by Kazuro Ishiguro. What was behind that choice?

Kathryn: In every mystery I’ve written, I’ve mentioned another author or visual artist whose work I admire. As I was writing Missing in Miami, I read Klara. In that story, a girl named Josie suffers from an illness that is never fully defined. I mentioned the book because Andrea, the missing girl in my novel, also has an illness. I don’t expect many readers to catch the comparison, but the connection sparks my own creative juices.

Gay: I’m fascinated by your world travels to… is it over ninety countries? Each of your books is set in a different location, and they each seem to offer a bit of a traveler’s guide for the area. Having been to so many places, how do you decide where Nikki Garcia will go next?

Kathryn Lane
Kathryn: I’ve traveled to ninety-four countries. As a child, one of my dreams was to travel. I have accomplished that by working for Johnson & Johnson, even though I had also traveled before my corporate job. For my novels, I pick locations that I like, and more importantly, that fit the story. I like to think that the reader is walking the streets of a location with Nikki as she carries out her investigation.


Gay: Thank you, Kathryn, for giving us a peek behind the scenes! Readers, you can find out more about the Nikki Garcia Series on Amazon, on BookBub, or at Kathryn’s website.

Wow, the places Kathryn has traveled! What about you, readers? What foreign lands have you visited?

*****

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. Gay would love to hear from you in the comments below, on Facebook, or BookBub, or via her website.

*****



 

 

Gay Yellen: Writing a novel is like…

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How do you describe what writing a novel is like? Here’s E.L. Doctorow’s version:

Some say writing is similar to riding a bike: you start out slow and wobbly, but then you get the hang of it. I take issue with that one. Writing my first book was a breeze compared to my third. So for me, writing is definitely not like sailing gleefully down the street on a two-wheeler. Another author likened it to making a puzzle: you create the pieces—characters, setting, plot, etc.—then fit them together in a complete story, thus solving the puzzle, too. There’s something to that, I suppose. I feel a touch of joy in simply working on a manuscript, even when my own puzzle has me stumped, until the moment when the pieces fall into place.

Here’s what one of today’s most popular writers says:

I agree with all of the above, except the bike analogy, because even now, on some days, it feels like I have completely forgotten how to write.

 
How about you, Gang? What’s writing like for you?


Gay Yellen writes the award-winning
Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:
The Body Business,
The Body Next Door
(available on Amazon)
…and, coming soon in 2022:
Body in the News

Gay Yellen: Name That Car!

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Does your car have a name? One that captures its true personality? I’ve named some of mine. After all, boats get names. Why not cars?

By my mid-twenties, I’d already owned two really fun cars: an azure blue Impala convertible and a Corvette Stingray. They were so cool, they didn’t need any other identity.

But for reasons best left unexplained, I sold the Stingray and bought a Ford Pinto. I drove it just like I’d driven the ‘Vette, fast and furious, up and down the freeways and the canyons of Los Angeles. That little car didn’t know it wasn’t sporty. I gave it an identity upgrade and named it Penelope, after the wife of Odysseus, because she had spunk.

Fast forward to the 21st century, when my decades-old Mercedes was on its last wheel. Facing a total overhaul, I opted for a new car. At the time, most new designs looked all the same to me. I wanted something I could easily spot in a crowded parking lot, one that wouldn’t have me trying to unlock a stranger’s car that I’d mistaken for mine. I’d owned some really nice cars by then, and my husband still had his. I only needed a scoot-around-town car. Nothing fancy.

On a fluke, I discovered the Nissan Cube and bought it the same day. I named it Roobix, a play on the name of the guy who invented that other famous cube. Matter of fact, I placed one of his on top the of the little circle of factory-installed shag rug on its dashboard. Roobix is neither sexy nor aerodynamic, but it looks like no other car, and turns out to be one of the most fun cars I’ve ever driven.

The car is so distinctive that it made a CBS News Top 15 list. Okay, so the list was for the World’s Ugliest Cars. But hear me out. It’s small on the outside and big on the inside, which is a neat trick if you ask me. It gets a lot of thumbs up as I drive through the city. It has a gizmo that delivers an array of psychedelic lights inside. And the swirly ceiling has a hot tub vibe, minus the heat and the water.

I’m not the only one who’s ever been inspired to name my ride. Beyonce called her Jag Honeybee. Obama dubbed his car The Beast. Lady Gaga rolled in her Bloody Mary Rolls Royce. In my Samantha Newman Mystery Series, Sam gives her lowly little subcompact the name Ferret for its ability to squeeze into and out of tight spaces.

And, by the way, my Cube isn’t the only car of mine to make that CBS ugliest list. Coming in at #1—Ta DAH!!— the Ford Pinto. Two award-winners! Life is good.

Have you ever given your car a name? We’d love you to share it in the comments below.

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning

Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:
The Body Business and
The Body Next Door, available on Amazon.
Coming soon in 2022: Body in the News
 

Gay Yellen: It’s Read a New Book Month!

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December is so jam-packed with festivals and holidays, you’d think that whoever creates those random observances like Eat a Red Apple Day or Chocolate Cake Day would choose a less hectic time to shine the spotlight on reading. As we hustle and bustle our way through the waning days of the year, how much time do we really have for quiet pleasures? Nevertheless, December is Read a New Book Month. Frankly, I think it would be better to name it Buy a New Book Month as a reminder to put one or two on your gift list. 

At the Stiletto Gang, writers and readers don’t need a special month to remind us to read a book, new or not. Books are our passion.

While I’m writing, I’ll still buy a new book to support a colleague, or to join in on a book club discussion, or for my own research. And I manage to sneak in a few pleasure reads along the way.

My alma mater’s book club selections tend to be ones I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own, yet I’ve learned so much from them. The Yellow House, by Sarah Broom, won nearly every award for non-fiction memoir in 2019. It’s a remarkably honest and moving story of what it meant for one family to grow up poor and Black in New Orleans. We also read Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See, a meticulously researched historical fiction set in Korea between World War II and present day that follows the lives of truly extraordinary deep sea divers. I learned a lot about Korea and world history from that one.

Our neighborhood book club recently read Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, by Kathleen Rooney, which fictionalizes the life of the highest paid ad woman in the 1930’s. If you’re fond of the era, or Macy’s, or New York City, you might enjoy following this witty woman as she meanders through the Big Apple and reminisces.

I’ve accumulated more books in my to-be-read stack than I’ve been able to crack open this year, including some by sister Stilettos. There are many goodies to pick from by our Gang. Just scroll down and open a few that strike your fancy.

I hope to read more next year, too. To me, an unread book is a missed opportunity to travel to a new place, meet interesting characters, learn something new, or merely enjoy the pleasure of reading.

With deepest gratitude to all our readers, I wish you a warm December, full of books and love.

Here’s to Read a New Book Month!

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning
Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:
The Body Business and
The Body Next Door, available on Amazon.
Coming soon in 2022:

Gay Yellen: Rubber Duckies

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 Ever been to a duck race? It’s fun and inspiring.

Last weekend, thousands of rubber duckies were dumped off a downtown bridge into Buffalo Bayou, the main waterway that flows eastward through the Port of Houston to the Gulf of Mexico.

…and they’re off!
What’s more fun on a sunny day than a family-friendly outing that’s also a fundraiser for a good cause? This year, all proceeds for the event went to the Play it Forward Fund at AFAtexas.org. This marvelous group touches the lives of thousands of kids during the school year and in summer by providing music education for those who might otherwise have none, given our tight public school budgets these days.
Everyone near and far was invited to “adopt” a duck for $5, or simply come to the race and enjoy the music performed by AFA students, whose outstanding musicianship at such young ages is truly remarkable.
From the moment the ducks hit the water, the suspense built as the crowd tracked their progress downstream to the finish line. Adopters whose ducks finished ahead of the flock won great prizes that were donated by generous sponsors. The luckiest duck won $2,500 cash from a local bank. 
The Master of Ceremonies was Len Cannon, a very popular news anchor here. I had the pleasure of assisting him as he called the race, charmed the crowd, and interviewed delightful young AFA musicians.
Those who’ve read The Body Next Door, Book 2 in my Samantha Newman Mystery Series, may recognize AFA’s Play it Forward Fund. It was the inspiration for Let the Children Play, the fictional foundation created by Carter Chapman, Samantha’s mysterious love interest. It’s one of several scenes in my books where fiction meets real life.
This particular real-life group inspires me beyond my writing. It’s a reminder that there are infinite ways we each can help enrich the lives of children. Houston’s Bayou City Duck Race is just one of them. Here’s hoping you’ve found a worthy cause or two in your own hometown to support.
Best of wishes to each and every one of you for
a Very Ducky Thanksgiving!
       
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.
 


Gay Yellen: A Leaf Blower Lament

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October! 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. 



Olympic Skates

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Like many sports fans last week, our TV was tuned to the Olympics. Gymnasts, swimmers, divers, track-and-fielders. Such amazing athletes! This year, for the first time, we also watched skateboarding.

Skateboarding may not strike purists an Olympic-worthy sport, but I can understand how the hobby— embraced for decades by renegade spirits of all ages—made it through the international committee that decides such things. Perhaps it went something like this: “Well, we’ve got snowboarding in winter, so…”

Pixabay

This year’s event aired just in time to put the finishing touches on a scene in my next mystery. In researching the sport, I’ve learned a few bits of language that thrashers (skateboarders) speak—like grind, ollie, and tail-grab five-forty—as they zoom around a skatepark’s cradles and bowls.

Here’s a peek at that scene: 

He leaped into the bowl, flipped his board with his feet, reconnected to it in mid air, zipped down to the bottom and up another slope, gaining speed as he went. On his last approach to the top, his feet left the board and he went airborne, flipped upside down and still somehow managed to reconnect feet to board and land the trick. Someone shouted, “Rip it up, Skeeter!” The crowd went crazy.

After watching eleven- and twelve-year-old girls compete for an Olympic medal in Tokyo, a different skateboard scene, this one in The Body Next Door, popped into my head. (Five years on, I forgot I’d written it!) Instead of a skatepark, it’s set in the parking garage of a high-rise where Samantha Newman watches the forlorn ten-year-old Lizzie Mason struggle to teach herself how to ride her big brother’s cast-off board.

That scene led me to remember another one from the book, one that features Krav Maga, which is a perfect sport for the Olympics. Invented by the Israeli military, and adopted by law enforcement organizations around the world, it’s a form of hand to hand combat in which you learn to neutralize an assailant (or unruly criminal) as quickly as possible. No weapon needed. In my novel, however, the self defense system dissolves into a silly pillow fight between Samantha and the ever-elusive Carter Chapman. While it could be said that their attraction to one another is of Olympic proportions, we shall save that conversation for another day. 😉

Did you watch the Olympics this year? What’s your favorite event?

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, BookBub, or via her website.

 

Gay Yellen: Talking to Trees

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A recent article in The Wall Street Journal has me thinking about the emotional connection humans often feel for trees. In “Why a Tree is the Friend We Need Right Now,” columnist Elizabeth Bernstein describes her relationship with the banyan tree she first encountered while worrying about a sick relative, and to which she returned again and again to seek comfort under its boughs.

The heartfelt gratitude she expressed for her banyan reminded me of Shel Silverstein’s poignant picture book, The Giving Tree, and also of my own tree-friends.

My relationship with trees began with my childhood summertime reading and the mimosa tree in our front yard. I’d climb up to the sturdy limb that perfectly fit the curve of my back and, cocooned in the cool, dense shade of its feathery leaves, I’d read my latest Nancy Drew.

In the neighborhood today, hundred-year oaks and other wizened trees abound. Like the WSJ columnist, I feel an attachment to many of them. I revel in the shade of the ancient oaks that shelter a nearby path, bending toward each other like a giant arbor. There’s one with a burl that looks like a teddy bear. I pat its fat belly as I walk by.

Down the street there’s one that appears to be winning a decades-long power struggle with a city sidewalk. I cheer it on as it pushes the cement away from its powerful roots. Another favorite shelters a little fairy house.

Fairy house tree.

I also mourn the giants cut down too soon, along with the charming brick bungalows they stood beside—only to make way for new, gentrified, and decidedly unremarkable houses. 


Thoreau once opined that “trees indeed have hearts.” So when the WSJ states that a “calming and awe-inspiring tree is the perfect antidote to anxiety,” I heartily agree. Especially nowadays, when anxiety seems to lurk around every corner.

Do you have a special relationship with a tree? If not, go out and find one. Spend time there. Hug it, if you feel the need. It might be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series. She’d love to hear from you, in a comment on this post, on Facebook, BookBub, or via her website.

Gay Yellen: Cruella and Me

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Two fictional characters are making me crazy. One’s a famous villain, the other, a hero, and lately, they’ve pulled a switcheroo.

Cruella de Vil, the nefarious puppy kidnapper of Dodie Smith’s novel, The Hundred and One Dalmations, is the villain. Ever-popular, her story has been made and remade into film at least four times. And she’s invaded my writing life twice.

In 2014, a magazine reviewer called my antagonist in The Body Business “the Cruella de Vil of the year, the kind of villain you just love to hate.” The description was perfect, though I hadn’t thought about Cruella when I created my own greedy vixen.

That same year, I was asked to name the actor I’d cast as the hero of my book, Samantha Newman, a determined young woman with grit and a fair sense of justice. After Emma Stone’s quirky performance in “Easy A,” I chose her, partly for her physical features, but mostly for her sense of comedy which, like Samantha’s, is tinged with an interesting blend of snark and genuine heart.

Fast forward to today, and imagine my surprise to discover that Emma, my Samantha of choice, is now starring as Cruella in a new Disney release. Presto change-o, hero becomes villain, and I have mental whiplash.


It helps me a bit to know that Samantha is somewhat of a mischief-maker herself. And Stone is a terrific actress. I’m hoping she’s great in the part. The reviews have been mixed, but I’m a fan, so I’ll watch the film and
decide for myself— as soon as I get over the shock.

Truth is, we all have a combination of hero and villain inside us. For some, it’s a
daily struggle. But as long as we keep our good guys real and consign our bad
guys to make-believe, I think we’ll be okay.

P.S. If you know Emma, please tell her there’s a film franchise just waiting for her to make it happen. This author would be eternally grateful.😊

Have you ever cast a favorite actor as the hero in a book?


Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries. Gay would love to hear from you, here, on Facebook, BookBub, or via her website.

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Gay Yellen: Block that Gift!

A wonderful friend threw a fabulous launch party for me in 2014 when my first book, The Body Business, was published. And several months later, she bought me a gift I’ll never forget. She said that the moment she saw it, she knew I had to have it.


I knew she meant well, so instead of recoiling in horror at the otherwise harmless paperweight, I thanked her for her thoughtfulness. But just to be safe, I hid it in a closet, far away from the room where I write.
The Gift

By the time I finished the second book in The Samantha Newman Mystery Series, the gift was out of my thoughts. That book was such fun to write!


I’d planned to launch Book #3 in 2020. But in early January, an unidentified virus brought me to my knees. It was March before I could sit at my desk to do mundane tasks like open mail and pay bills.

Then my husband’s brother died. And my mother died a month later. By May, I found it impossible to concentrate on any project that called for clear thinking. Add to that the general distress we all suffered last year, and. . .

. . . Book #3—all 70,000 words of it from 2019—lay dormant. More than once in my struggles, that elegantly wrapped gift haunted me from the closet. I considered slinging it off the balcony. 

By last summer’s end, I managed to return to writing with a short piece for the Jungle Reds and my monthly Stiletto Gang post. Which made me wonder why, if I could  put 500 words together for a blog, I still couldn’t manage a few more to complete my book?

Words are words, right? So, what’s the difference?

I think I’ve figured it out.

Writing Fast vs. Writing Deep
In my magazine days, part of my job as managing editor was to oversee the monthly deadlines of our staff writers and contributors. When it was time to lay out an issue, if a scheduled piece was M.I.A., or a writer went rogue, delaying the print run was never an option. I had to find or write a filler. Fast. 

I got good at writing fast. Laser focus and a hard deadline was all it took. Similar to writing a monthly blog post. But it takes much, much more than that to write a book.

Novel writing is deep. It’s immersive. It requires sustained concentration, plus the mental energy to wrangle multiple loose threads into a complete, coherent whole. Which was impossible for me to accomplish in 2020.

Really, I’m fine. . .


The Bright Side
These days, with comfort tea to bolster me, I’m back at work on Book #3. I’m glad to be going deep again, and so very grateful to have made it through. Fingers crossed for getting it done by spring.

I hope you survived last year intact, and with enough resilience to weather the ill winds that still batter us. May our beloved country be restored to health. And may you have a sweet 2021.
 

Gay Yellen is a former magazine and book editor. She writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series, including The Body Business and The Body Next Door. Book #3 in the series is slated for release in 2021. Gay would love to hear from you, here, on Facebook, or at her website, GayYellen.com.