Tag Archive for: mystery writers

Unifying Themes – Seven Sinister Sisters Tour

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We’re the Seven Sinister Sisters and we’re on a mission:
Seven mystery authors; seven new releases; seven answers to a central question
at each stop on our tour. The Stiletto Gang is our second stop and our question
this week is…

Is
there a theme underlying or unifying your books?

Cathy
Perkins’ Holly Price mystery series revolves around family and loyalty.
After her father cliches a midlife brain-fart and absconds with his yoga
instructor, Holly agrees to temporarily return to her hometown in order to keep
the family business afloat. Clients can do the damnedest things, however,
making her question all relationships.
With the next book in the series, In It
For The Money, Holly’s cousin is the catalyst for her involvement in
another murder investigation. Refusing to believe the rumors flying around the
extreme sport circuit about his alleged treachery, she follows the money –
another consistent theme – to find the actual villain.   

Sue
Star
also writes about families in chaos. Nell Letterly is a menopausal single
mom, trying to raise her teenage daughter, as well as fielding well-intended
interference from the rest of the family, including Gramps and Nell’s
fashionista, soon-to-be ex sister-in-law. They all disagree how a teenager
should be raised, but as a family they have a special bond. In Murder by
Moose, Nell tries to protect her family from a killer on the loose while
she teaches a self-defense class at a dude ranch in the mountains. But when the
going gets tough, the family always comes together to help Nell solve the
mystery.  

In Biscuits and
Slashed Browns—as in the series as a whole—Edith Maxwell (writing as Maddie
Day) expands this family theme to community. How do friends and family
rally ’round when someone is at risk or wrongly accused? How does a country
store breakfast-and-lunch restaurant serve as a focal point for the community,
a gathering place? In this particular book, the father of one of her
protagonist’s employees is accused of murder. This motivates Robbie Jordan and
others in the small town of South Lick, Indiana to work together to find out
who is the killer.

As with all murder mysteries, Leslie Karst’s Sally Solari culinary series
concerns issues of truth and justice. Equally important, however, are themes of
family and the food movement, and how the two create a conflict between
Sally and her father. The Solaris are descended from one of the original
Italian fishermen who arrived in Santa Cruz in the 1890s, and Sally’s dad is
fiercely proud of the family’s traditional Italian seafood restaurant on the
historic wharf.  When Sally inherits her
aunt’s trendy restaurant, Gauguin, her father—hurt
that Sally no longer wants to work at Solari’s—becomes convinced she now looks
down on her family heritage.

Becky
Clark takes a different tack in her new series, the Mystery
Writer’s Mysteries series. Officially, all the books are set in the world of a
mystery author, so with Fiction Can Be
Murder, she pulls back that curtain for her readers. Unofficially, her
books always have the same underlying current, that of the reluctant hero. It
seems she likes to explore characters who are going about their boring, normal
lives when — BLAMMO — something bizarre happens to them. They’re way out of
their comfort zone and flounder for a while before forcing themselves to pull
up their big-girl undies and fix whatever the problem is.

Returning to our recurring family theme, a few things
always show up in Shawn McGuire’s work.
First, relationships – whether between family members, romance, best friends,
parent and child, co-workers, etc. – are a prime element to the story. Second,
there’s always humor of some kind because even in the most intense situations,
humor helps. Third, an element of truth or finding your path in life often
shows up. Then with each book, a theme unique to that story or series will
appear. With her Whispering Pines series, while she hadn’t originally planned
it, religion turned out to be a strong theme.

In the first two books in the Cole & Callahan PI
series, Pat Hale says religion plays
an underlying role. In The Church of
the Holy Child, (September 2017) the serial killer torments a priest
with information on the murders, knowing he’s bound by his holy orders not to
reveal what’s heard in the confessional. In Durable Goods, (April 15, 2018) young girls are drawn into a
sex trade organization under the guise of coming to a religious refuge for
indigent women. The sub-theme of both books considers the confines and
constructs found within religious doctrine and their use for good and
evil. 

Thanks so much to The Stiletto Gang and all their
readers for joining our tour. We’re happy to address any comments or questions.
And feel free to contact any of us through our websites. Our next stop
will be January 25th with MJB Reviewers. See you there!
http://www.cperkinswrites.com
http://www.rebeccawriter.blogspot.com
To
celebrate our new releases, the Seven Sinister Sisters are having a giveaway!
Seven
lucky winners will receive an ebook from one of us.
One
GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a signed copy from each of us!
Enter to win by leaving a comment below. Our tour runs from January 6th to
April 30th and we’re answering a different question at each blog.
Leave a comment at each blog for more entries! We’ll draw the winner from all
the combined comments at the end of our tour.

Watch
our Facebook page for the next stop on the tour.

The Devil and The Devil’s Pawn

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The Devil and The Devil’s Pawn by Debra H. Goldstein

What happens when you’re excitedly preparing for the launch of your Young Adult horror book, The Devil’s Pawn, and your doctor calls to tell you your test results were bad?  You’ve been so tired that you’ve occasionally wondered how you were going to cram in the public appearances, blogs, interviews, and emails necessary to promote your new book, but this crazy schedule is part of being a writer so forget the fatigue and keep on moving. Or, at least you tell yourself that until your doctor adds the words “lymphoma” and “heavy chemo protocol” and your world, as Marilyn Levinson’s did, stops.

Stops except for the drip, drip, drip…..and knowing that the doctor added “treatable” and “curable.”

But wait, what about The Devil’s Pawn?  Fifteen year old Simon Porte is depending upon you to publicize his story and you want to.  You worked hard on this book and you need people to know: after fifteen-year-old Simon Porte’s family is killed in an automobile crash, his father’s brother, whom he’s never met, brings Simon to live with him and his wife in upstate New York. Simon doesn’t trust Uncle Raymond, and for good reason. Raymond is dying and using his powers to take over Simon’s body. Simon and his allies—his dotty great-aunt Lucinda, his sister whom he finds living with another relative, and a pair of odd twins—wage war against the evil Raymond and his cronies.

Drip, drip, drip …. So many days in the hospital, so many days at home.  Try to minimize public contact during the treatments.

The book is getting great reviews, but you’re fretting because your plans to promote it are in disarray. Frustrated, you tell a few of your friends (Guppies – members of The Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime) who you’ve met at conferences and online and a wonderful thing happens.  Your friends tell

you to work on getting better and let them help out with telling people about The Devil’s Pawn.  Not a problem they say, it’s a good book so it is easy to talk about.

Drip, drip, drip … will this stuff make you need to buy a wig? Blonde, brunette, or maybe red?  That and getting well should be your biggest worries because your fellow mystery writers have closed ranks around Simon and you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Marilyn Levinson
Marilyn Levinson is doing well with her treatments.  The Devil’s Pawn, a young adult horror novel,is available for purchase from:

Do Mystery Writers See the World in a Different Way??????

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Do Mystery Writers See the World in a Different Way?? 
by Debra H. Goldstein

Do you think mystery writers see the world in a different way? My husband, children and friends do.

For the past few years they have accused me of seeing events in our lives as fodder for storytelling. Recently, they complained that when we go on vacation I view the sites as possible crime settings instead of for the beauty of the moment. I heartily disagreed; but, between us, maybe they’re right.

I try to keep my reactions in check. For example, when I saw the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, I didn’t immediately say, “If someone fell off….” Art gallerias and museums in Santa Fe, New York, London, Florence and Paris impressed me, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would take to slip a crown jewel, Mona Lisa, or a simple watercolor out the door. During the water architecture cruises in Seattle and Chicago, my mind wandered to the infinite possibilities created by approaching one of the imposing buildings or homes (think Bill Gates) from the water.

This past weekend, we visited the Biltmore House in Asheville. In addition to the normal house tour, there was a special Downton Abbey costume exhibit. Dresses, suits, and uniforms were shown in the rooms they might have been worn in. While my family oohed and aahed at the architecture and clothing, I couldn’t help but think “if I was in the in drawing room with …” or “the servant’s bell rang, but the housemaid never came.”

Even when I stay home, people question my intentions. One of my best beta readers, who has read Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery (February 2016 from Five Star) and most of the short stories published in 2014 and 2015, recently took my husband aside to warn him “don’t eat Debra’s oatmeal. She has a propensity for killing off spouses.”

These accusations hurt, but what can I say? At least for me, they’re true. I do see the world in a different way. What about you?

It’s Only a Game by Debra H. Goldstein

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It’s Only a Game by Debra H. Goldstein

My husband’s blood runs Crimson.  Nick Saban’s signed picture hangs in a prominent place in his man cave, which doubles as my den since we downsized. Signed University of Alabama footballs and Bear Bryant memorabilia also grace the room’s shelves.

Just as he deems these men to be G-ds, my husband religiously attends games or is glued to the television screen cheering his team on or bemoaning bad umpire calls. If the Alabama team wins, he takes pleasure in another week of bragging rights, but if, as they did on New Year’s Day, they get blown out of the water, he mutters for a few minutes and then philosophically notes, “It’s Only a Game.”

Many of our friends will be in mourning until next year’s football season.  They still spend hours dissecting the bad plays or interceptions that “lost the game.” They talk about how difficult it is to be a “marked” team because of having had a high ranking throughout the season.  Their sorrow will be tempered by verbally analyzing critical plays at parties and watching DVR’d games to relive the high moments of the season.

There are other people in our state who mourn in a more aggressive manner.  Newspaper stories of fights prompted by insults, stealing of mascots, and destruction of property are commonplace. Why?  After all, “It’s Only a Game.”

As a Johnny-come-lately to the writing world, I am in awe of many writers.  Their books are on display on my upstairs bookshelves, much as Nick Saban mementos are downstairs.  Throughout the years their works entertained, educated, and engaged me. Now, as I have met many, my respect for their repeated generosity and kindnesses to other writers constantly grows, especially while watching each struggle with juggling time to write, marketing and selling enough books to get another contract, handling today’s social media demands, and living balanced lives.  The reality is that most don’t “win” every day, but the successful ones handle their losses in a similar manner.  Rather than dwelling on the set-back or sabotaging their competition, they understand the defeat of the moment reflects that “It’s Only a Game.”

Just Back From My Favorite Writing Conference

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When this appears, I will be home one day from going to Las Vegas and attending the Public Safety Writers Association’s annual conference.    http://policewriter.com/wordpress/

It has always been a favorite of mine for several reasons.

I joined this group years ago when it was called The Police Writers Club–and the only members were active or retired police officers. They voted on whether or not to let me (a mystery writer) join them. Fortunately for me, they let me in. I attended several conferences, the last one was right after 9-11 and held in Orlando.
A problem arose right after the conference and the group fell apart. A few members decided to resurrect it, and I was one of them, and the rebirth.

The new name chosen was Public Safety Writers Association and the decision made to include anyone in the public safety fields (Fire, FBI, Police, etc.) and those who write fiction or non-fiction about them.

I became the conference chair. Our first one was held in a funky hotel on Fremont St. in Las Vegas and we had 12 attendees which included our board members. We spent some of our time discussing the association and what we could do to make it better.

The next conference was held in the same hotel with 16 attendees.

We moved to a different hotel in Las Vegas and have had our latest conferences at the Orleans. With the moves we’ve also gained many new members and conference attendees. It is still small in comparison to other writers’ conferences–we hover around 50 attendees. We have many more members.This is also one of the reasons I like it so much–there is only one track so most people stay for everything. Because of this, people have the opportunity to connect and share.

Last year I handed the job of conference program planner to Michael A. Black, a prolific writer, and retired police officer. He’d been helping me the last couple of years and I knew he had what it takes to do the job.

While being a member and attending the conference, I’ve made many friends in the law enforcement community, friends I can ask research questions and get the answers I need.

Experts in different phases of law enforcement present though sometimes it might be an expert in some phase of writing, but there are also many panels about various writing topics as well. Anyone who wants to be on a panel has that opportunity–something the mystery writers love. They are able to share what they know about writing and promoting.

For me, attending the conference is much like attending a family reunion because I’ve made such good friends.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

(Some shots of the attendees)

While My Guitar Gently Teaches

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Sparkle Abbey with Lori Rader-Day

Today we’d like to share a guest post from our friend and fellow mystery author, Lori Rader-Day whose book, The Black Hour, will be out this July 8th. 


Lori – You have the stage!

There’s
a YouTube video I can’t stop watching. It’s a clip from a tribute to George
Harrison from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in which Harrison was posthumously
inducted as a solo artist. Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, and Harrison’s
son Dhani, perform While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

I like the Beatles as much as anyone who wasn’t alive while
they were a band, and I adore Tom Petty. But the reason I can’t stop watching this
clip is because about three and a half minutes into the performance, Prince
enters the stage and breaks out a guitar solo that shuts down life as we know
it.

The clip has been viewed more than 3 million times. One of
the comments says something like, “If civilization ended after that Prince
guitar solo, I’d be OK with it.”
This is the stuff of procrastination. Watching videos of
puppies learning to howl and little kids belting out songs with lyrics far beyond their years is what we do when we’re feeling uninspired and stuck. And
yet I keep going back to that Prince guitar solo, not because I want to waste
time, but because something in the way Prince throws that little red Corvette
of a guitar around on stage teaches me something I want to know—about
storytelling.

Here’s the lesson I keep trying to learn from that video:
mastery shows. Mastery is worth the effort. When an artist is in command of his
or her form, you want to be a part of it.  


Coming July 8th
Haven’t you ever opened a book in a bookstore and found
yourself within a couple of sentences in the firm grasp of a master storyteller?
As readers we’re often forgiving. We’ll give a writer pages, chapters,
sometimes a full book before we decide if we’re satisfied. We’re all willing to
be captivated. We’re hoping to be
captivated. It doesn’t always pan out. But when it does, there’s something
magical about being under the spell of an expert at ease in the command of her
story, someone we can trust completely with our time and attention.

This theory holds until you realize that the original
recording of “While My Guitar” by the Beatles featured a guitar solo by Eric
Clapton. Clapton, it’s safe to say, is a master of his genre, too. So why is
Prince’s three-minute guitar-weeping solo like a bomb going off on that stage?
I think it’s because he’s playing with expectations. The
song may be one we all recognize, and Petty and company are doing a serviceable
job for their parts, but when Prince enters the fray, he’s doesn’t merely do
what’s necessary. He doesn’t recreate Clapton’s notes. He throws himself body
and soul into creating something new from the expected.

And that’s the lesson we writers can take to the page.
Mystery writers, perhaps especially, have signed on to fulfill certain
obligations to the reader. We have to set up the crime, dole out the suspects,
pin down the clues, and for the love of all that is holy, solve the crime by the end of the book. But that doesn’t mean there
isn’t room for creativity in how those expectations are met. Riffing on what’s
expected, in fact, means you’re in the conversation with all that has come
before you. And like Prince, you can step up to honor that history and still
blow everyone’s minds. 


Again, Lori Rader-Day is the author of The Black Hour, out from Seventh Street Books on July 8th. She’s a fan of music, mysteries, and mutts. Learn more at: www.LoriRaderDay.com 
A great post Lori! Thanks for being our guest. 


Readers, what do you think? When was the last time you were totally blown away by a keep-you-up-all-night-read, a performance, or a work of art? 


Leave a comment and share your thoughts because we’ll be doing a random drawing from among the posters for an ARC of Lori’s The Back Hour. 

Solving My Murderous POV!

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By Laura Spinella
In the thick of storytelling, the nitty-gritty, nose-to-the-grindstone
act of putting words on a blank page, there are bound to be roadblocks. If
there aren’t, you’re not doing it right. That’s not to say there’s a magic
bullet or formula. It’s just that you can’t get from point A to point B without
hitting a few glitches and in some instances a landmine.
I am in the midst of writing book seven. Lucky seven. If all goes well, it will
be the third book to make it onto store shelves. Of course, that doesn’t lessen
the learning curve of those trunk novels. Surely, I garnered more from the misfits than the books that had legs and, eventually, a spine. The premise for
my new book came fairly easy, so I came prepared for some other sort of problem.
Perhaps my pace would be off kilter and my love story tepid at best.
But no, that wasn’t it. I sailed into midpoint, anxious as a reader to find out
how it all works out for Aubrey and Levi. My research has gone well
too. My former editor-in-chief has graciously allowed me tap into his vast newspaper knowledge. That’s a great thing, helping me fine tune character and storyline details. In fact, the biggest challenge had been physical. The mind is willing. The
body not as able as it used to be. My arthritic neck and a nagging pinched
nerve (paints a lovely haggard witch picture, doesn’t it?) have decided that sitting
for hours is not in their best interest. But physical pain is not as compelling
as mental anguish, and I was having hard time accepting it as this book’s
issue. Frankly, I worried that the process was going too well.  
Then, last week, everything changed.  I just didn’t step on my landmine, I fell face first into it. The problem came
into focus as I backed the truck up and decided to read my WIP.  There it was, crystal clear: the POV in the past
portion of the story is a hellacious mess. It truly, absolutely, completely
sucks. Seriously sucks. For the most part, my writing relies on a
back-and-forth method of storytelling. They’re not flashbacks but an
intertwining of chapters moving between two distinct periods of time. I’ve been
asked if this is intentional. It is, but only as a means to an end. It’s the
way my mind or muse conveys a story. In BEAUTIFUL DISASTER and PERFECT TIMING,
the past storyline is mostly about the romance. In this book, it chronicles the events
leading up to a murder. It also includes a darker, somewhat twisted romance. Initially,
this is what intrigued me, writing a socially unacceptable love story and
seeing if I could get readers (not to mention my agent & editor) to buy
into it. For that part, we’ll see. Right now, my problem is a murderous POV.
 I thought an omniscient telling would be the key to these in-the-past chapters.  I like the distance that an omniscient POV provides.
There’s no need to get too chummy with the characters here. But an omniscient
POV doesn’t come naturally to me, a fact proven when I reviewed my WIP. An out
loud reading left me queasy and looking for a quick exit.  The dogs, my captive audience, practically howled in protest.  I didn’t recognize the writer, the voice tip-toeing
between characters and that removed but all-knowing presence.  My go-to fix might be multiple POVs separated by scene. It
would keep things rolling along, although I don’t know if it would be admitting
defeat. I don’t like to lose. But I also like climbing into my characters’ heads, one at a time, rooting around for their side of things. This is what I’m good at.  Those
voices come clearly, and it could be that I’m shooting myself in the foot by trying to prove I can do it. For now
I’ve abandoned the problem, pursuing forward motion with what is working. But
before long I will have to revisit Missy and Frank and the ensemble that awaits
me in Surrey, Mass, circa 1993. I will have to decide.  
So I’m wondering Stiletto Gang writers of mystery—or
anyone who has a thought on the subject—what POV works best for you. Do you
venture outside your comfort zone if the story dictates? Should I stick with my
omniscient effort? Am I doing what’s best for this story, or am I only being
stubborn about mastering a skill that doesn’t come naturally to my set? Like any good editorial, opinions are welcome!         
Laura Spinella is the author of the award winning novel, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER and the upcoming novel, PERFECT TIMING. Visit her at www.lauraspinella.net. 
      

Of Tempests in Teapots, Po-Biz, and a Welcome Return to Sanity

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by Linda Rodriguez

I’m a hyphenate writer. Poet-mystery novelist. One foot
stands in the airy-fairy literary world of poetry, where I’ve published two
books, many individual poems, and won some national awards, while the other is
planted firmly in the down-to-earth storytelling of mysteries and thrillers
where all the loose ends have to be tied up or explained and where I’ve been
very fortunate also. Although I love both worlds and have wonderful friends in
both, as well as people who have mentored and helped me, I’ve come to realize
there’s a real difference—and this past week brought that home with a sting.
The poetry world—or “po-biz” as we poets tend to refer to it
to mark the difference between writing the poems and building the career by
publishing, winning awards, getting tenure, booking readings, etc.—is very
competitive. At least, the establishment academic poetry world is highly competitive.
The side niches where you will find most of the African American, Asian
American, Latino, or Native American poets are highly cooperative and
collaborative, real communities, and their members usually don’t get the plum
positions or lucrative honors.
The world of mysteries, where there is more money and a vastly
larger number of readers at stake, is surprisingly not cutthroat competitive,
but much more of a cooperative and collaborative community, even though it
would be considered by the po-biz folks to be pretty establishment. From the
beginning, I was blown away by how generous and helpful major writers were
toward the beginner I was, and as I’ve spent more and more time among the mystery
writers, I’ve seen firsthand how super-collaborative they all are.
I still write and publish poetry. In fact, I have another
full-length book manuscript I’ll be sending out for publication in the near
future—to join my other two published collections, I hope. I negotiate the two
worlds with a shake of my head at the differences, and that’s about all. Until
something like last week happens that really brings home to me the absolute difference
in cultures.
I was thrilled to learn that a dear friend and fellow poet, Richard
Blanco, had been selected as the inaugural poet for President Obama’s second
inauguration. I’ve studied and critiqued manuscripts with Richard, and I know
what a gifted poet he is. He has won some of the po-biz’s major awards,
equivalent to the Edgar or Rita, and continues to study and work hard to
constantly challenge himself and improve his art. Plus he’s a genuinely nice
guy, funny and smart and generous—and Latino and immigrant (at four months of
age) and openly gay. Those last qualifiers guarantee that he’s spent a lot of
time in those side-niche poetry communities I mentioned earlier where there’s
much more community and cooperation.
Before the inauguration even took place, there were
rumblings from certain corners of po-biz about his selection. Award-winner or
not, Richard is not one of the usual recipients of this kind of honor. These kinds
of things, like the poet-laureate position of the U.S., are usually reserved
for a handful of old white guys who went to the “right” schools and studied with
the “right” teachers, etc., etc. So obviously, even though he had great
credentials, he couldn’t possibly be good enough for this job. He didn’t fit
the mold.
I read these carpings with little worry. I knew the quality
of Richard’s work, and I knew he would write and read a great poem. When the
inauguration came, he read with great effect a wonderful poem, in which he did
the almost impossible and caught the essence of America on the page. He brought
tears to the eyes of many Americans with his great poem, which caught perfectly
the mood of the moment that, even after terrible things have happened, we will
all pull together and make our country great.
Bare minutes after he finished reading, the insults and
criticizing began on Facebook and soon moved to prestigious blogs. His poem was
trashed, his performance was trashed, and sometimes he himself was trashed. I
came face to face with a very strong expression of the ugly side of po-biz. One
academic poet even admitted at the beginning of his attack, “I wanted to hate
[the poem.]” He ended with a suggestion that Richard should have inserted some exciting
profanity to liven up the poem and make it a little bit hip (completely
ignoring the occasion for which the poem was written at which “exciting
profanity” would have been totally inappropriate, if very hip).

So this past week I’ve been living more in the poetry world
than the mystery (and other commercial novel) world. I wrote a blog lamenting
the situation and the way poets tend to eat their own at the slightest excuse
and how the egos of poets are so often poetry’s worst enemies.


I’ve had a lot of support for this from poets of the
side-niche, collaborative communities of poetry—and even from some of the
po-biz folks themselves. But I’m ready to quit reading every attack and frothing
at the mouth at the absolute stupidity and cupidity of the remarks.
I’m ready to return to the sane and generous community of
mystery novelists where few, if any, feel that someone else’s professional good
fortune is a threat and an attack on their own lives, where writers are more
likely to extend a hand in congratulations to someone else getting an award
rather than to sling mud at her or him. I’m eager to return to the place where kind
writers with major reputations often offer a hand to those just starting out or
having to start over.
And I’m here to tell my friends who are writers and readers
in this great community—you don’t realize how good we have it here. Just take a
look across the way at po-biz and thank your stars or guardian angels that you’re
novel writers and readers and not poets.