Tag Archive for: Nevada Barr

Summer Reading – Part II

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Summer Reading – Part II by Debra H. Goldstein

For ten days, I forgot about being a writer.  Instead, other than reading Murder on Wheels with an eye towards reviewing it, I let my mind forget about the tools of the trade and I read for pleasure.

Biographies, cozies, thrillers, literary fiction – all were fair game.  My goal was pure enjoyment or as I like to refer to it:  FUN.

I’ve discovered that in my quest to write decent short stories and novels (or at least publishable ones), I sometimes replace my love of words with mechanical technicalities.  When I’m writing, the same critical eye comes into my reading habits.  I pick apart the language of other authors.  I look to see how they use dialogue, plot, setting, word choice, and grammar instead of simply relaxing into the story.  If two linked ideas couldn’t realistically connect in real life, I’m disturbed.  If a character’s name isn’t remembered correctly or a hole exists in the plot, the book is a disaster for me.

When I stop writing and become a reader again, I regain my ability to enjoy well-written and not so well-written books.  I chuckle, I laugh, I cry, and I am fulfilled by the different worlds I visit.  Best of all, I remember why I want to write – to help provide even a smidgen of these feelings to others.
So, what did I read on my break that refreshed me and gave me the drive to write again:

I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Mary Higgins Clark
Destroyer Angel – Nevada Barr
night, night, sleep tight – Hallie Ephron
Truth Be Told – Hank Phillippi Ryan
Interpretation of Murder – B.K. Stevens
The Kept – James Scott
The Inverted Forest – John Dalton
A Fine Romance – Candice Bergen

Have you read anything you’ve liked lately?  I’m making a list for my next ten day break.

More Thoughts in a Murky Stream

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It’s not easy coming up with a blog topic each week. Or at least settling on one good one. Every week, I leave it until Tuesday or Wednesday and then in a slight panic, get my Thursday blog written. The more panic, the better my writing. Crazy huh?

It’s Tuesday night and I’m writing these words as I listen to the local 10:00 pm news. My co-author suggested that I do a blog about Supreme Court Nominee Sonya Sotomayor’s reported fondness for Nancy Drew books. But I peeked at Maggie Barbieri’s scheduled Wednesday blog and found she’d beaten me to the punch. (If you haven’t read her blog yet, just scroll down and you’ll find it below this blog entry.) Hey! I didn’t mean look at it right this minute! I’m working here!

So back to my topic this week. These are my four remaining choices:

Dumpster Babies – A couple of days ago a newborn baby was found in a dumpster in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Sapulpa is a bedroom community of Tulsa. The baby whimpered and someone cleaning up the day after a veterans’ event heard the sounds. The baby was okay. A miracle. But also a tragedy. Oklahoma has a law that allows babies less than seven days old to be left at any hospital, fire department, police station etc. with no questions asked. Hard to believe any mother would put a baby in the trash instead. In this day and age even scared teens know there are other options.

My Big Office Move Part II – It will be Thursday when this blog is posted. The next day, on Friday, the moving van shows up to relocate my “day job” office to a new building. This new building is just new to us. It’s an older building that has been gutted and remodeled to meet our needs. Eventually, it will be a wonderful place to spend my weekdays – but as of today it has no windows, no doors, no sheetrock, and I’m beyond panic. I think everything is going to go into storage pods and I’ll be working from home or my car for the next two weeks. Sometimes I could do with less adventure in my life.

Last Two Books I Read for Fun – Over the holiday weekend I read Nevada Barr’s Borderline and Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s Cemetery Dance. Both are good, but since I’m not into Zombies, I enjoyed Nevada Barr’s murderous raft trip in West Texas best.

Jon & Kate Plus Eight Season Premiere – I confess I watched. I’m not proud of myself. Those kids are absolutely being exploited for the parents’ fame and fortune. My co-author has given me many good reasons why this show is a bad thing. But you know, like train wrecks, you just can’t help looking. Or at least I can’t. The recent tabloid reports about the couple’s alleged marital infidelities, made this premiere one of those “gotta watch” episodes. I mean, just last season, the couple renewed their wedding vows in Hawaii while the kids stood behind them arguing loudly over the leis. Just goes to show that if you have eight kids, six of whom are less than five, you can’t count on the trip down the aisle going smoothly. And, I’m thinking renewing those vows, was kind of like tempting fate. Monday night’s new episode was full of tear-filled, lower lip trembling, angst. That was Kate. Jon was belligerent and he looked like he’d spent way too much time in the sun somewhere while wearing goggles. I swear I could see the goggles outline on his dark red face. Did Jon have an affair? Did Kate have an affair? And the most important question, will Kate have to plan all future over-scheduled, media event parties for her kids on her own, or rather without Jon? (She seems to have plenty of other people to help her, and if not, she could scale down the events. No kid really needs rented bouncy tents, a magician, and piñatas for their fifth birthday party.)

Okay, this blog is done. I’m putting a fork in it. You have my permission now to scroll down and read Maggie’s blog. And don’t miss Marilyn’s blog from Tuesday. She’s just back from Mayhem in the Midlands. (I would have gone to that conference too – but you know – there was this office move to deal with. Sigh.)

Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com/

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

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Last night I read my mother’s well-worn copy of The Sign of the Twisted Candles. She’d been given the book as a young girl. The copyright date inside the battered cover is 1933. Coming from a family with limited financial resources and lots of siblings, she didn’t own many books as a child. She’s treasured this one for almost 60 years. I’ll be returning it to her bookshelf this weekend.

My mother introduced me to Nancy Drew when I was in the third grade. Many of the words were strange – commodious, oculist; the phrases unusual – jolly friends; the foods strange – jellied consommé. But I still loved the book.

“Oh, Nancy! I’m afraid to go any farther, and I’m afraid not to. Won’t you speed the car up!”

Nancy Drew smiled grimly to herself, despite the awe-inspiring situation with which she had to battle. (The Sign of the Twisted Candles, Carolyn Keene, 1933).

Teenaged Nancy Drew wasn’t afraid. She seemed to thrive on meeting challenges head-on; her confidence in herself and the power of good to triumph over evil was indeed “awe-inspiring.” An only child of a wealthy criminal lawyer and a deceased mother, Nancy is often on her own or having adventures with her two best friends. She gives free reign to her curiosity when she and her friends take shelter at a crumbling Civil War-era mansion that has been converted into a combination restaurant and inn. There is a mysterious old man in the tower room, an overworked, ill-treated foster child, an evil innkeeper and wife, and strange happenings galore. Asking questions, watching people, and following the clues, Nancy solves the crimes and plays fairy godmother to the foster child.

Last week I read Nevada Barr’s latest book, Winter Study. Anna Pigeon, Barr’s heroine, is a 40-something, National Park Service Ranger. Anna was recently married. But in her words, “They’d been married four months. They’d been together ten days of it.” In Winter Study, Anna is temporarily assigned to the wolf population study at Isle Royale on Lake Superior. The survival of the wolves on the island might be threatened, but it’s the humans who are doing the dying. As usual Anna uses her experience, survival skills, and keen powers of observation and deduction to solve the murders.

When I decided to compare the two books for my blog entry for Nancy Drew week, I ignored the issue that one series is written for children and the other is written for adults. Although Nancy is around 16 or 17 years old, the themes in the Nancy Drew books are ones that a 10-year-old would enjoy most. Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon books are definitely for older teens and adults. Was a comparison of the 1930-heroine with the 2008-counterpart fair? Do they have anything in common?

Freedom for a woman in Nancy’s day (1930s) was accomplished by being upper class, having inherited money or a generous parent, having a supportive yet distant family who gave you time and space to solve mysteries, and an extraordinary inherent confidence in your own beliefs and intellect.

Freedom for a woman in Anna Pigeon’s day (now) is accomplished by hard work and earning your own money, pushing back against stereotypical female roles, having a supportive yet distant family who gives you time and space to solve mysteries, and an well-earned confidence in your own beliefs and intellect.

In both books there is “good versus evil” theme, with “good” winning in the Nancy Drew books and if not winning in the Anna Pigeon books, at least a rough justice is achieved.

Both heroines solve mysteries by using their powers of observation, understanding human nature, and their own personal courage. Both Nancy and Anna walk out into the night alone to confront the unknown. They are both smart, curious, creative and willing to take risks. As my co-author says, “Independent women were revolutionary in the 1930s. And perhaps they still are.”

What do you look for in your favorite “mystery” heroines? When you examine the fine print – are they all versions of Nancy Drew?

Evelyn David