Tag Archive for: Paula Gail Benson

Meet the 2018 Anthony Short Story Author Nominees!

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by Paula Gail Benson

 

What a true pleasure to host the 2018
Anthony nominees for best short story! Here for your reading pleasure is the
list with links to each story. [Please note: You’ll need to scroll down at some of the links
below to get to the stories.]

 

“The Trial of Madame
Pelletier” by Susanna Calkins, Malice Domestic 12: Mystery Most
Historical: http://www.susannacalkins.com/short-stories.html 

 

“God’s Gonna Cut You
Down” by Jen Conley, Just to Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction
Inspired by the Songs of Johnny Cash: https://www.jenconley.net/ 

 

“My Side of the Matter”
by Hilary Davidson, Killing Malmon:

 

“Whose Wine Is it
Anyway” by Barb Goffman, 50 Shades of Cabernet:

 

“The Night They Burned
Ms. Dixie’s Place” by Debra Goldstein, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery
Magazine, May/June 2017: http://www.debrahgoldstein.com/otherwritings/night-burned-ms-dixies-place-alfred-hitchcock-mystery-magazine-mayjune-2017/ 

 

“A Necessary
Ingredient” by Art Taylor, Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea
to Shining Sea: http://www.arttaylorwriter.com/books/a-necessary-ingredient/ 

 

Thank you to the nominees, Susanna
Calkins, Jen Conley, Hilary Davidson, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, and Art
Taylor, for taking the time to answer a few questions and share their nominated
stories!

 

(1) Where and when does your nominated
story take place?

 

Susanna Calkins
Susanna Calkins: “The Trial of
Madame Pelletier” is set in Tulle, a town in central France, in 1840. It
focuses on the court trial of a “Lady Poisoner,” a woman accused of killing her
estranged husband with rat-paste and truffles.

 

Jen Conley: The story takes place in Ocean County, New
Jersey, present day. Ocean County is considered central-south New Jersey, known
for its Jersey Shore beaches, but mostly it’s a blue collar/middle class county
on the edge or in the Pine Barrens.

 

Hilary Davidson
Hilary Davidson: “My Side of the Matter” is set in and around
Minneapolis. I’ve only had the pleasure of visiting that city once, but I felt
compelled to set the story there because the story is part of the KILLING
MALMON anthology — and Dan and Kate Malmon live in that area.


Barb Goffman: “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?” takes place in the
litigation department of a large Washington, DC, law firm. I don’t specify when
the story takes place. I expect the reader will assume it is a contemporary
story.




Debra H. Goldstein
Debra H. Goldstein: “The Night They
Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” is set in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960’s, in a
house where they change the sheets more than once a night. The story reflects
Birmingham’s racial, civil, and political strife and their impact on a
particular night on a boy coming of age.

 

Art Taylor: “A Necessary Ingredient” was published in Coast
to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, which covers (as that
subtitle suggests) a pretty wide geographical area. I was assigned my home
state of North Carolina, and instead of choosing an actual town, I created a
fictional one, a mid-sized Southern town drawing on several places I’ve lived
or known in Eastern North Carolina—Goldsboro, Kinston, and Richlands, among
them. The story takes place loosely in the present, but the main character,
Ambrose Thornton, has immersed himself in some ways, in a mythical past—the
world of the hard-boiled detective stories he lives to read—and the present of
this small town is also steeped at bit in some of that atmosphere, if only
because of Ambrose’s own perspectives driving the story. 

 

(2) What was the biggest challenge you
encountered in writing your nominated story?


Susanna Calkins: I adapted this
story from a real poisoning case that I had read about when I was working on my
doctorate in history. At the time I had focused on the media accounts of the case,
which were all in French, because I loved the notion of the woman being on
trial in the court of public opinion as well as in the courtroom.
Unfortunately, I had not kept my notes, so I had to go back to the original
source materials, only to realize that my reading knowledge of French has
considerably diminished over the last twenty years. Fortunately, I found a very
detailed contemporary description of the trial in a British medical journal, in
which the authors—both physicians—focused on the details of the poisoning and
the forensics they were able to use. Except for a few interesting details, I
completely changed the story, the characters, and of course provided a twist…

 

Jen Conley
Jen Conley: The biggest
challenge for me was writing a first-person male character. This choice can be
difficult to establish when you’re the opposite gender. Readers see the name “Jen
Conley” and assume the first-person narrator is female. It’s just natural for
any reader to do–assume the first-person narrator is the gender of the writer.
I must’ve re-written the first few lines of the story about twenty times. I
also found it challenging to create empathy for a murderer, especially a
murderer who killed my main character’s sister in a horrific and vile way.

 

Hilary Davidson: The premise of
KILLING MALMON was that Dan Malmon had to die in every story. (Before you
decide that we’re terrible people to do that to such a nice guy, you should
know that Dan was co-editor of the project, and it raises money to benefit the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society.) After I got over the idea of “killing” my
friend in print, I realized that the biggest challenge was building suspense
when the reader already knew that Dan was going to die. How do you keep the
reader intrigued when they know what’s going to happen? I solved that by
turning the story on its head, so that the man who killed Dan — and got away
with it — suddenly starts writing a confession. The suspense builds around what
led him to commit the crime, and the mysterious reason he needs to reveal the
truth.

 

Barb Goffman
Barb Goffman: Plotting. Plotting
is often a big challenge for me. I’d been asked to submit a story to 50 Shades of Cabernet, so I knew my plot
had to involve mystery and wine. Consequently I did a lot of wine research,
hoping to come across an idea that awakened my muse. I can hear the “research”
jokes now, but my muse isn’t a drinker. I learned there’s a spa in Japan that
uses red wine in its hot tubs. I thought for sure I’d get a plot out of that,
but no. I also learned about festivals celebrating wine and chocolate. Surely,
you’d think I’d devise a plot from that. But no again. It wasn’t until I
learned that people can be allergic to the sulfites in wine that things really
started clicking. Thank goodness!

 

Debra H. Goldstein: The biggest
challenge in writing “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,” was getting the
voices right. Being a white Jewish Yankee middle-aged female, I knew I couldn’t
call on my own experiences and dialect to bring to life a nine-year-old black
male protagonist, his mother, and a southern madame. Each of these characters
had to have a distinct personality and manner of speaking. They also had to
reflect southern society in the 1960’s and, in the case of the child, both
innocence and the way the world was changing. Consequently, it was important
that none of these characters be written stereotypically.  Rather, each needed to be treated in a
respectful manner which demonstrated their diversity to the reader. Although the
crime is an important element of “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,”
nailing the characters’ voices is what ultimately engages readers.

 

Art Taylor

Art Taylor: Balancing that
mix of small town and hard-boiled actually posed part of the challenge—but far
from a surprise, it was a challenge that I took as central to what I was doing
here. When my friend Paul D. Marks, the anthology’s co-editor, asked me to
contribute, I almost didn’t do it. I haven’t really written many private eye
stories—and none of the ones I’ve written have been “straight,” so to speak.
But then I liked the idea of crossing the private eye story—traditionally
hard-boiled—with the kinds of regional fiction that have inspired me in other
cases. How can you draw on both effectively? What happens when those “mean
streets” of Chandler’s famous quote are actually dirt roads dotted with
roadside produce stands? And can the class struggles that so often drive
hard-boiled fiction be found in equal measure in the hierarchies of proper
Southern society? Well, that was a challenge I enjoyed stepping up to, and hope
readers have enjoyed as well.


Here’s where you can learn more about
these wonderful authors and their work. Best wishes to them all!

 

Susanna Calkins was born and raised in
Philadelphia, and lives outside Chicago with her husband and two sons. Holding
a PhD in history, Susanna writes the award-winning Lucy Campion historical
mysteries as well as the forthcoming Speakeasy Murders, both from St. Martin’s
Minotaur. MURDER KNOCKS TWICE, set in Prohibition-Era Chicago, will be out
Spring 2019. “The Trial of Madame Pelletier,” her first published short story,
appeared in Malice Domestic: Mystery Most
Historical (Wayside Press, 2017). Read more about her work at http://www.susannacalkins.com/

 

Jen
Conley’s short stories have appeared in Beat to a Pulp, Just To Watch Them
Die: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Johnny Cash, Trouble in the
Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen and
many others. She has contributed to the Los Angeles Review of Books, has
been shortlisted for Best American Mystery Stories and is one of the
former editors at Shotgun Honey. Her Anthony Award nominated story
collection, Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens, is
available now. She lives in Brick, New Jersey. Check out her website at https://www.jenconley.net/

 

Hilary
Davidson is the author of the Lily Moore series—which includes The
Damage Done, The Next One to Fall, and Evil in All Its
Disguises. She also the author of the standalone thriller Blood
Always Tells and a short-story collection called The
Black Widow Club. Her next novel, One Small Sacrifice, will
be published by Thomas & Mercer in May 2019. Visit her online at http://www.hilarydavidson.com


Barb Goffman loves writing, reading, air conditioning, and her
dog, not necessarily in that order. She’s won the Agatha, Macavity, and Silver
Falchion awards for her short stories, and she’s been a finalist for national
mystery short-story awards twenty-two times, including eleven times for the
Agatha (a category record). Her book Don’t Get Mad, Get Even won the
Silver Falchion for the best collection of 2013. Barb is thrilled to be a
current Anthony and Macavity award finalist for her story “Whose Wine is it
Anyway?” from the anthology 50 Shades of Cabernet.  She works as a
freelance editor and proofreader and lives with her dog in Winchester,
Virginia. Learn more at www.barbgoffman.com.


Agatha and Anthony nominated Judge Debra
H. Goldstein’s is the author One Taste
Too Many, the first of Kensington’s new Sarah Blair cozy mystery series.
Her prior books include Should Have
Played Poker and 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Debra’s short stories have appeared in numerous
periodicals and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,
Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Weekly. She is president of Sisters
in Crime’s Guppies, serves on SinC’s national board, and is vice-president of
SEMWA. Find out more about her writings at www.DebraHGoldstein.com


Art Taylor is the author
of On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories, winner of
the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. He has won three additional Agatha
Awards, an Anthony Award, two Macavity Awards, and three consecutive Derringer
Awards for his short fiction, and his work has appeared in Best American
Mystery Stories. He also edited Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon
Anthology 2015, winner of the Anthony Award for Best Anthology or
Collection. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason University.
Check out his website at http://www.arttaylorwriter.com/

Happy Encounters

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by Paula Gail Benson

Today, I
wanted to feature the online publication, Shotgun Honey, which since 2011 has
been offering a forum for crime, noir, and hard-boiled shorts of 700 words. It
has featured over 400 authors, compiling contributors by photo, bio, and
published stories. It offers a great place to find work by favorite writers as
well as discover new talent. Here’s the link:

This weekend, I had the great opportunity of connecting with
fellow blogger Dru Ann Love and terrific author Dorothy McFalls in Charleston,
S.C. (Sorry to have arrived too late to see Tina Whittle, who writes the Tai
Randolph/Trey Seaver series.) We toured the Charleston Tea Plantation (http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com),
the only tea plantation operated in the United States. Following a visit to its
gift shop, we traveled down the road to view the massive, around 400-year-old
Angel Oak (http://www.angeloaktree.com).
We finished the evening with some great local seafood from Vickery’s at Shem
Creek.

Magnificient Angel Oak

Many thanks to Dru Ann and my friend Sue Husman for
letting me share photos. So delighted to spend this happy time with great
people.


Dorothy McFalls, Tina Whittle, and Dru Ann Love
Sue Husman, Dorothy McFalls, Dru Ann Love, and me at Charleston Tea Plantation



‘Neath the Spanish Moss at the Tea Plantation
Dru Ann and Dorothy on the waterfront





The Lexington (SC) Serious Writers’ Tour with Steven James, Michelle Medlock Adams, and Bethany Jett

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Bethany Jett

by Paula Gail Benson

In
May, the local Word Weavers group, an affiliate of Word Weavers International,
brought the Serious Writer One Day Tour to the Riverbend Community Church in
Lexington, S.C. If you’re looking for excellent craft and business instruction,
I suggest you check out the offerings at http://www.seriouswriter.com.
The organization, operating since 2015, has online classes as well as the
one-day programs and appearances at conferences.

 

Michelle Medlock Adams

The
instructors who attended the Lexington meeting were Michelle Medlock Adams, a
journalist and award-winning author of primarily children’s books and
devotionals; Bethany Jett, co-founder of The Serious Writer and Vice-President
of Platinum Literary Services, whose work includes devotionals, ghostwriting,
and marketing; and Steven James, who I knew as a prolific thriller writer and terrific
writing instructor, whose craft books include Story Trumps Structure and Troubleshooting
Your Novel. I also learned that he had written a significant number of
books for the inspirational market.

 

I
decided to attend the program because I had heard Steven James speak at Killer
Nashville and I knew he taught a highly respected novel writing intensive
course with Robert Dugoni, limited to twelve participants each year. His
presentations for the Serious Writer tour were very generous, including
specific techniques and excellent handouts to help with crafting twists,
creating suspense, and revising problem areas. While I spent most of my time at
Steven James’ sessions, I also very much enjoyed the portions of the program
where all the authors joined in to give tips about the process of marketing a
book and using social media. The day was full of good advice and fellowship.

 

Steven James

Following
are some great lists of information that James provided for improving story
telling:

Aspects
of Story Telling

(1)
orientation, which lets a reader know where the story takes place, then
provides the hook that gives the impetus for escalation;

(2)
crisis or calling, which is what goes wrong, turns the world upside down, and
makes the protagonist respond;

(3)
escalation, which occurs as things get worse and is in two parts: (a) the
moment of despair and darkness, and (b) the inevitable, unexpected conclusion;
and, finally, as the story ends, are:

(4)
discovery, and

(5)
transformation.

James
recommended that every story is driven by tension and every scene should end
with a plot twist. To be satisfying, plot twists should be:

(1) unexpected;

(2) inevitable;

(3) an
escalation of what preceded it; and

(4)
a revelation of what went before.

 

He
categorized the five types of plot twists as:

(1)
identity;

(2)
awareness;

(3)
complexity (example: a sting operation);

(4)
cleverness; and

(5)
peril.

 

James
listed four essentials for creating suspense:

(1)
reader empathy (that is, providing a character trait or desire with which a
reader can identify, for example, to love and be loved or to have an adventure);

(2)
reader concern (giving reasons why a reader should care about the characters);

(3)
impending danger (physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, or relational);
and

(4)
escalating tension.

 

Finally,
he offered four questions to ask when solving plot problems:

(1)
what would the character naturally do?

(2)
how can I make things worse?

(3)
how can I add twists or take the story in a new direction?

(4)
what promises have I made that I have not yet kept?

 

Steven
James said that that everything you write is a promise and that in fiction a
writer has both stated and implied promises. In distinguishing among mystery,
suspense, and horror, he gave the following characteristics:

(1)
mysteries are intellectual, not emotional activity where the detective is two
steps ahead of the reader;

(2)
suspense deals with important life matters where the reader is two steps ahead
of the characters and wants to stop the danger; and

(3)
horror allows the gruesome event to happen with the reader and characters in
the same place.

 

If
you want to read more, please check out Steven James’ website, http://www.stevenjames.net/, and his
recorded interviews with other writers at https://www.thestoryblender.com/.

 

And,
if one of the Serious Writer tours or events is coming near you, you’ll find it
a great program to attend!

Checking Out Some Great “How To” Writing Guidelines

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by Paula
Gail Benson

 

Lately,
I’ve been coming across a number of online articles that express succinctly how
certain forms of genre fiction should be written. Here are a few I’ve
discovered:

 

Dennis
Palumbo wrote “Taking the Mystery Out of How
to Write a Mystery” (https://www.writersstore.com/taking-the-mystery-out-of-writing-mysteries/).
He lists three important elements: : “1) establishing the unique character of
the protagonist, 2) making narrative use of the world in which the story takes
place, and 3) planting clues (remember, only a few) that derive from the
particular aspects of that world.” Palumbo recommends that writers consider
what makes them unique and their own backgrounds in developing their
protagonists and settings.

 

Chuck
Wendig provides “25 Things Writers Should Know About Creating Mystery” (http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/05/08/25-things-writers-should-know-about-creating-mystery/).
He describes a mystery as an incomplete equation. Even though readers know the
answer will be revealed by the end, “[a] good story traps us in the moment and
compels us by its incompleteness.” Readers want to be part of the process. “[S]ometimes
creating mystery is not an act of asking a question but the deed of providing a
clearly incorrect answer. Let the audience seek the truth by showing them a
lie.” And, it’s important for plot and character to be intricately intertwined.
“Plot, after all, is like Soylent Green — it’s made of people.”

 

Ginny Wiehardt gives us the ten “Top Rules for Mystery Writing” (https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-rules-for-mystery-writing-1277089).
Her article is written about mystery novels, but the suggestions are easily
adapted to short stories. She points out that people read mysteries for a “particular
experience.” They want the opportunity to solve the crime and they expect all
to turn out well in the end. Reading many mysteries to see how “the rules” have
been applied in those stories will be helpful to a writer, and understanding “the
rules” in order to better meet reader expectations will help a writer craft a
better mystery story. Among her recommendations are to introduce the detective,
culprit, and crime early and wait until the last possible moment to reveal the
culprit.

 

Peter
Derk explains the “The 8
Keys to a Good Heist Story” (https://litreactor.com/columns/the-8-keys-to-a-good-heist-story).
“A good heist has a planning stage, execution stage, and an escape. They can be
in different proportions, but if your story is missing one of the three, it
won’t pass muster.” Derk says there must be complications and a reason to root
for success. Also, he suggests taking care in putting the team together and
having a reason behind the operation that is greater than monetary gain.

 

Dr.
David Lewis Anderson gives a good description of “Time Travel in Science
Fiction” (http://andersoninstitute.com/time-travel-in-science-fiction.html).
He offers a historical analysis of science fiction stories that have used time
travel, but he also explores the elements writers have developed through those
stories.

 

In his “6 Secrets to Creating and
Sustaining Suspense,” (http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/6-secrets-to-creating-and-sustaining-suspense)
Steven James evaluates how to add suspense in mystery,
thriller, and literary stories. He suggests the key is to give readers
something to worry about, then explains how to do that.

 

Finally,
Jan Ellison offers “9 Practical Tricks for Writing
Your First Novel” (http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/9-practical-tricks-for-writing-your-first-novel).
Two of her recommendations that I found interesting were to set writing goals
that are completely within your control and keep working on a poem while
writing your novel. The poem allows you freedom of expression and provides a way
to get started with your writing.

 

Have you read any
writing “how to” articles lately?

Murderous Wit: A Malice Panel I’ll Remember

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Malice Domestic Murderous Wit Panel

by
Paula Gail Benson

This
year at Malice Domestic, I had the privilege of moderating the panel on
Murderous Wit. It featured five outstanding authors (my Stiletto Gang blogging
partner Sparkle Abbey, the team of Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, Ginger
Bolton, Becky Clark, and Lida Sideris). Not only did I enjoy getting to know
each of these writers better, but I learned so much from hearing about their
techniques and series.
I
have long admired Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter, who write the Pampered Pets mystery
series, and I always look for them at Malice, wearing black shirts that identify
ML as “Sparkle” (after her rescue cat) and Anita as “Abbey” (after her rescue
dog). Their titles are delightful take-offs on movies, TV shows, and well known
stories including: Desperate Housedogs
and Get Fluffy. As collaborators, they
plot together, then separately craft each novel in their series, featuring a
different protagonist. ML writes about Caro Lamont, a former psychologist
turned pet therapist, and Anita’s main character is Melinda “Mel” Langston, a
disgraced Texas Beauty Queen who owns a pet boutique.
Before beginning her current donut shop series, Ginger Bolton
previously wrote the Threadville Mystery Series under the name Janet Bolin. Located
in Threadville, Pennsylvania, a town of fabric, yarn, quilting, and embroidery
shops, the first book, Dire Threads, was nominated for an Agatha. Her
donut shop series features Emily Westhill, who runs the best donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin,
alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby Deputy Donut. Survival of the Fritters is available
and Goodbye Crueller World comes out
in August. Ginger based her new series on an actual donut franchise that
started in Clare City, Michigan. Its name is Cops and Doughnuts and its website
is https://copsdoughnuts.com/.
With Ted Hardwick, Becky Clark has written the Dunne Diehl (pronounced
Done-Deal) mysteries. She has a new series, Fiction Can Be Murder–A Mystery Writer’s
Mystery, where her protagonist is mystery author Charlemagne “Charlee” Russo whose agent is found dead
exactly as described in Charlee’s new, unpublished manuscript. Becky is the
seventh of eight children. She creates purses from book covers and sells them
on Etsy as Lazy Squirrel Designs. She had us all laughing as she seriously
insisted, “Humor is funny.”


On her
website, Lida Sideris writes about how she grew up believing she had been born
in North Hollywood, an image she associated with glamour and cocktail dresses.
When she located her birth certificate and found it said North Glendale, she
took to writing instead of therapy. She and her protagonist,
Corrie Locke have both worked as entertainment attorneys for film studios. Lida
writes the Southern California Mystery series that includes Murder and Other Unnatural Mysteries and
Murder Gone Missing.

I
was intrigued to find connections between Nancy Drew and animals with all of
these authors. In reading their work, I learned they not only knew how to turn
a clever phrase, but also understood how to craft a page turner plot. If you
want to learn about or enjoy excellently paced storytelling, check out these
novelists. They will captivate you.

Interview with Agatha Nominees for Best Short Story!

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Each year, I feel very privileged to be able to host interviews with the Agatha nominees for best short story in The Stiletto Gang and Writers Who Kill. I always learn from their answers and appreciate so much what goes into the craft.

Following is a list of the nominated stories with links on the titles so you can read and enjoy. Thanks to Gretchen, Barb, Debra, Gigi, and Art for taking the time to answer the questions. And check in at Writers Who Kill tomorrow to hear more from these talented authors. Best wishes to all. — PGB

“Double Deck the
Halls” by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of
Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” by Debra
Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” by Gigi Pandian
(Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient” by Art Taylor in Coast to
Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

How do you know an idea is “short story worthy”?

Gretchen Archer: If the elements
are there—story arc, strong characters, interesting setting, and a puzzle to
solve—I find the idea worthy. There are many colorful characters in the Davis
Way series, so I had a surfeit of choices for a protagonist in Double Deck the
Halls. From my character list, I chose Granny. The setting is always the
same—the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. And the puzzle?
What could be more fun than an octogenarian MacGyver?


Barb Goffman: When considering if an idea is better suited to be
developed into a short story or a novel, I think the key is how complicated the
plot is and how early you want to bring your main character in on the action.
If your story involves multiple murders, for instance, and you want to show
that your protagonist is on the case from the beginning, then you’re likely
describing a novel. That idea seems too complicated to develop properly in a
short story. But if you have the same scenario and your protagonist comes in at
the last murder and quickly figures out whodunit, then that could be a short
story. Which way to go? I think that’s a style decision for the author. 


This is why
I tell people that a short story is about one thing. One specific tight tale.
The more complicated the idea, the more detail you need to show, the more pages
your tale will take. The plot of my story “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?”
has two inciting incidents– twice within a few days my main character, a legal
secretary, feels slighted by her long-time boss–and the resolution comes
quickly thereafter, so it was well suited for a short story. (For those who
haven’t read the story, in Myra’s last week before retirement, she learns her
boss has hired an airhead to replace her and he does something that makes her
realize he’s been taking her for granted. So Myra devises a plan to teach him a
lesson.)

Debra Goldstein: I don’t initially
know if an idea is “short story worthy.” When a story works, it flows and ends
exactly where it should. The idea of the story may come from a prompt, a phrase
stuck in my mind, or a character’s voice. In “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s
Place,” the opening sentence “I remember
the night they burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” was the first thing I thought of, but
then I realized that most of the story had to be told on that night, when the
main character was only nine years old. Once I recognized the voice would be a
child’s, the importance of the premise became evident. I write both novels and
short stories, but there was no question that this idea and the portrayed characters
and incident would only work as a tightly written short story.



Gigi Pandian: I love short
stories that have a satisfying twist. In my own short fiction, the twists that
I like to play with are seemingly impossible crimes that have a rational
explanation.


My full-length novels are adventures in addition
to being mysteries, so while my books do have twists in them, the twists and
the puzzle aren’t necessarily as important to keep the story going as the
characters themselves and the adventures they’re having.


Therefore when I come up with an idea for a
story involving an impossible crime twist, instead of an idea that centers
around a specific character or a larger plot, then I know it’s a short story
rather than a novel.

Art Taylor: I’m primarily a
short story writer, so most of my ideas seem suited to that length—it just
seems to be the form I’m most naturally drawn toward, the one I’m most
comfortable in. Ideas come from a variety of places, of course: a bit of
overheard conversation, a dream, a trip (the travel kind, not the
hallucinogenic kind!), even other short stories or novels that prompt the
imagination along. While I tend to think in narrative arcs at short story
length, I also try to fold in other threads as well to help enrich the story’s
texture and its breadth—by which I mean balancing several characters’ narrative
arc and the ways they intertwine, for example, or by layering in some thematic
arc alongside the arc of the plot, letting several things speak one to another.
I may not be able to write long very often, but I try to write dense at
least—dense in a good way, I hope!


Tell us about the publisher of your nominated
short story and how the story came to be published.

Gretchen Archer:
“Double
Deck the Halls: is a short-story companion to my Davis Way Crime Caper mystery
series published by Henery Press. I knew where Deck would land before I wrote
it.

Barb Goffman: “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?” appeared in the
anthology 50 Shades of Cabernet,
which was published by Koehler Books. This book is the brainchild of author
Teresa Inge. She came up with the idea of a lighthearted anthology involving
mystery and wine. She wanted to help promote the Virginia wine industry. So she
reached out to a bunch of Virginia authors and asked if we’d be interested in
submitting stories for the book. After doing a lot of interesting research I
came up with a workable story idea, wrote my story, and submitted it. Teresa
shopped the manuscript around and Koehler ended up picking it up. They’re based
in Virginia Beach, near where Teresa lives, so it all worked out very nicely.
Koehler gave us multiple rounds of edits and proofreading. And royalties.
What’s fun about them is for each book they publish, they put two potential
covers on their website and the general public can vote on which one they like
better. The cover with the most votes becomes the cover of the book.



Debra Goldstein: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine not only published my first submission to it, “The
Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,”
in its May/June 2017 issue, but featured it on its cover. Neither of these
exciting events almost happened. Even though several of my short stories had
been accepted by other publications, I lacked the confidence to send my work to
AHMM or Ellery Queen. Several friends, including Art, Barb, Bob Mangeot and
Terrie Moran encouraged me to submit my work to these Dell magazines, but the
one who made me believe in myself was B.K. (Bonnie) Stevens.


When I read her story, “Thea’s First Husband,” I was so blown away
by it that I wrote her a fan email asking if she taught online classes. She
didn’t, but she sent me suggested readings and we subsequently became friends. She
encouraged me to reach beyond my fears. Last year, every Malice Domestic recipient
received the AHMM which contained “The
Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” in
their book bags. A few weeks after Malice, I received a package and note from
Bonnie. She wrote she believed it was an award-winning story and knew, because
it was my first Alfred Hitchcock submission and acceptance, I would want extra
copies of the issue. I wish she had lived to see that her encouragement, as
well as that of so many friends, made this wonderful ride happen.

Gigi Pandian: Henery Press
publishes my Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries. The most recent book The Ninja’s Illusion, is set in Japan,
and I had an idea for a locked-room mystery twist that needed to have the
characters stranded in a remote place. I was having such fun with the
characters in The Ninja’s Illusion that
I wondered if Jaya and her friend Tamarind could get waylaid on their way home
from Japan. I came up with the idea to have them get stranded due to bad
weather, so “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” is set at the remote inn
where they’re forced to seek shelter from a storm.



I had a lot of fun writing a
story-within-a-story, because in “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” there’s
a ghost story about an avenging ghost that killed an unscrupulous man who was
reading an Agatha Christie novel at the hotel nearly a century ago—and now the
“ghost” is striking again while the guests are trapped. Can Jaya figure out
what’s really going on? The team at Henery Press loved the story idea, and they
published it as a short story single the month after the novel came out last
fall.


Art Taylor: “A Necessary
Ingredient” was published in Coast to
Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea. Paul D. Marks—a good friend,
fellow blogger at SleuthSayers, and co-editor of the first volume of the Coast to Coast—reached out to say he was
doing this second volume with the same publisher, Down & Out Books, in this
case focused on private eyes, and would I like to contribute something? I don’t
generally write private eye stories, but the geographical slant on the
anthology attracted me—the opportunity to explore the intersection of that
subgenre of crime fiction and my home state of North Carolina, which was the
region I was assigned. That’s also one of the things I enjoyed about writing
the story, trying to navigate the shadow of one tradition (hardboiled PI
stories) against another (traditional, regional mystery fiction, specifically
here with nods toward one of my own mentors, Margaret Maron, another North
Carolina native). An additional inspiration was the tonka bean itself, the
“necessary ingredient” of the title, which I’d first heard about from another
NC-based writer, Wilton Barnhardt—but to reveal more about that story would give away too much about the story I wrote.
 
If you could bring your protagonist as a guest
to the Agatha banquet, what shoes would he or she be wearing?
 
Gretchen Archer: Easy Spirit Happy
Feet Walkabouts. With Velcro. She’d pair them with a gold velour track suit.


Barb Goffman: Myra would choose
something stylish and practical. I’m not quite sure what that would be, but it
surely would be nicer than what I’ll be wearing. I go for comfort, so I’ll be
in the equivalent of stylish slippers.


Debra Goldstein: My protagonist
would be wearing these scuffed basketball shoes:



Gigi Pandian: “The Library
Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” has two main characters, historian Jaya Jones and her
librarian friend Tamarind Ortega. Jaya is only five feet tall in socks, so she
loves her heels. She’d dress in black slacks, a sleeveless black blouse, and
three-inch shiny black stilettos. Tamarind is tall and big-boned, with short
hair she dyes different colors (it’s blue right now). She thinks of herself as
post-punk and loves her purple combat boots, so for the Agatha banquet she’d wear
those boots with a homemade dress that looks like Molly Ringwald’s dress from Pretty in Pink.



Art Taylor: Ambrose Thornton comes from
a fairly proper Southern family, so I’m sure he could spiffy up if he needed
to: a sharply polished pair of wingtips maybe? But honestly, he strikes me as
someone who would rather be back home reading than out socializing most nights. 


Looking Forward to Mystery Short Story Award Season

/in /by
by Paula
Gail Benson
The time
is quickly approaching for recognizing short story excellence in the mystery
field. The following authors have been nominated for Agathas for their short
stories, an award presented at the Malice Domestic conference at the end of
April:

Best
Short Story
“Double Deck the Halls” by Gretchen Archer (Henery
Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway”
by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s
Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s
Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn”
by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient”
by Art Taylor in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat
(Down & Out Books)

Please
notice that each of the nominated stories has a link that will allow you to
read it. Let me assure you that you’ll enjoy each one. Next month, we’ll have
an interview with the authors.

In
2013, I surveyed the awards given to mystery short stories in a post for
Writers Who Kill. Here’s a link to that post: http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2013/08/awards-for-writing-mystery-short-stories.html

For
a comprehensive list of crime fiction awards given internationally, please
click on this link.
http://awards.omnimystery.com/mystery-awards.html

Here’s
an update of national awards given to mystery short stories:

Agatha

The
Agatha Awards have been presented since 1988 by Malice Domestic at its annual
conference. The awards recognize the traditional mystery written in the style
of Agatha Christie, having no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous
violence.

Nominees
are selected by ballot from persons registered for the conference by December
31.
Nomination
forms are tallied by the Agatha Committee. The top five choices in each
category are placed on the ballot. Attendees vote by secret ballot at the
conference and the awards are presented at the banquet. The awards are
porcelain tea pots.
Anthony

The
Anthony awards, named for Anthony Boucher (writer, critic, and a founder of the
Mystery Writers of America) have been presented since 1986 at the annual
Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. The Anthonys feature a Best Anthology
category as well as best short story. In Toronto, the Anthonys included a
category for Best Novella for a work of 8,000-40,000
words. B.J. Stevens posthumously won the inaugural award for
“The Last Blue Glass.”

Nominating
ballots are emailed to the registered attendees. Awards are determined by the
persons attending Bouchercon.
Black Orchid Novella

Entries
of 15,000 to 20,000 words submitted by May 31 are eligible for the Black Orchid
Novella Award. The winner is announced at the The Wolfe Pack’s (a society
devoted to Nero Wolfe) Annual Banquet. The award winning story has often been
published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Derringer

The
Derringer Awards, named after the palm-sized handgun, have been presented since
1997 by the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS). Presentations are made in
March. Members and editors may submit stories for an initial blind
consideration by volunteer judges who select five nominees in each category. To
be eligible to vote for the awards, a person must join the SMFS by December 31.

The
awards are presented by category: (1) best story of 1000 words or less; (2)
best story of 1001 to 4000 words; (3) best story of 4001 to 8000 words; and (4)
best story of 8001 to 17,500 words. 



Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000
words)
Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000
words)
Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000
words)
Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000
words)


See
the following web page for the complete selection procedure: https://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2008/08/smfs-derringer-awards-procedure.html 


Edgar 
The
Edgar Allan Poe Awards have been presented annually since 1946 by the Mystery
Writers of America. Authors who submit their stories for consideration must
meet the requirements for active status in the MWA whether or not they are
members of MWA. For more information, see:



Short stories
are considered works up to 22,000 words from approved magazines, periodicals,
anthologies, and websites. Submissions meeting the requirements may be made
online at:

The Robert L. Fish
Memorial Award is presented for the best first published mystery short story by
a previously unpublished author.



Macavity

Each year since 1987, members of the Mystery Readers International organization
vote and present the Macavity awards in four categories. The Macavity award is
named for T.S. Eliot’s  “mystery
cat” in the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. For more information,
see: http://mysteryreaders.org/macavity-awards/


Shamus

Honoring
publications since 1981, the Shamus awards, created by Robert J. Randisi, have
been presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. PWA committee members
select the nominees and winners in a manner similar to the Edgar selections. A
“private eye” is considered the protagonist of a mystery who is a professional
investigator, but not a police officer or government agent. For more
information, see: http://www.privateeyewriters.com/shamus_awards.html



Silver Falchion

For
the last two years, an award for the best anthology or collection has been
presented at Killer Nashville, which honors recipients with the Silver
Falchion. For more information, see: https://killernashville.com/awards/silver-falchion-award/


Thriller

Presented since 2006 by the
International Thriller Writers, the Thrillers are announced at the annual
Thrillerfest conference. Short stories of up to 35,000 words are considered so
that novellas qualify for submission. An entry must be published in print or
e-zine format during the previous year. For more information, see: http://thrillerwriters.org/programs/award-nominees-and-winners/

Interview with Agatha Nominees for Best First Novel!

/in /by


Each year at Malice Domestic, writing
excellence is recognized by the Agatha awards. This year’s nominees for Best
First Novel are:
Best First Novel:
Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery
by Micki Browning (Alibi-Random
House)
The Plot is Murder: A Mystery Bookshop
Mystery by V.M. Burns (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of
Bad Men by Laura Oles (Red Adept Publishing)
Protocol: A Maggie O’Malley Mystery
by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)
Today, the Stiletto Gang welcomes Micki, Valerie,
Kellye, Laura, and Kathleen. Thanks for stopping by to share your work and
thoughts with us!—Paula Gail Benson
What
writing habits enabled you to complete a novel?
Micki Browning
Micki Browning:  The word habit
suggests I have a routine, and sadly, that just isn’t the case. I’m a freestyle
writer
who works
best when
there is a looming deadline. I’m a somewhat recent convert to outlining. I’ve found that plotting the milestones ensures I don’t get lost along
the way. But by keeping the outline spare, it doesn’t stifle my ability to take the occasional road less traveled to
get to where I want to go. 
Valerie Burns:  I set a weekly goal
of writing between 7,500 to 10,000 words per week. If I write 1,000 to 1,500
per night, then I can easily make my goal. 
Kellye Garrett
Kellye Garrett:  I wish was one of those writers
who got up at 5 am every morning and pounded out 1,000 amazing words before I
even had a dose of caffeine. I am not. My favorite quote is from Dorothy
Parker: “I hate writing. I love having written.” For me, I write after there is
literally nothing else for me to do. Like I will clean my toilet and yours
before I write a single word. For me, the key is having a detailed outline. I
may go a bit overboard. (My 25-plus page outlines are legendary among my
friends.) But the blank page scares me as much as a good horror movie villain.
So I like to know exactly what I need to write and what comes next. I also
allow myself to do a “vomit draft” where I just throw things on the page to
clean up in later drafts. My books aren’t anywhere near decent until around the
draft number three.  
Laura Oles:  I was fortunate in that I spent many years
writing for digital photography magazines and publications, so the writing
practice had been part of my regular routine.  I managed deadlines and
worked with editors, and I came from the perspective of writing being not only
craft but also a business. Still, writing fiction is completely different and I
had a great deal to learn.
My critique group, Austin Mystery Writers, has also been a huge
support.  AMW is truly focused on helping each member produce the best work
possible.  Writing can be such a solitary pursuit, so having other authors
to bounce ideas off of has been a wonderful thing.
Kathleen Valenti
Kathleen Valenti:  The single best
piece of writing advice came from a romance novelist in my hometown. When she
saw how much (little?) I had on the page after writing for longer than I care
to admit, she gave me some tough author love: stop fannying about and write. (Okay, so maybe she
didn’t say “fannying about,” but
sometimes my bookish memories have an English accent.)
She taught me about
the importance of word counts and to meet them daily, come hell or Dateline marathons. Her advice
proved invaluable. Not only did making (and meeting) word count goals help me
move from page one to page 300, it helped me silence the internal editor that
kept me polishing the same phrase again and again without moving forward. This
habit of writing toward a goal helped me finish my second book ahead of its
deadline and have the confidence to realize that even when plots or characters
don’t seem to cooperate, I’ll get there, one word at a time. As other wise
novelists have pointed out, sometimes you have to let the rusty water out first
for the good stuff to run clean.  

Is your debut novel part of a series or a stand
alone?

Micki Browning:  Adrift is the first of the
Mer Cavallo Mysteries. Book two, Beached, launched in January. I’m currently writing a stand-alone police
procedural, and then it’s back to Mer with Chum. 
V.M. “Valerie” Burns
Valerie Burns:  My debut novel is
part of The Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. 
Kellye Garrett:  It’s a series, which is a good
thing since Hollywood Homicide ends on a bit of a cliff hanger. The second book, Hollywood Ending, comes out in August 2018
and features three of my favorite things: gossip blogs, blind items, and fancy
award shows. The third book will be out sometime in 2019.

Laura Oles

Laura Oles:  Daughters of
Bad Men is the first book in the Jamie
Rush mystery series. Jamie Rush is a skip tracer working in the coastal town of
Port Alene, Texas.  Jamie and her partner, Cookie Hinojosa, take on the
emotional task of finding Jamie’s missing niece. Accepting Kristen’s case isn’t
an easy ask.  Jamie’s relationship with her family is a complicated
one.  She doesn’t trust them, and for very good reason. Still, when
Kristen goes silent, she agrees to take the case because…well, she’s
family.  You don’t turn your back on family.



Kathleen Valenti:  Protocol is the first of
the Maggie O’Malley mystery series. The second book, 39 Winks, releases May 22nd.
What shoes would you,
your protagonist, or another character from your novel wear to the Agathas
banquet?
Micki Browning:  Mer is a flip-flop
and bare feet kind of gal. She’d dig around in the back of her closet until she located the
pumps she’d worn when she defended her dissertation–black, no nonsense, perfectly
serviceable. And she’d kick them off under the banquet table when no one was looking.

Valerie Burns:  Irma, one of the
sleuthing seniors who helps Samantha in the series is very fond of six
inch hooker heels. She’d rock these shoes. 
Kellye Garrett:
 In Hollywood Homicide, my main character Dayna covets a pair of Pink Panthers,
described as “a hot pink stiletto with panther spots that was the shoe of the
moment.” She wears them the entire book, including when chasing a suspect. They
play such
a big role in the story that we even had her wearing them in an early
version of the cover. So she’d definitely proudly rock her Pink Panthers to the
Agathas.

Laura Oles:  Jamie would wear Chuck Taylor Converse.
Burgundy since it’s a special occasion.  But she would make sure to pair
them with a jacket and dark jeans.  It’s about as dressed up as she
gets.  Formal gowns make her nervous.
 Kathleen Valenti:  Maggie is the antithesis of the
girly-girl. While I’d gladly don cute sling-backs or a kitten heel for the Agathas banquet, Maggie
would show up in running shoes, even if she were forced to shimmy into a ball
gown. Since she’s a new college grad on a serious budget, she’d be sporting Court Classics rather than,
say, Nike or New Balance. And because she doesn’t care about her appearance—or
anyone else’s opinion—she’d wear those bright white kicks with pride.

Here’s more
information about these novelists and their work. Check them out!
Micki Browning
A
retired police captain, Micki Browning writes the Mer Cavallo Mystery series
set in the Florida Keys. In
addition to the Agatha nomination for Best First Novel, Adrift, has
won both the Daphne du Maurier and the Royal Palm Literary Awards. Beached, her second novel, launched January 2018. Micki’s work has
appeared in dive magazines, anthologies, mystery magazines, and textbooks. She
lives in South Florida with her partner in crime and a vast array of scuba
equipment she uses for “research.” Learn more about Micki at MickiBrowning.com
Adrift~
Marine
biologist-turned-divemaster Meredith Cavallo thought adjusting to a laid-back
life in the Florida Keys would be a breeze. But when the host of a
ghost-hunting documentary crew hires her as a safety diver and then vanishes
during the midnight dive, Mer’s caught in a storm of supernatural intrigue.
Determined to find a rational explanation, Mer approaches the
man’s disappearance as any scientist would—by asking questions, gathering data,
and deducing the truth. But the victim’s life is as shrouded in mystery as his
disappearance. Still, something happened under the water and
before long, she’s in over her head. When someone tries to kill her, she knows
the truth is about to surface. Maybe dead men do tell tales.
Valerie Burns:
V.M.
(Valerie) Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in
Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs,
British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the
Midwest she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern
Tennessee with her poodles. Receiving the Agatha nomination for Best First
Novel has been a dream come true. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of
America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in
Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com.
The Plot is Murder~
Samantha
Washington has dreamed of owning a mystery bookstore for as long as she can
remember. And as she prepares for the store’s grand opening, she’s also
realizing another dream—penning a cozy mystery set in England between the wars.
While Samantha hires employees and fills the shelves with the latest mysteries,
quick-witted Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister
Daphne, refuses to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling’s charms.
When one of Daphne’s suitors is murdered in a maze, Penelope steps in to solve
the labyrinthine puzzle and win Victor. But as Samantha indulges her
imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up
dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her—after all, the owner of a
mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder. Aided by her feisty
grandmother and an enthusiastic ensemble of colorful retirees, Samantha is
determined to close the case before she opens her store. But will she live to
conclude her own story when the killer has a revised ending in mind for her?
Kellye Garrett
Kellye
Garrett writes the Detective by Day mysteries about a semi-famous, mega-broke
black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life; Homicide Detective.
The first, Hollywood Homicide, was recently nominated for Agatha, Lefty and
Barry awards. The second, Hollywood Ending, will be released on August 8, 2018
from Midnight Ink. Prior to writing novels, Kellye spent eight years working in
Hollywood, including a stint writing for the TV drama Cold Case. The New Jersey
native now works for a leading media company in New York City and serves on the
national Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime. You can learn more about her
at KellyeGarrett.com and ChicksontheCase.com.
Hollywood Homicide~
Actress
Dayna Anderson’s Deadly New Role: Homicide Detective
Dayna
Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semifamous, mega-broke
actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. So after witnessing a
deadly hit-and-run, she pursues the fifteen grand reward. But Dayna soon finds
herself doing a full-on investigation, wanting more than just money—she wants
justice for the victim. She chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb
homes, and movie premieres, loving every second of it—until someone tries to
kill her. And there are no second takes in real life.
Laura Oles
Laura Oles
is a photo industry journalist who spent twenty years covering tech and trends
before turning to crime fiction. She served as a columnist for numerous
photography magazines and publications. Laura’s short stories have appeared in
several anthologies, including MURDER ON WHEELS, which won the Silver Falchion
Award in 2016. Her debut mystery, DAUGHTERS OF BAD MEN, is a Claymore Award
Finalist and an Agatha nominee for Best First Novel. She is also a Writers’
League of Texas Award Finalist. Laura is a member of Austin Mystery Writers,
Sisters in Crime and Writers’ League of Texas. Laura lives on the edge of the
Texas Hill Country with her husband, daughter and twin sons. Visit her online
at lauraoles.com.
Daughters of Bad Men~
Jamie
Rush understands what it takes to disappear because her parents taught her that
long ago. Leveraging her knowledge of why and how people run from their own
lives, Jamie has built a business based on bringing those in hiding back to
answer for their actions. She takes pride in using her skills to work both
inside and outside the law.
When
her estranged brother, Brian, calls and says his daughter is missing, Jamie
initially turns down the case. Kristen has always been a bit wild, frequently
dropping off the grid then showing up a few days later. But Brian swears this
time is different, and even though Jamie vowed years ago to keep her conniving
sibling at arm’s length, she can’t walk away if Kristen could be in real
trouble.
As
Jamie begins digging into Kristen’s life, she uncovers her niece’s most guarded
secrets. Uncovering the truth will put a target on Jamie’s back and endanger
the lives of those she loves.
Kathy Valenti
Kathleen
Valenti is the author of the Maggie O’Malley mystery series. The series’ first
book, Agatha- and Lefty-nominated Protocol, introduces us to Maggie, a
pharmaceutical researcher with a new job, a used phone and a deadly problem.
The series’ second book, 39 Winks, releases May 22. When Kathleen isn’t writing
page-turning mysteries that combine humor and suspense, she works as a
nationally award-winning advertising copywriter. She lives in Oregon with her
family where she pretends to enjoy running. Learn more at
www.kathleenvalenti.com.
Protocol~
Freshly
minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley embarks on a career fueled by professional
ambition and a desire to escape the past. As a pharmaceutical researcher, she’s
determined to save lives from the shelter of her lab. But on her very first day
she’s pulled into a world of uncertainty. Reminders appear on her phone for
meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never met. People who end up
dead.
With
help from her best friend, Maggie discovers the victims on her phone are
connected to each other and her new employer. She soon unearths a treacherous
plot that threatens her mission—and her life. Maggie must unlock deadly secrets
to stop horrific abuses of power before death comes calling for her.

Do You BuJo?

/in /by

by Paula Gail Benson


Have
you heard about bullet journaling or “BuJo” as some practitioners call it? I hadn’t until I read an announcement
from Fiction Addiction, an independent bookstore owned and operated by Jill
Hendrix in Greenville, S.C. Jill is offering a course about bullet journaling
on Thursday, February 22, at 6:00 p.m. The cost is $25, which is redeemable on
a purchase of supplies available that evening in the book store. If there is
sufficient interest, an afternoon course will be offered.
Advertisement for the Course Offered by Jill Hendrix
From
the advertisement, I could see that bullet journaling could be used for keeping
a calendar or agenda. I wondered, why offer this course in February instead of
at the beginning of the year?
Then,
I began reading about the subject. At http://bulletjournal.com/,
I learned that bullet journaling was described as “the analog system for the
digital age.” It was developed by Ryder Carroll, a “digital product designer
living in Brooklyn, N.Y.” Mr. Carroll has trademarked the names “Bullet Journal”
and its abbreviated form “BuJo.” Rachel Wilkerson Miller, a writer, editor, and
blogger, also based in Brooklyn, N.Y., has written several books about the
technique, which she calls “dot journaling,” maybe because practitioners are
encouraged to use notebooks with dot grids as a guide for their own creations.
Ms. Miller has been criticized in her Amazon reviews as appropriating
trademarked information that Mr. Carroll has available free online. You can take a look at
her website at http://www.rachelwmiller.com/
and compare it with Mr. Carroll’s site to see what you think.
Anyway,
bullet or dot journaling is a do-it-yourself organizer that can include as much
or as little information and structure as the preparer wants. Ryder Carroll has
some great videos to explain how to get started in his online section Bullet
Journaling 101. They are simple, straight-forward, and concentrate on the
focus–how to be efficient in organizing your life. They set out the method
without complicating it with any artistry a preparer might wish to bring to the
process.
What
is the method? According the Mr. Carroll, through bullet journaling you can track
the past, organize the present, and plan for the future. First, number the
pages of your journal. Second, label the first few pages as “index” so that you
can list where you’ve written certain items throughout the journal. Third,
create a future log, diving two pages into a six-month or longer organization
where you keep lists of tasks and events that must be handled. Fourth, use
two pages to make a monthly log, with a calendar on one page and a task list on
the other. Fifth, through a short hand system, you can list what you need to
accomplish. A filled in dot is for a task (which later can be “x-ed” when the task
is completed). A star next to
a dot means the task is important. An oval signifies an event (and can be colored in when the event is
over). Indicate notes (things you need to remember) by a dash. Sixth, at the end of a month, set up the
next month’s log. If you have tasks that have not been completed, consider “migrating”
them, either forward into the next month, or back into your six month
projection. Mr. Carroll uses a greater than sign > if the task goes to the next
month’s list and a less than sign < if it goes back into the six month
projection.
Many
aspects of one’s life can be included in the bullet journal: obligations for
home, work, or school; routines or patterns such as exercise, diet, or writing;
and personal reflections, like journal entries. A cottage industry seems to
have grown up around bullet journaling, very similar to accessories for
scrapbooking. You can purchase books, pens, and stencils to help you create a
very unique product.
In some respects, I see this as a natural off shoot of the
adult coloring books, only instead of being just relaxing, bullet journaling
combines creativity and productivity. Not to mention it encourages a
generation that grew up with computer graphics to take a chance on using those
old fashioned tools of pens, pencils, and rulers to sketch out their own
destinies.
After learning about the method, I understand how it’s adaptable and can be started at any time. I’m
tempted to try it. How about you?

The Ivy Lee “Six-Item To Do List” Method

/in /by
by Paula Gail Benson

Each new
year, I enjoy considering the recommendations for organizing and improving
productivity. This year, I noticed several articles making reference to the hundred-year-old
Ivy Lee “six-item to do list” method.
Through
Wikipedia, I learned that “Ivy Lee” was Ivy Ledbetter Lee, who is known as the founder
of modern public relations. He was born in Georgia, the son of a scholarly
minister. He attended Emory and graduated from Princeton. He worked as a
reporter for several newspapers, then had a job with the Democratic National
Committee. With George Parker, he opened the third public relations office in
the country. By 1919, he opened his own firm, Ivy Lee and Associates.
His
clients included the Pennsylvania Railroad, American Red Cross, John D. Rockefeller,
and Standard Oil. While working for Bethlehem Steel, he was asked by Charles M.
Schwab how to increase his executives’ productivity.
In a
message titled “The Ivy Lee Method: the Daily Routine Experts Recommend forPeak Productivity,” James Clear describes the meeting. Both Schwab and Lee were
respected, successful businessmen. When Schwab called Lee into his office and made
his request, Lee asked for fifteen minutes with the executives. Schwab wanted
to know what it would cost and Lee replied nothing initially, but, if in three
months Schwab determined it had the desired effect, Schwab could pay Lee what he
thought it was worth.
Schwab
agreed to the proposal. After three months, he gave Lee a check for $25,000. In
2018 dollars, that would be approximately $356,248.55 according to the online
US Inflation Calculator.
What was
the fifteen minutes worth of advice that Lee gave to Schwab’s executives? Here
is a brief summary:
At the end
of each day, in priority order, compile a list of six important tasks that need
to be handled the next day.
The next
day, begin with the first task and focus on it until it is completed.
Continue
the same process with the other five tasks.
If
anything is not finished, carry it over to the list compiled for the following
day.
James
Clear, an author, photographer, and weightlifter who has studied successful
people and written about how to make life better, suggests that four reasons
make the method effective: (1) it’s easy to follow; (2) it demands evaluating
what’s most important; (3) by prioritizing, it provides the starting point for
the next day, eliminating resistance to beginning; and (4) it requires focus on
a single task until it is finished.
The system
has a lot of appeal to me for personal organization. As an author, it provides
another fascination.
How would different
characters make out a six-item to do list? How might a protagonist’s and
antagonist’s lists compare and differ? What could the items be and what might
change the priorities?
Finding a
productivity recommendation that also functions as a writing prompt is a double
pleasure.


What do
you think? Would you use the method to improve productivity, explore
characterization, or both?