Tag Archive for: Well Red Coyote

When Can I Raid My Character’s Closet?

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By Kris Neri

Do you ever long to raid your characters’ closets? I do, though only when that character is Samantha Brennan the fake psychic featured in my Magical Mystery series HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE and the newly-released, MAGICAL ALIENATION.

I don’t long to borrow any duds from her co-protagonist, Annabelle Haggerty because, although Annabelle a genuine Celtic goddess, descended from the gods that fill the mythology books, she’s also an FBI agent. She dresses not the way female FBI agents are often depicted on TV, with their tight blouses and bare midriffs, but as I imagine they dress in real life, in stodgy professional suits with sensible heels.

Samantha, on the other hand, is anything but sensible. Here’s how she presented herself to me when she first introduced herself to me early in the planning stage of the first book of the series, HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE, a Lefty Award nominee for Best Humorous Mystery:

“Man, what a sight I was! Long blonde hair curling wildly in every direction, crowned with a wreath of battered silk flowers held together with Christmas tree garland. Makeup by Crayola. And that dress I wore—half Renaissance ball gown in bright blue satin and lace, half soothsayer garb with its filmy organdy layers, half jester suit. Too many halves, I know, but it was quite a dress.”

That was exactly how I heard it in my head, and that’s also exactly how it appeared in the book. How could I, a mere writer, hope to top the appearance of such a determined fake psychic?

HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE was so much fun to write, not just because of Samantha’s eccentric wardrobe, but because of the wild paranormal adventures it contains. And the latest in the series, MAGICAL ALIENATION, was even more fun.

Here’s a little tease of the story to tell you what it’s about:

“A spaceship crash in Roswell…a rumored alien…the mysterious Area 51…a harmonic convergence in Sedona. No connection, right? With its rock stars and shape shifters, gods and haunting militia leaders — MAGICAL ALIENATION will turn what you think you know upside down.

Fake psychic Samantha Brennan and Celtic goddess/FBI agent Annabelle Haggerty team up again. While the rock people twist the surface of the earth and Sedona heads into the darkest night the planet has ever seen, Samantha wonders which, if any of them, will survive it. But when Celtic gods are involved, nothing is ever as it appears.”

The trouble with setting the bar high, though, is that next time you have to top it. I’m happy to say that in MAGICAL ALIENATION, Samantha and I successfully did top her first appearance. Here’s how she’s dressed in one of her early appearances in MAGICAL ALIENATION:

The dress I wore today was a medieval gown I’d bought from some touring attraction that had shut down. The floor-length gray silk dress had looked too simple for me, so I covered it with red and black graffiti; snotty jibes written in Middle English. I’d also placed my wimple properly on my head, but my long, curly blonde hair was so wild, it kept knocking that pointy hat askew. Now I probably looked more like some crazed lunatic who’d been mugged by the Middle Ages.”

And then there was this outfit:

I wore a court jester suit today, with puffy jacket sleeves and short pants in magenta and gold. Under the pants I wore bright purple tights. A bell dangled from the jester hat perched at a rakish angle on my curly blonde hair. I’d chosen high-heeled gold lamé pumps in lieu of jester shoes. Normally, I preferred dresses, but since I was visiting a politician, I thought the occasion called for some whimsy.”

Samantha insists she dresses as she does so potential clients will take her seriously as a celebrity psychic, and yet she’s continually shocked when people regard her as a flake. I personally believe her taste in clothes simply reflects the inner girl, who’s definitely marching to the beat of a tone-deaf drummer.

And here’s another little secret: While I doubt I’d have the guts to dress as Samantha does, a tiny part of me probably wishes I could. If her wardrobe expresses her true spirit, it expresses my buried-too-deep-to find-it spirit, which I’m only able to access through her.

The real reason why I have such fun clothing Samantha? She’s dressing for me, too. With a pronounced taste for the offbeat, Kris Neri writes the Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery series, HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE, a Lefty Award nominee for Best Humorous Mystery, and MAGICAL ALIENATION. She also write the hilarious Tracy Eaton Mysteries, featuring the daughter of eccentric Hollywood stars, the latest of which was REVENGE FOR OLD TIMES’ SAKE, also a Lefty Award nominee.

website:  http://www.krisneri.com
buy Magical Alienation at Well Red Coyote

Better Late Than Never

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I thought I could do this while still in Sedona but Internet access was hard to find in our campground, Sedona is a beautiful place. I heard a quote that describes it,”God made the Grand Canyon for everyone to enjoy but He made Sedona as his dwelling place.”

Besides sightseeing, I gave two talks which were well-publicized and attended. The first was about promoting on the Internet, which I gave at the library.

The second was at Kris Neri’s Well Red Coyote bookstore. I’ve known Kris for a long time and was so glad to see her. “Working with Small Publishers” was my topic. I’m always surprised by how many have published with places like Publish America when there are other independent publishers to choose from. I always give handouts and answer questions.

What does surprise me is how few bought books, not just from me but from the bookstore. Indpendent bookstores are in danger, and the only way to save them is to support them by buying books, Oh, I did sell books, but it was a small percentage of the people who attended.

Whenever I attend something like this I always buy the author’s book to support them and the bookstore. Years ago, before I was published I did it to learn about the author’s writing and the publisher.

Next week, photos of Sedona, I promise.

Marilyn

Heading Off on a Vacation

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When my sister and I were kids, our family always went on a summer vacation, even when you had to use gas rationing stamps to buy fuel. I remember wonderful camping trips to Yosemite back in the days when you could camp alongside the Merced River, watch the firefall, and go to the garbage dump and watch the bears eat.

During later years, we camped at Bass Lake, also right on the lake edge (something that’s not allowed today) and took two boats, one to water ski behind, and an outboard that we kids could use to go exploring.

As a married adult, my husband and I did have lots of family vacations, always camping trips, and one great adventure where we tent camped with a VW bus clear across the U.S. and back, but that’s another story.

For the 23 years we owned, ran and lived in a care home for 6 developmentally disabled women, we always went on a vacation with them, places like Disneyland and Universal Studios. When they went off to camp, we took a few days to ourselves to vacation, sometimes Las Vegas and also several short cruises to Mexico.

Lately, all of our vacations have been to wherever a mystery conference was happening and we’ve really seen a lot of the U.S. that way, many places we’d have never gone to if the destination didn’t include a Bouchercon or Left Coast Crime.

In a week we’re heading off on a real vacation though I must confess I’ll be having two book events while we’re gone. We’ll be “camping” with our son and daughter-in-law in their motor home in Sedona AZ. We were there briefly a few years ago and vowed we’d come back. We’re going to stay in the same campground we stayed in before, beautiful spot with a stream, swimming pool and lots of trees. But nothing compares to the beauty of Sedona with it’s red rocks and contrasting green growth. We’re planning on doing a lot of sight-seeing including a Jeep tour.

One afternoon, I’m giving a talk at the Sedona Library about online promotion, and the Saturday we’re there I’ll be at Kris and Joe Neri’s Well Read Coyote bookstore talking about working with small publishers.

I always manage to do something “writerly” while I’m doing something fun like this.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/

Give Me Independence!

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Kris Neri’s published books include HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE, a Lefty Award-nominee, NEVER SAY DIE, THE ROSE IN THE SNOW, and the Tracy Eaton mysteries. With her husband, she owns The Well Red Coyote bookstore in Sedona, Arizona.
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By Kris Neri

When the Stiletto Gang offered me several guest blog dates, I knew I had to choose April 1st. You see, I write the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity Award-nominated mysteries featuring Tracy Eaton — mystery writer, detective wannabe, and the offspring of eccentric Hollywood stars — REVENGE OF THE GYPSY QUEEN, DEM BONES’ REVENGE and the just-released, REVENGE FOR OLD TIMES’ SAKE.

I always knew Tracy had to be an April Fool’s baby — nothing else made sense in terms of her reality-challenged family. I don’t think I ever shared Tracy’s birthday with my readers, but I did describe the circumstances of her birth in the second book in the series, DEM BONES’ REVENGE:

“The story of my birth was a closely guarded secret — known only to the immediate world. Frustrated by three bouts of false labor, Mother picked a fight with Dad, sending him off in a huff. Once he left, the real thing got underway. Apparently, it didn’t occur to her to call for help. She just hopped in the car and took off on her own. When the first bad contraction hit, she lost control of the wheel.

“I arrived on the steps of the church she crashed into. Contrary to rumors, it wasn’t St. Tracy’s. There is no St. Tracy’s in Beverly Hills. And wouldn’t that be silly basis for naming a child? The real story is more subtle. You might remember that Veronica Howard and Mother were great rivals at the time. But you might not know Miss Howard’s much younger third husband was having a torrid affair with a mere child named Tracy West. Clearly, a better way to choose a baby’s name. I’m glad I was able to provide my mother with that opportunity.”

Obviously, Tracy is a pretty independent sort, a one-of-a-kind adventurer, someone who marches to the beat of her own unconventional drummer. Me too. I’m so independent that, with my husband, I own an independent bookstore, The Well Red Coyote in Sedona, Arizona. [http://www.wellredcoyote.com]

The Well Red Coyote is a great store — always voted Best Bookstore in Sedona. While it’s a general-interest store, we have a strong mystery section. Strong sections in lots of categories. What we’ve created is a real community gathering spot. All of our appearing fiction authors present writing workshops, and our nonfiction authors offer seminars on their books’ subjects. Our programs are usually presented to overflowing, enthusiastic crowds. We also offer live music concerts, everything from blues and rock, to inspirational music and Native American flute playing. All always free.

Yet even in an offbeat place like Sedona, independence — in terms of bookstores, and stores in general — is becoming an endangered species. Despite their vocal support, we’re losing some of our old customers to Internet booksellers Maybe it’s the result of a genuine need to shave costs somewhere, or maybe it’s simply that, given the war of half-priced books online, books aren’t deemed to be worth their full price anymore by too many people.

It isn’t just independent bookstores that are suffering, either. Brick-and-mortar chain stores are hurting, too.

My books are published by traditional, independent presses (see how independent I am!), Red Coyote Press and Cherokee McGhee Publishing, so I’m used to distribution challenges. But I hear from other mystery writers, those published by NY presses, that increasingly, the chain stores are not ordering their books, or are ordering them in such limited number that they can’t possibly achieve the sell-through their publishers expect, at least not from the stores where their books used to be sold.

Ironically, with no stores but independents willing to support them, most authors do not do their own book buying in independent stores. I hear this from them all the time — they do most of their buying online, or even the warehouse stores. And I can tell you they rarely buy anything from the stores that host their signings. Strange, since online sellers have never been known to host an author signing.

Surely, I can’t be the only one who sees that the purpose of the online sellers’ price slashing war is to eliminate the competition, be they independent stores, or chain stores, and to bring publishers to their knees. What will happen when they succeed in closing down the competition? What will happen to choice? Independent stores pride themselves on their independent selections. Will there be anything to read beyond the limited Costco selection of twenty books or so at a time? When there’s no competition any longer, what will happen to the prices they charge?

Today, though, they’re often cheaper. And, sure, money is tight for everyone. But we vote with our dollars. We determine the shape of our world with every penny we spend. If you don’t see any value in independent stores, then just keep doing what you’re doing. But if you do, don’t wait until they’re all gone to lament their passing. Help them thrive now, while you still can.

Will anyone miss independent bookstores when they’re gone? I know my character, Tracy Eaton, and I will. But we’re both independent sorts.

How about you?