tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9936492902456050052024-03-18T15:15:53.640-04:00Writers Who KillMurder, mystery and crime blog written by several authors of short stories and novels.
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Please contact E. B. Davis at writerswhokill@gmail.com for information on guest blogs and interviews. Jim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger4399125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-7673312123529496912024-03-18T01:00:00.008-04:002024-03-18T01:00:00.247-04:00My Culinary Evolution Because of Writing by Debra H. Goldstein<p><b>My Culinary Evolution Because of Writing by Debra H. Goldstein</b></p><p>When my first two books were orphaned by their respective publishers, I knew I wanted to try my hand at writing a cozy. As I analyzed the genre, I realized I would have no problem writing a small town, amateur sleuth, and a favorite pet, but I had a dilemma. Most cozies highlight cooking or crafts – two things I hate. I thought my cozy career was over before it began until I realized there had to be readers who were like me. Consequently, Sarah Blair, a woman who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder, was born. </p><p>The problem came when Kensington told me I needed to include recipes. As a non-cook, this almost became a no-starter. After much thought, I decided to use recipes made with simple or pre-made ingredients. In real life, if I’m asked for a vegetable dish for a potluck (I usually try for the rolls), I bring Spinach Pie made from Stouffers Spinach Souffle. That dish became part of <i>One Taste Too Many</i> as Sarah’s Spinach Pie. Looking for another recipe that might be comical, I found the perfect recipe advertised in 1950’s and 1960’s women’s magazines – <i>Jell-O in a Can</i>.</p><p>Once I was under contract for additional books in the series, I had to come up with more recipes that Sarah and I could both make. Not being particularly comfortable in the kitchen, I focused on drinks and hors d’oeuvres for <i>Two Bites Too Many</i>. The result of my efforts was inclusion of the Classic Wine Spritzer, the Howellian Catnip, and Sarah’s Sweet Potato Puffs the Convenient Way. By the third book, <i>Three Treats Too Many</i>, I felt more confident in my culinary skills and had perfected my ability to steal recipes from friends. This book included recipes Sarah might make contrasted with a more complex dish her twin, Chef Emily, would prepare, as well as the vegan recipes the book’s victim was known for. </p><p>In <i>Four Cuts Too Many</i>, I went with comfort food, Emily’s Egg Salad, Sal and Laurie’s Tiramisu, and Stained-Glass Jell-O. Despite becoming more familiar with my kitchen, I realized, as I was looking for recipes for <i>Five Belles Too Many,</i> that neither Sarah nor I will ever function in a kitchen without an element of fear over what disaster might next befall us or possibly poison those we love. </p><p>My publisher doesn’t view my culinary skills in the same way that I do. Kensington decided Sarah and my forays into the kitchen are so funny that they created a cookbook of the recipes from the first four books. It’s called <i>Simple Recipes from the Sometimes Sleuth</i>. You can download a free copy from my website, <a href="https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com">https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com </a>. Who would have thought Sarah and my joint culinary skills would evolve to the point of having our own cookbook?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni4kD0oQazeH2iqodcisOjrGFkFFPZZYJ_nldGOXQnaj8WLGSW8aAOnAh5VuxVM2Uy7QmaYHEfid3MAwXYA_R9i5qygSb6Fne9knMh6KhAqy-N3ktJlLC8lQEdbKHYCvhuAxd2FOkOA-AUtI8o39lZ8cxJ2W1S9Fe9WSbNSvJ2rONELvowS0tfI4uudSf/s1024/FOUR%20CUTS%20TOO%20MANY-Promo%20Cookbook%20cover-digital1024_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="663" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni4kD0oQazeH2iqodcisOjrGFkFFPZZYJ_nldGOXQnaj8WLGSW8aAOnAh5VuxVM2Uy7QmaYHEfid3MAwXYA_R9i5qygSb6Fne9knMh6KhAqy-N3ktJlLC8lQEdbKHYCvhuAxd2FOkOA-AUtI8o39lZ8cxJ2W1S9Fe9WSbNSvJ2rONELvowS0tfI4uudSf/s320/FOUR%20CUTS%20TOO%20MANY-Promo%20Cookbook%20cover-digital1024_1.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Debra H. Goldsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17533446284471717884noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-87660696992413427802024-03-17T00:30:00.003-04:002024-03-17T00:30:00.142-04:00“Off the Page” with The Wren and Coco Cline by Sarah E. Burr<p> <b style="text-align: justify;"><i>A Note from Sarah:</i></b><i style="text-align: justify;">
For this month’s post, I’m handing the blogging reins to Winnie Lark, the main
character in my Book Blogger Mysteries. Winnie runs a popular bookish website
called </i><span style="text-align: justify;">What Spine is Yours</span><i style="text-align: justify;"> (think Metacritic for the literary world).
However, she manages it anonymously, and the online community only knows her as
“The Wren.” She often interviews authors through their characters, and that’s
the focus of today’s feature. Enjoy!</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i> </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYuSJz32_wrxbLHg9BIFFX157rz_XkOHTAeH9WUgnSQ0KWEBsfY234zy2EmKEZ78XjLeLsYDqQc72ishjWN9-JPczZ4gKGRorxi6M7QQm-rmLlsiaWocHKzmi9pPieCQvH7jFKct7BQI4ZQXLxHmuQlDpIzIVjAE9SZ_OX8cEFTfAjPgAW3asbeiK54nn/s1600/TwitterNewsLetterSignUp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYuSJz32_wrxbLHg9BIFFX157rz_XkOHTAeH9WUgnSQ0KWEBsfY234zy2EmKEZ78XjLeLsYDqQc72ishjWN9-JPczZ4gKGRorxi6M7QQm-rmLlsiaWocHKzmi9pPieCQvH7jFKct7BQI4ZQXLxHmuQlDpIzIVjAE9SZ_OX8cEFTfAjPgAW3asbeiK54nn/w400-h225/TwitterNewsLetterSignUp.png" width="400" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Hi, everyone. The Wren, here. I’m
delighted to be guest blogging today for Sarah E. Burr. I had the pleasure of
reading her latest novel, <i>DM Me for Murder</i>, which features crime-solving
influencer Coco Cline. I love the concept of a modern, millennial heroine
taking front and center of a cozy mystery. The way Coco uses technology almost
makes me believe I could solve a murder myself if ever put in the situation. There’s
a certain kinship I feel with Coco, so I’ve invited her character to
participate in one of my “Off the Page” interviews.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Coco, welcome!<i> </i>It’s
great to connect with a fellow blogger. How did you get into the blogging
space? I’m curious to hear your origin story.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">You make me sound like a
superhero, LOL. Well, I started <i>Trending Topic </i>several years ago after
graduating college. My friends and I were developing an app to curate all our social
media newsfeeds into one place. We were so tired of hopping from Facebook to
Instagram to Twitter, etcetera, that we decided to see if we could make life
easier for ourselves. And while my techie friends spun up the code, I was busy
building our “brand.” We had such a cool piece of technology to share, but I
knew we needed some original content to make us stand out in the online world,
and thus, <i>Trending Topic </i>was born.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>Trending Topic </i>features
a lot of different subjects. Home décor, entertainment news, and fashion, just
to name a few. I can barely keep up with blogging solely about books. How do
you juggle all these topics? Is there one you prefer more than others?<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I think having so many choices
actually makes it easier for me to post weekly. With everything I cover,
there’s always something for me to write about. I rarely struggle to come up
with a post topic. As for preferred subjects, I enjoy using my platform to
feature organizations doing good out in the world. The Internet can be such a
twisted place; I do my best to promote whatever good I can and bring some
happiness to my followers’ timelines.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">However, I definitely have a
topic I <i>don’t</i> prefer. I’m absolutely hopeless in the kitchen, and often,
whenever I share a recipe, it’s to showcase my disastrous attempts. So much of
social media consists of retouched images of people living “their best lives,”
and I like reminding my followers that influencers are real people just like
them who make mistakes and have their bad days. I’m not perfect. I’m just
heavily filtered!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>So, the big, burning question we
cozy mystery readers all want to know: how does a lifestyle blogger get tangled
up in a murder mystery?<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By being a nosy busybody, LOL. In
all seriousness, I get involved in these investigations because I believe I can
help attain justice in some way. Justice for my clients, justice for my
friends, or justice for the victim. When someone you love or respect is accused
of murder, there’s a crippling fear so deep inside you that you cannot turn
away. The same goes for when the victim is someone you know or admire.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOm0Qjv0SuN58ChzeqR-ULNcgdm4LavxTUEWWeV_JuAVKqtgl8u7pXgSJYBUwDblJxU6cSHEhuRFf6pvmO8LpLnDsxIzzPp_Ani47zI_H-T74wnGKWrF_TL2BdqNLKePMOMu2_zhT4TO8aYSFiJ_hOrjgMXBQvXQ79F23sV9sT3LCmXNdnXmz4VD-qvH_/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOm0Qjv0SuN58ChzeqR-ULNcgdm4LavxTUEWWeV_JuAVKqtgl8u7pXgSJYBUwDblJxU6cSHEhuRFf6pvmO8LpLnDsxIzzPp_Ani47zI_H-T74wnGKWrF_TL2BdqNLKePMOMu2_zhT4TO8aYSFiJ_hOrjgMXBQvXQ79F23sV9sT3LCmXNdnXmz4VD-qvH_/w400-h225/2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>How did your involvement come
about in <i>DM Me for Murder?</i><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There were a lot of factors at
play in this one. In addition to the work I do with my blog and social media, I
also run an online marketing consulting firm. My newest client, LaTàge, an
influencer a million times more popular than me, came to my hometown of Central
Shores for a business meeting. When I went to her rental property to talk about
her rebrand, I ended up finding her dead. It was terrible, and it still haunts
me to this day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Now, with regard to the official
homicide investigation, the police quickly ruled me out as a suspect, but the
Internet did not. Since I’d been involved with some high-profile cases before,
people on X started calling me an angel of death. Even though I knew it was
irrational, I couldn’t help but feel responsible for LaTàge’s murder. She’d
come to Central Shores to see me, after all. Because of that weight, I wanted
to bring her killer to justice. I also wanted to show the Internet I wasn’t at
fault.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>That must have been hard,
having all that hate trending your way.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I think online trolls believe
their hateful words don’t matter, but they do. I’ve yet to figure out why
people feel the need to be mean and angry on the Internet. But as difficult as
it was to have my name trending for all the wrong reasons, I’d rather be
attacked by social media than experience the pain LaTàge’s friends and family
had to deal with.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>DM Me for Murder </i>is the
third mystery you’ve had a hand in solving. For all the armchair detectives out
there, what are some words of wisdom you can share?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Never sleuth alone. Bad things
always seem to happen when you go off by yourself. I always have either my
boyfriend, Hudson, or my besties, Jasper and Charlotte, at my side when
puzzling through a case. It’s also smart to keep your investigation under
wraps. It keeps small-town gossip to a minimum so your suspects don’t clam up.
It also keeps you safe from the killer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>I’m surprised you didn’t
answer, “Just don’t get involved.”<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well, that would be a little
hypocritical of me, don’t you think? If a person is determined enough to become
an amateur sleuth, I’d rather they do it safely than try and discourage them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Does that mean your
crime-fighting days aren’t over?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Right now, I plan to focus on my
work, my family, and my friends. But if someone close to me ever needed their
name cleared, I’d be ready to help them in an instant.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>We’d all be lucky to have Coco
Cline in our corner! It’s been a pleasure getting to learn more about you and
your latest adventure. Thanks for taking the time to come “Off the Page” with
me, Coco. Happy Sleuthing!</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="https://bit.ly/48sKOlZ" target="_blank"><b>DM Me for Murder</b></a> </i>is available
on eBook, paperback, and audio at your favorite online retailer. Learn more
about The Wren, Winnie, and the Book Blogger Mysteries at <a href="http://www.saraheburr.com/">www.saraheburr.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeWhwCt2Q3e_9SxVvYnOlRwwphTbaSa8eYWabMBzqK6-UIyH-pKCu3JzQYIfmJXKDEHDXybsn5zJO__S35MQdpth3K1aNx76c-ZOP0bFrYGsmr7w25gg2Mt1wPUmcxUCXAc0gwdS1j1PSEYkyeAuSrFTMqV1oE7QmQp58Wjjzb1V3igawYIcFPoL8Sc9j/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeWhwCt2Q3e_9SxVvYnOlRwwphTbaSa8eYWabMBzqK6-UIyH-pKCu3JzQYIfmJXKDEHDXybsn5zJO__S35MQdpth3K1aNx76c-ZOP0bFrYGsmr7w25gg2Mt1wPUmcxUCXAc0gwdS1j1PSEYkyeAuSrFTMqV1oE7QmQp58Wjjzb1V3igawYIcFPoL8Sc9j/w400-h225/3.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Author Sarah E. Burrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14099193946460167383noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-85898463413340687532024-03-16T02:00:00.003-04:002024-03-16T02:00:00.356-04:00Riding the Hobby Horse, by Lori Roberts Herbst<p> <i style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">“I guess I need a hobby. Currently, my primary hobby is complaining.”—Jay Duplass</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I’ve never been much of a hobbyist—unless you count reading and the above-mentioned complaining. From my 20s through my 40s, I was busy raising a family and working at a demanding job, so I simply didn’t have the time or energy for such pleasure pursuits.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3hXgXHFkupwEhUtPlDvv83Y5-h2yPXocUV_wiLr51GQOMOiMjM9iL6mVcstkB6T6tHgeDoFOF6HPiXfglyPzdypG2TY-BOYvaTPQUXUJDXbz6IT0_FMLDnyQRUu2eyYRJbuzYqSaArwAucEpzBQmiXBiTg_LiDdnvoPlmeaN3ZlxX0rKmHrRUnYtY-8/s360/Stockings%202019.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="360" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3hXgXHFkupwEhUtPlDvv83Y5-h2yPXocUV_wiLr51GQOMOiMjM9iL6mVcstkB6T6tHgeDoFOF6HPiXfglyPzdypG2TY-BOYvaTPQUXUJDXbz6IT0_FMLDnyQRUu2eyYRJbuzYqSaArwAucEpzBQmiXBiTg_LiDdnvoPlmeaN3ZlxX0rKmHrRUnYtY-8/s320/Stockings%202019.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Once the kids got older and needed less attention, I took up cross stitching. Inspired by my mother-in-law, I’ve created over two dozen Christmas stockings, along with assorted other projects. It’s an enjoyable activity that keeps the boredom at bay as I watch TV in the evenings. Since my husband and I have been nomads for the past two months as we await the completion of our new home, I haven’t been able to tackle a new project, and I find myself missing it.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Otherwise, my hobby experience has been limited. So it was a joy to discover that the mother of my main character in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series is a “hobby jumper,” as her family refers to her. Over the course of the series, Maggie Cassidy has immersed herself in knitting, cake decorating, scrapbooking, and jigsaw puzzles, to name a few. It’s been enlightening and educational to research these hobbies, though most of them don’t rouse in me the inclination to take part. Still, I delight in standing behind the scenes to guide Maggie through each new enterprise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsvkGAr8zpHRbdnquUx7PXH_QUqnPM08bsUrKd9SSo_aLmACWBexbDik-lKYfns0b4nOAvhHXOrNP_ogW09Q1AHla9AfP1msi3faaWlWTKaLJZirc2DWJOalcF_pbQOBwdmrgpYrcpDf1A3jsM8CQWhN7YUAGLB-rbgfsnwFOngoIB-7tbpq0DIpe9pQ/s259/Grave%20Rubbing.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsvkGAr8zpHRbdnquUx7PXH_QUqnPM08bsUrKd9SSo_aLmACWBexbDik-lKYfns0b4nOAvhHXOrNP_ogW09Q1AHla9AfP1msi3faaWlWTKaLJZirc2DWJOalcF_pbQOBwdmrgpYrcpDf1A3jsM8CQWhN7YUAGLB-rbgfsnwFOngoIB-7tbpq0DIpe9pQ/s1600/Grave%20Rubbing.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div>For GRAVEN IMAGES, book 6 of the series, that meant standing (figuratively) next to Maggie in a cemetery. When her librarian friend takes on a book project to document the early settlers of their hometown of Rock Creek Village, Colorado, Maggie agrees to help with the illustrations by taking up a new hobby—grave rubbing. (Not grave <i>robbing</i>, as Callie first mistakenly hears her say. That would require a whole different set of tools, as well as the cover of night…)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Though grave rubbing can be an artistic pursuit, it is most often used in genealogy. A rubbing is created by wrapping rice paper, or the equivalent, across the words etched on the tombstone and gently stroking the surface with specially made rubbing wax. Doing this well requires a steady hand, attention to detail, and patience. (Since those aren’t my inherent traits, it won’t be a hobby in which I engage…)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">In the course of my research, I learned that grave rubbing can be a controversial practice. Some municipalities have even banned it due to the potential for damage to old tombstones. But if grave rubbing is carried out using a careful and specific process, it can serve to memorialize ancestors whose names might otherwise be lost to time and erosion.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_3t7xv0Bufp8vs0tReam2uVb5vZANDa_amhMMoCwNSAN6aOTTY_aIQnZxDAe9yIOj9c3q_vuc7qFCMBXB0ph705SsC3HGDulsjOcoQuBsklbMwMsa_geeZjp_03IX6UfMa5qWbxjfaj52Zvw7dU2BOXCz3SpPyaCH5Lv0BJnd3cCeV5jmFbRN6BM8To/s432/Graven%20Images%20social%20media%20copy.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_3t7xv0Bufp8vs0tReam2uVb5vZANDa_amhMMoCwNSAN6aOTTY_aIQnZxDAe9yIOj9c3q_vuc7qFCMBXB0ph705SsC3HGDulsjOcoQuBsklbMwMsa_geeZjp_03IX6UfMa5qWbxjfaj52Zvw7dU2BOXCz3SpPyaCH5Lv0BJnd3cCeV5jmFbRN6BM8To/s320/Graven%20Images%20social%20media%20copy.png" width="213" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">In GRAVEN IMAGES, Callie accompanies Maggie and her librarian friend to the cemetery so she can take photos of her mother’s first rubbing. In typical fashion, Callie discovers a dead body. A dead body in a cemetery? Nothing unusual about that…right? But this one rests above the ground rather than beneath it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">One takeaway? Hobbies can be dangerous, my friends. Choose yours wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Do you enjoy reading about characters’ hobbies? What are the best hobbies you’ve (pardon the cemetery pun) undertaken?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">GRAVEN IMAGES, book 6 in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series, releases April 23 and will soon be available for preorder on Amazon.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">***<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to </span></i><span face="Aptos, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.lorirobertsherbst.com/" style="color: #96607d;"><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #06fce8; font-size: 11.5pt;">www.lorirobertsherbst.com<br /></span></i></a></span>Lori Roberts Herbsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03656524983449724419noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-588213009827220772024-03-15T01:00:00.001-04:002024-03-15T01:00:00.241-04:00Bibliophilic Friday: Cover Her Face by P.D. James (Review by Nancy L. Eady)<p><span style="font-size: medium;">First published in 1962, <i>Cover Her Face</i> is the first of P. D. James’ mysteries with Detective Inspector, Adam Dalgliesh, as the protagonist. Although you do not learn this fact in the first Adam Dalgliesh book, he is also a poet. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In today’s world, writers are told that they should “drop the body” as soon as possible in the narrative. <i>Cover Her Face</i> was written in a different time, so the first two to three chapters of the book set the scene for the mystery, an English country manor house which the Maxies have owned for over three hundred years. In 1962, however, the family is slowly sliding down the ranks of the gentility due to the high taxes imposed in post-war Britain. Not only do the first few chapters set the scene, they also serve to relentlessly push the reader forward into a sense of unease. The reader knows someone soon will be murdered but is not entirely sure who and how. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When the victim is found murdered in her bed, with her infant child awake and in his crib, the reader is no wiser than Detective Dalgliesh as to who did the killing. And Baroness James (P. D. James was given a life peerage by Queen Elizabeth in 1991) deftly winds the reader through the labyrinth of cryptic clues and red herrings that Detective Dalgliesh patiently deciphers, brick by brick, until he can lay the answer bare to all concerned. The writer has a gift for describing life in a small British town, as shown by this short excerpt. The writer describes Mrs. Maxie, one of the suspects at the manor house, being greeted by other shoppers at the local grocery store shortly after the murder: </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The little village store was rather busier than usual and the buzz of talk which stopped as soon as she appeared left her in no doubt as to the subject of conversation. Mrs. Nelson was there, Miss Pollack, old Simon from the Weir cottage who was claimed as the oldest inhabitant and seemed to think that this absolved him from any effort at personal hygiene, and one or two of the woman from the new agricultural cottages whose faces and personalities, if any, were still strange to her. There was a general murmur of “Good morning” in reply to her own greeting and Miss Pollack went so far as to say, “Lovely day again, isn’t it?” before hurriedly consulting her shopping list and trying to conceal her red face behind the barricades of breakfast cereal….</i></span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Two central themes in the book are the treatment of unwed mothers, and issues that arise in a society with stratified classes. Because of this, it is important to remember that this book was written over sixty years ago when different mores were in place.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you are looking for an interesting read, and don’t mind a slightly slower pace, I highly recommend this book. </span></p>Nancy Eadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05627294530115653719noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-81616753599414889262024-03-14T00:00:00.001-04:002024-03-14T00:00:00.353-04:00Danielle Arceneaux's First Glory Broussard Mystery<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">By
Margaret S. Hamilton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HVnKrH-7AVSaSftp3AehoIeHTZWwuZG3iqbfHvkDIdRAIzvXRSfaYZ0LT5v519No7lpNftOgo9FEt-5PL9dJdSfm5W-e55gH3LUy5v0H2JrWJfGKkwwTi6rz_Lz0imFwxkEXkgzmtP9oFoEsF6zOQdPVujGfH-oimbCjWlN0FvmOusi7OTM6sMOB72Dc/s1500/Glory%20Be%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1002" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HVnKrH-7AVSaSftp3AehoIeHTZWwuZG3iqbfHvkDIdRAIzvXRSfaYZ0LT5v519No7lpNftOgo9FEt-5PL9dJdSfm5W-e55gH3LUy5v0H2JrWJfGKkwwTi6rz_Lz0imFwxkEXkgzmtP9oFoEsF6zOQdPVujGfH-oimbCjWlN0FvmOusi7OTM6sMOB72Dc/s320/Glory%20Be%20cover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“…when it comes to black
women getting hurt or disappearing, folks look the other way. No one is working
overtime for us. Damn, they ain’t even doing their jobs at a basic level. And
I’m tired of it. No one is coming to save us. If we want the truth, we’re going
to have to go out and find it.” (p.35)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Danielle Arceneaux’s debut
mystery, <i>Glory Be</i>, covers a huge amount of ground in two hundred and fifty pages. Its
small-town Louisiana setting might qualify it as a cozy, but it’s grittier than
current cozies. Glory Broussard, a retired grocery store clerk, is a Sunday
morning coffee shop bookie who places sports bets for clients. She suspects her
lifelong friend Sister Amity’s recent death was murder, not suicide, and doesn’t
trust local law enforcement to thoroughly investigate the suspicious death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Glory’s attorney daughter,
Delphine, turns up, fleeing both her marriage and a three-month suspension from
her prestigious New York law firm. Delphine finds Glory’s life in a shambles: Glory
is a recent divorcee mourning the loss of her mother, a hoarder facing eviction
from her family home. Delphine clears out the house and uses her legal contacts
to assist her mother’s investigation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Arceneaux’s strong narrative
voice is laced with humor and includes precise, evocative descriptions of the Lafayette
area. Glory and Delphine encounter fentanyl trafficking, dog-fighting, and
callous disregard for environmental regulations by a chemical company planning
to build a new production facility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Glory ventures where she’s
never gone before: online dating sites, cold brew coffee with a splash of oat
milk, and rescuing a stray cat. She goes undercover at a posh country club and
sifts through the incriminating financial and legal information Sister Amity
spent several years assembling. A devout Catholic, Glory resorts to consulting
a medium for assistance in solving Sister Amity’s death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Glory is a judgmental but
respected senior citizen who tackles crime in her small corner of rural
Louisiana. Arceneaux is off to a great start, with the second in the Glory<i> </i>Broussard
mystery series scheduled for Fall 2024 publication.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Readers, do you enjoy senior
sleuths? Writers, are you incorporating more seniors in your books and stories?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Margaret S. Hamilton writes
the amateur sleuth Jericho Mysteries. <i>What the Artist Left Behind</i> is
represented by Cindy Bullard, Birch Literary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxUCUvr5_vylBX0dp0_6z1vn9WTk_-leGrnDetBuGE8clIW8H37QQEagK2PLi2gycH5yJQRfKOB7PqYidraeXf_iNtfTMBB0bgN6hxgfez3iVcUxiJwhBLvym7BHdSTJ4ohFgxCaMHIiAdJkQ91AerNsfEsPVM3EFSEIATmMrWMjQsIq7wk-36OFKC4R7/s4000/NOLA%20ZOO%202014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxUCUvr5_vylBX0dp0_6z1vn9WTk_-leGrnDetBuGE8clIW8H37QQEagK2PLi2gycH5yJQRfKOB7PqYidraeXf_iNtfTMBB0bgN6hxgfez3iVcUxiJwhBLvym7BHdSTJ4ohFgxCaMHIiAdJkQ91AerNsfEsPVM3EFSEIATmMrWMjQsIq7wk-36OFKC4R7/s320/NOLA%20ZOO%202014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Photo: New Orleans Zoo<br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Margaret S. Hamiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07979191318652199350noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-64558791720422826622024-03-13T02:00:00.026-04:002024-03-13T02:00:00.137-04:00 Introducing Our Bloggers<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">by Grace Topping</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;">We at Writers Who Kill are very proud of the twenty-three authors who contribute to our blog. You’ve been reading their posts, but you may not know much about these talented writers. So here is a brief introduction to eleven of them. The others will be introduced next month. Check out their short stories and novels, which feature a mystery or two. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Paula Gail Benson<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="xelementtoproof" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0gpffjXepyH4l6JXf2K7YwWYgH_kEJIBVN2bg9AyyelbGaQu9TlzVVPztJ6g3523xe3_YMHZG2iHO1X7huEVABvpiS7HdCIyRJcQI7nVAeNKkwbckBKki4ZDWkA7vALzs09p2DS24sm3SWvSK8tEhWmEK4tfKAgKAeGFbzgY2rfe-_gws3lLYYr2zAwv/s2550/Dark%20.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0gpffjXepyH4l6JXf2K7YwWYgH_kEJIBVN2bg9AyyelbGaQu9TlzVVPztJ6g3523xe3_YMHZG2iHO1X7huEVABvpiS7HdCIyRJcQI7nVAeNKkwbckBKki4ZDWkA7vALzs09p2DS24sm3SWvSK8tEhWmEK4tfKAgKAeGFbzgY2rfe-_gws3lLYYr2zAwv/w129-h200/Dark%20.jpeg" width="129" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Paula is a legislative attorney by day and mystery writer by night. She is well known for her short stories and her original Christmas plays. Her most recent story is “Crossfire in the Crosshairs” in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>A Death in the Night</i>. Be on the lookout (BOLO) for “Only Absent for a Time” in the eclipse anthology<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Dark of the Day</i>, coming April 1, 2024. </span><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.paulgailbenson.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #954f72; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">www.paulgailbenson.com</a><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Connie Berry</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV9WGH1dT_HuFrXA7BoYbmhOOD1dCOSXNcJa5PZM5gVXA0Lp6Yhv9eh3sgzC2EPvBQ7C0sMIYiKiUOxrTLqml6WzMC-gy95nV5W9DiKT_Z_1bn5XrZo7f-bRQBvxszc5isFYmH7RX2wFWdAHGaRT0P-DdnOKxThGFEGWh7UsDqY7IgDt58aH6cdZSd-Lz/s1500/Mistletoe.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV9WGH1dT_HuFrXA7BoYbmhOOD1dCOSXNcJa5PZM5gVXA0Lp6Yhv9eh3sgzC2EPvBQ7C0sMIYiKiUOxrTLqml6WzMC-gy95nV5W9DiKT_Z_1bn5XrZo7f-bRQBvxszc5isFYmH7RX2wFWdAHGaRT0P-DdnOKxThGFEGWh7UsDqY7IgDt58aH6cdZSd-Lz/w133-h200/Mistletoe.jpeg" width="133" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Connie is the author of the Kate Hamilton Mystery Series. Set in the United Kingdom, her series follows an American antiques dealer with a knack for solving crimes. Her most recent publication is a novella, <i>Mistletoe and Murder.</i> BOLO for <i>A Collection of Lies, </i>another Kate Hamilton mystery,<i> </i>coming June 18, 2024. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="SV" style="color: #954f72;"><a href="http://www.connieberry.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.connieberry.com</a></span><span lang="SV"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="SV"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="SV"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="SV">Sarah E. Burr</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="SV"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ydg4rQgyRcJGzZPIv8Yw_vJ0Wr8Wcg0jDq6_KInm4GmvfmHwf_r1hglX3SD3Z878VwiTA-CUKD7GXgtPC622b__rYcIaS-T0pFQvv2__013lguLXNR8XimiLlzeoPFgo-wS1M0E3uDjt1Dd4gZUJHqD8kig1ZqY2G2QeCL-8tvDaEKRR-WpRN09HCVtQ/s1500/DM%20Me.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ydg4rQgyRcJGzZPIv8Yw_vJ0Wr8Wcg0jDq6_KInm4GmvfmHwf_r1hglX3SD3Z878VwiTA-CUKD7GXgtPC622b__rYcIaS-T0pFQvv2__013lguLXNR8XimiLlzeoPFgo-wS1M0E3uDjt1Dd4gZUJHqD8kig1ZqY2G2QeCL-8tvDaEKRR-WpRN09HCVtQ/w133-h200/DM%20Me.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Sarah produces multiple books a year, juggling four different mystery series (Trending Topic Mysteries, Glenmyre Whim Mysteries, Book Blogger Mysteries, and Court of Mystery series). Her latest Trending Topic book, <i>DM Me for Murder, </i>was recently released. BOLO for the latest in her Glenmyre Whim Mysteries, <i>Flying Off the Candle, </i>coming in May<i>. </i></span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.saraheburr.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.saraheburr.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Kait Carson</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLlyegl8quLVlVQSGYxORjtja_Yy2jl3ER-vQnTO4uw985CU7qA15jjWvDuMe6Ff4fxpOqfmXp6VmRcf45kFhyphenhyphen7lTgicGHyfyNL-TcJHJofpa1SptuJcF2vq8VAw0GgqzuCj6bmVgBDnNcUvqukaYHyDATWQyY1a8xuzB8GsBp_la055hOa0fAQxCI3oZ/s1500/Death%20Dive.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLlyegl8quLVlVQSGYxORjtja_Yy2jl3ER-vQnTO4uw985CU7qA15jjWvDuMe6Ff4fxpOqfmXp6VmRcf45kFhyphenhyphen7lTgicGHyfyNL-TcJHJofpa1SptuJcF2vq8VAw0GgqzuCj6bmVgBDnNcUvqukaYHyDATWQyY1a8xuzB8GsBp_la055hOa0fAQxCI3oZ/w133-h200/Death%20Dive.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Kait is an accomplished SCUBA diver and uses her diving experience to write the Hayden Kent mystery series set in the steamy tropical heat of Florida. Her most recent release was <i>Death Dive. </i>BOLO for the first in her new series, tentatively titled Maine Lodge Mysteries. This one is set in the frigid environs of Maine.</span> <o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.kaitcarson.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.kaitcarson.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Annette Dashofy</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ8VrU6gdoVMPk00DHCvtu5vrUnA6sYONjsIWSOvPQnxhPFu9WU3gs3AZM15s5MLXqrNEll957V0hVVJqBpJQ96P2IB0gsxjqTeUVx7jM7xt5wZJsUAVvZMDIdSy65nAlNj26BSHIM7mII73NXXSnCQ-__rFrca-L7YJ5cEoZ4OyCeclauJfAQPWgLV-x/s1500/Keep%20your.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="983" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ8VrU6gdoVMPk00DHCvtu5vrUnA6sYONjsIWSOvPQnxhPFu9WU3gs3AZM15s5MLXqrNEll957V0hVVJqBpJQ96P2IB0gsxjqTeUVx7jM7xt5wZJsUAVvZMDIdSy65nAlNj26BSHIM7mII73NXXSnCQ-__rFrca-L7YJ5cEoZ4OyCeclauJfAQPWgLV-x/w131-h200/Keep%20your.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Annette writes the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania and the Detective Honeywell Mysteries, featuring Matthias Honeywell and freelance photographer Emma Anderson. Her most recent publication was <i>Keep Your Family Close.</i> BOLO for<i> What Comes Around, </i>being released<i> </i>in May</span><i><span style="font-family: times;">.</span><o:p></o:p></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.annettedashofy.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.annettedashofy.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>E. B. Davis</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNQjPdeIZKJnCPj5TDm7aQYqoNuOJG-VtmzTqnoO0w9Cz_pfc2jDzVrnk3d1P-9kiThtj7NN7gJydXXmjpXiFbsgitwy0qUSxWI9Ur68OFWRX8Xv_nlzkRUdNiuAP-2sfrNwu9b-eassVK_qlif6OJwU36YAKLfrXaybMNp1LXn3Ofw2smZBu01Los1Lmg/s1500/Rock%20Roll.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="971" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNQjPdeIZKJnCPj5TDm7aQYqoNuOJG-VtmzTqnoO0w9Cz_pfc2jDzVrnk3d1P-9kiThtj7NN7gJydXXmjpXiFbsgitwy0qUSxWI9Ur68OFWRX8Xv_nlzkRUdNiuAP-2sfrNwu9b-eassVK_qlif6OJwU36YAKLfrXaybMNp1LXn3Ofw2smZBu01Los1Lmg/w129-h200/Rock%20Roll.jpeg" width="129" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">E. B. established the WWK blog in 2010 and has watched it grow to 23 regular contributors. She interviews authors at WWK and serves as the Education Coordinator of the Sisters in Crime Guppy chapter. Her short stores have appeared in anthologies from the Triangle, Guppy, and Chesapeake Chapters of SinC. Her last short story, “Stevie and Keith for the Save" was published in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: #242424;">Carolina Crimes: Rock, Roll, and Ruin.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;">Links to her short stories can be found at </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #954f72;"><a href="http://www.ebdavismysteries.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.ebdavismysteries.com</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Mary Dutta</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBduQ5sXx7kwnJtbDOWg5H6jEnwErki7iflmFB_WqA6pr_j_waWPzMfV17syl5BiqMJ4FRn_uVvCHCSO5n2U1OKOpwfOysdqA_qzf59DTKbz7_pvu8w0zQPba4w4B3_fejmyNL3TgrlS_NN2cn8yN_hFa-GqThPH9RTE_Y5OTwN0xZnwHXVFFyNTMmc8x/s1500/Paradise.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="986" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBduQ5sXx7kwnJtbDOWg5H6jEnwErki7iflmFB_WqA6pr_j_waWPzMfV17syl5BiqMJ4FRn_uVvCHCSO5n2U1OKOpwfOysdqA_qzf59DTKbz7_pvu8w0zQPba4w4B3_fejmyNL3TgrlS_NN2cn8yN_hFa-GqThPH9RTE_Y5OTwN0xZnwHXVFFyNTMmc8x/w131-h200/Paradise.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Mary is known for short stories with a twist and some laughs. Her most recent story, “Deceit by Design,” was published in <i>Paradise is Deadly: Gripping Tales from Florida’s Gulf Coast</i>. BOLO for Mary’s next “twisty” mystery, “Bridesmaid #1” in <i>First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, </i>coming this fall. </span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.marydutta.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.marydutta.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Nancy Eady</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_z7kH0LNjmeVyC1OClrBzep6jiSzAr7elR3MYyl9LouWonamuTqoYdEHmY2BvJk0UDsD-Fh9JfJ-Q1XyZSKWc2S0pJXXGFci6C7IKF4qmxC-4ZzKOWnFXyB3ZfBtPISLLPYY91ev2AvaXXqtbzW-fT4d9qQYbuFG8b9CyaviCwsz7ihVA6lZKJkB0GPl/s500/WWK.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="500" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_z7kH0LNjmeVyC1OClrBzep6jiSzAr7elR3MYyl9LouWonamuTqoYdEHmY2BvJk0UDsD-Fh9JfJ-Q1XyZSKWc2S0pJXXGFci6C7IKF4qmxC-4ZzKOWnFXyB3ZfBtPISLLPYY91ev2AvaXXqtbzW-fT4d9qQYbuFG8b9CyaviCwsz7ihVA6lZKJkB0GPl/w200-h104/WWK.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Nancy is an attorney by day, blogger by night, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, where she coordinated their Fantasy Agent program. In addition to contributing to Writers Who Kill, Nancy blogs about her adventures as a working mom. </span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.workingmomadventures.com/" style="color: #954f72;"><span lang="DE">www.workingmomadventures.com</span></a><span lang="DE"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="DE"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="DE"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="DE">Debra H. Goldstein</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="DE"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdaFkjCtYlP6Di_WROjiYG_bO1_sC2TQWFf_gx2XuQINS54t5WxU_D7Aj-vuDL4YaRh5rNCWQY-2wHWUV_a2Y1DT8hR2-xyo67u1Y6vVPXB2UJZnPWWA8qEmLL6zSHoj3ZauHh4NAr8zaBKefugleTshwPzJXVM8YJZCYldd8OPQZb8G5Rap9P9GjSzlf/s1500/Five%20belles.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1018" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdaFkjCtYlP6Di_WROjiYG_bO1_sC2TQWFf_gx2XuQINS54t5WxU_D7Aj-vuDL4YaRh5rNCWQY-2wHWUV_a2Y1DT8hR2-xyo67u1Y6vVPXB2UJZnPWWA8qEmLL6zSHoj3ZauHh4NAr8zaBKefugleTshwPzJXVM8YJZCYldd8OPQZb8G5Rap9P9GjSzlf/w136-h200/Five%20belles.jpeg" width="136" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Debra is the author of the Sarah Blair Mystery Series, which is about a woman who finds being in the kitchen more frightening than murder. She is also known for her numerous short stories, including “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. BOLO for seven short stories she has coming out in 2024 and 2025. </span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.debrahgoldstein.com/" style="color: #954f72;"><span lang="FI">www.debrahgoldstein.com</span></a><span lang="FI"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="FI"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="FI"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span lang="FI">Margaret S. Hamilton</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span lang="FI"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333f48;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmr9FJqkpuM0Xn-WDsYCPVmPtqdTGrwvUwBZGWw1u-OYRlgKRj_jqjnrwyVmA9pb2ldMzhPd6G89M7N1OUaj8APTg9kceHlqIVH44LsVFfi0zS1ie8Scmlf-0c31AGlQObp__hg00dbDCuFJA_lb7tjUPv9A7ySSsiHMGnh_e1hmC4CO7ilKBSbTaBIQY/s1149/Put%20lights%20out.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmr9FJqkpuM0Xn-WDsYCPVmPtqdTGrwvUwBZGWw1u-OYRlgKRj_jqjnrwyVmA9pb2ldMzhPd6G89M7N1OUaj8APTg9kceHlqIVH44LsVFfi0zS1ie8Scmlf-0c31AGlQObp__hg00dbDCuFJA_lb7tjUPv9A7ySSsiHMGnh_e1hmC4CO7ilKBSbTaBIQY/w126-h200/Put%20lights%20out.jpeg" width="126" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333f48;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: times;">Margaret S. Hamilton has published thirty short stories in various anthologies, including “Pickup at the Main Street Diner” in <i>Put Out the Lights and Cry.</i> BOLO for her debut amateur sleuth mystery, <i>What the Artist Left Behind</i>, set in an interior design shop. It is currently under submission by her agent.</span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.margaretshamilton.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.margaretshamilton.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Lori Roberts Herbst</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVxh1yrwPYpYd8MscebcK3_knM18uTDLTXKHcJXEMtqTojzM9tIknN2irjvUmVRzoqp96sIesEiKbmNQOZ8avp8fQg7zysCVXggy-BGFvQAYPu4mSCkKh8-_Lz2EpSBuSflhCAc-B2bWArBr6D_FelW8DvnbQpZXZggGxknwRj-kwmCyAx0SDeU6AUuL4/s1500/Negative%20reaction.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVxh1yrwPYpYd8MscebcK3_knM18uTDLTXKHcJXEMtqTojzM9tIknN2irjvUmVRzoqp96sIesEiKbmNQOZ8avp8fQg7zysCVXggy-BGFvQAYPu4mSCkKh8-_Lz2EpSBuSflhCAc-B2bWArBr6D_FelW8DvnbQpZXZggGxknwRj-kwmCyAx0SDeU6AUuL4/w133-h200/Negative%20reaction.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Lori is the author of the Callie Cassidy mystery series, which features a prize-winning photojournalist who returns to her home in the Rocky Mountains to start over. Lori’s recent publication was <i>Negative Reaction, </i>Book 5 in the series<i>. </i>BOLO for<i> Graven Images, </i>which will be released on April 23, 2024. </span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.lorirobertsherbst.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.lorirobertsherbst.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div>Grace Toppinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291304815273486038noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-82739029871133555562024-03-12T00:06:00.000-04:002024-03-12T00:06:56.300-04:00Is That Term Trademarked by KM Rockwood<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgph6ddMitNenu6TQKOED3_jKl8xz1JY5H28HxymlK9fn8y8SCLYbEWlw6DkiYPJdCXBbUW-V3BtfQAEiIm2OZnVt9Ow5Ry_RBDKHb-4RgaTDeP9De_3wSw3ovikzzume66KzLmn_vSyu3gHVphO6vkvOrdX7JurKrYlx9nl5FNtTJxMtZzZqzdmw6wnGs/s258/1escalator.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgph6ddMitNenu6TQKOED3_jKl8xz1JY5H28HxymlK9fn8y8SCLYbEWlw6DkiYPJdCXBbUW-V3BtfQAEiIm2OZnVt9Ow5Ry_RBDKHb-4RgaTDeP9De_3wSw3ovikzzume66KzLmn_vSyu3gHVphO6vkvOrdX7JurKrYlx9nl5FNtTJxMtZzZqzdmw6wnGs/s320/1escalator.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a
As writers, we need to know when a term we are using is trademarked. Most of us know some name brands that have morphed into a generic term, sometimes called a generalized trademark, but we may not be aware that some of the words we think are generic are actually trademarks.<br><br>
Generalizations can happen when a product is new and unique to the market or has such an overwhelming share of the market that people begin to use its brand name to refer to either the process (Googling someone’s name) or all products in that category (aspirin).<br><br>
Sometimes the transfer from brand name to generalized was the result of a vigorous publicity campaign run by the originator and who then was horrified when the public adopted it generically.<br><br>
Otis Elevator lost its battle for exclusive use of the term escalator by using it aside the generic elevator in its ads. The company went to court in an attempt to prevent Haughton Elevator Company from using the name escalator for its product, but lost the exclusive right.<br><br>
The terms below have become generalized and we can use them with impunity. Some have been challenged in court and officially tossed out for common use. Some were never registered. And some have, for whatever reason, not had their registration renewed or it has been allowed to lapse.<br><br>
1. The aforementioned aspirin. Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin was created in 1897 and originally trademarked by Bayer AG. In 1917, many German companies like Bayer lost their U.S. assets, including trademarks, which were confiscated as a result of WWI.<br><br>
2. Heroin. Also a Bayer product whose trademark was confiscated in 1917. The name comes from the German heroisch, which mean heroic.<br><br>
3. Thermos. Originally called a “vacuum flask,” this hit the commercial market in 1904 in Germany. A contest was held to name it, and Thermos, from the Greek Therme for heat won. The trademark was sold in 1907, sparing it the fate of aspirin and heroin, but was declared a generalized trademark in the U.S. in 1963.<br><br>
4. Linoleum. This is sometimes considered to be the first modern instance of trademark generalization. The English inventor who coined the term from the Latin for flax and oil, the two main components of this flooring product, never registered the trademark in the first place, and by the time he objected to another manufacturer using it, it was in such general use that the courts declared it too late to be registered.<br><br>
5. Zipper. This was registered as a trademark in 1925 by B.F. Goodrich for overshoes with an interlocking fastener. In 1930, the company sued to protect the trademark, but the term had already become generalized and they only got to keep Zipper Boots.<br><br>
6. Yo-Yo. Donald F. Duncan thought he’d registered this trademark in 1932, but in 1965, a competitor won a case against him when a federal appeals court decided that the trademark was improperly registered and thus invalid.<br><br>
7. App Store. In 2011, Apple sued Amazon over the use of the term Appstore for Amazon, claiming it would confuse customers. However, in 2013, Apple dropped both the trademark and the lawsuit.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdci5W8Q7ATNth8Y_oEViquxq-9nk0WsRbIzHHO1DF0zKzRo5GPoDZrB7OAzPUBp4ydHTflHpr0uuKa9-Z7qTvdCfpZhF4c6DoSAwTDgYHM6i0mPZGxIVVc9SOxT3-WxJsbyKI2ePVE2wkPVFjzvnbVnF8tkM5wTgeuI9DE8S5R4D126GTnqQYjwDJdg/s220/1%20yoyo.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdci5W8Q7ATNth8Y_oEViquxq-9nk0WsRbIzHHO1DF0zKzRo5GPoDZrB7OAzPUBp4ydHTflHpr0uuKa9-Z7qTvdCfpZhF4c6DoSAwTDgYHM6i0mPZGxIVVc9SOxT3-WxJsbyKI2ePVE2wkPVFjzvnbVnF8tkM5wTgeuI9DE8S5R4D126GTnqQYjwDJdg/s320/1%20yoyo.jpg"/></a></div>
A number of other trademarks are well on the way to generalization, but are still registered, which means someone owns the rights to them. These are terms that we may not be aware are still protected:<br><br>
1. Teflon<br>
Generic name: Polytetrafluoroethylene<br><br>
2. Taser<br>
Generic name: Electroshock weapon, stun gun<br><br>
3. Styrofoam<br>
Generic name: Extruded polystyrene foam<br><br>
4. Realtor<br>
Generic name: Real estate agent<br><br>
5. Dumpster<br>
Generic name: Front loader waste container<br><br>
6. Crock-Pot<br>
Generic name: Slow cooker<br><br>
7. Bubble Wrap<br>
Generic name: Inflated cushioning<br><br>
8. Adrenalin<br>
Generic name: Epinephrine<br><br>
9. Memory Stick<br>
Generic name: Flash memory storage devices<br><br>
10. Fiberglass<br>
Generic name: Glass wool<br><br>
In one of my (well-paid but least favorite) jobs I was on a crew operating a glass melter in a manufacturing facility making “fiberglass” insulation. None of us were aware that the name had been trademarked by Owens-Corning. We certainly always referred to it as “fiberglass,” not “glass wool.”<br><br>
If those of us so emmeshed in the industry were not aware of trademark violations, how much more easily can we writers inadvertently stray into potential problems.<br><br>
When a trademark is in such general use, whoever holds the trademark often does not try to limit its informal use, perhaps for fear of losing the trademark altogether. Other commercial entities will be hesitant to use the trademarked term to name their products and in advertising, and the trademark holder may not wish to take a chance on jeopardizing heir position.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ugxgGJsUh3luF5cALOYSeVyybiR_ll8q1e1sjcAPPhNB_4BqciYn4h77IzbZx0sf2ZZMiXQmtjDH3cTd2y23s7I6Ys_6R8iMauK4Y2g3PKlBgSqmlVO5Boh4Y5VG9I_9Z16-HOR2kNXZ5BNANGHkTguv25hHX5kxI0rzMnBcZdq8jlHnAisDU54oBsM/s318/1dumpster.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ugxgGJsUh3luF5cALOYSeVyybiR_ll8q1e1sjcAPPhNB_4BqciYn4h77IzbZx0sf2ZZMiXQmtjDH3cTd2y23s7I6Ys_6R8iMauK4Y2g3PKlBgSqmlVO5Boh4Y5VG9I_9Z16-HOR2kNXZ5BNANGHkTguv25hHX5kxI0rzMnBcZdq8jlHnAisDU54oBsM/s320/1dumpster.jpg"/></a></div>Sources:<br><br>
Genericide: Cancellation of a Registered Trademark by Jacqueline Stern in the 1982 Fordham Law Review<br><br>
Wikipedia contributors, "Generic trademark," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generic_trademark&oldid=1211289480 (accessed March 8, 2024)<br><br>
http: (consumerreports.org) 15 Product Trademarks That Have Become Victims Of Genericization (consumerreports.org) (Accessed March 8, 2024)
KM Rockwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03973749764907859829noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-71215464417790574742024-03-11T00:00:00.001-04:002024-03-11T00:00:00.236-04:00The Vintage Bookshelf: The Mrs. Pollifax Series<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">By Shari Randall</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Welcome to another episode of the Vintage Bookshelf. My name is Shari Randall and I enjoy reading books published more than fifty years ago (the current definition of vintage). In this episode, I discuss a favorite series protagonist, one of the original “silver sleuths,” Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Emily Pollifax.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD59ck42J_Z4IydL-mgIvbLSFGjl0N4qgbO51bcxXcCx2g0MbWk6f4r7TIqHVg9h-uwUjNGenKKe1ll4ZEyweztf-wN7FYSto-paCOXeSeMLDudcEJim7-MEJfU3g1GMa3199jtM8EyyBZ3nBpmN-RdiJo5gD9uXYDRBtL6FUAvPfYgPHW8qI0baKtY_0/s1280/The-Mrs-Pollifax-series-by-Dorothy-Gilman.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1280" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD59ck42J_Z4IydL-mgIvbLSFGjl0N4qgbO51bcxXcCx2g0MbWk6f4r7TIqHVg9h-uwUjNGenKKe1ll4ZEyweztf-wN7FYSto-paCOXeSeMLDudcEJim7-MEJfU3g1GMa3199jtM8EyyBZ3nBpmN-RdiJo5gD9uXYDRBtL6FUAvPfYgPHW8qI0baKtY_0/w400-h185/The-Mrs-Pollifax-series-by-Dorothy-Gilman.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">As aa reader who falls into the “vintage” category, (not quite antique yet, thank you), I am especially pleased to have made the acquaintance of Mrs. Emily Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, a widow in her sixties who satisfied her longing for adventure by taking on the occasional undercover assignment for the CIA.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">When we meet Emily in her first adventure, <i>The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1966)</i>, she’s sharing with her garden club the night-blooming cereus that she’s managed to grown in a box on her fire escape. Despite this impressive horticultural feat and her forays into yoga and karate, Emily longs for more and she decides to write to the CIA to ask for a job. Through a (less than believable) mix up (hang in there, it’s worth it), she’s hired. Her CIA handler, Carstairs, believes that her resourceful and improvisational personality, disguised by her ladylike gloves and hats, makes her the perfect spy. Her adventures take her to geopolitical hot spots like Hong Kong, Morocco, Sicily, Mexico, and more. She goes undercover in carnivals, souks, and sanitariums. She’s held at gunpoint, knocked out with chloroform, and kidnapped numerous times, but with sturdy common sense and gumption she vanquishes experienced foreign agents, art forgers, and a cast of other bad actors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Keep in mind, Mrs. Pollifax operates in a time when the Cold War was hot. Yes, as with all books on the vintage bookshelf, one is very occasionally jolted by attitudes and language that were acceptable at the time the book was written, but no longer. Never fear, Mrs. Pollifax maintains an open-hearted and broad-minded attitude that has insured her welcome on our bookshelves today. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5CqCXezjIyKt-SZM1GZaEhVGx6y7a2VrDSlRaf1D6Ynlhud-rJmr7Ta1zDjatt7_fCp85aFhZ4VVtCuAblb1nkWXiX65oIocQrt0CKAWhV6iCoAwy5_WZchseYNnDL6ds6L3niWQReTMjBvenU-GuDDiJPRTn3g-yyK__Q7tj5CqzOeTNmruTrWqp1o/s1024/GILMAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5CqCXezjIyKt-SZM1GZaEhVGx6y7a2VrDSlRaf1D6Ynlhud-rJmr7Ta1zDjatt7_fCp85aFhZ4VVtCuAblb1nkWXiX65oIocQrt0CKAWhV6iCoAwy5_WZchseYNnDL6ds6L3niWQReTMjBvenU-GuDDiJPRTn3g-yyK__Q7tj5CqzOeTNmruTrWqp1o/w150-h200/GILMAN.jpg" title="Dorothy Gilman" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Gilman</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It’s particularly pleasing to see how popular these books have remained. There are websites and social media groups devoted to the series. The name of a popular mystery review site run by Mark Baker, Carstairs Considers, pays homage to Mrs. Pollifax’s CIA handler.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">If you think Mrs. Pollifax bears some resemblance to Riley Rhodes, the protagonist of my Ice Cream Shop Mysteries (written with my super-secret pen name of Meri Allen) you would be correct - and very perceptive. Riley’s background as a former CIA librarian/occasional asset was inspired by Mrs. Pollifax.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are the Mrs. Pollifax books in order:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (AKA Mrs. Pollifax, Spy)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax on Safari<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax Pursued<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled</span></i><span class="year"><i><span style="color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">1990</span></i></span><span class="year"><span style="color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">)))</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Who’s your favorite “silver sleuth?” Let me know in the comments.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Shari Randall is the author of the beloved Lobster Shack Mystery series and, as Meri Allen, the<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/series/icecreamshopmysteries" target="_blank"> Ice Cream Shop Mysteries</a>. You can see what she’s up to on Facebook (@sharirandallauthor) and Instagram (@meriallenbooks).<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Shari Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425493627354028820noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-15196194115762131752024-03-10T00:01:00.017-05:002024-03-10T00:01:00.135-05:00HOW I GET COMFORTABLE OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE<p> by Korina Moss</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFP5SdPN38QZUYEwsRf2mnspUNrgfzErfFVP31f15I8Dez0KlEWRqabPhzxsxwzqmMziM9b2kSO4XvaOZd3eI-foB1EHU3qhHwHaNJv_uqOVkJWFlSrT9g-CQYVLJe1wal8wumqkHYBYOlZWKs2gHInsCK2KkIa7BJb_VblzLRiGuAPiVs5ZKpK72fZdM/s708/IMG_7172%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="708" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFP5SdPN38QZUYEwsRf2mnspUNrgfzErfFVP31f15I8Dez0KlEWRqabPhzxsxwzqmMziM9b2kSO4XvaOZd3eI-foB1EHU3qhHwHaNJv_uqOVkJWFlSrT9g-CQYVLJe1wal8wumqkHYBYOlZWKs2gHInsCK2KkIa7BJb_VblzLRiGuAPiVs5ZKpK72fZdM/s320/IMG_7172%202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of my comfort zone: <br />Giving my Agatha Award acceptance speech<br />in front of hundreds of people</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Remember when “comfort zone” became a buzz word and we were constantly encouraged to step out of it? Those self-help gurus were relentless, but I wasn’t buying it. What’s wrong with being comfortable? It’s a synonym of cozy, and as the writer of the Cheese Shop Mystery series, we all know how I feel about the word <i>cozy</i>. Thus, I’ve never been a fan of stepping out of my comfort zone, however life has been consistently kicking me out of it over the last several years. Becoming a published author is like immersion therapy for discomfort. I’m left with no choice but to lean into it, whether it’s doing podcast interviews, speaking at events, mentoring writers, or sharing recipes. Yes, I said sharing recipes. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xPiu_J4C7qHO77ctC0B83skOC8XOaE9oJtnvc517IwHluoQoIFCHGkHdNxaVxBs5y9rC1vSAlYm4CUTpLstQlCZkFLlUUg1oBMojd-XVUR0rNkgN4mLxKexyXXiIwZeUXWbXO-jNa2Z5baSWjkRv1TsJPxtNBWikOPdOo4EPJzKlTCSvASHNuifAZa0/s3586/IMG_1361.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3586" data-original-width="3022" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xPiu_J4C7qHO77ctC0B83skOC8XOaE9oJtnvc517IwHluoQoIFCHGkHdNxaVxBs5y9rC1vSAlYm4CUTpLstQlCZkFLlUUg1oBMojd-XVUR0rNkgN4mLxKexyXXiIwZeUXWbXO-jNa2Z5baSWjkRv1TsJPxtNBWikOPdOo4EPJzKlTCSvASHNuifAZa0/s320/IMG_1361.heic" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I may have to dig into my copy of <br />Betty Crocker's New <br />Boys and Girls Cookbook</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I’ve always been a passable cook, but it’s never been something I cared to take too much time doing. I’m a food enthusiast, but I’m happy to let someone else do the cooking. Now that I’m single and my son is away at college, I only cook for myself—which is to say, I don’t cook. I throw things together. I am the queen of the one-bowl meal. I used to bake often and well, but again, as a household of one, baking is a <i>roundly</i> dangerous prospect. So, when I was recently invited to become a member of the wonderful blog, <i>Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen</i>, my first thought was <i>uh-oh</i>. The twelve members are fantastic culinary cozy authors who share recipes they cook themselves, which include photos and step-by-step instructions. Obviously, you gotta cook. I was honored to be considered to join their group and I wasn’t about to pass that up. I mean, have you seen the <i>Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen</i> authors? Leslie Budewitz, Maddie Day, Meg Cochran, Leslie Karst, Libby Klein, Lucy Burdette, Maya Corrigan, V.M. Burns, Vicki Delany, Cleo Coyle, and our own Writers Who Kill member, Molly MacRae. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhyphenhyphen5l3MYBj7o2aTIk9fm2eRmST_YoLXKBvidpdx_bE11hxs10P_QQgW0H0Bfd3Qtb2kQLrqh1fisG47HwEVsmgDNucx8d-6g9aNZGEfE3Hv7m9L80i9M_l5FBuwCJhqytrBkiWGCyNCWwE7TeD_lZD-y9p18pW1A0Muo1NJ3dbDwOw7pgaJCl1yMN3Kc/s1022/MLK-Header-SPRING-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="1022" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhyphenhyphen5l3MYBj7o2aTIk9fm2eRmST_YoLXKBvidpdx_bE11hxs10P_QQgW0H0Bfd3Qtb2kQLrqh1fisG47HwEVsmgDNucx8d-6g9aNZGEfE3Hv7m9L80i9M_l5FBuwCJhqytrBkiWGCyNCWwE7TeD_lZD-y9p18pW1A0Muo1NJ3dbDwOw7pgaJCl1yMN3Kc/s320/MLK-Header-SPRING-2024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>After my initial panic, I did what I always do when life kicks me out of my comfort zone. <b>First, I find something that makes me feel even a little bit qualified to do this uncomfortable thing.</b> The only way to break down fear is to hit it with logic. Ok, so what are my qualifications for this? I, too, am a culinary cozy author. I’ve learned a great deal about cheese while doing research for my Cheese Shop mysteries, and cheesy recipes are included in my books. I love watching cooking shows and cooking and baking competition shows. In fact, Loretta, the flamboyant betta fish in my series, is a big fan of Food Network’s <i>Chopped</i>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIWplJod9O-YwKO-MNSebxB4IoWd_YsmIa5JZCgpMZjMdTdqCmCTYNPZEgyZwAk_2h4pNbOtKEW6IuHRloLsmiOyxXj8Ed1JKe5cSwWlxvqZCtmhM1DMvThKhN8IEFUrqwoTX_HGkx8WNRIoyHxebqW3l50Su1-NHbiBFTwPyJbzh9_htDmdc4-kwLP4/s4032/IMG_4141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIWplJod9O-YwKO-MNSebxB4IoWd_YsmIa5JZCgpMZjMdTdqCmCTYNPZEgyZwAk_2h4pNbOtKEW6IuHRloLsmiOyxXj8Ed1JKe5cSwWlxvqZCtmhM1DMvThKhN8IEFUrqwoTX_HGkx8WNRIoyHxebqW3l50Su1-NHbiBFTwPyJbzh9_htDmdc4-kwLP4/s320/IMG_4141.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><p>After making myself feel slightly more comfortable with my qualifications, the next step is to ask <b>what I can bring to this experience that will highlight <i>my</i> strengths.</b> It’s a reminder that I don’t have to be just like everyone else, which takes most of the pressure off. What can I bring to the blog? Surely, some Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen readers are single, like me, so perhaps simpler recipes-for-one are something they’d like to see more of. Another strength? Cheese, which—let’s face it—is practically a superpower. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUkVsqEdbrcO-Cx-kuQi0fYS0AK5F2tD3AKwE6pH5MiP7xHqAJHSW4ghWS31733gK_lds43giWiDXtBEQR-bW8ZwnzItACrXW6bxahrroRTKJl7ynqs_SJDRRApZ58jy-Lk83Z7HnLTarWECrXiwknSqD-qcpX6ONhG9qK1p70FugfrLDjJf2OygZOyE/s4032/IMG_4650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUkVsqEdbrcO-Cx-kuQi0fYS0AK5F2tD3AKwE6pH5MiP7xHqAJHSW4ghWS31733gK_lds43giWiDXtBEQR-bW8ZwnzItACrXW6bxahrroRTKJl7ynqs_SJDRRApZ58jy-Lk83Z7HnLTarWECrXiwknSqD-qcpX6ONhG9qK1p70FugfrLDjJf2OygZOyE/s320/IMG_4650.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My superpower</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>The last step is to think about the purpose of the experience.</b> Why do people read <i>Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen</i>? Because of their shared love and appreciation of food. Do I share that purpose too? Absolutely. I admitted in my extended author bio that I've been on my own <i>Eat, Pray, Love</i> journey, however I seem to have stalled at the <i>Eat</i> phase. </p><p>After doing these three exercises, I usually find I’m not as far out of my comfort zone as I thought. And invariably, once I actually do this new thing, it becomes not only more comfortable, but enjoyable. Whether it involves becoming a better public speaker, gaining practical experience, or allowing myself to be more present in a daily activity like cooking, it also turns into a growth opportunity. I will probably always feel discomfort at facing new experiences, but I can comfortably say the rewards are worth it. </p><p><b>Readers: Have you had experiences venturing out of your comfort zone? How do you handle it?</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzRFyOYAY6qcvQLlokOeLEflwhNvx1o-bXRro4_nT78z9bT7c3lhsERYqZ3qv_JhOnOxGzAbuBZtLTftTLCgcnkbHEUCl1PeBj_hJ83aAfJziXBcJ9QyhjpY_Psl6hu2PTakbxvmXMKDxBw38Pxrldq68elKAVbA7Hd4hX24ocO62iVKHVyTvFNQyxng/s4032/IMG_4662%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzRFyOYAY6qcvQLlokOeLEflwhNvx1o-bXRro4_nT78z9bT7c3lhsERYqZ3qv_JhOnOxGzAbuBZtLTftTLCgcnkbHEUCl1PeBj_hJ83aAfJziXBcJ9QyhjpY_Psl6hu2PTakbxvmXMKDxBw38Pxrldq68elKAVbA7Hd4hX24ocO62iVKHVyTvFNQyxng/s320/IMG_4662%202.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The delicious croque monsieur <br />from <i>Cheddar Off Dead</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>My first post for <i><a href="https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/" target="_blank">Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen</a></i> is Monday, March 11th, where I’ll be making a recipe from my first Cheese Shop Mystery, <i>Cheddar Off Dead</i>—a croque monsieur sandwich that’s easier to make than to pronounce!</p><p><br /></p><p><i>KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series (St. Martin’s Press) set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, CHEDDAR OFF DEAD, and the most recently Agatha-nominated Best Contemporary Novel, CASE OF THE BLEUS. Her books have been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. To learn more, visit her website <a href="http://korinamossauthor.com">korinamossauthor.com</a>. </i></p><div><br /></div>Korina Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06533228666706765470noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-23115115670743957912024-03-09T00:30:00.024-05:002024-03-09T00:30:00.137-05:00A Prescription for Breaking Through Roadblocks to Creativity: A Good Long Shower<p> <span style="font-family: times;">By Lisa Malice, Ph.D. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In
the lead-up to the release of LEST SHE FORGET, my publisher (CamCat) peppered
me with fun and thoughtful questions for use in marketing and promotio</span>n<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">,
so I’m going to share a few of my answers with you over the next few months.
Here’s the first:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">What
do you do when you find yourself stuck or blocked during your writing?</span></b></span></p>
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o:title=" How to Overcome Writer's Block | The .."/>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMgk0yHvUWgy7pXp5BPtWyxuoQv9vYFoi3nvEqK6IQrUxi6fBl4E44rRkYwrsKm5KYulncOJm6WR-mosncX84cjXEbcee5RrFtddPV7NUTmE8gLrtPh4Sx0XfKTvFwh3BSN4GHCVgK6uDvQH6lHqPt9996EaVqFGfjPYz0oxd3CwxUflUd9TWfMZTR5-c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="459" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMgk0yHvUWgy7pXp5BPtWyxuoQv9vYFoi3nvEqK6IQrUxi6fBl4E44rRkYwrsKm5KYulncOJm6WR-mosncX84cjXEbcee5RrFtddPV7NUTmE8gLrtPh4Sx0XfKTvFwh3BSN4GHCVgK6uDvQH6lHqPt9996EaVqFGfjPYz0oxd3CwxUflUd9TWfMZTR5-c" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;">When
I find myself blocked, whether I’m having trouble seeing a path forward for a
personal problem that is vexing me, or struggling to figure out what my hero,
heroine, or villain should do next in my story, I find it helpful to walk away,
put the dilemma on the back burner in my head, and do something else. My best
ideas writing <i>Lest She Forget </i>came to me after shutting off my computer
and hitting the beach for a long shell-collecting walk. I also found my creative
juices flowing as I pedaled my bike along the heavily forested dirt road where my
family’s lake cabin is situated in northern Minnesota. Cleaning—dusting,
vacuuming, washing windows, mopping floors, especially with fun music
blasting over the stereo speakers—also does it for me. As does a good long shower.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC96Xk6UajFcf-B8hHHZ9V0LKHOyuJt1Hf3Q2ewYGugCTjgY2ZoeF4NXCfGDXL-5aLChgwErL0JwiED__jS6AbnH6VV4ttJ9kxPc1pyL5EFdZafnICaxRjJBb-NU7u5j3XG_AmbkNxZ0_vKQsUst4kfmr5WqpEbmLI3N8ZpyyPg6xnVB3nXBpNtvi9PNs/s312/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="312" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC96Xk6UajFcf-B8hHHZ9V0LKHOyuJt1Hf3Q2ewYGugCTjgY2ZoeF4NXCfGDXL-5aLChgwErL0JwiED__jS6AbnH6VV4ttJ9kxPc1pyL5EFdZafnICaxRjJBb-NU7u5j3XG_AmbkNxZ0_vKQsUst4kfmr5WqpEbmLI3N8ZpyyPg6xnVB3nXBpNtvi9PNs/w262-h225/hqdefault.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;">Don’t laugh at that last one. I researched
my experience and found psychological studies (as a psychologist, I’ve spent
years reading these things) that “The Shower Effect” is real. The key to this
phenomenon is not necessarily letting your mind wander, but rather having a
moderate distraction from your thoughts. One study discovered that by keeping
your problem in the back of your mind while engaging in light mental and <span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">physical tasks, such as bathing or walking, led to
unbounded, random associations—more productive mind-wandering—yielding higher
quality ideas as compared to sitting around and trying to think up ideas. So,
next time you get stuck trying to solve a problem, just hit the showers!</span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">So
now it’s your turn to chime in . . . What do you do when you find yourself
stuck or blocked with your writing, or for those of you who are not writers,
whenever you have trouble seeing a solution to a problem?</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>Lisa Malicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08471401781187225412noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-25829592744133305762024-03-08T04:00:00.013-05:002024-03-08T04:00:00.128-05:00Send in the Ghost by Susan Van Kirk<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Many well-known novels have a common element: a ghost or
ghosts. The list is extensive, but here are a few that come easily to mind:
Toni Morrison’s <i>Beloved, The Turn of the Screw</i> by Henry James, <i>A
Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens, Alice Sebold’s <i>The Lovely Bones</i>,
<i>Macbeth</i> by William Shakespeare, or the short story, <i>The Canterville
Ghost</i> by Oscar Wilde. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I suppose famous authors could throw in a ghost or two just
for fun, but it is more likely their ghosts have specific roles to play in the
elements of their novels. Sometimes they remind characters of certain feelings
like guilt. Other times ghosts play a major part in the theme, as in <i>A
Christmas Carol</i>. In <i>Macbeth</i>, a ghost is a prodigious player in
moving the plot forward. In other words, ghosts are generally used for a
specific literary purpose. When <i>The Lovely Bones</i> came out, readers were
delighted that the ghost was actually the story’s unique narrator. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3_HimkKkLDhX3V3GP3fNK9vzaLmjek0DX2sGnBB8MrswEoeiq5E1e3lGRzN1wWxRNTqNlUQ1e9IByKKEl6_cZeGClwhHRW5AIdpD2Tv4bEwa-NG2FYuewyKpEX2SUu_fyjnf4ZwgiDi3y1RXgdFVcBAnYYQmbCHILSi_MjjLtdOcFbai0lYM8fqrdrQ/s2560/Tippitt%20Pond_cover_eBook_1600x2560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3_HimkKkLDhX3V3GP3fNK9vzaLmjek0DX2sGnBB8MrswEoeiq5E1e3lGRzN1wWxRNTqNlUQ1e9IByKKEl6_cZeGClwhHRW5AIdpD2Tv4bEwa-NG2FYuewyKpEX2SUu_fyjnf4ZwgiDi3y1RXgdFVcBAnYYQmbCHILSi_MjjLtdOcFbai0lYM8fqrdrQ/s320/Tippitt%20Pond_cover_eBook_1600x2560.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Back in 2017 when I was writing <i>A Death at Tippitt Pond</i>,
I created a ghostly presence, but not actually a ghost. The protagonist, Beth
Russell, discovered far too late that her birth mother was Melanie Tippitt, now
a cold case murder victim who died shortly after Beth was born. As she
struggles to discover what happened to this mother she never knew, Beth feels
Melanie’s presence in Tippitt House. The scent of Chantilly perfume, Melanie’s
favorite fragrance, permeates the room when Melanie needs to warn her daughter
that danger is near. It also embraces Beth, surrounding her with her mother’s
love. And when the ghost accomplishes her mission, the fragrance vanishes.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All right, so I was toying around with possibilities in that
story. It was certainly an early preview of my next project.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Now it’s 2024, and my upcoming book, <i>Death in a Ghostly
Hue</i>, has a real, bonafide, 100% ghost. His name is Daniel Lowry, and he
built the 1870 Lowry Building, which now houses the Adele Marsden Center for
the Arts. The executive director, Jill Madison, first sees this ghost in her
art center one night when she stops to pick up a book. The ghost is dressed
like a gentleman from the 1800s, and when Jill says this is impossible, that he’s
been dead for a hundred and twenty-five years or more, he replies, “Alas, I am
despondent about that unfortunate occurrence. But I try to make the best of
it.” Yes, he’s handsome, funny, and also charming and clever.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I didn’t throw in a ghost just to have fun, although he is
pretty funny before all is said and done. This swashbuckling ghost plays a
vital role in the plot, theme, and character revelations. But why has this
spirit returned to this place and time? I can’t reveal that [the author typed,
chuckling with glee and anticipation] but this is definitely a ghost to
remember. <i>Death in a Ghostly Hue</i> is the third of the Art Center
Mysteries coming out this June from Level Best Books.<o:p></o:p></p>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14080938779828043023noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-31463685700340939322024-03-07T05:00:00.001-05:002024-03-07T05:00:00.246-05:00<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdlhmPnyAs15QwkPUXsHfZlNFKviVYFIafJ6QVJyN0P6PrrvoFV1699BHTvJTBZHFfH731DuK1qNWPuyv3cwd5pHqGJ6f60Y20tFVQL4g8i0FrfjmZo2CEZHmFiLsMYslROeNehGqGzqPwOG_zejOMY4mTbkFNluHNFcjkV1KtcAm7XbK4gtPNrzGAHA/s560/Bluetooth.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="560" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdlhmPnyAs15QwkPUXsHfZlNFKviVYFIafJ6QVJyN0P6PrrvoFV1699BHTvJTBZHFfH731DuK1qNWPuyv3cwd5pHqGJ6f60Y20tFVQL4g8i0FrfjmZo2CEZHmFiLsMYslROeNehGqGzqPwOG_zejOMY4mTbkFNluHNFcjkV1KtcAm7XbK4gtPNrzGAHA/s320/Bluetooth.png" width="320" /></a></div><b><p><b><br /></b></p>Bluetooth Tips and Other Geeky Stuff Writers Should Be Aware of</b><p></p><p>By Heather Weidner</p><p>Bluetooth and wireless technology have made our lives so much easier. We’re no longer tethered to a device, and we can be portable. Bluetooth is now an everyday part of our lives in headphones, keyboards, cars, personal digital assistants, TV, and the list goes on and on. </p><p>Where the Name Came From - The trademark for this technology is named for King Harold “Bluetooth” Gormsson, who united Denmark and Norway in 958. He had a bad, discolored tooth that led to his nickname. King Harold was one of the last Viking kings to rule over Denmark, Norway, and parts of Germany and Sweden, and he is buried in Poland. </p><p>Here are some things you need to be aware of to keep your devices safe from bad actors.</p><p><b>Bluejacking</b> - This is a term to describe when someone sends unsolicited or unwanted messages through Bluetooth on your wireless devices. It’s a nuisance, and it could be dangerous if the message has viruses or other malware.</p><p><b>Bluesnarfing</b> - This describes when a hacker gets access to one or more of your wireless devices and can steal information. </p><p><b>Bluebugging</b> - This is when a hacker takes control of your devices through your Bluetooth. They have full access to your device and its information. This can include anything from full access to your texts and contacts to listening or watching you through a camera.</p><p><b>Things You Can Do </b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If you don’t need wireless access to a device, turn it off.</li><li>Don’t accept pairing requests (the process that allows your wireless device to connect) from sources that you don’t know.</li><li>Know what Bluetooth devices you have and the ones that are paired with your network.</li><li>Know your environment or surroundings when you are using Bluetooth. Are you in a very public place with lots of people nearby? Remember, hackers don’t have to be at the table next to you. </li><li>Review your device’s security settings and security options before you pair your device. Take advantage of options to secure your devices.</li></ul><p></p><p>Technology brings so many efficiencies and opportunities, but it does have its share of risks. Make sure that you’re aware of your security settings and who or what has access to your devices.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Through
the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor,
college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls
Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping
Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. You can find out more about her at her <a href="http://HeatherWeidner.com" target="_blank">website</a>. </i></span></p><div><br /></div>Heather Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876877004618724438noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-74007336372913248702024-03-06T01:00:00.013-05:002024-03-06T01:00:00.143-05:00Elements of Julie Mulhern’s Country Club Series By E. B. Davis<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a previous blog, I listed my favorite series and decided
to reread some of those series to pinpoint the elements that I liked and wanted
to include in my own writing. I started this exercise by rereading Julie
Mulhern’s Country Club series. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmI63PKtZ0UK6PL8d2Hb5pxCgW6HUhCSJ62q5D6A2IKISa0xviwq_eGLOtTD7T5u92TkLExDkmbUqB2VgZ8_d0X9veBxhxNKL-oei-dpwVWU1kBeBojW60HPfwityIYiAjy6QWEjq4bIzejxcinXizuZIfGkkfC3uHlq4LzxbmKw0xBNCKTYQxfK1bWXBZ/s225/Julie%20Mulhern%201%20thedeepend.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="150" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmI63PKtZ0UK6PL8d2Hb5pxCgW6HUhCSJ62q5D6A2IKISa0xviwq_eGLOtTD7T5u92TkLExDkmbUqB2VgZ8_d0X9veBxhxNKL-oei-dpwVWU1kBeBojW60HPfwityIYiAjy6QWEjq4bIzejxcinXizuZIfGkkfC3uHlq4LzxbmKw0xBNCKTYQxfK1bWXBZ/s1600/Julie%20Mulhern%201%20thedeepend.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>The plot is entirely character-driven. Ellison Walford
Russell, the main character (presented in first person), solves the cases
seamlessly in the course of her everyday life. There is no heart-felt
declaration of a need to get involved for the sake of justice and stick her
nose where it doesn’t belong. Ellison belongs in her close-knit country club
world. She’s one of them as her parents and grandparent were before
her. The cases presented in this series are similar to Closed-Circle mysteries,
in which a small number of people are isolated when a crime occurs and the
killer has to be one of those <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">present.
It is not so </span>much the location isolation in this series, but the tightly-drawn social
circle. It’s more akin to the small-town mystery even if
located in the midst of Kansas City, MO. The police need Ellison to navigate and
translate this inner circle. That isn’t to say that she, her family, and
friends can’t be on the suspect list, but seriously, not the Walfords, whose
integrity is above suspicion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The series is set in the 1970s when I was in college. Julie
presents an accurate portrayal of the times in terms of the generations’
attitudinal differences, changing values, and historically accurate detail. What
compels me to buy these books<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">is </span>the humor and complex
relationships Ellison has with her family, dog (Max), and Mr. Coffee machine. I
also appreciate Ellison’s perspective/insights. As a young woman during this
time, I failed to see the changes that were occurring around me (or like most
youth, the world revolved around me). Ellison is fifteen years older and
provides the maturity I lacked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The humor covers slap-stick, situational, and sarcasm. The
slap-stick often involves Max, her dog. The situational when someone is trying
to put logic on emotional/chaotic scenes resulting in non sequiturs. And
sarcasm is provided by her daughter Grace to her or Ellison to her mother,
Frances. Unfortunately, those scenes are too long to present here.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ellison’s Relationships:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Her contentious relationship with her mother, Frances,
usually adversarial, but at times fully harmonic. In pinch times, she emulates
her mother to get her own way, knowing how strong, overbearing, and powerful
her mother is to fight. And yet, she does not want to be like her mother.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘“Ellison takes after Frances that way.’ Aunt Sis skewered me with a look
she’d borrowed from Mother. ‘The two of you are more alike than you’ll admit.’</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">Aunt Sis was wrong. So wrong. Mother was a force of nature. I was a
gentle breeze. Mother pushed and prodded and got her way. I made polite
suggestions. The wind (Aunt Sis accounted for most of the first bottle) was
talking.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘Has Frances ever backed down?’ Aunt Sis demanded. ‘From anything?’</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘No,’ I admitted. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘Neither have you.’”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><i>Stayin’
Alive<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Loc 53</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“With too many martinis, there’s no telling what she’d [Frances] say. But
I’d wanted her at my back when I faced Anarchy’s family. She might be an
iron-willed, take-no-prisoners bully, but she was my bully.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Lyin’
Eyes</i> Page 121</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Her loving relationship with her daughter,
Grace, a teenager, who is dealing with the loss of her father, a changing
mother, and her own immaturity and growth.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“Frances Walford made a point of holding her anger close, like a mother
with a newborn baby. I frowned. Tomorrow, I’d marry the man of my dreams, and
she’d rather nurse a grudge than enjoy the weekend. Watching the haughty tilt
of her chin, I vowed to never, ever punish Grace with cold anger.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Lyin’ Eyes</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Page 106</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Her honest, but nonjudgmental relationship with
her best friend, Libba, who has different, less conservative values. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">Libba to Anarchy on Ellison: “Frances blames you for Ellison’s new
independence, but she’s wrong. It’s all Ellison. She finally grew a pair.” <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Lyin’ Eyes</i> Page 120</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Her exasperated relationship with her dog, Max, a
source of comic frustration and yet also a great protector.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“A deep growl had me levitating from my bed. Grrr. I wiped the sleep from
my eyes. ‘What’s wrong, Max?’….I considered my options. Max didn’t growl wolf.”
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><i>Lyin’ Eyes </i>Page
129</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Her love relationship with her Mr. Coffee machine—her
perfect man—fulfilling, steadfast, always on time, and who doesn’t argue. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“’Is that why you talk to Mr. Coffee?’ She [Grace] gave me a cheeky grin.
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘Among other reasons.’ Mr. Coffee was also cheerful, dependable, and
generous.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘You realize he can’t talk back?’</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘Neither can Max, but I talk to him too.’ Mr. Coffee and Max did talk
back. That Grace didn’t hear them was not my fault.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Lyin’ Eyes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Page 142</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“’She
tried to grab Beau, and Max lunged for her. I thought he might rip her throat
out. Then, she ran away.’ I loved my dog.” <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Killing Me Softly</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Page 162</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ellison is in transition. She has one foot in the past due
to her upbringing and unsuccessful marriage, and one foot in the present,
taking control of her life with the realization that her future can be
something different. This transition is also echoed in the 1970s social changes
that are occurring on a national level.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Having been brought up to be a supportive
spouse, her art career, looked upon as a hobby, is making her famous. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“My
late husband had done things I didn’t like to think about. True, he’d been an
upstanding member of the community. True, he’d been a good provider. True, he’d
adored our daughter. But Henry’s faults as a husband outweighed the good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">He’d cheated on me with friends.
He’d cheated on me with strangers. He’d cheated on me with women who carried
handcuffs and whips. To say our marriage wasn’t in the greatest shape before I
did the unforgivable was an understatement. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">My
unforgivable sin?</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 49.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 22.5pt;">I earned more money than he did.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Telephone Line<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Loc
478</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;"> </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.9pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>She wants equality in her relationships and for
herself, her daughter, and for all women.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">“She stared at her hands folded in her lap. ‘Mr. Brown says I make a nice
second income.’ Her bare left hand drew my gaze. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘It’s not a second income, is it?’</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto;">‘No,
ma’am.’”<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><i>Lyin’Eyes<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </i><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Page
61</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anarchy, Ellison’s new significant other, has grown up in a
very similar and uncompromising way, except that his folks are the polar
opposite of Ellison’s. They are left-coast liberals who look down their noses
at the Walford’s wealth, status, and conservative views. Anarchy’s conventional
ways are his rebellion. Ellison’s unconventional ways are her rebellion, declaring
her independence and embracing her success. She empowers herself. All the
parents are aggrieved! Such lovely irony and humor. I can only hope to come
close.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the middle of this series, Julie’s publisher decided to
quit. She is now self-publishing this series along with her new series, the
Fields’ Guide mysteries. I hope she will keep the Country Club mystery series
going. I know that many authors get bored by their first successful series and
want to write greener books, but this series is a winner. The choreography of
plot and backstory creates the best of reads. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What elements do you plant in your stories?</p>
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{margin-bottom:0in;}</style></p>E. B. Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-39634090072132400902024-03-05T01:00:00.013-05:002024-03-05T01:00:00.127-05:00Thoughts on Newsletters<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By James M. Jackson</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3c5c4mbJ7hVv4n0QdWPJmX_xrSbwvL3qw2NUxlTbhNjjQNh-hCtVAWw2HsrVJgBkaQZ6wxZDhv4XXnZjSy1MNscRAvLmg2g_qN4CODo1nU1rQHxg1G_Owelj1lsVqGQBk5yVKBBKfHfJjNXV6P2ZA68pW_a6EnUN77Ba6wcpDsxMPeCzEqxZ-kOgalsgy/s194/studying.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="194" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3c5c4mbJ7hVv4n0QdWPJmX_xrSbwvL3qw2NUxlTbhNjjQNh-hCtVAWw2HsrVJgBkaQZ6wxZDhv4XXnZjSy1MNscRAvLmg2g_qN4CODo1nU1rQHxg1G_Owelj1lsVqGQBk5yVKBBKfHfJjNXV6P2ZA68pW_a6EnUN77Ba6wcpDsxMPeCzEqxZ-kOgalsgy/w320-h221/studying.gif" width="320" /></a></div>Authors are largely responsible for promoting their
books and their careers. With limited time (and budget) they want to find
effective ways to connect with readers. Blogs, like Writers Who Kill, can work,
but with the slash of its corporate pen, Google could kill Blogspot and the
4,400 blogs in our archive. Many experts suggest creating and nurturing a
mailing list as one of the few ways to develop an asset that belongs to the
author without the threat of corporate interference.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having watched Amazon, Facebook, X (the social
platform formally known as Twitter), TikTok, and other entities authors have
relied on to reach readers arbitrarily change rules, ban authors, shut down
services, etc., I think the experts are correct that while these platforms have
proved useful to many, relying on them may result in a catastrophic business
loss over which the author has little control.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Given my bias of disliking others controlling my
destiny, I committed to put more effort this year into growing and tending to
my newsletter. One of my first steps was to participate in a promotion with a
group of thriller/suspense writers. In return for signing up for my newsletter,
readers had the chance to receive a free ebook from me and be entered into a
grand prize that included free ebooks from all thirty participating authors.
The promotion cost $55, which I could earn back if only one of the 400 people
who signed up purchased all the books in my series.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I wanted to use this opportunity to understand how the
other authors handled their newsletter and learn from their practice. To do
that, I signed up for the promotion. I expected to be included on twenty-nine
new email lists, and that was my first surprise: So far, a month later, only
half have sent me a newsletter. Maybe I will receive a few new ones in March,
but this strikes me as a missed opportunity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of those who sent me newsletters, the vast majority
focused on convincing me to buy their terrific books, usually through one or
multiple promotions. Two offered a free book and then immediately went into
sales mode. After two or three sales-oriented newsletters, they had written
nothing that interested me, and I unsubscribed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Only three provided a welcoming sequence that
emphasized bringing me into their world. They told me a little about
themselves: why they write, where they grew up, their pets. They provided
information about their writing. Some mentioned what they were reading. One
provided interesting background to one of their books. They also had books on
offer, but the primary emphasis (it seemed to me) was to create a connection
between me and them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">With that information, I learned one author’s stories
are not the kind I enjoy. I dropped off her newsletter—no reason to cost her
money by remaining a subscriber. The other two I will continue to read and
probably buy a book to see if I enjoy their stories.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I provide an “onboarding” sequence for my newsletter
subscribers (I call them my Readers Group). Over two and a half weeks, I send
six newsletters. Like the two authors whose newsletters I still receive, I
include information about myself, my writing, Seamus McCree (my series
character), links to either a free novel and short story, and information about the
series. At the conclusion, I encourage anyone who doesn’t think they are
interested in my kind of writing to unsubscribe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Given my preferences, it’s no surprise I drop out of
the sales-only newsletters and gravitate toward those authors who bring me into
their world. But, rather than patting myself on the back because I agree with
myself, my question for you is what do you enjoy reading in an author’s
newsletter?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to join my Readers Group, here's <a href="https://jamesmjackson.com/newsletter/newsletter-signup.html" target="_blank">the link to sign up.</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">* * *</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro",serif;">James
M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense,
these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what
happens when they mix. </span><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To learn more information about Jim and
his books, check out his website, </span><a href="https://jamesmjackson.com/"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://jamesmjackson.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></p><p></p>Jim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-17212055023524203772024-03-04T00:30:00.004-05:002024-03-04T00:30:00.144-05:00Why Cozy Mysteries Make the Perfect Beach Read By Samara Yew<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfisIoV8QkICS2xBA8jOZN1hYHisOEDokeAWbSIqxSQUDBoZzT21TYuShpe9QdaJIOG1Ejk8q5yBRmKs4pyrBOQ5Q8qZxQ-UpYrgSqhmOUyY6TrAkBcU3Jy3kZC33mrYOh04qjQj599JQA1xyGOL1SOrjsH1JMj8Cj3fQu6fL8mY3LYlSxhVDySj4AHQK_/s2475/Samara%20Yew%20Murder%20by%20the%20Seashore%20final%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfisIoV8QkICS2xBA8jOZN1hYHisOEDokeAWbSIqxSQUDBoZzT21TYuShpe9QdaJIOG1Ejk8q5yBRmKs4pyrBOQ5Q8qZxQ-UpYrgSqhmOUyY6TrAkBcU3Jy3kZC33mrYOh04qjQj599JQA1xyGOL1SOrjsH1JMj8Cj3fQu6fL8mY3LYlSxhVDySj4AHQK_/s320/Samara%20Yew%20Murder%20by%20the%20Seashore%20final%20cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">This post is
dedicated to all my fellow seasonal readers! As our dreary winter comes to an
end, I’m looking forward to the warm, sunny days that are just around the
corner. I’m already keeping an eye out for books that I think will make
fantastic beach reads, and cozy mysteries tend to check all my boxes. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">I love the
term beach read. It’s a simple two-word phrase that can mean whatever a reader
wants it to. It can mean finding the ideal book to read on the beach, a coastal
or vacation-themed book, or just a great summer read. The term has become so
popular lately that a definition has even been added to Dictionary.com: “A
book, usually fiction, that one might enjoy during a vacation or a day at the
beach because it is engaging, entertaining, and easy to read.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">Some of the features
that I look for in a book to add to my beach read TBR (to be read) list are
that it takes place in a warm location or during the summer months, preferably
it takes place literally on the beach or in a quaint seaside town, but I’ll
take any form of vacation or armchair travel as well. I definitely want a book
that is lighthearted and humorous, but most importantly, it keeps me engaged
from start to finish. I want to be completely lost in an interesting and twisty
plot that I just can’t put down.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">All that to
say, the cozy mystery genre and my perfect beach read checklist have a lot of
crossovers. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">Another great
bonus of choosing a cozy mystery for a beach read is that it is often a shorter
read than other fiction genres. This means it can easily be finished during a
weekend getaway, or possibly even a day at the beach if you’re a speed reader.
You can find out who the killer is before you need to pack up for home. And if
you’re on a weeklong sunshine-filled vacation, grab a couple of cozies! Maybe
even multiples in a series because they are so binge-able. Since they are
smaller books, cozies are also easy to pack into a beach tote or in a carry-on
bag for travel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">If travel
plans are not in the future or the beach is too far away, cozies are also great
to read during a staycation. They’re the perfect companion for reading outside
in a comfy lounge chair with a glass of iced tea or strawberry lemonade. They
have fantastic descriptions of their settings which make readers feel
transported right into the story. I love reading about the small beachy towns
that are featured in so many cozies and wanting to jump right into the pages to
eat at an ice cream parlor, visit a cozy bed and breakfast, or shop at a local
bookshop. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">And one final
reason why I think cozy mysteries make the perfect beach read is that they all
have such gorgeous covers! This helps further immerse me in the stories as I
take in the seashore, quaint towns, charming small businesses, or
delicious-looking food that are on so many of these covers. Plus, they are very
Instagramable, so all the better to show off your beach day with. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">What types of
books do you think make good beach reads? Which cozy mysteries are on your TBR
list?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">Samara Yew is
a cozy mystery author who writes about adorable bookshops and dead bodies. A
full-time mom, full-time dog servant, and part-time writer, Samara lives in
British Columbia, Canada, where she can often be found watching Psych reruns.
Samara loves to travel, especially visiting her husband’s home country of
Singapore or donning Mickey ears in Disneyland. She’s a member of Sisters in
Crime, including her local chapter SinC-Canada West, and International Thriller
Writers. To keep up to date with all her bookish news, please visit her website
at samarayew.com.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;">Buy Link</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.azonlinks.com/B0BSKSHZF5">https://www.azonlinks.com/B0BSKSHZF5</a><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;"> </span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>E. B. Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-38232672665760748912024-03-03T01:30:00.003-05:002024-03-03T12:24:31.203-05:00The Importance of Yet – A Pep Talk by Molly MacRae<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Earlier
this week my daughter-in-law and I were talking about her latest painting. She paints
and draws beautiful, small landscapes and waterscapes (some with exquisite
mermaids) that always make me say “Wow!” With this painting, she’s working on a
much larger scale. The dimensions are big enough to be daunting, almost
paralyzing. That isn’t stopping her, but she’s used to finishing a piece so quickly
that it goes from concept to “Wow!” in a day or two. So when she showed me her
work in progress, she apologized, saying “It doesn't look like much.” At that point we looked at each other and
added the word that sentence needed to finish it properly—yet. It doesn’t look
like much </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">yet</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWozW7iRXKUJK1W50pAHicnZDpXE1avJReMiOLN4Lo0duAM2G0Ebof8nwdkyyJ1L8pUeh2MeWgd7n6_UG_a9LrsUof7f6LbxSXc0EtNgZOY2Ga8VvIExQ-mit7v-b_x93eFt5ozCDB1_N9vDZnnqzfrZRmV6bhSAo-swW0jXxA4f25VmD4FBeo9f-t7i/s4032/IMG_3499.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWozW7iRXKUJK1W50pAHicnZDpXE1avJReMiOLN4Lo0duAM2G0Ebof8nwdkyyJ1L8pUeh2MeWgd7n6_UG_a9LrsUof7f6LbxSXc0EtNgZOY2Ga8VvIExQ-mit7v-b_x93eFt5ozCDB1_N9vDZnnqzfrZRmV6bhSAo-swW0jXxA4f25VmD4FBeo9f-t7i/w150-h200/IMG_3499.JPG" width="150" /></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Isn’t
that the way so many things start out? Maybe most things. Maybe everything. An
acorn doesn’t look like an oak tree. A tiny, red, squalling baby doesn’t look
like an astrophysicist. Someone who doesn’t cook might stare into the
refrigerator and say (some of them whine) there’s nothing for supper. A cook
will see the possibilities and turn them into really good soup.</span></p><br /><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">And
think of the projects that reach a point where they look <i>worse</i> than they
did to begin with and before they reach the point of looking just right. The
horror of cleaning and reorganizing a workspace can be like that. You have to drag
things out, move them around, toss them, heap them, and generally make a mess. Why?
Because situations are often darkest before the dawn. Because you’re not done
yet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">This
applies to writing, too. A story or book is nonexistent to begin
with. Then it’s in the writer’s head. Then it might be a scrawl on a napkin. And
so on and so forth with lots of opportunities to worry that it doesn’t look
like much along the way. There are also those times when the work in progress
looks absolutely #@%#-ing horrible. Then the writer and the work need time away
from each other to cool down (and maybe a good cry, some slashing and burning, a
pair of scissors and roll of tape, and a drink) before getting back to the job
at hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In
the crime writing field, the concept of <i>yet</i> is important for our amateur
sleuths and detectives to understand, too. There might come a point in their
investigation where the villain has the upper hand, there’s no way through the
dark, their lives are in jeopardy, and they lose all hope. If you communicate
with your protagonists in some way, give them a pep talk. Don’t let them
despair (unless you’re writing noir and then despair might be the end goal). Let
them know they just haven’t solved the crime yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Readers:
What activity, craft, or art do you practice that looks worse before it looks
just right?</span></p><br /><p></p>Molly MacRaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07755143318141885327noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-15085597055538625042024-03-02T01:00:00.001-05:002024-03-02T01:00:00.147-05:00Noir at the Bar by Mary Dutta<p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I recently
attended my first Noir at the Bar, a crime fiction event where multiple authors
read from their novels, short stories, and works in progress. As the name
suggests, the works they shared skewed dark and gritty, and the beverages erred
on the side of adult.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kyljKQWozuTDm4J9ZG0sopvlZASROWC3eciY6fiy21-bNH3xn78GEWJo9w8z2J2d02vOXluKb8VlThdtTCRirWdUoaYOT1ahBGL2HSYyEp8RFQyeHpmQdxuCrFs17cgSUGoVkf8utM9UDvkfK3n-QF1UYjwAV199k5Fa_EHBwJv2mW_rpZbP8ld85f4/s4864/pexels-dominika-roseclay-1032000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4864" data-original-width="3648" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kyljKQWozuTDm4J9ZG0sopvlZASROWC3eciY6fiy21-bNH3xn78GEWJo9w8z2J2d02vOXluKb8VlThdtTCRirWdUoaYOT1ahBGL2HSYyEp8RFQyeHpmQdxuCrFs17cgSUGoVkf8utM9UDvkfK3n-QF1UYjwAV199k5Fa_EHBwJv2mW_rpZbP8ld85f4/w150-h200/pexels-dominika-roseclay-1032000.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These increasingly
popular events started in 2008, and have expanded to a number of cities and
writer conferences. The details vary. Some cities have a regular schedule, some
have pop-up events. The event I attended was actually not at a bar but at a
coffee house, albeit one that sold beer and wine for the evening. We had a
local TV reporter as emcee and a jazz guitarist for musical entertainment. Other
folks do it however works best for them. One thing each version has in common,
though, is the fact that when the writers are not at the microphone, they are
sitting in the audience, sharing drinks and mingling along with everyone else.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My local Noir at
the Bar featured a variety of authors. Some were traditionally published, some
worked with small presses, and some were self-published. They read aloud from
copies of their books, or printed pages, or their phones. They entertained a
diverse audience as well--friends and family of the headlining writers, locals
out for a novel Saturday night experience, and fellow authors like me. It was a
full house and an appreciative one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unlike other artists,
like actors and musicians, authors don’t usually have the opportunity to interact
with a live audience. And readers don’t usually experience in-person engagement
with the writers whose works they enjoy. For both, a reading is a performance. There’s
an art to reading aloud, as evidenced by the fact that most audiobooks are narrated
by professional voice actors. I’m happy to say that each writer at my local
event did justice to their stories with an engaging delivery. My favorite story
of the night was read by an author who so completely inhabited her first-person
narrator that it was hard to remember that it was fiction (luckily, since this
is gritty stuff after all) and not her own life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhrTS53UOBEBnvhq4rkqW1nlDBiJwPFCL-m15tRY3l2LRt3rE-UJ4uBN-yOTIbwy2_3yywao1EEOCmqZapF4UHAjgp8-c2e8QGwwou7Fa_h8sNS73eh_T7lJjVZWyngQES424T_tiVpDFhb4XFg9CjrRDTdTXVSJojGc49Efvrh1FWySTEBpYaYIF3IU/s4608/pexels-chan-walrus-941864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhrTS53UOBEBnvhq4rkqW1nlDBiJwPFCL-m15tRY3l2LRt3rE-UJ4uBN-yOTIbwy2_3yywao1EEOCmqZapF4UHAjgp8-c2e8QGwwou7Fa_h8sNS73eh_T7lJjVZWyngQES424T_tiVpDFhb4XFg9CjrRDTdTXVSJojGc49Efvrh1FWySTEBpYaYIF3IU/w320-h181/pexels-chan-walrus-941864.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />It was fun to
step outside of my usual cozy mystery circles. I had a great evening, supported
a friend, and discovered some new writers. Along the way, I acquired an
autographed book and a deep appreciation of the fact that I live in a community
so supportive of writers. I feel confident that they’ll turn out to raise a
glass and lend an ear if it’s ever my turn to read.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have you ever
attended a Noir at the Bar or a similar event? </span><o:p></o:p></p>Mary Duttahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12832600771405426577noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-83627465785488799892024-03-01T01:00:00.001-05:002024-03-01T01:00:00.137-05:00Life with Subplots, by Lori Roberts Herbst<p> <i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUZdSQGuQYVz5OC_38mYqnpmb7A9X65he1Q3bZjM2Zp7fKYbv6O_Q50LOT8VEDJES_fPBn7hJhGpByFBWkGxiskcqm46t8dcK-b-Jt6Na5YdI7ol6kS0T3lCP6eCYw8HsPi1oeX8cVy1vVnp2A1Lvy5fQeUqeN8V0QLN_ahiRQ6TsRPtAuwpCFEloTM0/s225/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUZdSQGuQYVz5OC_38mYqnpmb7A9X65he1Q3bZjM2Zp7fKYbv6O_Q50LOT8VEDJES_fPBn7hJhGpByFBWkGxiskcqm46t8dcK-b-Jt6Na5YdI7ol6kS0T3lCP6eCYw8HsPi1oeX8cVy1vVnp2A1Lvy5fQeUqeN8V0QLN_ahiRQ6TsRPtAuwpCFEloTM0/s1600/images.jpeg" width="225" /></a></div>Last weekend, I was rocking out to Partridge Family tunes (you’re welcome for that image) and thinking back to junior high school. Back then, my life’s goal was to become a Hollywood actress and marry John Travolta (whom my mother insisted on calling John Revolting). I had recently outgrown David Cassidy, though I might still have accepted his proposal had it been forthcoming.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">In high school, I morphed into a journalist wannabe, idolizing Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Barbara Walters. I join<br />ed and eventually became editor-in-chief of my high-school newspaper, dreaming of my future as a reporter with <i>The Washington Post</i>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">During my college days, my journalistic quest lost its allure. Instead, I thought of the inspirational teachers who had touched my life, and I decided that my destiny lay in education.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">And no matter my ultimate career choice, I always knew I wanted a family of my own.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Throughout the changing possibilities fighting for control, a voice within whispered about writing books. <i>Wouldn’t it be fun?</i> she asked.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">But I couldn’t do it all. I need to quash most of the identities grappling for dominance. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudICfaJnGirkZwm-30vJ-tMur08ouhPo03Odqmm80wr8v4WtF_HHs3PvO41x6fkv-DYZ1JqghSWCZKS5XwvRH9q_aT4hW1JnUTB6Uxvd4CvSALQQoXwWC1Py0xyb3ZAq9pVwyOJTrHrFYtxhT5O7Jyzyi6_Ac8azyObabbPHjRSSN4JU97UMkx5SFx7g/s288/IMG_3384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="288" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudICfaJnGirkZwm-30vJ-tMur08ouhPo03Odqmm80wr8v4WtF_HHs3PvO41x6fkv-DYZ1JqghSWCZKS5XwvRH9q_aT4hW1JnUTB6Uxvd4CvSALQQoXwWC1Py0xyb3ZAq9pVwyOJTrHrFYtxhT5O7Jyzyi6_Ac8azyObabbPHjRSSN4JU97UMkx5SFx7g/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" width="288" /></a></div>So, I became a teacher, first of English and then of journalism, and spent twenty-four years learning, laughing, and guiding hundreds of teenage students. I married a fabulous man (forty years last December) and had tw<br />o extraordinary daughters. Life raced along, the joy and the tears, the work and the play weaving a tapestry of my life.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Then I decided it was time to try something new, so I got a master’s degree in counseling and worked for six years as a high school counselor before retiring in 2014.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I glanced up and discovered that I was fifty-two years old. The whispering voice of the aspiring writer I thought I’d stifled many years ago became a roar. She was alive and well and demanding her turn.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">At first, I tried to quiet her. I told her she was too old—that she would make a fool of us. <i>Nobody starts writing books in her fifties</i>, I said. For three years, I suppressed her. When she tried to sneak into my brain, devising stories, plots, characters, I shoved her aside and moved on to something else, something more “in keeping” with my stage in life. Volunteering. Cross stitching. Lunching with friends. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv1w_S3VxQNl8TfhvMn46UBaIzAI9uioMHEpLjLjKIotY4W-ZBizyIpR8Od6bPP8IHe6vhvg_1DW_I_kxs7lq33v8l7qiCy5Jib6zOcD58KwJ9l4hFnbCEUPDGFR35n8gCVBFAhBVCNmnCg_dU5GX6MYmj-WKYNDpwJlAaAMy6olbR7ezIqvnSjJIkjU/s216/IMG_3382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="216" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv1w_S3VxQNl8TfhvMn46UBaIzAI9uioMHEpLjLjKIotY4W-ZBizyIpR8Od6bPP8IHe6vhvg_1DW_I_kxs7lq33v8l7qiCy5Jib6zOcD58KwJ9l4hFnbCEUPDGFR35n8gCVBFAhBVCNmnCg_dU5GX6MYmj-WKYNDpwJlAaAMy6olbR7ezIqvnSjJIkjU/s1600/IMG_3382.JPG" width="216" /></a></div>But it was as if I was trying to hold back a tsunami with a dinner plate. My alter ego would not be ignored. Finally, I turned towards her. <i>I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of?</i> <o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I acquiesced to her demands and wrote my first book. And rewrote. And revised. And edited. And finally published at age fifty-eight. Now, at sixty-one, I’m about to publish my sixth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Not only did I surrender to the insistent inner voice, I listened to the people who encouraged (nagged) me to follow it. I am grateful every day for their support.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Conceding to that voice taught me the wisdom of the verse "for everything there is a season." I wasn’t ready to be a writer back then. I was a decent mother and teacher and counselor, and I'm thankful I didn't miss out on those experiences. In fact, they provided seeds for the stories I now wish to tell.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRRTsDnu1eMUCk14uluJ2j6jrCq0SO-2c8V3mg8fWaZfC9ikYncA_OeIuEX9vmo0xRY8Dfwdiw_GPkTz19oPIMCtWv9ZHpZAEml-xfKvo5UQ9gevF_Q00jwDrp6iiDwuuYl31sJ0AZ3I1c3vw6lNqAsK5XMans3jD6Dq2GXa_cp_5UaeNCcf7gJCu9bQ/s432/Graven%20Images%20social%20media%20copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRRTsDnu1eMUCk14uluJ2j6jrCq0SO-2c8V3mg8fWaZfC9ikYncA_OeIuEX9vmo0xRY8Dfwdiw_GPkTz19oPIMCtWv9ZHpZAEml-xfKvo5UQ9gevF_Q00jwDrp6iiDwuuYl31sJ0AZ3I1c3vw6lNqAsK5XMans3jD6Dq2GXa_cp_5UaeNCcf7gJCu9bQ/w133-h200/Graven%20Images%20social%20media%20copy.png" width="133" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />I’ve discovered you can do it all. Maybe not at the same time—probably not at the same time. But life is long, and I have plenty of time to drink it to the lees.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i>What is the thing you always wanted to do? How do you honor it?<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i>***</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><i style="font-size: 15.4px;">Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to <a href="http://www.lorirobertsherbst.com/" style="color: #06fce8; text-decoration: none;">www.lorirobertsherbst.com</a> <br /></i></p>Lori Roberts Herbsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03656524983449724419noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-40347745140156969532024-02-29T00:30:00.001-05:002024-02-29T00:30:00.134-05:00Should You Invest in a Professional Cover? By Karen Phillips<p>
</p><p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.4pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbnhybCAKUiIG-2xCadNTxLTInXoClaM3hvjemFaUPjWYDW2dg9OdVttBTW3FLJoBS3rOn_xD88bLbjp2kemB-X0u7Oy2VKolilBPxsgtIfoBX6LJxeXoBbO0ezGo-kBoMdO2uHuCKxIA13mD3Kt2JIhB4v8xCmTZ6waDjT_e__6KrcF0Ze4oV_i6Dtb_/s1800/Karen%20Phillips%20book%20covers%20for%20blog%20post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1800" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbnhybCAKUiIG-2xCadNTxLTInXoClaM3hvjemFaUPjWYDW2dg9OdVttBTW3FLJoBS3rOn_xD88bLbjp2kemB-X0u7Oy2VKolilBPxsgtIfoBX6LJxeXoBbO0ezGo-kBoMdO2uHuCKxIA13mD3Kt2JIhB4v8xCmTZ6waDjT_e__6KrcF0Ze4oV_i6Dtb_/w400-h159/Karen%20Phillips%20book%20covers%20for%20blog%20post.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Karen Phillips has
had the pleasure of designing covers for many successful authors—some of which
are featured above. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Part of being a
successful author is making smart investments, such as hiring an editor. Just
as important is hiring a cover designer. After all, would you read a book if
the cover didn’t look professional? A professional cover tells the world your
story is well written. But how do you decide who to hire?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Many organizations
like Sisters in Crime are a goldmine for referrals. Ask around.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Before you choose –</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .9in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 5.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><img alt="*" height="10" src="file:////Users/elainebdouts/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/TemporaryItems/msohtmlclip/clip_" width="10" /><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Ask the designer for
samples of their work. Check their website and see if their style meets your
approval. Discuss their process. For example, how many initial concepts do they
provide and do they charge extra for revisions?</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: .9in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 5.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><img alt="*" height="10" src="file:////Users/elainebdouts/Library/Group%20Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/TemporaryItems/msohtmlclip/clip_" width="10" /><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Compare pricing. As I
write this, the average price is $250 for an eBook cover. Additional costs are
added for print covers and audio covers.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Take advantage of the
real estate on the cover –</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Your blurb should
include a teaser (a short sentence) at the top to grab the reader’s attention.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Have your blurb
professionally edited.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Include a
professional headshot (not a selfie) and bio with contact info such as your
website URL.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Include reviews from
authors who write in the same genre. For the back cover, reviews are more
important than an author bio. If you need room, the author bio can go always go
in the back matter.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">If you have other
books, especially a series, add those cover images if space allows. If not,
this can go in the back matter.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">A designer can help
you in other ways –</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Create a logo for you
and your books.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Design or update your
website.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Create graphics for
social media such as a Facebook banner and advertisements.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -25.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">◦<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Design collateral
material such as bookmarks, postcards and swag.</span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.4pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Investing in a cover
artist can be one of the most important decisions you can make as an author.
Here’s to your success!</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span></p>
<p class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.4pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Karen Phillips has a
degree in Applied Art & Design from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She enjoys
designing book covers not only because each project presents a new and unique
challenge, but because of the close connection she develops with the authors she
works with. Visit her website at </span><a href="https://phillipscovers.com/"><span class="Hyperlink0"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">PhillipsCovers.com</span></span></a></p>
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{margin-bottom:0in;}</style></p>E. B. Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-78023319396024986032024-02-28T02:00:00.001-05:002024-02-28T02:00:00.370-05:00An Interview With Lida Sideris<p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">by Grace Topping</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">I have been following Lida’s Southern California Mystery series ever since her first book was published. She just launched book six in the series, <i>Murderous Means, </i>and I’m happy to report that the series gets better with each book. It has been a pleasure seeing Lida’s career blossom and her characters grow. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><i>Murderous Means<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGIy2uI0621AA1x9a8-jqAXF5_HXJjKYEbubP8i-mB6DXtwFqml9GGjn1hl70fR1OnN0u7NiIE_I6QH2Fl3iMmFUG8RSzb8LKa7LfQHW597z_OB5vOiwN5fDzdfhyWDfatrSzOYNyIZD0fKZi63gwozao_v39SpQzpkNkbp2W7xT_6dVpvRoOxh3DSwy4/s218/Murderous%20Means.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="145" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGIy2uI0621AA1x9a8-jqAXF5_HXJjKYEbubP8i-mB6DXtwFqml9GGjn1hl70fR1OnN0u7NiIE_I6QH2Fl3iMmFUG8RSzb8LKa7LfQHW597z_OB5vOiwN5fDzdfhyWDfatrSzOYNyIZD0fKZi63gwozao_v39SpQzpkNkbp2W7xT_6dVpvRoOxh3DSwy4/w213-h320/Murderous%20Means.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 11pt;"><i>When resting in peace isn't an option. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 11pt;"><i> </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Corrie Locke may not be the best rookie lawyer in town, but when it comes to catching a killer, she's got enough skills to bring a band of shifty-eyed suspects to their knees. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>When the wealthy matriarch of the dysfunctional Means family dies in her sleep, the family is convinced her death was anything but peaceful. They hire Corrie to prove it, but the only evidence they have to go on is a psychic’s half-baked vision that it was murder. To put the matter to rest, Corrie sets her sights on proving the psychic is a fraud. But what should be a simple investigation morphs into something a little more...deadly. </i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 11pt;"> www.amazon.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Welcome back to Writers Who Kill, Lida.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Corrie Locke is a lawyer with one of the Hollywood film studios, but she wants to work as a private investigator. What is driving her to give up her job and become a P.I.?<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Cambria, serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzY5URpKj1kisH314eNAZylujMImFwAXJyFsDoaNF-dto3cR9t5PHd-bCrFnPz8qJ4GOvDjr3E4omTNEoU05aZ455UOtw8TloVSaYtwXuj3_EGEAUY-w_BX_7fPPoPe9yUlcccgROCDOHq2eCSBhp6RTdBiJnXSN0_gRCPbEP1dnI_DPAOTtymMePxxSL/s214/Photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzY5URpKj1kisH314eNAZylujMImFwAXJyFsDoaNF-dto3cR9t5PHd-bCrFnPz8qJ4GOvDjr3E4omTNEoU05aZ455UOtw8TloVSaYtwXuj3_EGEAUY-w_BX_7fPPoPe9yUlcccgROCDOHq2eCSBhp6RTdBiJnXSN0_gRCPbEP1dnI_DPAOTtymMePxxSL/w299-h320/Photo.jpeg" width="299" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">A typical day for a junior movie studio lawyer involves drafting contracts, all of which kind of look the same. For a newbie lawyer like Corrie, who spent her teen years shadowing her P.I dad on his cases, legal work is mundane in comparison. There are studio perks like eating in the commissary among big talent, and attending screenings of yet-to-be-released films, but those perks are overshadowed by the thrill of hunting down criminals and cracking cases. Corrie may not be an exceptional lawyer, but she feels right at home in a criminal investigation.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>You have worked as an entertainment attorney with a movie studio. Did any of your experiences working there contribute to your Southern California Mystery Series?</b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">My lawyerly experiences informed the first (<i>Murder & Other Unnatural Disasters)</i> and third (<i>Murder: Double or Nothing</i>) books, in particular, because they both centered around shady activities at the movie studio. At the film production arm where I worked, there was a small scandal, but, in Corrie’s case (in book #1), it exploded into a murder case. Just like Corrie, in book #3, I watched movies being filmed on the backlot…except Corrie can’t just quietly watch. She gets directly involved and discovers, what else? A crime scene.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>In <i>Murderous Means, </i>Corrie has been hired to prove that her client’s deceased sister was murdered, based solely on the word of a psychic. Why does Corrie take on the case? </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPW_7Jf31orWD_-RHR981TvGDBvTQfPWF1hLPgoChoIfnT1iFEG-qxlNPQwRiqyoRXbByI7Q7zgkvLJTGpPUJXs94pg4Rc1cM8wv8Ow5UWjVEW_GsB8WZ4gWN8plUwMaqne-XRlmWa-wyTetnCvjfwQzla8sIm1fzIQTtIrkx9Kdd-H-U76RsqdueIzb9/s218/Murder%201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="136" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPW_7Jf31orWD_-RHR981TvGDBvTQfPWF1hLPgoChoIfnT1iFEG-qxlNPQwRiqyoRXbByI7Q7zgkvLJTGpPUJXs94pg4Rc1cM8wv8Ow5UWjVEW_GsB8WZ4gWN8plUwMaqne-XRlmWa-wyTetnCvjfwQzla8sIm1fzIQTtIrkx9Kdd-H-U76RsqdueIzb9/w200-h320/Murder%201.jpeg" width="200" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;">Since she’s only unofficially a PI at this point, with no office or staff (not counting her mother), and there’s nothing exciting happening at the studio, she welcomes a new investigation. She expects it to be an open and shut case since everyone knows psychics are crackpots. All she needs to do is prove the psychic is a fraud and she’s done. But it doesn’t exactly go as Corrie planned…</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">Veera, Corrie’s friend and co-worker, and her boyfriend, Michael, who is a technical wizard, assist her in her investigations. Recently, Corrie’s mother has become involved. What does her mother bring to the team?</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">Corrie’s lucky to have three highly motivated sidekicks; eager, ready and willing. Their enthusiasm is catchy and even though Mom plainly voiced her opposition to Corrie’s PI work in the first four books, she changes her mind and joins in, in <i>Gambling with Murder. </i>She is the voice of maturity and the cook of delicious food, which makes her popular with everyone, even Corrie, with a few reservations. Mom views situations differently than the rest of the gang, and tends to do things her own way. But she brings enough to the table to make Corrie admit that she is an asset… sometimes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Some of Corrie’s investigative activities at times are less than legal. For example, she searches homes without permission and passes Michael off as her firm’s psychic. How does she justify taking steps that the police would not be able to get away with?</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTxTT94QxHCUytrom-h3HGq19vrRW-LwRP-bivwvYVNiIKGn3K09ZFaC6TXQCqFkdaL0tXUBrMu1bMj2h7VKWl_0eShl-3IZ1Dp9BCJ0NfpIchWhtZoRVN6xbk9KpyO9053iW5Lsj5wk6KX-9YbAuoECW1-YipPc7QDC6Lr1boAEuHcfvYI96pyWcDmMV/s218/3%20Double.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="145" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTxTT94QxHCUytrom-h3HGq19vrRW-LwRP-bivwvYVNiIKGn3K09ZFaC6TXQCqFkdaL0tXUBrMu1bMj2h7VKWl_0eShl-3IZ1Dp9BCJ0NfpIchWhtZoRVN6xbk9KpyO9053iW5Lsj5wk6KX-9YbAuoECW1-YipPc7QDC6Lr1boAEuHcfvYI96pyWcDmMV/w213-h320/3%20Double.jpeg" width="213" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;">When a former client believed Michael was psychic, Corrie didn’t argue because that belief is what got them the gig at Means Well Ranch. Michael, being honest and sincere by nature, tries to explain to the Means client that he uses logic and facts to make his so-called predictions, but the client just views him as a different kind of psychic. As for justifying Corrie’s bending the rules to the point where she could end up in jail, it’s a habit she can’t break. That’s where the thrill comes in for her—taking risks. Which leads me to think, maybe she should be tossed in jail one of these days. But in <i>Murderous Means</i>, she does turn over a slightly new leaf by trying to be somewhat more upstanding. She’s a work in progress.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Corrie is fit and, on occasion, engages in physical combat and carries a <i>shuriken</i> to defend herself. Are you into physical fitness? What is a <i>shuriken</i>, and have you ever used one?<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">I like to stay fit, Grace, so I walk daily, which I hope promotes my fitness. Corrie and I both have sweet tooths that require some heavy-handed, disciplinary management and for me, lots of walks. <i>Shuriken</i> are Japanese throwing stars used by ninja warriors back in the day. They are illegal in California. I have never seen or held one in-person (as you can tell, I’m not Corrie). But I like the concept of a weapon that’s used to distract potential criminals rather than harming them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Murder is a very serious affair, but you inject a lot of humor into your books. How do you use humor without appearing to make light of someone’s murder?</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKtyb-rm7ZwnwgesSbcUiOSo9cg46xVuqnXawVqxrhmbhBh28IeqJIfMxlT0QUoQjJqom6qUrEqoEezhWjZwIB6uZ1B2c26ZbV3WwCFOTUedWMp21eM2nOQ_2PC0fZe5VQVeO_3vtOrl8SON8bFU6-inOTMhOWrvI32MyZX002ds-1-T7H6PGizXLjhfV/s218/4%20slightly.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="145" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKtyb-rm7ZwnwgesSbcUiOSo9cg46xVuqnXawVqxrhmbhBh28IeqJIfMxlT0QUoQjJqom6qUrEqoEezhWjZwIB6uZ1B2c26ZbV3WwCFOTUedWMp21eM2nOQ_2PC0fZe5VQVeO_3vtOrl8SON8bFU6-inOTMhOWrvI32MyZX002ds-1-T7H6PGizXLjhfV/w213-h320/4%20slightly.jpeg" width="213" /></a></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;">I need humor in my daily life to take the edge off unpleasantries and, in Corrie’s case, to soften the gloom from serious situations. All I know when I’m writing is that if I can make light of a situation so that it blends into everything else going on, I will. It deflects a serious matter, and puts a smile on my face. I hope it does the same for my readers. It’s a break from life’s upsets and worries.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Promotion is one of the biggest challenges a writer faces. You’ve taken a large step forward on that by working with other writers to form </b><a href="http://www.sleuthsandsidekicks.com/" style="color: purple;"><b>Sleuths and Sidekicks</b></a><b>. Please tell us about that. <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">I am so grateful to have banded together with lovely, talented authors:<a href="http://www.jennifercollinsmoore.com/" style="color: purple;"> Jen Collins Moore</a>, <a href="http://www.tinadebellegarde.com/" style="color: purple;">Tina deBellegarde</a>, and <a href="http://www.carolpouliot.com/" style="color: purple;">Carol Pouliot.</a> I can’t believe my good fortune. It was the summer of 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing (pre-vaccines), and I had a book release that fall. As we know, in-person book events weren’t happening. I put out a call on my publisher’s (Level Best Books) listserv for authors with release dates around the same time as mine, so we could promote together. Only three authors responded, and we hit it off immediately. We had a ball promoting virtually from coast-to-coast, and last year, we launched the Sleuths & Sidekicks website, geared mostly for readers. We also teach writing workshops, virtually, and just finished up a panel in London. It’s amazing how everything came together for us. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>What’s next for Corrie and her team?</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmz08Sz3Y0mhsjOr9UzwpGuVtDIefoBKasp_irVJNGWKxrnVHqlcR_z69eppDLyMtCbo8FzEI4XewSW52PnOwmVPKDmxrHyz_GfNCOtfthFNKotdHw-fDIKwMVS-W1HslYehU6948tjltj8_2JRwY1jU_ysYY10t5BpsghN4OQKHA4ZfTl6Uzkipdc8hSP/s218/Gone%20missing%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="145" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmz08Sz3Y0mhsjOr9UzwpGuVtDIefoBKasp_irVJNGWKxrnVHqlcR_z69eppDLyMtCbo8FzEI4XewSW52PnOwmVPKDmxrHyz_GfNCOtfthFNKotdHw-fDIKwMVS-W1HslYehU6948tjltj8_2JRwY1jU_ysYY10t5BpsghN4OQKHA4ZfTl6Uzkipdc8hSP/w213-h320/Gone%20missing%202.jpeg" width="213" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;">That’s a great question, Grace. I’m working on Book #7 in the series, which opens with Corrie and Michael on a long-postponed date that doesn’t exactly unfold as planned because…a case drops into Corrie’s lap. A young girl needs help in determining what happened to her father, who disappeared years ago. Corrie can’t turn down the case because someone strong-arms her into taking it: her mother. Mom has her reasons, as readers will see.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing fiction?<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">About 50,000 words into writing <i>Murderous Means</i>, I came to a halt. My fingers were clunky, the word flow dried up, and my frustration was mounting. So, I stopped writing that manuscript and started writing another in a different genre. It was so liberating. After about 30,000 words in my new draft, I had a strong hankering to return to <i>Murderous Means</i>, which went a lot more smoothly. That never happened to me before, but now I know what to do should it occur again.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">Thank you so much, Grace, for hosting me today.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><b>Thank you, Lida</b>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">To learn more about Lida Sideris and her mystery series, follow her on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Lida%20Sideris" style="color: purple;">https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Lida%20Sideris</a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;">Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Grace Toppinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291304815273486038noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-22020421474557830052024-02-27T05:30:00.002-05:002024-02-27T05:30:00.146-05:00Artificial Intelligence: Have We Created God? by Martha Reed<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">I’m always looking for ways to
improve my writing and to make my stories better. It’s why I attend so many
workshops, craft presentations, conference panels, and crime fiction and
mystery conventions. Recently, the idea of using Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ChatGPT
entered the discussion as a new possibility, initially riding in on the
question of copyright infringement before spilling over into the ethics of
using ChatGPT to create or edit story ideas and even using it to write a whole
book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“ChatGPT is
a chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022. Based on a
large language model, it enables users to refine and steer a conversation
towards a <b>desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language</b>.”
– <i>Wikipedia</i></span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I don’t know
about you but steering a conversation [or a writing project] “towards a desired
length, format, style, level of detail, and language” sounds a lot like drafting
a manuscript to me.</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“Automate
your writing, answer questions, write code and much more. Get more creative and
free up your time using ChatGPT’s powerful language capabilities…” including “Draft
Contracts & Proposals,” “Write Emails & Chat Replies,” “Create Video
Scripts,” “<b>Write Stories, Poems, Songs</b>.” - <i>AI-PRO</i></span><i><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’m probably a dinosaur in my
resistance of using ChatGPT, but it seems to me that I’d be handing off the
creative and fun piece of the puzzle if I let artificial intelligence suggest
intriguing plot or character possibilities. Isn’t accessing my fundamentally
personal human experience the basis for my creative endeavor? Sure, I might
call up a memory and incorporate it into my story, but it’s my memory, filtered
through my brain. Taking on a piece of script from someone (or something) else
feels like plagiarism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And I don’t want to “free up my
time” when I write. Sure, I’d love to write faster, but giving each story the
proper amount of time and effort that it takes to produce the piece is a big part
of my craft. It’s up to me to keep the reader engaged with the story for the
length of time it takes to read it. I suppose I could skinny my novels down to a
handful of bullet points, but that destroys the construction of the novel, my
end goal product.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Q: Do you use AI/ChatGPT as a
writing tool? If so, where do you draw the line?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The part of ChatGPT that scares me
is that as we use it, it uses us to learn about our history and the human
condition. How long before AI digests and absorbs all of the historic and
multicultural human knowledge we’ve amassed since the Stone Age?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And when AI is done, what will its
Superintelligence do for its next step?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That question presented a plethora
of interesting benevolent and despotic story prompts like:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What if AI took
control of the world-wide Central Banking system and mathematically
redistributed human wealth?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What if AI
concluded that human war was wrong/unproductive and accessed weapons systems and
Star Wars satellite technology to enforce international borders? What if AI
redefined current international borders based on human population shifts and the
historical record?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What if AI
decided to relocate (or worse, remove – EEK) human populations based on
drought/food production calculations? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What if AI
determined that humans are just really clever Great Apes and we need to rejoin
the Animal category? (another EEK!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And in the spirit of <i>The
Terminator </i>and <i>The Matrix</i>, the scariest question of all: What if AI
takes control like an Overlord and starts to redirect and coerce human behavior
since historically, we can’t seem to get it together ourselves?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What would
humans do if we weren’t ultimately in charge of and responsible for our own
behaviors?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Would we unplug
AI? Can we? Would AI let us do that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Would we settle
like sheep into acceptance and complacency?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Would we rebel
and escape to the stars seeking freedom and independence?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the ultimately Biggest
Question: Now that we’ve developed Artificial Intelligence and a potentially
dominant Superintelligence and given it our wealth of human knowledge, have we created
God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Martha Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06984070936673069488noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-90237202408452404592024-02-26T01:00:00.000-05:002024-02-26T01:00:00.131-05:00A Room of My Own - Sort of by Nancy L. Eady<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">This week, something exciting begins. My husband, who loves to woodwork,
is starting to build me a desk where I can work from home and write with a two
monitor set up without taking over the dining room table. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last year, I learned I had Covid on a Saturday morning when I had a major
brief due the next Friday. The first stop after Urgent Care was my office,
where I picked up my work computer and my two monitors so I could work from
home. I ended up working from the following setup for the whole week:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrCb9iXcKowjbx0lzmxu9pXl7SqCEhj88XAG65a4fsSztZ5PIjToYkV32BzPvaVtezjBZLFBEo6OOMpw-IVIrm9lVbWDWyvz6qrzNpiqR_7LmD5M1fuCmqg-C03PoxltYNrfS7TXcznznNyL1WfRbJwQqK682MbbDIfdYv4yWbgxqMicaI8YdxdgV8A/s2913/dining%20room%20table.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2913" data-original-width="2185" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVrCb9iXcKowjbx0lzmxu9pXl7SqCEhj88XAG65a4fsSztZ5PIjToYkV32BzPvaVtezjBZLFBEo6OOMpw-IVIrm9lVbWDWyvz6qrzNpiqR_7LmD5M1fuCmqg-C03PoxltYNrfS7TXcznznNyL1WfRbJwQqK682MbbDIfdYv4yWbgxqMicaI8YdxdgV8A/s320/dining%20room%20table.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> While it looks like a pleasant, if crowded, place to work, doing it for a week revealed problems. First, the table that the monitors and computer rest upon is our dining room table. Leaving them up full time keeps us from using the table as a place to eat. (Let’s pretend just for a minute that we don’t normally eat our meals on trays; even if we use trays, I want the option to use a table.) Second, after about six hours, working at the table was a pain in the neck, literally. To see the monitors, I had to scrunch my chin down to my chest because of their height. After one day, we put the monitors up on an assortment of cookbooks, an uncondensed volume of Shakespeare’s works and a large print King James Bible to ease my neck. Third, the chair bottoms are wood. They are comfortable for the length of a meal up to about four hours; after that, they give me the equivalent of saddle sores. We had a harder time fixing that problem. <p></p><p>I got the brief filed on time, recovered from Covid, returned my equipment to work and reclaimed my dining room table. There still are times when I need to work from home. Two monitors speed up the process. Whether I am working on a brief or my creative writing, I can leave a document open on one screen and do research on the other. Mark and I bought two monitors to stay permanently at home in December, and rather than forfeit the dining room table again, we have placed them on the study/library table. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbpjgz4LZJTqhYBifGGwS7st1bgGeXHkuvDhKa91nvptOF0uwdZ8-5knL3DkhejCBsDfkGimRWPIIfpOINUmGULqi9ptgV3psvmPazHRZKtBrT2UAHKFq2LosUgyC8rB2ixXf-4XVor0yic4-lQ4Ru4zICGCyimMYKftf1XsTRZqeccyUU6GGmEwNew/s4000/Study.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbpjgz4LZJTqhYBifGGwS7st1bgGeXHkuvDhKa91nvptOF0uwdZ8-5knL3DkhejCBsDfkGimRWPIIfpOINUmGULqi9ptgV3psvmPazHRZKtBrT2UAHKFq2LosUgyC8rB2ixXf-4XVor0yic4-lQ4Ru4zICGCyimMYKftf1XsTRZqeccyUU6GGmEwNew/s320/Study.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The chairs are more comfortable, and we now know the number of books needed to raise the monitors to the right height, but the arrangement is cramped. What you can’t see in the picture is that the table and chairs are over 15 years old now, thoroughly scratched, and on their last legs. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, Mark has volunteered to build me a desk to replace the library table to give me a place where I can work and write. I’m thrilled. While it’s not exactly a room of my own as a place to work, since I will share it with him, it’s as close as I’m likely to get. </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, my primary creative writing spot will remain, as shown in Shari Randall’s October 2021 post on Writers Who Kill, “<a href="https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2021/10/desk-set-where-writers-who-kill-work.html" target="_blank">Desk Set: Where Writers Who Kill Like to Work</a>,” our sofa. </div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tRr05pPKSbzmF_jtahRw0bTfesTuwkJtvm_hsoe_EWV6A4vuEKP0tqGEwspa6-HlbmkiVZ-qhO2x4scjA8h4qw5MQIbBJmTv19w26KSUgme3UHVpzdW1sOffKy-CLrwMb1SE7A0_EMzXT5pVYO2IxiP0poWyITqeob-iypLUI-QBJH92-4EChZINKQ/s2048/Where%20I%20write.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tRr05pPKSbzmF_jtahRw0bTfesTuwkJtvm_hsoe_EWV6A4vuEKP0tqGEwspa6-HlbmkiVZ-qhO2x4scjA8h4qw5MQIbBJmTv19w26KSUgme3UHVpzdW1sOffKy-CLrwMb1SE7A0_EMzXT5pVYO2IxiP0poWyITqeob-iypLUI-QBJH92-4EChZINKQ/s320/Where%20I%20write.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><div>But having a more professional work space is exciting too. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you could design your own writing room, what would it look like? </div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Nancy Eadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05627294530115653719noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-4902332950693949292024-02-25T00:00:00.001-05:002024-02-25T00:00:00.136-05:00Celebrations<p><span style="text-indent: 0in;">By Annette
Dashofy</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">February has
proven to be a banner month for me. I received my seventh Agatha Award
nomination for <i>Helpless</i>. It never gets old. Okay, so maybe LOSING is
getting a little old, if I’m to be completely honest, but the adage “It’s an
honor to be nominated” is absolutely the truth. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxW-_X6rPbJI-I1x3Qw_8on8hgHJqkx29cByd-s-XbG2gnBqdZc6oCtKQAqoyjyskKWf1-XZxDE5rGngz-U_5Razt9wnu4jkNfSjdfcSFzRxIaVuxVKtWIyn0lmNtDBgCXvXMvKY5nNTPn2QtGmtN1Coz6yN_fUkpWg9UgxdvNRdqBrXvdLUDOZehICE/s480/Agatha%20nominees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxW-_X6rPbJI-I1x3Qw_8on8hgHJqkx29cByd-s-XbG2gnBqdZc6oCtKQAqoyjyskKWf1-XZxDE5rGngz-U_5Razt9wnu4jkNfSjdfcSFzRxIaVuxVKtWIyn0lmNtDBgCXvXMvKY5nNTPn2QtGmtN1Coz6yN_fUkpWg9UgxdvNRdqBrXvdLUDOZehICE/s320/Agatha%20nominees.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Being nominated in the company
of four good friends in the mystery community (Tara Laskowski, Gigi Pandian,
Ellen Byron, and Korina Moss) makes it all the sweeter.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">A week or so ago,
I signed a contract with One More Chapter (HarperCollins UK) for three more
Detective Honeywell Mysteries. Having a series picked up for additional books
is always a milestone, especially when you’re enjoying writing it as much as I am.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoFCfkieP5Ikli_jSkKUHyTBbTHvxLvY8l1PgklR0h1MAzZI0y6F7mOvtsBNoK_TS8GNuZuOVTqrT6ix69UjSBTgEkUVK3QKKFr1WrE0jIfVWxDqwzvykRzy_os0ShJAllWSC8g1rc3tS9EV-84rrReVhfZ-8g85JgmVleYw9ROcyejulKp9xEc2JPNE/s552/Publishers%20Marketplace%20Announcement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="552" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoFCfkieP5Ikli_jSkKUHyTBbTHvxLvY8l1PgklR0h1MAzZI0y6F7mOvtsBNoK_TS8GNuZuOVTqrT6ix69UjSBTgEkUVK3QKKFr1WrE0jIfVWxDqwzvykRzy_os0ShJAllWSC8g1rc3tS9EV-84rrReVhfZ-8g85JgmVleYw9ROcyejulKp9xEc2JPNE/s320/Publishers%20Marketplace%20Announcement.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-indent: 0in;">The first book in
this contract (the third in the overall series) is due to my editor in five
days! No, I’m not a superhero. I was already writing it before the contract
negotiations even began. The reason for celebration, though, is that one week
ago, I finished the third draft of it! I’m sitting on it right now and will
reopen the file in a couple of days to maybe tweak a word here or there, but overall,
it’s DONE.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">At least until my
first round of developmental edits arrive in a month or so.<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">I have a bit of a
gap before the next book is due, and I’d planned all along to take March “off.”
Oh, who am I kidding? My brain will be spiraling, and I’ll be jotting notes the
whole time. But I need to get my accounting in order for my appointment with my
tax accountant in a few weeks. And I need to make a bunch of phone calls and
sort through the mess of insurance and investment information surrounding my
husband’s impending retirement. AND I have more phone calls to make to line up
workers for an upcoming home improvement matter.<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">None of this
sounds like a celebration, does it?<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">I love hearing
stories about writers celebrating their victories, be it finishing a first
draft (or a chapter or a scene…all reasons to celebrate!) or signing a contract
or being nominated for a major award. It sounds like so much fun. Yet, I rarely
do. Finish a book? Great! Get busy and start the next one. Sign a contract?
Yay! Start planning my schedule and figure out how many pages I need to write
each day to meet the deadline. Receive a nomination? Hooray! Enjoy all the
congratulatory messages on social media…during breaks from writing.<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBSD9A738JZ8Ch7FplhPqG6IyYXl9IDO8H6rDkxLJPPqVF_q74TAKmONr-rYyAMcLSzUkguSuD9G6O8tm5mAfRRJYsBhX3EpZ0k6aFtHNVjBmEN1zcNl6OuwU_vrsDlPhyphenhyphenpe0U5z2E_iJDB4rwarw9Ah7T3QAlqtLkmsc4GM9S2wOwChPyKGuLYp6fCA/s2560/Equine_eBook_cover_1600x2560_award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBSD9A738JZ8Ch7FplhPqG6IyYXl9IDO8H6rDkxLJPPqVF_q74TAKmONr-rYyAMcLSzUkguSuD9G6O8tm5mAfRRJYsBhX3EpZ0k6aFtHNVjBmEN1zcNl6OuwU_vrsDlPhyphenhyphenpe0U5z2E_iJDB4rwarw9Ah7T3QAlqtLkmsc4GM9S2wOwChPyKGuLYp6fCA/s320/Equine_eBook_cover_1600x2560_award.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I confess, I did
enjoy a REAL celebration when I won the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for <i>Death By Equine</i>. The next
evening, while still in Kentucky where the awards were handed out, my husband
and I went out for dinner. A nice dinner. An order-whatever-you-want dinner.<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">You’re probably
wondering what, if anything, I did to celebrate this bountiful month. I binge-watched a bunch of episodes of <i>NCIS: Los Angeles</i> that I hadn’t seen
before. It may not sound like much, but considering I’d normally have turned
off the TV after one episode so I could get back to writing, sitting back in
the recliner with my cat (Kensi, named after Kensi Blye from that very TV show)
felt decadent. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">What about you?
Do you celebrate victories large and small? If so, what is your idea of a
celebration? <o:p></o:p></p>Annettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02755947919433555176noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-38912587256946503182024-02-24T03:00:00.053-05:002024-02-24T09:52:54.367-05:00Eight Crime Writing Authors and a Giveaway<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Have you heard of
the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/713905036831237" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Behind The Crime Tape</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> Facebook group</span>? We are eight crime authors who have banded
together in a Facebook group to share stories about what happens behind
the crime tape.* To start the blog in the best possible way we are having a
hop--a Facebook Hop--on February 23<sup>rd</sup> that will continue into this evening. No poodle skirt required. Every
author is participating with a giveaway on their page, and there'll be a grand
prize offered on the Behind the Crime Tape page. It doesn't get much
better than this if you are a fan of crime fiction! A bit about the authors—and
the giveaway follows--pictures included.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p>*Is there a name for a group of crime writers? A murder
of authors? A cabal of crime writers? Oh, how about a plot! That's it, a plot!
A plot of crime writers. Perfect.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063463330059" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; text-decoration-line: none;"></span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNVkb31WvCmp5By3jdDxBjGXVJiQg0XKstTNPm7aVcDpWBEMGB5ZSWDwIkdKLd9846smusuS6twxpby6yDgjpt4YzfHy5yjXR5Y0qJcd3DoM0uchibtxWyLh3WUbDa296TUFTOE8KYqZee0ODw9xfXKcWJTF5rHKcsf_uLCm-AZz-zjDjT5Y8X01sNuET/s450/Cabin-Fever-Cover-300x450%20(003).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNVkb31WvCmp5By3jdDxBjGXVJiQg0XKstTNPm7aVcDpWBEMGB5ZSWDwIkdKLd9846smusuS6twxpby6yDgjpt4YzfHy5yjXR5Y0qJcd3DoM0uchibtxWyLh3WUbDa296TUFTOE8KYqZee0ODw9xfXKcWJTF5rHKcsf_uLCm-AZz-zjDjT5Y8X01sNuET/w161-h241/Cabin-Fever-Cover-300x450%20(003).jpg" width="161" /></a></div>James M. Jackson<span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"> authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. Jim will award one <b><i>Cabin Fever</i> </b>eBook to each of five winners randomly drawn. There will be one entry for commenting on Jim’s Author Facebook page, a bonus entry if entrant follows Jim’s Author Facebook page, and a bonus entry if the entrant also follows the Behind the Crime Tape Facebook page. Winners will be contacted by Facebook PM.</span><p></p><p style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.4px;"> </span></strong><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">CABIN FEVER</span></i></p><p style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">He wanted rest and relaxation. What he got was a mystery woman suffering from hypothermia, frostbite, high fevers, amnesia—and rope burns on her wrists and ankles.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQw8A38pY3BgpIt9P4PPFapM6HlZ_U3Vk-zD7huVrI9ADZlbawxkV_P9mogmLZi1IqrkGF07OM5dUv0SWrXcOKjS3iogunTFQU486oc2YpjH4uy6EATR5rNmGNYI3x_KKHU3YBUlCTZqBzhJhgGSXNsJOXoT556aud0zIr2CVuGFTq557C2_1LNB5QX3n/s1165/Keep%20Your%20Family%20Close%20Cover%20Art%20(002).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="761" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQw8A38pY3BgpIt9P4PPFapM6HlZ_U3Vk-zD7huVrI9ADZlbawxkV_P9mogmLZi1IqrkGF07OM5dUv0SWrXcOKjS3iogunTFQU486oc2YpjH4uy6EATR5rNmGNYI3x_KKHU3YBUlCTZqBzhJhgGSXNsJOXoT556aud0zIr2CVuGFTq557C2_1LNB5QX3n/w163-h250/Keep%20Your%20Family%20Close%20Cover%20Art%20(002).jpg" width="163" /></a></div><br />USA Today Bestseller <a href="https://www.facebook.com/annette.dashofy" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Annette Dashofy</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, author of
the Agatha Nominated </span><em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Helpless</span></em><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">, will be
giving away digital copies of her latest release, </span><em><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Keep Your
Family Close</span></b></em><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></strong><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong><i>KEEP YOUR FAMILY CLOSE</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When
a badly decomposed body is found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse,
Erie police detective, Matthias Honeywell, is called in to investigate.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Meanwhile, freelance photographer Emma Anderson is
desperately trying to find her drug-addicted sister, Nell. Then a devastating
piece of evidence found at Detective Honeywell’s crime scene brings her world
crashing down, a driver’s license belonging to her missing sister.</span><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrtEUEu0lBXXoqxmOMFiVp_E3skTdGGeSAMfh0MsdHnsNDAHW5GSbDqEanOX3lMhyphenhyphenc1-i20nuqS9TcHrvJ6oguNhH0bKPOZV-FBd6667GXzySPEMSDYNx5ov7ewZNZimxytLTaqvV_9OuScSJGzTuAsIApDOk11rRcRPxmAR_BWpPUKIYoxHuTJ1zHnUw/s320/The%20Woman%20Underwater.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="213" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrtEUEu0lBXXoqxmOMFiVp_E3skTdGGeSAMfh0MsdHnsNDAHW5GSbDqEanOX3lMhyphenhyphenc1-i20nuqS9TcHrvJ6oguNhH0bKPOZV-FBd6667GXzySPEMSDYNx5ov7ewZNZimxytLTaqvV_9OuScSJGzTuAsIApDOk11rRcRPxmAR_BWpPUKIYoxHuTJ1zHnUw/w167-h251/The%20Woman%20Underwater.jpg" width="167" /></a></div><br />National award-winning writer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/penny.goetjen.author" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Penny Goetjen</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> is the
author of six published mystery and suspense novels where the settings play as
prominent a role as the engaging characters. A self-proclaimed eccentric known
for writing late into the night by the allure of flickering candlelight, she
often weaves a subtle, unexpected paranormal twist into her stories. When her
husband is asked how he feels about his wife doing in innocent people with the
written word, he answers with a wink, “I sleep with one eye open.”</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong><i>THE WOMAN UNDERWATER</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">In the seven years since Victoria’s husband disappeared,
no witnesses have stepped forward and no credible evidence has been
collected—not even his car. He simply vanished from behind the stone walls of a
private boarding school where he taught—the same school their son now attends.
But someone has to know what happened. And that someone may be closer to
Victoria than she realizes. </span><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP7VPLhe7xa4vrvRwwlzT7Spk9vhmQqcnOlsGAHUCQqFmetnyDLxOLC3qVF8pkx2bJVvoSO7RbSLDOF2KHjQ-38Yk9fP_HgSLOtY4B7LSGkpQTYS8Y57XhPBSsVdoCaFvxwxNSZtdmkFbTl5UXVLJ-QIo0chf7ALKJ8onL8HO3cTd51u5MtxhAPFhGS7N/s900/Ambrose%20The%20Mongol's%20Coffin%20smaller%20(002).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP7VPLhe7xa4vrvRwwlzT7Spk9vhmQqcnOlsGAHUCQqFmetnyDLxOLC3qVF8pkx2bJVvoSO7RbSLDOF2KHjQ-38Yk9fP_HgSLOtY4B7LSGkpQTYS8Y57XhPBSsVdoCaFvxwxNSZtdmkFbTl5UXVLJ-QIo0chf7ALKJ8onL8HO3cTd51u5MtxhAPFhGS7N/w161-h242/Ambrose%20The%20Mongol's%20Coffin%20smaller%20(002).jpg" width="161" /></a></div><br />Adventure guide <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ECAmbroseauthor" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: none;">E. Chris Ambrose</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> writes
knowledge-inspired adventure fiction, like the Bone Guard archaeological
thrillers and the Rogue Adventure novels. In service to her work, Chris learned
to hunt with a falcon, pull traction on a broken limb, and clear a room of
possible assailants.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span><i>THE MONGOL'S COFFIN</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">In </span><em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The <b>Mongol's Coffin</b></span></em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Bone
Guard, book 1) a former special operations intelligence team races the Chinese
army to locate the legendary lost tomb of Genghis Khan.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rId4kLc-aqCNoqlYDmP2bkoZ0m61UzKCvFigIr-AE9zNgeeV_A3pwEmi_SoD2kjFmmMS-Ze8aoKSrRR-fDFxVfX_KnomISlRKQXbLSRSlXVCm_p4ow2gH4wVNrujXxwlz-COyqOi_iya0kDAPGGE_TTQqFPwgQbXvlmIsvxeerErQ1GZexEILU3AyAO_/s2560/Danger%20Kindle%20(002).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rId4kLc-aqCNoqlYDmP2bkoZ0m61UzKCvFigIr-AE9zNgeeV_A3pwEmi_SoD2kjFmmMS-Ze8aoKSrRR-fDFxVfX_KnomISlRKQXbLSRSlXVCm_p4ow2gH4wVNrujXxwlz-COyqOi_iya0kDAPGGE_TTQqFPwgQbXvlmIsvxeerErQ1GZexEILU3AyAO_/w168-h268/Danger%20Kindle%20(002).jpg" width="168" /></a></div><br />Author <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063732082453" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-decoration-line: none;">L.C. Hayden</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> is
the award-winning creator of the best-selling Harry Bronson Thriller Series and
the Aimee Brent Mystery Series. She has also penned a non-fiction series about
miracles and angels. Her other works include children's picture books, an
inspirational book, a guide to writing, and several other genres. L.C. Hayden
will be giving away <i><b>Where Danger Follows</b></i>, the seventh book in the Harry
Bronson series.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">WHEN DANGER FOLLOWS <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Ten of Ceruti’s coveted 1870s violins are making their
way into the United States where they’ll be sold underground. Bronson must find
a way to stop this, but dangerous mob leaders are one step ahead of him. To
complicate matters, Becky, his fourteen-year-old grandniece, goes missing.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Bronson’s search for Becky and his efforts to stop the
shipment draws him into a world filled with gangs and dangerous criminals.
Everywhere he and ex-partner Mike go spirals them into danger. Can Bronson and
Mike find the answers and help Becky before it’s too late? Or have they reached
the point of no return When Danger Follows?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kaitcarsonauthor" target="_blank"><span color="windowtext" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-decoration-line: none;"></span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0quu-s99R8IM-x1EzZCOL7nfh4MtYsulHnFlhyphenhypheniwXpsG-JlcV7AZqxQk7b8duKbLmgUOAcZ7x82Q8BQzVhyO7COzlPLv8XwWMILV_yYfSQTB_O1BcQ7MoS0f9fS35oCzonB7HllEQlKkJknkp2McXjmvUxDtaJ70NpBDx19x32CS5skgK6l2ejYBjx3C/s2700/Death%20Dive%20Hayden%20Kent%20(002).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0quu-s99R8IM-x1EzZCOL7nfh4MtYsulHnFlhyphenhypheniwXpsG-JlcV7AZqxQk7b8duKbLmgUOAcZ7x82Q8BQzVhyO7COzlPLv8XwWMILV_yYfSQTB_O1BcQ7MoS0f9fS35oCzonB7HllEQlKkJknkp2McXjmvUxDtaJ70NpBDx19x32CS5skgK6l2ejYBjx3C/w159-h239/Death%20Dive%20Hayden%20Kent%20(002).jpg" width="159" /></a></div><br />Kait Carson<span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
writes stories set in the steamy tropical heat of Florida. She lives with her
husband, four rescue cats and a flock of conures in the Crown of Maine. Kait
will give away a Kindle e-book copy of <i><b>Death Dive</b></i>, the latest in the
Hayden Kent Mystery series. Alas, U.S. only.</span><p></p>
<p><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DEATH
DIVE <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Hayden
Kent has more riding on the answer to the mystery than curiosity. She believes
the diver faked his death. As a paralegal and newly minted claims investigator,
it’s her job to decide if her company pays out the thirty-million-dollar
policy. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When her trip to
Belize uncovers evidence of fraud, she returns to her beloved Florida Keys and
digs deeper into the dead man’s affairs. Her boss’s advice to follow the money
sends her to the Cayman Islands where privacy is king, and secrets can be deadly.
Hayden’s inquiries put her in the cross-hairs of a killer who will stop at
nothing to claim the thirty million. Can she prove the dead man lives before
she ends up as shark bait?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t forget to enter
on all eight author’s pages and the Behind the Crime Tape main page! Good luck. Here's the link: </span></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">https://www.facebook.com/groups/713905036831237</span></p>Kaithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07758348842858993203noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-11664229561972048212024-02-23T01:00:00.001-05:002024-02-23T01:00:00.122-05:00A Tale of Two Tales by Nancy L. Eady<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">Meet Max. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sEeO8GXheKWwQ3-4uxMaTDRPKOsvjEmRA8uVbMY2reC4fI5SDXQGVtsFEcO-BsBCt7lNyO9U9m6Wm31caTh0AxYnXGN7wLHK9qEJ-FFfO4-NwDEZQ0MvSBMFXaKib_0gfqwi0uCUZabBvVTI9u2hcuHoDgQUX-QUMgXU7TctYUEovxpeq-X0cPbW5g/s1104/Max%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="622" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sEeO8GXheKWwQ3-4uxMaTDRPKOsvjEmRA8uVbMY2reC4fI5SDXQGVtsFEcO-BsBCt7lNyO9U9m6Wm31caTh0AxYnXGN7wLHK9qEJ-FFfO4-NwDEZQ0MvSBMFXaKib_0gfqwi0uCUZabBvVTI9u2hcuHoDgQUX-QUMgXU7TctYUEovxpeq-X0cPbW5g/s320/Max%202.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Max is a pound puppy that came to live with us on December 27, 2022, when he was three months old. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRV0Yno4GBB-wgSimLkMouIppjurb7MUFpnAiGyiNjCI752pbaOFM42N8WXTWU1axw9lwxuByMSb7INPYF9v3nahUo1_k4Kl4iPpEihyphenhyphenzRReLSM4hkINJJHtQh4vtCUFqUvURv0lPv6RChHeHs6kM_rvs7ZG1xvEDtotUVtT7fZEsNQNQzkRr0-jYiBA/s4000/20221228_183127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRV0Yno4GBB-wgSimLkMouIppjurb7MUFpnAiGyiNjCI752pbaOFM42N8WXTWU1axw9lwxuByMSb7INPYF9v3nahUo1_k4Kl4iPpEihyphenhyphenzRReLSM4hkINJJHtQh4vtCUFqUvURv0lPv6RChHeHs6kM_rvs7ZG1xvEDtotUVtT7fZEsNQNQzkRr0-jYiBA/s320/20221228_183127.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At seventeen months, he is now an adolescent puppy. (Most dogs are considered an adult at two years.) As you can see, he has grown considerably. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDGq-nEw4AmSb75gqHmXTJu8hFRPk3879XHuoBp4venSSSoO8F7a9qT2PrYHyiaMfC97ptQFVXYiqytA7r1mTKX-UcIl3jpuUzmTZXgl6n3VPcy5AvfBBloHC05Dygf7LASwpdqA2fovC6_io15A5iMNZJLxXQ-fXo-HVvciOLkYk_-T9mSxcwLA6jA/s4000/20231102_215310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDGq-nEw4AmSb75gqHmXTJu8hFRPk3879XHuoBp4venSSSoO8F7a9qT2PrYHyiaMfC97ptQFVXYiqytA7r1mTKX-UcIl3jpuUzmTZXgl6n3VPcy5AvfBBloHC05Dygf7LASwpdqA2fovC6_io15A5iMNZJLxXQ-fXo-HVvciOLkYk_-T9mSxcwLA6jA/s320/20231102_215310.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you look up “happy-go-lucky” in a pictorial dictionary, Max’s image should appear. He likes being a good dog until something more exciting, like a counter to surf or a trash bag to sort through, comes along. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The other day, I was at work while my husband and daughter were at home. When I checked in with Mark to see how his day was going, he mentioned that Max had gotten into a mud puddle in the back yard, and Kayla had to wash him. Facts communicated; end of story. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Compare his version to the following telephone colloquy between me and my daughter, Kayla, earlier that afternoon. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Kayla</span>:</b> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Is there any medication for getting angry? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Me</b> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">[not prepared for the pop quiz]: </span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I don’t think so. Why? </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Because I’m pretty sure our neighbors will never hire me to clean their houses after hearing me scream at Max today. [Note: She wants to start her own cleaning business.]</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b> </span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What happened? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I let Max outside and he wouldn’t come when I called. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b></span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oh? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b> </span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When he didn’t come, I walked out into the yard, and he thought we were playing chase. He ran around the yard six times, stopping to drink from a mud puddle each time, and I kept scolding him for it. Then I got tired of waiting for him and turned my back to walk a different direction in the yard for a second, and when I turned back around, he looked like a chocolate lab. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b></span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oh? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes. I turned back around and he had run and splashed through the mud puddle </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and got mud all over him. It smelled bad, so I think there was something in the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">puddle besides just mud. I was so mad, I started screaming at him. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b> </span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh? [I realize my end of this conversation is less than scintillating, but so far, I had<span><span> </span></span>not been called upon to offer advice, fix anything, comment on anything or do anything other than listen.]</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And then he ran inside, ran all over the house, and got mud everywhere. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Does Dad know? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b> </span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">What did he say? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">He left. He had been waiting on me to go to Sam’s Club with him, but when he saw Max, he said he couldn’t wait any longer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me</b> [admiring Dad’s perspicacity]:</span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Did you wash him? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">It took two hours. The mud was caked on his underside so badly that I had to rinse him seven or eight times before I could even get to his hair to put the shampoo on. He kept shaking the dirty water off him too, and now my bathroom is covered in an inch of brown water. He made me so mad I had to leave him in the bathroom while I went to sit in the hall for twenty minutes to calm down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me:</b> [ignoring the physical impossibilities of a two-hour dog bath and an inch of standing water confined solely to the bathroom, and pondering the amount of damage Max could do to a bathroom in twenty minutes, unsupervised]:</span> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Is he clean? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kayla:</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes, but I don’t know how he’ll get dry. He kept shaking the water off so I couldn’t dry him. Now I’ve locked him in his carrier so the blankets in there are wet too. I’m leaving him there until I finish mopping the whole house. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Me</b> [not sure what else to say]:</span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m sure he’ll dry off soon, but I have to get back to work. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">End of story. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcESwQ99GDs0LVoHM2D8NyiWLRx8GalUBEfIWY5hLcpKbpGa9RgkJ8mmaQgP83mqRSk2ZtendkxjZITDQJfQ01NCWzPK5Em6bDLxUyh5UbIMtCgbBAR2g3sCjcIHclwhvMBMcG3kqjNGQiCfoEfuOVaEvxY-r4yjfG6w1r5e5AKUGMMHHeouvGqQ3LQ/s2048/71502.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcESwQ99GDs0LVoHM2D8NyiWLRx8GalUBEfIWY5hLcpKbpGa9RgkJ8mmaQgP83mqRSk2ZtendkxjZITDQJfQ01NCWzPK5Em6bDLxUyh5UbIMtCgbBAR2g3sCjcIHclwhvMBMcG3kqjNGQiCfoEfuOVaEvxY-r4yjfG6w1r5e5AKUGMMHHeouvGqQ3LQ/s320/71502.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">One story; two tales. A facet of writing is knowing when to use which version: short and succinct, or dramatic, laden with details. How do you decide? </span><p></p><div><br /></div>Nancy Eadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05627294530115653719noreply@blogger.com27