Of Waves and Pens by Nancy L. Eady

Waves: 

One of the fascinating aspects of living in a small town is learning the language, both spoken and non-spoken. For example, when a person honks their horn at your car in a small Southern town, odds are they are just saying hello. I learned this lesson over twenty years ago, when Mark and I traveled to a small town in South Carolina.

On the main road through the center of town, with a posted speed limit of forty-five miles per hour, we got behind an elderly couple going twenty-five miles per hour at best. We were from Charlotte at the time. Mark honked his horn, hoping to encourage them to drive a little faster. The driver, the man, looked in his rear-view mirror to see who we were and turned to his wife. Even though we couldn’t hear him, we’re positive he asked her, “Do you know them?” The wife looked in the rear-view mirror at us and, shaking her head, indicated, “No.” They both took one more look to be sure, and then, on cue, not wanting to be rude, both of them waved at us on the off-chance we might indeed be someone they knew. Resigning ourselves to the twenty-five miles per hour pace, we waved back. They turned left after another ten miles, still periodically checking us out in their rear-view mirror, trying to figure out who we were. 

Pens: 

I have a junk drawer in the kitchen, and a black end table in the den. In theory, both the junk drawer and the top drawer of the end table are the designated spots for pens and pencils. That way, I always know where I can get a writing utensil. I have decided that these drawers are magic—the pens disappear from the drawers, never to be found again. Ever. I buy ten pack after ten pack of pens, with a few good pens thrown in from time to time, but there never is a pen in either drawer when I need one. The pencils, however, hang around indefinitely. I suspect the pencils are the culprits. How else can you explain a drawer with the same twenty pencils I put in there at the beginning, and not a single one of the 100 to 200 odd pens remaining? Someday, I am going to find the closet to which the pencils have exiled the pens. When I open it, and the flood of pens that has been accumulating since 1987 pours out on me, I will suffer serious injury, proving yet again that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. 

Have a great weekend. 

I See Faces by Connie Berry

Pareidolia noun: the tendency to perceive a specific, often

meaningful, image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.

 

Last week, after living in our house for twenty-four years, I suddenly spotted a face in the marble tiles on our bathroom floor. Here’s a photo. Do you see what I see? It’s not a human face. It’s the face of a bulldog. How did I miss it before? Now I can never unsee it.

Have you ever spotted a dog or a tree or the outline of a person in the clouds? Most of us have, although I admit to spending far less time than I did as a child lying on my back and gazing at the clouds. I should probably do it more often.

If you have perceived an image in the clouds or perhaps a human face in the grill of an automobile, you’ve exhibited a tendency for pareidolia. It’s a human thing. We’re created to recognize familiar shapes, and from infancy, we are especially drawn to the human face.

During the Renaissance, painters used pareidolia in their work, painting collections of fruits, vegetables, and other objects to create a human portrait. Here’s an example by Guiseppe Arcimboldo (1566). The title of the portrait is “The Jurist.” What appears to be a man’s face is a mash-up of fish and poultry, while his body is a collection of books dressed in a coat.

Thinking about pareidolia, I realize that in a sense, readers do the same thing. As they read words on a page, they instinctively “see” the familiar outlines of a human being in their minds. That’s what writers aim for—creating characters through words that form images our readers can never forget.  Words can create images, and the power of words to do that should never be forgotten or taken for granted.

How do we do that?

We all know about the interesting and unique physical characteristics that help us cement our characters in the minds of readers—the prodigious mustaches, the sapphire blue eyes, the angry scars. But there’s more.

If readers are looking to recognize a “face,” it’s not only on a physical level. It’s also the emotional and spiritual aspects of human life that transform black marks on a white page into a living, breathing person.

What makes us human? Think in terms of gifts and flaws, courage and fear, success and failure, thoughts and feelings, loves and hates, hope and despair, the sublime and the prosaic. Real people are made up of all these things, the ordinary elements of earth joining hands in the miraculous combinations that make up human life—like the portrait in “The Jurist.” We can’t forget them.

Writers, how do you bring your characters to life? Readers, which fictional characters will you never forget? 

Crossing the Genre Barrier by Bethany Maines

Crossing the Genre Barrier by Bethany Maines

Each of my books features key elements – tough heroines (sometimes tough is physical, sometimes it’s mental), romance, and adventure.  Sometimes I add in a little magic, sometimes it’s a more standard mystery. Being an author in more than one genre is like trying to juggle flaming torches and bowling pins—exciting but tricky! Each genre comes with its own rules, tropes, and audience expectations, so switching between them can feel like constantly learning a new language. The mental gymnastics are real!

Marketing adds to the challenge. Readers often want consistency, so convincing my paranormal romance fans to check out my mysteries (or vice versa) can be tough. In retrospect I probably should have used a pen name to keep the audiences separate, but I didn’t want to juggle multiple identities. 

But here’s the fun part: writing in different genres keeps my creativity fresh. It’s a chance to stretch my skills and explore new storytelling horizons. Sure, it’s tricky, but it’s also incredibly rewarding!  

Onto the Next Genre

For my upcoming release, Elevator Ride—Book 1 of the Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy—I’m sticking to

what I think of as my “bread and butter” – romance with some mystery and action riding shotgun. 

In Elevator Ride, Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building—but when she ambushes the seasoned security professional in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction. But what might have been a light-hearted office affair turns deadly when a mysterious assailant attacks Vivian and her boss. Desperate to protect the independent Vivian, Rowan knows that unless he can push all the right buttons, this elevator ride will be going straight down.

Elevator Ride was inspired by my day job as a graphic designer. My firm worked with an estate planning seminar and as a result I listened to an amazing amount of tales of estate planning gone wrong. The amount of times that someone literally tried to kill a grandparent to get the farm was shocking.  (Yes, the farm! Apparently the majority of family owned farms in the US are held in trusts and that leads to litigation when things get complicated.) And while Elevator Ride doesn’t involve a farm, it does involve a missing will.  

Poly Genre

I love using these touch points from different worlds to make new ideas and while I can understand that it might be easier if I let myself be pigeonholed to one genre—I can’t help loving more than one genre.  (Does that make me a polygenreist? Am I the reverse harem of novelists?) And I hope that readers will also enjoy reading a laugh out loud romance where they solve the mystery and stop the bad guy.

Want more? 

RELEASE DATE: 3/24/25

PREORDER Elevator Ride: https://amzn.to/3AnaMLQ

Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay. You can catch up with her on Facebook or on her website – www.bethanymaines.com

Using Historic Slang: Can You Dig it? by Martha Reed

Because I’m a writer who needs to make every story I create as inhumanly difficult as possible, my current Work-in-Progress (WIP) has two intertwined timelines. Tentatively titled “The Seven Gates of Guinee” NOLA Mystery #3 offers one cast of characters set in 1977 (i.e., the “cold case”) and a second cast working forty years later in 2017 (i.e., the “investigative team.”)

I’m having great fun writing this book. I love doing the necessary rabbit hole research into events of both time periods. I thought it would be easy to create my seventies characters. In 1977 I was a freshman at the University of Missouri. I vividly recall those Mizzou days. I remember the dorm behavior, the polyester and bell-bottomed pants fashion, the Farrah Fawcett hairstyle. What tripped me up was my misuse of seventies slang.

According to my ruthless beta readers, I had a big problem. My seventies characters were using eighties Valley Girl speak.

Oops. Time for a rewrite. In my defense, it was forty years ago.

Eighties slang was so prevalent it was even popularized by the song “Valley Girl” by Frank Zappa featuring his 14-year-old daughter Moon Unit. The song was nominated as a Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group (!) at the 25^th Annual Grammy Awards.

Here’s a link if you’d like to have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Q1yVLSR3I Friendly warning: relistening to this song made me break out in hives.

Going back to my manuscript drawing board I started a list of authentic seventies slang terms:

Space Cadet                      Brick House                    Dream On

Groovy                              Far Out                            Freaky Deaky

Bummer                            Book it out of here          Jive Talking Turkey

Catch My Drift                  Kiss My Grits                 Dork

I kept my newly watchful eye and my editing red pen on any eighties slang that might be creeping in:

Bodacious                         Radical                            Tubular

Gag Me With a Spoon      Take a Chill Pill               Bogus

Gnarly                               Grody to the Max            Dudette

Barf Me Out                      What’s Your Damage?    Bite Me

Help me out. What slang or phrases(s) immediately transport you to another time?

Forged in Fire, The Series by Nancy L. Eady

Sometime between Mark’s first knee surgery and the second infection surgery, he and I managed to get hooked on a series produced by the History Channel, Forged in Fire. Every show is the same, and every show is different.  

In each show, four blade smiths compete for the title of Forged in Fire champion, and a prize of $10,000. (The skeptic in me always remembers that’s really closer to $5000 once taxes come out, but whatever.) They do this in three rounds; the first round has the four smiths start a knife in their “signature” style. They get three hours, which apparently is a short time in smith world. By the end of this round, each smith is expected to have the blade of the knife and the metal part of the handle (called a “tang”) completed. There often is an unusual twist that increases the difficulty factor for the smiths. For example, in one episode, they had to use the metal from an 18th century cannon to forge their blades, which meant that before they could begin smithing, they had to figure out which part of the cannon had steel suitable for knives. At the end of this round, the smiths present their roughed out blades to the judges, who select one contestant to eliminate based on the quality of the roughed out blades.  

During round two, the three remaining contestants must finish the blade they started in round one. Again, they get three hours to do this. They are told before the round starts that the knife will be tested at the end of the round for strength, sharpness and cutting ability. The performance tests decide who moves forward to the third round. Once in a while, all three smiths turn in wonderful blades that perform equally well; in those situations, the judges then turn to finer details of the knives to determine who moves on. 

For the final round, the two remaining smiths are shown a particular weapon from history, many of which I have never heard of before, although I did recognize the crusader sword, the Elizabethan rapier, and the Viking battle ax, and given five days back at their home forge to craft an authentic reproduction of the weapon. After five days, the two smiths return to the studio forge, where the blades are tested again for performance, strength, lethality and sharpness. Many ballistic dummies, pig carcasses and slabs of ribs have given their all in aid of these tests! The blade that performs the best, or if the performance tests are equal, the blade that looks best wins the prize for its creator.  

I like the show because it tells a lot of stories in a short period of time. There are four stories about the initial forging, three stories about the finishing round, and two stories about the creation of the historic weapon. In addition, each smith has his or her own story, about how they started black smithing with their transition to blade smithing and why they are participating in the competition. I find the way the editors compress the film to tell thirteen stories adequately while still fitting the entire show within the forty-five to fifty minute time window fascinating. I am studying the way they boil everything down to its central essence to help me with my own writing. 

Is there a popular (non-writing) book, television show or movie that you have studied to help you with your writing? 

Not A Writing Retreat by Annette Dashofy

Most of us writers love attending a writing retreat. Someplace with easy access to food and coffee. Free wifi. No household chores to distract us. Heaven, right? 

I have always enjoyed retreats, even without wifi, but the other day I experienced the kind of writing retreat I’d rather avoid. 

A good friend of mine needed to have minor (we thought) outpatient surgery. We’ve been through this before. I pick her up at her house, deposit her at the hospital, and then set up shop at a nearby Panera. I have my preferred table with an electrical outlet beneath it, since my laptop doesn’t hold the 8-hour charge it once did. I got my cup of coffee (free refills) and my cup for water and started with a Greek yogurt parfait. Then I opened the file I was working on and settled in, figuring I had about three hours of uninterrupted writing time. 

Except there were two older gents sitting at a nearby table, who apparently thought I chose my seat to be close to them rather than because of the electrical outlet. They started chatting me up. I responded with a polite good morning and a comment about the weather. One offered to buy me a pastry. Is this how 80-year-olds flirt? I declined and focused on my writing. Thankfully, they took the hint and didn’t address me further. They did, however, discuss everything under the sun. Loudly. (Hard of hearing, perhaps?) And they were only the early arrivals. Within a half hour, eight more folks joined their coffee klatch. 

I know a lot of writers do their writing at coffee shops. The surrounding conversations don’t bother them. Me? I write in my home office. No TV. No radio. No distractions other than Kensi’s occasional demands to be fed. Even my now-retired husband knows enough to leave me alone when I’m working. 

So, the endless chatter was a challenge. Part of me enjoys people-watching as well as a little eavesdropping. I’ve discovered great lines of dialogue that way. Today, though, I considered it a lesson in focus. Ignore the discussions going on around me. Pay attention to the words on the page and nothing else. 

To my great surprise, I succeeded. By early afternoon (and a bagel and cream cheese later), I reached my goal for the day. 

Things went slightly sideways about then because my friend’s minor surgery ended up being delayed and then took much longer than anticipated. At most retreats, you can retreat to your room for a nap, but such was not the case. My expected three hours turned into seven. I spent the last few in my car with the seat reclined. Thankfully, the surgery, while long, was successful. My retreat, while distracting, was productive. 

Note to self: next time I have to take a friend to the hospital for outpatient surgery, just go home and wait there, despite the 15-mile-each-way trip. 

Fellow writers, do you prefer a coffee shop, a library, or your quiet home office for writing? And readers, have you ever been in a coffee shop and seen a writer-in-the-wild huddled in a corner with his or her laptop?

 

 

 

  

Rinse. Repeat. How Writing Imitates Life by Kait Carson

Snow Scallops

They say that when a Mainer doesn’t know what to say, they talk about the weather. That may be so. I’m not a Mainer, I just live here. That said, I had absolutely no topic for my monthly blog until this morning. That’s when I realized that writing and life have much in common.

It’s been a snowless year up here in the Crown of Maine. November, December, and January all passed and left behind a meager five inches of snow. Then came February. Oh, my. We had over a foot of snow fall between February 13th and Valentine’s Day. My husband and I have an agreement. I operate the shovel for detail work; he operates the snowblower for the paved areas. Fair deal. On Valentine’s Day morning, I picked up my shovel from next to the house and proceeded to shovel the steps, the side dooryard, and a dog run. Then I moved to the front of the house and shoveled the porch, a path to the bird feeder, and around the trash bins in the side yard. Then the plowman came, and I got to dig through five-foot drifts to reopen the dog run, clean up the stairs, and dig out the garbage bins. Rinse. Repeat.

Dog run dug though a five foot drift

Fast forward to the next morning. Did I mention we’d had winds in the neighborhood of 25-40 miles per hour? All those nice paths I’d carefully cleared were blown over. Rinse. Repeat. 

The snow started again on Sunday. By Monday morning we had over a foot of new snow. Rinse. Repeat.

I was working my way up the hill clearing the dog run when I realized shoveling snow is just like writing. You write the first draft—aptly called the vomit draft—and when you’re done, you’re not finished. You may take a quick break, but then it’s time to edit. Rinse. Repeat. Write draft two and more edits. Rinse Repeat. Then off to betas and…Rinse Repeat. You get the picture. 

Birds gotta eat, too

At some point in time, spring arrives, and the snow falls cease. Same with writing. There comes a time when you’ve done all you can and the book is ready to bloom. It’s a great feeling, but if you’re a writer, or a Mainer, you know what’s coming. Rinse. Repeat.

Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries set in the Fabulous Florida Keys and is at work on a new mystery set in her adopted state of Maine. Her short fiction has been nationally published in True Romance, True Confessions, True Story, True Experience, and Woman’s World magazines. Her short story, Gutted, Filleted, and Fried, appeared in the Falchion Finalist nominated Seventh Guppy Anthology Hook, Line, and Sinker. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Sisters in Crime, and Guppies. Visit her website at www.kaitcarson.com. While you’re there, sign up for her newsletter and receive a yummy, authentic, key lime pie recipe. 

Where Do Story Ideas Come From? by Nancy L. Eady

During the Writers Who Kill annual holiday break from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, we take a breather and instead of daily blogs spaced out on a schedule, members volunteer to provide short stories as a gift to our readers. I’ve been a WWK writer for many years now, but never had I volunteered to write one of those stories until this past Christmas. I was a little scared, to be honest; I rarely write short stories, and I wasn’t sure how I would do with producing one on demand. I worried around with it in the back of my mind, where I allow things to percolate, and somewhere from its depths a story beginning with a blessing of the animals at an Episcopal Church right before Christmas, with the owner of a golden retriever, a rescue cat with lots of Maine Coone Cat in him and an African Gray parrot, popped in my head. Actually, it was the first phrase that popped into my head: “I had no idea why Father Donnelly decided to schedule a blessing of the animals on December 16….”  The story morphed over time. Originally, I thought the golden retriever would be the narrator, but eventually I settled on the pet owner instead. And both you, my fellow blog mates, and you, our loyal readers, were kind enough to give my little story a good reception. 

The point of this post, though, is that I have no idea where that phrase came from. Other writing ideas emerge from news articles I come across. A few years ago, I came across one about an outfit that trained military dogs somewhere in the Carolinas, and how certain activities of that outfit were questionable, one of which was the fact that the dogs, which were rented to the military, were not allowed to remain with one of their military handlers but were instead returned to the company where, according to the article, there were rumors they ended up working for certain, shall we say, less than legal outfits. I have a start on a story centering on that idea. 

Another interesting article talked about a company that processed e-commerce transactions, illegitimate ones, for a huge profit. It sat in a quiet office park in a small city somewhere close to the boondocks, the last place anyone would expect an illegal enterprise to exist. That knowledge is still swirling around in the primordial soup part of my brain waiting for the right circumstances and characters to match up with it when I least expect it.

Last week, for the first time, I came up with two titles that might lead to good mysteries. I haven’t tried this approach before, but I’ve stuffed the names into the same primordial soup they emerged from. I think Potiphar’s Wife and The Last Will and Testament of Iliana Marquette are both good names for as yet to be determined mysteries. 

How do you come up with ideas for your mysteries? Do you start with a plot, a phrase, a character, a title or some combination of all three?

A Plotting Predicament by Marilyn Levinson

Plotting has always been an uneven experience for me. While the basic theme/idea of each book usually comes easily to mind, there are many times in my writing when I have to stop and figure out how to move on. After all, a mystery writer's cast of characters includes suspects, murder victims, and a murderer all of whom have secrets, tell lies, and present red herrings. Rather a complicated situation. Still, I believe those of us who write mysteries have somehow trained our minds to create and resolve solutions that might first seem unsolvable. I've learned to trust the process will reveal to me how my sleuth will identify the murderer, hopefully in a new and unique manner.

New and unique are the key words here, because after having written sixteen mystery and suspense novels, I don't want to repeat myself. Sure, certain themes like friendship, romance, and  family relationships appear in my work, but I want every story to be fresh and different. When I began writing Death on Dickens Island, the first book in my Books on the Beach series that I write as Allison Brook, I knew exactly what the main issue would be and how it causes conflict that lead to deadly secrets and murder. However, the second book presented a problem. I often develop two storylines that conjoin near the end of the book, but this wasn't happening. My characters simply weren't cooperating. I knew I wanted the murder to be connected to both a white collar crime and a romance gone wrong some years ago, and it all starts at a book club meeting in the Dickens General Store's Book Nook. But what crime would fit my plot?

While I don't have Beta Readers or critique partners, I am part of a group of mystery writers. For the past twenty years or so, we've been helping one another with suggestions--from handy murder items found in everyone's home to catchy book titles. A friend sent me a list of white collar crimes; others threw in possible ideas, and voilà! I chose the non-violent deceitful crime that suits my future novel and fits right in with my series. Somehow knowing that, has allowed me to plot most of the novel.

For me, it's the crimes and time-lines that require deep thinking and the occasional suggestion from my writing pals. The problem is never my characters.  Since I write series, my characters are well-developed and new ones quickly take on a life of their own. I especially love to see how they interact and mature, how they cope with secrets from their past.

Plotting a mystery is a challenge. The more books you write, the greater the challenge to do something fresh and unique. To explore a new setting, a unique situation, an intriguing reason why one character murders another. What do you do to keep each book and story that you write distinctive?

Killer Questions - Casting Call

Killer Questions - Casting Call!

Authors dream that their books will be made into movies or television shows. Sometimes, the hope is that the writer becomes so successful that a biographical documentary is filmed. WWK authors believe in being prepared; so, today, we’re telling you who we would choose to play our protagonists and us. Enjoy our casting call.

James M. Jackson - Matt Damon would play Seamus McCree. I'd have John Malkovich portray me.

Connie Berry - Everyone tells Kate Hamilton that she looks like a young Charlize Theron with dark hair—so I guess I’d choose a young Charlize Theron to play her. If my books were about me, I’d flatter myself wildly and choose Ashley Jensen (with dark hair).

Lori Roberts Herbst - I'd choose Evangeline Lilly to play Callie. Lilly comes across in her roles as self-sufficient, with an underlying longing for vulnerability. She portrays just the right amount of snarky humor, too. For me, it would be Valerie Bertinelli. When I was a teenager and she was on One Day at a Time, people always told me we looked alike. No other reason than that.

Molly MacRae - Emrys Lloyd, the ghost, is so Welsh that actor Gareth Rees would be perfect.

Sarah Burr - I think for any of my books, I would cast an unknown actress as the protagonist so that she could define the role for herself. But I would ask that Ben Barnes be cast as Lord Percival Pettraud in the Court of Mystery series.

Grace Topping - Jennifer Garner is so natural and likable. She would be perfect to play Laura. As for someone to play me in a bio, that’s a hard one. I would have to pick three actors to portray me at different ages. Perhaps Sally Fields at my current age. 

Annette Dashofy - Matthias Honeywell would have to be played by Christian Kane. No doubt about it.

Heather Weidner - My two cozy protagonists are both redheads, so I think Bryce Dallas Howard or Alicia Witt would be good choices for either of them. If I were to choose someone to play me, it would probably be Molly Ringwald. She’s still my favorite 80s gal. (Nicole Kidman is way too tall to play me.)  

Margaret S. Hamilton - My protagonist would be a younger version of Julianne Moore. As a bio of me, a younger Maggie Smith.

Marilyn Levinson - I think Natalie Portman would make a wonderful Carrie Singleton. As for me, I'd love to have Helen Mirren play me.

Debra H. Goldstein – Believe it or not, a young Carol Burnett would be a perfect Sarah Blair. From watching her on TV and in movies, I know Carol would have the chops to play the comedy and serious sides of Sarah. For me, not going to happen.

Mary Dutta - Given that every short story I write involves new characters, a movie would have to include the proverbial cast of thousands. As far as who I would choose to play me--one of the many talented Hollywood redheads. 

Martha Reed - I can easily see actor Katee Sackoff playing ex-detective Jane Byrne. She has presence and physicality. For me, I’d like to think we’d need to cast someone funny and optimistic who doesn’t take herself too seriously like Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, or Emma Stone.  

Lisa Malice - I’m a big classic movie buff, so Grace Kelly would be my ideal lead in the movie version of Lest She Forget, while William Holden and Robert Mitchum would be perfect for Nick and Felix, respectively. No explanation here; read the book and let me know if you agree. As for my bio pic, I’ve always liked Meg Ryan.

Kait Carson - Lili Reinhart would make a great Hayden Kent. 

Nancy Eady - I would love a 30-something Natalie Portman to play my female protagonist, because I think she could nail the dual vibe of "girl next door" and "super intelligent."  I'd like Sandra Bullock to play me, just because I like her as an actress.  

Shari Randall/Meri Allen - In my first series, the Lobster Shack mysteries, I've always thought that Dawn Atkins, a principal dancer with the Miami Ballet, would be absolutely perfect to play Allegra Larkin.  To play Riley Rhodes in my ice cream shop mysteries I've always pictured Courtenay Cox, the wonderful actress from the show Friends. 

K.M. Rockwood - Ah, no one comes to mind. I guess I just lack imagination. The Jesse character should be an ethnically ambiguous lean male in his thirties with long hair in wiry curls in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and dark eyes. Flannel shirt, blue jeans, steel-toed work boots, buffalo plaid jacket. 

Elaine Douts - I cast Shirley MacLaine as one of my characters, but I’m not familiar with many actors because I watch few TV shows or movies. For me—maybe Kathleen Turner or Cybil Shepard or Jamie Lee Curtis. Meg Ryan? I don’t know. It could be any old and seasoned actress.

Korina Moss - Ginnifer Goodwin, at the age she was when she played Snow White in the TV series Once Upon a Time. She’s about ten years older than Willa now, though. For my bio: I can’t compare myself to her, but I’d choose Sandra Bullock, because I admire her humor, strength, and vulnerability.   

Teresa Inge - Julianne Moore since she portrays strong, female, characters which is what I write. She is the same age as my protagonist Lainey Gentry who owns a wine shop in “Maid of Murder,” my story in First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder.

Paula Benson - My answer is based on my short story "Crossfire in the Crosshairs" from A Death in the Night. The protagonist, a single mom raising a preschool aged daughter supplements her support income by being a paid assassin. I see Amy Adams in that role with Ryan Gosling as her mysterious handler/facilitator/boss and Tom Cavanaugh as her ex-husband, who happens to be competing with her to slay the same target.

 

Lunching with the Cheese Biscuit Queen

 by Paula Gail Benson

A portrait of Mary Martha Greene from her website

For the second time, our Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime (based in Columbia, S.C.) welcomed acclaimed cookbook author Mary Martha Greene a.k.a. the Cheese Biscuit Queen to talk about her new book. On her first visit, she told us about writing her debut work, The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All: Southern Recipes, Sweet Remembrances, and a Little Rambunctious Behavior. This time, we heard about The Cheese Biscuit Queen, Kiss My Aspic!: Southern Recipes, Saucy Stories, and More Rambunctious Behavior, which technically releases today. We were especially delighted to be the first South Carolina group she spoke with about the book (she had done a presentation on Amelia Island, Georgia), and we were thrilled to get to sample her famous cheese biscuits.

Perhaps you’re asking why a group interested in crime fiction would have a program featuring a cookbook author (or, perhaps it seems obvious, considering all the cozy mysteries that contain recipes). But Mary’s work is significant not only for the food, but also for the stories she tells about her family and her work as a lobbyist before the state legislature. Published by the University of South Carolina Press, Mary’s books describe both the art of entertaining along with cultural and historical incidents that shaped her life.

Mary had long been familiar with the recipes prepared by her mother and aunt, but it wasn’t until her goddaughter said, “I want you to teach me how to cook,” that Mary thought of writing them down and compiling them. Writing down the memories that accompanied the food preparation was a natural.

From an early age, Mary understood the value of being able to tell a good story. As a child, she and her brother would go grocery shopping with her mother. They would remain in the car with their grandmother, who had them “people watch” and “fill in the blanks” of what they thought the people were doing. Why did this man go to the store? (The answer was usually to get items to make a cake.) What kind of a cake and for whom?

Mary and her brother were trained to use their imaginations. Mary mentioned she someday hoped to publish fiction. With her knowledge of how to spin a tale, I have no doubt her stories will be well received.

When asked about a particularly memorable experience that developed from her writing, Mary described having the opportunity to meet and interview Jacques Pepin, the famous chef, author, artist, and television partner of Julia Child. To prepare for the task, Mary read his biography. When she mentioned it at the interview, he corrected her. It was a cooking memoir, not a biography, because it did not chronicle his sex life.

Jacques Pepin--Wikipedia

She reminded him of his experience as a young boy in liberated France. His first chewing gum and chocolate came from the soldiers. (He shared the chewed stick of gum back and forth with his brother.) At the end of the interview, Mary gave him a stick of gum and a chocolate bar. In response, he kissed her hand.

I’m truly looking forward to reading the new book and trying the recipes. If you ever have the chance to hear Mary Martha Greene, go! You’ll love the stories she tells as much as her delicious food.

Has your reading (fiction or nonfiction) lead you to try different cuisines?

Crossing the Genre Barrier by Bethany Maines

Crossing the Genre Barrier by Bethany Maines

Each of my books features key elements – tough heroines (sometimes tough is physical, sometimes it’s mental), romance, and adventure.  Sometimes I add in a little magic, sometimes it’s a more standard mystery. Being an author in more than one genre is like trying to juggle flaming torches and bowling pins—exciting but tricky! Each genre comes with its own rules, tropes, and audience expectations, so switching between them can feel like constantly learning a new language. The mental gymnastics are real!

Marketing adds to the challenge. Readers often want consistency, so convincing my paranormal romance fans to check out my mysteries (or vice versa) can be tough. In retrospect I probably should have used a pen name to keep the audiences separate, but I didn’t want to juggle multiple identities. 

But here’s the fun part: writing in different genres keeps my creativity fresh. It’s a chance to stretch my skills and explore new storytelling horizons. Sure, it’s tricky, but it’s also incredibly rewarding!  

Onto the Next Genre

For my upcoming release, Elevator Ride—Book 1 of the Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy—I’m sticking to

what I think of as my “bread and butter” – romance with some mystery and action riding shotgun. 

In Elevator Ride, Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building—but when she ambushes the seasoned security professional in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction. But what might have been a light-hearted office affair turns deadly when a mysterious assailant attacks Vivian and her boss. Desperate to protect the independent Vivian, Rowan knows that unless he can push all the right buttons, this elevator ride will be going straight down.

Elevator Ride was inspired by my day job as a graphic designer. My firm worked with an estate planning seminar and as a result I listened to an amazing number of tales of estate planning gone wrong. The number of times that someone literally tried to kill a grandparent to get the farm was shocking.  (Yes, the farm! Apparently the majority of family owned farms in the U.S. are held in trusts and that leads to litigation when things get complicated.) And while Elevator Ride doesn’t involve a farm, it does involve a missing will.  

Poly Genre

I love using these touch points from different worlds to make new ideas and while I can understand that it might be easier if I let myself be pigeonholed to one genre—I can’t help loving more than one genre.  (Does that make me a polygenreist? Am I the reverse harem of novelists?) And I hope that readers will also enjoy reading a laugh out loud romance where they solve the mystery and stop the bad guy.

Want more? 

RELEASE DATE: 3/24/25

PREORDER Elevator Ride: https://amzn.to/3AnaMLQ

About the Author:

Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay. You can catch up with her on Facebook or on her website – www.bethanymaines.com

“Off the Page” with Juniper Blume by The Wren (Sarah E. Burr)

 

A Note from Sarah Burr: I’m handing the blogging reins to Winnie Lark, the main character in my Book Blogger Mysteries. Winnie runs a popular bookish website called What Spine is Yours (think Metacritic for the literary world). However, she manages it anonymously, and the online community only knows her as “The Wren.” She often interviews guest authors through their characters, and that’s the focus of today’s feature. Enjoy!

Greetings, bookish friends! The Wren, here. Juniper Blume from Daphne Silver’s Agatha Award-winning Rare Books Cozy Mysteries joins me this month. Juniper, thanks so much for coming “Off the Page” with me. As a fellow book lover, we have a lot of ground to cover. I’ve never gotten to chat with a rare books librarian before; I have so many questions! Let’s dive in.

Where did your interest in books—specifically rare books—come from? How did you pursue this career path?

Thank you so much for having me today, Wren! While I have always loved books, it took me some time to find my path in life. I actually left college for a bit to travel the world, staying in cheap hostels, and working odd jobs to make ends meet so I could explore. When I came home, I realized I could keep those travels going through stories. Every book has its own journey, so becoming a rare books librarian allowed me to explore not only the world but throughout history, just through these special books.

Wow, I love that notion of every book being its own journey. I totally feel the same way. I get to live through all these fantastic adventures without ever leaving the comfort of my rocking chair. So, how did you go from working at the Library of Congress to living and working in Rose Mallow, Maryland? What brought you back, and more importantly, what made you stay?

That was unexpected! I had held off returning to Rose Mallow after my beloved Nana Z passed away, but when I heard there was some sort of ancient Celtic manuscript there, I couldn’t resist exploring. I’m a librarian, so curiosity is my superpower! What I never expected to find was rediscovering how special that place is to me and reconnecting with my family, especially my sister Azalea. Once I returned, I realized there were some things even more important than being at the Library of Congress.

Family is so important, whether it be related by blood or found family. And I bet your sister is very glad to have you around! In The Tell-Tale Homicide, you find yourself involved in another mystery. What made you want to investigate this case yourself?

I didn’t! But the mystery happened in my library with the people and books I was in charge of, so I felt a strong obligation to uncover the truth.

Ah, I’ve read a book or two about the reluctant sleuth. It’s always that dogged determination that wins out in the end. How has your background in rare manuscripts helped you solve crimes?

As I mentioned, curiosity is my superpower - although it also gets me into trouble! I have learned a lot from reading these books, so I have found that strange bits of knowledge can be helpful. I’m also trained in research, whether that’s using digital databases or old manual resources, so that’s proved helpful.

When you’re on a case, are you a solo investigator, or do you have a team to help you?

I’m fortunate to be growing a network of friends to assist me. If I can’t find the answer, I know people who can help. First, my sister Azalea is always my go-to resource. Right after her is my boss, Leo Calverton, even if everyone thinks he’s my boyfriend! But it doesn’t hurt that he’s part of the very rich and well-connected Calverton family. There are also friends like Hal from the historical society, who worked for some government agency back in the day doing things he’s not allowed to detail. And there’s reconnecting with my old friend Nuri, who I went to library school with. She’s now working locally at a used bookstore. These are just some of my friends that I’m fortunate to have helped me. Detective Lakshmi Gupta probably doesn’t want to be included on this list, but I think she’s coming to realize how we can help each other.

Ooo, I am a big fan of amateur sleuths who have a good working relationship with their local law enforcement rather than a contentious one. I’m glad Detective Gupta is coming around to appreciate your skills! Without giving away too many spoilers in The Tell-Tale Homicide, could you share one heart-stopping moment that eventually ended in a fit of laughter?

Oh my goodness. My first day working my new job, I ended up in the middle of a protest. Since we’re along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, the protestors tossed everyone with Rose Bay, a local version of Old Bay seasoning! I was scraping that off for a long time. It’s worse than glitter!

Holy bookmarks. The visual alone has me shuddering but also in stitches. I need to look up Rose Bay and see if I can get my hands on some—for flavoring, not protesting. What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps as a rare books librarian and/or amateur detective?

For being a librarian, I’d recommend volunteering with your local library to learn more and make sure it’s a passion for you. You can even get some jobs at a library without a special degree, but for rare books, you will need special degrees, such as a MLS (master in library science) in the United States of America.

As for being an amateur detective, honestly, I’d prefer reading about it than living it! I know that Detective Laskhmi Gupta would agree, too.

Are there more mysteries in store for you and your author, Daphne Silver?

I can’t seem to escape them! The next adventure comes out in November 2025, so stay tuned. The best way to ensure you know about it and hear from my author is by joining her newsletter at www.daphnesilver.com. Plus, you’ll get a free story about yours most truly.

As a big fan of you both, I’m thrilled we have more to look forward to. Thanks again for coming off the page with me! Check out Juniper Blume, The Tell-Tale Homicide, and the Rare Books Cozy Mystery series at your favorite bookish retailer today.

Purchase link: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/va28q2e847

To stay connected with Juniper’s author, Daphne, head to her website: www.daphnesilver.com.

Learn more about The Wren, Winnie, and the Book Blogger Mysteries at www.saraheburr.com.

What’s So Funny About Murder and Mayhem by Judy L Murray

Comedy intwined in mysteries and thrillers fascinates me. Let’s face it. We mystery writers spend much of our time mulling over murder. “What do you do,” a stranger asks. Our reply, “We kill people.” It’s macabre.

Recently the Grand Canyon Chapter of Sisters in Crime offered an excellent webinar entitled “What’s So Funny About Murder and Mayhem” with best-selling author Tim Maleeny. Publishers Weekly describes his style: “Tim Maleeny smoothly mixes wry humor and a serious plot without sacrificing either.” Since my Chesapeake Bay Mystery series infuses moments of wise-cracking dialogue, I was excited to hear his advice. (I can always use it.)

Tim reminded me that comedic dialogue interwoven can elevate my mysteries. • Don’t try to be funny. Overreaching, unless you’re a comedic master, often falls flat.
• Humor affects pacing. It can provide a welcome break in between fast-moving scenes. Or it stops and starts your storyline like an old car engine that keeps stalling out. Be careful.
• Humor can provide a tool to bring your readers closer to your characters.
• Humor can be used to emphasize conflicts. Think of characters’ conflicting goals, misunderstandings, mismatches in personalities, or collisions in different cultures or backgrounds.
• Humor humanizes characters. It can reflect their setbacks and mistakes.
• Criminals are not always smart.
• Dial back humor when needed. Sometimes less can be more.

His points made me consider the breakout blockbuster movie Die Hard with lead Bruce Willis as John McClane, a New York cop who joins his estranged wife in Los Angelos at her company’s holiday party. Moments later, brutal terrorists take over. John quickly realizes there’s no one to save the hostages – except him. The tension is high and viewers’ hearts pound as he crawls on his belly, bloodied and breathless, through the skyscraper’s heat vents. Does he curse these monsters as we would expect? No. Our world-weary hero mutters under his breath a sarcastic “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.” It’s a pure gold scene among many because it relieves our tension, helps us catch our breath. It tells us in very few words a great deal about the protagonist. McCane is a likeable, imperfect man with grit. We fall in love.

I’ll be open with you. Thrillers and hard crime novels or movies are not typically my first choice - as much as I admire those writers. I’m a wuss and hide my face during scary scenes. But Die Hard brought us a clever script, an actor with a deft sense of humor, a feel-good movie cloaked amidst terror. It was anything but predictable. That’s talented writing.

Every writer approaches murder mixed with humor differently. From Shakespeare to Agatha Christie to Janet Evanovich or Richard Osman, we’ve all got our unique style.

If you would like to get to know my characters’ humor styles, I hope you’ll stop by. Find me at www.judylmurraymysteries.com

Judy L Murray, Winner Silver Falchion, IPPY First Place, PenCraft Gold, Agatha Nominee

 

Love is in the Air! Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Heather Weidner

There are a lot of celebrations around my house in February. My birthday was yesterday, and today’s Valentine’s Day. Besides birthday cake, February always brings chocolate, roses, and red and pink hearts to my mind. With all the love and romance in the air and on store shelves, I decided to start a list of favorite romantic/literary entanglements.

But just as mysteries have lots of twists and turns, love or passion are not always X’s and O’s or the perfect happily-ever-after. Authors use romantic encounters and relationships to show a more human side of their sleuth, to highlight a vulnerability or a weakness, or to create tension or conflict in the story or among characters (not to mention with some readers who love or hate the pairing).

Here's my list.

Rhys Bowen

·        Lady Georgiana and Darcy O’Mara

Michael Connelly

·        Harry Bosch and ex-wife Eleanor Wish and others

·        Mickey Haller and first wife, Maggie McPherson, and second wife, Lorna Crane and others

Arthur Conan Doyle

·        Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (in later adaptations)

Dashiell Hammett

·        Nick and Nora Charles

Carolyn Keene

·        Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson

Faye Kellerman

·        Peter Decker and Rena Lazarus

Robert B. Parker

·        Spenser and Susan Silverman

Louise Penny

·        Chief Inspector Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache

Elizabeth Peters

·        Amelia Peabody Emerson and Professor Radcliffe Emerson

J. D. Robb

·        Eve Dallas and Roarke

Dorothy Sayers

·        Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane

Tom Shaw

·        Richard Castle and Kate Beckett

·        Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook

·        Derrick Storm and Clara Strike

Karin Slaughter

·        Will Trent and Sara Linton

Ellie Alexander

·        Jules and Carlos

Jacqueline Frost

·        Holly and Sheriff Evan Gray

My Characters

·        Delanie Fitzgerald and Special Agent Eric Ellington (Johnny Velvet was just a fling.)

·        Jules Keene and Jake Evans

·        Jade Hicks and Nick Driscoll

 We also cannot forget about the fictional love triangles that create all kinds of suspense, frustration, and havoc among the characters and the readers who take opposing sides.

 Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum and Joseph Morelli and Ranger

 Libby Klein

Poppy McAllister and Tim and Gia

 Joanne Fluke

Hannah and Norman and Mike

 Korina Moss

Willa and Roman and Detective Heath

 Who are your favorite literary couples? And are there any that you love to hate?

 

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.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Check out her Valentine cozy, Deadlines and Valentines. Available at your favorite bookseller.