Burning the Boats and Booking the Cruise

By Author Kathryn Mykel

Quilter| Quilt-Fiction Author| Quilt Pattern Designer

For years I had a private reward waiting in the back of my mind. When I finally “made it” as an author, I would celebrate with a fancy cruise.

I didn’t reach that goal in one dramatic breakthrough. I got there gradually by setting small targets and giving myself reasons to continue on each day. And, in a plot twist that may surprise readers who know me primarily for my cozy mystery novels, it was quilting that ultimately made that goal a reality and paid for the trip.

In my last guest post here, I talked about how story ideas often begin in ordinary places. During sewing days with friends, through casual conversations, and how the rhythm of creative work have shaped the mysteries I write. This post looks at the other side of that process. Inspiration and creativity may have started my journey, but structure and motivation have kept it moving.

Over the past five years, I’ve written more than fifty stories. On paper, that sounds impressive. In practice, it looks like structure and a very strict schedule. Deadlines must be met, the marketing never stops, and new ideas compete with ongoing projects. Most days my desk is a hot mess, much like my sewing table. Projects pile up in various stages of completion, all demanding my attention. It’s really controlled chaos at its finest.

About two years in, I made what I now think of as my “burning the boats” decision. I stepped away from the quilting business work I’d been balancing alongside writing and went all in on being a full-time author. As you can imagine, that decision felt both practical and terrifying. There was no comfortable fallback plan and no alternate source of income. If I wanted this career to work, I had to treat it like a real one.

It didn’t take long to realize that motivation was unreliable. Some days the words came easily. Many days they didn’t.

What helped me was learning to celebrate even the smallest victories. In the beginning, the goal was simple. Sell one book in a day. Later it became hitting a certain number of page reads, reaching a ranking milestone, or winning an award. Each step forward became a reason to acknowledge progress, reward myself, and keep going.

Sometimes the rewards were small. Finishing a draft might mean a trip to the quilt shop, or taking an afternoon off without (too much) guilt. Maintaining my best-seller banner could justify a favorite meal or a quiet evening with a good audio book (someone else’s). A successful book launch might call for a weekend of quilting with friends. These incremental incentives helped turn both the daily grind and long stretches of work into a series of goals, celebrations, and rewards.

Stepping back from writing this year to focus more heavily on quilting reinforced the same lesson. Creative work often moves in cycles. As I spent more time designing patterns and sewing samples for magazines, that income began to accumulate. Without intending it as a writing reward, the quilting ultimately funded an opportunity that came my way unexpectedly.

Here’s that plot twist I mentioned earlier. Next month I’ll be boarding an Alaskan author-reader cruise, something I used to joke was my “when I make it as an author” reward. Now, the cruise feels less like a prize and more like a consequence of committing fully to the path I’d chosen. Ironically, it also serves as a reminder that creative work has a way of coming full circle in unexpected ways.

Tell us, have you ever turned productivity into a personal game? Do you set goals and reward yourself for achieving them? And what’s the biggest reward you’re working toward right now?

Kathryn Mykel is a bestselling author of quilting-themed cozy mysteries and a professional quilt pattern designer whose work has appeared in national quilting publications. She lives in New England with her pup, Bentley.

Find Kathryn’s work here www.authorkathrynmykel.com

 

 

Happy Fourth of July! by Nancy L. Eady

I was casting about for topics to write about for Monday, June 29, and thought about writing something for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, which will be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, I was trying to figure out exactly what a 250th anniversary is called. According to Google, some terms include “semiquincentennial,” “sestercentennial,” “quarter-millennium,” and “bisesquincentennial.” They all sound like a mouthful to me. Being of a precise nature (at least about some things), I wanted to know which was the “official” term, and turned to my beloved Oxford English Dictionary, only to learn that the OED does not include any of these terms among its definitions. 

So now I’m stuck trying to decide what to call the upcoming anniversary. “Quarter-millennium” sounds a bit too grand for my taste, and both “semiquincentennial” and “bisesquincentennial” are too long. To be honest, “sestercentennial” isn’t much better, but it is at least a little shorter. So “sestercentennial” it is. And how will I celebrate the upcoming holiday? 

My mother, sisters and I all live in different parts of Alabama. We rarely plan activities together for the Fourth of July, and the one time we did was a disaster.  But every year, we all watch “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS, including the fireworks show afterward. The only time the show ever disappointed me was the year I learned that Jack Everly, the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, was not formerly a member of the Everly Brothers, a popular music group in the 50s and 60s. That’s my own fault, not the fault either of the show or Mr. Everly. If you think watching fireworks on television is tame when compared to the real thing, doing anything outdoors in Alabama in July is something that you do only from necessity, not for pleasure. Humidity down here abates for no man (or woman.) 

It’s not particularly logical to feel closer to someone simply because you know that they are watching the same thing on television at the same time that you are, but that’s how it works in my family. We have a good time in the days following the show discussing it with each other over the phone. I have a similar feeling over Thanksgiving if I happen to be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The same is NOT true for the Iron Bowl (the annual football game between Auburn University and the University of Alabama.) I feel close to those members of the family who are also Auburn fans, but not the Alabama contingent. They’re rooting against my team, after all. We make up after the game is over though, win or lose. 

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing at the time, I hope you enjoy your Fourth of July holiday as well. I’ll be thinking of you while I’m watching my show in my air-conditioned room. 

When You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know by Annette Dashofy

I’ve had an ongoing conversation with a friend of mine about inaccuracies in novels. She was pointing out little things that she knows about because of her past career. I, like the author, did not know about this particular inaccuracy. While she enjoyed the book in question, the error took her out of the story. 

Another book she was reading was riddled with mistakes. The kind where a reasonable person would know that wouldn’t/couldn’t happen in real life. I’ve heard authors use the excuse “It’s fiction!” Regrettably, I’ve used that one, too. 

The question becomes, just because it’s “fiction,” does that give authors free rein to create the world we need in order for our story to work? 

I would say, no. Yes, it’s fiction. Yes, we make sh… stuff up. But, to quote Lee Lofland, we’re creating believable make-believe. We need to do the homework and research the key topics we include in our stories. 

I have a support team that I reach out to when I have questions. Experts in various fields love to talk about their work (for the most part.) There are webinars and YouTube videos on virtually every topic under the sun. 

However… 

We still don’t know what we don’t know. I’ve been guilty of writing scenes, which felt relatively minor, without diving into the research rabbit hole. 

If you don’t know what that is, it’s when you start Googling a topic and spend the next eight hours reading up on something that will result in one sentence in your story. 

Anyway, in this particular book, I thought I knew enough about a topic, inserted the information into the story, and then had a beta reader point out that what I’d written was wrong. It couldn’t happen. 

The book was on the verge of being in print. Fixing it to meet reality would’ve meant coming up with a completely different method of murder. After gnashing my teeth for the next week, I finally came up with a believable workaround. I acknowledged the problem and gave a rational explanation for why things happened this way. 

No one else has ever called me out on that error. 

Readers need to trust that the author knows what they’re talking about. We have to sound authentic. That doesn’t mean writing 25 pages of detailed explanation on a topic. (We aren’t writing a term paper, after all.) The tidbit to give the reader faith in our knowledge is likely to be one sentence here, another sentence there. 

When I started the Zoe Chambers series, Zoe was a paramedic. I had worked as an EMT for several years, so I had a solid background to draw from. Pete, however, was a cop. I have never been in law enforcement. Granted, all these years later, I’ve done a ton of research into police procedure and psychology. But I know I get stuff wrong. 

Because I don’t know what I don’t know. If I did, I would ask! 

The point I’m trying to make is this: as a writer, do your homework. Don’t guess on the stuff that you know you don’t know. ASK. As long as you can draw your reader into your world with some level of authority and believability, they are more likely to give you a pass for those little mistakes that slip by. 

At least, I hope so. 

Fellow Writers Who Kill, how much research do you put into your characters? Or do you rely on your own know-how? Write what you know, etc. And readers, how much leeway do you tend to give to authors when you find a mistake in a story? 

DNA and Me: Solving Personal Mysteries

By Kait Carson

Last December I opened my email and discovered a message with the subject line ‘cousin’ from a Gmail account I didn’t recognize. Hello, red flags. The only reason I didn’t delete it immediately was the sender included my original family surname. One I hadn’t known existed for years. Still, something about the message arriving so close to the holidays made me think of: 1) the millions of bogus AI marketing emails that clogged my inbox daily, and 2) the bogus inheritance emails seeking either a finder’s fee or bank account numbers. I left it to marinate in my inbox, unopened, for a week or more.

As a bit of background, my family history is convoluted. My mother’s maternal side is well documented. My cousin is a genealogy buff, and she’s taken the family back to the early 1800s. Not much mystery there. Her paternal side is a different story. In a ripped from the headlines moment, my grandfather was U.S. born because my French great-grandmother visited her husband’s Italian family in the states, either because of a miscalculated due date or by design. Who knows.

My paternal grandmother’s heritage is an open book. She maintained contact with her middle-European family throughout her life. My paternal grandfather, the side of the family my ‘cousin’ represented, is an entirely different story. My grandfather never spoke about his life prior to his arrival in the U.S. On census forms he variously styled himself as German, Austrian, or Czech. He spoke German, and that was my father’s cradle tongue, so German made sense, but our family name was Hoyo, and there is no ‘y’ in the German alphabet. There was no record of him coming through Ellis Island or Castle Garden, which could have offered a clue to his origins. The only tidbit he did share was that when he came to the U.S., he went to Wyoming, where he married and had a son named John. The boy was taken from him as an infant when his wife died.

The knowledge of a potential cousin with the original family surname led me to open the mysterious email. Rather than discovering a possible cousin with a connection to the American West, I discovered a possible cousin with a connection to modern Slovakia with an insatiable thirst for genealogy. He’d compiled quite a dossier of facts and newspaper clippings about his extended family, and about my more limited one. His great-grandmother, who would have been my grandfather’s niece,shared some photos she had received from family members in the U.S. before WWII. The collection included photos I had seen in my father’s personal photo collection, and newspaper clippings that were new to me. Including one of my parent’s wedding announcement, complete with a photo of my mother. Gobsmacked doesn’t describe my feelings.

All of this, and a really great sale, encouraged me to have my DNA tested. I’d been on the fence about testing, but I took the plunge. My results have come back, and while I’m still digesting them, there were some surprises right on the first page. My results returned only six regions. As it turns out, I have no German heritage on my father’s side, and no French heritage on my mother’s, but I am 1% ‘Germans in Russia’ on her side. That was a startling development. The testing also turned up a handful of cousins in the American West. Intriguing, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with the information.

 The results were different to what I had been expecting, and exposed many of the stories I grew up with as false. Oddly enough, I think that’s part of the charm of being an American. When our ancestors came to this country, they had a golden opportunity to recreate themselves. Arguably, that was part and parcel of the Great American Dream, and their re-creations became intertwined in the fabric of their descendants' lives until the myths became reality.

Have you taken a DNA test, and did you find any surprises? Would you consider taking one?

Thirty-Nine Years by Nancy L. Eady

Today, my attention is on weddings, past and future. My 39th wedding anniversary is tomorrow.  And my daughter got engaged Sunday night. 

Since our wedding in 1987, my husband and I have survived ten presidential elections, ten moves, eight dogs (three of which are still with us), twelve-ish cars, the purchase of three houses, two hurricanes, one blizzard, three refrigerators, and three washers and dryers. 

When we were first married, I would take twenty dollars from his wallet for lunch money and forget to tell him. He then would enter the grocery store to buy something and not have enough money. The time I remember him getting particularly upset was the day he made it to the cashier with about twelve items, found out he didn’t have enough money, and had about five fellow employees in the line with him offer him money to help out. We had sandwiches that night. (That was before debit cards and ATM’s were widely available, let alone ideas like Apple Pay. You had money in your wallet to pay, or you did without.) 

He taught me how to change a tire that first year of marriage, as well.  To be sure I could do it, he stood to the side and watched while I took a tire off the car and put it back on again.  A different five employees came up to him the next day at work wanting to know why he wasn't changing the tire instead of me.

Then there was the time I agreed to let him paint our bedroom mauve. Why? We were crate training dog #2, who was still a puppy, and I was out of town visiting my grandparents with my mother. My sister stopped by to visit him while I was gone, so he took her out for supper. 

Rather than crate dog #2 the way she was supposed to be crated when we weren’t home, he decided to leave her out while he was gone. In the intervening sixty minutes between Mark’s leaving and returning to the house, dog #2 got anxious and ate the recliner arm down to the wooden center. The recliner had belonged to his grandfather. My sister, who I thought loved me, looked at the chair, Mark and the dog, and announced to him, “Do what you need to do.” Then she walked outside to give him privacy. When Mark and I discussed the situation later that night, I felt it greatly increased dog #2’s chances of survival to agree to the mauve. 

The first time I fixed supper for us after we returned to the apartment from our honeymoon was eye-opening for both of us. I came from a household of four women, my mom, myself and my two sisters. At my house, mac and cheese and a salad was a perfectly acceptable meal. He came from a meat/starch/vegetable house. That first night, I fixed nachos, with tortilla chips and melted cheese from the oven, topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream and mild salsa. It was tasty, if I do say so myself. I went back in the kitchen to clean up. Then about a half hour later I heard, “Hon? Where’s the rest of the meal?” 

This man has booked trips to Disneyworld for us just because he knows how the place makes me grin from ear-to-ear and bounce like a five year old, held my head gently through the worst stomach bug you can imagine, and kept me sane and my house clean while I survived five years of law school (I went part-time at the beginning) while working full-time. When I had my stomach blockage/cancer in 2024, he was beside me every step of the way and wild horses couldn’t have drug him away. And he can make me laugh like no-one else can. 

I can’t imagine the past 39 years without this man, and I am grateful for however many more years we are gifted. And the best hope I can possibly have for my daughter is that she and my prospective son-in-law have as much fun and friendship during their marriage as we have had in ours. 

Have you had any major milestones this past year?

 

Cinematic Writing: Seeing With Your Mind's Eye by Connie Berry

 What is Cinematic Writing?

I first heard the term “cinematic writing” about twenty-five years ago. The wife of a casual acquaintance had published several books, and her publisher was known for signing authors who employed what they called “cinematic technique.”

Since I hadn’t heard the term, I looked it up and found the definition—writing that unfolds like a movie in the mind’s eye of the reader. Book coach C. S. Lakin describes it this way: Rather than explaining and summarizing the action in a scene, “writers play out the action moment by moment by ‘shooting’ the scene the way a filmmaker would. The reader watches the story unfold before their mind’s eye rather than being told what is happening in exposition.”

Two Examples of Cinematic Writing

One example is the novel No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (2005). Interestingly, it was first written as a screenplay but turned into a novel when the film project failed to gain the interest of film producers. When the novel became a best-seller, it was made into a film that won four Academy Awards in 2007, including Best Picture.

Here’s an excerpt:

He lowered the binoculars and looked over the country at large. Then he raised them again. There looked to be men lying on the ground. He jacked his boots into the rocks and adjusted the focus. The vehicles were four-wheel drive trucks or Broncos with big all-terrain tires and winches and racks of roof lights. The men appeared to be dead. He lowered the glasses. Then he raised them again. Then he lowered them and just sat there. Nothing moved. He sat there for a long time.

One critic called it “essentially a script, minus the scene headers and transitions.

Another example is the novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019) by Ocean Vuong. Written by a poet, it jumps between past and present to reveal a life told in stanzas. On critic called it “a series of Polaroid flashes in the dark, a collection of memories offered with the unease of someone else’s scrapbook.” In one scene, the narrator, a boy, watches his grandmother wake up.

The eye opened. Glazed by a milky film of sleep, it widened to hold my image. I stood against myself, pinned by the shaft of light through the window. Then the second eye opened, this one slightly pink but clearer. “You hungry, Little Dog?” she asked, her face expressionless, as if still asleep.

               I nodded.

               “What should we eat in a time like this?” She gestured around the room.

               A rhetorical question, I decided, and bit my lip.

               But I was wrong. “I said What can we eat?” She sat up, her shoulder-length hair splayed out behind her like a cartoon character just blasted with TNT.

Writer and editor Constance Hale says that cinematic writing “starts with a narrator who acts like an observing camera—we see landscapes, we watch people, we are carried along with the action.” The experience is like a journalistic “ride-along.”Should mystery writers employ the cinematic technique?

Should Mystery Writers Use Cinematic Writing Techniques?

Turns out it’s a trend that some look down on. If your goal is to write a novel that could be adapted into a TV show or movie, mastering the art of cinematic writing might be exactly what you need. It’s the classic “show, don’t tell.” But not everyone agrees.

I’m told that male authors use cinematic writing more than female authors and that male readers like the style because it’s heavy on action. The technique is also used more in literary fiction than other genres. Make of that what you will.

Upside vs Downside?

Cinematic writing employs third-person narration with little (or no) internal thought and a general lack of subjectivity. The reader sees what happens but must infer how the narrator actually feels about it.

That’s the downside. Books today compete with the visual arts—TV and movies. The benefit we novel writers have over visual media is showing the inner life of the protagonist. Readers aren’t just invited to view someone’s experience from the outside. We are invited into their minds and hearts.

I like to use cinematic techniques along with internal thought. The best of both worlds?

What do you think? 

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream by Susan Van Kirk

 “Where do you get ideas for your mysteries?” is one of the most frequent questions I hear from readers. Usually my book ideas come from real life, and then I embellish them, crossing my real life world with my fictional world. But sometimes ideas come in my sleep. Those ideas are often a strangely-knit amalgam of cultural thoughts that have been stuck somewhere in the closet of my brain.

Recently, I promised the daughter of a friend, Cindy, that I would use her name for a character in my next mystery. That must have been on my mind last night when I turned off the light.

This is how my brain kept busy during the night.

Cindy, a teenager, was swimming in a pond near her house when suddenly a large sea creature swallowed her [Note to self: Where have I heard of a whale swallowing someone?] Being a resourceful woman and knowing she must save herself, Cindy lit a candle and began to write a message to throw out of the sea creature so someone would find her. [Note to self: where will she get the candle, matches, lap top, printer, wireless connection, and bottle?] And so she did. Then she waited and read an informative book. [That, of course, was “the hook.” Capture their attention with a disaster.]

Now we get to the great middle of the book where we must keep the reader’s interest and produce all kinds of difficulties to raise the stakes.

Soon, a handsome young man showed up at the pond, and he was also swallowed by the sea creature. But he died of malaria, and Cindy had to throw him overboard. [Don’t want this to be a romance, do I?] Meanwhile, she managed to get out of the sea creature and found herself in a place she’d never seen before [note to self: figure out a way for her to get out.] While she was sitting on the shore thinking about what to do next, a horde of scary riders on horses galloped up to her, led by a handsome prince. On closer inspection, she thought the prince looked a little scary, so she used her martial arts talents to momentarily stun him, take his horse, and ride off in search of her home. [She was faster than the other riders and immediately bonded with her horse which she named … Trigger. [Note to self: see if this name has been used before. It sounds vaguely familiar.]

Pulling out her cell phone and GPS app, she discovered she was a thousand miles from her home. But Cindy was a determined and brilliant young woman. She set off to find her family.

Soon she met a pack of wolves (Cindy loves wolves), and they helped her find shelter. Then the wolves left and she sailed on [Oops. That was a line from the Golden Book I used to read my son which kept repeating “Pablo sailed on.” Scratch that.] She met a man begging on the street [note to self: create a street and town], and, because she showed him kindness, he told her of a short cut to get back home. Unfortunately, she discovered the short cut was filled with teenager-eating, scary raptors. Cindy had to fight them off, and just in time she was joined by a lion that could fly [note to self: see if this is possible.] The lion was powerful and sped away from the raptors. [Cue the song “Circle of Life” as they fly.] Checking her GPS, Cindy told him where to land. Now she was closer and closer to home [Time for the climax].

SUDDENLY, [always a good word to begin the climax], she came face- to-face with a fire-breathing dragon. A young man from her town [she had met him previously on the school bus and been inspired by his kindness, handsome looks, and ability to get to level seven in a popular video game] was fighting off the dragon. Just as he lost his flame-retardant shield, Cindy jumped in front of him and used her conflict resolution techniques to put the dragon’s fire out. Disgusted, the dragon turned and left. The young man gave Cindy a hug, and they vowed to play video games together forever.

But first Cindy had to go to college to become a veterinarian [This will lead to the second book in the series about Cindy’s adventures at vet school.]

And this is why I never use dreams to plot my books.

Susan Van Kirk is the author of six Endurance Mysteries beginning with Three May Keep a Secret. Her standalone mystery, A Death at Tippitt Pond, was followed by the Art Center Mysteries: Death in a Pale Hue, Death in a Bygone Hue, and Death in a Ghostly Hue from Level Best Books. Member of MWA and past president of the Guppy Chapter of SinC. Her website: susanvankirk.com

Changing Seasons, Evolving Perspectives by Martha Reed

June is one of my favorite months. In Western Pennsylvania where I currently live, the April and May rainy season has moved on. The hillsides and meadows are lush with fresh greenery and wildflowers. Even the air smells green. I have a hard time keeping to my daily writing word count schedule because all I want to do is to get outside.

Full Disclosure: This is Western Pennsylvania. I didn’t have this issue in February.

June is also the month for graduations and weddings. I couldn’t be prouder of the new crop of youngsters as they settle in and start building their adult lives. Even though I was there when they came along, and I know we adults didn’t know what we were doing, it’s refreshing to see that we seem to have done alright.

It’s a circle of life moment for me in more ways than one. On the writing side, I signed up to mentor a newbie author through the Sisters in Crimes SinC Connect program. This six-month program matches the common interests of mentors and mentees who meet usually once a month via Zoom. This will be the third year I’ve participated, and I can honestly say that I think I learn more from my mentees than they learn from me.

Each mentee has brought a different writerly issue to the table for consideration. My first mentee was stuck in a Chapter One death spiral loop. She kept repeatedly rewriting the first chapter of her manuscript trying to perfect it. My tough love advice was a lesson I had learned (more than once): Jog on, because chances are you may cut the chapter out entirely down the road during the editing cycle. I’m happy to report this mentee finished her completed draft manuscript in time to pitch it to agents at SleuthFest.

My second mentee scared me a little because she hadn’t started writing yet. She came to the Zoom call with only the burning desire to “be a writer.” We spent our calls talking about identifying the requirements of her preferred genre, setting up sacred writing time and space, and the discipline of making daily writing a habit. By the end of the program she felt confident enough to sign up for and attend her very first writer’s conference.

This year’s mentee has been a real eye-opener because she’s Gen Z. I’ve written Gen Z characters before, but interacting one-on-one is a different animal. It’s more than slang usage and different grammar structure and vocabulary. Gen Z makes me feel like the last T-Rex, because they have a completely different mindset. They actively interject political activism, fluid sexual identity, profanity, and social issues into their genre writing in a way that shocks my Boomer/Gen Jones sensibility. I catch myself saying: Are we allowed to write like this?

Which in the end relights my fire because it makes me question and reexamine my personal writing constraints. Has my writing become moribund? Have I fallen victim to comfortable habit? And as I continue with my latest manuscript, what can I do to shake things up?

Interesting Words by Nancy L. Eady

Today, let’s continue our journey through interesting words, taking as our guide my new toy, an online subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary. I intended to make a list of interesting (to me) words and see how they originated, but I found a major detour with the first word, and now am just going to fly by the seat of my pants (something I rarely do for these posts), and see where we end up. 

The first word I thought of for my list was the word “discombobulated.” I use it when I feel a little scatter-brained, unoriented, and jolted out of my routine. It’s always nice when the official meaning of a word matches how I use it. (Have you heard the joke about the mom who was texting people about the death of someone and ended those texts with “LOL” because she thought it meant “lots of love” rather than “laughing out loud”? That’s a spot I’d rather not be in.) The OED says “discombobulate” means “to disturb, upset, disconcert, confuse.”

My guess was that an interesting word must have an interesting origin, so I checked out the etymology page next. I was wrong; the entry simply suggested that the word was perhaps a humorous alteration of “discompose,” “discomfit,” or “discomfort.” However, the entry then continued, “compare the slightly later humorous formation absquatulate v. and the possible models cited at that entry.”

The needle on the record came to a screeching halt. What? How did I ever miss encountering such a glorious-sounding word as “absquatulate”? I clicked on the link to find out about that word. It turns out absquatulate is also a humorous form of a word, probably intended to take the word “abscond” and make it sound Latin. It means “to abscond, make off.” No less than Kurt Vonnegut used the word in his book Hocus Pocus, in the sentence “some overthrown … dictator who had absquatulated to the USA with his starving nation's treasury.” 

Another word I looked up was “gesticulate.” When I was a young(er) lawyer, I was taking a deposition. When you take a deposition, the attorney for the person you are deposing is supposed to let his/her client do the talking without coaching while the session is being transcribed. The attorney for the other side at this deposition was gesturing and whispering to his client for most of the first part of the deposition. I got enough of it and objected on the record to his “whispering and gesticulating to his clients.” The man stopped the deposition and asked me what gesticulating meant. (to “gesticulate” is to “make lively or energetic motions with the limbs or body; esp. as an accompaniment or in lieu of speech.” For such a full-sounding word, its etymology is, alas, not exciting either—it is a word borrowed from Latin. 

“Serendipity” is a fun word. It means “the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Also, the fact or an instance of making such a discovery.” One well-known instance of a serendipitous discovery is the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, when, coming back from vacation, he noticed that a stray penicillium mold had contaminated a petri dish in which he was growing Staphylococcus bacteria. What intrigued him was the fact that the mold spore appeared to be excreting a substance that was destroying the bacteria that surrounded it. The origin of “serendipity” is much more interesting than the other words in this column. It was coined by Horace Walpole, in a letter to a friend, based upon a fairy-tale called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip’, the heroes of which ‘were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’. Serendip is one former name for what is now Sri Lanka. Horace Walpole was a British politician and writer, the son of Robert Walpole, who was First Lord of the Treasury under King George I and King George II. 

What words do you find interesting either for their sound, meaning, or derivation? 

Thanks, Dad, I’ll Be Careful: Literary Fathers and the Courage They Give Us by Sarah E. Burr

Happy Father’s Day, Writers Who Kill!

Over the past few years, my June post has become something of a Father’s Day tradition. I’ve written about my own dad and the books we shared, celebrated favorite fictional fathers, explored the dads and father figures in my own mysteries, and raised a virtual glass to some underrated literary dads who deserve more love.

This year, I found myself thinking less about “great dads” in the general sense and more about the specific kind of courage fathers and father figures can pass down through stories. We live in a world that often feels loud, uncertain, and frightening. Maybe that’s why I’ve been drawn lately to characters who are brave, not because they’re fearless, but because someone once helped them believe they could face hard things.

In literature, the best fathers and father figures don’t always remove danger from the path. They can’t. Instead, they offer something more lasting: trust, steadiness, wisdom, love, and a sense of right and wrong. They don’t hand the hero a map around danger. They hand them a compass.

For mystery lovers, Carson Drew is one of the finest examples. Nancy Drew’s father could have easily been written as a stern, overprotective obstacle. After all, his teenage daughter regularly investigates dangerous people, explores hidden passageways, and asks questions that most adults would be wise to avoid. Instead, Carson trusts Nancy. He worries, of course. What good fictional father wouldn’t? But he also respects her intelligence and instincts. His frequent reminders to be careful never feel like an attempt to stop her. They feel like proof that he believes she can handle herself, even as he hopes she comes home safely. Carson Drew teaches courage through trust.

Dr. Murry from A Wrinkle in Time offers another kind of courage. His absence drives much of the story, but his love is never absent. Meg’s search for her father becomes a journey into her own strength, and one of the beautiful things about Dr. Murry is that he is not invincible. He needs rescuing, too. That matters. So often, fictional fathers are expected to be all-knowing, all-powerful protectors, but Dr. Murry reminds us that love does not require perfection. Courage can mean admitting fear, accepting help, and continuing to reach for one another even when darkness presses close.

Then there is Pa Ingalls from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, who represents courage through steadiness. The Ingalls family faces hardship after hardship: storms, hunger, illness, isolation, and uncertainty. Pa does not always have an easy solution, but he brings calm, music, work, and reassurance. His courage is not dramatic. It is practical. It’s getting up the next morning. It’s keeping the family moving. It’s playing the fiddle when spirits are low, reminding everyone that they will endure. Sometimes bravery looks less like charging into battle and more like keeping the lantern lit.

In the fantasy realm, Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander from Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series has long been one of my favorite grandfather figures. Zedd is prickly, eccentric, powerful, hilarious, and deeply devoted. He may grumble and lecture, but beneath all that wizardly bluster is fierce love. His relationship with Richard shows that courage requires more than strength. It requires judgment. It requires sacrifice. It requires the willingness to face difficult truths. Zedd teaches that bravery is not simply about having power; it is about knowing when and how to use it.

And, of course, I can’t write about literary father figures who impacted my childhood without mentioning Arthur Weasley from the Harry Potter books. Mr. Weasley's courage is gentle, but it is unwavering. He welcomes Harry into his home, stands against prejudice, protects his family, and never loses his sense of wonder. He’s not the flashiest wizard in the room, and he’s certainly not the richest, but Arthur Weasley models decency under pressure. He teaches courage through kindness, curiosity, and conviction. In a world full of fear and cruelty, he chooses warmth again and again.

What I love about all these fathers and father figures is that they don’t make the world safe by pretending danger doesn’t exist. They make their children and loved ones braver by giving them something solid to carry into that danger. Nancy has Carson’s trust. Meg has Dr. Murry’s love. Laura has Pa’s steadiness. Richard has Zedd’s wisdom. Harry has Arthur’s example of goodness in action.

As a mystery writer, I think about courage a lot. A sleuth has to knock on one more door, ask one more question, follow one more clue, and stand up when something feels wrong. That courage may come from within, but very often, it was planted there by someone who believed in them first.

So, this Father’s Day I’m grateful for the literary dads and father figures who remind us that courage doesn’t always arrive with a sword, a badge, or a grand speech. Sometimes it sounds like, “Be careful.” Sometimes it looks like a hand on your shoulder, a book placed in your lap, or someone believing you’re strong enough to face the next chapter.

Which literary father or father figure taught you something about courage?

Treasure Hunting for Fans by Judy L. Murray

This month I’m thinking about public events and what we as authors do to reach out and touch readers. It’s a tough road but often rewarding.

For some authors it’s uncomfortable to approach bookstore owners they don’t know. If speaking with complete strangers and presenting in front of a group doesn’t come to you naturally, a signing is definitely a step outside your comfort zone. For many, the idea of ‘pitching’ your novel brings sweat to the brow and a very queasy stomach. Yet, I’ve found that public events are my most rewarding opportunity to increase my fan base and sell more copies. Readers encourage me to keep writing my series. As much as I might crash on my couch at the end of a day, I know it’s usually worthwhile. In my mind, book signings and events are like pebbles in the water, widening my scope of repeat reads.

Here are my tips that may encourage you to step away from the safety of your laptop and introduce your work to the outside world.

1. Review your back of the book blurbs or series concept and reduce them down to a short introduction of your book, your series, and yourself to make starting conversations easier. When I say short, I mean short. Rewrite your intro down to less than twenty words. Bookstores are often shorthanded. Managers don’t have time for long-winded conversations. You’ll only have a few minutes to introduce yourself and your work. If you are a local author, use that as your first phrase. That always tweaks a manager’s interest. Then concentrate on your book’s appeal. Its uniqueness. Perhaps tie it into a popular book in your genre that might help the manager picture your book on their shelf. Before you use your introduction to a stranger, practice it. Get confident. That doesn’t mean you might fumble but you’ll likely sound like you believe in the appeal of your stories.

2. If I’ve made you a bit worried about your book introductions, I’ll remind you that as important as they are, they aren’t all that matters. Professional speakers will tell you that you only have thirty seconds to capture attention of the bookseller or the reader. Words are seven percent of the message your project. Thirty-eight percent of your message depends on your voice. If you’re warm and interesting, they’ll give you their limited time. Believe it or not, your face is fifty-five percent of your message. You don’t have to have the smile of Tom Cruise or the beauty of Anne Hathaway. Let your public know you’re happy to meet them.

3. Start local. Build an Excel sheet list of area bookstores and shops in a thirty-mile radius. In the world of Google, it’s easy to find the names of shop owners and get a good idea of which businesses like to hold signings. One of my best locations is a gift shop that has a book section. Does the store hold weekly, monthly, or perhaps a group author event? Take a few notes before your call so you sound as if you’ve done your homework on their store and are aware of their stock.

4. Expand your list with those larger or more distant locations that carry novels like your own. If they specialize in gothic or fantasy, yours may not be a fit. Don’t waste your time. Move on. Sometimes stores hold a variety of events, each concentrating on a different genre. If that’s the case, contact the store owner and ask that your books be considered. They often will give you a timeline for when to contact them for an upcoming event. Some will put you on a waiting list.

5. Once you’ve introduced yourself to a store owner, get their name and email address. Send them a thank you with your bio attached and a signature with a live link to your website. Remind them of your interest in their store. Put them on a tickler file. If you are particularly interested in that location, email them quarterly and call them bi-annually. You may be the author they couldn’t fit in during the spring but would love to have next fall. They simply needed your reminder.

7. If a location matches your genre or neighborhood, go to Facebook or Instagram and join their followers. That’s an easy way to be notified when an event is upcoming. When you make a reel or post, hashtag or @ sign area businesses, business associations like their chamber of commerce, or county news. Store owners will become more aware of you before you have even introduced yourself.

8. Start to expand your horizons with area organizations. Join countywide, even statewide, organizations by following them. As you notice potential events enter them onto your Google calendar with reminders. Recently I participated in a very popular church spring market with dozens of vendors ranging from flowers to pottery, to homemade quilts. The interests were varied and it attracted thousands of visitors. Lucky me, I was one of only two authors who ran book signing tents. It was two days of standing on my feet, but I met dozens of my readers and met many new ones.

9. Consider the potential return for your investment before you agree to attend. Do you provide your own tent, table, chairs, decorations, and pay an entry fee? You may decide the event is unlikely to generate enough sales to cover your costs no less your driving time, meals, and labor.

10. Be honest with yourself as to what stores or events are a match for you. I’ve tried huge statewide author fairs. Overall, the effort and the often four- or five-hour drives outweighed the sales. I remember traveling three hours to arrive at six-thirty am to set up, pay a fee, and finally a breakdown time of six pm. Within the first hour I realized that the attendees were unlikely to be interested in traditional mysteries. I crossed that event off my list. Now I do a better job of studying the other author attendees ahead of time. Live and learn. You may find huge events work for you.

11. Try to get comfortable as you encourage strangers to stop by your table. I rarely sit. Picture yourself at a party with strangers. How would you encourage conversations? Is it the football shirt they’re wearing? Their dog? Break the ice for them. Don’t get caught scrolling through your phone instead of striking up conversations as people pass by. I’ve also gotten better at not judging a book by its cover. The young man in camouflage may actually be a cozy buyer, if not for him but his sister. I’ve held many Barnes and Noble signings. Managers are happy to hear from me from one year to the next. They remember me as someone who chats with the public. You are taking up their store real estate if you don’t make a friendly effort.

12. No matter how successful the signing is or isn’t, send the store contact a handwritten thank you note afterwards. You’ll stand out among authors that send an email or none at all. Remember you are building a relationship into the future.

13. A couple of marketing suggestions: have a pop-up banner to bring to each signing for either at your table or outside the store entrance. Bring a newsletter sign-up sheet. That is the #1 way to grow your newsletter or social media followers. Make a checklist of what you need to bring to your signing. I print one out each time. Have your own tablecloth in your book cover theme color. Dress for success. People expect to meet an author dressed appropriately. Be sure to post a signing announcement before the event on social media. A live reel is even better. Post a photo during the event or afterwards about how much you enjoyed meeting new fans. Sometimes I get more results from the posts than the actual events.

Do you have a favorite idea that helps you gain signings and sales? I’d love to hear them in your comments. If you would like my checklist to use, email me at judylmurray@gmail.com.

Best of luck! Judy L. Murray

Award-winning author of The Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series

http//:www.judylmurraymysteries.com

Agatha Christie Plotting Tricks by Judy L. Murray

One of the benefits of a generous writing community is the sharing of resources we come across that can help us improve our work.

Dana Isaacson on CareerAuthors.com discussed Agatha Christie’s plotting techniques in an article entitled ‘Christie Tricks’ as part of a review of Lucy Worsley’s best-selling biography of Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman. Worsley, a popular British historian and bestselling author, covered Mrs. Christie’s life as she evolved from a young debutante, wife, and eventually brilliant mystery writer, including her infamous eleven-day disappearance before her divorce and second marriage. Worsley’s book (Pegusus Books) is now high on my pile of to be reads.

Nicknamed Christie’s Tricks for writing the perfect mystery, this checklist helped remind me of her clever style and the elements that ensured her reputation as the Queen of Mystery. If you’ve read any of my books in The Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series, you know I include an Agatha Christie quote appropriate to each novel as a dedication. I get a lot of writing joy when I try to emulate the master.

Christie’s Tricks:

#1 Hide an object in plain sight: In my Killer in the Kitchen, the murder of a celebrity chef takes place during a television cooking show. I loved working on a plot that divulged how the chef was killed yet those in the viewing audience, and including my readers, miss the how-done-it. I lost a lot of sleep while deciding how to pull this off.

#2 The Hidden Couple: In Peril in the Pool House, I created a relationship that was kept under wraps until my protagonist started to unravel truths.

#3 Authors Should Play Fair with Their Readers: When a villain is eventually revealed as a minor store clerk at the local checkout counter mentioned in chapter three paragraph six of a story, my blood boils. As I’m editing, I keep an eye on how the breadcrumbs are dropped. Sometimes it means I need to reweave those details to be sure my readers have a fair shot at discovering the villain. In all my books I try to give readers opportunity to smell a rat. Am I revealing too little or too much along the way? Occasionally, readers get it right. Often, they get it wrong. But they always know the clues are in between the pages.

#4 The omission of tiny but key facts by someone we trust: Christie definitely walked a fine line by maintaining the information given was not false just omitted. In other words, everyone is a suspect. I find it hard to make everyone a suspect, especially if I like them. Do you?

#5 Clothes Do Not Make the Man: No one does a better job at hiding wisdom and intuition better than Christie with her Jane Marple.

#6 Crime Patterns May Fool Detectives: My readers in all my books enjoy my protagonist’s ability to better understand personality traits to the consternation of the local police.

#7 Steal from the News: Christie’s stories picked up on crimes of her century. True crime is also my favorite inspiration for all my stories. A real-life fraud case involving a builder during my real estate management days was the basis of Murder in the Master. I tucked it into the back of my brain to use twenty years later. Villain in the Vineyard, my fourth, was a perfect example of a past crime coming back to haunt someone. My plots, characters, and settings are different from the true crime. But true crime got my imagination whirling in the direction of ‘what if’. What real news have you used to enhance your mysteries?

#8 Set the Crime in a Place Familiar to You: Whether it is at the top of a lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, an Adirondack cabin, or a dusty horse stable, incorporating a setting we know well is definitely an advantage as we pull in our readers. The first time I walked out to a lighthouse just a mile from my house, I knew there was a story I had to tell.

When you look at these Christie Tricks, which ones do you think have helped you build your mysteries? I want to hear about them.

Nomenclature by Nancy L. Eady

Entering a new area of the law after 34 years in personal injury is not a task for the faint of heart. Entering a specialized area of the law, public health, with zero experience in the field of endeavor is an adventure. I am learning, essentially, a new language, or, to put it in more precise terms, a new nomenclature. 

Nomenclature is an interesting word. One of the 6+ definitions listed for the word in the Oxford English Dictionary is: “The system or set of technical terms used in a science or other discipline; a specific or specialist terminology.” (If you are an English-speaking word nerd, the definitive reference source for a word’s definition and etymology is the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary, “OED”, now conveniently available on-line via subscription.) 

English borrowed the word from classical Latin, in which the word “nōmenclātūra,” meant “the assigning of names to things.” It was used in 1690 as denoting a list of the commonest words in a language to help learners, and in 1798 as a word for the entire word list in a dictionary!  Oxford English Dictionary, “nomenclature (n.),” June 2026, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/4212315392. (In case you can’t guess, I am playing with my new toy, a one-month subscription.) 

Just like my job comes with its own nomenclature, mystery writing comes with one as well. If you are new to writing, here are some common terms and/or abbreviations.

Antagonist – The Bad Guy. 

Backstory – Not the history of orthopedic medicine, but the stuff that happened to your characters before your story opens. 

Cozy – Not how I feel in front of a roaring fire in my fireplace during the depths of winter, but a mystery subgenre where violence is downplayed and the crime takes place in a small, socially intimate community. 

Flash Fiction – Not a photograph of a book taken in the dark but a short story that is less than 100 words long. 

MC – Not the master of ceremonies at an event, but the main character in your work. 

MS – Not a professional woman who wishes to remain neutral regarding her marital status, but “manuscript.” 

MSS – Not a bevy of belles, but “manuscripts.” 

Pantster – Not a tailor, but a free spirit who sits down at her desk and starts writing, surprised as she sees what flows forth from her word crafting. 

Plotster – Not a gardener, but a frustratingly organized individual (at least to those like me born lacking the gene for organization) who plans out the plot of his novel before starting to write. 

POV – Point of View. Not your opinion about politics or the chartreuse and pink dress your best friend is wearing – you might want to keep the chartreuse and pink opinion to yourself in any event - but rather the way in which you tell your story and from whose perspective. 

Protagonist – The Good Guy. 

Swag – Not a jaunty step nor a fancy curtain top but the promotional materials authors use to encourage the public to read their book.

Unreliable Narrator – The person telling your story is not just a liar but a dam* liar.

WIP – Not a program initiated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create jobs during the Great Depression, but “work in progress.” 

What other words and acronyms might be helpful for a new writer? If you are a new writer, what words or acronyms do you have questions about?

Some Thoughts on Naming My Fictional Characters by Marilyn Levinson

While deciding on the best names for your characters is not as critical as naming your children and your pets, it does require a considerable amount of thought. After all, you will be living with these characters for quite some time, especially if you write series. I spend the most time choosing my protagonist's name for obvious reasons. My sleuths are always female. I like to give them names I consider appealing and not very common, along with a nickname. In Giving Up the Ghost, my sleuth Gabriela Meyerson is called Gabbie. In Murder a la Christie, Lexie's official name is Alexa. My sleuth in Death on Dickens Island is Cordelia Dickens, though everyone calls her Delia.

However, not all my characters are happy with their given names. Carrie Singleton, in the Haunted Library series, officially changed her name to Carrie because she always hated Carolinda, which she was given at birth.

The names of my other characters usually come to mind as they're about to become  active members of the cast. I do my best to vary them, with regard to the starting letter and number of syllables. Masculine names tend to be shorter, and so I choose names with different vowel sounds. Readers are less likely to confuse two characters named Mike and Brett, while having characters named Fred and Ted in the same book might be a problem for some. But names can get mixed up even in an author's mind. I am grateful to the editor who noticed that I'd changed the murderer's name in the middle of the novel.

Recently, I've been having fun with names in a different way entirely. In the book I'm currently writing, Delia and her son Connor adopt two kittens that are littermates. I decided to call them Romeo and Juliet after my own kitties. And when Connor and his friend Trevor acquire girlfriends, I named them after my granddaughter and her "sister." Boy, was Livvie excited when I told her about that!

We authors have total control when it comes to naming our characters. What do you take into consideration when you name yours?

Killer Questions - Favorite Places to Visit

Killer Questions - Favorite Places to Visit 

With summer being here, people often begin to think of vacations. The Writers Who Kill differ on are our favorite places to visit. Are any of these a favorite for you?

Annette Dashofy - Durango, Colorado, or Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA, if I don’t have the time or money to travel.

Heather Weidner - Any beach, Hawaii, bookstores and libraries.

James M. Jackson - I love being in new places, learning about the fauna, flora, and geology, and taking pictures to capture my impressions. But my favorite place to visit is my home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Martha Reed - Italy, hands down. But I’m keeping other options open.

Sarah E. Burr - London is my absolute favorite city, so much so that I’d love to live there one day.

Kait Carson – Saba

Debra H. Goldstein – For relaxation, any place where I can look at water. For a fast paced trip, a long weekend seeing Broadway shows in New York City.

Susan Van Kirk – Boston

Elaine Douts - My sister’s house because I usually don’t have to cook and clean there.

Margaret Hamilton - Cape Cod beaches and London.

K.M. Rockwood - Mackinac Island.

Korina Moss - That’s a difficult one, since there are many favorites. If I had to pick, I’d say London. You never run out of things to do or see, the architecture is stunning, the history is palpable, and the museums and art galleries are fantastic (and most are free). There are beautiful parks, markets, rivers, and squares. There’s a great variety of ethnic food, although I also love the pubs. 

Grace Topping - It's not a place that I will probably get to more than once, but Petra in Jordan has to be at the top of my list. I wish I could go often.

Shari Randall - Some place new!

Mary Dutta - New York City (with London a close second). It’s all about the theater.

 

The Joys of ShortCon

Michael Bracken

by Paula Gail Benson

I imagine readers are going to see a lot of posts about ShortCon, the program organized by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson that has taken place for the last three years at Elaine’s Restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. This was my first time attending, but many participants had been to all three.

Why would you want to go and keep returning?

1. Writing is done in isolation. When you find your tribe gathering, you want to be part of the event, to make connections, catch up with friends, and hear the news. This is difficult for short story writers, particularly those in the mystery field. Most larger conferences focus on novels and have only a few panels on short stories. Also, I don’t think readers of short stories are usually drawn to conferences, unless they read mysteries generally. ShortCon provides the concentration and more intimate setting where people can easily talk.

For instance, I belong to the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS), a group that welcomes members at no cost and annually recognizes excellence in flash, short stories, longer short stories, and novelettes with the Derringer awards (usually presented at Bouchercon). Joseph S. Walker is the President of the SMFS. I’m always reading his messages, but it was a real pleasure to have dinner with him and hear about his short story collection, Crime Scenes, that has recently been published.

Stacy Woodson

A Noir at the Bar event took place at Elaine’s the night before ShortCon. Some excellent writers read their own short stories. The atmosphere was relaxed, allowing participants to get to know each other better before the full day program began.

2. ShortCon operates on a very economical basis. There is a registration fee, but it covers the breakfast and lunch for the day of the program. Also, there are raffles and giveaways throughout the meeting. I asked Michael if any books would be available for sale and he replied that people paid enough to attend, the organizers wanted to give back. They did, in information and in extras.

3. Craft and market information are important. ShortCon recognizes and supplies both. Among this year’s craft presenters were Gary Phillips (who took the group through an exercise in creating a villain) and Art Taylor (who spoke about how to structure a novel in short stories). Art invited Ashley-Ruth Bernier to talk to the group about her recently released The Bush Tea Murder, a novel told in short stories. Art’s own On the Road with Del & Louise, A Novel in Stories, has just been reissued. Michele Slung explained the reading process for selecting stories to be included in Otto Penzler’s The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and Jackie Sherbow, editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, spoke about transitions taking place at that publication.

4. Elaine’s has become well known not only for its superb Mediterranean cuisine but also as a haven for literary events. The Westin Alexandria Old Town (a fifteen-minute drive to Reagan National airport) had excellent rooms, an attentive staff, and a comfortable bar for discussions. Alexandria was a very walkable and Uber friendly city.

Are you a short story writer? Have you considered becoming one? You might want to check out ShortCon. It's a great learning and networking experience.

 

Good Distractions Make for Excellent Vibrations by Debra H. Goldstein

Sometimes, when good things are happening, it seems like life gets in the way of doing everything one wants to do – especially writing. But, that’s okay. 

You may ask how it can be okay? You’ve always heard a writer is supposed to write. A writer is supposed to be glued to the chair, fingers on the keyboard, for certain lengths of time or until a given number of words are created. There’s a lot of truth to those ideas. 

There also is truth to be found in a writer’s negative feelings of being overwhelmed, out of ideas, completely frustrated, or having trouble balancing or even finding freak out moment time (see my Hamster Wheel blog https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2026/04/running-aimlessly-on-hamsters-wheel.html ). Those are the lousy depressing times when one wonders if words will ever flow again. The times that hopefully will pass but seem like they won’t.

They aren’t what I’m talking about. I’m addressing not writing because of exhilarating and wonderful distractions. Reading the different posts on Facebook, Instagram, or blogs posted or written by Writers Who Kill authors, I see this past month included graduations, military commissions, Daisy to Brownie bridging, weddings, births, new homes, visiting guests, remodeling that finally finished, book launches, award ceremonies, attending conferences, traveling for fun, and planting for the new season. If you ask me, all of these were good reasons not to write. 

The funny thing is that while words may not have gotten down on paper, I find that during these happy times, words keep percolating in my brain. Story ideas that have been tangled become clearer. It is the calm before the storm of words flow. Maybe it has something to do with the release of brain chemicals associated with happiness or simply relaxing, but I know that when the time presents itself to write again, I will. It’s truly okay. I can feel the good vibrations.

What about you? Do you ever find yourself so detoured by happy occasions and acts that you can’t squeeze in other things? When you can, do things work out?