Thoughts on Writing by Nancy L. Eady

The quote, the way I heard it, was “All writers hate writing; all writers love having written,” attributed to Gloria Steinem. Today, a little investigation courtesy of Google has revealed that  the quote is attributed to Dorothy Parker in its original form, which was “I hate writing. I love having written.” Even further investigation, however, shows that no record exists proving Dorothy Parker ever said or wrote the quote attributed to her. 

Regardless of who said it, I disagree. I admit I have days when writing is a chore, when it is all I can do to keep my fingers typing out words, while my brain keeps encouraging me with helpful comments like, “This is the worst writing you’ve ever done.” But there are other days, too. Days when I enter “the zone,” and the words fly from my fingers to the screen, barely keeping up with my brain. It feels like flying. On those days, writing is not a chore. 

The other fallacy in the statement is that each author has individual preferences for what they like about the writing process. Some people love writing the first draft but suffer through the editing that comes next. Other people struggle to crank out the first draft but love the magic they find in the editing process, as they sculpt their raw material into a polished, readable work. And there are others, nuts like me, who have days and times when they enjoy both. 

Writing and editing remind me of counted cross-stitch, a craft I enjoy. In counted cross-stitch, the crafter takes a fabric such as linen or Aida, with a regular, discernible weave to it, chooses a chart of a picture marked up with symbols to stand for certain colors of thread, and then builds the picture on the fabric with tiny “x” stitches by following the chart. I love the building block process of counted cross-stitch, when I’m filling in the basic colors as indicated in the chart. But there is also magic in the finishing details, when back-stitching (a way of stitching straight lines) is used to create additional perspective based upon what structures in the picture are outlined, and in what colors. Writing the rough draft of a story or novel is like filling in the basic building blocks in cross-stitch, and editing adds the finishing details that make the story a marketable project. 

There are parts of writing as a business that I have found few, if any, writers love. “I am writing a synopsis today,” said no writer with glee ever. However, the one solid, basic fact you learn in law school is that every rule has an exception, so I’m sure someone is reading this post in disbelief, thinking “But, Nancy, don’t you know the synopsis is the best part?” 

All of which leads me to wonder, fellow readers, what you think of the quote. Do you hate writing but love having written? Do you prefer bringing that first draft into the world, or is your favorite part when you edit that first draft repeatedly to make it the best work you can present? Or is there some other part of writing that you cherish more? 

Literary Citizenry

By Robert T. Kelley

When I was struggling to finish my first book, I didn’t think much about the publishing world except how I was going to get into it. But the goodwill and good work of my fellow authors was all around me, supporting me and cheering me on.

There’s so much negative press right now about publishing being dead, about kids not reading whole books, about AI replacing us as writers (and maybe as humans), yet I couldn’t be more excited about writing and the business of writing.

This weekend I was at Killer Nashville (my first time!), and I couldn’t help but think about how important conferences have been to me as a writer. Everyone finds inspiration in different places, but for me, writing conferences were a critical support structure for my development as a writer.

A Maine crime writing friend said to me that they didn’t go to conferences until they were published, that they didn’t feel like they belonged there yet. But for me, it was attending them that helped me feel like I belonged. I’m very, very fortunate to be one of the members of a crime writing group that blogs as Maine Crime Writers, but I knew this crew long before I wrote with them. They volunteer to run Maine Crime Wave, New England Crime Bake, various readings, showcases, and bookselling events. And they’re regular people. Regular generous people.

Someone on a panel with me this weekend at Killer Nashville made a point that I think we need to revisit with regularity. We are not competitors. Your great book just makes my book better. We all started as readers; we are all still readers. We love losing ourselves in a book. And as writers we love throwing our story out into the world. But there’s even more we can do. We can bring other authors along with us.

Almost all the conferences I attend are run by volunteers: writers who want to share the wealth, who want to feature friends and fellow authors, who want to dig in and talk about their craft. What could be better?

There are only so many hours in a day, and we have to guard our writing time like a dragon sitting on a pile of gold (admittedly, in publishing the pile is very, very small). But I’m finding the literary citizenry work to be almost as rewarding as the writing.

This past year after my novel came out, I’ve served on panels at conferences, on committees organizing conferences, set up talks with other authors, and just got my first request to blurb a colleague’s book. All of it is fun, but more importantly, all of it matters.

 I was under the impression that the first book would be really hard then they would get much easier. The path gets more familiar, true, but the hill is just as high each time. But the journey is made so much easier when you accompany, and are accompanied by, your fellow writers.

Set up talks at libraries with other writers. Volunteer to help plan conferences you love. Review good books. Do things that support other writers, that give back to readers, that make the whole enterprise better and more accessible. That’s how we make sure that the publishing world still works for readers and writers.

It’s a gift we writers give ourselves.

Robert T. Kelley writes high-stakes, high-velocity thrillers in which power, privilege, and peril collide. He is the author of short stories and novels, including the technology thriller Raven, a finalist for the Maine Literary Awards. Formerly the publisher of the literary journal, The Maine Review, Rob now regularly writes on the Maine Crime Writers blog. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and his PhD in English from Indiana University. He lives with his wife, author Margot Anne Kelley, in Midcoast Maine and Boston. You can find him at https://www.roberttkelley.com.

Where do we get our ideas? It’s complicated

 by Maureen Milliken

The newspaper article wasn’t anything exciting. Someone in New Hampshire was running out of time to claim their $100,000 lottery win. I read the story half-hoping that I'd bought a Powerball ticket in Franklin, New Hampshire, last September and somehow forgot about it and the winner was me. Even though I haven’t bought a Powerball ticket in a while and can’t remember the last time I was in Franklin, New Hampshire. I’d moved on to wondering if the person was just playing some kind of sick game, waiting for the last minute to cash in, half-admiring their steely control. Or maybe they bought it and just forgot, a sadder story, but more likely.

Then it happened. If you write mysteries, you may be familiar with the feeling. That out-of-nowhere blast of inspiration. The excitement of seeing a story behind a few words, even if you don’t know what the story is yet.

No, it wasn’t the topic of the story itself, but this paragraph halfway through the story: “This wouldn’t be the largest unclaimed prize in New Hampshire lottery history. In 1987, a Tri-State Megabucks player never stepped forward to claim their $2 million jackpot…”

We’re often asked where we get our ideas. Depending on my energy level, my answer is “everywhere,” or it’s a more elaborate explanation of how ideas can come from anything – a newspaper article, a conversation overheard in the grocery store, a nugget excavated from a long otherwise boring story a friend is telling you.

I can never quite explain, though, the reality of it. That something that may seem mundane, or boring, sparks something deep in my brain and explodes. That feeling the second I read or hear something that it’s the start of something. There’s a story there. It’s big. It’s good. It’s exciting.

With the lottery story, I’m not sure what it is yet – I haven’t thought much about it and don’t want to get derailed from the book I’m writing now. That’s okay. That gives it time to form and grow and get tattoos and baggage.

I took a screen shot (I read my newspapers on my iPad) and marked it up with “mystery plot!!!!” in red. It’ll be there when I need it.

That’s not how all ideas happen, of course. There are different levels of ideas. There are the big shining book-writing-motivating ones, like the uncashed lottery ticket. Those don’t happen all the time, probably a good thing since I can only take so much excitement.

There are also the smaller ones that can work for a scene or character development.

The same day I read about the uncashed lottery ticket, I read in one of my local papers (yes, I do read a lot of newspapers, a blog post for another day), about a neighbor feud in which one drove a log skidder into the side of the other’s house, which caused about half of it to collapse. Sure, that’s something someone in one of my books could do.

Boom. Another screen shot.

One day a few months ago I was at the transfer station (the dump, for those of you from away) and a sheriff’s deputy pulled up behind a woman who was sorting her recycling. He tried to serve her some papers, which she ignored, so he put them in the front seat of her pickup truck. He was being kind of a jerk, taunting and harassing her as she sorted her recycling into the bins and ignored him. It was like a whole scene from a book, with characters I hadn’t written yet. I played it over in my head until I got home and wrote it down.

It’s in the same folder on my computer with some other scenes like that, of characters who I haven’t written yet.

The inspiration for the book I’m working on now was sparked by the story of a guy who was making a movie in Maine back in the 1970s. It was his lifelong dream, but wasn’t going very well. Then someone killed him. It’s not so much the ready-made plot that struck me as the poignancy. The guy had quit his job, moved his family halfway across the country and put his marriage at risk to live a dream. Even though it wasn’t working out, he didn’t seem to know that yet. Then some jerk killed him for a really crappy reason.

It actually took me a long time to work a plot out, but that wasn’t the point of the inspiration. It was the feeling of it that struck me.

The thing is, I know there are some days I would’ve read that paragraph about the uncashed lottery ticket and thought, “Gee, that’s too bad,” and moved on.

There are days when I would’ve read about the splitter being run into the house and said, “That’s Maine for you,” and turned the page.

Maybe on a different day I would’ve watched the deputy harassing the woman at the transfer station and felt annoyance and nothing else.

The murdered movie-maker? Maybe in a different mood, I would’ve thought it was a great topic for the podcast my sister and I do and that’s as far as it would’ve gone.

When someone asks me where I get my ideas, sometimes I toy with the idea of explaining all of this. How sometimes there’s a convergence of thought and feeling that comes together in my brain and heart and blows something up into an idea, big or small. Other times, though, ideas pass by without me catching them.

I never do try to explain it, though. I know from hard experience that the stuff going on in my head doesn’t translate well.

Instead I just say, “They’re everywhere. If I’m lucky, I catch a few.”

 Maureen Milliken bio

Maureen Milliken is the award-winning author of the Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery series. The fourth book in the series, “Dying for News,” won the 2025 Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. The fifth book in the series, “News From Away,” is due out later this year. She has also been co-host since 2016 of the Crime & Stuff podcast with her sister, Maine artist Rebecca Milliken. She lives in Central Maine.

Always on Nights and Weekends by Nancy L. Eady

As I write this at 8:30 at night, I am waiting for my daughter to get back from the pet store, gearing up for the fight I know we’re going to have as soon as she gets back.  

It’s not that she’s coming home with a pet we haven’t given her permission to have (been there, done that, with three rabbits, a guinea pig, a kitten, two frogs and four hermit crabs over the last four years), but one of our three dogs, Daisy, cut the top of her paw between two of her toes this evening.  After some searching, we found the cone we keep on hand.  It looked pretty shabby.  In fact, it’s really not a cone anymore, but kind of a misshapen mountain peak with a narrow caldera on top.  

My daughter is convinced we need to toss Daisy into the car and head for the 24/7 emergency vet about an hour away.  I am not.  Daisy’s not bleeding out; she’s not crying in pain; she’s not even limping.  Yes, the cut looks a little deep, but there’s no bone showing.  I’ve sent my daughter to get us another cone and some other supplies.  When Kayla gets back, we’ll probably have a fight over whether to take Daisy to the emergency vet. Vets cost a lot as it is; emergency vets are even more expensive.

My husband agrees with me that we are going to bandage the paw, put the cone on the dog and then see what things are like in the morning.  (He had to work tonight.)  If Daisy’s doing bad at that point, he’ll be able to drop her off at the vet’s office then.  Hopefully the dog won’t need the vet at all.  

We have used the emergency vet before.  Years ago, with a different set of dogs, one of our dogs tore the ear on the other dog by stepping on it while they were playing.  Of course, this happened on a Saturday morning.  That was the day we learned that ears are very vascular, and they don’t bandage well at all.  To fix a torn ear properly, the vet has to do full surgery, with anesthesia.  That was that particular dog’s first Very Expensive Vet Bill.  The same dog’s second Very Expensive Vet Bill came the afternoon she decided to eat a box of golden raisins.  Grapes are toxic to dogs, and raisins are concentrated grapes.  I got home that day from work about 5:45, took one look at the box of raisins, and threw two dogs, one 10-year-old and myself into the car, high-tailing it to the emergency vet about 30 minutes away.  By the time they reached her, she was already past the narrow window a vet usually has to get the raisins out before they cause serious harm.  But this particular dog truly lived a charmed life.  She was saved from the raisins by a sock.  We have no idea how long the sock had been in her stomach, but it pre-dated the raisins.  This accidentally "medicinal" sock blocked the raisins from being absorbed into her body.  Even the vet tech was giggling about that one.  

I really don’t know why emergencies are so inconsiderate; you’d think at least once in a lifetime they would occur at a convenient hour.  Once you make it through them, though, they certainly make great story fodder!  

And for the record, there was no fight – instead, my sweet daughter got the cone on the dog and then took the misshapen cone and put it on herself to try to help the dog not be afraid.  It didn’t work, but it was a noble effort.

Do you have any emergency vet story, emergency room visit, or mechanical  failure you have been able to use in your writing?  

Five Sure-Fire Ways to Kill Your Writing Career by Connie Berry

Writing is a Craft and a Career

My all-time favorite craft-of-writing book is Chris Roerden’s Don’t Sabotage Your Submission (published originally as Don’t Murder Your Manuscript). I learned so much from that book as a new writer that I’ve recommended it to others many times. The book covers no fewer than twenty-four newbie traps to avoid, including Bloody Backstory, Fatal Flashback, Dying Dialogue, and Killed by Cliché.

While Roerden’s focus is producing the best manuscript you can, I’d like to submit a few lessons I’ve learned about writing as a career. There are more ways to kill a budding career as an author than trying to sell a novel that isn’t ready for prime time.

Five sure-fire ways to kill your writing career:

1. Write in a vacuum.

Is your attitude “I don’t have time for all that. Just let me write.” The English poet John Dunne famously said “No man is an island.” That is certainly true for budding writers. We need the encouragement and inspiration of others. We need to learn and grow. We need to see beyond our own horizons. We need friends and colleagues.

2. Refuse to take advice.

Advice can be devastating, and writers can feel defensive. “What does she know??” The first time I got feedback from a developmental editor, I joked that I was on suicide watch. I wasn’t, but it was definitely a shock. Only when I finally took her advice and the advice of other writers along the same lines did I move forward in my career. Don’t assume you know best, even if you have an advanced degree in literature and writing as I did. You don’t know what you don’t know.

3. Treat other writers as competitors instead of colleagues.

Are you jealous when someone else gets a writing contract? Do you fail to give someone a five-star review because it feels like you’re aiding the enemy? My favorite motto from the writing community is: No one has to fail in order for me to succeed. That deserves to be cross-stitched and hung above our computer screen.

4. Defend yourself when you get a bad review.

This can be hard. When someone levels a criticism, everything in us rises up in defense—especially when the criticism is unfair or unwarranted. I got a one-star review once because the reader read politics into my book. Which was not only untrue but bizarre. Everything in me wanted to defend myself. But I didn’t. Replying in a snarky or self-defensive way to a bad review will only hurt your reputation.

5. Give up when success doesn’t happen quickly.

You know this one, don’t you? Winston Churchill, who knew a thing or two about discouragement, once said, “Never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." The only manuscript you can submit is the one you finished.

How to give yourself the best chance of success

Simply take my five examples and flip them around:

1. Seek community.
2. Be willing to take advice.
3. Treat other writers as colleagues.
4. Let bad reviews die their miserable deaths.
5. Persevere.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

An Interview With James M. Jackson

by Grace Topping

 

Niki Unbound

Devastating intel. No one left to trust. A government that wants her erased. But walking away isn’t in Niki’s DNA. All her working life, she’s disappeared into false lives to keep her country safe. Now that country has cut her loose—no sponsor, no support, no return. Then she learns of an imminent decapitation strike designed to seize the presidency—and no way to stop it without re-entering a world where hundreds of armed felons know her face. Knowing it's her or no one, Niki builds her team: four generations of family and friends with skills no one expected. The Justice Department's vast web is pulling threads—and each one leads to the team. Subpoenas land. Laptops seized. Questions sharpen. The people who volunteered to stop the coup are the ones now suffering. Can Niki stop the traitors and shield those who helped her—or will saving her country cost her everyone, including herself?        www.jamesmjackson.com

 

 

Author James M. Jackson spent a career as an actuary, dealing with math, statistics, and money theory. But after reading his latest political thriller, Niki Unbound, I’ve begun to wonder if Jim was an actuary by day and something else entirely by night. Read Niki Unbound and see what you think. But be warned. It’s a page-turner that will have you looking at your cell phone and computer differently afterwards. 

 

 

Welcome, Jim. 

 

Thanks so much for having me today, Grace.

 

From your previous books in this trilogy, readers recognize that Niki is an undercover name for Ashley Pendergast Prescott. In Niki Unbound, why did you identify her frequently throughout the book using both names?

Names can be complicated, can’t they? That’s especially true if you’ve lived more than a decade of your life bouncing between much of your “real” self as Ashley and your undercover life as Niki.

Consider an author who has written under a pseudonym. Most people know them by their pen name; friends know them by their real name; and really good friends know them by a nickname. That’s the same with Ashley/Niki, but it’s more complicated because some of her friends (Seamus McCree and his son) were around when the Niki persona came into existence and fondly use that as a nickname for her (and that’s passed on to other members of the family).

 

Ashley reminds herself to shift into her Niki mindset. How different is Ashley from her alter ego, Niki? 

 

Over the years, despite Ashley wanting to be unaffected by her undercover life, the two personas have blurred. That’s not surprising. Psychologists and philosophers before them have long understood that our actions (or those we actively visualize) will eventually change our thoughts and emotions. That’s the psychology behind the common expression to “fake it until you make it.” It’s an issue she actively experiences and tries to fight against by naming the Niki role before immersing herself in it.

 

With three female primary/support characters (Niki/Ashley, Lisa, and Cindy), what was the greatest challenge, if any, you faced writing female characters?

 

I’ve been writing female characters for years, so that isn’t a huge challenge. However, in reading an early draft, I realized Lisa sounded like another version of Niki. I revisited Lisa’s past (hacker extraordinaire, the kind of person who commands a room) and reviewed every scene she was in to make sure that personality shone.

 

You write that Lisa Latoya was the youngest brevetted general since the Civil War. What is a brevetted general?

 

A brevet is a commission that gives a military officer a higher nominal rank than their actual rank so they can act as though they had the higher rank. Consider it a promotion on paper and in practice, but not in fact. If you don’t want to learn more about brevetted generals, skip to the next question, ’cause I’m about to explain in detail.

 

The Army has one of the most rigid pecking orders you can imagine. Not only are there various ranks, but the date an individual obtains that rank determines which of two officers of the same rank is superior. That works fine until there is a crisis. During the Civil War, the crisis was that the Army expanded so quickly they needed high-level officers to command armies, but they didn’t want to lock in those ranks because they believed the Army’s size was only temporary. For example, George Armstrong Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 as a second lieutenant in the regular army. By age 23, he was a brevetted Brigadier General and ended the war as a brevetted Major General (two stars). After the war, he lost those brevetted promotions and resumed life in the regular army as a captain (and died a lieutenant colonel).

 

In Lisa’s case, the Army needed someone at the rank of Brigadier General to run the “Red Team” group of hackers tasked with trying to break into electronic systems before the enemy finds the weak links. But since Lisa had not spent the required time-in-service to be that rank, they used the brevet system. Lisa’s promotion is a fictional invention because, as I understand it, Congress changed the law in 1922 to prohibit brevetted promotions.

 

Tom decides not to become part of the team, saying that Niki and Seamus’s plans go against his core beliefs. Because of his beliefs, shouldn’t Seamus and Niki be concerned that Tom might turn them in?

 

Tom was a partner with Lisa and Patrick McCree right after college and has the same hacker mentality as they do. He’s just gone 100% legit. But he surmises how Lisa plans to use a botnet (see below); he doesn’t know it or witness it. No reason for him to squeal, and even if he did, he couldn’t prove anything, so they aren’t worried.

 

You write very realistically about computers and communications technology. It almost makes me want to resort to smoke signals to ensure confidentiality. Is the technological capability you include in this book real, or is some of it your creation?

 

The electronic sleuthing capabilities the characters use are real. Their applications are fictional. Your mother may have told you something similar to what mine told me seventy years ago: if you don’t want someone to know, don’t do it. In today’s wired world, it’s excellent advice. And smoke signals won’t work; someone’s camera will catch them and AI will interpret them in short order.

 

What is a botnet? And what is a Hail Mary anonymous call?

 

A botnet is a network of internet-connected devices infected with malware that allows a bot-herder (aka cybercriminal) to control them remotely. The owners of the devices are usually unaware. Botnets are often used for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks where the bot-herder overwhelms a computer, network, or server with traffic, spam, and phishing campaigns, etc.

 

In this story, they are used to create the equivalent of a supercomputer, distributing massive work over an extensive network of “captured” devices.

 

“Hail Mary,” when it doesn’t mean a traditional Christian prayer, refers to a last-ditch, desperate effort. In football, it’s often a 60-yard pass into the end-zone with the hope that one of the good guys will come down with it. In the novel, it’s making phone calls hoping someone will believe them about the decapitation event before it’s too late.

 

You have a surprising twist at the end. Did you plan it all along, or did you decide on it as you pantsed along?

 

A funny thing happened as I was creating the first draft. I realized my subconscious had all along been plotting the Niki Undercover Thriller series as a trilogy. I’d spread the breadcrumbs, sown the seeds, pick your metaphor—they all pointed to the resolution resulting in the twist you refer to. 

 

That’s one advantage of being a pantser: my intuition works way ahead of my fingers on the keyboard. The disadvantage is that you don’t know until suddenly you do know.

 

The details in Niki Unbound were so involved I just shook my head in wonder as to how you kept it all straight. Was this book more of a challenge for you than your others?

 

The most challenging part for me was knowing the story’s ending before I wrote it. I’ve never experienced that before, and I felt a lot of pressure to do it justice. I shouldn’t have worried so much because by the time I wrote the ending, my pantsing self came through with a few tweaks that made the story even stronger.

The details arrive after the first draft, and I attempt to ensure everything holds together. In read-throughs, I keep track of Chekhov’s gun rule: you must use every item shown in a story later, and its corollary that every item used later in the story must be foreshadowed. I despise deus ex machina and try to avoid any hint of it in my stories.

 

In addition to your writing, you spend a lot of time editing things like anthologies and teaching writing classes. Is there one among them that you enjoy more than the others?

 

I enjoy helping other people. I’ve found the best way I can do that is through teaching with a personal touch, where students have homework, and I can provide personalized feedback.

 

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

 

I can’t do it alone. It takes a community, of which Writers Who Kill plays a central role.

 

So with the conclusion of the Niki trilogy, what’s next?

 

That is the question. For the next few weeks, I’ll apply my energy and time to marketing, family visits, and teaching an online class on story structure. By then, I’ll have a focus. I have a nonfiction book for writers that I would like to complete, and I have the stirrings for two novels. The best way to keep in touch with my plans is to join my Readers Group Newsletter (and get a free story or three).

 

Thank you, Jim. I look forward to whatever project you take on next.

 

 

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.

Yinzer Love by Martha Reed

 The Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime recently announced an open call for their next anthology titled: “Gold Bridges, Dark Rivers.” Oddly, I’ve never written anything set in my hometown, so I sharpened my pencil and got down to it.

Pittsburgh has so many idiosyncrasies I didn’t know which one to pick. The most glaringly obvious one is Pittsburghese, our local dialect, which is grammatically incomprehensible, impossible to decipher if you’re not already fluent, and sort of like having a secret insider handshake. When two Pittsburghers meet and slip into it, you know they’re not jagoffs.

Here’s a quick primer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OHGYNud5Go

Since I wanted to write a story that readers could actually comprehend, I decided to skip that one.

Next was some consideration on how to connect with readers. Food is always a good emotional hook – just look at the plethora of mysteries that include recipes in their back pages. Then came the difficulty of explaining pierogies (delicious usually potato and cheese filled dumplings), haluski (cabbage and noodles), a traditional Pittsburgh grilled salad (mixed greens with ranch dressing topped by French fries), or a Primanti Brothers corned beef sandwich that includes a fried egg.

Nope. I began to panic. Sports teams? The Stillers, the Buccos, or the Pens? What topic could I possibly use to lure readers into being curious about my native land?

Going nuclear, I settled on Three Rivers, ground zero and where Pittsburgh began.

In Colonial American times, George Washington recommended using the Forks of the Ohio River as a strategic military location. In 1803 Lewis and Clark floated past The Point when they launched their expedition, but local history goes way beyond that. Prehistoric Indigenous people heaped a mound at nearby McKee’s Rocks which existed until the powers that be bulldozed it to make way for a cement plant.

Don’t get me started. The way we casually discard our history makes me cross my eyes and slap my forehead. Wait a second. There’s a hook I’m passionate about. Magically, the prologue from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet popped into mind:

“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;”

Inspired, I started to noodle around with the idea of two star-crossed lovers living on opposite Ohio riverbanks and whose families were historic enemies. That gave me the story’s base, the framework to build from, and my short story “Sacred Drums” was born.

The anthology’s projected publication date is year-end 2026. I hope you’ll look for it. Meanwhile, if you’d like to read my other free read short fiction, they’re posted on my website: https://www.reedmenow.com/short-fiction.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Filling the Blank Page by Nancy L. Eady

There is nothing worse than knowing that you have a deadline and staring at the blank page (or screen) and having absolutely no idea what to say. I mean zilch. 

What guidelines do I use in deciding what to write for this blog? My first requirement is that it be a topic that can carry me for somewhere between 500 and 1000 words. Sometimes I’m just under, sometimes I’m over, but that length works well. My second requirement is that the topic has the potential to inform or entertain my readers. My favorite topics are those that morph into something funny. It makes my day whenever I learn that something I wrote made someone laugh. I hope they are laughing with me, and not at me, but even if they’re laughing at me, I still feel a sense of accomplishment. Laughter is good for the soul. I try to find a topic related to writing or mysteries, but I long ago decided that my role here as a blogger makes it imperative that I have a post up on my assigned days. If a topic other than writing or mysteries accomplishes that, then so be it. (Sorry, fellow WWK bloggers, but it’s true.) Besides, variety is the spice of life. 

I have a notes section on my phone where I can jot down incidents or thoughts that might develop into a blog. Unfortunately, I hate typing on my phone, so try to make my notes as short as possible. I might have four potential topics, only to realize I can’t decipher any of them.

When I’m working on a manuscript, one way I’ve discovered to avoid blank page syndrome is to bring my writing to a halt at a point where I know what needs to happen next. So, a draft might describe a social function, then have the words below reminding me, “Next time, have Susan meet the killer at the library.” That gives me a place to start once I come back to writing. 

Another way to get started on a manuscript when I’m unsure where to go next is to edit some of my preceding work. Doing so slides me into my story, but I have to be careful when I try this. It is possible to get so involved in editing that you never move forward with your writing. 

Some people try freewriting, which is sitting down, setting a timer for 15 minutes (or more) and writing whatever comes to their mind. The problem with that for me is akin to the problem I have with meditation. The words that I freewrite are things like, “Why am I doing this? I really need to be working on x, y, and z. Are my 15 minutes up yet?” When I try to meditate, thoughts push into my head in a similar fashion. “Why am I doing this again? Boy, the fan sure is loud. What is this supposed to do? How much time do I have left?” Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not opposed to meditation per se. Many people have found it effective and helpful for achieving peace of mind and mental balance. I just don’t know how to shut my mind up long enough to make it work. 

So now I’m sitting at my computer screen, scrambling through my mind for a topi—Oh wait! Look at that. I’ve come up with a blog post after all. I guess the sign a friend gave me years ago is true—the best inspiration is a looming deadline. 

What are some ways you deal with writer’s block and decide what to write about? 

There’s More to Writing Than Just Writing by Annette Dashofy

Over twenty years ago, when I first decided to focus on my lifelong passion of writing fiction for publication, I had a vision of what my days as an author would look like. I would spend the mornings creating prose, then spend my afternoons with my feet up, reading the latest bestsellers to keep up with the trends. 

I confess, on rare days, this fantasy comes true. Maybe one day out of the month, if I’m lucky. 

All these years (and 19 books) later, it has struck me that a large part of life as a full-time novelist has very little to do with writing.

 Most days, yes, I write. Often seven days a week. But that’s only for an hour or two.

Unless I’m approaching a deadline, in which case I write until I’m unable to focus on the computer screen or spell even the simplest words. 

The rest of the day, my time is spent on the business of writing, but not necessarily the creation of pages or chapters. 

My mornings begin with checking and responding to emails. Or deleting and blocking the handful of AI-generated scams, which gush over one of my books while pointing out how crappy they are doing in the area of sales or reviews. And how THEY could help me with that. For a small fee. 

Then I switch to social media, where I create posts for myself on Facebook and Instagram, and for Sisters in Crime on SinC LinC and Bluesky. You see, I’m on SinC’s social media committee, which is one of my side gigs to support the organization that has been supporting me for most of my writing life. 

With my online tasks complete, I switch to drafting my current WIP until lunchtime. After lunch, my days are always full, but with a variety of chores. Because much of being a writer doesn’t involve writing. 

What does it involve? Researching podcasts or blogs where I might be able to snag a guest spot. Writing guest posts for blogs that have agreed to let me post. Researching topics involved in my WIP.  Attending writing group meetings, book club meetings, critique group meetings, etc. Speaking of my critique group meeting, during the week leading up to our monthly gathering, I’m reading and editing pages from my critique buddies. 

I’m always contemplating future stories, jotting down thoughts in a notebook, or plotting in my head. Yes, sometimes “writing” looks a lot like staring out the window. 

If I have a writing conference coming up, I’ll spend weeks working on my presentations. 

Some days, I put aside a few hours to watch a webinar or catch up on reading articles about either writing or a topic I want to write about. Or take an online course. 

Yes, I do read quite a bit, but I’m often reading a book that I’ve been asked to blurb prior to its release. Lately, I’ve had the privilege of being a conversation partner to an author who is visiting our city. (I was chosen as James Patterson’s conversation partner several years back!) This is always fun, but I do my homework. Not just reading the book but also checking out the author’s website and watching other interviews they’ve done on YouTube. 

Then there’s the chore of preparing marketing material for my books to help my agent shop them around the publishing world. I just love writing synopses (said no author ever!) 

And, yes, on rare occasions, I put aside an afternoon to put my feet up and read the hottest new release to see what trends I need to pay attention to. Hey, I never said I didn’t love my job. Overall, it’s pretty amazing and a lot of fun. 

Fellow Writers Who Kill, what non-writing tasks have I missed? And readers, what visions do you have about what a writer’s life is really like?

HAUNTED BY “LESS IS MORE”

 by Jule Selbo 

Being a ‘guest’ on a blog is an honor. The regulars on Writers Who Kill have years of writing experience and great books resting under their blog-umbrella. Being a guest here means I get a chance to talk about my latest book, 6 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery, and muse a bit about my writing experience and the fact that I am a ‘recovering Hollywood screenwriter’.

My screenwriting career jumped off from my playwriting efforts. My short plays were performed in high school, college and when I moved to New York City, I had a few produced off-off Broadway. One of the plays got some attention and opened doors in tv and film.

My years as a screenwriter set a ‘style’ in my writing because the craft is often about using as few words as possible. The term ‘white space’ refers to the look of a script page. A tired executive whose job it is to read 20-30 scripts a week picks the ‘next’ script off her desk and flips through it. She either smiles or curses, depending on the amount of ‘white space’ on the page. More white space, in most cases, equals a ‘faster read’, that the writer hasn’t gotten verbose and doesn’t use over-explicit descriptions of locations, characters, motivations, or dialogue. ‘Less is usually more’ in a screenplay because the camera/visuals will fill in details.

How often was I with actors on sets, in their dressing rooms, or at social gatherings who lamented having to handle dialogue that carried exposition? Or dialogue that explained their emotions? Or doing scenes that didn’t have a strong story purpose? The answer?  A lot. Why? It comes back to the camera again. Actors feel like they can emote with their eyes/their faces/their bodies. They don’t like to have to do ‘explain’ scenes, they like the ‘actions’ of their characters to fill in their personalities and intentions.

I wrote in various story genres (action, adventure, coming of age, bio-pic, romance , sci fi and comedy) during my Hollywood years and learned about the need to fulfill ‘genre promises’ so that the audience would be satisfied. TV and movie scripts often use a few ‘supporting’ genres to fill out characters’ lives (such as romantic relationships, friendships, family, fears, silliness). I still enjoy thinking how different story genres will illuminate my characters while keeping the crime/mystery genre in its primary place.

Budgets were always talked about in the film/tv industry; the producers want to keep the cast costs low by only including characters who were absolutely needed for the story. Locations should be kept to a minimum because the getting of permits, the moving and re-setting up of crew and equipment was time-consuming and expensive. I hear from readers of crime/mysteries that too many characters can get confusing – and yes – we build stories with red herrings and various suspects, but I try to keep the ‘cast list’ low.

The above are just a few things where I feel my screenwriting experiences have influenced the Dee Rommel series. Who’s Dee Rommel? Her childhood dream was to be a top police detective in Portland, Maine.  ‘Bad guys’ changed all that when, as a young cop, she was going after perps of a hit-and-run (a child died) on a wintry-icy night and tracked them to the top of a building under construction. Dee was the first on her team to the roof, where she was sideswiped by the villains. Sliding off the roof into a dumpster filled with insulation and drywall, she sustained a serious injury that was going to sideline her (after rehab) to a desk job at the Police Department. She needs to come to a decision: should she stay with the police force or join her godfather’s PI firm?

The Dee Rommel series is a 10-parter. 6 DAYS was released this summer (2026) and follows 10 DAYS, 9 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 7 DAYS (you see the pattern). She has 10 days to solve the first case; the next case needs to be solved in 9 days (again, you see the pattern). It’s countdown to 1 DAY.

As a screenwriter, I worked on a few television series that were serialized (Melrose Place, Life Goes On, Space Above and Beyond and more). Of course, the ‘long’ character stories had to stretch 10 to 22 episodes, but each week we had a ‘short’ story that needed a beginning, middle and end. The Dee Rommel series has a 10-book character arc for Dee and some of the other ‘core’ characters, but I wanted to make sure that people could read them out of order too. I didn’t want Dee (or any character) to have to do the heavy backstory ‘exposition’, so the challenge of finding new ways to catch-the-reader-up has been fun.

6 DAYS has a bit extra in it too, genre-wise. I wanted to add a bit of thriller/horror to the crime/mystery genre, a sense that ghosts haunted a private island that was home to a family with deep, dark secrets.

An ethereal beauty, heiress Freya Cummings hasn’t left her private island in Maine for over twenty years, not since she was thirteen. Her reclusive lifestyle is infamous. When a teenager files a maternity suit against her, and mysterious evidence seems damning, former policewoman and now private investigator, Dee Rommel, is hired. She travels up the coast from Portland to flesh out the truth, and as avenues of investigation are shut down, and New England’s blood banks are hacked, and bodies are found, Dee discovers dark secrets can create dangerous chaos for the families and for her own relationships.  

Thanks again to WRITERS WHO KILL for giving me this chance to muse on some of my writing thoughts—and share my excitement about the release of 5^th book in the Dee Rommel Series: 6 DAYS. Halfway through the series!  Yeah!  Jule Selbo, Portland Maine

Duck Tape by Nancy L. Eady

I unexpectedly needed duck tape Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. Pulling into a parking spot, thinking about a project with a deadline instead of my parking, I ended up grinding the front of the car on a low curb. I have done that before, but today was special. This time, the scraping shook the plastic bottom of the front bumper loose on both the driver’s and passenger's sides of the car. It wasn’t just loose; it was low enough to scrape the pavement, even though the center was still firm.

I did what any other smart, independent, married woman would do in such an emergency—called my husband. Unusual circumstances kept him from being able to come help me, so he decided the solution was duck tape. Ten years ago, I would have had to beg a ride, but in this day and age, I hit a few keys on my smartphone and voilá! DoorDash delivered duck tape to me. The bottom of the bumper is now firmly stuck to the top, and the makeshift repair survived the drive home on the interstate at 70-ish miles per hour. 

Using it made me curious. The most important initial fact I wanted to establish was whether the stuff is called “duck tape” or “duct tape.” According to Wikipedia, citing the Oxford English Dictionary as its source, both terms are appropriate, but the original term was “duck tape.” Why? The earliest versions of duck tape weren’t tape at all, but strips of duck cloth used in the late 1800s and early 1900s for things like protecting shoes, protecting cables from wear, and decorating. At one point, someone sold Venetian blinds whose slats were held together with the stuff. 

Duck tape took the form we are familiar with during World War II. A munitions worker, Vesta Stoudt, learned that the troops were having trouble opening boxes of ammunition sealed with paper backed with glue. The factory would leave a thin strip of tape on the outside of the box to help with opening it, but the strip often tore off in transit, leaving troops frantically trying to open the box under fire. She first suggested to her supervisors that they use fabric tape, and they ignored her. Tired of being ignored, she sent a letter to President Roosevelt telling him about her idea and providing him with diagrams for a prototype. He forwarded the letter to the War Production Board, which called on Johnson & Johnson to see what they could do. The War Production Board ultimately wrote a letter back to Mrs. Stoudt, telling her that the Ordnance Department had approved the change, and believed her idea was of “exceptional merit.” A division of Johnson & Johnson had been manufacturing an adhesive tape made of thin duck cloth on one side and adhesive on the other for medical purposes, so, at the request of the War Board, they looked at their product and figured out a way to make it easy to tear with your hands. To this day, Johnson & Johnson credits Vesta Stoudt with inventing duck tape. It was a smash hit with the troops, who quickly learned that it could repair everything from boots to Jeeps. Then, post-war, the tape also was used for sealing things such as HVAC vents, so the name also became “duct tape.” 

One other fact about duck tape concerned me—the modern version of the product is not used much in HVAC systems anymore because it breaks down in the heat. As you will recall from one of last month’s posts, I live in the Deep South, and it is now late August. I got into my car the other day where, even though it had been sitting all day in a covered parking garage out of the sun, the temperature registered by the car was 101! So, this little detail about heat breakdown became important to nail down. I need this repair to last at least until Saturday, when my husband and daughter will figure out a more permanent fix. I was relieved to learn that the temperatures at which the adhesive begins to break down are over 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Even in the Deep South, I think I’m pretty safe. 

Just for grins and giggles, what is the most unusual or creative use you have ever seen for duck tape? 

A Few Thoughts About Cats by Marilyn Levinson

When it comes to cats, I sometimes think there are two kinds of people. The cat haters shudder when you mention the word "cat." "They're sneaky." "They climb everywhere." "They don't listen." "They won't love you like a dog will." The cat lovers smile when you tell them you have cats and are eager to see photos of your fur babies. Often they will pull out their phone to show you pictures of their own. 

I am a cat lover and the carer of two cats. Of course I think the world of dogs and loved my Mini Schnauzer. But I not only adore my kitties, I find them fascinating. My dilute tortie Juliet speaks to me constantly. As soon as I sit down, she's on my lap and eyes me soulfully--her way of telling me to put down my Sudoku puzzle and rub under her chin. Her medium-haired brother Romeo retrieves cards and papers from the dining room table and drops them at my feet with the quietest meow. Both cats are always close by, and when they aren't they come as soon as I call them. 

Yes, they do some of the things the haters accuse them of. While my two felines usually obey me when I tell them to stop doing something, they insist on climbing onto the kitchen table though they don't touch our food. They're good about using the scratching pads scattered around the house, but occasionally need to be reminded not to claw the dining room chairs. They are loving and affectionate.

 Cats were revered in Ancient Egypt, but they haven't always had an easy time of it. In the Middle Ages, cats were reviled as witches' familiars and in league with the devil. Many were massacred. So many, in fact, that it's been said that the Black Death/Bubonic Plague in the fourteenth century killed so many people because cats, that would have killed the rats and the fleas on them that carried the plague, had been exterminated. Nowadays cats are popular pets, probably because of the invention of kitty litter in 1947.

Cats are clever, curious, and comical. They make wonderful companions to their sleuths in cozy mysteries and often add a dimension to the story. In my Haunted Library series, Carrie Singleton finds Smoky Joe, who started out life as a barn kitty, when he wanders onto her lawn. After he jumps into her car, she ends up bringing him to the library where she's head of programs and events.

And when Smoky Joe proves to be sociable with the patrons, he quickly becomes the library cat. He even takes part in the mysteries Carrie resolves—finding diamonds that no one can locate in one book and saving Carrie from a murderer in another. 

These days, it's not only cozies where cats have a role. A kitten makes an appearance in the latest "Reacher" season on Netflix. 

What do you think about cats as a pet or as a character in a mystery? 

Killer Questions - Favorite Type of Books to Read

 Killer Questions – Favorite Type of Books to Read

We are often asked what each of us likes to read. Consequently, as part of our year of favorites, here is what each of us most enjoys reading:

Annette Dashofty: Mystery and thriller.

Heather Weidner: I like lots of genres, but mysteries are always my go to favorites. Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Three Investigators (along with a host of 70s cartoons like “Scooby-Doo”) were my gateway books to so many adventures.

James M. Jackson: A crime novel series. I enjoy watching the main characters live and change while bringing their version of justice to the world. Second choice is a well-written nonfiction book on almost any topic.

Martha Reed: Crime fiction with a paranormal element. I love solving the whodunnit but keeping something mystically unresolved gets me every time. Think the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman.

Molly MacRae: Clever, funny mysteries with satisfying endings – like The Librarians by Sherry Thomas and The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

Sarah E. Burr: I really love reading manga, especially the slice-of-life genre. The relationships are so sweet, and it’s just an enjoyable reading experience.

Kait Carson: The kind with words. I’ll read anything and often venture out of preferred genres of Mystery and Romance just for fun.

Debra H. Goldstein: I am an avid reader of cozy and traditional mysteries, but I also enjoy biographies and memoirs.

Elaine Douts: I love culinary mysteries for the food, of course, and mysteries that include pets.

Margaret Hamilton: When I’m deep in writing mode, non-fiction, essays, and poetry. Otherwise, traditional amateur sleuth mysteries and for long trips, the latest Daniel Silva thriller.

KMRockwood: Crime fiction. Who knows why?

Lori Roberts Herbst: I read most genres, so it’s impossible to choose. I can get lost in a humorous whodunit, a heart-stopping thriller, intense crime fiction, or nail-biting horror.

Grace Topping: Historical mysteries. I enjoy a mystery that transports me to a different time. I learn something new about that time period with each book.   

Korina Moss: Crime fiction. Who knows why?

Shari Randall: Mysteries of course! Especially those that have a rich sense of place like Anne Cleeve’s Shetland books.

Mary Dutta: Mysteries! I love the challenge of a puzzle and the satisfaction of a resolution.