Sarah Caudwell’s Thus Was Adonis Murdered

An Appreciation by Shari Randall

 

As you may have guessed from my blogs, I am a fan of classic mysteries. I’m not the only one. Did you catch the reference to John Dickson Carr’s classic locked-room mystery The Hollow Man in the new Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man movie?

 

My latest foray into the classic mystery vault is Thus Was Adonis Murdered (1981) by Sarah Caudwell. Caudwell, whose real name was Sarah Cockburn, was a British barrister and law professor who was instrumental in opening the once exclusively male Oxford Union debating society to women. Her legal background and deep erudition are on display in the novel, but don’t let that scare you off. This is one entertaining read.

 

The plot? Young barrister Julia Larwood travels to Venice with a group called the Art Lovers. She sets her romantic sights on one of the group, and falls under suspicion when the young man is found murdered in their luxurious Venetian hotel. When her friends at the law office hear of her arrest, they work together to clear her name.

 

One would give one’s eye teeth to hang out with Caudwell’s characters, the witty and urbane denizens of Lincoln’s Inn Fields law office, and perhaps give even more to spend time in Venice with them. One feels one’s vocabulary and IQ score improve simply by turning the pages. One also finds oneself using “one” more than is wise or necessary in 2026.

 

But I digress. The investigation progresses through a series of letters that Julia sends to her friends back in London, an almost book-within-a-book effect that is utterly charming.  Don’t we all love to read someone else’s mail? I couldn’t wait for another letter from Julia. Her entire aim during the trip is to seduce the Adonis of the title. (Not a spoiler; she makes the goal plain in her first letter.) Will Julia succeed? Don’t worry, much is left to the imagination, but still the frankness of Julia’s pursuit is amusing and refreshing.

 

Elegant, arch, mannered, acerbic, witty…I find myself losing track of the actual plot, distracted by the sheer style and voice of the narrator, Hilary Tamar, an Oxford don. In four books, Caudwell never reveals the sex or age of Tamar. She said in an interview with Mystery Scene magazine, “I knew from the outset Hilary must be an Oxford don – but of equivocal sex and even equivocal age, resembling that precise, donnish kind of individual who starts being elderly at the age of twenty-two.”

 

Those of us without a first in Classics will have our horizons broadened by allusions to Catullus, Michelangelo, and the Byzantine empire but, again, don’t let that scare you. If you’re looking for a book with rare style and wit, offering the sheer pleasure of immersing one’s self (sorry!) in the British TV fantasy world of dons, barristers, and Bermuda shorts-wearing army majors, this is the book for you.

SHARI RANDALL is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series, and, as Meri Allen, the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. Her latest short story appears in the new Destination Murders anthology, Murder in the Graveyard.

 

 

 

WWMD? What Would Mary Do?

 by Shari Randall

We writers are always looking for inspiration, aren't we? At least I am. And I don't mean pie-in-the-sky-visit-from-a-Muse inspiration. I mean inspiration to get butt in the chair and fingers on the keyboard. 

Some people have the hard-won inspiration of a disciplined routine. I have an erratic schedule, so that doesn't work for me. No, what works for me is plain old guilt.

When my self-discipline flags and I need to sit down and write I think, "What would Mary do?" Mary Higgins Clark was the author of over 50 books, including the mega-bestseller Where Are The Children? Dubbed "The Queen of Suspense," Clark crafted resilient characters who faced challenging, often deadly, situations with grit and determination.

That determination was part of her own DNA. Widowed with four children, Clark would rise to write at 5 AM until 7 AM when she'd ready her children for school and herself for work.

So, no excuses. If Mary could make time for writing, so can I.

What author inspires you?

Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series, and, as Meri Allen, the author of the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries.

Murder in the Graveyard Awaits

By Shari Randall AKA Meri Allen

It’s early October­ — the leaves are starting to mellow, the wind is crisp, and some people have already decorated their houses for Halloween.

 Halloween has morphed into a much bigger holiday than it was years ago when the celebration consisted of homemade costumes, pillowcases filled with candy extorted from neighbors, and a viewing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

 

Now you can get your child a light up T-Rex costume from Pottery Barn for $79 (and free shipping), a personalized velvet pumpkin-shaped treat basket for $36, or a 12 Ft. tall giant plastic lawn skeleton from the garden center for $229.

 

Times have changed, but one thing hasn’t. Everyone loves a good spooky story, and reading is cheap. If the book’s action is set in a graveyard, all the better.

 

That’s why I was thrilled to take part in the latest Destination Murders anthology Murder in the Graveyard. Not only was it a chance to stretch my writing muscles (writing to a theme is always a fun challenge) but it was also a chance to bring back some of my favorite characters from my Meri Allen Ice Cream Shop Mystery series: the Fairweather sisters. And writing a murder scene set in a graveyard? Priceless.

 

Another reason I enjoyed taking part? A fabulous line up of cozy mystery authors contributed to the anthology, serving up, as the publisher says, stories “perfect for curling up anytime you’re craving bite-sized mysteries with big personality.” Each of the authors — Leslie Budewitz, Karen Cantwell, Misha Crews, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Tina Kashian, Daphne Silver, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Rosalie Spielman, and Cathy Wiley — wrote their story starring the main character of their series. If you like their characters, more mystery and adventure awaits you in those books.

 

Murder in the Graveyard is available now. Enjoy it along with those fun-sized candy bars you stashed away on the shelf behind the canned vegetables.

 

What’s your favorite scary story or book? What’s your favorite Halloween treat?

 

Meri Allen is the pen name of Shari Randall, author of not only the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries, but also the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack mystery series. She loves a good spooky story, and her favorite Halloween candy is Smarties and Milky Way bars.

Where Has Your Book Taken You?

 Hello from Shari Randall!

One reason I set my Lobster Shack Mysteries in Mystic, Connecticut (called Mystic Bay in the books) is because the area has so much of that hard-to-define quality called charm. Its combination of historical interest and natural beauty makes it a place people yearn to visit. Over the years I've felt like an unofficial ambassador for not just this area of coastal Connecticut, but for New England, too. Nothing makes me happier than a reader who tells me they enjoyed their "visit" in the pages of one of my books.

Setting is such an important part of a story. In some books, the description of the setting is so vivid that we feel immersed in the place. That's one of the reasons we readers love books, isn't it? We can travel in books without leaving our cozy armchairs.

Where has your last read taken you? 

Let me know in the comments. 

Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mysteries  and, as Meri Allen, the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries. The last place she visited in a book? Ireland.

Recipes for Readers – Hot Fudge Sauce from Molly MacRae

 

Some people scream for ice cream. Some people scream in mysteries and thrillers. Some people do both, and with this easy recipe for hot fudge sauce and a copy of Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen, you can too.   

Hot Fudge Sauce

Makes a shy 2 cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ounces unsweetened baker’s chocolate, chopped

 

Directions

Combine milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir slowly until mixture begins to simmer.

Stir in cocoa powder until smooth. Add butter and vanilla. Stir slowly until butter is melted.

Add baker’s chocolate. Stir slowly until melted.

Serve warm over your choice of ice cream while reading Fatal Fudge Swirl, book 3 in Meri Allen’s Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. 

Fatal Fudge Swirl is a delicious three scoop confection: Scoop 1) Residents of Penniman, Connecticut, are preparing for their weekend-long Halloween Happenings celebration. Scoop 2) Excitement is buzzing because a romantic comedy is being filmed on the town green. Scoop 3) A domineering socialite is planning her lavish Halloween-themed wedding—and she ends up dead. Can Riley Rhodes, manager of the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop (and former CIA librarian and amateur sleuth), unmask the murderer? You might need another bowl of ice cream while you keep reading the book to find out.

Store the fudge sauce in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze it for up to three months.

Reheat the sauce by zapping it for 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring between zaps to prevent burning, until heated through.

 

 

Happy Birthday to Mildred Wirt Benson, the first “Carolyn Keene”

By Shari Randall

When I was a little girl, I rarely noticed the authors’ names on the books I gobbled up like penny candy from the corner store.  The only exception was the author of my favorite books. Even though we referred to them as “Nancy Drews” my friends and I knew the author of the yellow covered books we traded was Carolyn Keene. 

 

Imagine my shock when I learned there was no “Carolyn Keene” and that it was a pen name for a stable of ghostwriters from the Stratemeyer Syndicate (is there a more terrifying corporate name?)

 

As the years passed, I occasionally stumbled upon articles about the authors who made up that group, especially the first ghostwriter, Mildred Wirt Benson. Mildred and the other “Carolyn Keenes” inspired generations of young readers, especially girls. These authors gave us a female protagonist with agency, without parental interference or control, and a jazzy blue roadster. I believe Mildred and her co-ghosts were one of the most influential groups of women in America (and if my FB feed is any indication, the world). Many women who broke glass ceilings have spoken of their hours reading Nancy Drew, women including presidential candidates and Supreme Court justices. My years as a children’s librarian has taught me that very little shapes the worldview of a child like the stories they read. 

 

Every July 10 on my Facebook author page, I commemorate Mildred’s birthday. As “Carolyn Keene,” she ghostwrote or contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drews, creating the template for the determined girl detective that has inspired millions of young readers. This year I treated myself to a lifetime membership in the Nancy Drew Sleuths, a fun group dedicated to all things Nancy. 

 

Raise a glass with me to Mildred. She opened the door for so many of us to the joy of reading mysteries and the joy of reading, plain and simple. To Mildred!

 

Here are five fast facts about Mildred Wirt Benson:

Her typewriter is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History.

She was an avid traveler and adventurer who trained as a pilot, traveling to South American archaeological sites before they were opened to tourists.

In 1927, she was the first student, man or woman, to earn a master’s in journalism at the University of Iowa.

She worked as a journalist for 50 years, mostly on the courthouse beat for the Toledo Blade.

Her role as Carolyn Keene was kept under wraps until researchers uncovered the story in the 1980s.

 

Feel free to share your thoughts and memories about Mildred, Nancy, or “Carolyn Keene” in the comments.

Shari Randall is now a card-carrying member of the Nancy Drew Sleuths. She is the author of the beloved Lobster Shack Mystery series. As Meri Allen, she writes the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series.

The Ups and Downs of #AuthorLife

by Shari Randall

Authors find many events to celebrate on the writing journey. Just a few days ago fellow Writer Who Kills Lisa Malice wrote about being a debut author. Debuts are definitely worth celebrating as well as publication days AKA “book birthdays,” signing a contract, and publishing a new story in a fun anthology. If we’re lucky, also we celebrate nominations and awards and being named to "best of" lists. 

We don’t mention it as much but I think we should celebrate a book or story simply being written. So many people have told me that their dream is to write a book. Writing a book or story isn’t easy – it’s hard to find the time, hard to make the time, hard to start, hard to keep going, hard to finish, hard to edit. Hard – goodness knows – to rewrite it!

 

So I try to keep that in mind and celebrate each step. With every publishing milestone, I stop and think to myself “#authorlife.” Coffee with an editor. Yes, #author life! Typing THE END on a manuscript - #authorlife! It’s my way of stopping to savor, to smell the roses, of this crazy turn my life has taken.

 

That brings me to the less sunny milestones of #authorlife. Series cancellations. Short stories that turned out to be novels and vice versa. Losing beloved editors. Rejections.  

 

I recently passed one of those less-than-sunny milestones - having a series drop out of print.

 

Giving author talks at libraries is one of my favorite parts of #authorlife, and they often include the opportunity to sell books. I needed some copies of my first book, CURSES, BOILED AGAIN, so I ordered some from an online bookseller.

 

The next day I received an email from the bookseller. “Sorry, it’s OOP.”

I wrote back, “OOP?”

“Out Of Print.”

Oh.

That sound you heard was my heart dropping off a cliff. My beloved first novel – out of print. It felt like all my characters had been swept off a beach in a tsunami, without a chance for me to say a proper farewell.

 

Gone.

Well, I was naïve, and honestly, not paying attention. The book was released in 2018. Books that don’t sell a certain threshold go out of print, especially books that were published six years ago, an eon in the publishing business.

 

What to do? Simply wish my characters RIP? Or…..another adventure in #authorlife?

 

I decided to get my rights back, revive the series, and publish it myself. I'm working with a wonderful artist on designs for new covers. A fresh look. I couldn’t let my characters go, and I hope the new covers will entice new readers.

 

I’ll be self-publishing them, so that's another stop on the road called #authorlife. Wish me luck.

 

How do you cope with the ups and downs of writer’s life?

Shari Randall is the author of the soon to be revived Lobster Shack Mystery series. As Meri Allen, she writes the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series, which is still in print and available wherever books are sold  (thank goodness!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vintage Bookshelf: The Mrs. Pollifax Series

By Shari Randall

 

Welcome to another episode of the Vintage Bookshelf. My name is Shari Randall and I enjoy reading books published more than fifty years ago (the current definition of vintage). In this episode, I discuss a favorite series protagonist, one of the original “silver sleuths,” Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Emily Pollifax.

 

As aa reader who falls into the “vintage” category, (not quite antique yet, thank you), I am especially pleased to have made the acquaintance of Mrs. Emily Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, a widow in her sixties who satisfied her longing for adventure by taking on the occasional undercover assignment for the CIA.

 

When we meet Emily in her first adventure, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1966), she’s sharing with her garden club the night-blooming cereus that she’s managed to grown in a box on her fire escape. Despite this impressive horticultural feat and her forays into yoga and karate, Emily longs for more and she decides to write to the CIA to ask for a job. Through a (less than believable) mix up (hang in there, it’s worth it), she’s hired. Her CIA handler, Carstairs, believes that her resourceful and improvisational personality, disguised by her ladylike gloves and hats, makes her the perfect spy. Her adventures take her to geopolitical hot spots like Hong Kong, Morocco, Sicily, Mexico, and more. She goes undercover in carnivals, souks, and sanitariums. She’s held at gunpoint, knocked out with chloroform, and kidnapped numerous times, but with sturdy common sense and gumption she vanquishes experienced foreign agents, art forgers, and a cast of other bad actors.

 

Keep in mind, Mrs. Pollifax operates in a time when the Cold War was hot. Yes, as with all books on the vintage bookshelf, one is very occasionally jolted by attitudes and language that were acceptable at the time the book was written, but no longer. Never fear, Mrs. Pollifax maintains an open-hearted and broad-minded attitude that has insured her welcome on our bookshelves today. 

 

Dorothy Gilman

It’s particularly pleasing to see how popular these books have remained. There are websites and social media groups devoted to the series. The name of a popular mystery review site run by Mark Baker, Carstairs Considers, pays homage to Mrs. Pollifax’s CIA handler.

 

If you think Mrs. Pollifax bears some resemblance to Riley Rhodes, the protagonist of my Ice Cream Shop Mysteries (written with my super-secret pen name of Meri Allen) you would be correct - and very perceptive. Riley’s background as a former CIA librarian/occasional asset was inspired by Mrs. Pollifax.

 

Here are the Mrs. Pollifax books in order:

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (AKA Mrs. Pollifax, Spy)

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax

The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha

Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle

Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief

Mrs. Pollifax Pursued

Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist

Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled1990)))

 

Who’s your favorite “silver sleuth?” Let me know in the comments.

 

Shari Randall is the author of the beloved Lobster Shack Mystery series and, as Meri Allen, the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries. You can see what she’s up to on Facebook (@sharirandallauthor) and Instagram (@meriallenbooks).

 

 

Keeping Track of Time

by Shari Randall

Writers have to keep so many elements in mind when crafting a story – plot, characterization, dialogue, and setting. We think about pace, clarity, and the sneakiest spots for those red herrings.

 Over the course of writing several books, I’ve learned that, for me, there’s another element that needs to be watched carefully - the timeline.

 

I’m a pantser. I write scenes and pray that they come together coherently when I finish my manuscript. This is why I think about plot and timeline differently. The plot is what happens and the timeline is when it happens. Nothing can pull me out of a story faster than ripples in an author’s timeline.

 

I recently took an online class where the talented author and writing instructor Jane Cleland interviewed Jonathan Santlofer about his new art thriller, The Lost Van Gogh. Jane asked him about his writing process. Jonathan mentioned that he keeps a detailed timeline – brief notes on each chapter -  on a legal pad, taping the pages together into one long sheet. Some students commented that this was quirky, but it’s a quirk that I have embraced because if the timeline doesn’t work, the story doesn’t work.

 

The start of a new project.

There’s one aspect of the timeline that’s especially important to someone juggling a (hopefully) clever plot with several twists, turns, and surprises. That aspect is this: Who knew what when? When your sleuth questions suspects to gather clues to discover who done it, who-did-what-when is important. So is who-knew-what-when. I also note these details on my timeline.

 

So Mr. Santlofer and I will be making our 6 foot long timelines. How do you keep track of your timeline?

Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. As Meri Allen, she pens the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. Her latest book, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, had one very complicated timeline.

 

From The Vintage Bookshelf: Thirty Years a Detective by Allan Pinkerton

By Shari Randall

Vintage Bookshelf is an occasional series in which I muse upon crime-related books I pick up in used bookshops and dusty antique stores. In this episode, I take a parasol-shaded stroll through Thirty Years A Detective: A Thorough and Comprehensive Exposé of Criminal Practices of All Grades and Classes, Containing Numerous Episodes of Personal Experience in the Detection of Criminals, and Covering a Period of Thirty Years’ Active Detective Life (whew) by Allan Pinkerton. Yes, that Pinkerton.

 

In the late 1800’s a series of books was published by Allan Pinkerton, the detective who gave his name to one of the world’s most famous security companies. There is some doubt as to the extent of Allan Pinkerton’s participation in the series of “Great Detective Books” but there is no doubt that Thirty Years a Detective is a lace-curtained look out the grimy window of morality and crime circa 1880.

 

The prose is purple, the detectives noble, the criminals (“knights of darkness”) detestable but well dressed and improbably well mannered. If you are writing a historical novel, this book is a gold mine.

 

It’s also a ripping read. Thirty Years a Detective is an unintentional how-to for criminals, replete with stories of justice served, spiced with a surprisingly sultry chapter on a scamming seductress for good measure.

 

If you didn’t know how to run a confidence scheme, rob a steamboat, bilk society worthies, or break into hotel rooms, you will after reading this book. “Pinkerton” helpfully delineates each stage of the criminal’s work. With diagrams.

 

Each chapter introduces us to different flavors of criminal - The Society Thief, The Pickpocket, Store Robbers, The “Boodle Game” (“cupidity greater than judgment”), Sneak Thieving, Palace Car Thieves (“Mr. Potter Loses some Diamonds”) Steamboat Operators, Confidence and Blackmail (“The Confidence Man About Town”), The Burglar (“Burglars and Dynamite”) Forgers and Forging, Counterfeiting and Counterfeiters, and the Express Robber.

 

The great detective invariably praises the intelligence, wiles, and ability of what we would call the perp, the better to showcase the intelligence, wiles, and ability of the Pinkerton Operatives who take them down.

 

The author, an émigré from Scotland, often mentions the superiority of the American criminal, American criminals being more apt to fashion their own burglar tools to break into tough-to-crack bank vaults and homes. Even then, Americans were leveraging technology to get the job done.

 

He also includes what we’d call an episode from the Dumb Criminal file (“The Biter Bitten”), a tale of two of New York’s most brazen confidence men being fleeced by one of their own.

 

The chapter on the seductive scammer, titled “A Social Leper,” inspires all Fifty Shades of “Pinkerton’s” violet verbiage. He begins on this somber note: “Crime, I regret to say, is not entirely confined to the male portion of humanity…. I am reluctant to confess it, but her fair fingers have more than once been bathed in blood.” We breathlessly set aside our porcelain tea cup for a delicious wallow in the account of Helen Graham, a tale of “genuine romantic deviltry.” The pages turn themselves.

 

“Pinkerton” describes Graham as “truly beautiful, her eyes beamed with a bright softness that owns the hearts of those around her.” Graham’s scam was answering help wanted ads and then accusing the respectable businessmen she visited of “accosting her with most vile and degrading proposals.” She flung cayenne pepper into the eyes of the businessman to ensure he’d call the police to the scene. Yes, accosting ladies with vile proposals got you arrested in 1884. One of her marks, Mr. Ingalls, did not give in to her blackmail and hired “trusty detectives.”

 

Thank goodness Ingalls’ trusty detectives – “Pinkerton’s” modesty and restraint do not permit him to spell out whose detectives - revealed Graham as a “beautiful fiend whose seductive wiles had been the ruin of many who had been led by the witching spell of her charms into the abyss of moral destruction.” Whew! Bring me my fan!

 

These operatives discovered that Helen Graham was actually Mary Freeland, a barmaid who left a trail of dozens of duped men from a dockside London bar to the palatial homes of Manhattan. “Pinkerton” devotes several spicy but disapproving pages to the tale of her depraved descent into “genuine romantic deviltry.” Take that, E. L. James!

 

As you can see from the above excerpts, one also wonders if the writer, er, “Pinkerton,” was paid by the word. 

 

The inside cover advertisement for the other books in the series Allan Pinkerton’s Great Detective Books contains this blurb: “The interest which the reader feels from the outset is intense and resistless; he is swept along by the narrative, held by it, whether he will or no.”

Translation: “An un-putdownable thrill ride!”

 

If you’d like to own this priceless window into the past, an original Thirty Years a Detective is selling on abebooks.com for $98.42 — but thanks to expired copyright, you can enjoy “Pinkerton’s” adventures online free through many digital libraries such as Projectgutenberg.org.

Happy reading! Do you enjoy used bookstores? Share any great finds in the comments.

Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. She also writes the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries under her pen name Meri Allen. You can find her haunting her local used bookshop.

 

Childhood Favorite Books

By Shari Randall

I stumbled upon an article about celebrities and their favorite books from childhood and of course I gobbled it up. (Former children’s librarian here.) This question – What was your favorite book when you were a child? – had just popped up at a book club I attended last week, and it kicked off a terrific discussion.

 

There’s a meme floating around the internet that says if you see someone holding a book you love, it’s the book recommending the person. If you share a passion for the same children’s book, there’s an extra level of magic and joy in that recommendation.

 

There’s something about this question that opens a door into a person that is so revealing. It’s an introduction to the heart of the child they once were. If someone has the same favorite book, it forms an immediate bond. When one of the book club members said that her favorite book growing up was "any Nancy Drew," so many of us broke out into smiles and cries of “me, too!” The British readers at the meeting bonded immediately when they learned that they both loved the books of Enid Blyton. (I’m adding Enid’s books to my reading list.)

 

Whenever I visit a Facebook party, I ask this question and it always gets enthusiastic responses. Readers love to talk about books, and especially love to talk about the books that sparked their enthusiasm for reading and made them a lifelong reader.

 

At the same book club meeting one reader announced that she had kept a list of the books that changed her life over the years and that The Wizard of Oz was on that list. Everyone was immediately envious – why hadn’t we thought of keeping such a list over the years? My list would certainly have my favorites: Nancy Drew (of course), Charlotte’s Web, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Westing Game, Jane Eyre.

 

What was your favorite children’s book or author?

Here are some celebrity picks:

Kelly Clarkson: Matilda

Jackie Collins: Enid Blyton

Elizabeth Gilbert: The Wizard of Oz

Stephenie Meyer: Little Women

Roxanne Guy: Little House on the Prairie

Ethan Hawke: The Hobbit

Barack Obama: Where the Wild Things Are

Rob Lowe: The Mouse and the Motorcycle

JK Rowling: The Little White Horse

Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. Her latest book, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, was written as Meri Allen. You can pick up a copy here.

 

 

 

 

What's Your Sign?

By Meri Allen/Shari Randall

Does anyone here follow their horoscope? In the distant, disco-colored past, a favorite cheesy pick up line was “what’s your sign?” Do people ask that anymore?

A few years ago I was visiting my favorite used book shop (The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut) and stumbled upon a paperback copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs. This book was a massive bestseller (over 100 million copies) and is lots of fun to read, even if you’re someone like me who isn’t completely convinced that the stars determine our personality.

Still, when I dove in, I found the book eye-opening. Why?

An author has to take many facets of personality into consideration when crafting a character. Age? Talents that would make a good sleuth? Personal history? Family? Appearance? I also like to know other things about my characters: I like to imagine their bookshelves, their pets, their favorite colors (The favorite of Riley Rhodes, the main character of my Ice Cream Shop Mysteries, is emerald green), and foods they can’t resist (Riley’s is, naturally, a hot fudge sundae).

As I write, my subconscious – or the character – will tell me things I didn’t know. One thing I didn’t know about Riley was that she was born on Halloween. 

This told me something else about her. She was someone who had to share her special day with a holiday. Anyone born on December 25 knows what I’m talking about. Riley would trick or treat with friends on Halloween and then her dad always made sure that her birthday was celebrated November 1 with chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting. No kid wants to miss Halloween.

But this left me wondering. What about Riley’s horoscope? Did this birthdate fit her character? I flipped through Sun Signs.

Surprise! Riley is a Scorpio. My eyes widened when I read this description of Scorpio employees: “which (one) seems to have the most inner confidence, without being obvious about it, the steadiest eyes, the least excuses, and the most poise?”

Yep, that’s Riley.

Some insights that made me raise my eyebrows: Scorpio likes to travel incognito. Oh my goodness and here Riley is, a former asset with the CIA! How did she manage to tell me that?

Scorpios are loyal to friends. This is definitely a characteristic that readers always mention. Riley’s friendship with her best friend Caroline is one of the things I enjoy writing the most.

Some famous Scorpios: Katharine Hepburn, Marie Curie, George Eliot, Indira Gandhi, Theodore Roosevelt, Pablo Picasso, Margaret Mead, Bill Gates, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio. People who are determined to follow their own path. Fits Riley to a T.

 

So tell me – what’s your sign? And writers – have you ever determined your character’s birthdate and sun sign?

Meri Allen is the super-secret pen name of Shari Randall, author of the award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. She's a Pisces and, like Riley, she cannot resist a hot fudge sundae. You can see what's new with her on Instagram and Facebook at @MeriAllenBooks and @ShariRandallAuthor.

 

 

 

To Slang or Not to Slang

By Shari Randall

 

It’s official. I’m old. It’s not just the endless letters from AARP or forgetting to remember to check the reminders on my phone. It’s that suddenly everyone is speaking a different language. I was at a picnic chatting with one of my millennial nieces (and aren’t they old now?)  when she said, “No cap.”

No cap? “What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means ‘no lie.’” She gave me a look that made me realize that maybe I wasn’t the cool aunt and we were on different sides of some insurmountable generational divide. I felt the same way when my Pilates instructor used the term “bougie,” and I assumed she was talking about a new breed of dog.

What does this have to do with writing you ask? Language and writing are inextricably linked, of course, and language is the clay, the medium, the writer uses to create a story. The problem with language is its glorious ability to morph, to change in subtle and not so subtle ways to express a speaker’s ideas. A character’s language, their dialogue, is one of the best ways to show a reader exactly who that character is – their age, their background, their education. But I’ve realized that care must be taken in crafting language for young characters because some slang has expiration dates.

(Speaking of morphing and changing, “bougie” is the latest iteration of “bourgeois.”  I like it.)

I was reading a new book the other day when a character said a murder “rocked her world.” I have no doubt that it did, but would my millennial Pilates instructor or niece know that expression or say it anymore?

Of course, historical fiction writers have different concerns, and period-appropriate slang will add richness and authenticity to a historical novel. But writers of contemporary fiction, in my opinion, should take care because slang can quickly become outdated and incomprehensible. Worse, it can easily strike a sour note in dialogue when put into the mouth of a character of the “wrong” generation.

I’ve seen instructions for writers to watch TikTok or spend time on social media sites geared to teens to pick up their language, their slang. But does one run the risk of dating a book by using current slang? Or alienating a reader because they simply have no idea what a character means when they say “No cap, he’s got mad rizz”? (I’m not lying, he has charisma. And yes, I love how “charisma” has morphed into “rizz.”)

Some slang terms do have staying power. “Sick” and “killing it” have been around for decades. In a recent interview, a tennis player said she “literally killed it." My inner grammar curmudgeon does have a problem with her use of “literally” but I know what she means.

What must writers consider when crafting dialogue for characters? Which slang terms have staying power and which don’t? Which will work a year from now, from the time a manuscript goes into production and its publication? Language changes, that’s a given, but how quickly will it change?

I want to avoid dating my work. My teenage ice cream maker and aspiring rock god Brandon Terwilliger is so much fun to write but I’m careful to keep his dialogue slang-free. I don’t want him to sound ridiculous or simply incomprehensible in a few years. He’s a reader favorite, and I want all ages to enjoy Brandon and his crazy ice cream creations for years to come.

No cap.

 

Writers how do you deal with characters of different ages and their dialogue?

 

If you’d like to catch up on some current slang, here’s a website to try:

https://www.weareteachers.com/teen-slang/

Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mystery series, and as Meri Allen, the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series. Her latest book, Fatal Fudge Swirl, is available now.

 

Don’t Repeat Yourself! by Shari Randall

by Shari Randall

At a recent author panel, I was asked a most intriguing question: When you write several books, how do you avoid repeating yourself?

 

This is an especially good question for someone who writes mysteries in a series. A good question and a good challenge. How do you avoid using the same murder weapon over and over? Or motive? One doesn’t want too many crimes of passion or sports stars/business moguls/garden club presidents killing their rivals, at least not in book after book.

 

Of course, authors have themes that concern them, and want to address those themes. Family dynamics, the ways the past affects the present (I personally love the long shadows of old sins), the ways people adapt – or don’t – to change are all topics that fascinate me.

 

But eagle-eyed readers will spot repetition, so how does one make sure to keep plots, characters, means, and motives fresh? God forbid you use the same character name, giving the impression of a recurring character, or the same murder weapon in book after book.

A good editor will help keep these issues at bay, but I also have my own homemade system.

 

I use index cards, much like a recipe card. A quick scan before plotting a new book lets me know what ingredients are off the menu for the new book.

Here’s one I made up (no spoilers for any of my books here):

 

“Death at Darby Lake”

Brake line cut in classic car

Digitalis in brandy

Red herrings: missing pill bottle, 

Missing heirloom pearls

Author side kick

Fourth of July picnic at North Carolina lake house

Motive: inheritance

Main characters: Darryl, Mavis, Emily, Ann Marie, Pete, Skipper the Goldendoodle

 

It’s not fancy, but it works for me. I’ve also seen fun social media graphics with the plot elements included (see the one above for my latest book) but those, of course, can't have spoilers.

 

Authors, how do you keep track of plot elements when you write many books?

 

Shari Randall writes the new Ice Cream Shop Mystery series under her pen name, Meri Allen. The next book in the series, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, is available for preorder now.