In Which 2024 Refuses to Leave by Nancy L. Eady

By most measures, 2024 was not an easy year for me and mine. Just from the health challenges, such as my cancer/bowel obstruction surgery and major depression, I was looking forward to closing the page on 2024 and starting fresh in 2025.  We had only one health challenge left to navigate as 2024 drew to a close – my husband’s total left knee replacement on December 16.  

We sailed into the surgery with the wind at our backs and no holds barred.  And, by December 31, 2024, we hoped we had survived the headwinds of 2024 and were entering smoother sailing in 2025.  

Until January 4, when my husband’s leg started spontaneously draining again.  He immediately returned to the orthopedist, and was informed his leg is now infected.  But, I thought, that can’t be too bad, since we caught it early.   

So, I rocked along hopefully until last Friday, when the entire family (me, Mark, our daughter and the three dogs) were snow bound – SNOW BOUND! – in Birmingham, Alabama.  Then Mark started feeling worse Friday and by Friday night, I had joined him.  I was absolutely miserable on Saturday, so I gingerly eased the car out of the garage over the unfortunately not completely clear roads to find an urgent care that was open.  Driving in Alabama after a snow/ice storm is not for the faint of heart.  Too many people assume that you should drive normally and only discover how wrong they are after they are completely and hopelessly stuck somewhere.  

The only urgent care facility I found available opened at 11, so I hung around the parking lot for about an hour.  Once I got seen, I learned I was positive for Flu A.  I asked how that differed from Flu B and got a non-committal shrug.  Essentially, I was given a prescription for cough medicine, five days’ worth of Tamiflu and wished the best of luck going forward.  (Mark used Telehealth, which was safer, but basically had the same result).  My fever finally broke Sunday night, so I worked from home Monday to avoid infecting anyone else and figured we were back on track for normal Tuesday. 

Monday night, unbeknownst to me, while I was asleep, my daughter had a severe nausea attack and my (still recovering from knee surgery and the flu himself) husband dragged her to the ER at midnight.  They didn’t wake me up.  

The alarm went off on Tuesday, and I looked at my phone like I always do first thing and saw a text from Kayla’s boyfriend telling me he knew she was at the hospital and asking if she was okay.  My first thought was, “Of course she’s not at the hospital; I would know.”  But then I saw the other five texts my husband had sent me throughout the night.  Not only had they gone without telling me, but they had also come back at 5:30 a.m. without waking me up.  

My husband went back to the doctor to check his leg Tuesday afternoon, where we were told that if the darn thing doesn’t stop draining by Friday, the doctor will have to re-open the wound and do more surgery.

So now, on Thursday, I am flu-free, although my voice sounds like a cross between a bullfrog and Darth Vader, Kayla is better, and we are waiting to see if Mark’s leg will miraculously stop draining tonight to avoid an extra surgery.  

2024 seems to have inserted itself into 2025 against my express wishes.  Maybe that means when we finally turn the corner into what I wanted 2025 to be, it will stick around that much longer.  

How is your 2025 going so far?  I hope it is better than mine. 

P.S.  My small problems pale in comparison to what is going on in California right now; my heart and prayers are with the people going through those terrible fires.  Please consider donating to the American Red Cross to help them if you can.

THE MODES OF A MYSTERY WRITER

 By Korina Moss

I can’t help myself – I’m one of those people who always makes at least one New Year’s resolution. Wishful thinking, perhaps? I prefer the term hopeful thinking. This year, one of my resolutions is to have more work-life balance. 

Now that my son is a college student, it’s just me at home, so the only schedule I have to adhere to is my own. Sounds divine, except it allows me to get into my modes. Yes, I meant to write modes, not moods (although they can be pesky too). I have work mode and relax mode and I have a hard time transitioning between the two. (This doesn’t include veg out mode, which happens pretty much every night.) When I’m working on a book, which has (thankfully) been continuous over the past three years, it’s mentally all-encompassing for me. I’m always thinking about it, even if I have to push it to the back of my mind. I’ve been mentally living in my series’ fictional town of Yarrow Glen with my protagonist Willa and her Curds & Whey cheese shop crew since the spring of 2020, and it’s not easy to pull myself out. 

This is especially true when I’m in crunch mode, as I was just a couple of months ago when my deadline for Fondue or Die, book 5 in my Cheese Shop Mystery series, was fast approaching. I’d been in a concentrated writing mode for the four months prior, trying to turn my sketchy outline and underwritten first draft into a worthy manuscript. As the deadline got closer, I was also in heavy publicity mode for my newly released book 4, Case of the Bleus. Last fall, I had three out-of-state appearances, plus book signings, and all the extra online marketing that comes with a new release (blogs, interviews, and podcasts). So, I was in crunch mode squared. 

Signing books at the St Louis Cozy Con

Once my manuscript was submitted and the publicity machine wound down, I immediately turned to thinking about book 6, wanting to get an outline done before the Fondue or Die revision suggestions would come back from my editor in mid-January. I had a couple of weeks to brainstorm and outline before my son came home for his college semester break. Then I promised myself (and him) I’d take a break for the holidays. I even took time off from my early morning part-time job. 

Book 5 in my Cheese Shop Mystery series

The first few days of switching off work mode, I felt mentally restless. I was so used to the constant thoughts of my books or my social media marketing, it was a tougher transition than I’d expected. I made an effort to post and scroll on social media significantly less frequently. I told myself it was okay if I didn’t keep up with everything that was happening in the mystery writing community. Although the habits were hard to break, what a relief it was! I was so much more mentally present. I stayed up late and slept in! (Not compared to my 19-year-old son, but both times were later for me.) I fell into a happy relax mode. My son and I made some short overnight trips and had a great holiday break, and when he left for his ski trip with his dad, I felt rejuvenated and ready to get back to work! 

Macy's in Herald Square, NYC

Alas, my relax mode was no less stubborn to leave behind than work mode had been two weeks prior. My alarm clock was waking me up at 5:45 AM, but I was not ready to relinquish my newfound mode. The book I’d been outlining was tapping me on the shoulder to come up with those final chapters, but my muse was also in no hurry to get back to work. Now that it’s been a couple of weeks, slowly but surely, I’m easing back into it. My New Year’s resolution for more work-life balance may be a little harder to achieve than anticipated, but then again, I’ve always done too much hopeful thinking. 

Did you make any New Year's resolutions for this year? 

Time Flies by Mary Dutta

2024 is here and with it some noteworthy historical milestones. This year marks the 110^th anniversary of the start of World War One and the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two. It’s been 80 years since D-Day, 70 since Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile, and 60 since the Beatles first touched down in New York.

 

This year also marks the 40^th anniversary of the Macintosh computer. I still remember the Orwellian Super Bowl ad that introduced it. It’s also the 35^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which I watched in real time. And somehow, it’s been 20 years since Facebook got its start. Suddenly, it seems like history is just my own lifespan.

Tempus Fugit, Virgil famously declared 2500 years ago. Time flies. Before you know it, the countries you grew up with (East Germany, anyone? How about Czechoslovakia?) no longer exist and the rock-and-roll rebels of your youth are octogenarians.

The full Virgil quote is actually “fugit irreparabile tempus,” irreplaceable time flies. As every year ends, regrets for lost time can accompany the inevitable year-in-review articles and top 10 lists. But a brand-new year brings new beginnings, opportunities, and motivation. New chances to, in another favorite Latin phrase, carpe diem.

My takeaway from the new year and the ancient wisdom: Life’s too short, so get writing. And lucky us, 2024 is a leap year. That gives us an extra day to seize.

 

Does the start of a new year motivate you to seize the day?

 

 

 

New Year's Wish from the Writers Who Kill

Ringing in the New Year with a wish: 

May the books you read and write 

in 2023 be as 

noir or noble, 

cozy or crusty, 

dire or domestic, 

and funny or fatalistic 

as your mystery-loving heart desires.

📖

Welcome, 2021!

Because of some serious health issues, I have been in hiatus from this blog for a number of months. I'm glad to start 2021 back on Writers Who Kill. 2020 was a bear of a year for almost everyone I know, and I think we're all glad to see the end of it. 

 

As the New Year comes around, I like to take stock and reflect on the past year, and then, I like to look forward to the new year and ask myself two questions. What do I want less of in this new year? What do I want more of in this new year? Then, I usually try to plan on how to get less of what I don't want and more of what I do in the year that's just beginning. My process used to be much more involved and goal-oriented, but this is what I have finally pared it down to, and I find it more useful than setting a new bunch of goals with related tasks or writing down a bunch of New Year's resolutions that I will probably break by the end of February. 

 

What do I want less of in the coming year? Pain, fear, stress, depression, and illness-caused dependence. 2020 was pretty much maxed out on all of these issues for me. Given my chronic illnesses and permanent damage from injuries, I'm not going to be able to get rid of all of the pain and illness-caused dependence, but I have high hopes to lessen both of these in the coming year and to do everything I can to completely erase fear, stress, and depression. 

 

What do I want more of in 2021? Writing, spinning, knitting, weaving, cooking, organizing, drawing, blogging, music, candles, Tarot, and magic. That last might sound strange, but I truly think I'm ready for a little magic to creep back into my life. I've been in survival mode for too long. 

 

One good thing about getting older is that you learn a thing or two, and one of the things that I've learned the hard way is that, if you want more of something in your life, you have to put more of that thing in your every single day. If you don't, all of the shoulds and must-dos and expectations of others will crowd it right out. A second truth that I've learned is that, if you want to be good at anything, you need to practice it every day. This goes for being happy as much as it goes for writing or spinning or knitting or weaving--anything! 

 

I intend to start 2021 the way I hope to finish it-- putting all of the good things that I want in life into every single day, as much as I can, in as many little ways as I can. What are your plans for the new year?

Linda Rodriguez's 12^th book, The Fish That Got Away:
The Sixth Guppy Anthology, is about to be published. Her 11th book was Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology (edited). Dark Sister: Poems was her 10^th book and a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop, and The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East, an anthology she co-edited, were published in 2017.  Every Family Doubt, her fourth mystery featuring Cherokee detective, Skeet Bannion, and Revising the Character-Driven Novel will be published in 2021. Her three earlier Skeet novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, Every Last Secret—and earlier books of poetry—Skin Hunger and Heart's Migration—have received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices & Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

 

Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Native Writers Circle of the Americas, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Learn more about her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com

For Auld Lang Syne by Nancy Cole Silverman

I once heard what you do on New Year’s Day will reflect your fate for the following year.  That the first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will forecast the type of luck you’ll have, which may have something to do with why lovers kiss at midnight and friends gather together to bring in the New Year. For me, however, this year’s celebration is difficult, and I’ve rocks in my stomach as the new year approaches.

In December, I lost Cosette, one of my two standard poodles. For years, Cosette and Eponine, named for the two little girls in Les Miz, after all, they are French Poodles, have been my training wheels. They’ve balanced me. We’d go for our daily walks, and they’d sit in my office while I wrote. Occasionally, when I’d read my work aloud, one would look up, as though what I’d written had some sense of brilliance about it, then yawn and fall back into a gentle snooze.  Cozy and Eppy were my support, my peanut gallery, and in many, many ways my best friends. 

A writer needs friends like these. The demands of unfinished manuscripts frequently rob them of social engagements, missed phone calls with friends, and meals with family.  I am no different, except they were always there for me.  Chasing away my self-doubt, replacing the empty energy in my room with their constant presence, and occasional outburst when the postman would arrive.  But for everything, there is a season. Like the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” says, a time to every purpose under heaven.  And, as the year winds down I’m faced with the unhappy news that Eppy will soon join Cozy in a world I can only describe as an energy that I know surrounds me.

I felt that energy very strongly when the time came to visit the vet for the last time with Cozy and say goodbye.  I placed one hand gently on her heart and another on her head as she passed, and I felt her energy leave her body. The vet didn’t have to tell me she was gone.  I could feel her go and while there have been moments of sadness since, I know she is still with me. She has simply left her aged and pained body and now surrounds me in another form.

I tend to think of it like I do radio waves. Odd in that I spent twenty-five years in radio, and I find most of what I do or think about somehow relates to radio.  I still use it as the setting for my series with Henery Press today, and I can’t help but think that radio waves, that invisible frequency that man didn’t know much about until the mid-1800’s, has always been with us and always will. And because of that, I wonder, what other forms of energy surround us? What other dimensions can’t we see or hear, but only through faith, accept? 

I’m comfortable with that idea. And, as I write this, Eppy sits on my red couch.  Her health is failing, and I know that as the new year comes, so will change. Like I said, I’ve rocks in my stomach. The road I must cross is bumpy, but I’m thankful for the gifts they gave me and the times we’ve shared.  So this New Year’s Eve, I’ll keep them both in my heart and in doing so, know that they will both be with me in the new year. Like those invisible radio waves, they surround me and are with me always.

Nancy Cole Silverman says she has to credit her twenty-five years in radio for helping her to develop an ear for storytelling. In 2001 Silverman retired from news and copywriting to write fiction fulltime. In 2014, Silverman signed with Henery Press for her new mystery series, The Carol Childs’ Mysteries. The first of the series, Shadow of Doubt, debuted in December 2014 and the second, Beyond a Doubt, debuted July 2015. Coming soon, in 2016, is the third in the series, Without A Doubt. For more information visit www.nancycolesilverman.com

                              

Mentally Becoming the Writer You Want to Be

Perhaps we’ve reached the point of the month where resolutions are chalked up as just another good try before going back to the status quo. But, if you are still in the “new year, new you” mode, you might want to consider these suggestions from Rob Parnell’s The Easy Way To Write Short Stories That Sell.

In his introduction, Parnell identifies the two basic requirements to write stories that sell: (1) deliver a clean professional product, and (2) write to the market specifications. (As he explains in his second chapter, “it’s not selling out, it’s cashing in!”) Once he consistently accomplished these two tasks, he found his stories selling and being published.

To prepare oneself to be a writer who meets these goals, Parnell says the writer must be mentally ready to undertake the obligation. He describes certain steps and exercises that can help a writer achieve the right mental state. The information about these steps and exercises is found in “Part One: Mindset” of his book. Following is a summary of his recommendations:

 

Rob Parnell

Visualize and Verbalize. Say to yourself that you are a good writer, whose work is deserving of publication, and that you will complete each story you start. Make this statement part of your being, of who you are as a writer.

Complete the work you begin. How do you develop the ability to finish a story? Start thinking of how the story ends. Write a dozen short paragraph stories that have a beginning, middle, and end. Maybe they just describe a process. Don’t stop until the explanation is complete. Then write, “The End.” Get used to reaching the place where you write, “The End.” Make that a part of you. After you have a dozen examples, no matter how short, the act of writing “The End” becomes part of your work product. You have learned to persevere to reach the conclusion.

Have a schedule or writing plan. Determine when you will write each day and dedicate time for that purpose. A writer writes regularly. That is how a writer produces a body of work. Initially, begin with a short time period and/or a limited number of words. One hour a day/200 words. You can always build on that basis. The act of writing gets the brain conditioned to the practice. Regular time spent writing a small amount is more productive than sporadic days of producing thousands of words. During the time not specifically planned for writing, be aware of writing influences, things you may want to write about. Make notes. Then, when your writing time comes, type up those notes and add to them.

Use writing time to write. When you sit down to write, be active. Don`t ponder and daydream. Aim to write a little more quickly than your thought process for a story. Put pen to paper or hands to keyboard and keep them moving, even if you think the product is inferior. Once you have something on paper, you can edit it. And, reading over what you have written, you often see merit you did not notice while writing.

Set goals based on your writing output. Figure out how long it takes you to write a story and begin to produce work on that timeframe. A short story each week or every two weeks or whatever the period it takes. Begin consistently achieving that accomplishment.

Accurately identify your purpose in writing. What attracts you to telling stories? Do you have a life experience or family history you want to share? Do you want to make people laugh and see the humor in living? Do you just like creating worlds and discovering the people who inhabit them? Be honest with yourself. Cogitate and determine the reason you put words together. Then, develop your own mission statement to ruminate upon and use to poke your subconscious into increased activity to meet your mission goal.

Make a list of concrete goal statements. Attainable pursuits you know you can accomplish with consistent work. Follow through to reach those goals. Success reinforces capability.

In summary: (1) Create the image within yourself. (2) Produce. (3) Schedule writing as part of your daily routine. (4) Don’t cheat yourself; use your scheduled time to write. (5) Evaluate your output and use that to make goals for production. (6) Write a mission statement. (7) List out goals to pursue.

This model looks like a business plan, which makes sense. To be serious about writing, you should pursue it as you would a business. Work to fulfill your own hopes and dreams, but also to be self sustaining. Make money, not just do something you love for fun.

Parnell’s recommendation that I puzzled over was the idea of writing your writer’s mission statement. I understand the concept of mission statements for groups. When more than one person is involved, a mission statement can clarify goals and provide focus. I also understand on a personal level that a mission statement can help you evaluate core beliefs.

Recently, while working with a designer to launch my website (BSP--http://paulagailbenson.com/), I had to think about how I wanted to introduce and present myself to the public. I’ve seen many writers try to encapsulate their work in a succinct description meant to draw in editors and readers. I know this is important with pitches, as Sarah Henning has told us in her Sunday, October, 27, 2013, blog message, “The Art of Writing a Pitch”. At the same time, I have qualms about how a sound bite or slogan can adequately express the essence of a person or a person’s work.

How do you write a mission statement in a way that is unique, definitive, and true to yourself? How can you be brief, sincere, and comprehensive?

I found a website, http://www.missionstatements.com, part of which is a pay service, that offers a step by step process for writing an effective mission statement. Have you written one? If so, how did you do it? What benefit has it provided?