When (2 + 2) is less than 4

 by James M. Jackson

I am starting the writing year facing two tasks I thoroughly enjoy and two I absolutely despise.

What I am looking forward to

I have been working on and off (actually, more off than on) creating a new series featuring Ashley Pendergast Prescott, who is initially an FBI undercover agent. My plan is to develop a three-book series (and if those do well, then more). In researching this blog, I was shocked to discover I had begun writing the first book, currently titled Niki Undercover, in early 2019. Just before Christmas this year, Jan finished her read through of that WIP, found a few typos and misplaced commas and pronounced it the best novel I have yet written. My next task is to listen to Niki Undercover one last time because when I listen, I always catch a problem or two that my eyes and Jan’s never found. It’s a fun task. I get to lie on the couch and listen to an AI voice tell me a story and giggle at its mispronunciations. Plus, when I am done, I can call the story complete. Well, almost—see below for the tasks I am not looking forward to.

I wrote the first draft of the second book in the Niki Undercover series (tentatively titled Niki Unleashed) in the spring of 2021 and completed the second draft in January 2022. Jan read it then, made some suggestions. The manuscript sat just shy of three years before I picked it up this past December and gave it a read through. It needs work, but between Jan’s comments and my recent notes, I am cranked to write the third draft—my second enjoyable task. Yes, it will be a formidable task, ripping away the parts that don’t work and creating a tighter, edgier plot. But I know what I want that story to do, and that is exciting.

What I am not looking forward to

After Jan’s read through of Niki Undercover, she said, “You really should try to get an agent for this. It’s the best thing I’ve read recently.” I tend to think whatever book I just finished is my best (even though during its creation, I was sure it sucked, and I should abandon it). Jan has never made a statement like that about anything I’ve written.

I had planned to self-publish the new series. I figured I would wait until later this year when I had the second novel in decent shape and a draft of the third novel complete. That way, I could start pre-orders for the second book at the same time I published the first.

And then Jan damned me with that great praise. As a result, the first dismal task I need to complete is to craft a synopsis for Niki Undercover. Even though I have created synopses that won publishing contracts, I claim zero expertise and one-hundred-percent dread. I’ll get it done; I know I will. But until I do, it’s like rolling Sisyphus’ rock up the hill while the Sword of Damocles dangles by that single thread over my head.

And then, when I get that sucker done as well as I can, I must accomplish my second dread-laden task: researching literary agents to find ones who might be interested in my novels. Sending out the actual emails (or filling in online forms) is drudgery, but I have no fear of rejection. If they all say no, I am back to my original plan of self-publishing. If one signs me on, I know I have another round or two of revisions ahead of me.

To keep sane, each day I will work on both enjoyable and apprehensible tasks. I’ll start with the stuff I abhor and then reward myself with work I want to do.

I hear there is an open betting line in Vegas about whether I can pull this off. What odds do you give me?

* * * * *

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website, https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get to read a free Seamus McCree short story).

Carolyn Mulford Interview

“Always safer to be paranoid.”

Carolyn Mulford

Show Me the Deadly Deer

 Writing isn’t a new profession for Carolyn Mulford. She earned a Master’s degree in journalism and served as editor for national magazines before going freelance as a writer and an editor. When I read Carolyn’s biography, I laughed. She must have favored fiction early on because one of her jobs required her to write in a “bureaucratic” form, which she hated—so she quit!

2013 has been a busy year for her. Carolyn’s first “Show Me” novel, Show Me the Murder, came out in February. Her second in the series, Show Me the Deadly Deer, will be released in December, making her eligible for an Agatha in two categories. As the titles suggest, Carolyn grew up and lives in Missouri. Please welcome Carolyn to WWK.                                                                E. B. Davis   

Carolyn, before we talk about your series, tell me about your first novel, The Feedsack Dress, which was selected by the The Missouri State Teachers Association in 2008 for the state’s Reading Circle Program for grades five to eight.

Set in rural Missouri in 1949, The Feedsack Dress tells how a farm girl copes with being the only

ninth grader wearing a dress made from  patterned cotton sacks that had contained chicken feed. Gail becomes the major target of the queen of mean. Gail fights back for herself and others and, unintentionally, becomes the leader of new friends rebelling against the queen’s court.

I wrote the book after working in Ethiopia, Austria, and Washington, D.C. When I went to Missouri to visit family, I was struck by how much had changed. I wanted to portray life during the economic and social transition that followed World War II. My main character uses her brain, courage, and caring to make a parallel personal transition, from a one-room rural school to the junior high in town. The feedsack dress serves as a symbol for any difference that attracts the attention of bullies. She’s a girl of her time dealing with a timeless problem.

Would you provide a “Show Me” series synopsis for our readers?

In the first book, Show Me the Murder, wounded former CIA operative Phoenix Smith returns to her rural hometown to recover and relax with her lifelong friend, civic leader Annalynn Carr Keyser. When Phoenix arrives, she learns that Annalynn’s husband, the sheriff, was found dead with a young woman in a sleazy hotel. Everyone except the widow thinks it was a homicide/suicide. Phoenix agrees to help discover the truth to comfort her friend. Then Phoenix recognizes signs of a set-up. Annalynn uses her political pull to get appointed temporary sheriff in order to gain access to evidence. Phoenix adapts the skills honed in Eastern Europe to crime investigation and never leaves home without her Glock. The big break comes when she rescues the only witness, a Belgian Malinois called Achilles. A third friend, a divorced never-been singer named Connie, tries Phoenix’s patience—and introduces much of the humor—by insisting on being part of the investigation. The three women, each facing a major life crisis, pool their diverse skills and set aside their conflicts to survive. 

Show Me the Murder sets the pattern for the series. The action-addicted ex-spy, the grieving accidental sheriff, and the frustrated singer work together in imperfect harmony to solve murders and rebuild their disrupted lives.

In the second book, Show Me the Deadly Deer, Annalynn answers a call about a missing farmer because she has no deputies to assign. She takes Phoenix and Achilles with her, and they find the man dead with his rifle by his hand and an antler in his back. Did a deer really kill the hunter? Annalynn tries to turn the homicide over to the regional major case squad, but the state trooper in charge is using every available officer to find another trooper’s killer. Annalynn leads the official investigation while Phoenix hunts for the deadly deer as a cover for identifying motives and checking out suspects.

I plan a five-book series, with the books taking place over six months. By then, all three of the major characters will be ready to move on with their lives. I’m now writing the fourth book.

I know that in some states coroners aren’t required to be physicians, but I didn’t know that sheriffs without law enforcement experience were allowed to be appointed or elected. Is this a fictional device or real?

We elect sheriffs in Missouri. Sheriffs control a big slice of a rural county’s budget so the office used to be a political plum. According to law enforcement professionals I interviewed, the crime fostered by the meth epidemic in the 1990s forced police and sheriff departments to become more professional. Today most rural sheriffs are local law enforcement officers with a knack for politics. If a sheriff leaves office before the term expires, the county appoints an acting sheriff for up to a thirteen-week term and calls an election. Usually the county commission appoints either a retired officer or one of the department’s highest ranking deputies, but the county has some wiggle room in temporary appointments. The pool to draw from is small.

Desperate to keep Phoenix’s chief suspect from being appointed sheriff, Annalynn secured the appointment for herself. She gave each commissioner some intangible he or she wanted. The commissioners knew that she had passed the department’s written test and had done a great job as school board president (surely one of the most difficult elective offices in the country). They also stilled criticism by requiring her to pass a special test.

In short, the appointment of an unqualified person like Annalynn is possible but not probable.

The law enforcement underestimates and undervalues two of your three main characters, which they use to their advantage. Is this typical behavior?

Perhaps I’m cynical (like Phoenix), but it seems quite typical to me. The average law professional, male or female, doesn’t respect amateur sleuths, particularly middle-aged women. The deputies feel sorry for or resent Annalynn and expect her to shuffle papers and revise the menu at the county jail. City, county, and state law enforcement underestimate her intelligence, determination, and self-control and undervalue her knowledge of the community. Initially no one pays any attention to Phoenix, a visitor. Only Annalynn knows of Phoenix’s double life. Phoenix conceals her skills from everyone or, when she can’t, claims they come from corporate self-defense training. As the series progresses, Annalynn and Phoenix lose the advantage that comes from being underestimated. The women continue to close cases, they win the respect of citizens and most officers. Their growing reputation makes Annalynn’s job easier, but it frustrates Phoenix. Without the advantage of anonymity, she must take great care in breaking the law to find information.

When it comes to the political arena, your characters show their acumen. Why is politics different than law enforcement?

Ideally, politics and law enforcement are polar opposites. In reality, personal and electoral politics pervade every facet of life. In the classroom, on the job, in congregations, and even in mystery writers’ organizations, we play politics. If we elect skilled, ethical politicians, law enforcement protects and serves all. If either is corrupt or incompetent, we all lose. Annalynn is a natural leader and skilled politician. Phoenix has spent her career dealing with corruption and trusts few people other than Annalynn.

Phoenix’s shooting expertise gains her respect. Do you shoot?

I enjoy target shooting, but I do it only as research. Like many farm kids, I grew up with a rifle suspended over one door and a shotgun over another. My mother wouldn’t let us touch either one. My father, a good shot, hunted only to kill food or predators. My grandfather, a noted marksman, served as a beta tester for a shotgun company.

Achilles, a Belgian Malinois K-9 school flunkout, is your third main character. At the Writers’ Police Academy, I met the breed. Her eyes told me to sit and stay. I obeyed. Have you had a similar experience, and are you a dog person?

I haven’t had that experience, but I treat every animal with friendliness and respect. I chose to make Achilles a Malinois after watching the dogs work at a citizen academy and a writers’ conference. Very impressive. Achilles has a working dog’s intelligence and skills but the sweetness and loyalty of the farm dogs I loved.

Your use of internal dialogue reveals the duplicity and complexity of Phoenix’s life. How do you reveal without over justifying her actions? 

I work hard to be in her head, not mine. I count on my critique group to point out when I take her too far. The contradictions are central to her character. She’s paid a big price for successfully maintaining a double life, and coming home to the old friends and values reminds her of innocence lost. Part of her personal arc is learning to trust again.

Unlike her friends Annalynn and Connie, Phoenix grew up with financial constraints, but now, the situation has reversed. Doesn’t Phoenix want to gloat just a bit?

Not really, or at least not with Annalynn. Their fathers, a postal worker and a judge, emphasized that money doesn’t reflect the value of the person. Phoenix’s experiences with traitors and bankers confirmed that.

Do you think women must team together to overcome the odds of prejudice?

Yes. That’s why we need Sisters in Crime, Emily’s List, and a women’s caucus on the Hill. I fear

young women don’t realize that the gains American women—and some others—have won so slowly could slip away from us.

What’s next for Phoenix, Achilles and Annalynn?

In book three, Show Me the Gold (release in late 2014), a fatal shootout with a vengeful family of bank robbers puts the friends at risk. Meanwhile Phoenix fends off interference in her uncertain love life and schemes to set Annalynn on a new career path.

Your preference: Beach or Mountains?

I love mountains. They delight my eyes. They lift my spirits. They give me peace. Beaches

beckon at dawn and soothe at sunset, but I don’t care for them the rest of the day.

Carolyn’s series, published by Five Star/Gale, Cengage, is a page-turner. To read more about Carolyn and her books, visit her website. I’m crossing my fingers for her nomination at the next Malice Domestic Conference. You will, too, when you read her books.

Agatha Nominated Sasscer Hill's Racing from Death

The nomination of Full Mortality for an Agatha Award in 2011 hasn’t jaded Sasscer Hill. She’s come back stronger with her second book in the Nikki Latrelle series, Racing from Death. I interviewed Sasscer just after the Malice Domestic Conference in 2011. You can read that interview here. Although I loved Full Mortality, Sasscer’s writing seems even stronger in her second book, and she doesn’t shy away from the horse racing world’s dire issues. If you haven’t yet read the series or the second book, grab a copy and arrange to read it when you have no obligations. You won’t want to stop reading Racing from Death. Please welcome Sasscer back to WWK.                                                                  E. B. Davis

EBD: You aren’t a stranger to the horse racing world. What is your experience with horse racing?

SH: A roller coaster ride! Nothing compares to the deep valleys and high peaks of owning a race horse. In 1982, I bought a broodmare to keep my riding horse company and establish an agribusiness that would lower our property taxes. The idea was to breed the mare and sell the youngsters. But I’ve always been a speed demon – a fast driver and lover of racing across the fields on horseback. I got bit by the racing bug and kept a foal to race. His sire’s name was “Feel the Power.” His dam was called “Swimming Home.” I named him “Sea Surge.”

The night he was born, I delivered him. Later I broke him and trained him right on the farm. Surge ran fairly well in his first start, but came up lame after the race. He’d sustained a slight crack in his shin bone. I was devastated. The vet said to give the horse several months off. I did and then began riding him on the farm again. When he was almost ready to start serious training, I made the mistake of putting a less experienced rider on him. Surge tossed this rider, took off down the driveway, galloped onto the county road, and hung a left onto Route 301. He ran on the paved shoulder, heading south in the north bound lane for over two miles.

By some miracle, he did not run into an oncoming eighteen wheeler and I got him safely home. I expected him to be dead lame. He wasn’t. He continued training and a few months later came flying down the stretch on the lead at Pimlico racetrack and won both his and my first race. It was one of the best moments of my life. Seeing that colt win was a high that had to be experienced to believed.

EBD: Give us the hook of Racing from Death.

SH: Racing at Virginia’s beautiful Colonial Downs twists into a nightmare for jockey Nikki Latrelle. A sociopath is selling diet cocktails – killing jockeys who struggle to make racing weight. A hidden meth lab, an old family secret, a body buried years ago in the woods, and a friend’s disappearance pull Nicky into a race against death. 

EBD: Is weight a big issue for jockeys?

SH: Yes, for many, it is a huge issue. Consider a young apprentice jockey who is allowed/assigned a lower weight. The lighter weight gives his horse an advantage and racehorse trainers a reason to hire the apprentice. If this jockey is not blessed with a tiny frame and a rocket metabolism how does he make weight restrictions as low as 108 pounds?

There are jockeys who sit in sweat boxes, toss up their last meal like a bulimic, or take diet drugs. The idea for Racing from Death came from a news article about the young apprentice jockey, Emanuel Jose Sanchez, who died at Colonial Downs in 2005 because he had a solid build, and abused his body and starved himself to make the weight. 

EBD: Are illegal drugs at the track a bigger problem for horses or humans?

SH: Horses, because there are some low life trainers who will administer almost anything to a horse to get the win. Thank God these people are in the minority, and more strict laws are being passed almost every month to put a stop to this nefarious behavior. One of the things I so enjoy about Nikki Latrelle is the horse comes first. Not the money, and those who do wrong suffer the consequences.

EBD: Nikki seems more sure of herself in this book. She’s growing. Have you planned her development, her character arc?

SH: Nikki has evolved on her own. I always knew exactly who she was, but learned who she’d become as I wrote the stories. It was clear to me she needed to “woman-up.” The battles she endures give her self confidence, but it doesn’t happen overnight. She really steps up to the plate in the third book in the series.

EBD: Nikki wins races in Racing from Death. (A bit of vicarious fun for the reader too!) Will she become a sought after jockey?

SH: From time to time, yes. But as we writers are only as good as our last book, a jockey is only as good as his/her last win. It’s hard to stay on top, and Nikki is at her best when struggling.

EBD: While Nikki seems unlucky in love, her relationship with her eccentric horse maybe growing. What are relationships like between horses and humans?

SH: They can be absolutely amazing. For me, horses have been far less disappointing than humans. For starters, they don’t lie and if they like and trust you, they will do almost anything for you. But if you do them wrong, they never forget.

EBD: What guides do you use to pace your books?

SH: The races in each story are perfect for pacing. They also provide little story arcs. Nikki either finds a race that fits one of the horses in her care, or is told by the boss or owner a horse is running in a specific race. She has to figure out what the horse needs, and train him for the upcoming race. Is the horse bold, or timid? Is he a plodder or a sprinter? Is it a long race, or a short race? Is it on the turf or the dirt? What other horses will be entered? What are their strengths and weaknesses? But as she does this, the main plot keeps unfolding around her, providing conflict. Events in a race may echo what happens in the plot, and the personalities of the horses often mirror those of the human characters. I like to think the horses and the races bring depth and imagery to the plot.

EBD: Does being nominated for an Agatha Award make a difference in your writing?

SH: Yes. It makes me more competitive with myself. It puts more pressure on me to write something even better than the book that got the nomination.

EBD: Do you have a writing schedule? If so, are you disciplined about keeping to it?

SH: I am terrible about being disciplined with my writing except for when I am. What I mean is, I will find any excuse not to write, then for no reason I can explain, I’ll write a lot every day, print it out before bedtime, read and edit it over morning coffee, then go back to the computer and keep going. I work very well under deadlines, unfortunately my small press never hands them out. I try to make my own drop dead dates. If there aren’t too many life suspending interruptions, this works pretty well.

 EBD: What’s next for Nikki?

SH: Nikki is going to South Florida in the novel, “The Sea Horse Trade.” The manuscript is completed. Here’s the cover copy:

When Nikki works the January meet at Gulfstream Park near Miami, something about new racehorse owner, Currito Maldonista, worries her. Bad enough she’s expected to handle the evil-minded colt that reflects his owner’s personality, but Nikki discovers the Colombian is a drug lord, selling his product to the US. Even worse, she suspects he might be abducting young American girls into a network of overseas slave trade.

Friend Carla Ruben contacts Nikki, desperate to find the teenage daughter she gave up for adoption. The adoptive parents have died unexpectedly, and the exotically beautiful girl was last seen in Miami. Nikki’s ominous association with Maldonista will lead her down a dark road where she must search for Carla’s daughter.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sasscer at the 2012 Malice Domestic Conference, even though we are both SinC Chesapeake Chapter members and should have met sooner. Thanks, Sasscer for visiting WWK again. Her books are available at Amazon and Wildside Press. 

Sounding Retreat to Write Another Day

I wrote a synopsis for my third novel in the Skeet Bannion series and sent it to my agent the other day. I felt pretty good about it and ready to start working on it as I can during this crazy book-promotion time right before Every Last Secret (the first Skeet book) launches. I had my novel-writing group (there are three of us who have met monthly for years) take a look at it, and they liked it.

My agent, who is wonderful, sent back a reply, saying it had lots of interesting characters and good suspense and plot complications. Then, she asked me, “How is Skeet being tested anew?”

 

I stared at it and realized that, unlike the first two books where the story had risen from Skeet’s character and the things she needed to be forced up against to create growth in her character, with this book I got carried away with great situations and quirky characters and left that most important consideration out of the equation altogether.

I packed up my laptop and marched myself to my local coffee shop for a full day of total focus on revising this synopsis and fixing it. I could do this thing. I just had to tie it into Skeet’s character development. That was all I had to do.

By the end of the day, I was ready to cry. My great synopsis was not going to work. All those terrific characters and interesting situations didn’t fit Skeet’s character arc—at least not at this point in the series. Oh, I won’t throw them away. But this is probably going to have to be a later book—or maybe even someone else’s book. I crawled back home, defeated.

 

After much thought about it, I emailed my agent and said I needed to start from scratch to be sure this book would have the same level of quality the other two had. I wondered if she’d think I was a lousy writer because I couldn’t make the synopsis fit. I had visions of my name falling down to the bottom of her priority list.

She told me not to worry, that now my concern was to promote the first book, and she knew I’d come up with the right book with time. (I told you she was a wonderful agent.) The weight lifted off my shoulders, and I looked one last time at the synopsis. Lots of good stuff there, but for another book. I would go back to Skeet’s character and situation at the end of book two and look for natural outgrowths and integral elements that will test her and cause her to learn things she doesn’t want to face.

Sometimes it’s best to say, “This is not working. Let’s try something else.” And sometimes, if we’re very lucky, someone else will lead us there before we’ve gone too long down the wrong road. A Southern friend’s grandmother always used to tell her, “You’ve never gone too far down the wrong road to turn back.”

Have you found yourself mired in a story that ought to be working but isn’t? Have you ever wandered from the strengths of your original work to something lesser and realized it with horror? Have you ever gone down that wrong road?