Gearing Up

After more than a year of not being able to do much of anything creative, Sarah and I are gearing up for an exciting year in 2013. We are hard at work on our first novel together. Murder on the Mullet Express is set in the Roaring 20's in Homosassa Springs, Florida, and will feature the intrepid trio of geezers Theodora Lawless, Cornelia Pettijohn, and Professor Percival Pettijohn. The three of them will make their debut in a short story, "The Odds are Always Uneven"  this October, in the Speed City Sisters in Crime anthology Hoosier Hijinks.

Sarah is going to be pitching our joint novel at the Historical Novel Society meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, this June on the same morning I am scheduled to pitch the new Nessa Donnelly novel, Concealed in Ash. It should be an exciting and busy weekend for both of us. We're looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones while we are at the event. We will also be distributing business cards for our new press, Mystery and Horror, LLC.

Along with our personal writing projects, our little cross-eyed bat logo is going to make several appearances on new books before the end of the year. We have decided on three anthologies this year and will be opening for mystery novels later this summer. Covers for Strangely Funny, All Hallows' Evil, and Undead of Winter are on the Mystery and Horror, LLC website. Strangely Funny, our paranormal humor anthology, and All Hallows' Evil, our Halloween Mystery anthology, are open for submissions. Undead of Winter isn't open yet. There are only so many hours in the day.

Our first non-anthology will be a series of collections of monster art and humor by Monstermatt Patterson - Ha Ha Horror! Volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1 is due out later this year. In the meantime, catch his podcast at 6 Foot Plus. He is truly a man of many talents.

Our plan for the press is to do a limited number of anthologies each year. We want to devote the rest of our time to working with our authors to develop and promote their books. In the world of small press publishing it isn't enough to create a great book, authors and publishers have to work together to get that book in front of an audience. Everything we do is geared toward the goal of getting our books noticed. It is an exciting, scary, and daunting course we've set for 2013. Together we've gone from planning to building, but every day I wake up asking myself what I can accomplish and what I can do better.

Speaking at FHNS Meeting April 6

The photograph above is one I took of the Coastal Region Library, in Crystal River, Florida.  Our Florida Chapter of the Historical Novel Society will be held there on Saturday, April 6. The group has invited me to speak about, "Bringing the Past into Your Fiction."

Friends who have ever got me started talking about the history of Kentucky are probably groaning about now. I can spend hours talking about the history behind my Nessa Donnelly stories. Just so you know, I will only use one example from my own work. This talk is about the wide range of historical fiction and how different authors approach bringing the history they love into the their work. I'm going to get to talk about books by some of my favorite historical authors: Beverle Graves Myers, Catriona McPherson, Suzanne Adair, and many others.

If you like historical fiction, which I am sure this audience does, this should be a great opportunity to discover new favorite authors and revisit with some old friends. Members of the group who write their own historical novels should also enjoy seeing how a number of other writers make the past come alive on the printed page.

I'm looking forward to Saturday. If you are in the area, drop in and say hi. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Switching Hats

Hats are one of the wardrobe essentials of strange characters like me. Whether it is the top hat that I don to hang out with my gangster gal or that Greek fisherman's cap I use to keep the Florida sun from baking my tiny brain, hats bring little personality changes that give me a lift.

About now you are probably wondering if I am going to post tons of photos of me in various hats. Well...No. I'm just using these hat photos to show that at different times and for different reasons, I decide on a change of hats. In the figurative sense, switching between author and publisher is the same kind of hat trick.

When I write short fiction, the story is usually written with a specific publication in mind. In the best cases the story was requested by a publisher who knows me and wants me to write a story for their publication. More often, the story goes to someone who hasn't heard of me and I am judged by how well I fit their needs and the quality of my story. One of three things happens with cold submissions. The editor loves the story and sends me an acceptance email. Sometimes, the story is short listed, and I have to wait to find out if I make the final cut. The final possibility is rejection. My author's ego gets bruised by editors who reject my work.

Like most authors, I find rejection difficult. It is hard to remember that the editor isn't singling me out. Intellectually, I know it isn't personal. Emotionally, it hurts. Rejection will always hurt because my stories are personal. They are part of me.

Now that Sarah and I have started a publishing house, rejections are part of the job.We are the ones putting out calls for submissions. That publisher's hat is an uncomfortable fit. I have to look at the work writers send, work they have tailored to my request, and poured their talent into creating. I must say "no" to many writers and send acceptance emails to the precious few who make the cut.

Maybe, in time, this new hat will have a more comfortable fit. I hope not. I don't ever want to feel entirely comfortable with rejecting work that I know is created through the sweat and dreams of an author. Even if the work submitted isn't ready for print, the words on the page are much more than words. Stories are part of who we are and what we know. Stories are the human experience. The best ones take us beyond the story and into the world created by the author's imagination.

How do I find a good hat for that?

Concealed in Ash

Finally! The first draft of Concealed in Ash that I am willing to let anyone read is finished and in the hands of my spouse. I've done my happy dance.(Be grateful that you didn't have to witness that. I dance nearly as bad as I sing.)

Now comes part two of my writing process. I emailed the draft to Sarah. She will look it over for spelling and grammar errors, then together we will take this draft to a print shop to be printed and bound.

This is our read-aloud copy. Together we will be spending several days reading and listening to my words. We'll question word choices, and occasionally I'll exclaim "What was I thinking?" or "That was awkward." Mostly we will read and talk about improvements that need to be made before anyone else looks at my book.

Sarah is a great reader. If she stumbles or has to go back and look at another page, I know that I have work to do. That work isn't done while we're reading. All the way through, red marks are made on pages, notes are scribbled in the margin. By the end, our bloody fingerprints are all over my newborn baby.

When the reading is finished, it will be time for me to go back to the text and make those marked changes. It is perhaps the hardest part of my writing process. I can always disagree with the changes an editor tells me to make, but facing what I see wrong with my baby takes guts. It is particularly hard when a passage of good writing has to be cut because it just doesn't belong.

If I am brave enough to do this next part well, Concealed in Ash will be ready to face its next test...Beta Readers.

Beginning a New Project

The image above is the beginning of a grand Spanish style hotel built in Homosassa Springs, Florida in the 1920's. This hotel and the arcade across the street were the start of a new planned tourist town the likes of which had never been built in Florida. City plans called for a rail station, expansive streets, sidewalks nine feet wide, and a resort centered around a beautiful clear spring where manatees wintered.

Sarah and I are stepping back into this time as a setting for a new mystery story. For a while now, the two of us have been writing short stories involving two retired army nurses who served in France during World War One. We are thinking of bringing them to Florida during the land boom of the 1920's to look at a property in Homosassa Springs that they could use as a winter retreat.

Our big decision now is what length story. We both have a passion for short fiction, but are considering a traditional closed room mystery novel for this plot. Lots of wealthy investors were being lured to Florida by developers. Before the land bust of 1926, property on Florida's Gulf Coast attracted sportsmen, industrialists, the idle rich, and gangsters.

The idea of writing "Murder on the Mullet Express" has a certain appeal. There is one problem: from October of 1925 to May of 1926, Florida railroads placed an embargo on passenger trains. The demand for Florida produce in the North, and building materials in the South had increased rail traffic to capacity. Developers in Homosassa Springs resorted to bringing potential customers into Jacksonville by train, then transporting them to the hotel by limousine. A seven passenger Packard wouldn't have room for enough suspects for a novel. We would have to set this story earlier than our previous stories or make it a short story plot. Writing it after the embargo was over is not an option. By the time the embargo was lifted, the real estate market was in decline.

Back in the Saddle Again

Okay, I'm not literally back in the saddle. Injuries from my ill-spent youth prevent me from being able to ride. The saddle in question is the recliner in our great room where I sit typing this post. It has been too long since my last blog post. Real life got in the way.

My father-in-law developed pneumonia in February, which caused major complications with his sarcoidosis and pulmonary hypertension. The result was a choice between his going into a nursing home, or our moving to Florida to help look after him. Sarah and I chose to move.

Ours was a rather rapid exit from Kentucky. Within a month, and with a lot of help from our friends and family, we packed our belongings, left our jobs, canceled our scheduled appearances, and moved eleven hundred miles from nearly everyone we knew. As a result, writing in general and my blog in particular were put out to pasture.

We are slowly getting settled into our new lives here. Sarah's dad is much better than when we arrived. His memory isn't what it was before the collapse, and he is pretty much confined to a wheelchair. We've gotten ramps built, a handicapped shower installed, and other needed changes around the house finished. The two of us have sort of settled into the back half of the duplex, which gives us and her parents some privacy.

I think the move was the best decision for all of us. Her folks won't be able to live on their own again. At seventy-one, Sarah's mother can't manage his oxygen, wheelchair, walker, and the other necessities of getting him moved from one place to another. She also finds talking to all of his therapists and doctors a chore better delegated to us. The same is true of paying bills, shopping, dealing with ordering oxygen and medicines, and handling most problems that come up.

So what happens when a writer becomes the primary caretaker for a family member? Writing suffers. That doesn't mean writers stop writing. I started out small, doing a weekly column for Examiner.com, then went back to work on my book. Now, I am back to my blog. Stay tuned, and you might see a new book review soon.

Thursday's Thugs: The Unreliable Narrator

Not all unreliable narrators are villains. Dean Koontz's character, Odd Thomas, is one of the most famous unreliable narrators. Odd Thomas is more hero than villain. There are times when he leaves you wondering. Wonder and questioning are the essence of the unreliable narrator.

With villainy, the unreliable narrator blurs the lines between good and evil through obfuscation, withholding essential truths, outright deception, distracting the reader by espousing views that are repugnant, or being incapacitated in a way that contradicts his or her version of events.

Another way mystery authors accomplish the unreliability of the narrator is to present several versions of the same story from the point of view of different characters. In this version, villainy is depicted through the biases and character flaws of the different points of view. The essential facts remain the same, but each storyteller presents them in a different light. Citizen Kane demonstrates this very well in presenting five varying views of the main character through the eyes of acquaintances. This kind of story leaves us questioning who we should believe.

In mystery, Agatha Christie experimented with the unreliable narrator as a villain in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Endless Night. Not being able to trust the narrator of the story was almost unheard of before Christie. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, her villain withheld information, obfuscated facts, and evaded answering questions, but never outright lied. Although I enjoyed the story, she was widely criticized for "not playing fair with the readers." Having read the story, as well as all the other Christie books, I can say that she did not play unfairly in presenting the facts. The murder can be solved with the information given, but the controversy serves as a warning to writers today.

Being unfair to the reader is a cardinal sin with mystery readers. If your readers feel cheated by the omission of details, it can damage your reputation as a mystery writer. I'm not trying to warn you away from writing unreliable narrators, though. Excellent mysteries can be and have been written using all states of reliability. Some of the best stories depend on ambiguity and shades of truth to create the desired mood. The real question to consider: are you up to the task of writing this kind of bad boy? If you are planning to use this villain, you must pay attention to presenting all the clues readers need to solve the puzzle.

Weekend Writer: Advice?

Weekend writer isn’t an entirely accurate title for this entry. Writers are always working. I’ve made two trips downtown this week to inspect historic buildings for a scene I am working on in my novel, spent hours discussing promotional efforts with my spouse, worked on getting things together for upcoming events… You get the picture. This week I have also taken on a new writing project. I am the newest Lexington area Examiner columnist at Examiner.com.

You might think that my writing background would make me the ideal person to write about historic buildings or neighborhoods. I’ve always been a political activist, so they could have requested that I write about local politics, but no. I am the new relationship writer.

I am not kidding.

I am writing about relationships. I am going to be answering letters from readers about their problems with home, family, love life, co-workers, and anyone else who puts them into a situation they don’t quite know how to handle. You are reading the blog of the Lexington Area’s “Dear Aunt Gwen.”

Why me?

Maybe it is that large family I grew up in, or the fact I studied politics and history, or my history of being a Girl Scout leader? I am not quite sure what the thinking was, but when I expressed doubts about doing the column, my friends assured me that I would be great at doing an advice column.

What do you think?

Do I have what it takes to give good advice to people about their problems? Stop by Examiner.com and check out my first couple columns and tell me how I’m doing?

Right now I feel like I could also use some advice on my own fears. So far my mail has been a trickle (only two people have written to me), but I worry what will happen if the column catches on. How much time will I have to write novels and take on learning to write a play? Can I handle doing a column and keeping up with the rest of my life?

Live at GCLS

Last night Lara Zielinsky broadcast her internet radio show live from the 2011 Golden Crown Literary Society meeting in Orlando, Florida. Sarah and I were both guest on this special two hour broadcast which featured the debut authors attending the con. This is a list of her guests on the show and their books:

Terias McKlay ("Guardian: The Surrender"; PD)
Kate McLachlan ("Rip Van Dyke"; Regal Crest)
Sarah Glenn ("All This and Family, Too"; Pill Hill Press)
Gwen Mayo ("Circle of Dishonor"; Pill Hill Press)
Pol Robinson ("Open Water"; Bella)
Saxon Bennett (Marching to a Different Accordion; Bella)
Layce Gardner ("Tats"; Bella)

Thursday's Thugs Guest Post: Villains in Medical Mysteries and Thrillers

No, I didn't write this book.

Hello! I'm Sarah Glenn, guest posting today on Thursday's Thugs. If you'd like to know more about me, check out my blog or the bottom of this page.

Anyone who knows me in person knows that I like medical mysteries. I've watched everything from Marcus Welby to House, MD. I've read everything from Coma to A Heartbeat Away. I'm not the only one, either, as sales figures and TV rating attest. Sickness and death come to us all. Physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers are the police - and sometimes detectives - who identify and battle the enemy.

The hero of a medical mystery is usually a physician or a nurse. I did read Pharmacology is Murder from Dirk Wyle, but that's the only pharmacy-oriented mystery I believe I've ever seen (feel free to recommend others). The author is frequently a member of the same profession as the hero. Medical mystery is a subgenre where Mary Sue is expected, and often preferred by the reader. The villains in these novels can come out of a wider selection of professions, but they tend to fall into a group of specific tropes.

Big Business: HMOs and Big Pharma are soulless, greedy entities whose qualities extend to their flesh-and-blood representatives. Neonates in the NICU cost too much money, so the HMO in The Provider by David Shobin finds a vile way of removing them from the caseload. Our Hero must figure out what's going on and stop it.

Medicine Gone Wrong: Medicine is being misused or has gone awry. The first book I read from Robin Cook, Mortal Fear, hooked me with its answer for why salmon die after they spawn. In Acceptable Risk (also by Cook), a scientist tests the psychotropic properties of a mold by injecting himself and other people in his program with the mold. Bad idea? Oh, yeah. I think that Tess Gerritsen provides one of the most jarring perversions of medicine in Life Support. Truly horrible - but I couldn't set the book down. As a side note: most medical novels that involve Science Gone Wrong should carry a gross-out warning.

Serial Scientist: Someone is killing people via medical means to get their jollies. Contagion by Robin Cook, possibly my favorite medical thriller of all time, has an antagonist who loves collecting deadly viruses because -well- he likes collecting deadly viruses. Naturally, he must infect a few people so he can see them at play. Jack Stapleton, forensic pathologist, is the only one who recognizes that a conspiracy is afoot. One of the other villain types on this list usually exploits the serial scientist for his/her own agenda. 

Terrorists and the Military: Two sides of the same coin - medicine offers a strategic advantage. Good guys and bad guys both start to get ideas when Dr. Wonderful or Serial Scientist comes up with a supersoldier serum/really scary way to kill people.

The Patient Who Won't Take No for an Answer: Dr. Wonderful must treat a VIP/deranged powerful lunatic - or else. Like the Serial Scientist, often involves one of the other tropes. Michael Palmer's The Patient, for example, is a terrorist who will do horrible things to his hostages unless the heroine removes his inoperable tumor.

One of Us: A doctor or nurse is behind the crimes. The reasons can vary from revenge to mercy. Robin Cook combined this with an Unreliable Narrator in one of his novels, but telling you its name would spoil the story for you.

Do you think I've covered them all? Do you have better examples than I do for these types? If so, let me know. I'm always looking for new material to read.

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Sarah Glenn has a B.S. in Journalism. She's worked as an art intern at the billboard company, as an NCIC operator for her local police department, and as a teaching assistant for medical terminology. She currently works in continuing healthcare education.

Sarah's first novel, All This and Family, Too, is the story of a lesbian vampire who moves into a gated community and discovers the true meaning of horror. Will she survive the experience with the mixed blessing of a loving but dysfunctional family?

Weekend Writer: Are you living your dream?

When I first thought about the writing lifestyle, I pictured myself in a mountain cabin with a wood fire, a cozy blanket, some hot tea, a kitten curled on the rug, notes scattered around, and my computer clicking away as golden words spread across the screen. In essence, I dreamed of a quiet retreat from the world where I could indulge my creative side.

Then reality set in.

In order to afford my cozy cabin (i.e. little house in the burbs)I needed a real job. There's no fireplace, but sometimes I get to curl up in my recliner with a cozy blanket and a cup of tea. The notes scattered around sometimes take over the room and don't always sound golden when I see them on the screen.

The kitten is a different matter. Mr. Pwyll, my wife's cat, was fully grown when we met. He wasn't the curling up kind of kitty, but did make the perfect writer's cat in one way. When he spread that long blue-gray body of his across the floor his tail curled into a big question mark. He seemed to always be asking us "what comes next." He died after being Sarah's "little boy in a cat suit" for more than eighteen years. His ashes still sit beside his favorite toy on the shelf above her computer. Since years of living with Mr. Pwyll proved me allergic to cats, he will likely be our last kitty. I do occasionally need air in my lungs.

The biggest conflict with my dream of writing is the reality that I cannot have that quiet retreat from the outside world. My creative side must be indulged in the moments when I am not working at my day job, promoting my book, rushing through the chores, and trying very hard to hold everything together for just one more day.

Do I feel cheated?

No.

I am a published author. Someday I would like to give up the day job and devote all my time to my second career. It would also be nice to have a quiet retreat now and then in a mountain cabin. Having other things to work for keeps me working away to achieve those goals. Overall, I have no complaints. For the most part, I am living my dream.

If on occasion, you hear me say "traveling is expensive and tiring", don't believe for a second I want to give it up. Those promotional events we writers do require as much creative energy as the writing. Throwing my talents into promotion brings out skills I didn't know I hand. Meeting and talking to readers and other writers is wonderful. The readers who take the time to come to an event, drop me an email to say they loved my book, or post a review make it all worthwhile.

Dreams are wonderful possessions to hold, to build upon, and bring to life. I hope you are living yours.

Book Review: Eel's Reverence by Marian Allen

In Eel’s Reverence, Marian Allen has created a delightful fantasy world and a great cast of characters. The "Eel" is similar to our world in more agrarian times. Battles are fought with knives, fists, clubs, and crossbows. Travel is by horse or cart. Humankind and mermayds come into contact and conflict with each other in a complex, prickly relationship. The complexity of relationships is not confined to race. Aunt Libby unwittingly stumbles into the role of foil to an alliance of reaver priests who have taken over the Eel. She and the belligerent, brooding “tad” who befriends her must sort through a tangle human and non-human agendas.

I enjoyed following the adventures of her protagonist, Aunt Libby, an aging "true" priest of Micah, who grows tired of watching parishioners abandon the true faith for the showy temples of reaver priests. She intrigued me because she is not in the usual vein of the scantily clad and beautiful heroine. Aunt Libby’s naiveté, her adherence to the true faith, and her age are both strengths and weaknesses in the struggle to peacefully resolve differences between races and faiths.

In Marian’s world, nothing is quite what it seems. The machinations of the rich and powerful to control the masses is one of the oldest, but Eel’s Reverence gives it a fresh and inviting treatment. In the Eel, everyone has their own agenda and Aunt Libby is pushed to both resist and collaborate with the revers. Often her faith is tested. Her friends and enemies shift allegiances and forsake her at the most inopportune moments. Through it all Eel’s Reverence shines with humor, great pacing, and plot that is filled with mystery and tension. I highly recommend you read this book. Better yet, have someone read it aloud to get the full impact of Marian’s skill with language.

Weekend Writer: Confessions of a Procrastinator

Once upon a time I had intentions of writing this weekend. Of course, that was before Thursday brought my great nephew to town in an emergency helicopter, before I misplaced my sister's house key...in short, writing plans came before the weekend actually arrived.

Now it is early Monday morning. The workweek is looming on the horizon. I'm sitting here waiting for dawn to burst onto the scene and force me back to the office. I haven't added a single word to my manuscript. Instead of rushing to get a little work done before going to bed, I'm blogging. So what does that tell me?

You guessed it. I'm avoiding working on my book. It isn't hard to put off working on a book that's being troublesome. I found lots of good reasons that managed to burn the entire weekend.

The weekend started to vanish when Thomas was flown to the UK Hospital on Thursday afternoon. A ruptured appendix put him in the Peds ICU. I know he isn't immediate family, but I really needed to hang out at the hospital with Thomas and his folks. They weren't familiar with the UK Hospital or Lexington. I was being helpful and considerate. Besides, sick children just love a bunch of adults hanging around looking at them when they feel bad.

There was shopping that had to be done. The family didn't have anything with them when they arrived at UK. Anyone who knows me is aware of how I feel about shopping, but this was important. If I am going to have to force myself into the stores, what better time than when the book isn't going well?

I had to get a haircut. Really, my haircuts are scheduled weeks in advance. I suppose I could have put it off, but I was going to visit Mom and didn't want to show up looking like a bum. It is amazing how shaggy my head looked.

I went to visit my mother on Saturday. This was the Mother's Day weekend. What kind of kid would I be if I didn't go visit, take her a present, and buy her a nice dinner? While I was in my home town, I also got to watch my grandson play soccer and take both grandsons to dinner with me while my daughter went to Lexington to see Thomas.

I was behind in my reading and needed to squeeze in a little time with a good book. It had nothing to do with the fact that it is much more fun to sink into a finished novel than figure out how to fix a scene that isn't working. Sarah and I spent a few hours with Marian Allen's fantasy novel Eel's Reverence this weekend. What a great way to not write!

Max, the grandpuppy, was missing his family. My daughter and the grandchildren were visiting the hospital, and poor Max wasn't considered part of the family. Grandma couldn't possibly ignore him by writing during dog sitting. Sock games and lots of petting are important while Mommy and the boys are away. The fact that my third grandchild is cute, furry, and adores me has nothing to do with why he got to sit on my lap most of Sunday.

Christy wanted to take her mother out to dinner Sunday evening. After all, it was Mother's Day. So I had a nice long dinner with my family, then we went back to the house so they could collect Max before heading home.

Now where did the whole weekend go?

Weekend Writer: She's Alive...Well, sort of.

After writing, rewriting, editing, and going down the long road to having her first novel published, this weekend I got to wake my spouse up to tell her that her book was live. Yes, Cynthia Leach, the reluctant vampire, stepped out of her coffin and onto the bookshelf May 1. She is out there, in broad daylight, and didn't burst into flames. Maybe fictional vampires don't really burst into flames in the sunlight. I'm not sure, though.

Dead or alive, Cynthia and her strange Southern family are ensconced in Slippery Elm and putting down roots, California style. The neighborhood association isn't happy about it. UC Irvine isn't all that keen about having a professor who can't keep daylight office hours either. What's a poor undead lass from North Carolina to do?

Pick up a copy of All This and Family, Too and find out.

How's that for shameless spouse promotion. What can I say? I'm so pleased to have my wife join the first novelist club.

My writing friends know what an awesome moment it is when that first novel hits the sales rack. They do their day jobs, confine their writing to evening, weekends, and wherever they can squeeze in an extra moment of time. They know the juggling act we go through to have time to write, query, submit, dive into the deep end of promotion while wait for the book to show up.

This weekend gave us the second coolest day in a writer's life. The first coolest day is still ahead. I'll probably be gushing again, and posting pictures too, when she finds that first box of books on her doorstep. I may need somebody to grab me though...she isn't going to be happy if I open the box.

Weekend Writer: Follow-up to Authorfest

Discussing Writing Historical Fiction at the Schaumburg Township Public Library

It isn't often that I have the chance to talk about two of my favorite topics, history and writing, at the same time. This past weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to do a presentation titled "The Devil is in the Details: Incorporating History into Your Novel." I couldn't resist.

On Thursday evening, armed with a PowerPoint presentation and a handful of novels from some of my favorite historical mystery writers, Sarah and I headed out to Illinois. It is good that we both write mysteries. Our deductive powers got their first workout when "Greta", our rented Garmin, quit working. It wasn't Greta's fault that the rental company neglected to recharge her and gave us a charger that was broken, but just when we had to detour from our planned route, she died. We had to rely on our powers of deductive reasoning to find our hotel. 

The next morning, we drove about twenty miles out of our way to the Indianapolis Airport to get a replacement charger for Greta (we named her for the great Greta Garbo). Confident that once we got out of the airport parking garage there would be no further complaints from the Garmin, Sarah and I set off again for Schaumburg. It didn't take long to realize that we were right about getting no complaints... Greta was still dead.

We got a map. For the next fifty miles, we discussed the fact that in another generation knowing how to read a map will be as foreign to children as understanding the difference between clockwise and counter clockwise.

Despite resorting to archaic navigational techniques, the rest of the trip went as smoothly as it could in eight to twelve lanes of traffic on unfamiliar roads. We arrived safely in Schaumburg and headed to the mall. Yes, the mall. Schaumburg once hosted the largest mall in the United States until the title was stolen by the Mall of America. It is still the largest shopping mall in a five state area. Besides, we had some time to kill before checking into our hotel.

On Saturday, we were up early. The car rental company opened at 7:30 AM and we were finally able to get the Garmin a working charger.

By 10 AM we were at the library. I was amazed to discover that there was a line of people waiting for the doors to open. It was awesome. For a moment, I thought everyone was there to attend Authorfest. Then the first people I spoke to didn't even know there was an author's event. The crowd waiting was there for the library. My ego might have been wounded if the nice couple hadn't wanted to hear all about my book. It is impossible to feel bad when a little old lady is really interested in what you write and thinks your wife is beautiful. I think I could live in Schaumburg, if it weren't for those Chicago winters.

The second surprise of the day was learning that the library has funding to run a lot of programs. Having a dozen authors come in and speak on a Saturday was just a normal business day for them. At the same time we were talking, there were photography classes, children's reading times, and a host of other events. When I think of the little libraries in Kentucky and the struggle they have just to keep the doors open, I can't help wondering what those librarians would think if they had funds for even one of the programs going on regularly in Schaumburg. Even here in Lexington, where we have some of the best libraries in the state, there are no lines outside waiting for the doors to open. 

This isn't a complaint. I love our libraries; I just got a look at how much more is possible.

Thursday's Thugs: Guest Blog by Marilyn Meredith

This week I have invited F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, to talk about her bad guys. She is the author of nearly thirty published novels. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is Angel Lost. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet chapter , Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit  her at http://fictionforyou.com and read her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com .

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The third book in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Fringe Benefits, was all about a bad cop who took advantage of his badge. Other books in the series have had an abundance of bad guys, murderers and other unsavory characters, but in my latest, Angel Lost, the bad guy is sort of in the shadows. He doesn’t make an appearance until near the end of the book though he’s hinted at much earlier.

Even then, though what he does is the pivotal point of the plot, he still isn’t a central figure in the book. Having said that, I guess I should explain that in all of the Rocky Bluff novels, the focus is on how the job affects the police officers’ families and how what is happening in the family affects the job.

No, the police officers in my fictional department aren’t perfect, but in this particular book the villain is not a major player. Officer Stacey Wilbur is so focused on her upcoming wedding to Detective Doug Milligan she doesn’t put enough attention onto what is going on around her. Sergeant Navarro is worried about his mother who is displaying Alzheimer’s symptoms and he misses something important at work. Officer Felix Zachary is excited about becoming a father in the near future, and though he knows something may be amiss with a new-hire he doesn’t pursue his feelings. Detective Milligan is as anxious to get married as Stacey, but not much interested in the wedding, he just wants to be sure his renter, Officer Gordon Butler, finds a new place to live.

Of course, nothing goes quite as planned and the appearance of an angel in a furniture store window causes a stir in the town and puts Officer Zachary and the new guy, Vaughn Aragon, together policing the crowd.

Angel Lost is the seventh in the series, written under the name F.M. Meredith. It’s available as an e-book and trade paperback from the usual places. If anyone would like an autographed copy, they can go to my website: http://fictionforyou.com

Advance praise for Angel Lost:

In ANGEL LOST, author Marilyn Meredith has created a thrilling adventure that weaves together the lives of several point-of-view police officers, with Officer Stacy Wilbur and Detective Doug Milligan in starring roles. I truly, truly, TRULY loved every minute of this terrific story!  So there!  Read it yourself and find out why.

Radine Trees Nehring
Author of the Carrie McCrite and Henry King "To Die For" mystery series.  

F.M. Meredith has another hit on her hands with her latest installment of the Rocky Bluff P.D. series.  A fast-moving mystery full of suspense, well-developed characters and realistic interpersonal relationships, Angel Lost wants for nothing.  Meredith weaves a compelling story that keeps you guessing with a satisfying ending guaranteed to please even the most discerning mystery lover.  Impossible to put down, Angel Lost is the first must-read of 2011.  

Holli Castillo

Author of Gumbo Justice

Reading a F.M. Meredith Rocky Bluff novel is like having a wonderful family visit—without having to travel farther than your favorite chair. Once again, Marilyn delivers a story you want to get into, a mystery you want to unravel (several actually), and characters you like and want to root for. In “Angel Lost,” F.M.’s Rocky Bluff  Police Department “family” must really come together to save one of their own--with a little help from an angel. A most enjoyable read. Thank you Marilyn!"

Madeline (M.M.) Gornell, the author of “Uncle Si’s Secret,” “Death of a Perfect Man,” and “Reticence of Ravens.” http://www.mmgornell.com

Weekend Writer: Preparing for Authorfest

I am doing a talk next weekend on incorporating history into your fiction. I'm calling it "The Devil is in the Details." I chose that title because the details are critically important to readers of historical mysteries.  Before I write I research, research, research more, then pray that I did not miss one of those devilish details that plague writers everywhere.

Long before I ever tried my hand at writing, I was one of those evil and unforgiving readers. I never read another book by the author that put General John Hunt Morgan's statue in a story more than a dozen years before the statue was cast. Of course, I have never forgiven the sculptor either.  Everyone in Kentucky knows Morgan's horse was a mare named Black Bess. Pompeo Coppini, the sculptor, thought no hero should ride a mare and had the audacity to put Morgan on a stallion.

You might think talking about the statue is a digression, but it isn't. I am simply pointing out that if you change an important part of history you will not be forgiven. In the case of Black Bess, students at the University of Kentucky have responded to this insult by composing a ballad to her proclaiming respect for "a lady's balls" and frequently sneak onto the old courthouse lawn to paint them either blue and white (the school colors) or some florescent shade. I am sure that Black Bess is kicking up her heels in some horsey heaven and having an old-fashioned horse laugh every time those balls get a new coat of paint.

As I place the finishing touches on my talk for next weekend, I hope that readers of my book are more forgiving than I am. I am sure that under close examination, errors could be found. No matter how much time a writer spends researching a historical novel, it is impossible to find everything on a subject. There are also details that are widely misreported. In my research, I discovered that Belle Brezing is believed to have moved to Jenny Hill's on December 24, 1879, but her diary clearly gives the date as 1878. Her obituary in Time Magazine incorrectly reported the date, and everyone else took their information from them. Her biographer and the University of Kentucky website both use the misinformation, and I have already heard from one reader that I have the date wrong. Such is life.

Weekend Writer: Butt in Chair -- Brain Missing

Has anyone missed me? Since very few people leave comments on my blog, I'm never sure it would be noticed if I'm gone. That has been put to the test. Last weekend, this weekend writer turned into a hibernating bear. I slept until coughing woke me, then went foraging for drugs, followed by more sleep. Which means there was no post on my writing weekend, because that would have required me to write.

I must have looked as bad as I sounded. As I hacked and coughed my way through a workweek that could not be missed, Sarah took over the blog and did an excellent guest post on villains from the Darkover series. If you haven't read that post, please do. Her insight into these bad boys is first rate.

Now that it seems I am not going to die from this miserable illness, I got my butt back in the desk chair and went back to work. Today, for the first time in a week, I have been working on my novel. Well, I've been attempting to work on my novel. Once the cough syrup, antihistamines, decongestants, steroids, and headache medicines wear off, we will see if anything I've written stands up to edits.

It really doesn't matter if what I have been writing is garbage or not. What matters is the effort to get back to writing. Contrary to popular belief, books do not spring magically onto the shelf. Every single one of them had to be written. There are times when the writing flows easily. Most of the time, the words are plucked from overworked brains, squeezed in between other jobs, and, more often than not, have to go through several revisions before they are fit to be read by an editor.

So here I am, folks, banging away at the keyboard in a drug induced state while hoping that the words on the page make sense when the drugs are no longer needed. I know that somewhere in my foggy head there is a brain. If only I can find it and make it crank out another page or two... Wish me luck.

Weekend Writer: Writers Group Participation

I usually post this on Sunday evening, but this weekend I was out of town until Sunday evening and decided to catch up on the chores instead of blogging. Real life does get in the way of writing.

My trip out of town was partly for work. On the second Saturday of the month I participate in a wonderful writer's group that is part of our Sisters in Crime chapter. This past Saturday the group was critiquing a few chapters of my work in progress. I left the meeting with lots of positive comments on the work, but also lots of opinions on how to make my story stronger. The opinions are important. It is equally important to me to remember that they are "opinions." In the end, I must look at each comment and decide if I agree or not.

There are countless ways to tell the same story. In each, the essential elements will be the same, but the way they are presented is very different. For instance, a change in whose point of view is used to tell the story changes what is revealed and when. I could hand my plot to each writer in the group, and their stories would be very different from mine.

This is not to say that I am going to ignore everything my SiC writing friends had to say. I am going to make some significant changes based on their feedback. I have lots of work to do between Saturday and the next time I give them chapters. Not all that work is simple stuff like moving a line or rewriting a sentence for clarity. I have a subplot that wants to take over the story--that's no easy fix. There is also a pesky problem of second bookitis (those places where I know the character so well that I don't explain it clearly enough for the first time reader). I need to go in and reintroduce those characters in a way that doesn't repeat what I did in the first book of my series, but still gives someone who hasn't read Circle of Dishonor a feel for who those characters are. Like I said, I have lots of work to do, but in the end the book will be better. That is what this process is all about. I want every book to be the very best story I can write.

Now for the confession: part of what got in the way of writing this weekend was the need for a break. My spouse and I stayed over in Louisville for a nice dinner, a soak in a hot tub, and a little pampering by the hotel staff. I highly recommend getting away from the computer now and then. It does wonders for my outlook on making those revisions.

Weekend Writer: Fighting the Hard Fight

I joined Sisters in Crime several years before my novel was written because their efforts to promote the work of women mystery writers are important. The tendency of the literary world to look down on genre fiction, and women writers in particular, is not new. Part of that is snobbery. There are many genre books that are better written and more literary than reviewers realize. Part of it is sexism. Blind studies have proven that when the gender of the writer isn't known, women rank much higher than when the readers know they are reading a woman's manuscript. Knowing the thinking behind ignoring excellent books by talented women writers doesn't change the fact that no reviews, and bad reviews, hurt.

It is a difficult, often thankless job, to write. Many of us are struggling to get reviews, to have our work noticed, and to carve out a place for ourselves in the writing world. Most of us are working a day job, and juggling our writing and promoting with hectic lives.

For all my hard working Sisters in Crime, I am posting the following review. I found it comforting to know  that long before Sisters in Crime, there were women working to make mystery fiction one of the best selling forms of fiction on the market. They suffered through the bad reviews and continued to work. Thirteen books into her writing career, mystery writing foremother Anna Katherine Green was still fighting the hard fight.
In February of 1895 the following blistering review of Anna Katherine Green's novel "The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock" appeared in Yale Literary Magazine.  I am including it in my writing blog as a reminder of the need for writers, particularly women writers, to develop a thick skin and keep turning out great books.

The works of Anna Katherine Green are always sought by a large number of readers who care little about how their literary dishes are served up as long as the dishes themselves are good. Anna Katherine Green is perhaps the best story teller in her line--a line which is almost unnecessary to say is neither literary nor intellectual. To make a long railroad journey seem shorter, or to while away a few stray half hours, her books do very well. If one does not get wildly excited over them, one does not at least throw them aside unfinished.

Her latest soar into the realms of literature is called "The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock." The title is decidedly the most interesting portion of the book, and it certainly stimulates curiosity. The story is vastly inferior to "The Leavenworth Case" and is not equal in continuity or interest to the thirteen other books which have come from her pen. Its redeeming quality is its brevity, for, while one can see into the mystery and beyond very early in the story one is tempted to finish it because it is not long.

Anna Katherine Green never draws characters; she merely introduces a host of people in order that her readers may guess who is the murderer. (Of course there is invariably a murder in her stories.) To anyone who has contracted the very bad habit of persistently perusing her works it must be a constant source of wonder that he himself is alive, for murders must seem an every day and perfectly natural occurrence to him. Of the people in "The Doctor, his Wife and the Clock," the clock has more to do with the story than any of the human beings, and is decidedly more entertaining than the majority of them. The doctor is tiresome, his wife is possible still more tiresome, and the detective was evidently born a fool and apparently never got over it.

The denouement of the story is clever and is well related: it is an oasis in a desert. It is not, strictly speaking a denouement, for the rest of the book was without doubt written around this incident. It goes without staying that the story is wildly absurdly improbable, and this is the reason why it fails of its object, which was presumably to be pathetic. The volume is one of the "Autonym Library Series," heretofore so excellent.