Excuse my Split Personality by Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

I suppose it all begins with having two names: Marilyn Meredith for my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries and F. M. Meredith for my Rocky Bluff P.D. mysteries.

Violent Departures, #11 in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series recently became available on Amazon as a print book and on Kindle. This means I'm in the throes of promotion.

I'm nearing the middle of my blog tour--which means promoting each new blog on as many sites as possible very day. I also must visit the blog several times during the day to respond to comments and also keep track of those who commented because of the contest I'm having. (The person commenting on the most blogs can either have a character named for him or her in the next book, or choose an earlier book in the series.)

At the same time, as I'm doing several in-person presentations, two this month at libraries and I'll have a booth at the Jack Ass Mail Run in Springville near the end of the month.

I'm also planning to give a way a Kindle copy of the first book in this series, Final Respects, beginning May 1. Promotion for this type of giveaway must begin very early, so I've been working on that too.

And--yes--there's an and--I'm writing the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, as yet untitled. It's a much different type of book than Violent Departures, so when I'm working on that I must draw from a different side of me.

If that was all I had to do that would be a cinch--but I am a wife, run a household, am the chief cook and laundress, and have grandmotherly duties too. All important roles.

What I don't do is housework--I find some relative who'd like to make some extra money to do that for me. And in the meantime, I've learned not to mind the mess.

Forgive me if I seem a bit scattered these days, but that's the reason.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

Finding time to write

Hi gang,

It's been a busy spring for me, not only am I finishing writing Tourist Trap #6, I had edits and page proofs for Dressed to Kill (Tourist Trap #4) and Killer Run (Tourist Trap #5). I love revisiting South Cove and making sure all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.

I've also been juggling some serious family health issues.  The good news is the bulk of the appointments and worries are crossed off the lists. The bad news is I'm worn out.

So it's been a struggle to find the energy to dive into the work in progress and find my creative spark that makes the stories fun for me to write and, hopefully, fun for the reader as well.

As a new author, I heard my peers complain about not having enough time to write. Like the universe would just stop the world for a day, let us get 3000 - 5000 words and then restart the rest of life. Kind of like having our own Samantha from Bewitched. Remember when she wanted to have a private conversation with her mother? If I had a superpower or knew witchcraft, that's the one spell I'd want to perfect.

I might even use the time to take a long, hot bath and catch up on some reading. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have the power. :)

Instead, I've been going back to basics. I've made a writing plan, set out weekly and daily word goals, and have been turning off the internet while I write. When I reach the first 1000 words, I take a break. Then, and this is the important step, I come back and write for 1000 more. Writing 3000 words a day and having a full time job is doable, just maybe not sustainable for the long haul.

Good news? I only need 20000 more to finish. And, for me, the last part of the book flies while I tie up loose ends and put my main character in jeopardy. I just have to remember she needs to save herself rather than wait for help to arrive.

I'll let you know how it goes next month when I return.

A Heroine for the Ages Meets a Bizarre Loner

by Linda Rodriguez

When a group of writers decided on Twitter to put together an anthology—Feeding Kate: A Crime Fiction Anthology (http://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Kate-Crime-Fiction-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00B6UMGSM)—to benefit our friend Sabrina and the Lupus Foundation, I was in on it from the start. After all, I love Sabrina, and I deal with lupus every day myself.

The two main characters in my story, “Rivka’s Place,” could hardly be more different. They are a true odd couple of disparate ages and experiences and yet with great respect for one another and love. I’m a big believer in courage and in love.

One, Rivka, is an elderly Holocaust survivor, a woman who refuses to be bullied as her shop’s neighborhood becomes more and more dangerous and insists on helping everyone around her. The other, C.J., came of age many decades after World War II by killing two men as his father had trained him to do, only to learn that everything he’d been taught was a lie, a man who wants nothing more than to be left alone in peace to do his work, read, and hide from his memories and those who hunt him.

Where did this bizarre partnership of Rivka and C.J. come from?

I gave Rivka a background similar to that of a well-known Kansas City woman, who had escaped from the death camps of Nazi Germany twice as a child and had indeed insisted on continuing to run her bakery in a deteriorating neighborhood, feeding many who couldn’t afford to buy her goods. She’s dead now, and Rivka looks and sounds nothing like her. Rivka came out of the folds of my brain, but her background owes a debt to this remarkable real woman I never met. I have always found her story inspiring. As I have found the stories of so many who live with lupus an inspiration.

To my knowledge, however, there is no one anywhere remotely like C.J. He sprang full-blown into my mind and demanded to be written. I have often wondered what would happen with a young person who’d grown up in one of these cults or cult-like families, indoctrinated in fear of civilization and government, trained to defend the family against that “dangerous” government, if that young person later learned that everything he or she had been taught was a lie. C.J., I suspect, arose from these idle wonderings.

Bringing the two of them together left me in a quandary when I first tried to write this story. Where could it go? How could it end? I didn’t want to lose either of these people I had come to value as I created them, but I didn’t see any way that this could end well. These two characters were on a collision course with tragedy. Eventually, I wrote the ending scene through tears. Yet in some ways it is a happy ending because each person is true to her and his inner self.

Do you like to read of characters who make difficult choices? Are there people you’ve known or just heard about who have inspired you with their courage or their love?

This blog post originally appeared on http://myfriendscallmekate.blogspot.com/.

Linda Rodriguez’s third novel in the Skeet Bannion series, Every Hidden Fear (St. Martin’s Press), was a Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, and received a 2014 ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award. Her second novel featuring the Cherokee campus police chief, Every Broken Trust (St. Martin’s Press), was a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, took 2^nd Place in the International Latino Book Awards, and was a finalist for the Premio Aztlan Literary Award. Her first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition and an International Latino Book Award Honorable Mention, was featured by Las Comadres National Book Club, and was a Barnes & Noble mystery pick. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

For her books of poetry, Skin Hunger (Scapegoat Press) and Heart’s Migration (Tia Chucha Press), Rodriguez received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence, the Midwest Voices and Visions Award, the Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, the 2011 ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships.

Rodriguez is 2015 chair of the AWP Indigenous/Aboriginal American Writer’s Caucus, immediate past president of the Borders Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, a founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, Kansas City Cherokee Community, and International Thriller Writers. Find her on Twitter as @rodriguez_linda, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LindaRodriguezWrites, and on blogs with The Stiletto Gang http: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/, Writers Who Kill http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/, and her own blog http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.

REPLY TO COMMENTS (since Blogger still hates me):

Reine, I think the discovery that our parents have, in some way, deceived us when we were young and that the world is not the way they presented it to us--something almost every child learns when grown to at least some extent--can be a devastating discovery, especially if the deception was not the usual sugarcoating of reality but a huge disconnect with the truth. So in one way or another, I think many of us can identify to a certain extent with CJ's situation, extreme as it is.

Mary, it's more powerful and darker than my Skeet books. I suspect I will write more with these characters, however.

Where Do You Read?

by Sparkle Abbey

We just spotted a great article on the BookBub Blog about places to read. Check it out: How to Create the Perfect Reading Nook. 

 Aren’t those some gorgeous reading nooks?

But the truth is most of us don’t have the luxury of the “perfect” place to read. So we improvise.

We find places to read. Coffee shops, libraries, easy chairs. Some maybe slightly imperfect, but we make it work.

Some readers like the buzz of others around them and can read in the midst of a rambunctious family and a blaring television. Others prefer the quiet of some alone time with their reading.

There are those who read while they exercise and others curl up in a chair or snuggle under the covers with their book. Busy parents sometimes sneak in a few pages while waiting to pick up children at school.  Commuters take advantage of time on the train to immerse themselves in a story.

In fact there are so many unusual places to read that Goodreads did a poll: What are the most unusual positions (or places) you find yourself in while reading a book? You can see the wide variety of responses here.  Goodreads Poll Voting is over but it’s still. an interesting list.

The thing is, those of us with a love of the written will find a place to read. Check out our Pinterest board Books and Book Stuff for some other great book nooks. 

What about you? Where do you read? 

Leave a comment below to be entered in the #giveaway for a free Sparkle Abbey book and "mobile reading nook" care kit.  Would you like a second entry in the drawing? Sign up for updates on our website at www.sparkleabbey.com 

In our most recent book, The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo, we revisit lovely Laguna Beach and some of the colorful characters readers have requested make return engagements. It features Melinda Langston and her quirky assistant, Betty Foxx, in the cutthroat world of Doxie racing. Cheating, doping, gambling. Controversy lies at every turn and it seems everyone has a secret – including Betty. 

Next up? Book 7: Downton Tabby  Tea, crumpets…and murder. 

The Sixties as Background for Murder

By Kay Kendall

T. Jefferson Parker, the bestselling author of 20 crime novels, once confided to me that his two mysteries that touched on the Vietnam War had “my readers staying away in droves.” He explained, “Needless to say, I never mentioned the war again.” Our paths intersected two years ago at a thriller writers’ conference, shortly after the publication of my debut mystery,Desolation Row. He believed that his readers avoided the subject of a war that Americans know we didn’t win. Were the sacrifices worth it? Let’s just not think about it.

T. Jefferson Parker and me

I knew the subject matter wasn’t popular, but it was a book I had to write. I had to get that one out of my system so I could work on the next subject I felt “called” to discuss, the women’s liberation movement of the late sixties and early seventies. So, the bottom line for me is that even if T. Jefferson Parker had warned me ahead of time to stay clear of the war that many have compared to a quagmire, I would not have paid his advice any heed. The story of Desolation Row had to come to light. I had to write that book so that the others that were waiting in line behind it, more or less patiently, could have their turn too.

The British statesman and philosopher Edmond Burke wrote, “Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.” As well, how can you hope to understand how we got where we are now when you don’t understand where we came from? Events that happened in the sixties and early seventies still echo down the decades today. Just as some describe America’s battles in the Middle East as “the Vietnam War in the sand,” the upheavals of women’s liberation have not ended. If anything, the subject of women’s place in society is even timelier than ever.

Rainy Day Women launches on July 7, and I can hardly wait. In book two of her saga, this time intrepid amateur sleuth Austin Starr searches for a killer of female activists in 1969, a year after the first mystery took place. A murderer stalks the members of women’s consciousness raising groups at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. During the week of the Manson murders and Woodstock, new mother Austin bundles up her infant son Wyatt—just three months old—and flies with him across the continent to help her dear friend Larissa during her personal crisis. The Mounties have fingered her as their chief suspect in at least one of the murders. More trouble ensues.  

I have waited decades to write this book. The women’s movement played an enormous role in my life, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it underlines everything I do to this very day. Getting the fervor and excitement of the time period right is important. Showing the raw sexism that was exhibited by many men without any hesitation is also vital. Clearly I believe in serving up a little history with my murder and mayhem. Just think--no VCRs, let alone DVRs, no cell phones or personal computers, no Kardashians! A long ago time indeed. 

I wonder if any of the other writers in the Stiletto Gang (those of the right age, that is) participated in women’s liberation groups. Did any of you readers? If so, I hope you will leave comments here about your experiences.  I’d love to know how they compare with mine.

 *******   

Kay Kendall set her debut novel, DESOLATION ROW--AN AUSTIN STARR MYSTERY in 1968. The sequel RAINY DAY WOMEN (June 2015) shows her amateur sleuth Austin Starr proving her best friend didn't murder women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver. A fan of historical mysteries, Kay does for the 1960s what novelist Jacqueline Winspear accomplishes for England in the 1930s–present atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit of the age. Kay is also an award-winning international PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to the bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too.

Spring Has Come - Time for a New Resolution by Debra H. Goldstein

SRING HAS COME – TIME FOR A NEW RESOLUTION by Debra H. Goldstein

The snow is melting!  The snow is melting! Spring is here!  There’s actually a jonquil popping its head up in my yard (sorry guys, we’ve had some 60-70 degree days).  As a writer, I am reborn when the sun comes out.

With rebirth comes a new sense of responsibility.  It is one that I have been sorely lacking since I stepped down from the bench.  It is the willingness to commit my time and energies where my mouth has claimed to be.  Sure, I’ve produced one sold book (Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery coming from Five Star Publications in 2016) and ten published short stories in the past sixteen months, but I’ve done that writing in spurts.  I’ve repeatedly said, I can’t discipline myself enough to write daily but I write up a storm when the mood moves me.  In the meantime, I’ve organized and executed a wedding for 326 people, gotten into a regular mah jongg game, been active on many civic boards, taken on numerous isolated projects, traveled for pleasure and writing, and been hit by the biggest continuing wallop when I lost my mother in November.

People tell me they’re amazed at what I’ve accomplished and I smile and accept their nice words, but deep down, I know I am a fraud.  Secretly, I watch with envy and astonishment the accomplishments of three somewhat early in their career authors whose work I enjoy and who I greatly admire as people – Edith Maxwell, Leslie Budewitz, and Terry Shames.  Each has produced multiple books and in Edith and Leslie’s cases, multiple series, in the same time period.  They also do a million things outside of their writing.  What’s the difference?

Don’t even go there with the obvious answer – their talent, writing skills, and wonderful characterizations.  Leaving those givens aside for a moment, it is their discipline.  Each sets a daily or weekly word goal and they reach it.  They set further goals for revisions.  Their results speak for themselves – well written, well-edited books they can be proud to put their names on and which fans, including me, can’t wait to read.

Many of us can string words together, but without self-discipline we are condemned to be writers of excuses instead of multiple works.  Spring is here and with the rebirth of the year, we all have an opportunity to start anew.

The Story Starts Here

by Bethany Maines

One of the most common question a writer gets asked is "Where do your ideas come from?"

Once my brother made me lay on his floor so he could tape outlines of me all over his bedroom carpet as though his room had been the site of a mass murder; we found it was surprisingly difficult to get just the right pose so that all the limbs were showing and you didn't just have weird potato shaped outlines. (Yes, I know that was an odd transition, but I'll circle back I promise.) When was 12, I told my Dad I had a stove box to make a Halloween costume out of he got out the black and white spray paint and turned my best friend and I into Two Fools in Pair-o-Dice; our heads came out the one dots - naturally. My mom's friend once had eye surgery and had a rather large bandage, so my mom painted on an eye over the bandage and added a great set of false lashes. Why did we do these things? Honestly, the question never occurred to us. Had you asked at the time we probably would have said, "Why not?" My family has a culture of creativity and odd projects from passing thoughts are the norm not the exception. And as is often the case with cultures, I didn't think to question it until someone from a different culture asked, "So why don't you put mayo on fries?"  Or in the case of my writing, "How do you come up with your ideas?"

The people asking don't mean anything by the question, they are genuinely interested. The problem is that at any given time I'm vacillating between two of my personalities, Helpful Instructor Bethany and Diva Artiste Bethany. Helpful Instructor is usually nice, but Diva Artiste is kind of... well, I won't use the B-word as we are in a family friendly forum, but you get the idea, and sometimes it's a struggle to rein Diva Wench back in. Helpful Instructor realizes that the questioner was not raised in a culture of creativity and they are asking for help understanding the creative process. Diva Artiste imperiously demands how anyone cannot have ideas. Ideas are literally littered on the sidewalk, in the newspaper, on the radio, sleeting through the universe like a tiny meteorite looking for a receptive brain (Terry Pratchett, you are missed) and all you really have to do to have an idea is make your brain receptive. It's easy to do - read blogs by creative people (thanks), buy creative people presents (ok, maybe not really on that one, but I like books, you know, just in case), try new things. But the number one tip that Helpful Instructor or Diva Artiste both agree on, is to ask "What if?"

Any topic can work. Earlier this week there was a news story about a man who ran from the police and got stuck in mud.  What if you had been that man - up to your knees in river mud, unable to move, sinking slowly? What would you do?

What if I... What if you... What if they... The story starts there and you can decide the ending - just answer the question.

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of Destiny and the forthcoming An Unseen Current.  You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

On Buying Books—Or Not

By Linda Rodriguez

A reader recently wrote to me to praise my most recent book, Every Hidden Fear, and apologized for having checked the book out of the library. I reassured her that there was no need to apologize, but I know why these readers and others have felt this way. A few authors have been very vocal on Facebook and other places about their disgust at people using the library rather than purchasing their books. When you add in the justifiable distress that most authors feel and express about actual book piracy, which is usually of e-books, it might seem to readers that there are a lot of angry authors out there. I don’t believe that’s the case, at all.

I’m always happy to have readers check out my books from their local libraries, and most authors I know feel the same way. I think the authors who’ve exploded online about library copies cutting into their sales numbers are few—and mostly new to the business. For many of us midlist authors, library sales are quite an important part of our book-sale figures. Besides, most of us were at one time nerdy kids who adored and made great use of their libraries. Many of us are still big library users. Authors tend to love libraries.

I have known experienced authors who became upset at signings when presented with books that were purchased in used-book stores. They usually are gracious to the reader, but complain about it to their fellow authors later. And they have a point. The author and publisher receive nothing from that used-book sale after the initial sale. Some readers are not aware of this. Some are, but can’t afford to buy all of their books new, especially if the book is only available in hardcover.

None of this behavior mentioned so far is piracy. Libraries and used-book stores are legitimate outlets. Piracy, which usually involves e-books, is when copies of a book are made available for free in the millions on sites usually called torrent sites. These sites violate the copyright laws and basically allow people to steal books. Aside from the damage this does to publishers and authors, which can be substantial, it is fundamentally unethical and dishonest behavior.

I don’t want my books pirated, and I don’t care how many people tell me “all content should be free” or “it’s good exposure.” People can die from exposure. My attitude is Don’t steal my books. But used-book sales are not piracy. Those books were purchased once, much as library books are, and with physical books, certainly, there’s a limit on how many times that book can be checked out or sold before it gets ragged and must be discarded and a new one bought. In the meanwhile, people are reading my books and enjoying them and recommending them to friends and eventually, I hope, buying them new. My books are only available in hardcover and e-book at the moment, and I know the hardcover’s a big expense for students and folks on fixed incomes. Libraries and used-book stores make it possible for them to find my books and read them anyway.

However, I do think readers should be aware that used-book store sales count nothing at all for the writer. Library sales do count, though they are not figured in for the bestseller lists. And the way publishing works right now, if a writer’s sales don’t continually climb—at a fairly steep rate—that author will be dropped by the publisher after three to six books. Even if all those books earned out their advances. Even if all those books had stellar reviews and were nominated for awards. So if too many of an author’s readers use libraries only and/or, especially, used-book stores to access their books, that author and that series of books will disappear. The author may be able to start a different series at a different publisher, but usually s/he will have to take a pen name, making it difficult for fans to follow. Publishers today seem to think every author should become a bestseller eventually—and remember, neither library nor used-book sales count for that—and if s/he doesn’t, the publishers lose interest in that author.

So, like the inimitable Neil Gaiman, I’ll happily sign anything from anywhere. But I’d like readers to be aware that their choices will affect whether or not their favorite authors are able to continue writing their favorite books—or at all. But if, like my correspondents, you feel bad because you simply can’t afford to buy a new book by a favorite author, don’t. Just write a brief, thoughtful  review and post it on Amazon or Good Reads or other reading community. That will mean a great deal to the author and cost you nothing but a few minutes of your time.

What are your thoughts on this thorny issue?

*******

Linda Rodriguez’s third novel in the Skeet Bannion series, Every Hidden Fear (St. Martin’s Press), was a Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, and received an ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award. Her second novel featuring the Cherokee campus police chief, Every Broken Trust (St. Martin’s Press), was a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, took 2^nd Place in the International Latino Book Awards, and was a finalist for the Premio Aztlan Literary Award. Her first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition and an International Latino Book Award Honorable Mention, was featured by Las Comadres National Book Club, and was a Barnes & Noble mystery pick. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

  

Find her on Twitter as @rodriguez_linda, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LindaRodriguezWrites, and on blogs with The Stiletto Gang http: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/, Writers Who Kill http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/, and her own bloghttp://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com

REPLIES TO COMMENTS (because Blogger hates me, and even though I managed to comment from another browser twice, now it won't let me comment even that way--huge sigh):  Gee, Ritter, thanks! I don't think I've been anyone's hero in a while. :-)