As Summer Winds Down

News from the Southern Half of Evelyn David

This week I'm traveling to St. Louis for my day job. I've made the six-plus-hour drive multiple times in the past – sometimes to visit libraries for book promotions, but more often for meetings with other states on coal mining and reclamation. I've worked for 29 years at the Oklahoma Department of Mines, first as a surface coal mine inspector and later as the Coal Program Director. As a state regulator by day and mystery writer at night, it's very easy for me to tell you which I prefer. Writing is a great escape from dealing with mining permits and enforcement actions. Plus murder is not only allowed, but expected in the mystery world.

 

While I'm in St. Louis, I'll continue to write in the evenings with my trusty laptop. Currently my co-author and I are working on two new writing projects, trying to get a third audiobook published, and continuing with the promotion of our latest mysteries – MURDER DOUBLES BACK and LOTTAWATAH FIREWORKS. Both of these books are frankly the best we've ever written. It seems that with writing like most things, the more you do, the better you get at it.  

When we first started out writing fiction together, we had to spend a lot of time on the mechanics of the process and now ten years down the road, the mechanics are a minor worry, the characters and plot are the focus! I mentioned two new writing projects – one is the eleventh book in the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series and the other is a stand-alone mystery which we've been mulling over in our heads for a couple of years. Now's the time to stretch our wings and give it a try. It will be set on a ranch in southeastern Oklahoma with a young female protagonist. I can't talk too much about it now or I'll screw up our plot bunny "mojo." Seriously! It's true that sometimes you can ruin a story by discussing it too much before getting it down in print.

We're so pleased to have the first books in our two long-running series available now as audiobooks – I TRY NOT TO DRIVE PAST CEMETERIES and MURDER OFF THE BOOKS. We found terrific narrators and the end results are exceptional – even if we say so ourselves. Look for them at Amazon and iTunes. We anticipate the second book in the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries, THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER IN LOTTAWATAH, to be out as an audiobook by October.

 

Hope you have had a great summer of reading and/or listening to mysteries!

Audible    iTunes

Audible    iTunes

 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 - Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)

Sullivan Investigations Mystery series
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Zoned for Murder - stand-alone mystery
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
Trade Paperback

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Stuck in "Intentions" Mode

by Laura Bradford

Looking back, I came into summer with the best intentions (writing wise). I was going to spend a few weeks working on a novella to go along with my first series (now on e-book) and then I was going to shift my focus to the thriller I've been wanting to polish for a long, long time. If all went well, I was going to move onto the women's fiction I've been dying to write.

And then June came with it's end of the school year craziness which, this time around, included prom and high school graduation for one, and the 8th grade dance, finals, and a middle school graduation for the other.

Oh, and there was the graduation party prep (a.k.a. massive house cleaning), actual party, and a trip to the high school graduate's new college to pick classes.

June soon gave way to July. July, of course, brought family vacation and a host of other schedule-altering events.

August lapped at its heels with out-of-town guests, a book launch, and way too many hours spent shopping for college.

Which brings me to today and the fact that I just typed (quite literally, I might add) "The End" on that novella I mentioned.

What's that, you ask? 

What about the thriller?  Nope. Didn't get to that.

And the women's fiction?  Nope. Not that, either.

So, once again, the pet projects get shoved back in the proverbial drawer in the hope that one of these summers, I'll actually make the leap from intention to reality.

~Laura

Sponge Bob Writer Pants

by Bethany Maines

I recently read an article that suggested writers try to visualize their stories through sculpture working with cardboard, string, glue and party hats. I’m sure the point of the advice was to visualize your story in a new way. Whether it was through bubble charts or sculpture, the idea was to shake up how writers were thinking about their work.  A worthy goal and sound advice. And on one hand, I think that anything that gets a writer to more fully visualize their story is great. On the other hand, it seemed like the kind of advice that would only be given by someone who knows nothing about sculpture. I’m sure there are artists that can create striking sculptures from a toilet paper roll, a sponge, and a party hat, but I can practically guarantee that your average mystery writer is not that artist.

Which, I suppose, is the best part about advice: we’re not obligated to take any of it. And sometimes ignoring advice is fine.  My mother advised me not to paint my bedroom wall red.  I advised her not to put that weird wallpaper in the bathroom. Neither us took the advice and we’re all happy with the way things turned out. The bathroom still looks good and she painted over the red wall the second I moved out. Sometimes ignoring advice is not fine. Oil and waterbased paints do not mix. Putting an entire vacation on my credit card and quitting my job was not a sound financial decision. 

But in fiction advice is placed on a higher plain. I don’t know how many times I’ve read a book or seen a movie where the hero is offered a sage bit of advice and then promptly ignores it. “The old peddler specifically said not to do that!  Are you an idiot? Take the advice!” I want to yell at the pages. In fiction, not taking advice is like a giant billboard reading: Bad Things Are About to Happen. In real life, the advice comes from friends, relatives, “experts,” and articles, and, sadly, there aren’t as many giant sign-posts about which advice is the best. Figuring out which advice is portentous and which advice you can freely ignore is part of growing up.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever ignored?

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter.

What's next?

by: Joelle Charbonneau

Being a writer is a funny thing.  You write a book.  The process of writing that book takes months or years.  Then there is the editing, which can take more months, copyedits, page proofs, etc...etc...etc...  Shepherding a book from the opening line to the moment where it hits shelves and magically ends up in readers' hands can take years.  Release day is a joyous and nerve-wracking event.  I know I tend to gnaw off my fingernails hoping that the people who pick up the book will like it....or more to the point, hoping that people actually pick up the book!  A week goes by in that happy state.  Maybe two, if you're lucky.  Then comes the question....

What's next?

When's the next book?

What are you writing now?

And while it can be a little startling at times for writers who just had a book hit shelves to hear people ask when the next one is going to make its way into bookstores (because, hey--no pressure or anything) - it is also wonderful.  Knowing that readers are engaged enough to want to mark their calendars so they don't miss the next release is something to truly celebrate.

What's next is on my mind a lot right now.  Technically, I know what's next for readers.  Skating Under The Wire (Rebecca Robbins #4) will be published on Oct. 1st.  I even known what's next for readers several books past that.  Independent Study (The Testing Trilogy #2) AND A Chorus Lineup (Glee Club #3) both will arrive in bookstores on January 7th, 2014 with Graduation Day (The Testing Trilogy #3) coming out on June 3, 2014.

Phew.  It makes me tired thinking about it.

And yet, not that tired, because even though I just turned in copyedits for Graduation Day yesterday, I can't help thinking about "What's next?" for me.  What new story will I tell?  You'd think I'd want a break after writing 5 books in just over a year and a half.  Heck, I thought I did.  But now that I've climbed the mountain that brought me here, I can't help searching for a new one to climb.  And hopefully, readers will want to take that journey with me.

So, how about you?  Readers - when you finish a book you love, do you automatically wonder when the next book by that author will be published?  And for my fellow writers - do you reach the other side of the mountain, pitch a tent and relax or are you crazy like me and start gearing up immediately for the next climb?

For Your Viewing Pleasure

By Evelyn David

When I was a teenager, I was a television addict. If there had been a 12-step program, my mother would have sent me to daily meetings. She staged an intervention the day she left the house at 7 in the morning, returned at 10 at night, and it was apparent that I hadn't left my spot on the couch in front of the TV the entire day.

She quietly took in the scene, walked over to the television, and turned it off. Mom was from South Carolina and when under stress, her accent re-emerged in full force.

"I believe you've had enough." Picture one of the women from Steel Magnolias uttering the phrase.

I couldn't imagine what she was talking about. Too much TV? Despite the fact that cable hadn't yet entered the scene, I still had an endless array of choices for viewing pleasure. Soap operas, game shows, dramas, comedies, and of course, reruns, lots and lots of reruns.

I bring up my sordid past because a few days ago the Southern half of this writing duo urged me to watch her very favorite show, Major Crimes. She was pretty sure I'd be interested because it featured actors from Classic TV shows of yesteryear.

I quietly informed her that I didn't currently have a working television in the house (since corrected).

If only Mom, the original Evelyn, could see me now.

The truth is, since The West Wing went off the air, I haven't had any "Must See TV." With the exception of the news, I watch almost nothing in "real time." The DVR, included in my cable package, has made recording shows a snap, even for a non-techie like myself.  Even if I'm available to catch a show when it first airs, I prefer to watch the DVR version. Skipping commercials is worth the wait. Dancing with the Stars is more fun when I can fast-forward through the contestants I can't stand, and focus on what brilliant choreography Derek Hough and Mark Ballas have created. Netflix and Amazon Prime have added to the ease of skipping entire seasons of a show, then binge-ing on episodes over a weekend.

Am I looking forward to the Fall season? A couple of shows have caught my eye. Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar in The Crazy Ones might be worth a look; I'm hooked on Scandal, and I love a British series, Doc Martin. Any show you suggest I add to my DVR schedule?

Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David

Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 - Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)

I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries, the first book in our Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series, is now available as an audio book at Amazon through Audible.com and at iTunes. We were very lucky to obtain the services of a wonderful narrator, Wendy Tremont King. We're keeping our fingers crossed that Wendy will be available to be the voice of Brianna Sullivan for the entire series. We've discovered that Brianna's adventures in Lottawatah, Oklahoma, are perfect for the audio book format!



Zoned for Murder - stand-alone mystery

Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
Trade Paperback

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

It's YOUR Story, Tell It Well

For an author, I spend an inordinate amount of thinking about other authors' websites. In fact, I spend about half my day making other writers look good. That’s my afternoon gig, at AuthorBytes, where I assist in the multifaceted process that delivers an engaging and professional online presence to our more than 500 clients. AuthorBytes founder, Steve Bennett, was nice enough to pinch hit for me today at the Stiletto Gang, sharing his expertise and insight on what defines an excellent website. Thanks, Steve! Oh, and you can always visit me at lauraspinella.net   

By Steve Bennett

“What makes for a good author website?” prospective clients often ask me.

There are the obvious elements: A good author website should be like a grand hotel room. The location of every amenity and necessity should be obvious and easy to find. It should be engaging for book buyers and media friendly–a one-stop go-to spot that can give reporters and producers all the information they need. Elegant design and a little razzle dazzle never hurts either.

But let’s go beyond the wrapper. What about the soul of a great site? That’s the real differentiator. And that’s a much more difficult element to articulate than design and information architecture.

For insight into the matter, I turned to a gym buddy of mine, Pharame (pronounced "farmee," who’s known throughout the health club I frequent as an expert on the human soul. He’s also a testament to the fortune of good genes and the wisdom of a good workout routine – at 64, he sports a body that most 24-year-olds would die for.

Since Pharame’s not a web guy, I asked him a general question that I knew would be within his bailiwick: “Why are we here?”

He laughed, slapped me on the back in a friendly gesture that nonetheless knocked the wind out of me, then boomed, “Stevie! You are born naked and you die naked. In between, it’s YOUR story. So tell it WELL.”

No one ever nailed it better.

A good author website IS your story.

And telling it WELL is about using technology, words, and images to have a conversation with your site visitors in an oh so brief span of time. It’s about voice–talking “to,” rather than “at,” your audience, just as you would in a good radio interview. It’s about intimacy–revealing what motivates you and what makes you tick as a writer. It’s about credibility–conveying your authority while keeping your ego in check. And it’s about humility–respecting your viewers’ time and being grateful for the fact that there are hundreds of millions of websites they could be visiting,  Make their visit memorable; let your site tell your story.

When Pharame made his eye-opening statement, he was speaking universally—a life affirming comment about why we are here. He spoke with authority.  As an author, it’s your goal to do the same. It’s your story, so tell it well.

This is My Birthday Month

This is going to be a really big birthday for me--I'll be 80! I can't believe it, I sure don't feel 80. (Well, maybe physically. I don't really look forward to flying anymore--and I can't pick up some of my heavier greatgrands.) However, in my mind I still feel young.

Being honest though, how on earth could I have all these memories without living 80 years on this earth?

My childhood holds memories of World War II, scary stuff we saw on the newsreels at the movies, air raids where we kept blackout curtains over the windows and hid in an inner room with no windows and played board games by the light of a lantern, playing hide 'n go seek with friends while our parents were at a block warden meeting, making poison with a girlfriend to poison the enemy when they came to shore and we would be child spies, telling everyone my sister was a princess from Europe we were keeping safe (poor kid thought she was adopted for awhile), not being able to get bubble gum.

Radio was the big nightly entertainment for a long time--and the best radio shows were on: Let's Pretend on Saturdays (and I can still sing the commercial for Cream of Wheat), One Man's Family on Sunday's (and a friend of mine grew up playing a part on that show), and of course many great mysteries and scary shows: Inner Sanctum, The Shadow Knows, and much, more. I did my homework while listening to them. 

We were the first in our neighborhood to get a television because my dad made one from a Heath kit. My sister and I helped all night as he asked us to bring him this wire and that. We also helped hold guide wires when he installed a huge antenna on the roof--as did almost every kid in the neighborhood. We watched whatever was on the one channel--Beannie and Cecil (hand puppets), wrestling (my favorite wrestler was Argentine Rocca), roller derby--and frankly, that's what I remember best from that time period. Of course the whole neighborhood came and watched with us. 

In sixth grade, I came down with rheumatic fever. In those days, you had to stay in bed for 6 weeks, so no school for me. My teacher brought me work to do. I graduated with my class and got all A's on my report card.

We went to the movies almost every Friday night and it didn't matter what was playing. Always two features, one a first class movie, the second a B movie, a newsreel, a cartoon, and of course a game played at intermission time where some lucky person won dishes. The B movies I remember were about gangsters and I had lots of nightmares about them.

I had my own little Philco radio and for some reason it picked up police calls. I wasn't supposed to listen to them, but I often did long after I was supposed to be asleep. I heard the police calls when the Black Dahlia's body was found--and what was said by the officers was graphic and detailed. In the night, I reached down and found what I though was a leg and screamed. My mom came in, turned on the light, and the leg belonged to my sister who had been frightened by what I'd been listening to and climbed onto the bottom of my bed.

And that's only a small part of what I can remember--so I guess I have lived for nearly 80 years.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

The Art of the Move

by Evelyn David

At long last, we moved. I've been talking about it, planning for it, and then going through the process of culling, donating, tossing, and packing for what seems like eternity, so that the actual move was almost anti-climatic. No time for sentiment when it's 100 degrees, 200% humidity, and the truck is a-waiting. To my old house: See You, it's been great.

To the New One: um, pardon me, but you looked like you were pristine and perfect when I bought you; now that I'm living here, you've got more than your fair share of problems.

On the other hand, don't we all?

I've found in life that often what I fear will be the big problem – isn't; and what I thought would be a snap is a totally unexpected disaster. For example, when our oldest son was in kindergarten, at a private school that was known for its child-centered philosophy and for which we were paying a fortune which we didn't have – we got a full-price offer on our house. At last we could move so that my husband's commute to his new job, close to 2 hours each way, would be eliminated.

I obsessed over moving my firstborn during the school year, convinced that I was about to inflict unfixable psychic damage that would require years of therapy. (What can I say? I'm a writer, I tend to be overly dramatic). But sadly, it's the truth. I was terrified about the short- and long-term effects on child number one.

So of course, I paid zero attention to the two-year old, who was a happy-go-lucky, walked at ten months, toilet-trained himself at 20 months, sprite.

You know the end of the story. Son number one headed off to public school and announced he'd always hated the fancy-schmancy private school. Son number two became a 30-pound permanent weight on my leg, regressed totally, and left me wondering just how dumb I could be to so totally misread the cues about both kids. OY.

For this move, I had no kids to worry about – but I did have a very aged dog who is very particular about her toilet habits. (Why does any move involve me worrying about bathroom habits?). So she spent the first week of the move with her doctor, to avoid the chaos of the move (and the quick trip we took to son number two's graduation from his MFA program – and yes, he did grow up unscathed from that "traumatic" period of his life). We brought Clio home on Monday and spent the next 24 hours walking around our neighborhood trying to entice her to "do her business." She's pickier than Queen Elizabeth about her throne. But finally, she has found a few spots that suit her – and other than that, she's eating, sleeping, and begging for treats like normal. It's quite possible that she prefers this house to the old one for the same reason my husband does – no steps. Both suffer from aging knees.

So I'm moved in and have one zillion boxes, workmen, and house problems to deal with. But I'm also more than ready to move on to some murder and mayhem – fictional of course.

Marian, the Northern, unsettled, but getting there, half of Evelyn David

 

I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries, the first book in our Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series, is now available as an audio book at Amazon through Audible.com and at iTunes.

 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 - Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)

Sullivan Investigations Mystery series
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Zoned for Murder - stand-alone mystery
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
Trade Paperback

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords