In Praise of Electricity and Internet and Some Much Older Things

We’ve had an ice storm followed a couple of days later by a blizzard in Kansas City, one that shut the city down for two days—and we’re a city that’s used to ice and snow in winter. Our neighborhood has lots of old trees, and we lost power, phone, and internet, as often happens to us. Once the snow stopped falling, the temperatures plummeted to -15°.

Fortunately, we live in an old house with a fireplace and stuffed to the rafters with yarn, wool and other fibers, sweaters, afghans, handmade blankets, and quilts. (My quilting fabric stash, knitting/weaving yarn stash, and spinning fiber/fleece stash probably goes a long way to insulate our interior against the polar temps.) With our wool socks, alpaca scarves and hats, and cashmere/silk shawls, no one was going to freeze to death in this house, except possibly the dog, who is a short-haired Southern breed but refuses to allow anything on his body besides his collar, even just a blanket.

Cooking was an issue since we have an electric stove. But fortunately, we had sandwich makings and potato chips, fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruits and cookies, so we didn’t starve, either. (Though for my ultra-picky son, it may have felt like it.) Late today, everything came back on, a blessing because it’s dropping way below zero again tonight—and because we really wanted a hot meal and a hot cup of tea. It left me thinking about the past and the future.

I’m hardly some kind of survivalist with five years of food stashed in my underground bunker—witness our pathetic diet during this time—but I like to know how to do the things our grandparents and great-grandparents had to do to stay alive. 

I’ve never sheared a sheep, but I can take that sheared fleece, skirt it, wash it, card or comb it, dye it, and spin it into yarn and thread that I can weave, knit, sew into items to keep us warm and covered—and I can do the same process with cotton straight off the boll. I can (and have) made bread and yeast, yogurt and a variety of cheeses, butter, soap, candles, and baskets from vines outside. I’ve raised chickens, collected eggs, killed and cleaned roosters, milked cows, picked cotton, and threshed and winnowed wheat. And I collect books on how to do other basic survival skills that I’ve never had a chance to put into practice, like how to build a log cabin, an outhouse, a barn, a chicken coop, a horse-drawn plow or wagon, how to slaughter and butcher hogs, how to raise milk goats and honeybees, and many other skills that have been forgotten by most people in the United States today. I always tell my friends that, if one of those dystopian disasters takes place, they want to be close to me.

It’s not that I expect doomsday at any point in my lifetime, but I don’t think those important skills should be so quickly forgotten. It took humanity millennia to learn to do these things to make life easier, even possible, and more millennia to refine them. We’ve forgotten them in less than a century—at least, in the United States. No one needs to be able to do these things any longer, but the day may well come when these old skills are necessary once again, only no one will know how to do them any longer. I don’t expect to see that day in my lifetime, but I collect the skills and teach them to everyone I can. I think it’s important to keep them alive so someone knows how to do these things if the time comes that they’re needed again.

We only lost power for two and a half days, so I didn’t have to dig out my cast-iron Dutch oven and start cooking meals in the fireplace—but I could have if I’d needed to. I can feel my grandmothers watching and nodding in satisfaction from the spirit world. They were survivors and taught me many of the skills I have. They knew the value of having skills that help you keep your family fed and clothed and warm and sheltered. Don’t get me wrong. I missed the internet almost as much as electricity. I’m not someone who scorns the conveniences of the modern world. I’d rather not kill and clean my own chickens or make my own soap. But if I had to, I could, and my friends and family would benefit from that knowledge.

Do you have some old skills that used to be necessary to decent daily life? Do you wish you did, or do you think they’re all better off forgotten?

 

Love and Murder

by Sparkle Abbey

February, the month of love, brings thoughts of hearts and flowers, and (at least for those of us who write crime fiction) murder.

Love and murder go so well together. Why? Maybe because both involve strong emotion. Let’s see, what do you suppose the main motives are for murder? Thriller writer, John Lescroart lists on his website "14 Motives for Murder" but he summarizes them as love, lust, lucre, and loathing. We think he’s onto something.

As motive for a crime of passion, love and murder are clearly a great match. However, in addition, love also often becomes a part of the storyline for the characters solving the mystery. It’s no accident that popular crime shows, like Castle, often feature a bit of romance. There’s been a lot of online discussion about the Castle/Beckett pairing, and whether their upcoming wedding vows will ruin the romantic tension in the show. Many fans of the 1980s private detective show Moonlighting felt getting Maddie (Cybil Shepard) and David (Bruce Willis) together was responsible for the demise of the popular show.

The idea of love and crime together has become so popular over the years that there has become a whole sub-genre in movies and novels called romantic suspense. These stories often have a central romantic theme as well as the intrigue.

Lisa Gardner, a master of suspense fiction, talks about the hazy definitions of the sub-genre and some of the prejudices in her great series of lectures on the Secrets of Romantic Suspense. Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton's, no-nonsense PI isn’t really the romantic type, but still there have been a few men her in life from Dietz, a fellow PI, to longtime friend, Cheney. In some mysteries, there's a full-blown love interest and in others there's just a hint of romance.

In our Pampered Pets mystery series featuring former Texas beauty queen cousins, Caro and Melinda, we truly had no plans to go there. But…well, the stories just naturally evolved to encompass a bit of “love, lust, lucre and loathing.” And no spoilers here, but we think you’ll like where the series is headed. 

So what do you think? Do you like a serving of love with your mystery? Or would you rather keep the hearts and flowers far away from your crime fiction? We’d love to hear what you think!

Coming soon: Our first short – “Project Dogway” (Out February 24^th) 

What I’ve Learned So Far

By Kay Kendall

Are you writing a book…or contemplating doing it? If so, here are things I’ve learned since finishing my debut novel. Maybe these tips will help you, or at least you’ll find them interesting.

1. Keep reading. Just because you’re writing your own book, that doesn’t mean you can stop reading other ones. In fact, I’ve read more, not less, since I began to write fiction. I submerged myself in the mystery/suspense genre for almost two years before I started Desolation Row—An Austin Starr Mystery. Picking up the tricks of the trade by osmosis suits me better than gulping a dozen dry how-to tomes. Of course, I read those too!

2. Keep a writer’s notebook. Brilliant thoughts are fleeting. You need to pin them down before they get away. Because I write about the sixties, I often find character traits and plot points when reading obituaries in the New York Times, for example, and if I don’t capture those flashes of insight, they will leave me. I annotate my clippings and put them in my bulging notebook. Some ideas are for the second book I’m writing now, while others will fit in the third or fourth of my Austin Starr series. I’ll be delighted to find the clippings a few years from now when I start writing the relevant stories. My mind is like my bulging notebook, and sometimes things fall out because of crowding. It’s far easier to keep the physical clippings together. Or online digitally.

3. Keep note-taking material beside your bed. Lesson learned the hard way. Early in my transition to becoming an author, I’d be on a hot streak writing a first draft, go to bed, wake up at two in the morning, have a fantastic revelation about plot, turn over and go to sleep, confident I’d recall everything in the morning. Wrong! Scintillating night thoughts went poof in the light of day. Twice was enough to teach me to keep paper and pencil on the night stand. Whatever the technology you choose, be sure to keep it handy. A tiny voice recorder works too, or making notes on your cell phone or tablet.

4. Keep up with your pals. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and trying to get published these days is a killer. I needed all the support I could get, and my friends stepped up and stayed there right beside me on my journey. They kept me going through the darkest days and have been my staunchest supporters and shared my joy upon publication. I’ve also made new friends as I’ve joined writers’ critique groups and associations. Many writers are said to be introverts, but I’m not. Two new pals who write mysteries are extreme introverts, and I keep in close touch with them and actively encourage them to mingle with other writers. I’m a staunch believer in the truth of what Barbra Streisand sang back in the sixties. Remember this? “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”

5. Keep walking the dog. Or running, spinning, or dancing. Whatever exercise you used to do before you became an avid or full-time writer, don’t stop. Health gurus are adamant that sitting all day is a terrible habit that can lead to early death and/or dementia. Besides, when I’m on my exercise bike, I zone out and then, given enough time, ideas for my writing zone in. The mind-body connection is worth protecting with sufficient exercise. Even when I’m on a deadline, I try to stick to this rule. However, it’s time for a true confession. I have trouble with this one, actually walking the talk.

6. Keep the faith.  Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” When I first saw that quote on a coffee mug for sale at Whole Foods a decade ago, I was too scared to pick it up. How dare I think I could write a novel? But I forced myself to buy that mug, and after using it for two years and writing my first manuscript, I began timidly to call myself a writer. I began to have faith that I would finish a book and eventually get it published. When the first one didn’t sell, I wrote the second. My friends (see #4 above) helped keep me going. I persevered until the second manuscript sold and became Desolation Row. Now my work in progress is Rainy Day Women, and I’m outlining the third, Tangled Up in Blue.  I have faith I will complete those because I’ve pushed through the dark times, “getting by with a little help from my friends.” Footnote to the Beatles for that one, plus maybe you can tell by my book titles that my amateur sleuth Austin Starr is a huge fan of Bob Dylan.

7. Keep on keeping on. Once I found what works to make my writing life roll along as smoothly as possible, I’ve kept on doing it. Sometimes I find guidelines in how-to articles suggesting that my way is not the right way. The best writing coaches add the caveat, though, that there is no perfect method of writing a novel.

I’ve now been at this venture long enough that I’ve come across some authors who do have habits similar to mine. While most experts advise that a first draft should be done as rapidly as possible, without editing as you go. I find I cannot do that. Just can’t. Feeling a little guilty, I wrote my way through Desolation Row, editing obsessively, until one day—lo and behold—I found an interview in which the bestselling author explained that he always began his writing day by editing what he’d written the day before. Well, what a relief! I was okay. Now I count this as a lesson learned. As we used to say back in the day, just keep on truckin’. 

~~~~~~~
Kay Kendall is an international award-winning public relations executive who lives in Texas with her husband, five house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. A fan of historical mysteries, she wants to do for the 1960s what novelist Alan Furst does for Europe in the 1930s during Hitler's rise to power--write atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit of the age.

Discover more about Kay's debut book, DESOLATION ROW, here at
http://www.KayKendallAuthor.com

Hooray, it Rained and Snowed in the Mountains

For all of you who don't live in California, I'm sure you think I'm a bit nuts since the rest of the country has had their fill of rain and snow. But here in California, we're having drought conditions. No rain for about two months, and this is our rainy season. We seldom have any rain in the summer, so we count on the snow melt to keep our rivers flowing and the lakes for recreation and more importantly, irrigation, full. All of California is suffering--not good for all the crops. (Think citrus, grapes, peaches, plums etc. and strawberries, all kind of vegetables and nuts too. We also grow lots of cotton.)

Right now the river behind our house is barely moving--and people all along the way count on this water for irrigation too. Our lake that the river feeds into is not much more than a giant mud hole.

Some of the Indians have been doing rain dances and a group of Catholic Bishops have been getting together to pray for rain. We've been praying in church for snow in the mountains and rain in the valley in our church too.

So night before last when I woke up to heavy rain fall, I was thrilled. And in the morning it was still raining.
Even better, when I looked out the window, I could see snow on the mountains. It's a good start, but we need much, much more.

On email I saw a photo of snow that my grandson's wife displayed on Facebook--snow in Aspen where they live. It puts a lot of others' snowfall to shame. Too bad we can't get a small part of this.

So I'm going to keep praying for rain and snow in the mountains.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

The Act of Revision

When you think of what an author does all day, most people think about the creative part. Weaving a story from an idea, or three, into a full fledged book, filled with characters, conflict, and, emotion.

That happens, but not in the first draft.

I've got revisions on the brain. I just finished my final, first draft for a bull rider's book. I had a beta reader who acted like a first editor, read through and help clean up the draft. Then, as I went through my own drafting process, I also incorporated her comments.

Then it went to my publisher. Now that I've sold the project, the book will be back on my desk in a few weeks for copy edits.

By the time the story is done, the book will have gone through five sets of 'edits' including my original changes from my first draft.

Why am I telling you this? This weekend, I gave a talk to a local writer's group. At break, one of the members came to be to ask about a scene in his story where the woman overcomes massive childhood issues with a love scene. The author talked about the symbolism of the act and explained what it all meant.  When I mentioned that he might need to show her healing in other ways then use the scene as a cumulation of the growth in the character's arc, he shook his head. The book, he said, was already done.

I disagree. A book is never done until it's published and in the readers hands. Even if you're shopping what you believe to be a finished product to agents and editors, you may need to tweak and adjust the story to score that contract. And even then, your story may change during the publisher's editing process.

I used to believe that once I wrote 'The End', the book was done.

Now, I realize that is a fairy tale.  It takes a village to write a book. From beta readers, critique partners, to agents, copy, developmental and line editors, many hands touch your baby as it goes through the process.  At the end, you'll have a better product.  Or at least that's the goal.

I'm heading back to the editing cave.
Lynn

The week of the big snow

by Maria Geraci

Please. Humor me a moment. I live in north Florida. It's not like we really got any snow here in Tallahassee. I know that. But again, I live in Florida. Repeat that at any moment while reading this post and it will maybe make sense to you.

I used to work with the loveliest lady named Jean. Jean was a great storyteller. She talked about her husband, her grandkids, her life in general. Every so often, Jean would begin a story with, "The year of the big snow..."

I knew the year she was talking about. It was 1989. I didn't live here in Tallahassee at the time, but that year was infamous in these parts.

In response, I would smile and say, "Jean, you mean, the year of THE snow. Not the big snow. Big implies there are years when there's a little snow."

Jean would smile patiently at me and continue her story anyway.

Fast forward a couple of decades.

I grew up in central Florida, where there is zip chance of snow. I lived here in Tallahassee as a student, and returned with my family in 1996. No snow here since then. Don't get me wrong. I've seen snow. I've skied (sort of) and I've lived in Dallas and in north Alabama where occasionally, we did get some real snow. But no one here in north Florida is waiting with baited breath for the white stuff to come down.

Until this week.

You'd have thought the apocalypse was on its way. Stores have been on alert. Schools have closed down. Roads are closed. People are huddled in their homes. Waiting for the worst. And then it happened. This is my rooftop.

Yes, I know. Some people might call this ice. Some people might call it nothing.  I call it snow.

Remember: Everything is relative. Or, snow is in the eye of the beholder!

January and Award Shows

I love the month of January because I'm an award show addict and broadcast are four shows I have watched since forever. I may not follow everything, but I just like seeing the outfits being worn and what the award shows are focused on. So far I've watched

People's Choice Awards:

• What it honors: The People's Choice Awards were founded in 1975 to give fans an opportunity to express their opinions about pop culture. It's the only major awards show decided by the public and honors film, television and music. 
• Who votes: Anyone! Fans can vote online for 58 categories.

Golden Globe Awards:

• What it honors: First held in 1947, the Golden Globe Awards honor achievements in film and television, dividing the nominees into two categories: comedy/musical and drama. The awards include 25 categories, 14 in film and 11 in television. 
• Who votes: Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, around 90 journalists all based in Southern California who cover the entertainment industry for outlets around the world.

Screen Actors Guild Awards 

• What it honors: The annual awards, now in their 20th year, honor acting work in five film categories and eight television categories. The most important award goes to an ensemble cast in both TV and film in order to highlight the collaborative art of acting. 
• Who votes: Only members of acting guild SAG-AFTRA may vote, so all winners are decided by their peers. The guild includes around 100,000 actors.

Grammy Awards

• What it honors: Presented by the Recording Academy, the Grammys celebrate achievement in the recording arts. The awards are now in their 56th year and have become the most coveted honor for musicians of all genres. 
• Who votes: Members of the Recording Academy can cast their votes in 82 categories and are meant to determine winners based on artistic and technical merit, not sales numbers.

There are other award shows, some not aired that occurs that will lead up to the grand-daddy of all award shows:

Academy Awards 

• What it honors: Also known as the Oscars, the first Academy Awards were held in 1929 in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and have been televised since 1953. The awards honor achievements in film and are generally considered the most important awards in Hollywood. 
• Who votes: More than 600 members of the academy, all film artists and professionals, vote in 24 categories.

I had mentioned on my Facebook page that there should be an award show for Books so our favorite authors could walk the red carpet.

So, if you were nominated for an award, what would you wear to the Literary Awards?

21 Anyone?

     

21 ANYONE? by Debra H. Goldstein

This week, one of my friends threw a birthday party for her son who turned 21.  On my way home from the party, I thought about the relevance of the number twenty-one.  For my friend’s son, it meant reaching the age of majority.  He probably should be glad that the 21st Amendment was passed or instead of being legal, he’d be dealing with Prohibition.  Some associate it with the century we are living in, others think of a 21 gun salute or the 2012 movie 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

On a personal note, 21 is an age I will never see again.  21 was the age that for the only time in her life, my daughter was older than her twin brother who was born two minutes before her.  How?  She was in Australia and he was in Arizona.  The time difference let her celebrate before him.

There also was a difference in how they celebrated.   My daughter had just begun six months of studying abroad.  She was delighted to have her birthday remembered by new suitemates and friends making birthday signs and taking her out for a very special dinner and drinks.  My son’s fraternity decided they couldn’t let their social chairman’s birthday slip by without a good dress-up party so they threw a Hugh Hefner night. My son was Hugh in a red smoking jacket and the guests came as party-boys and bunnies.  Pictures I have seen from their respective celebrations reflect both of my children having a memorable twenty-first birthday.

Writers are as different as my children.  Writing habits and styles vary, but when the words flow and a satisfactory end product is produced, the celebration is the same.  It is marked with the feeling of being on top of the world, being able to jump higher than anyone else, knowing that years of studying and learning the tools of the craft have resulted in reaching an age of majority and mentally hearing a 21 gun salute.