The Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn: October 2022

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Guest Post: Erica Miner, Redone, Re-Published, and Rebooted

What is it like to have a series redone, re-published, and rebooted? This was a whole new experience for mystery writer Erica Miner, and the journey was an unexpected one.

I have often thought that having a book released is akin to giving birth. As writers, we first conceive of the idea. Then comes the gestation period, where the concept grows, changes, becomes an ever-better version of itself. Rewrites follow rewrites, edits upon edits. After a very long, difficult labor, your baby novel is born. Whew, what a process!

For those of us who were unfortunate enough to go through that experience in the middle of the pandemic, the journey became even more challenging. For me, it took an unexpected turn.

My original concept was to write a murder mystery that took place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where I had been a violinist for 21 years. I found a traditional publisher and drew upon my experiences at the Met, adding large doses of my wicked imagination, and Murder in the Pit was born. Readers requested a sequel, and I delivered one that took place at Santa Fe Opera. My “Opera Mystery” series was created. San Francisco Opera asked me to write another that took place at that venerable institution, and another sequel was published.

Then, the pandemic happened.

The San Francisco novel languished in e-book only, with no print version. I was at a loss. My Puget Sound Sisters in Crime colleagues sent me to the wonderful local organization, Washington Lawyers for the Arts, who advised me to get back my rights and find another publisher.

I lucked out. Level Best Books offered me a contract to re-publish all three books, with different titles and covers. I then went to work adding changes: new plot points, updates and more. Et voilà: the first book in the series is now about to be reborn as Aria for Murder, releasing Oct. 28. New sequels will be published in 2023 and 2024. That’s what I call great family planning!

Violinist turned author ERICA MINER now has a multi-faceted career as an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and lecturer.

Erica’s lectures, seminars and workshops have received kudos throughout California and the Pacific Northwest, and she has won top ratings as a special lecturer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. An active contributor to OperaPulse.com and LAOpus.com, she also contributed a monthly Power of Journaling article series for the National Association of Baby Boomer Women newsletter. Other writings have appeared in Vision Magazine, WORD San Diego, Istanbul Our City, and numerous E-zines. Erica’s lecture topics include “The Art of Self- Re-invention,” “Journaling: The Write Way to Write Fiction,” “Solving the Mystery of Mystery Writing,” and “Opera Meets Hollywood.” Details about Erica’s novels, screenplays and lectures can be found on her website.

ARIA FOR MURDER

Prologue

Chi eÌ morto, voi, o il vecchio?
Che domanda da bestia! Il vecchio.
Who’s dead, you or the old man?
What an idiotic question! The old man.
—Mozart, Don Giovanni, Act I

Collateral damage. Sometimes it just can’t be avoided.

That was what his partner had told him. When you’re trying to kill someone, other people can get in the way. It’s not planned. It just happens. Though the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra pit was the largest in the world, when the orchestration of an opera was vast, as in Wagner or Strauss, things could get quite crowded for the one hundred or so musicians squeezed together there. Tonight’s Verdi was no exception. Grand opera at its loftiest, with plenty of brass, extra strings, and the like. He would do his best to hit his target precisely. But it wasn’t an exact science. And if, under pressure, he was slightly off, well...

Tanto peggio, as they say in French.

He chortled to himself. Everyone in the Met knew “tanto peggio” was Italian, not French.

He salivated with anticipation as he lovingly cleaned his VAL Russian sniper rifle with its special bronze-bristled brush, and oiled and lubricated the ammunition chamber with the fine-spray One Shot gun cleaner and a cotton swab. He picked up the last tiny fragments of powder residue with an alcohol patch threaded through a needle attached to the brush. Then he polished the entire instrument with one of his special-order McAlister microfiber gun cleaning cloths.

If you look after your firearm, when the time comes, it will look after you.

And what better time for an assassination than opening night at the Met?

Copyright © 2022, Erica Miner

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: ‎Level Best Books (October 28, 2022)

Language: ‎ English

Paperback: ‎ 254 pages

ISBN-10: ‎ 1685121985

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1685121983

Item Weight: ‎ 13.4 ounces

Dimensions: ‎ 6 x 0.58 x 9 inches

Pre-orders at: https://www.amazon.com/Aria-Murder-Julia-Kogan-Mystery/dp/1685121985/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Interview: E.M. Munsch, Author of A Haunting at Marianwood

E.M. Munsch is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, but has spent her adult life in Louisville, Kentucky. She graduated from Nazareth College of Kentucky located outside of Bardstown and attended The Ohio State University for her graduate work. She has been a bookseller for fifty years working in both large and small, chain and independent bookstores. She opened the first Barnes & Noble in Kentucky where she set up a mystery reading group which is still active today. She also taught classes in the mystery genre for the Veritas Society and joined the local chapter of Sisters in Crime.

With Susan Bell, she co-edited MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON, an anthology of bourbon-related stories.

As E.M. Munsch, she writes the Dash Hammond series set on the shores of Lake Erie. The latest title, A HAUNTING AT MARIANWOOD, is now available on Amazon.

1. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I have always been a reader and am most comfortable in a library or bookstore. In 1972 I found my true calling as a bookseller in a small independent in Louisville. I was in heaven. Not only did I get to see all the new and old books but talk with the customers about them. And as my career progressed and I worked for B&N, I also got to meet many authors as they toured. I have the utmost admiration for them. To be able to stick to a project from start to end amazed me. I love stories, reading them and creating them in my head. I would scribble first lines, first paragraphs, even several pages but never finished anything. I would start something and then look over to see a book I wanted to read. Let someone else do the heavy lifting. It wasn’t until I was 69 and a member of Sisters in Crime did I think I could be an author. And by Jove, I did it.

2. How did you choose the fiction genre you write in?

As I said, I love good stories with interesting characters. When I started bookselling, I picked up a Chip Harrison book by Lawrence Block, more about him later. This series is a take-off of the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin series by Rex Stout. It prompted me to begin reading Stout and I fell in love with Archie and the gang. Customers and I would discuss the fine points of living in the Brownstone. At that point I decided that mystery would be my field. I also read a lot of Regency romances since I was intrigued by that era and did start one or two romances (still unfinished). But time spent with a good mystery series won out.

3. What is your current project and can share a little?

I’m currently working on the seventh Dash Hammond book tentatively titled A RELIABLE MAN. Maud Grealis, a cranky little old lady who claims to be a cousin of Dash’s mother, calls his father, a former sheriff, telling him something feels off. So father and son drive to Cleveland only to find Maud’s body. Dash discovers he is heir to all her worldly goods and several secrets. Although Dash feels like he barely knew Maud, she chose him since, as she told her attorney, “Dash is a good man, a reliable man. He will do the right thing. He is a seeker of truth and a finder of lost things”.

You’ll have to read the book to see if Maud is right.

4. What inspired you to create Dash Hammond?

I live in a condo which has a small area for a garden. I had a knock-out rose that had turned into a monster. One day while pruning it, I lost my balance, falling into and onto the bush. After I stopped swearing and as I slowly untangled myself from the thorns, I wondered how a writer would write this scene. Inside I went and sat at the computer, dabbing away at my multiple thorn pricks. I pictured a younger woman entangled in a large rose bush. Now, wouldn’t it be more interesting if, instead of climbing out of it unassisted, she had a neighbor who would help her. And Dash was born. He’s six-four (Thomas Magnum), has brilliant blue eyes (like my dear departed husband) and a wise-mouth (Rockford, Archie Goodwin and Bernie Rhodenbarr). This is his first encounter with his new neighbor as he had been traveling when she moved in.

I ‘dashed’ off several pages and took it to the critique group of my local Sisters in Crime. They loved it and asked the fateful question: What happens next? My answer was a simple: I have no idea, for all I know Annie’s still stuck in the rose bush.

These kind ladies pushed and prodded me along. All of a sudden I discovered I loved writing this story. And I still do love writing about the Hammond family, the town of Clover Pointe, Ohio, and all the good and bad guys who pass through.

I guess I should add that he got his name ‘Dashiell’ because his mother (and me) are big fans of Dashiell Hammett.

5. So you’re an author. Which authors do you enjoy reading?

My two favorite authors, ones whose books I re-read constantly, are Rex Stout and Lawrence Block. Stout, of the Golden Age of Mysteries, created two very interesting characters. If Archie Goodwin were a real person, I’d be camped outside his brownstone, begging for a chance to go dancing with him.

Which brings me to Bernie Rhodenbarr, the burglar turned bookseller who still dabbles in the light-fingered trade. The cast of characters who surround Bernie are quirky but believable and Bernie’s comments on the books he reads and sells are both funny and educational. When we were in lock-down, the Burglar series was first off my shelf to help me get through those challenging times.

Block has such a body of work, from several series to captivating short stories. His non-fiction books, on writing, living and life, read like he is sitting across from you sharing a pizza and a beer. Like his characters, Larry, if I may, is a very remarkable man. I guess I should stop gushing but if you haven’t read Block do so at your earliest convenience. And if it’s not convenient, drop what you’re doing anyway and read his books.

I belong to a mystery reading group, and over the almost thirty years of meeting, we have tried a bit of this and that. For me the most satisfying are the series books. If I discover a new one, I’m thrilled. It means a whole new group of friends to visit on a Sunday afternoon. Teatime with Ann Cleeves.

Thanks for visiting with us!

Friday, October 14, 2022

Cover Reveal: A Haunting at Marianwood

A Haunting at Marianwood is the latest installment in the Dash Hammond series by E.M. Munsch.

The Kindle version is now available for preorder on Amazon. E.M. Munsch is a member of the Derby Rotten Scoundrels chapter of Sisters in Crime, the first chapter of SinC I belonged to. Mystery and Horror, LLC, our press, is publishing this novel.

Description of the book, and excerpt below!

His cousin Billy calls Dash to Kentucky when his sister, a nun, is in trouble. Sister Miriam

Patrice has been hearing things, seeing things, and misplacing things.

Marianwood, the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Blessed Mother of God, is located on an old

plantation thought to be haunted by its original inhabitant, who is rumored to prowl the grounds

in search of her murdered beau.

In a battle of wits, will the victor be supernatural, or a very corporeal retired Army colonel?

An excerpt:

Sister Miriam Patrice slid back from the kneeler. The quiet of the church soothed her as it wrapped its velvet cloak of serenity around her. She sat, hands folded, once in prayer but now to stop the trembling. Glancing at the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows casting a rainbow on the empty pews, she drew in deep slow breaths. She looked at the watch pinned to her tunic. Time to get back to work. She rose to leave the church, her place of refuge, a place free from the distractions of the running the community and the new retirement home the sisters established to help make ends meet.

The members of the Sisters of the Blessed Mother of God found their numbers dwindling. New recruits, as Sister Miriam Patrice called them mimicking her cousin Dash Hammond’s military jargon, were very rare. The teaching congregation once had more than a hundred sisters. Vocations, callings to either the religious or the educational side of the community, had fallen to less than a handful each year.

As she walked down the aisle to the back of the church, she heard it again. Tap, tap, tap. She stopped to listen, making sure she wasn’t mistaken. That sound sent shivers down her spine. Squaring her shoulders, she walked to the doors next to the church exit. One led up to the choir loft, the other down to the cellar. In days past she had gone up the stairs; today she would go down.

Pulling the doorknob, Miriam Patrice met the resistance of a locked door. She pulled out her keys and unlocked it. She struggled with the door, suggesting to her that no one had gone to the cellar in a while.

The stone steps were worn but sturdy. She moved cautiously into the darkness, one hand on the wall to steady her nervous knees, the other searching for the handrail. Her hope was that the security guard forgot to close the door one day and some critter, not two legged, was trapped down here and making the tap, tap, tap sound. Logically she knew this was wrong, but the alternative could be worse.

Decades ago, they discovered one of the newer buildings constructed during a period of rapid expansion had been built on an underground spring. It wasn’t long before the building tilted, as did their finances. What a waste of time and money. Fearful that what she would find was a tell-tale pooling or bubbling of water, she moved forward slowly. She said a silent prayer that she would not stumble into a puddle, a precursor of the inevitable unwelcome news.

Her trek seemed unnecessarily slow though reason told Miriam Patrice she should alert one of her sisters where she was just in case she lost her footing. But her reasoning had not been the sharpest of late. She blamed her sleepless nights, not because of an uneasy conscience but an overabundance of concern for her congregation and its uncertain future, both financially and individually.

After spending a half an hour poking into the corners, searching for the origin of the sound, Miriam Patrice gave up. She needed a flashlight if she wanted to do a proper search. Next time she would be prepared. Next time she told herself she would be less skittish, more confident that she could deal with whatever sprung up from the tap, tap, tap. After deciding this, she nodded to herself. At least she didn’t hear a drip, drip, drip.

The sound had stopped so she decided to return to the church. As she locked the door behind her, the tap, tap, tap began again, louder this time. If she permitted herself, she would have said damn.

Monday, October 03, 2022

Interview: Carol Preflatish, Author of Witch Hunt

Welcome to a thrilling blog tour perfect for the Fall season and those who love mysteries! Enjoy all of the stops on the Nathan Perry Mysteries Blog Tour featuring Witch Hunt, by Carol Preflatish! This blog tour will be taking place from Monday, October 3rd, to Sunday, October 9th!

The Witch Hunt Blog Tour includes reviews, guest posts, and interviews, so don’t miss any of the activities taking place on the participating blog sites!

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

Even in elementary school, I loved writing stories. In both high school and college, I took every writing class I could. After I got married, got a full-time job, and then started a family, I sort of forgot about writing for a while. In 1999, my goal for the Millennium was to see if I could write a book. I succeeded and was hooked again, but it took me two more books, and not until 2010 before I became published.

Which part of the research did you enjoy the most?

I love everything about research, probably a little too much. Most of my research is done online and once I start, if I’m not careful, I find I’ve spent too much time on it. I write a police procedural mystery series, so my other source for researching technical things is YouTube. Again, if I’m not careful, I find I’ve gone down that rabbit hole. I also have a pretty good library of books about writing mysteries, police procedures, different weapons, and forensics. I also rely on a couple online writing groups that have both mystery writers and police officers as members that will answer questions.

What inspired you to create Nathan Perry?

When I was in college, I actually was interested in becoming a police officer. Subsequently, I got hooked on the late Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone books. I loved the city cop coming to the small town to be the police chief. The location in Massachusetts was beautiful choice, and the characters were so likeable. It actually caused me to stop writing romantic suspense to start writing my mystery series. My main character, Nathan Perry has left the Army and comes back to his hometown to become the first police detective in the department. I am using the fictional town of Mystic, Massachusetts, which is modeled after Salem, Massachusetts.

What would you define as literary success?

I think different authors would define it differently. Some would say it’s getting an agent and then being published by one of the Big Five publishers in New York City. I’m happy being signed with a small press. Counting my romantic suspense and non-fiction, I’ve written and published twelve books. I count that as a success.

So, you're an author. Which authors do you enjoy reading?

As I mentioned, I love the Robert B. Parker books. I also really like both of the Private and Instinct series by James Patterson, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a Lisa Gardner thriller that I didn’t love.

Thank you for stopping by!

About the author: Carol Preflatish, from southern Indiana, is the author of the Nathan Perry Mystery Series, as well as several romantic suspense novels, and two non-fiction books. When she’s not writing, she loves to read, watch Indianapolis Colts football, and do just about anything outdoors.

An avid photographer, Carol has had many photos published in her local newspaper, as well as in “Golf Journal,” the official publication of the United States Golf Association. A few little-known facts about Carol are that she’s a licensed amateur radio operator, and is a collector of celebrity autographs, stamps, and coins.

You can learn more about Carol by visiting her web page at http://CarolPre.com

Book Synopsis for Witch Hunt: Is it 1692 all over again?

When a millionaire’s daughter is found hanging from a tree in the Mystic, Massachusetts cemetery, witchcraft is suspected. Police detective Nathan Perry is assigned the case and works closely with an attractive female private investigator hired by the father to find who murdered his daughter.

Mystic is known for its history of witchcraft in the area. It’s what brings tourists to town, and when another murder occurs, there is rising pressure on Nathan to solve the case quickly.

Nathan’s investigation pulls him into an unfamiliar world rife with covens, magic, and lore to find the killer. A small town gripped in fear is depending on him to prevail.

Witch Hunt is a stand-alone novel that is part of the Nathan Perry Mystery Series.

Author Links:

Website: http://CarolPre.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolPreflatish

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolPreflatish

Tour Schedule and Activities

10/3 The Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn https://saraheglenn.blogspot.com/ Author Interview

10/4 The Seventh Star Blog https://www.theseventhstarblog.com/Guest Post

10/5 Jazzy Book Reviews https://www.jazzybookreviews.com/ Author Interview

10/6 BookBekAdventures https://www.bookbekadventures.Wordpress.com Review

10/7 Sapphyria's Books https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/ Review

10/8 The Book Lover's Boudoir https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com Review