Debra H. Goldstein: Balancing Humor in Murder Mysteries

Blood, gore, sex, violence, shady characters, and, of course, a dead body, are givens for murder mysteries – except when the mystery is a cozy. Then, the blood, sex, gore, and violence are left off the page. Instead, the plot and characters must be complex enough to engage the reader in wanting to know whodunit and it helps to add a bit of humor.

Usually, a cozy mystery involves a small town or confined setting, an amateur sleuth, quirky sidekick characters, a job or interest that is craft or cooking/baking related, a cat or occasionally a dog, and the aforementioned lack of blood, gore, sex, and violence on the page. Unlike the building sense of tension in suspense or thrillers, humor is used as a means of easing the reader from high pitched moments. It also often helps readers identify the characters.

 

When one thinks of humor, one thinks funny; however, in a cozy mystery rather than being an “ha, ha” moment, the humor may come across softly from the way a character uses a phrase, dresses, gives another character “that look,” or behaves. In my Sarah Blair books, I incorporate humor in several diverse ways.

 

Sarah Blair is not an expert at cooking, baking, or crafts. She is a woman who is more frightened of the kitchen than she is of murder. When pressed to prepare a recipe (something all cozy mysteries must include), she uses premade ingredients. In One Taste Too Many, the first in the series, Sarah prepares Jell-O in a Can from Jell-O and Dole pineapple rings. Even though the end product is quite nice to look at, the name and concept of the recipe provokes a chuckle.

In newly released Five Belles Too Many, the craziness that occurs behind the scenes of a reality TV show, where contestants are vying to win the perfect Southern Wedding, provides a framework for laughable moments. Because the show’s taping is being done in Alabama, Southern stereotypes are a basis for various aspects of humor.

 

The characters create the first dimension of humor. Of the five finalist couples, two represent the famous football rivalry between the University of Alabama and Auburn University; one matches the stereotypical thoughts often expressed about the South (think Jethro and Elly Mae from The Beverly Hillbillies); one, simply to mix up expectations, is humorous because they want a Day of the Dead wedding; and, the final couple, Sarah’s mother, Maybelle, and her beau, George, represent those over sixty who are unfiltered but wise. Maybelle’s observations and understanding of why George and she are finalists create several outright and occasionally bittersweet instances of humor.

 

The idea that Sarah, who is twenty-eight, must be her mother’s chaperone twists the expected dynamic of chaperoning. The fact that the TV show is forcing the contestants and chaperones to stay at the bed and breakfast owned by Sarah’s greatest nemesis, Jane, establishes conflict for the characters but humor for the readers. Although it isn’t funny when the show’s producer is killed and Sarah finds Jane leaning over the body, Sarah’s inner conflict between whether to help Jane or not goes to the root of her characterization, but also offers me the ability to put funny thoughts in Sarah’s head.

 

While the cozy set-up provides numerous moments for humor, it is important that these scenes not over-shadow the whodunit. Cozy readers want a fast paced, fun book, but too many “funny” scenes can easily become monotonous and dull. That’s why there must be a balance between how much of the book is devoted to set-up, the crime, the investigation, serious moments, and things that make the reader chuckle.

 

For a chance to win a copy of Five Belles Too Many, tell me, what makes you laugh when you read a cozy and whether the Five Belles cover telegraphs that there will be humor in the book?

Five Belles Too Many

When Sarah Blair’s mother is a finalist to win the perfect Southern Wedding in a reality TV show competition, Sarah is pressed into service as Mother Maybelle’s chaperone. After the show’s producer is found dead, with Sarah’s greatest nemesis kneeling by the body, Sarah must find the true killer before any other contestants or crew are permanently eliminated 

Buy or gift a copy of Five Belles Too Many from: 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble

Your favorite indie bookstore.

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Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series (Four Cuts Too Many, Three Treats Too Many, Two Bites Too Many, and One Taste Too Many). Her short stories, which have been named Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer finalists, have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Malice Domestic Murder Most Edible, Masthead, and Jukes & Tonks. Debra served on the national boards of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and was president of the Guppy and SEMWA chapters. Find out more about Debra at https://www.DebraHGoldstein.com .

You can also connect with Debra at:  

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

Twitter: @DebraHGoldstein 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debrahgoldstein/ 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/debra-h-goldstein

Lynn Slaughter: Beyond the External Plot - What's Your Book Really About?

After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn Slaughter earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She writes coming- of- age romantic mysteries and is the author of the newly released Deadly Setup. She is also the author of: Leisha’s Song, a Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards bronze medalist, Agatha nominee, and Imadjinn Finalist; While I Danced, an EPIC finalist; and It Should Have Been You, a Silver Falchion finalist. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel and serves as the President of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Author: 

Leisha's Song (Fire and Ice/Melange Books, 2021): Nominee, 2021 Agatha Award for Best Children's/YA Mystery Novel; Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Bronze Medalist, Imadjinn Finalist for Best YA Novel
While I Danced (Write Words), EPIC Finalist
It Should Have Been You (Page Street), Silver Falchion Finalist
Deadly Setup (forthcoming, Fire and Ice/Melange Books, 2022)

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When folks ask me what my newly released novel, DEADLY SETUP, is about, I usually say something like, “A teenager’s life implodes when she gets arrested and goes on trial for the murder of her mother’s fiancé.”

Is that what my book is really about? Yes and no. Yes, that really is what happens to seventeen-year-old Samantha (Sam), the daughter of a widowed New England heiress. As the title indicates, she’s been set up and fights to prove her innocence with the help of her boyfriend’s dad, an ex-homicide cop.

Those are the basics of the external plot. But digging deeper, what the novel is really about is a troubled mother-daughter relationship, the dangers of parentification of a child, the power of the arts to heal and comfort, and the need to build an intentional family when your own family is unwilling or unable to be emotionally available.

Let me explain. Sam was very close to her father who died of brain cancer when she was twelve. On his death bed, he told Sam to “take care of your mother for me.” His intentions may have been good, but this was a terrible thing to do to a twelve-year-old girl who was in desperate need of parenting herself and was not equipped to take on a parenting role toward her mother. 

Furthermore, Sam’s mother resents her daughter’s efforts to weigh in on her impulsive choices. A self-absorbed romance novelist, she has a habit of looking for her own “happily ever after” with wildly inappropriate men. As the novel opens, she announces her intention to marry one of them, a financial advisor who’s eager to take control of her money and whose first heiress wife died under suspicious circumstances. She’s not interested in Sam’s pleas to exercise caution. In fact, listening to Sam about anything doesn’t even register on her priority list. 

Sam finds solace and comfort in playing the piano and her father left her with a great appreciation for the American Songbook. She loves playing standards and accompanying her high school’s choirs and musical rehearsals. 

She also realizes that the people who really care about her may lie outside her family. This is driven home to her when she’s accused of murder and her family’s longtime housekeeper, her boyfriend, his family, her close friends, and her favorite teacher don’t doubt her innocence for a moment, despite the mountain of circumstantial evidence. They rally behind her and their emotional support buoys her at a time when her own mother refuses to believe her protestations of innocence.

Sometimes, I think I’m writing about the same issues over and over: the damage dysfunctional families do to young people and the healing power of involvement in the arts. In LEISHA’S SONG, Leisha is an aspiring classical singer whose grandfather, the only parent she’s ever known, has an entire script laid out for her life—never mind what her passions and interests are. And in IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, Clara has always been more or less the forgotten child in a family where her piano prodigy twin has sucked up her parents’ attention. As for WHILE I DANCED, Cass, an aspiring ballet dancer, not only must deal with her single parent father’s lack of enthusiasm about her dancing, but with the fallout from the revelation of a terrible secret he’s kept from her about her mother.

Yet, if you asked me what these novels were about, I’d most likely respond with details about the external plot: 

- Leisha’s beloved vocal coach at boarding school disappears, and she puts her own life in danger trying to find her.

- Five months after her twin’s murder, Clara starts receiving threatening messages sent to the inbox of the advice column she ghostwrites for her high school’s newspaper. 

- Cass is betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend and then, in the midst of a challenging summer dance workshop and a new romance, makes a startling discovery that leaves her wondering if she even wants to continue dancing.

So, the next time you ask a writer what her novel is about, my advice is to ask a follow-up question: What’s it really about? Chances are you’ll get a different, and in many ways more significant, answer.

How Long Does It Take to Write a Novel?

As NaNoWriMo prepares to launch again, the usual debate has begun over how long it 'should' take to write a 'real' novel. I will leave the definition of a 'real' novel to more intelligent minds, since many critics believe that genre novels aren't 'real' books, and I believe that many modern 'literary' novels are merely set in a 'literary' location (New York, the antebellum South, a war-torn country) and have an unhappy ending.
Let's agree that a novel is a story, and that it substantially longer than six words. How long does it take to write a novel?
It takes as much time as it needs to finish the story. Some authors can write several books each year, especially if their income depends on it. Stephen King regularly produces enormous books and include 100+ page novellas in his short story collections. Other authors take years to complete books, especially if life (or rehab) gets in the way. Then there's the unfinished "trunk novel" that was put away in a different decade because the writer realized that it was turning out to be a different story than the one she'd thought, and the ending hasn't come to her yet (no names, please).
Writing a story is a noble undertaking. You may never finish it, you may write like crap, you may use the word "really" fifty-two times in the first chapter, you may start off with a weather report and your more hip friends will tell you why that's 'wrong'. But you have begun something that is an extension of you in some way, yet has a life of its own.
You may think that 'inform' merely means to give data to someone else, but it can also mean to give principles or a defining quality to something else, whether it be something written or a way of living. You inform your story via who you are; that's why Travis McGee and Hercule Poirot are so very different. It's why Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone isn't like A Wizard of Earthsea.
Stories also inform your own life. If you've been told you were "the good son" through childhood (a loaded phrase), you are unlikely to embezzle funds from the family business and take off for Cabo with your au pair. If you see yourself as a geek girl, you will join every fandom under the sun and sneer at reality TV. If you tell yourself you are a writer, you will write a tale - and if you tell yourself that you are a good writer, you will finish that story after November if it's not done, and you will review your manuscript to remove those repeated words.
Are you ready to go?

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Under the Radar

This has been a very quiet year for us in terms of announcements about the books we've published or stories we've written. We've been dealing with home repairs (free air conditioning should be a constitutional right in Florida), getting involved with our new Sisters in Crime chapter, and facing our first official hurricane in the Sunshine State. You can assume from this post that we survived Hermine. It was odd, though, to get time off for bad weather in the summer.

Oh, and we had a vacation. A real vacation, the first in several years that was longer than a three-day weekend. Gwen cooked many lovely things, we swam daily, and we also got to read for pleasure, something that we don't get to do as often as we'd like.
During this quiet summer, though, after the release of Strangely Funny III, Gwen and I were very busy, but not so you'd notice on our business page. We were finishing our first novel together. You're probably wondering how we accomplished that: she's a plotter who writes very serious, often dark, mysteries set in the 1870s; I'm a snarker with a short attention span, and most of my stories are set in the present day. I think you'll like our compromise: a mystery set during the 1920s Florida land boom. It has poison, car chases, mobsters, and some serious hangovers. Oh, and one Gertrude Stein book.

Murder on the Mullet Express will be coming out in early 2017.


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Love those Libraries!

We were treated very well by the people at Gulf Gate. They had the rooms set up with chairs and tables, plus they had fruit and bottled water available in a nearby room. The Friends of the Library provided us with lunch, which was generous and much appreciated.

Adult Services Coordinator Ellen India was in charge of the event, and she introduced us as the newest Sisters in Crime chapter in Florida.

Ellen wore the Headdress of Power, which was subsequently passed on to me.

I did a short talk about using dialogue as a tool in writing - how it could provide useful information in a "showing" rather than a "telling" way (which sounds counterintuitive), but could also be used to reveal character.

Naturally, I gave examples. I chose from the best: Agatha Christie, Alexander McCall Smith, Len Deighton, Robert B. Parker, and Sarasota's favorite son John D. MacDonald.

I fear my serious manner may have suffered slightly while I wore The Headdress of Power.

Louise Titchener followed up with a writing workshop on the practical aspects of dialogue - tags, surrounding narrative, adding action, etc. The fun part was the 'pencils on' section.

First, we read a passage of dialogue that was turgid with excess narration and adverbs. We were invited to edit the passage and present the new (and improved) version to the group.

Then, we took a passage from John D. MacDonald that had been stripped down to only what was spoken, and asked to fill in the blank spaces between the lines. After we'd finished, Titchener read what MacDonald had written.


The Suncoast News Network was there to interview Ellen India about the Sisters in Crime program, and we were later especially gratified to see Gwen's book covers featured in the footage.

Naturally, Gwen Mayo and I had a table set up in the authors' room. We had some sales, and I got to try out Square on the new phone.

I'm afraid we were out of copies of History and Mystery, Oh My!, which contained the stories that were finalists for the Agatha Awards. Time to reorder!

In the afternoon, we had a panel discussion on unraveling the mysteries of publishing. The panelists were Gwen, representing Mystery and Horror, LLC, Brenda Spaulding, who had started by self-publishing, and Janet Heijens, a traditionally published author. The moderator was Yours Truly, who probably gave too many asides.

The panel was followed by a Q and A session that was pleasingly active.

Unfortunately, everyone who shared pictures with me was on the panel. So, I will end here with another pic of me wearing The Headdress.

Sarasota, June 18: Sisters Sizzle in Sarasota

Gwen Mayo and I will be at the Gulf Gate Library in Sarasota this coming Saturday as part of a double event - one held at the Barnes & Noble in Sarasota, the other at the library. Please, please come to see us if you're in the Sarasota area.

Address for the library:
7112 Curtiss Ave
Sarasota FL 34231

Itinerary:
Author Signings from 10:30am until 4:00pm

10:30am – 11:30am
Workshop: Dazzling Dialogue – Creating Voice
Instructors; Sarah Glenn and Louise Titchner
11:30am – 11:45am Q&A

1:15pm – 2:15pm
Panel Discussion: Solving the Mysteries of Publishing
Moderator: Sarah Glenn
Panelists: Janet Heijens, Gwen Mayo, Brenda Spalding
2:15pm – 2:30pm Q&A

I hope you can come!

NaNoWriMo 2014

I usually participate in NaNoWriMo. That’s National Novel Writing Month, for the 2% of people reading this post that are probably my relatives.

Basically, people across the country – and the world – try to write a 50,000 word book during the month of November. Why? Because writing. No, seriously, that’s the answer. In order to write. Together. Yes, it’s a social activity. I’m apparently a gregarious writer, too. I get more done during most NaNos than I do the rest of the year.

Not last year. Last year, I had a new job and a slew of personal problems, including a depressed spouse. Didn’t get shit done during NaNo, haven’t gotten much done since. My writing, since we moved down here, has taken a serious hit. I always had problems with my existential angst where writing was concerned, but my brain went on strike. I signed up, but didn’t really participate.

This year, I have a different problem: no mental energy because I have too much to do.

You see, during the day I work for a telephone book company. I handle government listings assigned to me and do quality checks on other people’s work. When I get home, all I want to do is play Criminal Case and watch Untold Stories of the ER. But I have a second job I do, one I’ve chosen for myself: book editor. Right now, I’m dealing with three anthologies, one (possibly two) novels, and a couple of story collections I haven’t received yet. And I’m waaaaaaayyyy behind.

So, I’m logged into the NaNoWriMo site this year, but I am doing a real rebel mission this year: editing books for print. I’ve already done more words than I normally write during NaNo on my personal fiction. Still isn’t enough. I need to hit 50,000 or better this year, or be killed by other writers. They write horror and mystery stories, too, which means I will suffer greatly and no evidence of whodunit will be left behind.

Wish me luck.

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Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks: Brandt Dodson

Please allow me to introduce you to another author from Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks. The tales in Hoosier Hoops, the newest anthology from the Speed City Indiana chapter of Sisters in Crime, all involve one of Indiana's greatest obsessions: basketball.

Today, we're meeting Brandt Dodson, author of "Requiem in Crimson". Brandt is a man of many talents. Among his previous jobs: working for the Indianapolis office of the FBI, serving as a Naval Officer in the United States Naval Reserve, and even getting a doctorate in Podiatric Medicine. His passion, however, is for his writing.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for "Requiem in Crimson"?

A: Like most things in my life, it was happenstance. I stumbled into it.
I was in the process of beginning a new Colton Parker novel.  I did not have a title, but I knew the story would have to involve Colton doing a personal favor for Mary Christopher, his former FBI colleague and developing love interest.  Like most of the time when I write, I tend to put the piece down so that I can come back to it at a later time and see it with fresh eyes. While I was waiting for this novel to brew a little, I was approached by a member of the Indianapolis chapter of Sisters in Crime about doing a short story for the Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks anthology.  I was honored to be asked, so I dusted off the first chapter of the new Colton Parker novel and developed it into a shorter piece. I've never been a greater outliner when writing, preferring the 'seat-of-the-pants' approach.  I adopted that approach here, too.

Q: On your Web page, you say that your English teacher encouraged you to write. Tell us more about that.

A: I've been fortunate in that I've had a lot of encouragement in life. My parents were the kind that revered education and reading and read to me when I was a child. Their encouragement led me to the world of books. I'm convinced that my love of reading led me to writing.
At several points along my early school career, I had a succession of teachers who saw in me something that I didn't see in myself. Consequently, whenever we wrote short stories or essays in English class, the teacher would invariably pull me aside and encourage me to pursue writing. This happened in grade school, high school, and in college. In the latter case, my writing instructor knew I was looking at medical school but took the time to tell me: "If you don't write, you'll live to regret it." I didn't listen as well as I should have, but it's never too late. I'm writing now and have been blessed with the opportunity to traditionally publish several novels and short stories and to see a play adapted by a dinner theatre. I continue to write because I don't know how I could stop. It's part of my DNA.

Q: What do you know now that you are published that you wish you'd known before?

A: Oh, my. Where do I begin?
I wish I knew that marketing is as important as writing a good book. In my early years I was writing under the delusion that my publisher would produce the book I'd written and get it to the stores and libraries and organize publicity tours and all the rest.  They didn't. If I had known that, I would have started marketing the book while I was writing it. Nevertheless, it still did pretty well and has led to several others.
I wish I'd known that publishing was going to change as radically as it has.
I wish I'd known that editors and agents want to find writers as badly as writers want to find them. It would have saved me a lot of grief.

Q:  If you could ask your readers one question, what would it be?

A: What kind of story would you like to read, but can't seem to find?

Q: Okay, so you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

Published by Blue River Press.

A: I read a great deal of non-fiction, particularly biographies. I'm reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, No Ordinary Time. But I also read a great deal of fiction. I just finished reading Michael Connelly's The Brass verdict (great book) and I am reading two other novels simultaneously: Black List by Brad Thor and Silent Night by the late Robert B. Parker and his agent, Helen Brann. I've even just started Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It's outside the genre I normally read, but so what? It's good.

Q: What is your current project and can you share a little of it with us?

A: I am writing Chicago Knights, the second in the Sons of Jude series. The series debuted last year with the first novel, The Sons of Jude, for which the series is titled.  The novels feature a rotating cast of characters in the Chicago Police department. Chicago Knights is a character-driven story that tells a tale of sacrifice and redemption.

Brandt Dodson is the creator of the Indianapolis-based Colton Parker mystery series and is the author of several crime novels and short stories as well as play he developed for the Great Smoky Mountain Murder Mystery Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The play - The Bradley Bunch - opens on March 23rd and runs through the end of the year.
Brandt comes from a long line of police officers spanning several decades and was previously employed by the Indianapolis office of the FBI.
The Sons of Jude is his most recent novel and was published in September 2012.
You can find Brandt at: www.brandtdodson.com

Inspiration Has Struck!

Marian Allen named my blog as one of her Very Inspiring Blogs for my actions in the face of adversity. And here I thought I was just carping and whining.

Rules:

Display the award logo on your blog.
State SEVEN facts about yourself.
Link back to the person who had already nominated you.
Nominate seven other bloggers who deserve this award.
Notify each of the bloggers of your nomination.

My seven facts:

1. Marian has never seen TITANIC. I have never seen TOP GUN.

2. I took classes in dancing during college. Because I enjoyed it, not because I was necessarily good at it.

3. My burning ambition in my teenage years was to write and draw for Marvel comics.

4. Many authors start with fanfic. But did you know that my first fanfic was inspired by The Black Stallion?

5. I co-founded a Pagan church in Kentucky. My official position, as I described it to the IRS, was 'genetrix'.

6. I still buy Pretenders albums. Yeah, it's no longer the Eighties, but Chrissie Hynde isn't dead.

7. I loathe James Joyce's writing, no matter how much Joseph Campbell loved it.

My most inspiring blogs:

1. I gotta kick the first one back to Marian. She finds joy in the littlest things.

2. Doctor Grumpy in the House: Dr. Grumpy's posts about strange patient encounters are hilarious, but he also gives us insights on American history. The Love Boat - 1863 is probably my all-time favorite.

3. The SL Newser. Coverage of the arts and community in Second Life. A great boost to the creatives there and a revelation of how many good-spirited people there are in SL.

4. Other Things Amanzi. This is the blog of "Bongi", a surgeon who works in Mpumalanga, South Africa. His observations about life, surgery, and his area of South Africa always take me out of myself. It's a whole other world. He doesn't post enough.

5. Gwen Mayo's blog. Yes, she's my spouse. Her view of our shared life, however, does the same thing Bongi's posts do.

6. Magpie a la modus operandi. Marguerite's great personal accounts about her life that make observations about life in general. Perseverance is a virtue after all.

7. Terribleminds: Chuck Wendig. His combination of writer's coaching and drill-sergeant language inspires me to get back on the keyboard when I think my writing sucks.

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Great Stuff you find when looking up background info: Aladdin City

I found this while doing research for the novel Gwen and I are writing together. Great information and engaging reading!

Sears Homes of Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect: Aladdin City: the “Town Where Homes Will Rise Almost Over Night: The Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan was a competitor of Sears in the mail-order house business. (Click link to learn more. LOVED it.)

The Next Big Thing

And now it's time to discuss my Next Big Thing. This is part of a blog series focusing on authors' newest projects. I was invited by Stacy Juba, and you can learn about her new project here. In my case, November is the most appropriate month to do this post, since I am a regular participant in NaNoWriMo. Don't worry, it'll get edited before it's ever submitted to a publisher or beta readers.

What is the working title of your book?
Murder on the Mullet Express.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Gwen Mayo and I have written some short stories together about the adventures of two retired WWI nurses, Cornelia Pettijohn and Theodora "Teddy" Lawless. This is our first novel with these characters. The book also features Professor Pettijohn, Cornelia's uncle. He is a retired engineering professor, inventor, and gadget enthusiast.

What genre does your book fall under?
Historical mystery with a strong dash of comedy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Margaret Rutherford and Betty White. Sadly, Rutherford is no longer with us. Elaine Stritch is a possibility. Professor Pettijohn... Ed Asner or Richard Attenborough. Someone sharp who played Santa Claus.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Three geezers go to Florida to find a winter home and get tangled in a murder plot when they take The Mullet Express.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Our first novels didn't fit either of these categories. Not sure what will happen with this tale, but I'm open-minded.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
(Maniacal laughter) I don't do drafts, I do timeline revisions. I save the previous documents as incomplete alternate histories. Once I have a complete timeline, I fix errors.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Some of the Victoria Trumbull books by Cynthia Riggs might make a good comparison, especially Shooting Star.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My great-great aunt was a nurse who served in WWI, and suffered lung damage from mustard gas. She never married, belonged to the DAR, and traveled round the country to meet the cousins she discovered in her genealogical research. She was an active birdwatcher and, according to everything I've ever heard, stubborn as hell. I've drawn from these aspects for the characters of Cornelia and Teddy.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There have been very few fiction works published about Homosassa Springs. I know, because I've looked. We also take advantage of some other underrepresented items: Florida's land boom (and bust) along the Gulf Coast, and organized crime in the Tampa Bay area. You hear a lot about Al Capone in Miami during the 30s, but Charlie Wall was a major figure in Tampa during the 20s.

The nurses in our story are also a couple. Readers looking for LBGT characters, especially senior ones, might find the characters interesting.

Now tagging Next Big Thing entries for:

Pamela Turner
S.D. Bancroft
Cheri Crystal
Lynn Crain

Preview of Coming Attractions

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that, once again, I am participating in NaNoWriMo. I've participated every year since 2005. I've never 'won' by writing the requisite 50,000 words, but November is always my most productive month now.

Usually, NNWM just ups my word count on whatever my current WIP is, but this year I will be starting a new novel with the 'regular' participants. How is it different? Glad you asked. Okay, maybe you didn't ask. This novel is a collaborative effort. I'm writing in conjunction with my wife, Gwen Mayo.

During NNWM, Gwen will be finishing up the sequel to Circle of Dishonor while I start work on the joint novel. We've been doing research on locations and history for the last month (you can read more about that here). It will be a mystery novel, and will be set in Florida. Our heroes aren't characters from either of our novels, but we've written a couple of short stories with them and one tale, at least, has been accepted for a 2013 anthology.

In other news: I will be featuring at least one author interview in the near future, plus, I hope, more frequent posting. This has been a long, difficult year for me. 2011 was one of the best years in my life; 2012 has been one of the worst.

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Various: Medical Mysteries, An Interview, Open to Guest Posts, etc.

• If you like medical mysteries, check out my guest blog on Gwen's page. I examine the types of villains featured in stories by authors like Robin Cook, Tess Gerritsen, and Michael Palmer. Please note that Gwen is open to guest posts by writers other than her wife, so if you'd like to do a post for her, pop over and let her know.

• Good eReader featured an article earlier this week on the opportunities e-publishing has created for LGBT authors. I am one of the people who provided input, and I'm very proud of that. E-publishing and POD publishing have created many opportunities for LBGT stories to actually see 'print'. Less cost = more publishers willing to take a risk.

• Also: I am opening this blog to guest posts by other authors. I prefer that they pertain to mystery, horror, or vampires, unless I happen to know and like you. I prefer that the whole post be under 600 words, excluding a short bio and blurb. Expect me to correct the use of your/you're, it's/its, egregious misspellings and other grammatical pet peeves you manage to tweak. No slamming of other writers or anyone who might sue me. Also: if you disapprove of gays and lesbians... it won't be a good fit. 

• Gwen and I have opened a store on Second Life. It's on Book Island, and is named Odd Women. Right now, it only has our books, but we'd like to include books by selected other authors. Are you reading this, Marian Allen?

• Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology is now available in ePub format. Visit Wildside Press to download it! If you don't like my story, there's 21 others that might be more to your liking.

• State of Horror: Louisiana is now on Smashwords. It's available in many more formats now, so if you'd like to see my funny Lovecraft tribute... just sayin'.

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What's a Girl to Do?

I've been wondering what to post on here. I've heard that 'normal people' don't follow blogs that only offer updates about the author, but my non-me writing efforts are currently being directed towards the guest blogs that will start coming out with the release of my book (yay!). You can find some of my blog tour dates here. I expect to be updating this page with more locations soon.

At least it doesn't affect my ability to do book reviews. I wanted to become an author because I love reading. Who wouldn't want to produce something so wonderful on their own? Even now, I manage to squeeze a little reading in.

So, let me tell you what is going on with All This and Family, Too. I've returned the final proof of the book to Pill Hill Press, and it's set for publication on May 1st. Think I'm wired for sound yet?



Let's just say that my co-workers think I'm drinking too much caffeine.

As the countdown to my book's release proceeds, the countdown to the Goodreads Drawing for a free advance copy of my book also proceeds. It ends this coming week, so enter before it's too late!

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

All This and Family, Too

by Sarah E. Glenn

Giveaway ends April 30, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Bio. NOW what do I say?

Everyone who read last week's post will be glad to learn that I finished the edits in good time. Once I got into them, I remembered how much I liked the characters and it really wasn't that scary.

I'm almost ready to ship the edits back to Pill Hill Press, but I'm lacking something important: an author bio. I'm at a loss for words.

Now, let me make it clear that I've done bios for short stories. They're brief and often have pop culture references. I'd like to stick with brief, but I don't think I should make my usual confession that I wanted to grow up to be Kolchak, except smarter (the idiot hunted vampires alone at night). Wouldn't the Kolchak people try to sue me for that?

My bios are usually tailored to fit the story. For example, in my bio for Fish Tales, the SinC Guppies' first anthology, I mentioned that I had been born in Asheville, NC and had deep family roots there because my story was set in Asheville. I worked an NCIC terminal at my local police department for seven years, so I mention that in stories with central characters that work for the police.

My novel is about a lesbian vampire that moves into a gated community. What the hell do I do with that? I'm a lesbian who played Vampire: the Masquerade about ten years ago. Not quite the same thing. If I'd planned ahead for my writing career, I would have been born about ten years later with a higher metabolism. Then, I would have been young and thin enough to join one of the vampire cults. Instead, I was an old, boring nerd when that became the rage.

Sadly, I am more qualified to write about the New Ager the vampire dates for a while. I know quite a bit about astrology, crystals, and Tarot. When you meet my vampire, Cynthia, you will know why this is not a compliment. I am more qualified to write the science geeks she interacts with, after living in the engineering dorm at OSU and dating the people I gamed with. I'm also better equipped to write about the pettiness of bureaucrats, after years of working for the city, the University, and volunteering for my political party.

None of this boils down to the thumbnail sketch I'm hoping to create. I probably should mention the degree in journalism. It makes me sound like I've been trained in writing, at least. The rest is going to require more thought.

Any suggestions for useful things to include in a bio for someone who's written a vampire novel? And please, no 'blood bank employee' suggestions. I've studied dead languages... does that count?

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The Thrill of Victory... The Agony of Delete

A short time ago, I discovered that I could look up the stats for this blog. Among the information listed, I discovered that someone found my site by asking, "Is Pill Hill Press a vanity press?" I can attest that, having recently received their edits for my novel, that they are nothing of the sort. What little vanity I have took a serious blow.

Comments in red, blue, and purple ink fill the margins throughout the book. I overuse certain words, and they're longer than four letters. Entire paragraphs have been flagged as 'wordy' or 'unclear', so it's probably time to STFU about James Joyce. I've also been asked to delete a few blocks of writing as unnecessary to the story. Ouch!

These are common errors, though. Em dashes and new word choices just need to be 'fixed'. It gets worse. My editor found contradictions of logic and inconsistencies in my vampire physics. I've had a couple of real "Oh, s--t!" moments. This stuff will require serious thought and rewriting.

I feel like an utter idiot. How could I have managed to leave so much stuff screwed up after four drafts? I have to remind myself that my editor, who is also my publisher, saw these same pages, errors included, when she decided to offer me a contract. Despite the amount of ink decorating the margins, she must have thought that these problems were surmountable.

I must also remind myself that I can get my characters and plot to do the things needed because, in the words of Donald Maass, they are "a work of fiction". This is made up stuff, and I am a writer. I can do this.

So, I picked up my yelping, whimpering manuscript, and began revisions. I'm proceeding one step at a time, untangling its words, making it stand up straight, and putting its shoes on the correct feet. Solutions have already begun coming to me. I will get this done... and the book will be better for it.

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Quantity and Quality - Not What You Think

In a recent exchange on the #amwriting thread on Twitter, I said that I had only written about 400 words. Someone responded: "Quality, not quantity!" When I thought about those words, though, I realized that this axiom doesn't quite work with my approach to writing.

Quality? I hope I eventually get there with everything I write. My method of getting there, though, is to sit down and force myself to write the scene, even if I'm not sure where I'm going or what's going to happen later in the story. I brazen it out, feeling foolish and seeing the clumsiness of the words.

Then, I fix it. I go back and forth, changing redundant words, seeking the perfect way - or at least a clear way - of saying what I want to say. I may have only had 400 new words on my computer screen, but there were probably another 300 I deleted en route to better phrasing. Like Penelope, I weave and unravel. Unlike her, my objective is to finish the job.

After I have a washcloth or face towel of writerly fabric, I smooth out the phrasing, add details, and take out all the "reallys". Sometimes, I shift whole blocks of words because I've gotten ahead of myself and the material needs to be put into chronological order. With novels, I write the scenes as they come to me and then list them on calendar pages. Once I know 'when' everything is, I reorder the scenes and fix them, reweaving the golden thread of continuity, until they fit together again.

But before all those repairs comes the moment of throwing the words down on the page: the "Well, here goes!" moment. I learned that from journalism. We'd come into class, which was set in a room with typewriters and reams of papers (yes, I know I'm dating myself by admitting that). The professor would have certain facts written up on the board - the famous "Who, What, Where," etc. He would tell us: "Write a page and a half on this. You have X minutes." Naturally, this led to a lot of panicked typing. When the time was up, we had to turn in our work, finished or not. I wondered then why we so rarely got our work back with grades. Now I know why... the point was to get us to write, to set aside our fears of being imperfect.

These days, I occasionally hear people complain: "They don't teach you how to write in journalism, they just teach you to write to deadline. You don't learn anything about the art of it."

You can talk about the craft of writing all day, but you won't learn that craft until you actually write. The same with painting, playing music, dancing, sports... you develop skill and craft by doing. Later, in the higher level classes, our instructors did talk more about the skills and approaches to different types of articles, but first we had to learn to write. Imperfectly, of course, but... to write.

The art comes in the rewrite. At least it does for me.

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Guest Post on Austin Camacho's Blog Today!

Austin Camacho is the author of the Hannibal Jones series. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting him at Bouchercon or Magna cum Murder, he is a great person. I'm the featured guest today at Another Writer's Life, his blog.

http://ascamacho.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html#6259530527804702729

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Setting Your Goals for the New Year

Okay, now that I've blathered about my own goals for the New Year, you probably got bored and thought about something more interesting: your goals for the New Year. As a compulsive list-maker and goal setter, let me offer you some suggestions.


I do strongly suggest that you think in terms of goals rather than resolutions. So many resolutions involve "don't" behavior. Every time you think "Don't do ___," you're thinking about ___. In fact, you're starting to obsess about it. How can you stop without doing ___?

Phrasing can be very important in the case of goals that do involve stopping certain kinds of behavior, such as overeating. Losing weight is especially challenging, because you have to keep eating, while trying 'not' to eat too much. Try thinking in terms of eating 'enough' rather than 'not overeating'. It might help.

When you set your goals, be realistic. Be realistic in terms of what you think you can accomplish, not what you've heard other people can or did do. Sure, the fat people on those TV weight loss shows did lose a remarkable amount of weight in a relatively short time. They also had coaches and cooks helping them out. We're also learning that sometimes more time passes between episodes than a real-life week. Measuring yourself by those standards will make you feel like a failure every week you lose less than five pounds.

Speaking of realistic, be sure your goals are about you. Getting your husband to stop smoking isn't under your control, it's under his control. You may have an obedient child who wants to please, but if she's not a 'morning person', this is unlikely to change. Some goals, by definition, do involve other people. If you're trying to get better performance ratings at work, or peddle your book to a publisher, a good portion of the outcome is in other people's hands. In this case, being realistic means you must accept that you might fail despite your best actions. Sometimes your boss just has it in for you.

Be specific. What is the most important thing you're trying to accomplish? "Reduce debt" sounds good, but is sort of vague. You might consider paying the minimums on your credit cards 'reducing debt' (FYI: no, it's not). "Retire my VISA card" or "Close my Dillard's account for good" are clearer goals.

Prepare to stick with it. Weight Watchers has a successful program. So does SparkPeople. Frankly, there are a lot of diet systems that really can help you lose weight - if you stick to them. Ask yourself how serious you are about your goal before ponying up time and money for a gym membership, new running shoes, etc. Paying off that MasterCard? You're probably going to have to do without some indulgences to make those higher payments... every single month.

Look for tools to help. Educate yourself. I mentioned there are a lot of diet systems that can help you - there are also a number of financial advice sites that can steer you towards better credit or reduced debt, if that's your goal (look for advice columns, not people who want you to pay them money to 'repair your credit'). MSN Money's Personal Finance isn't a bad place to start. Trying to stop smok- uh, live tobacco-free? Look at the American Lung Association pages. Educate yourself, then work from there.

Finally...

Don't make your list too long. Cut yourself a little slack, will you? You need downtime. You're starting the New Year with plenty of energy and zeal (or bloated regret), but both will wear off by the time January is over. Set a few really important goals and pursue them. If you accomplish some other stuff, great, but don't schedule every minute of every day for working on yourself. The brightest guy I know, a mathematician, takes time off to watch the Simpsons. If his brilliant brain needs time off from weighty issues, so does yours.

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Planning the New Year

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”

- John Lennon

Some people make resolutions for the New Year: I make lists. Each January, I used to make long lists of what I wanted to accomplish that year. I set up goals for my health (read for this: lose weight), finances, employment, spirituality, and, of course, for my writing. When I married, I expanded the chart of goals to include my wife's goals as well (not sure how she felt about that, but I'm a little OCD). We bought a house, so I added a new category for work around the house (painting, fixing stuff, etc.).

Every December, I reviewed the list to see how I'd done. Gentle Reader, I'm sure you're intelligent enough to guess that I was lucky to get half of my goals anywhere near accomplishment in twelve months. My goals were set up for blue skies, not the changeable climate of real life. Why not aim for the best?

Oh, well.

A couple of years ago, I decided to do something simpler: a short list of things I thought were really important. Since then, December hasn't been nearly as brutal.

My goals for 2010:
Lose weight. Finish rewrite. Get an agent. Please note that I dropped 'Get out of debt' from the list after taking out a loan to replace our central air. A house is a money pit. We're just lucky we don't have children to raise.

Goals accomplished? Well, I didn't lose weight, but I maintained the weight I've lost (although the jury is still out until after I escape my mother's clutches). I did finish the rewrite. I didn't get that agent, but I got a publisher, which was better!

Goals for 2011... Hrm. Lose weight (perennial goal). Promote book. I was working on a separate book with a new character when I got the good news. Do I try to finish it, or restart work on the sequel for All This and Family, Too?

Lots to plan for... I may only accomplish the first two goals. Or... maybe only the second goal. I'll be satisfied if it comes off well.

I hope everyone has a great New Year. Try not to get too hung up on resolutions or lists.
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