The Three Snowbirds: Why Homosassa?

In Murder on the Mullet Express, our three snowbirds head to Homosassa, Florida as their first stop. The characters’ motives for this destination become clear (to the detriment of Uncle Percival), but someone unfamiliar with Homosassa might wonder why we set a story there in the first place, especially in the 1920s. 

Homosassa and Homosassa Springs are two communities divided by U.S. 19 in Citrus County, a fairly rural area. Today, it’s best known for its manatees and Monkey Island. We visited Ellie Schiller Park more than once, which has a timeline of Homosassa’s history. The Yulee Sugar Mill and Tiger Tail Island were interesting, but we found ourselves drawn to the tale of a Florida Land Boom project.

In the 1920s, the West Coast Development Company bought up a large amount of property in the area around Old Homosassa on the cheap, with an eye to reselling it as a planned community. I read the brochure from the newly-formed Chamber of Commerce, and they essentially said they were building the Biblical shining city on a hill (in a place with very few hills and fewer people). Eden might be a more accurate term; the area was overflowing with fish, game, and waterfowl. 

The proposal generated a lot of interest, but getting the customers to the property was a challenge: due to the enormous number of would-be entrepreneurs, Florida railroads had put an embargo on passengers. Not to be daunted, West Coast arranged for potential investors to arrive in Jacksonville, where they would be driven across the state in the luxurious new Cadillacs. Immediately, our minds went into gear: imagine the locked-room mystery one could set in a private car during a lengthy ride!

Unfortunately, that sort of puzzle works best in short form, not a novel. Plus, it wouldn’t really involve Homosassa. A deadly ride might turn up in a future story, though.

So, back to the proposed city. Sales of premeasured lots began in early 1926. The speculators who arrived first were, for the most part, not interested in living there themselves. They were there to buy property that they could then resell at a higher price. Eventually, it would pass into the hands of someone who did want a Florida home and was willing to pay through the nose for it. That sort of mindset leads to skullduggery, and where there’s skullduggery, there’s often murder.

The planned city included an arcade and casino. In those days, a ‘casino’ could refer to a place where people gathered for social affairs, but gambling was always a possibility. Tampa, only a few hours’ drive to the south, had a thriving gambling enterprise run by organized crime in the 1920s. To make things even better, the homegrown gang, Charlie Wall’s boys, were butting heads with mobsters who had come down from Chicago. Oh look, there’s murder again.

We drew from these elements to create our characters. Once that was done, the plot began to write itself. I hope you’ll find the results colorful and enjoyable. 

Guest Post, Laurel S. Peterson: The Challenges of Writing in Multiple Genres

Laurel S. Peterson’s poems have been published in many literary journals. She has published two poetry chapbooks, two full-length poetry collections, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer? and Daughter of Sky (Futurecycle Press) and two mystery novels, Shadow Notes and The Fallen (Woodhall Press). She is a writing professor, serves on the editorial board of Inkwell magazine, and was Norwalk, Connecticut’s, Poet Laureate from April 2016 – April 2019. You can find her on Twitter, Laurel on Facebook, Instagram, and at her website.
 

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Thanks for having me on your blog, Sarah. It’s a pleasure to be here!

As a community college English professor, I teach a lot of writing courses, and many students seem to struggle with why they need what I’m teaching them. Granted, employers tell us that they want employees with great communication skills, but that feels less accessible to them than, say, being able to tabulate a series of numbers (as an accountant), take blood (as a nurse), or whip up chicken marsala (as a chef). I get it. But the point of my courses isn’t only that they can now write about literature or make an argument for or against the death penalty, but that they have the facility to move among multiple forms to best express their ideas.

As professional writers, this is even more true of us. We are capable of not only writing our books in whatever our chosen genre is, but we also pen blogs, write Instagram or Twitter posts, create short stories and promotional materials, and make grocery lists. We are all capable, but what are the challenges?

The first challenge for me is flexibility of mind. I need to see what form the material wants, and then use that form. My poetry comes from intensely felt moments, while my novels come from issues. If I am out walking and am transported by the beauty of a hawk’s screel or the whispering water against the shore, that’s a poem. The purpose is to describe that moment’s power, its strong emotional pull, the way in which it connects me to something so much bigger than I.

But if I’m thinking about how someone might sneak up on me in those woods, where they would hide the body (or push it over the cliff to land in those handy bushes down below), and how women cannot walk alone in the woods in this world, then I’m in novel mode. However, the form isn’t always so clear right away. The intense moment of feeling afraid in the woods might go in either direction, and sometimes I don’t figure that out that it’s a poem until I’ve written thirty bad novel pages! 

The second challenge for me is a mastery of forms. The components of poetry are different from the components of novels. Character can be muted in poetry, but not in fiction. In literary fiction, you might get the kind of intense description that you get in a poem, but that might not be the case in genre fiction. Setting plays an important role in fiction, but it could be muted or almost absent in a poem. My challenge is to know how I can use those elements to create the effect that I want. In this case, being a poet can be really useful, as there is such attention to detail and language in a poem, and that’s a useful skill for any writer.

Finally, writing in multiple genres requires me to read more broadly. If I’m going to write in more than one genre, it’s my responsibility to be sure I’m reading in that genre as well. I do much better at that in the mystery genre than in the poetry genre, but there are always a couple of each in the reading stack. (The reading stack is a bit out of control!)  But this might also just be an excuse to buy another book!

Next up, I’m going to try writing something multi-genre, in which I combine genres in a single piece of writing. Wish me luck! What challenges do you face writing in more than one genre? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you so much for visiting with us!

Guest Post, Margot Kinberg: When You’re On Social Media*

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Pet Shop Boys’ On Social Media. 

Margot Kinberg is a university professor and mystery novelist, originally from the US East Coast. Her academic and teaching background is mostly in language learning, teacher education, writing, and content area literacy. She has two crime fiction series: the Joel Williams series, and now, the Patricia Stanley series. Her new novella, Streets of Gold, comes out on March 16th.

Thanks very much for having me, Sarah. Technology has woven itself into our daily lives, and that’s especially true of social media. It’s not hard to see why, when you think of the ease of communication and the ability people have now to be in contact with others at any time, from many different parts of the world.

Social media has a lot of drawbacks, but, in both real life and in crime fiction, it can help solve crimes and find missing people. I’m sure you’ve read plenty of news stories that feature people who were reunited with family, and crimes that were solved, because of social media. We see that thread running through crime fiction, too.

Social media plays a major role, for instance, in Helen Fitzgerald’s The Cry. Joanna Lindsay and her partner, Alistair Robinson, travel from her native Scotland to his family’s home in Victoria. With them is their nine-week-old son, Noah. The flight is long and difficult, and the couple are all too glad to get off the plane and on their way. During the drive to Alistair’s family home, the couple faces every loving parent’s worst nightmare: the loss of their son. They report that he’s missing, and a massive search is undertaken. The media picks up the story, and before long, Facebook and other social media outlets are carrying the story, too. There are all sorts of ‘find Baby Noah’ pages, crowdfunding efforts, and more. The police are involved, too, of course, and they slowly begin to wonder whether Joanna and Alistair know more than they are saying about Noah’s fate. Questions start to come up online, too, and it’s not long before Joanna, especially, becomes the target of all sorts of speculation. The power of social media comes through clearly in this novel, and we see how that impacts the search and the couple.

Kazuhiro Kiuchi’s Shield of Straw is the story of Takaoki Ninagawa’s search for justice when his granddaughter is raped and killed. DNA evidence has linked Kunihide Kiyomaru to the crime, but he has gone into hiding. So, Ninagawa puts out a very public billion-yen bounty on Kiyomaru’s head and creates a website explaining how to claim the reward. When Kiyomaru hears of this, he knows that thousands of people will be looking for him, and he decides to turn himself in at the local police station. At least he’ll be protected there. Tokyo police detective Kazuki Mekari and his team are sent to bring the fugitive back to Tokyo to face trial, but that won’t be easy. Mostly through social media, thousands of people know that Kiyomaru is being brought to Tokyo by train. There’s even a way that people can check on the train’s progress online. So, the team will have to dodge amateur bounty-hunters all the way back to Tokyo. It’s an eerie look at how social media can be used to target someone.

The focus of Brannavan Gnanalingam’s Sprigs is an exclusive boys’ school in Auckland. Rugby rules there, and those who are on the team are the social leaders. One Saturday night after an important rugby match, members of the team get together for a party at the home of one of their teammates. News of the party gets around, and it’s soon crowded. One of the partygoers is fifteen-year-old Priya Gaianan, who’s both excited and nervous about going. She has too much to drink, and four of the boys on the team gang rape her. The incident’s recorded, too, and is soon passed around via social media. Priya is, of course, devastated, not only because of the rape, but also because everyone will find out about it. When she finally goes to the police to report what happened, they use the video to trace the attack to the boys responsible. In this case, we see how social media is helpful to the investigation, but also makes things that much worse for Priya.

Samantha Downing’s For Your Own Good is set against the backdrop of the exclusive (and expensive) Belmont Academy. The students there are all expected to be accepted at the finest universities, and their parents take every measure to ensure that happens. There’s a lot of pressure on the young people, and that only increases when Ingrid Ross, the mother of one of the students, suddenly dies during a major event at the school. When it’s established that she was murdered, the police begin an investigation that comes to focus on the victim’s daughter, Courtney. Along with the interviews they conduct, the police check online activity, texts, and social media to look for evidence. They arrest Courtney, but is she guilty? And if not, who else could the murderer be? It’s a complex case, and it doesn’t stop with just one killing. As we follow along, we see how the various characters share information and gossip, create their own theories about the crimes, and more, all using social media. We also see how the killer uses social media.

Social media is a part of my new novella, Streets of Gold, too. The story features fifteen-year-old Staci McKinney, who’s left home to escape her predatory stepfather. As you can imagine, her mother, Theresa McKinney, is desperate to find her, and checks her daughter’s social media dozens of times. She also creates a video, which she puts online, hoping that people will share. Her strongest wish is that Staci will see it and respond. But Theresa’s not the only one looking for Staci. Philadelphia City Councilman Daniel Langdon and his assistant, Scott Townlee, want to find Staci, too. She is the only witness to a crime they committed, and they want to make sure she’ll keep quiet. They, too, use a social media campaign to enlist the public’s help in tracking Staci down. In this case, social media could be a way to find and rescue Staci – or to trap her.

And that’s the thing about social media. Love it or hate it, it’s an important part of our modern lives. So, it’s no wonder at all that it plays a role in crime fiction, too.

Thanks again for hosting me, Sarah!

Author Interview: ME Roche

 

ME Roche is the product of a Midwest upbringing. She’s lived and worked on both coasts as well as in Ireland. As a registered nurse, she’s had the opportunity to work in many facets of nursing, and although now retired, she continues to volunteer and enjoy working at a neighborhood clinic.

What made you decide to start writing your own stories?

I’ve always loved to read—especially mysteries—and when I finally decided to try my hand at writing something myself, my first thought was to try updating those stories from the 1950’s and 60’s about student nurses who tackled mysteries. As an RN, I knew there were many changes in patient care from that time, as well as changes in our education; my first three YA novels were an attempt to address these issues.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

With the first to the final drafts (at least eight) of my novels, it has taken at least a year to complete each one. I do, however, often set drafts aside to work on something new. For example: I’ve published two novels within the last six months, but each was just waiting for a polish. I plan another release this summer; it was also written and revised several times over the past three years.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

My first two books were professionally published. By the time I had written my third book, my publisher and I had parted ways, so the whole process of preparing everything myself was almost entirely new and very time consuming. I’m still learning!

Your new novel, Bigamy, was loosely inspired by a case from the 1930s. Without getting into spoilers, could you tell us more about it?

My most recent novel, Bigamy, was loosely based on an actual case from the 1930’s. The case was brought to my attention by friends who believed it would make a good story and was actually part of their family history. It took me a while to decide if I could make it work and it was an education. We forget the amount of access to information that we have today, is very unlike what people had at that time, and what that difference meant to how situations were addressed. While I did take liberties with certain aspects of the story for dramatic effect, I did adhere to many of the details.

Who is your favorite author, and what do you enjoy most about their work?

I have way too many “favorite” authors. I love mysteries, but what I have been trying to do is discover new authors both for my own enjoyment and that of those who read the monthly newsletter on my website (www.meroche.com). My two favorite authors of this past year: Robert Dugoni (The World Played Chess) and Hank Phillippi Ryan (Trust Me).

Thank you so much for visiting!

Cover reveal and excerpt: Alter, by H.R. Truelove

Alter
H.R. Truelove
(Alter, #1)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Who do you trust when you can’t trust yourself?

Lennox, Erris, Wisdom…
There are many voices in Laura’s mind but no one, not even her family, will believe her.

Laura’s life is far from normal. After spending years in a medical center for seeing visions no one else can, Laura is transferred to the Tomlinson Institute of Research. There, she’s promised, lies the truth she’s been after her entire life.

But as her eighteenth birthday looms closer, Laura’s already complicated life takes a sudden turn. When she discovers what hides behind her unusual abilities, Laura’s reality is blown to pieces, and she must learn to make sense of her supernatural gifts. With a little help from the voices in her head, Laura needs to fight to save herself, the world she lives in–and every other world in the multiverse.

Alter is a gripping and intricate tale of conspiracy, mad scientists, and broken lives. A multiverse of blurry lines, lies, and deceit where we come face-to-face with the best of humankind… And its very worst.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

My eyes were weak, but I heard every heartbeat in the Hollow. Every thud had a signature as unique as each of the countless snowflakes piled outside.

The chilly air stung my eyes and lips. My ears curled from the cold and the tips of my fingers were burned black.

We didn’t even have a word for frostbite in the Dark World. Many Shadows who slept in the Hollow had missing fingers, hands, or entire arms and legs. Some limbs were taken in battle, others lost to the cold, but not one of them was a lesser fighter for it. We were born fighting, thrashing our way into the frosted wasteland of the Dark World with nothing but the voice in our heads.

I’d named mine Wisdom.

My conscience. The angel on my shoulder. The Devil. An imaginary friend—who wasn’t imaginary.

A visitor in my head, whose thoughts were a plague on my mind.

Do it now, Lennox. While Helectra’s sleeping. Her death will be quick and easy. You’ll be out of the Hollow before anyone knows you’re responsible.

What if you’re wrong? I asked, my words heard by Wisdom alone.

Helectra’s a spy! I went through the Crawlers’ records myself. Would you like to see them? Wisdom’s tone was far more threatening than helpful.

No. I trust you. It was a two-week hike to the closest computer I’d be able to verify the information on, anyway.

You should trust me. I’ve never been wrong. About anything. Wisdom’s irritation was so strong, a bitter taste settled on my tongue. We need to deal with Helectra before the Crawlers come after her. End her, Lennox. And don’t hurt anyone else this time.

Wisdom’s memories threatened to pierce my mind. I focused my thoughts, pitting my will against hers like a shield. I only wanted her words. I couldn’t handle her feelings.

Helectra wouldn’t end my life quietly. Crawler or not, I owe her a fight. I can do this. The pain will stay with me.

Wisdom’s doubt broke my shield and tore through my body.

Of course, Lennox. As always, you’ll do what you think is best.

No matter what happens.

Wisdom slipped from my mind, nothing but the jerk at my scalp to remind me a visitor was here. There was no time to celebrate the relief her quiet brought because once my visitor left, her voice was replaced with a new sound.

Thump, thump, thump.

Even a heartbeat sounded different when it belonged to a traitor. I followed the traitorous beat through the series of caves I’d sought refuge in with nearly thirty others. The children born during the Evernight were called Shadows, and the Crawlers hunted them mercilessly.

Author Bio:

H. R. Truelove lives with her family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

She developed a thirst for reading during her long bus rides to school, and has been writing poetry, song lyrics, and short stories most of her life.

Truelove's debut trilogy, Alter, releases in 2022.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

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The Two-Headed Killer

With apologies to DC and Marvel.

When Gwen and I show our books to other authors, the first questions we get asked are: “You wrote a book together? How did you plot it?” 

Creative types often have problems working together. It’s like another cook in your kitchen or, worse, a boss that tries to micromanage you. You have your creative process, and they have theirs. This is true for even authors who married other authors; sometimes the choice comes down to writing separately vs. divorce.

Yet, it can happen. Richard Levinson and William Link created great television together: Columbo, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote, and many other popular shows. Sometimes they devised plots together (often under the pen name ‘Ted Leighton’) which scriptwriters would turn into a television episode. Charles and the Caroline Todd created two long-running series of mystery novels together. James Patterson also co-writes, but he takes a top-down approach: he creates the characters and a detailed plot, which is then taken over by other writers.

In our case, short stories are relatively easy. We discuss what should happen, and then one of us begins writing. We take turns. I remember, while writing one story, saying to Gwen, “You need to invent something,” because we’d hit the point where Professor Pettijohn needed to reveal his latest invention. Then, we had to figure out how to use it within the story. Dialogue is a breeze. It’s fun to write, and Gwen suggests comebacks I can play off of.  It's great fun to have another imagination to build a story with. The sum is greater than the halves.

Writing novels, though, is a bigger challenge. One of our biggest roadblocks: writing style. Gwen is a true plotter, while I am a pantser (a writer who flies by the seat of the pants). When Gwen sits down to write, she lays out her plot, then starts at the beginning of the book and produces the ensuing material in a linear fashion. She inserts scenes only when the story demands it. 

I don’t do well with beginnings, since story openings invite a lot of second-guessing and, frankly, procrastination. Instead, I write the scenes that are the clearest in my head. It’s like a spider web: I fill the space between the scenes with the stuff that should precede or follow them. As a result, it can take me as long as 30,000 words to figure out what a novel is really about and force it into a logical chronology. Short stories are so much easier.

So, clashes ensue. We come up with the characters together, including ‘the crime before the crime’ and who the killer is. Gwen let me choose the poison in our first two novels because I love that sort of thing. I was the one who started Murder on the Mullet Express because she was working on Concealed in Ash. I mentally formed a crude sequence of events for the first part of the novel and wrote the scenes I had the strongest ideas for. Then, Gwen took over for a while and added more background to my work, plus she added the scenes between the scenes. So far, no problem.

I got back into the novel after editing a couple of anthologies, read over the previous text to reorient myself, and added further scenes. This was when the trouble started. I have this unfortunate habit of writing the scene where the killer was revealed to give myself a goalpost for the in-between narrative. Then, I wrote some critical clue discovery scenes between it and where Gwen left off.

This was a big mistake. Gwen started writing at the first gap and, through organic process, revealed a big clue that I’d set later in the book. I was unhappy that she hadn’t looked ahead, while she felt that certain clues would be discovered sooner with the technology available at the time. Then, I had a spark of an idea of how future trouble could be created with the information she’d changed. We discussed the new plot twist, and I removed and retooled the conflicting scenes as necessary. After that, I made sure to run ideas by her before I wrote them.

Gwen and I finished the book by using yWriter (which we no longer have) to coordinate the plot and firm up the chronology (which days the train ran, when court was open for arraignments, etc.). Even then, details cropped up that required retrofitting other scenes and adding new narrative.

I did the final edits to sand down the bumps. Some chapters needed more work than others. Once the text was smoothed out, though, we had a pretty good product. Readers seem to appreciate the cultural details and the plot twists that started as accidents. It took longer to write than the sequel, but how else were we supposed to learn?

For Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, we created a master plot. We also agreed that if one of us makes changes to the novel's plot, it needs to be changed accordingly in the master plot. This has reduced clashes and made it easier to see where the characters should go next, so we're using the same method in writing our third novel, Ybor City Blues. May all disharmony exist on the page, not between the authors.

The Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn: Guest Post Offer

The Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn: Guest Post Offer: Photo by  Judit Peter  from  Pexels Are you an author? Looking for a place to send a guest post or receive an interview? Click the link!

Let's Talk

We need to talk.

I haven't posted for a very long time. Part of this is because I don't know how much 'me' I should talk about. I know many interesting people, but I am not certain that I am interesting enough to hold your interest.

Today: Fuck that. I'm talking about me.

I have the usual spells of depression, of course, and I have also taken on the responsibility for maintaining the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime's website. Then, there's the Strangely Funny series and the Three Snowbirds series I write with Gwen Mayo.

Plus, I work a job where I have a low hourly rate of pay, but get an incentive bonus based on how much I produce compared with the rest of my team. So, overtime.

Let's move on to the stellar disruption I'm dealing with now. My mother has suffered from moderate vascular dementia for the last couple of years. The way in which this differs from Alzheimer's Disease: portions of the brain are deprived of blood flow, and they die, creating the dementia. It is not a smooth gradual process, but stair steps into the basement. A 'new normal' happens each time.

In June, Mother took a steep step down. 

She does not know where she is. We can tell her, but that information doesn't really compute any more. She was calling the police in the middle of the night, saying she was lost. My wife and I have not lived with her since 2014 for Reasons I Will Not Go Into, but her actions made it impossible for us to cohabitate with her. That, and there is not enough Paxil in the world to help me deal with it.

The caretaking service had someone in the house for an 8 hour shift each day. She needed more care than that, and we (me, my spouse, and my POA sibling) soon realized she needed 24/7 care. The service said they could provide that for circa $19K a month (they pay their employees about half of what they charge, which is fucking criminal). None of us (including my mother) could afford that. 

After visiting several memory care units, we chose one and moved her there. It's not cheap, but is much more affordable than in-house care. It is near where we live, and my wife and I visit her on a daily basis. This is important for several reasons: 1) Even though she forgets we came, it does help keep her calmer, 2) The facility knows we are paying attention to her care, and 3) At some point, she will be gone and this is the time I have left with her.

Mother calls multiple times a day with the help of the staff at the facility. She claims that she doesn't live there and has never spent a night there (she's lived there since July), and wants to go home. Unfortunately, she didn't recognize her house when she was in it. We need to sell the house to pay for her care.

So, my brain space and time are more tied up than ever before, and the only thing I've thought about posting in a while is what I've said here. 

Personal Archetypes, 30+ Years Later

Public Domain, Link

Something you may not know about me is that I have a side interest in personal mythology. It goes way back, as in at least thirty years... probably more, since I was interested the moment I heard the term. I say thirty, though, because that's when I took an archetype quiz from Awakening the Heroes Within.

At that time, my strongest trait was Seeker. Some of the archetypes are set at specific ages, most notably Innocent and Orphan, the childlike archetypes.

When I first took the quiz, I was Orphan --> Seeker, with an undercurrent of Caregiver. I know that last is hard to believe, but the alternatives were Lover and Warrior.

Recently, I've been listening to K.M. Weiland's series on using character archetypes in writing. She refers to Pearson's work frequently, and I dug my copy out. I got it in 1991, and now it is 2021. I retook the test, with some surprises.

Still an Orphan - duh. I'm a pessimist who had bad experiences with other kids. Still strong with the Seeker archetype, but Caregiver dropped into the basement.

My strongest archetype now is the Destroyer. This the one where the Heroine confronts Death and must resolve her emotions towards Death. It's also an archetype that appears when a person has suffered great loss. Gave up job and house to move in with dying parent - check. Driven out later by other parent, check. Downsized, check. Bitter AF, double check. Okay, I'm a Destroyer. Where are my superpowers, other than overwhelming bitterness?

The book advises I think about my own death as an exercise. I spoke to my spouse about it, but she asked me to please not do that during our anniversary visit to Daytona. That's what I get for bringing a book to the car.

Other archetypes are also developing, though: the Creator, the Magician, and the Sage, now of equal rank to the Seeker. The Sage is similar to the Seeker in many ways, but has traveled further down the path. I hope this means that the Destroyer phase will end. If I can't smite my enemies into oblivion, what good is it?

Patricia Josephine: The Challenge of Writing Short Fiction

Patricia Josephine is a writer of Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi Romance books. She actually never set out to become a writer, and in fact, she was more interested in art and band in high school and college. Her dreams were of becoming an artist like Picasso. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head for fun. That was the start of her writing journey, and she hasn't regretted a moment. When she's not writing, she's watching Doctor Who or reading about serial killers. She's an avid knitter. One can never have too much yarn. She writes Young Adult Paranormal, Science Fiction, and Fantasy under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, and has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow. 

You may think writing a 200-word story isn’t that challenging, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some writers may actually say it’s harder than writing a full-length novel, and I know a few who don’t write shorter fiction because they can’t wrap their brains around it. Their muse only works in long form.

Writing short fiction is different from a novel. With novels, you have an unlimited number of words you can use to paint a picture for the reader. Short fiction you have restrictions on word count. You may only have 1000 words. You can even have as little as 50. When you have that limit, you are forced to choose more carefully. Your strokes have to be broader instead of going into minute details as you can with a novel.

The way I approach short fiction is similar to my novels. I just start writing. I figure out the story as I go and when I get to the end, I edit. I edit until the story is at the word limit I’ve imposed. That’s done by cutting descriptive words. The sentence doesn’t need the color of someone’s shirt for example. Thoughts the character has might get axed as well. If it doesn’t serve the basic story I want to tell, it can go.

Sometimes that doesn’t always work. Sometimes the story I’m trying to tell needs to be longer. When that happens, I stop worrying about word count and let it end as a novella or novel. I have a zombie apocalypse story I hope to release in the future that I initially intended to be 100 words. It ended at over 10,000!

Writing short fiction is a great exercise. It makes you think about word choices and their importance to the story. I encourage anyone who enjoys writing to give it a shot.

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Magic.

Myths.

Fantasy.

We are bewitched by what we can't see.

Conjure delight with a fantastical collection of tales. Each story is told in exactly 200 words and designed to delight your imagination no matter how busy your day is.

Will you believe? 

Guest Post: It's Just Romance, by Edale Lane

About the author: Edale Lane is the author of an award winning 2019 debut novel, Heart of Sherwood. She is the alter-ego of author Melodie Romeo, (Vlad: a Novel, Terror in Time, and others) who founded Past and Prologue Press. Both identities are qualified to write historical fiction by virtue of an MA in History and 24 years spent as a teacher, along with skill and dedication in regard to research. She is a successful author who also currently drives a tractor-trailer across the United States. A native of Vicksburg, MS, Edale (or Melodie as the case may be) is also a musician who loves animals, gardening, and nature. 

Please visit her website at:    https://pastandprologuepress.lpages.co

Twitter:   @EdaleLane

It’s Just Romance

By Edale Lane

The Night Flyer Trilogy is a blending of drama, action, mystery, and romance creatively splashed on the backdrop of Renaissance Italy. One protagonist is an inventor’s child and student of Leonardo da Vinci who has a secret identity as the masked vigilante known as the Night Flyer, because of a set of glider wings granting the power of flight; the love interest is a young widow, mother of two, whose brother is one of the richest merchants in Milan. Both of them are women. One of my beta readers gave me an interesting response: “I’ve never read a lesbian romance before; turns out, it’s just romance.”

I was always taught, “Write what you know.” When one is a woman who loves women, I suppose telling a story about women like me is the natural thing to do. I am also a historian, so that is where my passion lies. One of my philosophies about history is that while styles, governments, religion, culture, and technology have changed drastically through the ages, basic human nature hasn’t. People of the 1500’s had most of the same hopes and dreams, fears and ambitions as we do. They went to their jobs, looked after their families, and wished for something better, be it health, position, wealth, or love. Dangers abounded from much of the same sources as they do today—criminals, war, bankruptcy, wild animals, natural disasters, and social ostracism. Maybe they didn’t worry about car wrecks, but being run down by a panicked horse or injured in a carriage accident were genuine possibilities. Some people were religious, others not so much, and social functions were just as important in the caveman’s life as they are in ours. We aren’t that different from the characters in Chaos in Milan—we just have computers and cell phones. And just like modern times, as long as there have been people, there have been women who loved other women, and men who loved other men. Like today, they were the minority, and history has ebbed and flowed with the acceptance of and opposition to these relationships, just as there were matriarchal societies in the past in addition to patriarchies. There is nothing new under the sun.

I know Madelena and Florentina because they are me. I became a widow at a young age with two small children just like Maddie did. I, too, had always been attracted to girls but felt compelled to fill my “proper role” and meet everyone’s expectations. Like Maddie, I had a good husband and loved my children more than anything in all the world, but upon becoming a widow was faced with a decision: do I continue to live the life others have planned for me, or do I now get to choose to be who I really am? Florentina loves learning, music, art, nature, and has a thirst to constantly expand, improve, and experience more of life. She is creative, resourceful, and fearless; she also hides behind a mask, keeping her true identity secret. I am also Florentina. Her day job is as a children’s tutor; I was a teacher for twenty-four years. I had a secret identity for most of my life, because when and where I grew up, you simply weren’t gay. I could have lost my job, been kicked out of my church, or ostracized by family and friends if anyone ever found out. Truly, I was a phenomenal actress hiding behind a mask of normality. Thankfully, those of you today who read my books live in a different, more accepting world. 

What really sets a lesbian romance apart from a “regular” romance? Two people meet: maybe they are attracted to each other right away or the total opposite, but at some point in the story they realize how they feel. There is excitement, but also insecurity. What if he or she doesn’t feel the same way? Do I risk losing a friendship to possibly gain something more? There are obstacles to overcome, and with the Night Flyer Trilogy life and death situations to get through and mysteries to solve. The only thing that sets these books apart is that the love develops between two women; that is also the only thing that sets me apart from my straight friends. We like the same movies, laugh at the same jokes, attend the same churches, and listen to the same music. We all love our pets and our families; I just have a wife instead of a husband, and even that isn’t so different because it’s just as hard for me to get her to put her dirty clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor as it was to get my male husband to pick up his!

Edale Lane novels are historical fantasy lesbian romances with action and intrigue thrown in to boot, but they are not erotica. The reader will never be shocked with detailed love-making scenes or explicit language, however there will be fight scenes and even epic battles. Chaos in Milan features two strong women, each with a unique skill set, who work together to secure their own happiness, safety, and that of those around them. There are also several important subplots that carry throughout the series, including Antonio’s star-crossed romance with the daughter of a family rival and villain of book one, Don Benetto, who subsequently sets out on a road to redemption. Who is behind the assassination attempts? What clues can our heroes uncover in the Chaos Manifesto? What new weapon will the Night Flyer invent this time? How can a wealthy widow and a hired tutor from different classes but the same gender ever realize their desire of making a life together? Find out in Chaos in Milan!

Kindle Version: https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Milan-Three-Night-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B08Q7H6DFX/

Amazon Print Version:  https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Milan-Three-Night-Trilogy/dp/B08PXK13B3/

Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/merchants-of-milan-edale-lane/1136051210?ean=9781654780197

One woman stands between chaos and order – the Night Flyer.

When chaos strikes at the heart of Milan, it is up to Florentina’s alter-ego the Night Flyer to stop it. As Florentina and Madelena’s love deepens, so does the well of danger surrounding them. The race is on to discover the mysterious Shadow Guild and uncover who is behind the deadly rampage, but Florentina’s mission is threatened by a gang of assassins. Can the Night Flyer prevail, or will Maddie’s love be ripped from her arms?

Chaos in Milan is the third book in Edale Lane’s Night Flyer Trilogy, a tale of power, passion, and payback in Renaissance Italy. If you like action and suspense, rich historical background, three-dimensional characters, and a sweet romance, then you’ll want to complete the Night Flyer saga.

Tour Schedule and Activities

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Believable, But Is It Believed?

It's sad when something very logical and even expected happens, but no one believes it. The news is shrieking it everywhere: Donald Trump has the coronavirus. And this makes sense: he refused to wear masks, he has been hosting rallies, include the one in Tulsa where Herman Cain may have caught the virus, and overall showed a general disregard for caution, berating people who wear masks. He even pressured the federal agencies that are supposed to protect the public health: the CDC has made several announcements and recommendations they then had to walk back, so we no longer know if we're getting good information or not. 

It is logical that someone who meets many people and doesn't follow precautions might catch the coronavirus. Many of the people recently in contact with Trump have tested positive. Unfortunately, some people are suggesting that Trump doesn't have the virus at all; that it is a publicity stunt. Michael Moore is one of the most visible proponents of the theory, but Twitter users were exploring the idea within hours of the announcement.

Moore: "He’s an evil genius and I raise the possibility of him lying about having Covid-19 to prepare us and counteract his game. He knows being sick tends to gain one sympathy. He’s not above weaponizing this."

From Twitter: 

Why would he do this? The motivations are many: if he's sick, he can explain away his behavior at the first presidential debate, which was succinctly described by many as a "shitshow". If he's sick, no one can question him about the disastrous business history his recently released tax statements have revealed. If he's sick, no one can question his direct statement on television to the Proud Boys ("Stand by"), which implies that he has future orders for this far-right group with a violent history. 

The press smells blood in the water, and Trump is unlikely to say anything that would help his campaign at the moment. Being sick gets him sympathy. It also gives him a chance to redeem himself by claiming that he "learned his lesson" in the future.

Trump's physician claims that he is doing very well, but other sources have painted a more concerning picture. Whom do we believe?

Vox.com: We’re well aware that Trump has a disease that is particularly deadly for older, overweight men, but we have no reason to trust anything the White House says about the state of his health. What happens if Trump is truly incapacitated, or worse? Who will we trust to relay that information?

Whom, indeed? When someone has told so many falsehoods, it is hard to believe them now. Even when the truth would be perfectly believable.

Review: Upload, Season One

Like many people these days, I'm binging shows on Netflix and Amazon. Unlike most people, this has little to do with the Coronavirus lockdown, and more to do with inheriting a smart TV from my sister-in-law. I'm finally getting to see things like El Camino and Jessica Jones, plus a ridiculous number of superhero shows.

When I saw the ads for Upload, I knew I had to watch at least the first episode. The premise: if you have the money, you can have your mind uploaded to an Internet Heaven when you die. I used to spend a lot of spare time in Second Life, and I was getting that vibe from the ads. It was a great idea, and it was up to Greg Daniels to either succeed with it or screw up. 

The show did not disappoint me. Upload is a lot of fun, and I plowed through the season in a matter of days. The longest episode was the first, where the main characters and Lake View (a very tony Internet Heaven) are introduced, and it only lasts forty-five minutes. The rest of the episodes are about twenty-four minutes each. Bing, bing, bing!

Nathan Brown is a computer programmer engaged to Ingrid, a very wealthy and self-absorbed girl. When Nathan is seriously injured in an accident with his self-driving car, Ingrid pushes for him to become an upload to Lake View, where her family plans to spend their afterlives. Nathan accepts.
Lake View is visually based off the grand hotels of the early twentieth century, with virtual bellhops and large rooms where the dead meet and make new friends. The exterior shots taken for the place are from the Mohonk Mountain House, which I'm adding to the list of hotels I'd like to stay in (the Chateau Frontenac and the Grove Park Inn are on the same list). 

Every resident of Lake View has an Angel, someone available 24-7 to answer questions and serve the needs of the well-heeled residents. Nathan's Angel is named Nora, and it's hard not to like her. She and the other Angels work cheek to jowl in a large room with rows of computer screens, and they aren't paid very well. Nora's father is dying of vape lung, and she wants to borrow enough money to get him into Lake View. Unfortunately, Nora's ratings aren't high enough at work (or in the bedroom, which is another story) and her boss is a petty bitch. Her father also wants to go to 'regular' Heaven to be with her mother, which means when he's gone, he's gone. Nora's emotions bleed over into her job, and Nathan, hungry for real interaction, is supportive. She begins to bond with him.
Meanwhile, Nathan has his own problems. Since Ingrid is paying for everything, his existence is dependent on her happiness and whims. She dresses him in kneepants for his own funeral (perhaps she likes calves?) and considers 'pausing' him when she's too busy with other things. He also has some damaged and missing memories, which isn't supposed to happen with the elite service Ingrid is paying for.
Nathan begins puzzling about it, sharing his concerns with the other uploads. I goggled when they introduced his neighbor across the hall - William B. Davis, best known for playing the Cigarette Smoking Man on the X-Files. The character, David Choak (Koch backwards, I presume), is fabulously wealthy and takes an interest in Nathan. He doesn't believe Nathan died in a freak accident; he believes Nathan was murdered. And if CSM says that, you can take it to the bank.
Nora joins Nathan in his quest for the missing memories, risking her approval ratings and even her job. Before the end of the first season, she's also risking her life.
Upload is a great dystopian sci-fi comedy, with hilarious situations and a handle on cultural developments down the road. One of Nathan's new friends is a kid who's been dead for at least a decade, but is still stuck in a child avatar. They sneak off to the virtual black market and the kid buys a puberty upgrade - which doesn't work out the way he planned. When Nora's dad takes a tour of Lake View, technical problems turn Nathan and the horses they're riding on into block figures. Corporate branding is everywhere, including on the leaves of the trees. Pop-up ads appear regularly in public rooms and paths, just like they do on Second Life. Angels promote virtual products, and receive bonuses if their clients buy.  And everyone is given rating stars for their performance in everything, including the bedroom.
I recommend watching the show. It's full of entertainment and a lot faster than reading this review.

Old Spice Strikes Again!

Circa ten years ago, I wrote a post about two young men who consumed a large amount of nutmeg in pursuit of a legal high. Chubbyemu, one of my favorite YouTubers, presents a more recent case of a fellow who took it even further:

Doc Vader on CDC Conspiracies

I love Doc Vader.

Christopher Gettings: Awesome Photos of Philippe Park

Gwen and I both love to visit Philippe Park in Safety Harbor. There's no beach or swimming, but it's a great place to meditate on the lapping water of Old Tampa Bay or climb the Tocobaga Temple Mound for a top-down view.
Recently, I began following Christopher Gettings on Instagram for his photos of nature, especially the ocean. Here are some recent photos he took at Philippe Park. Enjoy!

View this post on Instagram

***👈Swipe Left👈*** In what is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots in Pinellas County, a few images from today's outing to Philippe Park. . . . #philipecountypark #philippepark #safetyharbor #pinellascounty #pinellas #tarponsprings #tampa #tampbay #tampaflorida #stpetersburgflorida #stpetersburg #stpete #clearwaterbeach #cleargram #clearwater #lovewhereyoulive #lovefl #staysaltyflorida #roamflorida #florida_greatshots #getoutside #getolympus #olympusinspired

A post shared by 🌊🌊🌊Christopher Gettings🌊🌊🌊 (@cjgettings) on Feb 16, 2020 at 11:30am PST

Fill Your Kindle Promotion!

Gwen and I are participating in a group giveaway/free on Kindle Unlimited promotion this week. Check it out for our new book, plus a bunch from other indie authors!

Win up to 35+ eBooks!

(2) Grand Prize "Gift Baskets" of ALL eBooks!
(35+) Winners of Individual eBooks (randomly selected titles)

Book Review: Pines by Blake Crouch

Pines by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on a recommendation from Crimereads, and was swept up immediately.
I didn't know the genre, didn't know that it was the first of a series, or that it was even on television. The novel begins with a basic thriller lure - Secret Service agent comes to small town in search of missing agents - and plunges deep into dystopia by the end. Ethan Burke, the aforementioned agent, has been injured in a car accident and doesn't even know who he is at the beginning of the book. His memory begins to come back, but he doesn't remember the investigation's details or what he discovered before waking up on the streets of Wayward Pines. I'm a sucker for an amnesiac hero (see Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny), or a hero who no longer has vital information he needs (also see The Face of a Stranger from Anne Perry), so I ate this up. I also plowed through the book in one evening, because this tale demands commitment.
The town appears, at first, to be cookie-cutter Suburbia with an unhelpful sheriff. There's also the unhelpful hospital, and the unhelpful new receptionist at Ethan's home office who never seems to pass Ethan's urgent telephone messages on to his superior. It goes downhill from there, and soon our hero is on the run, ducking the law and the local angry villagers--er, residents--who throw parties when they're eliminating outliers. The only friendly person he meets is Beverly, a woman who came to Wayward Pines in 1985--and appears not to have aged.
This is not a novel of pretty words; it's one of action. The reader never rests. Ethan is always running, hiding from the residents of Stepford North, or, later, climbing up cliffs. I followed him, leaping from mental crag to mental crag. It's also in Sensesurround: because he's injured, only partially clothed at times, and has no money, he's cold and constantly hungry. I live in Florida, and had to put my slippers on for protection from the imaginary elements. It's a good read, and when you get to the reveal, you will either be excited or disappointed. I was intrigued. I'm not sure I would try the TV series; I already have some very clear mental pictures of the place and the characters. Other books in the series, however, are a definite possibility.

View all my reviews

Voter Base

Voter Base: When mayor Gene Arnot runs for the state senate, his in-laws literally come out of the swamp to object. His political fate--and life--depend on a different type of stump speech. A bit of Lovecraftian dark humor, free on Kindle Unlimited.

This short story originally appeared in State of Horror: Louisiana. The first part of Gene’s dilemma languished in my computer for several years before the rest of it came to me. Stephen King, in Bazaar of Bad Dreams, referred to a similar situation as having the cup but waiting for the handle to come along; when I returned to it after some time as a political volunteer, I had my handle.

Unhappy Anniversaries

Everyone knows about 9/11/01. Everyone wants to remind us of 9/11/12 today, too, although they seem more interested in talking about Hillary Clinton than honoring the dead.

9/11/12 is also the day my father died. Here we are in Homosassa, Florida. My father liked this restaurant because he could watch the water and the cavorting monkeys on the little island nearby. There were so many little pleasures he found in life.

Seven years later, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop--my mother's health is fading. I think a lot about death and dying these days. Despite his overflowing optimism, Dad had these thoughts, too. Starting in the 1990s, he mailed 'Open in the Event of My Death' envelopes to me, which he periodically updated. During his final illness, he had me open the most recent one so we could review the contents. He'd provided a list of people to notify, actions to take, and a personal message to the church congregation, which I read aloud at the memorial.

How I wish I had another envelope to prepare me now.