Strangely Funny Authors: Meet David Seigler

Today, we're meeting David Seigler, author of "If You Can't Trust a Rhyming Demon, Can You Trust a Demon not to Rhyme?" It's an amusing (and occasionally rhyming) study of human nature. Plus, it has a very engaging demon.

Q. What inspired your notion of a four-foot tall demon who could compose quatrains and haiku on the fly?

The demon was inspired by my Cocker Spaniel, who is not only quite short, but also an evil poet at heart. She spends her time lying in the floor, composing verse and thinking up ways to cause bodily mischief upon anyone foolish enough to come near her. I think she’s already determined the best way to take over the world and she knows it involves the internet. Frankly, we’re all just lucky she keeps getting distracted by pictures of cats.

Q. Tell us about Ground Zero Comics.

Ground Zero Comics is the comic store I opened some twenty years ago at the urging of my therapist. He said I needed something to invest myself in but somehow I misinterpreted his advice to mean that I just wasn't losing enough money in the career that I was in at that time. So I looked around for the most demanding, least financially rewarding occupation I could find and a comic book store seemed to fit the bill. Twenty years later, I can safely say that I haven’t been the least bit disappointed.

Q. What is your current project? Tell us a little about it.

It’s a tender coming of age story about a boy who adopts a deadly snake believing it is the reincarnation of his dead mother. I really hate snakes, so I've been trying to avoid writing it.  I can’t afford therapy anymore so I may have to just finish it and move on.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?

My writing process is very structured. I form an extensive outline and meticulously plot out every move my characters make with a specific outcome in mind. Then when I start the final draft my characters take over and do what they damn well please, which invariably has absolutely nothing to do with what I intended to write. My characters are all like children and I don’t mean that in a good way. They’re petulant and defiant and generally determined to show me who’s in charge (hint: it’s not me). I've tried holding out and not finishing a story until they did what I wanted them to, but in the end they’re always stronger than I am.

Q. We know you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

Many years ago I attended a lecture by Kurt Vonnegut. I had read a handful of his novels, but I left the lecture determined to read every one of his books. There is something incredibly audacious about his writing. I find that when I describe one of his stories it comes out sounding awful, but his genius is that he makes it work in a way that seems perfectly obvious. Of course right now my own writing has not even a hint of his audaciousness, but I think the reason I keep plugging away is because I hope that at some point it will force me to lose my own inhibitions.
Ultimately the biggest thing I got from Vonnegut was this basic tenet that runs through his work: If you can’t see the absurdity in life, you’re just not paying attention.

Thanks for talking to us today!

Learn more about David Seigler and his projects at http://davidseigler.wordpress.com/ . You might also be interested in learning more about his store, Ground Zero Comics.

And don't forget: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

Profile: Norman A. Rubin

Norman A. Rubin

Norman A. Rubin was the first person to send a submission to Strangely Funny. He not only sent one submission, he sent four over the following weeks. From Israel. I was curious, and looked him up online. Mr. Rubin authored several articles that focus on mythology and Near East archaeological subjects, topics I find very interesting. Back during the reign of Kurt Cobain, I was a classical languages student at the University of Kentucky. Didn't finish the degree, but I didn't lose the interest. He'd been published in Archaelogy and Minerva. Now, he was retired, and had turned his hand to fiction.

I sent him an acceptance for "Aunt Bessie and the 'It'", a story I found charming and quite suited to the theme of the anthology. There was another story I particularly liked, but I'd already accepted a story with a similar subject. When I sent the rejection message, I suggested he resubmit it if an appropriate antho opened.

Then I waited. And waited. I wondered if he'd been offended by my last reject. I also held off on my final rejection notices, since I might have an open slot and I didn't want to say 'no' any more times than I had to.

Fortunately, I heard back from his wife. Mr. Rubin was ill, but she would get his permission to print his story for me. I thanked her.

The permission came through, and "Aunt Bessie" appears in the book. I didn't know until recently if I would hear from Mr. Rubin again. I got my answer last week. We're still open for one anthology this year, and I got a submission from him.

Make that two.


Learn more about Norman A. Rubin from his profile at New Myths. You can see some of his nonfiction works at Esra Magazine. He also has an amusing story at Scissors & Spackle.

And don't forget to read his current tale: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

Strangely Funny Authors: Meet Paul Wartenberg!

Paul

Today, I'm interviewing Paul Wartenberg, who wrote "I Must Be Your First". We met at NaNoWriMo and, although he relocated, we've stayed in touch.

Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

When I was younger and was getting into reading, perhaps around First Grade, I was intrigued with the idea of books being what they were, that someone went out of their way to create them, put the words onto paper to tell stories or pass on information. In my family, we kids were encouraged to find outlets for creativity, music or art or writing, and for me it got to be writing (I was okay at art but never got past a certain stage). I worked on the high school's creative arts magazine, took classes on writing fiction, studied journalism as a career.

Paul's Muse

Q: We met at NaNoWriMo, so I gotta ask: plotter or pantser?

A mix of both, but I'd go with plotter. I'll have a basic outline and list of major characters, and then it's just a question of setting the scenes, and starting the story.  But everything else is wide open: half the time I'll create a new character I didn't plan on, or change a dialog or change the characters saying and responding to the dialog. The changing point is where and when I feel like I'm flying by my pants to get the rest of the story told.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your writing process when you're not doing NaNoWriMo?

The Writing Process: Step One, plan a day when I'm not scheduled to work. Step Two, do a lot of laundry that day. Step Three, blog about writers' block. Step Four...
I kid.  I do plan for a day I'm not full-time working and get my laptop or desktop fired up to get the writing done.  If I'm travelling somewhere for a day, and I can plan ahead, I sometimes bring the laptop with me, travel earlier than I need to, find a spot to plug in and write, and use the extra time between here and there to get a few pages done.

Q: I know you're working on something new that's not a short story; tell us a little about it.

It's a novel that's part of a superhero universe I've tinkered with over the years.  The idea of humans with psychic-based "talents" who can enter superheroing as a licensed profession, but it also happens to be very much like our universe where super-hero comics existed (1930s) before the Talents were scientifically proven (during WWII and conclusively during the 1960s), which means that the heroes have to cope with pop culture expectations (not to mention the fact all the good superhero names are taken, meaning they have to work under fake common names).  It plays like superheroing as a professional sport: trading cards, promotional tours, stunt shows, etc. with heroes up for trades between franchise cities: one short story idea I have is one of L.A.'s heroes horrified he's getting traded to Des Moines (sorry Des Moines, but seriously your Mad Scientist quota is shockingly low).
I've published a short story based in this universe: The Hero Cleanup Protocol, through Smashwords.com. It's ebook only at the moment.
The novel itself is about two of the more unique powersets I'm allowing inside the universe's rules, one of them a young woman hunted for her unique Talent and the other the only person on the planet able to defend her.

Q: Peanut butter: creamy or crunchy?

No. OH NO. You ASKED. I warned you NOT to ask. The flame war is upon us whether we want it or not!
(whisper: actually, I prefer honey roasted flavor)

Q: What makes you so sexy?

...wait, what?

Q: You've worked in libraries, so you've had access to a smorgasbord of books. Who is your favorite author and what really strikes you about their work?

I'm currently a big fan of Neil Gaiman. Just finished reading Ocean At the End of the Lane. He's able to create stories that are at once familiar yet fresh. I tend to read more non-fiction, though: a lot of history, sociology, computer science, general academia. If I read fiction it's more science fiction/fantasy/something with a humorous vein to it, which is where Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett count for a lot. Ray Bradbury, one of the best short story writers I've ever read and I will argue the case to any doubters. Outside of SciFi I'll read Elmore Leonard and Tim Dorsey (vicious but twistedly funny).

Q: Why are there so many librarians in Second Life? I've met a bunch of them there.

I can't speak for all librarians, and to be honest I'm not in Second Life (never got past the avatar formation stage). Librarians do tend to be tech-savvy for one thing (we need to keep up with technology as the information we manage is more digital than ever), and while most librarians might not be into MMO gaming they would be interested in alternate reality/world building. Maybe also they want to build libraries in other worlds...

Thanks for talking to us today!

Paul's books,Welcome to Florida and Last of the Grapefruit Wars, is available at Amazon. Read Paul's blog at Witty Librarian and the Book with the Blue Cover.

And don't forget: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

Strangely Funny Authors: Meet Alex Azar!

Today, I'm interviewing Alex Azar, who wrote "The Taste of Copper" for Strangely Funny. It's a good bit funnier than the first story I read from him, "No Lights" in Isolation (Post Mortem Press).

Q. Am I correct that you chose the story idea for your submission by taking a poll on your blog? What were the other contenders?

You are correct. It just so happened that at the time the call for submissions for Strangely Funny came out, my blog was about to hit 100 posts.  I thought a fun way to commemorate that was with my first poll, allowing followers to choose from several different ideas. The other options were, a geriatric monster hunter in a retirement home still hunting his one that got away (imagine a werewolf with a walker being chased by an old man in a wheelchair), and the final option was the a story about the slow build of preparing for a zombie apocalypse, that turns out to only consist of a single zombie.

• Side note: the werewolf with the walker would have been a good sell, too!

Q. Many writers know what they are from a young age, but your bio suggests you had a grand "Aha!" moment instead during college. Tell us a little more about that. I started in electrical engineering myself, but that was after I was informed I couldn't major in something as impractical as comic book writing.

I had always been a budding author. I still have notebooks from elementary school filled with early attempts at comics of my own. However, it wasn't until after I spent two years at college studying to be an electrical engineer that I realized I hated math. More to the point, I took every English course the college offered. That was my "Aha" moment when I realized maybe writing was a viable profession for me. Telling my engineering father I was going to be a writer wasn't an easy conversation, but he's now my biggest fan.

Q. Are you a plotter or a pantser? ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pantser )

And here I always thought a pantser was someone who dropped other people's pants. I'd like to claim that I'm a plotter, but reality hits every time I begin a new project and realize that the three lines of "cool" dialogue I've jotted on a post-it note don't really amount to much of a plot.

Q. What is your latest writing project? Tell us a little about it.

For the past several years I've been writing the cases of a paranormal detective, James S. Peckman. The stories are told from James' recollection after he's lived through decades worth of misery and adventure. In his older state, the cases aren't told chronologically, painting an interesting tapestry that can't be fully appreciated until he's finished his tales. The hope is to publish his various cases in two collected editions.

Q. Who is your favorite author, and what do you enjoy most about his/her writing?

There's certainly a few contenders for favorite author like H.P. Lovecraft, C.J. Henderson, and Stephen King, but I'd have to say my absolute favorite would be Edgar Alan Poe. Aside from his writing being so visceral and emotionally driven, his style was the most influential to the development to my writing. In fact, the first story of mine to be accepted for publication, was actually written for a 'disciples of Poe' anthology. The company went out of business before I even heard back regarding the submission, but I sent it elsewhere, and it started a trend that continues with "Strangely Funny" containing my tenth publication, "The Taste of Copper".

Thanks for visiting with us!

Learn more about Alex's current projects (and possibly vote on them) at http://azarrising.blogspot.com .

Check out Alex's story in Strangely Funny, now available in print, Kindle, and other e-book formats.

Strangely Funny Authors: Meet John Lance

Today, I'm interviewing John Lance, author of "Deadbeat". As I read his story for the first time, I couldn't help but think that there was something... familiar about one of the characters. I wasn't wrong.

Q. What was your inspiration for Deadbeat?

The financial crisis, and the Bernie Madoff fraud in particular, gave me the initial nugget for Deadbeat. That and the idle thought "if one of these greedy bastards the government is chasing dies, who gets the money?" Throw in a morally flexible lawyer and we're off and running.

Q. I see that you also write for younger readers. Which audience did you first write for, and why?

Back when I started, I wrote sweeping, epic, dramatic Fantasy novels. The kind that beg to be trilogies (and/or HBO series, if there's anyone from the network out there).

Sadly, those did not sell (though I'm sure Cinemax could do lovely things with the core concepts - call me).

At that point I took a detour and wrote an amusing short story about a troll that moved into a boy's room and not only refuses to leave, but charges the boy a toll to sleep in his own bed! The combination of humor and fantastical elements proved to be a winner, and I wound up writing a number of short stories for kids that were eventually collected into the volume Bobby's Troll and Other Stories.

Following that success, I started writing humorous stories for adults, of which Deadbeat is the most recent.

"First there's blood. Then there's sweat. And I usually finish with the tears."

Q. Can you tell us a little about your writing process?

First there's blood. Then there's sweat. And I usually finish with the tears. Sometimes I vary the order just to keep life interesting.

All kidding aside, one of the keys to my process is a mini-notebook I always keep in my back pocket. Whenever I get even a whiff of a possible story idea, I jot it down. Then later, when I'm trying to think of something to write, I'll flip through the notebook for ideas. Some are garbage ("Werewolf eats a milkman - discovers he's lactose intolerant?" - I mean, what the heck is that!?!?) but others bear fruit. Deadbeat started as a few lines in that notebook.

Then I whip out the first draft. And then I revise. And revise. And revise And revise .

The other tool in my chest is my story blog, Titles Are Hard at www.johnmlance.com. I regularly post flash fiction stories out there just to keep the creative juices flowing.

Q. We know you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

Fantasy was my first love. Insert the obligatory, and honest, homage to J.R.R. Tolkien here. A close second is Terry Pratchett. I think his Discworld is one of the most fully realized worlds in all fantasy. The fact he leaves me in stitches doesn't hurt.

Recently I read a Den of Thieves which is about the insider trading scandals of the 1980s and just serves as a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  I'm also working my way through a collection of stories from H.P. Lovecraft, which ensures I get a regular dose of monsters and ghouls.

Thanks for talking to us today!

Bobby's Troll and Other Stories recently became available on Kindle, so click on the pic above or click here to learn more.

And don't forget: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

Strangely Funny Authors: Meet Suzanne Robb!

"I started writing when I could hold a crayon."

Today, I'm interviewing Suzanne Robb, author of "No More Blue Pills". She also wrote Were-wolves, Apocalypses, and Genetic Mutation, Oh my! and Contaminated. I also discovered that she belonged to one of the other writing teams in The ePocalypse: emails at the end. Loved the idea for that anthology!

1. You wrote a fun takeoff on the craze for 'ED' pills. Were you inspired by an actual desire to get rid of the pills, or did a piece of spam land in your inbox at a propitious moment?

The idea for the story occurred when I was watching a parody on medications and their side effects, and going through my junk folder. I thought what if a woman (tired of all the ED spam, like myself) decided to do something about it, but it all went sideways.

2. You have a string of stories that sound like great fun. What got you interested in writing?

I started writing when I could hold a crayon. I think it had a lot to do with being an only child and living in the middle of nowhere. As for the fun element in my stories, I like to make people smile or laugh. I embrace the goofiness that is life.

3. What is your current project? Tell us a little about it.

Current project, just one? I have several, but the one I am hoping will get picked up is The Moonlight Killer, a different take on the werewolf mythology. Basically, a man decides to bite back his lupine attacker and chaos ensues on the next full moon.

4. How did you get into LEGOs? Uh, as a presumed grown-up?

LEGOs are an anxiety reducer for me. I tend to get stressed out easily and when that happens I head into a room, toss several LEGO on the floor and see what happens. I find it is a good way to focus and forget about the things bogging me down.

5. We know you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

I like to read almost everything. Christopher Moore, Jasper Fforde, Jeff Lindsey, early Dean Koontz, Phillip Pullman, and loads of others. If it is in print I will likely read it.

Thanks for talking to us today!

Learn more about Suzanne on her blog:

http://suzannerobb.blogspot.com/

And don't forget: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

Strangely Funny Authors: Meet Leslie Carmichael!

I'd like to introduce you to one of the authors featured in Strangely Funny: Leslie Carmichael. She wrote the story "Something Plucked This Way Comes", which stars a very... odd creature. Let's learn more about it - and her.

Q. How did you come up with the creature in your story? It was an unusual selection, even for an unusual book.
A. It actually started out as a joke: somebody mentioned the word "poultrygheist" to me (I forget what we were chatting about at the time), and I thought, "Hey, I could use that!" But I also thought, "Nah, that's too easy. But what if..." The critter, um, evolved, over time from a chicken that had somehow devolved into a dinosaur, but I changed my mind, and it is proudly what it is today.

Q. You're leading an adventuresome life. What got you interested in writing, an activity usually done sitting on one's butt?
A. I have always wanted to write and be a writer, since about grade three, I think. But it's hard to do that when you don't have a lot of life experience. I love to travel and use what I learn from other places and times. The reason I went to Egypt was for research for one of my children's books. Iceland was for a "roots" trip, to see where some of my ancestors had come from.

Q. What is your current project? Tell us a little about it.
A. I'm currently working on one of my comic interactive murder mystery plays, called "Mummy Dearest." It's for Halloween and (you guessed it) has an Egyptian theme. In my "time off" from playwriting, I work on a young adult novel about a 17-year-old boy who gets involved with stopping shark finners (fishermen who kill sharks only to slice off their fins for sale, and often throw the sharks back in the water, alive, to die of blood loss, shock, or being eaten by other predators). Yes, there is real horror in the world, and we cause it.

Q. What makes you so sexy?
A. Belly dancing. And cats.

Q. We know you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?
A. Science Fiction, fantasy, mysteries, humor, plays, non-fiction for research, books for children and young adults (especially Harry Potter).

Learn more about Leslie at her web site: http://www.lesliecarmichael.ca/

And don't forget: Strangely Funny is now on sale in print, Kindle, and other email formats.

MAHLLC Publishes Its First Antho: What Happens Now?

I apologize for the lengthy absence from posting here, but frankly, I've been very busy. First: I have a temp job that is a) full-time, and b) pays decently. The drive to work is about an hour in the morning and 75 minutes to get home in the evening, so I've been AFK (at least on my own time) a lot. My brain has often been fried as a result, but I still managed to read through 70+ submissions and select stories for Strangely Funny.

In a nutshell: this is a collection of paranormal stories that are also humorous. Despite what the cover implies, I did not write all the stories; I wrote one of them. I am the editor of the collection, which made getting an acceptance for my story much easier. I may decide to keep editing anthologies for that very reason, although it is a bit of extra work.

There are some pretty damned funny stories in here, and I don't just mean mine. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be featuring some author interviews from other contributors to the anthology on this blog, plus the MAHLLC Blog. The first interview will be with Leslie Carmichael, author of "Something Plucked This Way Comes".

The e-version of Strangely Funny is now available on Amazon and Smashwords. The trade paperback version will be available on August 1, and Amazon is taking preorders for the print version now. You can read some sample stories from the collection for free on either site, so look them over and see if this book is for you!

Guest Post: T.W. Brown

T.W. Brown visits us today, courtesy of the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour!


One of the things that I hear from time to time is that “zombies are history” or “The market is oversaturated”.
Five words: What a load of crap. People have been saying that about vampires for over a decade…guess what? Twilight blew away box offices, despite all the people who openly grouse about it.

I have a different take; I think BAD zombie offerings are what are on the endangered species list. With so much out there, the readers can now be more selective. The days of just being glad you could find a zombie book on the market have been replaced by a wide variety and some very creative takes on the classic ideas.

I think most of the people banging the drum on the undead hordes are the people who either A) were never along for the ride to begin with; or B) can’t help but share the sour grapes in the bowl at their desk. One thing there has never been a shortage of is negative spewing, armchair quarterbacks.

As I write this, World War Z is just a few weeks away from opening. Brad Pitt folks. It doesn’t get much more mainstream than that; The Walking Dead is one of the most watched cable programs in history; the Amazon Top 100 Horror Writers list is like a zombie author minefield. And just recently, my friend John O’Brien was entrenched for several days at number three behind King and Koontz. I don’t care who you are, that is a horror writer’s dream to be sitting at that table.

So, I return to my premise that it is not the zombie that is old news, it is the abundance of mediocrity that has suffered a bullet to the brain. Not that they are gone, but I think that cream has risen to the top. That is a good thing. It makes it easier for those seeking to carve their own niche to find some quality examples because, let’s face it, that was a real hit-and-miss exercise just a year ago.

As a writer, I enjoy picking up a good zombie book and seeing where a talented author will take me. This past few months, I have had the pleasure of reading offerings by Armand Rosamilia, Mark Tufo, and the aforementioned O’Brien. As a person who has watched the original Dawn of the Dead over a hundred times (not an exaggeration), I love zombies. A good book blows away a movie any day, and as recently as 2005, that was not easy to do by any stretch of the imagination. David Wellington’s Monster Island was one of the rare gems. Other than that, the offerings were sparse and difficult to find. At one point, I had every single title that Amazon had to offer in the “zombie fiction” search.

It is easy to forget that e-readers were still being resisted and the self-pub scene was comparable to FM radio in the early seventies. For those of you old enough to understand that reference, I think it might still come as a bit of a shock when you take in the landscape that unfurls before us.

So, let people continue to scream about how the sky is falling on the zombie genre. Those acorns that are falling are growing into mighty oaks.

To learn more about T.W. Brown, check out his blog or, better yet, Dead Confrontation - now available!

Review: I Am Murdered by Bruce Chadwick

I Am Murdered is Bruce Chadwick's account of the poisoning of George Wythe, close friend of Thomas Jefferson and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His great-nephew George Sweeney was the prime suspect, and the subsequent trial is now referred to, at least by the publishers, as America's first 'Trial of the Century'.

Chadwick begins with a recounting of Wythe's poisoning, showing us the normal pattern of Wythe's morning and when and how things went drastically wrong. We learn of the shockwave his death sent through the Richmond of the early nineteenth century, and his close-knit group of friends, also known as 'America's Founding Fathers'. 

We learn who George Wythe is and why he is an important part of America's history, Virginia's in particular. He was America's first law professor, a member of the Continental Congress, the judge for the high Chancery Court of Virginia, and a co-reviser of Virginia's laws. This last will become pertinent later. Wythe was titled 'the American Aristides' and seemed to be universally loved - with one clear exception.

George Sweeney, a teenager, has been living the high life in a Richmond far less stodgy than the one that exists today. Sweeney is up to his eyeballs in gambling debts. As a result, the youth is always broke and begging money from the great-uncle he was named for. When Uncle George refuses, Sweeney forges checks in his name. There's a more permanent solution, of course, and young George doesn't have to be an Agatha Christie reader to come up with it: Uncle George is childless. Half of Uncle George's estate goes to Sweeney when he dies, and the other half goes to a mulatto protege that Uncle George has been teaching.

On May 25th, 1806, Sweeney visits the kitchen in Wythe's elegant home. The cook is convinced that Sweeney dumped something from a paper packet into the coffee. I would have dumped the contents personally; instead, everyone in the house, including the cook, drink the adulterated beverage and fall ill. The mulatto protege dies, opening up that half of the estate for Sweeney, but there's a problem: Wythe has a damned good idea that he's been poisoned, and who did it. He declares "I am murdered" (hence the title of the book), and insists that he be autopsied when he dies. He also lives long enough to change his will, disinheriting George entirely. Impressive for an eighty-year-old man, but this will also be pertinent later. 

Chadwick makes a strong case for Sweeney's guilt. Unfortunately, justice could not be served for a number of reasons, which Chadwick explains in detail in the rest of the book. It is rich in irony.

First: Wythe lived too long after ingesting the poison. The three prominent physicians, including Wythe's personal physician, were not absolutely certain that poison was the cause. They also refused to believe that someone could live two weeks after ingesting a fatal dose of arsenic, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Cholera could have been the cause, or Wythe could have died from an excess of bile in his system. This wavering on the cause of death bolstered the defense. Chadwick makes sure that we know what a piss-poor job these men did with determining Wythe's cause of death, but to citizens of the nineteenth century, they were experts who knew what they were doing.

Second: as a lawgiver, Wythe was too much Solon with serious punishments and too much Draco where blacks and slaves were concerned. The revised laws forbade blacks from giving evidence against whites. This meant that his cook, the only living witness, could not testify against Sweeney. Another person, a man who found some concealed arsenic Sweeney had tried to ditch following his arrest, was barred from testimony for the same reason. This was especially ironic because Wythe was a staunch abolitionist who had accepted the harsher laws regarding slaves to get the whole body of law accepted.

Third: the economy of the nineteenth century had gotten ahead of the law where banking was concerned. Forging checks today is a criminal offense today. When the revised law of Virginia was completed in 1779, however, it did not include forgery against a public institution like a bank. The first bank in Virginia wasn't chartered until 1792. The prosecution couldn't even charge him with stealing from his uncle.

As a result, Sweeney was freed and swiftly left town.

There is a large amount of history and detail in this book, perhaps more than some readers will want to take on. It is a nonfiction work regarding a real crime, but it is in no way a lurid 'true crime' book. If you like in-depth history, though, or are an author, it's good reading. For the historical mystery writer, the book is a gold mine, covering several aspects of both Virginian and medical history. The notes and bibliography section provide plenty of avenues to locate more specific knowledge of events, education, and law. If you're setting a novel, especially a mystery, in the period following the Revolutionary War, this book could be a great help. 

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.)

Mystery and Horror, LLC: Open for Submissions

I start with a tale of woe.

2011 was a great year for me. I had a bunch of short stories published, and my first novel, All This and Family, Too (vampire satire) came out. My wife, Gwen Mayo, had her own novel, a historical mystery. We had a house, jobs, health insurance, savings, and friends. We legally organized as Mystery and Horror, LLC to make our joint expenses as authors easier to handle.

Then came 2012. My father collapsed and it was clear that my mother needed help. My wife and I quit our jobs, sold our house to my stepdaughter (for the cost of the mortgage), and relocated to Florida to care for my dad in the last months of his life. Our writing came to a standstill.

Now, it's 2013. We're still in Florida, since my mother needs help maintaining the life we wanted to preserve. We learned, in January, that Pill Hill Press had closed. That was the publisher of our novels. We're still waiting to hear about their fate. 

So... we started our own press with some seed money. Since we're already legally organized, it comes under the banner of our LLC: Mystery and Horror. Guess what we publish?

Let me tell you about our first anthologies. Please note that contributors will each get a free print copy of the antho, plus a $5 advance on royalties.

Strangely Funny

An anthology of humorous paranormal stories. All stories must contain paranormal elements (ghosts, psychic abilities, vampires, etc.) and be funny. Think Addams Family, Zombieland, or Love at First Bite. They should not contain gratuitous violence, gratuitous sex, or excessive foul language. We're seeking stories that are 2000 - 5000 words in length (firm). We will also accept cartoons if submitted in electronic format. No reprints. We will accept multiple submissions, but not simultaneous submissions. Open submission period: March 1 - June 10th, 2013.

Halloween Project: All Hallows' Evil

An anthology of mystery stories set during Halloween/Samhain/CandyFest. We're seeking stories that are 4000 - 8000 words in length (firm). Paranormal elements are acceptable as long as the central story is a mystery. Open submission period: April 20 - July 15th, 2013. 

The Undead of Winter

This one has cover art already!

Mummies, Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts... if it's dead and still getting around, we're interested in it. Stories should be set in the winter months. Holiday stories are welcome... Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, etc... but they should be winter holidays. We're seeking stories that are 3000 - 8000 words in length (firm). Open submission period: August 1 - October 1, 2013.

You can find our general guidelines, plus an explanation of our royalty structure, on our Guidelines and Payments page.

We will be opening for novels soon. Stay tuned...

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FCHNSblog: Finding Your Setting, Literally

Gwen Mayo and I recently joined the Florida chapter of the Historical Novel Society. Here is a link to my first post on their blog!

FCHNSblog: Finding Your Setting, Literally: Seeing the physical terrain helps shape a story.

An Interview with Smitty

Today's guest is a gentleman who only goes by the name 'Smitty'. He's a private contractor in the field of personnel removal, and I don't mean 'downsizing'. Recently, we had a conversation via the medium of the Internet--a far safer way to meet a hit man than on the job!
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Q. Did your parents name you Smitty? I'm picturing a cigar-chomping baby in a bassinet.

My parents originally named me John. For most of my life I was known as Johnny. I'm one half of a set of twins. Or to be more precise; I am the surviving twin. My brother, along with my wife, met . . . shall we say . . . a sudden and violent demise.  But you can read it in a story written by B.R. Stateham entitled, "There is No Johnny---Just Call Me Smitty."

It is fairly accurate in depicting the incident which permanently changed me into this persona you call 'Smitty'.

Q. You're a private contractor for jobs that don't appear in the Wanted ads. Do you enjoy your work, or are you training for a new career at the University of Phoenix?

My jobs come to me quietly. Someone needs help;  someone is in trouble. The kind of trouble the police cannot handle. The kind a priest of cleric cannot touch.  My name floats around in the darkness.  If you listen closely enough you'll hear a whispered voice.  That will be me.

As to whether I enjoy my work, all I can say is that I am not bothered by it. And I find I have a somewhat macabre talent for it.  But I will confess that sometimes . . . sometimes . . . a particular conclusion of an assignment takes place that gives me a measure of satisfaction.

Q. I've done a number of job interviews recently. They always ask me if there's a particular piece of work I'm proud of. Do you have a favorite bit of work in your past, and if so, what made it special?

One job comes to mind; I was asked to intercede in a family feud. A set of brothers from a family of mobsters accused each other of removing their father permanently from the scene. So each brother quietly hired me to bump off the other.

I did.  At the funeral of their father. Father, and his two sons, were each buried in the same cemetery that week. I laid a black rose onto the grave of each.

Q. What items are in your 'toolbelt' besides a Dan Wesson .357?

Whatever can be manipulated into a weapon. Guns, knives, baseball bats, detergents, bailing wire, even a Bic pen. Whatever is handy.

But I prefer a switch-blade. Murder should be up close and personal, don't you think?

Q. What makes you so sexy?

I've been accused of being a lot of things. But 'sexy' is a description that fails me completely. Women, for some reason, especially those whom I help escape from one danger or another, seem to hold this view about me.

I find it interesting.  But puzzling.
---

If you'd like to learn more about Smitty, perhaps in hopes of a future business arrangement, you can learn more via B.R. Stateham in Call Me Smitty: There Are No Heroes.

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Author Interview: Michael Brookes

I'm pleased to welcome Michael Brookes, author of The Cult of Me, today. He resides in eastern England and is a game producer by day, but a novelist by night. I hope you'll enjoy learning about him as much as I did.

***

Q: Michael: Your day job sounds pretty interesting. Tell us a little about it.

I'm an Executive Producer for a video games company. I manage various game projects, helping bring them from concept to released game. It's a great job and I'm lucky enough to work with many talented and wonderful people.

You can see me doing work type stuff here:
http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/first-elite-dangerous-fiction-diary.html

I've been fortunate recently in being asked to write the official novel for one of our upcoming games - so I get to combine two of my great passions.

Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

I've always enjoyed writing, but it's only in the last few years that I decided to try making my work public. Reception has been quite positive so far, which is nice.

Q: How did you pick the genre(s) you write in?

The story picks the genre. Although it can be loosely termed 'horror' I'll utilise tools from any genre to tell the story.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Cult of Me?

The original inspiration came from reading John Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. For me it's the greatest story ever told. I've wanted to do a modern take on it for some time, but from a more human perspective. But I needed a suitable protagonist. 'The Cult of Me' is the first book in the trilogy for that tale.

Q: Plotter or pantser?

Plotter. Although story is king, I do like to plan it out in advance. Of course it changes once you start writing!

Q: What makes you so sexy?

My blue eyes and firm jaw. And the beard. Definitely the beard.

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

I love reading. I think any author has to love reading, although it depresses me sometimes. I'll read a passage and think, I can't write as good ass that. But the good thing about writing is that you can always get better.

My favourite reading tends to be science-fiction and horror. 'Excession' by Ian M Banks is my favourite novel.

Thank you for visiting with me today. To learn more about Michael, visit his blog at:
http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/ .

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Personal Climate Change II: Florida's Nonhuman Inhabitants

More on the differences between Florida and Kentucky. I mentioned the differences in climate, but there are also differences in the creatures you find here.

The good part: Florida has an amazing variety of birds. Many birds pass through the Bluegrass on their way south, but guess where they're headed to? They join birds from all over the place, sort of like the mix of tourist nationalities at Disneyworld. 

Egrets are cheeky. You'll see them along the shoreline, but I've also seen them at busy street intersections miles from the beach. The arched neck gives them a certain dignity, and I've often pictured them as little old ladies waiting for their turn to cross.

One of our friends in Tarpon Springs.

Anhingas are beautiful. They look like cormorants, but smaller. Gwen and I see them when we walk the Howard Park Causeway. They sit on the rocks, looking for leaping fish or holding their wings out to dry them. 

We also enjoy seeing the sandpipers and the red-winged blackbirds, but could do without the gulls. They are exactly like the ones in Finding Nemo. People rarely take food to Howard Park Beach twice. The little bastards will swoop down and take a hot dog right out of a kid's hand. They'll chase you if you run, too.

Now for the not-so-good: you probably know the association between Florida and alligators. In the water, Florida grows some large amphibians. On land, though, the story is different. The trees and rocks are filled with incredibly cute little geckos and anoles. The reason they're so small is because the insects and rats eat them before they get bigger. I'm convinced of it.

When you go into a Wal-Mart, a Publix, or even the Dollar Tree in Florida, you'll find a great variety of plastic bags and containers. Those aren't for tourists planning to picnic at the beach (a bad plan for the reason I gave above). Those are for Floridians trying to protect their food and goods against the waves of local vermin.

Florida cockroaches are huge. The euphemistic term for them is 'palmetto bugs', but they're roaches. Even Orkin agrees. Regular cockroaches run away when you turn the kitchen light on. These guys blink up at you and wonder what you want.

I realized I was getting blasé about them when my brother visited and one crawled through the crack in the doorjamb. He became more and more disconcerted while I was speaking, and then pointed out the roach.

"What is that?"

"It's a roach. They're pretty big here."

"Oh, my God."

Our buddy crawled away. A few minutes later, we heard a screech and a thump from the other room. My sister-in-law squashed him with a book. She had to protect the dog.

Aren't you glad this isn't a picture
of what I'm talking about now?

Ants. Ants, ants, ants. All types, all sizes. Everywhere. In the sand outside, between the rocks, crawling into the house. We had a swarm in the living room last week, and I did the flamenco dance of death. Had to sweep the floor twice before Mother hosed the room with Raid.

The rats. What can I say about the rats? Rats in Kentucky gnaw holes in potatoes and bags of flour. The rats here ate through the plastic and rubber lines of Mom's dishwasher. Twice. They also ate the mattress in the sofa bed and left rat poop behind. They caused a major water leak behind the refrigerator; the ice maker hadn't worked for years, and we found out why.

They're smart, too. Gwen has set traps with bacon, peanut butter, cheese, and lunch meat. She even tried strawberries. Little shits learned how to get the food off the trap without getting caught. The feral cats outside are no help - I think they're afraid of them.

We're going to have to call an exterminator and see if he can do something about getting the rats out of the house. Then, my mother will have to have our handyman block and/or repair the entry points. Meanwhile, we're buying lots of Glad bags and plastic containers. And washing the dishes by hand.

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Interview: Lillian Brummett

Today, I welcome Lillian Brummet to Sinister Scribblings. Lillian is an author, but also so much more. She and her husband Dave offer book publishing services when they're not promoting green living and living positively. They also host an Internet Radio program, "World of Writing", on her channel, Conscious Discussions Talk Radio:
 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions 
The next broadcasts are scheduled for February 7th and 17th.

Today, she's answering some questions I posed to her about self-promotion.

Q: Whenever I read blogs about promoting writing, I keep hearing about a 'platform'. What do they mean by this term? Is it the same thing as the buzzword 'branding yourself'?

You are so right about the changing buzzwords in the industry – people are coming up with new terms to mean similar things and it can be confusing that is for sure. So I’ll try to clear this up for you and your readers. 

Branding: this term is used to describe how you present yourself or better said, how you appear to others, or what you are known by. An example of this would be:  Jane has have built a reputation for being a green living expert that specializes on educating her audience. So that is her brand. This also means that her logo, the colors she uses in her promotion materials, the website… everything that her put out there reflects this brand. 

Platform: this term is used to describe how you get your branding known. It is kind of like a launching pad that you built that supports your marketing and promotion efforts. So this would include promotion materials you’ve prepared, a website that describes your services and/or products, blog, setting up social media, newsletter, e-newsletter, radio show, video series… or whatever you are choosing to utilize. When you have a platform created (and this can be an ongoing evolving process) it offers you a solid place to stand on and makes your other efforts more efficient. 

Q: I had a self-published author tell me once that you needed to have 5 books in print to make enough money to support yourself. Is this true, presuming that one lives modestly? 

Honestly the comment you heard does make sense in that book sales can fluctuate and the more books you have the better chance you have of creating a sustainable steady income. Sadly, though, in reality this isn't necessarily the case. For instance I've met authors who have written a small book, one single book, but then created a steady income out of it. They’ve built speaking engagements, alternate formats of the book (think audio CD’s, streaming video series, webinars, etc.) and have strong marketing skills. Other authors may have written 10 books and still have to work that ‘day’ job in order to make ends meet. So I would say that income is really an individual thing –your book last year might do well but next year’s book flops for the first year, but then sales pick up again 3 years later. 

I think you just have to have faith in yourself and diversify so that you can have a steady stream of income (such as doing freelance work or offering workshops at the local college). The key to dealing with the low moments is to remind yourself why you are writing in the first place. If you are doing this to leave a legacy, because you love the craft of writing, because this allows you a chance to create positive change, to help evolve society, or some other greater good – then you can console yourself, knowing that this is more important than fiscal gain.

Q: Is it worth the money to buy ads on Facebook, Goodreads, or similar sites? 

I am very wary of putting out money for advertising as an author. I’ve paid for ads early on in my career in both print and online publications/sites and haven’t had a good Return On Investment (ROI). After becoming a staff writer and member of the media, I learned that there are a lot of ways of saving money and creating a better ROI, which I share in our Purple Snowflake Marketing (PSM) book. I have found that there is a higher ROI for ads highlighting either the radio show or blog, and then from there they learn about our books and services. Sites like what you are talking about often offer what is called Pay Per Click (PPC) and this simply means that you don’t pay anything for your ad until someone clicks on it – and you might pay a few cents per click. But that can be dangerous to the budget if all of a sudden you have 5,000 clicks! So you might want to set up a limit if you go this route. The trick with advertising is to understand what your agenda is for that ad – meaning, do you want to drive traffic to your blog or website, or sell a specific product. Once you know what your agenda is for that one ad, you can then create engaging content for the ad that inspires the reader to what is deemed a: Call To Action (CTA). However, once you’ve engaged the reader to respond to your CTA is only the first step – what they see when the go to where you sent them is also an important thing to focus on. So, say for instance you’ve decided to send people who read your ad to your website home page – what will they see there and how does that help build your branding or increase your income?

Q: Could you offer us one tip on generating sales after the Honeymoon Period (described in Purple Snowflake Marketing)?

Ah… this is a great question. First, let me define the Honeymoon Period for your readers – this is the first year after a book is released, when the author has exhausted current contact lists and local outlets, and the author has usually run out of their initial promotional budget. The author’s excitement level also tends to run lower after the first year and they begin to tire of marketing the same product over and over. 

So my tip today would be to get creative – I mean, yes you do want to do all those activities in the first year, but the life of your book may be 7 years or longer depending on the contract with your publisher. Branch out to other communities that surround your area, find new ways of getting media exposure, look for long-term promotion materials (like bookmarks) and get involved with organizations, and get busy online where there are tens of thousands of opportunities just waiting for you.

Q: Can an introvert successfully promote and publicize her writing? Never mind why I'm asking this.

(She laughs) I love that you ask this, since I am an introvert myself. The thing is that each of us has unique strengths and weaknesses, we have a unique location, a unique budget for each and every book we release. We need to constantly evaluate where we are at and what we can do. You’ll notice that our PSM book talks about creating a business plan for your career as an author, but then a marketing plan for each book you release. Those plans should be very flexible and should probably be revised every 3-6 months. Who you are on a personal level plays a vital role in this. 

Most of us will try different things and go through a bit of a learning curve before we figure out what works best for us. Some of us are great at one on one networking, others do very well at speaking events; someone might be a great teacher, while others have fantastic technical skills. One person might excel at radio interviews, another might find better results through social networking, and someone else finds out that they have great results through blog appearances, or promotional articles in a variety of publications. Everyone is different and I think this is a good thing – after all we want to stand out and be noticed… not do what everyone else is doing and get lost in the crowd. 

Thank you for spending time with us. I appreciate it. Below is information on Purple Snowflake Marketing, for authors who would like to learn more about promoting their work.

*  *  *

Make your book stand out in the crowd! Getting your book into the hands of paying readers is the most important goal of a writer and with the tools offered in this book the sales of your book will increase dramatically!


For the average author the marketing and promotion of their own book is a mystery in itself, and outsourcing these activities can quickly erode their budget. This book has all the tools and tips for developing that marketing plan, and turn your writing into a professional career.

Purple Snowflake Marketing offers a realistic guide to what authors can expect to face and how to employ research and preparation to make a memorable first impression. As you put together a marketing plan, you will be able to proceed with the confidence of a seasoned writer. This book is packed with value, with over 1000 resources along with stats and inspiring quotes to assist you in developing that unique marketing plan for each book you write.

http://www.brummet.ca/store.html

My Personal Climate Change

Last year, we moved from Kentucky to Florida to assist in my father's care. He has passed away, but we appear to be stuck here for the long haul. I'm sure this sounds like fun to everyone who only comes here to vacation at the beach, but we live with my mother and we're not making enough money to buy any of the fun vacationers get to have. My spouse's asthma has gone into remission since our arrival, but I'm having far more trouble with the climate adjustment.

Kentucky is hot and humid far more often than I would like, but it doesn't even come close to Florida. We live about a mile from the ocean, which means we get all the humidity and none of the breeze. Plus, 'winter' here consists of a week of autumn-like coolness preceded and followed by temps in the high 70s and lower 80s. That sounds fine until you realize that winter only lasts 3 months. The rest of the time it is punishingly hot. As in 'blast furnace' hot. Since it rains at least once a day during the summer months, I don't think it'd be going too far to apply the term 'outdoor sauna' to the state.

Adjustments:

• Exercising outdoors is only done during the winter months by sane people. These are usually the snowbirds, who still have brain cells undamaged by the heat. Even walking along the causeway is a dangerous undertaking if there is no breeze. If I want to get up at an obscene hour, I can walk at the community center, but let's get real - I only get up early if someone is paying me to do it. Exercise is not happening.
• Moisturizers with an SPF factor. Treating skin cancer is a big function of Floridian dermatologists. My late father had pieces cut and zapped out of his scalp on a regular basis. Some stores even sell clothing with an SPF factor, which tells you how serious a problem the sun is here. I use Lubriderm SPF 15 and watch my moles like a hungry hawk would.
• The constant use of Zip-Locs and Glad bags: rain comes and goes with very little warning here, and with great ferocity. Why? Because there's nothing tall enough to slow rain clouds down, and they've got an ocean to draw material from. Wearing rain gear all the time is begging for heatstroke, so people just do their best to protect their electronics and other delicate items. 
• Hair: Whenever it rained in Lexington, at least one person would ask if I'd just gotten a perm. With the humidity here, I'm using all sorts of conditioners I never needed before. If I didn't, I'd have bigger hair than Carrot Top playing with a Van de Graaff generator.
• Legs: Women's work attire generally involves skirts and capris, although during the 'winter' months 'regular' slacks are preferred. Me, I've worn shorts almost every day since I moved here in April. There's only been a few days in which I willingly wore anything longer. It's that hot here, especially when you live in a house with old folks. This also translates to my sudden need to shave my legs when employed. I have a question for drag queens and very butch women: can you shave your legs with a Norelco, and if you do, will you damage it?
• Nether regions: I am much higher-maintenance here, too. The heat and humidity cause a malady referred to as 'prickly heat' by women and 'swamp ass' by men. I powder everything when I get out of the shower, and have even had to change my brand of pads... which may be TMI for the male readers out there.

I've been told that my blood will eventually thin and I, too, will learn to tolerate the summers and come to think of sixty degrees as a 'freezing' temperature. Question for other transplants: is this true, or is it just a line of bull Floridians came up with to conceal their possible reptile heritage? I'm not seeing it.

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TGI 2013, and TG I Have Friends

Anyone who's dealt with me knows I love to talk. I like to give opinions, tell stories, and supply a generous amount of humor to conversations. There are only two times I don't. One is when I'm too busy, the other is when things have gone drastically wrong in my life.

2011 was one of the happiest, and busiest, years of my life. 2012 was the saddest.

My father's first visit to the hospital happened during my appearance at the Kentucky Book Fair in November 2011. I joked with the authors beside me that he was trying to weasel out of a heart cath, so he couldn't be that bad off.

At Christmas, it was clear that he was in trouble. He was physically miserable and unable to do much more than watch television. Gwen and I asked then if he needed us to move down to Florida to help out. He refused, saying he wasn't 'there' yet.

On February 26th, he arrived.

He collapsed at his computer, and Mother called 911. He spent the next month in the hospital, while Gwen and I gave quick notice at our jobs and packed up the house. We wouldn't have made it without the help of Gwen's family. They helped us pack, made repairs on the house, and took turns on the drive to Florida. They were truly wonderful.

We arrived to a mess. My parents' house, and their way of living, required severe adjustments. Dad was wheelchair bound, so we had the local handyman over to put in ramps. He also converted the enclosed bath into a walk-in so Dad could use a bench.

Most of the bill-paying and medication ordering had been done online by my father. We strongly suspect that he had a mini-stroke when he collapsed, because when he came home he was no longer able to use his computer. Gwen and I took those over, and now they are done mostly on paper so my mother can participate.

His health continued to decline, which you may have gathered from the obit I posted earlier this year. In many ways, his death was a mercy. It was a hard way to die, and I am grateful to Hospice for making it as comfortable as possible.

I didn't post much here, but I did share the harrowing experience with my friends on Facebook. So many of them offered their support and encouragement during the bad times, I could not name them all. During the final week in the hospice facility, several were posting cute kitten and puppy pictures nonstop on my wall because it was my only relief from the emotional blast furnace.

A number of arrangements and filings had to be made, and we're still making bureaucratic adjustments nearly four months later. Enough space has been opened up, though, to see our future, and we don't have one. Gwen has a part-time job, and I don't know if I have a real post-holiday job with Macy's yet. We have no savings left and no health insurance.

I'm still looking forward to 2013, though... because I'm damned glad 2012 is over.

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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