INKSPOT NEWS -- JANUARY 14, 2011

Darrell James will be signing and discussing his debut novel, NAZARETH CHILD, on Saturday, January 21st, 2:00-4:00 pm, at Barnes & Noble, 5130 E. Broadway, Tucson, AZ. (phone: 520-512-0758). Stop by to hear about the making of the novel and enjoy refreshments with all.


Robin Allen will attend the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX, January 20-22, 2012. Robin will spend Saturday (1/21) at the PopUp Stage for Mystery Day at ALA, and will participate in the first panel, "Don't Mess with Texas Authors" from 9:00AM-9:45AM. On Sunday (1/22), Robin will be signing books in the Midnight Ink booth from 9:15AM-10:15AM.

Also at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX, Midnight Ink will be holding a drawing for signed copies of Lois Winston's Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll, as well as the handcrafted mop doll shown in the photo. Stop by the Midnight Ink booth (#1459) on January 20th to register. The drawing will take place at 7pm during the opening reception.

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In addition, Lois Winston will be part of panel (along with Nancy Martin, Tom Straw, and Clare Toohey) presenting The Funny Side of Crime, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America/New York Chapter at the Mid-Manhattan Library on Thursday, January 19th at 6:30pm. The library is located at 40th St. and 5th Ave. The panel takes place on the 6th floor. FMI: 212-340-0837.

Rules and Regulations

by Robin Allen

I love rules. Really love them. They mean that someone a) is in charge and b) has considered the likelihood of things getting out of hand and c) has put measures in place to keep things neat and orderly. I love neatness and order.

A No Parking sign in front of a convenient place to park? I drive around until a spot opens up, even though I've had to use the little mademoiselle’s room for the past hour. No bottles allowed on the beach? That's why they make Shiner Bock in a can. Clean lint filter before each use? Always. Do not remove this mattress tag? Never have, never will.

I also love working in restaurants. The intrigue, the alliances, the gossip. The fun, the friendships, the factions. With every new customer comes a new challenge, a new story—an allergy to yellow cornmeal or the latest fad diet that forbids cruciferous vegetables to be eaten with red dye number eighty-six.

So when I set out to write a mystery series, what else could Poppy Markham be but a by-the-book public health inspector who has worked every job from busgirl to manager to chef in her family’s restaurant? And when an obnoxious Michelin-rated French chef invades the kitchen—currently under the command of Poppy’s cranky, territorial stepsister—what else could happen but murder?

Poppy loves rules, too, but only the ones she can enforce. Some of the others get a little bent and banged around as she tries to discover who really killed Évariste Bontecou. Yes, Poppy flashed her inspector's badge in a police station, but she was trying to see her stepsister. And, okay, she used her badge to detain and lecture a litterbug in traffic, but he messed with Texas right in front of her! Rest assured, however, that Poppy never wears white after Labor Day and she does not run with scissors. So far.

As readers, are there fictional characters you love (or hate) because you identify with them? As writers, what parts of you have you given your sleuth?


This post was previously published at Murder by the Blog.

Festering Over Festoon

by Robin Allen

As a person who makes her living with words, you'd think I would love every single one of them, but for no rational reason, I loathe the word festoon. It's a self-consciously jaunty word that shares its first syllable with fester, which is what I do every time I see it in print. (And that's the only time I'm aware of the word because no one actually uses the word in conversation. It's too stoopid. Say it out loud now: festoon. See? Stoopid. Festoopid.)

Two of my favorite writers, however, have used it in their essays. One is forgiven, the other is not.

"It's a[n]…Everest of shellfish, an intimidating, multilevel tower of crushed ice and seaweed, piled, heaped—festooned with oysters from nearby Belon, and slightly farther away Cancale." –Anthony Bourdain, "Lust," Medium Raw

Bourdain could have left out "festooned" altogether or substituted "shored up" or "scaffolded" or "strewn." I forgive Tony because later in the essay he writes about local red wines "whose rough charms have lately got a serious hold on you....The Baron Rothschild could back his car up to the door, trunk full of monster vintages, he's drunk and offering them for free—and you would decline."

Peter Mayle is not forgiven.

"Men were scarce. They would be picked up later, festooned with shopping bags, and led away to whatever joys awaited them that evening." –Peter Mayle, "Undressing for Lunch," French Lessons

Pete is trying make a weak sentence interesting. He could have used a less pretentious word, such as "ladened" or "garnished." This is, after all, an essay—an entire book—about food.

I dislike other words, of course, but writing festoon so many times at a single sitting has done me in.

What about you? Is there a word or phrase that makes you cringe or chaps your hide when you see it in print?

Robin Allen
Author of the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series
If You Can't Stand the Heat
Now available on Kindle, Nook, and eBook
See my poem "A Friday Afternoon" in the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar

Inkspot News - August 27, 2011

Here's news about Midnight Ink authors.



Once Upon a Romance wrote a great review of ROBIN ALLEN's clean, humorous amateur sleuth mystery, If You Can't Stand the Heat.

"[Poppy's] theories and questions are interesting, keeping the reader turning the pages...cozy and sweet with a definite savory bite to it."

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CRICKET MCRAE's first book in the Home Crafting mystery series, Lye in Wait, is free on the Kindle and Nook until the end of August.

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Juliet Kincaid wrote a great review of BETH GROUNDWATER's Deadly Currents.

"Gorgeous setting...A thrilling start...An engaging protagonist...Impeccable plotting..."

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If You Weren't What You Are, What Would You Be?

by Robin Allen

I've had lots of jobs over my several years of life.

When I was 15, I got my first job in an upscale toy store, answering phone call after phone call about the availability of Madame Alexander dolls and taking payments for games, plush toys, and other items on lay-a-way.

After high school, I started waiting tables in restaurants and did that all through college. Once, in the mid-80s, I was a cocktail waitress and then a bartender in one of the hottest nightclubs in the city, all dry ice and neon and Rock Me Amadeus.

After I graduated with a BA degree in English, I got a job doing sales support for a computer software company, working my way up to marketing and publicity, then eventually sales, which I was terrible at because "no" means no in my book.

I eventually struck out on my own as a technical writer, developing online Help and user guides for software applications, and doing QA work.

And then I wrote a book, got an agent, got a publisher, and became an Author.

I like working on things that have an answer that needs to be found, a problem that needs to be solved. I like working with my hands. I like creating something that hasn't existed before. And if I wasn't an author, I would be an architect, a crime analyst, or a knitwear designer.

What about you? If you weren't doing what you're doing, what would you do?

Robin Allen
Author of the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series
If You Can't Stand the Heat
Now available on Kindle, Nook, and eBook
See my poem "A Friday Afternoon" in the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar

Please Ignore Common Wisdom

by Robin Allen

Living a right life is fine for you, but awful for your characters. They need to make bad decisions. They need to do the wrong thing. They need to suffer and be insufferable. There has to be conflict, tension, mayhem. If you're not sure how to make that happen, start with common wisdom and have them do the opposite.

"Great people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about other people." –Eleanor Roosevelt

Feel free to talk about ideas and things yourself, but make your character petty and mean. Have her gossip about everyone and everything, including herself. She feels put upon by the world and gets even by starting rumors about her handicapped co-worker, the twelve-year old boy who cuts her grass, the neighborhood Schwann's delivery guy, a fellow volunteer at the shelter. How would she handle a religious conversion?

"Be the change you want to see in the world." –Ghandi

That never works, does it? Perhaps your character is trying to be the change, all zippity do-da, courteous to everyone he meets, kissing babies and serving meals at a soup kitchen that feeds the homeless and their rescued dogs. Life is Good with a capital G. How would he react to finding out that one of the weekend-only volunteers has been telling everyone that his doctor put him on anti-psychotic meds?

"Eat right and exercise." –Mom

For you? Yes. For your character? Yawn. Pump him full of sugar and processed foods, then put him in his car to drive two blocks to the convenience store for a twelve-pack of Monster Mayhem, the 100% caffeine thirst quencher, for the party he's throwing for his friends to watch two weeks worth of Tivo-ed Ultimate Fighting matches. What happens when his grandma comes over with his favorite strudel?


"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." –Ben Franklin

No, no, and no. Sick, poor, and stupid is much more interesting. Keep your character out clubbing into the wee hours (but please don't make her a vampire), then send her out at four o'clock in the afternoon to spend her last $3.00 on breakfast. What would she do with the puppy she agreed to take care of while her sister is on her honeymoon?

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." –Winston Churchill

The only way an optimist would make for interesting reading is if he keeps getting sideswiped by life. Make things easy on yourself and make your character glum and suspicious and with a serious case of malaise. He won't bend down to pick up a dollar bill because he might get a paper cut. He wouldn't cross the street to avoid his worst enemy because he might get hit by a car. He won't accept a promotion at work because the pay raise will put him into a higher tax bracket. What does he do when his newly engaged brother asks him to be best man at his wedding?

"Eighty percent of success is showing up." –Woody Allen (no relation)

Reliability is a great trait for automobiles and overnight delivery services, but not for characters. Not interesting ones, anyway. Never let your character show up for anything—jobs, dates, classes, hair appointments. What happens when her parents force her to sign up to be a camp counselor?

Stories are about character change and growth, so the guys and gals who people your stories should be somehow different at the end. When you ignore common wisdom, you have a path for change. How you get there is what makes the story.

As writers, what methods do you use to define your characters? As readers, what are some of your favorite well-drawn characters?

Robin Allen
Author of the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series
If You Can't Stand the Heat
Now available on Kindle, Nook, and eBook
See my poem "A Friday Afternoon" in the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar

Inkspot News - July 23, 2011

Lots of press this week for several Midnight Ink authors.



Two items for ROBIN ALLEN's clean, humorous amateur sleuth mystery, If You Can't Stand the Heat.

1. Virginia Wood, long-time food editor of the Austin Chronicle, wrote a wonderful review in the current issue.

"My most enjoyable reading diversion so far this summer has been a new culinary mystery..."

2. For one week (7/20/11-7/27/11), Amazon.com is selling the Kindle version of the book for $2.99.

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DEBORAH SHARP's Mama Sees Stars (September 2011) received a starred review in Library Journal.

"This zany fourth entry in Sharp’s series is a feature worthy of the big screen...The mystery aisles can always use more humor, and Sharp delivers..."

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JESSIE CHANDLER's Bingo Barge Murder was featured on local Minnesota station KARE11 as a great summer read.

"If you like funny, fast-paced Minnesota flavor..."

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For one week (7/20/11-7/27/11), Amazon.com is selling the Kindle version of JESS LOUREY's Knee High by the Fourth of July for $1.99.

Can You Judge a Book By Its Cover?

by Robin Allen

Imagine being embarassed about your child's appearance. Not the color/length/amount of their hair or their low-slung jeans and silly t-shirts (well, okay, this one is clever), but the closeness of their eyes, the thinness of their lips, the de Bergerac-ness of their nose. You had no choice how they came out, really, but you have to live with these attributes for the rest of your life.

Same thing with authors and book covers. Our books are our babies. Whether the rest of the world grades them as A students or D, we think they're honor students. We believe we've written a beautiful story and we want to present it to the world in a stunning outfit.

But...

Authors don't choose their book covers. (Unless you're Stephen King, I imagine, but some of his covers make me wonder if even he isn't consulted.) For the most part, the inside belongs to the author and the outside belongs to the publisher. The publisher can do anything they want. Anything. Black eyes, grotesque mouths that drool, ginormous hairy noses that leak into the drool. Unless you're Stephen King, you probably wouldn't be happy with that.

After I made my deal with Midnight Ink, after the contracts and the champagne and the congratulations (friends, family, self, etc.), I started to think about the cover of my book. I read horror stories (not written by Stephen King) about authors so distraught over their book covers, they fled the country or took a vow of poverty. I love both Texas and money, so the worst thing I could come up with was to draw a line in the sand.

Midnight Ink does great covers. (Lookie here. Or look at our covers on the right side of this blog.) I liked most of the ones I saw and didn't dislike any of them, so I knew I wouldn't be embarassed by mine. But would I love it? Would it represent the story? Would it be too precious? Would it feature a nine-toed baby even though there are no babies or toes in the story? Or worse--would it have a curlique typeface?

When my editor, Terri Bischoff, asked me what I'd like to see on my book cover, I knew a) that I loved her and b) exactly what to tell her: "I didn't write a pink book and I don't want a pink cover." I may have repeated myself two or three or eighteen times.

So, as you can see, my baby is beautiful, thanks to Desmond Montague.

The stock pot (= kitchen story), the skull and crossbones on the stock pot (= mystery), the steam rising into skulls (= danger, death) , the hot dog on the badge (= humor), the HowardJohnson color scheme (= I have no idea, but it takes me back to my childhood when my parents would take all four of us kids across town in the station wagon to eat fried clams).

It's funny that the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover" is so well-known and popular, yet publishers spend a lot of time, effort, and money on book covers.

I'm not a nihilist, so a clever title or interesting cover will make me pick up a book, but I'm also not a sucker. I'll always read either the first couple of pages or flip to a random page to judge the writing.

I do pre-snub covers, however, and am immediately warned off by blurred images (literary fiction = inordinant number of descriptions of things I don't care about) or children (coming-of-age story = 400 pages concerning things I don't care about).

What about y'all? Have you ever bought or not bought a book because of its cover?

Robin Allen
Author of the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series
If You Can't Stand the Heat
Now available on Kindle, Nook, and eBook
See my poem "A Friday Afternoon" in the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar

Inkspot News - June 18

Beth Groundwater will be honored and feted at the FIBArk (First in Boating on the Arkansas river) whitewater festival in Salida, Colorado this weekend. On Saturday, June 18th, she will be the VIP in the Parade from 10:00 AM - Noon. On both Friday and Saturday afternoons, June 17th & 18th, from 1:00 - 5:00 PM, she will be signing copies of her Deadly Currents mystery, set in Salida during FIBArk, on the back deck of the Boathouse Cantina at The Book Haven bookstore's table. She'll also be participating in other festival events through Sunday as she is able.

One event this week for Robin Allen to promote If You Can't Stand the Heat, the first book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series.
June 25th Saturday 3:00 PM
Reading & Signing
The Twig Book Shop
200 E. Grayson Street, Suite 124
San Antonio, TX 78215
210-826-6411

Did you know The San Jose Mercury News is the third largest circulating metropolitan daily in the US (after The NY Times and LA Times)? Anyway, the Merc is covering Inkster Keith Raffel's foray into ebooks. Click here to read.

Inkspot News - June 4

Three events this week for Robin Allen to promote If You Can't Stand the Heat, the first book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series.






June 4th | Saturday | 3:30-4:00 PM
Radio interview with Diana Ivy
Call Me Ivy show on Corpus Christi's 1440 KEYS
Click the Listen Live link to stream.


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June 10th | Friday | 4:30-5:00 PM
Live radio interview with Harold Koclanes
Corpus Christi Business Advocate show on Corpus Christi's 1440 KEYS
Click the Listen Live link to stream.

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June 10th | Friday | 6:30 PM
Reading & Signing
Barnes & Noble Corpus Christi
5129 Blanche D Moore Drive
Corpus Christi, TX 78411