BOUCHERCON WAS A BLAST!

Author Lois Winston and a mop doll

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend my first Bouchercon convention. If you love mysteries, whether you’re a reader or a writer, Bouchercon is the place to be. 

My trip began way before the crack of dawn on Friday, September 16^th in order to arrive at Newark Liberty Airport in time for a 7am flight. Everything was on schedule until about 45 minutes after take-off when the pilot informed us we’d be returning to the airport due to a “minor” mechanical problem. I told myself not to worry. If the problem was serious, we would have landed at the nearest airport, not returned to Newark.

Midnight Ink publicity manager Steven Pomiji and author Jessie Chandler

Back in Newark we were put on another plane that was scheduled to take off at 9:15am. We all boarded. And waited. And waited. And waited. What were we waiting for? The catering truck to deliver the food no one wanted in the first place! Finally at 10am we left Newark for the second time that morning.

I arrived in St. Louis just in time to toss my first gutter ball at the charity bowling tournament to raise money for the St. Louis Public Libraries. Yes, I sucked. Big time. The only bowling I’ve done since being on a league in high school (way back in prehistoric times if you listen to my kids) is Wii bowling. I did, however, improve my score with each consecutive gave, and I didn’t bring home the trophy for worst bowler. So I guess I didn’t totally suck. More importantly, the event raised $500 for the libraries.

Midnight Ink authors Darrell James, publicity manager Steven Pomiji, author Jessie Chandler, me, and author Alan Orloff

On Saturday I signed advance reading copies of DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL. For those of you curious as to what a mop doll is, check out the photos. That’s a mop doll standing amongst the books at the Midnight Ink booth.

I also had the pleasure of spending time with and getting to know some of my fellow Midnight Inkers better, as well as two of Midnight Ink’s staff, acquisitions editor Terri Bischoff and publicity manager Steven Pomije.

authors Lois Winston and Laura DiSilverio

On Saturday afternoon I took part in the Time to Murder and Create panel with authors Laura DiSilverio, Laura Bradford, Jane Cleland, and Cindy Sample. I’m not sure what I said to garner the reaction above from Laura DiSilverio, but I think people in the audience were laughing at the time. Since I write humor, I’m hoping that was a good thing.

My flight home was blessedly uneventful except for the guy with the disgusting habit sitting next to me. I won’t go into gory detail, but I’m convinced he’s responsible for the laryngitis and cold I woke up with the next morning.

Are you old enough to remember when flying used to be enjoyable? I am, and I miss those days.

Anyway, I left St. Louis with the several remaining ARCs of DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL, and I’m giving two of them away. To enter the drawing, all you have to do is sign up for my author newsletter by sending an email to LoisWinstonAuthorNewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or by adding yourself as a follower at Anastasia’s Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog. Then email me at lois@loiswinston.com to let me know which you’ve signed up for.

Lois Winston
http://www.loiswinston.com
http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Follow Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth

I Ate the Last Mango in Paris

By Deborah Sharp

Apologies to Jimmy Buffet for stealing his song title for my blog post. I've been humming that tune, though, since I powered through a marathon mango-massacre this afternoon. The kitchen counter looked like a tropical fruit crime scene, oozing with orangey golden juice and chunks of severed flesh.

Sorry, y'all. Nobody thought this was going to be a post about how to make a yummy mango smoothie, did they?

Anyhoo, we're at the very end of the mango growing season in south Florida. Past the end, in fact. These last half-dozen mangoes were over-ripe to the point of squishy; bruised and soft in places where they should be firm and blemish-free. Kind of like my 50-something-year-old thighs, but that's a topic for another day.

So, mangoes. As I stood there, up to my wrists in gunky mango goo, cutting, pulling at the fruit, trying to excavate the still-good morsels from the parts that were plainly bad, I realized the mangoes were a metaphor. Stay with me here, folks. I'm a writer. I do this stuff for a living.

A metaphor for what, you might ask? You might, if you've gotten this far anyway.

Those mangoes were like a manuscript. Okay, I know that's actually a simile, but metaphor sounds better with mango. If I'd been slicing up some sapodilla, I would have gone with simile. As I excised the spoiled fruit and collected a savory bowl of the good, I thought about how similar the process is to writing. You toss out lots of mushy, nasty goop to find the sweet parts, glistening like golden nuggets.

May your writing today be filled with nuggets as sweet as perfectly ripe -- but not too ripe -- mangoes. Even if it's soft and squishy, though, you can always put it in a blender and whip it into something delicious. The manuscript or the mango, either one.

How about you? Any scrumptious nuggets of writing you're savoring today? Your own or someone else's? I liked this line from Louis Lowy's debut, ''Die Laughing,'' describing a comedian who uses humor to deflect emotion: ''He settled for a brick barricade mortared with one-liners.''

Sweet!

The Soundtrack to Your Life (or at least my book)

I don’t do silence. I can’t. I grew up surrounded by chaos instrumented by three demons by the names of Ryan, Liam, and Trevor, my three younger brothers. These were not, and still aren’t, studious, well behaved darlings who liked nothing better than to sit down with a good book or play with her dolls like their angel big sister. No, these boys had enough energy and testosterone to supply an entire Starbucks and bodybuilding gym with some still left over to attempt to “kill” or “wrestle” their sister and each other. Screams, whining, and loud bangs on the television were staples of my youth. So when I moved out on my own, I soon discovered I needed the noise. There is always a television or radio on, even as I fall asleep. This is true when I’m writing as well. I can write pretty much anywhere (if you have a strong desire to stalk me, see the acknowledgments page of my book Mind Over Monsters to see where I write), but the one thing that helps get my creative juices flowing the most is music. The right song can make or break my scene, even inspiring me on some occasions.

As I was writing Monsters, I found that certain songs really helped pump up the visuals and mood. They helped me get to a place where I needed to get inside my head to convey what was going on in my imagination and translate that to the page. Music just adds so much more to the experience. So I started compiling playlists for the books. Like the book, the soundtrack has a narrative flow in line with the book. You don’t have to like all the songs, I have eclectic taste, but at the very least if you sample them, you’ll get a feel for the book. So here it is:

MIND OVER MONSTERS: THE SOUNDTRACK

1. Magic to Do- Ben Vereen from the musical Pippin

2. Edge of the Ocean- Ivy

3. Cold- Annie Lennox

4. If It Wasn’t For Bad-Elton John & Leon Russell

5. Shadows of the Night-Pat Benatar

6. Four Minutes – Madonna fet. Justin Timberlake

7. Tainted Love – Soft Cell

8. Say It Right – Nelly Furtado

9. Fields of Gold – Sting

10. Ordinary World – Duran Duran

11. Savin’ Me – Nickelback

12. Precious – Depeche Mode

13. Home – Depeche Mode

Please download legally. All songs are available on iTunes.

And since this is the post before my book officially comes out I have to do some shameless self promotion. Through the wonderful company Bewitching Book Tours I have a blog tour. For a complete list of stops, blog radio interview times, and possibly even a TV appearance please visit The Harlow Gazette at my website www.jenniferharlowbooks.com. Also I got some great reviews from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, and The Library Journal. It's nice to know someone besides my Mom thinks I'm cool. 'Til next time!

Jennifer Harlow

Death Match: Discipline vs. Distraction

I used to be a disciplined writer. Now, too often, I’m a distracted one.

When I first started writing fiction, I sat down at my computer and banged the keys for a few hours every day. It was all about the words and the story and reaching my daily quota.

There was no Facebook.

There was no Twitter.

There was no blogging.

I didn’t belong to any listservs. Or Yahoo groups. Or on-line forums.

There was no Google+. Or Tumblr. Or Foursquare. Or a bunch of other things I don’t know anything about, but fear I’m getting left behind on.

There was email, but I wasn’t getting a whole lot of it (a benefit of not having many friends).

Now, it’s a wonder I can concentrate on one thing long enough to finish a…hey, look, Ashton Kutcher just Tweeted something clever! LOL!

Of course, there’s a lot more on plate today. I’m writing one project, while promoting another, while assisting with production on a third. Before I had a book published, I wasn’t worried about designing my website or producing bookmarks or developing stand-up routines. I didn’t have to “book” appearances or proof galleys or write pithy bios that make me sound a lot more accomplished than I am.

If it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m really not. I know I’m very fortunate to be where I am. I’m just a bit peeved with myself for letting my priorities get skewed at times (yes, it’s my own gosh durned fault). While I realize that promoting and all the other ancillary book production activities are vital, it sucks time away from the good part.

The writing.

 

Alan

It's Harder to Edit Real Life

By the time I turn in a manuscript for publication, I’ve done at least ten drafts. A few of them have been read by siblings, close friends, and my agent. I just polish and polish until I can’t take it anymore. My goal – to make the book as good as I can.

Last Sunday I appeared on Press:Here, a Silicon Valley Meet-the-Press that runs on the NBC affiliate here in the Bay Area and on cable in a bunch of other markets. Scott McGrew, the quick-witted and business-savvy host, reminded me just before the cameras started rolling that the show is taped in one run-through. And of course that was the problem. I couldn’t rephrase my answers or sit up straighter on the second take. Watching the video, I’m struck by a sense of esprit d’escalier – a French phrase for coming up with inspiration when it's too late to use it. The interview was real life where’s there’s no editing – where you’re stuck with what you’ve said, what you’ve done, and what you look like. Yuck. Not like writing fiction at all. When novel-writing I have control. Everything works just like I want it to. Not necessarily smoothly – where would the conflict be if it did? – but after ten drafts, the action, what the characters say, even the weather are all just what I want.

Anyway, here’s the eight minutes on Press:Here I spent talking about the ebook revolution, my novel Drop By Drop, and my checkered past – unedited.

Discovering a Master

I've just whipped through two amazing books by Georges Simenon, the incredibly prolific Belgian writer who created the iconic Inspector Maigret mystery series. Simenon published nearly 200 novels and numerous short works, often staying in one room for two weeks while a book poured out of him in a sort of trance.

I read The Widow and The Strangers in the House, stand alone novels and they were simply masterful. Simenon, using straightforward prose, pulls you into a world that is permeated with quiet menace. This is superb writing.

In 1966, Simenon won the Grand Master Award from the MWA -- and he was under serious consideration for the Nobel Prize for Literature!

If you're in the mood for menace, and want to be transported to a vividly wrought, atmospheric world that seems somehow apart from our own, I can't recommend him too highly. I can't wait to get started on Maigret!

Humming Along Through the Dead of Winter

Darby will snowshoe.

The realization hit me like a well-thrown punch as I scanned my real estate website, long overdue for an update. There was the photo of fleece-clad Becky and Cindy, my active winter buddies, trudging through four-foot high snow, with my (somewhat) humorous caption: You can always snowshoe to a property!

Yes, I thought, Darby will be on snowshoes, struggling through the darkening Maine woods, pursued by a murderer she cannot hope to outlast. My heart beat faster, a sure sign that my imagination has cooked up something I find truly scary. I snowshoe -- alot -- and it's hard to go fast. Especially when someone evil is chasing you...

Thump, thump. That's my daughter and I in the photo above, on top of Camden's Ragged Mountain with Penobscot Bay in the background. She "shoes" up and snowboards down, but yours truly gave up snowboarding when she decided she didn't have a spare wrist to break.

It proved to be a wise decision. Armed with my good wrists, I'm hard at work on the fourth in the Darby Farr series, and I have to say it is humming right along. Not to jinx myself, but the pages are piling up, and I couldn't be more pleased. I'm fitting in some good, solid writing time, in between selling houses (yes, some people really are buying homes again!) hiking the Camden Hills, cheering for my daughter's Varsity Soccer team (GO WINDJAMMERS!) and volunteering for my favorite cause, Habitat for Humanity. That's my mom, daughter and me at a build in the spring. That house now has sheathing on the roof and is ready for framing. My various balls in the air are a juggle, but one I really love. Needless to say, I fall asleep in about two minutes every single night.

Back to the fourth book, tentatively called Contract for Murder. It takes place once more on the rocky island of Hurricane Harbor, as did the first in the series, A House to Die For. Unlike that book, this is set in what we Mainers like to call the "dead" of winter. Don't worry -- any details that I can't recall from previous blizzards, ice storms, and the like will come back to me when I start revisions in January. In the meantime, I'm having a ball picturing all that white stuff and the havoc it can cause.

People ask me again and again how I find the time to write. I used to say that no one finds the time -- one makes the time. Kind of a pompous answer, don't ya think? Now I reply with a simple truth: it's fun. Especially when those pages are piling up.

Splashing Into Some Deadly Research

I've pre-scheduled my post for today, but I won't be able to respond to comments until tonight or tomorrow. Why's that, you might ask? I'll be getting my ass (and every other part of my body, most likely) soaking wet on a multi-day whitewater rafting trip down Cataract Canyon in Utah. Sure, I love whitewater rafting, which is why I chose to base one of my mystery series, the RM Outdoor Adventure mystery series, on the sport. But this trip isn't just for fun, though I'm sure I'll have a blast! It's to conduct research for book three in the series, that will be titled Cataract Canyon.

The book concept is that my part-time whitewater river ranger, Mandy Tanner, and her lover, Rob Juarez, who own an adventure outfitting company together, will take a dozen clients down the end-to-end Meander (flatwater) and Cataract (whitewater) canyons of the Colorado River for a five-day trip. Also coming with them will be two of their river guides, Gonzo and Kendra, and a new character, a rock climbing guide. They'll be taking the trip in October, a time of year when very few people are on the river.

These canyons are some of the most remote in in the United States, with minimal cell phone access (or none, I hope!). And, there are only three little-used hiking trails in and out of the canyons between the put-in at the Potash boat ramp and the take out at the Hite Marina on Lake Powell about a hundred miles later. Those trails, after hours of hiking, lead only to off-road 4x4 dirt roads that are also little used, especially in the off-season.

Starting to get the picture? This is going to be a locked-room mystery, where the "room" is a remote canyon.

I plan to start off the action with the murderer killing one of the clients and sabotaging Mandy and Rob's satellite phone so they can't call out for help. Their only logical course of action will be to continue downstream while keeping an eye peeled for hikers or other boats (which won't appear) while they try to figure out who among their group is the killer--and whether s/he will strike again. Eek!

My husband and I are taking this trip in late September, as the rafting and hiking season is winding down, and very few outfitters are still running trips this late. We're going with Tag-a-Long Expeditions, who have been wonderful and very helpful so far. We won't be as cut-off from civilization as I intend to make Mandy and Rob's group. Since our group will be so small, however, I'll be able to pick the rafting guide's brain all I want and request him or her to stop at beaches, campsites and trail heads that I want to take photos of and notes about. I plan to finish the trip with all of the raw material I need to make Mandy Tanner's third adventure not only a murderous one, but realistic, too. Wish me luck!


If you're a writer, what is an interesting/dangerous research experience you've gone through to make your fiction realistic? If you're a reader, how much realism do you expect in a fictional mystery, and do you enjoy mysteries that take place in risky outdoor settings or activities?