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Showing posts from February, 2013

The End of February and What's Coming in March

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Can you believe that this is the last day of February?  Last month was busy as most months are. Some of it wasn't easy but there were many highlights. Best, of course, was getting to see my son in the brain trauma center and seeing that he is finally getting the treatment that he needs. It's been a long haul since he was injured the Sunday a.m. before Christmas. It took an angel (nurse) from the insurance company to turn things around. My latest book came out, Dangerous Impulses , and I got to see it for the first time at the San Gabriel Valley Lit Fest. Also visited my family down in the Wildomar area--way southern California--and was able to see the new home of my eldest daughter and her hubby--spent time with their kids and grandkids. Fun stuff! I've spent some time planning promotion for Dangerous Impulses, worked on my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery--but not enough on the next Rocky Bluff P.D. series. I have to keep writing in order to have two books a ye

WRITING THE NOVEL by Dianne Harman

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   One of the things I’m constantly asked from people who have read my novel, Blue Coyote Motel , is how did I get the idea for the book?    After writing Blue Coyote and my soon to be released book, Tea Party Teddy , I’m convinced there is no formula. Coyote happened in a strange way. I had always wanted to write a novel, but like so many people, I didn’t think I had the credentials for it. I hadn’t attended numerous fiction workshops or seminars; I hadn’t spent weeks at writing retreats, etc. My husband gave me Stephen King’s book , On Writing , which freed me from all the things which had held me back. King kind of says, like the Nike logo, “Just Do It!” But what to write?    We were at a wedding in October in the old section of Palm Springs, California, at a boutique hotel which had recently been renovated. It was 106 outside and the air-conditioner was silently wonderful. I remember turning to my husband and saying, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if someone p

Murder at the Blue Plate Cafe, Judy Alter

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Many thanks to Marilyn for giving me a chance to talk about my new series, Blue Plate Mysteries. I love being an author, but the truth is that in another life I would be a chef and a restaurant owner—or should I say in my next life, I “will” be. I love to cook, and I’ve always longed to run a small restaurant that serves the kind of food I like—sandwiches with innovative fillings, soups, salads, sort of tea room food with a twist. But I know that owning a restaurant easily leads to disaster and potential financial ruin, so for several years I scratched that itch by helping out once a week at The Star Café, located in Fort Worth’s Stockyards National Historic District and owned by good friends Don and Betty Boles. It’s no tea room. Specialties of the house are steak, chicken-fried steak, and really good hamburgers. The clientele are mostly but not all from the cowboy side of Fort Worth’s culture, including many whom plan to go dancing later in the night and others who come to h

Oak Tree Authors at the San Gabriel Valley Litfest

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Last weekend was so full I'm still recovering. On Sunday, we (miiddle daughter who did all the driving) left Wildomar and headed for West Covina and the San Gabriel Vally Litfest. As usual, it took awhile to figure out exactly where we ought to be, upstairs in City Hall in an open space that turned out to be very windy and cold. And at times too noisy to talk thanks to musicians playing and singing close by. That wasn't good because in order to get people interested in your books you need to be able to talk to them and they have to hear you. A group of OTP authors Introducing myself to a delightful woman. We continue to chat. I jumped from one table to another--this one I shared with Larry and Lorna Collins, me and daughter, Lisa. Oak Tree Press authors  Sunny Frazier, Aquisitions Editor for OTP, Marja McGraw, Me, John Brantingham the brains behind the SGV Litfest, Marta Chausee, Lorna Collins, Morgan St. James. As you may notice, I now am wearing a

Most Clever Birthday Party

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This past weekend one of the exciting things I did was to attend great-grandaughter Peyton's 11th birthday party.  My granddaughter, Peyton's mom, did a super job planning at putting it on. Birthday cupcakes, Peyton, her dad, grandpa and mom The girls in two teams went on a scavenger hunt and here they are checking to see who got the most items. (It was a tie.) She was delighted with her gifts as you can see. It was an outdoor movie, they had heaters around and everyone got a blanket. So much fun. There was a table with popcorn and all sorts of candy and everyone could help themselves. And the movie begins. The movie was "Here Comes the Boom." Great movie. I'd seen it in the theater, but this was more fun, the girls all cheered in the appropriate places. Earlier in the day we went to Garrett's basketball game. I smiled through the whole game. 2nd grader boys are a kick! One kid skipped instead of running from one end of the cour

Bad News for a Ghost by Jim Guigli

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What Jim has to say about Bad News for a Ghost : My novelette, Bad news for a Ghost , started out as a short story, and quickly grew to almost eighteen thousand words.   It is now available, with a bonus story, Bart’s First Arrest , on Amazon for ninety-nine cents. It is, as I label it, a Bart Lasiter mystery .   The main character, private detective Bart Lasiter, began life in my Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Grand Prize winning sentence: Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said, You've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean. You see, I love classic detective noir .   I decided that my BLFC sentence should parody the great private eye stories.   Those stories often begin when a beautiful and wealthy woman enters th