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Showing posts from July, 2017

ON WRITING DARKER--Marni Graff

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When I decided to write a mystery series, one of the things that I was determined NOT to do was to write the same book all the time. In my Nora Tierney English Mysteries, American children’s book author Nora has solved murders in Oxford and the Lake District.  However, all three, starting with The Blue Virgin , through The Green Remains and The Scarlet Wench , have been “Whodunits,” as I’ve wanted to explore what would made a person feel it’s reasonable to take another human’s life. When it came time to plot the fourth, The Golden Hour , I wanted to do more than vary the setting. I decided to veer into new territory for me, and instead wrote a “Cantheystophim” mystery, featuring a psychopath named Viktor Garanin, whose life’s goal is to destroy the English people. There are scenes in Brighton, Cornwall, and Oxford with a hefty dose of action taking place in Bath. The theme of this book revolves around “what is family and home.” We see Nora and her partner, DI Decla

Heading to Selma CA for Another Library Visit

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Yes, once again I'm going to give a library presentation. This time at the Selma Library, 2200 Selma St., in Selma, Saturday, July 29, 11 a.m. I've never been to this library before. It's always fun to see a new library. They are set up different--I've been to huge libraries, teeny one is a store front in a strip mall, beautiful new buildings and interesting historic libraries.  What will I talk about? I never seem to have any trouble. I like to find out who my audience is--if there is one--if they are aspiring writers or strictly readers. If they like mysteries? I talk about what they are interested in and of course some explanation of what my books are about. Yes, I always have books available if someone would like to buy one or two. Sometimes I sell a few at other times none at all. So why do I do it? Because I'm letting people know about my books, what I write, and why I write them. And, I like doing it. If you are in the area, do stop by

Why Private Passions Aren't Merely Writing Distractions!

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By Vicki Weisfeld The most frequent lament I hear from people who write (or want to) is “not enough time,” and I get that. A chronic time shortage has forced me into becoming a miner and a recycler. Whatever else I’m doing besides writing has to contribute in some way to my creative output. My interest in family history may seem too particular for this purpose, but it’s helped me in at least three ways. Research Any topic you delve into deeply can improve your research skills. Perhaps you’re interested in botany or in the behavior of sharks. Whatever you know about them lurks somewhere in your brain, ready to be laid on the page when your fiction requires it. Meanwhile, the techniques of factual, photo, and geographic research, such as those I’ve developed working on my family history, have made the research I do for fiction both more creative and efficient. Empathy The kind of family history I create is not merely a “tree of facts.” It tries to answer the question,

A World of Writing Inspiration by Maggie King

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Where do I get my inspiration? That’s the top question I get from readers. The short answer: everywhere. Frequently ideas are a collage of memories and characters from my life (or someone else’s life) to which I add a hefty measure of my fertile imagination. If the resulting story was a painting, it would resemble a Picasso. In my acknowledgments for Murder at the Book Group , #1 in my Hazel Rose Book Group series, I thank my interesting family and friends for gifting me with story ideas for years to come. And let me add my well-honed eavesdropping habit to this gratitude list while I’m at it. It doesn’t matter if I understand the context of what I hear—in fact, it’s better if I don’t. Social media is a gold mine of inspiration, a modern day gathering around the water cooler. It seems like everyone has something to say (some way too much). And, as I’m a fiction writer, I don’t have to worry about “fake news.” Advice columns give me wonderful ideas. Consider the letter fr

COFFEE SHOP INSPIRATION by Leeann Betts

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  I’m sitting in a coffee shop trying to figure out what to write about this month. All around me are people sipping java or tea, munching bagels, meeting friends, talking on phones—and it hits me. I am looking in at the goldfish bowl. For example, already today I eavesdropped on three friends who meet every two months to discuss a book, like a mini book club. While I couldn’t see the title of the one they are reading, it seemed to be full of witticisms, observations, and helpful insights. For example, one was about Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He married 1,000 women, which were his downfall. So if a man doesn’t marry 1,000 women, he’ll already be smarter than the wisest man who ever lived. Later there was a table of older women gathering tables from near and far, even settling for round tables, to get enough seating for their group of about 20 women. Along comes one woman with a little girl, maybe about 4 or so. And I got to wondering if this older woman wa

Some Thoughts on Library Presentations by Marilyn Meredith

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Our presentation in the Saroyan Gallery, I was pondering a question asked by an attendee. This year I've done more library presentations than ever before. Have another coming up on July 22 at the Fowler Library, 306 So. 7th St.,  11 a.m., July 22. I'm never quite sure what I'll tell whoever shows up--a lot depends upon who they are--strictly readers or those who want to write a book. Usually though I begin telling a bit about myself--always being a writer and story teller (translate as a liar when I was a kid though it didn't feel like lying, just telling a great story.) I might give some background on how long it took me to get published--I was a grandmother--and some of the things that have happened to me along the way. My last presentation at the main library downtown Fresno had an interesting array of attendees: a husband and wife who both love mysteries, a woman who writes, a man who wants to write, and several homeless folks. (It was a hot day and the

Bronx Justice by Bob Martin

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Since  Bronx Justice  was published, I’ve been asked many times how I made the  transition from cop to writer.  The book is based on a case I worked as a captain with the  Bronx Homicide Squad in 1990. We had a group of white, wanna-be-wise guys, dubbed “The Cowboys” by our detectives, team up with a black drug gang, "The Crew." Rival drug dealers would be targeted.  The Cowboys, impersonating plainclothes police officers, would “arrest,” read, kidnap the dealers. Ransom demands were made. If paid, the victim was cut loose. If not paid, a bullet in the head and another body dumped on a Bronx street. The year 1990 saw a record 2,605 homicides in New York City, with the Bronx alone recording over 600 murders. This was the height of the “Crack Wars.” With some outstanding work by a team of dedicated detectives, the case was solved and all the perps were convicted in federal court. Years later, as I continued to share this story, people kept telling me, “That w

Signing Up for Things by Mar Preston

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Of course I know what Amazon is. It’s where I sell all my mysteries and how to write a mystery EBooks . But Amazon Advantage?  What’s that? It’s the vendor’s side of Amazon. When I got repeated emails from Amazon Advantage to do something about my orders I wondered what now. I’m not selling anything.  After they’d been hounding me for about a week I waded into Amazon Advantage to straighten it out. Don’t these kinds of problems just overwhelm you sometimes? I’m condensing about nine phone calls here. Stay with me. Yes, I did self-publish with createspace, an Amazon entity, but they have no relationship with Amazon Advantage and they had no phone number to communicate with them.   Really? I’m told to call Amazon Advantage. The run around appeared before me. However, I had one bit of leverage. An unhappy review with createspace. At 6 a.m. this morning a nice fellow from South Africa called to say these orders represented a good thing. They wanted to stock mo

Room For Doubt, First Chapter--Nancy Silverman

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CHAPTER 1 “Excuse me, miss? Are you a model?”      I was in the cereal aisle at the grocery store with a box of bran flakes in my hand when I heard the voice behind me. It had been years since I’d done any modeling, and I wasn’t feeling particularly glamorous. My hair was in a ponytail, and I was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a ratty old KCHC t-shirt with a cartoon of a dead chicken on my chest. The words Radio Road Kill blasted beneath it. Not exactly the type of thing one wears to make a good first impression.      “Not in years.” I laughed and turned expecting to find a friendly face. Grocery stores these days topped bars for places to meet men. Despite the fact the line was an obvious come on, I was, unfortunately, once again in the market.      Instead, the voice belonged to a nice-looking, well-built gym-rat with a neatly cropped beard. He was about half my age, and worse yet, he wasn’t talking to me. Not at all. He had cornered a

A TOAST TO MY MOM--Nancy Silverman

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I'll never forget the day my mother played hooky. It was back in the late sixties when my mom was teaching seventh grade, and she and one of the art teachers decided to ditch school for the day. In their defense they had each asked for the day off and been denied, so taking matters into their own hands–as my mother so frequently did–they called in sick. I suppose by now the statute of limitations, if there even were such a thing, has long since passed and it's safe for me to tell the story. So at the risk of exposing my mother’s transgression, here goes. Mom and Cozy, who had hair like Albert Einstein and wore all kinds of wild colored kaftans, had a third close friend, Katy, who was in the hospital. It those days, they called themselves the Three Musketeers, being some of the first women of their generation to go back to school as young mothers, graduate college and find full-time positions as teachers. Unfortunately, the prognosis for Katy wasn’t good.  Timing was